Tag: LegacyImport

The April 7^th episode of The Daily Grind reviewed successful supplier partnerships and featured Deb Kleopfer, Vice President of W Services Group. W Services Group provides facility maintenance services to the multi-site commercial market.

 

When asked about how W Services Group leverages their supplier partnerships in the current Covid-19 crisis, Kleopfer responded, “I think it’s just important to continue to be subject matter experts for your partners. We’re all learning this along the way; it changes often and rapidly. It’s really a matter of staying on top of accurate information and providing the information to our clients so they can make informed decisions.”

 

“It’s very important as you look at re-opening a facility that you do some risk assessment.

• You need to consider making engineering changes to protect customers and employees.

• Do I need to put up additional shields to help with social distancing?
• Do I have adequate hand-washing stations?
• Have I trained employees properly regarding the new proactive methods that are rolling out?

 

Also re-evaluate your scopes of work. We used to think simply cleaning the buildings once a day was good enough. That’s clearly not the case anymore. From your staff to your customers, you need to ensure you’re doing everything you can to reduce transmission of the virus.”

 

“It’s a matter of being pro-active versus re-active. The pro-active measures will place more emphasis on increased cleaning in general and will focus that cleaning on high-touch points. Do I really need to clean the floor ten times a day? No, you don’t, unless your customers or employees are crawling on the floor.

 

The transmission is made through our hands; touching surfaces, touching your face, etc. You have to re-adjust what your cleaning and focus more on those touch-points that will maintain a healthier and safer environment for everyone,” Kleopfer concluded.

 

Smiling as she reflects on how they’ve personally been adjusting, Deb added “You know, its been quite a challenge for me. This is the longest I’ve been in my home in ten years. It’s an adjustment for all of us, but we’re holding up well. We’re safe, we’re healthy, and I hope the rest of the Connex membership can stay the same. Rest assured, we’ll all get through this together!”

View this episode here.

Today’s Daily Grind reviewed successful supplier partnerships and featured Alex DiPetro, Strategic Portfolio Representative from Herc Rentals! With 280 locations nationwide, Herc Rentals provides rental solutions.

 

“As the Covid-19 crisis began to unfold Herc Rentals, always a safety-conscious organization, reacted quickly to the new environment,” explained DiPetro.  As a hybrid (retailer/supplier) organization, Herc employees who were able to work from home (about half the staff) did so and the in-store employees were provided the latest COVID-19 information and best practices from local governments and the CDC.

 

“Daily updates are continually sent to each store to ensure both employees and customers are in a safe environment.  This same tenacity was also implemented when reaching out to Herc customers to ensure they have access to as much information and services as possible as the outbreak has expanded.”

 

This included providing generators, portable cooling units, lighting, and air-quality control for a variety of critical control facilities across the country. 

 

Herc believes air quality control will become even more important as facilities move into the warmer months. “It won’t be long before we are in the middle of summer, so FMs need to ensure their HVAC system is operating properly and ready to go when stores re-open,” concluded DiPetro.  

View this episode here.

French Bolen, Vice President Operations, Enterprise Signs has earned his ProFM Certification. Read below to see why the ProFM was a great fit for Bolen.

• Why did you choose the ProFM program?

As a national sign company, we work directly with FM professionals every day on repair and maintenance projects, LED retrofits, and even rebranding and brand refresh projects.  We’re sign people so sometimes we don’t understand decisions our clients make and the reasoning behind them.  What better way to gain an understanding of their perspective than becoming ProFM certified? 

• How did you use the study tools – reading and online quizzes – to progress through the program?

I’ll be totally honest, becoming ProFM certified is not easy.  We’re learning from some of the best minds in the business and the knowledge base is incredible.  With that said, if you go to a quiet place so you can focus, take time to review the materials, and take the progress check quizzes at the end of each module, you’ll make great progress.  I got really excited and motivated by the time I reached the last module.

• How will the knowledge gained from the ProFM program help you in your day-to-day work responsibilities and/or in your career overall?

I feel like I can really relate to my clients a lot better than before.  Being ProFM certified enables me to ask questions that uncover needs so we can customize our solutions to their requirements. I’m able to put myself in their seat.  Every industry has its own language and terms.  I hope I can speak fluent FM now.

• How will the knowledge you gain through the ProFM benefit your company?
  Great question.  If all I did was study hard, pass the tests, and pound my chest on LinkedIn it would be a shame and waste of time.  We do a lot of training at Enterprise Signs.  I like the old saying, “If you think training is expensive, you ought to try ignorance.”  Key learnings from ProFM are now a standard part of our training curriculum. 

• Why would you recommend that other suppliers earn the ProFM credential?

Again, the big reason is to relate better to our clients.  Secondly, there’s a lot of material we cover that can be applied to pretty much any discipline, and not just FM.  Finally, if your company really stresses employee development, this is an awesome way to stretch them and give them a huge boost of confidence.   

 

The ProFM credential defines global FM standards and provides facility professionals with the knowledge and skills that have evolved beyond traditional FM responsibilities. Now is a great time to earn the credential. For more information about the ProFM credential, click here.