Cover Story:
Women and Work –
helping women cleaners get ahead
Now in its third year, The Women and Work since the project was launched in March 2006. Trafford Centre, and Sarah was enrolled into
Sector Pathways Initiative is a government
“The Women and Work programme is a
the programme after approaching Asset Skills
funded scheme designed to give women new
significant contribution to the development of
about taking three additional qualifications.
skills to enable them to progress in their
women in the cleaning sector,” says Richard “My new role meant I would be leading the
career and achieve more for themselves and
Beamish, Chief Executive of Asset Skills. cleaning team so I needed to gain the insight
their employers.
“We fully intend to continue our commitment and knowledge into what the team were
The Women and Work Commission believes to this programme.” expected to do every day,” she says.
that the glass ceiling still exists for women.
Training the trainer
“I contacted Asset Skills as soon as I knew I’d
Just 33% of managers and senior officials are
Sarah Pilmott, 29, worked in security at The
got the job. It was straightforward and I’ve now
female and the Commission estimates that
Trafford Centre Environmental Services in
done my British Institute of Cleaning Science
increasing women’s participation in the labour
Manchester for nine years. Last February she
(BICSc) 1 and 2 certificates and completed the
market and in higher grade roles could be
applied for a new role as a Training Officer.
first part of my ‘Train the Trainer’ assessment.
worth between £15 and £23 billion a year to
Initially she thought she wouldn’t be qualified
Women and Work has given me the
the UK economy.
for the job, but went along to the interview
opportunity to apply for and get a job that I
The scheme is supported by nine participating
anyway. The Environmental Services team was
originally thought I wouldn’t be qualified for.
Sector Skills Councils (SSCs).
impressed with her potential and offered her
It provided the knowledge for me to develop
Asset Skills, in collaboration with its partners,
the position, but said that she would need to
the leadership skills I needed to succeed.”
has become the first SSC to reach its targets for
develop her cleaning and assessing skills.
The advantage for the Trafford Centre is clear:
qualifications gained, having trained more than
Women and Work had already trained a
with the skills that Sarah developed as a
3,000 women cleaners in supervisory skills
number of women in cleaning skills at the
result of the scheme, she is now playing a
22
| TOMORROW’S CLEANING | The future of our cleaning industry
COVER STORY
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