Apr

The Top 5 Tips for Living With Carers – Tip #2 Find Good Carers (part2)

By gbaker

Tip #2 – Find Good Carers (Part2)

Always give new employees a trial period of at least 1 month
Never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, let somebody start without building a trial period into the contract. It is pretty likely that at some point you will employ somebody only to find they just don’t work. You might realise immediately or maybe after a few weeks, but if this happens you must ‘nip it in the bud’ and not let it drag out.

By giving people a trial period, it gives both you and them the right to say “this isn’t working” and walk away without any hassle. It is hard to tell somebody that, but you will have to learn to do it and it is only fair on them to do so. You may well be worried about hurting their feelings, but at the end of the day, it’s a job, they are working for you and must accept it as such.

When necessary, remind applicants you are recruiting for a paid job, not charity work

If people profess to want to be in your employment solely, or even partially, as a means to ‘help you’, ‘help people like you’ or ‘give something back’ I’d be wary of employing them for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the relationship has to remain at its heart a business transaction; emotion should not come into it. If you think that seems cold hearted, try this on for size: you are not a charity and your employees work for cold, hard, cash, not warm fuzzy feelings. Sound depressing? Well it’s true!

Why should you remember that? -Because you should never feel indebted to your employees.

Why not? -Because if you do you lose control of them and subsequently your life!

This isn’t to say your employees are not ‘allowed’ to get a sense of fulfilment out of working for you; it’s great if they do. BUT, it should not be the reason they work for you. This is because they might adopt the attitude that you should ‘be grateful’ for their help and start making it awkward for you to, for instance, ask them to take their holiday on a different date, or stop doing something a certain way.

The only exceptions are when an employee really goes out of their way to help you, then it’s important you show gratitude just like you would with anyone else, but this should never be used as ‘emotional leverage’ when it comes to issues relating to the job. Any favours they do you should be on the understanding that they are doing it for you as a friend and it won’t interfere with work.

The second problem with ‘philanthropic’ applicants is oftentimes they are just trying to look good. These people tend to be a bit prejudiced and generally don’t get what the job is about. They can still be well meaning, but for the most part probably wouldn’t make good PAs.

I once interviewed a very well meaning chap who was not only desperate to ‘help me’ but adamant he was going to do all the cooking and cleaning for my mum (who was at the interview) and just wouldn’t listen when I tried to explain he was working for me not her. I also interviewed a very kind lady who at first explained to my mum she was going to look after me ‘like I was her own child’, but then changed tack to ‘Oh no, obviously I will ignore her completely, you are my boss!’ once she had stayed quiet long enough to realise I could speak. Whilst I’m sure these two people would have been very committed, between them they showed three major flaws.

Firstly, neither can have read the job description which came with their application form, because if they had they would know not only could I speak, but I would be their boss. Secondly, the man showed an inability to listen to what he was hearing, even allowing for the fact that interviews are a stressful situation, this problem could well get in the way if I had employed him. Finally, the way the lady changed tack so abruptly suggests a degree of insincerity. Again, I understand interviews are stressful, but it is important employees admit to their mistakes. If she had said “Oh I’m sorry, I misinterpreted the situation because I’ve been very busy and haven’t had time to read the job description”, although it would have been a lame excuse, at least it would have meant her acknowledging her mistake, and besides, we all want to present ourselves in the best light at an interview, so a little ‘Wight lie’ such as that is forgivable.

When I ask myself why those two people put such an emphasis on wanting to ‘help me’ I come up with one answer: they really needed the job, were trying too hard and in doing so missed the point. It makes me a bit sad really because if they were able to better understand the situation, they may well have been very good. Unfortunately, you will find trying to train people like that is much more hassle than it is worth, often it doesn’t work and even if it does it means making do with a below par PA, and therefore a reduced quality of life, until they come up to scratch.

Ok, I think that’s enough about interviews, watch out for Tip #3 tomorrow…

George

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