They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but that’s just the first of many reasons a robust daily cleaning routine is so critical. A clean building leaves occupants feeling healthier and more satisfied. An elevated commercial cleaning routine can also improve your operations. It leaves staff feeling more satisfied, reducing turnover. So, is it time to take your cleaning routine to the next level?
Below, we outline five signs it’s time to elevate your commercial cleaning routine with automated cleaning solutions.
1. Your cleaning inspections are revealing missed areas.
A cleaning inspection is critical for verifying that your cleaning staff follows all standard procedures. These assessments to confirm that cleaning tasks have been performed satisfactorily are often targeted toward specific areas of the building to save time. If you’re consistently finding that certain areas aren’t up to your brand or industry standard, it’s important to first get to the bottom of the issue.
Inconsistent cleaning can result from high turnover, lack of training for new employees, or lack of staff to manage high cleaning demands, among many other reasons. Automated cleaning solutions can help with all of these issues.
Technology has proven to improve efficiency and effectiveness by consistently performing repetitive tasks in several industries. The same is proving to be true when it comes to routine cleaning. By automating the most repetitive cleaning tasks, cleaning staff can ensure a more consistent clean every time, even when time or resources are limited.
Automation upgrades the cleaning inspection process as well. Robot operators can provide cleaning data through online dashboards. Data and analytics reporting platforms like Whiz Connect display information on routes, frequency of cleaning, square footage covered, and other data.
2. Cleaning staff turnover is higher than industry standards.
Turnover is typically high in the cleaning industry due to the intensive nature of this work. However, turnover can be costly, requiring investment in recruiting, training, onboarding, and more. If you’re seeing your turnover creep above your typical averages, it’s time to take action.
Automated cleaning solutions have proven to be a valuable tool for employee retention as they help break up the monotony of custodial work. While robots perform more monotonous tasks, staff can prioritize high-value activities such as polishing, dusting hard-to-reach areas or room turnover. Solutions like Whiz, the commercial robot vacuum, can offload up to 30% of the average cleaning operation. When paired with other collaborative robots, like the Scrubber50 Pro, organizations get cleaner buildings, and custodial staff get time back to focus on more rewarding work.
While cleaning robots are still relatively novel, plenty of industries have benefited from collaborative robotics. “The automation of scheduling has made my job more efficient and a lot quicker,” one delivery driver told MIT Sloan Management Review. “It has smoothed out the little frustrations and helps me meet my performance targets.”
Tradeshift’s survey of finance and accounting professionals overwhelmingly reported that these professionals see automation as a way to eliminate the low-value, repetitive work they cited as the number one reason for unhappiness in their current role.
Now, these autonomous solutions are moving into the real world to minimize the back-breaking work of cleaning and better support your staff.
3. You can't hire staff to fill job openings.
In addition to turnover, many organizations across various sectors are struggling with labor shortages. As the Great Resignation has turned into the Great Reshuffle, many organizations are recognizing that intensive manual jobs like cleaning are losing employees to other industries and finding it difficult to hire new cleaning staff. This is causing many organizations to rethink how they operate—and is a sign that it may be time to add automation to your commercial cleaning routine.
Automated cleaning solutions are typically meant to work alongside employees, but they also help each employee get more done. Organizations can clean more efficiently by supporting staff with collaborative robots, especially with current labor shortages.
4. Negative cleaning-related reviews at one location are bringing down overall ratings.
Organizations with multiple locations know how important consistent branding can be. But what about consistent cleaning? One poorly cleaned location can lead to negative online reviews that may be seen as reflective of your entire portfolio.
As noted above, automated cleaning solutions bring consistency to your commercial cleaning routine. This consistency can be seen across multiple locations. Collaborative robotic fleets make it easy to ensure high cleaning standards are being met across all of your locations. Online dashboards provide easily accessible data and cleaning inspections to verify this consistent clean.
5. Employees in your buildings are taking more sick days.
The buildup of contaminants like dirt, dust, bacteria, and viruses can start to take their toll on building occupants. Sick building syndrome can mimic common ailments like allergies, colds, or even general stress and anxiety. However, a key indicator of sick building syndrome is that these symptoms tend to go away or improve shortly after leaving a problematic area.
If employees in your buildings take more sick days than typical or file complaints about building upkeep, it may be time to step up your cleaning routine. More frequent cleaning and disinfection, alongside improved ventilation and adequate relative humidity, can help make for a healthier and more comfortable workplace.
Ready to elevate your commercial cleaning routine?
Automated cleaning solutions are helping organizations across many industries elevate their cleaning routine. Better still, today’s commercial robotic vacuums and scrubbers deliver data-driven proof of their effectiveness.
However, the most effective automated cleaning solutions don’t just elevate your cleaning routine—they also take service to the next level. SoftBank Robotics provides industry-leading robot management services that help organizations effectively deploy their robotics solutions for maximum value. To learn more about how we can help improve your cleaning, contact SoftBank Robotics today.
