Meet our special forces of cleaning – Kumar, Team Leader

Prem Kumar Pushparaju who we all call Kumar knows how to spread happiness around him; smiling!

Kumar is a team leader in our special cleaning unit. He moved to Finland in 2008 and he’s been working at Siskon Siivous since 2010. He’s ready for anything and enjoys his work.

How did you end up at Siskon Siivous?

When I came to Finland I was cleaning busses at another company and was looking for a second job. My friend was working at Siskon Siivous and they were looking for snow worker for a month. I didn’t know what kind of work it was and they just told me I was going to do some “hard snow work”. I ended up in a 4 worker group working up on the roof in -25 celcius.

I did some part time work for Siskon Siivous and after 3 months that was changed to a full-time job. I did many different types of task including waxing floors and driving a crane (aka “nosturi”). When I started at Siskon Siivous we had only 45 workers! Now in 2021 we have more than 1 300.

What do you do currently in Siskon Siivous?

I am a team leader in special cleaning and we call us team leaders site supervisors. We check that everyone is doing perfect job and calculate how many hours we have to complete our contract to find out what we need to do to make it happen. Mainly I work alongside with others and manage the team.

What do you like most about your job?

I meet a lot of new people and learn new things all the time. I enjoy seeing different kinds of places! I get energy for my work from learning and bettering myself. Also the people at the office are always smiling and making workdays wonderful.

What did you do before Siskon Siivous?

I was born in India and I studied there in college for a time but my hobby playing cricket took most of my time. I also worked in drug electrical work for 3 to 4 years. I moved to Finland in 2008 to get money for our family business in India. I didn’t know anything about Finland when I moved here but I’ve enjoyed living here. First time when I went back to India for my 2 month holiday I started to dream about coming back in about 15 days. My life is here now and I’m happy about it.

What kind of education and courses have you had during your time with Siskon Siivous?

I did basic cleaning and lähiesimies (supervisor) training and took a crane driving class in 2012. Everyone in special cleaning has to have Occupational Safety Card. I have also taken the Finnish language class that Siskon Siivous is offering for free to all the workers.

What is it like to work at Siskon Siivous?

I’ve worked here for a long time but I am still constantly learning new things and I also tell new workers to always ask if they don’t know something. As a team leader I can ask for specific work group to do a job and often I get to learn with the group.

The supervisors teach us all the skills needed and Kayode helps us to stay relaxed at work without panic and rush. When you keep it cool, you realize solutions to problems. Supervisors also notice when everything is not okay with us and we talk about what is on our mind.

I feel like I am respected and valued at my work. I have fun at work and we kid around with the coworkers and I often lovingly make fun of them. Sometimes we also meet after work or at weekends to get together.

What do you do on your free time?

I like to watch movies with friends and I spend time with my wife. I’ve also made many friends at work and a while ago we celebrated at my baby shower. We often go for a coffee or lunch and my coworkers feel like a big extended family to me. Soon my own family will have a new member and that will take a lot of my free time.

I also play cricket at national level. I played cricket back at India and continued playing here. In India cricket is a big time sport, kind of like football to the Europeans. When I joined the team it was small and this year we are playing some serious games. Siskon Siivous is sponsoring our cricket team and I am ever thankful for that.

What is your superpower

My superpower is smiling! I believe smiling is always the best thing to do. When you are smiling, the others are smiling too. It motivates people and make things simply better. I always tell my people to smile and it keeps everyone happy.

Read more about our work community in English:

Come and join our special forces of cleaning!

Tutustu puhtauden erikoisjoukkoihin – Kayode, palveluesimies

Tutustu lisää Siskon Siivouksen työyhteisöön:

Tutustu puhtauden erikoisjoukkoihin – Linda, palveluesimies

Hotelliemäntä on hotellisiivouksen sydän

Tutustu puhtauden erikoisjoukkoihin – Jenni, päivystävä siistijä

Interested in cleaning?  Find our open jobs and more info about the work environment and coworkers at our recruitment site!