Finding Good Foreign Staff in Pattaya Is Easy. Keeping Them Isn't.

People assume the hard part of hiring foreign staff in Pattaya is finding them. It isn't. The hard part is keeping them.

Across my businesses I employ around eight foreigners, from restaurant managers to agents at the property companies. Over the years I've learned, sometimes the expensive way, what separates the ones who last from the ones who are gone within months. It starts with understanding why people leave.

Why good hires don't last

Pattaya is a wonderful place to live. That's exactly the problem.

Most of the people you meet here aren't working. They're retired or on holiday. The sun is out, the bars are open, and there's always someone around with nothing to do tomorrow morning. For a lot of new arrivals, it's very hard to get out of holiday mode and into a proper work routine.

Hospitality makes it harder still. At the property businesses, agents are in the office at nine in the morning, and the line between work and play is clear. In a bar or restaurant, we actually want our managers to socialise with customers; it's part of the job. A restaurant manager might start at three or four in the afternoon and finish in the early hours, and by then it's easy for a drink with a regular to turn into a few.

I've had managers who looked excellent on paper and just couldn't make it work. Good CVs, good experience, likeable people. But they never got out of holiday mode, and in the end they went back home. It wasn't a failure of skill. It was the wrong time in their life to take on that job in this town.

Why a good CV isn't enough

That's why I've stopped putting much weight on experience back home, and it's the biggest trap I see other business owners fall into. Someone was a chef or a restaurant manager in the UK, so surely they can do the same job here?

Not necessarily. There are cultural differences you simply don't understand until you've lived here for a while, and the biggest one is how you handle staff. In the UK, a manager might give someone a dressing down on the spot. Here, you take the person aside, quietly, away from everyone else. Face matters a great deal in Thailand, and a manager who embarrasses a team member in front of colleagues can lose that person, and the rest of the team's respect, in one afternoon.

The workplace feels different too: friendlier and more like a family, and less corporate and rigid than many people are used to back home. In my experience, Thai staff will often stay in a job because of the people they work with, more than the salary. A manager who understands that builds a loyal team. One who doesn't will find themselves constantly recruiting.

What I look for instead: roots and routine

So rather than asking what someone did in another country, I look at how settled their life is here.

The people who do well with me have usually been in Thailand at least three or four years, sometimes longer. They've put down roots, with a partner, family or a home here, rather than one foot on the plane. And they've built a healthy routine, with hobbies like sport or the gym rather than a social life that revolves around going out.

None of these is a hard rule. But together they tell me someone has made Thailand home, rather than an extended holiday. Their CV tells me what they did elsewhere; their life here tells me whether they'll last.

Once you find the right person, they stay

Here's the good news. Once you find the right person and you gel, they tend to stay for a long time. My good foreign hires usually stay five years or more.

The first two or three years are the test. Get through those, and people know what they've got. Good jobs aren't easy to find here, and work permit paperwork makes moving around harder, so a settled, happy employee rarely wants to start again somewhere else.

Robert, the manager at Hemingways Jomtien, is a good example. He joined me about five or six years ago and took to the job very well. We get on well, and he has recently taken on the extra role of overseeing East Coast Real Estate, whose office is right next door. He's a big part of why both places run as well as they do.

Looking after the right people

People like Robert are worth holding on to, and I make sure they know it. If someone is good at their job and sticks with me, I look after them.

After a few years, good people usually get a profit share. Sometimes, further down the line, that becomes equity in the business they work in. That isn't set in stone, and it can come sooner if someone shows real promise.

I've also gone into new businesses with people who've been with me a long time. When I opened Cajun Life Cafe, I gave a long-standing team member the option to buy in with me, one of several ventures that came through people I trust. I'd much rather build a business with people I already know than keep starting from scratch.

Settled in Pattaya? Get in touch

If you run a business here, my advice is simple: make sure the person has settled in Thailand before you hire them, whatever their experience elsewhere.

And if you're on the other side of that equation, I'm always looking for good people. After more than 20 years here, I also know a lot of other business owners who are often hiring. Most hiring in Pattaya happens through recommendations, because taking on someone nobody knows is a minefield. It's the same reason trust matters so much at Pattaya Rent a Car. If you come recommended, your chances go up a lot.

So if you've been here long enough to understand the culture, you're settled in Pattaya or elsewhere in Thailand, and you think you've got what it takes, send me your CV. If I don't have the right role, I may well know someone who does.

For the other half of the team, read managing Thai staff.

Hiring help at home? Read hiring a maid in Pattaya.

Looking for work yourself? Read finding a job in Pattaya as a foreigner.

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