Employee checklists

Management & Operations
1

I am writing checklists for my worker for each of the services my company provides. I am looking for ideas for what to include in these checklists to make sure we keep callbacks to a minimum.

here is an example of a house wash checklist I’m working on at the moment, if anyone has any ideas of how it can be improved, please let me know.

HOUSE WASH CHECKLIST

Scheduled time window (example 8am-11am: __________

Job Completion Time Goal (example, 8am- 10am): __________

Start Time (arrival time) ___________

Actual Finish Time (After wrapping up all equipment) __________

Talking to the costumer:

  • Knock on door, greet customer, and confirm that they are okay with your parking spot

  • Ask Customer if all windows are closed and all furniture, shoes and other delicate items are either moved inside or at least 20ft from the house, if yes tell the customer you can get started, if not, ask them if they are able to do so while you get your equipment set up.

If the customer Is unable to do so, remind them that there is a surcharge for removing furniture, and that the rate for that is included in the email sent to them with their quote, which is $50

(keep in mind, if window washing is also included, all screens should be removed by the customer before arrival)

  • After talking to the costumer, immediately pull garden hose from hose reel, attach to spigot, begin filling buffer tank

Before Photos:

  • Take before pictures of all sides of the house, if the house has four sides, take 4 photos. Take close up photos of any damage that already exists on the house. These photos are used in case the customer accuses us of causing damage.

Use the customer factor app to upload the photos on the job calendar

  • Now that you’ve taken those photos, you’re going to want to look around the property for the dirtiest parts of the house, take a photo of these dirty spots on the house so that we can take a good after photo for our social media.

How to upload photos to customer factor:

Open customer factor app and log in

Click Calendars

Click on current job

Click photo

Checking house for potential issues:

Walk around the house and look for all cameras, electrical outlets, exposed or stained wood surfaces including doors, and anything else that may cause issues while washing the house.

  • Use plastic to cover cameras, if they are in reach. if the camera is out of reach, simply avoid it and make sure that you do not put any chemical or water on the camera whatsoever. Electrical outlets do not usually need to be covered with plastic, but avoid hitting them with any chemical, and water.

Note: Some houses have stained wood surfaces, and the stain may come off if hit with SH, If the house has what looks like stained wood, to test it, put a tiny amount of chem on a cloth and test it on a tiny out of view area to see if the chem takes off the stain, if it does, the stained surface must be rinsed continuously with water if chem is being applied anywhere that may splash onto the stained surface.

Check front door, if the front door is a stained wood or exposed wood door, DO NOT HIT WITH CHEM OR WATER, cover with plastic. only wash metal or painted doors.

Things to remember:

remember that if SH gets on wood fences, it can make unintentional clean spots, rinse with water before and immediately after if chem gets on a wood fence.

When you are watching the house, you want to avoid spraying water on to the neighbor’s house, and getting chem on the neighbor’s house is out of question.

Start Washing:

What materials will you be washing on the house?

  • Vinyl 1-2% SH MIX
  • Hardie board 2% SH MIX
  • Stucco 5% SH MIX ( may need to chem really dirty spots twice, chemical will kill plants, so soak plants constantly
  • Aluminum siding 1-2% SH MIX
  • Painted wood fascia board 1-2% SH mix

If the house is made of multiple different materials, for example if there is Hardie board and vinyl on the house, always go with the stronger option

If the house is especially dirty, you may need to increase the strength to clean the house quicker.

Once you have determined which strength of chem you need to wash the house, start by using a lower strength at the beginning, and increase the strength if the grime is not coming off easily.

Guide for setting SH %:

1600×897

The above chart does not show how to get a 1% mix. If you were using a 1% mix you should set the water valve to five and the SH valve to .5

  • Set the mix valve to the appropriate SH %, put a softwash gun in a rocky area, or in any area that WILL NOT kill plants or grass, or leave unintentional clean spots on pavement or other surfaces. Open ball valve on softwash gun, and attach battery to softwash pump, let pump run for 90 seconds and then check if chem is coming out, if yes, begin applying chem to furthest side of the house, spreading it evenly against all of the following surfaces:

  • Exterior gutters

  • Back of gutters facing windows (if there is any)

  • Soffits

  • Facia board

  • Siding

  • Windows + window frames

  • Make sure that any surfaces that are seen through the houses windows are also chemed and rinsed

DO NOT HIT CAMERAS/ OUTLETS

  • As you apply the chem to the house, have a second technician start up the pressure washer, and begin rinsing the chem off with the low pressure tips, the chem should be rinsed off around 2 minutes after being applied to the house. Do not over rinse the house, simply make sure that all surfaces are 100% free of grime

  • Rinse all windows well to make sure no chemical is left to dry on them

  • After the entire house has been chemed and rinsed, remove all plastic from cameras, use a leaf blower to quickly remove leaves from the driveway, this is a nice easy way to go above and beyond for the customer.

