Not just another place to cut costs!
When it comes to cutting facility budgets (and who broke or stole the item from the conference room) for some reason the finger always gets pointed at the cleaning company. This is nothing new and has been one of the biggest problems facing cleaning company management teams for years. However, in reality the cleaning contract is one of the last places that should be considered when looking to cut a budget. The problem is that facilities managers and directors don’t have enough facts presented to them to back that theory up… that is, until now. It’s about time cleaning should be looked at as the profit center it truly is, instead of a major cost.
Cleaning is an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line. It is most importantly your best defense versus infection and reduces risk of transmission. With cut-rate cleaning companies, no cleaning company at all, or slacking in-house cleaning staff, quality is sacrificed and bacteria and viruses are more apt to grow. This quickly translates into sick employees, where based on studies from the International Sanitary Supply Association, cost a company $6-9k per year per employee based on 7.7 sick days. To put this into perspective an average of 2,000 people in work-fields are hospitalized for influenza each year.
Cleaner air and surfaces rid of allergens are also known to improve workplace productivity dramatically. Dust exposure to your employees causes a 2-6% decrease in cognitive skills (typing, memory, logical reasoning, and creative thinking), whereas cold/flu symptoms cause a 3-8% loss of overall performance. The most common places with levels of high contamination are desk phones, keyboards, computer mice, faucets, vending machine buttons, and door handles. If you like numbers, check this out: a 2-8% increase in productivity in a 100-associate office with an average salary of $25,000 annually equates to $125,000 in savings (ISSA.com/value). To end on a high note, an average of only 49% of people wash their hands after they use the restroom in their place of work; but who needs cleaners?
