So you walk through the front door......
of your lobby, early this morning and you start to notice little things.
Fingerprints on the glass and the carpet seem like there is some sand on it. At first, you do not make much of what you saw. It’s early and you have a full day ahead of you.
You head to your office … answer the pile of emails your inbox has presented to you, then head to the restroom before your 8 AM team meeting.
Again you notice some things are just not right …the garbage is ¾ full, the mirrors have watermarks on them and there is no soap in one the dispensers. You then ask yourself … “Why are we paying for a commercial janitorial to come in every night?”
Facilities managers and executives see these issues every day. In fact … the entire company notices these issues every day. It is all too common of a problem for our industry.
Commercial cleaning companies all too often sell the idea of 5 nights a week cleaning to ensure your company looks great, only to fail a few months into the contract.
The top three reasons your cleaners are leaving your building is dirty:
Lack of training and systems
Janitorial companies need to have detailed training and skill certification with all levels of their crews. This include the cleaners, supervisors and the managers. Detailed written training programs, OSHA certifications, client onboarding orientation with each site and written nightly checklists are just the beginning of the commercial cleaning company you hire.
Little to no supervision of cleaning crews
Who is in charge of the cleaning crew onsite at your company? Do you have a working lead cleaner who is managing the cleaning team each night? Does that working lead have a local field supervisor who can be onsite in 30 minutes to resolve the issues that arise?
In most commercial cleaning companies the answer to these questions is NO. Too often commercial cleaning companies bid the work so low … there is no budget for supervision. This leads to small problems that can often escalate into “SITUATIONS” and you end up with a building that is just not clean.
No quality control inspections
Having a third person … systematically walk through your office on a scheduled basis, looking for cleaning issues is critical to keeping your business clean. The best practices, used by top commercial cleaning companies, have inspections which are documented with pictures, dates, and details. These reports shared with the supervisors, working leads and the cleaning crew. Collectively they come up and implement corrective actions to ensure that the problems are solved and do not happen again.
Keeping your building clean requires Systems, Supervision and Inspection. Three simple ideas that challenge most cleaning companies.