raising standards Choose The Right Time For Cleaning How qualified operations can tailor their offerings to better meet customer needs. Many people within the cleaning industry know that I am a longtime proponent for daytime cleaning. In fact, many of our buildings that I deal with as the facilities spe-cialist for State Farm Insurance are cleaned during the day. However, daytime cleaning is neither the be-all, end-all for State Farm; nor should it be for any organization or business. Instead I like to focus on the notion of “right time” cleaning. Scheduling cleaning tasks and labor load at the right time for the building and its occupants results in cleaner buildings, optimized cleaning performance and healthier building occupants. To do this, I needed two things: ■ The knowledge of the exact needs of each building at all times of the day. ■ An organized building service contractor (BSC) with the management framework to meet the needs of the buildings; especially those with fluctuating needs. By: Steve Spencer M From Day To Right Daytime cleaning is perfect for many of State Farm’s buildings, which are open on average from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. But State Farm also has some facilities that are 24/7 call centers and data centers. These buildings are heavily trafficked with employees about 16 to 18 hours a day and their cleaning requirements are much different than the other type of facility. Daytime cleaning still works fine for some cleaning tasks because daytime hours in our hubs are mostly used for employee training. However, the biggest load of people in the building is during sec-ond and third shift, which means there is a need to stock and clean certain areas such as break rooms and restrooms. It is buildings like these that got me to look at right time cleaning. What I’ve found is that it makes more sense to work on things like carpet during the day, and if needed, cleaning workers can use low decibel vacuums at night. In one facility, we have 85 women working in an area with only four restroom stalls, so we hired a night maid and a night porter to keep the restrooms stocked and clean. What works best for State Farm is to schedule cleaning according to the operation of the business in each building. From Night To Day When I started with State Farm in 1994, the buildings were cleaned at night. There was an extremely high turnover rate among cleaning work-ers — anywhere from 400 percent to 600 percent a year — and a lack of worker supervision. This led to various issues, including security risks, theft and poor cleaning performance. Prior to joining State Farm, I had worked in both healthcare and hospitality facilities management where buildings were mostly cleaned during the day. I knew there were certain benefits to daytime cleaning such as better worker supervision and security and a different pool of workers. So State Farm switched to daytime cleaning and immediately the theft calls disappeared. The turnover rate in the building with the worst turnover dropped to zero. I also thought we could save some money and we did — about 10 percent. We saved money by eliminating day porters and moving to more productive methods of cleaning because we had a shorter window of time to clean. We got a riding sweeper which saved about six hours of labor a day. Having the lights off at night saved 8 percent in lighting costs. In just one building we saved $340,000 a year in lighting costs; in others, anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000. Right Contractor Right time cleaning does not work without the right BSC (or in-house cleaning organization). In other words, the cleaning operation has to not only know on a deep level the customer operation but its own operation. This is one of the reasons State Farm requires its contractors be certified under ISSA’s Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) or CIMS-Green Building (CIMS-GB). CIMS certified contractors are professional, follow a quality man-agement plan and are organized under the standard’s five manage-ment principles. CIMS makes cleaning organizations nimble enough to adapt to varying building needs at any time and that is what is needed for a right time cleaning approach. Right time cleaning is about delivering the service as needed and expected with the utmost quality — as reflected in the first two prin-ciples of CIMS — Quality Systems and Service Delivery. CM Steve Spencer is a facilities specialist/subject matter expert in State Farm’s Facilities Management Department responsible for all State Farm facilities. His areas of expertise are finish specifications, interior maintenance and cleaning specifications. www.cmmonline.com 45
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