How to Train your Helper Efficiently?

Regardless of the helper’s background, your helper is just like other people who deserve to be respected, come what may. After becoming their boss, one should train and manage the maids and helpers just like one likes to be treated by their own boss. Treating your maid fairly will render tangible and intangible benefits. It is always worth it to make their employment a happy and fair one. People often spend loads of money just hiring maids and domestic helpers in Hong Kong. By changing them frequently, it is evident that the Immigration department will not easily aid your needs when you apply work permit for new maids and helpers off and on.

Training Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong

A fair amount of training and management is required after hiring a maid or a domestic helper in Hong Kong.

1. If a maid is looking after your baby, it is going to take some time for the helper to get used to your baby’s habits as well as the baby to get used to her. Let the baby get used to the new maid. Babies might not sleep well at first or even experience anxiety but that is a given with any new maid at home.

2. If your maid is hired to take care of your parents, they might try to stick to old maid since they might have got used to the old maid. Patience is the key here.

3. Spend some time and effort on training the new maid or domestic helper to use household tools and appliances and set expectations accordingly. When you interview the maid, you need to convey expectations and watch their responses.

4. After hiring, write the routine list and your expectations and keep it fixed to the wall to let her see from time to time. She might forget some of them, so this ploy can work untill the time she gets used to the chores. Translate your expectations in their mother tongue if she does not understand your language very well.

5. Your maid agency would have imparted some training to the maid, hence you need to know the skill set of your helper and even see it practically. One would have to still train your maid based on your house rules and even on member habits. Also, maid agencies use different ideas to train maids to get easily fit into working environments.

6. Maids and helpers should be allowed for 7 to 8 hours to sleep, and adequate food to eat for her optimal health.

7. Train the helpers on first aid kits and the right ointments and medication to take care of the family members. Give them a few days to get accustomed to the different types of medication, even the specific pills, if they are to be given to the elders in the house on a timely basis.

8. Maids and domestic helpers who are hired to cook, need to align their cooking styles with that of the household and for that, the employers need to spend some time outlining the food interests of each of the family members, along with their allergies to different food substances.

9. Set a timetable along with tasks and expectations and let her take initiative on some of them and their timings. This will give the helper adequate importance and they will apply their energies as required.

10. Clarify on the frequency of additional chores that you want to be done by your maid, especially clean the kitchen and toilet, and window washing. Even get a list of additional chores you want to be done beforehand and do not force that upon them if you have not specified them in the first place. Be specific with the tasks and instructions so that they follow it to the tee.

11. Although some rules are unsaid in a home, your maid or helper might come from a different background and culture. So be sure to spell out all the house rules to him or her, such as not to open closed doors and knock on them first before asking permission for entering a room. You can even limit calls through the home fixed line. Or you might ask her to switch off or keep their phones on silent when the baby is sleeping 1

2. Personal preferences vary and the same task can be done differently by different people and might take a different amount of time. If you prefer some tasks done through a process and a method, convey the same to them. Do not get impatient and irritated if they do it in their own way. Communicate your preferences to your maid and get them to do it through a method that completes the task efficiently.

13. Give consistent and constructive feedback on all the tasks done by the maid or helper so that they know if they have done a good job.

14. Reward your maid or helper for the good work done, in small ways, or incentives like an off for a day or with a small gift that they need.

15. Do not be over-dependent on the helper for each of the trivial tasks. Let each member of the family do some or the other chore while leaving the main chores for the helper. Let all members participate in the household chores equally based on their own time.

16. If you do not like your maid or the work done, do not resort to abusive behavior verbally or physically, try to deal with them in patience or you might get into trouble with the law.

Ending note

A happy maid will always try to get things done efficiently and will even go out of the way to help you and clean the house or look after your baby. A healthy employer-employee relationship and good training are crucial in this regard, which starts with proper communication and reasonable expectations.