How to keep you staff ? How much to start paying for easy office job and when to raise salary ?

[BsBs]

Hello,

 

Do you have any successful management to share to keep your staff ? Someone with or without degree for easy office job.

 

How much do you pay at first ? And what trick do you use to keep them coming and motivated ?

Raise salary every few months ? Bonus every few months if they do not quit ?

Only yearly bonus (not a good idea in my opinion Thai hardly think about what will happen next year) ?

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Savilesghost]

The easiest way but most short sighted way to keep staff is more money or better T&Cs but these alone will not buy loyalty or a good work ethic from personnel, if some one wants to leave sincerly,  very little you can do about it 

 

For loyalty to a company, people must want to work there, thats the only way you will keep people, its not just how much you pay someone. by your remarks, ie your last sentence gives some insight as to why you cant keep staff, ie "why cant Thai" 

 

Year end bonus is a great idea, and the reason bring addtional expediture for new year holidays etc, " the 13th cheque" concept is an excellent one, as the employer doesnt even fund it, the employee does, ie money is held for the employee every month before tax and given back to employee as a 13th cheque/bonus 

Edited January 20, 2017 by Savilesghost

[kannot]

nothing  you  do  will make  them  stay  if  they  want  to  leave, let  them go and keep  looking for  new  is  the  only  way

[TravelerEastWest]

Money is important as is sanook and having enough staff that they can have friends at work.

[Jedsada3]

In Senegal, after bad experience with 2 maids who didn't come back after getting their salary (2 weeks salary), I found a new one who accepted to be paid weekly but with one week delay. Like that, if she didn't come back when she got money, she lost one week salary.
I used to give her some extra money for extra work and for New Year.

I always denied an advance on salary...

She stayed at my service almost 3 years.

[dodojero]

A high salary is good but not the main reason to get good staff. Most important is a good atmosphere at your working place. Show your staff your expectations and be a  good example. If possible increase salary every year (according to their working performance). Show loyalty and respect to your staff and you will get it back in the same way. 

[NoshowJones]

10 hours ago, Savilesghost said:

The easiest way but most short sighted way to keep staff is more money or better T&Cs but these alone will not buy loyalty or a good work ethic from personnel, if some one wants to leave sincerly,  very little you can do about it 

 

For loyalty to a company, people must want to work there, thats the only way you will keep people, its not just how much you pay someone. by your remarks, ie your last sentence gives some insight as to why you cant keep staff, ie "why cant Thai" 

 

Year end bonus is a great idea, and the reason bring addtional expediture for new year holidays etc, " the 13th cheque" concept is an excellent one, as the employer doesnt even fund it, the employee does, ie money is held for the employee every month before tax and given back to employee as a 13th cheque/bonus 

Have I missed something? Where did the OP say "why can't Thai"?

[ThaiWai]

Nothing will make them stay.  They complain when is quiet that they are bored.  The complain when it's busy that they are tired.  And they all have a place to go back to where they can sleep on a floor for free so they don't even care about money.  And loyalty is not existent here.  The concept of future, personal development or saving are also non-concerns. If you have a business that requires Thai staff you will be on a never ending circle of hiring and training.  My GF can't understand how I retired at 45 and wants to "retire" also.  I said it's easy.  Just work like a dog for 23 years straight for a boss who hates you and save every penny you can.  That's what I did.  Her reply naturally was "F that".  

Edited January 21, 2017 by ThaiWai

[CGW]

When I was working I wanted first and foremost a good salary, I expected to be treated well & I needed to enjoy my work, is that now what everybody wants?

[Sooo Upto Me]

Attendance Bonus & take them out to a nice Thai restaurant now & again.

[TravelerEastWest]

1 hour ago, Sooo Upto Me said:

Attendance Bonus & take them out to a nice Thai restaurant now & again.

 

 

Very Good ideas

 

I do the attendance bonus but prefer onsite parties as we have a nice location and can easily order good food.

 

 

[Sooo Upto Me]

11 minutes ago, TravelerEastWest said:

 

 

Very Good ideas

 

I do the attendance bonus but prefer onsite parties as we have a nice location and can easily order good food.

 

 

 

Yes I did own a popular hair salon business in Pattaya for 7 yrs. An those 2 things did work quite well with most of the girls that worked there.

It also helps if they bond well with each other, no egos & same sort of age early 20's. That's how my gf boss found it anyway.

[BsBs]

Please, I am not retarded, and there is nothing that has been said here that I don't know already.

 

I want to know EXACTLY how much to pay from the first month, and when to raise the salary, when to give bonus, etc...

 

Thank you.

[NiwPix]

Please, I am not retarded, and there is nothing that has been said here that I don't know already.
 
I want to know EXACTLY how much to pay from the first month, and when to raise the salary, when to give bonus, etc...
 
Thank you.

Then I would've expected you to be smart enough to mention what city or area you are in. Salaries range depending on region ( in case you didn't know ).

