Hello and welcome to the RTO Superhero Podcast, the show that helps you navigate the complexities of compliance and business success within your RTO. I’m Angela Connell-Richards
In this episode we will be covering How to Recruit, When There is No-one to Recruit, including the following steps:
- The benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant
- Deciding Which Tasks to Outsource
- Setting the Standards
- Finding the right professional for the job
- Onboarding your VA
How to Recruit, When There is No-one to Recruit!
Outsourcing Your First RTO Virtual Assistant
Job vacancies are at record highs But where are the candidates?
It is predicted that the unemployment rate could reach 2.9 per cent? Some economists think it's possible.
What does this mean for your RTO. You may need to recruit elsewhere, but where?
How to Hire Your RTO First Virtual Assistant
Steps for Adding the Most Critical Team Member for Growing Your RTO
They’re “virtual” because they don’t work with you in an office, but at some remote location where you’re in touch with them through the Internet.
With your virtual employee, you’re ready to start growing your RTO and taking it to new places.
1. The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Assistant
What prompts many RTO owners to hire their first virtual assistant is the desire to get rid of simple tasks that slow down their workday. These are most often routine tasks that anyone can do. When you have to do everything yourself, these tasks bog you down. If you can outsource them to a professional remotely, you’ll have more time to focus on important things like growing your RTO.
Hiring a virtual assistant can also help you eliminate tasks you hate doing (although this shouldn’t be the sole reason for hiring a VA). You can remove stressful tasks or ones you’re not great at.
But hiring a virtual assistant doesn’t just help you free up space in your schedule. It also allows you to achieve more than you could on your own. Your VA might have skills you don’t have. They may be able to accomplish the tasks you delegate to them more quickly or efficiently than you can. A VA can save you both time and money.
Finally, hiring a virtual assistant allows your RTO to start growing. If RTO is picking up, you may be struggling to do everything by yourself. You might find yourself at your maximum capacity and unable to earn more. You may have new needs as your RTO grows. Your VA can be the missing piece that helps make this growth possible.
Next Steps:
Are you ready to hire a virtual assistant? Ask yourself
• In what areas is your RTO struggling?
• Are there any tasks you could delegate to be more productive?
• Is your RTO experiencing growing pains where an assistant might help?
• Do you have the means to pay for a virtual assistant?
• Have you ever hired outside help? If so, what worked well and what didn’t
Download our Free RTO VA Checklist
2. Deciding Which Tasks to Outsource
You perform a variety of tasks each day, probably much more than you even realise. Now is the time to think about how you fill your time so you can make decisions about which tasks to delegate to a virtual assistant.
Make a detailed list of every activity you regularly carry out. These could be daily tasks or tasks you have to deal with on a weekly or monthly basis. Start with the beginning of your day and visualize each thing you do related to your RTO.
Once you have an exhaustive list, it’s time to narrow it down to things that you can or should delegate. Not every task is appropriate for outsourcing – you want to be sure you’re picking the right ones.
Easy Tasks. These are tasks that virtually anyone can do. They don’t require your unique skills or expert knowledge. For example, if you’re a writer, you can’t outsource the actual writing, but you may be able to outsource related tasks like content planning, research, or proofreading.
Tasks You Don’t Like. You shouldn’t outsource a task simply because you don’t like it. But if you can get rid of things you don’t like doing, this can significantly reduce your stress and improve your work day. For example, you may hate actually posting your blog posts. You can hire a virtual assistant to take your content and put it on your blog. They can easily work out the formatting, tagging, and managing images.
Weak Skills. If you outsource tasks you’re not particularly good at, you remove a troublesome task from your day, and you also might find someone who can do it better than you can. For example, it might take you hours to build a simple web page that still doesn’t look right. You can hire a virtual assistant who can create great-looking pages in minutes.
Time Drains. Any task that takes a great deal of time out of your schedule when you could be handling more high-level or people-oriented tasks is a great choice for outsourcing. You may want to perform a time audit to see how you actually spend the minutes of your day. The results might surprise you. Choose a routine task that’s hogging a great deal of your time and find someone else to do it for you.
Keep all of this in mind as you narrow down your list. Choose tasks to delegate based on the overall benefits outsourcing them would have for your RTO.
Be careful not to delegate:
Core RTO processes or anything that requires a great deal of trust and handling of confidential information
Tasks that put virtual assistants on the front line and in direct contact with customers and clients (This is possible, but your VA needs to thoroughly understand your company and its protocols)
Processes or tasks where one small mistake could have huge repercussions.
There are a variety of tasks that your VA could assist you with within your RTO, from Training and Assessment Strategies to Social Media Marketing.
A mistake entrepreneurs make which leads to disappointment is thinking that one person can do all these tasks well. Think for a minute: If you’re great at data entry, research and development, you might not be as good at graphic design or video editing. It’s a completely different skill set.
That’s why it’s vital to get really specific about what you want from a VA before you go anywhere near posting an ad.
Once trained, you could have a VA developing all your Training and Assessment Strategies, including undertaking the tedious tasks of industry consultation, collating feedback from students and industry to include within your TAS.
