6 Vital Steps to Onboard New Offsite Staff
As a Director of Residence, Chief of Staff or multi-property Estate Manager, many of you know how hard it is to control what goes on in your own schedule, let alone meet with and train new staff – not to mention create a global world class team. When you throw in the challenges of: various time zones, language and cultural barriers, and lack of proper onboarding procedures in a household that may have been mismanaged by previous staff—this all makes hiring and onboarding abroad a challenge of colossal proportions.
Just a few years ago, I went through the process of hiring a new house manager/housekeeper for a UK property that I was barely familiar with, for a principal I barely knew.
On my first visit to the property, I discovered that no one had organized, properly cleaned or stocked the pantries in years (expired products filled every cabinet in this 6,000-sf high-tech apartment).
Not to mention, the property’s computer and staff cell phones were about to be turned over to my new recruit, had never been synced, and did not contain updated contractor information. (Somehow these ended up on the previous house manager’s personal devices). On top of that, finding the tech and entertainment account usernames and passcodes was a true test of patience, which took endless hours to sort.
My biggest fear was onboarding my new employee into a house that was not properly set up, with technology that would hinder onboarding. These challenges, without a doubt, were a recipe for disaster. I quickly understood that my recruiting team’s efforts to find, vet and screen my new hire would all be for naught if she didn’t succeed in this epic-fail scenario.
Thankfully my local household staff had recently completed a household inventory at the main residence and I had numerous lists of the principal’s favorite products at my fingertips. This painted enough of a picture for me to understand and prepare their other properties. I jumped on a plane and spent one week getting the newest property ready.
But, beyond the house preparation, I lacked proper protocol and procedures to hand over the written service and communications expectations. And, par for the course, the principal was due to visit that property within weeks.
If you’re facing these same challenges while trying to onboard new off-site staff, these are the steps I recommend to right the ship. These will allow you to onboard your new staff so they have the opportunity to do their best work and feel supported.
Here are the vital steps needed:
Create an orientation and onboarding program (for all of your staff, no matter where they are).
Develop protocol and procedures for absolutely everything. Complete your household inventories so you’ll better understand purchasing patterns and preferred household products.
Utilize technology.
Develop an online project management system to share protocol, track progress and stay connected.
Provide in-person training.
Fly them to the main residence for orientation, training and team collaborations and then visit their property soon after they get familiar with the house and the principal.
Create a success plan and track progress.
Create a list of goals, and stay focused on accountability and results. Provide extra training where needed.
Provide tech support and IT training.
Provide proper tech devices. It’s exciting to see all of your new products arrive, only to quickly realize that, as a new staff member, you’re now tasked with setting up email accounts, syncing devices and logging onto accounts and apps with critical contact information – all while you’re fumbling to get settled.
Stay connected.
After initial onboarding, schedule weekly sessions. In between meetings, video record feedback so they can hear tone and revisit the video-instructions when needed.
With these steps, you’ll foster longer-term and happier employees who feel valued and successful when everyone has the same tools and opportunities to succeed.
Get started now with developing your protocols, systems and onboarding procedures! (And let me know if I can provide templates to help any step of the way).
