How to not fail at Human Resources in your maid service

Last Updated on July 3, 2024 by The ZenMaid Team

You probably didn’t start your cleaning business to become a human resources expert, did you? But throughout the course of running your business, you find yourself playing the role of HR almost every day. HELP!

You’re in luck. In today’s article, we’re sharing some great tips to improve your human resources and communication process with tips from Sandi Sheppard. 

Communication in your maid service

Before someone enters your office to start the onboarding process, there is a lot of communication that comes into play right off the bat.

You need to clearly communicate who you are as a company, why someone should work for you, and what your deal breakers are. 

In other words, your job ad needs to clearly communicate who you are as a company.

Let’s take a look at an example from Indeed:

The description discloses the job responsibilities, skill set, location, pay, and schedule information. It’s not necessarily a bad ad, but it misses the mark in a few ways. 

Any idea why?

Take a look at a different advertisement:

Although both ads have similarities, the second ad includes benefits. Essentially, the second ad gives the applicant more reasons to apply. A preview early in an ad makes an applicant want to keep clicking. 

You use the wording on your website and marketing materials to convince potential clients to choose you. So, why not take the same approach with employee applicants?  

Your ad must be on point, communicate who you are as a company, and persuade applicants to apply.

Need some more help writing your help wanted ads? Get the Perfect Hiring Ad so you never wonder what to write in a job ad again! 

You can also check out this ZenMaid Magazine article!

Using third-party referrals

Businesses often use third-party referrals to attract clients. 

We add various third-party badges to our websites to help potential clients see why we’re the right choice for them. So, why don’t we put that same effort into practice for employment applicants?

Until recently, there wasn’t anyone who offered that to businesses. Even after this business model was created, it still lacked a connection to the cleaning industry. 

Rescue My Maid Service stepped up to help fill this gap in the cleaning world. Their platform follows this pattern:

Preferred Employer Program:

• Free to join
• Includes a badge for your website
• A social media graphic to announce membership
• A digital survey to check in on employee engagement

A third-party referral like Rescue My Maid Service can attract some of your best employees.

Communication with the applicant once they apply

When the applications come in, you need a solid communication system.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to track your applicants. Most platforms for job ads give you tools to track. 

Learn these platforms, how they operate, what they can do to make hiring easier and more organized, and how to keep communication from falling through the cracks. 

Indeed is a platform that has a fairly robust communication system. Within your account, you can review applicants, message them directly, set an interview, and mark your level of interest in a person. 

Facebook, like Indeed, had a fairly robust communication system to hire applicants. You can assign the conversation to someone else (such as your office manager), add labels, view someone’s profile, set your interest, post a graphic, and more.

Take time to check out various hiring platforms. Some of them you may love; others you may hate. Use the one that works best for you!

A 100% perfect recruiting tool doesn’t exist. To give yourself the best possible advantage, use a recruiting platform AND use consistent ads. 

Other ways you may receive applications

Keep up with your applications and where an applicant is in the hiring process — this is crucial!

If you want one way to keep up with all of your applicants in one place and you cannot afford to recruit software, use traditional data entry. This is doable until you can implement a paid source.

Did you know we now have a forever FREE version of ZenMaid? Sign up today!

Use a calendar

How do you remember every step of the process in a timely manner? Calendars, calendars, calendars!

It doesn’t need to be fancy. Utilize an affordable and manageable calendar like Google Calendar. 

Use a calendar with a feature to set up reminders and appointments as either recurring or single-use. This is a great place to start if you need simple technology to help you remember your schedule.

Google Calendar is an excellent resource because you have the option to receive or send emails concerning calendar events, include specific details about an event, and remind you to post daily ads for your business. 

What should you include in your calendar?

• Recurring tasks to check applications from every recruiting resource (Indeed, Facebook, etc.)
• Interview appointments
• Follow-up steps (setting up the interview, calling references, scheduling pre-employment screenings)
• Recurring task to repost ads. Don’t let those ads expire – keep them going!!!

You can also schedule employee birthdays, hiring anniversaries, and performance review reminders.

To learn more about scheduling options for your maid service, visit this article!

Communication with the new hire

Congratulations! You just hired a rockstar. Now what?

All parts of your recruiting process are important, but this particular part needs to be smooth and consistent. The recruiting process and the initial days on the job give new hires their first impression of how well organized your company is. You don’t want to fail them here.

