Your first helper - Aiyah!

Chinese Version

So you've hired your first helper and you think the new helper is going to make your life easier.  Think again! Hiring a new helper does not make your life simple or easy. In fact, hiring a new helper will make your life more complicated. That's right, it will make your life more complicated, not less complicated.

Think about it this way: when a company expands from a mom and dad operation to one with five employees, is the operation of the company now more or less complicated?  More complicated. 

When you add helper to your household you are adding complexity.  Let's say your household consists of husband and wife and two children.  Now you have added a fifth person.  In a family where there were only six communication lines, now there are 10.  You've added one person but four communication lines. Draw 4 dots and connect them, now try 5 dots.

That's not all.  Hong Kong people have very busy lifestyles.  Were on the run from early morning until late at night.  When in your busy schedule are you going to find time to train a new helper to do things your way?  She doesn't know how to operate your washing machine or your microwave.  (don't think she is stupid. I bet you don't know how to operate mine either) You need to teach her.  She doesn't know your schedule or the schedule of your children.  You need to teach her.  She doesn't know her way around the neighborhood, where the market is, or how to get home from a strange place.  You have to teach her.  She doesn't know how to cook Chinese food. You need to give her time to learn. All of this takes time and patience, and you probably don't have enough of either one.  So what can you do?

"Take a chill pill Jill", "relax Jack". Cool down, slow down, lower your expectations.  The trouble with many of us is that we have unrealistic expectations.  We expect a helper to walk in the door and make life easier.  It doesn't work that way. Unless you hire someone with many years of experience in Hong Kong, they are not going to make your life easier in the beginning.  We need to moderate our expectations.  We should have high expectations for the long-term, but in the short term we need to be prepared to teach our helpers how to do things our way, and we need to be patient and encouraging while they learn.

Helpers, like all new employees, complicate the life of the employer for a while.  The reason we go through the pain and irritation of hiring somewhat new, is because we hope for long-term productivity gains.  I give up my short-term productivity and peace of mind, because I know that, in the long run, having  good employees will make me more productive.  In the long run, they will make my life and business better.

So when you hire a new helper, be patient.  Don't expect a lot right away.  Take the time to train them to do things your way.  Give them time to learn. (Two months is long enough), and don't get so uptight when they make mistakes.  On my first job out of college, my employer invested US $17,000 to train me for three weeks.  During that three weeks I've made his life more complicated and less productive.  For the first few months after that, I'm sure I made many mistakes.  My boss expected mistakes, but he also expected me to learn from them.

When you hire a new helper you'd need to be prepared for short-term pain, but the trade-off is long-term gain. No pain no gain.

Unless a helper is dishonest or dangerous, don't even consider dismissing them during the first three months.  Give them a chance to learn the job. Can you imagine reporting to a new job at a new office, and out of the blue, your employer walks in two days later and says "I'm sorry you're fired.  Clean out your desk and leave."  He hasn't taken the time to train you or given you time to learn from your mistakes. You've hardly had time to make any mistakes. Boom!  You're gone.  How would you feel?  Was your boss fair? Why would you consider treating your employees this way? Jesus taught us to "treat others the way we want to be treated".

When you hire a new helper, think long term and, in the short term,  take the time to patiently train and encourage them. I know this is Hong Kong, but when it comes to a new helper, there is no instant noodles.

你請的第一位傭工──哎呀！

English Version

你滿心歡喜以為請一位家庭傭工就能讓你展開舒適的生活，但當你再想清楚，這是不是事實？聘請一位家庭傭工不會讓你的生活變得簡單或容易，其實，這會令你的生活更複雜。無錯，是更複雜，不是變得唔複雜。

試想想：當一家公司由兩公婆打理發展到一個老闆有五個伙計，這家公司會是變得更簡單或複雜？當然是後者。 要在家庭中增添幫手，你是增加家庭的複雜性。譬如，你家中有太太、丈夫和一對兒女，傭人就是你新加的第五位成員。以往只有六線溝通，現在加為十線。你加了一個人，卻增加了四條溝通線。你可以試畫四個點，然後將它們連起，現在試下聯起五個點。

還不止如此！香港人生活節奏十分快，由朝忙到晚。在你這樣忙碌的時間表中，你那會有時間訓練一位新人學你的習慣去做事？她不會知道怎樣操作你的洗衣 機或微波爐。（不是她蠢，即如你也不會開我家的電器一樣）你需要教她怎樣使用。她不會知道你的時間表或你孩子的時間表，你需要詳細的告訴她。她不認得這區 的道路或商店，或者怎樣回家，你需要教她怎樣認路搭車。此外，她不會煮中國菜，你需要給她時間慢慢學。

這一切一切都需要時間和耐性，在你繁忙的生活中，這兩樣你有多少？你又可以怎樣做？

「放鬆點！」、「不要動怒，走開一下！」冷靜、放慢速度和降低你的要求。很多人的問題就是心存不切實際的期望，總希望傭人一踏入家門，所有問題都隨 即消失，但事實並非如此。除非你請的是位住港多年，有豐富經驗的傭人，否則，在起初時，她並不會使你的生活變得輕鬆。我們的期望應該要合理，長期可以是有 較高期望，但短期我們則要預備教導她們怎樣以我們的方法做事，而在她們的學習過程當中，我們需要有耐性和給予鼓勵。

傭人就似是新請的僱員，開始時 會增加僱主的麻煩。我們願意行這過程，是因為我們期望長期的得益能彌補這暫時的損失。我願意犧牲暫時的生產力和平穏，就是因為我知道，長期而言，若我有位 得力助手，這會使我的工作更順暢、更成功。 所以，當你聘請一位新的幫手時，請給點耐性，不要一開始就抱太多的期望；你需要時間教導她以你的方式辦事。她們亦需要時間學習(兩個月就足夠)，不要她們 一犯錯就十分緊張。當我剛畢業的時候，我的老闆在我身上投資了17,000美元以訓練我三星期，那段時間我也真的給他帶來麻煩和不便。在頭幾個月，我肯定 我犯過很多錯，我的老闆也預料我會做錯，但他亦預期我會從錯誤中學習。

當你請一位新人時，你要預計會有短暫的痛楚，但長期的得益足以彌補那些損失。No pain no gain.

除非你的傭人不誠實或對 你家庭構成危險，否則不要在首三個月內辭退她。請給她們機會去適應這份工作。試想像，你到新公司履新幾天後，突然間，你的老闆走進來跟你說「你被炒了！請 你執拾好離開。」他還來不及訓練或給你機會學習，你甚至未有時間去犯過什麼錯，你就這樣被解僱！你覺得怎樣？這個老闆是否公平嗎？那你又怎麼會這樣對你的 員工？耶穌教導我們，「若要人怎樣待你，你就要怎樣待人」。 當你決定請一位傭人時，這是一個長遠的計劃，但短期內，你需要花時間和耐性去教導和鼓勵她。我知道香港的文化，但在聘請傭人這事上，永遠沒有「即食麵」。