One day you come in and your building looks good. You think, finally, your cleaning company has figured out how to best service your building.
Then a few days later you come in only to find major tasks incomplete. Maybe there is a new team member, you think, and you make a note to call your Michigan cleaning company.
But when you check on things a few days later, they seem to be OK again. If you are a Facilities Manager, you can probably relate to this scenario.
It can be frustrating to feel caught in the push-pull of a less-than-consistent cleaning service. You understand mistakes happen, things sometimes get overlooked, and new people may need training.
But when service is all over the place, it leaves you feeling unsatisfied. Maybe it’s not so bad that you are ready to fire them, but you still want better consistency.
Do you ever feel like getting your cleaning company to deliver consistent service is an impossible task?
If the answer is “yes,” you are not alone. Read on for three crucial steps to getting more consistent service from your Michigan cleaning services.
1) Communication Is Key
All buildings are different, no matter how much experience a cleaning company has.
As the Facilities Manager, it’s your responsibility to communicate what makes your building unique and what your priorities are, so your cleaning service can adjust the plan accordingly.
A building is a living organism, and requirements can change daily. Parties, moves, construction, or other events can shift cleaning needs on any given night.
If you communicate changes to your cleaning company, they should be able to respond quickly and adjust service that same night to accommodate your needs.
2) Systems and Procedures Are a Must
Who among us doesn’t work better with a plan?
Your Michigan cleaning service should provide detailed work plans to their staff. Anything less leaves too much to chance.
Work plans should include a schedule for each employee, outlining areas, time expectations, and the procedures each person is responsible for completing.
A well thought-out plan helps ensure everything gets covered to your specifications, including special requests.
A detailed plan also gives you and the cleaning service management a clear benchmark for accountability.
How can you assess the services you are getting if there is no standard to measure against?
When things change in your building, the plan should change too. But without a solid starting point, it becomes difficult for a cleaning service to make the right adjustments.
You should not have to build the plan on your own. A quality professional cleaning service should be able to formulate the plan with your input.
A cookie-cutter approach is unlikely to deliver the results you expect, so be prepared to voice your needs.
Even the best cleaning company in Michigan can’t meet expectations they don’t know exist.
Another key component is having systems in place to support the plan.
Good ideas and good intentions are of little use if there’s no system to ensure they translate into action.
As a Facilities Manager, you can do a lot of research to find a cleaning service with the operational strength to deliver on their promises, but it can take a great deal of time and effort.
For the typically overextended Facilities Manager, CIMS certification can be a valuable shortcut.
CIMS certification is evidence that a building services company has the management systems to support a real cleaning plan.
The ISSA, a professional organization for the building services industry, offers certifications that help separate established companies from less committed providers.
Professional certifications like CIMS can help you find stronger providers in less time.
When you choose an ISSA CIMS Certified Michigan Cleaning services company, you can feel more confident that your provider is held to higher industry standards.
The Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) program requires businesses to meet specific standards of excellence, including training and systems.
3) Remember We’re All Human
A cleaning service is only as good as its people, and people work best with systems that create clear expectations.
Great people and solid systems go hand in hand when you are looking for good cleaning services.
Companies that know how to recruit, train, and support strong staff tend to deliver better results more consistently.
When evaluating a Michigan cleaning service provider, look for businesses with a solid hiring and training plan.
Also, never underestimate the importance of mandatory drug testing and criminal background checks. These steps improve service consistency and help protect everyone involved.
Still, we are all human beings with human problems.
Even a top-performing employee who has been excellent for years may struggle later due to personal or family issues.
And even good people can burn out inside a cleaning company that has internal problems, poor management, lack of appreciation, or unfair compensation.
Finding a Michigan cleaning company that values their people and treats them fairly often translates into better service for your facility.
Tom talks about how Stathakis brought consistency to his building
A good cleaning company respects employees as individuals and will work through personal crises to support the employee while also ensuring service does not suffer in your facility.
At Stathakis, we use a philosophical approach called UBUNTU to guide how we work together as an organization of individuals. The cornerstones of Ubuntu provide a strong foundation for success.
What are some of the ideas we take from Ubuntu that help us build a great team and deliver on our promises?
We use problem-solving over blame when dealing with issues. We engage our people and our customers with civilized dialogue to identify problems quickly and resolve them.
We show respect for every individual on our team, which in turn creates expectations of the same between our team and our customers. We cooperate, collaborate, and work to develop the full potential of our people.
Likewise, we offer fair compensation, real rewards for performance , benefits that make long-term hires possible, and the_toggle feedback needed to bring out the best in our team.
Getting good cleaning service is subjective based on your needs and the people your cleaning company assigns to your building.
That means there is always a chance something won’t go exactly as planned. Issues will arise sometimes, and mistakes happen.
The bigger question is: how does your cleaning company respond when something goes wrong?
Do you get the sense they care about doing a good job?
Do they have the systems in place to turn that positive intention into consistent action?
Any business built on people and service is bound to have bumps in the road.
But a strong Michigan cleaning services company will be committed to hiring the right people and building the right systems to deliver solid, consistent results for you and your facility.
