The firm also launched an ECO-Clean service that uses organic steam cleaning as a chemical-free alternative that is good for the environment and health. This service is one of the key areas in which SmartaVal is contributing towards a more sustainable future, and becoming the greener choice for customers across Stockholm. Its mission is to reduce the direct and indirect environmental impacts of its services and products by offering climate-smart solutions, streamlining processes to be more efficient, employing innovative technology, and working with partners who share its sustainable values. SmartaVal also listens to its clients to learn how it can improve on its sustainability initiatives, in order to understand how to better serve its customers and the planet too. Moreover, the more you make use of the firm’s award-winning service, the more you will feel the benefits. Thanks to SmartaVal’s loyalty card program, customers are not only able to enjoy multiple deals and benefits, they are able to share them out to friends and loved ones too. This is just another way in which SmartaVal delivers on its commitment to make life a little brighter. With a vision to spread goodness and joy, SmartaVal relies heavily on its team to extend that goodwill out to its broad network of clients. “We want our employees to work with passion, drive and customer focus,” Mila tells us. “For us at SmartaVal, the most important thing is that we work for a good cause. SmartaVal relieves people of their everyday life and gives them more time to live life. We have a clear vision that works both internally and externally to create a better everyday life for people. It should be fun to go to work, but it should be nice to come home!” Thus, in giving its employees a purpose in their work, SmartaVal is able to instil a sense of pride in each member, that drives them to be better. As the leader of the company, Mila strives to build relationships of trust and respect between her and her team, ensuring that they benefit from a positive working environment that allows them to reach their full potential. “My staff is the most valuable thing I have, as they are my proud ambassadors,” adds Mila. “In my leadership, I take advantage of my employees’ previous knowledge and skills [and channel it into] personal development. The staff has different backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, religions and religious convictions. I work on the basis of the equal value of everyone, and my employees’ differences are my company’s asset and strength.” Driven by the company’s values of Presence, Proactive, and ProResponsibility, SmartaVal’s team is committed to being flexible and accessible, organised, and focused on building long-term partnerships that facilitate sustainable development and social responsibility. It is a core philosophy that translates into excellence as a team, and has seen Mila’s team recognised with numerous awards, including Glansföretag in the Clean Bright Awards 2019 and 2020, Prins Daniels Fellowship, Gazelleföretag 2018 and Arbetsmiljöpeppen 2019. These awards have been added to a roster which also features Winner of the Stockholm Prestige Awards 2020, Professional Cleaning Service of the Year 2020, a well-deserved final place as the Leadership Profile of the Year 2020, and now Best Commercial & Professional Cleaning Company 2021 in Sweden at the Corporate Excellence Awards. Whilst the multitude of awards and brand recognition of SmartaVal placed it in a secure and well-established position before the pandemic, when Covid-19 hit in March 2020, the firm nonetheless had to adapt to survive uncertain climates like so many other businesses. As panicked cancellations increased and potential financial instability made rewarding employees an area for concern, SmartaVal quickly set about making plans to adjust. Fortunately, it found itself in a relatively secure position, that meant the staff’s reduced employment rate would not need to exceed 20%. “We are glad that the pandemic has not affected us as much as we initially thought it might,” says Mila. “The situation is still unstable as we are occasionally affected both positively and negatively by various restrictions. As for the gardening services and window cleaning, we have not seen any noticeable impact on the business.” Business operations have had to be adjusted in a lot of ways for SmartaVal, yet a physical presence is crucial in its services. As such, Mila has implemented strict protocols across the business, ensuring that any staff who have symptoms of Covid-19 stay home in accordance with the Public Health Agency’s recommendations. When the team does work, they follow strict hygiene practices to minimise the risk of infection, from keeping distanced from their customers to using full PPE. However, with customers working remotely and office cleaning dropping in demand, SmartaVal is embracing technology as a means of opening up new opportunities for itself and its clients. “We have begun to look at how we can switch and what new services we can develop through enhanced skillsets to offer to customers digitally,” Mila tells us. “For example, we are exploring educative concepts such as cleaning coaches, ‘Order Consultants’, and a course for children called ‘Order and Order’. “We also participate in an EU-funded project, called ‘On The Way Forward’. The project, funded by the ESF Council, will contribute to strengthening the members in household services in the form of skills development, employment measures or integration initiatives.” Initiatives like On The Way Forward are supporting Mila and her team’s continued commitment to moving forwards as a company, striving onwards in the face of adversity. “We change and we do not give up! We adjust the direction, but we continue to move towards the same goal. Of course, it may take a little longer, but we see many new opportunities that have opened up.” Having onboarded a coach and mentor in the company’s growth program that was initiated prior to the pandemic, SmartaVal has had a long-standing culture of support and positive thinking, built on a solution-oriented business model that looks ahead to long-term goals. Changes in customer habits and transformations across the cleaning industry are inevitable following the pandemic, but for SmartaVal, many of them present new opportunities for success. Whilst hotel and office cleaning may take a back seat as a result of the drop of tourism and rise in remote working, and pressure on the financial situations of private clients may be of some detriment to SmartaVal, the firm is able to look to other areas, in particular where demand for higher standards of hygiene is increasing. “In public places, schools and preschools, hygiene requirements will be raised, which will lead to more demand and focus on price will be replaced by quality,” predicts Mila. Also, “people are staying at home and placing greater value on creating a pleasant, orderly and nice home and work environment, which leads to greater demand for household-related services. Adversity breed success!” she adds. Thus, as SmartaVal looks ahead, it is with great enthusiasm, anticipating an increase in its clientele of companies that hope to make use of the salary benefit service, as well as seeing an increase in demand from private clients too. True to its founding mission, SmartaVal puts the control back into the hands of its customers, giving them the choice to claim back the freedom of time. “But we won’t tell you what to do - it’s your decision!”, concludes Mila. “Just start with answering one question: do you live to work, or do you work to live?” Contact: Mila Viniavska Company: SmartaVal AB Web Address: http://www.smarta-val.se/
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