Frontline turnover in commercial cleaning runs at an estimated 200% a year, and each departure costs roughly $3,500 to replace. Labor is already the largest expense for a building service contractor. Channing Johnson, president of KB Building Services in Nebraska, considers turnover the industry’s biggest problem and one it rarely puts enough effort into solving.

Johnson laid out her company’s answer at the 2026 ISSA VEO Conference, a bilingual event held September 28-29 in Dallas. Her session, “From the Cart to the Corporate Office,” focused on building retention pathways for frontline workers, particularly the Hispanic employees who make up much of the cleaning workforce. Omaha-based KB provides commercial janitorial services in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Colorado. Since Johnson joined the company in 2009, KB has grown revenue and bottom line by more than 900% while maintaining a 91% employee retention rate and a 99.6% customer retention rate.

“For me, it’s not a metaphor,” Johnson said of the session title. “For me, it’s a theory.” KB measures that theory consistently and keeps adjusting it based on what the data shows.

Her framework rests on a few beliefs about the frontline. These workers form the largest part of the workforce, and their work is what allows everyone else in the company to do their jobs. They are providers first, working to support their families. Their talent is also easy to overlook when it sits behind a job title or a language barrier, and it stays hidden until a leader makes a point of noticing it.

Retention starts before day one

KB hires for culture and trains for skill. “I can teach you how to run a floor machine,” Johnson said. “I cannot teach you to have what we call PLA, positive life attitude, and I cannot teach you to show up to work on time.”

Candidates also see the career path during the interview. Plenty of employers tell applicants a job could become a career. KB shows them the actual ladder and what each rung looks like. Referrals drive much of the hiring, and the company hands out an annual Referral Rock Star award to employees who bring in great people.

Talk early and talk often

During the first 90 days, managers hold real conversations with new hires about their families, goals and lives. Quality control results come up too, but they are not the whole agenda. Johnson explained that small frustrations pile up quickly for new employees, and regular conversations keep those frustrations from turning into a resignation. KB’s employee experience manager has a performance bonus tied to visiting every employee in the field within their first 90 days.

“The front line is used to being invisible,” Johnson said. “And the first promotion that we can give them is just to be seen.”

That recognition costs nothing, though it has to be specific. “Don’t say good job,” she noted. “It’s, oh, I saw what you did this morning on that floor. It looks excellent.”

The results have been dramatic. Before KB changed its approach, 41.5% of new hires stayed past 90 days. After nearly two years of measuring under the new methodology, that figure stands at 80.1%.

Showing people the ladder

After day 91, the focus shifts to advancement. KB maintains separate employee roadmaps for day and night staff, since the company believes every schedule deserves a path upward. A construction clean tech, facilities tech or day porter can move into the company’s Next Level Leaders group, which includes roles such as day employee concierge and lead construction supervisor. Those positions feed into office roles. Each roadmap also shows how benefits improve at every step, so employees can see what advancement means for their families.

A ladder on a slide means little if people cannot climb it. KB identified four barriers that kept frontline workers stuck: a language barrier at work, no mentor or network above them, no time to build new skills and nobody asking what they wanted next. The company addressed each one directly. It offers English classes, called KB Command English and KB Fluent English, and treats them as core infrastructure. Rising employees are paired with a mentor who walked the same path. Skill development happens on the clock. Leaders ask every employee about their goals, including those who never raise their hand for a supervisor role.

The broader development toolkit includes technology training, leadership development and skill training in areas like carpet and hard floor care. Johnson personally teaches a personal finance class once a quarter covering budgeting, saving and building stability. The leadership training is intentional. Johnson has seen too many people promoted simply because they were next in line, without ever learning how to shift from doing the work to leading others.

Recognition people actually want

Johnson’s personal mantra is to treat others the way they want to be treated. New hires fill out a fun questionnaire covering details like their favorite restaurant and how many children they have, and managers use that information to recognize them in personal ways. KB’s software also tracks FORD information (family, occupation, recreation and dreams) for employees and customers alike, so a manager visiting a building may already know an employee’s son is about to leave for college.

Wins are made loud. Employee name tags carry badges earned for accomplishments like completing English classes or learning carpet cleaning. A companywide message goes out every Friday recognizing people who went above and beyond. At KB’s annual veterans party each November, employees who rarely cross paths during the year share what they have accomplished.

Promotion keeps people

KB’s promoted employees stay at a rate of 97.2%, compared with 91.4% companywide. Johnson called promotion the single biggest lever the company has found for moving retention.

“Advancement is our strongest, cheapest retention tool,” she said.

Her takeaways are straightforward. Win the first 90 days. Show people the ladder, because they stay where they can picture themselves a year from now. Those who rise tend to reach back and pull the next person up with them.

“It’s not a program, it’s a promise,” Johnson said. She added that the mindset KB lives by is simple: “You don’t work for KB, you work with KB, you work for your families.”

Your first 90 days, starting Monday

Johnson’s session handout offered these steps for leaders who want to put the approach to work on their own frontline.

• Introduce the path in your next interview. Tell every new hire, out loud, that this job can become a career.
• Schedule a real check-in during week one. Make it a conversation about the employee as a person rather than a review.
• Learn five frontline names this week. Thank each person for something specific, either in person or with a mailed card.
• Find your 90-day number. Calculate what percentage of new hires make it past three months today.
• Draw your ladder. Write out the named rungs from frontline to leadership, even if it is a rough draft.
• Name one invisible ceiling. Identify a barrier your people hit and one way you will remove it.
• Pilot one development offer. Options include mentorship, ESL, budgeting or a skill class.
• Celebrate one win publicly this month. Let that person tell their own story.