Originally posted – Aug issue/2012
Every business – and a self-service laundry is no exception – requires an employee handbook. After all, you’ve likely spent (or plan to spend) hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing and/or building a new laundromat. So why in the world would you let your staff decide on their own how to best represent your business to the public?
That makes no business sense whatsoever.
Your coin laundry is your business. Therefore, it’s up to you to make certain decisions, as far as how your store’s staff represents you to customers and potential customers – from how they dress to how they greet those who come into your laundromat.
First, your attendants need a detailed daily shift procedure list, which should include everything that will be expected of them during each shift – what they clean, how they clean, wash-dry-fold procedures, how to turn the store over to the next shift, the store’s hours, their hours, who they should call in the case of a problem or emergency, what they should do if they cannot make it in to work on a particular day and more.
For my business, I’m in different laundromats all of the time, and two of my biggest pet peeves are (1) when I cannot identify who a store’s attendants are and (2) when no one comes up to greet me, especially considering that I am not carrying any laundry when I come in.
All too often I enter to find laundry attendants reading books, outside smoking or just generally goofing off when the store needs cleaning – and this is the direct result of poor management. Security cameras and concise communication (both verbally and through your employee handbook) regarding staff duties can solve this very quickly.
The next time you’re in your store, conduct this little experiment: ask all of your staff members what their job responsibilities are – you may be surprised what you hear, and you may very well get as many different answers as you have different employees. It is not fair to your attendants to have to guess what their job descriptions are; it is better for them (and you) if it is clearly written down.
Your employee handbook should also detail all of the benefits you offer, such as health benefits, vacation time, discounts on their personal laundry and so on. In addition to these items, there are legal matters to address in your company handbook, including what you will tolerate as an employer – how many absences, how many complaints, your business’ drug policy, arrests, etc. For this section of the handbook, be sure to solicit the advice of your attorney.
Don’t neglect these legal matters. You also should have copies of your employees’ driver’s licenses or other forms of identifications and citizenship. And if one of your attendants breaks one of your rules, you need to document it and place it into their file. This is for your protection; if you have to terminate an employee, you need to have documentation.
But, beyond these crucial legal issues, it is important for you and your staff to be on the same page as far as what you expect from them and for these expectations to be very clearly written down and presented to them. In essence, that is the cornerstone of a solid employee/employer relationship.
[The Coin Laundry Association offers its Attendant Training DVD, which includes a second CD that features various forms and templates that may be helpful as you create your employee handbook. Of course, you will want to customize any templates to fit your own specific laundry operation. For details, visit coinlaundry.org.]
Bob Eisenberg is president of Qualclean Equipment, LLC, based in Blue Bell, Pa. He is available for one-on-one business consulting. To reach him directly, call (610) 270-2811, or e-mail [email protected].
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