The cleaning industry has one of the highest turnover rates in the workforce-some estimates put it between 200-400%. There are several factors that contribute to high turnover; many employees will leave due to low wages, negative work environment or that the location of the workplace doesn’t accommodate public transportation needs.
But what can you do as an employer to help keep quality employees?
1. Create a Positive Work Environment
When an employee feels valued in their position and by their superiors, they are more likely to be loyal to the company. They will want to go the extra mile, have a positive attitude and stay in their position longer if they are treated with respect. A Gallup study found that 50 percent of employees left their job “to get away from their manager to improve their overall life at some point in their career.” Avoid speaking down to employees, using condescending tones of voice and always be direct and civil when conflict arises.
Also, promoting from within so they see job growth potential and recognizing employees for exemplary service can help employees feel like their work and their lives matter. Incentive programs also help lower turnover; not just recognizing a job well done, but offering tangible rewards for good work can help reduce voluntary turnover by 31%.
2. Create a Competitive Compensation Package
The cleaning industry is not known for high salaried positions. Often, an employee will have to hold more than one job at a time to afford a decent quality of life. Low wages are often a top reason why an employee will move positions often; they will leave a job if they can make even fifty cents more at another.
Glassdoor reports that even a 10% increase in pay can decrease turnover rate by 1.5%. If you’re losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in turnover costs each year, 1.5% can add up. Having above market pay with benefits will also help attract and keep employees.
3. Join Cleaning Network Worldwide
If you have created and maintained a positive work environment and created competitive wages for positions and are still seeing high turnover, join Cleaning Network Worldwide. We’ve been involved in the cleaning industry for more than 40 years and understand better than most what an issue high turnover is.
We built our job platform to help combat the issue of high churn by attracting the best cleaning talent for you to choose from. Cleaning Professionals (this includes cleaners, supervisors and management) are asked to fill out a comprehensive professional profile, including attaching a resume with work history and a professional profile picture, so you can get a well-rounded idea of who the individual is beyond the applicant. Those who are willing to take the time to fill out the profile and do the work necessary to get noticed are applicants worth interviewing, as you know they are dedicated and detail oriented-two very important traits in a Cleaning Professional.
We’ve also streamlined the process of finding high-quality candidates by allowing you to browse through profiles and use filters to narrow down your search, so you find exactly who you’re looking for in an employee.
If you’re ready to lower your turnover rate and hire above-average employees, join our platform today!
