A full-time cleaning staff is often too expensive for new businesses. They usually operate on tight budgets. All their time and resources must go into core business activities. However, this isn’t an excuse to keep your office dirty and disorganised. Such an environment lowers your employee morale and affects business productivity. Plus, it creates a negative impression on clients who visit your workplace. You must also consider the legal penalties for non-compliance with the WHS requirements. Outsourcing office cleaning is the best option here. It saves you from the burden of a full-time crew. Apart from being cost-effective, professional office cleaners also use the latest technology and best techniques.
8 Office Cleaning Outsourcing Benefits
The primary motivation behind outsourcing is cost savings. However, there’s more to it. For instance, commercial cleaning services are faster and more experienced. They are also well-versed in the details of cleaning standards in the Australian workplace. Thus, the results of their service can be much better than your in-house crew.
Cleaning Budget Optimisation
The average salary for a person providing cleaning or janitorial services is around $60,000/year in Australia. You need to pay them an hourly rate of $30. The amount can go up depending on your business area and the size of the facility. Consider that, a cleaning crew consists of more than one staff.
Office cleaning companies charge around the same hourly rate. However, it’s not full-time employment. You make an appointment only when you need cleaning services. This might be a weekly, monthly or quarterly arrangement depending on the conditions of your workplace. There’s no need to keep them all year round and pay a full salary. As a result, you can maintain a very minimal yet highly effective cleaning budget.
Salary isn’t the only concern with full-time employment. There are insurance and benefits too. The employees also have a right to paid time off. Recruiting, onboarding and training the cleaning staff eats away at your resources too. Outsourcing saves you from all these troubles.
Purchase and maintenance of cleaning equipment isn’t necessary when you don’t have a full-time crew. The cost of cleaning chemicals, vacuum cleaners, and floor scrubbers can quickly add up. Plus, they take up storage space. This is another reason why outsourcing is the most cost-effective cleaning solution for offices.
Professional Cleaning Expertise
One of the key differences between cleaning service providers and the average janitor is specialised knowledge.
The typical janitor might know how to use common cleaning equipment, chemicals and eco-friendly products. However, they rarely understand high-level sanitation protocols. They might not know the proper dilution methods for cleaning solutions. Knowledge of these is essential to effectively rid your workplace of disease-causing bacteria, viruses and allergens.
To the common cleaning crew, ‘sanitation’ and ‘disinfection’ don’t have much difference. They may not understand the importance of low-touch and high-touch surfaces. Meanwhile, professional services are well aware of these cleaning standards. They know that door knobs and light switches require more frequent disinfection than floors.
Brisbane Professional cleaners also know how to clean delicate IT equipment. They have the expertise to handle hazardous materials properly. You can’t expect these from the typical janitor.
Access To Advanced Cleaning Technology
Contract cleaning services invest in technology to stay ahead of the competition. Purchasing these specialised equipment isn’t feasible for the typical office. So, the only way to get access to this technology is to hire a professional office cleaner. Some of these tech include-
- Electrostatic sprayer: It’s a device that mists surfaces with disinfectant. Effective for disinfecting hard-to-reach corners.
- HEPA-Filter Vacuums: Traps the finest allergic particles that the vacuum cleaner misses. It helps maintain healthy office air quality. According to a government source, HEPA filters, rated H13 or higher, remove ≥99.9% of particles larger than 0.3 microns.
- UV-C light technology: This can kill pathogens normal disinfectants cannot.
- Steam Cleaners: Uses high-temperature steam to clean and disinfect carpet and upholstery. Steam cleaners kill 99% of bacteria and viruses with three minutes of contact at 80–100°C.
- High-Pressure Washers: Removes stubborn dirt and grime from exterior walls, sidewalks and other areas. This is useful in larger office facility management.
Increase Employee Productivity
Office hygiene has a direct effect on employee productivity. A clean pathogen-free work environment means your staff will fall ill less often. Professionals cleaners ensure the air is clean and healthy. It improves employee productivity by 11%, according to Forbes.
A disorganised and cluttered workplace has a psychological impact too. It prevents the worker from properly focusing on their work. There is disruption in the normal workflow which can cause frustration and anxiety. A dirty workplace speaks of the employer’s neglect. This can make the staff feel undervalued and demotivate them.
