Think Employees are More Committed than Virtual Assistants? Think Again.

Here’s another nail in the coffin for those folks who like to tell me “I prefer working with in office employees because I can tell they are doing the work.”  According to this article at Salon.com 70% of the United States workforce is emotionally disconnected at work.  What exactly does this mean? It means that the majority of American workers have no ties to the success or failure of the company they work for.  In fact, the article goes on to state that sizable numbers of those people are actively seeking to sabotage their colleagues and managers.

The Gallup Poll that the article is based on, State of the American Workplace by Gallup.com, also states:

“Gallup estimates that active disengagement costs the U.S. $450 billion to $550 billion per year.”

For years I’ve been telling people that virtual assistants and other self-employed virtual professionals were for the most part more invested in the success of their businesses.  Why?  Because our success is directly tied to yours.

If the end result of our work for you isn’t satisfactory you’ll no longer use our services. We have a vested interest in not only making sure your projects are of high quality and delivered on time, but ultimately in the success of your entire business.  The thinking that just because we own our own business means we don’t care is as far from the truth as you can get.

And the fact that we work remotely, out of your sight?  The article as something to say about that as well.

“Intriguingly, people who work remotely seem to be more emotionally connected to their work—or at least put in longer hours, Gallup said. “Despite not always having a manager nearby to monitor their productivity, remote workers actually log more hours at their primary job than do their on-site counterparts.”

It’s time to get rid of the lame excuse that you must be able to monitor those that do work for you in order to insure it gets done.  Teaming up with a highly qualified, highly skilled, engaged virtual assistant could mean the difference between a failing business and a thriving one.