Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 5th March 2026 Issue no. 1200

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Why your operations managers shouldn't be carrying out cleaning

Commercial account / operations / transformation director Andrew Taft, of Optimum FM Solutions, writes…

“In a recent conversation with the CFO of a £10 million turnover cleaning company, we discussed a challenge that will feel all too familiar for many in the sector: operations managers spending up to 60% of their time carrying out cleaning.

On the surface, it might seem like a practical fix. Someone has to cover when there's sickness or holidays, right? But when senior managers are regularly stepping in with a mop and bucket, the hidden cost to the business is enormous.

Here's why:

• Loss of strategic oversight… Operations managers are hired to make sure contracts run smoothly, teams are supported and clients are satisfied. If they're cleaning for more than half the week, there's simply no capacity left for service quality, compliance, or continuous improvement.

• Client relationship impact… In most contracts, the operations manager is the face of your company. If they're unavailable because they're covering shifts, communication slips. Over time, that erodes trust - and trust is what keeps clients renewing.

• Burnout and staff retention… Managers didn't sign up for a full cleaning rota. When they're consistently pulled into frontline duties, they feel de-skilled and undervalued. It's only a matter of time before frustration leads them to leave - and replacing a good manager costs far more than retaining one.

• The financial drain… Let's do the maths. A cleaner costs around £15/hr. An operations manager costs between £28 and £35/hr. If a manager spends 20 hours a week cleaning at
• £30/hr (as an average), that's £600 of management time wasted per week. Over a year (let’s say 50 working weeks), that's £30,000 per manager. With, let’s say, five managers in this situation, the figure balloons to £150,000 annually. That's £150k of senior talent effectively being used as cover cleaners - without even accounting for the lost opportunities to improve margins, grow contracts, or innovate.

• Stunted growth… Every hour an operations manager spends cleaning is an hour not spent on workforce planning, contract expansion, or building the client relationship. Ultimately, it caps the company's ability to scale.

Covering the occasional shift will always happen in this industry. But if it becomes routine, your business is burning cash, burning out managers, and blocking its own growth.

The most successful cleaning companies structure their workforce so operations managers do what they're best at: leading people, delighting clients and driving performance.

If this resonates, let's talk. I help cleaning businesses release managers from the mop and bucket - so they can focus on profitability and long-term success.”

T: 07784 130413
E: [email protected]

2nd October 2025