5 Solutions to the Biggest Janitorial Staffing Challenges

Don’t let janitorial staffing problems limit your growth. Find out how you can stay fully staffed at all times. 

One of the trickiest parts of janitorial staffing is finding the balance, so you have enough people on your team, but not so many that it strains your budget. On the surface, that seems simple enough. You hire based on how many people and hours you need to complete the jobs on your roster. 

Of course, we all know it’s not simple at all. People have to call in sick, or they’re out because of an injury or vacation. Clients request additional services or cancel their contracts. New clients sign contracts, and you can’t hire the right people. 

Sound familiar? Janitorial staffing challenges aren’t anything mysterious. In fact, staffing in nearly any service-related industry has long been something to work through with a wish and plenty of hope. 

It doesn’t need to be that way, though. While there’s no way to make every staffing issue disappear, you can take on some of the biggest challenges and figure out how to limit their impact. 

Harness the value of Janitorial Manager to advance your business and increase employee retention. Learn more today with a free discovery call.

5 Ways you can solve your janitorial staffing challenges

So how do you walk that line between having too many and too few people on your team? Some of these ideas are easier to implement than others, and some may or may not be right for your situation. Even so, you can mix them up, try them out and figure out what’s going to help solve your janitorial staffing issues. In the long-term, these will all make your commercial cleaning company more attractive to employees, which means you’ll more easily be able to hire and retain a good team. 

1. Focus On Safety. Janitorial work isn’t without hazards. Still, there’s more than just cleaning solutions, heavy lifting, and slippery floors to worry about. Certainly, take steps to make those issues as safe as possible. But don’t forget about personal safety, too. Commercial cleaners regularly work after hours or in largely isolated spaces, which can include an additional set of safety issues. However, the more you can make it safe for your team, the more you can retain good people and limit your janitorial staffing issues. 

2. Hire Part-Time/As-Needed Staff. It’s no secret that the janitorial industry has a high turnover rate. Nor is it a secret how that impacts small and medium-sized companies. However, if you have a few part-time people or cleaners who can work on an as-needed basis, you can fill a lot of the scheduling holes when someone is sick or leaves unexpectedly. It’s important to point out that any arrangement like this should come with exceptional clarity on the expectations for both you and this part of your team. They may not always be able to work when you need them to, and you may not be able to guarantee hours, but this can be a great arrangement for a former employee or friend who wants a little extra cash here and there. Read 10 Staff Shortage Solutions for Struggling Cleaning Companies to find out more. 

3. Don’t Overwork Your Team. If your team is consistently overworked, they will leave, making the cycle worse. It’s understandable that if you’re experiencing janitorial staffing shortages that more work would fall to the remaining employees. Unfortunately, that leads to burnout and to feeling taken advantage of. Of course, you can’t leave jobs undone, so what can you do in these situations? You have a few options, as it turns out. To begin, try to hire qualified people as soon as you can. Secondly, pay your current employees extra for taking on additional tasks and responsibilities. 

4. Take Advantage of Technology. There’s a lot of technology in the commercial cleaning industry that can make your job much easier. In some cases, that’s “on-the-ground” tech, such as robotic vacuums. In others, it’s technology like Janitorial Manager that helps streamline everything from scheduling to inventory management to bidding to inspections. 

5. Increase Wages and Benefits. Of all the solutions to janitorial staffing challenges, this one might be the most helpful and also the one most likely to be ignored. Yes, profit margins can be thin. Yes, payroll and benefits add up quickly. And when you offer benefits and better pay than your competitors, you’re showing your team that you value them. Higher wages mean better employee retention and lower turnover. This might feel like an impossible ask, but it’s not. There’s a good chance you’ll need to increase your rates, and you may lose some contracts because of it. However, many of those contracts are clients looking for the lowest price no matter what. When you have happier, better-paid employees, the results speak for themselves. Your commercial cleaning company will get better reviews, more contract renewals, and clients will be willing to pay your rates because they know you treat your team well and they do excellent work. 

Staffing issues can be tough to deal with, but you don’t have to let them get the better of you or your team.