Your onboarding process is vital to your success and theirs. Make sure your communication is crystal clear. Here’s a suggested onboarding process:

• Communicate the day of the onboarding process, what documents they need, and how long they will be there.
• Email or give a printed copy of what to bring (driver’s license, birth certificate, proof of vehicle insurance, etc.)
• Create a checklist for YOU. What do you need from them, and what will you go over?
• Take your time — don’t rush through this process. Get in a routine with your process. The more you do it, the faster it will go. 
• Communicate the employee’s next steps. When they start – Who they will meet with – Dress code – Length of the workday  – If they should pack a lunch – How to track their hours.
• Once your new hires leave, don’t let your system fall apart! Make sure that copies of their paperwork are filed and entered into the appropriate software. Address anything during the onboarding process that you weren’t prepared for.

Ongoing communication with employees

You made it this far —  don’t fall apart now! Communication is a superpower.

Your employees need to know how to communicate with the company and how the company will communicate with them.

You can use an easy interface like Slack.

There are so many options for separating conversations. You can communicate to everyone, some, or in a private message. The free plan works for most businesses. If you use the free program, be sure to save documentation because old conversations are eventually deleted. Save documents and conversations via google drive. 

You can even upload GIFS to have some fun with your employees!

Slack is useful for any business but is especially helpful for companies that conduct work remotely.

Ongoing rules for engagement in your maid service

Communication, duh! 

At a minimum, you should have these types of communication with employees:

1. How employees can communicate with the company
2. How the company will communicate with them

Common communication to keep in mind

• Employee engagement surveys
• Staff meetings 
• Getting to know the employee (‘about me’ surveys)
• Performance feedback communications
• Policies and procedures
• Suggestions

Employee engagement surveys serve as a way for your employees to give you insight into how they feel about their job, the company, and their morale level.

If you don’t have any, they are easy to create, or you can use a premade template. 

But if you ask someone to complete a survey, and then don’t do anything with the results, it’ll do more damage than good. So be sure to put them into action! 

Give consistent feedback. When employees receive consistent feedback they respond better when that feedback is negative. 

Staff meetings bring everyone together at once. This is a great way to connect in person with one another and make sure everyone is on the same page.

“About me” surveys allow you to learn more about your employee. Use the form to look up employees and surprise them with their favorite snack on a long workday. Food is communication in and of itself!

Performance feedback communications are the various ways you communicate to employees about their performance. This could be an annual review, a shoutout at a company meeting for landing a recurring client, any disciplinary actions, or a discussion about policies and procedures. 

A suggestion box or digital form is another great way to get feedback from someone. Make suggestions anonymous so employees are completely honest about any issues they may want to bring to your attention.

As far as discipline goes, the main thing you need to worry about is that your policy is fair and clearly communicated. If you do not have your disciplinary action policy written yet, make this a priority. Keep track of the discipline standing for each employee. 

These ongoing rules for engagement help everyone. You can have happy employees and a successful business. 

Your next steps!

If you found this article helpful for your maid service, you may also like:

• Cleaning Business Automation Just Got a Lot Easier — Your Complete Guide Written By Cleaning Business Owners
• Should You Send a Newsletter for Your Cleaning Business? Yes, and Here’s How.
• The Day I Said Goodbye to 9-to-5: My Journey to Starting ZenMaid
• Cleaning Business Supplies: What You Need for Residential and Commercial Cleaning
• How to Market a Cleaning Business: 10 Strategies that Actually Work

For more resources on how to grow and perfect your cleaning business, check out the replays from the 2021 Maid Summit, hosted by ZenMaid. The summit featured more than 60 presentations from other maid service owners who shared tools and strategies to help you achieve the highest levels of success in your business. 

To hear Sandi Sheppard’s full talk from the Maid Summit, click here. 

About the presenter

Sandi started her cleaning business, Happy House Cleaning, ten years ago and has been through a lot of ups and downs. She founded Rescue’s Digital Systems Bootcamp during COVID-19 when she decided it was time to automate her systems and processing. Sandi is passionate about educating other business owners to help them avoid common mistakes, and has a deep love for automating business and creating more time for more important things. With Rescue, Sandi does Roadmap calls to help business owners prioritize their needs while growing and scaling.

This talk first aired at the 2021 Maid Service Success Summit.

The Maid Summit is an annual online event that brings together the most successful leaders in the cleaning industry, like Debbie Sardone, Angela Brown, Courtney Wisely, Amy Caris, Chris Schwab and more. Get free access to masterclasses and workshops that will help you to grow, scale and automate your cleaning business so you can get more leads and create more profit. Make sure you’re on our email list to find out how to get free tickets to the next event.

Try ZenMaid for free!