Just started last month, selling and quoting vigorously.
Worried about hiring already. I have a real job, with gaps of time that I am using to sell and run my biz. Some questions on hiring, please
How long should it take to train a window washer technician?
Any resources for training them besides YouTube?
How long till they should be able to clean confidently on their own?
What does a basic training program look like?
Thanks
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This forum.
Seriously though, it sounds like you are a new cleaner yourself, is that right?
Train yourself well, then you’ll train others well. This forum has a goldmine of topics. Just make sure to search well before asking, there’s a good chance it’s been covered here in the past.
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thanks MJ
Good for you!
I’d agree to become, not just knowledgeable, but proficient and professional about almost every aspect of the industry before hiring a profitable employee/technician. I’ve seen a very many solopreneurs/companies scale up too fast and implode.
Remember too, there is an extremely low financial bar of entry into window cleaning. By the time a technician is trained to work on their own they’ll likely be working on the side making 4+ times more with their own contracts.
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here’s my strategy to prevent that.
- pay them well start at $15/hour and every 200 hours get $1.00 raise plus cash bonus - up to $25/hr
- non-compete, non-solicit and non-disclosure
- any other ideas??
and thanks
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1 Month
3 Months
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$15-$25 in around a year
some thoughts:
will those hours be on the job hours or payroll hours?
will hours be the only basis for a raise?
will hours per job type and the unique skills they each require play a role? residential, mid rise, storefront
will difficulty level play a role within each job type? 2,000 hours of storefront is way different skill level than dealing with affluent customers and working inside large luxury homes or wpoling a 3 story office building with difficult architectural features to work around
what about time off, calling in sick, if it feels excessive would they still get the 200 hour raise?
what if they lose a lot of tools? what if they are rough on your vehicles?
teams and interpersonal working relationships add another dynamic which can usually be summed up as one person usually feels they are doing/know how to do/are willing to do/working at a pace more than the other, if hours is the only factor determining raises this could bring in complications as well
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Eh… that’s a can of worms in several ways, in my limited experience.
You have some nice ambitious ideas regarding fast growth, but don’t put the cart before the horse.
As mentioned a few times earlier, get experienced at cleaning windows yourself first, learn what works, train and hire after you have a fair amount of time in front of glass in numerous situations.
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This!
Re-read it, then re-read it again until it sinks in.
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good stuff everyone and thank you,
and roger that on learning and knowing it all well, before hiring.
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I believe non compete forms are not enforceable but I could be wrong
$15 per hr don’t expect much. Understandably it’s minimum wage today. But back in 06 that’s what i was starting my employees at and honestly was not worth it. For ever 1 good, you’ll get 2 bad. So don’t jump on that raise bandwagon too fast. Let them earn it, really. I dropped my starting wages to minimum and employee performance was the same. Raise when it’s earned.
A noncompete is not enforceable in some states. Even more so with a young worker. Logic is you can’t train someone to earn a living in a field and then pull that earning potential from them. You can use a “covenant” agreement. Similar as noncompete but has been around our legal system since the country started and they are still enforceable.
As far as training. Have them shadow you on all jobs. If doing res work, when you feel they got it let them into other areas of the house alone. Check their work. Correct where needed. For me it took 1 year to get someone able to go on their own. It’s not so much the task, it’s the decision making you have to worry about. As a boss you don’t want a call every hour from them, to solve a simple problem. When you find one that can use logic to maintain a client give them a raise then. If there’s a problematic window they can’t clean let them know it’s ok to let the customer know they will not be charged for that window. Simple things like this cause you headaches as a boss.
Hire hard and manage easy.
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So true. Let it sink in. I have wonderful and experienced guys. But there are times when I, with the same or significantly less years of experience, show them how to do a piece of glass that is not normal. As the boss I have always tried to take a shot at everything and learn from my guys so if I cant do it, it probably should not be done.
