Improve Poor Employee Performance in Your Cleaning Business
It's pretty hard to find good cleaning technicians for your house cleaning business these days. And then when you find a good one, you might find yourself dumping extra work on her because she's so reliable and good at her job. But be cautious that you don't “over-dump” on your good employees because they'll soon feel overloaded and un-motivated.
Instead, think about how you can improve employee performance throughout your company so you can retain your best performers and keep them motivated.
80/20 Rule Facts About Employee Performance
On average…
- 10% of your employees are your top performers
- 10% are your poor performers
- 80% are somewhere in the middle
This tells me that there are a lot of opportunities to motivate your poor to average performers to do a better job. And the easiest step to make right now is to get rid of the 10% that are your poor performers. Since you probably have a small pool of top performers, it's your job to make sure they stay there, and that means keeping them motivated. For the ones in the middle, it's crucial that you work on moving them into the ranks of the top performers, rather than allowing them to slide down the scale to being poor performers.
Here are a couple more facts to pay attention to. According to a study by Leadership IQ, 87% of employees say that working with a low performer has made them want to change jobs, and 93% of employees say that working with a low performer has decreased their productivity. Those poor performers just might have more of a negative impact on your company than you thought!
How Do I Recognize a Poor Performer?
- Most have negative attitudes
- They are probably the ones that stir up trouble
- They tend to blame others for their own poor performance, or they always have a good excuse
- They lack initiative
- They have an entitlement mentality
So the evidence is clear, that when you allow poor performers to continue in their bad ways, there is a high likelihood that the entire team's productivity and motivation will suffer, thus putting your entire company at risk.
In fact, poor performers can have such a negative impact on your company, you may not even be aware of how deep the impact goes. Here's what I mean. Poor performers;
- lower overall productivity
- have higher absenteeism
- waste your valuable time and energy, and that of your supervisors and co-workers
- can cause clients to fire your company
- increase recruitment costs because you're constantly turning over employees
- increase your training costs
- increase your disciplinary costs
- and if you have a poor performing supervisor, it can cause performance problems throughout his or her entire team
And think about the message this sends to your customers. It tells them that you really don't care about them, or you'd be more selective in your hiring process. And just think -- when you have poor performers on YOUR team, that means they can't be employed by your competitors! Wouldn't you rather fire this poor performer and have her go work for your competitor?
Improve Employee Performance to Increase Motivation of the Team
First, it's never easy to discipline or fire an employee, but sometimes it simply must be done. An important thing to keep in mind is that every employee firing has a learning opportunity for you and your supervisors. Acknowledge any mistakes you might have made and don't keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.
Next, always be searching for exceptional employees. Without a constant flow of applicants, you'll quickly lose control and find yourself pulled back into cleaning because someone left you high and dry at the last minute. Don't give your employees that kind of control over your business!
How do you find exceptional employees? Remember that birds of a feather tend to flock together, so start with your best performers and offer a great incentive for recruiting more of the same type of employee.
Become better at hiring, and be sure that whoever is involved in the hiring process is convinced that this is a great place to work. If you're allowing supervisors to interview applicants, and your supervisors have the attitude that there's no point in spending a lot of time on the hiring process because "they'll probably quit in a month anyway", then you'll never break the cycle.
Ask better questions of applicants. Don't let them get away with giving you what you want to hear. Ask them things like,
- Why do you want to work for us?
- What have you done at one of your jobs that you are proud of?
- Describe a disagreement you had with a co-worker or supervisor, and explain how you handled it.
- Describe a time ... (questions that start with this phrase are great at uncovering how the applicant handles different situations).
Become better at training, and don't let your trainers get away with cutting corners. Just like the supervisors that may not want to put time into the hiring process, the same group will probably do a half-way job on training because they figure they'll just leave soon anyway. But what if they don't leave? Are you willing to have employees stay when they're not properly trained? One of the best things you can do with your money is to invest in comprehensive training for employees, so don't cut corners.
Spend enough time up front orienting them about their new company -- its history, its mission, its services, its culture. Explain their job in detail -- what it requires and why their job is so important to your clients. Next, give them the skills they need to be successful at their new job. And don't forget about ongoing training. This is a repetitive job so you must keep it interesting. Good employees like learning and growing so not only refresh their skills, but teach them new skills. And remember that your investment in training is an investment in the success of your company.
Next, have clear policies in your Employee Handbook and then enforce those policies. Be sure to cover what you expect of your employees and what they can expect of you. Too often we let inconsistency be the norm when it comes to enforcing policies. Don't let that happen, or chaos is sure to follow.
Give your employees the tools they need to do the job well. If you expect higher production rates, then give them the tools that will help them do that. Also, solicit feedback and encourage suggestions on how to do their job better and more efficiently. They want to feel as if they're an important part of your business, so if you encourage them in this way, they'll want to contribute and do a better job. Also let them make more on-the-spot decisions. This doesn't mean they'll always be right, but give them constructive feedback and keep coaching them. They'll get better with time.
If you have some great performers that you think would excel in your company, be sure to give them encouragement, and perhaps guide them toward a career in your company. They may have certain talents and abilities that would add value to your business in another capacity -- they may just need a little encouragement from you. And don't forget that rewarding your employees for a job well done goes a long way.
If you'd like to take it a step further, solicit feedback from your key employees. Ask them:
- 5 things that motivate them
- 5 things that do NOT motivate them
Then make action plans to increase the motivators and eliminate the de-motivators.
The real key to remember is consistency in all you do. Treat all employees with respect, don't show favoritism, invest in consistent hiring, orientation and training practices, and discipline as needed.
Would you like to learn some of the secrets that Pro Recruiters use to recruit great employees?
Top recruiting expert Patty DeDominic shares her best recruiting tips in this one-hour webinar for cleaning business owners. Patty has years of experience as the owner of one of California's top recruiting companies.
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