Cleaners the Unsung Heroes of the Covid Crisis
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Originally Posted On: https://www.rfm-group.com/cleaners-the-unsung-heroes-of-the-covid-crisis/
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the message for many has been focused on staying at home including working from home where possible. For a key sector of industry, this simply isn’t possible – the UK’s army of professional cleaners.
Across the country, buildings and infrastructure are undergoing deep cleans, fogging and disinfection in an effort to minimise the spread of the virus. For the cleaners involved, their purpose is simple – to play a part in keeping those who can’t work from home safe as they commute and continue to deliver essential services. Cleaners are heroes and RFM Group salute them!
Thank You for Keeping Us Safe
It’s a sector that attracts a whole range of individuals, many of whom value the flexibility that commercial cleaning offers. However, it’s still considered as a very manual and low-skilled profession that for many within it, barely scrapes over the minimum wage. In light of the contribution being made by professional cleaners in the fight against Covid-19, there are many who will be championing a change of both perception and base salary for this industry.
Maximising the relationship with professional cleaners
It’s important to consider working with cleaners as a relationship, rather than just a transaction. Investing time in helping a cleaning partner understand the overall objectives, such as explaining what the cleaning expectations are, where the priority areas are and how a building is used will help ensure that the work is completed in line with expectations.
It can be helpful to undertake a building cleaning assessment to document aspects such as typical occupancy of specific spaces, how areas are used, when the peak occupancy is and any special requirements, such as regularity of deep cleaning or expectations of activity such as hourly checks. This assessment means appropriate and proportionate cleaning plans can be put in place, ensuring that individual cleaners are clear about what’s expected of them and what they need to achieve in the time they have.
As with all members of staff, having clarity of their role and transparency about expectations will ensure they are able to succeed. Like any employee, it’s important for cleaners to feel job satisfaction and pride in their work. Behaving as a responsible client in the way you engage with cleaners will help ensure a more reliable and consistent service that delivers to expectations.
Walking the talk – Cleaners are Essential
At RFM, there is no question about the status or capability of our cleaners. Our cleaning workforce, some of whom have been with us since our company started, are as valued, trusted and capable as every other member of staff and are just as respected.
Across the RFM client base, our cleaners are doing their very best to keep buildings hygienic and safe, as they always have. In the current climate, they have proven their ability to flex their skills, learn new ways of working and to deliver in their roles regardless of the challenges in front of them.
Cleaning professionals may not yet have the classification of ‘key worker’ as our nation fights the Covid battle but at RFM, we believe they’re delivering absolutely essential services and, in our eyes, they’re a very special kind of hero.
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