Selecting The Right Commercial Cleaning Contractor – Pt. 1

You want your facility to be a clean and healthy environment for your employees. Hiring the right commercial cleaning contractor is one of the most critical aspects of reaching that objective. As with the selection of any service provider your ability to hire a cleaning contractor that will meet your expectations will require that you assess several important factors.  Those factors would include:

• Communication of Requirements
• Contractor’s Experience
• Hiring and Training of Cleaning Staff
• Quality Control
• Green Capabilities Initiatives
• Safety Program and Record
• Certifications
• Overall Contractor Value

In this week’s Part 1 post we will review the first three items on the above list.

Communication of Requirements 

Many commercial cleaning contractors have a standard Statement of Work (SOW) that can be used as a basic template for documenting your specific cleaning requirements. Or, you may decide to establish your own SOW for the Contractor. In either case, the final (SOW) should clearly—and in sufficient detail—describe your cleaning requirements.

Having a documented SOW that clearly defines your requirements and expectations will help ensure that your requirements are satisfied and help minimize any potential confusion or misunderstanding.

Contractor’s Experience

When evaluating potential cleaning contractors you will be taking experience into account.  Some things to consider:

• Contractor’s Existing Accounts:  Does the Contractor have other accounts that are similar in size and scope to what your account would represent? Where would your account fall in terms of size on their list of existing accounts?
• Reputation and References:  Does the Contractor have a solid reputation in the marketplace? Do they have references that you can verify and talk to?  
• Management and Leadership:  Does the Contractor have strong management and leadership teams? Do they foster a visible mentality of excellent customer service?

Hiring and Training of Cleaning Staff

The quality of the Contractor’s cleaning service will only be as good as its cleaning staff.

• Employee Screening and Selection: Does the Contractor have a robust process for screening and hiring its cleaning staff? Does the Contractor’s hiring process include routine background checks and drug screenings?
• Employee Training:  How does the Contractor train its new cleaning staff? Do they have a documented training plan that can be verified? Does the training process include periodic follow-ups? Does the Contractor have processes in place that promote a mindset of “continuous improvement”?
• Employee Retention:  Does the Contractor have a history of being able to retain its highly-skilled cleaning staff? Do they pay wages and provide benefits that are competitive with other commercial cleaning contractors in their market?

Your thorough research on all of the above questions will provide you with valuable insights as you evaluate potential commercial cleaning contractors.

In next week’s post we will discuss: Quality Control, Green Capabilities, and Safety.

What factors do you assess when selecting a cleaning contractor? Let us know in the section for comments below.

And if you need a customized, cost-effective Service Solution for your business, let SMO help. Request a Customized Service Solution today.