How to Calculate ROI of Employee Training for Cleaning Companies

According to Gallup's 2017 State of the American Workplace Report, 40% of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year.  

This is a pretty startling statistic, but in the high turnover world of the cleaning industry it's not surprising. How important is employee training and development in your organization? If you're like many cleaning business owners I've talked to, you're frustrated with the constant churn of employees. That frustration often leads to a change in mindset regarding training.

Why You Should be Concerned About the ROI of Employee Training

Many a cleaning business owner has told me – “Why should I spend a bunch of time training employees when most of them are going to quit within the first 90 days? I used to spend a lot of time hiring and training but people keep disappointing me by just up and quitting. They don't even bother to call – they  just don't show up to work!” And thus starts the cycle of high employee turnover and owner frustration.

There is a famous quote that says, “But what if you don't train them and they stay?” I love this question because it reveals the reality of the situation. An employee that stays with you that is not trained is dangerous to your company and your brand. Do you really want untrained or poorly trained employees representing you and your company?

If you are one of these frustrated cleaning business owners you have forgotten a very important fact of owning a service business – your employees are your most important asset. A well-trained employee is more productive, and productivity directly affects the bottom line. If you're not profitable, you might as well not be in business. So investing in training does have an ROI, because if you can increase productivity you increase the bottom line. We'll discuss the ROI calculation later in this article.

Keep this in mind when it comes to training – I'm not talking about hiring an employee, taking them out on the jobsite and have them shadow you for a couple days and then let them clean on their own. And I'm not talking about promoting a cleaning technician to Supervisor, handing over the reigns and expecting them to do a good job. No, I'm talking about having solid, ongoing training systems that give employees the time needed to learn the skills and engage with the training. Here are some suggestions on how to better engage your employees through online training.

Benefits of Employee Training for Cleaning Companies

• Employee Training makes your business more efficient. Well-trained cleaning technicians are better equipped to clean when they use the most productive procedures, when they work with safety in mind and make sensible decisions without wasting time.
  
  
• Training is a recruiting tool. While a decent wage is important, employees of all generations want more than just a paycheck; they want to be engaged in their job. In a repetitive job like cleaning, providing ongoing training keeps their skills sharp and their mind engaged.
  
  
• Training keeps your employees safe and your costs down. When an employee is injured, there are not only direct costs, but many indirect costs to your business.
  • Productive time lost by the injured employee
  • Costs of other employees that must fill in (paying the higher wages of Supervisors that need to fill in, overtime costs of other employees that fill in, hiring and training a new employee that is less productive)
  • Cost of time spent documenting and investigating the accident
  • Increased Worker's Comp rates
  • Potential fines for safety violations
  • In other words - your ROI will certainly go down if you don't have a proper safety training program in place.
    
    
• Increased Job Satisfaction. Training employees to develop well-rounded skill sets helps them make more meaningful contributions to the company. They become more engaged and involved, which results in an increased desire to help the company become more successful. And when they realize the importance of their role in health and safety of building occupants, they take more pride in their work.
  
  
• Training improves employee retention. Employees that are engaged in their job aren't spending their spare time looking for a different job. If you offer ways for them to continually learn and improve their skills, they won't become stagnant once they've got the routine down. Give them a reason to grow with your company and they won't have a reason to move on the next job.
  
  
• Cross-training adds a higher level of efficiency and flexibility. When you cross train employees in different locations and new skills, your company can quickly adjust to absences and schedule changes. And if you can offer a new skill like window washing or carpet cleaning, you have additional trained employees to tackle these additional cleaning requests.

Employee Training Costs

It costs a lot of money to hire employees. But of course you can't grow your business without them! Since your employees are providing the service you charge for, it simply doesn't make sense to "wing it" when it comes to systematizing your hiring and training process. 

Hiring costs aside, you also have training costs. First, you need to pay your new employees for their training time. Included in that time should be classroom training. Here you will show them step-by-step how to prepare for the job as far as setting up equipment & supplies, and properly donning PPE. Next you'll train them on cleaning procedures.

