How can smart auditing solutions support cleaning services?

BEFORE WE get started, it’s essential to understand what we mean by smart auditing solutions. Basically, smart auditing solutions tend to be cloud-based software systems that help professional cleaning teams capture important information in a robust, accurate, and consistent way. 

That ensures managers and decision-makers have real-time access to comparable performance data, giving them a robust picture of their operations. It also provides assurance that cleaning teams are following any rules, minimum standards or KPIs, and that companies are complying with appropriate regulations and/or laws.

How does that help enhance professional cleaning services?

In practice, there are many ways smart tech can help improve and enhance professional cleaning services. Perhaps one of the most obvious ways is through near-field communication (NFC) technology which lets professional cleaning teams demonstrate proof of presence. 

Using the same kind of tech that enables consumers to pay for goods with smartphones, NCF tech, in the form of traceable tags and barcodes, can be discretely located around buildings.

Cleaning teams simply use their mobile devices to scan the NFC tags/barcodes during cleaning cycles. This accurately demonstrates proof of presence and can be referenced during cleaning audits.​

NFC tags enable instant, contactless interactions – just by tapping a phone or device close to the tag. That eliminates the need to carry around bulky equipment and speeds up the whole cleaning/auditing process.

Building on NFC tech, cleaning teams can just as easily use their mobile phone or device to take and upload proof of quality images. 

A key benefit of proof of quality is that it builds trust and credibility. Because there is tangible evidence that it’s legitimate and that it’s high-quality.

An additional benefit is that proof of quality has been found to consistently raise cleaning and maintenance standards because teams have tangible evidence of the quality of their work and can take pride in it. 

How does smart auditing tech have managers and decision-makers?

With consistent, standardised and comparable reporting information, managers and decision-makers can adopt evidence-based decision-making, leading to increased productivity and profitability. By reviewing performance data, managers can identify potential ‘hotspots’ and make corrective actions. This type of ‘altitude reporting’ is also valuable for identifying areas of excellence and replicating ‘best practice’, thereby improving overall performance and satisfaction.

Sharing best practice helps by boosting performance, saving time, and avoiding mistakes – basically, it lets everyone benefit from what already works well.

Some surprising additional benefits of smart tech

Elsewhere, it also builds trust. And, as we all know, teams with high levels of trust have high levels of engagement, consistently perform well, and experience low employee turnover. This leads to a high-performance environment, which further enables consistent, high standards of facilities management.

The big benefit of a high-performance team environment is that it drives exceptional results – teams work better, faster, and smarter together.

Finally, smart auditing solutions support sustainable business practices. Paperless, cloud-based systems enable companies to reduce their carbon footprint and creating substantial savings. Some smart auditing solutions have been found to save up to 60% review time, andincrease operational efficiency by up to 30%.

Smart auditing solutions are a simple and effective way of supporting professional cleaning services. They can help cut costs, improve compliance, strengthen operations, and give you a competitive edge.

Francis Lyons is CEO at ECAT

For more information, visit​ ecat-group.com/

Tel: +44800 066 8921