by Shane Henson — January 21, 2013—In light of the United States facing the worst influenza (flu) outbreak in recent years, ISSA, “the worldwide cleaning industry association,” has released a white paper that outlines not just the value of improved cleaning in protecting building occupants’ health, but also the financial benefit such steps can produce.
For the paper, aptly titled The Value of Clean: How Cleaning Improves Your Bottom Line, researchers aggregated data from mainstream business, facilities management, and cleaning-industry specific studies, quantifying the positive impact cleaning has on a business’s bottom line.
One of the key points the paper addresses is the increased productivity achieved in a workplace that takes additional cleaning and hygiene steps to avoid transmission of viruses and other illnesses, and how this can lead to higher business profitability, says ISSA. Among the areas covered are:
- Work-ticket resolution costs
- Occupant wellness: absenteeism
- Occupant wellness: improved productivity
- Image enhancement: customer satisfaction
- Asset preservation
- Energy savings
- Reduction of hospital associated infections (HAIs)
The ISSA hopes that facilities managers and those responsible for a building’s cleanliness can use the paper as a tool or “proof” to show key decision makers that more money may need to be invested or more time spent in ensuring a building is as clean as possible.
“Connecting cleaning to a business’s ultimate bottom line is a new approach many facility managers haven’t considered, because they frequently view this area of their operations as a cost instead of the profit center it can be,” says ISSA director of industry outreach Dianna Steinbach. “The results we have gathered in the Value of Clean paper prove that reducing cleaning budgets, or denying requested increases in proper cleaning, can be penny-wise and pound-foolish. In fact, such cutbacks usually prove more costly in the long run, a fact many organizations don’t realize.”
The paper is supported by additional ISSA member-only tools. These include:
- A Value of Clean Calculator that allows members to help customers quantify specific value in six critical business areas;
- A PowerPoint presentation members can use to insert Value of Clean points in customer communications;
- A Webinar, “The New Advantage: Value of Clean,” that will be held January 30, 2013, to teach industry professionals how to enhance their dialog to include connections between cleaning and financial value; and
- A robust library of ISSA-authored articles that have been published in FM publications, providing further third-party support for value of clean claims.
