I get a lot of emails and messages like the one I’m sharing with you today. This one is from Kathleen.
She’s one of the hundreds of thousands of business owners who found amazing Filipino workers through Onlinejobs.ph. People who just want to work. People who, if given the opportunity, would do their best and help your business grow.
I just wanted to let you know that I do appreciate all of these newsletters with excellent information. I’m working with an international Filipino, India, UK and other countries team. the core of my day-to-day operations are Filipinos I have been using your service for the past six years and here I am still in bed and my staff have been working furiously for the past 3 hours.
One thing that is a constant struggle with the good workers in the Philippines is that they want to please you so much that they would rather work quietly than be honest about an illness or technical problem or something they do not fully understand. I make it clear to them after the first few months of proven work that they can most times have paid time off if they will only discuss the issue with me. The best way to communicate I have found, is private Skype or Goodgle chat, because as you have said in earlier posts, they tend to be very shy about video, any kind of group, discussion or even phone calls.
I emphasize that honesty is more important to me than anything. Yet with some workers even years later still struggle with the fear of losing their jobs, (or embarrassed about the chicken and dog noises in the background), and so I have to be very pushy about telling them to take the time off they need. Sometimes I have to offer to help them directly with a technical issue that they are trying to hide because they don’t have the money to replace that particular piece of equipment. Maybe I specify that a bonus they might otherwise have not expected must be spent for this specific issue. Putting it as a must-spend bonus helps them save face about their jobs and is better than offering to pay for it directly.
My Filipino workforce is the primary reason I have been able to stay profitable for the past six years!
Kathleen Chiras
Association manager, National Buyers Agents Association
Same thing with my OFS team. Most of them rarely take time off. When they do take time off, they find ways to make up for it by working on the weekends, even when we tell them they don’t need to.
Also, there’s something really satisfying about seeing things get done on our Basecamp overnight. I know my business is taken care of even when I’m sick or on vacation or I just don’t feel like working that day.
If you haven’t hire an OFS yet go to Onlinejobs.ph and post a job today. Or, reply and let me know what’s holding you back from hiring someone.
John