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First impressions are valuable assets to recreation facilities. Appearance and upkeep of buildings--both inside and out--matter! From the landscaping around the front drive to the drinking fountains in the gymnasium, basic cleanliness and maintenance should be a priory. This vital part of customer service should involve everyone--all levels of staff.
Pitch In
Start by hiring staff members who embrace the idea of teamwork and understand the value of maintaining a clean and tidy environment for patrons. If there’s trash on the floor, pick it up. If a door is broken, do what you can to fix it. Employees will be more willing to cooperate with this expectation if it is followed by management as well. Directors and managers must also show that when they see something that needs to be addressed, he or she is not above handling the issue. The philosophy is simple: “Leave it better than you found it, and everyone does custodial!”
Identify Problems
Next, purposeful rounds are a key component to ensuring that maintenance and cleaning issues are not neglected during the day. Create a checklist and have staff members initial or sign that he or she indeed did make rounds and have identified any potential problem areas. A sense of accountability has to govern the process, or you will not have consistent and thorough assessments of all areas. Further, the process must be audited to ensure that employees are not just signing the forms without actually checking each item. Have supervisors complete the walk-through with staff members to ensure accuracy. This also provides an additional check of the areas. Schedule rounds appropriately. While some tasks should be done hourly, others may be reviewed daily, weekly or monthly. Create a master schedule or calendar so tasks aren’t forgotten.
