Good Company Culture Helps Keep Cleaners Around

It’s not always the manager’s fault employees leave. Other co-workers could be causing the problem, which is another reason cited for resignation by janitors. That’s why it’s critical to improve the overall culture of a company.

The problem with poor company culture is that it serves as a Petri dish of sorts where bad characteristics are allowed to grow. These less appealing things throw off the value of a job. Like bacteria, if too many of bad characteristics pop up, a place of employment is spoiled to the point that it’s no longer worth the pay.

Kruse says he learned there were problems at Scioto that made the $10 an hour the employee was earning feel more like $8 — the wrong choices were messing with the value of the dollar.

“There were things that we were doing or not doing that made the $10 an hour not worth it,” says Kruse of Scioto. “It wasn’t the pay, it was the things they had to do or not do for the pay. And that’s what we can control.”

If a company endeavors to improve retention, BSCs should discover the type of culture they want to establish, says Garrett. After that, they should discover their actual culture via an honest assessment, and then work to fill the voids.

“When done correctly, this assessment will give the organization a gap analysis of the desired state versus the actual state,” says Garrett. “This gap analysis then can be used to drive improvement efforts towards creating the desired culture.”

Once the desired culture is put in place, the value of the job will rise, resulting in restored balance to the employer-employee relationship.

“Essentially, the concept is that this is a business transaction with an inherent value equation,” says Kruse. “The employee’s currency is time, emotions and commitment. The employer’s currency is more than just pay — it is a work environment that supports a culture that says what the employees do is important and they matter. We care about them more than just their work output.”