How to properly "discipline"/train staff? Or should I just get rid of them?

[martinz1995]

For background I have a cleaning business - I don't want to seem like a dhead but I have had staff not clean areas properly and received complaints from clients about this.

Now overall most of my reviews have been around 4-5 stars so I know that the service is good. Our staff are trained, have experience and equipment. I also ensure before I hire staff I have them complete several trial cleans.

But recently one of my best cleaners was late to a job, and didn't tell me or the client. I wasn't happy but calmly told them that in the future please let clients or me know, and that it is 2 warnings before we have a discussion.

Then today, I received another complaint from the same cleaner that he missed areas which he was supposed to clean.

So I don't know whether it is the clients that are just being nitpickers or whether I should get rid of this staff member or how I should really train them?

Keep in mind I've had a previous cleaner I've gotten rid of for the same reason - for being late and not letting me or clients know and also for changing times very last minute.

Either I have to hire better cleaners (which many are already employed) or I am not training them properly. Please note that many cleaners where I live cannot speak fluent English and are often from overseas so there is both a language and cultural barrier. Also many of them are not really considering cleaning as a genuine career, more like a stepping stone for them to pay their student bills while working. So hiring a good cleaner is like finding a needle in a haystack.

 

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[GIlman]

For background I have a cleaning business - I don't want to seem like a dhead but I have had staff not clean areas properly and received complaints from clients about this.

Now overall most of my reviews have been around 4-5 stars so I know that the service is good. Our staff are trained, have experience and equipment. I also ensure before I hire staff I have them complete several trial cleans.

But recently one of my best cleaners was late to a job, and didn't tell me or the client. I wasn't happy but calmly told them that in the future please let clients or me know, and that it is 2 warnings before we have a discussion.

Then today, I received another complaint from the same cleaner that he missed areas which he was supposed to clean.

So I don't know whether it is the clients that are just being nitpickers or whether I should get rid of this staff member or how I should really train them?

Keep in mind I've had a previous cleaner I've gotten rid of for the same reason - for being late and not letting me or clients know and also for changing times very last minute.

Either I have to hire better cleaners (which many are already employed) or I am not training them properly. Please note that many cleaners where I live cannot speak fluent English and are often from overseas so there is both a language and cultural barrier. Also many of them are not really considering cleaning as a genuine career, more like a stepping stone for them to pay their student bills while working. So hiring a good cleaner is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Have you inquired from your employee about any personal items going on in their life? If an employee previously performed well and suddenly seems to be deviating from their pattern of performance, in many cases some event or thing has happened that has caused them to stop trying as hard.

The first question I would have is why. Sometimes people are going through something like a death or illness in the family or break up of a relationship. Sometimes something happened that maybe you did and were not aware of or that some other employee did, and this person is reacting negatively to it.

Ask the question and then really listen, let them talk and tell you if something is really on their mind that is impacting their performance.

The question then becomes whether they can regain their performance or not given their personal circumstances. Sometimes just letting a good employee know they are heard and cared for will get them back on track. Sometimes they will continue to fall short and you have no choice but to let them go.

But employees are a big investment and being a caring boss who listens and empathizes with them can go a long long way to building loyalty and creating harder working more conscientious employees. High employee turnover is a huge expense and time suck, so if possible I always find it better to find and fix the problem if possible.

 

[MattR82]

If you get them to use an app like Deputy, it has GPS tracking so they can't lie about where they were/weren't. I know tonnes of cleaning business owners using it successfully and it doesn't come across as tracking in an unnecessary way.

I don't know country you're in and how available it is though, but I've heard of it solving these kind of issues super easily.

 

[Johnny boy]

Mcdonalds

Market cap: $202 Billion

Odds of my order being right: 60%

Odds of it being wrong 35%

Not getting it at all 5%.

Give up the idea that your employees need to be as good as you.

They can only be the best they can be, and any company that has any size at all is going to deal with this problem of employees F*cking up, sometimes in major ways.

McDonald's employee saw 'crime of opportunity' - WV MetroNews

The victim is in stable condition.

wvmetronews.com

Imagine your employee follows someone into the bathroom and stabs them. Jesus.

It happens.

Here's the secret.

"Do it as good as it can be done."

Keywords:

Do it = Actually do it. It doesn't mean "only do it if you can do it to the arbitrary standard you set". It means "do it".

