[Steve Carpenter Window Cleaning]

Hi, I'm after a full time member of staff and I'm struggling to find anybody I think will be a good prospect

The advert:

We are seeking a hard working, honest individual for domestic window cleaning using a water fed pole, no previous experience required. There is some ladder use.

Immediate start

Working 7.30am - 4.30pm, Monday to Friday

Some 7am starts, some 5.30pm finishes, Saturdays as required.

Full UK driving licence required

Excellent time keeping

Polite and customer friendly

Confident working alone to high standards

Able to work to targets

Must be able to commute to Scawby

Work in all weathers

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: £18,000.00 to £26,000.00 /year

I've had about 40 applicants, most I've ruled out because they live more than 30mins away, there older than me, they've been out of work for more than 4 months or they've had lots of short term employment.

What do you do to find good staff?

[Splash & dash]

It’s a difficult one to answer I had a family friend work for me kept turning up late on his phone round the back of properties thought I didn’t know what he was up to 😂😂😂 , standard of work dropped off so after neumerous warnings I sacked him : generaly I prefer to take someone on who I already know and trust I certainly wouldn’t be trusting a total stranger with my vehicles , customers, and money , finding the right person who will work hard and do consistent standard of work is difficult, but keep looking and you will find the right person , try them on a 3 month trial first see how they get on with the job , sometimes you have to go through a number of people before finding the right one

[The Jester of Wibbly]

If they are job hoppers then forget them. If they have been out of work for 4 month do some digging as there may be a good reason like redundancy or relocation, they by now will realise the job market is tough.  Never admit to declining applications because of age. Discrimination could cause you heaps of problems legally.

For our industry its not easy but a good interview can determine their real competencies.

Good luck

[Oliver James]

Get a banner that is sized the same size as your windscreen, and another one the same size for the back of the van.

Get it in a bright colour eg. Yellow / Orange, and print on in:

"Who Else Wants to Earn Up to £15 an Hour?"

Then park the vans outside the busiest petrol stations in your area, at the weekend.

Only interview applicants with a CV.

About 30% of them will flake on the day of the interview, ditch them, and the ones that turn up on time are your candidates.

You need to 'sell' to them the idea of working for you and offer them something that they are not going to get elsewhere.

For some they will want to earn decent money, which you need to be able to offer if they are good.

For others they want short hours.

Some just want to work to work for decent company that looks after their people (Simon Sinek is great on this). I always told them my track record, that I'd employed twice before and one of my team was with me for over 4 years, and that the other member of my team had been with me for 14 months and was still on board.

They also get told that the front line team are the heroes of the company, and that management serves front line staff, and never the other way around. 

People first, customers second. It sounds counter-intuitive, but you will never get great service unless your people are settled.

I gave potential members of the crew 3 options in terms of career progression.

Grafter: Work about 8 hours a day, and take home before taxes and national insurance about £105 per day.

Lifestyle: Be home by 2.30pm, and take home about (before tax / NI) about £70-90 per day.

Career: Work on the front line initially, and then, when you have proven yourself, start working with me as part of the senior team of the company. 

[John Mart]

Get a banner that is sized the same size as your windscreen, and another one the same size for the back of the van.

Get it in a bright colour eg. Yellow / Orange, and print on in:

"Who Else Wants to Earn Up to £15 an Hour?"

Then park the vans outside the busiest petrol stations in your area, at the weekend.

Only interview applicants with a CV.

About 30% of them will flake on the day of the interview, ditch them, and the ones that turn up on time are your candidates.

You need to 'sell' to them the idea of working for you and offer them something that they are not going to get elsewhere.

For some they will want to earn decent money, which you need to be able to offer if they are good.

For others they want short hours.

Some just want to work to work for decent company that looks after their people (Simon Sinek is great on this). I always told them my track record, that I'd employed twice before and one of my team was with me for over 4 years, and that the other member of my team had been with me for 14 months and was still on board.

They also get told that the front line team are the heroes of the company, and that management serves front line staff, and never the other way around. 

People first, customers second. It sounds counter-intuitive, but you will never get great service unless your people are settled.

I gave potential members of the crew 3 options in terms of career progression.

Grafter: Work about 8 hours a day, and take home before taxes and national insurance about £105 per day.

Lifestyle: Be home by 2.30pm, and take home about (before tax / NI) about £70-90 per day.

Career: Work on the front line initially, and then, when you have proven yourself, start working with me as part of the senior team of the company.

At your prices they must be doing well over £500 a day. Are you VAT registered?

[Steve Carpenter Window Cleaning]

I'm thinking of offering a more flexible job, once they're in a van by themselves

To get them trained up I need them in a van with me, I'd like them working 40 hrs a week at £8 an hour for 6 weeks (£320/week). Is it too many hours and too little pay?

My thinking is people want guaranteed money when its bad weather, we work in rain but not heavy downpours.

Should I be more flexible like 30 hrs a week at £10 an hour (£300) during training?

[NWH]

Whatever you offer them you must offer a salary regardless of you getting rained off and not being able to work etc,I made this mistake years ago if we didn’t work they didn’t get paid. IMO you have to offer a basic salary with incentives it’s no good just giving a salary regardless of what they do week to week,offer little no complaints and work completed bonuses.

[Smudger]

£8 p/h is fair although 3 months is a little on the long side 4 to 6 weeks is enough

40 hour week is too much - take into account shorter daylight hours in winter so 30 hour/35 your weeks are better ( remember holiday pay as well ) they can always do extra hours but fall short and your stuck

We don’t work in the rain, if it’s showers then they park up have a coffee and get paid for the down time if rain set all day then they go home unpaid - they make the hours up on other days or Saturday (hence 30 hour week )

Darran