VIC News & Events

News Update March/April 2012

Presidents Perspective

Hello Members and Industry Colleagues

It’s been an interesting first quarter for 2012 politically and economically with a strong focus on the carbon tax and how it will impact business and what the flow on effect will be on prices.

According to the Allen Consulting Group, From 1 July 2012, around 500 of Australia’s largest emitters will need to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions under the carbon price mechanism (CPM). Very few, if any, businesses in the property sector are likely to be classified as large emitters, and as such this sector is unlikely to see any significant direct liability from the CPM. The CPM will flow through the economy to increase the prices of goods and services that produce emissions, both directly and indirectly.

While the property sector is not involved directly in the CPM the sector does account for a large amount of final energy use. Estimates suggest that it is responsible (indirectly) for around 24 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.  Prices paid by the property sector for crucial inputs including energy and materials will rise as suppliers who are large emitters raise their prices to recoup the costs increases they face due to the CPM.

So what does all that mean for you the service provider? Well while the national CPI was only 0.2% for the last quarter, which will probably see a decrease in interest rates of 0.5%.  The labour component will increase with the annual modern award increase in July which if consistent with previous years will be somewhere between 3% and 4%. But unfortunately all your supplies, equipment will increase on average by 1.5% to 2.0% across the board as a response to the CPM. So in effect you will need to increase your prices by roughly 3.0% after allowing for the wage increase.

Occupational Health & Safety

We’ve heard a lot about the changes to the OH&S Act that came into effect from January 2012, but do you really know what that means for your business?  Recently I spoke to a facility manager and asked what changes his contractor has made in their site operational plans to address the OH&S changes; his response was none that I’m aware of!!

I suggested we take a look at his cleaner’s cupboard to see if we could identify any changes.  Not only were there no changes, there was a severe lack of compliance, no first aid kit, no PPE, no equipment tags, no operational procedures, and the list went on.

So what was missing? Firstly the facility manager was not aware of his responsibility and the need to monitor compliance; and secondly, the contractor and his contract manager/supervisor were not meeting their compliance or their duty of care. So in this case if there was an incident such as a severe injury to an employee there is a high likelihood both the facility manager and the contractor could face prosecution and a heavy fine and even a jail term. Dont let this happen on your contracts. If you havent done so find out what you need to do and do it now. (The full article is available on BSCAA Members knowledge Portal)

Industrial Relations

Turning a ‘blind eye’ when outsourcing could be costly for principals.

 Commercial contracts, not just employment contracts, are now being scrutinised by the Fair Work Ombudsman (“FWO”) when investigating breaches of employment conditions. If principals fail to show due diligence when contracting services out, prosecution may follow.

FWO is prosecuting Coles Supermarkets (“Coles”) in relation to a commercial contract that resulted in workers being underpaid by more than $143,000. In this case, a company engaged by Coles subcontracted a sole trader who was found to be paying four trolley collectors in some instances as little as $7.43 per hour.

FWO has alleged that Coles knew that, based on the prices it paid to its contractor, it was not feasible to provide the trolley collecting services without undercutting the minimum wage. It also alleges that Coles had reason to believe, or at least suspect, that the sole trader was underpaying the trolley collectors. FWO has described Coles as being „wilfully blind‟ and says it ought to have realised that the amount it was paying for the trolley collection would likely result in the underpayment of wages. (The full article is available on BSCAA Members knowledge Portal - www.bscaavic.com.au)

If you thought there was nothing you could do about companies that take the lowest bid knowing the contractor is scam contracting, this proves thats not the case - Read the full article and use it!

Appointment of New Committee Members

It is with pleasure that BSCAA Victoria announce the appointment to the executive committee of three new members; Steve Webber from Spotless who replace retiring member Russell Bail, Stephane Fayd'herbe from CIA Cleaning Services and Melissa Marot from Geco Cleaning who have been appointed to represent the interests of our smaller contract members.

National Executive Meeting Overview of matters discussed

 • Amendments to the constitutions to enable the use of electronic means for meetings

• Presentation of national and state report

• Review Cleaning Services Award 2010 – submissions proposed and being proposed

• Cleanstart activity

• Revival of the Canberra chapter

Industry Excellence Awards

The successful re-instatement of the Industry Excellence Awards in 2011 was a testament to the value of employee recognition. The combination of the event with the end of year celebrations was a recipe that worked as witnessed by the 140 attendees and special guests. This year we will have an even bigger event which will include state and federal dignitaries along with representatives from local government, the education sector and corporate business. Additionally we have increased the categories to cover the increasing number of service businesses that our membership represents.

