[Skyglide]

Do you take on experienced window cleaners or someone with no experience and train them your way from scratch?

My experiences of the last few months are to trust the ones you train from scratch.  Right or wrong?

Chris

[d s windowcleaning]

IF you train someone up from scratch and they keep turning up you have more chance of keeping them it will slow you down , but it would allso show the new starter that you are helpful .good workers are hard to find so if you manage to find someone that you can train up look after him/her

[alanwilson]

I'm prob not the best one to comment on this as we've had great luck with our staff but we trained them up from day one, they've stayed with us and haven't tried to break away on their own.  I can leave them to work on their own but both are good guys and I like working with them.

Me personally I reckon train them up from start, they won't have any bad habits from previous work.

good luck

[Skyglide]

Thanks for the replies.
Still sorting the wheat from the chaff.
Applicants with no money, ex drugs and alcohol, banned from driving, "had my own round for 2 years and the wet winter killed me off"
Most are down the road of no return in my opinion, and if the guy had a good business where is it now?
Worked hard to get where we are and not going to let a slacker ruin it.
Want one with the right attitude, appearance and common sense! But don't we all. A customer said we want clones of ourselves, but they don't make them yet!

Chris

[colley614]

I think that its better to have someone who can drive but can't clean windows than who can clean windows but can't drive. After all we can teach people to clean windows but not to drive. Plus you try telling someone that you want them to spend their cash on driving lessons, 9 times out of 10 it goes in one ear and out the other.

[Helen]

I think that its better to have someone who can drive but can't clean windows than who can clean windows but can't drive. After all we can teach people to clean windows but not to drive. Plus you try telling someone that you want them to spend their cash on driving lessons, 9 times out of 10 it goes in one ear and out the other.

Part of our criteria is clean full uk license whether they will driving a van or not as we do not pick up en route as a normal thing. We've tried both experienced and trainable and from both types we have had good and bad : It's just the luck of the draw really!

[Helen]

How much per hour do you pay for someone you have to train? also how many months do you consider for the training period? Or do you put them on a six month trial & training, then put the wage up?

Ewan 

6 months trail period !!! if someone has not picked up the job in 2 weeks, then I would suggest they never will! The longest we have given as a trial period is 2 months with a 2 weekly review at which time we can part company amicably if things aren't working out. They are paid a straight hourly rate whilst training and only when we decide they are up and running do we put them on a quality bonus. 

[Skyglide]

Full clean licence, £7 ph training for two weeks, then out on their own in our van, 40% fully employed.  Min holidays, ssp only, no money if rained off.  £50 deduction on genuine callbacks. Works out around £22K pa gross for them.

[Moderator David@stives]

£7.00 per hour !!!

Wait for the onslaught

[windowwashers]

Full clean licence, £7 ph training for two weeks, then out on their own in our van, 40% fully employed.  Min holidays, ssp only, no money if rained off.  £50 deduction on genuine callbacks. Works out around £22K pa gross for them.

how can you have 40% fully emplyer, they are either employed or they are not 

£50 deduction is a little harse unless you have very large properies they will be cleaning every day, maybe the clean value, or they re clean in there own time. and lose bonus

[alanwilson]

£50 deduction!!

Assuming 20k per year - thats £75 a day before tax, and about £55 after tax.

You would deduct someone basically a full days pay for one badly cleaned window?  Shocking.

Go back and take a look at your own work and I'll promise you you'll find at least one unsatisfactory window per day.

I'm very fussy about quality but this just takes the biscuit.

[Skyglide]

£50 deduction came about out of experience.  It used to be a deduction of the price of the clean, trouble was it didn't hurt too much and taken for granted.  When you work out the true cost of a callback in time, aggravation, rescheduling, fuel, wear and tear on vehicle and equipment it is surprising. Small things and unfounded complaints don't attract the £50, but genuine problems do.
Now we get quality work, happy incentivised staff and no callbacks.

[geefree]

Full clean licence, £7 ph training for two weeks, then out on their own in our van, 40% fully employed.  Min holidays, ssp only, no money if rained off.  £50 deduction on genuine callbacks. Works out around £22K pa gross for them.

how can you have 40% fully emplyer, they are either employed or they are not

£50 deduction is a little harse unless you have very large properies they will be cleaning every day, maybe the clean value, or they re clean in there own time. and lose bonus

£7 per hour training...... then out on there own earning 40%... fully employed  ..lol

[windowwashers]

£50 deduction came about out of experience.  It used to be a deduction of the price of the clean, trouble was it didn't hurt too much and taken for granted.  When you work out the true cost of a callback in time, aggravation, rescheduling, fuel, wear and tear on vehicle and equipment it is surprising. Small things and unfounded complaints don't attract the £50, but genuine problems do.
Now we get quality work, happy incentivised staff and no callbacks.

Fair play to you, I am strict I know but not that strict, maybe I just learnt something there