Ruud van Swieten talks about his path into cleaning and how diversity and equal opportunity add value to teams and tenders.
Even during my facility management course I had a soft spot for the cleaning profession. In the holidays I worked in specialist floor maintenance, later for various cleaning companies and even a few years in window cleaning. It was the combination of ‘satisfaction upon delivery’ and technique from both chemistry and machines that fascinated me.
Honestly, diversity is not a separate theme for me. Our industry naturally has an extremely low threshold and is accessible to everyone. Within teams, differentiation is of course valuable, inextricably linked to respect for all participants. An open mind is something you cannot rule out in advance: diversity lets you approach things from different points of view.
I believe in equal opportunities for everyone. In our hiring policy we consciously look at a proportional reflection, though a little more colour could be added at management level. By designing processes transparently and making clear that everyone has equal opportunities, employees will not easily feel left behind on the basis of their background.
