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POWERED UP - AN INSIGHT BY THE IN GROUP

How are you being the change that you want to see at Kanso?

It starts with an attitude that embraces equality and is founded less on ‘why’ and more on, ‘why not?’ Why would our cleaning professionals not deserve the same levels of reward, benefits, and personal development as any other professional? This is a powerful question that challenges any organisation’s values. We give all our staff a plethora of benefits in just the same way that established, highly profitable organisations give their staff. We don’t allocate these in a way that flows top down, they are offered to everyone – from cleaning professionals to our management team.

We don’t have to advertise.

Our growth is fuelled by word-of-mouth referrals. When we do need to advertise, we don’t use the usual jobs platforms, we use niche community hubs, often where our cleaners are members. This helps us to consistently hire people who align with our values. I brought on board a non-exec Director (Edward Murray) not that long ago and already he’s getting calls from potential clients saying, “I’ve heard about the way you work - can we meet for a coffee?” This is remarkable for a sector that is almost always driven by cutting costs to win contracts. It’s not even clients saying this, it’s an array of people, from marketing to cleaning to operations. As MD, this is what living by our values offers as a return.

CREDIT - PEXELS

the way in which they were referred by clients and our staff. This is how unconscious bias and exclusivity in technology can make driving inclusive change a challenge. All I asked was, “did you have a good interview?” to which she said “yes! I loved the person”. It’s not what that person stands for - it’s who that person is. It’s their personality. It’s what they can bring and it’s their enthusiasm for the sector. This is how culture drives operations, and not the other way around. We are adapting our systems to make sure that there are no silos; there is no segmentation in how our staff show up, or in what they need. All that matters are how we connect and can live our values. This is our Kanso DNA.

How does your culture and commitment to inclusivity affect the clients you work with?

It’s simple. I’ve turned away more clients than I have right now. As a leader, you’ve got to put your head where your heart is and be brave. I prefer not to work with clients when they don’t align with our values. How does that pan out? Well, I’m sometimes told, “you’re too expensive for us”, to which I reply, “that’s absolutely fine.” And then, after scouring the market, many come back to me and end up becoming clients because they can feel the value in the way we look after our staff. We stick to our guns and because we do, we have a motivated team of people who love what they do. Right now, my biggest challenge is giving jobs to the waiting list of cleaning professionals who want to come and work with us. This is such a privilege, and far from the industry norm.

How 360-degree care works when times are tough

My personal driver is to protect our people holistically. That’s a big claim so let me break it down in real terms. One of our cleaning team faced a domestic difficulty that meant they needed to move out of their home very quickly. They didn’t have money to pay for a rental deposit and had a child. So, we gave her money for the deposit, and agreed a tiny repayment as part of the terms. But quite frankly, if they chose to leave us in the next two years and there was money outstanding, it wouldn’t matter, because it would be a contribution to their ability to live the life they deserved, as an amazing member of our team. We’re not a bank, however, and couldn’t do that for everybody. Their gratitude I found humbling, because I realised that it’s not the norm to feel comfortable enough to come to their employer and ask for help when they were going through a living hell personally.

What does inclusivity mean to you at Kanso?

When we were hiring someone who self-identified as non-gender specific, our hiring manager struggled with a system that didn’t account for this, but wanted to know how we could ensure that they felt able to be themselves at work – from their uniform to