Another important task is collating all the evidence of qualifications and professional development from your Trainers and Assessors and creating a Trainers Matrix.
Developing your Delivery and Assessment Plans as well as your Session Plans based on your training and assessment material. Your VA could also work with your Trainers to refine the content within these documents.
Another key drain on many RTOs is undertaking research of your industry sector and including the research within your TAS
Wouldn’t it be great if you could delegate all your Student Management System tasks, having your VA set up all your online training and assessment, setting up your courses and enrolling all your students.
How many times have you been faced with a stack of enrolment forms that need to be entered into your Student Management System, make it easier on all your team by outsourcing this tedious task to your VA.
Another task that I am sure so many RTOs would like to outsource is government funding claims, which can be such a time-waster, but so crucial to your RTO.
So many RTO’s have video content, especially since the pandemic, that is not being put to good use. You could outsource this task to your VA, who could edit your videos, add captions and titles, as well as improve the audio and video presentation of your videos.
You may even have content that could be converted to promotional videos for your RTO, which is a great asset to promote your RTO.
How many times have you sat in on a session where the Presentation was well.. Blah!
Your virtual assistant could take your existing presentations and make them more engaging and on brand for your RTO, creating a consistent brand for all your RTO content.
Keeping on top of your social media marketing is another time consuming task that could easily be outsourced to your virtual assistant. They can also undertake research into your industry sector and produce engaging content based on what is happening within your industry right now, this will not only attract more students but possibly more employers to your RTO.
What else could your VA do for your RTO to reduce your workload?
Use the Checklist to identify tasks that you could outsource.
Next Steps:
Time taken to train – It’s quicker to do it myself
You already know what you’re doing. You’ve done it a million times before. If you hire a VA, you’ll have to train them and that will take longer than doing the task yourself. This may well be true in the short term, but if you’re prepared to invest time in training someone who can then take routine tasks off your shoulders, this will save you much more time in the long term.
Horror stories from others or bad past experiences – I can’t go through that again!
It’s possible that you tried outsourcing to someone in the past and it went disastrously wrong. Or you have RTO colleagues who have shared their VA nightmare stories with you. But maybe you, or they, weren’t prepared sufficiently or didn’t spend enough time on the hiring process. There could be a multitude of reasons, but none them justifies giving up on the VA idea if you want to have a successful RTO.
3. Set the Standards
It can be a challenge working with someone on the other side of the world. This is why you need standards that will make the work go more smoothly.
A standard is a written description that your virtual assistant can learn from and refer to. It shows how the job is supposed to be done so there's consistency. In addition to explaining the job step-by-step, it also might include best practices and tips.
If you've been doing everything yourself up until now, you probably don't have written standards. Before hiring a virtual assistant, you'll need to document your processes so you can give them guidelines for their work.
Go through each task you may outsource and document each stage. Don't leave out anything, even if you feel it's obvious. It might not be obvious to your VA.
Compliance is not easy
As you know, working within an RTO is not the same as working in any other administration role, that is why it is very important that you are setting a standard to ensure that your VA is not only of quality but is also meeting the requirements of the Standards for RTOs
But the less logical, deeper-rooted messages mean that you might sabotage yourself with a reluctance to release control. There’s no point pretending that these messages aren’t playing inside your head. You need to confront the gremlins and work with them so that you get your mindset in the right place before you are truly ready for a VA.
There are a number of tools that can help you make and share your standards. You can use screen capture software to document a task by actually showing someone how to do it. You can also use productivity tools to share this content with your VA. Create a "resource center" that they can access any time when they need to refer to your standards.
Next Steps:
Take each task you want to delegate and write out step-by-step instructions for completing it
Decide on the best format for these standards and create content accordingly
4. Finding the Right Professional for the Job
When searching for a virtual assistant, you have to carefully vet your candidates to find the right person. After you post your ad, you'll make a huge list of candidates, check out each one, and then contact those who meet your qualifications.
There are many ways to find applicants:
Your RTO Network. Reach out to others in your industry and see if they have anyone they can recommend. They may have a virtual assistant who can use some more work. Referrals are the best way to find help.
Social Media. Put out a call on social media, especially LinkedIn. If you have followers on social media, there might be someone who already knows your brand and champions it who'd be willing to work for you.
VA Service Provider Websites. Look at websites where service providers bid on jobs. These sites often have detailed profiles along with ratings and comments from past clients so you can assess applicants. You can post your job there.
Online Job Boards. Post your job on online job boards.
Look Offline. Put an ad in an industry magazine or at an offline job board. A great place to find virtual assistants is at local campuses where people are trying to get experience. Attend offline events and tell people you're looking for an assistant.
Once you start getting applicants and narrowing your list down to a few that look good, there are many ways you can qualify your applicants.
Conduct interviews where you talk to the applicant and get a feel for their personality and abilities.
If applicable, ask for samples of similar work to see the quality of the work they do.
Give applicants a small test that helps you assess their competency.
Ask candidates to refer you to current clients or clients they've worked for in the past. Contact these clients and ask about your candidate.
