Every workplace needs to be kept clean, but deciding who should actually do the cleaning isn’t always straightforward.
For smaller businesses in particular, there are two main options: employ someone directly or outsource the work to a commercial cleaning company. Both approaches have advantages, and the right choice depends on factors including the size of your premises, budget, cleaning requirements and how much management time you’re willing to commit.
Before making the decision, it helps to look beyond the headline cost and consider what each option really involves.
What Does In-House Cleaning Involve?
An in-house approach means the people responsible for cleaning are employed directly by your business.
The obvious advantage is control. You can decide exactly when cleaning takes place, which tasks are prioritised and how the work is carried out. Your cleaner also becomes familiar with the premises, employees and everyday requirements of the business.
For organisations with unusual working hours or highly specific requirements, having somebody permanently attached to the workplace can be particularly useful.
However, employing a cleaner involves more than paying their hourly wage.
The business may also need to consider recruitment, training, holiday entitlement, sickness absence, pensions, insurance, payroll and ongoing supervision. Cleaning products and equipment will usually need to be purchased, stored, maintained and replaced as well.
These additional responsibilities can make the true cost of an in-house cleaner higher than businesses initially expect.
What Happens When Someone Is Absent?
Staff absence is one of the biggest practical differences between the two approaches.
If your business employs one cleaner and they’re unavailable because of illness or annual leave, somebody else needs to cover their responsibilities.
For a larger organisation with several cleaning employees, that might not be difficult. For an SME employing a single part-time cleaner, it can create an immediate problem.
Management then has to arrange temporary cover, ask another employee to take responsibility or accept that certain tasks won’t be completed.
An established cleaning contractor will usually have access to a wider team and can make arrangements to maintain the service when individual cleaners are unavailable.
How Does Outsourcing Work?
When cleaning is outsourced, the business agrees a specification with an external provider covering matters such as which areas require cleaning, the frequency of visits and the expected standard.
This can significantly reduce the administrative burden placed on the client.
Rather than recruiting and managing cleaning staff directly, the business deals primarily with the cleaning company. The contractor takes responsibility for areas such as staffing, training and organising the cleaning service.
For example, businesses looking for commercial cleaning services in East Sussex can use a contract cleaning provider to create a programme around their premises, operating hours and individual requirements.
Outsourcing can therefore be particularly attractive to SMEs that want their workplace maintained without turning cleaning into another internal management responsibility.
Is Outsourcing More Expensive?
It’s tempting to compare an employee’s hourly wage directly with the hourly cost of a cleaning contractor, but that doesn’t provide the full picture.
An in-house employee can appear cheaper until the associated costs are included.
Recruitment takes time. Staff require management and training. Cleaning equipment has to be purchased, while consumables and chemicals need to be regularly replenished. Holiday and sickness cover also has to come from somewhere.
With outsourcing, many of these costs are incorporated into the overall service.
That doesn’t automatically mean outsourcing will always be cheaper. A small business with minimal cleaning requirements may find that an internal arrangement works perfectly well.
The more useful comparison is the total cost of maintaining the required cleaning standard, rather than simply comparing hourly rates.
What About Control?
One concern businesses sometimes have about outsourcing is losing control over how their premises are maintained.
In reality, outsourcing shouldn’t mean handing over control completely.
A good cleaning agreement should establish what needs to be done, how frequently tasks are completed and what standard is expected. Businesses can also establish procedures for security, access and reporting problems.
The important distinction is between control and management.
You can retain control over the outcome you expect while allowing somebody else to manage the people and processes required to deliver it.
Consider Your Cleaning Requirements
Not every workplace has the same needs.
A small professional office occupied by five people is very different from a busy retail environment, school, healthcare setting or large multi-occupancy building.
Before deciding between in-house and outsourced cleaning, identify exactly what the premises require.
Consider how frequently washrooms and kitchens need attention, how much footfall the building receives and whether cleaning needs to happen outside normal operating hours.
You should also consider periodic jobs such as deep cleaning, floor maintenance and specialist cleaning.
The more complex the requirements become, the greater the potential advantage of having access to a professional cleaning team with appropriate equipment and experience.
Which Option Is Right for Your Business?
There’s no universal answer.
Keeping cleaning in-house can work well when requirements are simple, the business has the capacity to manage employees and having a dedicated member of staff provides a genuine operational benefit.
Outsourcing can make more sense when a business wants predictable standards, access to replacement staff and less day-to-day administration. It can also give smaller companies access to professional equipment and cleaning expertise without having to invest in those resources themselves.
Before choosing, calculate the complete cost of each approach and consider the management time involved as well as the financial expense.
Ultimately, the best arrangement is the one that keeps your workplace consistently clean without creating unnecessary cost or additional work elsewhere in the business.