remotivating housecleaners?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

Not exactly D^2 but since I live here....

I have had a Brazilian couple coming in every other week to do housecleaning for the last couple of years. Most of the time I am not here so I leave a key, etc. The deal is/was two hours for $60 (= $15./hr per person). They don't speak much English so it's been a little dodgey at times communicating what they should do and all that. (I think their English gets worse when I have asked them to do more... ;-) I don't even know if they put in the two hours or not.

The thing is I have been growing more discontent with what they do but because of inertia and whatever I haven't put any effort into either trying to re-motivate them or finding someone else.

So here's the questions:
-Is it typical that housecleaners get bored over time and just race through doing the bare minimum?
-Is it unreasonable for me to expect them to do more than the basics - (i.e. that if the place isn't trashed and there is time they will find things to do)

I guess I am wondering what is reasonable to expect.

Comments

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

I've seen it. I clean my own house, but for my friends that have had other people do it I've heard more or less the same thing.

1) Are the still doing a good job with the stuff they agreed to do when you hired them?

2) As far as motivation goes, have you considered giving them a raise? You'd find that a good motivator for yourself, right?

You need to do your best to make it clear to them what you want. You shouldn't care how long it takes them to do it: what you should care about is what the house looks like after they are done. If you combine new work with with 1), then you should be in good shape.

If this doesn't fit your situation (they aren't doing the work they agreed to do), there are plenty of people you can find to clean your house.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

If there are specific things that are not being done (or done to your satisfaction) you should make a list. You can use Babelfish to translate into Portuguese if necessary.

They're not psychic, after all.

As for the raise, $15/hr. is reasonable, especially if you're paying them directly.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

So where you work, how do they reward you for two years of service?

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I actually am a freelance worker, and it's rare for clients to increase the per-hour rate automatically every two years.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

I tried Babelfish once with them - it was a disaster (funny but useless - they did not seem to understand)

There are not x specific tasks - more like, wanting them to take some initiative.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

For $15/hr, you're not going to get "initiative". Either pay more for more motivated people, or start giving specific instructions.

If you post here or on b0st0n, I'm sure someone can translate your instructions well enough for you to leave a note.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

Since I am paying them directly (cash, no agency taking a cut) I thought 15/hr was pretty decent. Am I wrong here? Do the folks who work for MaidPro et all make more/less/same? I have no idea these days what jobs pay.

initiative

[sheerchaos.livejournal.com]

I had a boss once who kept asking for more initiative - but was never able to say anything specific. He was, in the end, unhappy with my work - and the work of everyone who came after me. I hope I dont sound snarky, but it's just that I really hated that - it was like the boss wanted more from me, but he felt like saying it aloud would "ruin it" or something. When you say "more initiative" - dont you really mean something more specific that you could be asking for?

I havent done a lot of housecleaning work in my life, but Im guessing that housecleaners are not generally rewarded for showing a lot of initiative.