How Software Helps Support the Staff

Using software to improve a cleaning operation benefits frontline staff, too. Making processes more efficient should make work simpler, and therefore, more enjoyable. So, if long-time staff are suspicious of software being brought along when they’ve gotten by just fine without all that new technology, a supervisor can ease concerns by expressing how the software will just be another tool in their cart, not a job replacer. 

“You have to share the benefits of how it's going to improve their work, improve their relationship with the supervisor, and improve the overall quality of service,” says Uresti. “We emphasize to our employees that software is not a bad thing.” 

Software can also be used to analyze employee performance. Whether that analysis uncovers good or bad habits, there’s a benefit. For example, a supervisor perplexed by the less-than-satisfactory cleaning performance of their 20-person team could use quality control software to identify performance patterns. Further analysis of documented cleaning scoring, and photographs taken over the course of several months, might show that employee ‘X’ hasn’t scored well on floor cleaning during that period, but shines in other regards. Using that data, the supervisor can demonstrate to the employee that he or she has been struggling in that particular area and take the time to show them what’s wrong with their current process. 

“I have some supervisors that will add photos to the report after visiting the area. Then they’ll go walk the area with the custodian and say, ‘Look, here's the picture I took. Here’s the issue right here.’ The benefit to this is it opens dialogue between the supervisor and the staff,” says Uresti. 

Conversely, if what the software has documented clearly shows improvements from one employee, supervisors can show them the encouraging reports and give them the praise they deserve. After all, who doesn’t like to be told they’re doing well? 

Presuming that the powers-that-be have approved the purchase of the software, the employees have embraced it as an asset, and everything is great —that means a Hollywood ending, right? That depends. Like so many things, software developed to improve cleaning operations works better the more it is utilized. 

“With software, you're going to get out what you put in,” says Uresti. “If you’re not doing inspections, you’re not going to get anything out of it. The more data you put in, the more you’re going to get out of the reports.” 

Jake Meister is a freelance writer based in Milwaukee and a former associate editor for Facility Cleaning Decisions.