Victor Tovar - Custodial Keeper

Victor Tovar
General Manager of Custodial Services, Main Campus and Health Sciences Center
University of New Mexico

It has been two years since the executives at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, decided to move custodial operations in-house. But that change was only possible because it also included bringing Victor Tovar, the now general manager of custodial services for the main campus and Health Sciences Center, on board.

“When he was hired on, all the custodial staff got up and cheered. Everyone was thrilled,” says Gary Smith, associate director for environmental services and maintenance and operations.

They were thrilled because they knew Tovar from his 22 years on campus working with the building services contractor. They knew him as a hardworking, dedicated, problem-solving manager, and all were optimistic that he was the right person to continue driving the cleaning mission on campus.

“We were going to do whatever it took to keep Victor,” says Smith. “He was going to stay and we weren’t going to take no for an answer.”

Now working directly for UNM, Tovar comments that there are more opportunities to grow, excel and make improvements than were available to him before.

“I am very goal orientated and I take the job to a new level by developing a plan of action and setting goals,” he says.

During his time at UNM, Tovar introduced team cleaning initiatives to improve worker productivity. He also led the custodial department to take over cleaning the food service areas, and proposed expanding operations beyond the main campus to also include the health sciences area.

He also found a passion for training his staff, and developed a training facility fully stocked with every fixture, flooring type and surface the staff would be expected to clean on campus.

“When you are leading people, you want them to understand you, look at projects through your eyes and do the work as you would have,” says Tovar. “There is no better way to do that then working with them to demonstrate what you want them to do.”

That mind-set stems from experiences that have helped shape Tovar into the manager he is today.

Tovar did have it rough early on — living on the streets. It was a concerned mentor that helped him get into boxing, where he learned hard work, self-discipline and confidence.

After going pro for a short stint, and even winning a Golden Glove, Tovar found a new passion and saw an opportunity for growth in the custodial industry. He was also introduced to some great leaders that helped him come out of his shell and go after opportunities.

“I was bottled up with all these ideas, but didn’t know how to approach sharing them,” says Tovar. “My manager at the time encouraged me to take a public speaking class and it opened up the other side of the world for me. I could talk in front of people and I saw their reactions to what I was saying was positive.”

After that, Tovar hit the books — researching, reading and studying industry periodicals — and used his mom’s advice of treating people the way he wanted to be treated to progress into the management ranks.

“Being a manager takes a lot of hard work, dedication and perseverance,” says Tovar. “My goal is to capitalize on every opportunity and make big shoes, so it would take a lot for someone to ever take over this position.”