Most BSC's would agree that competition within the commercial cleaning industry has become increasingly intense. That competition is evident in numerous areas, including: pricing, services offered, and quality of services delivered. This competitive landscape poses distinct challenges to the BSC. Achieving, and maintaining, operational sustainability now requires more diligence and commitment than at any time in the past. Here are a few tips for building sustainability within your cleaning operation….

Establish Your Goals

Building sustainability within any business requires a thoughtful approach to the setting of organizational goals and objectives. Setting arbitrary goals just for the sake of "goal-setting" provides little to no real value. Misdirected goals can also create an environment in which the operation chases objectives that produce no tangible ROI. Some questions to ask when setting goals and objective for your operation:

• What areas of the operation need to be improved?
• Are there new market developments that we need to address?
• What feedback (good and bad) are we receiving from our customers?
• Are our competitors offering services that we are lacking?
• Where do we want to be in 2 years? In 5 years?

Consider each of these questions in an objective manner. Do the research required to collect actual data and feedback. Make it a collaborative process by soliciting input from a wide range of functional areas within your operation (Operations, Quality, Sales, Marketing, and Purchasing). Use the results of this process to establish goals that are clear, aggressive (but realistic), and that can be measured or otherwise validated.

Engage Your Employees

Any sustainability program that is not supported by the operation's employees is doomed to fail. Engage with your employees early and often. Where appropriate, give them voices and roles within your program. Empower them with the training and tools necessary to contribute to the long term success of their individual departments and to the company as a whole.

Monitor and Measure

The documentation of your organizational goals should include provisions for monitoring and measuring your progress. Without a controlled process for measuring your performance your plan may become little more than a paper product. Make sure to clearly specify the following:

• What to measure.
• How it will be measured.
• Responsibility for performing the measurements.
• Documentation and sharing of results.

Close the Loop

Building sustainability requires a firm commitment to meeting those objectives that you determined were critical to your operation's success. That means that shortcomings must be addressed. When actual results are not aligned with your targets it is critical that appropriate corrective actions are taken. Those actions should be implemented as quickly as possible and then validated to ensure that the desired effect was achieved.

Building sustainability is not a simple proposition. It is hard work. When successful it is also rewarding for all of those that contribute to the effort.