As good = Try your best to make it the best it can be.

As it can be done = But once it is as good as you can make it, that's it. You still have to get it done. If it cannot be done perfect then don't do it perfect, if it can only be done mediocre then do it mediocre.

This will keep you sane as an employer. Yes, these employees don't give a shit. Not even half of a shit. Probably more like a fraction of a fraction of a shit.

So train them as best as you can.

Replace them as much as you can.

Recruit as much as you can.

But just keep going because mistakes are going to happen. And big ones too.

One thing we did for our lawn care company was....we don't hire the typical employees.

I don't think any of our employees speaks a lick of spanish.

All early 20's white dudes.

People that shouldn't work at a lawn care company for long.

And they don't. They go off and become police officers, highly skilled tradesmen, etc.

We get them for a year or two. They communicate, show up on time, their cars don't break down, they work well with customers, etc.

Something to think about....

We still make mistakes. But I don't expect them to be like me. I'm not building a business of 'Me's', I'm building a business of other people doing the work. I don't expect the same things from them. I expect them to give less of a shit. Your employees will not care as much as you.

So train as well as you can. Attract new people and replace when you can. But don't let it stop you from growing.

he missed areas which he was supposed to clean

also, maybe you should have Juanitas cleaning instead of Juans.

 

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[martinz1995]

Have you inquired from your employee about any personal items going on in their life? If an employee previously performed well and suddenly seems to be deviating from their pattern of performance, in many cases some event or thing has happened that has caused them to stop trying as hard.

The first question I would have is why. Sometimes people are going through something like a death or illness in the family or break up of a relationship. Sometimes something happened that maybe you did and were not aware of or that some other employee did, and this person is reacting negatively to it.

Ask the question and then really listen, let them talk and tell you if something is really on their mind that is impacting their performance.

The question then becomes whether they can regain their performance or not given their personal circumstances. Sometimes just letting a good employee know they are heard and cared for will get them back on track. Sometimes they will continue to fall short and you have no choice but to let them go.

But employees are a big investment and being a caring boss who listens and empathizes with them can go a long long way to building loyalty and creating harder working more conscientious employees. High employee turnover is a huge expense and time suck, so if possible I always find it better to find and fix the problem if possible.

Yes I am always quite open and encourage discussion from employees. After speaking to clients it turns out it was a misunderstanding from the client who didn't communicate parts of the job properly.

 

[martinz1995]

Thank you yes I'm already using Deputy and MYOB

 

[martinz1995]

Mcdonalds

Market cap: $202 Billion

Odds of my order being right: 60%

Odds of it being wrong 35%

Not getting it at all 5%.

Give up the idea that your employees need to be as good as you.

They can only be the best they can be, and any company that has any size at all is going to deal with this problem of employees F*cking up, sometimes in major ways.

McDonald's employee saw 'crime of opportunity' - WV MetroNews

The victim is in stable condition.

wvmetronews.com

Imagine your employee walks follows someone into the bathroom and stabs them. Jesus.

It happens.

Here's the secret.

"Do it as good as it can be done."

Keywords:

Do it = Actually do it. It doesn't mean "only do it if you can do it to the arbitrary standard you set". It means "do it".

As good = Try your best to make it the best it can be.

As it can be done = But once it is as good as you can make it, that's it. You still have to get it done. If it cannot be done perfect then don't do it perfect, if it can only be done mediocre then do it mediocre.

This will keep you sane as an employer. Yes, these employees don't give a shit. Not even half of a shit. Probably more like a fraction of a fraction of a shit.

So train them as best as you can.

Replace them as much as you can.

Recruit as much as you can.

But just keep going because mistakes are going to happen. And big ones too.

One thing we did for our lawn care company was....we don't hire the typical employees.

I don't think any of our employees speaks a lick of spanish.

All early 20's white dudes.

People that shouldn't work at a lawn care company for long.

And they don't. They go off and become police officers, highly skilled tradesmen, etc.

We get them for a year or two. They communicate, show up on time, their cars don't break down, they work well with customers, etc.

Something to think about....

We still make mistakes. But I don't expect them to be like me. I'm not building a business of 'Me's', I'm building a business of other people doing the work. I don't expect the same things from them. I expect them to give less of a shit. Your employees will not care as much as you.