But the classroom training doesn't end there. Your system should also include complete Safety Training, and Hazard Communication and Customer Service Training.

Of course there are costs associated with the training program you invest in. Above are links to The Janitorial Store's industry standard Certified Training Programs, which can be used to certify your employees. The programs are available at retail pricing, or if you join as a Pro Member, you can get discounts on all training programs. If you are a Premium Member, you get all the training programs included with your membership. So for just $647 a year for an individual membership, you get all these training programs, plus several others.

You may want to include online training as part of your training process. This is very helpful with retention of the information you're providing to your new employees. Of course there is the investment to purchase online training. Again, you can get much of your needed online training included with Premium Membership to The Janitorial Store. For that same $647, you get access to our training videos for up to 5 employees. We also have additional membership options for more employees.

If you wish to Certify your employees, they will need to take an exam for each program. The current cost of the exams are $20 per employee. 

Another cost will be the time spent training the employees in the location(s) they'll actually be cleaning. They will need to know the lay of the land, and will need guidance from their Supervisor for a while.

Another cost to consider is the payroll for your trainer. Someone has to train these employees and that will either fall to you, a supervisor or operations manager.

Don't forget about ongoing training costs. You can't simply train them once and be done with all training. Having regular training meetings should also be included in the training budget.

This may sound like a lot, but it is a worthy investment that will pay off dividends in productive, engaged employees.

How to Calculate Employee Training ROI

Earlier I mentioned that employee training does have an ROI, because if you can increase productivity you increase the bottom line. Of course you do need to plan your training budget to make sure you don't overspend on employee training. In order to do that, you can use the Training ROI Calculator provided by AICS (American Institute for Cleaning Sciences).

Another way to calculate employee training ROI is to use the formula for Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR).

Benefit Cost Ratio Formula for calculating employee training ROI

When you calculate Benefit Cost Ratio, you learn the relation between the benefits of training vs its costs.

• When the BCR is greater than one the benefits outweigh the costs and your training is making a return on investment.
• When the BCR is less than one, the cost exceeds the benefits of the training so you'll need to make improvements or changes to the training in order to see an ROI.

Example of Benefit Cost Ratio

Following is an example of the BCR calculation.

1. The building is 100,000 sq ft
2. The cleaning technician wages are $15 per hour with benefits
3. There are 4 cleaning technicians cleaning the building
4. Their production rate is 3571 sq ft per hour, or 25,000 sq ft in a 7 hour shift
5. Assuming training increases productivity by 20%...
6. The new production rate is 4285 sq ft per hour, or 30,000 sq ft in a 7 hour shift
7. Savings is 1456 hours or $21,840 per year
8. Annual training cost is $1,500
9. The BCR = 14.56, or 1.21 per month – Positive ROI

Example: Employee training ROI calculation

Here is another example provided by Dave Frank, AICS  

1. The building is 1 million sq ft
2. The cleaning technician wages are $15 per hour with benefits
3. There are 38 cleaning technicians cleaning the building
4. Their production rate is 4,000 sq ft per hour, or 28,000 sq ft in a 7 hour shift
5. Assuming training increases productivity by 20%...
6. The new production rate is 4,800 sq ft per hour, or 33,600 sq ft in a 7 hour shift
7. Savings is 12,480 hours or $187,200 per year
8. Annual training cost is $10,000
9. The BCR = 18.72, or 1.56 per month – Positive ROI

How to Improve the ROI of Training by Providing Effective Employee Training

Of course it's not easy to come up with training that increases productivity and engages employees. And if you're one of those owners who has developed a poor attitude about training, you'll need to shift your mindset if you really want it to work or employees will see right through your half-way efforts at training.

I recommend you start by getting yourself and your managers/supervisors on board by using a training system that is pre-designed for you so you don't have to start from scratch. Provide your leaders with training that gets them excited about their job and engages them through higher level learning opportunities.

The Janitorial Store provides comprehensive downloadable training and video training through Clean Smart University, which is included with Premium Membership.

You certainly can't go wrong by joining The Janitorial Store's Premium Subscription!

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