Golden Service Awards - a trend around the world

The Golden Service awards recognise the achievement and commitment to higher standards of excellence in the Cleaning Industry and were initiated in 1991 by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in the UK. The initial goal with these awards was twofold:

• It formed part of the Office Building and Cleaning Company operational plan of Kimberly-Clark Professional in Europe, specifically in terms of PR and social responsibility.
• As part of the value-add approach of Kimberly-Clark, the company wanted to give something back to the cleaning industry by recognising and awarding an often unappreciated - yet essential - service.

Australia followed on the Awards' UK success by introducing the Golden Service Awards seven years later, in 1998. Still pursuing the same proven principles as implemented by their colleagues in the UK, the Australians added to the glamour by introducing a prestigious awards ceremony, during which the winners are announced. The UK in turn complemented the awards by launching their official website: http://www.goldenserviceawards.fsnet.co.uk

Other European countries also recognise and award cleaning professionals for their efforts, including Holland (2002) and Belgium (2002). It was also with great excitement that South Africa introduced the local version of the Golden Service Awards in 2005, followed closely by other prominent countries, such as Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as France, Switzerland and the Nordic countries in 2006.

Golden Service Awards Feedback Session: Changes for 2010

The 2009 Golden Service Awards feedback session was held on the 11th of February 2010 at the very unique, exclusive and up-market Fairlawns Hotel in Morningside Manor.
Cleaning companies that had participated in this prestigious competition in the previous year as well as those that had not, were invited to the feedback session that took place in the form of a breakfast meeting. The main purpose of the session was to provide the industry with feedback from our experiences since the competition’s inception in 2005, as well as have an open discussion about upcoming competition changes for 2010.

• The “Northern Cape” province was added to the 8 regions we had on the application form during 2009 and the previous years.
  
  
• It was suggested during the session that an alternative contact name of the client to be interviewed be provided in case the interviewee is unavailable due to illness or other commitments.
  
  
• A consensus was reached that there are 3 categories within a job size namely;
  
  
  • Team Leader  (could also be known as a Charge-hand; Head Cleaner etc)
    Typically, she would. . . . .
    • have 2 to 5 people working with her
    • wear the same uniform as the other
    • have a specific area of her own to clean
    • be responsible for basic communication with the customer
    • alert contract management on any matter requiring their attention e.g. absent staff, chemical shortages, equipment failure etc.
      
      
  • Supervisor  (could also be known as Site Supervisor; Contract Supervisor etc)
    Typically, she would. . . . .
    • have 6 to 15 people working for her
    • wear a uniform or clothing different from her cleaners
    • she would not have a specific area of her own to clean (although she might ‘help out’ from time to time)
    • be responsible for communication with the customer
    • keep records of attendance for leave planning, overtime and wages etc
    • control stock and have input on procurement
      
      
  • Site Manager (could also be known as Contract Manager; Site Cleaning Manager etc)
    Typically, she would. . . .
    • have 15 to 100+ people working for her
    • have one or more supervisors or team leaders reporting to her
    • wear a uniform or clothing different from her supervisors
    • be accountable for all management activities relating to the cleaning service on the site, including, but not limited to planning, control, administration, motivation, logistics, discipline, procurement, reporting etc.
    • participate in determining worksite procedures
    • interact with client management at a high level
    • be accountable for quality assurance activities to ensure customer requirements are being met
      
      
• The skills development field has been changed to a drop down menu box to minimise lengthy download periods of the application form.
  
  
• Clarity on what qualifies a cleaning company to be considered for the “Cleaning Company of the Year” award was given as a company that enters a minimum of 2 entries under 2 categories in 2 regions.

Our panel of judges was available to tackle issues and concerns raised by the industry players and offer advice on how to get the most out of the competition. They also highlighted the prestige associated with winning a competition such as this and how this could help them negotiate contracts using the Golden Service Awards as a selling technique.

Overall this was a successful session with 90% attendance.  We are looking forward to an increased number of participants during the 2010 competition!

NB: Out of curiosity and better understanding of who you see as a client, a poll question has been placed on our home page and we would really love to find out your view on the subject.