One of the biggest problems I faced when I first started hiring Filipino workers was that a few of them would sometimes disappear—suddenly and without a word.
I didn’t understand why this was happening. Most of my team are hard-working, loyal, and reliable. But occasionally, a new hire would drop out after a few days or weeks of work.
I thought I was the only one who went through this, but then I got emails from other business owners who experienced the same thing. I still get emails about this, until now.
This is odd because working for a foreign company is a source of pride for many Filipinos. Working from home is a dream job for many of them because it’s a stable job where they make a lot of money WITHOUT having to work abroad.
So why do some Filipinos leave their dream jobs?
Over the years, I started to understand why some Filipino workers do this, and it all boils down to one thing: saving face.
They’d rather leave than be embarrassed.
They would rather ghost their employers than bring up whatever makes them unhappy or uncomfortable.
They’re not confrontational. Since they’re not confrontational, they disappear.
Once I understood this, I started to see why this was happening and how to prevent it.
In this guide, I’ll explain why some Filipino workers disappear, what you can do to prevent it, and what you should put in your job post to avoid attracting disappearing Filipino workers.
- Not getting paid enough
- They don’t know what they’re doing
- Your expectations are unrealistic or too high
- They’ve lost motivation
- They’re afraid of you
- They underestimated how hard the job was going to be
- They don’t know or understand what your expectations are
- You yelled at them
- They don’t understand your training or instructions
- You didn’t find the right person
1. Not getting paid enough
The biggest reason I’ve seen Filipino workers disappearing is when they’re not paid enough.
Most Filipinos want to make enough money to be comfortable. They want to support themselves and their families. It can be to find work in the Philippines, so they usually grab the first job they can get.
But when presented with the opportunity to make more, they will.
Most job posts with low starting rates don’t get many applicants. Those who apply for these positions are usually the ones who are really desperate for work. So it’s no surprise that these workers also leave these jobs as soon as a better offer comes.
Why don’t they ask for more money outright if that’s the case? Talking about money is considered rude. They think it makes them look greedy, and they don’t want to lose face.
So, instead of negotiating for a raise or more hours, they just disappear.
You can avoid this by giving them a fair wage, which you can check in our salary guide. We base our guide on:
- what the workers are asking
- what most business owners can offer
- the cost of living in the Philippines
So you know you’re paying a living wage at a salary that considers their experience and skills.
I don’t advocate for underpaying your Filipino workers. I don’t like it when job posts have ridiculously low salaries. Filipino salaries are already much lower than the minimum wage in the US. There’s no reason to offer $1 or $2 an hour and expect someone to have at least 3 years of experience.
I put my new hires on a probationary period, paying them slightly less than their asking price. After a few months, when I see us working together for years to come, I’ll give them a raise to match or get closer to their asking rate.
Let’s say you are giving them a good hourly wage, but you can only afford to hire them part-time or on an as-needed basis. There’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s a good chance that your OFS wouldn’t be able to support themselves and their family on a part-time salary.
They will start looking for other part-time jobs to supplement their income. If they find a part-time or full-time job that pays more, they’ll focus their time and effort on it. When that job becomes more demanding, they’ll disappear.
So, the first thing you can do to keep them from disappearing is to pay them a fair wage and give them full-time work when possible.
If you’re worried that you don’t have enough work for them, trust me, once you see what your OFS can do, you’ll have a bunch of stuff for them to do in no time.
2. They don’t know what they’re doing
If you assign a task to your OFS without any training or guidance, they will feel lost. Even if this is someone experienced, they will want to know your expectations and desired results.
Training for your OFS is not just about them knowing how to do the job. It’s knowing how you want it done and your desired outcome.
So when they feel lost and don’t know what to do, they’ll disappear.
Disappearing is the easiest way for them to save face. They know it won’t be long before you notice nothing is getting done. When that happens, they know you’ll get angry; they’ll be gone before that happens.
This applies to experts, too! They still need to know your expectations. Need to know what outcomes look like for you. You still need to explain your business and your goals. If you assume they just know, you will likely have them disappear.
