Most coin and card operated laundry owners pay little or no attention to proper procedures for successfully hiring, training, supervising, and motivating their employees. Most seem to think the job they have offered to the new hire isn’t difficult enough to require that they be trained. In some cases, employees are hardly even instructed. Also, too many owners know little about the kinds of problems that hiring the wrong kind of employee can create for them and their business.
Let’s begin by talking about the harm that hiring the wrong person can cause.
In one case, an operator discovered his new night janitor had a criminal record only after all of the coin boxes and change machines had been ripped off. On top of the cash loss, the equipment damage was in the thousands. Naturally that janitor didn’t report for work the next night. The police are still looking for him.
A lawsuit was filed because a laundry attendant lost her cool and slapped a customer. The injured party didn’t sue the attendant, as she had no money. They sued the owner, who lost and had to pay. With various damages and attorney fees, it was very expensive.
It was only after the incident occurred that the laundry owner discovered that the attendant had a long history of violent conduct, and she had a police record to prove it. A simple background check would have told the owner that she was a risky hire.
Employees don’t have to be criminal or violent to harm a laundry business. Lack of reliability ticks off customers and old fashioned rudeness can be very destructive to a laundry business, if it is allowed to go on unchecked. The night person who closes too early can lose customers. Attendants who are unpleasant, or who do drop off bundles poorly, can cause more loss by causing customers to go elsewhere.
Credit checks important when hiring.
Doing a background check with a credit agency lets coin laundry owners know something more about the person they are considering for hire. These are easy, fast and cost very little.
Before checking, don’t forget that you need the applicants permission to check
When compared to the risk, background checks are very inexpensive. Check with one of the area’s local credit agencies for the information on how to have a check done. Your attorney or accountant can check for you as well.
Requiring job seekers to complete an employment application is essential to security. The forms are available in most office supply stores. Forms usually include a signed authorization by the applicant to do a background check. The chronology of employment could strongly indicate whether or not the prospective employee is dependable and stable. Applications also give the laundry owner a starting point to ask the right kind of questions. Such as, why did you leave that position?
Talking about their background will give those hiring a better sense about the applicant’s honesty and reliability. Direct answers and believable explanations are a great comfort when hiring.
Don’t fail to contact at least some of the references they have included on the application. Those who are contacted will usually let the prospective employee know that they were contacted. That lets applicants know you are serious about the position and consider both the job and the employee important.
Don’t fail to fill out the required government forms, such as proof that they are eligible to work. Keep those forms on file; it’s the law.
Train employees to do their job right.
Training attendants and janitors doesn’t need to take a lot of time, but it’s far too important for the success of a laundry business for the owner to ignore doing it.
Janitors need to know what is expected of them. Don’t just tell them to clean the washers, show them how you want it done. Follow up the training by checking to see if the job they did was done the way they were told to do it.
If your instructions are to first use a hot soapy rag to wipe down washers and follow that up by wiping with a dry cloth, make sure the job is done that way.
If floors are to be swabbed using warm soapy water and the mop is to be wrung into a separate bucket to keep the water clean, check to see that it’s done that way.
Follow up supervision is important to the attitude of employees, and that requires a commitment on the part of the laundry owner to make his or her workers the best they can be. When someone knows that their work will be checked by the boss, it makes them do the job better.
If the attendants are to greet customers in a bright cheerful manner, make sure they do. If fluff & fold orders are to be folded and wrapped in a certain way, it is important for the laundry owner to check to be sure it’s done that way.
It’s usually not necessary to yell at folks when they flub up. If they are corrected in a polite but firm manner, it will reinforce the training they have been given.
If they were not told what to do, how to do it, and why they are doing it, then how can owners complain?
All of us in this industry know that it isn’t rocket science. The chores are simple and should be easy to understand. Since it is the laundry owner that pays the salaries, it should be the laundry owner who sets the standards for how the job is to be done. Employees don’t expect to set their own standards and do the job any old way they want. Good employees want to have standards of performance set by the boss. With no standards set, there can not be satisfaction for a job well done either by a boss or employee.
As a business person, a laundry owner should take the time to list the duties they expect their employees to perform. That list should be available for the worker to read and follow. The list needn’t be overly detailed, but it should be complete enough for anyone to understand. Put a note pad where you will remember it, and then as you think of things to add to the list, write them down. In time, there’s a full list of do’s and don’ts.
Remember who you’re dealing with.
These are not high paying jobs and usually do not attract high quality applicants. Yet, those who apply should be treated with respect. Working in a coin laundry, or anywhere else for that matter, ought to bring a feeling of dignity and a sense of pride to those doing it.
Those hired will quickly sense whether the owner feels that the job is important, or not. That feeling comes from the laundry owner’s attitude. If the employee sees that his or her job is important enough to warrant having written instructions and follow up training from the boss, then they will do a better job because the owner sees that their job has value.
Part of the dignity of any job comes from the worker having respect for the work they do. Attendants or janitors ought to know that the owner thinks their job is important to the success of the business. If the job isn’t considered important by the boss, then it won’t be well done. When their boss has properly trained them, has outlined their duties and has a schedule of work to be done, then they know what to do and when to do it. If the boss then follows through with supervision, then the job must be important.
Laundry owners should remember that a little praise for doing things the right way makes for a more loyal and willing worker. Owners who yell and criticize will find themselves with poor workers and have a much greater employee turnover.
In early summer, such as now, lots of folks look for work for the first time in a long time. We are not talking about students who have just graduated. Their moms are more likely to seek work at a laundry than the kids. Many who have been stay at home mothers will finally be able to leave the house for the job. Laundries are the kind of place they feel comfortable working at.
No matter how you find the new employee, you will be better served if they feel they have joined a team that is inclusive and happy. This is why you need to praise them when they do a good job and give any critical rebukes privately and the quiet appearance of being constructive criticism. Anger does not build teamwork and will not make any worker feel good about where they work.
The way you pay is important.
When you hire a new worker, his or her pay will probably be close to minimum wage. That won’t be enough money to hold a good worker for long, especially if they are part time. They should be first hired for a short trial period, say ninety days. After that they become permanent workers. At the end of the trial period, make a big deal out of giving a small pay increase for them now being permanent. Then go up every few months in quarter increments. That will keep them happier, which means they’ll be doing a better job for you.
Sure, there is a limit to how high you can go, but don’t forget they will be more valuable to you, and may have stuck around enough to really like the work.
Always keep the employee’s pay on the up and up. Don’t pay under the table, because that activity can come back and really bite a laundry owner. If an owner wants honesty from an employee, they have to be honest in their dealings with the worker too. The state will demand unemployment and taxes, plus regular worker’s compensation reports. The Federal government has it’s requirements too.
Not withholding and not reporting can be a criminal offense with possible jail time. When your part time employee leaves or is fired, they may look to the state for unemployment pay. They won’t get it, but the state will know they were being paid off the books. You don’t want to take that chance!
What happens to you when one of the “off the books workers” gets injured? Even if it’s off the job, they’ll likely seek workers compensation payments too, won’t they? In states like California, and others, not having them covered is a criminal offense, and when they apply and there is no record that payments have been made, who is at fault? Who wants to go to prison just to save a few bucks and a little paperwork? Not you; you’re too smart.
