Cleaning businesses should continuously optimize their businesses, so they can keep their employees longer.
Your top-performing employee asks to talk with you, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, she lets the news drop: “I’m putting in my two-week’s notice.”
That’s when your mind fills with questions. How did this happen? Is this my fault? Who else is leaving? Is there anything we could have done to prevent this?
It takes so much time and effort to hire new employees. To reduce the rate of employee turnover, cleaning businesses should continuously optimize their businesses, so they can keep their employees longer.
Let’s take a look at some proven ways to reduce cleaning employee turnover.
Involve Your Cleaners in Key Decisions
Are you thinking about rebranding the company? Are you contemplating moving offices? Are you doing something as simple as changing the brand of coffee in the common area?
Giving cleaning employees a chance to buy into changes and share their thoughts on pending decisions can create a strong and positive link between the cleaning team and the company. Of course, not all employees can (or should!) partake in every major business decision. But there are many opportunities, large and small, to request employee feedback, suggestions, and ideas.
This is especially true for daily interactions. The more frequently an employee comes into contact with something, the more important it is that they are able to weigh in on the outcome. How about helping select their very own cleaning products and coworkers? Enacting an employee referral system has many positive benefits for your company.
So, next time you are thinking about making a change, no matter how small, be sure to get your cleaning team’s feedback!
Reward Performance and Good Customer feedback
If someone is doing exceptional work and customers are providing positive feedback, let them know. Let the team know. Sharing positive feedback on a regular basis is one of the most effective ways to keep employees happy, engaged, and on the team.
Set aside a budget each quarter for ad hoc compensation for employees who are outperforming. It doesn’t have to be much: coffee gift cards, lunches, perhaps a decent bottle of whiskey. But what matters most is that employees are recognized for their exceptional efforts.
Of course, if someone is really crushing it, then yes, they deserve a much larger reward. During your next one-on-one meeting, give them a spot bonus — a real one — and both you and the employee will win.
Provide a Career Path
Some employees leave because they don’t believe in the cleaning company’s vision. Others depart for greater pay, greater flexibility, or greater opportunities to grow or create their own cleaning business. This type of employee turnover — when exceptional, driven employees leave to take on roles with greater responsibility — can be reduced by providing a clear path to internal growth and for making your cleaning staff feel respected.
This can present itself in a number of ways: on-the-job training, third-party education, or even opportunities to attend industry conferences and seminars.
Make Work Fun
This is easier said than done. Yes, happy hours, coffee meetings, and team lunches are all decent ways to get the team to interact with one another and have a good time.
But these are one-off events. It’s much more effective to make work itself fun. If you create a culture that cares about employee satisfaction and builds a truly positive workplace, your team is much more likely to stay on board.
Another tactic is to simply ask your employees what types of cleaning they’d like to do more often. But until you ask them, you just won’t know.
Hold Weekly 1:1 Meetings with Your Employees
One-on-one meetings are one of the most effective ways to get a better understanding of how your employees are doing — personally, professionally, and in relation to your company. By spending 10-20 minutes each week with your cleaners, you have the opportunity to learn not only how well the week is going, but also how they are feeling.
Manage Employee Workloads
When employees are working seven days a week there is always one group who is blamed: management.
If you want to keep your employees, you have to understand who is available to take on additional tasks and how much time employees are spending on various projects.
Conduct Exit Interviews
No matter how effective you are at reducing employee turnover, people are going to leave. Families will move cities. Recruiters will knock on the door. Sometimes, it’s just time to move on.
But a departing employee is also an opportunity: You can learn what your now-former employee truly thinks about your cleaning company, the culture, etc. This feedback is invaluable and should be shared (when possible) with team members who are working to improve your cleaning business.
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This article was originally published as 8 Ways To Reduce Employee Turnover by ClickTime.
