Tried and true methods to controlling complaints from building occupants while supporting the custodial staff

If you have never had a complainer in your facility, just wait, you will. These individuals are never satisfied and can drive custodial executives crazy, which is why it is important to know how to deal with them. As a department, do we have to accept the unreasonable complaining as part of our job? No, of course not. But, what do you do if every time something is broken, stolen or eaten, your staff is blamed?

When I managed the in-house staff at the Walt Disney Studios, my workers had to deal with many personalities and egos. And the janitors seemed to be blamed for everything. If food or a figurine was missing or a radio station was changed, it had to be the janitor. That’s why I made it my goal to support my department and change the negative attitude towards the cleaning staff.

Changing Mindsets

It is a common belief among nine-to-five building occupants that the only people occupying the buildings at night are the janitors. But, in many cases, this just isn’t true. At Disney, there were telecommunications people, outside contractors, support staff and security working evenings.

When I was manager, I would receive calls from security stating that “Last night the janitor took…” or “The janitor was eating their lunch at someone’s desk and left crumbs or changed the radio station.”

In an effort to get the to bottom of this, I met with all night janitors and supervisors. I explained that the janitors were going to have to complete a report each night that would inform me of the time in their shift that they performed each cleaning task.

Now, traditionally, anytime a janitor is asked to record the time for each cleaning function, this would trigger a bit of suspicion on the part of the worker. But as I introduced this form, I explained that I had received calls from security with complaints about my staff. I explained that I was confident the janitor was not to blame, but I needed to know who was. So, I made a commitment to the staff that if I received this information from them, I would initiate a call every morning to security in support of them.

Reluctantly, the staff agreed to complete the form and I was able to inform security that, “Last night, the janitor in XYZ area observed a telecommunication worker eating at a desk at 10:00 and using the telephone.” That night, security arrived in the area and found the telecommunication guy at the desk, eating.

After this instance, the janitors had no issue filling out the report. Security would still call, but the conversation started with, “Did the janitor see anyone in ABC area, because there was something broken.”

This is only one of many examples of how managers can support the custodial department, as oppose to taking the side of the complainer without any investigation. Managers must remember that most complaints are misdirected at our staff and we need to stand up for the department.

Winning Over Building Occupants

In every facility, there are individuals that take on the responsibility of being the “Cleaning Police.” These people call you about everything that is not done by your staff. I had such a person at Disney, who I will call Alice.

Alice was located off lot about half a mile away, but she would call two to three times a week with various complaints. After about three weeks of calls, I decided to pay Alice a visit. When I met her, here is what I did.

First, I thanked her for always taking the time to call with suggestions that would make us a better department, and I commended her for having a great eye for detail. Then I explained our process of handling complaints.

For example, she had a complaint regarding out-of-stock dispensers. Turns out, there was a large weekly meeting that we were not aware of, so we didn’t have anyone scheduled to stock the restrooms. As a result, I requested a weekly meeting schedule so we could adjust our programs accordingly.

Thanks to my meeting with Alice, the department was able to improve processes and occupant expectations at the same time. Alice quickly converted from a complainer into a flag waiver for the department. And the custodial staff saw first-hand what I was willing to do to support them.

Staffing To Avoid Complaints

To further avoid occupant complaints, it is vital that when staffing a building, you consider the type of occupant and task at hand. Taking the time to do this will save you a lot of grief.

For example, the fifth floor of the Team Disney Building housed the offices of the four top executives of The Walt Disney Company. Custodial staff working here would have frequent contact with executive secretaries throughout the day, requiring a pleasant personality and professional appearance. At night, it was also essential that the janitor have the confidence of those executives, as they might encounter sensitive information.

Then there was the appropriately named Animation Building, where all the animation was once done by hand. The building now houses all the television/movie production companies and is mainly serviced at night. To maintain productivity, I needed to staff this building with janitors that were not star struck, since many of the production companies had a constant flow of celebrities.

I also needed to have a janitor that did excellent work and had good communication with their supervisors, since many of the building occupants were very demanding. The need for communication was important because there was a scope of work that needed to be adhered to and any additional requests needed to be charged to the production company.

By staffing these areas appropriately, I was able to avoid complaints and maintain productivity.

Every facility is prone to complaints, but there are ways to deal with them. When you get a complaint, do not ignore it. Find out why something went wrong and find a solution. Recognize, that it is not always the fault of the custodial department. If you have a good staff that is doing everything they should be doing, demonstrate how much you are willing to speak up on their behalf. 

RON SEGURA, founder and president of Segura & Associates, has over 45 years of experience in all segments of the cleaning industry. Ten of those years were spent overseeing the cleaning of over 4.5 million square feet for The Walt Disney Company, as well as the management of the Document Services department. With eleven years of consulting both domestic and internationally, Segura & Associates has been assisting organizations to perform at maximum efficiencies. Ron has assisted hundreds of organizations in the reengineering of their operations so that they are able to provide a high quality of service and still meet budgetary requirements.




POSTED ON: 4/24/2015