Is your training fit for the future?  

As previously reported, far-reaching change is on the horizon in training across all sectors and businesses in the UK, with the new Apprenticeship Levy due to come into force in April 2017. The Government aims to have three million apprentices in place by 2020. So how is the cleaning industry responding?

Lorraine Larman from LCC Support Services provides the latest updates on cleaning apprenticeships here, including the development of a new level 2 cleaning operative apprenticeship. Over the coming months, Lorraine will continue to report on the progress being made and how you can get involved.

Training is not only being shaped by the Government but is being dragged into the future by Industry 4.0. "We are about to witness a new industrial revolution, fuelled by the advancement of digital technologies," ISSA's Dianna Steinbach explains in her regular column here. 

"It is no longer about how we make things, it is about how they communicate with one another and share information,” she adds. “The benefits to our industry are boiled down to three main areas: the ability for cleaning operations to better understand themselves through the data their machines provide, for cleaning operations to utilise the data provided by smart buildings in which they operate, and the ability for cleaning operations to use both to help facility decision makers better understand needs and better meet them through more targeted services."

One consequence of this, she continues, is that "new training will be required for operations management and supervisors to understand how to digest and harness the data now at their disposal onsite".

With the industry moving forward at a greater pace than ever, businesses can't afford to stand still, least of all when it comes to investing in its people by implementing effective training.