Latest / Cleaning Business Life / CBL EP 173 Charity Cleaning Code of Conduct (Episode 1 of 3)

Transcript

CBL EP 173 Charity Cleaning Code of Conduct (Episode 1 of 3) · Cleaning Business Life

• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Hey everyone! Shannon Miller here from Cleaning Business Life.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And today we're gonna talk about charity cleaning code of charity cleaning code of conduct.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Seashells on the seashore.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And this is gonna talk about protecting dignity, consent, and leadership.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And this is gonna be one of three episodes that we're gonna talk about charity cleanings.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing it becoming a trend.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we see extreme cleanings, we've seen cleaning for reasons, saviors, cleanings, all kinds of free cleanings.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm unsure why the cleaning industry has been picked as a trade to do all of this free stuff when the other trades don't do it, but we can talk about that later.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So this episode isn't gonna be about drama, influencers, or specific situations.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be about standards.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm recording this because charity cleaning is being done publicly more than ever before.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you see the lawn guy and he goes and he does free lawn care, and sometimes he has conflict with the police, depending on what area you're in, because you're not allowed to do free cleanings in certain areas outside free cleanings.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And too often, good intentions are replacing structure, leadership, and professionalism.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: When that happens, the person receiving help is the one who carries the cost.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, I've seen two really bad charity cleanings in the last couple months that have been awful.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: There clearly wasn't a leader on site, and if the leader was a leader, then there wasn't any leadership, from my opinion.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you can argue with me all you want.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: We all watch the video.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Charity cleaning should restore the dignity of the recipient, right?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hands down.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not expose someone, not turn their situation into content, not dragging out and making it more dramatic than it needs to be.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, I walk through charity cleaning code of conduct.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: I personally follow with myself when we have Allen's Day and require when I participate in or lead charity cleanings.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't theory, it's actual structure.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: I've been involved in charity cleanings long enough to know that when structure is missing, service drifts into performance, and the person receiving help is the one who pays for it.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: This episode exists so that line doesn't get crossed, and that if you decide as a cleaning business owner you want to do charity cleanings, that you don't get the ick factor and that you're okay doing what you're doing.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So what I'm covering in this episode, why charity cleanings require more professionalism, not less, and being discretionary with your language so we don't hurt feelings because we're not about shaming.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: When someone opens their home during a vulnerable season, the responsibility increases more than less.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: They're opening up their home, their space, and they're making you aware of a situation that has gone wrong.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: It just happens.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's usually an episode that happens, either it's a death or an illness or cancer or whatever's gone on in their life.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how they got in the situation again.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't we don't need to exacerbate the situation.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: We just need to make sure that it's it's professional at all times.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And charity work is not casual work, it takes a lot of mental aptitude to be able to get through, and it's not for everyone.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Hands down.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's hard emotionally to be able to do charity cleanings.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ask anyone who's done them.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: So why good intentions aren't enough without structure and boundaries?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Charity cleanings can flipping my page become performative, chaotic, or harmful, even when no one intends that outcome.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I feel like social media is like we're on a hamster wheel, right?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Some of these people are posting out videos three times a day, seven days a week.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I get that, but I don't think there has to be, well, let's be honest, there has to be some sort of line drawn over what the content is used for, how the content is used for.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think that it should be derogatory or hurtful, is all I'm gonna say about that.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to protect dignity as a non-negotiable.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really big at not being shamed.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like to be shamed myself.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's not something I enjoy, and I would never put anyone intentionally in a position where they are shamed.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: I will give them every opportunity to bow out as gracefully as possible.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Once in a great while, I do have to put my finger on somebody and you know, it's I try to do it privately, but sometimes it just depends on the situation.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: But for the most part, 99.999999%, I'm not about shaming.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: I it's just not me, right?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no commentary about the client in their home.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's first and foremost.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's really concerning when I see these people who are influencing our industry, who are influencing homeowners, who are influencing sponsorship, who are influencing our industry directly and indirectly, make comments, dogatory comments about their home as they're cleaning them.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: There needs to be some sort of decorum when you're inside someone's home.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we all know that these homes are a shit show.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we all know that some traumatic event happened to get them in the position they're in.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: There should be a certain amount of dignity that you're giving from one human to the next.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And when you make comments publicly, everybody is watching.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I was really disappointed at one of the comments that I just read that made a derogatory statement about this free cleaning that these people were doing.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I was shocked because I I valued this person a lot more than after they said that, right?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I no longer put them on the pedestal and I was kind of disappointed that this person who doesn't live too far from me, just down south, made made this comment.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just, no apology was made about making the comment.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like you, you know, this other person hurt my feelings, so that was the consequence of it.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's just shouldn't have been done.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Should not have been done.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And there should be no diagnosing, speculating, or narrating narrating someone's situation.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: You don't really know what led up to the situation that they're in, right?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And unless they tell you, then you kind of know, but then you you don't really know, no, right?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Does that kind of make sense?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's no expressions of disgust or judgment, like, oh my god, I can't believe this toilet is so dirty, it's disgusting, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: What you should be doing is like, oh my gosh, let's get this cleaned up for you so that you have a sanitized place where you can go potty.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's just let's show some dignity, right?