Day and Night

Undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge in the 17th century were expected to write exercises on topics that were considered impossible to prove. The exercises were called prolusions. A popular prolusion topic was, “Day is more excellent than night.”

When the exercise was finished, the student would then be assigned to write why on the topic, “Night is more excellent than day.”

A similar debate has been underway in the cleaning industry for many years, and has been especially prominent in the last few: What is the more excellent time to clean?

The driving forces
Some industry experts feel rising energy costs and a labor shortage will combine to make the practice of cleaning at night untenable and force a switch to daytime cleaning. Several articles and presentations in the past few months have evangelized the notion that day cleaning is the only way to face the future. One expert predicted, in a panel discussion we shared, that if you didn’t make the day change you’d be out of business in the next few years. Wow!

Many, if not most, organizations already are doing day cleaning and have been from day one. Schools come to mind. Nearly all K-12 schools are day cleaned. Generally speaking, universities do most cleaning during the day on first and second shift. In-house operations in healthcare, churches and the military clean primarily during the day.

So should building service contractors — probably the largest industry segment still cleaning primarily at night — go out and talk customers into changing from the night shift because we don’t want to be put out of business?

I’d wait and watch it develop for several reasons. Proponents of the switch to day cleaning argue lower energy and labor costs. In most BSC- cleaned environments, putting energy and cleaning labor ahead of the function of the business make for an upside-down economy.

Businesses serve customers. Workers enable the business to serve customers. The cleaning workers used by BSCs are there to support and help the business function, not the other way around.

Hidden costs
Day cleaning might help reduce some energy costs because the lights will not have to be on at night to accommodate janitors, although by team cleaning you can greatly reduce energy use anyway. But those lower costs will most likely be seen by the customer only, not the BSC. And while hiring and retaining cleaners to work during the day might be easier, BSCs could lose some of their really good employees who use the night shift as a second job.

When BSCs consider the costs of switching to day cleaning, they need to think about buying new, quieter equipment as well as how working around customers will impact productivity.

But the biggest drawback may be what it does to the dynamics of your relationships with customers. Proponents of day cleaning believe less supervision is needed, because all of the building’s occupants can see the workers and make sure they are doing a good job.

But then, the customer relationship will shift away from the BSC and toward the front-end janitors. The customers who know and supervise them will protect their favorite cleaning workers. These relationships will be deeper and more personal than the relationship with you.

It’s also possible clients may feel that they are managing your workforce, since they see cleaning workers regularly and may even give them assignments. Customers may believe they are doing the job they hired you to do, and then wonder why they just don’t bring cleaning in-house. Not exactly a growth strategy for the BSC.

Decisions, decisions
Sometimes, though, having workers in the building during the day gives the customer the impression of personal service, which can outweigh some of the negatives.

Combining day and night schedules may give contractors the best of both worlds. Many BSCs effectively use a day porter, who can perform some cleaning tasks, such as restocking paper, spot-cleaning restrooms and immediately addressing spills. Most of these tasks are done easily and with minimal interruption to daily work functions. Then, a full crew comes at night.

Another compromise might be using an early morning, afternoon or evening crew instead of a third-shift team, depending on the building’s occupancy patterns. If an office building generally clears out by 5 p.m., an overnight shift may not be necessary. A building that’s fully staffed around the clock, such as a military installation or call center, may be extremely flexible in its cleaning schedule, and day cleaning may be a natural fit there.

Some zone cleaners, too, can come in during the day if their area has minimal traffic at a certain time. However, team cleaners will find work difficult if the building is occupied, because they often will be interrupted and will have to come back later to finish tasks.

Most importantly, work when it’s safest for both the janitor and building occupants. My fundamental rule is it is faster, easier and safer to clean when the building is empty. Wet floors, equipment noise, chemical exposure and even a trailing machine cord can all be hazards; minimizing exposure translates to minimizing risk.

Remember, the cost of cleaning is a small part of your customer’s total cost of doing business. Whether you believe day or night cleaning is “more excellent,” make sure the schedule compliments, not complicates, how your client does business.