Frustrated With Your Cleaning Business? 8 Signs the Cause Is Bad Leadership-Part II
We previously discussed four signs showing that an owner might need to improve their leadership skills. Today we will discuss four more signs.
4 More Signs the Cause of Your Frustration is Bad Leadership
1. Your Employees Walk All Over You. Your employees have no right to walk all over you. And you shouldn't keep someone around who does that to you. Gaining insight and feedback from your employees is one thing; allowing them to bully you is something else entirely.
We recently had a member of The Janitorial Store share that she had a veteran employee cover for another employee who was out sick. She seemed happy to help out, but the owner quickly discovered that she did the bare-minimum cleaning, which resulted with an unhappy client. The employee lashed out at the owner saying, “What do you expect when I have to do another employee's job on top of my own?” This incident started a pattern of negative behavior with this employee, resulting in an unpleasant termination.
You must remember that this is your cleaning business and you are the owner, operator and final-decision maker. Anyone who doesn't want to support you shouldn't be working for you.
2. You're Always Disappointed With Who You Hire. Finding good employees isn't easy. But when you feel like every employee you hire turns out to be a disappointment, it may be time to analyze whether the problem lies with you. Ask yourself what you're looking for in an employee and what you expect of them once they're hired. Do you tend toward perfectionism? If so, no employee will ever live up to your standards.
Excellence is definitely something every cleaning business owner should shoot for; perfection is not. There is no such thing as the perfect employee, the perfect client or the perfect job. If you look for perfection you can't help but be disappointed. Periodically ask yourself if you are unhappy with your employees because of their work, or if your standards might be too far out of reach. It is also important to remember that not everyone is going to be just like you, nor should you want that. There is a lot of good that can come from individual styles and personalities. Having a diverse commercial cleaning business team can improve your business, client satisfaction and the camaraderie of your team according to BusinessInsider.com.
3. Decisions and Progress Are Never Made. Successful business owners, including cleaning business owners, have a lot of faith and confidence in themselves and their abilities. A business owner has many responsibilities, and there are many decisions to be made. If you find that you're not making the progress in business that you would like, it might be because you've lost some confidence or you have a difficult time making decisions.
Indecisiveness can be detrimental. You don't accomplish your goals and your employees get frustrated. They know things need to change but action isn't being taken by their leader. Your employees can't make your decisions for you. It will take some effort and possibly some building up of your confidence, but making those decisions is the only way to see your business thrive.
4. There's Always Some Sort of Crisis. Nobody likes drama. Life is hard enough; adding work drama will do nothing but cause more stress. When someone feels stressed out, they often question whether the job they have is worth it. This is especially true when it is the employer who is adding the drama and stress. Remember that you not only have a responsibility to your customers, you have a responsibility to your cleaning technicians as well. If you want to keep your employees they need to feel that their work environment is safe—physically and emotionally. There will be stress from time to time, but constant drama shouldn't have a place in your business.
Some Helpful Leadership Tools Every Cleaning Business Owner Should Consider
The realization that your leadership skills could be at the heart of some of your business frustrations is upsetting. But don't give up. Leadership is a skill that can be learned and refined. All you really need to become a good leader is the right tools. Some of those tools might include:
- Books about business, leadership and success;
- Classes that teach you how to set goals, feel confident in making decisions, and build your leadership skills;
- Mentorship programs—learn from other successful leaders and cleaning business owners;
- Home study courses/packages that allow you to learn the skills you would learn in a classroom environment but gives you the freedom to learn at your own pace in the comfort of your own home.
Improve Your Leadership Skills So Your Commercial Cleaning Business Thrives
Whether you decide to participate in a mentorship program or choose to devour books about the topic of leadership, remember to put what you learn to good use. Once you do, you'll soon find that your business frustrations will begin to improve.
