T.E.A.M - Together everyone achieves more . . .

Ah, the life of a jet-setting, international entrepreneur!

The glitz! The style!

But, none of that happens without one specific, vital, not quite so glam thing nailed.

Cleaning.

Yep, that’s right.

🧼🧹 Scrubbing, dusting, polishing.

Picking up rubbish, ironing, emptying the bins and sometimes, dealing with the leftovers of some very messy guests. Like many people, we started out doing all our own changeovers. And let me tell you, it is not easy work.

You can see some of the madness (and magic) behind the scenes on our socials:
Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

You might think it’s just stripping a few sheets, but when you’ve got 18 beds to flip in a two-hour window, along with cleaning the remnants of the stag party of all stag parties, you’ll quickly change your mind.

Which is why our absolute, number one rule is –

The people who do your changeovers are integral members of the team. Without them, you’ll quickly be out of business. They deserve all the respect in the world, 🌍 fair pay and fair rewards for their work. 🙌🏽

In fact, all our Polka ‘cleaners’ are the Changeover Team. They are our colleagues and teammates. They’re the eyes and ears on the ground, who alert us to problems, often weeks before any guests would raise them.

If you find the right person, they’re worth their weight in gold, and we’ve got team members who’ve been with us for years, because we treat them like that.

But finding the right person can be tricky. It’s not like you’re going to be spot-checking their work every weekend. They have to be self-motivated, work on their own initiative, be willing to get their hands dirty and work longer hours when required.

Finding the right people.

• Be rigorous in your interview process.

We look for team members who’ve got at least two years’ experience in cleaning holiday homes & serviced accommodation. We make sure they understand how we run our business, and are able to adapt to that.

Interviews are always a two-way conversation. All serviced accommodation runs differently, so even with all that experience, we might not be the right fit for the individual.

• Good communication skills are key.

Even prior to interviews, we’re looking out for people who reply promptly and communicate clearly.

"Believe me, you do not want to be in the position we found ourselves in early on, when a new cleaner stopped answering the phone on changeover day, and Jason Owen had to drive across the country to ensure an apartment was ready for arriving guests…. She also stole a brand-new children’s cot, but that’s another story!"

Now, I’m not saying it’s necessary to do this, but when our longest standing team member arrived for her interview at our apartments and saw I was doing a bit of cleaning, she immediately rolled up her sleeves and joined in.

She wasn’t trying to impress, she’s just got a proactive personality.

To agency, or not to agency?

We don’t use an agency, but build relationships ourselves with our team members. With agencies, we’ve found the rates extremely high, and most of that money doesn’t go into the changeover staffs’ pockets.

Also, agency cleaners can rotate on a monthly (sometimes weekly) basis, and we’ve found they’re not necessarily invested in your business like a valued team member. They’re less likely to raise concerns if they see a cupboard on the verge of collapse, or notice something weird with the boiler.

Hourly Pay vs. Flat Rate?

For us, we’ve tried both methods, and hourly pay has been the most successful. There’s a big difference between changing over a couple of beds that’ve been used by meticulously tidy people, and nine beds that have been used by a wild hen party.

If we paid a flat rate, we would always have to pay for the worst-case scenario, which would be insanely expensive. If we opted to pay a lower rate, our team members would quickly get annoyed when the work required was consistently a lot more.

Bonuses

We give a pay rise to our team members every year. Retaining great staff is way cheaper than recruiting and retraining new people, but it’s also a sign of respect for the work they do.

All our team members get a Christmas bonus. Last year, we gave £200 to each team member and a Christmas present, too.

We’ve also gifted team members stays in our accommodation as a ‘thank you’ for their hard work.

Want to see more of how we run things at PolkaStays?
Check out our site: polkastays.net
Or follow the action on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Final Words of Wisdom

Set expectations clearly from the off. Remind your changeover team that if they need anything that will help them do their job better, they should let you know. We’ve purchased new vacuum cleaners, and different cleaning supplies at the request of our team. Not only are they happier, the results are even better.

Use a task checklist to help your team understand expectations.

If you want a copy of the cleaning checklist we share with our team, just drop me your email and I’ll ping it over to you.

If you do your own changeovers, don’t forget to add this into your budgeting. Just because you’re doing it for ‘free’, doesn’t mean it goes down as zero cost on your spreadsheet. What happens if you can’t do it one weekend? What about the electricity you use washing bedsheets or the cost of cleaning products? If your business would go into the red if you started paying someone to do the work, you need to look again at your pricing.

Final, final thought –

Don’t ever forget you’re where you are now because of the awesome team doing the hard graft in your properties. Without them, your business will cease to function.