How management technology is helping cleaning businesses to grow
Neil Nixon puts the questions to Ian Burgess, chief customer officer at BigChange.
Why is technology important in the cleaning sector?
It is increasingly difficult for companies to remain competitive without access to the right technology. Many cleaning and maintenance companies are still burdened with paper - and the systems they have, such as accounts, vehicle tracking and job booking, are often completely disconnected. It’s all very inefficient and hinders any improvements in productivity and customer service.
How can a new system help a business?
By eliminating paperwork all the way from booking to job completion, productivity in the office is transformed. The workload to manage the existing operations is typically halved, freeing up time to focus on customer care and growth of the business. In the field, better job scheduling and more dynamic resource allocation, plus full digital reporting via mobile devices, means teams are able to do more jobs each day, with productivity often up by 20 or even 30%. In addition, there are big benefits to financial controls and operational management as systems provide 24/7 real-time visibility of everything going on. Furthermore, live ETA alerts and digital reports from site - backed by tracking data and on-site photographs - significantly boost customer service.
What about companies that want to grow?
Obviously, all the gains in productivity, management and customer service free up resources and help with business retention, allowing more work to be taken on. However, there are specific characteristics that a system needs to support business expansion. Traditionally, systems have been pretty inflexible so creating new job cards and reports, for example, was a time consuming and costly exercise. At BigChange we set out to design a system with unrestricted adaptability and in particular a mobile app that could be easily customised. This allows workflows, job cards and reports to be configured to meet virtually any conceivable type of job.
How does this help cleaning companies?
Cleaning companies often see opportunities for business by offering closely related services such as gutter and drain clearing, small building repair works, waste services, and other facilities-related work. These additional services might have quite specific requirements in areas such as safety, certifications and compliance. So, having a system that can be extended and quickly adapted makes it easy to add and manage new services. Needs also change, and clients and prospective clients might demand new reports - so again, adaptability is key.
How else can a system help with growth?
Traditionally only the largest companies could afford the investment in advanced IT systems, making it difficult for smaller players to compete. At BigChange we have built a platform that puts all companies on a level playing field. Whether large or small, the system offers the same capability enabling the delivery of quality and consistent services. This is particularly important when pitching for new business where clients require contractors to adhere to stringent procedures in areas such as health and safety, quality, compliance, and certification. BigChange can be configured easily to meet these needs and crucially provides all the evidence of ‘job done’ that the client needs. As a result, many BigChange users say the platform has been vital to winning more business.
How else can BigChange help growth?
The cloud really has changed everything. One of our customers recently wanted to open a new office near London. They moved in, plugged in their PCs and logged onto the BigChange platform. That was it - the office was up and running in a few hours. No computer networks to worry about, no software to install. Of course, this was also crucial when COVID hit as everyone could log on at home and continue working. This level of accessibility also provides huge benefits for management as they can gain 24/7 visibility of operations, even from their smartphones. By ensuring a business isn’t constrained by outdated IT systems, BigChange offers a high degree of future proofing. In addition, if a company expands by acquisition, a cloud solution means newly acquired companies can start using the platform straight away so there can be a seamless transition once everyone has been weaned off the ‘legacy’ system.
What about businesses that rely on contractors?
BigChange supports a number of businesses that have expanded from being just a local provider to a regional or national business and they often do this by contracting. Crucially, with BigChange, any contractor can immediately access the BigChange mobile app. It is exactly the same app connected to the same central system. This means the service is completely seamless - everything coming back from the field is as if it is from one of their own operatives.
Spending less on digital: how better software can save the NHS millions
The UK government has demanded that NHS England finds ways to reduce core NHS spending - to around £330 million compared to the sum agreed in the 2021 spending review, and after other adjustments such as increased employer pensions costs, according to the Health Service Journal.
This comes as a consequence of needing to find funding to deal with the government’s ‘Living with COVID’ plans and the cost of the public health policy around test and trace, says Julian Kelly, NHSE chief financial officer.
Kelly went on to say that achieving this cut would likely involve ‘slowing down’ some transformation programmes and ambitions from the NHS long-term plan, including ‘how fast we go on the technology change, on some of the innovation stuff we have spoken about…and the prevention programme’.
