Building a trusted team of domestic staffing professionals for your home ensures the many details of daily life run smoothly.
Whether you employ a live-in housekeeper, personal assistant, private chef, companion, or nanny, it’s important to check in with them and provide regular performance reviews.
A well-structured mid-year review gives you as the employer time to acknowledge their contributions to your home, discuss adjustments in job duties, address challenges or concerns, and negotiate salary, benefits, or bonus changes.
Reasons to Do Mid-Year Performance Reviews
Checking in with your team of staff mid-year allows you to formally discuss important details about their role.
It allows you to dedicate time to open the line of communication and make sure both parties are aligned on priorities, goals, and job responsibilities.
These meetings also give you the opportunity to express gratitude and reinforce the positive achievements you’ve seen in their work with you and identify areas where additional support or training could help.
If there are concerns, addressing them before they negatively impact operations is key.
How to Prepare for the Review
As the employer, it’s important you set aside some time to make some observations and write down notes ahead of time.
Reflect over the last part of the year, review job duties and performance, assess your household priorities to see if they are still accurate, and identify future goals that you want your employee to work toward.
Your preparation work will help move the conversation along, ensuring it is meaningful and productive.
Think through the details of your employees’ performance in these areas:
- Quality of work
- Communication
- Reliability
- Professionalism
- Privacy/Discretion
- Punctuality
- Adaptability
- Compliance with home policies or procedures
When scheduling the review, also be sure to give your employee time to prepare things they want to talk about.
Ask them to think about their own performance and bring any reflections to the meeting with you.
This meeting is equally a time for them to bring up concerns and thoughts that are important to them.
Ask the Right Questions
The review time is meant to be a space of open dialogue, so asking the right questions is key.
Employees often have valuable insights into household operations, resource needs, and other dynamics that impact your home.
Some questions to think about asking include:
- What parts of your position are working the best?
- What challenges are there and how do you think we can solve them together?
- Do you have what you need to do your job well?
- Do you have suggestions to improve household operations?
Difficult Conversations or Areas for Improvement
If you anticipate having to bring up difficult topics or have significant areas of improvement that you’d like to see in your employee, remember to keep respect first and foremost.
Constructive feedback and suggestions should focus on behaviors and outcomes and should never include personal attacks or critiques on their personality.
Be clear, kind, respectful, and offer solutions above all. Your goal should be to build your employees up and encourage their growth without creating a defensive attitude.
Continued Education or Development
Household employees are career-minded professionals and many of them are dedicated to continued learning and professional development. A
t the time of your mid-year review, discuss any certifications, classes, training, or other educational opportunities that they are interested in.
Consider paying for those, as this can be a great way to demonstrate your investment in them and their long-term success.
Identify Goals for the Rest of the Year
At the end of the conversation, work together to identify a few goals and expectations for the rest of the year.
Then, at the time of your next review, you can circle back on how those were met or if there were gaps in achieving them.
Be specific about what you’d like to see, ask for their input, and ensure they are measurable and relevant.
A productive performance review should help household staff feel supported while ensuring that your home operates the way you want it to.
With clear, respectful, regular communication, you can build a strong partnership with your employee that stands the test of time.
