Our headquarters in action
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The front desk is always busy with job applicants registering to work with us. Most come because a colleague has recommended our firm as a good place to work. That's welcome, but whoever they are, we need to check they're allowed to work in the UK. Other firms might rely on visually checking a passport. We don't. We put each passport through a security scanner, similar to those used in airports. We'll know straightaway if the document is a forgery.
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Once registered, all our job applicants must study and pass an induction programme. This powerpoint presentation takes them through important subjects then, crucially, tests how well they have understood them. They cannot proceed until they have passed each stage.
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Elsewhere at Julius Rutherfoord there's a training session going on at our Training Academy. Here you can see a group (doing something or other). We insist that every staff member graduates from our academy, including those we inherit through TUPE. This means we can ensure the same high cleaning standards across all our contracts. It also makes everyone aware of our safety and environmental objectives.
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Upstairs at the Help Desk, we've just received word from a client that some bins have not been emptied at one of their premises. This is a rare lapse in service. At this stage we're not sure why it happened, but we immediately start a Live Complaint Procedure. This notifies our site supervisor, who gets the bins cleared straightaway; it also reaches our area manager, who's travelling between locations and will check the problem's been solved. Later on, the procedure will trigger an email to the client, explaining why the error happened and the measures we've taken to stop it happening again. Our directors will also check the audit trail of every step taken to deal with this complaint.
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Over at the Time Monitoring Desk, two people oversee the real-time movement of all our staff. With more than 1500 employees working across 360 different sites, each with their own time schedule, it's vital to know everyone is where they should be. We have now automated all clocking in and out; we also track the location of all our vehicles and key personnel. As a result we do not have to respond passively to events, but can actively monitor and deploy our resources. If, for example, illness or a tube strike has depleted staff at one location, we can swiftly arrange cover.
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The Accounts Department is also linked into our time monitoring system. In the past, like most companies, we used to compile each month's payroll manually. It was a big task. Now we automatically generate payroll from the precise attendance records logged by each employee. This saves time, saves money and is more accurate.
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Accurate work bills are another benefit for our clients. When you request a periodic job, such as an unscheduled deep clean, we don't simply record this manually; we create an electronic procedure which ensures the job is done, recorded and billed correctly.