Recruitment And Retention Strategies Are A Must

According to industry sources, the number of jobs in the cleaning industry are rising. However, commercial cleaning companies need to be a little more flexible when it comes to recruiting new staff to fill those roles to secure the best talent possible.

Flexibility is the key to finding top people. I have been to many interviews and conducted many interviews as well and one thing I have found no matter if you are interviewing or the one being interviewed is that a lot of companies are just not flexible when it comes to making suitable times with prospective candidates. By not being flexible in this, you will not secure the best candidate possible as someone else who is a little more flexible will. In  the beginning of 2009 there was no shortage of good candidates for office cleaning, industrial cleaning as well as commercial cleaning  but now as the economy is recovering more and more, those good candidates are being snapped up by the commercial cleaning companies that have the foresight to be flexible.

Cleaning companies also need to rethink their retention strategies if they are going to compete in today's market. All this means is rather than thinking about constantly replacing employees or contractors if they are not meeting your requirements, you should be thinking about what you can do to better train them. If they are worth keeping, then implement some sort of training program or an incentive scheme to keep existing employees. training and development should be the key component of any recruitment and retention program. It doesn't need to take the form of formal courses but a one on one mentorship is just as effective if not more so as it provides a personal interest on your part in your employees.

Recruitment and retention strategies need to be implemented as quickly as possible if you haven't already done so as you can rest assured that your competitors are doing just that. Once you have on in place, effective communication of such to your employees and contractors will boost their morale but make sure that communication works both ways. you want to allow your employees to communicate back to you as well for any feedback which they might have to make your plan even more effective.

Maintain A Sustainable Service Level Without Losing The Shirt Off Your Back

The recession might be over but not all the optimists who comment or analyse our economy are in agreement with that statement. All in all, the cleaning  industry in Australia has come through relatively intact but that doesn't mean that any of us in the commercial cleaning industry should let our guard down now.

Most of our clients are still very guarded with their level of spend and their business model is still based on cost rather than value. Sometimes, if businesses are to survive, that is an understandable measure. And there is no indication either that clients are going to increase their level of spending any time soon. In fact, recent figures I have read indicate that clients level of spending on commercial cleaning and maintenance is still down from 2009 levels. Recovery will take some time because clients are still looking at ways to cut costs in their own businesses.

If there has been any positives coming out of this recession is that many businesses see the advantages of outsourcing many of their services. There has been a lot of tender activity in the last 12 months or so and many of those tenders were for services that were performed in house. So companies that employed their own cleaners under their own banners have outsourced their cleaning and maintenance needs to commercial cleaning contractors.

The important thing is to maintain your  own profit margins and don't fall victim to the trap of cutting your margins for the sake of just keeping the job. Sometimes doing that will end up costing you money and that's not why you are in the commercial cleaning business for. Always charge for a level of service that covers your costs and has a  profit margin as well off course also maintaining the level of service that the client expects and deserves. Keep in constant touch with the client and act on matters that they raise immediately. Doing things in this manner will ensure that you have a healthy profit margin and happy clients.

Maintenance Of Linoleum Floors

To seal a newly laid linoleum floor is not as hard as most commercial cleaning companies tend to make out. However, there are a few simple steps that need to be taken to ensure that the linoleum flooring of your contract stays looking as good as possible for quite a few years to come.

First, it is imperative that any adhesives be removed from any corners or joins in the floor before any sealant goes on to it. never seal in adhesives. Use mineral turps if necessary and immediately rinse off with water. Linoleum is easily damaged by strong solvents so be very careful and follow the manufacturers instructions on this at all times.

Next you need to prepare the surface for sealing. You need to cut back the factory polymer sealer and residual resins before you seal the floor as this will ensure a superior adhesion of the new sealer. you should never seal a newly laid linoleum floor without at least cutting back once lightly. A word of caution though. Linoleum floors are very prone to 'burning' or 'browning' so be very careful as to your choice of pads and chemicals you use on the floor. Consult your chemical company if you are unsure before you begin the job.It is preferable to rinse the floor twice with new linoleum flooring with warm water.

The choice of the proper sealer is very important. generally linoleum is not designed to be a wet look glossy floor so only two coats are required. By doing this you are sealing the floor for protection and easy maintenance. there are many finishes available so check with your chemical supplier which one is best suited.

For regular maintenance, a neutral PH floor cleaner between 5 and 8 should be used. A damp mop in warm water should do the job and never wet mop a linoleum floor...always damp mop.

Whether you are a commercial cleaning, office cleaning, industrial cleaning or house cleaning business, you will come across linoleum floors. If you follow these simple steps, you should have no issues and you will get a great looking floor that is easy to maintain every day.

Why Commercial Cleaning Companies Love Linoleum Floors

Linoleum floor have been around for over 100 years and it's been continuously used in commercial and domestic areas. Commercial cleaning companies have had a love affair with this product for probably just as long. For a while there, it lost popularity because it was considered very old fashioned and maybe rightly so. With modern building designs, the aesthetics of a building took precedence over functionality but thankfully, in recent years, linoleum has made a come back. But just why have commercial cleaning companies favoured these types of floors over most others?

