Last Updated on August 25, 2023 by The ZenMaid Team
This article is based on a panel of Maid Service hiring experts (Debbie Sardone, Pam Washington, Elena Ledoux, and ZenMaid CEO Amar Ghose) organized by ZenMaid to share how to find, hire, and train amazing employees for your cleaning business.
Why did we put this panel together? Because you need the right systems and processes in place to find, train, and keep amazing employees!
You don’t want to miss the advice and practical tips from these rockstar businesswomen. They share exactly what to look out for when hiring all-star employees for your cleaning business.
Key Takeaways
- How do you get the right kind of applicants in the first place?
- How can you effectively screen candidates?
- What is the best way to set up the interview process?
- What are the best sites to list job ads on?
- Should you hire newbies or only experienced cleaners?
- How can you run professional-feeling interviews if you don’t have an office?
For more on this topic, check out our library of resources right here.
Hiring — We all have to do it
Hiring is one of the major struggles that all maid service owners encounter at some point. Thankfully, hiring is a good thing – it’s a sign of growth!
Take a moment to pat yourself on the back for getting to a point where you have to worry about hiring.
Every successful maid service – with ZERO exceptions – has to master its hiring process in order to succeed.
Without reliable cleaners, you’re stuck cleaning homes by yourself.
“If you could go back and give yourself one piece of hiring advice before you hired your first cleaner, what would it be?”
Hire for attitude more than anything else. When you first start the hiring process, you tend to look at experience more than personal character traits. Some of your best employees start with little cleaning experience but have amazing attitudes. Character and integrity are essential for your business.
You never get it all done. Your business — and especially your hiring techniques — are a work in progress because we deal with human beings. Take the pressure off yourself because every industry is always changing and moving. Enjoy the journey and don’t solely focus on the destination.
Double the amount of people you think you need to hire. If you think you need to hire one person, hire two instead. Hire more than you need because unexpected things happen. Data shows us that for every four people you hire only one stays with you a year later.
“How do you structure your ads to attract the right kind of applicants?”
To attract the right kind of people, you need to be the right kind of job. Too many business owners focus on the external (the person they may hire) and neglect the internal (themselves). The type of ad you write attracts a certain type of person.
Unfortunately, cleaning businesses tend to write their ads in a negative way. These ads state upfront the rules and expectations of the job.
- “Our customers come first”
- “You must be able to work Saturdays”
- “We are looking for cleaners who will put our customers first”
- “You must have a driver’s license and a vehicle”
Instead, write your ad as if your audience is the cream of the crop. Make a good first impression. Your best potential employees look for support, respect, and growth opportunities. Include phrases such as:
- “Top pay to clean houses”
- “Paid vacation”
- “Health insurance”
- “Make your own schedule”
- “Monday through Friday – we never require you to work holidays”
Structure your ad to lead with the positives, and positive employees will come!
Want a quick and easy way to write your next job ad? Why not steal ours? Get our job ad template here and never wonder what to write in a job ad again!
What do you do when you have low-quality applicants?
First off, don’t let it bother you. Hiring is a process that can be frustrating at times. Assume that you will have no-shows for interviews. It’s better to find out upfront that a candidate isn’t a good fit rather than after you hire them.
Create an extra step in your hiring process. Online hiring platforms are great, but add an extra step for your candidates to perform. This will weed out who is serious and who isn’t.
Create an application that is involved. The people who finish a lengthy application are the candidates who are serious. If people aren’t willing to jump through hoops to apply for your company, they either aren’t a good fit or you aren’t selling your company hard enough. As we mentioned earlier, fix your ads and you will see better applicants.
Where do you list your ads?
One size doesn’t fit all. When it comes to cleaning businesses, different avenues work better in different markets.
It’s a mistake to avoid hiring platforms because you have to pay for them. If you set aside money in your marketing budget to find an ideal customer, why wouldn’t you do the same thing to find an ideal employee?
Craigslist, Facebook, Indeed, Care, and ZipRecruiter are common options that you can use.
As a business, you are always hiring and interviewing. Find creative ways to get your name out there. If you own company vehicles with your business logo, then also include a line or two about hiring on them. You can find workers in unexpected places!
Consider using printed classified ads. Believe it or not, newspapers are not obsolete. Even if some of your candidates don’t read a newspaper in print form, they may read the news that is posted online.
Another option is to talk to your local Chamber of Commerce to include your ad in their newsletters.
Set up bonuses for employees who refer their friends or family to work for you. These types of referral programs are mutually beneficial for both you and your trustworthy employees. If your current employee has a great work ethic and attitude, then there’s a good chance that the person they refer to you has similar characteristics.
What kind of expectations do you set for your applicants?
You and your candidate need to be on the same page. So, make the job expectations clear at every step of the application process.
Cleaning can be a physically demanding job. Be upfront with your candidates about the amount of labor that they need to do on a daily basis. Your clients are picky and have high standards which means that your employees need to be hardworking and detail-oriented. When you set clear expectations you don’t waste your time or your candidates’ time.
Not only do you need to have clear communication when you hire, but you need to be forthcoming and honest too.
Start with “the good, the bad, the ugly” conversation during the interview process. Mention the great things about your company, but also include the things that can be gross and frustrating.
Tell your candidates what a day typically looks like at your business. They may clean grease in a kitchen, scrape off dried food on a table, and battle pet hair in the rugs.
Plus, be realistic about how other employees have felt in the past. If it takes six weeks for most people’s bodies to get used to physical labor, then tell them that.
But don’t forget to give them a little bit of hope too!
Applicants who apply to clean homes may think that they are ready to work for you because they have experience cleaning their own homes every week. Be realistic with them. Cleaning a messy stranger’s house is a whole different ball game than cleaning your bathroom once a week.
No matter what you decide to tell your applicants, keep a checklist.
Go through scenarios with your applicants so that they know your expectations. Tell them stories about circumstances that were problems in the past.
If part-time work is not an option for your business, tell the candidates that they are expected to handle a full-time schedule within a few weeks.
“What are some new hiring techniques that you’ve been using recently that you haven’t in the past?”
Many maid service owners rely less on phone calls, and instead, use texting, skype, zoom, and social media more. In general, technology is expanding and business owners who keep up with the trends will see more success.
You don’t need to do an in-person interview every time. Use skype, zoom, and facetime to your advantage.
What are some great book recommendations to learn more about hiring?
- The E-myth by Michael E. Gerber
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon and Ken Blanchard
- The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly
- The No B.S. series by Dan S. Kennedy
Search your local library for books on leadership and employee culture. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, then ask for some book recommendations from friends and family.
To wrap up
Being self-employed is a personal development program with a compensation package attached. In order to grow your business and improve your hiring processes, it’s going to require that you grow as a leader, business owner, and hiring supervisor.
Owning a business can be frustrating and draining at times, but you have control over everything that can and will be fixed! The common denominator in your business is YOU. In other words, you are the captain of your ship. We hope you found this article helpful! At ZenMaid, we work hard to provide free resources to make running your maid service as easy (and optimized) as possible.
You and your maid service deserve a little peace and quiet. Try ZenMaid for free today!
