Training Someone..

[EDS]

So I am trying to get off the truck and decided to hire my brother in law. He knows how to deal with people and I think he has good customer service skills.

I have been training him for the past week and a half. My biggest concern is how slow he is. For me it is painful to watch sometimes. I know that he has to get good before he gets fast but still...

What kinda pointers can you guys give me for training?

 

[A.J.]

I've trained a lot of people on how to finish drywall. If you let someone work slow for too long it's like they're ruined. They get use to it and never want to speed up. You just have to be blunt: "You're doing great but you have to speed it up." Then I take the tools and copy what they were just doing but at full speed, "See the difference? You'll have to learn to move like that because it's the only way we make money." It's hard to do and not make them hate you, especially if they're friends or family. But it's a lot better than having to fire them down the road because they're losing you money.

I try to keep new people excited about the work. 2 ways to do that: By making them take pride in their work and getting excited to learn a new skill. And the classic carrot on a stick of more money the faster they get. We'd start people out low then give them a $1 raise in the first 2 weeks if they applied themselves and that would get them excited to push harder and take a true interest in the job.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Give him some expectations, either with room or sq/ft goals. Let him know where he stands currently but what you expect from him once he hits his groove.

Are there other things you can do for him to speed him up? I'd write out how you do it steps by steps so that he is doing it the most efficient and your way.

It does take time for a rookie to get it down where its just second nature.

 

[EDS]

I took the glide off my prochem 4 jet wand about a year and a half ago. For me lockout it not a problem because of my technique but it is really slowing him down. And he is a bug man as well... Body builder type.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Its a lot tough without a glide, I'd put it back on. Sure its a hassle to pull the cuff off to pickup what won't go through the glide but cleaning is so much more effortless.

I've had college football players just get worn out on a wand, until they got use to it. Those guys were in great shape too. Just not cleaning shape. LOL

 

[Willy P]

Rule number 1 through 20 in the carpet cleaners handbook -NEVER EVER HIRE FAMILY OR FRIENDS.

Send him out with me for a day Ed- That way it's not the bro thingy......

 

[Willy P]

The reason I say that not to hire family or friends is eventually they lean on you for special treatment and that will create some very uncomfortable situations that you would deal with differently than you might with an employee. I try not to get too close to people that work for me as there comes a time when you have to make business decisions from your common sense and your head , not your heart.

 

[PrimaDonna]

Make it fun! Have a conversation with him and let him know what the "time" expectations are to do a standard room, set of stairs, hallway, couch. Tell him that as he's learning technique, you know it will take him a bit longer but by XX date, he needs to be meeting those time expectations or he won't be able to achieve the next pay increase.

Then as you arrive and bid out a house, ask him to estimate the time it should take to do. Correct him if he's off and help him learn how to estimate the time accurately. Then look at your watches, get started and see if he can beat the clock. As he's still learning, make it a game/competition to see if he can better his time by a bit each day. Reward him for doing so.

 

[Captain America]

The zipper is almost easier to train someone on who has never cleaned than someone who has cleaned for years. Took me a few weeks 4-6 but my guess I it's not much different for a newbie .
Pros and cons on family members
Con-hard to fire and correct
Pro- also hard for him to quit on you ......more loyalty

 

[Shane Deubell]

Week and half is way too short.
Stop being a helicopter parent and give him some breathing room.

Also, get rid of the weird owner operator things you picked up over the years.
Like not using a glide.... or 4 ttd and anything else that would slow down a normal person.

 

[EDS]

He is going to do his first job by himself tommorow. Min service call job with the portable... 2 rooms in a move out. After he is coming to pick me up for another min service job with the tm.

 

[Dave Rampage]

You need to make a system out of how you clean. Work with him to reproduce your wand strokes. Show him the speed and have him do it. Correct him until he gets it.