Training is important. I also know that training may have prevented you from hiring an OFS. You may feel like you don’t have the time to teach them and hold their hand through the process.
But the thing is, it doesn’t take that much time at all. You don’t need to be there to train your OFS.
I don’t personally train every OFS I hire.
I usually take a screen recording of what I want them to do and send it to my OFS. This saves me so much time because videos are often easier to follow than written instructions. They see exactly what they need to do and the expected results.
If they’re still confused about something, they’ll just email me questions, or sometimes they send me their screen recordings to show where they’re having problems.
I’ve done this so much over the years that I now have a library of training videos. I can send them whenever we need them.
If you don’t have the time to do this, you can get one from VAsMadeEasy.com and give it to your OFS.
Just remember, part of training is feedback. Once they know how to do the work, give them feedback so they know they’re doing it the way you want. This doesn’t take a lot of time, and it does not need to be difficult for both you and your worker.
3. Your expectations are unrealistic or too high
I get a lot of emails from employers who give me this long list of qualifications for their online Filipino specialist, expecting to find an
- app developer
- website designer
- animator
- video editor
- content creator
- writer
- SEO expert
- bookkeeper
- digital marketer
- social media manager
- etc, etc, etc.
They want to find all those things in one person. When I read through that, I knew right away that
#1 They’re going to have a hard time finding an OFS because it’s nearly impossible to find someone who can do all those things
#2 Even if they find someone close to having all those skills, nothing they do is going to be good enough.
Your OFS is a person. Sometimes, they’re going to make mistakes. They WILL HAVE off days. They CAN’T do everything.
Your OFS is not a robot. They’re human beings. They will do their best for you as much as they can. But when they screw up, and they can see how unhappy, angry, or frustrated you are when they can meet your expectations, they’re going to disappear.
They’ll feel embarassed knowing that they’re not good enough for you. To save face, they’re going to disappear.
4. They’ve lost motivation
This usually happens when an OFS has worked for you for a while.
Your OFS could lose motivation if they feel their work isn’t going anywhere or it doesn’t matter anymore.
Imagine this: Your OFS has worked for you for years. They’ve become indispensable because they have all this experience, they have the skills, and they’re great at their jobs.
Now imagine them getting together with their high school and college buddies who have regular jobs. These friends talk about their jobs and their lives. They’re now the marketing manager of this, the junior director of that, or the senior supervisor of whatever.
Your OFS, who we know have as much talent, skill, and experience as their peers, when asked what their job is, will reply that they’re virtual assistants.
Doesn’t sound right, doesn’t it?
This is why I’ve moved away from calling my OFS team “virtual assistants”. These people aren’t just doing menial, repetitive tasks. They’re SPECIALISTS with years of training and experience in their niche.
I also give my team job titles. I want them to know that they’re doing important work in our business, to be proud of it, and to show off to their friends and family that all that time working online is meaningful.
—
Another possible reason for loss of motivation is when your OFS hasn’t had a raise or benefits in a long time.
I want to clarify that benefits are optional when hiring an OFS.
Also, if you can’t afford to give your OFS a raise when they’ve been working for you for a year or longer, it’s fine.
But.
If your OFS can see that your business is growing and they know they’ve contributed, they may lose motivation.
So, if your OFS has been working for you for a while and you can afford it, consider giving them a raise. There’s no standard as to how much or how often. Just look at what you can afford and what’s sustainable for your business. If you need help, we write a guide exactly about this topic: https://johnjonas.com/comprehensive-guide-to-pay-raises/
Giving your OFS regular benefits is another way to show appreciation for their work. Knowing that they’ll receive regular benefits keeps them motivated and loyal. They won’t feel the need to go to part-time gig work when they have a stable full-time job with benefits.
If you want to start giving benefits to your OFS: https://media.onlinejobs.ph/ebook/Employers+Guide+to+OFS+Benefits.pdf
5. They’re afraid of you
One sure sign you’re not treating your OFS right is if they’re afraid to communicate with you.
Your OFS will always start out a little afraid of you—after all, their livelihood depends on you.
