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1t'mtlhr.
by Jennifer JonesOutside owmanElementary chool,palm trees
swaygently next to the
American lag. nside, esDickenssteaching teamof custodians ow
tocleanmoreefficientlyndeffectively.Les s n't a consultant, owever.
e' spart of a quiet evolutionhat s takingClarkCounty y storm.
Located n LasVegas,NV, he ClarkCountySchoolDistrict s the llth
larg-est schooldistr ict n the nation, ndmay be the
fastest-growingchoolsys-te m n th e country. n 1991,he
districtopened18 new schools. n 1993,hedistrict dded 3
newbuildings.
Thedistrictoperates 81 choolswithmore than 15,000
mployees.Morethan 140,000tudents ttend lassesnthe
district,whichcoversmoresquaremiles han he state f
Massachusetts.During his time of growth,however,the Clark choo ls
lso ace remendous
'*llt.irl
' MtimtenanceExecutive luly/August 994
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ImplementingChangebudgetpressures.n 1992, chool tusteesordered
he district o eliminate2 ull-timecustodial posit ions. n1993 the
sameyearin which l3 schoolswere built - another96 posit ionswere
cut.
With more fac i l i t iesan d less money an dstaf f . the operat
ionsdepartment was underf ire.
Alice L. Moran. coor-dinator ol custodialsuperv is ion for
thedistrict, began ookingfor solut ions. Outsiclecolrtractorswh o
want-ec l he jo b promisedbet ter c leaning, bu twould
elirninateevenuroredistrict staff.
Consultants romisedthe Iatest employeetraining. ut
Morandiscoverecl t leastonecompany'sraining
.raterialsadn'tbeenupdated ince1975. thers idn'tmeet heclistr ict
'seecls.
Cowr-rrker ichardPricewascouvincedclistrict rrployeesould o he
obbetterthan anoutside ontractor. Iter all, hereaisoned.he
r.r-housetaffhad clone he
job longerand knew he facilities ettertharranyone lse.Wl.rat e
didn't kttowwashow o turn heprograrnround.Moran rd Price inallyound
solutionin ManageMen,SaltLakeCity-basedconsultant roup pecializingn
cleaning
maintenanceanagemcntssues."The anitor s partof hesolution,
otpartof heproblem." ays ohnWalker,associateonsultzurtith the irm.
Jani-tors ar eprofessionalsho need o betreatedand
rainedassuch.Custodiansmustbe proudof wh o heyar ean d heio b
heydo."
Operations irectorBobHerr.randezwasskeptical.l' d seen ot of
consult-in g irms ndclidn'think hi.s
newouldbeanydifferent."esays.Hernandeznspected ther acilitieswith
whichWalkerhad been nvolved,however.He spokewithpeople houseclth e
systensWalkerhad ecommended.Hernandez,
oottafter,wasconviuced.Trainings thecor-nerstone o any ef -
Alice MctranandRichard Price coordinate. superuiseanrttrain more
than 750marntenlncepersott'nel for a distri( thesize of
Massachusefts
fective hange.Olclhabitsdi e hard."Moransays. Some f
thesepeoplehavebeencustodiansor years. uttheysti l lneed o earn
hesystem."SaysPrice, Thatwas heproblern e-fore. l'heonly raining ur
people otwaswhatever he headcustodians ttheirschool ad ime o qive
hem."
Choosinga Consultant 'Sometimes,aidadvice arriesmore clout han
opinions rom n-house xperts. hat'swhen t may be o your
advantageohire an outside onsultant.When t comes o hiring
aconsulting irm, everyonewants he best advicgat the
owestprice.Thosepricesvary dramatically,depending
nwhatyouwantandwho youhire.You canmakea consultantbest work for
you,however,by followinga few simplesteps.. Determlneyour
needs:Determine he weaknessesouwish to solve by hiring a
consultant. denlifyingyourspecific needswill help weedout a lot of
consultants,savingyou time andmoney.r ldentify the expertise ou
require: f you know therersa problem n your department,but you're
not certainwhat your specificneeds are, ook for a consultingfirm
with skills n the areasyou need o work on. II youneed a company hat
specializesn training, or exam-ple, only considerconsultantswith
training experi-
ence.. Selecta consulting irm with a wide range of
experi-ences:Every maintenance nvirolment is different,and so are
the skills necessary o do the iob. Ensurethe companyyou choose has
experiencesn multiplesettings.A consultantwith broad-based
xperiencecanhelpyou dentifyal l your options.. Consider he total
package:Never selecta consultantbasedon priceor locationalone.Takea
close ook atunusallyow bids.Ensure rainingmaterialseflect hemost
ecent egulations. ook or steak, ot for sizzle;
a quality consultantshould havea thorough,solidknowledge ase..
Checkrelerences nd past performance: alk to main-tenancemanagerswho
may have workedwith consul-tants or their nput. f possible,nspecta
facilitywithwhich a givenconsultanthas worked n the past.Checking
eferencess fine, but nothing beatsan
eye-balls-onnspection.Beforeaskingschool rustees or a$48,000
leaning onsultantcontractallocation seemain story),or example,Clark
CountySchoolsDirec-to r of OperationsBob Hernandeznspected
thernearby facilities with which the potential consultanthad
worked,and askedboth managers ndemployeeswhat they thoughtof the
consultant'sprogram.r Customize he consultant'sprogram o your
situation:Remember,he right consulting irm canonly
helpyouidentifypotentialsolutions. t's your right androle asaclient
o decidewhetheror not to accepta consultant'sadvice,or how o
implementa $ven prlgitfn,f"rror",
MaintenanceExecutive Jul,"i.August994
