It’s a decision most businesses have to make at some point. Do you leave cleaning to an internal team, or hire outside help?
There’s no question that it’s an important choice to make - after all, Harvard Business Review says that “an untidy working space can dramatically reduce an employee's productivity and willingness to persist with tasks.”
There are many reasons why hiring commercial cleaning services is a gamechanger. We’ve listed them here to help you make the decision more easily.
Benefits of Commercial Cleaning Companies
There are many reasons to outsource cleaning tasks, especially to a professional cleaning company with a lot of experience.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important:
Keep Things Simple
Having an external company focus on your cleaning means your internal employees have fewer different tasks and competencies to focus on. This means they are likely to perform better at the job you hired them for. Your sales team should be focusing on selling 100% of the time, for example, not spending half an hour at the end of each day cleaning up their department.
Having a specialised team dedicated to cleaning means nobody else needs to worry about it, and that can only result in a huge boost to productivity across the entire organisation.
Improved Standards
This might be the most obvious benefit on our list, but it’s probably the most important, too. Cleaning companies like phs have decades of experience and hundreds of clients under their belts, so you can rest assured that every task will be completed comprehensively, hygienically, and to the highest standard.
phs’ specialist cleaning staff are highly trained in all forms of commercial cleaning (including covid safe cleaning) and passionate about doing the job properly.
Improved Standards Mean Improved Productivity
The point above isn’t just a benefit for its own sake, however. A cleaner workplace means clients, potential clients and other visitors feel more welcome, and get a more positive first impression. It also means employees are happier and more proud of their workplace, which has been proven to translate into more productivity and higher workplace engagement.
Flexible, Scalable Services
Your existing employees already have their scheduled hours. They also have numerous tasks to complete within these hours. This means the amount of time dedicated to cleaning will be limited. This can also be disrupted if they have a large workload or during the busier months where their focus will be on their job and cleaning is likely to be the first thing to take a back seat.
Professional cleaners have no reason to worry about any of this. They can enter the premises to complete their tasks at any time, including when employees aren’t around. They can work full days with no distractions. You can even call in additional cleaners if an accident or spill makes it necessary, or less when things are under control.
Whether you’re a small office needing an hour or two of cleaning per week, or a multistorey building needing a full time team, cleaning services are available to fulfill your needs.
Economical
When weighing up this list of benefits, it may be tempting to think the main/only downside is cost. In reality, this could be a reason to outsource. Professional cleaning staff are likely to be paid more than internal staff. However, the results make this investment more than worthwhile. Firstly, cleaning will be done more comprehensively, more correctly, and workplaces will remain cleaner for longer.
Secondly, allowing your employees to focus all of their energy on their everyday tasks is likely to make your business perform better and grow more quickly.
Lastly, the reduction in staff sickness, absence and healthcare costs will save even more money, making commercial cleaning teams one of the best investments you’ll make.
Simple to Stick to Specific Standards
You may feel that you require your cleaning to be held to a very specific or unique standard.
For example, maybe you’re concerned that your washroom is a potential covid risk and should be kept sterilized at all times. Or maybe it’s something as simple as wanting to only use eco-friendly cleaning products.
Cleaning companies like phs can stick to any of these standards with ease, and even have stocks of all varieties of cleaning products ready for such an occurrence.
We also have a full time covid response cleaning service able to carry out emergency related tasks rapidly and efficiently, something that is very unlikely to be possible with an internal cleaning team.
Insurance and Liability
If a cleaning service works on your premises, they have the trained staff and insurance to take over all responsibility for cleanliness and safety. Since they are well aware of this, they will work hard to maintain all necessary standards.
When internal employees handle cleaning, all of this becomes your responsibility, leading to huge insurance bills and potential lawsuits.
Quicker & More Complete Services
Professional cleaning agencies have access to specialised equipment like jet washes, booms for high level cleaning, etc. This means that in more difficult cases, you can get more cleaning done in less time.
A cleaning agency will want to make everything go as smoothly as possible for you, meaning the team member can enter the premises, carry out the task and leave without any interruption to your daily routine.
To equip an internal cleaning team in a similar way would be a huge investment with little to no benefit.
Less Distractions
Mess, litter and clutter can cause huge distractions in the workplace. One person causing a spill or leaving a mess behind can distract the whole room or encourage already busy employees to clean up after them. This is even more likely if they know they will be held responsible and that nobody else is available to clean.
On the other hand, if they know a professional cleaning company is at hand and reliable, they will more than likely ignore the mess entirely, safe in the knowledge that it will be cleaned soon.
phs is the UK’s leading provider of commercial cleaning services, from schools and hospitals to office buildings and government property.
Our operatives are the most highly trained in the country and able to handle any or all cleaning tasks, from standard office cleaning to specialised tasks such as high level window cleaning, covid cleaning and more.
To learn more about how we can save you money and time and help you grow your business all at once, contact us now!
