TRAINING & EDUCATION
What do our industry's customers know (and why would they know) of the importance of understanding cleaning chemical pH values, understanding the difference between one floor type and another, why microfibre cleaning may be better for certain environments than conventional cloths and mops (or vice versa) etc, etc?
There seems to be a commonly held misconception that because cleaning is something the vast majority of the nation's population carry out in their own homes, it therefore follows that anyone can clean professionally.
Obviously those who have worked at any level in our industry for a period of time will know that this is quite simply not true.
A few examples I thought would explain and underline my thoughts here are as follows:
My family and I try our best to recycle our household waste in line with the provision afforded to us by our local authority; however I am not a waste management professional.
I have been known (under duress) to mow the occasional lawn and attend to the weeding requirements of a flower bed or two every now and then; however I am not a horticultural or landscaping professional.
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
I have also assisted in the redecoration of a number of rooms within the family home; however I am not a painting and decorating professional.
Why then is it that cleaning (seemingly in isolation) is a profession that many think can be carried out with a bare minimum of training input? What can we do as an industry to change this mentality or perception?
It is my belief that we need to use training and education to change this perception and that this approach needs to be two pronged:
In the first instance we need to continue increasing the level of training carried out for cleaning staff. The virtues of comprehensive training have been widely talked and written about and as an industry we do now recognise, more than ever before, that training staff improves morale, results in a reduction in the occurrence of workplace accidents, reduces the level of supervision required and increases productivity.
Secondly, for the reasons outlined above, there is an obvious requirement to include the customers of cleaning service providers in the education we provide, as a route to communicating some of the complexity inherent in modern commercial cleaning. The end goal being improved understanding and a
bit more give and take in the service provider/client relationship.
It's an all too familiar story nowadays that a cleaning service provider will be asked by their client to lower their costs without detriment to their provision of service. Expectations are high and budgets are low. We all know this.
However, amongst the most successful cleaning and FM service providers I have the privilege to work with, are those who are more than willing to say "no, thank you very much" to a contract if it's terms demand that their professionalism and cleaning standards will be compromised.
Wouldn't it be great though if, through increased education and understanding, we could avoid situations like this altogether?
I am convinced, now more than ever before, of the absolute necessity for training and educational opportunities which offer the chance for real development and meet the needs of the individual (as opposed to the broad ‘one size fits all’ approach favoured by other awarding organisations).
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