Cleaning employee concept

As many business owners have experienced over the last few years, the perception of cleanliness is often just as critical to successful operations as the actual cleaning itself. The challenges facing BSC’s are numerous and varied; a challenging hiring climate making it difficult to attract and/or retain workers, the training process often interrupted by no-shows and disappearing employees, tricky scheduling concerns due to partially occupied office buildings, and supply chain woes wreaking havoc on any attempt to maintain regular processes.

To this end, clients are often most concerned with creating the impression of cleanliness for both occupants and visitors. Quality assurance is one of the most important components of any cleaning agreement: what needs to be done, how long will it take, and how does one prove that it’s clean to the desired standards? Often, quality assurance (QA) is yet another step in the process. There are a number of ways to keep track of what kind of job workers are doing and ensure both 

1. Various training courses and certifications: this method of focusing on the quality of a task performed starts right in-house, and for that reason, is one of the more proactive methods that managers can implement when it comes to ensuring that their staff are meeting company standards. Train them thoroughly, developing a course of study that incorporates the desired goals into the process from the first step. Knowing how to use equipment efficiently and effectively, with a sense of safety and awareness, makes every job a little easier; and ensures that workers are meeting standards without even thinking about it.  

2. Technology: The world of commercial cleaning is currently in the midst of widely embracing technology at unprecedented rates.  No matter what the task at-hand is, there’s likely a new tool or app on the market that can help make sure it’s done quickly and correctly. Mobile apps give cleaners the ability to monitor their progress in real-time, ensuring no steps are forgotten, and the act of working through a set routine lets managers know exactly what has and hasn’t been done.  

3. Customer feedback: It may sound simple, and that’s because it is: make sure to ask the client exactly what they expect. Knowing what they value when it comes to completing the job goes a long way when it comes to planning schedules, training workers, selecting equipment and products, and developing a process. If a client seems to value clean bathroom mirrors, for example, make sure to send in an employee with the proper tools and training to ensure that task is done thoroughly. Make certain that the easy wins are achieved and work down from there.  

4. Track metrics: With the increased adoption of technology comes increased accessibility to feedback mechanisms. Develop a set of standards by which to evaluate the performance of teams in different environments. Having benchmarks for customer satisfaction, successful completion rates, response times and more can provide tangible data with which to make adjustments and improvements to each process.  

5. Site inspections: For all the newly available technology, though, it’s hard to beat the human eye. With experience and knowledge of the desired benchmarks, managers should be able to visit any of their sites and get an immediate sense of how well the tasks are being performed and offers the opportunity to provide immediate feedback and suggestions that can improve quality right away.  

Jackson Silvanik is the Managing Editor for Contracting Profits, and lives and works in Lexington, Kentucky. He joined Trade Press Media in 2021 and also edits and writes for Facility Cleaning Decisions, Sanitary Maintenance and CleanLink.com.