by Jennifer Jones

School, OutsideLowmanElementary palm trees sway gently next to the i f A m e r i c a n l a g .I n s i d e ,L e s D i c k e n s s how to teaching team of custodians a moreefficiently effectively. and clean He's however. Les isn't a consultant, part of a quiet revolution that is taking by ClarkCounty storm. Located in Las Vegas,NV, the Clark CountySchoolDistrict is the llth large s t s c h o o ld i s t r i c t i n t h e n a t i o n ,a n d schoolsysmay be the fastest-growing tn the tem in the country. 1991, district I , o p e n e d1 8 n e w s c h o o l s . n 1 9 9 3 t h e districtaddedl3 newbuildings. with 181 The district operates schools more than 15,000 mployeesMore e . in attendclasses than 140,000 students the district,whichcoversmoresquare milesthanthe stateof Massachusetts. Duringthis time of growth,however, ) the Clarkschoolsalsofacetremendous 1994 ' MtimtenanceExecutive luly/August

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tharranyone ImplementingChange else.Wl.rathe didn't kttow ln schoolttustees budgetpressures. 1992, 72 ordered districtto eliminate full-time the
custodial positions.ln 1993- the same year in which l3 schools were built - another 96 positionswere cut. With more facilities and less money and staff. the operations department was under fire. Alice L. Moran. coordinator ol custodial supervision for the district, began looking for solutions. Outsicle colrtractorswho wantecl the job promised better cleaning, but would elirninate even urore district staff. promised Consultants the Iatest employee

job longerand knewthe facilities better

DirectorBob Herr.randez Operations "l'd a wasskeptical. seen lot of consultone thinkthi.s would ingfirmsandclidn't around. washowto turntheprograrn he founda solution be anydifferent." says. Moranard Pricefinally other facilities inspected Hernandez a in ManageMen, Salt LakeCity-based groupspecializing cleaning with which Walkerhad been involved, in consultant h o w e v e r .H e s p o k e who usecl with people the systens Walker hadrecommended. H e r n a n d e z ,s o o t t after,wasconviuced. is Training the corn e r s t o n et o a n y e f -

Alice Mctran and Richard Price coordi nate. superuise anrt train more than 750 marntenlnce persott' nel for a distri( the size of Massachusefts

at training.but Morandiscoverecl least hadn't n.raterials training onecompany's Othersdidn't beenupdated since1975. neecls. meetthe clistrict's Pricewascouvinced Richard Cowr-rrker clistrict errployees coulddo thejob better AIter all, he than an outsidecontractor. the reaisoned. ir.r-house had clone the staff

issues. managemcnt maintenance not "Thejanitoris part of the solution, part of the problem." saysJohnWalker, with associate consultzurt the firm."Janiwho tors are professionals needto be treatedand trainedas such.Custodians mustbe proudof who theyareandthe iob they do."

"Olclhabitsdie hard." fectivechange. M o r a n s a y s ." S o m eo f t h e s e p e o p l e f h a v e b e e nc u s t o d i a n so r y e a r s .b u t theystillneedto learnthe system." bePrice,"Thatwas the problern Says fore.'l'heonly trainingour peoplegot at was whateverthe headcustodians hadtimeto qivethem." theirschool

