I spent a lot of years working with a person who felt because he was an executive/vice president of the company he should never let anyone know that he might not have the answer to a particular problem they might be having. He would rather give them the wrong answer than to admit he didn't have the right answer. The problem with that kind of thinking is you are fooling only yourself. The people that work with you are perceptive and will pick up on your lack of knowledge very quickly and the word gets around that you don't know what you are talking about.
Many business owners and managers fall into the "know it all" trap. As we gain expertise and experience in the industry we suddenly realize we know quite a bit of "stuff". We are becoming an expert in this business and frankly we need to in order to best serve our customers and prospects. The industry is changing so rapidly that it is imperative that we are always learning and studying.
Let me tell a couple of stories on myself. When propane buffers were first introduced to the marketplace, one of the manufacturers asked if my company would test one of the models for them. Since we were cleaning retail stores at the time I saw it as an opportunity to cut some of our labor costs.
When the machine arrived I took it to the store to spend the night with our crew and to "show" them how the boss did floors. When I started the machine, there was some black smoke coming out of the exhaust which one of my employees quickly said he could adjust very easily and in a short amount of time. My answer was that it is a new machine and after I run it awhile it will be fine and the black smoke did subside.
So I started down the aisle and just as I was passing ladies ready to wear, and just as if the machine was give a cue, a trail of black smoke came bellowing out of the machine and created ladies short suits out of what had been ladies polyester pant suits. My employees tried not to laugh. I encouraged them to laugh and enjoy the moment as I adjusted the machine as they had suggested in the first place. I thought it best then to ask someone else to run the machine. They didn't want to.
Try explaining to your customer and the insurance company this chain of events especially when the insurance adjuster, who was so diplomatic, asked what idiot caused this disaster? I really didn't want to tell him but honesty prevailed and I told him I was the idiot and I really wish he could have used different words to describe my lack of intelligence on operating propane floor machines.
On another occasion I was trying to demonstrate to a crew the correct way to remove spots from carpets. As I was offering my expertise, the area supervisor who was there to oversee my lack of intelligence, said, "Dick, let me have the spotter" and Marie proceeded to demonstrate the correct way to use the product. Being quick in my thinking I told the crew I just wanted to see if anyone would catch me doing it wrong. Pretty good, huh?. Another case where the boss didn't know it all and should have turned it over to the expert in the first place.
The point I am making here is that people around us catch on fast when we try try to BS them. They figure it out quickly when we don't know what we are talking about and we rapidly lose their respect.
The two examples I gave on myself above taught me a great lesson in my career---YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING, JUST KNOW THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW. The sooner you learn that and practice it, the quicker you can move on to leading your company to greater success. You don't know it all.
Reminds me of a scene from the TV series "Law and Order". Assistant District Attorney, Jack McCoy was questioning a suspect and the suspect said to Jack, "Are you trying to make me look like an idiot?" and Jack's reply was, "You're doing a great job of that yourself". Let's make sure we don't fall into the same trap.
So, do you know it all?
Till next time. MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
IT'S SUMMERTIME
Well, here we are nearing the July 4th United States independence day celebration. That means my dog Caesar will be going crazy with all the fireworks that will be going off in the neighborhood. He hates it with a passion.
With the holiday approaching it also means most all schools are done for this year. With all the snow days that had to be made up in so many parts of the country it seemed like this school year was going to go on forever.
Most people I know are also planning some sort of vacation time with their family. Maybe just a long weekend at the lake or a trip to see relatives but most people do plan some sort of family event.
You have another family you know. How about the family that sees to it your customers are serviced properly each and every day? What do you have planned for them? Let me suggest some sort of family outing such as a corporate picnic etc. that involves the entire family. I personally believe their is a huge benefit in involving the spouses/significant others and children of our employees in some sort of event that promotes company fellowship. Let me offer a couple of suggestions that worked very well for us.
How about a family day picnic where the company provides all of the food and drink? This is the day to honor your employees and their families so don't ask them to bring anything. As the years went by, we actually had a committee, made up of employees in the field and our office staff, that planned the event. Eventually they were recommending that employees bring their favorite dish and the company ended up providing only the soft drinks and sometimes the meat. We built on it each year to where is became quite an event and at a very reasonable investment.
One thing we found to be very popular was to have something to involve the children each year. For example,
---We hired a clown to paint the faces of the children and to create balloons in different animal shapes at the request of the children. We found children hanging around the clown the entire time he/she was there.
---Along the same line, we hired a magician that would do about a 15 minute show 2 or three times during the afternoon. My biggest problem there was trying to keep the adults out of the front row so the children could see.
