How Portable Restroom Operators Are Empowering Their Staff

If you work in the portable sanitation industry, you know one thing is certain. This job ain’t easy! But, it can be highly rewarding because of the people we work with, and the communities we serve. Our industry is made up of great salt-of-the-earth human beings that truly care about each other. That’s why the top Portable Restroom Operators are investing more in their people. I’m not just talking about pay, I’m talking about building a culture at your company where employees feel valued and they have several opportunities to grow professionally and personally.Why is this so important? Well, the Great Resignation certainly hasn’t made retaining employees any easier. But even if employees weren’t leaving their jobs at alarming rates, the best portable sanitation businesses have figured out a formula to keep (and attract) employees through thick and thin. Here’s how they are building rewarding cultures and empowering their staff.

Don’t tell your staff that you care, show them!

Sit down with your staff and talk to them about what makes them tick. Do they love to hunt? Are they really into barbecue? Did their child just win a little league tournament? But, don’t just do this with some of your staff. Do this with all of your staff! Ride along with your drivers. Go out to visit customers with your CSRs. Sit down with your yard manager. The point is that the top Portable Restroom Operators show their staff that they truly care. 

Here are some other ways to show your staff that you care:

  • Weekly recognition of an employee at your all-hands meeting for doing something great (throw in a gift card for lunch or coffee).
  • Tell your employees how much you appreciate them with a handwritten letter. In a world of texting, this will go a long way!
  • Hold a team event that isn’t your holiday party. Hire a taco truck to come to your business at the end of the busy season and personally thank each and every one of them for their hard work.

Give your staff the tools that they need to do their job well.

Here’s a story that might sound familiar. One of the Portable Restroom Operators we work with told us that they use 4 printers in their office. Each printer has a different color of paper. The yellow paper is for billing. The green paper is for scheduling. The white paper is for new customers, and the light blue paper is specifically for events. Once each paper is printed, they physically walk it over to another department and place it in a colored bin that corresponds to the colored paper they printed. Here’s where it gets interesting.

Even though the company had this process, they’d still write in giant letters “NEW CUSTOMER” on the white paper, “SCHEDULING” on the green paper, and so on. When we asked what happened when someone printed on the wrong paper, we got a combination of laughter and frustration. You may be thinking, “that’s similar to what we do, and it works for us.” Well, if we’re being honest, what happens when a customer calls in with a problem? Does your staff need to run around and find colored papers with handwritten notes or do they have the customer’s information at their fingertips?

The point here is that the top Portable Restroom Operators provide their staff with tools that empower them to do their jobs well and work smarter. If your employees need a decoder ring to figure out how to do their job, they aren’t going to be your employees for very long.

ServiceCore is one tool that cuts wasted time, manages jobs, optimizes routes, tracks inventory, and automates billing. That’s more revenue, happy staff, and satisfied customers. Schedule a demo to see how ServiceCore can empower your staff.

liam-sabot

Liam Sabot

Liam is an author of over 50 articles about portable toilet rental, septic pumping, and dumpster business management. He is dedicated to providing important information to help sanitation businesses succeed.

[post_nav]
Go to Top