Property managers with someone trustworthy on-site, who answers their phone or responds in a reasonable time frame, have an advantage. A building’s staff are the manager’s boots on the ground—trusted people who react quickly and help work through urgent maintenance situations.

Finding the right people is crucial. With thirty-seven years of experience under their belt, WhiteRose Janitorial Services Ltd. has cultivated a proficient interviewing process to account for the changing needs in modern buildings, particularly high-rises, and of the management companies who support them. Recognizing the key role Superintendents play in assisting building facilities, prospective WhiteRose employees are required to know the basics of building maintenance systems—enough that they can provide support and often be the first point of contact for maintenance.

As part of the interview process with WhiteRose, employees tour a building and are required to complete a checklist of tasks, such as identifying components of the mechanical system and conducting routine maintenance processes.

When consulting with clients, Albert Crimi, Founder and Chairman of the company, says he often finds managers juggling the cleaner’s schedules and duties themselves. “We see managers taking a big role in running the day-to-day of the cleaning staff, and they shouldn’t be. When managers try to take on the role without having specific experience in cleaning duties, they often lose sight of what is going on at the site.”

Geofencing Technologies

Crimi notes that buildings making use of in-house cleaners—residents who have taken over cleaning duties—as being particularly troublesome. When taking over duties for one building, he describes a situation which had got out of hand.

“The in-house model doesn’t work. People were hiding in closets on recliners!” he says. “We don’t depend on the manager or security for backup. We have a lot of support behind the scenes, and we differentiate ourselves from our competitors because we are always professional.”

As part of its evolution, WhiteRose has invested in the future with the hiring of new President, Joe Gallo. Joe’s experience in leading customer-centric businesses that utilize technology in the right areas has already paid dividends at WhiteRose. “We are very excited to have Joe on board. With Joe’s knowledge, we have been successful in automating a number of back-end processes so we can spend more time and focus on delivering the highest quality services to our clients,” notes Crimi.

WhiteRose has implemented a system that geofences their team’s arrival at the building and automatically sends a notification to the office and the team’s area supervisor. “It red flags anything out of sequence,” he explains.

When consulting with a new building, the team considers the current staffing model in comparison to the building’s size, and how detailed a cleaning it is getting.

“A lot of people don’t realize how much there is to cleaning,” says Crimi, who established the business in 1986 with his wife, Sandra. “We have a lot of checks and balances in place and our system is fully automated.”

Cleaners are provided with a detailed schedule for each day of the week, which establishes a time frame for the day’s activities.

“We do that to properly evaluate the cleaner—you can’t evaluate them if you don’t have the means to measure them. We make everyone accountable, and by doing that, it also allows us to properly praise them,” he says.

Annual Scholarships

When hiring, WhiteRose will look for cleaning staff who show competency and punctuality, and they pay special attention to retaining those already on the payroll.

“We implemented a health spending account for all cleaners which escalates the longer they have been with our company. We were one of the first cleaning companies to offer superintendent services along with cleaning services, and to offer our superintendents benefits,” Crimi says proudly.

Now in its third year, an exciting recent initiative of WhiteRose is an annual scholarship program for employees’ children. “We try to give back,” he says. “We implemented a scholarship program through a third party, and we offer thirty scholarships for our staff and their families every year.”

Employee satisfaction is beamingly evident in the positive Google reviews left by current and former staff, and countless clients are also leaving messages of appreciation. “We have a lot of superstars,” he says.

WhiteRose Janitorial takes pride in providing an elevated level of professionalism to the buildings they serve, and extensive detail when it comes to cleaning. To the average person, Crimi says, most buildings will look clean. When he tours buildings with prospective clients, they are often surprised by what is uncovered.

He was meeting with a property manager of a new condominium who, despite noting that ‘everything was great’ with the current janitorial company, was looking for competitive quotes. After touring the building, Crimi was thanked for alerting the manager to the many cleaning deficiencies he identified and was told that the meeting had been informative. “Many times, I’ve seen property managers doing the cleaning inspections themselves,” he says, noting that it takes a trained eye to see the full cleaning needs of a building. “It was a new building, so you’re not going to see these deficiencies unless time goes by. A regular person will see a clean building.”

The Superintendent role is especially important, he says, and WhiteRose takes the time to review the needs of the building to ensure the right fit. “We take our Superintendent positions very seriously. When a manager asks me if I am going to give them an experienced super, I’m baffled. Of course!”

“Throughout the 37 years we have been in business, I have seen many competitors quickly rise without giving thought to the level of support and quality of service they offer. The WhiteRose reputation is important, and we won’t ever compromise it.”

Albert Crimi is the Founder and Chairman of WhiteRose Janitorial Services Ltd. WhiteRose is a full-service janitorial company servicing the Condominium, Retail, Commercial and Industrial sectors across the GTA. Connect at www.whiterosejanitorial.com.