That’s why it’s important to establish trust in both ways. They’re not the only ones with the obligation to earn your trust. You have to earn their trust, too, if you want them to be loyal and motivated.
I know that we don’t go out to become bad bosses. But I notice that bad bosses expect their OFS to be robots, not people. They forget that their OFS can have off days where they’re not 100% productive because they’re sick or having personal issues. They can make mistakes because they don’t understand instructions.
When they’re afraid of you, they’ll avoid you, procrastinate dealing with you, and disappear rather than face your wrath if it gets too much.
If you can’t keep an OFS no matter how big the salary you’re offering, that means you’re not a good boss.
So, what do you do? Where do you start? It starts with trust. To win their trust, you need to communicate with them, give good feedback, and give it regularly.
Regular feedback and communication make them more comfortable with you. If they trust you, they’re not going to be too afraid to come to you for help when they encounter work problems. They’re more likely to bring up issues that need your attention before they become big problems.
Communication and feedback are work but part of your job as their boss.
I require my OFS team to send me daily reports, and I read all of them.
I know it’s work.
I know it would make things easier to just have them email me when there’s a problem.
If I set things up that way, not getting any updates from my team would mean everything is fine—there is nothing to worry about.
But, if I only hear from them when there’s a problem, it’ll be easier to forget they’re people with lives and problems. I won’t see their super productive days and the days they keep working despite multiple challenges.
If you only notice your OFS when something goes wrong, you’ll miss all the good work they do—and you’ll start associating them only with their mistakes.
When we only see the mistakes, it’s easy to get frustrated. Feedback that sounds neutral to us can come across as harsh and angry to your OFS.
Remember that your OFS just wants to make you happy. The morale goes down when they see that you’re angry, and they don’t know how to fix it. They’ll lose the motivation to do better.
In the worst-case scenario, they’ll be so afraid they’re losing their jobs that they’ll disappear to save face. Save face from you, save face from getting fired.
Your OFS wants to know that you’re aware that they’re doing their best and that you notice when they’re doing their best, not just when they’re at their worst. So, showing appreciation goes a long way, even if it’s just a thumbs up or a good job email.
Giving constructive feedback and criticism when mistakes are made is important, but there is a right way to do it. I’ve found the sandwich method to be super effective. This is where you sandwich feedback in between two positive observations about their work: https://blog.onlinejobs.ph/the-art-of-giving-feedback-to-your-virtual-assistants/
This method makes constructive feedback easier for your OFS. If they know you notice they’re doing good work, they’ll be motivated to fix their mistakes.
6. They underestimated how hard the job was going to be
This usually happens when you hire someone new to online work. They think they can take on a full-time job (or multiple part-time jobs) while keeping their other “regular” job or going to school full-time.
It’s not that they can’t do the work. It’s just that they underestimated how much commitment it actually is. They thought they could keep up with their existing routine plus a job without getting tired or burned out.
It’s also possible that the people in their lives aren’t giving them the time and space to do their jobs. Even though they’re working from home, they’re still expected to do all the chores, run all the errands, and take care of every sick family member.
They only see the “home” part in the “work from home” arrangement.
When they realize that they can’t keep up with work, they’ll disappear.
I actually experienced this once when I hired someone. She was so embarrassed that she asked her sister to email me, saying she couldn’t work for me anymore because she was overwhelmed with personal problems. I don’t know if this is true, but it shows how embarrassed she is that she had to ask her sister to email me.
That’s why I think it’s a great idea when I see some employers asking potential applicants for their work-from-spaces. If they have a dedicated space for work, that means they’re taking their jobs seriously. That’s not always the case, but it works for most people.
I also recommend asking if they have a work schedule that they’re confident they can keep. If their work is part of their daily routine, it makes it easier for them to actually do their jobs.
7. They don’t know or understand what your expectations are
The thing where you can delegate everything to your OFS team and you can go on vacation anytime you want–that doesn’t happen overnight.
Your OFS will need to know how to do their jobs. They need to understand your business. That’s going to take trust, time and training.
