PORTICO INC.

The Task:

In the summer of 2017, Portico Inc. received a call from a homeowner in the Philadelphia area. The family had just moved into a 20,000 square foot home and had hired a new team of three housekeepers. The housekeepers were part of a larger domestic staff team that consisted of a  Private Chef, Driver and a Personal Assistant who took on some Household Management tasks. The family did not have a Household Manager.

 

While the family was happy with the reliability, flexibility and personalities of the housekeepers, there was also frustration that the lady of the house was having to take on a daily role in training the housekeepers to the family’s standards. As opposed to “throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” Portico Inc. was contacted to tailor a training program to salvage good employees and elevate their housekeeping skills to the standard of the family.

 

The Response:

In order to achieve training success, Portico Inc. did the following:

 

• Consulted with the family to achieve a deeper understanding of their standards and expectations

• Spent time with each member of the housekeeping team to understand their strengths and weaknesses

• When asked provided housekeeping best practice advice to the family

• Based on consultation and research, Portico Inc. constructed an initial three-day training program focusing on:​​

• • Prioritization and organization techniques as well as daily workflow strategies

  • Systematic identification of household surfaces and furnishings requiring specialized cleaning and maintenance

  • Follow through on the family’s desire to minimize commercial cleaning products in favour of effective homemade cleaning solutions

  • Housekeeping strategies to avoid cross contamination

  • Best practices for cleaning critical areas like bathrooms and the kitchen

  • Creation of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual housekeeping checklists

  • Creation of special project check lists

  • Zoning of the household to optimize efficiency between the housekeepers

• Repetition of key training areas to optimize retention

• Post-training objectives were identified. Methods to evaluate qualitative improvement were established.

• A highly experienced Executive Housekeeper with skills in cross-cultural training was dispatched to the residence

• The training plan was executed. The housekeepers were reassured through a transparent process that identified their strengths, areas to improve upon, and overall program objectives. All training was conducted with respect and empathy. The goal was to establish trust and “buy-in.”

• A daily post-training telephone call to brief the Client

 

The Result:

The family retained each housekeeper and secured their recruiting fee investment. Portico Inc. was invited back to further training in the areas of laundry and wardrobe management. Post-training interviews with each housekeeper indicated an increase in confidence and a deeper pride in duties and roles within the household.

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© Portico Inc., 2018