Executive Housekeeping Today - February 2009 - (Page 16)

exeCutive pRoFile (continued from previous page) All full-time custodians and substitute custodian (who will work when a full-time custodian takes a sick, personal, or vacation day, or when a full-time custodian leaves their position) are chosen from an established substitute custodial pool. When people are brought in to become substitute custodians, they are put through a three-week training program. The first week, they go into the buildings during the evening, for four hours a night, and are trained by the custodial staff; the second week, they go into a different building for six hours; and the third week, they are in another different building for eight hours. In addition to all the other improvements he has implemented, Taylor is looking to improve their training program in the future. Also discussed during the Custodial Advisory Group meetings were personnel issues and the relationship between the custodians and the supervisors. This has been fairly effective due to opening the lines of communication about these Taylor reviews energy savings strategies during a meeting with his custodial services staff. personnel issues and shrinking the gap between the custodians and the supervisors. Taylor was the facilitator of the discussions and had to make sure that the conversations didn’t get personal. “It was important for me to bring groups of people in and to facilitate conversation and communication between all the groups. We needed to get the focus back on what our department is exactly supposed to be doing and what services we are supposed to deliver,” says Taylor. “This was about how we can get along to deliver the best services that we can to kids and teachers because ultimately, that’s our number-one goal. Sometimes it’s difficult to get a custodian and/or a supervisor to see that the kind of things they do affect how kids and teachers teach and learn the next day. So, we had a lot of discussion about facilitating how we could discuss issues and arrive at some decisions that meant kids and teachers can do the things that they are supposed to do every day.” Another improvement Taylor made to the department was purchasing new equipment and machinery in order to cut down labor costs. “When doing a cost analysis for a custodial services department, it is clear that your labor costs are your highest cost. We have been able to cut down some of these labor costs because we’ve been able Taylor supervises custodial staff member Tina Spencer as she demonstrates their no-touch cleaning system in the restroom. 6 Executive Housekeeping Today/February 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Executive Housekeeping Today - February 2009

Executive Housekeeping Today - February 2009 Contents Executive Corner Putting a Stop to Restroom Complaints Clean Soap Dispensers are Good for Business Frugal Housekeeper Executive Profile Spartan Scholarship Award Winner USGBC Tip The Green Scene 2008 IEHA Audit Report The Un-Comfort Zone with Robert Wilson 2009 Salary Survey Inside the Industry Product Highlights New Members Joint IEHA/ISSA Members Advertisers’ Index Calendar of Events Inside IEHA What IEHA Has Done For Me

Executive Housekeeping Today - February 2009

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