Cleaner: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a cleaner

Cleaners can help keep your spaces looking clean and presentable to both your customers and employees. A good cleaner will maintain your entire premises, keeping windows in good condition and making sure that there are no trip or health hazards for people inside your property. 

Qualities of a great cleaner:

• Provides routine maintenance and cleaning of both public communal areas
• Is familiar with different kinds of cleaning equipment and their uses
• Keeps a record of cleaning equipment usage and records in an inventory

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance cleaner

Hiring a cleaner on a contract or outsourced basis is useful if you are looking for someone to clean up after a one-off event, or if your premises are not routinely used. Schools might hire a cleaner on a contract basis to cover cleaning duties only during term times, when the school premises are in use. Some cleaning companies offer flexible services that you can fit in around your needs as a business. However, if your premises are frequently used by customers and/or employees, then it is a good idea to hire a cleaner on a permanent basis. This will help reduce employee turnover and help you to budget in the long term, and your permanent cleaners will become familiar with your cleaning processes and the premises themselves. 

What are the different types of cleaner?

You should consider how big your cleaning team needs to be. If you are running a small business, then you may only need to hire one or two cleaners to keep your premises tidy. Businesses running a bigger or multiple premises will need a fully equipped cleaning team to deal with maintenance and cleaning. If you have a larger team of cleaners or maintenance workers, it is a good idea to organise them according to rank so that they carry out tasks more efficiently and according to cleaner experience. You might also hire cleaners with specialist experience that relates to the kind of premises that you run, such a school cleaner.

• Junior cleaner: Junior cleaners will assist your cleaning team with basic duties such as hoovering or sweeping, receiving feedback from cleaning supervisors and providing a supporting role to your main cleaners.
• Cleaner: Cleaners will take on the main bulk of cleaning responsibilities in your team, and will be familiar with the use of different cleaning chemicals.
• Cleaner supervisor: Supervises and maintains the performance standards of your entire cleaning and/or maintenance team. 
• Cleaning/maintenance manager: Organises your cleaning operations and assigns rotas to your cleaning and/or maintenance team.
• School cleaner: Cleans and maintains the hygiene standards of a school site.

Where to find a cleaner?

Cleaners often advertise their services in your local area, which you may find on local jobs boards, newspapers or professional brochures. You can request quotes from multiple cleaners in the area, and decide which cleaner or company is most cost effective for your business. You can advertise for cleaners yourself in shop windows or local jobcentres.

To find the right cleaner for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Professional referrals: Ask other local tradespeople for their professional recommendations.
• Looking for cleaner services advertised in local newspapers or brochures: Search advertisements in local newspapers or brochures for cleaning companies advertising their services.
• Posting flyers onsite: Attract candidates to you directly by posting short advertisements on your premises, with contact details.
• Advertising in shop windows or the local jobcentre: Post a job description in jobcentre notice boards or windows, with payment offered and your company contact details.

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a cleaner on Indeed to find and attract quality cleaner candidates.

Skills to look for in a great cleaner

A great candidate for a cleaner role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Thoroughness
• Hygiene standards
• Time management skills
• Ability to work well as part of a team
• Ability to follow instructions

Writing a cleaner job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified cleaner candidates. A cleaner job description includes a compelling summary of the role, detailed list of duties and responsibilities, and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your job description for a cleaner, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on cleaners jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Cleaner
• Cleaning
• School cleaner
• Cleaning operative
• Housekeeping
• Morning cleaner
• Housekeeper

Interviewing cleaner candidates

Strong candidates for cleaner positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Experience using different cleaning materials
• Experience working alone or as part of a team
• Past work experience

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of cleaner interview questions for examples (with sample answers).