As the Director of Operations or Physical Plant, it is your job at a University, College, or K-12 school district to make sure that the work gets done. As a cleaning consultant and a custodial trainer, I have often seen that confusion

Managing a cleaning crew is hard work. It's your job to distribute and check the work, and to make sure that all shifts are covered. Added to these responsibilities is the fact that your employees are spread out in many different buildings. In the day-to-day craziness that comes with managing a cleaning crew, it would almost seem that providing quality training for your employees is a luxury. But, training is a necessity; it is a long-term investment that pays off in profit and productivity.

West Ottawa Public Schools are located in Holland, Michigan, a scenic community on the Lake Michigan shore. West Ottowa has an enrollment of 8,090 students housed in 13 buildings including two high school, two middle schools, and nine elementary schools. The school district covers 1.6 million square feet of buildings on 420 acres of land, maintained by a staff of 39 custodians, six maintenance people, and five grounds people.

As a consultant and former school custodian, I have had the opportunity to speak to thousands of custodians over the years. Below are some of the major comments and concerns that I continue to hear.

I've been in the cleaning field for a long time. It seems like only yesterday that while cleaning schools, I marveled at the swirls of my newly buffed floors, and moments later watched as the tiny feet of second graders smudged and marked the carnauba wax. Just a few days ago, during employee performance appraisals, I watched as an auto scrubber using just tap water and an ionizer, made a terrazzo floor sparkle.

Cleaning company owners and managers, recognizing the value of their own specialized knowledge, encourage customers and business owners to seek advice from and use the special skills of cleaning professionals. Are these same managers and owners aware that training is a specialized skill and how a highly skilled trainer can provide them with a better educated and more proficient workforce, and workforce management system?

Quantifiable data is your secret weapon to ensure that you have enough custodians to keep your buildings clean. Whether you are a university, college, or K-12 school district, an employee assessment for custodial staffing will give you the data that you need to make reasonable and informed decisions.