How to Train Cleaning Staff: 8 Tips for Developing Your Team

1. Develop standard operating procedures

Before you start training new employees, take time to write a standard operating procedure (SOP) for every cleaning service your company provides. Reliable documentation educates employees with step-by-step instructions for every service on a job site.

Developing standard operating procedures for cleaning staff might include:

• Residential cleaning guidelines. House cleaners must know how to thoroughly clean kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms, and different types of flooring.
  
• Commercial cleaning protocols. Commercial cleaners need direction on cleaning office spaces, breakrooms, washrooms, and all other public spaces and surfaces in a business or corporate setting.
  
• Carpet cleaning standards. Educate your team on how to perform home and commercial carpet maintenance. Processes might include steam cleaning, carpet repairs, and stain and odor removal.
  
• Window cleaning SOPs. Document the best and most effective ways to clean interior and exterior windows for residential and commercial clients.
  
• Pressure washing SOPs. Teach pressure-washing staff how to tackle multiple surfaces (like windows, roofs, gutters, concrete, and siding), as well how to maintain and restore any surface over time.

In general, a cleaning business SOP should also incorporate any special sanitization, disinfection, or green cleaning procedures that your cleaners need to know. 

On the administrative side of operations, you can also list routine tasks, like clocking in, claiming travel mileage, or even just answering the phone and greeting new customers.

Pro Tip: To get your SOPs accomplished, just think about all the tasks that your cleaners complete in a week. Then, write down instructions for each one to create your cleaning training manual.

What about unique cleaning circumstances?

Although you might not be able to anticipate every contingency on a job site, you can think ahead and give your team general guidelines to follow in rare situations.

For example, you can choose to include company policies for property damage, cleaning insurance coverage, and other potentially sensitive topics. By planning ahead, you can equip your team with tools and information they need for unexpected situations.

2. Create job forms and checklists

Building on your SOPs, you can introduce forms and checklists to help cleaners follow specific job instructions. Checklists also help staff manage their time and remember everything they need to do. 

With an established performance standard, you can better ensure that your services are consistent and that your clients are happy with the end result. 

For example, work completion forms help cleaners get client sign-off during visits. They also provide proof of work and help you maintain accurate records for specific jobs.

You can also give your teams cleaning checklists, which are itemized to-do lists that give new employees the confidence to do the job right.

Here’s what a cleaning checklist looks like in Jobber:

3. Write an employee handbook

Training for cleaning staff doesn’t just cover operating procedures—it also covers company policies. Outlining professional policies is when a well-written employee handbook comes in handy. Although you might introduce your handbook during training or onboarding, encourage employees to refer back to it whenever questions come up.

A handbook should be easy to read and understand. Use photos, diagrams, lists, and reminders to provide more clarity for your team.

A well-planned employee handbook should cover:

• Company overview and history
• Brand messaging (mission, vision, values, brand promise)
• List of supervisors or site managers and contact information
• Working hours (and what constitutes being late)
• Payroll details (schedule, check/e-transfer, direct deposit requirements)
• Procedures for taking personal time, sick days, and vacation
• Details about benefits, bonuses, incentives, and perks
• Basic professional expectations and code of conduct

Your employee handbook doesn’t have to be set in stone. Update it yearly to reflect any changes. And, if you’ve experienced common issues or questions, you can create new sections to better help future cleaners.

4. Provide new cleaners with a training schedule

Plan your cleaning service training schedule ahead of time so cleaners know what tasks they’ll learn and when. Schedule one service or discipline a day to avoid overwhelming new hires with a flood of information and details.

To keep it simple (and encourage knowledge retention), start with the basics. Demonstrate how to clean specific surfaces such as porcelain, tile, or glass. Many residential cleaners start training with bathroom examples, because there are so many different cleaning skills to demonstrate in one place.

From there, move on to more complex training tasks. For a residential cleaner, this could be kitchen cleaning, followed by dusting, spot cleaning, and vacuuming. In the case of commercial cleaning, you might need to demonstrate safe handling of cleaning equipment or machinery.

READ MORE: How to make a schedule for employees

Use mentorship to guide the training process

To make the training experience more enjoyable and personal, pair new cleaners with your most experienced workers. This gives new hires the chance to learn from a direct peer, and they’ll benefit from having a safe place to ask questions.

Pro Tip: Give short quizzes at the end of each day to test the employee’s knowledge and skills gaps. Although you can reassure new workers that quizzes won’t count against them, you can  also make sure they remember information that’s important to your business. This is especially true if you’re bringing on employees who have worked with other cleaning companies.

READ MORE: Hire faster with a house cleaner job description

5. Give opportunities to practice people skills

Your clients have to trust your cleaners to enter their homes when they aren’t around. Creating a strong working relationship will keep clients coming back, and it will also strengthen loyalty between your brand and repeat customers.

Your team of cleaners can help build that trust by working on their “people” skills. Soft skills like clear communication and conflict resolution will help your employees get along with your clients and with each other.

