Employee Turnover: How To Keep It To A Minimum

Every company faces challenges in its given industry. In the cleaning industry one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is employee turnover. Employees leave for a variety of reasons, but whatever the reason the result always negatively impacts customer service. Open positions may mean that the service is not meeting expectations resulting in complaints and the potential to lose the account if things are not turned around quickly. It is impossible to completely eliminate employee turnover, however there are a few proactive steps that can be taken to help reduce it.

The first step to reducing turnover is paying competitive wages. What I mean by competitive is paying a wage that is near the upper tier of wages paid for a given position in your geographic area. If another company is paying $0.25 per hour more for the same work employees will often leave if there is an open position. If the wage you are paying is near the top in your area you will reduce the number of employees leaving for this reason. It is far more costly to have to cover an open position with other personnel than to pay a higher wage to begin with. Not to mention the possibility of losing the account all together.

The second step to reducing turnover is by giving employees adequate time to perform their routines. Nothing is more frustrating for a cleaner than to be rushed through a routine with management expecting that everything will be done properly. Things are going to be missed and complaints will result. Most employees will not tolerate working this way for long and will eventually find employment elsewhere if they are not allowed more time to do their jobs. Bidding the proper time to perform the work may increase your bid, but if awarded the contract will allow you to meet expectations and keep the business.

The third step in reducing turnover is allowing for full-time positions with benefits when possible. If a job requires at least 8 hours of work consider making the position full-time with medical benefits instead of 2 part-time positions with no benefits. Many people are seeking the stability of a full-time job. Offering medical benefits adds further stability that may help to retain the employee longer.

In conclusion there is no silver bullet to eliminating turnover entirely, but there are steps that can be taken to help reduce it. Paying higher wages, allowing adequate time for routines and offering full-time positions with medical benefits can help to minimize turnover and add stability to your workforce. The cleaning industry is very competitive and there will always be companies out there that "low-ball" their quotes to get their foot in the door. These are the companies that pay at or close to minimum wage and rarely allow for enough time to do the job properly. They may get the contract initially because of their low price, but usually fail because they cannot keep good personnel. By bidding the job responsibly with good wages and sufficient time to do the job you put yourself in a position to be able to meet expectations if you acquire the contract down the road. The strategy of thinking long term will result in a more stabile work force and a much better reputation.

Central Maintenance & Service Co takes pride in the fact that we pay our employees above average wages and when possible also provide full-time positions with medical benefits. This allows us to retain the employees that are the backbone of the service we provide to our customers everyday. Our experience has given us insight into production rates for a variety of different industries so we understand how long it takes to clean a particular type of facility properly.

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