The Quickest Firing I've Ever Done (And What I Should Have Done Differently)
In the trades, we talk a lot about "hire slow, fire fast." I've lived by that principle — long applications, phone screens, in-person interviews, and working alongside our team for a couple of shifts before anyone flies solo. As a skilled labor company, I need to know someone is reliable before I trust them on their own. So when I let someone go recently after just a handful of days, it wasn't a surprise to me. What was a surprise was how much of that situation I had created myself. Here's what happened: I'd gone through the full process with a candidate who looked great on paper — strong experience, excellent finish work, exactly the shower remodeler we were looking for. There was a lot of back and forth on his start date since he was wrapping up another project, and when he finally said he could start on a Friday, I jumped at it even though my schedule was a mess that day. Instead of doing a proper onboarding, I handed him off to my operations manager and told myself we'd sort out the details later. We didn't sit down together to go over expectations, I never walked him through Jobber, and — maybe worst of all — I never confirmed that his new hire paperwork was actually completed. I sent it. I just never followed up. He worked a couple of shifts and the feedback was decent — promising, but still being evaluated. Then Tuesday came, and because we hadn't properly briefed him on the schedule or made sure he understood how our system works, he showed up to a unit turnover job with no context. He felt blindsided, and honestly, I get it — he came on as a bathroom remodeler. His reaction, though, was the problem: attitude with the crew, visibly disengaged at our team meeting, and a text to me saying he couldn't trust us. That was enough. I let him go, and I'm confident it was the right call — his attitude made it clear it wasn't going to work. But I also have to be honest: we didn't give him — or ourselves — a fair shot. The lesson I'm taking away isn't just "fire fast." It's that hiring slow has to extend all the way through onboarding. I was so eager to get him into the pipeline that I skipped the very steps that exist for good reason. If I couldn't carve out the time to do a proper onboarding — paperwork signed, systems explained, expectations laid out clearly — I should have pushed the start date until I could. Going forward, I'm building out a simple onboarding checklist so that no matter how busy things get, nothing gets skipped just because I'm stretched thin. A great hire can become a problem hire real fast when you don't set them up to succeed.Pre Hiring Test - What We Use
Link to my Self Assessment I wanted to share something that's really worked for me in prequalifying candidates. Not saying I don't hire duds but this helps me save a little time and I can go back to it in the interview. Basically we start by reviewing their resume with pictures -then they get sent this self assessment. That's it. Pretty simple. What I'm looking for when I get it back is not a bunch of fives. If someone rates themselves a five in everything, that's actually a problem for me. What I want to see is an honest picture. When a guy comes back and he's high on a few things, low on a couple others, and somewhere in the middle on the rest — that's the guy I want to talk to. Because we all have gaps. Nobody does everything at the same level, and the people who are honest about that tend to be honest about everything else too. We have room for all kinds of skill levels. We might be hiring with a specific need in mind, but more than anything we're looking for good people. The skills can be built on. The character part is harder. The other thing the assessment tells me, and this one's just as important — did they actually do it? You'd be surprised how many don't send it back. There's a mentality in the trades sometimes where a guy figures he can just show up and go to work and that's all that should be required of him. And look, I get it. But if someone won't spend ten minutes on a form when they're trying to get a job, that tells me something about how they'll handle the other stuff that comes with working on a crew — the communication, the small details, the parts of the job that aren't swinging a hammer. The ones who fill it out, especially the ones who are thoughtful about it, those are the guys who are serious. It doesn't have to be long or complicated. It just has to be done. Once I have it back, it makes for a much better conversation too. I'm not sitting there grilling somebody — I'm just asking them to tell me about their own numbers. It takes the pressure off and I learn a lot more than I would from a standard interview. It's a small thing, but it's made a real difference in who I end up bringing on.Upsides and downsides of hiring a summer helper?
I am thinking about hiring someone to help me in the busy season and the idea of a high school kid as a summer job sounds like a promising idea. I wouldn't have to pay them a crazy salary, they are like sponges with information and they are typically more physically full of energy. I wouldn't be able to send them on their own, but they could help me get a few more jobs done in a day. I am wondering if anyone has tried this and what would be the pros and cons of doing it?Who is a better employee, old school or new school?
I have 2 people who are interested in a position I posted for a apprentice/helper. I took each of them on a one day ride along to see what they thought about the position. One is an old school guy, hard working, knowledgeable, rough around the edges, "get it done" mentality, just your typical guy who grew up in a different time. The other is a 24 year old, energetic, absorbing of information, helpful with technology, very much one of those cell phone kids. I would say that those are are the pros of these two but they also have cons. The older guy is set in his ways, smoker, hard headed, know it all. The younger guy showed up 10 mins late, on his phone all day, had to stop for lunch, complained about getting dirty. I did like them both and saw advantages to both, but also disadvantages. I wonder if anyone else has experience with these types of guys? Am I missing something that I should reconsider? Maybe neither one is the right fit? Maybe for context also, I am 40. I maybe have a foot in each each of their worlds which is why the decision isn't as easy as I thought.How are you Hiring Reliable Employees in the Cleaning Industry?
Hi everyone, I’m currently growing my cleaning business and getting to the point where I need to start bringing on employees. I want to build a solid, dependable team—not just people who show up, but people who actually care about the work and take pride in what they do. For those of you who have already gone through the hiring process, I’d really appreciate your insight: Where are you finding your best employees? (Indeed, Facebook, referrals, etc.) What qualities do you look for when hiring cleaners? Do you require prior experience, or do you train from scratch? How do you handle background checks and trust/security in clients’ homes? What pay structure or incentives have helped you keep employees long-term? Any red flags you’ve learned to watch out for during interviews? In my business, we don’t do quick surface cleans—we focus on deep, detailed, time-consuming work. Because of that, I want to make sure I’m hiring people who can handle that level of effort and consistency. I’m also trying to build a positive, supportive work environment while still maintaining high standards. Any advice on balancing that would be helpful too. Looking forward to hearing what’s worked (and what hasn’t) for you all!How do you keep good employees from leaving?
I had my cleaning company for 17 years now. I have had my fair share of good employees. My longest serving couple has been 12 years. Then I had some team members for 4+ years. While I do not want them to leave as it is hard to find good team members with our core values, I find that they do run their course due to the nature of the job. What have you implemented that helped your business to keep and engage long term good employees? TIADo You Train Your Team to Think or Just Work?
Every Monday, we hold a short training session with our team. We train on communication. leadership. & mindset. The reason being most tradespeople aren’t struggling because they can’t do the work. They’re struggling because they were never taught how to: Speak with clarity Handle conflict Lead a crew Represent the business professionally These tend to be the issues I see bottling up, either from our exit interviews or customer feed back or when things are misunderstood. Thats why I'm curious: Do you train soft skills with your crew?
