The First Facility Management Blog

The second day of The TFM Forum and LiveXchange kicked off with breakfast by the beach and a topical keynote from noted economist, Jeff Finn of NAI Global. During his presentation, Finn spoke about the vast opportunities that have come as a result of the turbulent real estate market, and he made note of some of the new regions around the world that have great potential for growth.

Participants in the event spent the rest of the day meeting with sponsors, attending workshops and Think Tanks, and networking during meals. Interaction was lively and productive in all three cases–the sign of a successful event.

Check FacilityBlog tomorrow for an update on the closing.

The TFM Forum and LiveXchange kicked off an extremely successful first day out in Huntington Beach California. Events on Sunday included golf and two facility tours: UCLA’s extensive athletic facilities and Disneyland California’s behind the scenes sneak peak.

The events were designed to help break the ice for sponsors and attendees, and comments after the kickoff indicate all three groups enjoyed the experiences and the networking opportunities. Beautiful (but windy!) weather certainly helped foster a positive response from all participants.

The UCLA tour, hosted by speaker Kevin Borg, inspired many guests to revisit their own (not so stellar) college days. Many even voiced a desire to go back to school–particularly after their trip to the impressive cafeteria.

And the Disneyland California group (pictured, above) started with a look at the “temporarily retired” floats for the Halloween parade (talk about your relamping project), proceeded to the California Screamin’ coaster, and then headed for the bakery. The amazing tour culminated with two versions of the “Soaring” ride–first as a guest, and then hidden from view underneath the ride. Just seeing the inner workings of some of these rides was fascinating, but our gracious host, Kaz Takeda, really went above and beyond the call of duty.

Stay tuned for another update tomorrow.

In the third quarter of 2008, The Garland Company, Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer and distributor of high performance solutions for the building envelope, was the recipient of two regional and one national awards honoring its contributions in a variety of areas.

As a first time member of Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000, Garland was one of only 67 Ohio companies recognized as one of the United States’ fastest growing private businesses. The Inc. 5000 has become a benchmark for innovative, dynamic, and successful companies in the nation. Alumni include such companies as Microsoft and Oracle.

The City of Cleveland Department of Economic Development in cooperation with the Cleveland Citywide Development Corporation recently honored Garland Industries with its Brownfield Redevelopment Award. This award honors Cleveland-based companies for their accomplishments in assisting the local economy. Garland’s CFO Chuck Ripepi explains, “Our decision to invest in this property, adjacent to our corporate headquarters, is evidence of Garland’s ongoing commitment to help grow the economy of Cleveland, where many our workers reside.”

For the ninth consecutive year, Garland was selected by the Employers Resource Council (ERC) as one of the top 99 places to work in northeast Ohio. The ERC is northeast Ohio’s largest employers’ association serving over 1,000 organizations with nearly 400,000 employees in 22 counties. As a NorthCoast 99 award winning company, Garland was evaluated on a number of employee focused criteria, including compensation, benefits, health and safety, training and education, diversity, communication, and community service and involvement.

According to Wally Barch, who is a director of recruiting and training for Garland, “These recognitions demonstrate the commitment Garland has made to attracting and retaining top performers. In today’s competitive economy, finding the best people is directly tied to a company’s performance in three critical areas: a track record of aggressive growth, involvement in its home community, and a supportive, people first culture. Garland is proud to have been recognized for our achievements in all three areas this year.”

In Fulton, NY, there is an organization that provides life and career programs and services to adults with disabilities. The various programs run by this group, Oswego Industries, Inc., includes pre-vocational and vocational training, along with finding sustained employment for individuals. As a private, not-for-profit Community Rehabilitation Program, the 40-year old organization offers a variety of manufacturing, warehousing, assembly, custodial, and shipping services to industry, medical, and government partners across the U.S.

Most recently, the custodial service team received several commendations for outstanding performance and customer satisfaction.

Among them, crew leader, Thomas Adams of Syracuse, NY, has been named a winner of The William B. Joslin Outstanding Performance Award for 2008. The Joslin Award is presented by the New York State Industries for the Disabled, Inc. (NYSID) and serves to celebrate vocational and personal growth by New Yorkers with disabilities.

Adams has been with Oswego Industries since the spring of 2007, when he joined the custodial team. In January 2008, he became the first Oswego Industries employee with a disability to be named a Disabled Crew Leader. His 12-person crew, working at the Developmental Disabilities Services Office (DDSO) in Syracuse, has received favorable written mention from the DSO on several occasions. Adams will be formally presented his award at the CNY DSO offices next Thursday, November 13.

