I’m almost 7 years in Scotland. I have two children; my son is in his 20s and my daughter is in her teens. Before that, I worked for a big corporation in Poland in the sales department doing sales and training. I organised the sales department, opening new show rooms, and was there for 13 years. Apart from here, I work in a Polish school on Saturdays, teaching English, Polish and drama, giving something back to the community and for myself. I also studied for an MSc inMetallurgical Materials in Poland, in Krakow. Now I am doing a post-Graduate degree in Polish to underpin the teaching I am doing.
I started as an admin assistant at TGCHQ and then moved to Operations Coordinator. Since September 2022, I have taken on a fresh role, as TGC’s in-house Quality Auditor.
We have audits wired in to our process.We work to ISO standards, so the bar for our processes is already formalised and high. Cleaning teams’ work is audited by their supervisors, and supervisors by the Regional Director franchise owners. My role is to be an independent auditor across the whole business, to ensure that our values, Standards,People, Environment, and our Customer Charter, and service is upheld.
I joined in October 2019, just before the pandemic started. It was about six months before; we were really, really busy and the company started growing. Callum, Igors, Hugh – they all joined them and Faith joined during the pandemic too. It was such a busy time. We worked all the time through it and we didn’t stop because customers wanted cleaning services throughout, although some did suspend them while we were closed. We weren’t as busy as we are now though.
As Quality Auditor, I have to set up a meeting with customers; we have such a volume. At first, I go with the Regional Director to meet the customer and introduce me and explain what my role is. Then I show them what I am checking and why I am independent, working for TGC HQ. Andrew and David get a full report of the customer’s status, with pictures; it details what needs to improve, what is good, what’s not OK. It’s also about gathering the customer opinion and what they’re thinking too. Do they have any problems, that sort of thing. I want to have a chance to speak with the customer and they’re happy that someone’s interested, that someone cares, and all of them are very happy that TGC is doing this. Directors are busy, customer supervisors are also busy and it’s possible things can be missed. I have a schedule for monthly or quarterly visits to select problems early and fix it before something becomes more serious.
In general, I love the variety, and… we will see what will happen next. It’s funny, my main reason to come to the UK was to have a quiet life and less stress but I’ve found a good job, less stress but lots to do! Dealing with the customers is great, I like people and enjoy lots of things here that I do and my life here. My children make me happy too.
The RDs of course are not happy when I send reports saying things aren’t as they should be but they can see the value of it because it helps them see where things need to improve.
If I compare them to other cleaning companies they care properly about people and are trying to put in good standards about pay and they are trying to be open and encourage the cleaners to talk with them and that’s often impossible in other companies. Here, our cleaning teams can speak with the senior team if they have any issues. Andrew’s door is always open and he will always try and fix any problems that arise, that’s part of his nature.
It’s comes straight from the top with the green issues. We use products that are environmentally friendly and some customers choose us just because of that, because we’re using better products that look after the planet. Andrew and David both have electric cars and the tech the cleaners use is good. They are trying to constantly change equipment to things that are more environmentally friendly.
I enjoy my new role, working much more closely with customers. developing new processes and bring fresh challenges; it’s part of offering even better customer service.It reinforces the service levels we provide by meeting with customers to speak about how it’s going. A fresh eye can always see things and it’s better I see it before something becomes an issue.
I am a positive person and I enjoy working here and I do as good a job as I can. It’s a good team and everyone works well and is nice. We’re all working together for the same thing and we have to make customers happy because they are paying us and they require a job which we’re there to do!
Interview: December 2022
If you have cleaning experience, or would like to learn; have a positive attitude, take pride in your work, enjoy being part of a team, and share our values, then please contact TGC tel: 01224 515933 or via our Facebook page to find out more.