---We rented a trampoline game like you see at McDonald's etc. where the children could play all day if they wanted to in an indoor type environment for safety.
We found the investment in the entertainment to be very reasonable. Most yellow pages have magicians and clowns for rent. These are usually people that are doing it as a second job etc.
We also used the picnic event to have a short honor ceremony where we provided plaques and gift certificates to employees with 1 year or 5 years etc. of service. We also made sure we had some sort of a small giveaway for everyone in attendance such as a coffee mug etc. The ideas on the giveaways are countless but I think it is important to have SOMETHING for everyone in attendance.
One more thing. We had this event in every branch office in the company. The dates were published well in advance and I did my very best to attend each one of them. That became an interesting adventure trying to schedule me in about 7 states with multiple offices for company picnics but I didn't miss many, if any.
We also found that the success of each event was in direct proportion to the excitement generated by the branch manager. A couple of ours weren't real excited to host the event and it showed. Ironically, it also showed in the performance of their profit and loss statement. Those that were excited and created involvement also had the least turnover and the most profit. Interesting, isn't it?
So if you haven't planned anything this year, let me suggest you consider a company event such as I have outlined here. There are lots of different ways to do an event and I have only mentioned what we did. I am sure others have had very successful events and if you have let us know. We would love to hear of other ideas that have worked.
As the title of this article implies, it's summertime. We hope yours will be full of enjoyment both for your immediate family and your company family.
Till next time.
With the holiday approaching it also means most all schools are done for this year. With all the snow days that had to be made up in so many parts of the country it seemed like this school year was going to go on forever.
Most people I know are also planning some sort of vacation time with their family. Maybe just a long weekend at the lake or a trip to see relatives but most people do plan some sort of family event.
You have another family you know. How about the family that sees to it your customers are serviced properly each and every day? What do you have planned for them? Let me suggest some sort of family outing such as a corporate picnic etc. that involves the entire family. I personally believe their is a huge benefit in involving the spouses/significant others and children of our employees in some sort of event that promotes company fellowship. Let me offer a couple of suggestions that worked very well for us.
How about a family day picnic where the company provides all of the food and drink? This is the day to honor your employees and their families so don't ask them to bring anything. As the years went by, we actually had a committee, made up of employees in the field and our office staff, that planned the event. Eventually they were recommending that employees bring their favorite dish and the company ended up providing only the soft drinks and sometimes the meat. We built on it each year to where is became quite an event and at a very reasonable investment.
One thing we found to be very popular was to have something to involve the children each year. For example,
---We hired a clown to paint the faces of the children and to create balloons in different animal shapes at the request of the children. We found children hanging around the clown the entire time he/she was there.
---Along the same line, we hired a magician that would do about a 15 minute show 2 or three times during the afternoon. My biggest problem there was trying to keep the adults out of the front row so the children could see.
---We rented a trampoline game like you see at McDonald's etc. where the children could play all day if they wanted to in an indoor type environment for safety.
We found the investment in the entertainment to be very reasonable. Most yellow pages have magicians and clowns for rent. These are usually people that are doing it as a second job etc.
We also used the picnic event to have a short honor ceremony where we provided plaques and gift certificates to employees with 1 year or 5 years etc. of service. We also made sure we had some sort of a small giveaway for everyone in attendance such as a coffee mug etc. The ideas on the giveaways are countless but I think it is important to have SOMETHING for everyone in attendance.
One more thing. We had this event in every branch office in the company. The dates were published well in advance and I did my very best to attend each one of them. That became an interesting adventure trying to schedule me in about 7 states with multiple offices for company picnics but I didn't miss many, if any.
We also found that the success of each event was in direct proportion to the excitement generated by the branch manager. A couple of ours weren't real excited to host the event and it showed. Ironically, it also showed in the performance of their profit and loss statement. Those that were excited and created involvement also had the least turnover and the most profit. Interesting, isn't it?
So if you haven't planned anything this year, let me suggest you consider a company event such as I have outlined here. There are lots of different ways to do an event and I have only mentioned what we did. I am sure others have had very successful events and if you have let us know. We would love to hear of other ideas that have worked.
As the title of this article implies, it's summertime. We hope yours will be full of enjoyment both for your immediate family and your company family.
Till next time.
Monday, June 9, 2014
IT'S HALFTIME
Well, here we are nearing the middle of June and the half way point in this calendar year. Seems like just yesterday we were asking if you had developed your goals for this year. So, this being the half way point of 2014, how are you doing? Do you need to dust off the business plan to review what is supposed to be your focus for the year or are you forging ahead? Let's review a bit.
