Cost Reduction - Past
and Future
Past
Progress
Controlling
and reducing maintenance cost is critically important to the viability
of Mount Holyoke College. Facilities Management has a 25 year tradition
of cost reduction and cost containment. Our primary focus is on
improving our efficiency while shrinking slowly without layoffs.
Over the last 10 years the cumulative staffing reductions have reduced
costs by a total of $8,700,000. If you include the savings
created by having our own staff perform contract type work, the
savings approach $10 million. These efforts support our long-standing
goals of being "Better/Faster/Cheaper" and "the Best
in Massachusetts".
Supervision
Headcount
reductions at the top of an organization can be very effective because
wages tend to be higher and the effect on the day to day operations
is less. In the last ten years our supervisory headcount has shrunk
by 30% (more than any other group in Facilities Management) while
we have absorbed the supervision of the Post Office/Bulk Mail Center
and interior design. We were able to reach this reduction by creating
working supervisor positions in the craft and cleaning departments,
eliminating the Associate and Assistant Director positions and reducing
the number of grounds supervisors and the size of the office staff.
Cleaning
Our
cleaning program has been designed by a consultant (Sanitation Systems
Inc.) and is a standard-based program which means the daily cleaning
schedules are built up from the amount and type of space that needs
to be cleaned. For example a typical office (16' by 10') is scheduled
to be cleaned each day at an average time of 1 minute and 20 seconds.
This short time is possible because the space is routinely kept
at a high standard of cleanliness. The college is inspected by SSI
three times a year and our rating are routinely in the area of 110
(100 is clean, 105 is the Mount Holyoke College standard). This
program has allowed us to reduce the cleaning staff from 108 to
67 in 1971, from 67 to 57 in 1986, and from 57 to 53 in 1996 while
absorbing a 16% increase in the area being cleaned.
Grounds/General
Laborer
The
grounds/general laborer staff has a wide range of responsibilities
including upkeep of the grounds and athletic fields, stockroom,
trucking, floor maintenance, grounds related projects and vehicle
repair. Currently the staffing is 25, which is a 24% reduction since
1985. Because of the continuing excellent work of this reduced staff
Mount Holyoke was voted as having the most beautiful campus in the
country in a recent national survey of students.
Crafts
In
the last ten years 70% of the craft positions and craft supervisory
positions have been filled by new people. This change in personnel
has allowed us to take on new and larger project responsibilities.
In spite of a two position reduction we were able to complete $400,000.
worth of projects last year that previously would have been contracted.
The
Future
In
the last 10 years Facilities Management has reduced its headcount
by 20% or approximately 34 positions while at the same time the
area of the campus has increased and the amount of contracting type
craft work accomplished has also increased. This represents an efficiency
improvement of over 30%. Although additional efficiency improvements
are possible our major focus in future cost reduction will be on
providing only the services that are critical to the college's mission.
Dave
Collette
Director of Physical Facilities
September 2, 1998
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