Studies reveal proper investment in cleaning reduces risk of spreading illness, and improves a facility’s bottom line
At a time when the United States is facing its worst influenza (flu) outbreak in the last 10 years, cleaning industry professionals are receiving a new set of free tools to help them prove not just the value of improved cleaning in protecting building occupant health, but also the financial benefit such steps can produce.
ISSA has released a new Value of Clean paper, available at www.issa.com/value, which aggregates data from mainstream business, facility management, and cleaning-industry specific studies, quantifying the positive impact cleaning has on a business’ bottom line.
One of the key points the paper addresses is the increased productivity achieved in a workplace that takes additional cleaning and hygiene steps to avoid transmission of viruses and other illnesses, and how this can lead to higher business profitability.
The Association’s intent in releasing this paper is to help ISSA members educate facility decision-makers regarding the often-overlooked connection between cleaning and key metrics that impact every organisation’s financials. The paper encourages cleaning professionals to look beyond the impact their services have on the cleaning department and explore the broader impact cleaning has on the entire organisation. Among the areas covered are:
* Work-ticket resolution costs
* Occupant wellness: absenteeism
* Occupant wellness: improved productivity
* Image enhancement: customer satisfaction
* Asset preservation
* Energy savings
* Reducing hospital associated infections (HAIs).
“Connecting cleaning to a business’ ultimate bottom line is a new approach many facility managers haven’t considered, because they frequently view this area of their operations as a cost instead of the profit centre it can be,” stated ISSA director of industry outreach Dianna Steinbach,
“The results we have gathered in the Value of Clean paper prove that reducing cleaning budgets, or denying requested increases in proper cleaning, can be penny-wise and pound-foolish. In fact, such cut backs usually prove more costly in the long run, a fact many organisations don’t realise.”
Ongoing cost pressures, complex environmental considerations, new product innovations, and increasing threats from pandemics and other health issues, continue to reshape the scope of the global cleaning industry and increase the need to arm professionals with the tools to change the dialog they have with customers.
To help its members address these issues, ISSA is dedicating a growing number of resources and expertise to more effectively educate the commercial market about the vital impact cleaning has on human health, the environment, and the bottom line. These efforts reflect the association’s goals to advance clean and drive innovation.
The Value of Clean paper is supported by additional ISSA member-only tools, which are available at www.issa.com/value. This Value of Clean Toolkit includes:
* A Value of Clean Calculator that allows members to help customers quantify specific value in six critical business areas.
* A new PowerPoint presentation members can use to insert Value of Clean points in customer communications.
* A Webinar, The New Advantage: Value of Clean that will be held January 30, 2013, to teach industry professionals how to enhance their dialog to include connections between cleaning and financial value.
* A robust library of ISSA-authored articles that have been published in facility management publications, providing further third-party support for value of clean claims.
In addition to the Value of Clean Toolkit, ISSA also offers an online Pandemic Kit, available at www.issa.com/pandemic, to help members better protect building occupants against outbreaks, such as the current US flu epidemic.