If you have ever considered stretching your resources when times are tight, you have probably thought about using your internal employees to regularly clean the office.
Once? Twice? Okay. But on a regular basis, probably not a great idea.
You hire employees for a reason, which is that they are good at something; and that “something” typically aligns with the core competency of the business. If you begin to shift duties of employees to core-duties, several issues can come into play.
Productivity
If an employee is talented in a given area and you stretch that person thin by giving them other duties such as cleaning, this person may become resentful, feel like they aren’t valued, and potentially over-worked with the all-new janitorial tasks. This feeling could cause the employee to become less productive in their overall position.
Reduced Margins
Shifting revenue-generating activities to non-revenue generating activities will reduce margins if it’s a long-term shift. In other words, not good for business operations.
Workplace Safety
Employees who aren’t used to working with cleaning equipment run the risk of getting hurt if they aren’t properly trained. Professional janitorial companies are a better option in this scenario due to their expertise and processes.
Bottom line, there are many risks to doing specific functions in-house versus outsourcing to trained professionals. If in-house cleaning takes place once in a while, it probably is not an issue; but if you have a large workplace, take consideration in the fact that someone else can do it for you cheaper and more effectively.