Top Ten Unanticipated Costs of In-House Cleaning Services

More companies are outsourcing their cleaning services to professional maintenance companies. Why? There is an immediate and obvious impact on the bottom line, but there are other long-term and not so obvious costs involved with trying to juggle your cleaning services. Anyone running a successful business understands that most people couldn't even begin to guess at what is involved in the day to day operations of their business. Until you have done it first hand, it is difficult to prepare for how much work is involved in any successful business. Trying to manage the cleaning and maintenance of your own facilities is essentially like trying to run a small business within your existing business. So what are the real costs of taking your cleaning services in-house?

Top 10 Added Costs of Keeping or Taking Your Cleaning Services In-House 

1.Equipment & Supplies
It takes money and time to find, price, negotiate, purchase, maintain, store & secure equipment. Then there are cleaning supplies and daily use items like soap, hand towels and toilet paper. You'll need to task someone with purchasing, storing, securing, stocking and replenishing these things.

2.The Real Cost of an Employee
The cost of an employee goes well beyond payroll. Are you ready to recruit, interview, conduct background checks, hire, train & discipline maintenance employees? With the minimum wage and low skilled workers often employed in janitorial work, managing this group has unique challenges that might be new to you or to your human resources department. You must also be prepared to manage the administration of payroll, vacation, benefits, social security, unemployment & worker's compensation.

3.Think You Might Get an Existing Employee to Do It? Think Again.
Individuals want to do the job they were hired for. Right or wrong, cleaning and maintenance tasks are not seen as important to employees hired for other work. Even if you try to spread the around, be prepared for low morale, push back, lack of accountability, absenteeism, higher employee turnover and dirty facilities. 

4.Get Ready To Learn All About Compliance 
Most of us don't delight in the ins and outs of the compliance issues associated with our respective industries. If you go it on your own, this responsibility falls squarely on your shoulders.

5.Put Your Company Lawyer on Speed Dial
Liability, indemnification, slip and falls, oh my! There are insurance and liability issues that go with maintenance tasks and the people that perform them. Legal advice and protection is expensive but necessary to protect you and your organization. 

6.PPACA Adds Another Layer of Complication & Cost
PPACA(commonly referred to as Obamacare) adds to the cost of an employee with added health coverage requirements for many employers.

7.We Have An Emergency, Now What?
When you go it alone, you leave yourself unprepared for a maintenance emergency which translates into big money in damage or premium priced, last minute service calls.

8.What Do You Mean the Report Isn't Done?
Trying to handle the maintenance on your own directs the time and resources of you, managers, and staff away from activities that will directly contribute to your bottom line.

9.Trash is Overflowing & We Have No Toilet Paper, Now What?
When the job isn't getting done, you have a problem that isn't fixed with a phone call to your contracted cleaning services company.

10.More Money, More Headaches
Do the math and you'll find that in-sourcing can be significantly more money when you add all the factors in and certainly more problematic with the additional layer of responsibility it entails.

Most organizations would see significant benefits from outsourcing their cleaning services to a reputable, professional cleaning and janitorial service.