Whether you are running a newly established business or a growing one, you will need all the support that you can get, especially in office administration.
But is there really a need for office administrators if your company is going remote? The answer is a resounding YES. Regardless of your company’s work model—office-based, remote, hybrid—you still need someone to manage at least your back-office operations.
Managing office operations in one physical space is already challenging as it is, but doing so in a virtual workspace can truly test any administrator’s skills and, not to mention, patience. Therefore, you need the right administrators who can provide superb admin office support in any work model.
In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about hiring Filipino virtual office administrators. We will explore the duties and responsibilities of office administrators and the ideal skills and attributes they must possess. We will also provide you with tips for screening candidates for the administrator role and with details regarding the real market value of Filipino administrators.
What Is An Office Administrator?
An office administrator has two core tasks: 1) manage employees associated with the office; and 2) ensure that the office has all the needed resources.
Depending on your needs as an employer and the company’s, you may assign office administrators to supervise office staff and provide them with support and assistance in completing their tasks or in troubleshooting. In some cases, you may ask them to conduct employee evaluations and training, too.
In addition, administrators coordinate office equipment repairs and prepare requests for new equipment. They also manage the use of office supplies, making sure that the assigned budget for them is always used wisely.
When Should You Hire An Administrator?
Too many unanswered calls, hard-to-track payments coming in and expenses going out, paperwork and forms for compliance, or sloppy files? Then it’s about time you hire an administrator.
Administrators can offer a variety of administrative services, depending on the nature of your business, but if there is one thing that administrators do best, it is handling the overall organisation of your office.
Organisation is essential not only to the performance of employees, but also to the success of any business. If your office is well-run and organised, you can be sure that your employees are given the support they need to be as productive as they can be. As a result, they get to contribute more to the performance of the company.
Administrators have become even more important for every business now that most of our communication and document sharing are done digitally. Imagine the time and effort it takes to organise digital files while maintaining their accuracy and ensuring that they can be easily located.
Administrators surely have it rough, yet they make magic happen, and that’s what makes them valuable members of any team.
What Makes A Great Administrator?
There are certain skills and attributes that make a great administrator, and these are the ones you should be looking for in a candidate.
Organised. We cannot stress this enough: Great administrators must be organised and meticulous individuals. They must have a daily to-do list and know how to prioritise because they juggle multiple tasks. In a day, their tasks can change, so they should know what tasks to let go in order to make time for urgent ones.
Possesses leadership skills. An effective leader has great communication skills, knows how to listen, and is a good problem solver. Administrators are sometimes tasked to lead a team, so they must possess the said attributes. They must know how to listen to the employees’ issues and concerns, provide them with possible solutions to certain problems, and communicate their ideas clearly and accurately.
Attentive. An administrator should be attentive and sensitive to the needs of the employees and/or clients (if they are tasked to attend to one). They should be able to anticipate problems and be prepared to resolve them.
Patient. Great administrators know how to keep their cool in stressful situations. There are times when multiple problems happen in the office all at the same time and losing their focus can mean disaster. An administrator should be patient and focused in order to come up with the best solution to each of these problems.
How Much Does A Filipino Virtual Administrator Make?
The average salary of an administrator from the Philippines is approximately PHP360,000 a year, given that he/she does the following tasks:
- Trains and supervises clerical staff
- Schedules meetings
- Arranges conference calls
- Receives or entertains visitors and clients
- Prepares correspondence
- Handles information requests
- Prepares statistical reports
- Conducts research
In comparison, administrators in Australia are paid an average base pay of AUD59,000 a year, which is equivalent to about PHP2,000,000. There’s a huge gap, we know, but if you compare the cost of living in the Philippines and Australia, this gap makes sense.
Before you begin to calculate how much you can save when you hire a Filipino administrator, we want to let you know that hiring an offshore staff is not about cost-cutting. Surely, you can save a lot by hiring a virtual administrator from the Philippines, but it is important to keep in mind the greater benefit of having a Filipino remote worker in your team, such as higher productivity and high-quality work.
How Do You Assess A Potential Administrator For Your Business?
Conduct English Assessment Tests. When looking for a potential administrator, make sure that you screen them for their English speaking, listening, writing skills, and comprehension. Administrators might not be client-facing at all times, but there are times when they do need to interact with your clients. For administrators to understand your clients’ needs and tend to them, they must possess above average English skills.
At Remote Staff, we conduct 4 English assessments tests as part of our screening process. We believe that by making sure our candidates can communicate well in English, we help you overcome communication challenges while working with your Filipino remote contractor.
Ask Scenario-based Questions. Gone are the days when you ask questions such as “How do you see yourself five years from now?” or “Can you tell me more about yourself?” The necessary questions are those that are relevant to the job itself, so make your interview with a potential administrator count by asking scenario-based questions. Give them administrator problems to solve and use their answers to evaluate whether they are a good fit or not.
If you hire via Remote Staff, we will be with you during your interview with a candidate and guide you throughout the whole process. We will help you ask the right questions and evaluate the candidate’s answers to help you make a hiring decision.
Look for the X-factor. We are not referring to intuition or first impressions here. The X-factor has something to do with the candidates’ overall personality. Do you think they can get along with your other employees? Do you think they can easily adapt to your company culture? Do you think you can trust them?
You can find the answers to these questions simply by looking at their CV and by observing them during the interview. You don’t even have to ask questions related to these things. The way the candidates’ carry themselves, their body language, and the words that come out of their mouth can tell you so much about their overall personality. A good track record, a positive attitude, and confidence are signs of a good fit.
Final Thoughts
We always associate the success of a company with the people who directly contribute to the increase in revenue, such as the members of the management and other client-facing employees. We forget that without the people behind the scenes like office administrators, who keep back-office operations in order, a lot of things can go wrong in the whole business operation.
