5 Ways to Keep it Clean While Building A Team
It’s true; a team really is only as good as its weakest link. As I’m sure you know from running your own business, the “weak link” is often impacted by how a company cares for its people. While I take many cleaning industry employer horror stories with a grain of salt, there are small truths in a number of these tales. What we aim to do at Clean Club Calgary is build our team of individuals, providing them with a career to take pride in and clients who respect and appreciate their work. Ultimately, we care for our people, which, in turn, provides our clients with cleaners who care about their quality of work.
So, how can we support our team to ensure that:
They have all the proper tools, mindset, and proactive attitude, and
Our clients feel cared for while having their cleaning expectations met?
The simple answer is we EMPOWER our staff. This ensures clients receive more than a cleaning, but an overall higher quality of life. It all starts with how we work with our cleaning teams.
TRUST IS OUR ESSENTIAL CLEANING TOOL
Trusting my team is easy as I truly believe that people put in 100% effort. I trust that my team is cleaning to the best of their abilities, with the right tools to do so. That said, I also know that we are all humans and have hiccups happen from time to time. What’s important is that we all remain committed to doing our best, implement processes if this trust is broken, and continually empower each other to be accountable for our work.
As my team has grown, I’ve been able to further empower them in their roles by taking ownership of how they provide a higher client quality of life. This builds my trust in them even more while encouraging them to further improve the quality for our clients. Sending a cleaning team to you with my trust is the most essential tool I can provide.
PROVIDE INSTANT FEEDBACK
This is one of the kindest things an employer or client can do. If there is an issue, it does not do well to let it fester. Feedback must be instant as it allows us to go back to a client and fix things right away. Whether the feedback comes from you – the client – or a senior cleaning member, instant, proactive feedback goes a long way. Internally, we have a systemized approach for providing effective feedback ensuring:
The team member understands the hiccup in order to not make it again,
The issue is dealt with and proactively managed as soon as possible,
There is a clear path forward to correcting the hiccup, and
Clients are kept in the loop on all feedback communication and how issues are solved.
OUR TEAM ARE ALSO OUR CUSTOMERS
“Treat your employees as your customers” – sure, we hear this a lot, but is it being put into practice? For some companies, their employees are as replaceable as the cleaning cloths they use. However, our people know that they are irreplaceable and respected as a Clean Club Calgary cleaning team member. Our staff are long-term, loyal people, here to build real relationships with each other and our clients. It’s important that we take care of them.
This starts by making sure vacation requests are approved in a timely manner, a great benefits package and Group matching RRSP are offered, and a few other personalized bonuses and perks. We also have a solid cancellation policy in place with our clients to ensure that our team, who is eager to provide a quality clean, can work.
APPRECIATION GOES A LONG WAY
Cleaning is not a glamorous job. We all know this. There truly is nothing wonderful about scrubbing a toilet. However, knowing that we are making a difference in the lives of our customers is a huge motivator for us to show up ready, willing, and able to work.
Sharing positive feedback and acknowledging the effort our team puts into their cleaning is so important. And not just with the specific individual who received the praise. It’s important that when members of our team receive feedback the whole Clean Club Calgary team is made aware. We do this through Facebook’s corporate communication tool, Workplace. Our team shares files, pictures, group conversations of support; are able to ask and answer each other’s questions; often offer new cleaning tips and techniques; and so much more. This has helped to cultivate a deep fellowship feeling, supporting our team in communicating and connecting further. The trust between team members has grown since we’ve started using this system as it also allows them to provide their own shout-outs to their cleaning teammates. Ultimately, this support and appreciation shows up in the quality clean our clients receive.
REPEATING ONESELF ISN’T A BAD THING
As a leader, I believe that I have a full-time career in learning. While I’ve learned so many lessons, the biggest one is that repetition is the God of Learning. Everyone learns differently and expecting all members of my team to learn the same is wishful thinking. Rather, repetition has become my biggest asset in supporting my team. I’ve learned that I must repeat myself, in different ways, to ensure everyone understands our clients’ expectations. Particularly with my multi-nationality team, I have become quite savvy at navigating the cultural differences in how things are said so there is clarity for all.
While we have full customer profiles on file that outline all cleaning requirements, details, and preferences, there are still questions from team members that come back simply because each person learns differently. It is my job to make sure that your cleaning team understands what your definition of clean and quality of life are. Repeating myself ensures that you receive the service you expect.
Being able to build a team of individuals is one of the greatest things about running a business. It is something I am committed to working on as a company centred on “TEAM” for being essential to our – and your – success. It’s how we’ll continue to provide you the quality of clean you deserve, whether in your home, small office, or commercial studio.
The bonus of knowing your cleaners care? You’ll spot it in the details! Contact us today to connect with a cleaning team who cleans with care.