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As the economy continues to pick up, employers are increasingly looking to secure new talent for their business. But a shortage of skills and more job opportunities means that competition for the best candidates is fiercer than ever. Lorraine Thomas, Managing Director of search and selection specialist Metzger, looks at how contract cleaning companies can boost their recruitment strategy and attract the right people.
In highly competitive industry sectors like contract cleaning and FM, the search for talent has never been more critical. Setting out your point of difference to existing and potential clients is vital for your business to thrive – and as most operators are aware, it’s certainly not all about price. Solid relationships are extremely important to secure long-term business and contract extensions, and clients these days rightly expect fantastic customer service, along with innovative thinking to keep standards high.
For that reason, it’s fair to say that recruiting the right staff and creating the right team within your organisation is more important than ever. Good staff will go the extra mile, helping to make all the difference when it comes to forging positive client relations and a high quality service offer.
Having worked with contract cleaning and FM employers for more than twenty years, Metzger understands that recruiting for new staff in these sectors is not without challenges, particularly at senior level. And in the current job market, which is more buoyant than it has been for years, this is particularly noticeable. With unemployment levels at their lowest since 2008, candidates are increasingly looking around for new opportunities and employers keen to hold on to their talent need to be on top of their retention strategies.
BROADEN THE SEARCH So, for employers seeking to appoint new talent, what options are available to make sure they are attracting the best? Aside from making sure that salaries and packages are in line with industry standards, broadening
28 | Tomorrow’s Cleaning August 2015
one’s search for new recruits by considering people with experience gained outside the sphere of cleaning and FM can certainly be extremely effective. Companies looking for a new client facing Account Manager, for instance, could consider extending their recruitment strategy to other industries where front of house skills are key – for instance, in hospitality, leisure or catering. It’s perhaps fair to say that, in the past, the contract cleaning world hasn’t been keen to adopt this approach but here at Metzger, we have successfully sourced many high-calibre candidates from other complex service industries, including catering and security, who have moved seamlessly into cleaning. There is indeed a significant overlap in say, the skills required for tendering for, or running a cleaning contract and contract catering, whether that’s premium quality customer service provision or meeting strict financial targets.
Looking laterally in different sectors can therefore be a sensible approach for employers seeking new talent when the right skills are in short supply. Of course, it’s essential to assess which transferable skills the person needs to have – there must be a good fit – but there is no reason why talented individuals cannot make the transition and become assets to the business.
Good staff will go the extra mile, helping to make all the difference when it
comes to forging positive client relations and a high quality service offer.
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