Are your sales on target? Maybe more importantly, are your sales on target in the types of accounts on which you need to focus? Did you establish a policy to only take those accounts that fit the profile you want to advance your business such as a certain time of day or night, or a certain segment of business such as manufacturing or medical or educational or a time that fits your supervison and doesn't stretch that supervision to impossible bounds?
Did you establish a systematic formula for securing new accounts like regular targeted mailings or social media outlets? If so, how is your progress or lack of progress?
While we are on sales, have you developed an ongoing, systematic way of making sure you stay in contact with your current customers? Remember, the investment to keep a current profitable customer is much less than the dollars needed to secure new customers. Not only is it important to maintain a positive relationship with existing customers, these are also your best prospects for adding profitable tag or special work or introducing a new service you have decided to add to your portfolio.
I remember speaking with a BSC a couple of years ago who told me he had added over a million dollars in new business that calendar year. I then asked the inevitable question of how much business had he lost during that same time. His answer was just a bit over a million dollars so his net effect was a loss. I then asked him what he was going to do and his response was that he was going to add another salesperson. I couldn't resist the temptation to ask him if that meant he was poised to lose two million dollars next year. He gave me that puzzled look and asked what I meant. Well, if you sold a million this year and lost a million plus and you plan to add a sales person so you can add two million next year, it stands to reason if you don't change something in your operation, you will also lose two million in business next year. He had never thought of it in that way.
You see, when you develop a sales goal for a period such as a year etc. it is also important that you make sure your operation and administration departments are running smoothly and efficently. It is critical to evaluate where you are and determine what changes need to be made to handle an influx of new business. Most of the work I do with my clients is to help them create sales growth and do it in a somewhat rapid pace but we ALWAYS focus as well on what has to happen, and when, in the operation of the company to handle the new growth and to make sure we are not short changing or neglecting the existing customers that are paying the bills to this point and allowing us to spend the time and dollars on securing new business.
As we take the time to focus on existing business, the half way point of the year is also a great time to do a retuning of your current accounts. Are they in budget? Is the budget you established the one that still should be the current budget? Did things change that would cause us to change the budgeted time up or down? Are the closets neat and clean and are there supplies that can be brought back to the warehouse or does the budget for supplies need to be increased? What about equipment? Is it time to replace that 1947 floor machine or that 1985 vacuum cleaner? Are the specifications for all of the accounts up to date and posted properly? How about emergency phone numbers or is the emergency contact number in the closet that of a supervisor that quit 3 months ago? We have a FREE retuning form that may be of help. You can do to www.consultantsincleaning.com and click on the Worksheets icon and download the Account Re-Engineering Worksheet under the Operations/Human Resources heading. May save you some time. It's free and we don't bug you to buy something.
And last but not least, are you doing the refresher technical training for all of your technicians. People do get in bad habits. Even our best employees get off track and sometimes don't even realize it so a refresher class of how your company expects cleaning procedures to be done is in order for everyone at least twice a year.
Well, there you have it. It's half time in 2014. How ya doin? Time to check up on yourself and your company?
This week's pod cast at www.tripodcast.com talks about a tax credit from the government that just may save you tons of dollars in taxes this year. Be sure to go there and listen and see if it can help you.
Till next time.
Are your sales on target? Maybe more importantly, are your sales on target in the types of accounts on which you need to focus? Did you establish a policy to only take those accounts that fit the profile you want to advance your business such as a certain time of day or night, or a certain segment of business such as manufacturing or medical or educational or a time that fits your supervison and doesn't stretch that supervision to impossible bounds?
Did you establish a systematic formula for securing new accounts like regular targeted mailings or social media outlets? If so, how is your progress or lack of progress?
While we are on sales, have you developed an ongoing, systematic way of making sure you stay in contact with your current customers? Remember, the investment to keep a current profitable customer is much less than the dollars needed to secure new customers. Not only is it important to maintain a positive relationship with existing customers, these are also your best prospects for adding profitable tag or special work or introducing a new service you have decided to add to your portfolio.
I remember speaking with a BSC a couple of years ago who told me he had added over a million dollars in new business that calendar year. I then asked the inevitable question of how much business had he lost during that same time. His answer was just a bit over a million dollars so his net effect was a loss. I then asked him what he was going to do and his response was that he was going to add another salesperson. I couldn't resist the temptation to ask him if that meant he was poised to lose two million dollars next year. He gave me that puzzled look and asked what I meant. Well, if you sold a million this year and lost a million plus and you plan to add a sales person so you can add two million next year, it stands to reason if you don't change something in your operation, you will also lose two million in business next year. He had never thought of it in that way.
