7.1 Introduction
Running a cleaning business often means needing access to the place of business or home you are going to be cleaning.
This module will discuss what you should do with regards to keyholding and alarm codes for cleaners.
7.2 Keyholding
There is a level of trust that must be assumed by you and your client when you have cleaners on staff at your company.
Furthermore the client has to have a level of trust with your business as a whole. Keyholding is when your cleaning service has a key to a client's house in order to access it and provide services when the client is not at home or available to let you on the premises. The client either needs to be confident that the employee you hire can have a key and enter the premises on proper cleaning days or be there to let the employee in. If your employees are allowed to be keyholders to the places they work, then you need to have some rules in place.
These rules establish allowable keyholding parameters:
- Property keys must be picked up before the shift by an approved employee, who is eligible to have this responsibility
- Keys must be returned prior to the end of a shift, again by an employee who has been charged by you to have this responsibility
- Only one person has the responsibility to be the keyholder for the team, as agreed by both you and the team.
It communicates to them that this is a very important responsibility, which if not upheld could possibly results in suspension, termination or other disciplinary procedures.
The premise is that the head cleaner for the team in a home or office building would be the one to sign out the key for the job or jobs they have for the day or evening. This person is solely responsible for the key. They cannot give the key to anyone else for any reason and should report any employee that asks for the key. Likewise, if the head cleaner gives the key to someone unlock the door this should be reported as a breach of company policy.
In this way the person with the key is responsible for unlocking and locking the door of the premises. They are also responsible for returning the key at the end of shift or signing it back in. A failure to do so would mean disciplinary action that would be guided by the policy you have set for the company, or by your own discretionary measure. More information about appropriate disciplinary action will be discussed in the following sections.
While one person is held responsible, as long as that person is trustworthy as an employee, they should not be fearful of the policies you set in place. This is because there may be things outside their control, in which case punishment may not be relevant. However, as long as procedures are followed the employee is protected against any claims of wrongdoing.
7.3 Security Alarm Codes
There may be clients who are willing to provide security alarm codes for cleaning while they are absent from their home.
Many places have now started using keypads with special codes in place of traditional keys. The door hardware for security locks may have more than one code and swipe card for access. This ensures the employee entering is recognised by the code and card, providing a trace should anything goes wrong.
This policy should allocate a set of rules that are followed strictly by your staff and yourself in order to ensure that a security breach or general mistake has clear guidelines of how to be dealt with. Again, responsibility rests with the head cleaner of the team/person going to that address. The same procedure of signing for the code and ensuring only one person has the code should be in place.
Unless the code is changed there would be no need to sign back in for a new code or 'return' the code at the end of the night. Of course, if you want to make certain that the person has it in written form, then signing it back in would be paramount to these procedures. Establishing a clear procedure once again protects the employee with the knowledge, as well as minimising any issues over who has access to the code.
7.4 Working with Clients Regarding Keys and Alarm Codes
As the business owner it is your duty to speak with clients regarding alarm codes and keys, and have an agreement - in writing - stating what the client's wishes and expectations are regarding your company's use of this security information.
Clients are responsible for maintaining the security of their property. So if they are asking your employee to enter, it is their responsibility to decide if they will have a specific alarm code for the cleaner or a specific door with a key that can be used.
A homeowner could provide a key to a regular lock, but not the deadbolt. This means that at all other times the deadbolt and regular lock are used by the homeowner ensuring that even if a copy of the key was made no one could get in. If you want to take extra precautionary steps when taking on security reliability with your client, suggesting backup security like this is a good way to establish this. Again, if you suggest it and the client disagrees, then should something happen it is not your responsibility. But, have it in writing!
You will be running background checks and hiring employees based on clean records - that is where your liability ends, should something occur and legal prosecution is followed.
However, your responsibility still remains with your business:
Will you keep and defend this employee? Give them a second chance? Discharge them?
Appropriate ways to identify and deal with these instances will be discussed in the following section.
Establishing procedures for your cleaners to follow is imperative as it demonstrates to your clients that you take their concerns and trust in you seriously. Keys and codes need to be stored in a secured area in your office at all times and never be left out in the open, to avoid improper use. The person handing out keys and codes also needs to be someone that you trust or that does not have full access to all the information; as a way of checks and balances for your company.
7.5 The Consequences of Security Breach
A security breach by either yourself or one of your employees is a serious issue.
