Broadening the Definition of Benchmarking

Typically when we discuss benchmarking in the professional cleaning industry, we are discussing the actual performance of cleaning duties by cleaning professionals. We determine how long it takes properly trained cleaning workers to perform specific duties and from this, we establish a benchmark…this is how long this task should take.

While we will be discussing benchmarking as it relates to cleaning work in greater detail later, building service contractors (BSCs), distributors, and facility managers should know there is another type of benchmarking that should also be performed. This is especially true in very large cleaning operations, such as the cleaning and maintenance of a corporate or college campus, but it can also be applied to much smaller situations. This type of benchmarking focuses on supplies and supply costs.

What benchmarking entails, when it comes to such things as cleaning supplies and equipment, is comparing what one contract cleaning company is paying for these supplies compared to similar sized cleaning contractors. However, according to Terry Sambrowski, executive director of the National Service Alliance, a group purchasing organization for larger cleaning contractors in the U.S., “many cleaning contractors have either never thought of performing such a comparison or are uncomfortable about sharing such information with a potential competitor.”

However, Sambrowski believes that if they better understand what benchmarking is all about and the benefits that can be derived, they are typically more likely to work with other similar sized contractors and compare notes. She also says that once two or more contractors of similar size and scope do compare supply expenses for the first time, based on such things as a percentage of total operating costs, gross or net income of the company, or the amount of square footage cleaned*, typically one of three things happen once they see the results:

Happy: If there company compares favorably to the other firms, meaning their costs for supplies are lower than the other companies, they are pleased, they are ranked a “best performer,” and decide not to put any additional management resources into lowering supply costs

Unhappy: On the other hand, if they find they are paying more for supply costs than the other firms, they make the unhappy decision to devote time and resources to find out why this is happening and what steps they can take to mirror the best performers.

Denial: “Unfortunately, too many companies enter a ‘denial’ stage if the results are not good,” says Sambrowski. “They begin to question the validity of the results; they question how similar they are to the other companies used in the benchmarking process, or they just ignore the results, believing they are doing a good job at controlling cost.”

How to Set up a Supply Costs Benchmarking Program

Whether a cleaning contractor decides to accept the results of a benchmarking program is totally up to them. However, Sambrowski suggests that if two or more companies decide to compare supply costs and see how they are performing, among the steps they should take include the following:

  • Decide what is and is not a supply expense. Is renting cleaning equipment a supply cost? Are some supply costs actually capital costs? What if supplies are included in the charges of an outside service? Are those considered? These and other issues must be clarified before supply expense benchmarking and a detailed list of inclusions and exclusions should be created.
  • Determine what is a comparably sized company. As mentioned earlier, there are different variables that can be used to determine how companies compare. These can include gross sales, net sales, square footage, number of workers, etc. If is often best to use two or three comparable.
  • Base the supply cost comparison on several year averages.       Supply costs should be averaged out over three or more years. Along as all firms are comparable, based on the items just listed, evaluating supply costs over a number of years will produce a more realistic benchmark.

“Even if a cleaning contractor finds they are performing well as it relates to supply expenses, it does not mean they cannot do better,” says Sambrowski. “It’s the reason many of our members have joined the NSA. They look at supply cost cutting as a journey, not a destination.”

Benchmarking and Cleaning

Just as with supply cost benchmarking, the goal of benchmarking professional cleaning is ultimately to help reduce costs by improving worker productivity, methods, and procedures. However, it differs because if focuses on services and not supplies and it takes an entirely different approach.

The goal when benchmarking cleaning tasks is to identify weaknesses and then improve upon them, according to Ron Segura, a cleaning consultant who works with major contract cleaning companies as well as building owners and managers, helping them streamline their cleaning operations. “We look at how cleaning tasks are performed now and gaps in performance and view them as opportunities for improvement. We also look for successful strategies now in place and try to make sure these strategies are implemented by all cleaning workers and in all of the locations cleaned by the contractor.”

Beyond evaluating actual cleaning procedures, an effective benchmarking program for cleaning practices would also consider such things as:

  • Staffing levels
  • Specific facility needs
  • Tools, chemicals, and equipment used for cleaning
  • Goals of the contract cleaning company (reduce costs; improve efficiencies; enhance worker productivity, etc.)
  • Specific cleaning functions to benchmark
  • Metrics (are we analyzing costs per square feet? Per year?)
  • Identifying best practices, such as those provided in the CIMS program or by high performing contract cleaning companies
  • Setting goals and implementing the program.

“Benchmarking has many benefits beyond just helping to reduce costs,” says Segura. “Invariably after identifying and then correcting weakness, we often find ‘breakthrough’ ideas to perform some cleaning procedures more effectively or efficiently. The process can also help motivate staff to improve [cleaning] performance, and with more effective cleaning practices in place, can give the contractor a more competitive edge.”

ISSA’s CIMS (Cleaning Industry Management Standards) program also can be used by many cleaning contractors, not only to learn best practices in performing cleaning duties, but also in identifying weaknesses and correcting them, just as with more traditional benchmarking programs, according to Segura. “What is so valuable about CIMS is [that it is] one of the most comprehensive programs every put together for the professional cleaning industry. It’s helped professionalize cleaning because it provides a set of standards for consistent, high quality cleaning, which is another of the many goals of an effective benchmarking system for professional cleaning.”

While it affords many benefits, Segura also believes benchmarking, in order to prove its benefits, must be strongly supported by top management. While a supply expense benchmarking program focuses on dollars and cents, a cleaning benchmarking system focuses on people and practices. “It takes more time and can be much more involved. Without top management behind it and committed to the program, it becomes hard to justify the time.”

He adds that it is also very important for the cleaning workers to be behind the program from the start and understand the goals and objectives. This is imperative not only because they are essentially the focus of the benchmarking program, but the benchmarking of cleaning is typically an ongoing process. As with benchmarking supply costs, benchmarking cleaning practices and procedures is also a journey, and one that can always be improve upon.