Exploring opportunities of the Oman cleaning market

 

A sneak peek into the challenges and opportunities of the Oman cleaning market.

 

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Business
 
September 29, 2022
 
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Exploring opportunities of the Oman cleaning market
 

In Oman, commercial cleaning is a young, rapidly growing speciality. An infrastructure to expedite the growth of this important discipline is fast being established. The cleaning and hygiene market brims with opportunities. And we are here to discuss all aspects of it - challenges, opportunities, implementation, and more. But before I go any further, let me introduce our panel members to you!

We spoke to Mr. Suresh Khadka, Executive Housekeeper, InterContinental Muscat, Mr. Salim Ali Hamad Al Harthi, General Manager of the Oman Airport and Mr. Ebenezer Ahimaz, Executive Housekeeper, Hormuz Grand A Radisson Collection Hotel to understand the scenario of the Oman Cleaning market.

The changing scenario of the Oman cleaning market

Oman has recovered from the pandemic very well. The scenario of the cleaning industry has drastically changed from before the pandemic to after. Cleaning has changed in every facility - hotels, hospitals, commercial centres and even offices. Hygiene, disinfection and sanitation have come into focus everywhere. The quality of the chemicals and equipment we use, retention of the team members and training them are the key aspects that industry players in Oman are focussing on. 

Nowadays, even guest expectations are very high. During the pandemic, many hotels were simply shut. Only a few remained open as quarantine centers in order to support the government. Talking about expectations, before the pandemic, the priority of the guests was not cleaning. Now they want to see how their hotel rooms are being cleaned. Even if they visit other areas of a hotel, such as swimming pools, etc, the first thing they notice is cleanliness. Some guests are very particular about the chemicals being used to clean the rooms. It then becomes the responsibility of the housekeepers to ensure cleaning is done right, to emotionally connect with the guests and create a pleasant experience for them. With changing times and external dynamics, every cleaning operator has to change the way they look at cleaning. The same applies to every other facility as well. 

Every facility in Oman today is into infection prevention today. They are cleaning for health and safety, which was not the case earlier. The amount of cleaning and the frequency has increased. The need for supervision has increased as well. This is because people today will refuse to use a facility if they are not sure it is thoroughly cleaned. All the increased cleaning affects cleaning budgets as well. The increased levels of cleaning call for more procurement of cleaning chemicals and equipment, and of manpower as well. Enough is not enough anymore. 

The demand for cleaning has doubled and there is a huge pressure on the service providers to provide quality cleaning services. 

Challenges in cleaning and maintaining facilities in Oman

Training happens to be the biggest challenge after the surge of the pandemic. Soon after the pandemic came under control, there was a huge manpower crunch in Oman. This was coupled by the immense pressure on the cleaning industry. There were several manpower companies that tried to meet the increasing demand. However, they were unable to provide skilled manpower. So housekeepers bore the additional burden of training completely unskilled people. 

Now that the FIFA World Cup is happening in Qatar, and they are offering some fancy packages there, the trained staff has moved from Oman to Qatar. So facilities managers in Oman have to start the training process from scratch. Now the challenge, as we see, is to retain the skilled training staff - to make them feel valued and gain their loyalty. 

When people start working in the hospitality industry, educated people choose departments other than housekeeping. Generally, the people who have no other option, they choose to enter the housekeeping department as a cleaner. When these people join a hotel, it is all the more difficult to train them. Training is easier in other departments of the hotel - you spend one hour in training and get an output. In the housekeeping department, the effort is triple because of increased guest expectation post the pandemic. Housekeepers see a lot of repeat mistakes on part of the cleaners because they do not have prior experience in this field. Housekeepers find themselves in a fix because they cannot really refuse manpower because of acute shortage. If they stop compromising with the standards, they will end up having no-one. Housekeepers are now being extra careful in choosing who is placed in rooms and who is placed in other areas. But addressing the manpower crunch is very different in Oman than other countries in the Middle East. 

