A Powerful Message

As much as in-house facility professionals view outsourcing as the bane of their existence, many would be hard pressed to question the motives of one particular outsourcing experiment involving the care and cleaning of government facilities.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) reached an outsourcing agreement in November 2002 with an organization that promotes the employment of people who are blind or have severe disabilities.

The GSA, Public Buildings Service (PBS) agreement with NISH, formerly known as the National Industries for the Severely Handicapped, gives NISH the right of first refusal for all new cleaning contracts at 1,800 government-owned and 6,500 leased facilities.

The group has had a working relationship with the GSA for decades, providing custodial, grounds and other facilities services for the GSA. The alliance officially gives NISH contractors the option to service new contracts for GSA-owned buildings before private contractors.

Citing its long relationship with the GSA’s PBS, NISH vice president of operations Paul Plattner says “the alliance was a natural progression of events.”

NISH and its affiliated community-based nonprofit agencies work through the Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) program. The Wagner-O’Day Act was passed in 1938 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to provide employment opportunities for people who are blind. In 1971, under the leadership of Senator Jacob Javits, Congress amended this Act to include people with severe disabilities and allow the program to also provide services to the federal government.

“We’ve been working with the JWOD program for 25 to 30 years,” says Paul Lynch, assistant commissioner for GSA’s office of business operations. “We’ve been working on [establishing] the partnership for three to five years.”

Lynch explains that the mandated federal program is a higher strategic relationship based on cost — competitive with the market.

“The goals of the agreement are to increase the number of new employment opportunities for people with severe disabilities and come up with the best practices at the best value, and to protect the business [contractor] community,” Lynch says.

What’s next?
Just three months into the partnership, NISH, through the JWOD program, and its affiliated nonprofit agencies are looking at how they are going to best meet the goals of the agreement.

“Now the hard part begins,” Plattner says. “We need to look at ways to improve our service and meet the needs of the customer. We need to work on how to ensure good communication between the organizations. That includes looking at ways to make sure our service continues to meet the government’s needs as budgets get tighter.”

He says the GSA wants to know how to improve the performance and reduce the price of contracted services.

“Customer satisfaction is at 82 to 85 percent,” Lynch says. “That is comparable to NISH and non-NISH contractors, but we still want to improve quality and pricing.”

Plattner says one of NISH’s goals is to standardize their work so every customer receives the same level of service.

“Work should be consistent whether you’re in New York City or some small community,” he says.

NISH is going to have to work hard to ensure its 600-plus not-for-profit organizations around the nation that train the people with severe disabilities are consistent with the agency’s cleaning standard once it is developed. These organizations provide skills and leadership training for employees before they start their work for the GSA or other government-owned facilities.

Training for work
One of NISH’s affiliates, Melwood Horticultural Training Center in Upper Marlboro, Md., provides custodial services for eight GSA-owned buildings, including the GSA headquarters facility, in Washington, D.C.

Established in 1963, Melwood serves more than 2,000 customers annually. Initially, Melwood services centered on grounds maintenance. The center expanded to include custodial services in 1989.

“We have more than 60 service contracts today,” says Dick Barnard, senior vice president of corporate business development for Melwood. “We have a cadre of customers — the Treasury Department, the FBI, the Smithsonian, the Department of Agriculture, NASA, the Department of Defense [and more].”

The organization trains its employees to perform custodial work, including everything from floor care to recycling. The agency also offers employment and training in grounds care, facility management, mail and messenger, assembly and packaging services.

“The way you teach a person is critical,” Barnard says. “Early on, a person may only be able to perform one critical task, but over time, additional skill sets will be mastered.”

He says Melwood training programs are based on each individual’s learning processes. Instructors identify the worker’s skills and build on those attributes.

Making a match
Once the worker has the skills and is ready for the job market, Melwood conducts a job match that starts with an assessment of the worker and the worksite.

“When new people apply, we look at the job, the skills of the individual, the building, the location and the environment in which we must provide the service,” Barnard says. “Then we ask ourselves, ‘is this a good match?’ ”

After the job match is made, another team of Melwood staff work as job “coaches” for the new employee.

“It helps to have a mentor with you to help you get around the building, find the restroom, the cafeteria, the bus stop and to learn firsthand what is expected of you,” Barnard says.

Once a worker is comfortable with the job and environment, they are promoted to a less restrictive and more independent position. Team leaders and supervisors always are available in the building with workers during their shifts to lend support and guidance.

Inside GSA
Deborah Moore, site supervisor at GSA central, oversees 43 workers responsible for cleaning the seventh floor down to the basement.

“I walk around with the GSA building inspector and do random checks on custodial workers,” Moore says. “I also ask the customers if there is anything we need to do that we’re not doing.”

Moore says the majority of tenants in the building are very pleased with the Melwood custodians. The customers are very involved with the custodial staff.

“It is our secret weapon,” Barnard says. “Everyone we serve acts as a job coach and friend. They work to assist us. People want the [JWOD] program and the individual employees to be successful.”

Part of Moore’s job is motivating her employees to want to do their job, do it well, and perhaps one day move on to a higher position.

“I tell [the custodians]: ‘You are somebody. You can do anything you want to do. It might take you a little longer but you can do it,’ ” Moore says. “My supervisor motivated me like I motivate my workers to make it.”

Those who move on to leadership positions receive supervisor training that teaches them how to deal with customers, employees and problem situations.

NISH and its agencies hope the alliance will help expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

“The GSA has a tremendous amount of responsibility to so many federal buildings,” Barnard says. “We are fortunate to have brought to [the public’s] attention the quality of service that can be delivered by people with disabilities.”

“We sent out a powerful message in November 2002,” Lynch says. “It is the government’s responsibility to provide jobs to people with disabilities.”

According to Barnard, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is nearly 70 percent.

“We have a lot of work to do,” he says.