Chasing Productivity

Productivity. As cleaning industry consultants, my partner Brent Bourne and I hear the word almost on a daily basis from clients who need to increase the productivity of their cleaning staff and from sales reps promoting the productivity benefits of their equipment, tools or cleaning solutions. But what is productivity and how is it achieved? Checking online dictionaries we found this was the most common definition: 

Productivity – Productivity is used to measure the efficiency of production and is most often expressed as a ratio of outputs over inputs.

Outputs and inputs. Sounds simple enough but when applied to the cleaning industry, it’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Apart from the simple ratio of “dollars invested to dollars earned” that can apply to Commercial Cleaning operations the vast majority of cleaning services need to understand productivity in a different way if they are to improve their effectiveness. 

Generally, productivity is measured as a comparison of the cost of delivering an acceptable or better cleaning service to clients compared to peer group average costs. This is often expressed as “area serviced per Full Time Equivalent (FTE).” This is a crude measurement that doesn’t always represent the same quality of service. What is really important is to be sure that all the inputs actually enhance the productivity of the workers and that negative inputs are avoided. 

Understanding how the inputs affect the outputs is crucial to a successful operation so a review of inputs is needed before looking for outputs. In the Cleaning Industry the inputs are usually Management, Supervision, Training, Equipment and Supplies. Each input has several important features that need to be considered; also some inputs have a mutliplier effect – for good or bad. An organization will fail if it simply minimizes inputs and expects a good output. For example, low wages, no training, poor equipment and cheap supplies doesn’t have a long-term prospect of high productivity or profitability. 

Management. Because management tends to have control over the other inputs its importance to productivity is major. By establishing the cleaning standards, operational policies and procedures, and funding the operation management provides the direction for the service to follow. Good management decisions such as scheduling work at the best time, (day cleaning or evening cleaning), or supplying the best equipment for the work and providing training for the staff can multiply the effectiveness or productivity of the workforce. Similarly, poor management planning can reduce the effectiveness of a workforce with a negative effect on productivity. Failing to deal with absenteeism, safety hazards, poor equipment and lack of training will also significantly affect productivity. 

Supervision. The supervision is the link between the objectives set by management and the workforce. Supervisors monitor the work to make sure that standards are being met and the cleaning program is being followed, check for situations that will affect productivity such as safety hazards, poorly training workers, proper use of the right supplies, equipment for the work and also make sure that management is kept aware of issues that could affect productivity. 

Training. Despite the common view of our industry, cleaning is a skilled occupation. An untrained cleaning staff not only perpetuates this view but also produces poor work at high cost. Training is an absolutely essential input for any operation that seeks high productivity. Trained workers using the best equipment and supplies for the work will always deliver productivity at about twice the rate of untrained staff, even if the untrained staff has good equipment and supplies. Training and education of cleaning staff will always produce a real productivity benefit. Well trained employees who know that they are properly trained have more interest in the work and generally will have better attendance and fewer workplace injuries. 

Managers and supervisors also benefit from ongoing education and training. By attending educational conferences and trade shows they can stay abreast of industry trends, share information with their peers in other facilities and meet with industry experts. 

Equipment. The cleaning industry has produced an amazing variety of specialized equipment to allow operators to scrub, polish, vacuum, sweep strip and refinish large areas in less time that is possible with simple hand tools. However, the choice of which equipment to use should depend on the work to be done. Using large equipment for a small job is as inefficient as using hand tools for a large job. Sizing the equipment to the job may mean buying a 20-inch walk behind autoscrubber instead of a 32-inch ride on. If management has planned the work and bought equipment suited to it, and the employee has trained well in the machine’s operation, then productivity will definitely benefit. 

On the other hand, giving an untrained worker an expensive piece of equipment to do a job that is unsuited to the equipment is a recipe for low productivity and low morale, and possibly a time loss injury as well. 

Supplies represent a small percentage of inputs in dollar terms so buying the products that are safe, easier to use, longer lasting and readily available is going to have a positive effect on productivity. Productivity takes a nosedive when cheap, poor performing products such as finishes, detergents and degreasers among others are supplied to workers who are then expected to do a good job. Purchasing incompatible supplies from several manufacturers, such as finish from company A and stripper from company B often results in wasted time and effort, and a poor job.

 

Maintaining a secure supply of products is also of great importance to productivity. Time lost waiting for supplies and time wasted trying to get a good job from low quality, cheaper products means that the positive benefits of good management, good training and the right equipment are lost. 

What is needed to achieve good productivity is for all of the relevant inputs, management, supervision, training, equipment and supplies to be in place and for these to be monitored and maintained on a regular basis so that changes in the work environment that might affect productivity are provided for and dealt with before becoming a problem. If this is done on a regular basis, either by management or by an external review by a consultant then productivity will be enhanced.

 

- Colin Butterfield is a partner in Group B Services Ltd., a consulting company specializing in cleaning industry management and training. Productivity 2007, an educational conference and trade show hosted by Group B Services Ltd. will take place in Vancouver in February 2007. Details at www.2007show.groupb.ca.