Have you been struggling to attract and hire top-notch cleaning staff? In our booming economy, unemployment is at 3.5%, the lowest it’s been in fifty years, and non-farm employment has increased by 6.7 million in the past three years. In general, job searchers tend to have more options to choose from, so finding the best custodial employees can be challenging. 

As any small business owner knows, hiring the right team members is critical to successfully grow your company, and cleaning and facility maintenance companies are no exception.

If you are looking to add some awesome custodians to your team, we have put together a list of best practices to help you out.

1. Write a Compelling Job Advertisement.

As you craft your job posting, assume that potential candidates know nothing about your company or the open job position. Below is a list of questions you want to make sure you answer in your job posting:

• Why are you hiring for this open role?
• What are the roles and responsibilities of this job?
• What are the requirements for this job (e.g. access to a car, ability to lift 30 lbs, etc.)?
• What is the company’s mission, and why is it an awesome place to work?
• What does an ideal candidate look like?
• What does the application process look like?
• How can candidates apply for this job?
• What is the salary range and benefits?

2. Diversify the Digital Channels that You are Posting Your Job Ad On.

In addition to posting your job description on your website and social media pages, cast a wider net for your job advertisement by listing the job opening on Craigslist and popular job search sites like Monster.com, Indeed.com, and CareerBuilder.com. Remember to properly tag your company location, since candidates will likely be filtering job openings based on location.

3. Bring in Qualified Candidates for Job Auditions.

Instead of having a drawn-out interview process, you can consider having your job candidates “audition” for the custodial position. After all, the best way to determine if your candidate can actually handle the physical demands of custodial work is by having them join the cleaning crew and watching them perform the job.

If you decide to hold auditions, make sure you communicate what the day will entail to the candidate so that he or she will be mentally prepared and dressed appropriately for the job. Also, if you are having candidates partake in cleaning tasks, make sure that you are properly compensating them for the hours worked, regardless of whether you decide to hire them.

4. Perform Background Checks on Candidates. 

After you’ve identified promising candidates that you’d like to hire, do your due diligence by performing a thorough background and reference check. In addition to doing a criminal check, we highly recommend also calling up his or her past employers to confirm that the candidate is a hardworking, competent, and ethical individual.

5. Finalize and Deliver the Offer.  

After you’ve decided which candidates to hire, draft up an official offer letter outlining the compensation, benefits, and job responsibilities, and carefully review it with the candidate. After the candidate signs the offer, it will be time to start the onboarding and training processes to get them ready for their first job!

Hiring dedicated and high-performing custodial staff can be a long and challenging process, but once you’ve added them to your team, it will all be worth it!

At ACTION Unlimited Resources, we offer state-of-the-art cleaning and facility maintenance supplies. If you are looking to stock up, our team is here to chat about the best solutions to fit your business needs!