 

[Dolly Llama]

is it an efficiency thing?
(what i call "economy of motion")

or he doesn't know where/when to be slow/thorough and where/when it's not as necessary (like under a sofa or areas of no traffic)


..L.T.A.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Make it fun! Have a conversation with him and let him know what the "time" expectations are to do a standard room, set of stairs, hallway, couch. Tell him that as he's learning technique, you know it will take him a bit longer but by XX date, he needs to be meeting those time expectations or he won't be able to achieve the next pay increase.

Then as you arrive and bid out a house, ask him to estimate the time it should take to do. Correct him if he's off and help him learn how to estimate the time accurately. Then look at your watches, get started and see if he can beat the clock. As he's still learning, make it a game/competition to see if he can better his time by a bit each day. Reward him for doing so.

I'm curious what, if any time study differences you noticed when Mr Meg (who's a veteran cleaner) is on the van alone compared to when you send your employee out alone.
have you noticed much difference in time when employee is out alone?

thanks


..L.T.A.

 

[Louis]

100% commission. No hourly pay. Come pay day he figure out he needs to move to make money.

 

[Dolly Llama]

100% commission. No hourly pay. Come pay day he figure out he needs to move to make money.

I know many prefer to do that, cause your costs are constant .
But it also lends it's self lack luster quality standards too..in particular on a hot LONG day where quality is tough to up near the end of the day even for the owner/op


I'm faster alone than my best man alone , simply because I'm smoother/faster than most at everything.
i don't get whacked out about them being a bit slower simply because their work ethic/pride in workmanship is stellar ..that means more to me


..L.T.A.

 

[hogjowl]

Pay him straight commission.

 

[Dave Rampage]

We are pretty close no matter who goes out. I did train how I wanted the wand strokes and worked with them

 

[GeneMiller]

I only hire guys who have never cleaned and they are always really slow out of the gate. My last new guy on day one was drying the kitchen with our micro bonnet mop and he looked like a cat trying to sneak up on a mouse. I never saw anybody move so slow. I use counting techniques to spend them up. As I move the tool I count off seconds so they see how fast to go. It works greats.

Gene

 

[EDS]

is it an efficiency thing?
(what i call "economy of motion")

or he doesn't know where/when to be slow/thorough and where/when it's not as necessary (like under a sofa or areas of no traffic)


..L.T.A.

Schooling him on efficiency but seems really really slow. He keeps locking out the wand by stopping and not keep the wand moving. As well, inconsistent with letting go of the trigger before the end of run...puddling drives me mad. Put the glide on tonight.

 

[GeneMiller]

Puddling drives me crazy too. I try to buy tools now that are easy to train people on. The Whitteaker , vario, rotovac power head , sapphire upholstery tool and zipper all meet those requirements. I hate to train someone new but these tools all speed up the process.

Gene

 

[Joe Appleby]

What kinda pointers can you guys give me for training?

Never hire who you can't fire.

 

[Willy P]

Never hire who you can't fire.

Letting go of friends and family never makes for a positive experience for either party. I had to let a guy go this summer and it was much easier than telling someone you don't have contact with on a personal level than other situations I've dealt with. It's then a business decision, not a cause for other strife.

 

[Louis]

commission, just so he gets the message. Then show him the path to $$ once you have his attention. If you make money so does he. Your in business, not charity. Business owners see things differently. You can teach him to be an employee or teach him the way of the Jedi. Your choice.

 

[bob vawter]

we came up wit this little game called "carpet college"....all newbe's started out at kindergarten level.......
some moved up the grades faster than others and the pay would move accordingly....when i noticed a particular good move on their part...i would call out a grade increase.......sophomore and junior levels meant they were usually able to go out on their own and they had to fight me lik hell to get to senior level.........

We had another game called "get the wand"...sometime when a helper was pushing the wand..i would say...HEY...what happened over here....and he would set the wand down to go look and i would grab it and say ...GOT YA!
one time a helper came running into a bedroom screaming .."the trucks on fire"...i threw the wand down and was running out the door.......and i hear...."GOT YA"
that's when you know you got a "keeper"!

 

[EDS]

Lol.