[Jedsada3]

From reading TV I noticed that salaries depend of where you live or where you have the business) in Thailand.
As far as I remember, Bangkok is more expensive than elsewhere.

 

[ThaiWai]

4 hours ago, CGW said:

When I was working I wanted first and foremost a good salary, I expected to be treated well & I needed to enjoy my work, is that now what everybody wants?

 

Actually statistically (in countries where people actually give a crap) polls indicate that recognition is the number one motivator ahead of salary and the things you mentioned.  I took that to heart and made sure to personally thank my staff for jobs well done.   I certainly appreciated it when my superiors pulled me aside to do the same thing.

[CGW]

26 minutes ago, ThaiWai said:

 

   I certainly appreciated it when my superiors pulled me aside to do the same thing.

I agree we all appreciate being appreciated! But the main purpose off working is too make money and all the recognition in the world doesn't pay the bills, I would lump this under being "treated well".

I'm awfully suspect of "polls" they can be twisted very easily, I would suspect the people being asked in this instance were well paid?

[ThaiWai]

13 minutes ago, CGW said:

I agree we all appreciate being appreciated! But the main purpose off working is too make money and all the recognition in the world doesn't pay the bills, I would lump this under being "treated well".

I'm awfully suspect of "polls" they can be twisted very easily, I would suspect the people being asked in this instance were well paid?

 

I certainly see your point. My post though was accurate in that, again, statistically, recognition is the number one motivator.  I too am suspect of all statistics as it seems they can can be manipulated to say anything.  Money is important to all of us.  Not important, but critical to sustaining our lifestyles but should not be the most important thing considering the amount of time we spend at work.  Other satisfiers must be calculated.  I think what I am trying to say is that when you need an employee to do "extra" and giving him or her more money is beyond your ability, the employee will often go the extra mile for a superior who actually appreciates their efforts.  I don't need statistics to confirm this for me as my staff routinely performed at a higher level only because of my relationship with them.  I obviously can't speak to your personal experiences as a manager.  I worked in an environment where good relationships with my staff actually saved lives and I can assure you with the highest certainty that there are things more important than money.

Edited January 21, 2017 by ThaiWai

[janejira]

-2-5 % raise each year depending on attendance and performance

-yearly bonus (a lot of employees will stick out the year just for the bonus)

-benefits-- for example, medical expenses- reimburse X amount of Baht per year for out patient treatment (of course you would need a medical certificate and original receipt for this)

-small things- cake on birthdays and a small token gift (e.g., movie tickets, 200 THB Starbucks gift card, etc)

 

No idea for salary. Degree holders would probably start out higher than non-degree holders.

Maybe 11,000 -15,000 THB / month not including OT

 

[Steiner]

For a simple admin job we start them on 11k plus a performance related bonus. Depends on what they know, however you have to test what they tell you they actually know, most lie about their abilities and need to be trained.
'You know excel?'
'Oh yes.'

Day one: 'open a spreadsheet.'

'Arai na?!?'

 

The yearly bonus means they will leave in January, without it, they simply disappear at will.
Thai staff are a nightmare, they seem to be OK for the first month or two, then they zone out and productivity tails off.

Their productivity is ridiculously low when compared to the west.

You have to give them dumb sheets for everything and don't expect that they will ever work on their own initiative, constant prodding to complete tasks is needed.

They will steal any data you have and sell it, this may even be their reason to work with you if you look successful. So secure all data, them being placed in your company by a competitor is not unheard of.

Whatever you tell them to do they will look at their Thai superior for confirmation. Number of times I've said 'Why are you looking at her? I told you what I need!'

 

They leave at will because they can walk into jobs instantly.
I once sacked 9 of them in a single day, 5 had jobs the next day before noon,  2 the day after that, 1 was pregnant and was stopping work anyway, and the other just took a sabbatical.

 

If you can afford it, and have enough staff, a good office manager is essential, but they don't come cheap are are often head hunted.
Re keeping them, that's so difficult. we've tried staff weekends, meals out each week, incentives, but first thing you say that they don't like they'll disappear. That may include asking them to do their job properly or god forbid putting their freaking phone down!

 

Remember you're talking about a people who say we 'think too much.'

[BsBs]

So it seems that the way Thai owners / managers treat their staff is the correct one ! Use them as much as you can and then tell them to leave or do easy things to push them to leave.

 

 

[HerbalEd]

23 hours ago, BsBs said:

Please, I am not retarded, and there is nothing that has been said here that I don't know already.

 

I want to know EXACTLY how much to pay from the first month, and when to raise the salary, when to give bonus, etc...

 

Thank you.

Not retarded? Then why not reveal EXACTLY what kind of work your employees will be doing, and where? Don't you know that different jobs and skills receive different salaries? And that salaries for the same job vary according to the area/city?

Edited January 22, 2017 by HerbalEd

[JWNY]

I would also like to ask, what are factors for people to move.

