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Matt Gornick, founder of OrangeQC, talks with Judy Gillies, president of The Surge Group

6 Top Tips for Janitorial Teams from The Surge Group’s Judy Gillies

Judy Gillies is the president of The Surge Group, a cleaning consulting company in Toronto. She’s a CPA who has found the jump from finance to janitorial a natural fit. “Cleaning is a lot about numbers,” she says. When businesses ignore that, they do so at their own peril. Today, The Surge Group runs third-party audits to help companies and organizations find out what’s working (and what isn’t) with their cleaning programs. We recently caught Read more…

By Rachel Matuch, ago

The Three Types of Inspection Forms High-Performing Janitorial Teams Rely On

By now, you probably know that janitorial or facility inspections are the key to getting a realistic picture of how things are going at your facilities. (If this doesn’t sound familiar, be sure to check out our Definitive Guide to Creating a Janitorial Checklist.) So what are the different types of inspection forms, and how should you be using them? We’ll break down the three core inspection forms you should be using to track your Read more…

By Gina Meeks, ago

How Northwestern University’s Residential Services Team Went from Paper Inspections to Data-Driven Decision Making

We first met Johnathan Winters, the Senior Associate Director of Residential Services for Northwestern University, at an ISSA conference back in 2012. At that point, the Residential Services team was still doing inspections on paper, and he was looking to take things digital. We’ve been working together ever since. Johnathan recently shared more with us about how his team now puts real-time inspection data to good use. Today, data shapes how the team does everything Read more…

By Rachel Matuch, ago
Two people look over a report on a computer

Best Practices for Your Public Relations (PR) Report and Why You Need One

We’ve talked to so many janitorial teams who thought they were doing a great job . . . only to find out their client was actually unhappy with the cleaning quality. (In fact, that’s why some of our clients seek out OrangeQC in the first place.) On the flip side, there’s nothing more frustrating than having a client with unreasonable expectations about what you’ve agreed to do. That’s especially true when the client’s upset that Read more…

By Gina Meeks, ago

The Definitive Guide to Creating a Janitorial Inspection Checklist

Want to improve your cleaning quality? Need to know how things are really going on-site — over time, without bias? Janitorial inspections are the key. First: What are janitorial quality control inspections, and why do them? At their most basic, a janitorial or facility inspection is an evaluation of the cleanliness of a space and the quality of the cleaning. A good quality control inspection: Focuses on all of the areas the cleaning or maintenance Read more…

By Rachel Matuch, ago

What Kind of Rating is Right For Your Inspection Forms?

One of the most important decisions you can make for your janitorial team is which type of rating to use on your inspection forms. It’s a simple choice, but it affects the quality of data you get from your inspections . . . and how long they take to complete. We’ve explained a few of the popular options and given you their benefits, the size of form they’re suited for, potential drawbacks, and suggested percentages. Read more…

By Gina Meeks, ago

What Are APPA Custodial Service Levels?

APPA’s Custodial Service Levels can be tricky to really understand. You may have heard them referred to by many different names: “levels of cleanliness,” “levels of clean,” “custodial staffing levels,” “custodial staffing standards,” “APPA maintenance matrix,” or “appearance levels,” just to name a few. The levels are a rating system designed to help educational facilities evaluate the cleaning quality at their facilities, as well as the appropriate staffing needed to maintain the clean. The APPA Read more…

By Gina Meeks, ago

Getting Beyond “Pretty Good” to Know How You’re Actually Performing

Jeff Gilkey is an industry veteran. He’s the Manager of Custodial & Safety Services at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he started nearly 14 years ago; before that, he was a housekeeping manager in the healthcare field. During that time, he’s seen a lot of change. “For years, I just did everything on paper,” Gilkey says. He recalls charting out complicated, color-coded cleaning schedules for the hospital on poster boards. When he arrived at Franciscan Read more…

By Rachel Matuch, ago

It’s Here! The New OrangeQC iOS App Release is Ready to Get to Work

It’s been months in the making, and we’re so excited to share it with you! The latest version of the OrangeQC mobile janitorial inspection app for iOS devices makes managing quality control even simpler. The new version (3.7.0, if you’re counting) was designed based on your feedback. It takes the things our clients love about OrangeQC (fast, easy inspections with great data) and makes them even better. A few things the new version lets you Read more…

By Rachel Matuch, ago

How CVG Embraces Technology to Keep Its Airport Amazingly Clean

Airport housekeeping and janitorial teams face a huge challenge: keeping enormous facilities clean despite round-the-clock traffic. We talked to one of our OrangeQC clients about how they use the latest technology to rise to the occasion. Photo by Josue Isai Ramos Figueroa Around the world, airport facility teams are dealing with unprecedented traffic. Total passengers were up 6.6% last year, according to Airports Council International (ACI). Airport facilities and housekeeping teams are facing unprecedented demands Read more…

By Rachel Matuch, ago