At this time a lot of business are tightening their belt to get through the credit crunch. Budgets are being squeezed all the time. What type of savings can we make?
I know some managers have started to think about doing their own office cleaning in Aberdeen in house and drawing up a business proposal for approval by the board. But what are the consequences of doing this? Is it really cost saving in practice?
Obviously your staff may not be happy about having this extra duty placed on them when they may already feel under pressure to do their normal job. But what other issues do we need to consider?
One of the things you will need to consider is the need to go out and buy on a regular basis a variety of cleaning chemicals and other equipment dependant of the type of jobs being done. That brings up the issue that someone will have to take responsibility for monitoring stock levels and take time to purchase more stock as needed and you may be surprised just how fast some cleaning products get used.The professional cleaning service in Aberdeen will already have a stock of their own professional grade cleaning products that are used for a number of jobs.
You may decide to employ an extra person to do the cleaning thus doing away with some of the savings but if you are considering using your existing staff you need to calculate into the process the lost opportunities for staff doing their “normal job”. Will that suffer if they are asked to do these extras and at what cost to your business?
The job may even need doing twice if the person is not shown exactly the right way to do the task. You also need to consider whether using an existing staff member is the best use of their time. They definitely will not be using the expertise that caused you to initially select them at the interview or spent time since developing their new skills for the job. How much did it cost you to train that person in real terms not just the cost of the training programme?
Consider the cost of mistakes when untrained people are cleaning your premises. Will someone try to remove a mark from a painted wall and remove the paint as well. Additional cost of repainting the wall! I heard about a receptionist /admin person who poured concentrated bleach on a floor to clean it and burnt off the top surface. That was a very expensive mistake to make. Will you be budgeting for additional repairs caused by trying to save money? There is also the danger of mixing cleaning chemicals e.g. some toilet cleaners when mixed together generate considerable amounts of heat and poisonous gases.
• Have you all the skills in house to develop all the health and safety guidance in-house? Or will you to pay to outsource it?
• Who would do the required risk assessment for each and every cleaning task being performed? Not Necessary… just wait and see what the Health and Safety Inspector has to say after an accident on your premises!
• Do you have copies of the COSHH data sheets for every single cleaning product your staff purchase in the event of an incident? Your local superstore will not supply them for the general household products they sell!| Can you be certain that you have the required COSSH safety data sheets for every single cleaning product your staff purchase? Your local supermarket or corner store will not be able to supply these legal documents and you will need them on site in case of an safety incident.}
To sum up you need to be asking yourself some important questions such as
• ” Will I lose more money by taking staff away from the main business focus than I pay to use a professional cleaning company”
• ” What are the currently unbudgeted costs I will need to add on to cover for time spent cleaning the office twice, additional costs for repairs due to mistakes, increased insurance premiums and cost of compensation for breaches of health and safety including accidents to staff? ”
Those issues are dealt with best by hiring a professional cleaning company in Coatbridge just as you consult a lawyer, an accountant or any other specialist worker for the business.