Dan Teare, healthcare sector director for mpro5, believes there is a simple solution the NHS should be implementing to save money without reducing quality of care: “Digital transformation is a vital undertaking for any organisation in the modern world, and it will get easier and cheaper as the journey goes on, as well as improving efficiency and reduce overall costs. However, it often takes some initial investment to get that process started. Yet, that is not always the case. NHS Trusts use a wide variety of software, which ends up costing millions to adopt and deploy. By consolidating their digital needs into a single, adaptive and effective piece of software, standardised throughout the relevant parts of the health service, rather than spending more money on multiple expensive and inefficient digital tools all doing different things, the NHS can both save money and digitally transform.”
Whilst digitalisation is a key objective for the NHS, and new digital technologies are helping Trusts to work smarter than ever, the implementation of such software can be strained, especially when trying to find software for individual needs and also cut down on expenses.
Dan Teare continued: “Few would disagree with a vision of digitalisation driven by cutting costs, improving service levels and streamlining the day-to-day processes of NHS workers. Yet too many NHS Trusts and NHS organisations misunderstand the fundamentals of digitalisation and, as a result, continue to get software and software procurement wrong. It is important that NHS Trusts find smarter ways to save on tech without cutting corners in terms of quality of care. Utilising a singular yet configurable platform instead of procuring a multitude of single-instance software platforms is a more efficient way to cut down on procurement costs.”
In October 2021, the government promised the NHS £2.1 billion in IT upgrades and digital health technology so hospitals and other care organisations are as connected and efficient as possible. Investing to this extent highlights the importance the NHS places on digital transformation initiatives, but also the drawbacks when it comes to actively implementing efficient strategies in this regard.
Teare said: “It must be accessible and useable by all staff who need it - with as little specialist training as possible. Clinicians or operations teams cannot be expected to be data scientists or IT professionals as they have a very important job to do, with little time to search through data points or look for who stored what where. Additionally, more configurable platforms provide future-proofing in that they can evolve as needs change. There is no point cutting costs now if NHS Trusts will only need to replace all their technology a couple of years down the line - they would only be paying for a layer of duct tape rather than fixing the fault itself. Ultimately, shifting the perspective to a singular yet simple platform service means better patient care, better customer service and overall an easier life for workers across the NHS - for doctors, nurses and facility management teams. Relying on the software to fill any gaps enables workers to spend more time helping people and saving lives.”
Smarter Services supports employees and customers with management solutions
Smarter Services maintains commercial spaces, properties and estates. The company provides a tailored programme, whether for offices, housing, retail, or industrial premises, supported by a dedicated account manager, on-site supervisors and full records of work carried out. The company uses the latest SmartTask workforce management technology to provide visibility of who is on-site and when, as well as to carry out regular audits, helping the company to provide a competitive, quality commercial cleaning service.
SmartTask - improving working processes and customer service
Smarter Services uses SmartTask workforce management software to manage proof of attendance, holiday and absence for its 260+ cleaning personnel working on-site. The company’s head office employees use the system to design shifts and rotas, working closely with the managers to match availability of employees against client requirements. The latest rotas are sent to staff mobile phones to keep them updated. Electronic capturing of hours worked and services provided means that time spent on producing invoices has reduced by two days per month.
Director of operations, Michael Poppa, said: “Using SmartTask has really changed the way that we record staff working hours, jobs completed and processing of salaries. Everything is now in one place and accessible. Accurate records benefit our employees and our clients, with streamlined processes for attendance, job records and invoices that help us provide the best possible customer service both on and off site.”
Using SmartForms supports paperless processes
The company uses the SmartTask SmartForms creator to generate custom electronic forms for key management processes, including on-boarding, audit and quality management, near misses and accident reporting, as well as to flag site access issues.
“We have been working to reduce our paperwork across the board and SmartTask has helped us to achieve this,” continued Poppa. “We used to have a seven-page employee contract – now, thanks to SmartForms, our onboarding process is completely electronic. We also use SmartForms for quality audits - everything is streamlined with all the supporting information easily accessible. Using SmartTask in this way has empowered our managers and has been invaluable to support our industry accreditations.”
