How to Hire Staff for Your Remote Property

The hiring process is one that takes time and is something that the hiring manager wants to make sure they are doing their due diligence with. As someone that is hiring people you never want to rush into a decision of whom you want to hire. Doing so could be catastrophic and can bring on more trouble.

When you are doing some hiring it is essential to ensure you are putting forth the best efforts. You have to make sure that the team you put in place is one that will do their best and work at their highest capacity, whether you’re around the corner or on the other side of the world.

When you own several homes, it comes as no surprise that you can’t physically be in both places at once. That said, you don’t want to be in a position where the home you are away from is being neglected. And wherever you’re coming from, when you walk through your front door, you don’t want to be welcomed by dust.

Having private staff on retainer for your remote home—or at least an estate manager who can contract services to meet your home’s needs—is essential to maintaining property value, ensuring year-round security, and giving you one less thing to worry about.

Being able to leave with the peace of mind that your family’s safe space is taken care of is 100% dependent on the quality of your staff. The team you have in place needs to be reliable, dependable, and trustworthy. They need to be professionals you can count on to ensure everything is just how you like it to be, especially when you’re away.

To accomplish this, we’ve got a few hiring tips for how to recruit and manage staff, from finding the right fit to some insight into the process, here’s what you need to know:

Finding the Right Candidates for Your Remote Home

Have a clear idea of what you need.

When you are looking for your remote home to be taken care of, identify what will need ongoing maintenance versus sporadic check-ins.

Doing this will show you specifics on things you may not have thought to have in your job posting, which may include experience with the tools and platforms, as well as sensitivity toward your security and confidentiality expectations.

With this accomplished, you’ll be able to narrow your list or better vette the candidates who do apply.

Look in the right places for talent.

There are many websites that are dedicated to helping employers find the right candidates and also help those seeking employment see areas that are all hiring for specific positions they are seeking.

Looking in the best place will help narrow down potential employees in specific areas, including:

  • level of experience
  • primary languages
  • profile keywords

Leveraging these resources also helps you understand what roles are out there, and which one might be best suited for your hiring needs.

Do some research.

Check for business accolades as well as credentials—and don’t forget to run a background check. Doing a keyword search will help to find those with some of the same wording you will be looking for or that you will use in the hiring process. That will help speed along the search for those that are truly interested.

Most importantly, it’s important to know what to look for in a background check.

Have a plan.

Put in place a strategy for holding remote interviews. You want to have a list of questions that are well-rounded that will allow you to see the personality of the interviewee, their background, and the skills they have.

You also want to keep this in mind; when you are hiring staff for your remote property, you want to get the best look and feel for who they are so having questions in place that will let you see all of these things is essential in getting the staff you desire.

Managing Your Remote Staff

Once you’ve chosen the best candidates and have hired a reliable staff, you’ll want to set up a way to communicate expectations, requests, and updates.

Maintaining your remote home is a task that can be done with ease when you have processes in place. Here are some tips to ensure you’re in the best position to manage staff on your remote properties:

Outline your expectations.

Set the expectations you have for your staff immediately and clearly.

One big way to manage the staff at your remote home is making sure the staff members know exactly what you expect from them. You want to let them know how often they should check in with you, if you desire for them to check-in prior to the end of their workday every day or on a weekly basis, and how they should track their time.

Communicating what you want from your staff upfront will allow them to be in the know but also bring synchronization between all of you.

Put it in writing.

Put your communication strategy in writing. Having what you expect from your staff as a whole and also individually is important in the communication process. This is vital in your communication process and your staff will have something to look to as a reference.

Putting together a handbook is also a good place to give details about responsiveness, timing, and other essentials you want to stand out.

Encourage communication.

Keep in contact as much as possible. Have consistent times where you are communicating with your staff but make sure you have a way to always get in touch.

You can engage through phone calls, email, instant messaging, and especially video chat. Your staff is an investment in your lifestyle and encouraging good performance and collaborative communication will not only build rapport but loyalty, and will minimize turnover rate.

Be transparent with your staff.

You will be viewed as their leader and with that power comes significant responsibility. Set an example through diligence, compassion, and consistency.

You will, of course, want your staff to be professional while working in your remote home so you should always be open and honest with them. This will build a great team culture and will give you the confidence of knowing your staff will work well while you are away.

Consult with Private Staff Group

You want to make sure you are doing all you can to ensure you have a great staff that will work well with you and for you. We here at Private Staff Group have all the tools in place to help you get the best private staff you need to ensure your remote home is well taken care of.

You don’t want to have your home in a state that you aren’t pleased with and we don’t want that for you. Allow us to help you get the right staff in place, so you can rest assured that your home away from home is always the way you want it to be!

Summer’s Coming – Time To Assess Your Summer Household Staffing Needs

With summer soon approaching, it’s time to begin preparing your summer home for use and enjoyment. Some individuals and families have domestic staff who remain at both their winter and summer homes year around. Others have employees who travel wherever they are living at the time, and bring in additional part-time staff to supplement their core team as needed. In either case, now is the time to evaluate your household staffing needs.

If you can, speaking with household staff members provides valuable insight into what kind of support you will really need at your other home. You may not need full staff and some of the tasks required may be done remotely, or with the assistance of a year-round Caretaker or Property Manager working in conjunction with members of your year-round staff.

Using the support system you already have in place is a great starting point. Many Estate Managers network with other Estate Managers, vendors and support staff for project-based work such as landscaping, pool and/or tennis court maintenance and catering for events.

Weekend and traveling Nannies will often work on a contracted basis for several weeks, as will Housekeepers and Chefs. A year-round Caretaker, or, depending on the size of the property, Domestic Couple may be a great way to maintain dedicated household staff who can train and manage other domestic staff, as well as work with vendors, and monitor your home in your absence.

During particularly tough winters or after major storms, it may be wise to send out a trusted advisor to assess damages to the home and come up with a plan to make repairs and adjustments according to your budget. Keeping an open line of communication between your remote staff, the staff in your primary residence and any contractors and vendors is crucial to maintaining organization and efficiency.

Household staff considerations with Coronavirus include:

  • Regular testing of staffers (if possible)
  • Personal protective gear: gloves and masks
  • Wiping down surfaces, phones, door knobs, the kitchen and bathroom appliances, etc.
  • If you have a Live IN option for staff?
  • Consult other authorities and resources for home sanitizing advice

In order to have household staff in place, trained and prepared by Memorial Day weekend, contacting agencies as early as early April might be appropriate. While short-term domestic help is available, finding qualified individuals can take time.

About Private Staff Group

Private Staff Group presents you with every possible best-fit candidate for your position. Whether you are preparing to staff your summer home or planning for the future, Private Staff Group offers a guarantee period with all placements. Should the candidate leave your employment within 90 days for any reason, we will replace them at no additional charge. To learn more about what we can do we invite you to contact us today.