When Correct Response is Crucial

Management challenges are going to be part of owning any business and junk removal is no exception. Even when you have a great crew, you will face dilemmas along the way. Being a great manager isn’t about the problems that occur. It’s how you respond to these challenges that’ll determine your success. Junk Removal Authority is here to help. Let’s tackle some of these challenges and discuss the appropriate responses you should make as the leader of your junk removal crew.

Employee Availability and How It Affects Your Hours

When starting out your junk removal business, you will likely have a few part-time workers. These part-time workers are usually going to be college students (who have classes they need to attend) and people with a second job (which will also take up some of their time.) So, there’s only going to be a few days of the week that your employees can dedicate to potential appointments. In turn, if there’s a certain day of the week that none of your employees are available on, you won’t be able to book an appointment that day.

We suggest that you get enough employees so that you don’t have to block your customers from booking appointments on certain days of the week. You’ll need to carefully consider who to hire in this regard. Are all your workers currently booked on Tuesday? Then maybe hiring someone who also can’t work on Tuesdays isn’t the best play.

Customers like to book appointments at all hours of the day to fit their schedules. So, we also suggest that your employees can dedicate an entire day to you when they mark that day as available.

Upholding Standards

When it comes to managing your employees, you’ll find that mistakes sometimes happen. it’s inevitable that at some point one of your crew members will show up late. So what do you do? Fire them on the spot? Probably not—after all, even your best employees will make mistakes every once in a while. Even so, your business has standards that you want to uphold, and your employees represent your business. (They’re the people your customers are going to see, after all.) Shouldn’t you uphold those standards for the good of your business? If you get too lax, then not only will your employees catch on, but so will your customers… and that’s not good at all.

When a mistake happens—be it an employee sleeping in, the truck keys going missing, or something getting broken—don’t be afraid to uphold those standards. Be sure to remind the offender about what went wrong, why it’s wrong, and then encourage them to not do it again. Your good employees will ensure it doesn’t happen again. 

Your bad employees, on the other hand? They’ll become repeat offenders, and those are the ones you can cut ties with. Consider this: if an employee isn’t trying, do you think they actually want to stay for the long-term? Maybe you’d best talk with them and make an exit plan before they quit on a whim and leave you short-handed.

Employing Friends: Yea or Nay?

For some new junk removal business owners, hiring personal friends seems like the way to go. After all, who can you trust more than your buddies? 

Well, here’s the thing: hiring your friends for your junk removal business might be a great way to lose your friends. What if your friend shows up late or not in uniform? It can be difficult to hold friends accountable, but if you let them off the hook, you’ll set a poor example, anger other employees and potentially harm your business’ reputation. Hire friends if you absolutely have to, but we really don’t recommend it. Keep management challenges at work and avoid dragging them into your social circles!

Employee Theft: What to Do?

Here’s a nightmare scenario: your employees start stealing from you. Yeah, sounds pretty bad, but it can happen. It even happened to us over at our sister business, Junk Doctors. It’s one of the reasons we recommend installing cameras in your trucks and in your shop. Not only can you catch anyone who tries to steal anything, but you can also find out if someone is intentionally going slow to avoid work or goofing off on the job.

Some of your employees might not be fond of your cameras. In our experience, it’s the bad eggs that don’t like cameras, because they stand a chance of getting caught doing something they’re not supposed to do. Your good employees won’t mind them, because they’re not causing any management challenges to begin with.

Here’s another sort of stealing that might happen: overquoting your customers and pocketing the difference. For example, a bad employee might ask for $450 on a $350 job, then keep $100 for themselves. We recommend following up with your customers after their appointments. That way, not only can you confirm that the money you received matches what they paid, you can also learn more about their experience and ask for a good review.

Obstacles Can Make You Stronger

Managing your junk removal crew isn’t always going to be easy work, but these challenges don’t have to damage your business in the long run. Depending on how you respond to these obstacles, you can help yourself out instead. Think of it this way: every decision you make regarding management is in the best interest of the crew. You want the best crew possible so your business can excel. That’s why you work hard to bring in good workers and phase out bad ones!

Don’t lose your grit when it comes to management challenges, and don’t be afraid to uphold your standards. This is your business that these employees are representing, and because of that, you have every right to be passionate about the image they’re providing to your customers.

Interested in more employee management tips? Consider purchasing our Video Training Series or Operations and Employees Manuals. Contact us to learn more.