Upskill today for tomorrow
June 1st 2006 Asset Skills, The Sector Skills Council for the cleaning industry, has released its latest report which highlights the key skills issues facing the cleaning industry over the coming years
The Skills Needs Assessment (SNA) identifies the factors which are driving the need for an increase in skills within the cleaning industry, that are similar to those faced by other industries within the UK economy such as globalisation and technological advances.
Competition across the industry is fierce and with relatively low profit margins, organisations have to compete on factors other than price, and it is widely recognised that customer service and care play an important part in renewing and granting cleaning contracts. With this in mind it is important that front line cleaning staff have the necessary skills to be able deliver a comprehensive service that matches increasingly high customer expectations.
Skills in communication, time management and common sense were seen to be linked to the ability to deliver customer needs and, as such, a minimum introductory training session was seen to be essential. Notably a willingness to learn and motivation amongst staff were seen as important as the skills themselves. With 39% of those working within the industry with no formal qualifications there is a real need for employers to take the issue of skills seriously and invest in upskilling the current and future workforce if the cleaning industry is to remain competitive.
Along with customer service training the Skill Needs Assessment highlighted a number of short, medium and long term priorities that will help to ensure that the industry is well equipped to respond positively to the challenges ahead.
Raising the profile of cleaning was seen as crucial especially amongst school and college leavers, the use of case studies and the 14-19 construction in the built environment diploma is a possible way of highlighting the varied career opportunities available.
It was noted the qualifications that currently exist are seen to have little or no reflection on the specific demands of each role. There needs to be qualification frameworks which reflect the sector along with NVQs that echo current working practices. It was also noted that professional qualifications should be made available through routes other than graduate.
The role that technology plays and will continue to play within cleaning means that everyone has a responsibility to have a basic understanding, whether it be computer software or the latest cleaning apparatus. Investment in individuals' development will only increase as the technology becomes more sophisticated.
Continual change is a common thread within the Skill Needs Assessment which places great emphasis on skills in communication, negotiation, project management, financial management and leadership. Continual Professional Development programmes are seen as an ideal way to address this.
With large numbers of employees having little or no formal qualifications it is important to continue to raise the business case for engagement with adult literacy, language and numeracy agenda supporting the introduction of work based support, and develop materials and case studies that promote best practice.
Asset Skills Sector Specialist Bev Yates goes onto add "Asset Skills is the Sector Skills Council leading on the development of this activity. It is described differently across the four home nations but essentially is working towards the same agenda, which is to help increase, Adult Literacy and Numeracy across the UK".
Walters concludes "51% of employment within the UK is concentrated in the regions of London, South East, East and North East of England and as such initial focus should be given to upskilling these areas with the caveat that it is rolled out to the rest of the UK".
To become involved in the work of the Sector Skills Agreement contact Asset Skills, Head of Research, Dr Sally Walters on 01604 233336 or via e-mail swalters@assetskills.org. or for further information on Asset Skills and the role it plays in the cleaning sector contact Sector Specialist, Bev Yates on 07841 362 143 or via e-mail byates@assetskills.org More articles from Asset Skills: | 
