Are you a House Manager already and would like to improve on your skills? Or are you looking to become a House Manager? Either way, it would be important to know how you can improve your skills, grow in your role, get a higher salary, and overall become a successful House Manager! There are concrete steps you can take and follow to greatness!
So how do you become a successful House Manager?
What is Success?
If you want to become a successful House Manager it is firstly important to establish what success means for you. It can differ extremely from one person to the other and really depends on what you want in work, and life.
For some people, being successful in their job is definitely related to money. The higher the salary, the better they feel in their job. If this resonated with you – great! Then you know money is your main driving force. And it will motivate you to do better. So then you should look at ways on how to increase your salary, or maybe have a bonus structure added to your work as a House Manager.
For other people, being successful might mean being in the same job for a very long time. Job retention is becoming rarer and it is more likely that people move from one job to another after several years. If you would pride yourself on working for the same household for a long period of time, or if this is something you want to achieve. Then you should look at ways to show your employer that you can adapt to modern times and keep adding value to your work.
Finally, success might mean having a great work/life balance for you. You might have a family or children you want to spend enough time with, outside of work too. If this is the case, really look at the job at hand and how far this is realistic. Some House Management jobs can really be quite demanding and difficult to combine with family life. If you are looking for a 9-5 job, it might not be the right career path for you. However, every household differs. If there are enough efficient systems (and staff) in place, it might be fine for you to only work set ‘office hours’. But it is definitely important to have a realistic look at what is required in the job from you. And how that can match with your expectations.
How to Become Successful
So having looked at some of the things that might mean ‘success’ above. What can we do to achieve these in the role of a House Manager?
Be versatile and flexible
Firstly, being a House Manager is an extremely versatile job. What is typical for a good, successful House Manager is their ability to adapt from one role to the other. You will need to be able to put ‘different hats on’ sometimes several times a day, or hour! So to become a really successful House Manager, work on being versatile and flexible. You should be comfortable with things changing quickly around you. So should enjoy, and be able to jump from one thing to the other at the drop of a hat.
Be organised and calm
These are skills that can come with practice, definitely. What helps is being extremely organised. If you have your day, week, and all the appointments for the household planned and organised – it will be easier to arrange things when they divert. If you weren’t organised to start with, one slight change of plan can result in instant chaos. And it will take you much longer to restore order and routine! The household will be looking at you to keep everything running smoothly, even when in the background everything might be going wrong. Always keep calm, never panic. If the person in charge (you!) panics, don’t count on anyone else to keep composure. Smile, keep a level head and you will find things going more smoothly.
Learn to delegate
You might pride yourself as the House Manager who does it all. Managing contractors on-site, chauffeuring the children to school, cleaning the bathroom when the Housekeeper is not there. And all that is great, however, you cannot simply do it all. Or be everywhere at once. If you overload yourself with tasks, you will end up either making mistakes or not being able to finish all tasks – or both! Also, one person simply cannot be excellent at everything. A successful House Manager knows exactly how to delegate tasks. Use people to their strengths – find the right staff for the right roles, who can do their job really well. So that you will have to jump in less, correct less, help out less. So you can focus on all the other things that will come up in your day, and make sure everything is running smoothly.
Invest in Training
To become, and stay successful in your role as House Manager, you need to invest in your skills and abilities. Even if you have been doing the same job for 10 years, there are still things you could learn! The world, the industry is continuously changing and you as a successful House Manager should adapt to it.
Therefore it is vital to do regular training and education courses to keep you up to date with industry standards and learn new skills. You would be surprised how rusty you might have gotten – or how you can improve things that you have been doing the same way for many years. Training is not a sign of you being bad at something. It is a way of you becoming even better, more versatile. And overall a more successful House Manager.
Training can come in many ways, from a specific House Management training course to things like Yach Management, Silver Service, Wine Pairing, or even Housekeeping. The possibilities are endless!
How can Polo & Tweed Help?
Polo & Tweed are market leaders in providing internationally acknowledged training courses. From House Management to laundry, silver service and butlering. There are group courses, tailor-made private courses and online training too. To find out more about what options would be suited for you and how it could help progress your career, do contact us here now and we look forward to speak to you!