Without a proven, effective system to training, you risk losing new hires that you have invested a lot of time and money into adding them to your team. The cost of on-boarding a new employee can exceed $2500, especially if your training system has inefficiencies.
Debbie Sardone reviews 10 ways that you can lose a new employee due to issues in your hiring and training processes:
1. Hire Out of Desperation
Avoid hiring people that you simply know will not stick around just because you feel like you need bodies. Only hire those who meet your qualifications and are able to thrive in your system.
2. Spend Too Long Training
Neither you nor your employee can afford to let training go on too long. Often you may pay your trainees less during training than you do when they are actually cleaning. Extended training also affects the morale of your new hire. Employees want to work, not go to school! Make your training procedures as effective and efficient as possible so you can get your new hires into the field sooner.
3. Do Not Have Predictable Training Systems
Mix up your training system so it does not grow stale. Predictable, consistently repeated processes tend to cause your staff to tune out. Keep things interesting and keep your staff engaged.
4. Use an Employee with a Negative Attitude to Do Your Training
While your impulse may be to have your best cleaner conduct your trainings, often it is best to choose the cleaner with the best temperament and attitude toward working for your company. Negative attitudes are contagious.
5. Use an Unreliable Employee for Training
Your trainer should be a role model for new hires. Imagine the impact on your training effectiveness if your trainer is late or doesn’t show up on the day of training?
6. Don’t Set Them Up For Success in Training Only to Allow Them to Fail Due to Poor Training
It is great to provide the “rah-rah” aspects of working for your company, but they must be coupled with proper training so you do not set up your employee for failure when they finally go out into the field.
7. Do Not Settle on a New Hire with a History of Job Hopping Just Because They Have Industry Experience
Regardless of their job experience, what about their job history would lead you to believe a job hopper will stick around for your company? Training a new hire is far too expensive a process to risk investing in someone with a history of job hopping.
8. Do Not Keep Bad Employees Around Just Because They Appear to be Good Cleaners
Again, negative attitudes are contagious and a bad employee can destroy a team. And they tend to run off new hires because their initial experience with your company has turned sour very quickly.
9. Never Hold New Employees Accountable for Things that are NOT in Writing
Your training system should be comprehensive and document everything that you expect of a new hire. Equip them for success and they will be a successful member of your team for a long time. Hold them accountable for things that you did not cover during training and they likely will feel that you set them up for failure. Your employees just want to know what the rules are so they can follow them. Inconsistency will lead to them seeking employment elsewhere.
10. Do Not Fire a Potential Rock Star Employee Because Your Training Failed to Equip Them for Success
Be open to the notion that your training system needs improvement and do not be quick to blame your employees for something that is the fault of your system. If your team members feel that you fired someone unfairly, it will negatively affect the entire team.
Is Your Employee Training System Working?
If not, we invite you to check out Speed Cleaning™ For The Pros Employee Training System. The system includes everything that you need to train the owner, train the trainer and train the new hire so you can build a successful team. The Employee Training System provides a comprehensive set of tools to create an in-house training program to onboard new employees and refresh the skills of veteran staff. The system is designed to improve quality, consistency and efficiency while reducing payroll costs and employee turnover.
