If you have ever visited a plastic, candle or crayon producing factory before, one thing you may have noticed is that the raw material used, looks nothing like the end product that we end up purchasing in the market. In raw form, these products are liquid. And to come out the way we see them, manufacturers develop moulds. These moulds are containers that give shape to the liquid when it cools and hardens. So if the manufacturer wants to mass-produce a teddy-bear shaped bowl, they create a mould in the shape of a teddy-bear and every liquid that passes through and cools in that mould comes out looking like a teddy-bear.
This simple illustration paints a perfect picture of what happens when your maid resumes. She is like that plastic in it’s liquid state. She has come in her raw form with all sorts of experiences, a different background and totally different ideals from what you are used to. As employers, we pay so much of our attention on the state she is that we forget to develop a mould. We want to know what is hidden inside of her, what she is thinking, what is she capable of doing without realizing that all those thing may not matter once we provide the right mould that conforms her into the shape we want. Your maid will take the shape of whatever mould she is presented with when she resumes. That mould is your structure.
The mistake you probably have been making like many other employers is to “watch” her for some time. You say to yourself, “let me see whether she will automatically take the shape of the illustrated “teddy-bear” “. Unfortunately if the liquid in the manufacturing company is just left to flow without deliberate effort made by the manufacturer to conform it to that mould, the liquid will take the shape of anything other hollow container it finds around or come out shapeless.
It is the same thing with your maid. if left by herself she will take the form of any available structure, whether it be good or bad, regardless of if it is a neighbor, the security man or her boyfriend that provides the mould.
Sorry to be the one to burst your bubble, but your maid will not just conform to what you see as right and acceptable in your home. You have to put in the work of creating a system that makes sure of it that she conforms. If you want her to be hygiene conscious because you have toddlers, what are you going to deliberately do about it? If you want her to have a sound character, what are you going to deliberately do about it?
Everyone of us desires and hopes to have that perfect maid walk through our doors. But the truth is, even the best of us if left by ourselves sometimes, will cross boundaries and misbehave. It is for this same reason that when organizations recruit, even when they are recruiting the most experienced people, they put them through an orientation program for one or two weeks to mould them into everything the organization stands for.
I know, you have all the reasons to prove to me that your maid is poorly behaved, but in reality, it’s never about who is coming from the outside or what she is bringing in with her. What matters the most is what you have arranged and structured on the inside. Your question may then be what happens after you have put the structure in place and she still does not conform? My answer will be that you then have every reason to end the contract. Just like the liquid and mould, if the manufacturer detects any defect after it has been formed, they do not send to the market like that, they discard.
A structure is not hard to put in place. The first place to start is to move past assuming that she knows which shape to take to deliberately crafting the shape you want her to take. Secondly, think of the values you uphold in your home; the things you will never compromise on, and put in place a series of steps that conveys and teaches your maid the importance of upholding those values. This is beyond giving rules and regulations. This time, you are building her interest to see the bigger picture, not just a set of dos and don’ts.
If you are looking for a great place to start, I put together a free resource called THE 14 DAYS RULE that you may want to read to understand how this whole structure building works.
Here’s to building a structure in your home that outlasts, regardless of how many maids come and go.