Reports enable optimum business planning
Smarter Services uses the reports function within SmartTask to support future operations planning. Shifts and rotas can be costed to meet forecasts on a weekly or monthly basis, ensuring that absences and changes in demand can be met within the required profit margins.
Michael Poppa concluded: “SmartTask is a key management tool for our business. It streamlines our business processes and provides us with the information that we need to manage our commercial cleaning services efficiently and profitably. It helps us to better manage our staff, deliver quality client services and plan for the future.”
Training is the key to efficient cleaning
Joel Kenny, academy manager at Kärcher Academy, outlines the importance of training to maximise cleaning performance.
The increased demand to see cleaning in action has led many businesses to purchase new cleaning equipment or increase their head count in cleaning teams. However, the introduction of new equipment and staff paired with the added challenge of ensuring efficient deep cleaning practices makes it incredibly important that proper training is rolled out to boost productivity.
Effective training ensures that staff members are equipped with up-to-date knowledge on different cleaning products and machines to promote a more efficient clean. Utilising resources offered by manufacturers, such as the Kärcher Academy, is the perfect solution to arm cleaning teams with the latest techniques to ensure any machine is used to its full potential.
The Kärcher Academy is a market-leading training facility that hosts cleaning teams from across the UK both in person at the Banbury facility and virtually. Kärcher’s highly skilled team offers cleaners hands-on training as part of a continual learning process so that they always remain on top of industry best practice. From adapting to increased demands brought on by the pandemic to understanding new industry guidelines, the Academy is well placed to help customers through every stage of their careers.
With rapid technological developments to cleaning machines in mind, ensuring that staff are trained on how to leverage these enhancements is crucial to ensure they can properly tackle the latest surfaces and materials. Understanding when to use each product and on which surface helps to avoid surface damage and ensure effective, efficient cleaning. To support this, the Kärcher Academy explores both the theoretical and practical elements of cleaning, so cleaners are empowered to clean surfaces without damage. This training is done in small groups so that each participant receives tailored attention to their specific questions and needs.
Practical training is key for ensuring that staff know when to apply different cleaning methods and at which time. Whilst it is ideal to train the entire workforce in this manner, current demands from facilities users to see cleaning in action makes this challenging. To support, Kärcher has devised a series of products featuring the Kärcher Intelligent Key (KIK) System. This enables management staff to set up the machines correctly for cleaning their specific facility. Managers can then lock the machine settings to ensure the same high level of clean regardless of the user. This works as an effective solution until the remaining staff can be trained on the full use of the machines.
Failure to maintain training can lead to longer cleaning times that do not meet standards, hampering the ability of the workforce to deliver a quality clean. In this day and age, practical training should be compulsory for all companies to master new challenges or technological advancements, ensuring that every worker can deliver the most effective, efficient and hygienic methods every time.
Speeding up the certification process for UK businesses
A cleaning company has developed pioneering app technology to enable it to provide same day reports to its customers. Hy5 Commercial Cleaning, which operates throughout the country, has invested in a specialist app which allows its staff to compile reports on the job whilst cleaning kitchen ventilation systems and to submit instant reports to clients. By speeding up this process, the app also quickens the certification procedure for its customers and ensures they are up to date with essential insurance requirements and environmental health documentation.
Anna Ellwood, general manager of Hy5, said: “Investing in this app has really revolutionised our operations, and makes life so much easier for all involved. The app saves us so much time and allows us to concentrate more on the daily jobs at hand of making sure our cleans are carried out to the highest possible standard. From an admin point of view, it is so much easier for everybody. The technicians can take photos and upload them instantly rather than having to go back to it and email them over, and it means I can get the reports finished the same day as the cleaning has taken place. This is of obvious benefit to the customer as, once they have paid the invoice, we can get the report sent over for certification. It’s so important that all paperwork and certificates are gained to meet industry requirements and ensure everything is in order and insurable if anything does go wrong.”
Hy5 Commercial Cleaning is one of only a handful of firms in the UK with industry standard Building Engineering Services Competent Assessment (BESCA) Vent Hygiene Elite (VHE) accreditation which has been introduced to ensure all ventilation systems in commercial kitchen settings are cleaned to the required TR19 level.
