Infiniti Mall-Malad, spread over around 850,000sqft, is owned and operated by Unique Estate Development Co. Ltd, a K. Raheja Constructions group company. Yogesh Ghosalkar, Assistant Manager-Facilities, shares the detailed cleaning regimen and the mall’s stringent systems with Clean India Journal.
There are set cleaning schedules in place at Infiniti Mall with area- and inventory-based programs for activities, including facade cleaning, machineries/equipment cleaning, washrooms cleaning and other on daily, weekly and monthly basis.
What are the systems in place to achieve quality control?
We have set parameters to have quality control. Our executives and outsourced supervisors are trained in doing proper inspection using techniques. The executives and supervisors have to ensure that they cover every nook and corner of the assigned area and sign the worksheets. Further, if there is a snag (in housekeeping or maintenance), they inform the respective departments through the complaints management system.
Have you outsourced housekeeping?
We have 147 outsourced staff from multiple agencies with five executives and one manager as in-house staff. Outsourcing is good to the extent of getting the manpower but you cannot always count on agencies for providing trained and experienced staff. It is ultimately our responsibility to mould the raw staff to suit our requirement and achieve departmental goal. Absenteeism is an all-time issue with most of the agencies. There will be absenteeism; but we can reduce it to some extent by motivation and through incentives programmes.
So how do you motivate your team members?
We have divided the work and responsibilities of the five executives. Besides the daily operations, each executive has a core responsibility for handling one activity each, like horticulture, or facade cleaning. We encourage their suggestions and feedback, impart cross job training and give reward and recognition.
You depend on mechanized cleaning?
Yes, we have a designated machine room with 10-15 machines ranging from dry vacuum cleaner to ride on scrubbers are stored. We have schedules for use of each of these machines for cleaning and for maintenance. A third-party audit is conducted every quarter to ensure performance.
What are the challenges, when it comes to chemicals?
Facilities/properties, today, have changed a lot from the traditional ones. They have very elegant and expensive interiors and hence, along with cleaning, restoration is also equally important. There are numerous cleaning chemicals/products in the market but at times it is difficult to find the one which will suit the property best. Again, if you find one, then it becomes difficult to train workers on the right usage, both in terms of quantity and application. Rigorous on-job training programs are essential.
We are now using Buzil chemicals. Instead of giving staff access to concentrated chemicals, we have a dedicated person to make dilutions as per standards and applications. This is delivered at the required locations like the pantry, washrooms, etc. There is a cleaning schedule in place and the required cleaning chemicals are issued from the store only as per schedule and in approved quantities. All this has very much helped us in reducing wastage or overuse.
We also ensure that wastewater is put to use appropriately. The STP at our property recycles water which is used for flushing, gardening and sensor based taps and urinals for controlled water consumption.
We have a lighting schedule too in place and accordingly lights are switched ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’.
