How to find the best personal assistant in Vietnam (Phan Thiet)

I have 34/35 VN employees and they have a very good work ethic and enjoy great loyalty from them.

We pay them above the going rate; we have a childcare area; we pay their social insurance and taxes. We fly a dentist up from HCMC twice a year to do full staff check-ups and those in need of treatment we transport to HCMC.

Our offices are run under Canadian work practices, only modified when required by VN law.

Hiring people recommended by staff usually ensures a smooth addition as the person recommending the new hire acts as a mentor. They can also apply pressure to comply. We pay twice monthly through bank account deposits.

We do cheat, however, as most of our hires are single parent females. We hire no VN males.

Pesha,

You are not alone.  A dear friend of mine is the majority owner of that Imperial Hotel & Resort, in Vung Tau; and a college classmate of mine is working for Calderon, a Hong Kong based hospitality development company, who helped my friend put together his staff.

My suggestion to you is, just like what I had told my friend and classmate, look into the Vietnamese community abroad, namely in North America and Australia.  I don't recommend the one in Great Britain because it is way too small.

There are where the guys who truly understand the values of customer service live. They know the importance of that smile, and the significance of compartmentizing things.

True enough, their attitudes toward working here are a bit negative.  But, you must realize a few things: the majority of the good ones are from elite Vietnamese families; they are in adopted homelands for political reasons; and they are often well-educated and -paid in their works.

If you can put all of those together and work out a right formula, I am quite certain that you will land one of them; and that is all you and your place will need.  You will never have to worry about loyalty because, to have come this far, a large part of him/her must have liked what you and your place is about; and most important of all, he/she has little to no affiliation whatsoever here, other than what you offer.

Please keep in mind that I am only talking about candidates that have been abroad for, at least, 10 years and not those that just went over there for school and back.  Less that 10 years... I highly doubt that he/she had had enough time to absorb the desired traits.

When you work on your formula, don't forget to take into account the geographical disadvantage of Phan Thiet.  Granted the area is beautiful, but aside from the resorts, there is not much to do around there.  You might want to consider using the name Mui Ne, if possible, in your pitch; that is because Phan Thiet is known for its fish sauce factories and their smell.

I hope this helps a little.
Howie

If somebody can recommend me right person and he goes though probation first month good, I give in return complementary weekend (2 nights) in private villa on the beach in our hotel Green Papaya Organic Village.

Wild_1 wrote:

Pesha,

My suggestion to you is, just like what I had told my friend and classmate, look into the Vietnamese community abroad, namely in North America and Australia.  I don't recommend the one in Great Britain because it is way too small.

Howie

Howie, it's a nice idea. I know that may be some oversea Vietnamese are looking for work in Vietnam now. But I am not sure they are ready to fly back Vietnam, and come to Phan Thiet to do a work without any guarantee.

WideAwake wrote:

Jaitch wrote:

We hire no VN males.

Because?

Because when we had some men on staff they spent more time hanging around and chatting and do almost every thing other than work.

They were disruptive.

Single females often have their eye on their penultimate - marriage - which means they won't be around long.

Our staff are loyal, hard working and, as is typical of females all over, good multi-taskers. Neither are they shy of doing menial tasks when the occasion arises.

In return we are sensitive to female needs, we have flex time and should a woman have 'rough' monthly periods, they have paid time off.

Married women have different problems, usually centred around husband problems. When a wife was beaten, we didn't humiliate her by insisting she come in to work instead we ran a computer around to her home so she could work from home.

After years of experimentation we determined the best worker for us, were single female parents.

Teat your employees well and they will reciprocate. Our staff turnover is minimal, too, which cuts training overhead costs.

I have two mini-hotels both managed by females.  They are in complete charge with very little over sight from myself. Mind you, we have extensive CCTV and good electronic management systems.

A new business I have had running for about a year involves electronic assembly. It is home based work on a piece rate pay basis and involves stuffing printed circuit boards and soldering. When they do the work is up to them all I know is that whenever 50 boards are finished (they have test sets) they get paid.

