The March/April edition of ISSA Today—now available in digital format for your desktop, smartphone, or tablet―helps you stay up to date on the latest cleaning industry and ISSA-member news.

In the March/April 2025 issue of ISSA Today magazine, learn about the “Community of Practice”, an ISSA initiative to lead the future of safe and sustainable cleaning. See how a focus on company culture can have a valuable and lasting impact on the success of your company. Also: Get updates on the impact of International Cleaning Week, learn how to reward your employees for going green, get strategies for better facility management, learn how to regain lost clients, enjoy a member spotlight on Avision, and more.

Straight Talk!
AI in Business

President’s Message
Prioritizing People

ISSA In Action!
An inside look at what ISSA is doing for its members today

The Community of Practice
ISSA launches initiative to lead the future of safe and sustainable cleaning.

The Culture Factor
How building a winning team sets your business apart.

Celebrating International Cleaning Week 2025
How will you engage?

Reward Your Employees for Going Green
Linking sustainability goals to compensation packages.

Strategic Planning in Facility Management
Empower your business to thrive in a competitive world.

Winning Them Back
How to regain lost business.

Member Spotlight
The Avision Legacy: A saga of family, relationships, and integrity.

Why not see for yourself? Check out this edition’s table of contents to get started.

For the first time in five years, facility managers who participated in CMM’s annual In-House Facility Management Benchmarking Survey listed employee training as their biggest concern with their cleaning staff.

Among 2025 survey respondents, 35% listed employee training as their top staffing concern, compared to 29% of respondents in 2024, 23% in 2023, 19% in 2022, and 27% in 2021.

The second most common staffing concern for 2025 was employee health and safety (chosen by 28% of respondents), followed by employee retention (25%), and proper use of products (12%).

In the 2024 survey, employee health and safety was the top concern about cleaning staff, with 30% of survey respondents choosing it as their No. 1 concern. Employee retention was chosen by most (35%) of the survey respondents as their top staffing concern in 2023, yet employee health and safety again took precedence as the top concern in 2022 (42%) and 2021 (34%).

Health and safety of both staff and facility inhabitants is a top five issue identified as important by respondents of the 2025 survey. Among a list of 12 issues, the top five issues survey respondents chose as largely and moderately important included:

• Health and safety (chosen by 96% of survey respondents)
• Improving productivity/efficiencies (95%)
• Training/education of staff (92%)
• Security (91%)
• Validating/proving budget to management (90%)

CMM conducts the In-House/Facility Management Benchmarking survey each spring. Among 2025 survey respondents, 60% manage school facilities, evenly split with 30% in K-12^th grade schools and 30% in colleges/universities. The second largest group (19%) of 2025 respondents manages commercial buildings such as offices and government buildings, followed by facility managers for hospitals and other healthcare facilities (13%). Most (62%) respondents manage more than 20 facilities. One quarter of the respondents spend 51% to 60% of their operating budget on labor.  About one-third (34%) do not outsource any of their cleaning/maintenance tasks while 13% outsource all of their cleaning/maintenance tasks.