 

- Is it solely for money? Let's say 20% increment. Would they consider to stay if we were able to match the offer?

 

- Is it for personal development? Some people move on if they feel they are not growing in their current company

 

I think in Asia, people move around after an average of 3-5 years. I also think it is harder to leave the MNCs compared to SMEs (if money is the only motivation)

[Savilesghost]

3 hours ago, BsBs said:

So it seems that the way Thai owners / managers treat their staff is the correct one ! Use them as much as you can and then tell them to leave or do easy things to push them to leave.

 

 

But one suspects your not Thai so that dymamic will not work for you, and you will end up of a DOL complaint, given some of your dismissive resposes you have given to date in this thread, maybe the reason they are leaving is your attitude ? 

[lkn]

On 1/22/2017 at 0:47 PM, Steiner said:

For a simple admin job we start them on 11k plus a performance related bonus. Depends on what they know, however you have to test what they tell you they actually know, most lie about their abilities and need to be trained.
'You know excel?' […]

I don’t know how the performance bonus works, or where in the country you are, but this sounds extremely low.

 

I am in Chiang Mai where salaries are lower than Bangkok, but 11,000 baht/month is not going to get you anyone good, and certainly not for an admin job that might involve spreadsheet work.

[Steiner]

2 hours ago, lkn said:

I don’t know how the performance bonus works, or where in the country you are, but this sounds extremely low.

 

I am in Chiang Mai where salaries are lower than Bangkok, but 11,000 baht/month is not going to get you anyone good, and certainly not for an admin job that might involve spreadsheet work.

I did say 'we start them on 11k'

Depends on what they know and their experience. 

Also they have different jobs,  some would never see a spreadsheet, however spreadsheets aren't exactly rocket science,  enter X there and hit tab!  I see western school kids use them. 

It's not as if I ask them to do the formulas. 

You actually think inputting data to a spreadsheet is high level work? 

 

Anyway I've found very few over the years who work well at any level. 

Given all walks of life a shot, from those that didn't finish school to' graduates' 

Almost all have disappointed equally. 

When they all have to work from dumb guides like the people who build BK and McDonald's burgers I'm not going to be paying them high salaries! 

 

I'd kill for one of the teams I had in the UK with perfect Thai,  but then I'd need to pay 20 monkeys to pick bugs off each other to facilitate the WP's. 

[lkn]

2 hours ago, Steiner said:

I did say 'we start them on 11k'

[…]

You actually think inputting data to a spreadsheet is high level work? 

 

Anyway I've found very few over the years who work well at any level. 

Given all walks of life a shot, from those that didn't finish school to' graduates'  

Graduates from where?

 

As you probably know, education in Thailand is poor, so poor that the World Bank found that one third of 15 year olds were functionally illiterate.

 

Good education can be had, but you have to pay for it, and it does not come cheap.

 

So those with good education do not work for 11,000 baht/month because 1) they are in high demand, and 2) it would just not make sense to spend money on a good education if you’re going to end up earning the same as, or even less than, the cleaning lady.

 

Edited January 23, 2017 by lkn

[CantSpell]

On 1/22/2017 at 7:38 PM, JWNY said:

I would also like to ask, what are factors for people to move.

 

- Is it solely for money? Let's say 20% increment. Would they consider to stay if we were able to match the offer?

 

- Is it for personal development? Some people move on if they feel they are not growing in their current company

 

I think in Asia, people move around after an average of 3-5 years. I also think it is harder to leave the MNCs compared to SMEs (if money is the only motivation)

Majority will change job after 1 or 2 years in some businesses..

 

To build a CV...

Get a job title, use it for a year, resign, apply to next job up the ladder: as a promotion..

 

And yes, OP,  when asking very specific question, one should give specific details, what office job: factory, hotel, boiler room, insurance, bank, all different salary scale depending on the job involved..

[Steiner]

On 1/23/2017 at 11:02 PM, lkn said:

Graduates from where?

 

As you probably know, education in Thailand is poor, so poor that the World Bank found that one third of 15 year olds were functionally illiterate.

 

Good education can be had, but you have to pay for it, and it does not come cheap.

 

So those with good education do not work for 11,000 baht/month because 1) they are in high demand, and 2) it would just not make sense to spend money on a good education if you’re going to end up earning the same as, or even less than, the cleaning lady.

 

You appear to have trouble with reading,  or perhaps you just want to make your point no matter what people say. 

Once again,  and sorry but I don't have any crayons to make this in big letters for you,  we start them on 11k, that's the base for the lowest workers.

Sorry but with your level of information assimilation,  no need to apply,  you wouldn't get in. 

[JWNY]

On 27 January, 2017 at 6:20 PM, CantSpell said:

Majority will change job after 1 or 2 years in some businesses..

 

To build a CV...

Get a job title, use it for a year, resign, apply to next job up the ladder: as a promotion..

 

I see. thanks for sharing