Paul Broekhoff about 1nergiek

‘Cleaning is part of hospitality’

The Hague Museum of Art (formerly known as the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag) is a museum located at 41 Stadhouderslaan in The Hague. There is an extensive collection of modern and contemporary art, design, applied art and fashion to admire.

Kunstmuseum Den Haag is one of the most important museums in the Netherlands and attracts many visitors every year. It is housed in an iconic building designed by the Dutch architect H.P. Berlage and is a special location for art lovers.

In the museum, objects are displayed and paintings hang that are of great financial value. There are over 170,000 objects here, a large part of which is in storage. For the cleaners, it is also always important that they know which exhibitions are on, when rooms are being rearranged and what they therefore need to take into account with regard to the cleaning services.

1nergiek has been the permanent cleaning service provider for the museum for a number of years, where some 430,000 visitors come every year. “We also had years with 600,000 visitors,” says Paul Broekhoff, the museum's business director. “At peak times it can get crowded in the museum. There are certainly days when 600 visitors come. But there are also days when about 4,000 people come. Then it starts to get pretty cramped here, because it is an old building”.

“Everything you do has its limitations. This means, for example, that our toilets meet the building standards of 1935. We all know that clean toilets are crucial to the experience and the impression of the quality of the building. Much attention is therefore paid to this, both by us as client and by our contracted cleaning company”.

Extended

“We quietly renewed with 1nergiek”, Paul continues. “It is always good to evaluate periodically and, when the tender takes place, to select multiple companies to take part. In any case, we are satisfied with the cooperation with 1nergiek and pleased that they came out best in the retendering”.

“The regular cleaning team meets expectations; so for us as a client that is reassuring. Shanta is the team leader from 1nergiek. She is a familiar face, is well integrated into the daily operations and knows exactly how everything works here”.

Paul shows a photo of the museum's Christmas party from last year, where the 1nergiek cleaning team can also be seen. “They belong here, because we think it is important to make the cleaning team part of our entire organization,” he says. “It feels good for both our employees and the museum's regular visitors that they see the same faces in the cleaning team. As a client, you want not to have to worry about it. They must be able to work autonomously and independently and they do”.

Invisible

Paul explains, when asked, how the cleaners of 1nergiek deal with this. “A strong point is that they are virtually invisible while working. That is an added quality, because our guests should only enjoy the art and not have to step aside for a cleaner. Shanta therefore feels very responsible and realises how important the work of her and her team is in the museum. She knows that she plays a major and decisive role in the satisfaction with the cleaning and can anticipate all situations very well. In addition, it is important that people remain approachable. Both from the shop floor and management. But these kinds of matters are also in very good hands with 1nergiek”.

“In our museum, cleaning is done up to 1.80 metres. Everything above that is handled via separate assignments, and for that 1nergiek has its own team of Specialist Cleaners. In a tender, attention is therefore also paid specifically to the experience of a cleaning company in a museum. Because of that alone, it is already a separate playing field”. Paul laughs: “By the way, you cannot just clean a painting hanging on the wall with a cloth”.

“What's more, we have the Mondrian collection hanging here, representing a value of hundreds of millions. There are also various special and often fragile objects worth tens of millions. This is truly done by subject-matter specialists”.

“On the floor or around the door frames, cleaners are at work and know what they are doing and can act with particular alertness. Especially in this museum environment with valuable paintings and artworks, you need to know how to clean. For example, you cannot do this with aggressive cleaning agents. But the behaviour of your cleaner is also important. You need to know how to move around as a cleaner, and they must also have an eye for any unsafe situations. The public must not be inconvenienced by it and discretion is important in circumstances such as guided tours and around dignitaries. In short, there is really a lot more involved in cleaning in the Hague museum”.

How do you view the cleaning industry yourself?

“If you look into it, you find that it is a much larger industry than people think. It is fascinating that everyone takes cleaning for granted, but when you are right in the middle of it, or have to deal with it, you develop a lot of respect for it”.

Finally, do you have a message for the cleaners?

“We have a lot of respect for them. It remains impressive how they can clean among all those expensive artworks with the public wandering around in the building. Cleaning is an essential part of our hospitality. From the museum, we train our employees on this and you notice that this also happens from 1nergiek. A smile is free after all, and that makes you happy”.