There are a few reasons and the biggest one of them is that linoleum floors are tough and relatively easy to clean and maintain on a regular basis. What could be easier than mopping a linoleum floor with a damp mop and then buffing it to a high gloss shine if necessary? And on a regular schedule, strip and seal the floor. Terracotta tiles for example on a floor are very porous which makes them hard to keep clean every day. While they might look fantastic, they are just not practical in a commercial setting. Besides, linoleum floors are now available in many different looks and styles so there is one to suit every building type. they even make them now to look like real timber flooring.

Because of its surface resilience, it has inbuilt anti slip characteristics which also provides a surface that is both soft to walk on and very quiet. Part of its renewed demand with architects is because of its extremely good fire ratings, gives off less toxic fumes when alight and it generates no static electricity which makes its use perfect for hospitals and electronics and various circuit board manufacturing places.

If you have a commercial cleaning business, be grateful if you have linoleum floors to maintain. Office cleaning in general is hard enough without having to worry about grout in between floor tiles looking really grubby. In a commercial setting, linoleum is very long lasting, easy to maintain for the commercial cleaning companies that are employed to clean them. As well as that, with new designs and technology making them even more attractive, linoleum floors are definitely here to stay.

Good Commercial Cleaning Supplies-Why Are They Important?

Making sure that your business uses good commercial cleaning supplies should be a major concern to all who are involved in any type of commercial cleaning business.However, finding the right cleaning supplier can be difficult. Lets face it, there are so many commercial cleaning suppliers no matter where you live that it can be a difficult decision. Do you base it on price, location, type of equipment and supplies available or some other unknown factor? The answer while simple and yet complicated is all of the above.


There are many ways of finding the cleaning supply company for your business. I always suggest if you find a reasonable cleaning supply company do some research on them before you pull out your credit card. You can search the name of the company online and see what kind of reviews they might have or any customer reviews on a cleaning related forum or elsewhere. better to do your homework before wasting your money on a cleaning supply company that just wont meet your demands.


You also need to find a commercial cleaning company that's reasonably close to your head office so tat you can make that last minute dash for those forgotten emergency supplies. the cleaning supply company should also have plenty of stock of all the basics like bathroom supplies, chemicals, mops, buckets and all the everyday cleaning items. An advantage for them and you would be also to have a vacuum cleaner servicing department as this could save you a lot of time and money in the long run.


All in all, a good cleaning supply company should have a good reputation, good pricing, ample supply of all your basic cleaning items and sundries and be willing to negotiate prices with you after a period of time of doing business together. Easy to say all of that, but harder to find, but they are out there. 

Melbourne has a diversified range of commercial cleaning companies. If you want regular property maintenance in Melbourne and commercial cleaning in Melbourne, hire a professional property services company which can take care of all your office cleaning and business cleaning.These companies are in great demand and are well known for their services and professionalism. 


Professional property maintenance companies should  have the capacity to handle any aspect of your property. They will provide you with a wide range of property maintenance and building service solutions. These services are tailored not only to take care of the interior  of the building but also provide cleaning solutions for the outside of the building as well. The solutions provided are unique to your property. Most of the services are incorporated into a single service package after taking into consideration all your maintenance and cleaning requirements. 


Most commercial cleaning in Melbourne companies  offer a huge range of floor care and maintenance solutions. They usually take care of all kinds of floors like  marble, ceramic, tiles, rubber, hardwood,terrazzo,cement and carpet floors. The best carpet steam cleaning Melbourne companies use pressure washing to remove algae, mud, dirt, moss, etc. They use burnishing, auto scrubbing, waxing, floor cleaning and finishing along with a variety of green chemicals so that your carpets, floors and walls look fantastic.


Ringwood Property Services provides high quality professional office cleaning, business cleaning and property maintenance service in Melbourne. We are both reliable and dependable. Ringwood Property Services is a 100% Australian owned and operated commercial cleaning service. We provide several different cleaning services for this sector like: window cleaning, janitorial services, carpet cleaning, garbage disposal, washroom maintenance and whatever else you may require. 

Professionally laundered Uniforms Help Prevent Infections

It makes sense if you really think about it. How many times have you seen one of your commercial cleaners wearing your companies uniform but only to notice it looks like it hasn't been washed for weeks? Plenty I'm sure. Not only does it look unprofessional, but it could be making your workers sick. This could especially be the case when working in a hospital, nursing home or other medical type commercial cleaning contract. This is why it might be a good idea to set up a service for your staff so that they can get them laundered professionally instead of relying of them to do it for themselves.

The reason for this is that infectious bacteria routinely hijacks the uniforms of medical personnel who interact with patients(or cleaners who work close to patients) explains Charles P. Gerba, PhD, an environmental microbiology expert at the University of Arizona. He also says that for many hours “those bacteria can still be alive and passed on through incidental contact with other patients.”


“Medical staffs have demanding schedules and doing their laundry in a hygienic manner may be difficult for them,” points out Adam Soreff of UniFirst, a supplier of uniforms and work apparel programs to businesses throughout the US and Canada. The same would apply to cleaning staff in these types of commercial cleaning contracts.

For the cost of a cup of coffee per day, it might be wise to organize a laundering service for your cleaning staff who work in these types of facilities. There are many companies who can pick up, clean and return your uniforms to one central place or any place of your choice. The thing is to ask yourself if you value the health and prosperity of your cleaning staff? If you do, then think seriously about this issue before it turns into a major problem for you.