So How Do You Create a Training Program for House Cleaning Employees? Check out these simple tips to streamline your cleaning business. Empower employees with easy-to-apply rules and set boundaries from the beginning.
by Angela Brown // @SavvyCleaner
First Steps to Create A Training Program for House Cleaning Employees
Put it all in writing.
If you run a business, you will have a website. Dedicate part of your website to employee training.
Show your employees how to locate important files and other sources of information relating to the job.
Spell out the expectations of the job. State in writing what the working hours of the job will be.
Go through the training yourself and see how long it takes to complete. Do you understand what you’ve written? Will it make sense to a third party?
Determine how you will handle travel time and expense to and from jobs.
Figure out how you will pay your employees – hourly or by the job. And does your company offer benefits? If so when do they become effective?
Specify if you will be providing a company car. Or if the new cleaning employee is using their own personal vehicle.
Questions To Answer In Your Training Program for House Cleaning Employees
Who will be providing the cleaning supplies?
How will you handle your employee picking up supplies? Will they come to your location? Or will they buy them from a store with your company credit card? What happens if they run out of supplies while they are on a job?
How will you handle equipment maintenance? If a vacuum breaks, how will your company fix it? Do you have spare parts or a replacement that can be used while the broken one is in the shop?
Create a written training manual (either on paper or online) that includes specific instructions.
Include best practices to common challenges. Specify when the new hire should call you for support rather than making a decision on behalf of the company.
Let them know to what extent you empower them to solve company related problems.
Include emergency information for all the possible scenarios that could malfunction during a job.
Training Program for House Cleaning Employees Must Include OSHA & GHS
Make sure your cleaning company is OSHA compliant. You can get your 30-hour card and train your employees. Compliance with the OSHA and GHS laws will save you in hefty fines or civil suits.
Make sure your training includes people skills. Your employees will be working with and around other people. People skills are paramount to your customer service. Hire first for attitude and teach for skill.
Create a safe learning environment. Promote learning with deadlines and incentives rather than threats.
Make it Easy for Your Cleaning Employees To Access Online Content
If your training is online and your new employee doesn’t have a computer. Make one available at your office or help them through incentives to earn one.
Include quizzes to ensure your employees understand the rules.
Make allowances. If a new employee is working while training, give them enough time to complete the training.
Give a ramp up period for employees to get up to speed. A new hire doesn’t know how to budget time and energy to complete jobs on time. Cleaning house is a physically demanding job and it takes a few weeks to figure out how to adjust to the new schedule.
Create a system that is easy to follow and promotes repetition. Repetitive tasks are easy to duplicate. And they will help your employees work in an efficient manner.
Resist the urge to micro-manage during the training phase. As employees figure out how to do a job, they will become more productive.
Let them know up front that there will be follow-up training and monitor every 30 days for the first six months. This lets them know you will be watching and they are less likely to take it personally when you check in with them.
Break it up. Every 30 days release a new segment of your training. Achievement breeds confidence. Once an employee has mastered part of your training they will be ready for more. Everything at once is overwhelming.
Give praise where praise is due. Employees who feel appreciated and respected will go the extra mile. But remember that false praise only gets you more of the same behavior. So don’t praise shoddy work. Look for what the employee is doing right and highlight that. It will empower them to up their game.
Training for House Cleaning Employees Must Be Monitored
Probationary Period. The training program for house cleaning employees is when you determine if an employee is going to work out for you. Many companies call this a “paid probationary period”. This is usually a 90-day stretch. What it means is that you will be on the lookout for a variety of things. It’s almost like an ongoing audition for the job.
Things to look for during the paid probationary period are these:
Attitude. Does your employee show up to work happy? Is their base attitude positive or negative? (When you ask them “How is it going?” do they default to happiness or pessimism?)
Set track dates. By the third or fourth week of cleaning – is the new employee “getting it”? Are they learning the routines and the systems you’ve set up? Some employees for whatever reason never make it past the paid training. They don’t have what it takes.
Integration. Is the new employee integrating with your company? Do they get along with other employees? Do they get along with clients? Are they participating in group chats and company meetings? Are they asking questions and providing feedback?
Dedication. While you can’t demand an employee go the extra mile – it’s nice to know under which circumstances they will. Have you hired someone who does the absolute bare minimum? Or do you have a future manager on your team?
Give Frequent Reviews
Have employees sign your reviews. Every 30 days have a brief review and put your observations in writing. Let the employee know how they are doing. Limit your notes of improvement to one or two. Get the employee to sign it.
Keep an employee file with all employee progress and recommendations on file. This will get them in the habit of signing your employee file updates. In the event that your employee doesn’t work out – you will have a documented file of their progress. This will allow you to fire them without being smacked with a civil suit.
Establish disciplinary action upfront for bad behavior. The longer you let it slide without addressing it, the harder it will be to reel in. The 30-day review if expected will be a welcome chance to bring up any such issues. And they can bring up issues they have with you about other employees and clients.
Use All Available Resources For Your Training
Good news – we all have smart phones now. Anybody can create a video with training.
Video. If you don’t have a selfie stick or a tripod, you can create a tripod out of a business card or a paper cup to stabilize your camera. And make sure you narrate your training program for house cleaning employees explaining what you are doing as you go.
Rather than just words, if you can use videos or pictures – you will have a better chance of showing rather than telling. Telling leaves you open to misinterpretation. Showing makes it super easy to understand.
Audio. There are smartphone apps that allow you to record audio files. Here is a free one for iPhone called Voice Recorder. And here’s a free one for Android called Audio Recorder If you can’t rig a camera to film you cleaning – talk through your cleaning process. It’s possible that your new hire can listen to your audio recording while cleaning the same appliance or fixture.
Photos & Images. Most modern smartphones have cameras. Use them to shoot pictures. Tell stories with your pictures. Take before and after pictures to show what your new hire might expect encounter on a job. Show them what you expect the cleaned item to look like.
Create a private Facebook Group for your employees. They already know how that platform works. Messages in the private group are private. And you can answer questions as they arise. Your new employees can also post before and after photos from their phone to the group. You can like or comment on their photos and so can other employees. Networking within the group also builds rapport with your other employees. Nobody feels like they are going at it alone.
Have an Open Door Policy
Set hours when employees can call you personally with questions, ideas or suggestions. This will allow you to solve problems before they get out of hand. Employees do better when they feel you listen and care. Turnover in any small business is a huge problem. But if you spend the time and create a training program for house cleaning employees, you will find they are more loyal and will stay longer. Employees want to know that you are willing to invest in their learning and that you care about their success.