You see, when you develop a sales goal for a period such as a year etc. it is also important that you make sure your operation and administration departments are running smoothly and efficently. It is critical to evaluate where you are and determine what changes need to be made to handle an influx of new business. Most of the work I do with my clients is to help them create sales growth and do it in a somewhat rapid pace but we ALWAYS focus as well on what has to happen, and when, in the operation of the company to handle the new growth and to make sure we are not short changing or neglecting the existing customers that are paying the bills to this point and allowing us to spend the time and dollars on securing new business.
As we take the time to focus on existing business, the half way point of the year is also a great time to do a retuning of your current accounts. Are they in budget? Is the budget you established the one that still should be the current budget? Did things change that would cause us to change the budgeted time up or down? Are the closets neat and clean and are there supplies that can be brought back to the warehouse or does the budget for supplies need to be increased? What about equipment? Is it time to replace that 1947 floor machine or that 1985 vacuum cleaner? Are the specifications for all of the accounts up to date and posted properly? How about emergency phone numbers or is the emergency contact number in the closet that of a supervisor that quit 3 months ago? We have a FREE retuning form that may be of help. You can do to www.consultantsincleaning.com and click on the Worksheets icon and download the Account Re-Engineering Worksheet under the Operations/Human Resources heading. May save you some time. It's free and we don't bug you to buy something.
And last but not least, are you doing the refresher technical training for all of your technicians. People do get in bad habits. Even our best employees get off track and sometimes don't even realize it so a refresher class of how your company expects cleaning procedures to be done is in order for everyone at least twice a year.
Well, there you have it. It's half time in 2014. How ya doin? Time to check up on yourself and your company?
This week's pod cast at www.tripodcast.com talks about a tax credit from the government that just may save you tons of dollars in taxes this year. Be sure to go there and listen and see if it can help you.
Till next time.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
GETTING IT RIGHT
In this week's tripodcast at www.tripodcast.com I talk about how we sometimes send our technicians out to the job without the proper instructions or tools and supplies to get the job done promptly and professionally. We use our old nail in the board example to show how easy it is for us to expect our employees to do the job but we have forgotton some very basic rules for success on the job,
1. Have we thoroughly trained them in the task we are asking them to do?
2. Have we explained what end result we are expecting to attain?
3. Have we provided the correct tools for them to get the job done safely and correctly?
4. Have we provided them a budget for the job we are expecting them to accomplish?
5. Do we compliment them if they do a great job?
6. If the job doesn't turn out the way we want it to, how do we proceed? Do we analyze if we provided them everything they needed to do the job correctly or do well yell at them for doing a bad job?
Let's look at each of these points.
By now you know I am a fanatic when it comes to assuring that all of our employees receive the proper orientation and training prior to an assignment. One of the top reasons why employees quit this profession (yes, it is a profession) is that they don't receive the training they need to do the job and then get criticized if it isn't done correctly. What's your policy?
Knowing what the end result is supposed to look like is an important part of the job. It isn't enough to say "clean it" but it is important to instill in each employee your company's way of doing things and what you expect the end result to be.
In the pod cast eluded to above I give a good example of a bad example. I ask the participants to put the nail in the board but, among other bad information, I don't give them the tools to get the job done. I have witnessed people ruining a shoe trying to hammer the nail in the board. Some try to use their notebooks to hammer with. To make matters worse, I don't explain to them where in the board I want the nail to be put. What about you? Do you have a listing of tools and supplies needed for each cleaning task you ask your employees to perform. Here again the initial training will help get those points across and then follow up with a refresher course at regular intervals.
Do all employees have a budgeted number of hours for the task(s) they are being asked to perform? I find that usually the regular nightly work is budgeted pretty consistently but many times the crews that are doing the project or tag work are sent to the job without a work order explaining EXACTLY how many hours we expect it to take. I learned this the hard way. If I sent a crew out to strip and recoat a floor, they many times did the job in the hours their shift was for. If I sent them out with the understanding the job was to be completed in "x" hours, that's also how long it took. Funny how that works. Until I got wise to this concept, I was paying for a lot of hours of wasted time. I especially learned this when doing summer project work in the schools we cleaned and also in the project work at manufacturing plants during Christmas holiday shut downs. One of the reasons, I believe, that so much time is lost on special projects is that the managers themselves don't know how long it should really take. That is why it is important to know the industry time standards for each task we have to perform. Most software programs have it automatically set but if you don't have software be sure you have the time standard books published by ISSA or BSCAI. It will save you bunches of dollars.