Give your virtual assistant a trial period. You can also hire them for a one-time job and then offer them the VA position if they do it well.
Next Steps:
Decide where you'll advertise your virtual assistant job
Choose a method or several methods to screen candidates who qualify
5. Onboarding Your VA
When you hire a virtual assistant, you need an onboarding process to train them and bring them up to speed. This systematic approach gets them started in an organized way and prevents some of the bumps in the road that you might experience. Onboarding could take two weeks, or a few months. The purpose is to get them off to a smooth start.
The first purpose of onboarding is to share your RTO's core values so that your virtual assistant understands what your organization is all about. They need to be on the same page as you. This understanding of the core of your RTO influences everything your VA does and helps them see the big picture and where they fit in.
The bulk of onboarding is training. Through this process, you show the virtual assistant what they need to do to accomplish the tasks you're giving them. It also means introducing them to tools and establishing communication protocols for when and how you'll talk.
The best way to plan your onboarding is to put yourself in you VA's shoes. You know how to do the task. How do you convey it to them? Imagine that you're the VA and all you know is your job ad. What more do they need to know about the company? Imagine that they don't know anything about the task they're supposed to handle. How would you explain it to them?
Give your Virtual Assistant a range of activities to learn more about the training industry, such as getting them to research your competitors and industry sector, so that they can learn more and gain an understanding of what you do.
A couple of other key websites are ASQA, TGA and NCVER websites. ASQA has a range of training available on their website, that covers a number of compliance areas. Also the User Guide to the Standards is another great resource for your VA to research.
Once you've trained your virtual assistant, give them some tasks to get started on right away so they don't have to wait. Schedule regular communication sessions with them to follow up. Give them feedback and ask them whether they have any questions or concerns.
Next Step:
Create an onboarding process where you explain your core values to the virtual assistant and train them on the tasks you're delegating.
Want to learn more about how you can improve your RTO?
There are two paths you can take from this point forward…
Path 1: You can try to navigate recruiting your own RTO VA…
- Hiring the Virtual Assistant for your team
- Spending 6 to 12 months training your Virtual Assistant
- Providing ongoing training to ensure that your VA is compliant with the Standards
- Stumble your way through getting your VA to work effectively within your RTO
- Waste time and money trying to get it right
- End up overwhelmed and stressed
But, what’s the real cost of doing this alone?
Path 2: Vivacity Team
· Get access to quality trained staff, who have already been trained by Vivacity…
· Save time and money by outsourcing your RTO Administration tasks
· Feel confident that your outsourced team understands compliance
· Without the fear of losing your newly trained Virtual Assistant
· Grow and scale your RTO, without the stress of RTO administration
Smart RTO’s get the best team on their side
INTRODUCING…
Vivacity Team
We have trained a team in the Philippines on how to work in the backend of your RTO.
We know how difficult it is to hire and onboard a new team member within an RTO, as it is someone unique who has the capacity to manage compliance, never mind finding someone who gets it and wants it.
And, once you finally complete the recruitment process the challenges continue with starting salaries now as high as $100K for an RTO compliance specialist and many RTOs are reporting an average turnover of staff being as low as 6 months.
Since it is extremely hard to find extra staff at short notice, the other members on your team are often reaching burnout, overwhelmed with the additional tasks, and are at risk of resigning themselves.
Daily tasks slip by the wayside, with many RTO Owners and Managers feeling like they are on a never-ending cycle of hiring and training new people and never on top of all the things that need to get done in the RTO.
Over the last 6 months we have been training a team on how to work in the backend of RTOs, completing tasks such as:
- RTO Compliance
- Student Management Systems (aXcelerate)
- Training and Assessment Strategy development
- Compliant marketing materials, such as video’s and social media ads
- Presentation Design
- Podcast editing
- Video editing
- Website development and maintenance
- Assessment tool customisation and contextualisation
- Industry Consultation and Research
- CRICOS Compliance
- International Student Prospectus Design
- Course Flyer Design
- And so much more
Why choose Vivacity Team?
- Trained by the experts in RTO compliance
- Focus on growing and scaling your business whilst our team takes care of your RTO
- Saving you money on training and recruitment of your RTO Admin Team
- Keep on to of all your compliance requirements
How it works
- Setup an account for your company, with your company profile
- Unlimited users can access the ticketing portal
- Submit your request through the online ticketing portal
- Our Team gets started on your task
- You are updated on progress daily
- First draft completed and provided for review
- Repeat until final is complete
- Get your new Team now!
Have the RTO Administration Experts by your side, helping you with growing and scaling your RTO
Starting at $495 per month
Pricing Plans
We have a service that suits your requirements, whether it is 40, 80 or 120 hours per month
No matter the size of your RTO, we can help
Packages start from as little as $495 per month for 40 hours per month, that is less than a part-time employee in Australia
To learn more about Vivacity Team go to https://vivacity.team
Thank you for attending today’s podcast.
Next week, I will be breaking down the Draft Standards for Registered Training Organisations.
Want to ask a question on a future episode of RTO Superhero? Click on the link in the show notes to record your question