Choosinga Consultant

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to That'swhen it may be to your advantage experts. paid advicecarriesmore clout than opinionsfrom in-house Sometimes, hire an outsideconsultant. Whenit comesto hiring a consultingfirm, everyonewants the best advicgat the lowest price. Thosepricesvary dramatically, depending whatyou want and who you hire. on You can makea consultantbest work for you, however,by followinga few simplesteps. . Determlneyour needs:Determinethe weaknesses you a quality consultantshould have a thorough, solid knowledge base. wish to solve by hiring a consultant.Idenlifying your . Check relerences Talk to mainand past performance: specific needswill help weed out a lot of consultants, who may have worked with consultenancemanagers savingyou time and money. inspecta facilitywith r ldentify the expertiseyou require: If you know therers tants for their input. If possible, which a given consultanthas worked in the past. a problem in your department,but you're not certain Checkingreferencesis fine, but nothing beats an eyewhat your specific needs are, look for a consulting balls-oninspection.Beforeaskingschooltrusteesfor a firm with skills in the areasyou needto work on. II you $48,000 cleaningconsultantcontract allocation(see need a companythat specializesin training, for exammain story),for example,Clark County SchoolsDirecple, only consider consultantswith training experiinspectedother tor of OperationsBob Hernandez ence. . Select a consulting firm with a wide range of experinearby facilities with which the potential consultant and employees had worked,and askedboth managers envirolment is different, ences:Every maintenance what they thought of the consultant'sprogram. and so are the skills necessaryto do the iob. Ensure r Customizethe consultant'sprogramto your situation: in the companyyou choose has experiences multiple the Remember, right consultingfirm can only help you experience settings.A consultantwith broad-based identify potentialsolutions.It's your right and role as a can help you identifyall your options. . Consider the total package: client to decidewhetheror not to accepta consultant's Never select a consultant advice,or how to implementa $ven prlgitfn,f"rror", basedon price or locationalone.Takea closelook at reflectthe trainingmaterials low bids.Ensure unusally Look for steak,not for sizzle; most recentregulations.
I 994 Maintenance Executive Jul,"i.August

"[Thecustoclianl never timebecause had workto custodial he haclall the regular ckr," says. he , \ s p a r t o f a n e w t r a i n i n gs t r a t e g y , H e r n a n c l e z d M o r a np r o m o t e cflo u r an t . c u s t o d i a n se i b e p e e r t r a i r r e r sP t ' i c e whiclr tearn, oversees peertraining tlre for the is responsible trairring clistrict's an 7 6 0r n a i n t e n a n c e c l( r o u n c l s k e e p i n g pelsonnel. i o W h i l em u c ho f t h e t r a i n i n gs d r : n e n a alsocreatecl syrecial site.tlre clistrict c . t r a i n i n g e n t e rB u i l tf r o mt w o p o r t a b l e a classroonts.features clemonstration it a a r e at h a t r n o d e l s l l o f t h e c l e a n a t r l e fnuncl tlrescltools. in surfaces ( ' r r s t o c l i a lu l l e r v i s o r s o m e t o t h e s c Urriversity." trainingcenterfor ".lanitor l N e w l yh i r e d p e r s o n n ea l e t r a i n e da t a t t h e c e u t e r .a n c lr e f r e s h e c o u r s e s l e alsoprogranrmecl. On-site begins with a simulatecl training ck"rset. The OSHA of auclit the custodial i n s t r u c t o rg o e st h r o u { h e a c hi t e m i n t h ec l o s e t ; . Is everytl'rirrg lallelecl? . Arethereanyhazarclous ntaterials present'l . l s t h e a p l t r o p r i a t ep r o t e c t i v e gearreadily available'l .,Arethe Nlaterial Safety DataSheets accessible'l Often.custorlians shocked clisare to of clollars in thor"rsancls coverther'lrave potential on violations sitting theshelves. an The Clarkschoolsinstallecl inveno t o r y o l s i n g l e - u sp a c k e t s f c l e a n i n g e to supervisclt"s consoh,rtions. allorvirtg w r t r ( l l i n v e n t o f ) n r o r ee f f e c t i v e l y h i l e l n r i n i m i z i n p o t e n t i a h e a l t ha n c l g
s a f e t yv i o l a t i r t n s

