THHEE
| CEO
Rebranding for the Future
Agenda
Sherra Aguirre
“To win this international award from BSCAI is great, but to win twice is
sweeter. It is something we all worked hard for and can be very proud
of. The thing I am most proud of is that we have raised the bar on our
safety performance significantly since we won in 2007. ” Sherra Aguirre,
CEO
“A tremendous amount goes into making this happen. It’s this kind of
recognition that makes it all worthwhile. Congratulations to the entire
Aztec team and thanks for your dedication.” Ernie Jaffarian, President &
COO
More than three decades ago I started the company with the
idea that clients would value a facility service provider who
would focus on their success, offer transparency in the business
relationship, and provide them with results that gave them a
competitive edge. Simply put we would care about their
business, and help their facility operations out perform their
competitors.
2011 BSCAI Safety Award
“Dear Ron,
Congratulations! It is my pleasure to inform you that Aztec Facility
Services has been selected as a winner of the 2011 BSCAI Safety Award:
Category C. BSCAI is proud to recognize member companies like yours
whose safety record furthers the reputation of the building service
contractor industry as a whole.
As part of this award, your company will be recognized in our magazine
Services that is received by members and non-members, in our enewsletter SmartBrief that reaches over 2,500 industry professionals and
on our website …
Again, on behalf of BSCAI, congratulations on winning this award and thank
you for your continual efforts to improve the building service contractor
industry.
Best Regards,
Sarah Kohler
Building Service Contractors
Association International (BSCAI)”
Quick, what is our largest expense? If you said “people” you
are correct.
Out of every dollar we collect from our
clients, 85 cents of it goes to
compensating and supporting our people.
It is the largest and most important
resource we have and yet, it is the one we
often take for granted.
In 2008, we went to great lengths to
clarify the approach to our business. You
may remember the importance of
“People, Programs, Performance”. It is
not only what we promise our clients, it is
what we adhere to and live by. These three words are purposefully
put in the order of importance and cost. In that same vein, it makes
sense that our daily plans follow the same order.
As managers, it is our responsibility to continuously monitor our
effectiveness in the areas of recruiting, training, developing and
coaching our people. As you spend time with each of your
supervisors and lead workers, take note of how they conduct their
day. If 85% of their time is not spent on inspecting, coaching and
training people, then we are missing a tremendous opportunity.
The daily huddle, daily scope compliance inspections, building
rounds, knowledge spot checks and scheduled training sessions are
all opportunities to interact with our people and demonstrate
through our actions that they are "our most important resource.”
rd
Today our new brand marks the expansion of our client support to
include additional capabilities like construction management,
mailroom, help desk, mechanical maintenance and other areas of
building operations support. We have built a talented team of
people focused on fulfilling our clients’ needs, and living by the
principles of partnership, transparency and great execution.
| PRESIDENT & COO
People, Programs, Performance
Ernie Jaffarian
Volume II | 3 Quarter | 2012
A company’s brand includes more than the
logo and name. Good branding of a
company or product differentiates that
company from the competition and involves a
story that is meaningful to clients and
potential clients. With this issue of “The
Agenda” Aztec is unveiling our refreshed logo
and tagline. Our new website, set to launch
on August 31, will feature the new brand
image in line with our strategy to position
Aztec as a knowledge leader in innovative
facility management solutions.
“…This was only possible due to the hard work and consistent pursuit of
safety excellence. It takes a team to achieve this award and I am proud
to work with a team that can deliver an award like this to our company.
Thank you everyone at Aztec.” Ron Smith, Senior Safety Director
1
THE
Agenda
What is at stake? Knowing where to find the material safety
data sheet (MSDS) for any chemical used or stored in your work
area could save a life. Aztec is required to keep an MSDS for every
chemical it uses because the information on an MSDS is important
in an emergency.
What are the dangers? If you have not read the MSDS, you
do not know the hazards associated with chemicals or how to
protect yourself when using chemicals and what to do in an
emergency.
Protect Yourself. If you are unsure how to find a material
safety data sheet, ask your supervisor. MSDS documents are kept in
binders at a chemical safety information station.
Ron Smith | SENIOR SAFETY DIRECTOR |
MSDS
Familiarize yourself with the MSDS. The contents are
organized according to:
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Basic Identification and Use: Includes other names for the
chemical, and manufacturer's name, address and
emergency telephone number. Make sure the product
name matches the name on the chemical container. Check
the date the MSDS was prepared to see if it is current.
Hazardous Ingredients: Ingredients that can be harmful
and recommended exposure limits.
Physical and Chemical Characteristics: How a substance
appears, dissolves, acts and reacts.
First Aid, Fire, Spills and Leaks: Flashpoint, fire and
explosion hazards, preventive measures and firefighting
equipment. This section is critical to know in an
emergency.
Reactivity: Reveals if the chemical is unstable and under
what conditions. Some chemicals react violently to
movement, water or other chemicals.
Health Hazards: States how a chemical can enter the body
through inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, skin
absorption or eye contact.
