In the last 3 years since our first child was born, we have burned through 13 helpers. We treat them well, pay them above average, give them little bonuses during the month so they can buy clothes, or sometimes my wife even will purchase some Avon undies for them because they will not ordinarily shop anywhere other than Unitop. We treat them like part of the family. Everything goes fine for awhile, then just like a suicide bomber they pull their rip cord and they blow up and go home. We have tried getting them from different places to see if maybe that is the problem, but we just have bad luck it seems. Then we hear of helpers that work for Tsinoys. They make them wear uniforms, eat their own food (bulad, etc) they have their own plates, cups, and utensils as they are not allowed to use the ones the family uses, and work for 1,500php a month. They stay at these jobs for years. How do you keep a helper happy and productive? We are at our wit's end. By the time our kids are 18 we are on track to have 70 helpers at this rate! Any ideas would be appreciated!
Age matters (I believe) Young helpers don't yet appreciate how tough life is probably going to be for them. And they have all those hormones to deal with. And their social life is sooo important. You didn't say how old your helpers were, but I suspect that older helpers will tend to be more stable. They will better appreciate your kindnesses because they know your generosity is to be cherished, not abandoned. As I think about my friends who employ helpers, I realize that the older helpers have been with them for years. The younger ones are constantly coming and going.
I wish I knew the answer. My latest helper is useless and I would have fired her at the beginning of the month but didn't have the heart to before the holidays. She was the third in 2 years.
Bebasguy has a good point with the age and social live issue, i believe. We don't have a in-house as I believe that Rechel should be able to take care of 3 kids (10,11,40) who are full day in school or diving or in the office. We have a 40 + year old helper twice a week for washing and cleaning. Gary (named by the kids after the not so fast snail of Spongebob Squarepants) does a steady reliable job and fulfills my requirements of being invisible but getting things done. Since she works for us she did not show up 2 times but came the next day (of course no load the actual working day) to excuse herself, so fair enough. A typical attitude here is certainly that many live the life for today and don't think about tomorrow. Had an interesting chat the other day with a mid-20 girl who quit her job Robinsons because it is to cold there, and now she's sad as she does not have the funds to visit her family for Christmas. well it is hard to argue about that, isn't it?
Our current situation is a full time live-in that gets progressively worse. She has ben that way since she bought her cell phone. She was very good until the cell phone came into the picture. I can keep a handle on her when I am home but I have been out of town for most of the last 3 months so she is taking advantage of my absence. We also have a helper that lives in the subdivision that will come day or night to help with the kids when my wife needs a break. We have a three year old that is very active and an infant born on November 10th and he literally is sucking the energy out of my wife. My business is almost completed in Manila so I will be home soon and we will probably send the texter home for Christmas and tell her to wait for us to recall her.
that's the way to go after some txt the first few days when she "want" to come back, she will run out of load, the cell ends up in the pawnshop 2 days later and you never hear of her again... cheers Rhoody
The wife sent her home in October for not coming back on time from a trip home to vote. She cursed the wife and spoke of Karma on her way out the door. She went home got an A** chewing from her mama and then her cat bit her leg causing an infection. Being superstitious she figured that cat biting her was her Karma and begged to come back. Our daughter missed her so we let her come back and shortly she went into a downward slide again. So she will go home for a long Christmas vacation when I get home in a few days.
You need an older yaya as they say here, we have one 2 years and yes they live only one day but show them respect and demand respect and pay them above average and put the fear of any problem you will send them home. get an nbi report and try to teach them life can be better if they stay with you. it is a hit or miss but you can change their life and make yours better as well.
Our extra helper that does not live with us is 28 with a daughter and pretty good. We once had a yaya in her late 40's (older than both of us)and found she was domineering, always telling the wife how to raise our daughter, and unable to take correction. She successfully managed to overfeed our daughter formula when my wife happened to be busy (legitimately) and at 6 months she turned down the breast milk because the bottle flows faster and was more desirable. We were extremely upset to say the least and she hit the road. Now we only hire yaya / helpers that are younger than my wife. It is a respect thing. We used to be under the impression that the Tsinoy employers put their helpers in uniform as a status symbol, but now believe part of the strategy is to remind them of their position in the family. The next live-in will have a uniform.. not a french maid uniform, but scrubs that she will wear while on duty including trips to town. I would liken it to breaking a horse. If you can maintain the alpha role you have control. The Chinese have the secret to keeping yayas in line. Maybe it is an "Ancient Chines Secret"!
