Have you come up with a method of motivating new employees to excellence and to draw out their full potential, while still treating them courteously and maintaining their dignity?
Reason I ask is I was training a new employee last week, but I think I was on him too much. I had to constantly correct him because he was not listening to, understanding, and following simple instructions. I think he just got tired of being corrected and so quit.
So, I want to treat my new employees with respect and dignity, but still motivate them to be the very best and most profitable window cleaner they can be. Any thoughts?
I don’t have any employees yet, but I feel that if they’re not motivated to do the work how you want them to do it, then they are not motivated enough to work for you. There are many fish in the sea and it might take some time to find that right fish. (No pun intended for the $1/ window fish.)
Don’t be a micro manager. Your expectations about quality and customer service should be set out before any work is started. Be excited about the work - if you are excited about your work and quality, it will rub off on your employees.
Pay fair and pay well. Make the pay based on quality and experience. If the pocketbook is happy - employees are happy. Offer incentives for quality such as pay raises - give them something to work towards for themselves.
Did I say don’t micro manage? Do you like people looking over your shoulder? Be cautious not to do it yourself. Give directions once, twice and if it’s still not heeded - they may not be the employee for you.
Be patient, technique comes with time. Choose your battles. Let people learn and make mistakes without getting instantly corrected. Wait and see if they will go back and fix it later.
Treat people like adults, keep a hands off approach, make your expectations known - and expect them to do it. If they don’t - it’s bye bye.
Some problems don’t need to be fixed right away as long as the job gets done right in the end. Give people space and at the end of the day (vs all throughout the day) - mention, “I noticed these 1-2 things let’s work on tomorrow to improve”. If they have a lot to improve on then don’t overload them with everything. Choose the top 1-2 things to work on. Don’t discourage them.
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dont expect too much in the first few weeks,or they will quit. you have to let them settle in . i slow the pace of work a little , just let them do doors and frames at first . no ladderwork until im sure they can do the downstairs windows first to a very good standard . praise them once you see something well done ,whether it be a clean window or that they held a door open for somebody.
from my experience a new worker is like a fish out of water, throw water over them and they come back for more . i find that if i say ,on the way home after their first full day of work “hey, youre getting the hang of it, you did very well today” this counts for a lot in morale terms .
Having said that if you realize they are naturally clumsy,a KLUTZ, better to let them go sooner rather than later as they never lose it. Dont feel sorry for them and let them take a ride at your expense. A decent worker should be on the ladders within a month
Couldn’t if said it better myself . Encourage them don’t keep picking things there doing wrong like bunker said find something good there doing an point that out first, then tell them we can just work on these couple if things tommorrow . Say hey your doing good this takes time ,an practice you are going to be good at this I can tell already I was were you were at one time .
I work with my older brother, an he is very stubborn he has good work ethic ,an he does take pride in his work , but when I try to teach him how to do something he acts like he knows it all already . So I found the best way to teach him is for me to be at my very best an he.usually sees how i do it I make sure he is near me an can watch me then I notice that later on he is emulating what I did . Some people just don’t like being correct all the time .
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[MENTION=1567]Master’s Window Cleaning[/MENTION] both these responses ^^^^ sum it up in a nut shell make your new employees feel like they are part of the team (family).
People love to feel they are part of something bigger then themselves.
There’s your problem. I’ve trained a lot of guys over the years and I had one who just would not listen. He saw other people going fast so figured he could just whip out the squeegee and fan like them. He just would not listen to instruction.
For those who don’t want to listen, who don’t want to (or can’t) learn you’ve got to cut them lose very quickly.
Otherwise, just be patient, technique comes with practice and speed comes from good technique.
Employees work FOR you, not the other way around. If you pander to their every whim you will never get any work done but they will be very happy on payday.
Maintaining their dignity? If they dont like the way you are treating them, they can leave at any time. You make the rules for YOUR company to keep YOUR customers happy. Treat them the way you like to be treated and see how that works out for you.
Many employees just dont care, will never care or are just plain stupid - when you see these characteristics let them go ASAP
Interesting philosophy in business. My personal experince has been that your style has not worked for me and I had to adjust my way and attitude towards emoyees.
i constantly tell our small crew that WE work as a team and we all play our roll including myself. I am not more important than they are and as WE work as a team then we will succeed TOGETHER.
