by Shane Henson — January 31, 2014—IEHA, an international professional member organization for persons employed in facility housekeeping at the management level, recently announced that it is in the process of developing specifications and standards for leadership in the cleaning industry.
This Cleaning Industry Leadership Standard (CILS, pronounced “Sils”) will be based on developing and validating the leadership that produces a healthier environment through optimized facility operations and housekeeping functions, the organization says.
The proposed CILS standard provides quality criteria for leadership development and identification of leaders for cleaning, maintenance, housekeeping, groundskeeping, safety and/or indoor environmental programs in commercial, industrial or institutional facilities.
The proposed IEHA-CILS program will establish a leadership standard certification program that starts from the understanding that “leadership” and “management” of personnel and of performance are not the same and require different skills. The CILS certifiable standard for leadership in the cleaning industry will complement the existing ISSA-CIMS standard for management.
IEHA also says that it is forming a CILS Consensus Group for developing the CILS Standard. Upon consensus, CILS will be defined by a CILS Standard 1.0 Document. This standard will then be elaborated upon in detail by IEHA’s Professional Educational Credentialing Program (PECP) Leadership Modules in the new IEHA Leadership for Effect Series.
When fully developed, the CILS program will be a voluntary standard, developed and marketed by the IEHA.
