some are more adept at managing the fall-out of employee turnover. Jim DeGrado, owner of Cardinal Building Maintenance Inc., has been mitigating the issue of turnover for 30-plus years. His average client falls under the indus-trial category of medical and high security, meaning high turnover would present a ma-jor issue regarding both health and safety. Because safety training is a constant priority and part of the culture he built, his company has partnered with many Fortune 500 companies in search of high-quality cleaning solutions. DeGrado’s staff of 800 is specially trained in a 15,000-square-foot training center with mock exam rooms, offices, restrooms, lock-er rooms and lunchrooms at their corporate headquarters. The average turnover rate in the JanSan industry is 220 percent; due to the invest-ment in training and education, DeGrado was able to lower his turnover rate to less than 30 percent. DeGrado, noting the consistent results achieved by training on best practices, says, “The Joint Commission, the industry leader in the accreditation and certification of hospitals and healthcare facilities, is vis-iting one of our 200 medical customers at some point or another during the year. Our buildings are ‘tour ready’ at all times.” A guided tour of a facility with history on past specifications is a solid start that will ensure a subcontractor and facilities man-ager are on the same page in terms of de-sired cleaning outcomes. Be wary of artificially low bids from com-panies that do not do their homework; trouble will surely follow if your building is underbid and the quality does not meet ex-pectations. Experienced contractors will bid based on a scope of work, frequencies, floor sur-faces and environments — not solely on square footage. It takes a keen operations team to accu-rately quote a cleaning service bid, so you should never blindly bid an account or ac-cept a company’s numbers without person-ally double checking them. Companies need to focus on their core competencies; their emphasis should be on what they do best, as it drives efficiencies and higher profits. Outsourcing certain tasks or the entire cleaning operation to companies with a core competency in removing unwanted mat-ter from the built environment transfers the costs of recruiting, labor management and government compliance to specialists. However, regardless of outlays, facilities need to be thoroughly cleaned in a proper, consistent manner. “When you have references for 17-plus years, it’s because what is important to you is important to them,” adds DeGrado. Contractors with a strong referral list of satisfied customers have proven not only their ability to execute cleaning tasks, but also the desire to do whatever is needed to ensure optimum cleanliness in demanding work environments. CM Ann Donnelly is the vice president of sales for Cardinal Building Maintenance. Headquartered in Chicago, Cardinal also has branch offices in Milwaukee and Indianapolis. For more information about Cardinal’s expertise and the services they offer, visit www.CardinalBuildingMaintenance. com. Donnelly can be contacted directly at [email protected] or (708) 385-3575. Quality Results Begin With Proper Planning A reputable cleaning company will provide a competitive and comprehensive proposal for a facility outlining janitorial needs that will best serve the work environment. Any proposal should be detailed in scope and be meticulous about expenditures, spelling out productivity rates, wages and chemical and equipment costs. True expertise comes in when an organi-zation can transparently say where the dol-lars are coming from and why. There is no need to hide any of the num-bers if you’re dealing with a company that has depth and integrity. In speaking of his customer centric ap-proach that fosters lasting business relation-ships, DeGrado notes, “They don’t stay with you unless you consistently deliver quality all of the time. We are committed to exceeding the expectations of our customers.” www.ultrachemlabs.com Product Information no. 212 on page 24 www.cmmonline.com 37
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