Most importantly, they need to know and understand your expectations.
What’s your goal for your business?
How high is the bar that they need to clear in order to make you and your business successful?
When they don’t know what you want, they’ll never know whether they’re giving you exactly the work you want. There’s always going to be that fear that they’ve screwed up or made a mistake.
Once you criticize them for not meeting your expectations (expectations that they never knew or understood), they’ll be hurt and embarrassed. Soon after that, they’ll disappear.
Let me give you an example:
In the past few years, I have been telling my team that part of their jobs would be to correct their own mistakes and help correct the errors of their teammates. When it gets to me, the output should be close to perfect.
My job is to give feedback. I will tell them if they need to change things or move differently. I will point out mistakes that are hard to find and help them correct them.
But for mistakes that are easy to spot and fix, that’s their job.
Because they know the quality of work I want to see, they know what they need to do to keep the business running.
But most importantly, having clear expectations lets them take accountability for their actions. They can identify and fix their own mistakes. They won’t lose face when they screw up because they know there’s a way out that doesn’t make them look stupid or incompetent.
Since implementing this, I’m amazed by how much my team has taken ownership of their work. Even when I scold them, they don’t disappear. They just fix their mistakes and do their best to do better next time.
8. You yelled at them
I know this seems like a stupid reason, but hear me out.
For many Filipinos, foreigners have a reputation for being aggressive.
Our tact and assertiveness are already intimidating to them. So you can imagine how scary it can be for a Filipino worker to hear her boss scream at her over Zoom.
Even if you’re frustrated about something, when they feel like the anger is directed at them, they will take it personally.
To get away from that anger, they will disappear.
My advice is to calm down if you’re angry or emotional before giving any feedback. Whether it’s an email or a voice message, put that off until you’re in a better headspace. Being calm also helps ensure that you’re giving them feedback that’s actually helpful rather than just scolding them.
If you made the mistake of sending a harsh voicemail or angry email, apologize immediately. Reassure them that you’re not angry at them. You’re frustrated that mistakes are made, and you just want it fixed right away. Give them an opportunity to save face and make things right.
9. They don’t understand your training or instructions
When I first started outsourcing, I’d sometimes get frustrated when I got work from them, and they’d be full of mistakes or not done the way I wanted it to be done.
I assumed the training I gave them was easy to understand. I thought my instructions were clear.
When I revisited the training video I made to teach them a specific task, I couldn’t understand a single thing myself.
I was so embarrassed because I thought I was clear about my instructions the whole time. It wasn’t their fault they made all these mistakes–it was mine.
If I didn’t realize that mistake as soon as I did, I know I would have lost them. I know of business owners who have lost their OFS because their Filipino worker didn’t understand their training or instructions.
Their OFS left because they didn’t want to look stupid. If they keep making mistakes even after training, they’ll assume it’s their fault. So, to save face, they’ll just leave.
We all assume that when we give training or instructions, they’re easy to understand. That’s not always the case. As a boss, you need to develop this ability, and you can only do so through time and practice.
When giving your OFS instructions, don’t just ask whether they understood. Ask them to explain your instructions in their own words. Ask them if anything was unclear or if there’s something they didn’t understand. Encourage them to ask questions.
The more you do this, the better you’ll understand how your words are interpreted and how to make your instructions even clearer.
That’s also why we’re really particular about the resources we create at VAsMadeEasy.com. Each one undergoes several readings and revisions to ensure that your OFS finds our training easy to understand and implement.
10. You didn’t find the right person
Hiring is just as much about personality as it is about skill.
That’s why I always tell employers to do the hiring themselves. You know what kind of person you can work with, what company culture, and what personality type best suits you.
That’s why we also require jobseekers to take the DISC personality test. Workers with the right personality for the job are less likely to disappear.
Lastly, if you want to be sure you’re hiring the right person, I can show you my hiring steps. Over the years, I’ve developed a process that has helped me find, screen, and hire the right people. When you use the steps I outline at the One VA Away challenge (OneVAAway.com), your OFS is less likely to disappear.
Leave a Reply