  • If all other services are also completed, knock on the door and ask the customer “would you like to do a walk around the house with me to make sure that they are happy with all the work that has been done before we wrap up our equipment?” make sure that they are happy.

  • after they approve the job, Go on to the customer Factor app and mark the job as completed. this will automatically send an invoice to the customer. Confirm that the customer has received the invoice.

  • ask the customer how they would like to pay. If they are paying by check/cash you can collect it yourself and bring it back to Headquarters, if they would like to pay by card, use the square app and square card reader to collect payment. Make sure to include GST.

  • Thank the costumer

  • Clean up all equipment

  • Drain buffer tank

  • Change proportioner over to water and flush it out for 10 minutes

  • Walk around the property and make sure that no equipment is left before leaving.

Technicians signature:___________

3 Likes
2

Do you currently run a company?

3

Yes this will be year 2

4

Then you should be charging HST not GST. My honest opinion is that your employee(s) should be trained well enough to not need a step by step list (or one like this at least). Your percentages for SH application are too high and you should know that each job is different depending on how dirty the surface you’re cleaning is. That’s something you and your staff should know very well. The simple step by step process is something they should be well familiar with before the are sent out alone. I’m going to point out somethings that I find incorrect/questionable.

Completely incorrect. All outlets/electrical must be taped off.

Painted doors are known to cause problems… be cautious and cover any painted doors that you think may be negatively affected.

This is what happens when you’re using too hot of a mix, which you seem to be always doing. If you’re using a hot mix and feel it’s a concern, cover it before cleaning. Once the hot mix hits the wood a mark will be left. “Rinsing immediately” won’t help.

Like I said this is way off. Vinyl, aluminum, Hardi board, and painted wood should be washed with .5-1% tops depending on how dirty the surface is. I would not recommend anything over 4% for stucco. That doesn’t mean 4% should be the go-to either.

Strong SH can cause damage, be very cautious.

While it’s important to not let your mix dry, dwell times should be between 5-10 minutes depending on the circumstance. A thorough rinse is important to make sure you aren’t leaving soap to dry. “100% grime free” in not always possible. Inorganic stains aren’t always removable and setting expectations with your customer is key.

Lol… Don’t waste your time doing something that has nothing to do with your service. The only time this should be done is before you clean their driveway.

Once you and your staff are completely trained a checklist shouldn’t be necessary. If you feel it is, make it a lot shorter.

2 Likes
5

I’m glad I don’t work for you

4 Likes
6

I’d love to hear your constructive criticism

7

Great feedback

8

Your customer procedures are fine. Your technical procedures including mix ratios are way off. Just FYI on proportioner 1-2 min id fine. Normally run between 5-10 gal of water thru mine.

Have you actually ever washed a house using the outline above?

9

the-office-jim

10

1 Like
11

Having a history of instructional design and training and development the downside of employee checklists is that if they use them and something goes wrong you are to blame. You either didn’t put enough info in there or didn’t put information in there. It can be an aid or a crutch. Training is supposed to cover some of this.

All kinds of job aids (employer tools) are available if you look in the right areas. I am sure if you contact a local educational facility, someone could put you in contact with the right people to assist you in your endeavor. I don’t know how they charge for service there, but it can get pricey (depending). In some instances you could talk to a local professor and he/she could have a class do an assignment writing checklists. I did it in grad school for a company.

Once again, you have to follow all the rules regarding labor.

12

I’ll chime in on the whole checklist thing. I have some expertise in this area too. Checklists are for procedures and supplies not training. For example, when there is an emergency aboard an aircraft, the pilots start going step by step through the emergency procedures checklist for that situation. However, they have been trained relentlessly on how to properly execute the procedures beforehand.

So, when the emergency checklist says for example, cut power to engine #3, there is no diagram showing which engine that is or step by step instructions on how to cut the power. The pilot better already know which engine that is and how to cut the power.

Don’t use your checklist or procedure manual to try and cover every detailed step in the process. Instead use it as a guide to make sure you deliver a consistent service.

1 Like
13

I’m curious, have you been charging GST instead of HST this whole time? Have you obtained a HST number and have you done your taxes this year?

14

good to know lmao

15

In my province there is only GST and PST

16

thank you for your input

17

No I haven’t used a proportioner for a house wash yet, I’ve downsteamed all year. My buddy who owns a larger company recommended to use hotter SH, but clearly its way overkill.

18

Oh wow! A signature as well! Lol. Once they leave you’ll be remembered as that boss that gave em a tonne of paper work for no real reason.

1 Like
19

It’s a really good list. I think you should use it as a list for things you want to train your employees on. In other words, it’s YOUR list. And as you train employees, you make sure you train them in each area mentioned.

And then you might want a real short bullet point list of things they’re likely to forget. (Like for me, I can easily forget to put a sign in their yard after the job is done.)

Props to you for taking all the constructive criticism so graciously.

3 Likes
20

yes that’s the point of the list. He does the job on his own and I check em off if he follows everything, after doing everything right 10 jobs in a row, hes ready to do house washing, then do the same thing for roofs ect