The right cleaning inspector is critical to ensuring your customers are happy. Here’s how to hire the best.
Your commercial cleaning teams do great work. When they leave a facility, the hard floors sparkle, the carpets are as fresh as a spring day, and there’s not a speck of dust to be found. So why do you need a cleaning inspector?
Early on, you may not need anyone in this role specifically. You can conduct inspections yourself, or your team lead can take on the responsibility. However, as you grow and build your client base, you may find that you need someone whose primary role is to perform inspections.
How do you find that person? What should you look for? Here are some tips to help you hire the right cleaning inspector for your business.
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Discover which skills your new cleaning inspector needs and find out what you should expect to offer them
Before you think about the specifics of hiring a cleaning inspector, it’s helpful to think about your expectations for the job. You’ll want someone with an eye for detail, with some janitorial and supervisory experience, and excellent customer service skills. Dig deeper, though.
Does most of your work take place after hours or overnight? Your cleaning inspector will probably need to start their day very early in the morning while your janitorial teams are still working and also have some crossover time with regular business hours so they can communicate with clients. Will they also be responsible for inventory tracking, ordering supplies, and keeping up relationships with vendors?
Then there are soft skills that play a big part in how well they may gel with your team. Good communication skills are key, as they’ll be interacting with you, your teams, and your clients. Can they provide feedback in a productive way? Can they work with clients who may be upset about something? For that matter, do they have the temperament to deal with issues coming from clients without causing more problems? Would they be able to fire a client if it came to that?
Your cleaning inspector will be in a position of authority, so you want to be sure they can get your team to do their best work while also providing a safe atmosphere so your teams can feel good about the work they do and the people they work with.
These are just some of the things to consider as you look for someone to fill this position. Bear in mind, too, that some of these skills are trainable. For example, you can teach someone how to order supplies or train them on how you prefer to clean office meeting rooms. What you can’t teach is personality.
The more detailed you can get with your expectations, the more likely you are to find the right person for the job.
Now then, what are they going to expect from you? It’s one thing to hire a cleaning inspector; it’s another thing altogether to hire and retain a great cleaning inspector.
There are two things your potential hire will look at before they send you a resume. They’ll want to know what the pay is and they’ll want to know what kind of hours they can expect to work. Here is a sampling from several real job ads for a cleaning inspector that may or may not help you find the great talent you want. See if you can figure out which requirements would likely entice or turn away a high-quality candidate.
- Must be available to report to work at any time of day or night and cover any shift necessary. This is a part-time position – twice a week with a minimum of 1 hour each day.
- Schedule: Monday to Friday. Benefits include paid time off and a matching 401(k).
- Must be energetic, detailed, and meticulous in following cleanliness standards and have great interpersonal and verbal communication skills.
- Agree to work all weekends. You must carry your own cleaning supplies and buy products for your own use, such as bleach and glass cleaner.
These come from four different job listings in different parts of the U.S. The pay rate for all of them is similar. It also seems pretty clear which would attract better candidates for the job. One of the listings may even violate labor laws in some states.
Regardless of the law, however, if you’re trying to hire a great cleaning inspector (or any employee), toeing the line on laws like whether or not you can expect employees to buy their own supplies or expecting them to be available at any time of day or night isn’t going to bring in the people you want. And if by some chance you get lucky and hire a great cleaning inspector, they will likely jump ship the moment they get a better offer.
Yes, business margins can be tight. No, you don’t want your overhead and payroll to be astronomical. You also need people who will stick around and help you build your business.
Again, though, the key to hiring and retaining a great team is to treat them well.
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