[Cinders]

Hi Guys....

Feeling a bit down so thought I would vent my frustration on the forum...

I have recently had 3 people working for me and gave them regular clients.  I find that this is an obvious selling point to potential clients that they will have the same cleaner each week and have heard many a woeful tale from people enquiring that they are fed up with previous companies changing the cleaners or sub'ing the work out.

I definately did not want to do that and now all 3 have let me down (2 have decided to go and be mature students and one got offered a full time job).  Im new to the recruitment side of things and i suppose it is one of those situations that will crop up endlessly throughout my career.

I now have my own clients plus 3 others worth to do.  I have been asking everyone i know to see if they can double up with me to get all the clients done but this does not solve the problem of having to re-introduce a new regular cleaner to the client (when i eventually find one i can trust, is good at the job and is reliable)!!

I have already had to let 2 regular clients down this week as physically could not fit them in and have had 9 new clients in 7 days to top it all off! beggars cant be choosers i know but how on earth do you solve a problem like maria?!

If you cant answer that then just helping me solve my staff shortages would help or at least a sure fire way of keeping the client happy 

[Fox]

Welcome to the world of cleaning! 

I'm surprised you didn't get notice from any of your cleaners giving you a chance to sort it out but hey it happens.  Staff retention is difficult - I had a meeting with a potential client yesterday and they asked about recruitment and staffing, I told them that I don't have severe difficulty and that my turnover of staff is fairly low, (most of my employees have been with me over 18months) the client then said it has been at least 3 years since they had a stable cleaner that had been with them for say 15 yrs or more!    Obviously their idea of a low turnover is very different to mine, but we are in a very different industry.

When you go to see your clients, ensure you tell them that although you will try to find them a cleaner who will stay long term, you can't control this and it is the nature of the business that staff will change, reassure them that when this happens checks are always made.  This will make it easier for you when people do leave, as it will change the clients expectations.

You have already looked for someone to double up which is the most sensible solution at this moment in time, but also remember that you can't be out all hours cleaning and recruit new staff.  Look at your client list, you will know who will be flexible and who won't - poss move your fortnightly cleans, give your clients a basic clean instead of a full one eg: bathrooms and kitchen only, if really desperate get an agency person to double with you.

Fox

[Robert Parry]

This is a problem which affects the whole industry, some of which is our own fault, some of which is our customers fault.
I think I read somewhere that the industry as a whole suffers from at least a 70% staff turnover rate!
We have had 5 members of staff leave over the last 22yrs, so our staff turnover is very, very low, but then we offer them high rates of pay and a proper career path, with internal promotion, good terms and conditions, private medical care & pension, this of course means our prices are amongst the highest, but we do not have any problems with keeping our staff, this means our customers are happy and they always get the same staff on their site.

[Cinders]

Thanks for the post guys....clients are still rolling in but luckily I had a brother and sister team work for me on one off clean and they were excellent.  Really hard working and trustworthy.  I doubled up with the sister again this week and will be doing the same next week just one thought though......

As one of my selling points I provide the cleaning equipment to all clients including domestic (where the nmajority of my work is).....This is now starting to prove a bit of a problem. 

I have numerous staff wanting to work for me but because they either dont drive or have a car there is no way of me getting the materials to the clients house without them doubling up...in which case i would  need to find ANOTHER cleaner who can drive and has transport.

Do you think I should start offering cleaning services as an extra option where the client provides all materials at a cheaper rate?  in this case wouldnt all clients go for the cheaper option and eventually the providing materials would fade out?

I hope you can understand this...I tend to waffle on a bit with a typing speed of 70wpm! haha

thanks 

[Art]

Hi Cinders,

 Domestic rounds isn't something that i really go for unless it fits in with my other contracts, as in if it's in the same area.

The few that i do are priced at £15 per man hour with materials or £12.50 without.

What i've found is most go for the £15 option, as the way i see it is if they want a cleaner in the first place, they really don't want to be bothered with anything associated with the cleaning.

Only my opinion.

Arthur

[Robert Parry]

Just a quickie Cinders, what about electrical safety/COSSH etc, don't do domestics at all, but do you not have a duty of care to your staff?