Episode 95: Are You Hiring or Recruiting Your Cleaning Technicians?

I've seen many cleaning companies improving their hiring practices in the last couple years. But with all the competition for finding and retaining talented people, employee turnover continues to be a problem in the cleaning industry.  And because many of us struggle with finding and retaining good cleaning technicians, it becomes hard to stick with our strict hiring policies.

What does it mean to "hire" versus "recruit"?

Episode 95- Video Transcription

Sometimes the need for a warm body supercedes our common sense, doesn't it. We know we should take our time to find the right people, but sometimes our growth is out-pacing our ability to find and retain employees. So we end up with these negative thoughts running through our heads.

You may think to yourself,"oh, they'll probably leave anyway as soon as they find a better paying job", or "why spend so much time on training when they only stick around a couple months?" The problem with this type of thinking is that when we have this attitude about hiring and training cleaning technicians, that is exactly what we're going to get -- employees that don't stick around.

So what does it mean to "hire" versus "recruit"? When you hire, you're simply filling job openings. And in most cases you need someone right away so chances are you'll hire almost anyone that walks into the office. You may even hire someone on the spot, after one interview, because you need to get a position filled this week! When you recruit, you're putting more planning into your entire hiring process.

You're thinking about your potential employees as professional cleaning technicians, not just someone that can fill a quick opening. You're being pro-active by explaining the benefits of working for your company and possible career paths, so that potential employees would think to themselves; this sounds like a great place to work! You put more effort into carefully screening potential employees by asking the tough questions, doing second interviews, doing reference checks, and doing background checks. And finally, you're taking the time to train them right instead of taking short cuts because you think you're wasting your time training short-term employees.

If you're tired of employees going through the revolving door, start thinking about how you can better recruit employees, instead of just hiring people that have a pulse. 

Now I'd like to hear from YOU! Please share your tips for recruiting long-term employees by posting your comments below the video.