What brings you satisfaction in your workplace?
One of the questions we asked in our recent employee survey is ‘Overall, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your job?’ 100% of those who answered (with over 75% engagement) either said they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’. This thrills us.
So what brings satisfaction at work? This will vary depending on what type of work you’re involved in, but below are some thoughts we are reflecting on at Clean for Good.
Relationships Matter - Products, equipment, the latest cleaning technology are all important, but relationships matter more. The small things are the big things: checking in with someone, listening, showing respect, not overloading the cleaning managers with too many clients, caring for non work needs. A staff member was recently in tears when she received some flowers from her line manger when she was unwell. She told us she had never received flowers from her work before. Cleaning is relational.
Fairness Matters - Things which many of us might consider ‘basic’ are often non-existent in cleaning: paying staff on time, letting clients know when we haven’t been able to work a full shift, paying staff correctly, making sure cleaners hours are not cut without reasonable notice & consultation, proper HR processes, providing sick pay. The list goes on. Perhaps when we see that fairness trumps making money at all costs, satisfaction and fulfilment prosper as we feel connected with something bigger, to something we can align ourselves with.
Pay Matters - Pay gives us an indicator of our value and worth both to the company we work for, and to the society in which we live. Pay, we believe, must enable us to live, to support people during times of distress, and to provide for a decent life. All of our staff are paid, at least, the London Living Wage. A hard day’s work, deserves a decent day’s pay.
Below is word cloud that fuelled the above reflections and come from our staff when asked ‘what the best thing about working for Clean for Good was’
[Be assured there were many suggested areas of improvement too!]
