In-house changes

Correction: The article states, "The pilot program, which will be performed in the new Bioinformatics building by 120 housekeepers who volunteer for the test-run, will be assessed by customers, employees and administrators"

It should say: it will be performed over 120 days by housekeepers who volunteer-

 

This week marks International Housekeepers Week, sponsored by the International Executive Housekeepers Association Inc.

But a new pilot program that will be tested the first week in October has UNC housekeepers questioning whether the appreciation will last longer than Friday.

The new cleaning system, proposed by facilities services officials, places housekeepers in teams in which each worker has a specific task.

"It's caused us a great deal of anxiety," said David Brannigan, groundskeeper and delegate to the employee forum.

As it stands, housekeepers are assigned a zone to clean. During an eight-hour shift, the worker is responsible for vacuuming, tending to bathrooms and completing all the cleaning duties in the area.

With team-cleaning, each worker becomes a specialist in only one task - something housekeepers say would be tough to deal with.

"So for eight hours you will be cleaning restrooms," Brannigan said. "That means if you get this job you'll get mighty sick of cleaning bathrooms."

But officials said they proposed this change with the housekeepers in mind.

"We really aimed this at the housekeepers themselves," said Jim Alty, director of facilities services.

Alty and Bill Burston, director of housekeeping services, presented the system to employees in August after they received poor feedback from customers.

"So we have to find something to correct that," Burston said.

Alty, who came to UNC from the University of Texas-Austin in June 2004, said the system was resisted when it was introduced there. But, he said, the difficulties at UT were caused by a lack of communication.

"So we're trying to do it the right way this time," he said. "And human nature is whenever you change things, there's opposition to it."

Some housekeepers said they don't understand the need for change and are wary that officials will expect housekeepers to do more work, Brannigan said.

A booklet, "447 Cleaning Times," published by the International Sanitary Supply Association Inc., was presented to housekeepers during a meeting last month.

The booklet shows market standards for how long it takes to do various tasks - detailing everything from filling a bucket to sweeping different rooms with specific equipment.

"Basically, it's breaking down all work into itemized, time-tested segments to ring out as much work as they can from the workers," Brannigan said.

But Alty said this is not the case. "There's no stopwatches involved in this process," he said. "It's for realistic expectations."

The pilot program, which will be performed in the new Bioinformatics building by 120 housekeepers who volunteer for the test-run, will be assessed by customers, employees and administrators.

Alty said that if the pilot program is a success, the method will be slowly integrated across campus to ensure adjustment time.

Brannigan said appreciating housekeepers should come from listening to their everyday concerns.

"We have to ask, 'Is that how we want to treat our housekeeping staff if we want to be the No. 1 university in the nation?'"

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.