Are you wondering where to find the right people to hire for your maid and janitorial cleaning service? Well, we’re here to share with you the 3 most effective avenues we used to achieve this one challenge that all of us face in the cleaning industry.
Finding the right staff members is a job itself.
Finding the right staff members can be a pain in the neck! Let’s just admit it.
It is not at all what we seek to do with opened arms. When we start our day, we look to the positives of that day like improving our methods and procedures, or new cleaning material to explore, or even making sure that we stay within our profit margin. We wake up thinking about attracting new customers! Right. I know I do!
I mean, at some point in our cleaning journey, we get to the point of shifting our focus from day to day operations and staff management to planning and the development of our businesses. As our businesses grow, so does our level of thinking.
This is most of us. However, many of us find out real quickly that our days usually start off putting out fires that have to do with staff concerns. What a downer!
At the break of day, we, the owner, need to handle employee issues yet again! Seriously?!? Someone didn’t show up or can’t make it in. Someone shows up late, again. They call in to quit. Or, maybe not call at all, they just don’t show up.
They broke something but didn’t report it. Stole something. Even worst. Stole our customer. Things can get crazy and out of hand real fast.
My husband, and business partner, and I both know that pain all too well.
Dealing with issues like these, more or less has caused havoc and stress in our lives way too many times.
We spent too much time chasing behind our staff.
We have had to cancel multiple personal engagements because an employee didn’t show up to work and so we had to go in to clean. There have also been times that we simply couldn’t provide the cleaning services due to employee issues. Can you imagine that! Canceling a cleaning project just because an employee didn’t show up. A MAJOR MISTAKE. Epic. I mean, for crying out loud, we had contracts to fulfill!
We no longer felt like business owners but like firefighters. Standing ready to put out fires here, there, and everywhere.
Now, please understand as you continue to read. We know that EVERYONE deserves a day off no matter the circumstance. Sick or not. And also, to be completely honest, life happens to us all and sometimes we’re going to be late to work. Life seemed to happen with some individuals more than they did with others. But we had to adjust…. and adjust FAST!
We revised our Employee Handbook
We remedied some off our problems by changing our handbook.
So, we decided to make some major changes with our employee handbook in terms of absenteeism and tardiness. We also changed our hiring practices and stopped bringing on any random person that wanted a job.
For the most part we wanted to eliminate ourselves from being the contingency plan when employees called off. We figured out one solution that you can consider too.
Where to find pre-qualified candidates from a trusted large resource that had a steady flow of people.
Get to know your business and your needs before you set out for more team members. I can’t express to you how important it is to know the job and know what you need first. And may I add, know the job well.
First, we utilized employment centers.
You can Google to find these agencies near you. Also know that some churches or religious associations have them as well.
We would set up a job recruitment meeting with the director giving a detailed job description. We would ask for 30 experienced prospects that met our criteria . Usually about half to three fourths would show up with resume in hand.
We would then speak to the entire group introducing ourselves and all that we offered as a company. At the same meeting we would then have a 5-10 minute mini meeting with each individual. Once we were done for the day, we would follow-up via phone call to whom we felt would be the best fit for the position.
Secondly, we utilized Indeed.com online services.
The key to finding new hires using this method was to have a very detailed job description. Just as much, we had to outline personality traits such as having a pleasant personality trait and easy to get along with. When I received their resumes, I went through like a fine toothed comb especially watching for large gaps between employment. Yeah, this was the crappy part. The positives were that we got soooo many prospect with just one click.!
Lastly, we hired friends and family of current employees.
I personally really liked this. If we had a great team member and was recruiting for more, I would reach out to that member. As a result we have had multiple family/ friends working with us.
Usually they were all on good behavior cause they didn’t want to embarrass the person who referred them to us. Training them was easier because our regular team member that would participate in the training. Even off of the job!
Once we secured our potential hires over the phone, we would then have one major interview. It was an on-the-job interview. So, no matter how we came to meet up with the prospective hires, all of them had to do an on-the-job interview. After all, We needed to be certain that they could perform the required tasks.
Conclusion:
We’ve used a few methods to increase our staff, but these were our most popular. Hiring from employment agencies, Indeed.com, and through friends and family is our story of how we hired employees for our maid and janitorial cleaning service. These resources were always there for us to help provide extra staff when needed.
Have you considered your hiring methods? How is it working out? We would love to hear from you.
“The smartest business decision you can make is to hire qualified people. Bringing the right people on board saves you thousands and your business will run smoothly and efficiently” Brian Tracy
Until next time,
Happy cleaning!
Creator of A Janitor’s Story®. I started my office cleaning side hustle at 20 years old. Years later, with the partnership of my husband and our amazing staff, my business grew to mid-six figures and fulfilled my wildest dreams! Now, 27 years STRONG, I’ve retired, and I help aspiring entrepreneurs to START and GROW their house and office cleaning service businesses to achieve their biggest dreams. I’d like to help you do the same.
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