Treating people as you would like to be treated is a lesson that many people forget. John Pletz is CEO of ServiceMaster Clean by Pletz, based in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and talks here about how simple things can make a big difference.
If you treat your cleaners as part of your business team, they will tend to act that way. They are providing a valuable service. A service that, although it may perhaps seem to be of a lesser skill level, is critical to your business.
When you come to work the trash can is empty, your bathroom is nice and clean, the floors have been swept and the carpets have been vacuumed. You can get right to work because the cleaner cleaned up while you were gone for the evening.
Your sales team doesn’t have to waste valuable time cleaning its office before making that first sale of the day. Your office manager can get right to work because her office is clean and orderly. Your shop people can start to work because the shop floor, lunch room and washrooms are already clean and ready to go for the day.
High Expectations
Sometimes we forget how much work goes into keeping your facility clean. When you come to work at your office, you just expect it to be clean. Someone came in and worked hard to get your office neat and clean. While you were having dinner at home or watching TV, they were working hard for you to have a clean work place to come to in the morning.
A pleasant note or a pleasant word can make your cleaner feel important. A person who feels important is a much more motivated person. Think how much you like to be appreciated for all your hard work. We all like to be told thank you and to hear how much we are appreciated, and your cleaning folks do as well.
When you leave your office and tell everyone to have a nice evening, maybe jot down a note to your cleaner and tell them “Have a nice evening and thanks for keeping this place clean.” That may just make their whole day.
Real People, Not Elves
Often times a cleaning job is part-time and your cleaner comes from a full-time day job to clean for you at night. Remember, elves don’t come in late at night while you are home sleeping and magically make your place nice and clean. People do.
Do you know your cleaner’s first name? It might be a nice touch to know it and call him by name. And when that bathroom is nice and clean there will also be enough toilet paper to take care of the urgent business of the moment. So while you’re in there relaxing, remember who took care of that small detail for you.
It’s as simple as treating your cleaning staff in the same way as you like to be treated. Sound like a good idea? We hope so and so does your cleaner.
I can guarantee only two things. One is we will miss something from time to time, and two, we will correct it. Please share with us your concerns when they arise. We can’t fix what we don’t know, so please let us know. We want to do a good job, honest.