Do you make it a habit of complimenting the crews on a job well done? This is another one of the major reasons people leave our industry is that they only hear when the job goes wrong and never when it is done right. I know, I know, they are being paid to do it right but all of us like to be told from time to time that we are doing a good job, provided it is a sincere compliment and not a contrived one that many times will do more damage than good.
What if the job doesn't turn out exactly right? Our first order of business should be to have a show and tell training class to assure that the technicians know how to do the job correctly. If they don't know, then we need to retrain. If they do, and just didn't do a good job, then we have a discipline issue we need to deal with. Be sure you know which it is before you start blasting them for a poor job. Sometimes we just maybe haven't taught well or we haven't had a refresher lately.
Well, there you have it. Some quick refresher points to make sure our valued employees have what they need to do the job we want and expect. Let me suggest you review each of the items and see how your company measures up. Take the time now. It is much better to do it now than to jepordize an account with poor workmanship.
Hope your summer is going well. Till next time.
1. Have we thoroughly trained them in the task we are asking them to do?
2. Have we explained what end result we are expecting to attain?
3. Have we provided the correct tools for them to get the job done safely and correctly?
4. Have we provided them a budget for the job we are expecting them to accomplish?
5. Do we compliment them if they do a great job?
6. If the job doesn't turn out the way we want it to, how do we proceed? Do we analyze if we provided them everything they needed to do the job correctly or do well yell at them for doing a bad job?
Let's look at each of these points.
By now you know I am a fanatic when it comes to assuring that all of our employees receive the proper orientation and training prior to an assignment. One of the top reasons why employees quit this profession (yes, it is a profession) is that they don't receive the training they need to do the job and then get criticized if it isn't done correctly. What's your policy?
Knowing what the end result is supposed to look like is an important part of the job. It isn't enough to say "clean it" but it is important to instill in each employee your company's way of doing things and what you expect the end result to be.
In the pod cast eluded to above I give a good example of a bad example. I ask the participants to put the nail in the board but, among other bad information, I don't give them the tools to get the job done. I have witnessed people ruining a shoe trying to hammer the nail in the board. Some try to use their notebooks to hammer with. To make matters worse, I don't explain to them where in the board I want the nail to be put. What about you? Do you have a listing of tools and supplies needed for each cleaning task you ask your employees to perform. Here again the initial training will help get those points across and then follow up with a refresher course at regular intervals.
Do all employees have a budgeted number of hours for the task(s) they are being asked to perform? I find that usually the regular nightly work is budgeted pretty consistently but many times the crews that are doing the project or tag work are sent to the job without a work order explaining EXACTLY how many hours we expect it to take. I learned this the hard way. If I sent a crew out to strip and recoat a floor, they many times did the job in the hours their shift was for. If I sent them out with the understanding the job was to be completed in "x" hours, that's also how long it took. Funny how that works. Until I got wise to this concept, I was paying for a lot of hours of wasted time. I especially learned this when doing summer project work in the schools we cleaned and also in the project work at manufacturing plants during Christmas holiday shut downs. One of the reasons, I believe, that so much time is lost on special projects is that the managers themselves don't know how long it should really take. That is why it is important to know the industry time standards for each task we have to perform. Most software programs have it automatically set but if you don't have software be sure you have the time standard books published by ISSA or BSCAI. It will save you bunches of dollars.
Do you make it a habit of complimenting the crews on a job well done? This is another one of the major reasons people leave our industry is that they only hear when the job goes wrong and never when it is done right. I know, I know, they are being paid to do it right but all of us like to be told from time to time that we are doing a good job, provided it is a sincere compliment and not a contrived one that many times will do more damage than good.
What if the job doesn't turn out exactly right? Our first order of business should be to have a show and tell training class to assure that the technicians know how to do the job correctly. If they don't know, then we need to retrain. If they do, and just didn't do a good job, then we have a discipline issue we need to deal with. Be sure you know which it is before you start blasting them for a poor job. Sometimes we just maybe haven't taught well or we haven't had a refresher lately.
Well, there you have it. Some quick refresher points to make sure our valued employees have what they need to do the job we want and expect. Let me suggest you review each of the items and see how your company measures up. Take the time now. It is much better to do it now than to jepordize an account with poor workmanship.
Hope your summer is going well. Till next time.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
FINDING RELIABLE EMPLOYEES, PART 4
Today we will complete our journey through the issues that I feel are important to finding (and keeping) reliable employees. Let's start with,
WHAT KIND OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK ARE THEY RECEIVING?
It is critical that employees receive ongoing feedback on their progress or lack of progress once they are on the job. Here is many times where turnover of employees occur. Do they only hear from the supervisor or area manager when there is a customer complaint or they doing a procedure incorrectly?
