Starting and growing a cleaning business often begins as a solo endeavor (like I did in 2019), but as demand increases, building a reliable team becomes essential. A strong team not only helps scale your business but also improves efficiency and customer satisfaction. People find it weird when I say that my focus is on my employees, not on my clients. I believe that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients. Here’s a few ideas on how I was able to successfully build an incredible team.
1. Timing
Many cleaning business owners hesitate to make their first hire, fearing the additional costs and responsibilities that come with it. However, if you find yourself turning down jobs, working long hours, or struggling to keep up with demand, it may be time to expand. Hiring the right people can free up your time to focus on growing your business rather than being overwhelmed with daily tasks. As the owner, if you are too consumed with the day to day operations, you will actually give the client a worse experience than if you can give them a well trained team to service their home!
You also do not want to grow too fast and lose your quality. Forecasting is hugely important in growing at the right pace, and being ready for the additional work that is coming. Look ahead at when you would like to add a crew, and start training the individuals NOW to run the crew. Do not get so caught up in the present that you forget to look at the future.
2. Clear Roles and Expectations
Before hiring, outline the specific roles you need to fill. Will your new hire focus on the physical cleaning or do you need help in the office? Having clear job descriptions helps attract the right candidates and ensures they understand what’s expected from them. Make sure you are ready to give clear direction before bringing others into the mix. You want to have a team that is on the same page and everyone knows exactly what they need to do to keep the operations running.
3. Hire the Individual, Train the Skill
Experience is valuable, but a positive attitude, reliability, and strong work ethic are even more critical. Look for individuals who are detail-oriented, eager to learn and are generally happy people. You can always train them on the technical aspects of cleaning, but their attitude will impact the overall feel of your team.
We have hired individuals with experience and without experience. We have had mixed results from hiring with experience. We have found that sometimes they will come in with bad habits from previous employers. We have also found that they sometimes come in with valuable ideas to help improve our systems. Overall, we prefer to hire with no experience and train them on the way that we do things here at PurePro!
4. Provide Proper Training
Even if a new hire has experience, it’s important to train them on the way your company does things. Showing them your equipment and customer service standards is critical in bringing on new hires who have experience. What seems like a complete job in one company might not be a complete job in another company. Showing the clear expectations for what your company delivers for clients, ensures consistency in your services and helps maintain your company’s reputation for quality work.
Training individuals with no experience is also huge! You want employees to feel comfortable with the responsibilities that are given to them. Proper training early on will cost money, but save you time and headaches in the future!
5. Work Culture and Pay
To attract and retain quality employees, you need to have a place where people want to work! A happy team is a productive team. Create a work environment that values teamwork, respect, and open communication. People want to be a part of something special, so make your organization special! Recognize and reward good performance and do not be afraid to provide constructive feedback. Encourage growth outside of work as well. We want every individual who works at PurePro to leave PurePro better than when they first arrived (if they do decide to move on).
Having an awesome environment is great, but paying well goes a long way too! If you want top tier individuals, you will need to offer top tier pay (for your industry). At PurePro, we love having performance incentives based on 5 star reviews and a job well done. We like to give employees the opportunity to earn more money in bonuses every day.
6. Build Trust and Accountability
Trust is essential in any team. I only hire people who I feel like I can trust. If I lose trust in an employee, that typically means it is time for them to go. Set clear expectations for work quality, punctuality, and customer interactions; and hold employees to the standard that you have set! A strong sense of responsibility helps create a team that takes pride in their work.
7. Regular Reviews
Regularly evaluate employee performance and ask for feedback on how processes can improve. We do reviews after 30 days, 6 months, 1 year, etc. We ask every employee “List ideas that would allow you to add value to PurePro over the next year?” in the reviews and we go over them. Employees who feel heard are more likely to stay engaged and committed to their roles.
We also want to learn about what interests our employees have outside of work. Let’s face it, not every employee is going to make a career out of window cleaning. Different people will have different goals and it is important to help them achieve their goals even outside of work! This goes back to our goal as a business: every individual who works at PurePro will leave PurePro better than when they first arrived. We get a lot of individuals who are in college and will likely only be with us for a few years, our goal is to make an impact on their lives in the years that we have them.
8. Fire Quickly
I am sure you have heard the advice “hire slowly, fire quickly.” It is easier said than done. If someone is not fitting in with your culture, do not be afraid to get rid of them! If they are not on board with what you are trying to build, then they will be toxic to your team. We had one employee that moved much slower than everyone else, and you could see that it slowed down the crew that he was on each day. Even though we were booked with work, we needed to move on from this individual so that the rest of the team could thrive! There are always other individuals who are out there and will fit your culture, you just need to find them!
Final Thoughts
Building a strong team takes a lot of work, but investing in the right people and having a positive work environment will allow you to serve more clients. By being intentional in your hiring process, you’ll be well on your way to growing a successful, sustainable business. Take care of the good employees that you do have and they will take care of your clients. Remember, if an individual is not working out, it may be time to move on.
Need help refining your hiring process or managing your team? Feel free to reach out! My email is nick@pureprogr.com. I am always happy to help!
You can also give us a call at 616-201-8282, email us at office@pureprogr.com, or fill out this form to receive a free quote for all of your window, siding, roof, surface, and gutter cleaning needs!