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A spirit of initiative brings success
Being equipped for green transition
From Italy Anna Garbagna brings the inspiring story of cleaning industry legend Luigi Marfella.
As cleaning firms strive to be more sustainable, they need training, writes Christian Bouzols in France.
His name is Luigi Marfella and he is the protagonist of a story worth telling. The son of a lady janitor who worked in a state school, he has always associated his passion for the cleaning world to his moments of childhood when, following his mother in her daily work, he could detect the pungent smell of detergents and the scent of cleanliness in the rooms where his mum had passed by. But even then the inequalities were obvious: “It has always struck me that my mother, working through a cooperative, had to work so much but earned less than her colleagues. These injustices were my first introduction to the cleaning world,” Luigi recalls. When he entered the world of construction, he immediately noticed the disorganisation and minimal training of the cleaners in the newly built apartments. Marfella consequently returned to the cleaning sector and started his own company, his goal was to excel in all aspects. He tried to find courses and training to guide him towards the best practices of the sector. “Despite there being many options available for practical training, there was no entrepreneurial vision,” he explains. And so, in addition to running his cleaning company, Marfella started to offer training courses under the project ‘Serial Cleaner’. This project started the first course in Italy for the unemployed to reintroduce them into the working world, following 40 hours of theoretical and practical training which leads them to be in touch with facilities that are looking for staff. There was also growing demand for advice from business owners so Marfella decided
In their journey towards ever better environmental practices, cleaning companies need to do more than just use ecologically certified products and green ways of working, all of which are already much used in the sector. In answer to that requirement, two organisations - INHNI and Fare Propreté - are offering training courses in green transition (transition écologique). The first of these organisations, which works in the fields of hygiene, cleaning and environment, each year trains some 1,700 apprentices under workstudy contracts and guides some 22,000 trainees, while the second helps companies to improve their competencies in these areas.
En Italie, le secteur de la propreté bénéficie de l’inspiration de Luigi Marfella, dont Anna Garbagna raconte le parcours.
to share the lessons learned along his way. That is how the idea of the book ‘Ripulisci la Tua Impresa di Pulizie’ (Clean up Your Cleaning Company) came along, in which Luigi Marfella outlines his vision for the future of the professional cleaning sector in Italy, offering practical advice and strategies for growth. “The book is an attempt to answer the questions I have been asked most frequently, ie, how to increase earnings, how to find the best customers, how to reduce manual work in favour of automated work and how to acquire good collaborators,” continues the author, explaining how he wrote the book with the hope that his path can inspire others to elevate the cleaning industry in Italy. After all, it is good to remember the cleaning market in Italy boasts a turnover of €21 billion and employs over 600,000 people. It is a dynamic and growing sector but paradoxically has deep gaps in terms of professionalism, legislation and entrepreneurship. All of this becomes even more surprising if we analyse the fact that many cleaning companies are still managed as simple family businesses, without any business approach or the necessary proficiency to prosper in a market which is vast, complex and therefore competitive. “Why is it that in many sectors, it is considered crucial to have specific training while in the cleaning sector it seems that dustpan and brush are good enough to start?”, wonders Marfella, businessman and trainer, and as of today, also author of the book ‘Ripulisci la Tua Impresa di Pulizie’ (Clean up Your Cleaning Company).
In ihrem Artikel aus Italien vermittelt Anna Garbagna uns die Erfolgsgeschichte von Luigi Marfella, einem inspirierenden Mann in der professionellen Reinigungsbranche.
La corrispondente italiana Anna Garbagna ci parla della storia di successo di Luigi Marfella, un uomo fonte di ispirazione per il settore delle pulizie professionali.
A new model Green transition consists of progressing towards a new business and social model aiming to find global and lasting solutions to the environmental issues of today and to the threats facing the planet. The goal is to meet the demands of clients, regulatory requirements and the expectations of society which are obliging cleaning companies to think about how they could reduce the effects of their activities on the environment in the immediate future and the medium term. Called ‘Speed up Your Green Transition’, the training courses are designed for the managers of medium and small companies, as well as for the environmental officers of larger companies - the intention
being to make them appreciate the environmental issues and impacts surrounding their businesses and to better integrate existing methodologies. The aim is to make participants aware of all these problems and to help them tackle them by taking global environmental decisions. Participants will also get to know how to play ‘TransitiO: Get Started with Green Transition!’. Developed by Fare Propreté, this game can be played collectively by all levels of company management and deals with the environmental issues of the cleaning sector. Its goal is to explain all the main issues linked to cleaning activities and help participants to apply what they have learned to their daily activities. The courses last for about 20 hours and are to be followed over a period of two months. They involve several distinct approaches and are to be pursued both online and in-house. Participants each get a free copy, but their company is charged €200 Euros pre-tax if it has fewer than 20 employees and €400 Euros pre-tax if it has more than 20 employees (this fee being applicable to companies that have paid up their membership to Fare Propreté). The training courses are being offered as from this Autumn in Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux, and in further teaching centres in 2024. For more details, please visit: www.monde-proprete.com/ dispositifs-transition-ecologique
The 2024 European Cleaning & Hygiene Awards will open for entry early in the new year. Look out for details at www.echawards.com En France, les entreprises de propreté se voient proposer des formations à la transition écologique visant à l’amélioration de leurs pratiques environnementales. Christian Bouzols fait rapport.
In Frankreich werden Reinigungsunternehmen in der Anwendung besserer, umweltfreundlicher Praktiken geschult. Christian Bouzols berichtet.
In corrispondente Christian Bouzols ci informa che in Francia, le imprese di pulizia stanno ricevendo del training nella transizione verde per l’utilizzo di migliori pratiche ambientali.
November 2023 | ECJ | 11