Many times the supervisor will come to work mid afternoon with the first question being, "any complaints today"? And if there are some, away they go that evening to find the employee and "give them the whatfor". Question, are we sure the employee was properly trained? Have they had a refresher course in what they do? Did they even know the item in question was their responsibility? I know, I know, some employees just never learn but it is our responsibility to make sure they have been trained and coached in the right way. While we are on the subject, have you installed an ongoing paid refresher course for all of your employees. We all get into bad habits and it is important to remind everyone, at least every 6 months, of your company's systematic way of performing the service you promised your customers.
Let me suggest that you make a conscious effort TODAY to compliment as many of your staff members as you can and get in the habit of doing so. We are in a business that thrives many times on the negative and so we need to focus more on the positive. Say "thank you" for a job well done. Don't create false reasons to compliment as those sound as bad as complaining to them. Why not take 30 minutes this week and take a crew a pizza or sandwiches etc. They may be shocked. I hope not.
KEEP EMPLOYEES INFORMED OF POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES TO ADVANCE
I wish I had a dollar for every time a BSC has told me they can't find good supervisors. So what do we do? We try to recruit our competitor's supervisors while they are trying to recruit ours. You may just have future leaders in your company and aren't aware of it. If you ask your current supervisors if there is anyone to promote they will many times say no because if they tell you they have someone, they then have to get to work and train someone to fill the slot which means more work for them. You have to take the lead and hold quarterly supervisor training classes (Maybe a Saturday) where you invite the second in command in a building even if the supervisor doesn't suggest it. Remember, you are building a company and the people you already have may be your very best solution for growth but they won't be if they don't know about possible promotion opportunities.
We held our quarterly meetings at a local university continuing education building so our people felt like they were really in a learning situation. We paid them, fed them lunch, and really developed some great people using this process. You will really find out a lot about your staff.
So...if you have followed us through these last 4 blogs you are probably now aware that in order to find reliable employees and keep reliable employees you need to design an ongoing process that lets people know that you have a solid, professional organization that has career opportunities, not just jobs. It starts with when they come in the door, how your facilities look, how they are treated by the receptionist and how the interview is conducted. In addition there needs to be an organized scripted orientation and initial training program along with a refresher agenda to keep everyone focused on your company's way of "doing things". Couple that will a positive focus and a reminder to your people that they can grow with you.
Don't forget to follow us with our weekly free pod casts at www.tripodcast.com and look for a lot of the free forms etc. that we talked about over the past 4 weeks. They can be found at www.consultantsincleaning.com and click on the worksheets icon.
Till next time.
By the way, in the last two issues of SERVICES magazine we have articles on how to establish an effective training area and how to conduct the initial training class.
Monday, May 19, 2014
FINDING RELIABLE EMPLOYEES, PART 3
As we continue our discussion on finding reliable employees, this week I want to cover 3 more key points,
HOW ARE PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES TREATED WHEN THEY ARRIVE AT YOUR OFFICE?
Take a look at your facilities. Does it invite someone in? Have you vacuumed the carpet lately? Mopped the floor? Painted the walls? How about the exterior of the building? How does the signage look? Is the parking area clean? Are the windows clean? Remember, we are in the business of keeping things clean and prospective employees judge the quality you expect in your accounts by the quality you maintain in your own facilities. For that matter, what if a prospective or current customer visited your office today? Would they be impressed?
So when they enter your facility and assuming the appearance is inviting, how are they greeted? Does your receptionist greet them with a smile and create a feeling of we're happy to have them apply or do you make them feel like second class citizens? Are they given an application and pencil with a smile or are they treated like an interruption of the schedule?
I know of BSC's that have coffee machines for their applicants. Some even provide sodas. How about a popcorn machine in the lobby for the children? Many times the applicant has no choice but to bring their children with them and a piece of gum or small bag of popcorn can keep the children occupied while Mom or Dad completes the application. Remember, those children some day will want to apply for work as well, so let's leave a positive impression with them. Many grocery stores today have miniature shopping carts that children can push along with Mom or Dad. The stores don't do this to buy extra carts, they do this so the children will always remember the fun they had at that grocery store. The children will one day become grocery consumers and you can never start too young.
So, needless to say, it is important that we have an inviting facility for prospective employees and a warm and friendly person greeting them as they come in the door. How are you doing on that front?
HOW IS THE INTERVIEW CONDUCTED?
Do you put the applicant at ease? Just as important and maybe foremost, do you interview them when they are in your office and don't ask them to come back? It is hard for me to understand why, when we are needing people, we only will interview at certain times like 2-4PM or only on certain days of the week. Why? We are in the people business and shouldn't we be talking to people when they are in our office? Asking them to come back only invites them to go to our competitor's office where they can get an immediate interview.
