The Role of Proper Training in Quality Cleaning Service Delivery

Written by Paul Schokker | Jan 29, 2025 9:30:00 PM

Does your current commercial cleaning partner properly train the cleaners who take care of your worksite? You might assume that yes, they do—after all, cleaning seems rather straightforward, doesn't it? You hire a cleaning company, they send their people in, and the job gets done. But what if I told you that, in many cases, those cleaners have had little to no real training?

What if the inconsistency, missed details, and frustration you’ve experienced with cleaning services aren’t just about “bad cleaners,” but a fundamental failure in training?

The truth is, cleaning isn’t just about wiping surfaces or running a vacuum over the floor. It’s a skill that must be taught and cultivated. A trained cleaner understands not only how to clean but why they’re doing what they’re doing. They know which chemicals to use and where, how to avoid cross-contamination, and how to meet health and safety standards.

Without proper training, cleaners are left to figure things out on their own, which leads to mistakes, inefficiencies, and subpar results.

📊 Case Study: Car Dealership Achieves $480,000 ROI, 11% Productivity Gain with In-Tec

I’ve seen first-hand how a lack of training impacts businesses. One day, a cleaner does a great job; the next day, another person misses key areas. One team understands hygiene standards in a food manufacturing facility; another crew doesn’t have a clue. That inconsistency? It’s not just frustrating—it can lead to compliance breaches, safety risks, and long-term damage to a company’s reputation.

So why does this happen? Why aren’t all cleaning companies investing in proper training? And more importantly, how can you, as a business, make sure you’re getting a level of cleaning service that actually delivers the outcomes you're looking for? In this article, I’ll take you behind the scenes at In-Tec to show you how proper training makes all the difference, why so many cleaning companies fail in this area, and what you should look for when choosing a commercial cleaning provider.

Why Most Commercial Cleaners Train Their Staff

In this industry, proper training just doesn’t happen the way you’d expect. In fact, it doesn't happen much at all. A lot of commercial cleaning companies do little more than give new staff a quick walk-through of a site, point out a few tasks, and call it “training.” There’s no structured process, no real education on best practices, and no clear expectations set.

Instead, cleaners are left to figure things out as they go, which leads to bad habits, shoddy work, and frustration for you—the client. You’re constantly chasing up little issues, wondering why the quality keeps slipping. And when you raise concerns, maybe they send in a different cleaner—but if that person hasn’t been trained either, you’re stuck in the same cycle.

Why does this happen?

High staff turnover is a massive issue in commercial cleaning. Too many companies treat their cleaners as disposable, expecting them to come and go. And because of that, they don’t see the point in proper training. Their mindset is, “Why invest in someone who might leave in a few months?” But here’s the thing—when a business doesn’t invest in training, they lose good people. That’s when the quality of cleaning drops, and that’s when you, as the client, start seeing the cracks.
Training takes time, and time is money. Many cleaning companies are already underbidding just to win contracts, so they look for ways to cut corners. Training is usually the first thing to go. Instead of investing in their staff, they rely on quick, on-the-job instruction and hope for the best. But when training is treated as an afterthought, you’re the one left dealing with the consequences—inconsistent results, poor attention to detail, and a service that never quite meets expectations.
The other big issue is accountability—or the lack of it. Unlike trades where workers need certifications or apprenticeships, anyone can call themselves a cleaner. There’s no governing body checking whether staff actually know what they’re doing. And because of that, companies get away with doing the bare minimum.

The In-Tec Approach to Cleaner Training + Support

At In-Tec, training isn’t just something we tick off a list—it’s the foundation of everything we do. If you want a team that delivers consistent, high-quality cleaning, you can’t just throw people into a job and hope for the best. You have to set them up for success.

Unlike many cleaning companies that drop their staff straight into a job with little to no guidance, we have a structured training process, so every team member understands exactly what’s expected of them and how to do the job to a professional standard. And it doesn’t stop there—training doesn't end at a cleaner's onboarding; it's an ongoing commitment.

We know that if our cleaners feel confident, supported, and properly trained, they’re going to do a better job—and that means better results for you.

1. Training Starts Before Day One

Before any of our cleaners step foot on a client’s site, they go through structured training that covers:

The right way to clean, not just the fastest way: There’s a difference between wiping a surface so it looks "clean" and actually cleaning it properly.
Product and equipment training: Knowing which chemicals to use, how to use them safely, and how to handle equipment properly is critical—not just for the quality of the clean, but also for safety.
Health and safety protocols: Yes, compliance matters. But we work hard to make sure our team knows how to work safely, handle hazards, and follow proper procedures on-site, beyond ticking the boxes.
Site-specific training: Every business has different needs (including yours), so our cleaners are deeply trained on the specific needs and protocols of the site they will be cleaning.

2. Training Doesn’t Stop After the First Few Days

At In-Tec, we know training isn’t something you do once and forget about. It has to be ongoing. Circumstances change—cleaning products, equipment, your requirements—so we constantly support our cleaners with the training they need, so they are always up to speed.

It starts at our training school. Every cleaner spends their first few shifts at our training school, located at our office. Here, they learn the fundamentals—how to clean an office, how to clean a desk, how to empty a bin, and how to clean a toilet properly. Yes, even something as simple as emptying a bin needs to be done the right way. This foundational training matters. By the time a cleaner gets to a client’s site, they already know how to complete basic cleaning tasks correctly.
Then, they go on-site. Once they’ve been through training school, they don’t just get sent off to work alone. They’re shadowed by one of our senior cleaners, senior team leaders, or our operations manager for an entire week. They’re not left on their own.
Ongoing support, not just a quick check-in. In the second week, the operations manager visits them on-site three times. If everything is going well and they’re showing promise, we keep checking in over the next month. They’re seen at least once a week by a team leader or the ops manager to make sure everything is on track, that they don’t have any questions, and that they don’t need any additional training. We don’t just assume they’re fine—we’re constantly there to support them.

