Thai Staff

[Crazy chef 1]

Hi fellows,all of you who are working here I believe you encounter the same problem like me on a daily base.you are telling/ teaching/ train your staff up to a certain standard but if you are not around it will be done in" their" way which cause problems in quality standards.I don't wanna ask why it is like that because the answer is TIT.my question is how to correct this kind of behavior in a gentle and Thai way though nobody is loosing face.I am not a person who is screaming or shouting to my staff I try to explain ( again and again) how things have to be done.but still they do the same silly mistakes again and if I find out they show attitude as they where right and I am wrong.please no answers like suck them because it is not Europe where I have much of a choice of good labour force.especially one guy in my team he is on one side a great assets to the whole operation and can be extremely strong and quality orientated but than he <snip> it al up with little details which are essential to my business.but if confronted with the issue he shows attitude and is stubborn.how to discipline this kind of employees in a Thai way.

[LivinginKata]

Not really Phuket specific. Moving to General Forum --->

[Somtamnication]

Phew. Full stops and paragraphs, amigo.

Yes, I have trained Thai staff in the hospitality industry for many years. Southern Thais are the most hard headed and refuse to do it the company way.

Fact of life here. They love the money that comes in, but hate earning it.

[Crazy chef 1]

Not really Phuket specific. Moving to General Forum --->

Thanks

[nottocus]

Put them on a warning......final warning.......down the road.

Gotta be better than sucking them (as you said) as you might do in Europe. Get all sorts of nasty diseases that way.

[Crazy chef 1]

Phew. Full stops and paragraphs, amigo.

Yes, I have trained Thai staff in the hospitality industry for many years. Southern Thais are the most hard headed and refuse to do it the company way.

Fact of life here. They love the money that comes in, but hate earning it.

Not really helpful.we are in the same business but I was asking for solutions not just to accept it because it is not acceptable!

[falkan]

it's a reason why thai people hire burmese

[chiangmaibruce]

Can't help you with hospitality-specific advice but if you can manage a few hours then these books might be insightful:

http://www.amazon.com/Working-Thais-Henry-Holmes/dp/9748496503

http://www.amazon.com/Start-stay-Thailand-Stories-enterprising/dp/9748658082

[Roel]

My experience with Thai staff is that the friendly management approach in the end never leads to a structurally more positive attitude or motivates staff.

Sorry to say this but the best way to manipulate attitude and motivation to a certain extend is to hit them where it hurts: in their wallets.

In the last hotel I worked for we cut amounts from the service charge varying from a small percentage to the whole amount depending on the seriousness of the offenses committed. If they receive their payslips from H.R. and they see the deductions you see them start thinking and on many occasions - but not always - it led to an improved performance.

On a more positive note you can implement something like "employee of the month". (Although this is a bit silly if you have a very limited number of staff).

At the end of the month you have a two minute ceremony where the winner receives a 1,000 Baht (or whatever) bonus and photos are taken. Put the pictures on the bulletin board for everyone to see.

[thequietman]

Listen to me ,its simple.

You are wrong, they are right. Your way is not the Thai way and therefore wrong.

It doesn't matter how much experience you have in this field or how successful you are................... you are wrong and they are right.

Now repeat after me............... 'they are right and I am wrong.' (repeat until your brain accepts it)

There are 2 rules when operating a business in Thailand.

Rule No. Uno........................ The Thai is always right.

Rule No. 2 ............................ If the Thai is actually wrong and it has been proved so............................ then refer to rule No. Uno.

Simple really.

[jackr]

Southern Thais are the most hard headed and refuse to do it the company way.

Amen to that, what a bunch of headaballs. Op, if you're in the south and employing Thais, I suggest shutting up shop and moving. Nowt else for it unless you man up and start 'shouting' at them. They do not respect you.

[Jasun]

Financial rewards and penalties. About the best chance of getting a response.

[mrtoad]

I have had had to work with hospitality staff, and in my experience often some of the laziest, incompetent, unreliable and corrupt individuals that I have ever come across.

As a rule, female employees are better than male employees.

Regular meetings, and make sure directions are clear - do not allow them to work to loosely supervised, otherwise they will revert back to doing it their way.

As noted, I generally find be firm and fair - try to be open to communication with them - but never let them think you are a soft touch. Use disciplinary action, warning, suspension and termination if required. Money incentives work - but should be there for performing staff, not as an incentive for non performing staff to do their job. Make sure you have a clear job description.

As mentioned earlier employee of the month is also a good incentive, and we do this - it's fun and the staff like to have a bit of recognition.

Take out the trash regularly.

Work would sometimes be so much easier without employees.

[Cluey]

These problems will be very very hard to solve in an existing workplace, may need to actually fire the lot and start over, pick a couple of weeks to close down at your lowest season and of course you need to compensate everyone per labor dept rules.

I've found it's necessary for the trusted training supervisor to actually do the work in parallel with the trainees, and they absolutely need to be dictatorial and unpopular, best if you have a good cop/bad cop pair working. Also best if you start with no more than three or four at a time, establish a baseline "company culture" to your standard that the next cohort will need to fit in with.

It takes a lot of work, and if your standards are world-class then you'll only want to keep maybe 1 in 20 past their probationary period, and still get rid of your bottom 20% at least every year, probably six months.

And of course you will also have to pay your "tried and true" proven veterans at significantly higher than usual market rates to retain them, and the latter are going up and up if they've got decent English - the other major headache that isn't easy to solve.

[Furbie]

Managing Thais is not inherently more difficult than managing others. The main difference I have found is how quick some Thais will create a toxic work environment by playing the blame the Westerner game.

Here are some of the things I have done/do:

1. Remove problem staff immediately, especially if you learn they are complainers. All they will do is complain to other staff and destroy morale. I cannot stress this enough. Pay them off and send them on their way.

1. Provide absolutely clear direction and clear responsibilities, repeat, repeat and encourage, repeat and encourage again.

1. Understand the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and use intrinsic motivation as a key means of motivation

Extrinsic rewards (better pay, bonuses, etc.) can help, but they generally do not have long lasting effects – remove the reward, remove the motivation.

I have found that intrinsic rewards (especially recognition) to be a great motivator with Thai staff. I have even put pictures on the wall of staff doing their work in the field. Staff that are not on the wall (the less performing staff) are immensely jealous. We start all staff meetings now by pointing out which team has done something particularly well in the past week (group rewards are espcially good for Thais).

Using intrinsic rewards will eventually lead to positive workplace behaviors and people will strive to achieve on their own. If a particular staff does not respond to this, show them the door.

The problem is, using intrinsic motivation takes a great deal more management effort, must be viewed as fair and not favoritism and involves a high degree of two-way communication with staff. Good luck.

[boosta]

Excellent post, but I question your first statement about it not being more difficult in Thailand compared to back home.

For many of our cultures, some more than others, the society "pre-programs" the population with qualities that are in alignment with economic success - the idea that hard work is good in and of itself (and conversely that laziness is inherently evil), the desire to strive to improve one's socio-economic position, enjoying life through possessions and experiences you can buy with cash, removing those experiences that give pleasure without spending cash or even the ability to survive without it (long ago but still underway in Thailand).

Given those cultural wheels having been greased long before the actual work situation, extrinsic rewards properly manipulated are much more effective than they are here - as you point out - and are much easier to manage with - as you point out.

I completely agree with your points about Thailand requiring a more subtle and human-to-human methodology, but it is also true that the cross-cultural issues are a real challenge to many foreigners, and many also find it difficult to be firm, even ruthless when necessary, especially the routine frequent purging-hiring cycles required if you really want a world-class operation.