TABLE OF CONTENTS FRONT PAGE NEXT ARTICLE PREVIOUS ARTICLE
A new administrative structure in the Department of Housekeeping has helped
improve services in campus residence halls.
Now that same administrative system, known as "zoning," is starting in
academic and health affairs buildings.
And if the residence halls are anything to go by, employees in academic and
health affairs will be pleased with the changes, said Mike O'Brien, the
director of housekeeping services.
"The word they are using is `phenomenal,' and we want to carry that through to
the rest of campus," O'Brien said.
Zoning started in residential halls in October 1997 and consists of assigning
housekeepers to regions of the campus -- known as zones -- rather assigning
work on a floor-by-floor basis. Each zone is led by a zone manager, who
schedules work and provides support for the housekeeping staff.
Residence halls each fall into one of three zones (northern, middle and
southern). Each area is directed by a zone manager and is staffed by 21-27
housekeepers.
Dividing the campus into zones succeeded in reducing the number of
administrative levels in housekeeping. That success means management, in the
form of zone managers, is closer to the front line of service. That allows
managers to know their customers' needs firsthand and come up with ways to meet
those needs.
One such customer is Dean Blackburn, an area director for student life.
Working in Craige Residence Hall, Blackburn said he is pleased with how clean
the building is, and that residents feel the same way.
"I have had a lot of students come to me and say how good they think the
building looks," Blackburn said. "I think the level of commitment by the
housekeeping staff has been incredible."
The strength and efficiency of the housekeeping services in residence halls --
and the spread of zoning campuswide -- were among the reasons that the
University's Outsourcing Steering Team determined it did not need to study
outsourcing housekeeping services for academic and health affairs buildings.
Zoning is one part of the overall efforts in the housekeeping department.
Other improvements include: providing radios, beepers and e-mail to zone
managers to increase effectiveness; developing service expectations and making
sure those expectations were clear to the staff; and developing schedules and
assignments based on national standards.
But the heart of the zoning system is clear communication among customers,
housekeepers, zone managers and with other employees servicing buildings, such
as maintenance workers. Clear communication allows everyone to know what needs
to be done and who needs to do the work.
Zoning helps this communication process by placing zone managers among their
customers and the frontline workers.
"The actual connection with the customer is going to be at the housekeeper and
zone manager levels, and they know the customer best," O'Brien said.
Campuswide there are 14 zones, including the three zones for residence halls.
Each has approximately 25-30 housekeepers reporting to a zone manager.
Overall, about 320 University housekeepers clean more than 8 million square
feet of space.
To UNC-CH Home Page