Commercial Cleaning: When Do You Need It?

Picture this: you're walking around your facilities. Your employees are hard at work and you have plenty of business. But something's amiss. Your building looks awful. From coffee rings on desks to stains in the carpets to cobwebs in the ceiling corners, you begin to realize something has to give to get your building looking presentable again; But how should you go about this? Well, if this sounds familiar to you, then stick around as I discuss the several ways to implement cleaning into your workflow.

---

For starters, it's important to introduce the two different categories of cleaners, which are in-house janitors and outsourced labor. The former is someone that you hire, train, insure, etc., under your company as your employee. You pay them a salary and they perform the cleaning tasks you need them to do. The latter, however, is a cleaner that operates independently. They are responsible for their own training, equipment, insurance, and internal systems. This can either be a sole proprietor or a larger company.

Now that we're familiar with the two different methods of hiring cleaners, let's look at the pro's and con's of both, as well as different ways to implement these methods:

When it comes to both in-house and outsourced cleaning, the way you approach it depends on the size of your company. With in-house cleaning, one option is to delegate cleaning tasks to employees you already have (such as having each person clean their own desk, assign some people to clean bathrooms and others to vacuum, and so on). This option has benefits in that it reduces costs (you don't have to hire an additional employee) but it can be detrimental if your staff lacks cleaning experience or by decreasing employee morale due to increased workflow. Additionally you will have to buy equipment and train your employees.

Alternatively, you could hire a part-time or full-time janitor. This is more common in bigger facilities. This way you take the work load off of your other employees so that they can focus on their specific tasks. However, you still have to pay for equipment, training, and now an additional salary.

Let us now consider the second method: outsourcing. As stated previously, your approach will differ depending on the size of your facilities. For smaller and medium-sized companies, having a commercial cleaning crew work on your building is most likely the best option. This can have benefits in that you don't have to hire, train, and supply employees. Commercial cleaners also typically have flexible hours, so they won't bother you when you're working. One downside to consider, however, is that it will generally cost more than if you or your employees do it yourself.

If you run a larger facility, you may want to consider a day porter. A day porter is an employee of a third-party company. The company trains and supplies them with the proper equipment, and then has them work on your property for a fixed hourly rate. As opposed to typical commercial cleaners, the work isn't priced per clean, but per hour. You are responsible for giving as many tasks as you wish to the day porter to perform throughout the day. In this sense, you are essentially paying for a janitor without going through the hassle of acquiring one yourself. This has many benefits, especially for large buildings and high traffic facilities that need repeated cleaning throughout the day, but could cost more than hiring a janitor yourself.

Overall, there are many different options for building owners and managers to pursue when it comes to keeping their facilities looking spick and span. Make sure to analyze your current systems and see if cleaning is something you can incorporate into your own schedule, or if you'd rather let that task be handled by a third party. And if you're business happens to be in Southeastern Pennsylvania, give us a call, we'd be happy to walk through your facility with you and see how we can help.

(610) 719-7590 • mike@shearerpm.com