Gain the Respect of Your Cleaning Employees by Being a Good Leader

“People work for managers; they follow leaders.” Peter Drucker

Over the years I have learned that in order to gain the respect of your employees, you must first show respect to your employees. And in an industry where cleaning technicians get very little respect, this can go a long way towards making them feel valued in their job.

Employees want to work in a job where they feel respect for their boss. Good leaders communicate well with their employees, make them feel important, and provide the support employees need to be successful in their work. If you can do this, you are on your way to becoming a good leader.

10 Ways to Earn the Respect of Your Employees:

1. Maintain an optimistic and positive attitude – this attribute will spread to your employees since they are more likely to respect an optimistic leader with a positive attitude rather than a boss with negative qualities. You don't want to be viewed as sulky or unpleasant.

The way to lose their respect: Start coming to work with a poor attitude and watch your employees follow suit by example.

2. Set expectations, check back frequently, and be available –
Make sure your employees understand exactly what is expected of them. Use the “Tell, Show, Do, Review” training method. First, “Tell” them how to do it and explain the results you expect. Next, “Show” them how to do it. Then, have them “Do” the task while you watch. And finally, “Review” the task; praise what they're doing right, offer feedback on how they can do it better, and reinforce the expected results.

The key to your employees' success is to remember to check back often after the initial training to reinforce what they've learned. Be available to answer questions, ask their opinions, and make adjustments as necessary.

The way to lose their respect: Leave them on their own once they've received the initial training, or check back and only point out the things they're doing wrong.

3. Be a coach – Good leaders want their talented employees to succeed and in order to help, they must be a good coach. Spend time observing your employees at work and talking to them in order to figure out their skillset. You may have employees that would make great supervisors, but if you don't watch for their natural talent and talk to them about their wants and desires for a career path, you might lose this talented employee to another company without even realizing their potential.

If you see potential in an employee, delegate important tasks to see how he handles it. Let him know you see his potential and want to help him develop his skills. Let him try something new, have him train a new employee, or quiz him on how he would handle difficult situations. This will reinforce the confidence you have in his ability, and it will earn you more respect at the same time.

The way to lose their respect: Continually harp on the negative aspects of his job performance without ever looking for, or pointing out the positive.

4. Be a good listener – There is a proverb that states “a good listener is a silent flatterer.” When your employees are talking to you, lean in, make eye contact and show interest. Acknowledge what they are saying and be enthusiastic. Lending an ear and having an open door allows your employees to speak their thoughts, feelings and ideas. Offer empathy, assistance, or a solution if it is within your abilities. Sometimes just listening can be helpful.

The way to lose their respect: Show your impatience, look at your watch, or don't look your employees in the eye when they're trying to offer suggestions or get clarification.

5. Respect your employees despite their differences – Many business owners wish they could simply clone themselves so the work would always be done to their satisfaction. But the reality is people are different; and many are very different from their employers – so don't judge a book by its cover. People you think may be odd, just might have some refreshing new ideas that could propel your business forward. And just because an employee has what you consider to be an unusual appearance, doesn't necessarily mean they're not a hard worker. So learn to respect your employees despite their differences.

The way to lose their respect: Be judgmental about applicants and employees because of the way they look, instead of judging them by the quality of their work.

6. Help your employees improve and grow – Many people think a cleaning job is a dead-end job. But I've had plenty of employees prove that they're capable of growth and improvement. These employees deserve added attention and help from you in order to help them either move forward in your company, or to learn skills that will help them in future employment opportunities. Just like a favorite teacher that students remember throughout their life, they'll also remember the great bosses they had that helped them learn and move forward through their career path. And by helping your employees improve and grow, you'll improve your business and feel great personal satisfaction for helping others – even if they move on from your company.

The way to lose their respect: Don't encourage people to improve and don't make career opportunities for employees.

7. Be approachable and humble – Many people change when they become the boss. They think that being a leader means having the big office, ordering their subordinates around, and standing on a higher pedestal. What these people don't realize is that in order to effectively lead their employees, they must be approachable and they must be humble.  Employees have more respect for leaders that they can come to with their ideas and concerns.

The way to lose their respect: Think so highly of yourself as the boss that you become completely unapproachable by your staff.

8. Be the fireman – There are going to be times when there will be friction among your employees. They may come to you or you may hear about it through the grapevine. If someone is being mistreated or not fulfilling their work responsibilities, it will be up to you to mediate and put out the fire. If it's a personality clash or competition issue, perhaps the best thing for you to do is let them resolve the issue between themselves, with you as their guide.

The way to lose their respect: Don't intervene when conflicts arise for fear of taking sides or hurting someone's feelings and watch the fires burn your business to the ground.

9. Have a sense of humor – What's the point of working your tail off if you can't have a little fun along the way? There is research from WebMD that shows laughter can improve your health. It does everything from reducing stress and blood pressure, to helping your immune system. Don't worry that a little fun will reduce productivity – typically the reverse is true. When people know they can have a little fun at work, they look forward to work, which makes them more productive.

The way to lose their respect: Put the kibosh on fun and laughter at work, and take everything way too seriously.

10. Care about your employees, and be genuine about it – Employees have lives outside the time they spend working for you. And sometimes things happen that either affect their work or affect their ability to come to work. If you sense something is wrong – ask. Check in with an employee whose behavior may indicate that something is wrong. If they open up to you, show genuine concern for their problem. Help as much as you are able, but know the boundaries.

The way to lose their respect: Don't care about your employees outside of what they do to make you money. Even worse, act like you care when you really don't – that will reveal your true character.

John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

When you lead your employees by helping them to improve, the respect your employees have for you will be well-deserved.