I drag the adults to their workplace and just start praising them. When they run away, I drag them back and praise them 3 times again. I make sure to do this 10 times. After you've had them run away 10 times, drag them back to their workplace one more time, and praise them twice. This way, you can get your peeps to earn money quickly, and you can promote then to master by the age of 35. it might take a few generations to get enough to renovate all the rooms, but you'll have them renovated soon enough.