The Modern Cleaning Lady

The modern person known as the cleaning lady is not who you think it may be; tired, uneducated and desperate low income housewives or unskilled laborers are no longer the majority. Just as work in this particular service industry has changed over the last few years, so have the workers who supply the service.

Motivation

The new breed of “cleaning lady” is highly motivated. They realize that although people prefer to live and work in clean and healthy environments, in many cases the fast pace of life for those of us juggling traditional jobs – in some cases more than one – children and the activities school and sports bring into life, caring for senior parents, and the myriad of other things that intrude on daily life – make cleaning the last item on the “to do” list. People only have so much time and energy, and many just can’t handle one more task on an overloaded platter. So the cleaning person steps in. This person may or may not be a woman; many cleaning personnel are men these days. But whoever it is, this person must be organized and motivated to seek new clients, and do an excellent job for the clients they already have in order to keep them and expand business – word of mouth is priceless.

Honesty

Honesty is hand in hand with motivation. You must be motivated to offer value for the money people are paying you. You can’t skimp on the details such as cleaning top of the door frame or behind the toilet. You MUST clean under the beds and sofas. You have to be honest. No snooping through dresser drawers or pocketing forgotten or misplaced cash. No snooping, and if you find cash, cameras, phones, or anything else under or behind furniture, you bring it to the attention of the home or business owner, you do not snag it and take it along with you. You are not entitled to found property. Flexibility I personally believe that the ability to be flexible is an important job skill. If your client has a crisis or is ill, the last thing they need is for you to be vacuuming under the sickbed or refusing to work around an emergency unless you have a pretty compelling reason of your own. Why be rigid and inflexible for no good reason? Why not switch to a different day once or twice if you have the time open?

Good service is remembered and valued at a time when everyone is trying to stretch the dollar as far as it will go. This is not to say the cleaning person should be a doormat; there is nothing wrong with standing up for yourself if the situation is called for. But flexibility and cooperation gets you a lot further in life with a lot less stress. Independence This is the golden ring of life - the opportunity to work, do a good job and see results, and to be independent while doing it. Cleaning people are entrusted with home or office security and in exchange do not have to deal with in your face constant supervision or tons of paperwork documenting every minute of every workday. There is a type of freedom in creating and maintaining your own daily schedule that is not available in many parts of the employment sector. You “are your own man” so to speak.

Good Health

This one aspect of the profession that is overlooked a lot. If done right, the daily activities involved will keep you in better physical condition than your average sedentary desk job. You move more, burn more calories, there is better muscle tone and cardiovascular conditioning, and the changes in your work environment can also lead to better mental health. In short; if you go into the cleaning profession with the right attitude, expectations and organizational skills, you may just be surprised. And as more and more people change careers for various reasons, the pool of employees is changing rapidly from the traditional downtrodden cleaning woman to men and women who are more educated and motivated.