FROM THE EDITOR
The year gone by was a testing time for all those who run their own business, including the building service contractors. Organisations which have been able to stay out of the red are the ones with vision, work ethics and the ability to restructure their service offerings without sacrificing quality. They have been changing their game plan to become more creative and aggressive in obtaining new contracts. As the head of one housekeeping company remarked, "When customers are cutting frequencies of cleaning from daily two or three times a week and doing away with extra sevices, what else can a contractor do? Whatever may be the market conditions, the growth has to be kept up by being proactive & innovative and by diversifying & bringing value to customers. An important factor is the ability to work on the existing relationship with the customers to make it stronger. Yet, another key factor is exploring new avenues and finding non-traditional markets. As the economy is bouncing back, many housekeeping companies are seeing opportunities to expand, while many entrepreneurs are waiting to kick-start their housekeeping companies.
Clean India Journal is focusing on the housekeeping sector in this Fourth Anniversary Special edition. The topics to be covered are innumerable, say from starting a company to retaining employees, and we will continue exploring areas in the November issue as well. Still, there will more to be covered. This issue would not have been possible without the enthusiastic contribution from the cleaning industry.
Housekeeping sector is the one which can open up employment to thousands of job aspirants with just high school education. The job of cleaning and the workers are yet to get the right recognition. Proper wages, proper training and respect at work place for the housekeeping personnel can raise the level of the cleaning industry to that of many established industries. The Indian cleaning industry has woken up to this fact; let us hope the coming year will see better working conditions for the frontline cleaning employees.
The October 2009 Clean India Journal is not just an anniversary issue; it is also an indicator of the business optimism of the Indian cleaning industry. The global economic and financial analysts say the worst is over. Whatever has been the market conditions, the cleaning industry in India has been growing rapidly keeping pace with the infrastructure and business growth. We, at Clean India Journal, are happy that the magazine’s growth has been no less either. Personally, it has been a very gratifying journey for me. It was in June 2005 that I was briefed by JP Nair, known as JP to all of us, about ‘something’ called Cleaning Industry which was hitherto unknown to me. This ignorance made the journey all the more challenging and exciting – meetings & discussions, agreements & disagreements, not only within the office but also with the cleaning industry professionals. I am thankful to all my colleagues, Mohana, Prakash, Suhas, Madhu, Babu, Renu, Vandana, Preeti, Hari, Shane, Rajesh, Sree, Archana, Fanny…… and of course the ever energetic Jayaram for whom CIJ is a passion. Believe me, I tried collecting all of them for a group picture. Not now, they said. May be after Clean India Pulire in November. All roads are leading to our November event now. A lot to be done, a lot to be achieved.
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Editor
Clean India Journal |
