Manage & Maintain A Successful Working Relationship
Investing the time to build a successful relationship will pay dividends in terms of your future success…
As a business owner hiring an employee, it goes without saying that the job description should be defined clearly from the outset and your new employee given all of the tools, training and resources required to carry out their role efficiently.
When hiring staff to work in your home, it is essential to make sure that these crucial lines are not blurred. Approach the situation in a professional way and in doing so you will make the job of managing private staff, within your home environment far less challenging!
The secret to managing any healthy working relationship is to invest time and effort into laying the correct foundations from the start, then following up with regular input to ensure that things continue to run smoothly. It is natural in any work environment for things to go wrong at times, and when this situation arises, it is essential to communicate clearly in order to get back on track promptly – with minimal fuss.
Lay Solid Foundations
Entering a new employer’s home to carry out any private staff role, you are depending on clear instructions and guidelines to assist you in your ability to carry out your role to a high standard whilst finding the ropes.
This means that as an employer it is essential to invest time in providing new staff with detailed insight into your expectations of them within the role. Much of this information can be imparted verbally but in many instances creating and sharing useful documents with clear points and important information can be the most efficient option; giving the individual something they can refer back to regularly until they have learned what is required of them and understand how everything works.
In the case of a Private Housekeeper a comprehensive household manual would provide quick access to all relevant information, but the exact same logic can be applied to any Private Staff role. Putting such a document together can be time consuming initially, but setting your employee up for success will save you a huge amount of time in the long run.
Communicate Openly & Regularly
Schedule regular slots in your calendar for meeting with your employee to discuss how things are going and if you have noticed an issue this is a great time to bring it up. Whilst you are both free from distractions and focussed on the discussion you can explore how to improve performance in a calm and constructive way.
You may find that there has been a misunderstanding or that your employee simply needs to work on a particular area. At other times you may be able to resolve an issue immediately by improving on the availability of certain tools or resources.
When everything is running smoothly it is just as important to continue with these regular meetings, as they will provide you with the perfect opportunity to discuss goals and upcoming changes or to simply acknowledge how well things are going over a lovely cup of tea!
Having a clear, open and honest line of communication with your Private Staff is your guarantee to a successful working relationship.
