June 13, 2025 • 27 mins
In this podcast, join John and Greg as they interview, CEO Jamie Henry who won a 19th Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Award, one of the most prestigious recognition programs for women business owners in the U.S. and globally!
She never expected that purchasing her father's small janitorial business would lead to building Bee Line Support – now a powerhouse in medical-grade cleaning with 600 employees managing 3 million square feet across three states. What makes this success story remarkable isn't just growth, but how she's turned an industry known for high turnover into a model of employee retention and development.
The secret? A revolutionary approach to leadership development. While most cleaning companies struggle with constant staff churn, Beeline boasts executives who started pushing mops 19 years ago. "I built the company on our number one mission - to promote from within and provide frontline workers opportunities for advancement," Jamie explains. This philosophy has created remarkable stability and expertise throughout the organization.
Beeline doesn't just talk about development – they've invested in extraordinary resources to make it happen. Their Chicago headquarters features a state-of-the-art training center with mock exam and operating rooms where employees master specialized healthcare cleaning protocols. Their "Beeline University" program offers courses beyond cleaning skills, developing well-rounded professionals ready for advancement. When combined with competitive wages, recognition programs, and a culture built on listening and respect, these initiatives have dramatically improved retention in an industry where keeping staff is typically challenging.
Perhaps most telling about Beeline's positive culture is how it attracts talent – not just through employee referrals, but even from their clients. Jamie shared how a customer from a surgical center was so impressed with their work that he approached her at a client appreciation dinner about joining the team. When an opportunity arose, his 18 years of healthcare experience became a valuable asset to Beeline's growth.
Want to transform your own leadership approach? Jamie's advice is refreshingly simple: "Remember what it was like to be in their shoes - be the manager you needed when you were starting out." This empathetic foundation, combined with systematic development opportunities, has enabled Beeline to clean up not just facilities, but the entire approach to leadership in their industry.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello everyone and welcome to the next podcast of
Success Secrets and Stories.
I am your host, john Winoloski,and here are my co-host and
friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody, yeah, andtoday we're going to have some
fun.
We're going to have aninterview with Jamie Henry, who
is the CEO of Beeline SupportInc.
(00:39):
And Beeline is a privately heldcompany, certified woman-owned
commercial cleaning companyheadquartered here in Chicago,
illinois, one of the onlycertified medical grade cleaning
companies in the region, andshe has 3 million square feet of
(01:01):
healthcare cleaning, ofhealthcare cleaning, 550 highly
trained frontline employees, andis someone I have met during my
days working in healthcare.
So, without further ado, here'sour interview and I'd like to
(01:21):
welcome Jamie Henry from BeelineSupport.
And Jamie, I could probably doan introduction and not do it
justice, so maybe if you couldstart us off on a little bit on
your background and talk aboutBeeline, the organization.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Sure.
Thank you for having me.
Beeline is a medical gradecleaning company, also known as
Environmental Services in thehealthcare world.
We are based in Chicago and weservice Illinois, wisconsin and
Indiana.
We're approximately 500employees strong, and I sort of
(02:01):
fell into this industry after Ifinished my MBA in Florida in
1996.
So a long time ago, my father atthe time had a small janitorial
company with four buildings and10 employees, and he also had
an appliance repair store inGlenview, illinois back in the
day, and they would fix vacuumcleaners and wash washers and
(02:25):
dryers, that type of thing.
Anyway, long story short, when Ifinished grad school, he was
looking to get out of thebusiness, and so what I
purchased from him at the timewas truly just four janitorial
accounts and 10 employees.
And so over the years, with alot of grassroots effort that
was my start and grew thebusiness and we really started
(02:46):
to ramp up, I would say 2017,with a large healthcare network
and some other large accountsand we found a really nice niche
in medical and we started tomake that our expertise and gain
some certifications along theway.
And so we've taken that medicalexpertise to the industry and
(03:10):
we continue down that path ofgrowing that.
And then, of course, behind thescenes and I know we're going
to talk about it I built thecompany and founded the company
on our number one mission, whichis to promote from within and
provide our frontline workerswith opportunity for advancement
and to move up the ranks.
And if you look at my executiveteam right now, I've got at
(03:31):
least seven employees that havebeen with me for 19 years, that
have started in the frontlinesand now they're running the
company with me.
So that's the foundation ofBeeline and what we continue to
support.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
That's the foundation of Beeline and what we continue
to support.
You talked about how you hiredfrom the outside and had your
challenges with the outside andreally developed the approach of
developing your staffinternally.
I think what's interesting isthat you also created an
environment for the technicalside.
(04:05):
You've installed trainingfacilities.
That is kind of rare in yourindustry.
You have a patient clinicalroom, you have an operating room
, you're looking at a patientroom, so there's a commitment to
try to help the staff, but atthe same time you're developing
your managers because you have ateaching platform.
(04:26):
Maybe you can describe a littlebit about Tom and what Tom does
.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Two really important aspects ofwhat we've done with the
certifications, and then this,what I like to call a
state-of-the-art training centerone-of-a-kind.
I feel very strongly thatthere's probably not another
janitorial company that hastaken it to the level we have in
building this training center.
So what we have at our corporateoffice here in Pilsen in
(04:52):
Chicago is a full trainingcenter with a mock exam room
which has all the equipment of atypical exam room when you go
to the doctor's office, and wehave a full operating room with
an OR table that was donated bya hospital, the overhead light,
and then we have a restroom aswell, so we can bring our
(05:12):
managers in here to train themon the proper protocols of
infectious control anddisinfecting on a regular basis,
because we're all aboutrepetition, right and then those
managers can then train ourfrontline employees.
So we built this training centerto allow the real life training
to take place here at ouroffice, and then we use it, of
(05:35):
course, for videos too.
We don't like to necessarilybuy cookie cutter training from
the outside.
So we've developed our ownin-house training and we believe
very much that our customizedtraining is the outside.
So we've developed our ownin-house training and we believe
very much that our customizedtraining is the way to go for
our staff, and then, along withthat, we have somebody on staff
that has a couple ofcertifications which are great
(05:57):
to help facilitate all this.
One is a certificate in masteryof infection prevention, which
typically you would see thoseheld by managers and
environmental services runninglarge hospital systems.
But we've done it here and thenwe also have a certification and
a train the trainer forcleaning surgical rooms and
(06:20):
training surgical technicians,the cleaners, and we found that
to be very, very helpful.
In fact, we're now cleaning ourfirst hospital and so we're
able to apply all these thingsand continue to learn and
looking at the next set ofcertifications, actually for
some of our folks to keepexpanding that throughout our
(06:42):
organization.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Greg, you have a couple of questions on the HR
side.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I do indeed Thank you .
So, jamie, I was an HRprofessional for many years, did
the recruiting and training andworked my way up into
management and executivepositions, and one of the things
that is really prevalent now isdiversity, inclusion and equity
, and John had mentioned even inyour organization you've got
folks that speak differentlanguages.
Can you talk to us aboutdiversity at your company?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Sure, so we have.
The majority of our staff is ofHispanic descent.
When you're talking aboutdiversity, if we're including
females to, a lot of our leadersare female leaders.
And then we've launched aprogram at the beginning of 2023
, I can't believe it's 2024already called Beeline
(07:30):
University and that justencompasses everybody, and what
that program is designed for isto offer skills beyond what our
cleaners are just doing, toenhance them in a professional
way.
So the way it works is ourmanagers will recognize the
superstars that they have undertheir portfolio, and then these
(07:52):
folks have the option to opt inor opt out of Beeline University
and then, if they opt in, theytake a series of courses, their
online courses, and they'reanything from customer service
to supervisory skills tocomputer skills, right to help
them just be better all aroundin their professional careers,
no matter what they decide to do.
And then, once they graduate,they're put sort of first in
(08:16):
line for any promotions thatcome up.
So another way to develop ourfolks and then also put them in
line for promotions and keepsort of bettering this pool of
contested people that we have.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
You used to call it talent management, kind of soup
to nuts.
Talent management and it's goodfor retention, would be my
guess.
People want to stay andcontinue to grow with your
company.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, that's a key right we turn over as a huge
circumstance of being in ourindustry.
Turnover is a huge circumstanceof being in our industry, so
whatever we can do to increaseretention is definitely
something we focus on Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
One of the things, jamie, that I I I wrote that
book a while back building yourleadership toolbox and one of
the things that I thought isdone naturally not so much that
you need a book in order toachieve it was something that I
learned from Johnson Johnson,which was kind of an interesting
place where I first learnedsupervision, and they had this
(09:14):
two-step approach to being asupervisor or how to advance
from a supervisor to a manager.
(09:39):
What was kind of interesting isthere was like a core
competencies and it's part ofwhat you're doing the lead to
lead others, to influence beyondtheir assignment and to lead by
example, which are like thebasics of what you're looking.
Reviews and I'm kind of pushingfor career reviews rather than
performance reviews was not onlyjust communication as a key
element, that next step ofwhether they're proficient at
communicating but developsothers.
Positive environment, preparesthemselves and gets results.
(10:03):
Environment, preparesthemselves and gets results.
So you know, as you're startingto bring somebody on board and
you're starting to advancesomeone, there is a mechanism
that you have brought people upthat can maybe help in terms of
others that would be listeningto this podcast.
What are the things that you doin order to help that
(10:23):
supervisor, make that transitionto a manager.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Well, I think you know, lead by example is a huge
one, right, when we're promotingsomebody into a supervisor or
of employees, it's not somethingunfamiliar to them, and I think
(10:47):
that helps create our culturetoo, that they're working side
by side.
It's not something that theyhaven't done before.
There's a comfort level,there's supervision in something
that they've already done.
They're not just coming fromthe outside and I'm the new
manager, right, they've been intheir employees' roles before.
So I think that speaks to notonly leading by example, but
(11:10):
also the culture aspect is so,so important, and we work really
hard at maintaining a good,positive culture here, and all
of that goes hand in hand, forsure.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
The other thing.
So the essence of our littlepodcast is talking about the
secret of success, which ispsychology and a little bit of
it.
I think is interesting that thepeople that are doing the work
in the type of work that you'redoing, there's a lot of critics,
(11:46):
there's always that noise thatyou have to listen to as well as
the people that appreciate andunderstand what you do and the
ability to accept it.
Sometimes you find people thatare building it up, and I guess
where I'm running to isretention is sometimes a
challenge, and how do youminimize retention and turnover?
(12:12):
How do you encourage retentionand minimize turnover?
I guess is the right way tophrase it, maybe speaking a
little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Yeah, well, first of all, we have to ensure that
we're paying not justcompetitive wages, but maybe
slightly higher than the goingrate.
For sure we want to start therewith a great rate of pay right.
There has to be a reason tocome here.
At the end of the day, they'recoming to make a living, right,
so that the pay has to be inline, if not a bit above, what
the market is demanding.
(12:41):
So we certainly do that.
We also like to hire full timewhen we can, so we're offering
people, if we don't have aparticular job, that is, eight
hours worth of work.
We'll offer routes.
So maybe they're doing aportfolio of accounts and doing
a route and still getting eighthours.
So whenever we can hirefull-time, that's also a good
(13:02):
thing for us.
We want to be the full-timeemployer for our folks.
And then we do all kinds ofthings which sort of plays into
culture.
In terms of employee recognitionemployee of the month, team
member of the month we have avery robust anniversary program.
So when somebody reaches a yearof employment, two years, and
so on and so forth, they'rerecognized in a big way.
(13:24):
They're given various gifts, soto speak, highlighted, and we
have you know, I look at ourroster, um highlighted and we
have, you know, I look at ourroster of folks.
We have a lot of employees thathave been with us for many,
many years and it's it's I mean,that's, it's just so.
It's wonderful to talk aboutand even think about um and we
have found that if you can getan employee past the six month
(13:46):
mark, the retention rate goes upand if you can make it to a
year it's like tenfold or ahundredfold.
So it's really, really importantthat our managers so everybody
needs a boss or a manager.
They want to know who they'resupposed to go to and they need
supplies or they have questionsabout their jobs.
So we work hard to ensure thatthe managers are having that
communication with employees,especially those first few
(14:09):
months, so that peopleunderstand who they should go to
and what their job is about andthat there's that connection
and that often can be thedisconnect where you have the
turnover.
It's likely to happen in thevery beginning of someone's
employment.
So if we can make it to thatfirst year, chances are that
they'll stay, and then also ouremployees are absolutely the
(14:32):
best sorts of referrals.
So we of course have turnoverlike anybody else in this
industry, but we have found thatthe folks that stay with us are
great referrals and are a hugehelp in bringing new Beeline
employees on board.
Greg.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Thank you, jamie.
I hear a lot of what I call theculture word, that you and your
leadership team and youremployees are trying to build a
very strong culture and thatit's important to you.
Do you deliberately spend timeon culture development for your
organization?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
So I mean I just think, like I think you just
operate from a place of kindnessand that starts at the top
right.
So if I'm doing that and myleaders are doing that, and that
we're just coming at it from agood heart, I think that's the
biggest driver.
And I will say sometimes thatcan be to a detriment, you can
be too nice and thenaccountability goes out the
window and there's other issues.
(15:25):
But when I say that I meanthat's really, that's really the
beginning, just the operatingfrom a like we all want to be
treated fairly and well right sothat's the gist of it.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
I think the element of trust is what you've given to
your staff, so a piece of yourauthority is in their hands and
they understand that that kindof works throughout the system,
that that element of trust isthe key.
And you know, the first part isthat you're giving your your
trust, so it's an openenvironment.
That's.
That's the opportunity.
Yeah, and and building,building an organization on
(16:03):
trust I can speak fromexperience can be risky, because
I've I've been, I've beensnowed for a more politically
correct term and I paid theprice.
But I think what was interestingis I had a analysis once when I
was between jobs, so did apsychological analysis and they,
they found that I was overtrusting and I.
(16:26):
I think it's kind of funnybecause anybody who is that
jaded or removed from theirstaff is not going to have the
retention that you have.
There has to be that give andtake.
If I were to make a profile,the strongest skillset that your
supervisors have it's probablythe one that I've found when I
(16:46):
try to look for a candidate fora job from the outside is their
ability to listen and how wellthey listen, not so much talk,
but can they hear the peoplethat are on the other side of
the conversation.
Have you noticed that yourself?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Yeah, I mean, that's a huge component that goes a
long way, right, If they'relistening and they're
establishing trust.
Just by doing that, for sure,and I mean as we, as the company
gets bigger too, all of thisdoes get a little bit trickier,
right?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I mean well, that's one of the fears.
Yeah, you're in three statesnow and and you're looking at
the potential of possibly doingmore, and it is dependent upon
not losing that component.
I thought what was interestingis some organizations will stop,
even though it's not healthy,because you can't keep that
connection.
I think the magic for yourorganization is that there is
(17:43):
that connection, there is thatsense of unity and it speaks
volumes on being able to promotefrom within.
That really is a big onset.
Greg, you have another question.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I do, jamie, when I think about being a responsible
manager and the time and effortit takes to do that.
Somewhere along the line itprobably has started to shape
you and your life your personallife and your professional life.
How has your leadership journeyshaped your professional and
personal life?
Speaker 3 (18:15):
that's such a good question.
I I think it took me a longtime to really you know, there's
that whole thing of impostersyndrome.
There's insecurity, there's allkinds of things that go into
somebody's mind when they'releading an organization, and it
it took me a while and somecircumstances to really kind of
come into my own and makedecisions and listen to my gut
(18:39):
and act on my gut on certainthings, like things that I knew
that we could do as a company,or my belief in leadership style
.
That's really come a long wayin the past call it six years
and with that we've experiencedtremendous growth and a lot of
things have changed, and changedfor the better too.
(18:59):
I don't know how to describe it, but it's something with
experience and with time.
I had to buy out a partner alongthe way too, and that really
helped, too, to come into my own.
That was a huge piece of it.
So, yeah, just time.
And now I'm surrounded bypeople that have built the
(19:20):
company with me too, which isjust great, and they're like
family and advisors, in a sense,to me as well.
So as long as we all continueto collaborate and keep doing
what we're doing, I feel likeit's a good path.
So when I thank you, I firstI'm.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I was one of your customers and what was kind of
fun is that I love to share andshare ideas and you're receptive
to it.
So I shared some other ideas andthere's a lot of organizations
where the executives are comingin and they're not listening,
(19:58):
especially whenever there'scustomer meetings.
And then you did some veryinteresting techniques.
I don't know if anybody's evertold you that, but you brought
different people in to meet me,to talk and to engage and ask
questions, and that wholeexperience was something that I
knew I was helping, but I wantedto make sure that the
(20:19):
organization understood that itwas helping us at the same time,
that that whole process ofwhenever you're teaming up it's
better than saying that there'san RFP, you have to bid, here's
the price, and no, it's.
It's a human exchange ofinformation and it's the ability
to act as to act as a team inorder to achieve the goals.
(20:42):
And that's a lot of what I'veread about what Beeline does and
a lot of what you've been ableto accomplish of developing that
kind of team approach.
It's very admirable and a greatexample of leadership.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Thank you, thank you so much.
I appreciate that we keep doingthat too.
Leadership Thank you, thank youso much.
I appreciate that we keep doingthat too.
And we just added a new memberto our team that ironically was
he was a customer of ours at asurgical location at an SCA site
and our ambulatory site, andhe's now a project manager
leading a hospital that we'reserving with BDS, but loved us
(21:19):
as a client and then we did.
I just love this story right.
So we had a client appreciationdinner and we got a group of
people together and you neverknow, maybe nothing comes of it,
maybe something comes of it.
But what did come of thatdinner, which was just about a
year ago?
My customer at the time he wasa customer said look, I know
you're growing in Indiana.
I would like to come work foryou if the opportunity ever
(21:42):
presents itself.
And I just sort of like, ok,that's good to know.
And then, sharing out, thisopportunity presented itself in
Indiana and he's now an amazingasset to our team because he has
all this knowledge, havingworked in a surgical setting for
18 years and has worked withhospitals and supply chain and
everything else.
So another part of our teamthat brings new expertise and so
(22:07):
when we can go to the nexthealthcare network and I would
have somebody else to bring intothe mix that can share and
share ideas and listen to ourclients, just like you said.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
There's a lot of people that will tell you
whenever they leave a job, itisn't that they left the
organization, they left the boss, they left the leader.
You know that's sometimes lostin some of our current kind of
turnovers that we're seeing ispeople don't understand the
relationship, and coming goinginto an organization that
(22:39):
actually understands what itmeans to lead is just as
important.
When you're looking to changethe job, you're looking for not
just stability, but the abilityto grow and the ability to be
challenged professionally notjust challenge for the sake of
challenge, but professional togrow.
Yeah that's so true, so true.
(23:00):
Yeah, so it has really been alot of fun, jamie, is there
anything else that you wouldlike to talk about or discuss?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
No.
Just to your last point, though, you know what you said people,
they do leave their managers.
One of the things we workreally hard at and it continues
to be not necessarily achallenge, but we're always
seeking to improve is ourmanagers will have a portfolio
of anywhere from 10 to 50 people.
They're such an important pieceof retention and people either
(23:33):
choosing to stay or leave.
We're constantly trying toimprove.
How can we build our managersto lead and communicate with
employees?
That's a big piece of thecompany in our industry that
connection right there fromfrontline worker to their direct
supervisor and making thosedirect supervisors great leaders
(23:54):
.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Greg, yeah, I think, like I said, you nailed it.
I mean, it doesn't seem likeit's a big deal.
John had mentioned a lot ofemployees do leave, not the
company because the company'sgot the great reputation, but
the person they work for,because they didn't get these
things that they should begetting, and so it's a
testimonial to you that you makethat important and part of your
process.
Which kind of leads to my lastquestion and, if I may, what
(24:18):
tips or advice would you givenew managers in your
organization?
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Yeah, great question For a newly promoted manager.
Their number one job really isto remember if they were
promoted from being a frontlineworker to a manager, to just
remember what it was to be inthat person's shoes, right, what
you wanted and be that personthat you needed as a manager at
that time.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I think that that's sort of where to start exactly,
yeah, having some empathy forbeing new and uh, all those, all
those things about I can'tpronounce that last name.
Oh, good grief, really you wantme to I with, like my name
wandaloski is a last name.
I love the vapor lock.
When people look at it and it'slike, okay, that's a lot,
(25:02):
that's a mouthful, yeah.
But you know it's all part oftrying to get past that
uncomfortable beginning of a newjob.
Until you actually have some,and in a professional like a
supervisor's kind of position,that takes usually a couple
months.
You don't have that luxury.
(25:22):
Your teams have to come online.
In all honesty, probably twoweeks in, even though you're
expecting them to hit the groundrunning.
You have a training programthat you bring them to.
Sometimes you don't have thatluxury.
Sometimes you don't have thatluxury.
So it's really dependent upongood supervision that can bring
(25:48):
them along and understand whenthey can grasp the task before
they can set them on their own.
That's taking on frontlinemanagement in the best part, so
excellent.
I think that covers everythingthat we needed to cover.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I so your time thank you, jamie.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Thank you so much, I appreciate it all, righty.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Thanks jb.
Okay, thanks greg.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Thanks, john, nice to see you nice to see you all
right bye-bye.
So if you like what you'veheard and we're talking about
frontline, uh, frontlineleadership can learn more on my
book, building your LeadershipToolbox, which is available on
Amazoncom and Lulucom.
(26:28):
My e-book is available onBarnes Noble's website.
Success Secrets and Storiespodcast is available on a lot of
popular formats and the onethat you're on.
So thank you so much.
Dr Durst's books and his MBRprogram is available at
successgrowthacademycom.
If you want to get a hold of us, we have buy us a cup of coffee
(26:50):
or I have an email that is isWando75.jw at gmailcom, and Greg
.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I can be reached at gpowell374 at gmailcom.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
And the music has been brought to you by my
grandson.
So, bottom line we want to hearfrom you, and if there's a
subject or a person that youwould like us to talk to, we'd
love to hear from them too.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
So thanks, Greg, as always next time.
Hello everyone and welcome to the next podcast of
Success Secrets and Stories.
I am your host, john Winoloski,and here are my co-host and
friend, greg Powell.
Greg, hey, everybody, yeah, andtoday we're going to have some
fun.
We're going to have aninterview with Jamie Henry, who
is the CEO of Beeline SupportInc.
(00:39):
And Beeline is a privately heldcompany, certified woman-owned
commercial cleaning companyheadquartered here in Chicago,
illinois, one of the onlycertified medical grade cleaning
companies in the region, andshe has 3 million square feet of
(01:01):
healthcare cleaning, ofhealthcare cleaning, 550 highly
trained frontline employees, andis someone I have met during my
days working in healthcare.
So, without further ado, here'sour interview and I'd like to
(01:21):
welcome Jamie Henry from BeelineSupport.
And Jamie, I could probably doan introduction and not do it
justice, so maybe if you couldstart us off on a little bit on
your background and talk aboutBeeline, the organization.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Sure.
Thank you for having me.
Beeline is a medical gradecleaning company, also known as
Environmental Services in thehealthcare world.
We are based in Chicago and weservice Illinois, wisconsin and
Indiana.
We're approximately 500employees strong, and I sort of
(02:01):
fell into this industry after Ifinished my MBA in Florida in
1996.
So a long time ago, my father atthe time had a small janitorial
company with four buildings and10 employees, and he also had
an appliance repair store inGlenview, illinois back in the
day, and they would fix vacuumcleaners and wash washers and
(02:25):
dryers, that type of thing.
Anyway, long story short, when Ifinished grad school, he was
looking to get out of thebusiness, and so what I
purchased from him at the timewas truly just four janitorial
accounts and 10 employees.
And so over the years, with alot of grassroots effort that
was my start and grew thebusiness and we really started
(02:46):
to ramp up, I would say 2017,with a large healthcare network
and some other large accountsand we found a really nice niche
in medical and we started tomake that our expertise and gain
some certifications along theway.
And so we've taken that medicalexpertise to the industry and
(03:10):
we continue down that path ofgrowing that.
And then, of course, behind thescenes and I know we're going
to talk about it I built thecompany and founded the company
on our number one mission, whichis to promote from within and
provide our frontline workerswith opportunity for advancement
and to move up the ranks.
And if you look at my executiveteam right now, I've got at
(03:31):
least seven employees that havebeen with me for 19 years, that
have started in the frontlinesand now they're running the
company with me.
So that's the foundation ofBeeline and what we continue to
support.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
That's the foundation of Beeline and what we continue
to support.
You talked about how you hiredfrom the outside and had your
challenges with the outside andreally developed the approach of
developing your staffinternally.
I think what's interesting isthat you also created an
environment for the technicalside.
(04:05):
You've installed trainingfacilities.
That is kind of rare in yourindustry.
You have a patient clinicalroom, you have an operating room
, you're looking at a patientroom, so there's a commitment to
try to help the staff, but atthe same time you're developing
your managers because you have ateaching platform.
(04:26):
Maybe you can describe a littlebit about Tom and what Tom does
.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Two really important aspects ofwhat we've done with the
certifications, and then this,what I like to call a
state-of-the-art training centerone-of-a-kind.
I feel very strongly thatthere's probably not another
janitorial company that hastaken it to the level we have in
building this training center.
So what we have at our corporateoffice here in Pilsen in
(04:52):
Chicago is a full trainingcenter with a mock exam room
which has all the equipment of atypical exam room when you go
to the doctor's office, and wehave a full operating room with
an OR table that was donated bya hospital, the overhead light,
and then we have a restroom aswell, so we can bring our
(05:12):
managers in here to train themon the proper protocols of
infectious control anddisinfecting on a regular basis,
because we're all aboutrepetition, right and then those
managers can then train ourfrontline employees.
So we built this training centerto allow the real life training
to take place here at ouroffice, and then we use it, of
(05:35):
course, for videos too.
We don't like to necessarilybuy cookie cutter training from
the outside.
So we've developed our ownin-house training and we believe
very much that our customizedtraining is the outside.
So we've developed our ownin-house training and we believe
very much that our customizedtraining is the way to go for
our staff, and then, along withthat, we have somebody on staff
that has a couple ofcertifications which are great
(05:57):
to help facilitate all this.
One is a certificate in masteryof infection prevention, which
typically you would see thoseheld by managers and
environmental services runninglarge hospital systems.
But we've done it here and thenwe also have a certification and
a train the trainer forcleaning surgical rooms and
(06:20):
training surgical technicians,the cleaners, and we found that
to be very, very helpful.
In fact, we're now cleaning ourfirst hospital and so we're
able to apply all these thingsand continue to learn and
looking at the next set ofcertifications, actually for
some of our folks to keepexpanding that throughout our
(06:42):
organization.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Greg, you have a couple of questions on the HR
side.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I do indeed Thank you .
So, jamie, I was an HRprofessional for many years, did
the recruiting and training andworked my way up into
management and executivepositions, and one of the things
that is really prevalent now isdiversity, inclusion and equity
, and John had mentioned even inyour organization you've got
folks that speak differentlanguages.
Can you talk to us aboutdiversity at your company?
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Sure, so we have.
The majority of our staff is ofHispanic descent.
When you're talking aboutdiversity, if we're including
females to, a lot of our leadersare female leaders.
And then we've launched aprogram at the beginning of 2023
, I can't believe it's 2024already called Beeline
(07:30):
University and that justencompasses everybody, and what
that program is designed for isto offer skills beyond what our
cleaners are just doing, toenhance them in a professional
way.
So the way it works is ourmanagers will recognize the
superstars that they have undertheir portfolio, and then these
(07:52):
folks have the option to opt inor opt out of Beeline University
and then, if they opt in, theytake a series of courses, their
online courses, and they'reanything from customer service
to supervisory skills tocomputer skills, right to help
them just be better all aroundin their professional careers,
no matter what they decide to do.
And then, once they graduate,they're put sort of first in
(08:16):
line for any promotions thatcome up.
So another way to develop ourfolks and then also put them in
line for promotions and keepsort of bettering this pool of
contested people that we have.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
You used to call it talent management, kind of soup
to nuts.
Talent management and it's goodfor retention, would be my
guess.
People want to stay andcontinue to grow with your
company.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, that's a key right we turn over as a huge
circumstance of being in ourindustry.
Turnover is a huge circumstanceof being in our industry, so
whatever we can do to increaseretention is definitely
something we focus on Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
One of the things, jamie, that I I I wrote that
book a while back building yourleadership toolbox and one of
the things that I thought isdone naturally not so much that
you need a book in order toachieve it was something that I
learned from Johnson Johnson,which was kind of an interesting
place where I first learnedsupervision, and they had this
(09:14):
two-step approach to being asupervisor or how to advance
from a supervisor to a manager.
(09:39):
What was kind of interesting isthere was like a core
competencies and it's part ofwhat you're doing the lead to
lead others, to influence beyondtheir assignment and to lead by
example, which are like thebasics of what you're looking.
Reviews and I'm kind of pushingfor career reviews rather than
performance reviews was not onlyjust communication as a key
element, that next step ofwhether they're proficient at
communicating but developsothers.
Positive environment, preparesthemselves and gets results.
(10:03):
Environment, preparesthemselves and gets results.
So you know, as you're startingto bring somebody on board and
you're starting to advancesomeone, there is a mechanism
that you have brought people upthat can maybe help in terms of
others that would be listeningto this podcast.
What are the things that you doin order to help that
(10:23):
supervisor, make that transitionto a manager.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Well, I think you know, lead by example is a huge
one, right, when we're promotingsomebody into a supervisor or
of employees, it's not somethingunfamiliar to them, and I think
(10:47):
that helps create our culturetoo, that they're working side
by side.
It's not something that theyhaven't done before.
There's a comfort level,there's supervision in something
that they've already done.
They're not just coming fromthe outside and I'm the new
manager, right, they've been intheir employees' roles before.
So I think that speaks to notonly leading by example, but
(11:10):
also the culture aspect is so,so important, and we work really
hard at maintaining a good,positive culture here, and all
of that goes hand in hand, forsure.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
The other thing.
So the essence of our littlepodcast is talking about the
secret of success, which ispsychology and a little bit of
it.
I think is interesting that thepeople that are doing the work
in the type of work that you'redoing, there's a lot of critics,
(11:46):
there's always that noise thatyou have to listen to as well as
the people that appreciate andunderstand what you do and the
ability to accept it.
Sometimes you find people thatare building it up, and I guess
where I'm running to isretention is sometimes a
challenge, and how do youminimize retention and turnover?
(12:12):
How do you encourage retentionand minimize turnover?
I guess is the right way tophrase it, maybe speaking a
little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Yeah, well, first of all, we have to ensure that
we're paying not justcompetitive wages, but maybe
slightly higher than the goingrate.
For sure we want to start therewith a great rate of pay right.
There has to be a reason tocome here.
At the end of the day, they'recoming to make a living, right,
so that the pay has to be inline, if not a bit above, what
the market is demanding.
(12:41):
So we certainly do that.
We also like to hire full timewhen we can, so we're offering
people, if we don't have aparticular job, that is, eight
hours worth of work.
We'll offer routes.
So maybe they're doing aportfolio of accounts and doing
a route and still getting eighthours.
So whenever we can hirefull-time, that's also a good
(13:02):
thing for us.
We want to be the full-timeemployer for our folks.
And then we do all kinds ofthings which sort of plays into
culture.
In terms of employee recognitionemployee of the month, team
member of the month we have avery robust anniversary program.
So when somebody reaches a yearof employment, two years, and
so on and so forth, they'rerecognized in a big way.
(13:24):
They're given various gifts, soto speak, highlighted, and we
have you know, I look at ourroster, um highlighted and we
have, you know, I look at ourroster of folks.
We have a lot of employees thathave been with us for many,
many years and it's it's I mean,that's, it's just so.
It's wonderful to talk aboutand even think about um and we
have found that if you can getan employee past the six month
(13:46):
mark, the retention rate goes upand if you can make it to a
year it's like tenfold or ahundredfold.
So it's really, really importantthat our managers so everybody
needs a boss or a manager.
They want to know who they'resupposed to go to and they need
supplies or they have questionsabout their jobs.
So we work hard to ensure thatthe managers are having that
communication with employees,especially those first few
(14:09):
months, so that peopleunderstand who they should go to
and what their job is about andthat there's that connection
and that often can be thedisconnect where you have the
turnover.
It's likely to happen in thevery beginning of someone's
employment.
So if we can make it to thatfirst year, chances are that
they'll stay, and then also ouremployees are absolutely the
(14:32):
best sorts of referrals.
So we of course have turnoverlike anybody else in this
industry, but we have found thatthe folks that stay with us are
great referrals and are a hugehelp in bringing new Beeline
employees on board.
Greg.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Thank you, jamie.
I hear a lot of what I call theculture word, that you and your
leadership team and youremployees are trying to build a
very strong culture and thatit's important to you.
Do you deliberately spend timeon culture development for your
organization?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
So I mean I just think, like I think you just
operate from a place of kindnessand that starts at the top
right.
So if I'm doing that and myleaders are doing that, and that
we're just coming at it from agood heart, I think that's the
biggest driver.
And I will say sometimes thatcan be to a detriment, you can
be too nice and thenaccountability goes out the
window and there's other issues.
(15:25):
But when I say that I meanthat's really, that's really the
beginning, just the operatingfrom a like we all want to be
treated fairly and well right sothat's the gist of it.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
I think the element of trust is what you've given to
your staff, so a piece of yourauthority is in their hands and
they understand that that kindof works throughout the system,
that that element of trust isthe key.
And you know, the first part isthat you're giving your your
trust, so it's an openenvironment.
That's.
That's the opportunity.
Yeah, and and building,building an organization on
(16:03):
trust I can speak fromexperience can be risky, because
I've I've been, I've beensnowed for a more politically
correct term and I paid theprice.
But I think what was interestingis I had a analysis once when I
was between jobs, so did apsychological analysis and they,
they found that I was overtrusting and I.
(16:26):
I think it's kind of funnybecause anybody who is that
jaded or removed from theirstaff is not going to have the
retention that you have.
There has to be that give andtake.
If I were to make a profile,the strongest skillset that your
supervisors have it's probablythe one that I've found when I
(16:46):
try to look for a candidate fora job from the outside is their
ability to listen and how wellthey listen, not so much talk,
but can they hear the peoplethat are on the other side of
the conversation.
Have you noticed that yourself?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Yeah, I mean, that's a huge component that goes a
long way, right, If they'relistening and they're
establishing trust.
Just by doing that, for sure,and I mean as we, as the company
gets bigger too, all of thisdoes get a little bit trickier,
right?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
I mean well, that's one of the fears.
Yeah, you're in three statesnow and and you're looking at
the potential of possibly doingmore, and it is dependent upon
not losing that component.
I thought what was interestingis some organizations will stop,
even though it's not healthy,because you can't keep that
connection.
I think the magic for yourorganization is that there is
(17:43):
that connection, there is thatsense of unity and it speaks
volumes on being able to promotefrom within.
That really is a big onset.
Greg, you have another question.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I do, jamie, when I think about being a responsible
manager and the time and effortit takes to do that.
Somewhere along the line itprobably has started to shape
you and your life your personallife and your professional life.
How has your leadership journeyshaped your professional and
personal life?
Speaker 3 (18:15):
that's such a good question.
I I think it took me a longtime to really you know, there's
that whole thing of impostersyndrome.
There's insecurity, there's allkinds of things that go into
somebody's mind when they'releading an organization, and it
it took me a while and somecircumstances to really kind of
come into my own and makedecisions and listen to my gut
(18:39):
and act on my gut on certainthings, like things that I knew
that we could do as a company,or my belief in leadership style
.
That's really come a long wayin the past call it six years
and with that we've experiencedtremendous growth and a lot of
things have changed, and changedfor the better too.
(18:59):
I don't know how to describe it, but it's something with
experience and with time.
I had to buy out a partner alongthe way too, and that really
helped, too, to come into my own.
That was a huge piece of it.
So, yeah, just time.
And now I'm surrounded bypeople that have built the
(19:20):
company with me too, which isjust great, and they're like
family and advisors, in a sense,to me as well.
So as long as we all continueto collaborate and keep doing
what we're doing, I feel likeit's a good path.
So when I thank you, I firstI'm.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I was one of your customers and what was kind of
fun is that I love to share andshare ideas and you're receptive
to it.
So I shared some other ideas andthere's a lot of organizations
where the executives are comingin and they're not listening,
(19:58):
especially whenever there'scustomer meetings.
And then you did some veryinteresting techniques.
I don't know if anybody's evertold you that, but you brought
different people in to meet me,to talk and to engage and ask
questions, and that wholeexperience was something that I
knew I was helping, but I wantedto make sure that the
(20:19):
organization understood that itwas helping us at the same time,
that that whole process ofwhenever you're teaming up it's
better than saying that there'san RFP, you have to bid, here's
the price, and no, it's.
It's a human exchange ofinformation and it's the ability
to act as to act as a team inorder to achieve the goals.
(20:42):
And that's a lot of what I'veread about what Beeline does and
a lot of what you've been ableto accomplish of developing that
kind of team approach.
It's very admirable and a greatexample of leadership.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Thank you, thank you so much.
I appreciate that we keep doingthat too.
Leadership Thank you, thank youso much.
I appreciate that we keep doingthat too.
And we just added a new memberto our team that ironically was
he was a customer of ours at asurgical location at an SCA site
and our ambulatory site, andhe's now a project manager
leading a hospital that we'reserving with BDS, but loved us
(21:19):
as a client and then we did.
I just love this story right.
So we had a client appreciationdinner and we got a group of
people together and you neverknow, maybe nothing comes of it,
maybe something comes of it.
But what did come of thatdinner, which was just about a
year ago?
My customer at the time he wasa customer said look, I know
you're growing in Indiana.
I would like to come work foryou if the opportunity ever
(21:42):
presents itself.
And I just sort of like, ok,that's good to know.
And then, sharing out, thisopportunity presented itself in
Indiana and he's now an amazingasset to our team because he has
all this knowledge, havingworked in a surgical setting for
18 years and has worked withhospitals and supply chain and
everything else.
So another part of our teamthat brings new expertise and so
(22:07):
when we can go to the nexthealthcare network and I would
have somebody else to bring intothe mix that can share and
share ideas and listen to ourclients, just like you said.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
There's a lot of people that will tell you
whenever they leave a job, itisn't that they left the
organization, they left the boss, they left the leader.
You know that's sometimes lostin some of our current kind of
turnovers that we're seeing ispeople don't understand the
relationship, and coming goinginto an organization that
(22:39):
actually understands what itmeans to lead is just as
important.
When you're looking to changethe job, you're looking for not
just stability, but the abilityto grow and the ability to be
challenged professionally notjust challenge for the sake of
challenge, but professional togrow.
Yeah that's so true, so true.
(23:00):
Yeah, so it has really been alot of fun, jamie, is there
anything else that you wouldlike to talk about or discuss?
Speaker 3 (23:12):
No.
Just to your last point, though, you know what you said people,
they do leave their managers.
One of the things we workreally hard at and it continues
to be not necessarily achallenge, but we're always
seeking to improve is ourmanagers will have a portfolio
of anywhere from 10 to 50 people.
They're such an important pieceof retention and people either
(23:33):
choosing to stay or leave.
We're constantly trying toimprove.
How can we build our managersto lead and communicate with
employees?
That's a big piece of thecompany in our industry that
connection right there fromfrontline worker to their direct
supervisor and making thosedirect supervisors great leaders
(23:54):
.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Greg, yeah, I think, like I said, you nailed it.
I mean, it doesn't seem likeit's a big deal.
John had mentioned a lot ofemployees do leave, not the
company because the company'sgot the great reputation, but
the person they work for,because they didn't get these
things that they should begetting, and so it's a
testimonial to you that you makethat important and part of your
process.
Which kind of leads to my lastquestion and, if I may, what
(24:18):
tips or advice would you givenew managers in your
organization?
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Yeah, great question For a newly promoted manager.
Their number one job really isto remember if they were
promoted from being a frontlineworker to a manager, to just
remember what it was to be inthat person's shoes, right, what
you wanted and be that personthat you needed as a manager at
that time.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
I think that that's sort of where to start exactly,
yeah, having some empathy forbeing new and uh, all those, all
those things about I can'tpronounce that last name.
Oh, good grief, really you wantme to I with, like my name
wandaloski is a last name.
I love the vapor lock.
When people look at it and it'slike, okay, that's a lot,
(25:02):
that's a mouthful, yeah.
But you know it's all part oftrying to get past that
uncomfortable beginning of a newjob.
Until you actually have some,and in a professional like a
supervisor's kind of position,that takes usually a couple
months.
You don't have that luxury.
(25:22):
Your teams have to come online.
In all honesty, probably twoweeks in, even though you're
expecting them to hit the groundrunning.
You have a training programthat you bring them to.
Sometimes you don't have thatluxury.
Sometimes you don't have thatluxury.
So it's really dependent upongood supervision that can bring
(25:48):
them along and understand whenthey can grasp the task before
they can set them on their own.
That's taking on frontlinemanagement in the best part, so
excellent.
I think that covers everythingthat we needed to cover.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I so your time thank you, jamie.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Thank you so much, I appreciate it all, righty.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Thanks jb.
Okay, thanks greg.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Thanks, john, nice to see you nice to see you all
right bye-bye.
So if you like what you'veheard and we're talking about
frontline, uh, frontlineleadership can learn more on my
book, building your LeadershipToolbox, which is available on
Amazoncom and Lulucom.
(26:28):
My e-book is available onBarnes Noble's website.
Success Secrets and Storiespodcast is available on a lot of
popular formats and the onethat you're on.
So thank you so much.
Dr Durst's books and his MBRprogram is available at
successgrowthacademycom.
If you want to get a hold of us, we have buy us a cup of coffee
(26:50):
or I have an email that is isWando75.jw at gmailcom, and Greg
.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I can be reached at gpowell374 at gmailcom.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
And the music has been brought to you by my
grandson.
So, bottom line we want to hearfrom you, and if there's a
subject or a person that youwould like us to talk to, we'd
love to hear from them too.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
So thanks, Greg, as always next time.
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