Douglas Cooke, executive chairman of Principle Cleaning Services, was a guest speaker at the French Federation’s (FEP) conference in Nantes on 22 November 2017, in his role as chair of the Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA).
His presentation, ‘Undercover Boss and Daytime Cleaning’, brought a fun element to the serious issue of how to give the best possible service to clients in the most cost-effective and productive way.
Undercover Boss (not to be confused with the TV programme), highlighted his own experience of working on the frontline at Principle with the help of a disguise.
One of his findings was that companies with night time cleaning regimes could benefit from moving to day time cleaning.
Douglas Cooke, who has presented to contractors in Auckland, Paris, Moscow, Glasgow and London, said: “Going undercover was a very interesting exercise with some very valuable outcomes. For example, hearing about people’s day to day tasks and learning how they may be performed more effectively led to a move towards day time cleaning for a number of companies.”
As a result, cleaners would be employed for a full working day, they would receive the London Living Wage, they help to build relationships with clients and become more valued. An added benefit was that people tended to keep their workplaces tidier.
