Is your janitorial service's employee turnover costing your business?

Your janitorial service is cleaning your office, and you notice that there are new cleaners. Again. Employee turnover is starting to be a pattern, but it’s the janitorial service’s problem, not yours. It doesn’t REALLY affect you, does it?

Actually, it does.

You might be surprised to learn that your janitorial service’s high turnover is a serious issue for your business as well as theirs. How? Let’s look at the many different ways that your janitorial service’s employee turnover will affect your business’s bottom line.

High Employee Turnover Costs You Cash

That might seem crazy; after all, you’re not the one who has to pay the money to hire and train new cleaning technicians! However, when turnover is very high— and in some cases, it can be as high as 300%— that cost will get passed on to the customer, aka you.

When a company has to pay for advertising to find new employees as well as the costs associated with interviewing, screening, and training them, they’re taking on a considerable expense. The unfortunate reality is that you’ll be bearing the brunt of this financial burden, whether through higher prices or through decreased services for the same price you’ve always paid. Regardless, it makes better financial sense to hire a janitorial service with a low employee turnover rate, even if their price might be a bit higher. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

High Employee Turnover Endangers Security

You don’t want just ANYONE to have access to your office, so you hire a janitorial service that is highly rated. You trust the owners of the business but do you know ANYTHING about the people they’ve hired? What are their standards for employment?

If your service doesn’t have a screening process in place, your security is in jeopardy. It’s important to confirm that your janitorial service conducts background checks, including criminal record checks and references as well as their immigrant status, if applicable. Imagine someone with a rap sheet a mile long having access to your workers’ personal possessions as well as your sensitive client information, not to mention any petty cash you have onsite. You place a great deal of trust into your cleaners, and the potential for a violation is there when your service is so desperate for new workers that they allow just about anyone access to your building after hours.

Quality Suffers When Employee Turnover is High

You’re paying a lot of money for your cleaning service, and you expect a certain level of quality in return. However, when there’s a revolving door of new faces coming in to clean your office, you’re not likely to get excellent service on a consistent basis.

New workers don’t always have a good handle on what’s expected of them, and your workspace might suffer through their “growing pains.” It’s very possible that square footage could be missed as new workers are slower and likely to be unable to complete the work to your standards. Also, when the supervisors are overtasked with hiring and training new employees, details such as random quality checks tend to go by the wayside, so unless you complain, the issue is unlikely to get better anytime soon.

How Do You Combat the High Turnover Blues?

Well, the best way to avoid the pain of a janitorial service’s employee turnover is to hire a service with a good employee track record. (It’s true! These services do exist!) Services that hire and keep excellent employees have a few factors in common, including:

Careful screening process — These companies only hire the best of the best, and they’re willing to pay their employees well and treat them with respect to ensure that they’re willing to stick around.

In-depth training — Janitorial services that have low turnover rates understand that their employees are an investment. They spend a great deal of time ensuring that every employee is highly trained on the most up-to-date technology before they start cleaning for clients, and they also invest in frequent training updates, too.

Clearly defined expectations — Any employer has expectations of their workers, but not every employer shares these expectations in a clear and well-defined manner. When your workers understand exactly what you want from them, they’re far more likely to deliver! Again, when you’re busy constantly hiring and training new staff, it’s hard to find the time to create a policy for your employees so that everyone understands what’s expected from them.

One of the first questions you should ask any janitorial service you’re considering is, “What’s your employee turnover?” If you’re not satisfied with the number, keep looking. Ask about the service’s hiring and training procedures as well as their safety training to get a clear picture of their interest in investing in their employees. When you find a service that has a low turnover and a high standard for hiring and training, you know you’ve found the right service for you!

Need help from a reputable service with an excellent employee turnover ratio and impeccable training standards? Contact us for a quote today!