It all starts with a good ad to motivate the right people to call or send in their resume. By listing your ideal employee, level of proficiency, incentives, bonuses, etc., you’re telling job hunters exactly what you need and are willing to provide.
Your prospects are sizing you up from the moment they talk to you on the phone, read your eMail, etc., so be ready to be interviewed, yourself. You want to be sure and provide the right impression of you and the business you run. Employees want to work for someone they can relate to and respect. They will respect you when you can provide them with proof you are what you say you are and that you run a professional business they can trust.
Don’t just jump into the interview questions; tell your prospect a little about you, how and why you started the business, your plans for the future and exactly where the business is now and what you need. Be honest about the challenges you face and how specific skills the prospect has will help the business grow.
People want a job where their work will be important to the company. At the same time, you need to be specific about the Policy and Procedures you have in place and how they are expected to meet those policies.
It’s a Numbers Game!
Just like selling, finding the right employee takes a lot of interviews. Don’t expect to hire the right person within a week – it may takes a few weeks or even a month! I found a lot of people who answered my ad who never showed up for the interview. Then I actually interviewed people who seemed to really want the job, but never returned my call to get started.
If you have employees, I know you have encountered the same thing. The reality is people need a job, but may not:
- Have the transportation to show up to work as scheduled
- Have scheduling conflicts with getting kids to and from school
- Be able to work the schedule or need more hours
- Be able to work for the amount you are paying
- Want to jeopardize their government assistance and are only interviewing because they are required to.
People have a lot of reasons for not taking a job. It’s always a good idea to keep a record of their reasons and see if you can modify your policy to accommodate more people. For instance, my teams worked a full day – they loaded up at 7:30 and returned on or before 5pm. I could have changed how I scheduled the work, but I found more people needing more hours than needing less hours. I wasn’t about to change my policy and make more work for myself.
You may have a different reaction to the needs of your workers. There are a lot of different ways to schedule the jobs and do the work. By paying attention to this issue, I’m sure you’ll find a policy that’s right for you and your business.
Learn more
If you want to learn more about starting a house cleaning business, check out our comprehensive guide on starting a successful house cleaning business. We cover everything you need to know to start and run a thriving cleaning service.
