Leave Your Issues At The Door . . .

Wanted: Housekeeping/Maid through Management for the TJ Motel

Ideal Candidates: Work hard for very little compensation, good cognitive abilities, previous experience not necessary.

Requirements: Ability to leave your issues at home.

You are at work to work, leave your issues at the door.

Much easier said, than understood. That is the conclusion I came to. In retrospect I do not understand why it was so hard to process that idea. In the past, leaving my issues at home had been the bane of my professional advancement. I would bring my issues to work. I would take my personal insults, my frustrations, aggravation, my marital issues, my temper, my impatience, and my perspectives gleaned from personal study and meditations to work with me, whatever the issue might be that day.

I would bring me to work. Then I would allow myself to get tired of my duties, and be a typical slacker. Was the issue my work ethic? No. The issue was separating my work life from my personal life. I knew this but the frustration of it was that I did not understand how to do it. Separating work from life made no sense. For years I asked the best people in whatever business I was in how they did it.

One man was a Walmart Assistant Manager who, while working 60 hours per week, took care of a small family; a pregnant wife with 2 kids. When she gave birth they were surprised, not with the twins they had thought but with three . . . lovely girls. He was still pounding out 60 hours a week, and his duties at home had more than tripled. I asked him how he did it. He said, "I got to the door, and I took 15 seconds to visualize my life as a piece of paper. I would crinkle it up, and throw it in the trash, and then step inside."

Interesting technique. I could not do that. It seemed too cold. If that is what he had to do, then that is what he had to do. He made it through and did well for himself. My life was far too important and influential to be thrown away before work.

I asked another person how they left their home life at the door. Her answer was more plain. She had the ability to do it. She thought of them as separate. Work mattered while you were at work, and home mattered while you were at home. I admire such simplicity. I attempted to have it. I failed every time. It just did not click.

Then I became a manager over a motel and was given the responsibility of accomplishing a set amount of tasks, with a certain amount of quality and standards. Each morning the rooms that have been checked out of must be reset, and the rooms that require maid service for the stay-overs must be completed. Each job must be consistent, each task absolutely completed. The job is easy if the employee is at work to work, and remains consistent. But apparently, the job is impossible if the employee brings her issues to work. They get tunnel-vision.

The housekeeper has a job to do. She has duties and responsibilities. The thing that had escaped my notice for so many years suddenly became obvious. There I am, the manager, the man, the person upon whom all the responsibilities for the motel's upkeep, cleanliness, appeal, and success rest, and I have a job that needs to be done. This job needs to be completed well, and in a timely manner.

I had hired a maid with a reputation for instability. She liked to stir up drama. She thrived on it. She was constantly bringing it to work with her. She would sit down at her breaks and talk to me all about it. Being an empathetic person for the girl I would sit and listen, give my honest opinion when it was sought for, and my advice on rare occasions. She was a high school dropout with two children, unmarried, with little in the way of morals and value, emotionally immature, and addicted to those emotions.

She had a penchant for making the same mistakes over and over. She would consistently forget to give service to the stay-overs, forget to put trash bags in the emptied cans, and her eye for detail was undeveloped. On an inspection walk one day I found a hand-towel in a "cleaned" room that someone had obviously wiped their mouth on after brushing their teeth. That particular detail irked me so bad I set up a training for my maids at the next meeting to test their observational skills.

On the last day the maid worked she was deeply distracted by the issues in her life. When she came to me to report that the day's work was completed I looked her in the eye and said, "Thank you. Before you go, please check every room you cleaned to make sure that everything is done, and that you did not miss anything."

I watched her go from door to door, open the room, peek in, and move on. Upon my inspection that afternoon she had missed putting the trash bags in three rooms. That was six trash cans that did not have bags in them. She did not work again.

I am relying on my maids to get their part done and done right, so that I may concentrate on doing my part. It becomes obvious then, does it not? You leave your issues at the door because they have no place at work. They do not matter because at work, other people are relying on you to do something well, do it right, and do it with quality. If you are successful then their stresses can be partially relieved so they can better focus on what they need to get done. Thus the machine remains well-oiled and functioning properly. Costs go down, productivity goes up, and because you are doing your job well you gain the favor and trust needed to advance in your career. It is like saving up for something new. With all you have accomplished at work you can now show those accomplishments during your interviews to gain the favor needed to move up.

The position of housekeeper is a menial job. It is thankless, pays little, and is more work than it is worth. But to me, the manager of the establishment, it is the most important work within the motel. It is the absolute heartbeat and blood of the business. The maid keeps us going, and keeps us reputable. It is the maid's work that affects the impressions the customer has of the room. As such I need him or her there, 100%, hard at work and getting the job done to a satisfactory level.

As a business owner, manager, or employee you can put yourself in a position to understand why it is necessary to concentrate on working, and leave your issues at the door. All you have to realize is that you have put yourself in a position where people rely on you, and those people need you to do your job and do it well.