Hiring the right commercial cleaning company is not as easy as it may first seem; especially if you’ve never done it before. Finding and hiring the right company in the Chicago are, can be an asset to your organization and save you headaches down the road. Additionally, establishing and maintaining that relationship ensures you have long-lasting resources when issues such as sanitizing and maintenance come into play. One of the largest challenge in the cleaning company selection process is that there are just too many cleaning companies servicing the Chicago area. And, they vary tremendously in terms of capabilities and professionalism. Sadly, too many would also go to any length or tell you anything to get you to hire them. This alone makes the process of selecting a good commercial cleaning company an even harder. Before searching for a suitable cleaning, janitorial or facility maintenance company, you should carry out an in-depth analysis of your facility and its cleaning needs. Factor in your organization’s ability to scale, and understand what cleaning and maintenance services you require vs. what is available. Here are the top 12 questions to ask, before you hire.
1. Does the prospective cleaning company offer post-post cleaning reports?
A report after cleaning or before and after pictures is essential to ensure the company has done a proper job. Providing this could minimize the damage rate of facilities while cleaning. The reason is that presenting a report means they have to be careful. Also, it helps you to know areas that require improvements in your regimen. So, when scouting for the right office cleaning company to engage in, you should find out if they provide such services. Also, find out if they give recommendations when needed in the course of carrying out their job.
2. Do they offer decontamination and disinfection services?
This has never been so important, than in the last year. There is a difference between disinfection and cleaning. If an outbreak of a disease or a pandemic happens, what measure does the cleaning company take? When searching for the right cleaning company, ensure that the cleaning company you are looking to hire knows the difference and offers both services. Make sure they offer solid disinfecting services and are thoroughly trained in them. Ensure that the necessary agencies in charge of disease control have recommended the decontamination product they would use. Too many office cleaning companies decided to jump into the disinfecting business by merely adding simple bleach spraying as a service. They have to be certified in disinfecting.
3. How does the company ensure safety, and are they updated on infectious diseases or accredited by cleaning regulatory bodies?
There several regulatory bodies that oversee the affairs of cleaning companies. There is the OSHA that ensures safety in all working environments. They make sure that the fixtures in every facility are safe for people to work. There is also JACHO for cleaning companies in the medical industry and sometimes the FDA. These bodies make sure that they uphold safety in the facilities they regulate. The cleaning company you hope to hire should be current with these regulators and know their guidelines. Since the coming of the Covid-19 pandemic, more firms have paid more attention to cleaning companies. You have to find out how the cleaning company you are looking to hire handles such cases. Especially how they will handle the situation if they suspect any occupant of the facility is sick.
4. What back-up plans do they have when staff is absent or quits suddenly?
You should find out the back-up plans available to prevent uninterrupted services in the case of personnel issues. Ensure that the company has employees on stand-by to fill vacant cleaning roles swiftly. Ensure that they can communicate with you if there are any changes.
5. What steps does the company take in handling product safety and managing safety Data Sheet (SDS) to comply with OSHA?
The cleaning company you plan to hire should ensure that your facility is compliant with OSHA safety guidelines. You should expect them to guide you through the necessary safety measures you are to take to reduce risks within your facility.
6. Do they supply cleaning consumables and, do they have a method of keeping inventory of these consumables?
Cleaning companies use consumables such as toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, face masks, hand sanitizers, and other cleaning supplies. Because they use it often, they should be able to buy in bulk and at better rates. Find out if the cleaning company you wish to engage would provide you with consumables alongside their services. Their supplying consumables would save costs for you because they should have better deals buying in bulk. Also, ensure that they can keep stock of your consumables in their custody for accountability.
7. Do they provide maintenance services?
What happens when you need more than just cleaning, or when floors and walls need to be repaired or replaced? Does the company have the right facility maintenance services and capabilities you will need? This can be a huge time saver when the need arises. For cost-saving preventative maintenance, ensure you have a maintenance schedule that you expect the cleaning company you are hiring to follow. Not every part of your facility needs daily maintenance (windows and ceiling) so, find out if your prospective cleaning company will know when to carry out this maintenance for you.
8. Would they provide handyman services for you?
If there is a light bulb that needs changing or a slight leakage in the taps, would you have to outsource these maintenance services, or would your cleaning company have a program in store to fix these issues? It’s not just about keeping it clean; this is about making sure that every part of the facility is in tip-top shape. You should find out if your potential company can carry out small handyman services.
9. Do they have good customer service?
Good customer care is paramount in any business. If the cleaning company you wish to engage does have this in place, it should serve as a turn off for you. They are supposed to have a staff dedicated to answering calls from clients and attending to inquiries and complaints. Some automation such as a online commercial cleaning cost calculator is also a good indication of great customer service.
10. What measures do they have in place for staff retention?
Cleaning companies are known for staff frequently leaving due to the payment packages and no incentive for staff development. This problem affects the delivery of their services to clients. A good cleaning company should have trained staff with benefits that are favorable to them. Not only is it good for the cleaning company’s reputation, but it also helps their client’s security. If the workers quit their jobs a lot, many people would be going in and out of the facility. It would make it to keep track of who is who for security reasons.
A cleaning company that trains their staff and set up their structure in a way that workers can grow into managerial roles would attract long term employees. Long-term employees would work according to a uniform standard thereby, performing their tasks efficiently. Because they are well taken care of by their employer, their services would be professional.
Before you hire a cleaning, company ensure that you have satisfactory responses to all these questions and you would be able to choose a company that would provide you with the best service while giving you rest of mind.
