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Clean-up time
(Philippine Daily Inquirer Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) IN SKY-HIGH RESIDENCES, BEyond the steel elevators, empty hallways and marked doors is a nifty nook where privacy is measured by the square inch. Here stay the condo chambermaids, professional cleaners trained by experts the quick and efficient job of five-star hotel housekeeping.
Polite and courteous, the cheery bunch greets clients with a ready smile. To address foreign clients appropriately, they even know a few foreign-language words.
We offer professional services of house cleaners who equal the skills, style and etiquette of five-star hotel chambermaids, said Ahyi & Co. Inc. president Carolyn Tan-Santos, herself named the 2005 Model Homeowner of the Year by the Clean and Green Project of Avida Land Corp.
Ahyi & Co. Inc. (tel. 8132903, 8163922, 0922-8889180, 0917-8107388) is a service company of professional housekeepers that provides house-cleaning needs of high-end condo residents in Makati, Ortigas and the suburbs.
Ahyi, said its managing director Carmelo Valera, is an oriental word similar to yaya or an elderly everyone in the household looks up to. Tan-Santos said that in China, ahyi is how expats refer to their domestic help.
Only in its sixth month of operation, Ahyi & Co. Inc. services condominiums such as One Roxas Boulevard, Rizal at Rockwell, One Legaspi Park, Manansala at Rockwell, Greenbelt Radissons, Hidalgo at Rockwell, The Columns at Ayala (which already has a few occupants), Pacific Plaza at The Fort, Prince Plaza II, Oriental Gardens, Cityland, and many more. They have also extended their services to homes in Dasmarinas Village, Makati and Ayala Alabang Village. Recently, the company has been accredited by Ayala Properties Management Corp. to service its home properties.
Downside of high living
Living in limited condominium space for over a decade now, Tan-Santos is only too familiar with the downside of living high up off the ground. A demanding lifestyle makes residents too weary to look after their homes themselves. Getting a trusted househelp and losing personal space is just one of the problems; hiring a pro on a weekly basis is another.
This year, along with some partners, Tan-Santos decided to professionalize the house-cleaning industry by setting up a company that aims to bring back dignity to a livelihood looked down upon by society. To do this, applicants that met the company boards requirements underwent weeks of rigid training, on and off the jobfrom cleaning homes the professional way to how they must conduct themselves when in the presence of a client.
We put them through attitudinal programs. The chambermaids came into our company like blocks of ice; then we melt them with values, then we freeze them again so the values stay with them, Valera said.
A lawyer who took up courses in Applied Behavioral Science in the United States, Valera himself put the 12 chambermaids through weeks of behavioral seminars. The people behind Ahyi believe a shifting of attitude is just as important as learning the skills of housekeeping. After all, the main concern of their clientele is honesty.
Ahyi & Co. Inc. recognizes the lure of temptation its housekeeping team could face upon entering an exclusive address such as One Roxas Boulevard. To eliminate risks, the housekeeping team always come in pairs, with one looking out after the other.
Valera said the strategy is also to protect the interest of the company. Since most of its employees are young and pleasant-looking, the risk of clients becoming too fresh with the girls is also avoided.
Personal hygiene
The uniformed chambermaids were also given a course on personal hygiene. Since they work on an average of four condo units per day, most of the time walking from one building to the other, Tan-Santos said it is important they look and smell amiable at all times.
Since it is not unusual to find a cat or two or a dog in many residences, the chambermaids have also been trained on how to deal with pets. And they do treat house pets the way they do its owners.
A former operations manager of The Clean Co. trained its employees the professional skills of housekeeping. It was difficult at first, with some teams finishing a job for several hours. Today, a team could easily finish its work at an hour for Basic Cleaning, and two hours for General Cleaning.
The company also accepts carpet shampooing, upholstery cleaning, floor waxing and polishing, curtain and bed linen laundry/dry clean, laundry, appliance repair, marble crystallization, and hard floor cleaning for an extra fee.
Rates are affordable at P15/square meter. Since many studio units average a mere 20-sq m floor area, a minimum of P350 is required for Basic Cleaning. Minimum for General Cleaning is P700. Upon completion of job, clients are made to sign a feedback sheet. If clients are not around, a feedback sheet will be left in the room.
The chambermaids have the benefits of regular office workers, from sick leaves to vacation leaves to getting them their Social Security numbers. Each is insured, equipped with cell phones and kikay kits. It is one of the companys goals that their girls make a career out of their work.
Our housekeepers are carefully selected, meticulously trained, security- and health-cleared with appropriate government agencies, Tan-Santos said.
E-mail the author at ajambora@inquirer.com.ph
Copyright 2006 Philippine Daily Inquirer. Source : Financial Times Information Limited (Trademark)
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