You may never have seen a guide like this before while being in services and I want to discuss the value of this guide. The values is longevity. Training new people and meeting new people sucks. We all hate getting to know someone who is just going to “abandon” us again. We love to think we are perfect and sometimes we are being “perfect”. Other times we can have a little chip on our shoulder or a mean streak or a jealous one or even just be so lonely we make things hard. We make it hard for them and hard for us. It is not a fun game to do this. And we do it anyway. So here are tips to love your staff more.
- Tell your staff thank you and good job when they do things you like them to do. Ex. “Thanks for putting away those dishes” Many people in this field may tell you. I don’t need compliments often this is a lie. They say this because they want to burden you less and focus on you. That is okay. And you can still tell them “thank you”
- If your staff seems upset, angry or unfun to be around. You can tell them. I need a break right now. This way you are instructing them to take a break while you are just simply telling them to go on break. It is a win-win. You can be a good boss by sending employees who need a break on a break. In a sense as a client you are a boss and you are also a client. So you get to be extra helpful to your staff by thanking them for giving you a break and feel proud of your boss skills sending them on break.
- If you are really really really lazy today. You can tell your staff. I don’t want to get together today. And your staff could do one of the following. Complain about not having enough to do. I have trainings for them and shadow experiences for them. If they say that it is a lie. They could be grateful and spend more time with family, friends or getting errands and self care needs met. This is awesome you helped them take care of themselves. Or maybe they come anyway and you end up firing them for not listening to you in which case you are in your right to fire them and I would suggest not to fire them because people who arrive anyway are very hard workers and need to pay bills and are really dedicated to their work. Maybe just tell them to help with organizing your papers, wiping counter or some other task you can do but you are not feeling good enough to do that day and the stress of that activity is too much for you combined with your disability predisposition for a co-morbid mental health condition making this very common. You are not alone for doing this and many clients do this.
- If your staff is looking like they might faint or pass out. You can offer them water or a snack in your home. This might be something they hesitate on if they feel your home is not up to their standards or it could be a feeling of you need it more. So you can offer and they can decline don’t make them eat food they don’t want. If they are hungry let them eat to the extent possible. I know sometimes things seem more important than this. Sometimes even something the staff said to you seems more important. It probably is not. And you probably could not listen to anything your staff says all day and still have a good day. I just know you will not learn or grow or develop if you don’t listen sometimes. So please listen to stories even if they don’t make sense sometimes. It is not their fault someone trained them to be like that so you can still love them through their need for connection and love and support. Just like how you need love and connection and support. So do these humans who work with you.