Fair day's pay for a fair day's work
February 1st 2008

Cutting corners on wages is a recipe for disaster, says LCC Support Services MD,Bob Vincent. He says open book management is the only way to retain staff and customers

Cutting corners with staff salaries is the most effective way of committing commercial suicide. Any intelligent boss realises that he cannot physically be on every job every hour of the day so staff must be trusted to get on and complete their work effectively.

Trust is something you gain. Mutual trust between staff and employer is the greatest business insurance policy you can have but it takes time to develop.

I have seen most of the tricks that contractors try on with wages and they always end in tears so why not start by being open and honest about the most important fact of work – salary.

We are not in the days of the workhouse. Everyone, regardless of age, sex, religion or nationality deserves fair pay for a job done to the best of their ability. Staff also deserve training to better them and improve their wages.

Minimum wage should always be regarded as what it implies – the minimum legally allowed not necessarily an acceptable amount or relevant to every task or geographic region. The cleaning industry does have a certain supply and demand aspect to wages. Where the employment pool is plentiful or the area has low cost housing, minimum wages may apply to be in line with other jobs.

However, in some areas where housing rents are high, increased wages are paid to the cleaners in order to attract them from outlying areas and to cover their travel time and fares.

In our client contracts we always detail the number of cleaners required to carry out the work, a specific number of hours and an agreed hourly rate of pay – and that is what our cleaners receive.

It is always the contract cleaning and FM service companies' responsibility to work in the interests of its staff and negotiate with clients for a decent living wage. My cleaners are specialist trained people who do their work well but they are not in a position to negotiate their hourly rates with customers. If I don't look after their interests as best I can, they will go down the road for a job offering 10p an hour more. This is nonsense but a fact of life by which nobody benefits. If they leave I have to train someone new and my ex employee has to learn different ways of working – and all for 10p per hour. Nobody really benefits in this scenario.

The way forward ? As a businessman I need to make a profit. To achieve this I need good, well-trained staff and equipment that deliver client expectations. Staff churn does nothing for the contractor except raise the training bill. For a matter of a few extra pence per hour, it creates a major cost.

Clients are business people too and have their own staffing problems and issues. They should not be shielded from the facts and an 'open book'policy, which we provide, is vital for mutual understanding and client trust. I have found over the years, that clients do not like bad news. The reason for outsourcing services is to outsource the problems to someone else to sort out. That does not mean that we cannot or should not advise clients of local minimum wage settlements. They like to be pre-warned of possible issues rather than suffer disruption later.

If cleaning is to become a serious profession and a career choice, which I firmly believe it is, staff at all levels should give a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. Providing this is a three-sided affair – contractors should keep their eyes and ears open regarding local situations and issues – clients should be informed and staff must be rewarded.

In the nineties the industry had a disgraceful reputation. Thanks to dedicated work by organisations such as BICSc,good training and rewards are now available and anyone entering the profession can see future career development if they want to take it.

The mushroom management principle is dead – you cannot feed rubbish to employees and keep them in the dark. Open book management is the only viable way forward.

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