Have your employees ever complained that the wastepaper bin in the office wasn’t emptied or the toilets weren’t cleaned? And was your response then that this service is no longer part of your new service provider’s portfolio? Successful outsourcing starts with communication and stands or falls with the choice of the right partner, such as Honegger AG.

Ariste Baumberger

CEO

Adrian Bugmann

Head of
Marketing & Sales

Be honest – how often do waste bins overflow at the Honegger headquarter?

Ariste Baumberger: Little or not at all. After all, as Switzerland’s digital building services provider, we are largely paperless at our head office. And we are aware of the cadence at which our cleaning staff clean the office areas. However, if employees don’t have this know-how, internal complaints can quickly arise.

Adrian Bugmann: This is often the case when services that were previously provided internally are outsourced. Or when a service partner is replaced and the scope of the newly awarded contract is reduced. It is often forgotten to inform the company’s own employees accordingly. However, an overflowing waste bin is usually the least of the problems.

What are the biggest challenges in the externalization of services?

Ariste Baumberger: At a certain point, the gap between desired cost savings and high-quality service can no longer simply be closed. It is important to actively counteract this tension. For us as a service provider, it is therefore crucial to raise awareness of the cooperation modalities right from the start. Of course, we can save on cleaning frequency – but this has consequences. We clearly point these out to potential customers when awarding the mandate so that there are no unpleasant surprises later on.

Isn’t it understandable that customers want to keep costs low?

Ariste Baumberger: Completely – especially in economically challenging times. And as I said, we are happy to show our clients all possible and sensible options for saving costs. This is part of our self-image and applies not only to the awarding of a new contract, but also to ongoing mandates. But back to the awarding of contracts: in my opinion, if a client is simply trying to increase their return on investment by purchasing low-cost services, they are only thinking short-term. On one hand, good services have their value. We have stood for high quality for over 75 years and strive to keep this promise with every mandate. On the other hand, we want to and must pay our employees fair wages. Our employees are our most important resource – accordingly, we have a responsibility to look after them and we fulfill this task without compromise.

What negative consequences can there be if excessive savings are made in the management of a building?

Adrian Bugmann: Those who neglect Facility Management usually simply pay later: high-quality building management is crucial for maintaining the value of real estate. Without regular cleaning and maintenance, this cannot be guaranteed in the long term – buildings and facilities wear out sooner, which ultimately results in higher costs. It is also important to emphasize that we don’t just clean – we see ourselves as an integral service partner from A to Z. In other words, we also ensure, for example, that buildings and systems are always ready for operation or that energy consumption is low.

As a digital building services provider in Switzerland, surely you also rely on smart tools?

Adrian Bugmann: We see digitalization in facility management as a big picture and therefore supplement our traditional FM processes with software solutions such as computer-aided facility management. This involves monitoring and managing properties and facilities. The customer has real-time insight into the status of current work as well as performance records and costs.

Ariste Baumberger: The situation is similar with Smart Cleaning: thanks to this data-based planning, we can constantly respond to fluctuations in building utilization and flexibly adapt our services according to building occupancy and utilization. Our Smart Cleaning solutions also bring numerous other benefits for customers, such as transparency, execution reliability and quality control.

In conclusion, maybe a small tip: What is the easiest way to save costs in building management today?

Adrian Bugmann: The use of buildings has changed dramatically as a result of working from home and desk sharing. The more flexibly employees need office space or meeting rooms, the less frequently they need to be managed. In other words, in a company where the majority of employees work remotely, it is no longer necessary to empty every wastepaper basket every day. Thanks to digitalization and our many years of experience, we are the ideal partner for finding the right answers and solutions to this development.

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With 23 locations in Switzerland, Honegger is also represented near you. We look forward to hearing from you and will be happy to work out a tailor-made offer for you.

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