You want to hire a VA but you don't want to go through the process only to have them disappear.
Or...you have 3 people in the Philippines working for you who you love. What can you do to make sure they stick with you?
1. The 13th month
Paying the 13th month is consistently cited as a main reason Filipinos stick with an employer. If you want loyalty, this is it.
The 13th month is a bonus of one months extra pay. It's super common in the Philippines. Actually, it's legally required in the Philippines. It's not legally required of you because you don't have a presence in the Philippines.
Typically it's paid in December.
You calculate the amount by adding up everything you paid the person throughout the year and dividing by 12. That's the 13th month payment.
Filipinos plan their lives around this. They plan for the 13th month payment to make big purchases (like maybe a refrigerator or their families first washing machine or maybe repairing their leaking roof) or to provide Christmas for their kids and siblings and parents.
The easiest way to buy loyalty?
Pay the 13th month.
2. Recognize their mistakes, and take the blame yourself
Your people are going to make mistakes. Or not do something right. Or do something super poorly. Or not put in enough time.
Call it out, then assume it's your fault.
Like this:
"Hey, this thing was correct, but this other thing was super poorly done. I'm assuming either my instructions weren't correct or you just didn't have the time to get it right?
How can I help you get this right?"
Most likely, they want to do good work and have a career with you. If they see that you're interested in them succeeding, they want to stick around.
If you yell at them:
"I can't believe you missed this! Again! What the heck!"
They're likely to ghost you.
3. Training
Training tells them you care about their success.
Success with you. And success in their career.
It helps them feel like they're progressing.
3 ways to provide training
1. Create it yourself. Loom makes this super easy.
2. Buy something from coursera or udemy.
3. Give them a training we created from
VAsMadeEasy.com
It's an easy way to increase productivity and get loyalty at the same time.
Summary
The common denominator?
Care
All 3 of these things show you care about them as a person and as a team member.
John