Another custodial team, responsible for cleaning the Stewart Army Reserve Center in Mattydale, NY, also received a written commendation last week. This recognition resulted from a regional inspection by an Army Reserve General Officer. The Army Reserve Center, which houses the 403 Civil Affairs Battalion, 108th Drill Sergeant School, 1019th Service & Support, 2200 USAR Military Intelligence Group, and the United Marine Corps Reserve, was reported to be the cleanest of any Center in the Northeast Region of operations.

The facility manager there, Leonard D. Stephens, stated, “The cleaning staff has been doing an outstanding job keeping this military installation clean, keeping it at or above Department of Defense Standards. All of the cleaning staff personnel are a pleasure to work with and it is clear that they take pride in their work product. I look forward to working with them for years to come.”

Finally, the U.S. General Services Administration, which oversees all government owned buildings, announced as part of its 2008 customer survey results that the James M. Hanley Courthouse and Federal Building rated as one of the best federal buildings to work in throughout the country. Oswego Industries’ custodial team, working through Ability One and NISH, is responsible for cleaning of the Federal Building.

Oswego Industries noted that few buildings of the size and function of the Federal Building receive a 90% rating or higher in any survey year. This year’s survey showed the building received a record overall customer satisfaction rating of 95.2%. The announcement from the James M. Hanley Federal Building property manager specifically commended Oswego Industries for their custodial work in the building, contributing to its high satisfaction rating.

Yesterday (5th November) has historic resonance in the UK and especially in London. On that day in 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes, with his co-conspirators, was tried as a traitor for plotting against the government - in current terms he was a political terrorist. He was later hanged, drawn, and quartered.

The tradition of celebrating the foiling of this plot with bonfires and fireworks developed. Bringing us right into the modern era, Guido Fawkes is now the avatar for a popular right-wing political blog of “plots, rumours and conspiracy.”

This 5th November, the UK woke to the news that Barack Obama had won an unprecedented victory in the US presidential election. The word “historic” was being used by commentators across the political spectrum and security, at home and abroad, will be one of the new President’s toughest challenges.

In a small way, the FM community here celebrated its own history yesterday. Guests gathered at the reconstructed Globe Theatre (Shakespeare’s “wooden O” from Henry V) on the south bank of the Thames, to applaud 20 Pioneers of FM.

The event was organised by FM World (the magazine of the British Institute of Facilities Management) to recognise those people that helped to create and steer the profession and industry over the past 30 years.

They included consultants, directors of FM, academics and business leaders. BIFM’s chairman Iain Murray (just 40 this year), paid tribute to their work and acknowledged that his career had been built on the foundations they laid down.

As the conversation flowed, the talk was of politics (several of my friends and colleagues had stayed up to watch the U.S. results come in), of change but also of continuity. Many essential issues from the early days of facilities management remained the same - talking to users, getting the experience of running facilities back into the design process, doing the best with constrained budgets.

FM has always been forward looking but now and again it’s good to glance back at where you’ve come from!

Full coverage of the Pioneers of FM will be on the FM World Web site from mid-December.

Schools, community centers, churches, and other facilities are pulling double duty today as millions of Americans vote across the country. Major concerns of a facilities management nature include universal accessibility, maintenance of order in the voting room, and operations issues regarding voting machines.

While official rules vary from state to state, there are some general policies that are standard in most places, although distances vary:
• No electioneering or political signs (including pins, t-shirts, etc. on voters)
• No campaign literature
• No voter intimidation
• No photography or videotaping

With record turnout expected, facility professionals may be under extreme pressure to assure their buildings, parking lots, and other resources are up to the job. Custodial shift changes may be necessary, and additional staff may be called in to handle emergencies and keep facilities free from trash and other debris. Bureaucratic procedures may require additional accommodations, while rules and regulations make it more difficult to fulfill these needs.

How did you prepare for election day? Did you experience anything odd or unusual at your building? If your facility is serving as a polling place, we invite you to post your comments here and share your stories with other facility managers.

A new survey indicates that building service contractors (BSCs) are actively involved with keeping their customers happy by conducting customer service surveys. The survey was conducted the first week of October 2008. Over 5,000 readers to the monthly Tornado Industries e-newsletter were invited to participate.

Nearly 60% of the respondents indicated they conduct ongoing customer service surveys. The largest percentage (46%) conduct surveys monthly to semiannually and another 24% conduct annual surveys.