Another primary challenge that facility owners face is the lack of awareness in the cleaning services. They lack the knowledge of the type of cleaning that is in demand, the chemicals they are using, and the technologies they should be switching to. There is also a regulatory issue in maintaining these standards. 

Facility owners also face issues with the investment because after COVID-19, there is a dip in profits, especially in airports. There is an increased demand for cleaning services and less budget to perform these services. In addition, they witness the challenge of trial and error that service providers are engaging in because of lack of awareness. Facility owners believe that this trial and error has caused a mess in the cleaning industry. 

Technology and digitisation in the Oman cleaning market 

Housekeepers in Oman believe that the country stands at a ratio of 60:40 in terms of cleaning technologies and digitisation. These trends were progressing very fast in 2019 but contrary to other countries, the pandemic stopped the progress. 

A certain level of digitisation exists in the hotels. For instance, in the Radisson Group, there are mobile applications that track the status of room cleaning and other housekeeping operations. This enables better decision making and management. Even the checklists have been digitised, instead of opting for tonnes of paper. Housekeepers also want to opt for robotic vacuum cleaners instead of the normal vacuum cleaners currently in use. In terms of linen, they want to integrate micro-chips within the linen so that linen can be tracked right from production so that there are no missing items. 

Housekeepers believe that suppliers are hesitant to bring new technologies in the Oman cleaning market because they are sceptical it might result in a loss. As a result, The Oman cleaning market still relies on more manual efforts rather than the buzzing technologies that have taken the rest of the world by the storm. Cleaning experts believe that these dynamics are taking root because even though Oman is a growing country, it is still a small market. In comparison to its neighbouring countries like UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, it still lags behind. A potential reason for this could be the budget restraints. Service providers do not want to incur the additional costs that come with new technologies. They need to be encouraged to bring this technology to the country because even they are not financially strong enough to invest in alternate technologies. 

In airports, crowd vision is being implemented not just for cleaning but for rendering other services as well. Biometric has also been implemented to enable better decision making. For instance, biometric reveals that an x number of people are using the toilets. Based on this, the frequency of cleaning the toilets is decided. This enables better decision making in terms of which areas are to be cleaned more and which can be cleaned less. It will also help the service provider to mobilise faster. At present, Oman Airports would like to implement robotic vacuum cleaners and electrostatic spraying machines instead of the mop and bucket that is currently in place. With the mop and bucket, the time taken by cleaners is enormous and in fact, inefficient. However, the airport authorities cannot force the suppliers and contractors to implement these technologies. 

Sustainable cleaning in Oman

Suppliers and manufacturers have always been in the forefront to maintain the key role in adopting sustainability within its supply and services. It may be noted that green cleaning is a marketplace phenomenon in Oman that is being driven by customer demand and the overall trending of the broad marketplace for environment friendly products and services. Both home and business owners are increasingly getting conscious of the chemicals used in their space, and cleaning services that focus on non-toxic supplies and processes have been gaining popularity in Oman.

Challenges for training in Oman

Training happens to be a huge challenge in Oman because as discussed previously, there is a lack of skilled labour in the market. This problem started taking root during the pandemic when because of travel restrictions, workers were not able to travel to Oman. 

Among other challenges that a training manager may face in Oman, one that cannot be sidelined is the language barrier. Language can present challenges, as often a cleaning operative's native language isn’t English.  Trying to make sure all operatives are trained to the same level can take huge amounts of time both in admin and out on site.

Then comes the unwillingness to learn. This point has been debatable but a recent survey showed that thirty-nine per cent of cleaning operatives say they are not very willing to learn new things.  The survey also revealed some interesting reasons behind this: low literacy, low education, low digital skills, little confidence in one’s own abilities, insufficient access to training and therefore: little motivation to carry out training and learn new skills.

There is tremendous potential in the Oman cleaning market, if only the suppliers and service providers take cues from the challenges faced by facility managers. There is a lack of communication between the two parties that needs to be addressed. The day is not far when the Oman cleaning market collectively overcomes its hurdles and emerges stronger in the region.