Traditionally, janitorial staffs clean buildings after business hours. But some businesses are realizing a substantial cost savings by allowing cleaning staff to work during daytime hours. Daytime cleaning may require the purchase of quieter vacuums and other specialized equipment; however, the minor up-front investment that is needed can lead to huge paybacks for your cleaning company!

Daytime cleaning may not be suitable for all of your buildings. However, it is worth looking at the advantages of daytime cleaning to see if it is suitable for any of the locations that your business is responsible to clean.

1. Reduced employee turnover rates. Most people prefer to work day shifts. This is because of several factors including better access to transportation, and having the evenings to spend with family. As well as keeping employees on staff longer, offering daytime shifts makes recruitment for new employees easier.

2. There can be a substantial cost savings by allowing janitorial staff to clean during the day. Businesses may be paying day porters, maintenance personnel, or even property managers to stock restrooms. This can be eliminated if your crews are allowed to clean and restock supplies during daytime hours. Added cost savings result as lights do not have to be turned on at night for the nighttime cleaning crew. Large buildings have been able to save several thousand dollars in electricity costs by switching to daytime cleaning.

3. Contrary to what you might think, working during the daytime can increase worker productivity. Because there are employees doing "regular" work, cleaning staff need to be supplied with quieter and higher productivity equipment such as low decibel vacuums and battery powered floor and carpet sweepers. Also, with quieter equipment, day cleaning is less disruptive. Using low decibel vacuums and microfiber cleaning technology helps workers to clean faster while causing only minor disruptions to facility workers.

4. Another key point is that because of the presence of others in the building, cleaning staff are not as tempted to take extra breaks or longer breaks, and they typically move faster when working among other people. Payroll savings are also realized for cleaning companies because fewer supervisors are needed for day crews.

5. The presence of cleaning crews during the day creates a feeling of responsibility among all employees in the building to keep the facility clean. Rather than being "out of sight, out of mind", facility employees see the cleaning staff at work. This encourages the facility employees to clean up after themselves, by making sure that trash ends up in waste containers and wiping down restroom or break counters when water or other liquids are sloshed up on the countertops.

6. Decrease in security related costs. Companies that have switched to daytime cleaning have indicated a drop in theft and charges for false security alarms.

What type of facilities are the best candidates for daytime cleaning? Generally, daytime cleaning works best at large, single tenant office buildings, hospitals, factories, schools, and facilities that are open 24/7.

-- It is important that your day cleaning program not interfere with the regular activities that take place in a building. Consider the following before making the switch to a daytime cleaning program:

-- The amount of traffic through the building. Buildings that have heavy foot and vehicular traffic are not good candidates for daytime cleaning.

-- Furniture and equipment used by occupants and if this equipment needs to be moved for daily cleaning. Educating your cleaning staff is the most important factor in making a successful switch to daytime cleaning. There are suitable times for crews to do various tasks throughout the day. Tasks such as mopping should be done during slow business hours, before the building opens or just after closing. Other tasks such as restocking restroom supplies and emptying trash can be done during high traffic times. Cleaning areas such as breakrooms or conference rooms can easily be done when the rooms are not occupied.

When making a switch to daytime cleaning it is important to keep an open mind and be willing to implement new ideas, use less toxic cleaning products, purchase more efficient equipment and be flexible with schedules. Regular building operations may dictate when certain parts of a building are cleaned.

Switching from nighttime to daytime cleaning can be done with little or no interruption in a bulding's cleaning schedule. The transition can be almost unnoticeable if you complete your regular nighttime cleaning on a Friday and begin your daytime schedule the following Monday. Use the weekend days to train your staff for the adjustment. A successful switch will no doubt result in higher productivity, a cleaner building, cost savings, and higher profits!