Attitude Training for House Cleaners

The Ask a House Cleaner Show and Podcast with Angela Brown

Is attitude training for house cleaners necessary? All cleaning employees have biorhythmic down days. This could be just a bad day or PMS, but attitude training is mandatory for house cleaners.

Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says “it’s easier to manage employee drama when you hire for attitude and train for skill. Attitude training for house cleaners is a must because happy employees = happy clients.”

A positive attitude at work leads to strong leadership and better customer service.

Listen: Attitude Training for House Cleaners

Watch: Attitude Training for House Cleaners

My House Cleaners Need Attitude Training. What on Earth do I do?

A great philosophy is to hire for attitude and train for skill. If you show up looking for a job with a lousy attitude, you’ll be miserable to work around.

When customers talk to you, you will be miserable to them. If you’re always a mean, unhappy, person, that’s going to just spill out of you into your job. No one wants to work around that.

Let’s discuss attitude training and how to avoid drama.

It Starts at the Interview

From day one, when you interview employees for your company, share the rules. These specific rules have worked for years and they work wonders. When they show up for a job and you’re about to interview them, look to see if they’re happy.

If they’re happy, they might be a good fit. You can teach them a lot of things, but not how to think about life. If they’re not happy, it won’t work out. Remember to hire for attitude, and train the skills.

We All Have Bad Days

Announce from the beginning that you understand everyone has bad days. Give them a free pass for two or three days every month. PMS, headaches, and cramps happen. We get it.

That means they will need to announce when they’re having a bad day or feeling irritable. They can something like, “I’m just in a bad mood. I’m not feeling great.” Now, you’ll know how to deal with that.

One day, you might have a day just like that. Here’s what you do. You say “Excuse me. I’m having sensitivities today.”

Then, everyone knows the rules, and they can be nicer to each other.

Take a Whole Day

You can tell your team, “go be miserable. Have an alone day. Here’s the catch. You have to take the whole day. You can’t take 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there.

That way, when you show up again tomorrow, you’ll be new again. You get three of those days a month. That’s being generous.”

Some people don’t need to take a down day, but when they do, taking space is a great way to avoid arguments and hurt feelings.

Go to a movie to let go of your negativity. Find something that will take your mind off the stress you’re feeling. Get your mind in a more positive place.

When you wake up the next day, you’re a new person. And you’ll pick up where you left off.

HALT

The challenge is this. You have customers to deal with. So, if you’re having a bad day, use HALT Program.

That’s H-A-L-T. HALT stands for hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. If you’re hungry, angry, lonely, and tired and you’re having a bad day, don’t make any big decisions.

This is not the day that you want to patch things up with a client that’s angry with you.

Text them and say, “Hey listen, I’m unable to talk to you today, but I would love to catch up with you tomorrow. We can have this conversation when I can give you the attention that you deserve.” Then, move on quickly from that.

This is Not the Day You Want to Make Big Life Decisions

Don’t ground your kid for a year or break up with your spouse or anything like that. This is not the day you decide if you’re going to quit the business.

If you’re having a bad day, just ride it out. Then, on a day when you’re in a happy mood, you can make better choices. HALT!

On a day where you’re having sensitivities, HALT! It will serve you well for the long term.

Hold the Drama

Another rule is no drama. It doesn’t matter if you have drama or if you’re a drama queen. It’s not even a problem if your life is full of theatrics and chaos.

When you come to work, leave it outside.

Your business is house cleaning and you can’t solve all your employee’s problems, so they need to leave their problems at home. Train your employees to leave their problems outside the customer’s houses too.

A Negative Attitude Brings Complaints

Our customers are paying us to clean the house. Your customers don’t want to hear about their problems. I promise you that. The biggest complaint comes from people working from home. They say the house cleaner is showing up and talking about her problems nonstop.

House cleaners get fired all the time for bringing their drama into customers’ homes. They’re excellent house cleaners, but the customers don’t know what to do with the drama. It’s easier to fire them and move on to somebody else that knows how to keep their personal problems personal.

If you’re having a bad day, and this happens because we’re human and we all have bad days, announce your bad day. Say something like, “I’m having a really awful day.” People understand that.

Find an Outlet for Your Bad Mood

Exercise can help adjust your attitude. A great outlet is running. If you’re having a bad day and you get upset, throw on a pair of running shoes and go outside and beat it out on the pavement.

You can go as fast as you want or as far as you want. When you’re done, you’re exhausted.

The endorphins kick in and you will feel fantastic. It gives you a chance to think things through and let them pass. And you’ll return home a better person.

Your Attitude Can Help Theirs

Keeping attitudes in check is something to address from day one in your business. Then, it’s something that you should remember and remind them of on a regular basis.

If your employees are coming in at the first of the week and you’re saying “Hey, how was your weekend?” and they have drama and chaos and don’t feel well, change your questions. Keep it positive.

When they come in, say, “What was the highlight of your weekend?” By asking a different question, you’re going to get a different answer.

Inspire the answers that inspire everyone else and focus on keeping a top-notch team. A cleaning team with an awesome attitude is priceless. You’ll get referred all over the country and you’ll never look for work again. I promise you that.

If this helped you, please pass it on to a friend. Until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.

Resources

When Life Is Full of It: Antidote for Your Mind – https://amzn.to/2DivoEl?

Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude – https://amzn.to/2Is3uKt

Attitude 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know – https://amzn.to/2XmnT7a

Hiring for Attitude: A Revolutionary Approach to Recruiting and Selecting People with Both Tremendous Skills and Superb Attitude – https://amzn.to/2DiO9rk

Attitude Is Everything: Change Your Attitude… Change Your Life! – https://amzn.to/2Gsggq6

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.