By violating your company policy of trusted safe keeping of security information or tools, such as alarm codes and keys, you are compromising your business in several ways: by losing the trust of your client, losing trust in your employees, and getting a bad reputation.
Losing the Trust of Your Client
The trust of your client could be broken if either the key policy or alarm code policy of your business is violated. This could result in you losing their business because they no longer trust your company with reliable and honourable work. Losing that client could mean a great deal or very little to your business, depending on what kind of customer they were. If they were a regular, reliable customer, then you could be losing a great deal of money in the future from them - money that you may find difficult to replace with new work. If they were a customer that occasionally asked for your company's services, then the financial loss may be very minimal and easily replaced with new work.
Losing Trust in Your Employees
If you have employees, your trust in them has been broken resulting from your staff's unreliability. This can really impact the dynamic of your business structure. Your business relies on credible and honourable people to conduct its services. When you have a loss of trust in 'the essence' of your business, it can be detrimental to your future service depending on how you react to the current situation and after the event.
You must be aware of your role as a manager - enforce the rules more tightly, but do not lose control of your behaviour with your staff. Your attitude towards your employees can make or break their enjoyment of the job, especially if the majority of them are hardworking staff. Treat the situation accordingly, which will be discussed after this section.
Getting a Bad Reputation
Your business could be identified with a new, untrustworthy reputation, repelling potential customers. Word of mouth is one of the most reliable and effective ways to promote your business to the community in which your work. But in the case of a security breach, the word of mouth that travels about your company and services could reflect poorly on you. In fact, it could deter potential business and give more support to your competitors.
These are all reasons as to why you should have a policy in place. These consequences can very much affect your business in a negative way, especially if you do not treat the violation appropriately.
7.6 How to Treat Employees Who Violate Company Policy
Disciplining an employee can be difficult, especially if the manager and employee have a good rapport with one another.
However, your business comes first and you have to do whatever is necessary to protect it. In the case that one or a number of your employees have violated a policy, specifically one regarding the client's well-being, then taking disciplinary actions is an absolute must to make sure the mistake does not occur again.
You should establish a tiered disciplinary system that you can rely on when an employee does not follow your rules. A tiered disciplinary system is one where you have a number of levels of disciplinary action. Think of a baseball game and its one to three strikes. This is how you should establish your protocol and disciplinary action, by having a 'three strikes and you're out' attitude (although, it does not have to be three strikes - but it should not be more than five!).
Here are the standard tiers of disciplinary action for most professional companies.
Give a Verbal Warning
Tell your employee that he or she has violated a rule and that it must not happen again. Make sure you keep a record of this verbal warning, as well as the incident that occurred. This way, should further steps for punishment be necessary, you have an established record of documentation that will support any future decisions, according to the situation.
Write Them a Reprimand
Writing down your formal acknowledgement and presenting it to the employee is the second method of disciplinary action. Again, this will contribute to your file of violated occurrences on this employee's profile, which will help you justify further actions if need be. Writing a formal statement (that you will keep a copy of) also addresses the seriousness of the matter. You can also have a discussion with the employee at this time and encourage them to change their ways, or more severe actions will take place.
Suspend the Employee
A suspension is the third level of disciplinary action. In this stage, the employee can lose work and wages for a number of days, depending on your judgement. The suspension can last for any specified number of days or even hours that you establish as appropriate, but which does not exceed one week. Upon suspension, you should also present the employee with a written statement confirming the action.
Fire the Employee
Releasing the employee from your work force is the final action that you can take. This is especially true and the right action to take when such an employee has had four notices of poor behaviour. This is also the time that you draw upon your previous documentation of all the incidents relating to this employee, which you can present if the employee confronts you with a complaint to your actions.
The key thing to note about these steps is that you must use your judgement as to which step you should start with. Depending on the situation and the degree of severity of an employee's violation, you could justify jumping to any one of the steps. However, if it is a repeated mild action that begins to reflect poorly on your business, treating each repeated offence by these suggested steps is an appropriate way to get to the final stage of discharging your employee.
Module Summary
In this module, proper key handling techniques for you and your staff were discussed. You also now know how to appropriately handle information such as alarm codes.
The consequences of security breach by a staff member was also discussed thoroughly, in that you could lose trust from your client and in your staff, as well as gain a bad reputation.
The steps of disciplinary action should something serious occur were also discussed in this module. Using your judgement to decide what degree of confrontation and discipline is the key to telling your employees not to make the mistake again.
In essence, handling the security information of a client is a delicate task that requires caution, mindfulness, and a protective attitude.
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