If you are one of the few remaining businesses who employ their own cleaners to keep the office looking good, perhaps it is time you reconsidered. If you have had a team of cleaners for some time you may not realise the extra costs, over and above wages, that you are probably incurring. It is worth looking at the bottom line because office cleaning services are priced to be affordable and come with many advantages

How big is your staff?

Certain employment rules apply only when your staff is over a certain size, so it is worth considering savings in employers’ liability insurance and other costs if your cleaning staff are what takes you over a threshold. Office cleaning services are hired as a whole; you are not the employer of anyone who comes to clean for you. For some companies, this alone makes it worthwhile taking on outside contractors, but there are other major savings to be made.

Latest Cleaning Equipment

It is amazing how many offices expect the cleaning staff to do a perfect job with a domestic vacuum cleaner and a couple of dusters. An office cleaning services company will have only the very best equipment and can sail through the work in half the time, doing a better job while they are at it. This is especially useful if your office keeps long hours – no one wants to work into the night to the drone of a clapped-out hoover. By having professionals on the task, not only will the environment be much cleaner, they can be in and out much more quickly, causing less disruption and keeping productivity up.

Always working, never off sick or on holiday

If you employ two cleaners, there will be a minimum of eight weeks a year when you only have one – and that’s just allowing for annual leave. When you add in a couple of weeks for sick leave, you could be looking at 20% of the year covered at half strength. When you employ office cleaning services, you will always have the right number of staff on the job for you, with no reduction in standards or extra time taken. Also, you won’t have to consider things like maternity leave or extended time off. Although you might feel that your cleaners don’t cost you much, when you look at the bottom line you might need to consider whether you can afford not to have professional office cleaning services instead.

The European Committee for Standardisation defines facility management as being an “integration of processes” with the aim of maintaining and developing services in an organisation to “improve the effectiveness” of its primary functions. Quite simply, it is needed to ensure staff have high-quality facilities and that the business is working efficiently in its support functions.

Health and safety

First and foremost, facilities management is the most effective strategy for increasing health and safety standards that are then maintained in the longer-term. Those who are skilled in the area will ensure an organisation is fully compliant with all health and safety regulations to cover employees, visitors and the general public.

Health and safety staff will perform routine checks to ensure that all standards are currently being met. Where necessary, these staff members will be responsible for implementing changes to increase standards. Their duties will also require them to respond accordingly if an emergency ever occurs.

Cleaning duties

Regular cleaning work is needed for any office or premises. Depending on the workforce and activities performed there, some facilities will need more cleaning to be performed than others. For example, a large office will require daily cleaning, whereas a small office might only need one or two days a week.

In terms of scope, a facilities management company can ensure all cleaning work is handled. Commonly, this would include the cleaning of floors, carpets, windows and work areas. Meanwhile, more specialised sanitation efforts are taken to keep bathrooms consistently hygienic.

Routine maintenance

No workplace can be fit for staff without receiving on-going maintenance and, when needed, repair work. For instance, the facility management team has to keep a close eye throughout the premises to see when light bulbs need to be replaced, or when an entire unit has failed. Maintenance work will also entail the checking of appliances and equipment to verify that it is safe and functional.

Catering duties

For premises with on-site catering, it is essential to have consistent cleaning to guarantee that all food is prepared safely in hygienic conditions. Skilled cleaners have high-quality equipment and products that will give catering staff the cleanest possible environment to work within, thus maintaining the health of the workforce in the process.

Organisational efficiency

In a business, it is vital that the entire organisation works efficiently. Otherwise, there is a risk of quality standards diminishing and the business incurring greater costs than it should be paying. By tasking a facilities manager to oversee the above areas, their efforts can help to reduce costs by transitioning the organisation to become proactive rather than reactive. When things run smoothly, the costs are lower and efficiency improves.

The benefits of facilities management

To round up what has been discussed, it will help to have a recap of the wider benefits that can be obtained from facilities management. Overall, these can include:

• Spend money more efficiently
• Reduce operational costs
• Maintain the effectiveness of equipment
• Lengthen the lifespan of working capital
• Complete repair work quicker with on-site personnel
• Meet health and safety compliance for every inspection

NECS Cleaning helps UK businesses improve their operational efficiency. Contact us here to discover how we can help your organisation.