Hi Meomun,

That is very observing of you.  I know that number is very small at the moment.  But, those are the guys that understand the value of good customer service and speak English, at the same time, just like Pesha wants. 

Up-scaled customer service based business is tough to maintain overtime here.  Turnover rates are high.  Companies compete hard for those few good ones.  But, Pesha seems like he is capable and is looking for someone more permanent.

True enough, getting one of those guys to go to Phan Thiet is hard.  But, not totally impossible.

Best wishes,
Howie

Take a Viet kieu. A foreigner with vietnamese origins. I would apply for this job, if I would not have a job yet (I love Phan Thiet :-)

Good luck for your search!

Hi Pesha,

I do share the same sentiment with you. I own a boutique hotel here in the city of Can Tho, and it's very difficult to find employees who gets loyal with you. Most of the things I encountered that these staff wants are the salaries pay to them, or even asking for more salary. They don't care about their future or even tomorrow, they just want it now. No progression, No promotion, No Future.

However I heard that Northern people are hardworking though, perhaps you can try to find people in Hanoi to help you out.

Hello Bryanlam,

That is a false belief.  North Vietnamese are even more proud, thus, less inclined to serve your customers than their southern counterparts.  I was just in Hanoi about a month ago, people there often raved about the good services they got when they traveled south.  I kind of chuckled at that...

But, north Vietnamese do work much much harder than south Vietnamese, due to the lack of natural resources and the years spent in socialism.  Wonderful workers, but not in customer service.

Howie

Wild_1 wrote:

Hello Bryanlam,

That is a false belief.  North Vietnamese are even more proud, thus, less inclined to serve your customers than their southern counterparts.  I was just in Hanoi about a month ago, people there often raved about the good services they got when they traveled south.  I kind of chuckled at that...

But, north Vietnamese do work much much harder than south Vietnamese, due to the lack of natural resources and the years spent in socialism.  Wonderful workers, but not in customer service.

Howie

Agreed.

Wild_1 wrote:

Hello Bryanlam,

That is a false belief.  North Vietnamese are even more proud, thus, less inclined to serve your customers than their southern counterparts.  I was just in Hanoi about a month ago, people there often raved about the good services they got when they traveled south.  I kind of chuckled at that...

But, north Vietnamese do work much much harder than south Vietnamese, due to the lack of natural resources and the years spent in socialism.  Wonderful workers, but not in customer service.

Howie

Yes that's what i refer to, as in hardworking, not sure about the service they can provide

bryanlam wrote:

Hi Pesha,
I do share the same sentiment with you. I own a boutique hotel here in the city of Can Tho, and it's very difficult to find employees who gets loyal with you. Most of the things I encountered that these staff wants are the salaries pay to them, or even asking for more salary. They don't care about their future or even tomorrow, they just want it now. No progression, No promotion, No Future...

IMO part of the problem lies in past education techniques - they produce nice sheep who obey orders (different to laziness), compliance, no self-initiative.

Claiming that Viet Kieu are elite is groundless, if it were true why are so many VN owned hotels so successful?

My first m/hotel was just down the road from my home. I hired a VN female who I met in Thu Thiem - the wrong side of the river as manager. Street smart and as hard as nails.

Knew her Mother and three sisters. Always went to church on Sundays and picked up the 04.30H mass on weekdays.

Her pay is part salary and part profit sharing. She gets a staff apartment thrown in.

Before we first opened she and I went around the whole place timing how long it took to change the sheets and clean a room (we have singles, twin singles and double). We don't do food - only hot water

We also timed cleaning common areas.

Because she was tied to profitability, she hired only the right number of people to clean the place. Hiring ad firing was her business, she was responsible for everything other than accounting.

She even introduced a bonus system for the maids; the more rooms they cleaned. At her suggestion we bought a washing machine, and following the total cost recovery, a second one.

Now my wife has a m/hotel in Cam Ranh Bay, my manager has selected and trained a replacement for BMT and she is going down to CRB.

Her success is partly because of her upbringing - dead honest, poor and street smart.

Motivation is the key thing, and treating them well, being sensitive to their needs. If you like them they will usually respond in kind.