Gina’s head was spinning as she left the meeting. The medical center where she worked for 20 years was demanding a 10 percent cut in her cleaning staff. They had just added a new cardiac care wing, equipped with the most advanced technology. How could they invest  so much in the medical center without recognizing the need for the highly qualified and well-trained environmental services workers required to clean it? Back in her office, Gina reviewed the center’s entire budget. What she found was the while her cleaning budget had been cut, the budget for infection control had increased. She knew Beth, the director of infection control. The year before, Beth and Gina had worked together on a committee to develop an effective infection control plain for the facility. Gina’s best chance of getting some of that lost money returned to the cleaning budget was to meet with Beth and convince her of how critical adequate cleaning staff was to preventing healthcare-associated infections(HAIs). But first, she’d have to do her homework.

Know The Facts

Gina began by researching and finding some starting information on HAIs in the United States.According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approximately one in 20 people who receive inpatient care in the U.S. healthcare facility will acquire an HAI. The cause of these infections include medical devices that are indwelling- such as urinary catheters – infections at injection sites, surgical procedures improper use of antibiotics, diseases that are transmitted from patient to patient or from healthcare worker to patient and most important from Gina’s perspective, a contaminated healthcare environment. In a 2009 report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the total annual medical costs attributed to HAIs to be in the tens of billions of dollars and the average per patient cost to be approximately $20,000. From her experience on the infection control committee, Gina knew HAIs were a major concern for the medical center, but her research enabled her to express it in clear numbers.

For every HAI attributable to a contaminated healthcare environment, her department either directly or indirectly was responsible for an additional; $20,000 in healthcare costs. While not all HAIs were attributable to the level of cleaning in patient rooms, if each of the possible causes were responsible for an equal share of HAIs then inadequate cleaning of patient rooms would account for, at minimum, 16 percent of the total number.  Based on Gina’s long experience in the cleaning industry, it seemed reasonable to assume that a comprehensive cleaning program using professional grade equipment, materials and chemicals, along with a proactive management approach toward training, accountability and adequate staffing, would bring about reductions in HAIs.

Next, Gina used her cleaning management software to view the annual cost for cleaning one room and factored in the cost of HAIs. She determined that by reducing HAIs by just 3 percent – from 16 percent to 13 percent – her department could save the hospital almost $1,500 per room each year. When she shared these numbers with Beth and the medical center’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), she was assured that her staffing reductions would be reconsidered.

“Money talks,” said the CFO, “thanks for helping me see the big picture.”

Walking back to her office, Gina felt almost giddy. She had saved some of her employees their jobs and proven an important point: More cleaning can actually mean saving. In the healthcare industry, it can even save lives.

Thanks to Claude Berman of INFORMED: Cleaning Management Software for the development and use of the HAI Cost Calculator Spreadsheet for this article.

Download the HAI Calculator from INFORMED 

Kevin Keeler, a cleaning professional in the industry for 30 years, brought to my attention an important aspect of our industry. In his article, “Home Guarding the Treasures in 2015”,  he states, “I still hear from cleaners, supervisors and managers that they don’t feel appreciated for their efforts”.  This is a hard fact to accept in the cleaning industry considering the type of tasks accomplished and the hard work, energy and time given by these professionals.

The truth is, some people don’t understand how valuable their custodians and janitors are to their business. Even with the mass amount of change that has happened in the industry, such as improved products, new and more efficient tools and machines, the amount of effort and dedication required to accomplish their tasks remains the same. This group of professionals are the guardians of the facility; they are the people who keep customers, employees and guests safe from diseases and injuries.  Without them, the infrastructure and productivity of companies would crumble. The word janitor comes from the Roman god who guarded the treasures for the rest of the gods and custodian means keeper or guardian. So as you go through your daily work, remember these professionals are vital in keeping our companies moving forward.

For the first time, in-house facility managers are faced with the challenge of overseeing four generations of employees in the workplace: Traditionalists (born before 1946), Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964), Generation X (born from 1965 to 1980), and Millennials (born after 1980). Understanding the differences between the generations is critical if custodial executives want to build a successful, multigenerational department.

Although the older generation is reaching the age of retirement, a significant amount of them are staying in the work force or returning as part time employees out of necessity. This has caused us to see large gaps in the age ranges that are in the workforce.

According to industry consultants, this new work dynamic can lead to friction when the attitudes and work ethics of different generations clash.

According to Ralph Peterson, training manager for Healthcare Services Group Inc. “They don’t know how to treat each other, and there’s often a lack of respect from both sides. But the good news about these generations, is they really can work together well. They understand the mission, and they have no problem working hard. You just have to understand, they all have different triggers.”

To understand these “triggers”, the best place to start is with each generation’s strengths, characteristics, work habits, and motivation to help form an effective plan to motivate your employees.

The Traditionalists were raised during the great depression, and as a result, they learned how to work hard and have a commitment to a company. “Traditionalists” are no strangers to hard work and long hours, and have respect for authority within the company.

Baby Boomers are the optimists of the generations and believe hard work will lead to self growth. This group is effective in groups, but can not be relied on if conflict arises. Similar to the Traditionalists, the Baby Boomers look for job security and stability; something they can ride out until they retire. The majority of these groups are comfortable working 50-60 hours and this is their main value.

Generation X is a goal oriented group that is accustomed to multitasking and are familiar with technology. They work well in teams and are looking for job security like their parents.

The Millennials require a lot of attention; they are used to getting praised for their work at home. This generation is very straightforward with their ideas and are always looking to improve procedures through their tech savvy ways.

Having all of these diverse generations can be a blessing and a curse in one. On one hand, you have massive availability to knowledge and different ways of thinking, allowing for innovation and optimization in the workforce. On the other hand, you have to find a way to connect these groups. While they can work together, it is difficult to create a bridge to fill the gap between these four generations. This requires giving customized instructions for each group. If you give a Traditional or a Baby Boomer a job and say “This needs to be done because I said so” you will receive positive feedback, but for the younger generations of Gen Xers and Millennials, they want to know the reason(s) for the task they are being asked to perform.

A manager looking to succeed in managing a multigenerational workforce must be mindful of the diversity of their work force, while applying incentives for these different generations to use their skills to work toward common goals.