Liverpool ONE goes back to the floor

Sara Carthy pulls on her gloves and prepares to delve into another bin, pulling out any glass bottles and plastic containers. This isn’t Sara’s normal job. She is, in actual fact, the HR Director for Liverpool ONE and this is her ‘Back to the Floor’ training.

Back to the Floor is a training programme that Liverpool ONE has introduced for all Managers to help them understand the issues that ‘on the ground’ Team Members face every day – similar to the experience faced by Channel 4’s Undercover Boss contestants.

The scheme was launched last year and was so successful that Liverpool ONE has now decided to implement it as a compulsory training exercise for all Managers.

Liverpool ONE Managers who have already taken part felt it gave them a real insight into the working day of those in non-office based teams. Managers will take part once a year and during their shift will work with either the Customer Support Team, Clean Team, Waste Disposal Team, Control Room or on the Information Desk.

Sara Carthy carried out her first shift with the Waste Disposal Team last week. Her day consisted of a 12-hour shift implementing the latest disposal technique – co-mingled waste (a system where all recyclables for collection are mixed but kept separate from other waste).

Her morning was spent liaising with all the retailers at Liverpool ONE, explaining how the system now recycles all the rubbish from every single retailer at Liverpool ONE. In the afternoon she supported the Waste Disposal Team collecting food waste bins from the restaurants and using the ‘tenant’ (a huge, pushable industrial cleaning machine) to clean corridors.

Sara said: “It was a very busy day and went really quickly – it certainly made me realise what a tough job the Waste Disposal Team has on a day-to-day basis. Although retailers are generally good they don’t realise how difficult it is to sort out recycling. There was lots of walking involved – very different to sitting at my desk all day!

Back to the Floor training really helps break down the barriers between office-based Managers and those working ‘on the ground’ in Liverpool ONE. We plan to extend the programme further next year to allow customer-facing and back of house to shadow Team Members and Managers in office-based roles, so watch this space.”