Shaping cleaning's future
October 1st 2006 Participants at Asset Skills' first regional roadshow urged the industry to overhaul its image and provide a defined career pathway to make cleaning an more attractive career Asset Skills is working with employers, training providers and professional bodies to identify skills gaps and current provision, as part of the process to develop a Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) for the cleaning industry.The SSA which will be completed in January 2007 will form a compact between employers and government ensuring the right qualifications and skills are developed in line with employer's needs and expectations.A series of roadshows has been undertaken which invited employers to discuss the findings of the research and contribute to what they believed the skills needs were to ensure the future success of the cleaning industry. The inaugural road show kicked off with a selection of representatives from the cleaning industry On 7 September,at Lion Court, London. Through a series of discussions Asset Skills established the key drivers for change and the fundamental points which need to be included within the finalised SSA. Unsurprisingly it was agreed that to attract and retain more entrants into the industry, an image overhaul would need to be undertaken,not just in terms of the name, but also through a change in working practices to make cleaning a more attractive career proposition.The move for suppliers and contractors towards the take up of day time cleaning was seen as a fundamental way to address this,by providing longer shift patterns, leading to more wage improvements and opportunities to upskill and develop an individual's career. "The social stigma attached to a job in cleaning, coupled with a traditional view that the job defines the person as opposed to the other way round,was identified as another key barrier to those entering the industry,"says Asset Skills'Head of Research, Sally Walters. The increase in shift patterns would enable employers to provide better training to staff, as time spent on increasing skills would not impact as negatively for those working seven or eight hour shifts as opposed to two or three hours here and there.This in turn would lead to increased customer satisfaction and a heightened awareness of the important role cleaners undertake, thereby removing some of the social stigma and making society as a whole take responsibility for maintaining their working and living environment. Participants agreed that by associating cleaning more closely with facilities management and providing those within it and entering a clearer and defined career pathway would help to increase morale and present a more professional face to the outside world.There would also be more opportunities to move away from specialised cleaning to a broader facilities management role for those who wished to do so. Some of the responsibility for increasing the profile and opportunities within cleaning should be borne by clients who when specifying contractors should ensure that the staff they are being supplied with are fully and professionally trained. "As well as increased client satisfaction, it would also provide cleaning companies with added incentive to ensure that all staff are given a variety of training,"concludes Walters,"leading to an increase in morale and lower staff turnover".For further info e-mail swalters@assetskills.org More articles from Asset Skills: | 
