Facility managers are aware of the necessity of professional cleaning services within an organization, but very often deep cleaning is seen as a grudge purchase for mainly two reasons
- It can be quite disruptive to the normal workings of the business which affects production and inconveniences staff, and
- It usually comes with quite a hefty price tag.
For these reasons deep cleaning is often delayed for as long as possible. As a facility manager you may be familiar with some of these phrases; “We cant afford the downtime, lets just plan it for December.” or perhaps “Sales have been down for the past quarter, those funds can be better used elsewhere, the carpets are thaaat bad.”
Most of the time deep cleaning feels like an expense that offers little to no return. It is our hope that by the end of this article we would have been able to change that mindset and show you that when done by the right company, at the right intervals, the return of investment in deep cleaning is real.
I am going to discuss three different ways deep cleaning done right can be an asset to a business instead of a liability on the balance sheet.
The HR benefit
There are actually 2 benefits of deep cleaning when it comes to human resources, let me explain.
The bottom line benefit –
Human resources are one of the vital organs of a business structure and often one of the largest expenses for the organization. Even small upsets in the HR apple cart of a company can have significant cost implications over a period of time. Take sick leave as an example, each staff member is allowed between 33 and 36 days paid sick leave every 3 years worked as per government regulations, but its not only that day’s wage you lose, it costs the company the production from that employee too, so for each day a staff member is off sick there is a double financial implication for the company to absorb. I’m sure that with some quick calculations it would be obvious that potentially reducing the number of sick days your staff take will bring value to your bottom line. Keeping the carpets clean is one way you can achieve this and maintain a healthy work environment by improving the air quality because carpets act as air filters by trapping dust, pollen, airborne allergens, and bacteria in their fibers but once the fibers are “full” those particles remain airborne and are inhaled by those in the facility.
The second fold of the is a staff moral benefit –
Its commonly known and accepted that people who feel appreciated will do more than is expected of them and they will do their work more willingly. Having office spaces deep cleaned goes along way to improve the employees comfort levels at work and the ripple effect is happier staff. So clean carpets improve the mood of the collective staff, now imagine for a moment how much more appreciated the staff would feel if each of their individual office chairs were deep cleaned. It’s a completely different message the staff members get. My employer doesn’t just care about the collective, they care about my personal well-being, with a small add on to your normal cleaning regime you all of a sudden have a staff complement that feels personally cared for.
The Sales benefit
Another well-known phrase is that first impressions last, however I like to paraphrase it slightly differently, I believe first impressions last the longest but every impression has an impact, they aren’t called impressions for nothing.
Imagine meeting a prospective or existing client and the board of directors show up wearing creased suits with evidence of their bacon and egg brekkie on their button-down shirt…. Not in a million years right…. If your boardroom carpets and chairs have evidence of last week’s coffee spills and an accumulation of exco meeting snack scrapes you might as well save on the dry cleaning costs of your suits because the impression you leave won’t be much different. You need to present your offices with the same level of professionalism as you would yourself. Cleanliness is one of the fundamentals in our hierarchy of needs and when doing business your workplace cleanliness speaks volumes to guests and visitors about how the rest of the organization is run.
The return on investment discussed in the first 2 benefits above have short turn around times and the effects can be felt almost immediately but there is a long term return on investment to deep cleaning done right and regularly that cant be ignored and that is…..
The Budget benefit
It is a fact that by having your carpets and upholstery deep cleaned professionally and at the recommended intervals you can extend their lifespan significantly. Which is where the long-term return on investment becomes obvious. The better you care for the carpets and upholstery in your offices the longer they will last, and at the cost and inconvenience of replacing carpets wouldn’t you much rather push that expense down the line as long as possible by not skipping the smaller expense and lesser inconvenience of regular deep cleaning?
Just like any worthwhile investment, consistency is key. When you invest consistently the return on your investment compounds. Which begs the question how often should deep cleaning be done? Best practice recommends that for high traffic areas like call centers, corridors and reception areas deep cleaning should be done quarterly and for other less frequented areas like private offices and boardrooms semi-annually deep cleaning is sufficient.
My hope is that through this article a shift has started to happen in the way facility managers view deep cleaning from a necessary evil to a rewarding investment with both short term and long term pay offs.
The last decision left for you is who are you going to invest with? The dirt cheapest quote or a professional company that has been around for longer than a decade with extensive knowledge of the cleaning process and chemicals needed to get the best results and give you the maximum ROI.
For professional deep cleaning done right, give Ausum a call.
