Boosting Productivity: How Cleaning Is Killing Your Profitability

Discover the hidden cost of not outsourcing cleaning services on your profitability.

"If you have time to lean, you have time to clean." - my boss in college.

Somewhere during the course of our careers, we were given the impression that good housekeeping is a sign of a devoted employee. What if I told you that the person who taught you this is wrong?

What if I went even further to say that companies which assign cleaning duties to employees not solely responsible for cleaning are costing themselves money?

Allow me to validate younger you with retail employee related trauma real quick.

Every position in a company has a dollar range for what that role is expected to generate in revenue. From this range, the company can then decide on it's investment total for the person who will fill the role (i.e. wages, bonuses/commission, employer sponsored benefits, PTO, etc.). The key here being this role serves a specific function to increase profit otherwise, it will actually drive down profitability. But why?

Since the focus is on the task at hand instead of customers, they are missing potential sales and up-selling opportunities, in addition to providing a lower quality customer experience. Also, if chore took precedence over their actual job duties, the time it takes to see results from their work increases. Finally, most employees don't use proper signage until an accident happens.

But that's what we have insurance for right?

The National Safety Council determined that slip/fall accidents where the third highest workman's compensation cost at an average of $49,971 per claim in 2021. In addition, the Center for Disease Control found the average cost of an unintentional, nonfatal fall to be $129,149 (medical, work loss, and quality of life costs combined) in 2021.

As business professionals, team and customer safety come second to none. It is our responsibility to assess risk and make the best decision possible in lieu of facts. Regular light housekeeping duties are good business practice however, cleaning itself should be left to those who choose to specialize in it.

Outsourcing your cleaning allows your team to focus on what they specialize in, shifts a majority of the risk to a qualified vendor, and ensures that cleaning is not chore eating into your profits. It's a fully tax deductible expense too!

Let me know what your thoughts are and stay tuned for the next post: Outsourcing VS In-house Cleaners.