Health Effects: Will be listed as acute (immediate) or
chronic (long-term). The substance will be identified as an
irritant, sensitizer, carcinogen (cancer causing) or
reproductive hazard.
Precautions for Safe Handling and Use: Outlines personal
protective equipment (PPE) required, and the need for
ventilation and certain safe work and hygienic practices
such as washing and disposal of work clothes.
FINAL WORD
Highlight the important contents of MSDS for quick access
when needed.
Cheryle L. King | QUALITY COMPLIANCE MANAGER
Self Directed Learning - The Quiet Revolution
in Corporate Training and Development
As many companies continue to build their intellectual knowledge
base and endeavor to provide quality training tools for staff, an
even greater number of companies are struggling to control costs
for in-house organizational and development training. The end
result of the struggle to balance the need for and cost of training
has fueled the emergence of Self Directed Learning (SDL).
Companies like Levi Strauss, Xerox, Aetna, and many others have
joined this quiet revolution and developed SDL opportunities for
staff.
What is SDL? Malcolm Knowles, a pioneer in the development of
teaching of adults, defines self-directed learning as a process in
which "individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of
others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning
goals, identifying human and material resources for learning,
choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies and
evaluating learning outcomes".
We always try to capitalize on new innovations to strengthen our
greatest asset which is
our people. This is a
prime example of one
of those great
opportunities. We
have embarked on an
exciting new chapter in
the development of
Aztec University by
investing in a very
robust leadership
training program
offered in an SDL
format to our staff.
Because each individual’s learning experience is different, there are
various outcomes for everyone. The SDL process has been found to
be very efficient and effective. Below you will see just a few reasons
SDL is quickly becoming a way of the future:.
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Greater flexibility in scheduling training
More choice for the individual in designing the learning
experience.
Easier and more frequent updating of skills and
knowledge
More focused learning in highly specialized fields
With SDL the impact of companies’ training dollars can benefit all
employees at a very reasonable cost.
Volume II | 3rd Quarter | 2012
2
THE
Employee Feedback |
Albie Shaffer | VICE PRESIDENT, HEALTHCARE & INDUSTRIAL OPERATIONS
Implementing our
Processes at Post
Acute Medical
Agenda
STAFF DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING
“I completed the ‘Supervising Others’ training program and I was
quite pleased with the content. I have implemented the icebreakers
and activities into our weekly meetings and the motivation of the
employees seems to be improving. I found some very useful insights
that I plan to incorporate into my daily management skills. I love the
open policy, the 3 Ps and the 80%/20% rule. I applaud this program.
It is a great and needed tool to help develop every project manager
into becoming a successful manager.”
Glenda Edwards
PROJECT MANAGER, LAMAR STATE COLLEGE-ORANGE
Aztec is excited to have
successfully partnered with
Northshore Specialty
Hospital in Covington, LA
and Post Acute Medical. Project Manager Michael Brown has led a
team for the past 6 months which significantly improved processes
and performance in the Plant Operations and Maintenance, and
Environmental Services departments. The positive results were
evidenced throughout the campus and include improvement in the
hospital’s Press Ganey rating. From a mean score of 71.8 in the last
quarter 2011, we improved the mean score to 81.3 in just one
quarter of implementing our processes.
To achieve these results we focused on three main competencies.
The first was employee morale. With performance in mind we
immediately started treating our new employees as professionals
and expected each to carry themselves as such.
We provided clearly defined expectations for each position and
supported the employees as they grew into having more
responsibility. The second competency was training. We noticed
that the current method of cleaning was visual, so with classroom
and hands-on training we showed the employees that cleaning in a
health care environment was more about cleaning what cannot be
seen, not just cleaning what is obvious.
We trained each housekeeper using the touch point methodology,
which showed each proper technique in addition to what was
lacking in the current method. The final competency was client
service. We instructed each of our Environmental Services
employees to interact positively with each patient daily … even if
only to say hello, we wanted the patient to know that the cleaner
was there with a friendly comment or a smile.
Congratulations to Michael Brown and team on a
wonderful effort.
HR Spotlight | Introducing
Our New Safety Director
As part of our continuing commitment to safety leadership, Aztec is
pleased to announce the addition of Safety Director, Jaime Flores to
our management team. Jaime has 9 years of environmental services
expertise with focus on employee training and incident investigation.
Jaime began his career in San Antonio in an operations management
position at a major hospital. He was promoted to Assistant Director
of Support Services and transferred
to a site in Inglewood, California. In
this capacity, he worked closely
with both management and
cleaning staff to ensure maximum
compliance to quality and safety
standards.
Jaime returned to Texas in 2006
and developed safety programs for
a leading medical facility in the
Houston area. With primary
responsibility for training and
personnel development, he has worked to achieve sustainable safety
programs and reduce on-the-job injuries. Jaime holds a Bachelors
degree in Business Management from UT San Marcos and provides
primary safety support for Corporate and Education accounts. He
joins Senior Safety Director, Ron Smith who handles Aztec’s
Industrial and Healthcare portfolios.
Kathleen Anglin | VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES
Volume II | 3rd Quarter | 2012
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