Hiring Snow Removal Employees During a Labor Shortage

No business is immune to a labor shortage. Although, there are several ways you can optimize business operations and begin effectively hiring snow removal employees.

Fortunately, a labor shortage doesn’t mean your snow removal business has to stop growing.

By taking advantage of new, innovative ways to grow the team, your business will be well on its way to overcoming this temporary obstacle.

Use this article as your personal handbook. Leverage the top industry strategies for hiring snow removal employees during a labor shortage by doing things like:

• Accommodating increased labor costs with higher prices
• Focusing on the best strategies for hiring snow removal employees
• Implementing unique ideas for keeping employees happy in the business

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1. Automate Business Growth

The best snow removal software helps your business to navigate the labor crisis.

By taking advantage of the right software, you can streamline everyday tasks and put time-consuming operations on autopilot.

With the #1 snow removal software under your belt, you can take back control of your business. For example, optimize employee efficiency with time-saving features like:

• Instant invoicing
• Automatic routing
• Detailed reporting
• Employee tracking
• Flexible billing system
• Pre-built master routes
• Quick estimates from anywhere
• Same-day automated payments

These features and others seek to decrease your crew’s workload. In turn, this allows the business to operate with fewer employees.

In other words, these features allow your crew to get back to the real work — snow removal.

Push past your growth ceiling during the impending labor crisis by harnessing the true power of Service Autopilot.

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2. Increase Pricing

Did you know, within the last year, compensation has increased 2.6%, wages/salaries have increased 2.7%, and benefits have increased 2.5%?

Due to the increasing cost of employment, it’s crucial to reexamine snow pricing to ensure goal achievement.

Evaluate the profitability of each client. Then, increase prices on the clients not meeting the goal criteria.

Use this quick, 5-step process to increase prices:

1. Establish your break-even point, then consider profit goals.
2. Increase prices on unprofitable or least profitable clients first.
3. Minimize the risk of clients leaving for the competition by avoiding price increases during selling season. Instead, raise prices during the middle of the season, end of winter, and the beginning of spring (or end of your season).
4. Prior to rolling out the price increase to all clients, test the raised prices on your least profitable clients first.
5. Send a letter explaining to clients why prices are increasing. Next, try to sell them on the price increase.

Keep in mind, this process is much easier when using a great snow removal software, like Service Autopilot, to instantly obtain all of the necessary information.

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3. Start Hiring Snow Removal Employees With the Best Strategies

Especially during a labor shortage, it’s essential to know the top industry hiring strategies.

Here’s how to attract the perfect candidates using this easy, 3-step process:

1. Establish credibility and awareness using effective marketing strategies.
2. Create low-cost social media ads with impressive results by targeting specific neighborhoods.
3. Leverage local connections to start networking. Ask local vendors, friends, family, and top-performing employees for talented referrals.

After attracting a few candidates, it’s time to begin the interview process to discover if they’re the right fit for the snow business.

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4. Focus on Employee Retention

Hiring new snow removal employees is important, but it’s equally (if not, more) important to focus efforts on keeping existing employees happy.

One of the most effective ways of keeping the top talent happy is by properly compensating them in their salary.

These 5 steps will help to set the proper, competitive salary:

1. Properly price your services.
2. Know the average wages in your local market.
3. Pay employees well. Ideally, your overhead (including sales) should make up about 12% of sales.
4. Incentivize employees to stay. Give them perks, such as bonuses, for consecutive years worked and annual pay raises.
5. ALWAYS obey Overtime Laws.

Plus, when you properly pay employees and make consistent efforts to keep them happy, it creates a positive reputation that can simultaneously attract new, top talent too.

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Additional Ways to Improve Employee Retention

Other than proper salary compensation, there are a few other ways to increase retention and motivate employees:

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

Also, be sure to ask your employees for feedback on the motivating compensations they want.

5. Make the Most Out of Existing Snow Removal Employees

Even without the presence of a labor shortage, it’s important to make the most out of existing snow removal employees.

For example, you can make the most out of your existing employees by:

• Providing extensive job training
• Tracking job performance in a mobile app
• Take advantage of the #1 snow removal software
• Hosting weekly team meetings to provide updates
• Supplying job performance feedback with opportunity for improvement

By making the most out of the existing crew you already have on deck, you can decrease new hire needs with job performance optimization.

Start Hiring Snow Removal Employees Despite the Labor Shortage

It’s easy to become panicked and overwhelmed by a labor crisis.

Although, this brief handbook has provided you with the tools needed to successfully start hiring snow removal employees.

Using these top industry strategies, you can now accomplish things such as:

• Hire the best talent in the area
• Keep your best snow employees happy in the business
• Automate your snow removal business’ growth and operations

Stop allowing the labor shortage to get the best of your business, and start prospering again using these top industry strategies today!

Related: How to Hire Snow Employees for Your Business

Originally published Nov 4, 2021 7:00 AM, updated July 5, 2022 10:55 AM