Responding to change brought about by disruption

Change has been the single biggest response to the disruption that has characterised life since early 2020; and fresh understanding has altered the way in which we manage this shift. The facilities management, cleaning, and services industries have been especially impacted because it relies on large numbers of people congregating in public, commercial, entertainment, and recreational spaces. As a result, what new insights have we gained from responding to the widespread disruption in these sectors?

Tackling paralysing complacency

During times of upheaval, the choices we make about the tenders we submit, the people we hire, and our product choices either born out of a practical approach or reverts to a usual false sense of security. Organisations have a unique opportunity to reassess everything and make changes that will see them come out in a stronger position at the other end of the turmoil. Quick or temporary fixes that does not work must be replaced with innovative solutions. Decisive action combined with creativity and a willingness to embrace new insights will almost definitely produce new outcomes.

Fostering strong leadership

There is a growing trend of organisations choosing agile leaders with a unique and valuable skillset over specialists in their field. Strong leaders are never complacent and have an innate resilience to help businesses successfully navigate through change. Strong leaders never make excuses and embrace mistakes as mere corrections towards a more desirable goal.

The right approach with the best people

It has already been mentioned how important the correct approach is to effectively steer through unsettled times. Tired methods that simply do not produce a different result must be replaced. For example, if the way to eliminate persistent odour from washrooms, commercial kitchens, waste areas, common areas or veterinary settings has not produced immediate and lasting results, why would anyone continue down that path? Similarly, retaining good people with a proven track record will retain and potentially grow a business’s customer base. Typically, these people also add value every time they provide a solution. Proposing solutions with a proven track record during tender submissions is another way of combating customer loss to lesser competitors that simply offer predictable Band-Aids.

Being proactive

Anticipating events before they materialise is an approach that will strategically position an organisation during a time of disruption. And it takes courage, followed by patience, perseverance and focus to arrive at the intended objective in a better position than most. Proactivity usually requires long-term investment of time and resources that will predictably be compared against cheaper, ineffective, short-term fixes.

Capitalising on opportunities

Astute leaders recognise opportunities where they simply don’t exist for average managers. They have keen observation skills which they use to provide instant results and ongoing benefits. Skilled at adding value by offering innovative solutions with a proven track record, they gain an advantage over their competitors which will see them emerge at the head-of-the-pack on the other side of the current uncertainty.

In summary Successful change management is a well-documented topic. Plainly offering perspectives that can make a difference in the cleaning and services industries must be worth considering. For instance, replacing traditional or enzymatic cleaning products with biological alternatives have been shown to make an immediate impact, followed by sustained results. Likewise, changing the way in which we utilise all cleaning solutions as opposed to sticking to the norm has had a positive impact on the bottom-line of businesses, the impact on environmental, and sustainable practices.