So train as well as you can. Attract new people and replace when you can. But don't let it stop you from growing.

also, maybe you should have Juanitas cleaning instead of Juans.

That's a very good point, thank you. Yea I can't control everyone and get them to do everything right

 

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[jclean]

For background I have a cleaning business - I don't want to seem like a dhead but I have had staff not clean areas properly and received complaints from clients about this.

Now overall most of my reviews have been around 4-5 stars so I know that the service is good. Our staff are trained, have experience and equipment. I also ensure before I hire staff I have them complete several trial cleans.

But recently one of my best cleaners was late to a job, and didn't tell me or the client. I wasn't happy but calmly told them that in the future please let clients or me know, and that it is 2 warnings before we have a discussion.

Then today, I received another complaint from the same cleaner that he missed areas which he was supposed to clean.

So I don't know whether it is the clients that are just being nitpickers or whether I should get rid of this staff member or how I should really train them?

Keep in mind I've had a previous cleaner I've gotten rid of for the same reason - for being late and not letting me or clients know and also for changing times very last minute.

Either I have to hire better cleaners (which many are already employed) or I am not training them properly. Please note that many cleaners where I live cannot speak fluent English and are often from overseas so there is both a language and cultural barrier. Also many of them are not really considering cleaning as a genuine career, more like a stepping stone for them to pay their student bills while working. So hiring a good cleaner is like finding a needle in a haystack.

What we do to keep quality as high as possible:

1) Always the same people to the same customers ( as much as possible)
Customers are more forgiving to people they know + the colleagues know what the customer expects

2) Clear work instructions that they can read through their app.
If there have been any complaints in the past it is added in yellow.
Just like important points they should not forget.

Eg: close the gate , don't forget to clean the front door....

3) If there are complaints, we solve them or we credit the whole bill without discussion.
This gives the customers confidence and because of this they will also check less in the future.

4) track and trace in the vans.

5) we always send the complaints to colleagues e.g. a picture of the email via whatsapp. This way they are more personally involved. Staff often tend to deny complaints.
Black on white evidence helps with this.

6) People who made the mistake should also go and correct them. Don't spend your time going to check unless serious mistakes have been made.

7) mature people also want to be treated like mature people.

8) always be yourself correct in your payments and behavior ( be the leader you want to follow)

We have now a solid team of good people but this takes time and effort !

 

[Jrjohnny]

For background I have a cleaning business - I don't want to seem like a dhead but I have had staff not clean areas properly and received complaints from clients about this.

Now overall most of my reviews have been around 4-5 stars so I know that the service is good. Our staff are trained, have experience and equipment. I also ensure before I hire staff I have them complete several trial cleans.

But recently one of my best cleaners was late to a job, and didn't tell me or the client. I wasn't happy but calmly told them that in the future please let clients or me know, and that it is 2 warnings before we have a discussion.

Then today, I received another complaint from the same cleaner that he missed areas which he was supposed to clean.

So I don't know whether it is the clients that are just being nitpickers or whether I should get rid of this staff member or how I should really train them?

Keep in mind I've had a previous cleaner I've gotten rid of for the same reason - for being late and not letting me or clients know and also for changing times very last minute.

Either I have to hire better cleaners (which many are already employed) or I am not training them properly. Please note that many cleaners where I live cannot speak fluent English and are often from overseas so there is both a language and cultural barrier. Also many of them are not really considering cleaning as a genuine career, more like a stepping stone for them to pay their student bills while working. So hiring a good cleaner is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Okay.

So something @CollosalRep ”said” was his clients sometimes leave tips.

When his employees do good jobs, and the clients leave good reviews and a tip,

He gives the tip over to his employee to encourage the behaviour.

When they don’t tip, he just pays extra.

When they do a bad job, he asks the clients and then he pays the employees less.

Good job = 20 bucks an hour

Bad job = minimum wage: 15 an hour.

It varies per country.

Try to encourage good behaviour and get rid of bad behaviour.

Inevitably, your employees will make mistakes.

They will treat the job like every other job, because it is.

There’s value skews for clients, and value skews for employees.

Is there any special skew you can offer your employees?

It could be:

• Offering more days off.
• Paying extra
• Being nice
• Listening
• Be a cool guy

In school, we all had that teacher we hated and that teacher we loved.

Treat it like your a teacher and your employees are your students.

You’ve got this man.