8 Recruiting Trends to Build Your Cleaning Business

Not so long ago, you could place an ad for a job opening and receive 20 or more applications. In today's hot job market, however, you may get a half-dozen and lucky if more than one person actually shows for an interview.

Finding ideal candidates has become challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. According to a 2019 survey, 83% of HR professionals say they've struggled to recruit suitable applicants, and 52% say the shortage has worsened in the last two years.

Now more than ever, commercial cleaning companies must get creative in their recruiting efforts. Here are a few trends to consider if you want to attract more and better applicants the next time you hang the “we're hiring” shingle.

An important recruiting trend is to Always Be Recruiting

Recruiting Trend #1: Employer Brand Marketing

Three-quarters of job seekers research a company's reputation and brand before applying. Companies with a reputation as a bad employer struggle to attract candidates and retain employees.

“Employer branding” is a hot term in HR lately. It's how a company communicates its identity specifically to current and potential employers (vs. corporate branding, which is how it expresses its value to customers).

Showcase your employer brand on your web site and in job listings. It's more than itemizing your pay, benefits, and perks; you must clearly convey what it's like to work for your company. Talk about your values, mission, and vision, and how your employees support them. Show your current employees at work, using photos and videos, and include their testimonials.

Recruiting Trend #2: Employee Referrals

Your own employees can be your greatest recruitment tool. According to CareerBuilder data, 26% of external hires are generated from employee referrals, making them the No. 1 hiring source. Employee referral programs will only continue to become more important in this hot job market.

Happy employees telling their network about your job openings reduces the time and money you must spend on traditional advertising methods. Best of all, though, their referrals are more likely to be a good match for your company culture, which results in lower turnover rates.

Recruiting Trend #3: Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Technology continues to change everything about how we do business, including recruiting. Large corporations are already employing AI software and tools to analyze resumes, perform background checks, and even conduct interviews.

Yes, a robot can actually interview candidates, using video and chat features to do things like analyze voice or text patterns, facial expressions and body language, abilities and qualifications, and more.

For now, technology cannot perform emotionally intelligent tasks, such as eliminating bias or determining cultural fit. Employers should keep this in mind when using AI recruitment tools, always having a human monitor the technology to flag biases against protected categories (such as race, gender, and age).

The great potential of AI is that it can allow HR professionals or overworked small-business owners to spend less time on hiring tasks. They can instead focus on more human-to-human needs like employee retention or sales.

Want even more ideas for overcoming talent shortages in your cleaning business? Check out this video!

Recruiting Trend #4: Flexible Workforce

You've likely heard the term “gig economy.” For years, our job market has been shifting to offer more short-term contract and freelance work and fewer traditional, permanent jobs. Estimates vary, but as many as 32% of all people may already be gig workers.

This trend shows no signs of stopping, potentially growing to nearly 60% by 2027. While some people would prefer a permanent job, 74% of independent workers are fully satisfied with the arrangement.

Offering contract or project-based work can be a good way to attract skilled workers who otherwise wouldn't consider your company. It can also be a good way to test whether someone could be a good fit for full-time or long-term work.

Recruiting Trend #5: Diversified Hiring

Attract more talent by making a concerted effort to expand your candidate pool to include people of all genders, ethnicities, and ages. If you aren't attracting diverse candidates, showcase what diversity you have in your workforce on your website and hiring pages, and ask your minority and female employees for referrals.

(See if your job posting may turn off female candidates using this gender decoder tool.)

Also, start courting Gen Z. The largest generation in history makes up more than one-third of the workforce, and they represent the future of any company.

Finally, when skilled workers are in high demand, it's also smart to increase your potential pool by loosening certain requirements. Focus less on hard (technical) skills and more on soft skills. It's typically much easier to teach someone how to clean than it is to help them improve at things like critical thinking, communication, and empathy.

Recruiting Trend #6: Social Media

Most cleaning contractors now recognize the value of using social media to market their company to potential clients. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media can also be a great tool to find, attract, and hire talent.

Doing social recruiting well requires more than simply posting jobs ads on your company's social network accounts. Use the networks to proactively search for and build a relationship with potential candidates (rather than hoping they come to you), and then encourage them to apply for your job openings. Also, share great content that helps communicate your employer brand (see above).

Recruiting Trend #7: Talent Pools

The problem with relying on job boards is that you are narrowing the field to active job seekers. In truth, your best candidate may already have a job and may not be trolling LinkedIn or Monster.com for work.

Creating an applicant database, called a talent pool, can seriously improve your recruiting game. It allows you to nurture and eventually recruit anyone who has ever applied for a job, been referred by an employee, or elected to sign up for your talent pool.

Encourage people to join this database in your employer brand marketing and social media recruiting efforts. Regularly email this list, even when you don't have a job opening, to keep your company—and it's amazing culture—top of mind.

When you have a new job opening, announce it first to this database of pre-qualified and interested candidates. It takes work, but promises far greater results versus hoping the ideal candidate finds your job description in the sea of others online.

Recruiting Trend #8: Candidate Relationship Management (CRM)

In a candidate-friendly job market, it's the prospects—not the employers—who have the power. That's the theory behind the latest recruiting trend, CRM or candidate user experience, which focuses on giving job candidates the best possible experience.

A candidate who has a positive experience during your recruiting process is more likely to accept an offer, reapply in future, and/or refer others to your company. According to LinkedIn, 94% of polled candidates indicated that being contacted directly by their perspective manager can make them accept a job faster (but only 41% have received it).

A good CRM program focuses on candidates' feelings throughout the hiring process, from screening and interviewing to hiring and onboarding. Communication and treating prospects with respect are key.

This may sound obvious, but one study found that 77% of job applicants receive no communication from the organization after applying for an advertised position. And 72% of job seekers who had a bad experience told others about it, another study found.

Consider investing in recruitment software that allows you to keep candidates informed in real time. Many can deliver updates via text messaging, answer questions 2/47 using chatbot technology, and create recruitment email campaigns to nurture unhired candidates who move into your talent pool.

Recruiting has changed substantially in recent years, thanks to the tight labor market and the rise of new technology. These trends can help you attract and hire the best talent now and for years to come.

Visit our Store for Certification Training Programs

Non-Member Price $147.00
Member Price $97.00