7 Reasons House Cleaners Get Fired (And How it Might've Been Avoided)
Being in the cleaning business and, naturally, talking to our clients, we’ve noticed a few trends in their past experiences with house cleaners.
7. Attitude
[Pffft. Who cares, right?]
As a human, you’re programmed to instantaneously determine when another human is friendly or might be a threat. Likely the cleaner you just hired is not a threat, but it was immediately apparent that they weren’t in the friendly category. You gave them a chance and they did decent work, but any kind of contact with them was iffy, making you hesitant to mention any concerns for fear that their attitude might get even worse.
This is one of the few in this list that does not have a remedy other than the obvious. Ask customer support for a different cleaning pro, or move on completely.
6. Unpunctuality
[Yeah, It's a Word]
Of course a little bit of flexibility is necessary, but punctuality is important. You have other things planned and more crucial events to be concerned with. You shouldn’t have to worry about the house getting cleaned on time. This is supposed to be a stress reducer, right?
Be open with your cleaning team and re-emphasize that arrival time is important to you. It may not be the fault of the team, but the assignments are being scheduled too tightly. In which case, reach out to customer support and make your concerns known.
5. You’re not getting your money’s worth (or maybe you are).
[Everyone Likes to Jump to This Conclusion]
Often this is obvious after the first clean. The cleaning team seemed to work quickly and efficiently, but just didn’t spend enough time where it was needed most, leaving one too many crumbs on the counter top, if you will.
This one isn’t quite so simple. Let’s dive into the possible causes:
Priorities weren’t what you expected. Did you consult with the team on a basic plan of action? Maybe their checklist or priority list doesn’t align with your expectations. Often this can be remedied pretty quickly with some communication with the team. Sometimes the cleaning company (ahem) will work with you to tailor a custom checklist, in special cases.
The team didn’t have enough time. This is typically a result of underbidding or tight scheduling. Many cleaning companies are rigid with the number of hours the cleaning team can spend on an assignment. Essentially, “you got what you paid for” and nothing more. Make sure to communicate with the team or customer support to establish expectations and maybe pay more for the additional time necessary to meet them.
The least likely (but not unheard of) explanation is that the team just did not use their time effectively. In this case, you certainly did not get what you paid for. In such a case, it is much easier to work with customer support at a cleaning company than have the difficult conversation with the cleaning team. They can have the difficult conversation for you, and maybe even just send another team.
4. They’re getting worse and worse.
[The #4 Reason You’re Giving Up on Your Cleaners]
Your cleaning team kicked butt for the first few weeks. You could not have asked for a more tidy home. But then something happened: they started missing things. Maybe they seem a little more hurried than before. You tried to hint toward a couple of small issues and sometimes they were taken care of, but other times they weren’t touched.
Things to consider:
Are they independent cleaners? Maybe you just need to sit down and have a talk to re-establish checklist items and priorities.
If you’re working with a cleaning company, maybe they tightened up their pay or started enforcing faster work. Contact customer support and do some troubleshooting before immediately cutting them off. If it does turn out to be one of the above restrictions on the cleaners, be sure to let the company know that they lost you not because of the team, but because of their poor treatment of employees.
3. Wait. They’re leaving you?!
[A Homeowner's Horror Story]
A couple of years ago, you somehow scored a house cleaning all-star. You gave her priorities and she knocks them out every time. Stressing about the house being cleaned properly was a thing of the past. Sure, you’ve chatted about how she’s doing in school, and maybe you’re a little bit proud of the fact that you’re indirectly helping her pay tuition, but you never thought this day would come. Your prized cleaner has graduated and is moving into another profession - never to clean your house again. Nooo!!
This is a tough situation, but rest assured there are other great house cleaners out there. Ask for referrals, read reviews, and communicate expectations.
2. Backward priorities
[Maybe This Should Have Been #1]
Sometimes cleaners just don’t get the priority list right and that formal living room (you know, the one you never even see) is glistening, but your toilet bowl in the master bath didn’t get all the attention it (admittedly) deserved.
Here’s the moral of the story: a house cleaner can’t clean every inch of a house, no matter how hard they try. Often there isn’t even enough time to hit all of the items on the cleaning checklist with as much elbow grease as might be necessary.
So how do you get a satisfactory clean? By hitting the important things first, and leaving the lesser items for last. These are the items that can be skipped sometimes without issue, or they can be hurried through and still be quite sufficient. If you’re on a regular cleaning schedule, these items can be rotated around so that they’re taken care of every other clean.
This is extremely important to get right. You probably noticed that priorities are referenced multiple times in this post. If you and your cleaning team aren’t on the same page with priorities, then multiple symptoms can, and will, arise. It cannot be emphasized enough that you should be completely upfront with your expectations. If your priorities differ from other clients, it might take the cleaning team a couple of tries to get it right, but if you’re patient and openly communicate with the cleaners or customer support, you’ll be much happier in the long run.
1. You’re the house cleaner.
[#1 Just Because It's the Last Point We Wanted To Make]
We are willing to bet that the cleaner you’ve had for years sometimes shows every single one of the traits in this blog post. Their efficiency, timeliness, priorities, and overall value of service seems to fluctuate with their mood and attitude. Yeah, I’m talking about YOU.
This might seem to be one of the most difficult suggestions in this entire post, but it’s not! You should probably fire yourself right now!
It’ll be one of the simplest and stress-relieving things you’ve ever done, we promise. Unsure of how to make this transition? Stay tuned for a future post: Is it Time to Stop Cleaning the House Yourself? Things You Shouldn’t Worry About (And Things You Should).
Parting thoughts.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Set expectations ahead of time. Don’t assume that your cleaner knows exactly what you want. Everyone has different expectations!
Give them a couple of chances. They’re humans after all, and you’re not their only client.
Be courteous, but don’t just let things slide. They might just continue sliding.
If you do have to move on, ask friends for referrals, do your research, and set expectations.