How to find (and keep) the right cleaning staff

55%. This is the percentage of cleaning companies who lost contracts because of inadequate cleaning practices. Whether it’s your own fault or not, losing a contract is never pleasant and always disruptive. But it comes down to the highest expense item- wages paid to cleaners, with the related training and recruitment costs.

Finding the right staff at the right time and the right place is the single most important element of maintaining a contract. While it’s equally important to maintain good relationships, the former is easier to control- although it may sometimes not feel that way. Cleaners are at the coal face and execute the nitty gritty of the contract so they need to have skills that match the job. They can make or break a contract but finding the right people can be elusive.

How to find cleaning workers in New Zealand

Because cleaners have diverse backgrounds- with many people arriving in New Zealand in search of work from different places, such as the Philippines and the Pacific Islands, it’s difficult to find a one-size-fits-all approach to recruiting strategy. Foreign cleaning workers are a large component of the workforce but locals also make up a substantial part.

But there are things in common. How to find a job nearby is a pressing question, as transport is often a barrier to cleaners’ ability to get to work on time without spending a substantial part of their pay on getting there. To find a job with the best pay is also a common denominator- not just amongst cleaners but in most industries and professions globally.

Understanding the diversity as well as needs and wants, CleaningNZ is ideally placed to connect cleaners to employers and agents. Spending years in the cleaning industries in Auckland, they were able to identify- and fix, the missing links. Networking being key, CleaningNZ puts a lot of emphasis on cleaning staff in Auckland and has developed a platform that brings together the two sides of an employment contract using their network as well as targeted and curated exposure on social media sites such as Facebook.

Tapping into this valuable database to find cleaners for almost every type of cleaning service, employers and agents have found that the niche is one of the most effective places to recruit cleaners in New Zealand. It covers:

  • Commercial cleaners
  • Industrial cleaners
  • General cleaning services
  • Domestic cleaners
  • Housekeeping

To save energy and effort, placing an advertisement that is appealing and written within the fields provided instantly gets exposure and reaches thousands of cleaners. Finding cleaners in Auckland starts here.

Whether it’s spring cleaning, gutter cleaning, or any type of cleaning services, including high-pressure cleaners or high-altitude cleaners, the cleaners are part of the network that will see the advert and – if the terms are right, will respond.

Advertising for cleaners on Facebook

A technically flawless Facebook Ad- with artwork, captions, and good copy, will likely be found. But it needs to be found by the right audience, particularly if producing it used up a big part of the advertising budget.

The right audience- cleaners looking for jobs in Auckland, is looking at CleaningNZ and its associated Facebook pages. 

Posting a job ad: Do’s and Don’ts

Finding cleaners effectively in New Zealand means:

DO:

  • Curate your job post, ensuring that it is attractive to cleaners, your target audience
  • Be specific about the details of the job, including perks, hours, and any special benefits or obligations
  • List the experience level, training requirements, and category of worker
  • Ensure that locations are available to facilitate good matches in close range
  • Post a job on the right platform, to make sure it doesn’t get lost in a sea of other ads
  •  Ensure that basics- such as work permits, are part of the platform

DON’T:

  • Be vague about the details: Workers want to know what they are letting themselves in for
  • Expect many responses if the pay isn’t fair. Scour CleaningNZ for comparative jobs to see if your job is in the right ballpark
  • Include any negativity or discriminatory language
  • Forget that interviews are still the final round to screen and assess applications from candidates
  • Expect to overcome cleaners’ reluctance to provide CVs automatically. There are reasons for this but applications on CleaningNZ will provide enough information for the first round of the selection process

How to retain cleaners

  1. Keep cleaners happy: An Indeed survey of over 1,600 hotel housekeepers revealed that just 36 percent are satisfied with their salary.
  2. Keep cleaning staff safe: There are often risks of exposure to toxins and risk of injury in the cleaning industries in Auckland. Minimizing these, strictly complying with laws, and maintaining proven protocols go a long way in occupational health and safety
  3. Communication: Ensure that your relationship provides methods that will give early warnings of dissatisfaction- and the chance to fix problems before they become a crisis

It may be time to revise your business systems, to ensure that losing contracts really isn’t your fault and doesn’t happen because of the wrong cleaning staff.

TAKEAWAYS: Find the right cleaners

  • Tap into an established database that’s visited frequently by cleaners such as CleaningNZ
  • Use social media such as Facebook, ensuring that the pages where you appear will get seen by your target audience
  • Post a job advert on platforms that will get the best exposure, where your ad will be seen- not get lost among the many others