How do you get honest staff?

[Terry]

There’s nowt as strange as folk…………..
Over the years, about 7 - 8, that we have been open, Mrs.T and I have struggled to build up our business at the Lodge. It has involved me very often having to be working away from Hua Hin to get the ‘building funds’ and finance its construction. So it’s not been an easy ride for the family.
I’m pleased to say that this ‘low season’ has been the best ever – in that we have been 100% profitable. That is to say, the income has exceeded the outgoings for the whole season for the first time. The past ‘high seasons’ have improved every year and I have no reason to doubt it will be so this year, considering all the inquiries and bookings that we are getting.
Despite the ‘business’ issues, the biggest problem we face is trustworthy staff. We have ‘sacked’ quite a few over the years mainly for theft and each time we do it, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth and chalks up another ‘downer’ on the local staff.
We are a legal business, pay tax and provide workers fund contributions to staff, in fact we treat our staff very well – some even receiving free housing for themselves and family, water, electric and food.
We have just sacked our ‘manageress’, a young educated Thai lady with good English and good customer relationship skills. We were paying her a good salary and she was in a position of trust – handling the customer bills etc. Mrs T. was even beginning to treat her almost as a daughter, having given her a graduation present a few months ago.
I had been suspicious for some time that the increases in customers were not yielding any noticeable corresponding increase in takings. So – we checked back and found that she has been ‘cooking the books’ and had managed to cream of in excess of THB 100,000 since she arrived.
So my question is:
What do you have to do to find honest staff in Thailand?

[PeteC]

Is there thought of filing charges...I would. Pete

[MrPlum]

What do you have to do to find honest staff in Thailand?

Was chatting to the owner of a large ice-cream business here yesterday about this. Same problem with staff filling their pockets. Perhaps install a video recording the checkout area? Some of them you can watch over the internet, when you are away or on holiday.

[Terry]

Is there thought of filing charges...I would. Pete

Mrs.T has threatened her with that if she does not return the money. As we have the evidence.
Methinks the BIB would do bugger all if we did file the charges anyway.

What do you have to do to find honest staff in Thailand?

Was chatting to the owner of a large ice-cream business here yesterday about this. Same problem with staff filling their pockets. Perhaps install a video recording the checkout area? Some of them you can watch over the internet, when you are away or on holiday.

We have video evidence as well - although she was very clever at hiding her actions in some cases 'off camera'

To me it's a mentality issue - like us farangs have lots of money - they can afford it etc etc
This is what is pissing me off

[Nereus]

What do you have to do to find honest staff in Thailand?

I think that you have to breed them yourself, Terry!
I no longer have that problem, but along with the bad taste in your mouth, to me it is an insult to your intelligence for any staff to believe that they can get away with robbing their employer, more so when the employer is a Farang.

[Terry]

Too true Nereus.

When we start a new staff member we tell them that the video is on all the time and recording - for the benefit of the business and to check the honesty

They are also told that ANY thieving,, money, food, property, fish ANYTHING - will result in instant dismissal - no second chances

And yet they still do it - as I said there's nowt as strange as folk

[johnnyk]

Seems to be the common problem everywhere in every business in Thailand. Treat people nicely, pay them fairly, cut them slack... and they still steal off you. And they steal in ingenious ways. Bar staff sell Jack or JW, pocket the money and replace the bottle from 7/11 and so on. Nightmare!

[advocate]

Perhaps you can try conducting random spot checks. Maybe train your wife to do this also. Show up w/o notice and do an audit on the spot several times per month. Review cash on hand, bank balances, and the books. Don't leave too long an interval b/w audits to minimize loss.

You can also send trusted friends there as customers and then check to see if the money went to the business. Would only cost you a lunch.

[Aussie Mark]

Terry when we were there in August I gave her a decent tip as well

Maybe resort to the old days when someone used to steal just cut off their hand .It would be a good reminder to the rest of your staff

[Takiap]

I can honestly relate to your problem Terry. While I've never run a business in Thailand, I did in SA, and I had the same problem there. I could be more specific, but it wouldn't be politically correct. In Thailand, and I don't mean to come across in a bad way, I think money is more important than life itself. One of the very first opinion I formed after arriving in Thailand was that money is the God of all things. I still remember commenting about this to my wife many years ago. As long as everyone has a baht stuck on their foreheads, this country will always be a third world country.

