Meyer and fellow researchers refer to mul-titasking’s downtime as the “switch cost,” which, they say, occurs in two distinct stages: Goal shifting (I want to do this instead of that) and rule activation (I’m turning off the rules for that task and switching them on for this one). According to Rathey, the cleaning industry can take a lesson on this topic from the auto maker industry. “Toyota recommends creating ‘T-type’ leaders, when the long-stem or trunk of the ‘T’ represents deep knowledge and skill in a certain area,” Rathey says. “Then, encour-age cross-experience, cross-department exposure to develop the top or cross piece of the ‘T.’ Thus, they are specialists first that are empowered to be even more useful later through exposure to other departmental dis-ciplines,” adds Rathey. Know The Limits And What’s Involved Many facilities, as mentioned, are tasking cleaning workers to perform additional tasks around the facility. Two such tasks, painting and plumbing, were discussed with Klaus Reichardt, found-er and chief executive officer (CEO) of Water-less Co. Inc. Both of these additional responsibilities can be practically performed by in-house or current staff members. However, facilities managers and build-ing service contractors (BSCs) must realize that there are several steps to take before an individual can effectively perform these duties. Professionals who select these trade ca-reers will typically attend years of apprentice-ship and technical training. “Some may start by attending a technical school that teaches the basics about plumb-ing, while others may learn on the job, work-ing with a seasoned plumber, pipefitter, etc.,” adds Reichardt. When adding any new task, specifically plumbing and painting, to the list of re-sponsibilities for the in-house or hired staff, Reichardt believes that workers should have these skills or characteristics: Customer service; managerial; mechanical; physical strength; stamina; and troubleshooting. The past few years, while presenting chal-lenges, have helped many companies reas-sess their business and reposition the orga-nization to meet current needs. From those evaluations and challenges, there was an opportunity to look at opera-tions under a microscope. “Competitive pressures of the market-place require that workers and managers do as much as possible to reduce waste from the process, without a loss of quality,” con-cludes Griffin. “When profits [were reduced], it provided an opportunity to improve busi-ness operations by removing needless inef-ficiencies that add no value, slow down the process and drive up costs. Having individu-als on staff who are cross-trained and multi-functional is a sound operational business practice.” The industry continues to evolve and enhanced training, certification and in-novative equipment and products are the result. CM Spr ray everything. Waste nothing. New Clo orox ® Smart Tube e ® technology reaches to the very bott tom of the bottle so you can Spray Every Drop p ™ . No was ste, so you save money — now that’s a nice twist. See the S h full f ll li line at cloroxprofessional.com/smarttube Only from Clorox ® FREE INFO: Reader Service 202 or CMMOnline.com/freeinfo
CMM – Archives May 2013: 15
