No Housekeeper Left Behind

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Patti Gallagher will be the first to tell you that she’s an introvert at heart. When she started working as a housekeeper at Jefferson’s Ferry, a Life Plan retirement community in South Setauket, NY, she planned on keeping mostly to herself. Recently widowed, she was still working through the grief of losing her husband and living alone as both of her daughters had moved out to attend college. She wanted a job that offered healthcare insurance but also where she could keep a low profile.

“I thought housekeeping work would be mindless,” she said with a laugh. “But as anyone who has worked a day in this job knows, the work is anything but that!”

Her first day on the job, Patti immediately felt at home. Everyone, including other housekeepers, staff members in other departments, and upper managers made her feel welcome at Jefferson’s Ferry.

“No one really knew what I was going through following my husband’s death, but they all made me feel so comfortable,” she said. “If you have a bad day, everyone is extremely supportive. And it’s an absolutely beautiful facility. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I couldn’t have landed in a better place.”

A Career in Cleaning

Before she began in the cleaning industry, Patti worked in a variety of jobs. In junior high, she worked in a plant nursery and upon graduating high school, she went on to manage a fast-food restaurant and a bridal shop. Then she got married, had children and started cleaning homes once her daughters were school-aged to help fund their extracurricular activities.

While she didn’t realize it at the time, all of those experiences created the perfect canvas for her to paint her future managing the EVS team at Jefferson’s Ferry.

A lifecare retirement community, Jefferson’s Ferry offers independent residential living for active adults age 62 or better with the opportunity to age in place with assisted living and skilled nursing options on campus. Jefferson’s Ferry residents live in their own apartments or cottages, decorated with their own furnishings and cherished possessions. For the past three years, it has won the “Best of Long Island” award in two categories - Best Retirement Community and Best Assisted Living.

This is due in part its investment and focus on its staff, as well as its residents.

In a press release acknowledging its “Best of Long Island” awards, Jefferson’s Ferry President and CEO Bob Caulfield stated, “Our residents have chosen to make Jefferson’s Ferry their home. We take the responsibility of providing them with a wonderful lifestyle and the best care available very seriously. Likewise, we strive to hire the best people and provide them with a rewarding career.”

When Patti talks about her early days working in the housekeeping department, she says that she tried to stick to her plan of keeping a low profile and focusing on her work. However, she didn’t exactly keep a low profile—her attention to detail, initiative and work ethic were noted by Jefferson’s Ferry executives. It didn’t take long before she was promoted to Housekeeping Lead and then to the Director of Environmental Services.

“They asked me how good I was on the computer and I told them I was pretty bad at anything other than shopping,” she said, laughing. “But I guess the CEO saw something in me that I never would have seen myself.”

“No Housekeeper Left Behind”

Patti was one of 11 children, so she understands what it takes to work in a team environment. In her role as the Director of EVS, she has earned the respect of her team, largely because she has done the job and understands what it takes. She also doesn’t hesitate to jump in and help if it’s needed. Patti has also worked hard to improve the way her team feels about their jobs, while also trying to improve their recognition throughout the rest of the facility.

“There are a lot of places where ‘housekeeping’ has a negative connotation, which ultimately impacts the way the staff feel about their work,” she said. “But that respect starts from within—our team needs to have respect for themselves and the work they do. That’s why I’ve tried to focus on communicating with the people on our team and educating them so they understand just how critical our role is in helping keep our residents safe and healthy.”

One way Patti motivates and inspires her staff is through weekly staff meetings. Each Wednesday morning, the team meets to discuss suggestions for improvement, conduct in-services, discuss fundraising for local charitable drives, or talk about personal things that could impact the team—such as one woman’s possible move to another state.

“Someone once told me that in order to be a successful leader, you have to communicate,” said Patti. “When we first started the meetings, no one would talk. Now we can’t get people to stop talking! You wouldn’t believe the difference it’s made in our culture.”

She adds that if she needs to skip the meeting due to a seminar or meeting, team members want to know when it will be rescheduled. It’s the meeting people want to attend, which demonstrates how critical it is to the overall department culture.

Education has also been key to helping the team take pride in what they do. Patti plans regular in-services for her team based off of seminars or meetings she’s attended outside the office. Because the housekeeping field requires such a wide variety of skill sets and expertise, she hasn’t found it difficult to develop topics for them. Recent in-services have covered ergonomics, health and safety, understanding abuse and infection control.

Another way Patti has improved the sense of unity and teamwork amongst the housekeeping staff is through a “No Housekeeper Left Behind” policy. As the name implies, it ensures that no employee will be left working alone when others have left for the day. Whenever someone has completed their assigned responsibilities, they’re to check in with others on staff to find out who needs help. That way, everyone finishes together.

“This isn’t my policy, but something the entire team realized after talking through it during one of our team meetings,” said Patti. “It’s an improvement that has really helped everyone on staff and build morale.”

A Commitment to Education and Her Introduction to IEHA

Throughout high school, Patti was always at the top of her class. An honor student and class president, she started working after high school and never ended up going to college. But her love of learning never stopped.

Her predecessor earned her certification through IEHA, so Patti took the initiative to follow suit. She ordered the PECP materials she and couldn’t believe her eyes when the materials arrived.

“My first thought was, ‘Wow, did I really sign up for this?’’,” she said of the stacks of modules and binders around her office.

After working through the sections through the hard copy and online, Patti realized that she needed more to help her pass the program and earn her certification. That’s when she found out about IEHA’s Road Show tour scheduled for 2016. She registered for the session in Jacksonville and booked her flight—it was her first time traveling alone.

“We had a great group [at the Jacksonville boot camp],” she said. “I was extremely impressed by Michael’s style—he has a way of explaining things so you don’t feel stupid or ignorant if you don’t understand the material. Our group really bonded and we still keep in contact if we have any questions or issues that arise in our facilities.”

All of her work was worth it. Patti was one of the first to graduate from the Boot Camp Road Show and earn her Certification.

“To have that knowledge now, it empowers me,” she said. “This is a great job. It’s an important job. More people should consider getting their Certification so they have the tools they need to do that job to the best of their ability.”

Leading by Example

Because Jefferson’s Ferry is a high-end facility, its clients have high standards for cleanliness. But it’s a standard that the housekeeping staff has no trouble achieving. Professional success is important to Patti, and she leads her team by example. Turnover rates are close to zero—so low, in fact, that others have called to ask what she does differently.

Her secret, she says, is to hire good people rather than good housekeepers. In other words, she hires based on the attitude of the person rather than skill sets.

“You can always train someone to clean, but you can’t train them to smile,” she said. “If you’re sweet, people don’t care about the crumbs. If you’re not nice, they will care a lot more.”

Her second piece of advice is to be willing to put on your scrubs and work beside them.

“I am a housekeeper, and I don’t have any issues spending the day in the laundry or cleaning bathrooms if that’s what I need to do,” she said.

Lastly, she says that having fun is what it’s all about. She’s helped to develop a team that’s like family to her. Rather than go separate ways during breaks and lunches, the team regularly plans meals together and shares their time together. They have fun. They laugh.

“One of the girls told me just the other day that she really loved coming to work because I helped make housekeeping fun,” Patti said. “When you hear a comment like that, you know you’re doing something right.”