With that said, you are right that some guys never live up to their potential and they have to go. What is amazing is once we adopted the “we” attitude the crew is closer, work better and they correct each other before I have to get involved.
“We” attitude will work for a while but sooner or later they will see you are getting a much bigger slice of the pie for doing the “same” work and they will want more. They don’t see, understand or appreciate what you do when they are not around and they feel they each deserve what you are making.
It will most likely take a LOT of searching to find the employee who is happy earning what you pay them and willing to continue working for that rate while you increase your earnings. Once you find him he is worth his weight in gold and you can start your process of not going out into the field which will lead to you not even being needed because the business will run itself while you collect the checks.
I’m going on 18 years and for me it’s a proven and executed theory. There are no conspiracist in our crew and I will always work along with the guys in the field and they know I am always working to make their jobs better and that extends beyond pay. I have no desire to sit back and collect checks and I think that is the reason why it has and will continue to work.
I am also quick to recognize that having a bigger company with many employees is different than a smaller select crew like I have. We have more liberties that larger companies cannot implement.
In the interview you really have to sum a person up, if they have not had much technical or physical experience being in work or just life in general. I remember 1 guy who had spent much of his life in study, never really played sports, he had very little muscle tone. He found it very difficult to do things the rest of us found simple like taking a 22’ ladder off the van and carrying it to where it needed to be used, or just wetting up windows on a 20’ pole he would need a break every 10 mins.
If you hire someone “soft” like this then that person will be sore everyday for months after a days work, they will take 2-3 times longer to get up to speed as someone who is not soft. If they are also unco and soft, they will never cut it but they will most likely cut them selves a LOT, and when they do they will be wanting to go to the hospital for ever nick they get, when the rest of us will tear of a piece of rag and tie it around the cut so we can get on with it.
The best window cleaners i have known had some experience in martial arts, they seem to pick things up much faster and aren’t so soft
I just hired four new guys on the same day, (Monday May the 12th), so one week down. 3 of them are really doing well, one is kinda slow, but great yes sir/no sir attitude.
Tomorrow I 'm going to tell them in 2 weeks we are having a window cleaning contest, and the winner gets Bragging rights as the BEST new window cleaner, and also $200.00 cash.
it’s an interesting contrast to observe: [MENTION=3162]JCinNJ[/MENTION]'s approach vs. [MENTION=4520]optimumaintenance[/MENTION]'s.
i have to wonder- if you were an employee and the money was similar, who would you rather work for? who would you be more likely to bring your A-game for? who would you be more loyal to long-term?
Interesting question. I think both look like guys I would be able to work under, but my own style would probably lean towards happiest working under optimum, due to the fact that in my own previous work history where I managed crews - his style is how I tried to lead. I respect someone who gives a team mindset - but can be the boss. I had guys who seemed like jokers in my crews, step up and take responsibility because I treated them and their place on the team as important and they knew as part of that team what was required. I remember leaving for 2 weeks for a surgery and when I got back my crews were excited - the guy who took my spot micromanaged to the point productivity had dropped significantly.
My take as the “boss” on pay - which I think can build respect for the “boss” position and differentiate me from a worker is that all my pay comes after the employees percentage, If I choose to work a job with a employee, they make full % - I don’t ding them since I show up to the job site, on a crew of one - he makes full 30-35%, a crew of two is still gonna split their 30%. I’m not dinging them because the boss showed up and helped - I am not a crew member, I am the owner, if I help in the field it’s because I’m a good owner and active team player in my business. I also will not take part in tips - if tips are given when I’m on a job, it all gets distributed to the employees. I’m the owner, my pay comes from owning, as a guest at a restauraunt how would you feel if you tipped a set of waiters and the owner onsite took a cut? I am an owner - not an employee therefore I will not pay myself as such, my work habits will not interfere with how much or what percentage my employees can make. Also makes it so the employees won’t dread the boss helping - guess what they are gonna make more per hour if you help out, so they respect and want your help more. Hmmmm
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Opt’s style is a fantastic quality for a foreman/crew leader BUT, as a business owner who does not want to be self employed, it will not work. My goal is to find someone willing to and capable of taking that position so I can move on to other things. Other things may be business related, starting a new business, vacation, whatever…
I didn’t start my business because I wanted to work for the rest of my life. I started it to pay bills, put food on the table and create something I can retire from, yet still collect an income from the business or sell it for a nice chunk of change.
