How Maxine’s Pristine Clean has adapted their hiring process to ensure the best team of cleaners! (June 2020)
In March 2020, at the start of the global Coronavirus pandemic, the world went into lockdown. This lockdown meant that many people, including cleaners, were unable to keep attending work. After 11 weeks of being stuck at home and cleaning our own houses obsessively now is the time to get back at it. As a growing business the question rises how will we continue to hire good and reliable staff with minimal contact?
At Maxine’s Pristine Clean we are passionate about finding the right staff for the job. With our main clients being domestic clients we feel it is incredibly important to ensure the right people have been picked for the job. In the past we have used a combination of trial days and one-on-one training to build a good relationship with candidates and used these opportunities to make certain the right man/woman has been picked for the job. But with restrictions in place providing the ‘new-normal’ this process in no longer advisable.
The new hiring process has been constructed to reflect the same important aspects from our previous hiring process such as attracting candidates with a good work ethic and a passion for cleaning, as well as building a relationship of trust.
Step 1:
Creating a job ad – We understand there are lots of similar jobs on the market and that’s why we have created an attractive job offer including good working hours (to fit around school hours), a performance recognition scheme and the possibility of pay rises (we believe in rewarding those who work hard).
The candidate’s CV’s will be assessed on a few different factors including; location, transport, experience and length in each job (it’s important we hire people who are in it for the long haul!).
Step 2:
An initial phone interview is scheduled. A phone call is a great way to dig a little deeper and start building a (hopefully long term) relationship. During the phone call the candidate can also ask any questions that they might have and helps to ensure it is the right job for them.
Step 3:
The candidates who appear to match the criteria needed for the job role will then be sent a friendly introductory email including a survey. The survey is aimed at understanding the candidate’s attitude towards the workplace. Questions such as “If you are running late to work which of the following actions will you take…”.
A further survey is then sent, aimed at getting an understanding of the candidates cleaning ability and/or style.
These survey not only give more detailed information about the candidate that may have been learnt during the trial and training steps but also show the candidate is serious about the job. Getting an understanding of the candidates cleaning ability will also help during the later stages of the hiring process in knowing what training may need to be provided by video link.
Step 4:
Acquiring a reference from the candidate’s previous employer is a great way to find out what the candidate is like once they have settled into a role.
And of-course a DBS check is needed before the candidate can begin the role.
Step 5:
Providing the candidates reference check and DBS certificate both come back satisfactory arrangements can now be made to give the candidate their cleaning products and equipment, as well as checklists and uniform. Training videos will also be sent via email for the candidate to watch before any cleaning takes place. The training videos will include step-by-step tutorial of how each room should be cleaned to up-hold the Maxine’s Pristine Clean standard.
Step 6:
Cleaning can now commence! The first few cleans will still be treated as a trial run – with the house being checked shortly after cleaning has taken place to ensure anything that has been missed or could be done better is picked up and corrected promptly.
As always, we regularly ask for customers feedback and inspections are done regularly to secure our continued efforts at providing a Pristine Clean.