Additionally, more than 80% said that conducting these surveys were either a “mid-level” or “high” priority. The respondents also said the main reason for conducting the surveys was to evaluate their workers.

Very few reported using new technologies such as online survey systems, which allow customers to answer a variety of questions on a Web site. Instead, 44% indicated they simply call their clients; about 20% mail or e-mail clients a questionnaire, while most of the others install a suggestion/comment box in client facilities.

And what happens if a problem is reported? According to the survey:

• 56 % of the BSCs said they first fix the problem and then call the customer to discuss the issue.
• About 33% said they call the customer first before any action is taken to address the problem.
• 6% said they investigate the issue first, then contact the client.
• 6% said they take no action at all.

Value in Customer Service Surveys

According to Accenture, a Chicago-based management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company, poor customer service drives nearly half of all business customers to take their business elsewhere. This applies to virtually all types of service providers—including BSCs.

“Ensuring customers’ needs are being met should be a commitment in every organization,” says Jolynn Kennedy, marketing manager at Tornado. “It is something that has to be continuously worked on and is critical in helping any organization better understand their customers needs and challenges.”

In regards to the BSC customer service survey, Kennedy said it was interesting that so many BSCs call their clients to check on service status. “Many BSCs feel it is a more personal level of contact that helps them keep close to the client,” she says. “It is a very good way to head off potential problems and maintain customer loyalty.” 

More than 150 respondents took the survey. The survey has a “confidence rating” of 95%, indicating that even if more people took the survey, the responses would be about 95% the same. 

Some of your office mates may have decided to release their inner child and dress up for Halloween today. Sure there are pirates, political candidates, and ghosts as possibilities. However, how many of them decided on a workplace theme costume? 

The following, courtesy of Careerbuilder.com, is a list of 10 office related stylings that may scare people more than any mask ever would.

1. A Day Off: Using black lettering, write Nov. 7, 2008 or Dec. 1, 2008 on an orange shirt. When people ask what you are, say, “A day off!”

2. Running Late: Show up to the office with messy hair and disheveled clothes with your pajamas showing underneath.

3. Vending Machine: Dress in black and fasten snacks to yourself with the cost of each item displayed. To be really evil, place an “out of order” sign on the real vending machine and charge your co-workers for your snacks. When they pay, make sure you throw their snacks on the ground as the vending machine does.

4. Office Gossip: Make up fun stories about your co-workers. Fasten the stories to yourself and put the name of your favorite grocery store tabloid on a hat. Hang around the watercooler and invite people to read the latest news.

5. Pink Slip: No one ever wants to be served the dreaded pink slip at work. Wear a pink slip over your work clothes and chase your co-workers.

6. Post-it Note: Wear all yellow. When people say “Trick or treat” at your cube, pass out real Post-it notes.

7. Red Tape: Buy red tape and tape it all over your clothes and cubicle. When people ask what you are, make them cut through some red tape to get the answer.

8. Leftover: Wrap yourself in aluminum foil and give yourself an aluminum swan hat. Place a sign on your chest that says, “Anything left after 4 PM Friday will be thrown away!”

9. Happy Hour: Wrap a tie around your head and carry around an empty (yes, empty) martini glass with you throughout the day. At 5 PM, scream, “Happy hour!”

10. Headhunter: Carry a mannequin or doll head around with you, holding it by the hair.

From the staff at TFM, have a happy and safe Halloween.

The U.S. warehouse market contracted during the third quarter of 2008, posting a slight drop in occupied space and a sizeable increase in vacancy, according to Colliers International, a real estate services firm. This ongoing notable weakness suggests that the industrial real estate market will continue to be impacted by recessionary conditions.

A combination of weak demand and rising completions pushed the Q3 vacancy rate up 27 basis points to register 8.71%. Market polling results showed that 42 markets surveyed by Colliers posted a rise in vacancy, while 14 markets posted a decline.

In terms of new supply, 41.6 million square feet (msf) was completed during the July through September period — down from the 43.9 msf injected during Q2. Year-ago third quarter completions came in at 44.9 msf.

Industrial developments under construction dropped noticeably during the third quarter, registering 107.1 msf of space. This compares with 124.4 msf at the end of the second quarter and 153.5 msf for the year-ago quarter.

Absorption remained negative during Q3 2008. Occupied space contracted by 0.4 msf. This, however, is an improvement from the negative 9.8 msf recorded in Q2. For the same period last year, absorption measured 36.1 msf.

