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Performance Audit of Facilities Management Division Custodial Services
April 19, 2011
This performance audit of the Custodial Services group of the Facilities Management Division (FMD) evaluated whether staffing and supervision practices manage staffing resources efficiently and promote effectiveness, consistency, accountability, and customer satisfaction. The audit objectives included evaluating FMD’s management of staffing resources and determination of workload, comparing FMD custodial costs with industry standards, evaluating whether supervision of custodial staff is sufficient to ensure the established service level is met, and assessing customer satisfaction.
FMD Custodial Services needs to make improvements in several areas. In particular, a formal assessment of workload and staff productivity would improve management’s ability to develop a service level that matches staffing resources in different buildings, predict the impact of staffing changes, and provide tenants and custodians with objective information about service level and workload decisions. Additionally, building tenants emphasized to us the need for more proactive communication from Custodial Services’ managers and regular information about factors that impact service delivery. Finally, Custodial Services’ current process for assessing staff performance does not provide management with an objective tool for evaluating individual custodians.
While the audit recommends improvements to Custodial Services’ operations, it also identifies areas in which FMD has recently made changes to improve custodial performance and accountability. The audit recommends that FMD continue these efforts to improve staff oversight and monitor the impact of its new approach to supervision in the downtown buildings.
Audit Highlights
FMD does not measure the amount of work needed to clean county buildings, assign custodial staffing based on workload, or have productivity standards for employees. Consequently, staffing levels may be inconsistent among buildings, and the cleanliness of buildings can vary. FMD does not have a meaningful system for measuring custodial employee performance. The level of satisfaction among FMD’s customers varies, with higher satisfaction among customers located in outlying buildings, and lower satisfaction among customers located in the downtown core. FMD’s custodial costs are higher than those in the private sector, but this is primarily attributable to higher compensation paid to FMD custodians rather than a lower level of efficiency.
"We recommend that FMD:
- Conduct a formal assessment of workload that includes an inventory of tasks by area and an analysis of hours required to complete all tasks.
- Develop base service levels that reflect the staffing resources assigned to individual tenants.
- Improve communication with tenants and use of tenant feedback.
- Continue to improve approach to assigning and supervising custodians in downtown buildings.
- Implement a meaningful employee performance evaluation process and ensure supervisors conduct evaluations consistently.
FMD provides building maintenance and custodial services in county-owned buildings. Recent budget cuts have resulted in cuts to FMD custodial staffing and corresponding changes to the level of service provided to FMD’s customers. FMD customers are concerned about the level of cleanliness and transparency of the services they receive.
Recommendation Status
Of the 5 recommendations:
- DONE: 1
Recommendations have been fully implemented. Auditor will no longer monitor. - PROGRESS: 0
Recommendations are in progress or partially implemented. Auditor will continue to monitor. - OPEN: 0
Recommendations remain unresolved. Auditor will continue to monitor. - CLOSED: 4
Recommendation is no longer applicable. Auditor will no longer monitor.