Professional office cleaners can use decluttering techniques to organise your work environment. They implement zone organisation, systematic sorting, space optimisation and other methods. This establishes an easy and long-lasting organising routine in your workplace.
Flexibility and Customisation
An outsourced cleaning team offers more flexibility than an in-house crew. For instance, you get flexibility in scheduling when you hire a professional cleaner. You can fix an appointment at a time of your convenience. This might be after office hours, on weekends or during off-peak periods. Thus, the cleaning never hampers the core office activities. In comparison, in-house teams have fixed cleaning hours and don’t offer such flexibility.
Scalability is another advantage of outsourcing. As your business operations grow, your office space will increase in size. Meanwhile, seasonal businesses might see their offices getting less dirty during off-peak periods. Recruiting or downsizing the cleaning crew according to your changing business demands isn’t practical. So, professional cleaners are the best solution here.
Outsourced teams also offer custom cleaning plans. They can provide services tailored to specific needs. For example, you can hire them to only take care of a mould situation. Or, maybe you need to deep clean the furniture. In contrast, in-house teams follow a generalised cleaning routine. They are usually reluctant to change or perform tasks outside of it.
Consistency In Cleaning Standards
Professional cleaners will strive to maintain the same cleaning standards every time you hire them. Otherwise, you might give them a bad review. You won’t recommend them to your friends. There is also the possibility you will look for a new office cleaning service. So, professional services work hard to maintain their standards to survive the business competition.
On the other hand, in-house cleaning staff tend to slack off after a while. They don’t feel motivated to do better or give more effort as they become complacent. There are also the matters of worker unions and contracts. You cannot readily change or fire a cleaning crew like you can outsource to a new team.
Fatigue and fluctuating workload also play a role. The in-house crew tends to be a small fixed team. So, proper work distribution often becomes difficult. Meanwhile, professional services maintain a larger pool of staff.
Compliance with Health and Safety Standards
A recent study shows that 60% of leaves are related to infectious illnesses. With expert cleaning services, you can reduce the spread of germs and infections. The Work Health and Safety Requirements (2011) Act makes office cleanliness a legal compliance issue. Authorities have become more strict about these requirements since the pandemic. Here’s an overview of what constitutes a safe working environment-
- High-touch areas should be disinfected every day. These include door knobs, light switches and common-use equipment. Failure to do so can result in infections.
- Workstations need to be free from clutter. This is essential for the mental well-being of employees.
- Clean floors are essential to prevent slipping accidents.
- The restroom must be hygienic and free from mould.
- Well-maintained kitchen and dining areas are essential to prevent food poisoning.
- Attention to air quality to prevent respiratory and allergic problems.
Suppose, an employee suffers from one of the consequences of an unhygienic workplace. The owner or responsible person will be held accountable in that case. They can face penalties like six-figure fines or imprisonment depending on the degree of negligence.
The normal cleaning crew might not be fully aware of the WHS requirements. In comparison, professional cleaners are well-versed in them. So, employers must seek their help for health risk management in the workplace.
Faster Cleaning
Professional cleaners have excellent time management skills. As a result, they can finish the tasks faster with better results. They don’t start randomly cleaning your office like an untrained cleaner. Instead, they will divide the space into zones and develop a plan. This reduces the number of unnecessary movements and redundant actions. Thus, speeding up the process.
Trained cleaners also follow ergonomic techniques. For instance, maintaining the correct posture when mopping or wiping a surface. This helps them stay fatigue-free and clean more efficiently. They don’t retrace steps since they follow efficient movement patterns. For example, cleaning from the top down. The result is shorter cleaning sessions that don’t interfere with core office activities.
Final Words
Wasting your in-house resources on office cleaning is the last thing small businesses might want to do. Even big companies can benefit from the advanced techniques professional cleaners offer. These companies can also help you fulfil your environmental responsibility. Businesses should use eco-friendly cleaning products in their office. They must also take care while disposing of the waste materials. Eco Cleaning Brisbane has been operating in the Brisbane area for more than two decades. Our experts are well-trained and experienced and adhere to eco-friendly practices during the job. We help all types of businesses and facilities at the most affordable rates. So, get in touch today.
