Behind the Scenes – Five Ladies Brighten Up Headquarters in Basel

When we office people have almost finished the working day, a fantastic team of ladies appears to clear up the traces of busy office life and bring everything in order again, ready for the next day. The housekeeping team members Maria-Pia Fusco, Sultan Sakiz, Yudelka Arias Stadelmann, Paola Rovito-Urso and Romina Urso-Causo are the heart and soul of the Dufry headquarter office building at Brunngässlein in Basel.

The housekeeping team is as multi-cultural as Dufry is. Three of the team members are from Italy, one from Turkey and one from the Dominican Republic. All five women have been with the housekeeping team for over a decade and some of them were already part of the company before it was renamed as Dufry. They are always so cheerful, with winning smiles and full of positive energy! All the office staff love to have a chat with them when they arrive in the late afternoon.

• Maria-Pia (her nickname is “Fiorella”) is the longest-serving team member with 26 years of service! She comes from the Eternal City of Rome. She has many anecdotes and stories to tell – one of them is that the team likes to make jokes with the CEO Julián Díaz. Last year they were preparing their cleaning trollies when Julián Díaz passed by and Fiorella told him – much to everyone’s amusement - that their “fleet” of vehicles consisted of the luxury brands of one Ferrari, one Alfa Romeo and three Fiat 500s.
  
  
• Sultan from Turkey has been part of the “Dufry Family,” as she describes it, for 21 years. She arrives full of joy and enthusiasm for each working day and loves to create a pleasant and clean working environment for her colleagues.
  
  
• Yudelka comes from the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo. This island in the Caribbean is a dream destination for tourists. Yudelka has been part of the team for 12 years. She remembers that when she started in 2007, two months later, she attended the Christmas party and Julián Díaz – after he had finished his welcome speech to the employees – asked her to present herself in Spanish! She was very excited and nervous to speak in front of such a big audience, but she rose to the challenge and was rewarded for her courage by winning a camera in the party raffle.
  
  
• Paola comes from the historic city of Lecce, in the region of Puglia in southern Italy. Her history with Dufry spans 13 years and she is very proud that ever since she took over the responsibility for the fourth floor, all the orchids are blooming again! She also likes the fact that one of the employees on this floor (we will not mention his name!) is very happy when he sees her as then he knows it will soon be time to go home!
  
  
• Romina also comes from Lecce and has been with the team for 12 years. She loves working for Dufry and she has only one wish – to win just once at the annual Christmas party raffle!

Andreas Sziedat, Central Services team leader, explains how important the work of the housekeeping team is: “Cleanliness is very important because it builds loyalty, generates positive praise and drives overall well-being and comfort. Housekeeping is a methodical and repetitive process that requires close attention to detail. To ensure that nothing is missed, the housekeeping team follows the same steps in sequential order on each working floor each and every day.”

Above all, whenever they have something to celebrate, e.g. an anniversary or birthday, they invite us for an aperitif and we have the opportunity to experience their culinary skills as they usually prepare delicious delicacies from their countries of origin.

Making people happy with their dedication also seems to have had a positive impact on their overall luck, which seems to be always on their side. They often win lovely prizes in company raffles, for example at the Christmas parties. Most recently, this was the case at a Camel event held on September 12, 2019, when Paola and Romina won a magnificent gift basket. However, winning prizes is also familiar to their colleagues: Fiorella won a scarf at a Christmas raffle – but unfortunately lost it years later, also at a Christmas party. Yudelka won a camera as already mentioned, while Paola won a watch and some perfume. Sultan was particularly lucky and won the main prize of a travel voucher.

By Lubna Haj Issa