National Janitorial & Floorcare Services
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As far as you know, your janitorial company hasn’t ever conducted regular inspections, and they don’t seem to have any plans to start them. However, you’ve noticed that there are a couple of issues that consistently arise, and aren’t ever addressed. If your janitorial company isn’t conducting regular inspections, it’s unlikely that they’ll get to the bottom of the issue themselves, so you’re forced to point it out to them. Again.
They didn’t realize that you’d been unhappy with your service, and now they’re searching for answers. What went wrong? If your janitorial company isn’t conducting regular inspections, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to stop issues before they become so big you’re tired of dealing with them.
The best way to catch errors before they blossom into full-blown problems is to conduct routine, regular inspections. Say, for instance, they have an employee who is routinely failing to perform a particular service— we’ll say dusting the blinds for this example. If the company’s inspecting their work routinely, they can catch it and re-train the employee on the proper procedure. If they’re not, you’ll eventually notice, and log a complaint or register your displeasure with a negative online review.
Eventually, you’ll get sick of having to point out any error their employees make and move on to another company that will catch the inconsistencies before they become major issues. Your janitorial company should look at it from your perspective. If they were in your position they would certainly appreciate diligence and consistency from their cleaning service, and the best way to ensure that consistency is through regular inspections.
It’s important that your janitorial company create consistent standards for their inspections, so you can be sure that they are carried out the same way across the board. These standards could include the following:
How often do they inspect? The frequency of the inspections should be predetermined in order to help them gather data to measure the quality of the cleaning that their employees are doing.
What kind of inspection should they conduct? Whether they do a visual inspection or a more scientific inspection involving adenosine triphosphate (ATP) monitoring or fluorescent marking, they should be sure that they’re able to gather sufficient verification of the hygienic status of the location’s surfaces.
What, exactly, should be inspected? Be sure that they know what services you’ve paid for before they start the inspection. If, for example, their janitorial company considers window washing to be an additional service, you don’t want to them to inspect the windows unless the client has requested that add-on.
What is the rating system? How does the company rate the inspection? Is it on a scale from 1 to 5, 1 to 10, pass or fail? Ask to see their inspections occasionally so you can verify they’re being done and what they’re doing to correct issues.
How do they convey the importance of inspections to their staff? The last thing they want is for their staff to view the audits as a punishment. Instead, they should present them as an opportunity to improve training, and offer the clients the best possible service. The company shouldn’t share only negative findings, but also give kudos where they’re due.
The janitorial company should also determine if they’re going to offer rewards for exemplary work or penalties or re-training for work that’s not-so-stellar. The workers will feel properly incentivized if they understand that management is taking the inspections very seriously.
What tools will they use to conduct their inspection? Whether they go with old-fashioned pen and paper or a more modern app or software to record their results, your janitorial company should be sure that it’s easy for their management team AND their clients to access the information. More services are moving to the high-tech version, as the clipboard and paper checklist need to be transferred to a digital format, which is time-consuming.
At CSG, we take our inspections very seriously; we utilize our own proprietary auditing system, CAP™, enabling us to inspect our work properly and share the results with ease. If you’re interested in utilizing a janitorial company dedicated to regular inspections and excellent results, contact us today.