You can begin to foster these relational abilities by directly introducing the new cleaner to the client whose house they’re cleaning. Once they know each other’s names and faces, they’ll feel more comfortable and start building a mutually trustworthy relationship.

You can also give your cleaners the power to delight your clients with discounts or service upgrades. A happy client will refer their friends and leave a positive review for your business.

READ MORE: Build your management skills with this reading list

6. Introduce a workplace safety program

Training your team is about more than just making sure they complete different tasks. Your employees also need to know how to stay safe in various job scenarios.

That’s why your cleaning company training program should cover workplace safety considerations. This list might include:

• PPE: Provide gloves, eye protection, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that will protect workers from vapors, spills, and injuries. Some cleaning supplies can be harmful to your cleaners, so provide safety equipment and instructions for use.
• First aid: In case of an accident, cleaners need access to first aid supplies. Provide first aid training for at least one person per team, and keep your own first aid kits and fire extinguishers handy in case of an emergency.
• Risk assessment: Your employees need to be able to identify, reduce, or get rid of any risks at a client’s home during a visit. This might include hazards related to fire, water, or chemical use. You can create a simple risk assessment or safety checklist to help everyone know what to look for.
• Equipment: If your team uses special equipment, they might need to be licensed or certified to operate it. Keep copies of all equipment maintenance and operator’s manuals. Have workers sign a logbook and confirm that they’ve been trained.

7. Offer additional education and courses for cleaners

Every professional cleaner needs to know how to clean properly and safely while avoiding property damage or cross-contamination between homes.

Although your training program should show your team how to complete work well, diving deeper might be beneficial long-term. Look for organizations like the ISSA Cleaning Management Institute or American House Cleaners Association to jumpstart any employee’s professional development journey.

Don’t have the money to get industry-level certification yet? Not to worry. You can find other cleaning resources and course materials to build your own cleaning staff training manual.

Reputable online training options

Reputable training courses for cleaning staff teach the best and safest ways to provide cleaning services. Many programs also certify your cleaning team, which is an added bonus that you can use to advertise your business and impress more clients.

Although there are hundreds of online courses at varying price points, your best bet is to go with a highly-rated organization that provides course content affordably and responsibly. 

• Cleaning Master Class – This organization provides online and on-site training programs. If you want to outsource your employee training to trusted providers, the Master Class is a great place to start. 
• Savvy Cleaner Courses – Many aspiring cleaning business owners have pointed to the Savvy Cleaner as a great resource for general business training and job-specific skills. Courses start around $200.
• Professional House Cleaning (PHC) Program by ISSA – A certified program that lets you build credentials while learning industry-best practices from ISSA.

8. Evaluate performance regularly

There’s one last tool that will help your cleaning training stick—consistent evaluation. Check in every so often to make sure that your employees are still applying training principles most relevant to your brand and business.

You can also use these activities to review and reinforce your cleaning services training:

• Check-ins: Schedule weekly one-on-one pop-in sessions where you’re available to supervise work, answer questions, and share feedback.
• Feedback surveys: Send feedback surveys after each job so that clients can rate their experiences. If they mention that something wasn’t done right, you can speak to the employee and talk about how to make improvements for next time.
• Callbacks: No matter how well you’ve trained an employee, they may still have to return to a client’s home to redo something. Look at these callbacks as opportunities to review your training with the whole team and provide helpful reminders.
• Performance bonuses: Improve service quality by introducing a performance bonus program. Your cleaners earn an extra hourly or flat amount on every paycheck for great work, but this bonus is reduced or doesn’t apply in the event of callbacks or complaints.

Use positive reinforcement for every evaluation practice. This means rewarding cleaners for a job well done, versus directly criticizing errors or mistakes. By following this principle, you’ll get much better results and drive employee loyalty. 

READ MORE: How to build a business where employees want to work

Benefits of training sessions for new cleaners

Whether your cleaners are experienced or starting a brand new career with you, employee training sets a clear standard for work. It also clarifies tasks, prevents miscommunication, and has many other benefits, including:

• Job safety: Whether it’s working with chemicals, carrying equipment, or moving furniture, physician injury can happen during the cleaning process. Because no one wants to see anyone hurt, cleaning training helps your team avoid risk and complete jobs proudly and responsibly.
  
• Work quality: Quality work prevents callbacks (when a client is dissatisfied) that cost your business money. Well-trained employees are usually more efficient, provide better customer service, and represent your business in the way you’d want to see.
  
• Employee retention: Your cleaners will feel more confident in their roles when they know what to do. As a result, they’ll be more loyal to you and your business. Plus, when you retain your team members, you’ll spend less time and energy hiring new cleaners.

READ MORE: Where to find employees who will stick around

Now that you know how to train cleaning staff, you can create an effective employee training program that will set up your business, your cleaners, and yourself for success.

And when you do, whether you’re just starting your business or you have years of experience under your belt, you’ll be taking the first step toward working on your business instead of in it.

Originally published November 23, 2021, updated June 25, 2024