RETAIL & DAYTIME CLEANING
Creating a positive impact on workplaces
Raphael Sagula of Portfolio discusses the positive cultural impacts that come from daytime cleaning teams and how, with the right training, they can integrate seamlessly with the client.
Daytime cleaning in corporate offices has predominantly been based on delivering a clean office throughout the day for its occupants. Over the last few years, the delivery of this service has been remodelled extensively to reflect changing needs. Part of this is how cleaning operatives now offer more than just a hygienic workspace.
Creating an interactive culture
When conducting daytime cleaning, operatives are simultaneously part of the guest services team, the client they care for and the other service providers they work alongside. This is why Portfolio cleaning teams are given extensive training in concierge and hospitality-style service provision. This equips them with the tools to be more than just a service provider but a building custodian, enabling them to meet and greet employees and understand more than just their day-to-day roles, but the culture of the business they care for, their vision and what drives them daily.
Having a confident and authentic team is essential for this style of service to work. Empowering cleaning operatives to be themselves at work enables this authenticity, creating a positive working environment for them to operate in and, most importantly, increasing their life skills.
Cleaning has always had a wide-ranging demographic, with individuals from across the world working together, with sometimes 10-15 different nationalities on one contract alone. For this diverse team to be able to connect with the client effectively, they need to connect with each other.
We offer in-house Centre of Excellence training modules that address soft skills such as confidence and behaviour, as well as skills including presentation and customer service. Language can be a barrier with so many nationalities – our training ambassador is fluent in five languages, ensuring all trainees get the most out of their sessions.
This hospitality-style training also creates an almost universal language for the whole team. Once they’re inspired this way, operatives have the confidence and self-assurance to talk with the people who work at the client site without apprehension. It’s through these social interactions and sharing of culture that Portfolio makes its mark.
Mental health support
Daytime cleaning operatives also offer greater support to our clients individually. Creating a fun, professional and positive atmosphere is great but looking out for each other is just as important.
Working in large corporate office spaces means cleaning teams will sometimes encounter employees who are
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stressed or working long hours. Training cleaning operatives on how to spot the signs of poor mental health or when a person is struggling allows the teams to be a support network that can help signpost members at the client site on where they can go for help.
The Portfolio team has access to an HR open forum where they can alert the team if they have noticed an employee in distress and want to know more about how they can help them, without the pressure to share details about their identity and cause further anxieties.
Recognising cleaning operatives’ work
Cleaning operatives offer more than just a clean and tidy space, and shifts in the industry have meant the extra parts of their role are being more widely recognised and respected. There was a lack of willingness to acknowledge this way because of the scope of contracts companies pitch for, but that is changing.
Portfolio launched in 2019 with a unique, bespoke service involving cleaning teams that not only deliver excellent standards of cleaning but also become part of the client team and provide the additional support that aids productivity and outstanding office culture.
Giving cleaning operatives the confidence and the skills to fully embrace these elements of their roles, making it part of the official job requirements and pitching it to potential clients as such demonstrates their value-add beyond the cleaning.
www.churchillservices.com/portfolio
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