March 18 marked the kickoff of a new self-direction system for the Iowa State on-campus custodial staff.

“Essentially, it is a transition from a highly directed staff to self-directed work teams,” said Richard Begg, manager of facility services at ISU.

The new system was initiated by Gary Reynolds, director of facilities management.

“I think that it’s an exciting opportunity to set a precedent because no other public government agency has it in Iowa and no other custodial program in the regents’ area is structured like this,” he said.

The restructuring began as a result of Reynolds’ four goals for his department.

“The first goal is to become a customer-centered organization. The second is to create a participative work environment. Self-direction will enable the custodians to have a say about what they do and how they do it. A quality work environment will be achieved with things like new tools and interpersonal training. The fourth goal is to uphold the ethic of continuous improvement,” Reynolds said.

In addition to decreasing vertical management, Begg said, the main purpose of the overhaul was customer service.

“Our main focus is to take care of the customer. We want to make the university a more enjoyable place to be in,” he said.

The university was divided into four sections directed by supervisors, Begg said. These sections have been broken down into 12 teams of eight to 12 custodians each. The teams were created geographically, by buildings.

The changes entail what is called a “five star point system.” Each star point represents a specific area of duties, Begg said. The five points are scheduling, administration, supplies and equipment, customer service and training and safety.

Each member of each team will have a chance to hold the five different positions, Begg said.

“The plan is to go through a fast rotation where everyone spends two months in each spot. That way, we can iron out any difficulties. Then we’ll go into a long rotation were the positions are held for a semester so that the people can get more involved. We hope that, in the end, some are trained enough to be self-directed,” Begg said.

Karen Carmody, a custodian in LeBaron Hall, is the first to serve as the administrative star point in her team.

“I think that it will be a positive thing if people give it a chance. Right now, it’s so confusing because no one has done this before. Since I’m the first, I think that by the time everyone gets through, it will be a smooth process,” Carmody said.

Though Carmody has taken on some extra duties, she said she doesn’t feel there is an unfair distribution of tasks.

“I’ve been filing everything and taking care of the time cards. By the time I’m through, most of the bugs should be worked out. Except for maybe scheduling, the five stars are pretty much equal,” she said.

Begg was very positive about the outcome and the purpose of the new system.

“We want to recognize who the customer is, to improve services and to be competitive with outside people because you people are our customers and sometimes companies can loose sight of that,” Begg said.

Reynolds hopes to set a good example for other areas of management.

“I feel that it will be a very successful experiment of a model of working together for other areas to consider,” he said. “We’re really excited.”