Making Invisible Capacity Visible

For years, the signals have been the same: staffing shortages in facility services are structural. Cleaners, security staff, and catering employees are hard to find—and even harder to keep. “Employers are doing everything they can to retain their people,” says Winkelhuijzen. The challenge is greater in a sector where employees are often spread across client sites, have little connection with their own employer, and may even work for multiple companies due to collective labor agreements.

In the cleaning industry, a unique situation arises: when a company loses a client, staff often transfer directly to the new contractor, as required by labor law. “If an employee works for three clients and one account is lost, that person may suddenly end up with two employers. This fragments the employment relationship.”

“The roster is often the main touchpoint with your employees. That’s where you need to actively involve them.”

Employees also tend to feel more connected to the client organization than their actual employer. “That makes it difficult to build loyalty,” Winkelhuijzen explains. Still, there are ways to strengthen that bond, for instance with apps where employees can view their schedules, read updates, and respond to polls. "The roster is often the main touchpoint. Use it to engage with them.” 

“Our workforce management software helps transform implicit knowledge – such as employee preferences or customer requirements – into parameters that can be incorporated into the planning process.”

Traditionally, scheduling was the responsibility of team leaders who knew their staff personally and kept the roster “in their heads.” But that model isn’t scalable. “The knowledge sits in people, not in systems. That makes it fragile,” says Winkelhuijzen.

More and more organizations are moving toward centralized scheduling, supported by smart software. Team leaders remain the contact point on site, but the foundation of the roster is centrally managed. “Our software translates implicit knowledge—like employee preferences or client demands—into parameters that can be built into the planning process.”

This trend is even more visible in catering. Where every location used to make its own roster, clusters of sites are now planned by a single scheduler. “That allows for more flexible staffing and smoother handling of peaks and troughs. Especially when employees are trained at multiple locations, the puzzle becomes far more manageable.”

The ORTEC optimizer combines complex criteria: laws and regulations, collective labor agreements, personal preferences, travel time, contracted hours, qualifications, and even ergonomic guidelines. It prevents issues like employees working nine days straight or commuting across the country every day.

The system also accounts for contract structures. “If extra work is available, it can be distributed evenly, preventing structural overtime for just one employee. Staff can also indicate preferred days off, making the roster not only fairer but also more attractive,” Winkelhuijzen explains.

Temporary staff remain an option, but they are expensive. “First, you want to see if your own people can take on more hours. In fact, 23% of employees in this sector want to work more,” says Winkelhuijzen. “You need to know that, record it, and include it in your planning.”

Ultimately, technology is not the goal itself. “It’s about employees feeling seen. The more you consider their needs, the more engaged they become. That pays off in satisfaction, loyalty, and service continuity. For executives, this directly connects to strategy: offering existing employees more hours not only strengthens retention but also reduces costly vacancies. Lower turnover means fewer recruitment costs, more stability, and better margins.”

“Without data, there’s no control. Without control, there’s no grip on costs, staffing, or satisfaction”

The growing role of data is another key development. By linking with BI platforms, organizations gain insight into, for example, the balance between temps and permanent staff, or how many employees consistently work below their contracted hours.

“These insights are valuable,” Winkelhuijzen stresses. “They show whether your workforce mix is right. Maybe you’ve hired too many part-timers when you really need full-time staff. Or you discover that some people actually want to work more hours. That’s critical information for smarter planning—and for strengthening your employer brand.”

Through scheduling tools like shift bidding, employees can sign up for open shifts. “They can indicate specific availability—like early Monday mornings or nearby sites. This gives them more influence without undermining planning quality. It’s low-threshold, it increases engagement, and it reduces the need for temps while your own people are available.”

Centralized scheduling also reshapes responsibilities. Planners handle the complex puzzle, while team leaders manage people on-site. “If a new employee arrives at a client location, the team leader needs to know in order to ensure proper onboarding,” Winkelhuijzen explains. “Human communication remains crucial—even in an automated system.”

This role shift also frees up time for team leaders. “Without the burden of scheduling, they can focus on where they really add value: guiding employees and managing client relationships.”

Self-scheduling, popular in other industries, proves less practical in facility services, where work often takes place outside office hours in secured buildings. Still, Winkelhuijzen sees potential in lighter forms of empowerment. “Shift bidding is a low-threshold way to give employees more control, especially younger staff looking to balance work and personal life.”

In catering, self-scheduling is more suitable for students and flex workers who can cover peaks. “Think of unexpected sunny days, when extra staff are needed on terraces.”

In catering, demand is far more dynamic than in cleaning. Major players like Albron and Vermaat increasingly schedule employees across multiple locations, rather than only at one fixed site. “This creates more balance in both staffing and workload,” says Winkelhuijzen.

Revenue forecasts are often used to determine staffing levels. “Based on projected turnover, the system calculates how many people you need. Profiles are created: if revenue is between X and Y, you schedule four staff; if it’s between Y and Z, you need six. That way, you plan ahead and meet the requirement of publishing schedules four weeks in advance.”

And when unexpected changes arise, like sudden weather shifts? Manual adjustments remain essential. “Technology supports, but people make the final call,” Winkelhuijzen emphasizes. “This is core to business operations. In catering, where margins can be razor-thin, efficient staffing can be the difference between profit and loss. That’s why smart forecasting and capacity planning are so critical.”

“In this sector, the difference between profit and loss can come down to one extra temp.”

The cleaning industry is undergoing major change. Consolidation is a dominant trend: companies like CSU and Vebego have grown into giants with tens of thousands of employees. At the same time, the scope of work is expanding and becoming more complex—for example, in hospitals, where cleaners may also take on maintenance or catering tasks. “That makes the job more varied and more responsible, increasing both recognition and opportunities for development.”

Client demands are shifting too. “Where they once focused mainly on accurate schedules and invoices, the conversation now revolves around strategic deployment. How do I put the right person in the right place at the right time—and how do I keep them engaged?”

Loyalty plays a bigger role than ever. “If an employee has built a strong connection to a site, you don’t want to reassign them just because it’s financially efficient,” Winkelhuijzen notes. Finally, he stresses the importance of employee engagement. “When you understand what people want and respond to it, you give them influence. That creates an organization people want to work for—and want to return to.”

What makes ORTEC unique, according to Winkelhuijzen, is the combination of advanced technology and deep sector knowledge. “Other vendors may offer scheduling software, but we integrate roster functionality, employee communication, and algorithmic planning into one solution.”

That’s essential in an industry with razor-thin margins, where planning sits at the heart of operations. “In cleaning, the difference between profit and loss can come down to just one extra temporary worker,” he explains. “That’s why you need real-time insight into who is available where—without having to guess.”

And the software keeps evolving. “We’re working on the next generation of algorithms. With new computing power and fresh insights, we can take even more factors into account and plan smarter than ever.”