With the real-estate sector in UAE growing manifold and the goal of Expo 2020 looking closer on this side of the year, training, retaining and managing cleaning staff has never been more important, finds Shanti Petiwala.

Just a few weeks ago, according to a news report, cleaning workers from Saudi Arabia went on strike due to a fellow worker’s death owing to him receiving poor health care from their employer. Last year, 87 cleaning workers from a cleaning company in Dubai went on strike over low wages and overwork. Now, striking of any form in the UAE is against the labour law. Then, what is driving these workers to thwart all rules and demand their rights? One of the keys to understanding this is to understand the importance of cleaner management and its key techniques. Cleaning workers are probably recognised as being on the lowest rung of the cleaning professionals’ ladder. A large majority of cleaning workers comes from South- Asian countries like the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc., who are compelled to move to a completely new country to support their households.

Manpower requirements

Cleaner recruitment is a fairly basic process. Various cleaning companies liaise with recruitment companies in various countries who select the cleaners, after which they are trained and then work in the Middle East. For instance, Tanzifco, with its own training centre, trains candidates in the soft services first and then sends the skilled manpower to the Middle East region for the cleaning and allied soft services requirement for the group. Established in Kuwait in 1963, Tanzifco takes pride in providing services to key clients across the government and private sectors.          

Ali Deryan, General Manager, Tanzifco Group, talks about what goes into selecting the right kind of manpower for cleaningservices. “We have developed procedures for recruitment to identify qualifications, experience and required competencies of personnel as per ISO standards. We also work closely with our recruitment agencies for hiring and training the staff at the Tanzifco Training Centre prior to flying to the Gulf.” Once the personnel are selected, they are sent to the client for a final selection. Before deployment to the site, all the project staff receives mandatory training skills. Newcomers also receive orientation training, which also includes HSE.

Cleaner attributes

Cleaner attributes must be age, physical fitness and some kind of experience witha basic knowledge of English. But going beyond that, the psychological makeup of these cleaners must be a priority. Nicola Turner, Organisational and Social Psychologist, Human Relations Institute and Clinics, observes, “Cleaners must be trustworthy and honest. Moreover, they must be disciplined; not only hardworking but also quite structured in their approach to tasks, and attentive to detail. Furthermore, friendliness and approachability go a long way.” In fact, she goes on to say that even if they don’t have much prior experience in cleaning, they must have these core attributes; these intrinsic values. “I think it comes down to someone who is approachable, not afraid to take a bit of criticism and at the same time be able to stand his or her ground if asked to do something unreasonable,” she concludes.

Training

One of the most important steps of trainingstaff once they arrive in the country, in they are working, is Onboarding. According to Turner, “Onboarding is an important process for the workers especially in a culturally diverse environment like the UAE.” She adds that cleaners, since most of them come in close contact with guests, or the client in general, must be tau  ght the various cultural values of the country along with understanding the client expectations. This way, they will be more satisfied with a greater likelihood to do the job efficiently; and the client will be more content. Turner adds that while this sort of training might require a little investment initially, it will help employee retention.

Tanzifco’s Training Centre’s sole objective is to train the staff as per the Cleaning Operators Proficiency Certificate standard of the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc). The company is also pr esent in Sri Lanka, Nepal and India to recruit and train prospective candidates at the grassroot level. The centre provides training under the guidance of a BICSc qualified trainer, and this consists of a four-day course, including orientation, health and safety issues, BICSc basics and English terminology common to the cleaning industry. The focus is also on use of machinery, equipment, tools and cleaning products employed in common soft service assignments. Deryan says that the centre is geared to handle a batch of up to twenty candidates at a time. Accommodation for candidates from areas located far off is also provided.

Safety training In the cleaning sector, training is paramount. Training in Health Safety and Environment takes precedence over everything else. At Tanzfico, all the staff receives mandatory health and safety training before deployment at the site. ISO standards and guidelines play a key role in minimising or even eliminating hazards at work and are crucial to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. This training motivates individuals toconfidently achieve their full potential. Moreover, the company has implemented the ISO-IMS system to ensure its employees’ standards of service and safety. This includes HSE training related to job safety; risk assessment by the company to identify and correct possible hazards on site; random visits by health and safety officers; free medical insurance; vaccination; selection of safety regulation approved machines and equipment; safety training on site; and provision of approved personal protective equipment (PPE).

Cleaner challenges

The challenges faced by cleaning staff, apart from the fact that they have left behind families and home, are several. Whether it is about the culture shock experienced seeing and possibly interacting with so many different nationalities, or the nature of the very physical cleaning job, they do have a lot of obstacles to overcome in this industry. Deryan of Tanzifc o also says that they face constant work pressure in high traffic sites; high demands of the staff and patients in a health-care setup. They also have to remain motivated in an otherwise stressful environment. Cleaners must also be prepared to be on standby especially to handle emergencies like sandstorms or rain, etc.

Expectation management is important - learning how to manage expectations is critical and lack of awareness could result in dissatisfaction between both parties. For instance, a cleaner might believe that his or her actions are proactive but the client might find them to be interfering. Turner says that the cleaning company must beobliged to ask the client what exactly is expected from the cleaner, and this must be communicated well. Any discrepancy might lead to frustration on both ends. Again, keeping employees motivated is key, no matter what the job. Cleaning can be a monotonous job; hence, cleaners must be motivated through incentives to grow; for instance by promoting them to ‘senior’ or ‘experienced’ cleaner; or making them trainers or mentors for other newbie cleaners.

At Tanzifco, too, employees are awarded ‘Project of the Month ’ and ‘Worker of the Month’ on the basis of various parameters. Moreover, there should be a ‘counselling’ system of sor ts in place within the company for issues such as dissatisfaction, problems faced from clients and homesickness. This may be done through group sessions with volunteer or trainee psychologists, the hiring of in-house counsellors or even one-on-one’s with their supervisors.

Empowering and motivation

Turner says, “Salaries should be k ept in line with the market average. If another business or individual offers a cleaner a better salary, he/she is most likely to jump ship.” Whilst it is important for cleaning companies to keep the pay competitive, it is also essential to go beyond just money. Showing a company v alues its employees goes further than just pay and bonuses. Deryan adds, “The best way to encourage, empower and thereby retain cleaning staff is by going beyond just the job profile. Focusing on general welfare and recreation go a long way.” He suggests that documentation of the quality and cleaning issues including coping with workloads, be continued forimprovement. Moreover, keeping the staff involved in problem solving, valuing their experience, developing action plans andcontinuous training are steps that can be taken towards more empowerment of these individuals. Turner adds and emphasises that respect is the key. Staff should be taught about the culture of the UAE and its various nationalities, but companies must learnabout the employees’ culture or values– if there are certain festivals native totheir home, celebrating them or even just wishing them with a card or gift goes along way to make them feel valued.Team building exercises, development programmes, rewards and workshops on behalf of the company will produce happier, satisfied and well-adjusted employees who will perform exceptionally well, she concludes.