中文

Your first helper -- Aiyah!

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. The level of complexity is much higher.

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.  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?

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.