In the cleaning industry, trust is the cornerstone of your client relationships. Above all, you need to inspire confidence in your customers that the cleaners you send them will not only be trustworthy and hardworking, but also amicable and committed to ensuring their satisfaction.
Knowing how to find, hire, and retain skilled individuals who possess a can-do attitude and an impeccable work ethic is a crucial skill for a maid service owner or manager, and one of the most important aspects of building a profitable cleaning business.
In this article, we’ll discuss the different elements of the residential cleaner hiring process and touch on how specialized software for cleaning companies can help you effectively coordinate your cleaning and office staff on a day-to-day basis. Read on.
What are the requirements for a cleaner?
First off, any individual you consider hiring should have a naturally friendly disposition. The last thing your clients want is to let a grumpy, unpleasant stranger into their homes. While cleaners don’t need to be especially charismatic, they still have to be polite, easygoing, and to possess decent social skills.
Key traits to evaluate during your hiring process include:
Trustworthiness
Performing a thorough background check to ensure prospective employees don’t have a criminal history is essential, as it fosters trust with your clientele and prevents issues down the road. Since not all crimes are reported to the police, you should also perform an extensive reference check to verify that the individual isn’t hiding any “skeletons in the closet”.
Experience
Depending on your business model, you may or may care whether a potential employee has prior working experience. If experience is a key consideration for you, be sure to ask for a list of references.
Questions to ask their previous employer include:
- Would they rehire this candidate?
- What are the candidate’s biggest weaknesses?
- How could the candidate improve?
- Is the candidate passionate about their job or do they treat cleaning as “just a paycheck”?
Problem-solving abilities
No two homes are the same, so no two cleaning services can be the same either. Residential cleaners frequently run into unexpected challenges and need to be able to quickly come up with workable solutions.
Ask candidates how they deal with emergencies and have them describe exactly how they’ve addressed such situations in the past. If a candidate shows promise, but you’re still not 100% sure about them, have them complete a practice cleaning that requires them to work around a particular issue.
Other questions to ask during a job interview include:
- Which cleaning tools and products have they used and are familiar with?
- Are they able to operate as a part of a team or do they prefer solo work?
- Are they available for weekend work and/or night shifts?
- Do they understand key industry terms and what the different services entail?
- How long do they typically take to complete a cleaning?
- Do they have a driver’s license? What about a personal vehicle?
- Do they suffer from any allergies or disabilities that may interfere with their ability to complete their tasks?
Where can I find state-of-the-art software for cleaning companies?
Whether you’re looking to add online booking functionalities to your company’s website, set up effective KPIs for your maid service, or otherwise streamline the daily operations of your residential cleaning business, you can’t go wrong by reaching out to MaidCentral.
As the most feature-rich app for house cleaning businesses, our app is the go-to software solution for a growing number of successful housekeeping companies who are looking to make communicating with their customers and clientele a breeze. Contact us and book your demo today.
