Are you a Professional Cleaner?
One of the things that sets any business apart from its competitors is the level of professionalism shown by its owners and the staff that work in it. That is no different in the cleaning industry.
We deal with thousands of different cleaning contractors operating across all levels of the sector, but we have a very developed underwriting strategy that means we only insure professionals who operate to the highest standards.
But what does "professional" mean in the cleaning sector - it will vary depending on who you speak to, but from our perspective, we would say that any cleaning operative needs to be:
Competent - clearly you need to be able to actually do the job that your customer wants you to do for them. There are different levels of competency and we will come on to that shortly.
Experienced - this often counts for a lot when it comes to difficult tasks such as problem solving - your experience in the industry means that you will often be able to find the best way of doing something.
Trained - this is absolutely crucial in some sectors, the levels of training that staff have undergone means that they are very competent to complete some very difficult cleaning tasks - high level abseiling and crime scene cleaning being two prime examples.
Accredited - not all sectors have accreditation schemes but lots do and wherever possible we would always expect operatives to carry that accreditation.
But it is not just the cleaning operatives that have to show this level of professionalism, the same applies to the way that the business is run. It is just as important to have a professional ethos and attitude when managing the day to day stuff - we would always expect a company to be:
Risk Aware - there are certain obligations that companies need to adhere to, such as Health & Safety Legistlation - anyone business employing 5 or more people needs a writen H&S policy - this should also be accompanied by Method Statements and Risk Assessments for the jobs that are undertaken.
Staff Centric - a professionally well run business will look after their staff and provide them with all the necessary training, personal protective equipment (PPE) and generally look after their welfare. They will have taken references and done background checks before starting their employment.
Accredited - again, not all sectors offer this, but we would always like to see membership of a trade association or federation or some other collective body that engenders quality and top level service standards.
As you can see there are lots of criteria that can be used to judge the levels of professionalism of a cleaning company, whether a sole trader domestic cleaner or a larger national commercial cleaning contractor - all need to have that appropriate level of professionalism in their work.
How professional are you and your cleaning business?
