Are You A Virtual Assistant With Integrity?

Are you a Virtual Assistant with Integrity?

By

 

Dee Matheson

 

Regardless of where you are in the world, you can reach out to anyone within seconds nowadays and there are a lot of untruths about Virtual Assistants making the rounds, which is rather disheartening. Social media has opened so many doors for our industry, but they can close just as fast with tales being spun that can cause irreparable harm.

Because of the way the world works now, more and more people are turning to an alternative source of income and those that are very good at being Secretaries and Personal Assistants, use their skills by opening up their own Virtual Assistant businesses from home. This is great for the industry but with so many newbies starting out, business and personal ethics sometimes flies right out of the window. Most veteran Virtual Assistants are very happy to help and point a newbie in the right direction, which is one of the wonderful things about our industry. But when these veteran Virtual Assistants get paid back by unethical newbies, it makes our industry suffer and nobody gains. Veteran Virtual Assistants will stop helping the newbies and then where will we be?

All Virtual Assistants, new and “old” are looking for clients and what does become a concern to all is when quotations and bids are made for jobs that are way below market rate. The lowest bidder may get the job, but the concept that is being fostered in the market is that this is cheap labor. We are not a cheap labor force; we provide a service that is essential to entrepreneurs and business owners. We run a business like any other company out there, regardless of how big or small.

In desperation to keep clients and to get work, some Virtual Assistants actually allow their clients to behave abusively towards them. They are treated as slave labor, are not paid timeously and are not considered as part of the company. This type of behavior would not be tolerated in any company at all. That abused Virtual Assistant does not need clients like this. Not one person should be subservient to another. Everyone has equal rights and if the client does not consider his Virtual Assistant as a collaborative business partner, then they should let that client go. Word of mouth is a very strong medium, and with this type of abusive behavior being perpetuated further amongst the client’s peers, it can bring even more harm to our industry. Remember: one door closes and two more will open.

It is a Virtual Assistant’s choice of how she wants to run her business, but if there is no ethnicity and integrity involved, it gives a negative name to our industry and we will all suffer the consequences.

Dee Matheson manages DFM. She has recently been certified as an Administrative Professional by the Institute of Certified Administrative Professionals and have also completed the following training courses: