5 Reasons Why Technicians Love Working at TruBlue Total House Care

TruBlue Total House Care, the franchise that provides subscription-based home maintenance and handyman services for seniors and families, is on a mission to help people maintain the safety and value of their homes through home assessments and regular maintenance. By doing so, TruBlue is catching the attention of both customers and prospective franchisees alike. And a significant part of achieving that mission is providing meaningful and rewarding career opportunities to employees throughout their system. 

“Our major differentiating factor with consumers is the level of trust and reliability we emphasize with our employees,” said TruBlue President Sean Fitzgerald. “These are not 1099 workers — they are background-checked, screened and insured. We are not going to send just anybody into a customer’s home. As a result, we have created the best work environment for our technicians possible and become an employer of choice so our franchisees can be better positioned to scale their business and provide this essential service to homeowners in their community.”

Here are five reasons why technicians love working for TruBlue Total House Care

1. A Team-Oriented Culture 

While the home services industry is full of hired contractors and part-time workers, TruBlue aims to cultivate a supportive and welcoming environment where technicians can feel like they are really contributing to a solid team. 

“Most home technicians are handymen, so they are used to an environment where they are working for other handymen,” said Fitzgerald. “Basically, those are one-off jobs and often lack a company culture or team environment. What gives us a unique advantage is that a handyman can be a part of something bigger. Sure, the pay and benefits are competitive, but it is that satisfaction and team culture that really makes technicians stay with us.” 

Tim Loehrke, a lead technician at TruBlue House Care of Vienna, Virginia, agrees that culture is one of the primary benefits of working for the company. “The working environment really is great,” he said. “Carmen Hendricks, the franchise owner of our location, provides us with the tools, education and everything we need to thrive as technicians. She’ll work with us and find the niches that we work best in — for example, I like to do a lot of carpentry and detail work, so she’ll put me on those projects. TruBlue really allows you to find what you are best at and focus on it.”

2. A Business With a Purpose

Beyond a meaningful team environment, Fitzgerald says TruBlue technicians also have the opportunity to join a business with a purpose. “We help seniors and busy families age in place, which really makes us a purpose-driven organization,” said Fitzgerald. “You can really feel good about what you do and know that you are helping people.”

Sean Lashleyand, another lead technician with TruBlue of Vienna, says his favorite part of working with TruBlue is helping those in the community. “When you finish a job in someone’s home and people are satisfied with it, they really appreciate the work,” he said. “And also, the ability to help seniors and provide them with handyman services they can’t do themselves really makes you feel good.”

3. Simple Jobs and More Diversity

As opposed to other handyman companies who refuse to take on smaller jobs, TruBlue has carved out a lucrative niche by tackling a wide range of projects, including everything from changing a lightbulb to painting a room to upgrading a bathroom — anything seniors or busy families need to feel more comfortable in their home. This means more diversity within the day-to-day life of technicians. 

“The thing that really attracted me to the job originally was the kinds of jobs that we do,” said Loehrke. “I didn’t want to be a contractor and didn’t want to do big house remodels. I like the in-and-out jobs. I also love the different people you meet along the way and the things you learn while figuring out the best way to solve problems. That is really why I chose this job.”

Lashleyand agrees, saying that even though he’s been there for 20 years, every day with TruBlue is still different. “I’ve never wanted a career where I do the same thing every day, like typical construction work,” he said. “TruBlue allows you to enjoy different jobs, and you get that satisfaction.”

And Loehrke says TruBlue stands out because they can handle projects that many other companies may not tackle. “We’ve had a handful of jobs where homeowners say, ‘We had three handymen and contractors come in already, but they can’t get it done.’ Then we’ll come in and get it fixed in three hours, and it's better than new,” he said. “People are dumbfounded, and that brings a lot of satisfaction to me. Everything can be figured out, and we have the niche to do those smaller projects that other companies aren’t willing to do.” 

4. Management Opportunities 

“Working as a technician with TruBlue also allows for more stability and career opportunity than many competitors in the field,” Fitzgerald says. “A lot of handymen are forced to switch jobs a lot or are hired by a lot of different people. TruBlue provides technicians with steady, long-term work, where they can build relationships and advance in their careers.”

Fitzgerald says this is possible because the TruBlue business model is built to scale for franchisees, which trickles down to more opportunities for team members. “Our owners are building to scale, which means more technicians will be promoted to team leaders,” he said. “If a franchisee scales to 10 to 15 employees, they will need a team leader for every five employees.  That means technicians can come in at an entry-level and quickly work their way up to a team leader or even higher.”
 

5. Long Term Employee Relationships

All of these advantages result in greater retention amongst technicians for TruBlue. This means technicians can feel more stable in their position and cultivate strong bonds with other team members.  

For franchisees, this also translates to more opportunity, Fitzgerald says. “Because we focus on team culture, competitive pay and upward mobility, we can easily become an employer of choice,” he said. “We are competing against Chuck-in-a-Truck companies who treat technicians like widgets. If you can build teams, articulate culture and deliver on that, you have a tremendous opportunity to be an employer of choice and make it easier to hire great people, which is a huge advantage as a franchisee.”

And while ongoing labor shortages continue to impact several industries, Fitzgerald says TruBlue franchisees can be confident that they will not only have the right tools to attract qualified employees, but also the kind of business model that will keep them satisfied in their careers. 

Now, with a proven staffing model designed to attract and retain talent, TruBlue is continuing to catch the eye of business-savvy investors across the country. Since the start of 2022, the brand has added 14 new franchise locations, which equates to an 18% growth of the entire system, keeping pace to reach its goal of 100-plus locations by the year’s end.

The total investment estimate for a TruBlue Total House Care franchise ranges from $65,050–$91,400. To learn more about franchising with TruBlue, please visit https://trubluefranchise.com/.