Transport: The move from fuel is gathering pace and electric vehicles are becoming more easily accessible. Think about changing to electric when you next change vehicle and consider whether it’s possible for your team to use public transport or cycle to work.
Suppliers: If you’ve not already done do, then put sustainability on the agenda with suppliers. Hopefully, they will welcome the discussion and they may already be doing some good work. Purchase locally if you can and especially in the UK where possible, to avoid any deliveries via air or long-haul transport.
Recycling: This has been part of our lives domestically for many years but as a business, think about what equipment and materials you use and whether you can recycle them. You might also consider switching suppliers if it works
better for you and the environment.
Although the UK has a Net Zero target to achieve by 2050, taking small steps and considering the environment and implementing sustainability initiatives where possible can help to make a difference now.
The demographic of window cleaners has changed with that of the workforce and virtually all nationalities are well represented in our industry. We are lucky to have a diverse team with a workforce from around the globe and many different backgrounds, and have sought to bring our teams together as well as work closely with our clients to ensure we work collaboratively and inclusively.
Attracting people into the industry is one of the challenges – there are several benefits of working in our sector, but many people may not consider window cleaning attractive until they have experience of it. Apprenticeships and Working at Height courses, testing aptitudes for window cleaning, are two channels available to us which we can use to bring people into the industry.
There are two particular demographics that we recognise are under-represented in the window cleaning sector: females and young people.
Traditionally window cleaning has been a male-dominated industry. Female window cleaners are a large, untapped resource, bringing great benefit to the workforce and a more flexible offering for clients. Young people are also another demographic that we need to encourage to consider a career in window cleaning. Training can be of great benefit and help to introduce diversity to the workplace and we recently set up two projects to reach out to these groups.
Our first project was designed to encourage more females to join the sector through work experience. We welcomed a group of sixth form students who hope to go on to university or join the workplace next year. They were shown all of the different window cleaning access strategies starting from the ground with hand tools, through to water-fed poles and up to BMUs. Feedback was extremely positive, with one commenting that she was grateful for the opportunity and hopes this will inspire more women to consider a career in window cleaning.
Our second project is a Saturday School, in collaboration with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA), which aims to attract young people of all backgrounds through training placements with potential employment for the best candidates, should opportunities arise.
Wellbeing is another area that has gained importance, particularly over the past two years. Staff welfare and mental health are, rightly so, key priorities for organisations including Principle, where we have our own mental health buddies who are there for a confidential chat for anyone within the company.
Job satisfaction, through training and opportunity, is another priority. For example, we continually assess and identify team members for specific areas of development, providing them with significant investment in their future and we are proud that we have created one of the most highly qualified and well rewarded vertical cleaning teams in the UK.
www.principleclean.com
www.tomorrowscleaning.com WINDOW CLEANING AND WORKING AT HEIGHT | 51
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