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And there should be no conversations that wouldn't be appropriate for the client to hear.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're if you have something to say, it should be done privately.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: When I worked in the restaurant industry for God, 19, 18 years, um, TGI Fridays, girl.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: If something really bad happened and I wasn't sure if I was gonna write you up and or yell at you for whatever stupid thing you did, I would take you on the back dock.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody and customers didn't hear it, other employees didn't hear it, the office, because you couldn't do this in the office, it wasn't private because the the ceiling wasn't sealed in, so you could hear everything that was going on.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we'd go on the back dock.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the conversations were very firm, and other times they were full on, like, I can't believe that you did that.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Those conversations, if you can't have conversations that you wouldn't talk to your mom about, you probably shouldn't be talking about them in someone's home while they're getting them cleaned, right?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: So just something to keep in mind should you want to take on free cleanings.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure they're appropriate and they're not harmful and you're not trying to shame anyone's dignity.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Consent and filming.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure if this is going on.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm assuming it is, but I just wanted to say this as a blanket statement for the people who are thinking about getting into charity cleanings.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Filming is optional and never assumed.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, the whole point is getting some really cool content, but if it becomes too much, then you're just gonna have to forfeit the content, right?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you need written permission, it's required before any filming and or photography, and consent can be revoked at any time.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: If filming compromises comfort, filming stops, period.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is important to remember because if the person is not comfortable with you filming them and because they're worried about judgment or whatever else is going on, you're gonna have to forfeit that right.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Even though that was the agreement, sometimes business deals go bad, and this is kind of a business deal, right?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership and structure.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Each charity cleaning that we do on Allen's Day has a designated lead.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: So there's typically only three to four companies at a time inside of someone's home, depending on the scope.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And there's always one leader, and there's that leader is actually going to either volunteer to be the leader or they're gonna vote to have them be the leader.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that leader can be not be the leader next time and it can rotate.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Or if that person is a really good leader and everyone likes and respect him, that person can be a leader every time they do it, right?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: It just depends on what the dynamics are with the parameters that you're working in.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that lead is responsible for conduct, enforcement, and overall outcome of the job.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So if you agree that you're gonna do the oven and the refrigerator, get the oven and the refrigerator done.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's cut and dry.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it shouldn't be the, oh sorry, blah, blah, blah.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: If they if they've if they have a punch list of items that are concerning to them, at least try and make sure that those items get done.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the living room doesn't get finished, but the oven and the refrigerator do.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Does that kind of make sense?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then the leadership rotates between jobs, as I just mentioned, and participation is capped at three to four cleanings, as I just mentioned, per charity cleaning.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: When you have nine or ten companies in a home, it's too many bodies.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: We would never have nine or ten people in the home when we're cleaning professionally.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Why would you think it would be okay to have nine or ten individuals in your home to do a charity cleaning?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: It just doesn't make any it's the math, ain't math in people.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Participation is voluntary, compliance is mandatory.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if you cannot comply by these basic rules that we have, then you don't get to be a volunteer on the charity cleanings.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Accountability.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: If standards cannot be maintained, the job stops as but as protection.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully that doesn't happen and you guys all pull off a job because of whatever went down between two people.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping that you have enough professionalism that you can actually pull through and finish the job for them.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: That is the whole point of doing the job.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And number one, the client's dignity outweighs completion, optics, or content.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: So if this cleaning upsets them and they're just not ready, you have to pull off.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: If something happens between two out of the six cleaning business owners, the client's dignity outweighs, their comfort outweighs everything that's going on.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: So remember that when you're doing it, it's not like, well, I don't think she wants this because it hasn't been cleaned in several months or years.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just toss it.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: I, in case I didn't mention it, I started Alan's Day, God, it's been five or six years.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Once a year, we offer free cleanings.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's all volunteer-based.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is to do a bunch of houses in a day.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we do the charity cleanings here.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: That way no one's committing to charity cleanings all over the place or when needed.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then that way it ends up being a good thing for the community, right?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So the reason why I started Alan's Day is Alan passed away in his home.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: No one had checked on him for two or three weeks.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I would have happily had someone made me aware, sent over someone to clean his home once a week for free.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: I would not have charged him.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so I then I realized that there was more of a need for this type of stuff in my community.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you are following whatever protocol, whatever business model you want to choose to do, so that you understand what kind of charity cleaning you're doing.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: It could be the charity cleaning where they fly all over the place and there are a bunch of people who show up to clean and then they show before and after, and sometimes they have a sponsor, sometimes they don't.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: You decide what you want to participate in, and you get to be the leader in your own community.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm sharing this code of conduct as a free download.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So anyone who wants to do a charity cleaning has the framework to do it.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you can just download the PDF.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Easy peasy.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's on a Google Drive.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Just ting, right?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no guessing, there's no improvising, there's no learning at someone else's expense.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't a fundle and that's a standard.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, just use the link in the show notes.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you're welcome to use it internally with your team or organization.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Please do not sell, repackage, or claim it as your own.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you guys have any questions, please reach out.