When you start your cleaning business, you may feel that finding good clients is the biggest challenge in your industry. That is far from the truth. In a cleaning business, finding clients is easier; the difficult part is finding and growing a high-quality workforce.
Let’s say you start a cleaning service, your company is up and running, you also acquire a good list of high-paying clients – but you cannot cater to them all by yourself. At this stage, you need to start employing reliable employees who can fulfill client expectations and help your business progress. Here are the top ten tips for cleaning companies hiring talented employees –
-
Establish a Formal Recruitment Process
Define the position you are trying to fill and list down their duties and responsibilities with clarity. It will also help you define the ideal profile of the candidate you would like to hire. Think about how you want to advertise your job posting and attract suitable candidates. Make this a uniform process for all recruitment exercises in your cleaning company.
-
Establish a Screening Process
When hiring for multiple positions in your cleaning company, it is best to conduct an initial telephonic screening round to determine if the candidate is worth interviewing inperson. Create a list of qualifying questions, such as “Are you willing to work on weekends if needed?” or “Why did you quit your last job?”
-
In-Person Interviews
When taking an in-person interview, ask questions wherein the candidate has to put themselves in a situation and talk about how they would react. For example, “What will you do if you find out your cleaning team partner has suddenly fallen ill?” You could also use hypothetical situations and ask the candidate how they would handle them.
-
Open-ended Questions
Open-ended questions are questions that need more than a simple yes or no answer. These questions urge the candidate to open up and talk about themselves. You can find out more details about the candidate’s personality and characteristics by listening to their answers to open-ended questions.
-
Assess Work Ethic
It is essential to hire only those candidates who have a good work ethic. Such employees are more likely to work with sincerity and stay with the company for the long term. An impressive work ethic ensures that your employees can cater to all cleaning services in the presence or absence of the client.
-
Traits to Look For
The next thing is to find out if the candidate can work alone. Most of the time, your employees will need to visit your client’s home and complete the cleaning job independently. Usually, it is best to hire a candidate who is independent, self-motivated, and hardworking. Cleaning is also a physically demanding job, so look for someone who can handle the workload.
-
Problem Solving Ability
When working alone to cater to a cleaning request, your employees may need to make minor decisions to solve problems on the spot. Therefore, look for people who are smart enough and have the ability to solve problems on their own.
-
Trustworthiness
Your employees will cater to cleaning jobs in your client’s home, office, or other personal space. Not everyone is trustworthy enough to enter a private space, and especially as a representative of your company. Therefore, take your time to determine whether the candidate is reliable or not.
-
Background Checks
Once you have a shortlist of the candidates you wish to hire, conduct thorough background checks to find any undesirable details such as criminal offences or other problems. You will need to take the candidate’s permission for an official background check.
-
Prepare for Training & Orientation
Once you have hired a good candidate, it is customary to set a probationary period. During probation, you can give the requisite training and orientation to the new hire. The probationary period is also an excellent time to observe the employee for performance and compatibility.
Recruitment and hiring are tedious processes that need constant effort, especially if your employee turnover is high. The best strategy for reducing employee turnover is to hire good people who can follow the work regulations and live up to the standards you set. At first, the above-listed process may seem elaborate and challenging, but if you stick to it, you are sure to find talented employees who make it simpler to run your cleaning company.
