You’ve managed to acquire an excellent staff, and your household is running like a well-oiled machine behind the scenes, as it should be. The last thing you want to do is lose any of the cogs in that machine because it will throw everything off. In order to keep all of your talented staff, you should be aware of the factors that make for a successful employer-employee relationship.
Mutual Respect
The very best employer-employee relationships are based on mutual respect. Everything stems from that foundation. It takes skill, experience, and commitment to create a well-ordered household—the staff who make that a reality are undoubtedly deserving of respect.
Do What You Say, You Will
Employees must be able to trust their employers to follow through on whatever they say they will do. They base future actions, plans, and schedules on that trust. It could cause significant inconvenience to the household if your staff cannot count on you to deliver on your promises. And if it happens too often, you may find that your best employees are not willing to continue in your service.
Transparency/communication
Miscommunication can cause far more – and more serious – problems than many people realize. Your staff will try their very hardest to fulfill your expectations to the best of their ability, but first, they must clearly understand exactly what those expectations are. Schedules, responsibilities, and more must be thoroughly discussed until everyone is certain that they are on the same page.
Create Boundaries
There are more similarities between office relationships and domestic ones than many people might realize, though they sometimes manifest themselves differently. Each employer must decide what type of boundaries they feel most comfortable with, but it’s also important to make sure employees find them acceptable, as well.
Part of this regards social boundaries, which is acceptable in the way of behavior and conversation. That is true of office relationships, too, but the boundaries can be quite different. And in domestic relationships, there is often also a matter of physical boundaries.
In a household, for instance, an employer may want the staff to be visible as little as possible when the family is at home, and that’s perfectly acceptable. Employers are certainly allowed to visit the staff areas as often as necessary, as well. But the staff must feel like their own quarters are their own homes, with all the safety and privacy that entails.
Gratitude
There is not much better than having a calm, well-managed home to return to. It can be a sanctuary with great service. So it is something to be appreciated and to be grateful for. If you have managed to assemble a staff who can create this environment for you, then they will be grateful, as well, if you make a point of letting them know you realize that your and your family’s comfort is a result of their efforts.
A household where the employer has good relationships with all of the staff is a happy one, and one worth striving for. Paying careful attention to these five factors will go a long way toward helping you achieve that.