"Cleaners" who wont clean!!!!

drew2k9

a number of staff have already put this forward to the people in our company who organise the cleaners, i think something will be done about it in the future hopefully.

its not even that id like to know what they are and arent allowed to do, its more that they dont actually do anything at all!

they dont clean the communal areas, i have never seen or heard them use the hoover, hence the girl in our office taking responsability for that a couple of times a month, and they are taking the mick when it come to our hospitable nature, as our old cleaners (who i stated were brilliant, we want them back) were more than welcome to a cup of tea and a sit down, if these new cleaners actually did their job we wouldnt mind!

arkonite_babe

x12yhp wrote: »

maybin

Ermmmmm, haven't been around for a long time. Resource now actually.

My suggestion is this:
Anyone who has a contract cleaner and isn't happy with the service should ask to speak to the site/area manager. There is always someone from the contract company who is employed to audit the standards of the cleaners on site. If the cleaners aren't doing the job right and you or someone else in the office is doing the work, then the contract manager needs to know about it. You won't get any better standards or a resolution to any problems unless the company are aware. I'd hazzard a guess and say that the cleaning manager knows nothing of the problems cos no one has told who ever in your office that deals with the contract there's a problem. Happens all the time TBH

lisyloo

I have a cleaner at home and I firmly believe they are there to clean and NOT to tidy.
The place has to be relatively tidy for them to be able to clean.

Each time before my cleaner comes I spend 5 minutes putting any clothes and shoes that normally hang around the bedroom floor and just pick them up and put them on the bed.
That way the cleaner can vaccum the room.

It's not that hard to just put them into a pile.

It's not faire to expect cleaners to tidy things for various reasons.
At home I would never expect them to pick up dirty sock/pants and at work it's not fair to expect them to move your stuff.
What happens if a £5 goes missing, who's going to get the blame.

It's your job to tidy (just put things in a pile) and their job to clean.
If your unhappy speak to your employer but there are many reasons why they should not be expected to move your work property becuase they could be accused of all sorts when you can't find something.
Is it so hard to put it all in one pile yourslef?

jane130

i am a cleaner and often go above and beyond standard cleaning duties - for exapmple one fo the floors smears terribly if it gets wet so i clean it on my hands and knees with a damp cloth , this morning clients were in , no teabags and nobody able to leave to by any - except me so i went - not a biggie just helping out .

as far as desks are concerned If i can actually see the desk I will clean it , even move the odd file or two but if there are pieces of paper strewn all over the desk ( as my bosses often is) then I don't bother - how am i meant to clean it ? its not my job to tidy his files !

so call me a lazy cleaner if you want I am sure my boss will disagree.

x12yhp

arkonite_babe wrote: »

Ermmmmm, haven't been around for a long time. Resource now actually.

My suggestion is this:
Anyone who has a contract cleaner and isn't happy with the service should ask to speak to the site/area manager. There is always someone from the contract company who is employed to audit the standards of the cleaners on site. If the cleaners aren't doing the job right and you or someone else in the office is doing the work, then the contract manager needs to know about it. You won't get any better standards or a resolution to any problems unless the company are aware. I'd hazzard a guess and say that the cleaning manager knows nothing of the problems cos no one has told who ever in your office that deals with the contract there's a problem. Happens all the time TBH

It was Maybin whilst I was there... the people are the same now.

I am not certain about what you say though. There were frequent complaints and people frequently were changed. However the reality now turns out that the staff are rotated around the site giving some impression of the problems being dealt with. Nowdays nobody really bothers complaining because nothing changes and the higher admin clearly don't care.

The point I was making was that the cleaning was done much more effectively when we had one old lady dedicated to doing our building and who was employed, by our organisation, to do that job. Contract cleaners are convenient and easy to organise and maintain. But I just do not think they do as good a job.

arkonite_babe

x12yhp wrote: »

It was Maybin whilst I was there... the people are the same now.

I am not certain about what you say though. There were frequent complaints and people frequently were changed. However the reality now turns out that the staff are rotated around the site giving some impression of the problems being dealt with. Nowdays nobody really bothers complaining because nothing changes and the higher admin clearly don't care.

The point I was making was that the cleaning was done much more effectively when we had one old lady dedicated to doing our building and who was employed, by our organisation, to do that job. Contract cleaners are convenient and easy to organise and maintain. But I just do not think they do as good a job.

In reply to your points....
Some of the staff are the same, not all. Recently the mat and hygiene division from Resource have been taken over by PHS. Contract cleaning is still trading as resource. At the very last kick before the NI division of Resource was split up, it was owned by RBS.

Staff rotation is a frequent trick pulled by this and many other contract cleaning companies, reality is that it is very hard to get cleaning staff who are reliable and trustworthy given the poor hours and pay for a lot of the jobs. Lack of structure in dealing with complaints is all down to poor management, too many jobs being landed on one person to supervise and not enough hours to do all the work.

I agree with your final point, but many companies tend to outsource cleaning as they feel it is less hassle than buying all the equipment and chemicals, paying wages and maintaining abovementioned equipment.

Thankfully I no longer work in this industry, I've actually just left it and am feeling less stressed than I have in the past 6 years!!!

dmxdave

Recently I had a job installing equipment in a Belfast call centre. Obviously we did not want to get in the way of the normal 9-5 so opted to work a little bit later. Seemed like a good idea until the contract cleaners arrived, the older of the two, despite not doing anything, was very vocal in informing us that despite being paid for 2 hours was normally long gone before 1 hour was us and we were holding her up!

x12yhp

arkonite_babe wrote: »

In reply to your points....
Staff rotation is a frequent trick pulled by this and many other contract cleaning companies, reality is that it is very hard to get cleaning staff who are reliable and trustworthy given the poor hours and pay for a lot of the jobs. Lack of structure in dealing with complaints is all down to poor management, too many jobs being landed on one person to supervise and not enough hours to do all the work.

It is a bit depressing really. The benefits that people can get are too high if, more or less, they would rather do nothing at all instead of doing a good days work!

The management is something I definitely noted. Several of the managers (when I left) were the very same staff we had complained about when they were cleaners. So not half a wonder the system doesn't work very well!

Thankfully I am out of the academic profession now. So, like you, I am free simply to muse at the idiotic practices of my former employer!