The debilitated industrial market comes as little surprise in light of the slide in many demand drivers — highlighted by the September ISM manufacturing index, which registered 43.5 (well below the psychological “50″ level), suggesting the manufacturing sector is currently undergoing a significant contraction. In addition, construction, housing, the auto sector, and the retail sector all continue to battle strong downward pressure.

“The warehouse leasing market keeps struggling in the face of a rapidly slowing economy,” remarked Ross Moore, executive vice president and director of market & economic research at Colliers International. “Manufacturing, and in particular the auto sector, were key sources of weakness — with output dropping dramatically over the past few months. Exports remain a bright spot; however, this is sure to change with the increasing possibility of a global recession and the expected decline in demand for products destined for ex-U.S. markets. In addition, retailers have been paring inventories, and this serves as yet another drag on the warehouse market. Colliers predicts industrial leasing conditions will remain sluggish through at least the midpoint of 2009.”

Rents for industrial space were marginally lower during the third quarter, with a 0.7% decrease, bringing the national average to $5.59 per square foot (psf). This leaves us virtually unchanged from the year-ago period, with rents dropping just $0.01 psf.

Nearly three quarters of American office workers believe that social networking is a growing trend in the workplace, illustrating a significant opportunity for workspaces to embrace collaboration as never before. As organizations learn how best to bridge communications between the Millennial and Boomer generations working together, a recent Workplace Index Survey on the nature of work—commissioned by Steelcase, a global office environments manufacturer—digs deeper into how this might be achieved.

Through a survey of nearly 300 office workers in the United States, 71% of respondents foresee social networking sites playing a larger role at work in the future, with the majority of those using social networking tools under the age of 34. Only 28% of office workers report having a profile on one or more of these sites, 68% of 18-24 year olds, and 48% of 25-34 year olds. This data shows a significant trend—networks are now living both in and outside of the workplace—and workspaces need to accommodate this increased interconnectivity.

“Social networks, at their core, are simply trust relationships that exist between people,” said Chris Congdon, manager of corporate marketing for Steelcase. “To that end, social networks in the workplace are not new, but with the advent of the Internet, their reach now extends beyond the hours of the workday. These networks often exert more influence on an organization’s success than the traditional hierarchy, and companies would do well to translate that popularity into the daily lives of their workers.”

The idea has legs. Though the study shows that just 37% of workers currently utilize social networking Web sites for professional purposes, 66% see value in using these sites to network with other professionals. Beyond networking, workers of all ages also consider the sites useful in marketing their company (59%) and recruiting talent (58%).

The problem lies in that this view is not always shared among key decision makers. While many workers appreciate the potential of social networking sites within the workplace, there are still challenges facing widespread use of them within an office setting. More than half of those surveyed believe that these sites compromise productivity, even though less than a third of workers with a social networking profile report using the sites at least once a day. Additionally, most white collar workers say that their workplace discourages or restricts the use of these sites (59%), and of those employers who discourage social networking sites, 37% have a policy that restricts or blocks employee access at work.

“What this demonstrates is a need for companies to think out of the box and ask themselves if rather than blocking these sites, what their takeaways can be. Employees are communicating with co-workers inside and outside of the workplace, so how can companies create environments that encourage and fosters that communication?” asks Congdon. “The workplace is as much virtual as it is physical and organizations that embrace this new reality will reap its rewards.”

Additional survey findings include:

• The most popular social networking sites among white collar workers include: MySpace (66%), Facebook (46%) and LinkedIn (22%).
• 73% of workers who have a social networking profile report that they are “friends” with their colleagues. 
• 65% of workers have not signed onto social networking to maintain personal privacy, although of those who do have profiles, 56% of workers do nothing to maintain the personal privacy. A quarter of workers use privacy controls to partially or completely block co-workers from viewing the full content of their profiles.
• The majority of respondents sign onto social networking sites to reconnect with family or friends (82%) or because family or friends are users (76%).
• Those workers who do not have a social networking profile cite a variety of reasons for not using the sites including general disinterest (75%), lack of time (54%) or the fact that they are too much of a distraction (38&).

The Steelcase Workplace Index Surveys address pertinent issues in today’s work environment. This continual workforce feedback is essential to the development of Steelcase’s knowledge of the workplace and to the company’s product development and corporate ventures aimed to increase worker effectiveness and productivity.

Results of additional parts in the Nature of Work in 2008 series examine telecommuting, naps in the office, and romance at work. Past surveys have covered office gossip, fitness, and workplace and a multi-generational workforce.