A day in the life of a Swiftclean Compliance Team Leader
We caught up with one of our most experienced team leaders, Lee McGuiness on what it’s like to work at Swiftclean and what a normal day in the life of a compliance team leader looks like. Our team leaders provide a vital role at Swiftclean which includes managing a team of supervisors
By Lee McGuiness – North Midlands Compliance Team Leader
Each working day is different for me, sometimes I’m out on site, and sometimes I’m working from home. I get to work on a variety of tasks, from collaborating with the teams to clean ventilation systems to conducting audits and delivering training; I’m also responsible for completing probation reviews and inducting new staff members. It’s a challenging and diverse role, but I find it incredibly rewarding.
Out on a night shift
On a typical site day, I usually work the night shift due to my high level of security clearance for various sites which require out of hours working. This involves waking up around 6 p.m., spending some time with my family (I have four sons and one daughter), and an activity such as taking my seven-year-old daughter, Caleigh, to her gymnastics class.
After setting off for work, I meet the teams on-site. It would usually be our Manchester or Leeds teams as they are closest – but could be anywhere, usually in the Northern half of the country.
We have a depot in Manchester, which I manage, so before going out to site I might carry out a stock check or pick up some equipment or consumables to take the engineers out on site.
Once I meet up with the teams on site, we could go through a toolbox talk; one I went through recently was working at height, giving our teams a refresher on protocol and working safely when using access equipment at height. I also like to help out on the tools if needed, particularly if it’s a complex job, or if we need some more manpower.
My work might involve carrying out a site audit on the system itself, for example, if there has been an access issue on site that we are having trouble resolving. I also audit the teams and check things like stock, uniform, and correct PPE in accordance with the risk assessments and method statements.
Desktop auditing day
During an auditing day, I will spend time catching up on communications with team members and those in head office – this could be via emails, on the phone or video calls. I tend to use this time to review our fleet management system, ensuring driving standards are at a high level, and to see who’s winning the interdepartmental league – obviously making sure Manchester is on top!
I’ll try and schedule a call with each team member to catch up with them and check all is ok, and if there is anything I can help them out with; I would check the absence statistics and carry out any outstanding return to work interviews that need to be actioned.
I might audit some post-clean verification reports from previous nights or days’ works, aiding the service delivery coordinators with chasing any missing information.
I would often do a stock order with our Northern warehouse assistant, Doug. I would check the PAT (Portable Appliance Testing) records to see if anyone has any electrical equipment due to be inspected soon and ensure that I have this scheduled in to test before it runs out of date.
I could be doing interviewing, our process is that we would do a teams-based interview online or phone interview first, before a face-to-face interview. Because we are based out in the field, interviews are usually held at a coffee shop or our nearest office which is in Leicester.
The best bits
After work, I like to engage in more relaxing hobbies as a way of destressing. My favourite pastime is fishing, which I find to be one of the most calming activities. I enjoy participating in match fishing, which involves competition fishing for the chance to win prize money. I also enjoy course fishing, especially winter pike fishing in the local canals. The Severn and The Wye are particularly enjoyable spots.
Gaming (Xbox of course!) is another of my hobbies, usually games such as Warzone, in fact, lots of our compliance engineers play, so it’s a good social activity, connecting with the teams outside of work.
My favourite element of the job is meeting the teams on-site, we’ve got field staff all over the UK, but the Manchester, Birmingham and Scotland teams are all under my leadership. I see them out on-site frequently and make regular calls to the Scottish team as I don’t see them on-site as much – as they are a bit further afield. It’s been great managing the Manchester team for most of the time I have been at Swiftclean – most of them have been here for about 7 years. It’s a solid foundation for the North – we are looking for more like-minded people to join our team. Everyone works well as a team and understands each other’s way of working.
Why Swiftclean?
Lee has been at Swiftclean for nearly 10 years, starting as a compliance operative, before progressing to hygiene supervisor, then being promoted to a team leader around 6 years ago. Lee is a multi-skilled technician who can complete fire damper testing, water monitoring and water storage tank cleaning, ventilation cleaning, and kitchen extract cleaning, we asked him which he prefers and why he enjoys working at Swiftclean.
I think I prefer the kitchen extract cleaning out of all the services we offer; it’s what I do most regularly. Repeat visits are great because you get to know the site and the site managers and build a rapport with contract managers.
I like that Swiftclean is a family-run business, everyone -whatever their role- is really approachable. It’s the little things that they do, you can pick up the phone and speak to anyone. You can easily reach out there is always someone willing to listen and address any concerns you may have. This level of customer service is rare and it’s what sets Swiftclean apart from their competitors.
I find the work I do very satisfying, especially when I am able to achieve a full clean, back-to-bare metal, that’s what I love most about the job. It’s even more rewarding when clients are pleased with the results, especially when there have been issues with a particularly difficult-to-access site in the past.
Recently, we started working with a new key account client and we were able to provide them with a lot of advice to resolve ongoing problems. By doing so, we ensured that the systems were more safely accessible, and we were able to complete some cleans in full. As a team leader, I had the opportunity to visit the site and carry out access issue audits. This allowed me to come up with practical solutions to the problems we encountered.