l A t \ \ ' o o c l b r . r r.yr' , I - l i g h .H e a d s t C C u s t o c l i a nt a n c l v a l l e g o s e t s oi out the rruruber packets each janitorwill neecl tlreirsllecific for jobs in a tlay markecl ra'ith eaclr A e n r p i n y e e 'n a m e . t t h e e n c lo f s r t h e s h i f t . t h e e n r l : l o v e ee t u r n s t h c t r a ya n ct h e e n r p t l ' p a c k e t s . l S c h o o lo f f i c i a l ss a y t h e r r e w l s t r a t e g y h a s i n r p r o v e cs a f e t v . " A l l t h e p r o < l u c t sw e u s e a r e . c o l o r - c o c l e ds a v sN l o r a n" T h e ." $ y $ t e m t a t c h e t h e c o l o ro f t h e n s p r o c l u c tw i t h t h e c o l o r r : f t h e

promanagement maintenance lf in MSDS. the solution the bottledoes- districts gram. had School trustees to beconvinced n ' t m a t c ht h e c o l o r o n t h e s h e e t ,t h e c knolvssomething t l r e c o n s u l t i n g o n t r a c tw o u l d b r i n g ianitorautomatically n e e d e d c h a n g e s .M a i n t e n a n c ee m is wrong." ployees had themselves Janitors also ec;uip th to be persuaclecl e their cartswith everychanges were more to thing they neecl complete an entire shift, t h a ng i m m i c k s , Priceput in Moranancl r e l i m i n a t i n ge t u r nt r i l : s 1 2 -a n d l 4 - h o u r d a y s closet. tri the custnclial "Those a t t e n d i n g r a i n i n gs e s t tripsto thecloset s i o n s ,m a k i n gp r e s e n saysPrice. eatup hours," "lt's not just the one littationsto schor:ltrusteesandto employees. tle thingyou need- it's "Wehad to answer the t h e t e a c h e ro r s t u c l e n t 'what's it for nre' olcl, in that asksyou to cloone questions everyone was otirer little projectthat asking," saysPrice. s l i o u l cilu s t t a k ea m i n "New, onecancome in no MoranandPriceemphaute. anclendsup taking hereandsaytheycando a improvedemploysizecl several." jab." better "Then. ee safetyas one im1:orthere's chatting Hemandez, t a n t a s p e c to f t h e p r o Bob with the janitors," he a WY;orn grarn. Airector "Now,eachjanitor Employees woulcl says. l be trainecl equippecl and haseverything they neecl t o p r o t e c tt h e m s e l v e s whenthe shiftstarts." , ' T i m e a s k i l l i n gu s , " from biological clrernical hazarcls. and w M o r a na g r e e s . proiecting laborsavings was also a selling lncreasecl efficiency for a shesays, point. nuntthis year."We clon'thaveanyharcl Perhaps ost importantly, he emt m bersyet." saysthat little-by-little, however, ployees' union camein solidlyin suyrPrice the t i n e s a v i n g s h o u l da c l cu p t o s i g n i f i - port of making changes. s l "We are absolutely supportive." says cantlal:orsavings. presiclent the Ecluca" l ' v e g n t o n e j a n i t o r w h o s a y st h i s AnnieBarclay, of Assr:ciation. a sy$tem saves hinronenrinute fixture," tionalSupportEnployees bet"Thatnay not souncl ntuch, "Thesystem <lffers bettertraining, like he says. supplies," ter equipment enhanced and with i0 fix" but he's got 28 resttooms " l t a l s o t e a c h e s n r p l o y e ets w o r k e n tureseach. That'sa lot of time," ''notharcler." inrsmarter," says, in she Not everyune the Clarkschools in D i r e c t o r o f O p e t a t i o n sH e r n a n d e z embraceci changes the the mediately to still usesa look-and-see approach inand He unannouncecl spection. marches, in classoftenwith visitors tow,"through for rr:orns restrooms checking cleanancl l i n e s s S o f a r , h e s a y s ,h e h a s n ' tb e e n . has Neither his boss. disappointed. "Wewantthis to be a qualityclistrict," says. no Hernanclez "Now, onecancome in hereandsaytheycando a betterjob."
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Augu Executive ,lul.y,,t st I !)!)l Maintenance