Laundry
Industry Culture Study shows employees think 80% of industry’s values are
healthy
Hotels,
healthcare, manufacturing, food processing, pharmaceuticals...
UK PLC relies on the commercial laundry industry
It’s an industry that stands
behind just about every sector of the UK’s economy – and yet, for many, it’s
invisible. Without commercial laundries,
90% of hotels with more than ten bedrooms would shut within three days, and 90%
of hospitals would be forced to close in one day. Manufacturing, food processing, the
pharmaceutical industry – all rely on a professional laundry service. So the health of the industry is vital to UK
PLC. Which is why the Textile Service Association
(TSA), which represents the laundry industry, undertook a comprehensive survey
to find out how employees feel about their sector, and what state its cultural
health is in.
The TSA worked on The Laundry Industry
Culture Study 2022 in partnership with the specialist consultancy Brands with
Values. The study used the Values
Culture Decoder, a scientifically-led, values-based assessment tool. It breaks down results by age, tenure,
ethnicity, company size and sexual orientation and covers values and categories
such as safety, authority, success, pleasure and community. Over 500 people took part in the survey.
So how did the laundry
industry do? Overall, the results are
very positive, with 80% of values assessed being healthy. The study showed that ‘community’ is the most
important value to employees, and that they appreciate a culture that is
successful, honest and respectful. The
top three personal values selected across different job roles are very similar,
indicating that, regardless of job title, the same values are important. Community was in everyone’s top three, with
various combinations of tradition, safety and success filling the other top two
places. The top three ‘personal value’
words were honest, friendly and loyal.
However, the study also highlighted
areas where the industry needs to improve.
The top unhealthy values highlighted were ‘demanding’ and ‘long
hours’. These were most often mentioned
by supervisors, production managers, drivers and engineers. While the results covering ‘belonging,’ asking
whether employees felt welcomed, accepted and part of their organisation, were
positive at 61%, TSA believes there is still room for improvement.
“Clearly these are some of the
areas we need to focus on,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA. “The whole point of this study is to help our
industry leaders understand what matters to their individual employees the
most, and what needs to be changed or nurtured.
“This is even more relevant in
the current climate, where recruiting people and retaining them is increasingly
difficult. We hope the survey will also
raise the profile of our ‘invisible’ industry, attracting new people, since it
underlines what a great work environment we can offer, and the wide range of career
opportunities here.”
Brands with Values was able to
benchmark the results against a similar survey it carried out with CBI members
covering a variety of UK PLCs and, overall, the laundry industry’s study is
healthier.
“I’d like to thank the 500
plus people who took part in the survey,” says Stevens. “We are delighted that the results are very
positive, and that the industry comes out with a really good score, but there’s
no resting on laurels. The insights are
hugely valuable, now we need to dissect them and get to work to make our
industry the best it can be.”
Copies of the Laundry Industry
Culture Study 2022 are available to download from the TSA website.
The
TSA is the trade association for the textile care services industry. The TSA
represents commercial laundry and textile rental businesses. Membership
ranges from family-run operations through to large, multi-national
companies. Visit www.tsa-uk.org for more information.
Press
Enquiries:
The
Publicity Works: 01263 761000; teaboy@publicityworks.biz
David
Stevens, CEO, Textile Services Association,
T:
+44 (0)20 3151 5600 M:
+44 (0)7966 531954 E:
david.stevens@tsa-uk.org
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the latest news on the TSA from tsa-uk.org or from the TSA press office at publicityworks.biz