The awards provide businesses big and small in the building services industry whether they are members of BSCAA or not with the opportunity to recognise the commitment and dedication of their employees.

The individual awards provide opportunities for recognition of excellence in various categories in various services, i.e. cleaning, security, carpet maintenance, hard surface maintenance, etc. All nominees receive an award of recognition along with a gift; the winner also receives an award plus a trophy and a cash prize. The company excellence awards recognise company management excellence.  Companies can nominate to be assessed for their operational excellence. The nominees receive an award and the winner a trophy plus a cash prize. 

Then we have the career path leadership award where companies can recognise the leadership efforts of a young manger on their team who has worked his way up the ranks and nominate them for the Young Manager of the Year award. All nominees receive a recognition award and the winner receives a trophy plus overseas travel prize to attend the World Federation of Building Services Contractors bi-annual conference.

But it doesn’t stop there, this year we have added a facilities management category that will allow contractors to nominate their clients for the Site Management Excellence Awards. The nominees receive an award and the winner a cash prize. All winners are photographed and have their company details published in the Inclean, FM and other industry magazines

Details of the awards along with application forms will be available early in May on our website www.bscaavic.com.au/ Judging will occur in August with winners being announced and the awards presented at the special awards evening to be held on 6th December at the resplendent Crown Casino.

Award Categories

• Cleaning

• Excellence in Cleaning, Various types of facilities (5 Sub categories)

• Excellence in Supervision, Various types of facilities (5 Sub categories)

• Excellence Management, Company management

• Young Manager of the year, Three categories, Domestic, Commercial and   Restoration

• Security, Three categories, Routine Patrol, Access security and Community Watch

• Property Services, Strata property, High Rise Facilities, Retail

• Waste Management, Customer Service & Sustainable Initiatives

• Supplier Award – Excellence in Customer Service & Innovative initiatives

• Facilities management  - Management  Excellence Award

Elections of the BSCAA Executive Committee

BSCAA is an industry association run by the elected members to benefit the members. The association has an executive committee made up of a president, vice president, treasurer and a number of committee members who manage service portfolios. These members hold these positions for 12 months. The members volunteer their time to be on the committee, attended meetings and provide advice to members.  They also shape the future of the association through their input. The day to day membership affairs are run by a secretariat that is engaged by the executive and holds the title of executive director.

Every year the association calls for nominations for the executive. The outcomes of the nominations received are announced at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is held towards the end of May each year.  As a financial member we invite you to nominate to be on the executive committee and assist in shaping the future of the association.

Annual General Meeting

It’s that time of the year again the Annual General Meeting (AGM) where we announce the outcomes of the nominations for Office bearers and provide members with a statement of affairs and the strategic plan for the year ahead.

Social Calendar 2012

• Annual General Meeting/Cocktail Part, Thursday 24th May, 4.30 to 7.30pm at Eureka 89 Function Room, Eureka Tower, Southbank
• Grand Final Luncheon, 26th September, 12.00 to 2.00pm at the Harrison Room, Ponsford Stand Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Industry Excellence Awards, 6th December, 6.30pm to 11.00pm at the River Room, Crown Casino, Southbank

Membership Benefits

I was recently asked by a company in the service industry who was not a BSCAA member at the time what were the benefits of membership.  I replied, well put simply we do for most Small to Medium Enterprises(SME’s) in the service industry what they don’t have time to do. We sharpen the Axe while they are busy chopping down trees! Most businesses like yours I said, are busy managing your personnel and generating new business and therefore it’s not possible to be involved in all the events and different associations to keep abreast of what is happening in your industry, IE, What new OH&S laws have been passed; Failure to comply could see the directors and owners of the company face heavy fines and even up to 5 years in jail). What new risks you have to manage; What new staff training funding is available to allow you to train your staff that is cost neutral; When it comes to tendering what procurement issues have to be addressed each time you put forward a submission that has sustainability requirements, or asks for the latest technological advances you`ve implemented, or what innovations and green cleaning commitments your company has or is planning to implement.

As the Executive Director of BSCAA Victoria I am a member of Facilities Managers Association (FMA), Tertiary Education Facilities Manager Association (TEFMA), Australian Association of Procurement & Contract Management (AAPCM), Australian Society for Association Executives (AuSAE), Procurement Australia (PA), and Local Government Professionals (LG Pro). Which means I attend the events run by these associations so that I can be well informed of their position and understand issues they have that can impact on your businesses or identify opportunities that exist for your business to gain technical and operational advantages.

