Episode 900 – The Rules of Successful Roles- Part 1
Today on the podcast, we have something special. Mike gave a lecture at our last retreat all about roles and how to set them up in a way that will be successful for your business. This episode is part one of three parts. The things Mike talks about are thorough and not always taught in such a direct way, so make sure and take advantage of all three parts of this series.
Supervisors Aren’t the Answer
Something Mike sees a lot in cleaning businesses is owners hiring supervisors to overlook cleaners. This is actually a counterintuitive thing to do. Having someone who holds the hands of your employees keeps them from taking responsibility for their roles. If they always have someone telling them what to do, they will never take it upon themselves to figure out what needs to be done and how. It makes them less effective problem solvers. The better option is to have someone there to support your employees. Once they understand what is expected of them, make sure they have someone who can give them support if they need it. If not, they are expected to do their job as explained before and trusted that they are perfectly able to do so. This encourages independence and proactivity rather than dependence and reactivity.
Expectations for an Owner
When it comes to hiring people, you’ll have a set of expectations for each. These expectations will include their rules, outcomes, expected time investment, compensation, and guidelines. The rules will be the same for every hire… they will be your core values. That is important to understand because you are setting up an environment where everyone understands the expectations off the bat. And the expectations for everyone are exactly the same. For an owner, the outcome will always be profit. The expected time investment should be anywhere from 0 to 30 hours a week depending on where you are in the business. The compensation for an owner would be 20% of the profits. Then as an owner, you would also want to do weekly meetings, quarterly reviews, and monthly parties.
Focus on Outcomes
When it comes to dealing with your employees, rather than telling them everything they aren’t supposed to do, focus on the results they are getting. For you cleaners, the result is always that the client is happy at the end of the clean. It doesn’t matter how they get to that result or the mechanics of how they clean, it just matters that the clients are pleased with the results. For a floater, the outcome expected is that they are always available. You pay them extra with the understanding that they will be available at all times, so if they aren’t, they aren’t getting the outcome you want and therefore aren’t a good fit. If you approach your company this way, you will spend very little time arguing, disciplining, and going back and forth with employees. Instead, everyone will understand what is expected of them, and what happens if they don’t comply with those expectations.
Final Takeaway: Focus on outcomes for your employees.
Love the idea, but find it overwhelming? Want to learn the next steps like, what to actually say on the call? Jump on a call with one of our coaches and learn strategies on how to grow your cleaning company and start loving your job every day! Book here