This training option has also helped com-panies groom employees for promotion into supervisory positions. Changing The Conversation How have managers seen their operations and employees evolve based on the training that CMI has provided? Mark Clinch, director of facilities and en-ergy management for the Town of Normal in Illinois, said continued training created a shift in conversation among staff. “Surface level topics evolved into in-depth and thought provoking discussions which led us to implement new products and equipment,” Clinch said. “I am approached regularly by staff with suggestions for ways to improve our depart-ment,” he continued. “We encourage our staff to take ownership of their facilities and bring recommendations to the group at reg-ularly scheduled department meetings. We place equal weight on Supervisors to listen and implement viable suggestions.” Clinch concluded, “I believe knowledge-able, confident and supported front-line staff have the ability to take the organization to the next level of excellence. This program has validated that belief.” Brandy Emmons-Powell, I.C.E.-GB, is director of quality development with Did-lake. Handling 14 custodial contracts in Mary-land, Washington D.C. and Virginia, Didlake calls upon CMI as a cohesive training pro-gram for a labor force where 80 percent of the workers have significant disabilities. “CMI’s certification for Custodial Tech-nicians has provided us with a tool to train project management (including managers, supervisors and quality control staff) and our direct labor employees,” she explained. “We have approached this by having desig-nated employees attend Train The Trainer, which allows us to have an in house training resource.” Emmons-Powell continued, “We see this training initiative as a resource that is nation-ally recognized (ISSA and CIMS) to provide training that will lead to continuous improve-ment of our employees’ skills and continued improvement of customer satisfaction for services that are well performed and deliv-ered.” Training The Trainer Fifty years later, CMI will continue its tradi-tion of improving the industry one training session at a time in 2014. With a full slate of Train The Trainer courses scheduled, CMI’s training options will continue providing the tools operations need to develop a training and certification program on-site. Calling upon independent third-party cer-tification and following the training require-ment set by ISSA’s Cleaning Industry Man-agement Standard (CIMS), CMI will carry on teaching managers best practices while minimizing the environment impact of clean-ing for years to come. To learn more about CMI’s influence on the industry and future training opportuni-ties, contact Training Sales Specialist Brant Insero. CM FREE INFO: Reader Service 215 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo www.CMMOnline.com 11
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