Enterprise

When customers walk into a store or patients enter a hospital, they immediately begin to assess their environment, often judging a facility based solely on its aesthetic appeal. Your employees are no different—they deserve clean, safe facilities, too, regardless of whether or not your business receives customer traffic. Appearances and safety matter, and your floors make a subtle yet impactful statement about your organization’s brand, level of professionalism and commitment to cleanliness.

Commercial and industrial floor care options have changed over the years and will continue to evolve in the face of new substrates that reduce maintenance; the expectation for greener, more sustainable cleaning materials; and a maturing custodial workforce that requires continuing education to stay fluent in new trends.

Whether you run a hotel or elite university, your facility team needs to know about these trends and how to evolve with them. Here are a few ways to stay ahead of the curve.

Ease labor burdens with increased automation

Like most industries, the facility management (FM) sector has been hard hit by the labor shortage as leaders struggle to recruit and retain skilled talent. Research shows that 66% of facility managers and staff have left or have considered leaving their job in the past year. As FM staff age out of the workforce, organizations will need to replace these seasoned workers without breaking their budgets.

When FM professionals are in short supply, organizations can do more with less by investing in automation. Robotic scrubber-sweepers, for example, can clean large areas with minimal employee interaction or intervention, allowing teams to focus on more strategic, high-value tasks. This type of automation is especially useful for organizations that maintain massive warehouses, manufacturing plants or any other venue covering thousands of square feet.

Seek sustainable substrates and solutions

From routine cleaning to waxing and stripping, floor care requires the use of many potentially dangerous chemicals. Opting for greener alternatives, such as water-based cleaning agents, non-toxic solutions and supplies made from all-recycled plastic, is a simple way to help protect the environment as well as your employees’ health. Seek a distribution partner that carries environmentally conscious brands and ask for guidance when building your facility’s sustainability strategy.

An added bonus of prioritizing sustainability is the positive impact it can have on customer perception of your brand, as 4 out of 5 people describe themselves as likely to choose a brand with a positive approach to environmental sustainability. By using eco-friendly floor care products and promoting your commitment to sustainability, you can increase brand loyalty and attract new customers.

Don’t go it alone

With the rise of self-service technology and big box stores, it’s never been easier to purchase floor care products and other facility supplies. But convenience often comes at a cost, and organizations that rely on these quick solutions lose out on the industry knowledge and expertise a facility supply distributor can provide.

Find a partner that not only understands floor care trends and techniques, but one that can identify gaps in your FM strategy and help you fill them. Because although your next order of hardwood floor cleaner or surface disinfectant might be a click away, no online retailer will understand your business needs quite like your local supply partner.

For more on how to make the most of your floor care and maintenance program, reach out to our facility supply team.