It's a shame really because there are also many good trustworthy Thais, and many of them face the same issues. I wonder how Thai bosses deal with staff that steal.

Another observation I've made is that it's usually the ones that aren't desperate that tend to steal. At least this has been what I've noticed at our local shop where people in flashy cars try to get away with paying less than they should for stuff. They are actually more dangerous really than the desperate worker who tries to slip a packet of noodles into their pocket.

Terry, what you're experiencing is just one of the reasons why I'd never be able to run a business here. As I've said before on the forum, I honestly admire those of you who try.


PS: maybe it's time for you to have a crocodile


enclosure added....

[ken.p]

[quote="

So my question is:
What do you have to do to find honest staff in Thailand?[/quote]





Hi Terry, sorry to hear about your problem.

I guess you could try recruiting on here, sure the must be some members who have long time GF/wives looking for work that may fit your needs
Whilst none of our family, are looking for a job right now, I trust each and everyone of my in-laws with money, sure they neglect to tell me about things they have done, but with money there spot on.

Ken.

[Takiap]

I was thinking the same thing Ken. I don't really know many members of my wife's family so I can't say whether they can e trusted or not. I certainly know her mother can be trusted 100%, and so can she. Neither of them would ever dream of stealing one baht, but unfortunately they are not available...lol.


My wife's mom just isn't cut out for manager type jobs and neither is she educated enough for such jobs. My wife on the other hand is, but she has a really good job as it is, and I doubt Terry would be willing to pay her more than she's making at the moment. Also, while she has her British bits of paper for things like operations management, I think she lacks the attitude one requires in order to manage staff. Then again, I think most Thais do, but of course this opinion is based on the way things are run in the west.

[blue05]

I can honestly relate to your problem Terry. While I've never run a business in Thailand, I did in SA, and I had the same problem there. I could be more specific, but it wouldn't be politically correct. In Thailand, and I don't mean to come across in a bad way, I think money is more important than life itself. One of the very first opinion I formed after arriving in Thailand was that money is the God of all things. I still remember commenting about this to my wife many years ago. As long as everyone has a baht stuck on their foreheads, this country will always be a third world country.

It's a shame really because there are also many good trustworthy Thais, and many of them face the same issues. I wonder how Thai bosses deal with staff that steal.

Another observation I've made is that it's usually the ones that aren't desperate that tend to steal. At least this has been what I've noticed at our local shop where people in flashy cars try to get away with paying less than they should for stuff. They are actually more dangerous really than the desperate worker who tries to slip a packet of noodles into their pocket.

Terry, what you're experiencing is just one of the reasons why I'd never be able to run a business here. As I've said before on the forum, I honestly admire those of you who try.


PS: maybe it's time for you to have a crocodile


enclosure added....

You asked how Thai business deal with theft by employees and a recent occurence came to mind.

A new business was opened and management put in place at very good salaries. Within 8 weeks inwas approached by the owners with the figures for the bar and seperate figures for the restaurant. The bar figures seemed about right however the food was miles out, 100,000b a month outgoings on food and 120,000 income. These figures were constant for two months.

I told the owner it was likely that 50,000 a month was being poketed to which he agreed

I then asked when he was going to sack the manager, he told me he could not just sack him as he was also his long time friend!

They then proceeded with a convoluted process of announcing they had to close the place for a week and all staff had to re apply for their jobs

The manager never got his position when he re applied.

Seems crazy to me but that is the way they did it

[Terry]

Thanks for the commiserations folks - although I wasn't really looking for them. I just posted the topic out of exasperation I guess.

Guess I'm not too surprised at the responses either.

We have tried various combinations of the suggestions made and it just seems to me that the majority of the locals are made up of various combinations of sloth, dishonesty, greed, cunning, envy and genuine desire to get the maximum wage for doing bugger all. Finding honest, reliable, trustworthy, hard-working staff seems to be like trying to find rocking horse shit...............

Now - where do I find a design for a crocodile enclosure?

Better still, maybe I'll chuck the next offender in with the Alligator Gar, Pacu and Arapaima with our 9 dogs looking on to make sure that he / she does not get out.

But I guess that I would then be accused of being the nasty farang

[Spitfire]

We were paying her a good salary and she was in a position of trust – handling the customer bills etc. Mrs T. was even beginning to treat her almost as a daughter, having given her a graduation present a few months ago.

Good example of the old adage "Familiarity breeds contempt" there Terry.