Our Cleaners Are Happier, Too

We've been in business now at In-Tec Commercial Cleaning for more than 30 years. And while a lot has changed, one thing remains the same—when cleaners know they’re supported, they take ownership of their work. They know exactly what’s expected, they have the confidence to do the job right, and they take pride in delivering the results our clients rely on. That’s why, at In-Tec, we invest in our team, so they feel valued, prepared, and backed every step of the way.

We Also Have Industry-Specific Training Programs

I can’t train a cleaner in standard commercial cleaning and then throw them into a food manufacturing site. It doesn’t work like that. And I also can’t take someone trained in either of those environments and expect them to be ready for a high-profile, high-stress site without further training. The expectations, the risks, and the level of detail required are all different.

That's why we have completely different training programs for different environment types, because commercial cleaning, food manufacturing, and high-compliance commercial spaces all require completely different cleaning routines, procedures, equipment, and chemicals.

We always start our cleaners in either commercial cleaning or food manufacturing. Over time, we assess their skills. Sometimes, we’ll have a cleaner who starts in commercial cleaning, but we realise their skill set is better suited to food manufacturing—so we transition them over. Other times, we might have a cleaner who starts in food manufacturing and find they’re not suited for that type of work, so we move them into commercial cleaning instead.

And when it comes to high-compliance sites—places with strict hygiene requirements or where cleaning has to be done under pressure—we don’t just assign any cleaner to those jobs. We highlight high-performing cleaners from our commercial cleaning teams, train them further, and make sure they’re fully prepared before stepping into those environments.

How Proper Training Turned a Failing Site Around

One of our clients is a car dealership. Today, they're one of our success stories.

But when we started this site, the previous cleaning company had left it in a pretty disgusting state. I’m talking brown toilets, mould in microwaves, urinals that were just wrong. It was bad. If I had taken this site on and done what a normal cleaning company does—introduced my cleaners, told them where the alarms were, quickly showed them around, and left—the site probably wouldn’t have gotten any better.

But that’s not how we do things. The outcome that we and the client wanted was a properly cleaned site, so here's how we achieved that:

For the first two or three days, we had multiple cleaners on-site, including the cleaner we had selected for the job, working together to bring the site back up to standard. We spent hours scrubbing urinals, cleaning brown toilets, removing mould from microwaves—everything that needed to be done to get the site where it should be.
Once we had restored the site to a proper standard, we didn’t just walk away. The cleaner assigned to the site worked alongside their team leader for the next week, learning exactly what needed to be done, what areas needed more attention, and what could be cleaned less frequently. They figured out the most productive way to deliver the outcome the client wanted.

And the result? We have a very happy client who has seen a massive improvement in their return on investment with their team. We have very happy cleaners who know exactly what they’ve got to do, when they’ve got to do it, and how they’ve got to do it.

I've also got a great team here in the office because the support and time they need to invest in this client is nothing out of the ordinary—it’s just business as usual. The site operates smoothly, the client arrives every morning to a clean environment, and they get the outcome they expect. I get the outcome I expect because my cleaners are trained and supported properly .

That’s the difference training makes. If you don’t put in the effort, you don’t get the results. But when you train properly and back your team, everything just works.

How to Tell if Your Cleaner Takes Training Seriously

So, you as a potential client, or maybe someone who already has a commercial cleaning service but isn’t happy with it, are probably wondering—how do you actually tell if your cleaning company takes training seriously? What questions should you be asking?

Look, you can ask a cleaning company, “Do you train your cleaners?” And they’ll say, “Of course we do.” You can ask them, “Do you support your cleaners?” And they’ll say, “Absolutely, we give them lots of support.” But here’s the thing—the devil is in the details.

If you really want to know whether they’re serious about training, you need to dig deeper. Have a proper conversation with them. Ask specific questions like:

What does your training program actually look like? Don't accept a vague, “Yeah, we train them." You want a step-by-step breakdown of how they do it.
How long is the training process? Are they putting cleaners through structured training, or is it just a quick site walkthrough? How do they know the training worked?
Who is responsible for training? Do they have a dedicated trainer, or are they just throwing new hires in and hoping they figure it out? Is there any oversight after training?
How do you support your cleaners after they start? Is there ongoing training? Are there regular check-ins? Or is the attitude, “Well, they should know what to do by now”?

Here’s the most important part—you’ve got to trust your gut.

When you’re having this conversation, listen to how they respond. If their answers feel too rehearsed, too vague, or like they’re just telling you what you want to hear, you'll likely know right away something is off. You’ll be able to tell if they’re just going through the motions, saying all the right things but with nothing of substance in their answers to back it up.

If a company actually trains their cleaners properly, they won’t hesitate. They’ll be able to clearly explain what their process looks like, how they guarantee their team is trained to a high standard, and how they continue supporting them once they’re on-site. If they can’t? That’s why you have a problem.

If you're interested in learning more on how to choose the correct commercial cleaning partner for your organisation, you can download our guide, 10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Commercial Cleaning Company. Or you can contact us at any time with your questions, or to start a conversation about how we may be of service to you.

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