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What would it mean to your business if you had committed career cleaners on staff? Most people tell me that it would change everything about their business. It would improve their quality of life, their bottom line, their ability to grow. They say that the problem is that they just can’t find good people who will stay long term.

Do you ever hear yourself say any of these things? “Nobody wants to work. I can’t find good people. Everybody’s lazy these days. Employees only last a few months before they leave.” Guess what? There’s good news. It’s not them! It’s you. Which means that it’s fixable!

Value and cost of your staff

Have you ever calculated what the value and the cost of one of your full-time cleaners is? On average, a cleaning technician can generate $55,000 in revenue per year; ten full-time cleaners will bring in about $550,000 in revenue. If you can’t attract and retain ten full-time cleaners then the problem is you, not them.

What about the cost of replacing an employee? A couple of years ago I sat down and calculated all the costs associated with replacing someone that’s already working for me. From background checks, recruiting, onboarding, training, and new supplies, it cost about $800 to replace an employee. If you’re replacing ten employees, that’s $8,000 that you’re not spending on marketing to grow your business, that you’re instead spending on replacing employees.

How many clients do you turn away in a year because you can’t staff the demand? How many times does your phone ring and someone asks “Can you clean my house tomorrow?” but you have to turn them down because you don’t have any extra hands. Maybe somebody quit or somebody’s out sick, either way you find yourself not being able to say yes to new business. How often does that happen? If it’s once a month, that’s twelve clients a year you missed out on, who could have potentially become recurring clients. Most people do not calculate their lost opportunity cost of not having enough flexibility in their staffing.

So you have to figure out what it is it worth to you to retain an employee. And it’s not just dollar figures. What is it worth to you to not have the constant aggravation of answering a text that says “I quit” or “I have to give notice” or “Gee, this job is just not for me” or “I found a better job”?

What’s the secret?

The secret is so simple that a lot of people will dismiss it as too easy. If you want better employees, you have to BE a better job. That’s it. I’ll cover ways that you can do this in a few upcoming posts. (Hint: money, plus meeting their emotional and intellectual needs.) Stay tuned!

 


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