Additionally I take the opportunity to speak at these events where ever possible to educate their procurement personnel on the importance of sustainable contracting that takes into consideration the negative impact of cheapest price decisions and the insidious spread of sham contracting. I also recommend that they only engage with contractors who are members of a recognized Industry Peak body such as BSCAA.   Furthermore, as an association BSCAA has representation on the Education Department’s, schools cleaning panel, plus we provide representation on industry IR issues through our appointed consultants EMA that protect you and all businesses involved in the building service industry from the impact of unfair demands by the unions.

Add to these benefits BSCAA make understanding the new industry awards very simple and easy to read by providing rate sheets, and, if you have any staff payment or awards related issues, we provide free access to an industry organization where you can have a one to one conversation with an IR expert.

But it doesn’t stop there I said, we also host service Industry Excellence Awards in all states of Australia each year as part of our commitment to creating a career path and adding to the professionalism of the industry.  This is where you and your business can benefit by recognizing the excellence of your staff and having that acknowledged in front of their peers.   Here’s what one of our nominees had to say on the subject recently.

“While I didn’t win an Award this year – just being nominated for an award raised the level of professionals of my business in the eyes of my customers and potential clients and how has that benefited, my business?   That’s simple; we got more business because we were seen to be more credible.”

Now if you have all the resources to do all this yourself I said, then I would suggest you are not a small business.   However, the reality is its more cost affected to have an industry association do these tasks for you and the good news is that all this information is only a phone call or an email away, plus you can access our industry knowledge portal and download documents that will help you; • Build a stronger and more professional profile, or • Access information on how to be more effect at managing your business, or • Create a more informative tender responses, or • Prepare a service level agreements between you and your clients • Access document templates that assist you in building your site safety plans or implement operational procedures • Access estimating and costing tools • Access equipment information from suppliers and associates

As you can appreciate when the company considered these benefits they became a member.

 

Hello members

I trust you all had had a safe and enjoyable break over Christmas and the NewYear. If youre like most of us it takes a week or so to wind down before you can really relax and then it takes a week or two to crank back up again after the break. I guess thats why January is referred to as a slow month.  

 

However it wasnt that slow for the Unions Clean Start Retail Campaign. I was meeting with a collegue in a cafe on the Corner of Collins and Exhibition Streets earlier in the week when our converstion was hijacked by a cacophony blaring horns, beating drums and loud voices. The union had arrived to picket the building. As I observed the spectical while endeavering to continue my conversation my one thought was how annoying, then I focused on the impact the event was having on the cafe, it was their peak period. The customers there were leaving and no one else was coming in.

 

The event lasted about 15 minutes and off they went to the next site.Upon enquiry I found out that the Union had been doing that all the previous week and the owner was beside himself with dispair. Their actions were destroying his businesss. I understand why they are picketing, and believe we all have the right to free speach, but what I dont agree with is the Unions blatant disregard for the cafe owners livelyhood. As for the goal of the Unions  actions they had the opposite effect, people were going around them and waving off the flyers they were handing out.

 

We had an interesting year in 2011 that confirmed that while things are a little tough in some industry sectors there is still plenty of opportunity for those willing to put in the effort. The year culminated with our combined Christmas function and the Cleaning Industry Excellence awards and What a great night it was.

 

The BSCAA State President George Stamas welcomed everyone and acknowledged our Major sponsor, Australian Super and award sponsors Hako, Agar and the Gordon Institute for making the event possible.  We had excellent representation by guests, member and their staff with close to 140 attendees in the resplendent River Room at the Crown. By 8.30pm the venue was bustling with anticipation and Christmas spirit as those attending the awards ceremony shared the joy and excitement of the nominees as they eagerly awaited the announcement of the winners.  

 

The event was orchestrated by the effervescent and entertaining Master of Ceremonies Lachlan McDonald who kept the nights proceedings flowing effortlessly, ensuring a memorable night was had by all.

 

(Photo Lachlan)                                                

 

The Winner - Dean Horgan, GJK Facility Services

(Group Photo 2)

 

The event was attended by BSCAA National President Terry Corby who acknowledged all companies and their employees for taking part in raising the level of excellence in the cleaning industry. He also acknowledged our special guest Margaret Reagan from the Workplace Skills Unit at Swinburne University of Technology TAFE for the driving the development of the Safe Cleaning Matters OH&S training resource for cleaners. that provides excellent written and graphical instructions that can be used as an induction resource to complement a company’s current training material.

