To grow and make more money, you must recruit staff for your cleaning business – learn how!

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There are only so many hours in the day. If you want to expand your business and make more money, you will have to recruit staff for your cleaning business. Either that or clone yourself!  How to recruit staff for your cleaning business and grow a team of cleaners are two of the main questions I get asked by cleaning business owners after building my own team of 41 cleaners.

Finding good cleaning staff who stay with you and your business can be the source of much frustration. It can be hard to find suitable people to hire, find people who won’t leave your employment quickly and who keep to your cleaning standards week and week, clean after clean.

As your cleaning business grows, recruiting will be something you repeatedly do, which calls for a rinse-and-repeat system!

For visual/auditory learners, in this vlog post, where I run through how to design a recruitment process for your cleaning business:

For those who like to read, read on…

Step-by-step guide on how to recruit staff for your cleaning business

  1. Have a Job description – List all the tasks and duties you expect your new cleaner to undertake. Make a list of expected standards and expected behaviour. For example, repeat “reliable, consistent and hard-working” throughout your job descriptions. Use that wording again in the employment contracts and the cleaner’s training guide or handbook. Make sure you state clearly what you want in a cleaner. A job description is not a place to be vague. Say what you want and what you don’t!

      2. Advertise your job role – Let the world know you want to recruit staff for your cleaning business. Design your advertisement based on your job description and place it, free of charge, on recruitment sites like Indeed or on job boards on Facebook that are for your local area. Place the advertisement on your social media accounts, stories, and website. Use eye-catching images, your logo and even the odd emoji to make your advertisement enjoyable.

Download this FREE job description example to get you started – Add and amend details where needed.

3. Telescreen – I don’t like to waste time, either mine or the applicants, by arranging a face-to-face interview immediately. I feel it’s best to gauge the applicant’s attitude and enthusiasm with a quick 5-10 minute telephone conversation. I find it helpful to have a list of prepared questions to determine if the applicant is what we are looking for and is a good match for our team and business

Maid In Business blog pic - how to recruit staff for your cleaning business - turquoise background with a pink telephone receiver next to a mobile phone

If the applicant is not answering after repeated calls, is very flat on the telephone, or does not have the right experience, skills or aptitude, place them on the NO pile and email/message them to let them know they were unsuccessful this time. For those who did well on the telescreen, invite them to meet you for a face-to-face interview.

4. Interview – Arrange a face-to-face interview to put the person to the voice. An in-person meeting allows you to look at their appearance and cleanliness, asses their body language and attitude, and ask more detailed questions about their experience, along with questions such as “What would you do if broke or damaged an item” to gage if the individual is an excellent fit to your cleaning business. Reject anybody that didn’t pass your interview standard with an email/message.

5. Trail Clean – This is not for everyone, but I like to do it in my cleaning business and use my house for it. A trail clean should be between 15 to 45 minutes. Ask the applicant to clean a kitchen, bathroom or a specific area – without your guidance or direction – to see what their idea of cleaning is and to see if they are someone you think you can work with and instruct.

6. Rejection – If the applicant is not what you are looking for, reject them at this stage with an email or message. If someone did well at the interview but was very difficult or not to a workable standard, reject them, as applicants should be their best at the interview! In. my opinion, it is essential to let applicants know they were unsuccessful rather than just leaving a person hanging, never knowing, as that’s not nice and (I feel) unprofessional – you never know if that person may be a good fit for your business in the future. We don’t want to leave a bad taste in their mouth! 

Maid In Business blog pic - how to recruit staff for your cleaning business - - lady against a pink background wearing a turquoise top, with her hair in a bun, holding up her right arm in a stop sign

Download this FREE rejection template to use – Amend details were needed, then copy and paste. 

7. Job Offer – Yay! You have found someone who did well on the telephone, face to face, and someone you know can clean to a level you can work with. Fist pumps all around!!


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