Help with the help

[Vishenka69]

We have a very lovely cleaning woman, who's been with us for over 3 years. She's very nice, honest, loves our cat and I trust her completely. However, in the past few months the quality of her work has really gone down. I think it's largely due to the fact that she's overextended herself doing two jobs a day, every day. When she first started with us, she only had a few clients a week and was extremely diligent. Now I feel that she just rushes through our place on her way to the next one. Some of our friends (who I recommended her to) have mentioned this recent change as well. I don't want to fire her (most others are even worse or more expensive) but I would like to talk to her about this somehow. I'm just not sure how. I obvisouly have very little experience dealing with the hired help plus there's a language barrior (she's Polish and has limited command of Russian and English).

Any ideas as to how to deal with this situation?

[Tenacious_D]

I think you would be doing her a favor by talking to her. The longer you wait the harder it is going to get. Just be honest and ask her if she has taken on too many jobs and if so, does she need to change her schedule around. Let her know that some of the people you recommended her to are worried about her and worried that she has overextended herself and that her previous excellent work is beginning to diminish. Also, be very specific about what she isn't doing as well and praise her on what she did or is doing well.

Good luck saying this in a way she can understand but you are paying her and should get your money's worth.

[PrincessFiona]

OMG, Julie, I was going to write the exact same post but title it "firing the help" in a true "Desperate Housewives" kind of a way.

I am in a similar situaiton only it took just a few weeks...not years. Perhaps the Polish have a better work ethic. :> We hired someone to help out this summer once a week for a couple of hours at $15/hour. I thought it would be great, but she just doesn't do a good job. We sometimes have kid's toys and stuff still out and I have left out baskets for clutter if I haven't gotten to it. At first she put things in the baskets, vacuumed under the sofas, dusted, etc

Now she just picks up anything on the floor and puts it on the piano, sofa or mantle of the fireplace and leaves it there instead of putting things in baskets. She misses whole areas when she vacuumes and last time, she started to lift things up and dust under them on the piano and when I left the room, she quit. Literally, she only dusted under 2 things. (I have a little ceramic village sitting on top of the piano.) She spends too much time chatting with me and I have had to simply go upstairs and.....hide from her...

I also don't know how to handle it. I hate to hurt her feelings, but I have sort of high standards for a cleaning job I don't usually meet them myself, but if I'm paying someone, I expect things done a certain way.

Look at me become a snob!

Well, it's a good problem for each of us to have, I guess.

I'm voting that you talk to her and specifically say what needs to be done. I'm going to have a talk with mine.....and maybe I'll just tell her I don't need her services anymore. Her daughter is our babysitter though and I hate to screw up the karma!

kris

Vishenka, here are a few thoughts:
1) Can you switch your days - - explain to your housekeeper that you get the impression X day is not the best day for her because she has alot of jobs and does she have less clients on Y day - - be pretty specific that the reason you would want to switch is that you are very picky about cleaning and noticed that recently she has not been up to her usually terrific standard. Not sure the best way to do this in polish?!

2) Have you given her a raise recently/are you paying market rates? Sometimes service people, contractors etc take on too many jobs because they need to in order to make things work financially. We are just like you, we have had the same housekeeper for three years and she has never asked us for more money - - we have been pretty diligent about giving raises each year because she is terrific, inflation, etc. Also, if you can manage it, the christmas bonus is much appreciated. This was painful for us during some of the training years but ultimately worth it . . .
OR
3) Just talk to her about it, emphasizing how impressed you have been with her and the specific things you need her to do differently.

4) Kris, I don't know your market but I think your problem may be twofold: there are not that many great housekeepers out there who will work for $15 per hour - - there are some, we have a wonderful housekeeper for around that much but its rare and we have since given her a raise because we realized how rare it was. This may be different in your locale. Second, most housekeepers are not good at dealing with putting away your stuff - - at the very least the person will have to work at your house for a year or so before they figure out where your stuff goes. They are trying to work within a time frame though (lets say you have hired them for 3 hours) so in most cases they can't stop to deal with clutter, etc. My husband and I spend twenty minutes the night before the housekeeper comes putting stuff away - - it never takes more than that but the key is that every family member must participate. I know this is a challenge with kids as they are contantly making more clutter! Also, housekeepers vary in how much they dust, you may need to ask specifically - - some of them just have a bathroom/floors/kitchen focus especially if they are only slotted for a short amount of time.

Good luck, its hard to find that right relationship, esp. with people working in your home. But when it works, it is so worth it . . .

[mommax3]

Kris, I have had some of the same problems the times I have hired someone to help me clean. One thing I did the last time was to write down what I wanted to have done in order of priority, (bathrooms were always first!) which seemed to help. I did always try to have the house picked up beforehand so as not to spoil their momentum. I always left the house, too, if I could, to minimize my feelings of guilt and to keep the kids out of the way. I had a friend, though, that would clean at the same time as the person she had hired and that seemed to work for her. If someone says they can do the job for X amount of dollars, then I think they should do the job!

Vishenka, if communication is a problem, maybe literally showing her where you think she is getting sloppy would help? Maybe not though, if she is rushing off to another job or if you are not home.

We are actually toying with the idea of getting someone once a week to clean all the bathrooms and all the hard floors. Those are the jobs I dread and thus don't do. Everything else gets done. I just dread looking for someone for the exact reasons you both have described.

Sally

I've had the same problem when we have had the house cleaned. When we aren't hiring someone and it is our fault, that is another matter. :>

It seems like some people just fizzled out. With one person, I had to remind her every time she came to do certain things that weren't that unusual. Between that and some other basic things becoming so-so, we parted ways. Another person just needed a reminder and then it was better.

It sounds like you have a good person, I hope you can figure something out with her. I like the ideas of asking about switching days and showing her exactly what you are concerned about.

Good luck!

I loved having my house cleaned by capable people.

[Vishenka69]

Thanks guys. I'll definitely try talking to her again. But I do think there's a miscommunication going on. A few weeks ago I asked her to wipe the doors and though it was pretty clear (I pointed and stuff) that I wanted all the doors wiped. But when I got home, I realized she only wiped the one I was standing next to.

And I was thinking of giving her a raise as well. Right now we're paying whatever she asked for 3 years ago. We also give her a Christmas bonus every year and buy all the cleaning supplies ourselves. Although I can't afford to raise her pay enough to cover dropping a client or two.