Ellie K Madsen
Yes, people enjoy working as housekeepers—especially in a culture that makes us feel professionally significant. Enabling housekeepers to go the extra mile of our own accord creates an environment in which we can work our hardest and be the most positive about our work.
If you manage housekeepers, try applying a few of these tips. If you help us feel value in our craft and in ourselves, we’ll reward you with loyalty and our best work.
1. Make support a bigger priority
My favorite managers are the ones who prioritize supporting their teams and encourage me to ask for what I need to get the job done. Whether they’re buying a new vacuum or delivering me extra supplies when I’ve run out, when a manager acts as my support line, I can move mountains!
2. Expect more than a clean house
Housekeeping is tedious and mundane. When I’m given the opportunity to help the maintenance guys or the owners with little details or odd projects, I feel better about my job, like I'm a bigger part of the team. This is a huge contributor to my motivation. When you entrust your housekeepers with a greater variety of tasks, the cleaning part becomes easier.
3. Never put a housekeeper in their place
More than money or a job title, the way housekeepers feel determines how we perform. The faith you put in us impacts our confidence about our craft and ourselves. The more trust, accountability, and responsibility you give us, the better work we do.
4. Create a future
It’s hard to see a future for yourself when you have a limited view of the dynamic environment within which you work. For example, I partner closely with our general managers, local operation managers and other housekeepers. Understanding what we’re building as a team at Vacasa helps me get excited about the future and shows me how important we housekeepers are to company goals.
Your housekeepers are essential to your operation and you should give them proportionate consideration when cultivating culture. Housekeepers such as myself feel motivated to do our best work when we feel included and empowered. Don’t tell your crew that things will fall apart without them; truly make every team member indispensable. Being truly embraced as part of a team leads to working as a team, and the value in that is enormous.
Ellie Madsen is a Senior Housekeeper at Vacasa
