I heard your objections to this tip as soon as I said it.
Let me explain.
Use McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot as a general guideline.
I know you are thinking “those are all big companies that can offer benefits I
can’t.”
These companies will always be able to offer more money than you.
If these companies are offering $15 per hour you will have to offer at least
that to get some good workers to notice you. If the money is equal but these companies offer healthcare or other traditional benefits, or even non traditional benefits like free soda while working, the scale tips in their favor and you lose.
Ten years ago the minimum wage was $7.75 and most job seekers were happy to get around $9.
Small business owners eventually had to offer $10 to compete.
As wages crept towards $10, small business owners had to offer $11 or $12 to get workers to come work for them.
If you haven't already, small business owners have put together an incentive where
the worker could get $15 per hour in the next two months based on performance. Now as the pay nationally has
shot past $15 per hour, be proactive and offer $20 per hour.
You are probably adding up the increased cost for cleaners and thinking I’m crazy. I counter that by saying that you’ll keep your good workers. As soon as you get some good people you want to keep them as long as you can. They know they will get the pay they deserve somewhere else and have a way to make more just by leaving you to apply to another company, even another laundromat.
What I'm reminding you of is whether a few extra dollars a day of expense is worth it to you to not have to go through the process of hiring someone new, training them, your time filling in for them, advertising, time spent waiting for the right person to apply and interview, drug testing maybe, uniforms...see how fast the cost of hiring ads up to more than the few extra bucks per hour you are offering?
To pay someone $20 to clean your store, isn’t it worth the
extra few dollars per hour if it means that more customers come to your store
because it is clean?
You have a neighborhood coin laundromat. You need cleaners, counter workers,
clothes washers, but you’re in the same situation as everyone else is, you
can’t get people. How do you combat that?
The first thing you need to do is talk to your current
customers. Odds are many of them like your store and know many of the things
that need to be done there to improve the store (Remember they see things differently than you). They are there maybe once per week whereas you are there every day and things start to seem "normal" or blend in. Items that need improvement stand out to them faster than you. They see the dirt in the corner that you think is okay "because you'll get it next time." They notice the dirt because they saw it last week and the week before and they think it should be cleaned up by know because in their mind "how can anyone not see that dirt?"
They probably know many of the customers. They know
the good stories about your store and some of the bad ones too. Take advantage
of that intelligence and talk to them about who are the good customers and whom you need to keep an eye on. Is there a time of the day they come in and notice things or people that are not not improving to the store. Make sure you check out those times they tell you.
Odds are since they like coming to their store they feel a little bit of an ownership stake in your store. They don't want other people to mess up the place they go to. Play to that feeling and thank them for that passion. Make them a fair offer. They will see getting paid for something they would do for free anyway when they are at your store (such as pick up the dryer sheets), as a huge appreciation. Even if they aren't interested in working for you, compensate these customers with free washes and dries, soap, snacks, or anything else you can do to make them feel appreciated. Use their knowledge to help you
improve your store.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy
Everyone in every industry is screaming for help.
Our supply chain in many industries is disrupted because companies can’t get
people to fill jobs.
This has led to lots of advertising for companies to use certain online or mass
media recruitment services to get their hiring message out to candidates. No
matter what you use to recruit, your message must have three things in order to
break through the clutter and appeal to job candidates:
1.
You have to say how much you are paying. The old
days of thinking “we talk money at the time of offer” has long been gone.
Candidates hear messages about $15 per hour minimum wage in the news. They know
their industry and what their peers are making, don’t think they don’t because
all employees let it slip how much they make at some point to someone.
Candidates know where opportunities lie in their industry. Don’t insult them by
saying things like “we offer competitive wages.” What they think is a
competitive wage is different that what you think it is. In a negotiating
situation you often try to not be the first person to throw out a number. In
recruitment it is an advantage. You will get those people from a competitor
that might be making less than you are offering and will love the raise. You
will also turn off people making more money for doing the job you are looking
for, however you combat that by reading point number two…
2.
List all of the unusual benefits the person
gets. Health, 401K, long term disability, etc. are all great benefits, but they
don’t attract the majority of the candidates. Maybe your company is near a pond
that has hiking trails or is available for fishing. Maybe you offer auto oil
changes by having a mobile service come to your parking lot. Perhaps you have
an employee lunch program. There can be many things that you might not think would
be what people are looking for, however it could be the straw that tips the
balance. IF two jobs are equal but one job offers free lunch, that company will
get the employee. If the candidate that is making more than the money you are
advertising, but they don’t get the benefits you are talking about, they will
at least call you because they figure if they can get salary equal to what they
have now AND GET THE EXTRA BENEFITS they think it will be better because they
are getting more than what they are getting somewhere else. This leads to point
three…
3.
Often times people leave a job because they feel
they don’t get recognition from managers and co-workers. Talk about all the ways your company does
that. Is there a quarterly meting where awards are given out. Does the
president have an open door policy? What kind of rewards are there for people
that offer good ideas? What protections are there for candidates that are
whistleblowers or offer controversial ideas? Let candidates know they will be
appreciated and they will come to check out your company.
Good luck in your search! Save some good people for the rest
of us. On second thought, get all the good people you can right now and make
your company strong!
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy
