Hiring Cleaners: 5 Ways to Navigate the Shortage

Even though hiring cleaners during a shortage can be tough, there are several ways you can navigate the situation.

And on the bright side, hiring cleaners doesn’t mean you have to halt your business growth.

In fact, there are several ways in which your cleaning service business can continue to grow and thrive during the crisis.

Within this guide, you’ll discover the top 5 ways to keep hiring cleaners and navigate the shortage with growth strategies like:

• Accommodating for higher labor costs with premium pricing
• Utilizing the best hiring strategies used by experts
• Uncovering the best ways to keep top talent in your business for years to come

By the end of this guide, you’ll explore winning strategies like these (and MORE), so you can continue growing and hiring cleaners during a shortage.

By the end of this guide, you’ll explore winning strategies like these (and MORE), so you can continue growing during a cleaning hiring shortage.

1. Put Your Growth on Autopilot

By far, the best way to survive the struggles of hiring cleaners is by using the best cleaning service software to maximize resources.

Plus, when you use the #1 cleaning service software, you’ll have the ability to take charge of your business again by freeing up your time for more important things with everyday task optimization.

By choosing Service Autopilot, your team can instantly complete tasks that previously took extra time to finish.

Dive into a world of optimized everyday operations such as:

• Instant invoicing
• Automatic routing
• Detailed reporting
• Same-day payments
• Estimates from anywhere

There’s no limit to the growth you can achieve and goals you can conquer with Service Autopilot.

Take advantage of software features like these and others to decrease workload while simultaneously increasing work capacity to keep hiring cleaners and navigate the shortage.

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2. Raise Prices to Offset Rising Employment Expenses

Due to the rising cost of employment, in order to conquer goals, it’s necessary to reevaluate pricing.

In other words, to offset rising employment expenses, you’ll have to raise prices on clients who aren’t meeting the new profit goals.

Take a look at this simple five-step process for increasing cleaning service prices:

1. Find your break-even point, then take profit goals into consideration.
2. Raise prices on unprofitable clients first.
3. Don’t raise prices during the selling season (helps prevent clients from leaving for the competition). Raise prices during the middle or end of your busy season.
4. Test the price increase on least profitable clients first, then slowly roll it out to everyone else once you’ve perfected the process.
5. Send a letter to clients explaining the price increase. Make sure to really sell them on it. After all, the increase ensures their continued high-quality cleaning services.

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3. Use the Best Strategies for Hiring Cleaners

By using the best strategies for hiring cleaners, you can better navigate the shortage.

Attract the right cleaners using these three easy steps:

1. Create a professional image of your business using the best marketing strategies.
2. Focus efforts on creating effective, low-cost ads to target specific neighborhoods.
3. Use local connections to network. Ask vendors, great existing employees, friends, and family for great talent recommendations. Also, consider starting an employee referral program to attract more top talent.

After attracting promising prospects, it’s time to begin the hiring interview process to ensure they’re the best fit for your cleaning service business.

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4. Make Employee Retention a Priority

One of the most effective ways to keep great employees is by properly compensating them, and can even help you find the best new talent too.

Discover the perfect, competitive employee wage by following these steps:

1. Price your services right.
2. Know the average wages in the market.
3. Pay your cleaners well - payroll makes up about 15%-30% of gross sales.
4. Use incentives like bonuses for consecutive years worked and annual pay raises to keep employees happy in the business.
5. Obey Overtime Laws.

Use this basic newfound understanding of hiring practices to attract, hire, and keep the top cleaners in the area.

Pro Tip! Other Ways to Keep Your Best Cleaners Happy

In addition to properly paying them, there are various other ways to keep your best cleaners happy.

Take a look at a few numerous other ways to motivate cleaners year-round:

• Award gift cards “just because”
• Host monthly drawings for prizes
• Lay out a clear career path for them
• Provide end-of-year or seasonal bonuses
• Be an example to your cleaning employees
• Implement a commission program for new clients
• Provide a membership to a gym or warehouse club
• Privately and publicly acknowledge their accomplishments
• Address their mistakes and provide a path for improvement

If you’re ever in doubt or stumped for ideas, it’s always best to directly ask employees what compensation plans they’d like to have implemented!

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5. Implement Commercial Robotic Vacuums into the Workforce

If you work in commercial cleaning in commercial office spaces, and many of your jobs are regular maintenance cleanings, then professional robotic vacuums might be the solution you’ve been seeking.

For example, a commercial robotic vacuum might cut out the need for an additional cleaner if one cleaner is wiping surfaces while the commercial vacuum is cleaning the floors.

While some commercial robotic vacuums might have more limited vacuuming times and square footage capacities than others, they can still be used to help cleaners complete jobs more quickly.

Determine the number of commercial robotic vacuums you’d need based on the vacuum’s capacity and the amount of square footage you vacuum every day.

Depending on the number of commercial robotic vacuums you’d need, you can decide if this transition is right for you.

Continue Growing and Hiring Despite the Shortage

While it’s easy to become stressed and overcome with worry about the hiring shortage, this simple guide has given you everything needed to continue growing and hiring cleaners.

When you utilize these pro strategies, you can experience accomplishments like:

• Keep your best cleaners
• Hire and keep the top talent in the area
• Automate your business growth

Take back your business and thrive again by taking advantage of these effective strategies for hiring cleaners and navigating the shortage!

Related: 33 High-Profit Types of Cleaning Services: From Dust to Glory

Originally published Sept 23, 2021 7:00 AM updated on Apr 18, 2024 2:48PM