February
Birthdays
Esperanza Escobar
Tony Rivera
Manuel Torres
Words From the
Director of Facilities
Congratulations!
We achieved 100% participation
in the District Facilities Services job
description survey. After reviewing
most all surveys, I know for certain
everyone was committed to
identifying all we do up and above
our job descriptions. As news of
the surveys outcome surfaces, I will
certainly let you know.
Employee Education
Richland College has a policy
that any full time employee after
employment for one year can enroll
in 6 hours of classes per semester,
free of charge, upon the approval
of their supervisor. If you are
interested in furthering your
education or just want to enroll in a
class you’re interested in, work with
your supervisor to make this
happen.
“The Customer Is Always
Right!” Or Are They?
We’ve all heard this statement
and we all know this is not true.
The customer is NOT always right.
Layout and Design by Jerri Barron
So where did this come from? The
phrase “The customer is always
right” was originally coined by
Harry Gordon Selfridge, the
founder of Selfridge’s department
store in London in 1909, and is
typically used by businesses to: (1)
Convince customers that they will
get good service and (2) Convince
employees to give customers good
service. I have always tried to live
by this maxim and I guess for the
most part this phrase has served me
well. But I have come to realize
that I shouldn’t always agree with
the customer if it is going to treat
an employee unfairly. We have to
value our employees. If it is their
thought that you won’t support
them when a customer is out of
line, even the smallest problem can
cause resentment. When
management consistently sides with
customers instead of with
employees, it sends a clear message
that: employees are not valued, that
treating employees fairly is not
important, that employees have no
right to expect respect from
customers and that employees have
to put up with everything from
customers. I would just imagine
that when this attitude prevails,
employees will stop caring about
service. At that point, real good
service is almost impossible.
So with all this said, Supervisors I
challenge you as I will challenge
myself, before you jump to
conclusions, always listen to our
employees point of view when
difficult customers present
themselves. Everyone else, I
challenge you to do all that is
possible to service the needs of our
customers, be “thick-skinned”
when some are difficult and to
always take the proper measures
when difficult customers or
situations arise-let your supervisor
know.
Ken
Innovator: Jerry Owens
Training
Ken Dunson attended the APPA Institute in Dallas
2/2/14 through 2/6/14.
Jerri Barron attended AIM PM training at Cedar
Valley College on 2/14/14.
Reminder
Remember to vote for the Employee of the
Quarter, deadline to vote is Fri., Feb. 28, 2014.
The Employee of the Quarter reception will be
Thursday, March 6 at 9 a.m. in P141.
Conference Day
1,062 District PSSA employees attended
Conference Day on Thursday, February 6. Facilities
has received many Kudos in response to their support.
Lisa Eades provided this
picture of the view of
parking lot C from her
shuttle van.
Photo provided by
Dennis Griffin
By Eddie Hueston
Contractor bids for the East Traffic
Improvement project are expected to be
opened on March 4 according to Austin
Longacre. The winning bid is anticipated
to be awarded at the April DCCCD
Board meeting. Austin also reported that
the campus wide ADA renovation project
contract is recommended to be awarded
at the March Board session.
Lisa Barnes, part-time office assistant
and part-time student at Richland has
been working with Glenn Child on
several projects to convert old building
plans to a CAD format. Conversion of
the older plans and documents will be
valuable in the numerous construction
and renovation projects now taking place.
Lisa is currently preparing a map for an
app that will assist students and visitors in
locating classrooms and offices.
On February 25, Ken Dunson and
Austin Longacre presented current plans
for renovation of the Guadalupe Hall
locker room area to thirteen officers of
the Student Government Association
(SGA). Also in attendance were RLC
vice-presidents Ron Clark and Tony
Summers, along with Athletic Director
Guy Simmons, SGA Sponsor Jason Barr
and Eddie Hueston. Plans for water
bottle filling stations, new bike racks and
increasing electrical outlets in student
gathering areas were also presented. The
SGA officers were enthusiastic about the
upgrades and supplied many good
questions, suggestions and ideas of their
own.