Custodians Focus on Competitiveness
May 24, 2004
Many employees in state government are taking a closer look at the option of competitive contracting, which is one of the key changes resulting from the Personnel System Reform Act of 2002.
The competitive contracting option takes effect in July 2005. It is a date that custodians at the Department of General Administration keep in mind as they go about making improvement in the way they provide services to other state agencies.
Over the last year, the Custodial Program has conducted eye-opening examinations of its operations, including recent surveys of 800 customers in three major buildings on the Capitol Campus. The 90-member custodial staff has learned two key things during this time:
- Their costs are high.
- Their methods of cleaning need improvements in efficiency.
“We needed this information to have a baseline for comparing our services to the private sector,” said Pattie Williams, a custodial supervisor at General Administration. “We wanted to know: Would our customers choose us if they had a choice?”
That is just one of the reasons the custodians will test new cleaning methods beginning mid-June in the Natural Resources Building. The three-month pilot project is part of a continuing effort to improve service and become more competitive.
The new process focuses on specialty cleaning tasks. It is patterned after a successful model in the public and private sectors that has proven to reduce absenteeism, boost safety and improve overall efficiency.
The Boeing Company, which has employed the innovative cleaning method at its own facilities, is helping guide General Administration through the pilot.
“I think it could save this program,” said Cory Noffsinger, a custodial supervisor for General Administration. “I think it can really work. It's a great opportunity.”
General Administration employees, perhaps more than other state workers, are acutely aware of competitive contracting. Many of the services that General Administration offers to state government—custodial, mail services, purchasing, vehicle rentals, painting, grounds work and more—are often performed by contractors in other states.
But two years before General Administration began writing the rules that will govern competitive contracting, the department began thorough reviews of several of its services and costs, with custodians among them.
“This is an overall step we're taking that's in the right direction of helping our employees,” said Williams.
It's a point echoed at the top.
“We want to make all of our employees as competitive as they can be,” said General Administration director Rob Fukai. “We want them to win.”