School cleaner supervisor, worth it?

[LovelyLuna24]

Hi all.
I currently work in a busy school as a cleaner, but the opportunity has come up to become the cleaning supervisor and lead the team, and also there's a bit of admin work. I'm just wondering if there are any cleaning supervisors who can advise what they do, particularly on the admin side as I've not really got much experience in admin. I've been told the job can be very stressful and this is something I would need to avoid for health reasons. Is the job worth the hassle or am i better off staying as i am for a simple life? Many thanks.

How many people are you supervising? Do you know your previous supervisor and what sort of jobs they did day to day?

I work as a cleaning manager in a retail environment and thw admin is, rotas, holidays, onvosrding and training, rams, tool box talks, incident reports ect.

Our client is a nightmare but I wouldn't describe it as particularly stressful. When you move up everything becomes your fault mind.

Thankyou for replying. I would potentially supervise 5 other cleaners, but we are understaffed and should be 3 more. I would still be actively working my own area but would have more hours to do the admin side. I feel it could be a lot of pressure to juggle everything for low pay. It wouldn't be much more than what im on now so im thinking its not worth the hassle. And yes, everything would land at the supervisors door where I work. Thanks.

Thankyou for replying. I would potentially supervise 5 other cleaners, but we are understaffed and should be 3 more. I would still be actively working my own area but would have more hours to do the admin side. I feel it could be a lot of pressure to juggle everything for low pay. It wouldn't be much more than what im on now so im thinking its not worth the hassle. And yes, everything would land at the supervisors door where I work. Thanks

I am a HT in a school so I can give you context. It depends if you are directly employed or work for a contractor company who is contracted to clean at the school.

In my case, we directly employ the cleaning/ building services team. The supervisor role is exactly as mentioned above - leading a team of cleaners and supervising them - ensuring that all areas are cleaned to a high standard, performing checks, rotas, onboarding, training, incident reports, ordering supplies. It depends on the set up but you may have responsibility for recruitment too- in our school, the Building Services Manager will coordinate the recruitment but the Cleaning Supervisor will have some input.
It’s not a hard job in the grand scheme of things, you just have to be organised, be able to manage time effectively and able to manage and lead people.

I was a supervisor then an area manager , as a subcontractor , so i had our client and our bosses to deal with .
The amount of times I want to yell we you two groups talk to each other before trying to implement new rules/ practices.
i would often get stuck in the middle trying to be diplomatic to both sides while having to bite my tounge
I agree with @HandsomeJack ,re holidays, coshh, rotas , stock ordering, training and getting new staff on board .

When it was all going well it was fairly straightforward but if one thing went wrong you can bet its the day that everything went wrong .

Thankyou all for your replies. It's certainly a lot to consider. I'm trying not to overthink it but im just worried as I would be responsible for literally everything. Lots the think about but I appreciate your input.

You would most likely be in charge of stock/supply, Rotas, coshh files and similar. It can be stressful but it is doable and could potentially lead to progression in to site supervisor etc if thats a road you were interested in. It's an interesting role an can be easy if you have a good team and manager but when the shit hits the fan it can be stressful, but this is usually short lived.

Thankyou everyone for your replies ☺️

Thankyou for your advice. I have decided to decline the position and stay as I am. The wage is barely more than I earn now so the hassle I would get (I know I would!) Isn't worth it. ☺️

It sounds like you have made best decision for yourself.
I think with this kind of role you really need to want to do it.

Perhaps it the opportunity comes up again in the future you could reconsider it.