Do you know what you can or cannot ask in the interview? On our web site at www.consultantsincleaning.com we have included some pages that offer questions you cannot ask along with a serious of questions you can and should ask to get the answers you need to make a decision. Just click on the WORKSHEETS icon and scroll down to the Operations/Human Resources section and there you will find the pages to download along with others that may be helpful. All of them are free.
Are you also aware of the culture of the individuals you are interviewing? Certain cultures teach different demeanors for job interviews and it is important to know those so you don't unknowingly eliminate someone who might otherwise be a great employee.
DO THEY RECEIVE A THOROUGH ORIENTATION AND INITIAL TRAINING BEFORE THEY START?
It is critical to have a scripted consistent new employee orientation process for all new employees. On our web site in the same section referred to above, we have a New Employee Processing Checklist that you can download that may be helpful. In this way everyone is processed into the organization in the same way and all the needed information is covered.
Just as important as the orientation is a consistent scripted initial training program that is the same for all new employees, based on the way YOU want the cleaning done in your company. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Sending a new employee out to work with that experienced employee only will serve to teach the new employee bad habits that you probably don't want them to learn. By the way, the latest issue of SERVICES magazine has an article we wrote on setting up an effective training area in your company. Let me suggest you read it to reinforce your existing training program or to set up your first training area. We'll talk about ongoing training in next week's blog.
So...there you have some more suggestions on finding reliable employees. Hope you find it helpful. There is so much information to cover in each area that we could write an entire book on each topic or at least a chapter on each subject but we have just provided an overview in keeping with our desire to make these blogs short and to the point. As always, we are interested in your comments. Let us know what you think. And don't forget to listen to and watch our weekly podcast at www.tripodcast.com.
Till next time.
HOW ARE PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES TREATED WHEN THEY ARRIVE AT YOUR OFFICE?
Take a look at your facilities. Does it invite someone in? Have you vacuumed the carpet lately? Mopped the floor? Painted the walls? How about the exterior of the building? How does the signage look? Is the parking area clean? Are the windows clean? Remember, we are in the business of keeping things clean and prospective employees judge the quality you expect in your accounts by the quality you maintain in your own facilities. For that matter, what if a prospective or current customer visited your office today? Would they be impressed?
So when they enter your facility and assuming the appearance is inviting, how are they greeted? Does your receptionist greet them with a smile and create a feeling of we're happy to have them apply or do you make them feel like second class citizens? Are they given an application and pencil with a smile or are they treated like an interruption of the schedule?
I know of BSC's that have coffee machines for their applicants. Some even provide sodas. How about a popcorn machine in the lobby for the children? Many times the applicant has no choice but to bring their children with them and a piece of gum or small bag of popcorn can keep the children occupied while Mom or Dad completes the application. Remember, those children some day will want to apply for work as well, so let's leave a positive impression with them. Many grocery stores today have miniature shopping carts that children can push along with Mom or Dad. The stores don't do this to buy extra carts, they do this so the children will always remember the fun they had at that grocery store. The children will one day become grocery consumers and you can never start too young.
So, needless to say, it is important that we have an inviting facility for prospective employees and a warm and friendly person greeting them as they come in the door. How are you doing on that front?
HOW IS THE INTERVIEW CONDUCTED?
Do you put the applicant at ease? Just as important and maybe foremost, do you interview them when they are in your office and don't ask them to come back? It is hard for me to understand why, when we are needing people, we only will interview at certain times like 2-4PM or only on certain days of the week. Why? We are in the people business and shouldn't we be talking to people when they are in our office? Asking them to come back only invites them to go to our competitor's office where they can get an immediate interview.
Do you know what you can or cannot ask in the interview? On our web site at www.consultantsincleaning.com we have included some pages that offer questions you cannot ask along with a serious of questions you can and should ask to get the answers you need to make a decision. Just click on the WORKSHEETS icon and scroll down to the Operations/Human Resources section and there you will find the pages to download along with others that may be helpful. All of them are free.
Are you also aware of the culture of the individuals you are interviewing? Certain cultures teach different demeanors for job interviews and it is important to know those so you don't unknowingly eliminate someone who might otherwise be a great employee.
DO THEY RECEIVE A THOROUGH ORIENTATION AND INITIAL TRAINING BEFORE THEY START?
It is critical to have a scripted consistent new employee orientation process for all new employees. On our web site in the same section referred to above, we have a New Employee Processing Checklist that you can download that may be helpful. In this way everyone is processed into the organization in the same way and all the needed information is covered.
