If your office is in a constant state of disorder, you’ll find that your employees attitudes tend to match. While office cleaning can seem like a insignificant part of your business, most of your employees appreciate when they work in a clean, fresh space. As such, when your facility is left in disarray or poorly cleaned, you are sending the message to your staff that subpar work is acceptable.
It makes a lot of sense when you think about it, if you don’t require an acceptable level of service from your commercial office cleaning company, why would you require it from your employees? An unkempt office building can also impact the financial health of your business. For instance, try attracting high performing employees with a dirty building. Odds are, they will take one look at your facility and opt to align with a company that they perceive has higher quality standards.
If you care about having top talent, an engaged employee base, as well as reduced a and attrition, it’s important to assure that your office cleaning company is doing an effective job keeping your facility looking its best.
Does your office fridge look like something that belongs in a CDC lab? Do your restrooms look and smell more like stadium restrooms than office restrooms? Is a revolving door of office cleaners netting you ineffective cleaning as they are continually in training mode? What it comes down to is, are you and your facility getting the service that you need for the price that you are paying? Is your office cleaning company being responsive in managing issues in service you bring to their attention? If your commercial cleaning company is failing to deliver on contract promises time and time again, it may be time to look for a commercial cleaning company that can really deliver value for your dollar. With any service company, they should always strive to provide work that exceeds your expectations.
As you can imagine, professional office cleaning companies are all different. So, what is the difference between a solid office cleaner and one that performs below the bar? First, the best companies understand the need for security and put into place hiring and screening processes to make sure the people that make up their staff are a good fit for your facility. Companies that are committed to delivering the highest quality of service will often pursue the CIMS certification to show their ability to work using the industries best practices.
Professional companies will also demonstrate a track record and in-depth knowledge of their industry’s best practices. They don’t only promise quality work, they have systems in place to guarantee it. No one is perfect all the time and even the best commercial cleaning companies get it wrong sometimes. The difference is that when things go wrong, they are quick to address and rectify problems.
Companies don’t just stumble into great service, there is always a plan involved. Even companies with the best intentions and the highest level of staff and equipment can’t compete with those companies that come prepared with a strategy. What good are intentions and equipment if there isn’t a clear path to implementing them. Think about it, there are so many things that can’t be done without a plan. For instance, how will your Detroit cleaning company find and keep good people? How do they create choice and set expectations for their customers with clear pricing? Are they committed to green cleaning, cleaning for health and using technology to advance their industry? Have they been awarded the CIMS certification? While it isn’t easy, asking questions will help you avoid getting saddled with a company that does not know what they are doing.
When it comes to any service business, it is their people that will make or break service. After all, the office cleaning staff, day porters, medical cleaners, janitors and other support staff are the ones directly caring for your building. As such, it is incredibly important that you commercial cleaning company work to recruit, train, and retain their staff. Ask your prospective commercial cleaning service provider how their people processes work and encourage them to show you how they have led to success. Ask about their janitorial turnover. Any company with a solid people system in place will have low janitorial turnover increasing the quality of the service you receive. Further, the companies that invest time and energy into their people will differentiate themselves from other companies by simply being better at what they do.
When looking at your list of prospective commercial cleaning companies, the largest red flag any of them can give you is a cleaning bid that isn’t well-defined in terms of both services offered and clear pricing. One of the most important things a janitorial bid allows you to do is to compare different companies side by side. So, when you receive a bid that is confusing and imprecise, it takes away your ability to do this. Further, cleaning costs often take a large portion of your budget, so it is important to know exactly where your funds are going. On top of that, companies that don’t offer a clear price point are often trying to hide fees and other upcharges, or, simply aren’t experienced enough to give a proper bid. Either way, pricing problems start of the relationship with a new cleaning company on the wrong foot and point to trouble ahead.
Proper office cleaning isn’t just cleaning a surface so that it looks clean, it is cleaning a surface so that it is clean. If your office cleaners don't understand cleaning for health, rather than just cleaning for appearance, then you and your staff are at a higher risk for contracting any of the number of communicable diseases that make the rounds. The best commercial cleaning companies understand cleaning for health, touch points, hotspots, dwell times, green cleaning and the most common forms of bacterial transmission. They take advantage of industry techniques such as color-coded cleaning cloths, procedures to avoid cross-contamination and critical health based cleaning training for all their staff. Remember, a company that properly trains their staff to clean for health can keep your building sparking and help you maintain a healthy workplace.
Finding the right commercial cleaning company for your facility is never going to be the easiest task in the world, but it can be done and better yet, it’s worth it. Getting referrals from other professionals you trust, asking the right questions and following up with your prospective cleaning and maintenance contractor can help ensure that you get a high quality service and value for your dollar. Understanding the processes the use to hire, train, and retain their staff as well as what systems they have in place to address and resolve problems is also important to consider. With a cleaning company that is right fit for your building, you will feel like you have a great partner in the care and maintenance of your facility.