Are your janitorial labor costs making you sweat? Find out how you can keep things calm and controlled.
There’s no way around the fact that if your commercial cleaning business has employees, you will incur janitorial labor costs. That’s not a bad thing. It takes money to run even a small business. You need supplies, equipment, and money for things like business insurance, licenses, and so on. Similarly, labor is one of the expected expenses. Your team should get paid for the work they do, after all.
The issue with janitorial labor costs is that, unlike more stable overhead like your office rent, it can vary greatly. Part of that expense will increase and decrease based on how many customers you have. You need more employee hours to do more customer jobs, and vice versa.
Other aspects of your labor costs, however, may be unrelated to the ebb and flow of contracts. There could be too many or too few employees at a location to do the job in the allotted time. People could be working inefficiently, or they could be out of supplies. Equipment may not work properly, leading to additional time to get the work done. Or, as much as we hope this doesn’t happen, you may have employees who are buddy punching (asking someone else to clock them in or out when they aren’t on site themselves). How can scheduling software solve these issues?
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Learn how commercial cleaning business software can improve your janitorial labor expenses
A lot goes into your janitorial labor costs, so let’s build this from the ground up. Scheduling software by itself can help, but to get a full picture of all the factors that go into your schedule and costs, you’re better off with janitorial management software. Ideally, we’d love it if you chose Janitorial Manager, but even if you opt for another provider, look at your schedule and costs holistically.
Your janitorial labor costs are based, in part, on your estimate. Therefore, it’s vital to do a walk-through and look at details when you start thinking about a proposal. The ISSA standards and a good bidding calculator will give you an excellent starting point for a bid.
However, you still need to base your workloading and bidding on factors like how much or how little foot traffic a space may get, as well as how much you have to work around. Is the space all on one floor or will your team need to transport equipment to multiple floors? When you account properly for the work that needs to get done, you can start having more control over your janitorial labor expenses. An accurate bid, even if it isn’t the lowest bid, will give you and your customer a better sense of the actual costs of the job.
Another factor in labor costs is the condition of equipment and supplies. Properly maintained equipment is more efficient, saving you time and money. Likewise, if you consistently buy supplies based on price rather than quality, you’ll need to cover that gap with more labor costs, as supplies break or just aren’t up to the job at hand.
How can janitorial software help with that? Built-in calendars can keep you updated with maintenance, so you always know what condition your equipment is in.
Aside from ensuring that you’re scheduling based on proper workloading and that all your equipment is in good working order, janitorial software can also help you track your cleaning solutions and supplies. Again, when employees have to wait for you to deliver the supplies they need, or send someone out to get those supplies, your janitorial labor costs go up without anything to show for the expense.
There’s one more big factor in janitorial labor costs that you’re likely wondering about: The actual time employees spend on the clock. It’s important to understand the impact that proper bidding and workloading have on your labor costs. Similarly, you can’t ignore the fact that poorly-maintained equipment will drive up labor costs as employees need to put in more time and effort to get the job done.
Even so, janitorial labor costs are directly and heavily impacted by when and how employees clock in and out. We all know that buddy punching will eat up hours. Worse, you’re paying someone for those hours when, in fact, they aren’t even at work. Not only does that hurt your revenue, but it also is unfair to your customers who are paying for a service. And it’s harmful to other employees who are showing up on time and doing the work.
With features like geofencing and facial recognition, scheduling and janitorial software can eliminate these issues. Further, as you collect data, you can see where there are inefficiencies in your scheduling, which may prompt better team assignments or highlight the need for additional training.
The right software can help you get your schedule and your company streamlined and efficient, so what are you waiting for?
If you’re ready to increase the professionalism of your cleaning operation through better organization, easy access to important data, unparalleled tracking, and more, schedule a call with JM today!