Today is Mike’s first solo podcast! Today we are going to talk about the number one thing keeping you and your cleaning company stuck- Finding and Keeping GOOD employees.

First things first, we need to establish that you and your time are your company’s most valuable resource and that you should never be the one actually cleaning. Some owners like to save money on labor, or think that their customers would be upset if they stopped personally cleaning. But the truth is, you’re the owner of a cleaning company, not an employee. Your customers should hire you not on your ability to clean, but rather your system that gets qualified people into their home/business that are going to do a good, consistent good every time.

The second belief that we need to squash before we move on is the belief that employees are going to make our lives miserable. Employees are always going to call in, no call no show, etc. but the big difference between what’s going to make or break your company is how you interpret that. If that makes you more reluctant to hire, or makes you care less about your employees, that is going to majorly hinder you. Instead, you should look at what systems you should have in place to hire good employees, as well as systems in place to deal with what to do when employees do call in or no call no show.

Many people choose to believe that they can only get good employees randomly through the same method that they’ve always got employees, but the truth is, there is a seven-step process that you can use to continually acquire high level employees. Hiring Ad < Follow Up Sequence < Group interview < 1 on 1 interview < Working interview < Onboarding process. It’s too much to cover here, but Mike extensively talks all about it in the Clean Profit Method if you’re hungry for more, but the key is creating an environment that your shows your core values, and attracts like-minded people. It’s also important to always be hiring. A healthy, growing cleaning company should always be hiring, but more importantly have a system in place that consistently brings in more quality applicants then you can handle.

Some people may think that it would be weird to be hiring when you already have a full set of staff, but there are a lot of ways that having more people applying then you can currently handle is a good thing. For starters, it means you can start creating a backlog of people that you can call when an employee quits. Notice that in the process above the very last step is hiring. Once a potential employee gets through your system, you now have a name and number of an A grade employee for when you do need them. Another great thing to always be doing, is evaluating your team. If all of your employees aren’t A grade employees, it may be time to replace them.

Remember, if you want more great tips, advice, information, or any of the other great things Mike has to offer, head over to GrowMyCleaningCompany.com, or visit the official GMCC Facebook Page.