Hiring for Culture Fit to Scale Your Online Business with Abbey Ashley of The Virtual Savvy
Episode 537: Show Notes
Today on the show, we are excited to welcome Abbey Ashley, Founder of The Virtual Savvy. Abbey has helped aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home businesses from scratch. She started her own virtual assistant business as a new mom and was able to double her salary from her full-time corporate job in just 30 days! She has since gone on to grow a seven-figure business with 19 employees and certainly has some key insights to share about how to hire to scale. It's now her passion to help others start their own VA businesses so they too can taste the freedom and flexibility of entrepreneurship.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
She is currently building a brand new platform, which you will hear about towards the end of the interview, that is going to make hiring so much easier, especially for creative entrepreneurs, connecting you with virtual assistants that are going to stick around and be the right fit for you and your company. In today’s episode, we’re talking about the hiring process, particularly how to hire for a culture fit over a skill fit. We think that that is one of the most remarkable things that Abbey has unlocked within her own business, and it has definitely been one of the key elements that has factored into her incredibles success.
We discuss how to identify your brand culture, how to speak that into existence within your team, and how to support your team through that journey, as well as how to hire for the perfect fit, of course. Whether you are ready to hire your first VA or dip your toes into hiring employees, this episode is full of practical tips that will be beneficial to you, no matter where you are on that journey. Make sure to tune into this insightful interview with The Virtual Savvy Founder and powerhouse entrepreneur, Abbey Ashley!
Hiring for Culture Fit Over Skill
When you recruit new talent, chances are you have a very specific job description in mind and you are seeking a candidate that bears the skillset to get that job done, but what if it comes down to two candidates who are equally qualified for the position? Abbey believes that a key part of building a mission-driven team is hiring for team culture, not skill. She shares how she has grown her team from six full-time employees to 19 in the space of a year by focusing on culture fit rather than bullet points on a resume, which has played a huge role in scaling her business in a way that showcases the company culture and even helps her attract new talent. Hiring for culture fit starts with knowing your company culture, and that doesn’t mean just making a quick list of your values on a piece of paper. Abbey suggests reexamining your company mission, vision, and values and reacquainting yourself with what you set out to achieve when you started your business. After all, if you are living and breathing your values as an entrepreneur, it is going to be easier for you to recognize them in other people!
Allowing Yourself to Be the Visionary
Part of taking your company to the next level is figuring out how you, as the CEO, can go from being the doer to allowing yourself to become the visionary. Abbey notes that, especially when you are just starting out, you are not only deciding on the vision for your business, but you are also plotting the path to get there and executing every step of achieving that vision along the way. This can result in getting bogged down by the daily grind, constantly putting out fires, answering an endless stream of questions, and continually hunting for cash. Abbey explains that allowing yourself to be the visionary is actually a process of relinquishing control over the details that might be holding you back, freeing yourself from micromanaging to spend more time thinking about your high-level business strategy. Part of this includes who you hire next and what skills they need so that you can empower them to make smart decisions for you, but also accepting that they will make mistakes along the way! Remember that, as long as you are still on track toward your vision, a few wrong turns don’t mean that you won’t get there.
Promoting From Within versus Hiring Externally
There are two options for filling an open position: promoting one of your team members from within or hiring externally. There are many factors to take into consideration before committing to one option or the other, but Abbey finds that there are numerous benefits to hiring internally, training someone up, and awarding them greater decision-making power. Of course, good decision-making relates directly to your company culture and values and hiring from within means that not only will the process be quicker because the candidate is already an employee and is therefore already familiar with the culture but the training process and transition will generally be quicker and smoother than bringing on a new employee and training them from scratch. Sometimes you can bypass this by hiring someone based on a trusted referral or hiring someone you have previous experience working with but, from personal experience, Abbey believes that it's best to go with who you know rather than casting your net wide.
The Hiring Process, Step-by-Step
You’ll hear Abbey say these words a thousand times throughout this episode, but the hiring process starts with your mission and your values. Know them! Why does your company exist? How does it fulfill its mission? What is the bigger picture for your clients, and what does it feel like for them when you fulfill that objective? Abbey highlights the importance of understanding the answers to these questions first. Secondly, she emphasizes the value of doing a time study, picking your lanes, and ensuring that you are fully committed to those roles without getting distracted by unnecessary noise. Third, an organizational chart allows you to dream beyond your next hire. What will your next three or four hires look like? What does your business look like now, three months from now, six months from now, and a year from now? Understanding what your business will need in the future can help bring you clarity on what it needs right now. Lastly, look at whether you require the services of a freelancer or a full-time employee. Are you ready to commit to hiring someone full-time, or will a freelancer suit your needs better? If you have never hired before, Abbey believes that a freelancer is likely your best bet.
Knowing When You are Ready to Hire an Employee
There is so much that goes into hiring a full-time employee that being mentally prepared to meet all of those requirements is key. Think payroll, HR, and benefits, plus hiring and onboarding, and all the paperwork that goes along with it! If all of this sounds scary and overwhelming, Abbey reminds us that there is nothing wrong with starting with freelancers. Once you have scaled past six figures, you’ll need to think about whether you’re ready to take on employees, whether it will be worth all the work that goes into it, and then weigh up your options. Get out your all-important organizational chart, figure out which role you need to hire for next, and then go out and find the right person for the job! Of course, you can promote from within, hire from your own audience, or even use Abbey’s upcoming platform, Hello Savvy, which you’ll learn more about in a minute!
An Introduction to Hello Savvy
After realizing the difficulties that business owners go through in trying to find the right talent and the stress that creative freelancers experience in trying to find the best jobs out there, Abbey was inspired to create a single platform to suit all of their needs. Built on feedback from hundreds of interviews with clients, companies, and freelancers, Hello Savvy is a dream platform that, one, doesn’t take a percentage of your hard earned money and, two, offers freelance profiles that don’t just list previous work experience but are rather infused with personality using video content and face-to-face interactions. From more granular search options to ratings and reviews, Hello Savvy aims to always keep users at the forefront of the experience, taking the guesswork out of sourcing the right talent for your company, so make sure to get on the waitlist and keep your eyes peeled for the launch in February 2022!
Quote This
If you can really look at what the next three or four hires are, then it will help you get clarity on what the very next hire is.
Highlights
Hiring for Culture Fit Over Skill. [0:07:35]
Allowing Yourself to Be the Visionary. [0:17:11]
Promoting From Within versus Hiring Externally. [0:22:05]
The Hiring Process, Step-by-Step. [0:34:31]
Knowing When You are Ready to Hire an Employee. [0:39:07]
An Introduction to Hello Savvy. [0:44:51]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abbey Ashley
The Virtual Savvy
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
Abbey Ashley is the Founder of The Virtual Savvy. She helps aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home business from scratch. Abbey started her own virtual assistant business as a new mom and was able to double the salary from her full-time corporate job, working only 20 hours a week, in just 30 days! She's since gone on to grow a seven-figure business and retire her husband ALL from her at-home business. It's now her passion to help others start their own VA business so they can taste the freedom and flexibility of entrepreneurship as well.
KEY TOPICS
Company culture, Company vision, Hiring, Scaling
