Hiring for Growth: How to Build a Strong Team for Your Cleaning Business

Growing a contract cleaning firm into a seven-figure company requires a strong team. It's hard to let go of the, “If I want this done right, I have to do it myself” mentality, but hiring and delegating are absolutely essential for expansion.

Hiring for growth is about more than finding reliable cleaners. It's about identifying key roles and filling them strategically, learning to delegate and manage, creating a culture aligned with your goals, and planning for the future.

Hiring for Growth

Ready to take your business to the next level? Read these hiring for growth tips before you start hiring.

Make a Plan

Substantial growth doesn't happen in a few months' time. It happens over the course of years and is facilitated by quality employees. Too often, BSCs don't spend time creating a hiring plan—they simply fill vacancies as they come up. Or worse yet, they hire “warm bodies” because they're desperate to find help. To achieve next-level success, however, it's important to hire with an eye on the future.

Start by defining roles. This includes current positions within the company and those you expect to create as you grow. As an example, most large cleaning companies eventually add these key titles: Operations Manager, Area Manager and HR Manager. Create an organizational chart with who answers to whom, and how you expect this to change over time.

Outline the specific responsibilities of each position, making note of how roles may adapt as the company grows. Finally, map out a hiring schedule for when you need to make key hires (based on growth milestones). This brings clarity about who is best suited to each position (based on skills and experience), as well as the types of people who can graduate into future roles.

The most crucial positions to consider are managerial roles. Who will eventually take over many of the tasks you currently handle? Get clear about who you'll need long before you need them. This way, even lower-level hires can be made strategically, with the goal of grooming future leaders inside the company.

Hire Smart

Ready to grow your team? Hopefully, you can promote from within. Existing employees already  know your goals, standards, and culture. This eliminates much of the learning curve of an outside hire and can save you time, money, and headaches.

It can be tempting to keep someone in their current position because they're so good at it. But if they've proven their value and are eager to move up within the company, allow them to make the jump. Failing to do so can be a costly mistake—they may leave for a better opportunity and you'll be left scrambling to fill two positions.

Sometimes, the perfect candidate isn't already part of your team. When considering external candidates, be careful not to hire based only on resumes. A person may look great on paper, but are they a good fit? The hiring process should include as much focus on cultural alignment as skills and experience.

Here are a few recruitment strategies to keep in mind:

• Go where potential employees are. Think about where your next hire is most likely to be looking for jobs. A cleaning technician probably searches different places than an HR manager. Get familiar with the best spot for each type of candidate. You may want to develop a relationship with a local school, attend industry association meetings, or learn how to use Twitter. The goal is to be prepared so can act fast when it's time to hire.
  
  
• Create job descriptions and postings that allow candidates to easily determine whether they're a match for your organization. Consider creating videos that offer an inside look at the company to help weed out anyone who isn't a good fit.
  
  
• Start with a screening interview. Spend 5 to 10 minutes on the phone with potential candidates. Ask questions related to skills and knowledge and give an accurate picture of the job duties and pay range. Find out if their availability matches the hours needed and if their salary requirements are in line with the position. This will help you quickly rule out anyone unqualified or who has unrealistic expectations.
  
  
• Grant second interviews to applicants who do well in the screening interview. Try to do these in person and at the job site. Don't do all the talking; ask open-ended questions and encourage candidates to ask questions of their own. It's smart to ask how candidates would handle various real-world scenarios as well as questions about their attitude and personality.
  
  
• Consider paying a finalist for a “test” day, where you or someone on your management team can watch their skills in action to be certain they are up to par.
  
  
• Take your time. Hiring based on quantity, not quality, can result in high turnover. It's worthwhile to wait until you find “A” players rather than settling for “B” or “C” employees. Conduct a thorough screening process that includes several interviews and checking references.
  
  
• Always be on the lookout for potential employees. It can take weeks or months to make strong hires, especially for leadership positions, so creating a pipeline of quality candidates allows you to more quickly respond when a need arises.

Focus on the Future

No one likes to think about the day when they're no longer around, but the time will eventually come when you must exit your own company (either through retirement, selling the company or death). If you want to create a legacy that lives beyond you, however, it's important to think about the future now.

Succession planning involves identifying internal talent or recruiting superior employees and then developing their skills to help them grow in a leadership capacity. It's never too early to create a formal succession plan, which will ensure continuous operations in the event of an unexpected departure or disruption. Here are some key steps to consider:

• Using the organizational chart you've already created, consider who will replace each top-level leader and any other roles essential to day-to-day operations. Write in the names of successors (the same name may be used for several positions and that's okay). Make note of where you're lacking internal options. If job descriptions don't yet exist for these key roles, write them now.
  
  
• For positions with no clear replacements, identify and fill in the gap. Could an existing employee become a good fit with some training? If not, what type of person do you need for the role? Make future hires based on these skills to develop a roster of potential replacements.
  
  
• Take note of employees who aren't yet ready to replace your managers, but who show strong potential as leaders, and invest in training for them. A formal program, as well as mentoring from existing management staff, can help fuel your talent pipeline. This will cost money, of course, but promoting from within is more cost-effective than hiring externally.
  
  
• Consider hiring a consultant to guide your succession planning process. Again, this requires a financial investment, but a third party will be more objective in evaluating your staff and recruitment gaps.
  
  
• Share the plan and the reasoning behind it with your staff. This isn't about promising promotions, but is a way to exhibit to employees your commitment to the company's future. Letting staff in on the plans will make your star employees more invested in the company, plus it may reveal others who aren't true team players.

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