Just as important as the orientation is a consistent scripted initial training program that is the same for all new employees, based on the way YOU want the cleaning done in your company. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Sending a new employee out to work with that experienced employee only will serve to teach the new employee bad habits that you probably don't want them to learn. By the way, the latest issue of SERVICES magazine has an article we wrote on setting up an effective training area in your company. Let me suggest you read it to reinforce your existing training program or to set up your first training area. We'll talk about ongoing training in next week's blog.
So...there you have some more suggestions on finding reliable employees. Hope you find it helpful. There is so much information to cover in each area that we could write an entire book on each topic or at least a chapter on each subject but we have just provided an overview in keeping with our desire to make these blogs short and to the point. As always, we are interested in your comments. Let us know what you think. And don't forget to listen to and watch our weekly podcast at www.tripodcast.com.
Till next time.
Friday, May 9, 2014
FINDING RELIABLE EMPLOYEES PART 2
As promised, this week I want to begin discussing the 9 specific items I mentioned in last week's blog on finding reliable workers. Let's discuss the first one from that list,
HOW ARE WE ADVERTISING FOR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES?
In a previous blog I discussed the difference between hiring and recruiting so by now I hope everyone has adopted the idea of recruiting quality employees instead of just hiring them. Advertising for prospective employees can take shape in many different directions. For example,
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING
CAREER FAIRS
ON LINE RECRUTING
NEIGBORHOOD SPECIFIC RECRUITING
INDIVIDUAL HEADHUNTING
BONUSES TO CURRENT EMPLOYEES
In my book "FINDING, TRAINING AND KEEPING GREAT SERVICE EMPLOYEES" I talk about each of these in detail but the important thing to remember in any of these processes is letting the prospective employee know you WANT to talk to them and that this isn't just another dead end job--it is a potential CAREER even if it is only part time at this time. I had scores of employees that started with me on a part time basis that ended up as valuable full time key people.
For instance, when writing an ad, whether it be for the newspaper, on line site, or neighbor door hanger, let them know there are multiple opportunities available. Many of the people we recruit don't necessarily have a high self esteem so if we let them know there may be several opportunities for them, it may just encourage them to apply. For example, saying something like
TEN IMMEDIATE OPENINGS
makes them feel like they have a chance. Now for those of you that say "I only have 2 positions to fill, my question is, do you have 8 people on staff you would like to replace if you have great qualified applicants to take their position? Use any number depending on the size of your company. Reminds me of the time several years ago when I was not having a good day and a vendor rep of mine asked me how many employees worked for me and my reply was "about half of them". But the day got better.
Next, make the ad exciting like,
BUSINESS IS BOOMING
This let's them know you have an exciting company to work for. In addition, your competitors will wonder what accounts you are starting that they may be currently cleaning. Keeps them on their toes.
I see so many ads where contractors try to save money by using abbreviations like P/T or F/T etc. Why do that? You spend a lot of dollars securing new business so why are you shortcutting the budget when it comes to the recruitment process? After all, your great staff is what you sold to your customer. Shouldn't you make every effort to secure the best employees you can to staff their account? Are you one of those contractors that says I will spend whatever it takes to secure XYZ account and then after you get the account, you tell HR to run an ad but be sure to not spend to much money on them? Really? Is our budget thinking a bit off?
I still believe there are great employees out there for us to recruit and train. We just have to change the way we look for them and communicate with them. Remember our previous blogs on the different generations and how they view the employment world. If you want to refresh your memory, you can go to my web site www.consultantsincleaning.com, click on the worksheets section and download the article entitled "The Generation Gap and How To Deal With It". The information is FREE and you may even find some other free downloads there that can help. Remember, the only thing constant in this world is change.
I used each of the methods I listed above to find GREAT employees. Our ads drew well when we advertised for several immediate openings. We did our own in house career fairs, utilized flea markets, placed door hangars in neighborhoods where we specifically needed people. We got several excellent people from on line, especially, mid level managers. I used head hunting business cards to recruit employees from other industries like restaurants etc. In fact, I was able to recruit a couple of great managers from the restaurant industry by giving them my special head hunting business card and having them contact me.
So, how are we advertising for prospective employees? The world is changing every day and we need to change with it. Advertising for those great employees takes many different approaches. Are you willing to commit the time and other resources to finding them like you do for finding new customers? I really like the AA credo "If you keep on a doin what you been a doin, you gonna keep on a gittin what you been a gittin".
Next time we will address how we treat prospective employees when they arrive. Hope you will join me.
Till next time. Don't forget our free pod cast each week at www.tripodcast.com.
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