 

(Photo of Margaret)

 

Terry Corby went on to comment that he would love to see more companies take on the commitment to recognise the efforts of their personnel.

 

Several weeks after the event the office was contacted by one of the member companies who rang to thank the executive director and the administrative team for orchestrating an excellent evening and also to comment on how just being nominated for the award had raised his company's profile in the eyes of his customers.

 

 

 

 

Hello Members

Yes thats right we are going to hear all about Geelong winnning again for the next few months, and rightly so, if you watched the game you'll agree they were the best side on the day. Clearly they did their homework and they had a plan. But most importantly they executed the plan.

 

Is that what you do in your business? According to Ruth Frenzel of EMA Consulting, one of our presenters at the BSCAA Grand Final luncheon last week, if youre not paying attantion to details you will be paying in other ways, such as hefty fines. Ruth's presentation addressed the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) ('EEO Act") which commenced operation on 1st August 2011. The EEO Act strengthens the discrimination laws in Victoria by establishing new responsibilities for the Victoria Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission ("VEOHR Conmmission") and strengthening the VEOHR Commission's role in helping business to idendify and eliminate discriminations. The full details are available on our members web portal.

 

Our annual Grand Final Luncheon was a success and enjoyed by all members, their guests and our sponsors who attended. We changed our guest speaker tradition this year and had an "Attitudinal Optomist", Helen MacDonald who did a great job of engaging with the audience and provided hands on examples on how to understand your operational mode and that of your employees in order the achieve maximum productivity.

 

 

Well can you believe it, another year has rolled around and its grand final time again, and maybe this year will be another all Victorian team Grand Final. For those of you who’s teams are playing in the eliminations over the next few weeks, good luck, and for those whose team didn’t make it to the final eight, there is always next year. To coincide with the Grand Final we have the our annual Grand Final Luncheon held the Wednesday prior to the big event. This year it is being held on 28th September. We have a fabulous guest Speaker, Helen Macdonald the Corporate Optimist. (See Bio Attached). It’s a great event to bring your clients and senior staff to, plus an opportunity to catch up with industry colleagues. You can book online now – http://www.bscaavic.com.au/registration-a-payment.

 

I do apologise for the delay in getting the awards material to you, thanks for your patience. As you can see from the flyer we have expanded the categories to give more of your staff opportunities to be recognised. I’ve done my part, now it’s up to you. The awards are held in most states of Australia and are a huge success which is testament to the need to have a way to let your staff know how important they are and to be recognised by their peers. And so you don’t feel left out we have expanded the company awards as well. Get the applications completed and fax them back to me this week. Remember every person nominated gets to be recognised by their peers and receive a certificate, that’s everyone, so there is no limit on the number of employees you can nominate, and you can nominate for all the categories if you clean a range of facilities. Your people are you your most important assets, print off the forms and complete them now.

Schools Cleaning Panel
Re Victorian Schools Cleaning, I met with the new manager in charge of cleaning contracts, Christopher Keating recently. During our conversation he enquired whether there was any feedback from contractors regarding the panel process and how they found it worked. I advised that I had received comments from some country members that they hadn’t been getting the pay rates increases they were entitled to. He said they were reviewing the panel status process at present and would keep me appraised of any changes. If you have comments you would like to pass on please let me know and I can address them with Chris at our next meeting.

 

Workshops – Building a Profitable Business
The 7 Best Kept Secret on How to Market Your Business & Increase Your Profits

Its official the drought is over! As I travel around the country it’s encouraging to see growth everywhere. It’s almost as if the rain has spawned economic growth.

One Council I work with is adding two community learning centres a year. That means over the past ten years the number and value of contracts they let has doubled. It also means the opportunities have doubled as schools, shopping centres, retail strips, offices, taverns, sports centres, community support infrastructure and so on are added to meet the urban sprawl and consumer demand for services. But it’s not just there, population density is also increasing in the inners suburbs as well, that quarter acre block is now home to two or three families. In fact our population growth on a prorata per head of population basis is greater than that China!

So what are you doing to take advantage of this growth to build your business? Do you have a plan and a strategy to implement that plan? Well from the feedback I get from members and from the comments I receive from small to medium sized business as I travel the country it would seem not.
 Most of them have no real idea how to grow their business.
 Most small business are started by people who just want to work for themselves, to be their own boss.
 Most never developed the skills to run a business before they started
 Most came from working for someone else for wages.
 Most had an entrepreneurial fit one day and decided to start their own business.
 Most start out deciding to compete with their boss
 Most start with very little money and no real business skills
 Most don’t have a business plan, after all how hard can it be, their boss made money, has a nice home, a nice car, takes regular holidays overseas
 Most have no Idea about marketing and believe it’s another name for selling!!

