We’ve only ever had four cleaners in 20+ years of weekly cleans. They’ve each come to us through an agency, and then set up on their own. The agency basically doesn’t pay enough, and as they’re very good cleaners, they know that they could make more by working for themselves, and clients will want to keep them.
A few things that we’ve done which I think has meant that the cleaners have done a good job and stayed with us:
*We pay more than the rate that they ask, whether that is an agency or the cleaner themselves
*We are a big job. The clean and ironing is 6 hours each week (in one day). So the cleaner doesn’t generally do a job before or after ours. So less travel for them and I think ours is therefore a more attractive job than, say, 3 x two hour cleans
*I always offer drinks and snacks, and if I’m not there, make it clear that they can help themselves. Soft drinks as well as tea/coffee
*I have some flexibility around which day the clean is done when the cleaner starts. Our current cleaner now always comes on a Friday, but we’ve had Wednesday or Thursday in the past. Friday works best for me though
*I am clear and up front about what I expect, and am happy to pay for whatever time it takes to get to that standard. We agree it all in advance of them starting, so each of us knows what is expected and there are fewer misunderstandings
*Our current cleaner is absolutely amazing, and I hugely value her. She makes my life so much easier. I pay half her rate when we go on holiday, whereas with the agency, we wouldn’t be asked to pay anything and our current cleaner doesn’t expect to be paid for weeks that she doesn’t work
*I give a generous birthday, Easter and Christmas presents
- I basically provide any cleaning things that she wants eg when our vacuum cleaner wasn’t working well, I bought the brand and model that she prefers to use, as I didn’t have a strong opinion on which one to buy, but she did, which makes cleaning easier for her