APPA Library

"Score a Facilities Hat Trick: Strategic Goals for Successful Hiring, Training, and Team Commitment"
Author: Loy, Darcy,
Published In: Facilities Manager
Date: May/June 2012

Granted, it might be a bit of a stretch to find comparable attributes between an ice hockey team and facilities management organizations. However, if you are open-minded to the possibility and begin to analyze each of these entities, you will find there are some distinct similarities. Ice hockey is a fast-paced and ever-changing game, much like a normal day in the facilities world. Facilities management teams maneuver about their campuses and complete tasks with a specific goal in mind--customer satisfaction. They have similar organizational structures. Hockey teams have an owner, general manager, coach, team captain, and players. Facilities management teams have governing boards, presidents and vice presidents, directors, frontline supervisors, and staff. Poor performance, miscommunication, inadequate training, or a lack of understanding of job expectations send facilities management teams to the penalty box. They lose the "game" because they have failed at providing the services promised. It is imperative as "coaches" that they do everything possible to achieve a win by focusing on a hat trick: three strategic goals for success that include effective hiring, continuous training, and team commitment. (Contains 7 endnotes.)

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