A Few Important Things to Consider When Hiring an Office Cleaner
Whether you’re a large or small business, you’re probably going to need an office cleaner. Once a week for a small office and maybe even daily, if your office is accessible to the general public.
The number one concern when employing someone outside your organisation to work in your office is security. This is where it might be a better idea to use the service of a reputable cleaning company. They will have a reputation to protect and are therefore unlikely to use dishonest employees. Make sure that the company properly vets there employees and provides a criminal background check.
Even with these checks performed however, no company can guarantee their employees won’t be curious about your business, or even downright nosy.
While many employees may not think the information left lying around the office is important, there is no way of knowing who is interested in it. Who knows if your competitors are paying your cleaners to glean information from the workplace. It has happened many times before. Even in small companies like estate agents.
If documents and notes are left out on top of desks they will not be safe from prying eyes. They are still accessible in an unlocked drawer. While employees may not be expected to perform general housekeeping, surely it isn’t too much to ask them to maintain a clear workspace and to lock documents into a filing cabinet. Computers should be powered down and any unneeded paperwork shredded and disposed of properly.
Other areas for concern are computer and telephone use. Everyone has heard of a story where the cleaner is ringing his or her family overseas and racking up enormous phone bills. There are lots of ways to make office communications secure. Make sure you have procedures in place before your cleaner starts a cleaning contract with you.
It is also important to set out in writing exactly what areas of the office and what equipment is to be cleaned. It is impossible to measure the performance of your cleaner if you haven’t explicitly outlined what you need to be cleaned. Go through each area and write out a checklist. It’s a good idea to draw up this document while the cleaner or a representative from the cleaning company is present. It cuts down on the potential for miscommunication.
Schedule a review of the cleaning every month or quarter. If there are areas of cleaning that are not being addressed, write them down and bring them up with the cleaner or the company’s representative. There is no need to embellish them or use accusatory language. Your cleaner wants to make you happy and feel like they are doing a good job. They will address the problem areas you point out.
However, it is important to retain a balanced view of the cleaning. Highlight the positives as well as the negatives. I can assure you, as someone who has managed many cleaning teams; there is nothing more demoralising than listening to a diatribe of negativity and exaggeration. It often has the reverse effect. Think about how you approach a colleague or employee who has made a mistake or needs help in a certain area. Treat your customers and suppliers with respect and I can assure you, you’ll get a lot more out of them.