Now as we all know businesses need customers to give them their money. So to get customers most believe offering a cheaper price is the way to get customers after all they are small and don’t have big over heads so of course they can do it cheaper!! Does any of this sound familiar.

Here’s the thing though, if you cut your prices by 10% you have to increase your sales by 20% to make the same profit. Now while that may work for Coles or Target, it’s not a good strategy for growing a service business.

Our workshop series in October will show you how you can build a profitable business by changing a few simple things in the way you go about getting customers. Full details are available on our web portal – click here and book your place now.

 

Thanks for your time and I look forwards to seeing you at our upcoming events.

Regards,

John

John Clohessy
Executive Director
BSCAA Victorian Chapter
Mobile: 0412 146 275/Ph: 03 9306 8168/Fax: 03 9306 9304
www.bscaavic@bscaa.com

Thank you for your support and vote of confidence at the recent Victorian executive committee elections where I was appointed your president for a further 12 months and at a national level where I was elected vice President. You have my commitment to do all in my power to further the aims of BSCAA as the pre-eminent voice of the property services industry.

 

The past 12 months has seen the roll out of the new national award which has been years in the planning and with the assistance of BSCAA has provided a fair result to the property services industry. The outcome will be an annual wage increase at July 1 each year through to 2014 with the annual transitional increase rolled into that single increase. Following the announcement each year, generally early in June by Fairwork Australia (FWA), the actual amount of that increase and the wage rate adjustment schedules are provided to our members and are available for reference along with previous increases on our member’s knowledge portal.

 

In 2010 the Fairwork Ombudsman (FWO) awarded grants to 15 organisations to develop programs to inform employers, especially small to medium businesses about the changes which had occurred with the introduction of Modern Awards. BSCAA was successful in gaining the grant for the cleaning industry. EMA were appointed as the Fair Work Liaison Officer for BSCAA and have developed a range of Information Sheets on aspects of the Cleaning Award which are available on the BSCAA website. For ease of access and reference the documents are also available on our member’s knowledge portal.

In April BSCAA was involved in the Clean Scene trade exhibition which proved to be the most successful cleaning industry trade exhibit to have been held in Australia with over 100 exhibitors and a significant increase in the numbers of visitor than previous recent event in other states. BSCAA’s stand at the exhibit was well attended and thanks go to our executive director and his team for their efforts in organizing the stand and welcoming visitors.

Our social calendar kicked off for the year in May with our AGM cocktail party at the Eureka Towers function venue was hailed by members and sponsors as a soaring success. Our next event which is not to be missed is our annual Grand Final Luncheon at the MCG the last week in September. This is a great networking event always well attended by members, sponsors and their guests so look forward to seeing you there.

 

Our training Calendar announced in our last newsletter starts in August with two very relevant topics, (see details in the training section of this newsletter) and most importantly we have the resumption of the Victorian Industry Awards to recognise your outstanding employees in various categories along with awards to recognise contributions by member organisation to advance the industry. I’m sure you will agree our people are our greatest asset; therefore I encourage you to get involved and use this event to let your people know how valued they are.

 

In closing, I thank you for being part of the change process that is ensuring all employees are paid their entitlements and at the same time being part of the voice to government and industry that ensures businesses pay contractors the appropriate remuneration for their services. Without your involvement none of this would be possible. Remember, it’s not what our employees make of their jobs; it’s what their jobs make of them that creates valued employees.

 

It was a pleasure to meet many of you at the cocktail party and I look forward to seeing you at our next event.

 

George Stamas
President, BSCAA Victorian Chapter, Vice President, BSCAA National

 

In May we held our AGM to elect our executive committee members for the next 12 months. Thank you to members who took the opportunity to complete a nomination form and be part of the election process. Following the counting of nominations we are pleased to announce the outcome of the elections.

Members this is a reminder to ensure that your copy of the Cleaning Services Award 2010 is current. There have been numerous changes to the Award rates and conditions since its commencement on 1 January 2010 and it is your responsibility to know that you are applying the correct wages and conditions for your employees.

