We Clean – A People Business
We are absolutely delighted to be re-accredited a third time for the Investors In People Award!
As an organisation we clean has been Investors in People accredited since 2012 and we are immensely proud to be recognised as a ‘People Business’!
Investors in People is the international standard for people management, defining what it takes to lead, support, and manage people effectively to achieve sustainable results.
When being examined against the Investors in People framework there are 9 key indicators upon which an organisation and its staff are judged:
- Leading and Inspiring People
- Living the organisations values and behaviours
- Empowering and involving people
- Managing performance
- Recognising and rewarding high performance
- Structuring work
- Building capability
- Delivering continuous improvement
- Creating sustainable success
Scoring well above the average across all of the above indicators, the examiners were pleased to see a ‘real positive culture’ within we clean commenting:
“All management are approachable and supportive and we would like to particularly thank Gaynor Powell for co-ordinating the site visits, interviews and extensive evidence”.
“Your commitment to providing and developing quality, green cleaning services that will have a minimal environmental impact was also clear.”
As a business we introduced an industry leading, first-to-market in-house magazine ‘The Clean’, which is distributed to all we clean employees, ensuring staff are made aware of operational matters and personal success stories across the wider business and this was something that the IIP examiners were particularly impressed with.
Through a flat-line management structure we have continued to support all 450 frontline Cleaning Operatives through regular management contact ensuring that staff feel empowered to carry out the high levels of service our clients expect. We employ a number of motivational initiatives throughout the year such as:
- Dee Richards Pride Award Champion Award Programme
- Two weekly attendance bonuses for staff
- Annual Christmas bonuses
- Birthday cards
Management staff are continually encouraged to evolve and excel within their roles with regular one-to-one review meetings allowing the Directors of we clean to identify clear development pathways for progression.
Every employee within the business has their personal development tracked and managed via a comprehensive Training Matrix which is overseen by the Company’s dedicated Training Manager, Duncan Thomson who is supported by a number of external training partners such as The British Institute Of Cleaning Science (BICSc) and Environmental Excellence, to ensure we remain at the forefront of the Cleaning Industry.
The Investors In People audit also identified and were extremely impressed by the opportunities within we clean to develop meaningful careers within the discipline of cleaning and progress to Senior Management roles within the organization from a frontline cleaning operative position.
The Company can be very proud that employees such as Maureen Francis and Charlene Bowen are now experienced Contract Managers after starting with the business as Location Managers and Jean Green, Sean Wright, Raphael Djeukam Danleu, Melissa Rowe and Baba Seckan are all now operating in Contract Management Support roles after beginning as either Location Managers or Cleaning Operatives.
David Holmes-McClure, our dedicated Health & Safety Manager who initially TUPE’d into we clean as part of our Brindleyplace Estates contract win in 2013 and has since grown from a Service Operative to our NEBOSH qualified dedicated Company Health & Safety Manager!
Gaynor Powell, HR & Office Manager has worked immensely hard orchestrating our IIP re-accreditation, made even more challenging this year due the to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however she was delighted with the way the re-evaluation of our internal ‘people management’ processes went commenting:
“I am absolutely delighted that we clean have been re-accredited as an ‘Investor In People’ business.
It has been a remarkable team effort from everyone within our organisation and it demonstrates the value that we place upon our people, we really are a people business.
In the formal feedback from the IIP Assessor we were advised that our score was well above the average for the cleaning industry. Communication within the company was described as excellent, with staff stating they felt well informed of what’s going on within the business ranging from day to day activities to more longer term future plans such as growing our service offering and broadening our geographical reach.
Everyone assessed within this process fully understood the core values and ethos of what it means to work for we clean.
Our staff are incredibly loyal and committed to giving their best at all times and even more so during the last 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic where people continue to go above and beyond and I would personally like to thank everyone that took the time to feedback to the IIP Assessors. I feel very proud to be part of this fantastic organisation.”
