If you manage, run, or own an office, you know
how hectic the cleanliness and maintenance of
the spaces in a building can be. Unless you rent
or own the entire building, the landlord will
expect you as the tenant to clean and maintain
your rented office space. On their part, your
landlord will clean the common areas like the
public rest rooms, hallways, elevators, and
lobbies. As a manager or business owner needing
to keep the office clean, there are two options:
hire in-house staff or hire an office cleaner.
Depending on your needs, you can find persons to
employ or contract out the cleaning functions of
the office. The following are the pros and cons
of hiring of hiring an office cleaner.
Pros
1. Cost Savings – According to the International
Facility Management Association, it costs up to
25% more to hire in-house office cleaners as
opposed to hiring contractors. Moreover, when
you hire a cleaner, they will work according to
your budget by tailoring their cleaning service
offerings to fit your requirements. This makes
it easier to manage resources and control costs,
unlike with in-house cleaners whose cost is for
the most part fixed. Moreover, with an
outsourced office cleaner, you reduce human
resource expenses of assigning job tasks,
monitoring quality, interviewing and appointing
staff.
2. Training – When outsourcing office cleaning,
you can be confident that the employees are
highly trained in aspects of safety, general
health, usage of equipment and storage of
dangerous cleaning materials. This is as opposed
to in-house cleaners that may require training.
In addition, their inexperience may result in
injuries that may result in liabilities and
injury claims. Besides, given that the office
cleaning company buys equipment and cleaning
materials in bulk, you get to enjoy volume
discounts.
3. Better Quality of Work – In-house cleaners
are typically inexperienced and untrained
employees that will not offer top quality work.
Conversely, contract office cleaners will
typically be highly trained in how to clean and
disinfect different spaces of the office and its
auxiliary components such as elevators and
lavatories. Given that contract cleaners may be
required to have certain licenses and
certifications, you can be confident that your
office will be a cleaner and more hygienic
place.
4. Gain Access to the Latest Technology – With
contracted office cleaners you have access to
the latest in cleaning materials and equipment.
Since contractors typically work for many other
offices, they know the latest trends in
equipment, cleaning detergents, and cleaning
methods that will ensure you get the best clean
that you can.
5. Service Level Agreements – When you hire an
office cleaning contractor you know upfront what
to expect from them. The mutually agreed
contract will typically include your
expectations of service. Since the contractor
understands your office needs and agrees to
fulfil them, it would be easy to conduct regular
reviews and even offer suggestions and
recommendations for modifications. With in-house
employees, the tendency to become lax is
greater, since the risk of losing their jobs for
not fulfilling expectations is lower.
6. Continuity of Service – With in-house office
cleaners, the frequency of disruption of service
is greater. For instance, if the cleaner goes
missing, is ill, or goes on leave, the other
cleaners may not be competent enough to perform
their task particularly if it was a specialized
one. However, if you hire an office cleaner,
they would likely have many experienced persons
that would fill in for any specialized tasks
thus ensuring continuity.
Cons
1. Poor Communication and Customer Service –
While you could talk to the person in charge of
the company that contracted the office cleaners,
you should expect poor communication and
customer service. Since most cleaners for hire
work for big cleaning companies, the head office
may not have time to listen to your concerns or
communicate with you as much as you would
prefer. This is dissimilar to in-house cleaners
that you could talk to and instruct at any time.
2. Strangers in the Office – When hiring an
office cleaner, you will be bringing a stranger
into your business premises. While you can
always perform background checks on in-house
employees, you will likely know very little
about the contracted cleaners, potentially
exposing yourself to theft of office equipment
and business secrets.
3. Little Control over Cleaning Methods and
Techniques – You can train your in-house office
cleaners to clean your office according to your
most preferred methods and techniques. With so
little control over a contractor, they will
likely be more inclined to clean your office
according to their parent company manuals and
training. These techniques may inconvenience
your employees or create a poor working
environment at the office.
4. Lack of Flexibility – Most office cleaning
contracts tie you down to long-term contracts
that can last for up to 2 years. Since you do
not know your office cleaner, that well and have
little control over them, you could be
uncomfortable, and uneasy being tied down to
such a long contract. Moreover, if the service
deteriorates during the period of the contract,
you will not be able to do anything other than
wait for it to run down.
5. Lack of Motivation – When you hire an office
cleaner from outside the organization, you will
typically have very little to do with motivating
them. Most of the aspects to do with motivation
such as bonuses and pay rises will typically
rest with their parent company. As such, even if
a cleaner did a good job, you would not be able
to motivate them and make them better, unlike
what you would do with in-house staff.
6. No Control over Job Assignment – Most of the
time your hired office cleaners will come with
supervisors that are in charge of the assigning
of tasks and workspaces. While you are the
person receiving the service, you may never be
allowed to voice your opinion on which worker
should work where or do what job. For instance,
the supervisor assigns one worker to work
lavatories and another to work the manager’s
office without asking for any input from you.
With in-house employees, you can shuffle your
employees around, to enhance your office
effectiveness without needing to consult anyone.
Overall, the pros of hiring an office cleaner
are more significant than the cons. If you were
to hire an office cleaner, the cost, experience,
and expertise that you would get means that you
can overlook the few inconveniences that such a
move presents. The greater effectiveness of
outsourcing such a key component will allow you
to focus on tasks that are more important.
