A reference point for European companies

Interview with Hans Ziegle, President of the European Association FIDEN, on the topics of vocational training and the great challenges of the immediate future

Maurizio Pedrini

We met Hans Ziegle, president of FIDEN, the European platform of companies operating in the industrial cleaning sector, in the prestigious setting of the Hilton Molino Stuky in Venice, at the end of the Board of Directors meeting that addressed the issues affecting the sector at a time of difficulty and great change.

What is FIDEN and who does it represent in Europe?

“Since its foundation in 1956, our Association has been offering a platform for professional training and cultural growth aimed at the culture of cleaning at competitive prices, responding in the best possible way to cleaning, hygiene and sanitisation needs. Also eligible to join FIDEN are manufacturers of cleaning machinery and equipment; detergent manufacturers; cleaning-oriented consultancy firms; suppliers of special software for the industrial cleaning sector; and associations interested in industrial cleaning operating at regional and national level”. partners, e.g. for the formation of internationally operating supplier communities. We advise and guide our members in the event of business transfers or acquisitions, and take care of business generational handovers. We foster relations between companies involved in industrial cleaning and manufacturers of technological and other innovations that can give a concrete impetus for improving efficiency and performance quality in the field of machinery, equipment and products for professional cleaning”. to all small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs operating in the industrial cleaning and facility management sector on a continental scale. Over the years, our aggregation proposal has expanded to benefit the entire sector. In essence, FIDEN currently represents an important European reference point not only for cleaning companies, but also for the supply chain made up of all those entities committed to ensuring that they can offer the best products

What general objectives do you pursue in particular?

"Our Association, which is now sixty-six years old, came into being thanks to the relationship of sharing and friendship established between the founding members: German, Spanish, Italian and French, eager to create an effective collaboration and friendship for the exchange of experiences and mutual knowledge. We are a bottom-up organization that has always maintained this identity, dealing over time with many topics that are important to us: from emerging market trends to professional training. We constantly support our members in their search for cooperation

How are you organized in terms of representation within Europe?

“FIDEN has a representation at the European Union, in Brussels, and a permanent secretariat in Munich. Our official representation in the Belgian capital at the headquarters of UEAPME (European Union of Crafts and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) maintains contact with the institutions of the European Union and ensures a constant flow of information regarding the latest developments, between the Munich Secretariat and the members particularly in relation to specific questions of interpretation and implementation of European regulations and projects and in the search for cooperation partners”.

When we talk about small and medium-sized companies, we are referring to a very diverse landscape, at European level?

“Certainly, in Germany and France the adjective 'small' refers to companies that can easily count on a number of employees ranging from 1,500 to 4,000. In Italy, as we well know, reality is very fragmented and compartmentalized. Italian companies are family businesses; capital companies cannot join FIDEN. We would like to see an increase in the number of members from Italian companies, which represent an increasingly important part of the macro sector of services in the country. We care about the growth of the large European family of professional cleaning, capable of pursuing the growth of hygiene in the round, increasingly enriching the network of cultural exchanges”. Indeed, at your congresses there is always a pleasant atmosphere of friendship that you communicate to your guests: is this how the European culture of cleanliness is built?

“We only have the ambition to make our contribution that goes in this direction: we can be friends, lend a hand, network to tackle together the big problems that affect us: staff training, competition in the markets, finding economic and human resources, sustainability, digital innovation and many others. We try to combine business with pleasure by organizing our congresses in the most beautiful and evocative cities of our members' countries of origin: last year, for example, we were guests in Croatia, next year we will be back in Italy, in Sardinia to be precise. This year our traditional meeting will take place in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal”.

Which issues represent a priority for you, among the many at the center of your attention?

“We are developing an innovative digital platform for personnel training in which, in addition to online training and theory, there is also a suitable practical and targeted apprenticeship path for cleaners. We know well that in France and Germany there are training experiences that start from basic levels of vocational training and go up to very high university courses, such as preparation to become an entrepreneur in the sector”.

What are the main issues and needs arising from Covid in the post-pandemic period?

“There is a great shortage of qualified personnel; our companies are always desperate for skilled workers. The problem is serious because this element alone is able to make the difference, in fact on the market there is no longer competition based on price, but on the service provided by the best trained and most efficient personnel. In short, this is the item on offer that represents real added value. This, by the way, will be one of the central themes we will address in

Lisbon. We will also talk about the offer and how, to an increasing extent, the successful cleaning companies will be those that know how to carry out the assigned task better, not those that offer the client the lowest, seemingly cheapest price. We will certainly dedicate a last important reflection to the immediate future, aware that - in perspective - as a result of smart working with the possibility of working at home, and the emerging need to reconcile work and private life, there will be fewer office surfaces to clean. The great challenge, for our companies now also oriented towards Facility, will be to invent new services, exploring opportunities that were once unknown”.

You are also an entrepreneur, CEO of the German company Ziegle Gruppe Ludwigshafen: do you also have to deal, in Germany, with the problems of unfair competition especially in the field of sanitation, and in the awarding of contracts at the maximum drawdown by the public administration?

“I believe that Germany has a profoundly different situation from Italy, because the market is guided by precise and strict regulations, which are also enforced by rather strict controls. For example, during the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, sanitisation activities were absolutely forbidden to improvised companies. This task was reserved for qualified companies only, possessing all the requirements laid down by law and special certification for working in sensitive contexts such as hotels, trade fairs, schools, etc. With regard to the awarding of cleaning contracts by the PA, I can only tell you that in my country the European Regulation is executed to the letter, whereby the award rewards those who offer the most advantageous economic conditions for the performance of the cleaning service. The computation must support the appropriate labor compensation because in Germany cleaning staff are valued and well paid”.

Soluzioni d’igiene e di protezione professionale