Early in June 2011 the Fairwork Australia issued its decision regarding the annual increase to all employees covered by the awards under the jurisdiction of the Fair Pay Commission. As a result the Cleaning Industry Award 2010 has been adjusted upwards by 3.4% from 1 July 2011. Revised rates of pay have been forwarded to all members in June along with an increase notification letter for submission to clients when claiming an increase in fees. Remember; FWO is targeting the cleaning industry so be sure to keep your email and address details current to ensure you receive the latest updates.

 

We do communicate with our members and we do listen as those of you who have received a call from our administrative staff will know. What you’ve told us is that you want training that focuses on helping small businesses grow their customers and improve their profitability. We also receive many comments about pricing and how to compete with unscrupulous contractor who price work below the award rate. Many businesses choose contractor purely on price. If this is true for you, it means you are seen as a commodity in the eyes of those customers. You are not perceived as unique or special. Your value can easily be replaced with the value offered by a competitor. You are seen as a functional component, rather than a vital and essential solution. The goal to becoming a key part of Infrastructure (KPI) for your customers is to be remarkable at what you do and to set yourself apart. Sound interesting? In Workshop 1 we will share the best kept secrets on how you can grow a profitable business.

 

Then there are the age old questions about tendering such as; the “How to Skills” and the “When to Criteria” we address this and much more to give you the knowledge to determine what tenders to bid on. We also provide valuable information to help you prepare tender responses that will get you shortlisted in the selection process and most importantly what you need to do to win. This is addressed in Workshop 2.

For businesses that engage the services of contractors or sub-contractors we have been asked to explain how you create the criteria that lets you determine Who has the capability to deliver the service that you’re outsourcing by creating an effective Request for Information document (RFI) and then the process to evaluate responses to ensure you select on value for money rather than lowest price.

 

Then there are those members that want to expand their service offering but don’t understand how to go about partnering and the agreements that you need to put in place to ensure you manage risk and comply with contractual compliance.

We have put together 4 sessions over two weekends, two in August and two in October. If you truly want to set your business apart and focus on building value rather than turn over these hands-on workshops are must attend events. Mark these dates in your diary and go on line now and book. Because these session are Hands on places will be limited.

 

The following is our current training schedule for 2011

Social Calendar

Victoria raised its social events to new heights in May with a cocktail party held on level 89 of the Eureka Tower. Responses from the 70 plus attendees indicated that it was the best BSCAAVIC networking event they had attended. Included in the attendees were potential sponsors and associate members who confirmed their intentions to become involved with BSCAA Victoria, and several who made enquires about national membership and sponsorship.

Members, Sponsors and Guests at our May Cocktail Party

The cleaning industry excellence awards were a regular event until the recent global financial crisis when organisations had to pull back on promotional spending. Well we are pleased to announce the re-instatement of the awards this year. The awards will provide members with the opportunity to nominate employees for the individual awards and client sites for the company awards. Details of the awards along with application forms will be mailed to members early in July. Judging will occur in September and October with winners being announced and the awards presented at the special awards luncheon to be held on 7th December at the Crown Casino.

Individual Awards

Company Awards

Gordon Institute have acknowledged the “Time Poor” problem that faces so many property service managers. They have announced an online Certificate IV in Property Services to compliment the range of other cleaning related courses they deliver across Australia.

The Gordon - Thank you to The Gordon who has upgraded to Gold Sponsorship level and has committed to be a major sponsor of the industry awards for 2011.

J Mills & Associates - Welcome and thank you to J Mills & Associates who have come on board as a Gold Sponsor. The company are distributors of the Motion J3500 Ruggedized Tablet Computer.

The Cleaning and Health Council of Australia (CHCA) is a newly formed not for profit association who’s aim is to establish an umbrella organisation to represent the cleaning and hygiene industry. The steering committee is made up of organisations and association from around the country who have an interest in raising the professionalism of the industry and working toward a national code of best practice.

One of the key objectives of CHCA is to create a stronger recognition of the cleaning industry through the establishment of a national training curriculum. The Victoria Division of BSCAA through its Executive Director (ED) is a member on the steering committee with a chairing role for the Best Practice and Public Relations subcommittees.

Attracting and retaining staff is an issue facing most businesses. In fact the problem isn’t limited to the services industry or Australia. At a recent breakfast presentation David Irvine of Hayes Recruitment shared some interesting statistics. He said over 70% of businesses had skills shortages and that one of the solutions that 46% of organizations are working on is changing their culture in support of offering job flexibility and investing in up-skilling their people. He also said knowing where your business is going, developing a plan and identifying key roles were crucial in identifying the right people. .... To read the full article.... Click here.