Comparing top performers

As the debate continues over which sector — private or public — has the most efficient and effective operation, a research team at Springfield College in Springfield, Mass., has established a way to measure standards in one area: parks and recreation maintenance. Their research was designed to determine if there was a significant difference in the maintenance standards of managers of award-winning government parks and recreation agencies compared to those used by professional football and baseball facility managers.

In addition, the researchers wanted to find out if a combination of the best golf, pro league and award-winning government agencies would outperform non-award winning parks and recreation agencies and YMCAs. (Award-winning municipal parks and recreation operations were defined as gold medal winners and gold medal finalists in the Ashburn, Va.-based National Recreation & Park Association’s National Sporting Goods Foundation Awards Program.)

Setting the standards

To measure how public-sector parks and recreation facility managers compare with their private sector counterparts, the research team assembled a list of 25 keys to world-class maintenance used by a variety of professional sport and recreation facilities. The list was developed by the researchers and fifty maintenance directors throughout the country. The researchers mailed a survey to 239 randomly selected municipal parks and recreation departments, all 62 National Football League and Major League Baseball teams, the top 49 American golf courses as rated by Golf Digest and 237 YMCAs.

Survey participants were asked to rank the relative importance of the 25 keys to world-class maintenance using one of four responses: 1 — Not important: “Lucky if we address at all;” 2 — Some attention: “We are attentive 50 percent of the time;” 3 — Priority: “We are attentive 85 percent of the time;” and 4 — We feature this: “We go overboard because it is very important to us.”

An overall score was calculated by assigning a numerical value for each of the responses to the 25 factors. (1 — Not important: 25.99 points or less; 2 — Some attention: 26 points to 50.99 points; 3 — Priority: 51 points to 75.99 points; and 4 — We feature this: 76 points to 100 points.)

Organizations that responded to the survey were based in 43 states, and included 21 gold medal municipal parks and recreation departments, five top golf courses, 15 professional stadiums representing 17 teams and 114 non-gold medal operations and YMCA agencies.

How did they score?

When maintenance practices were analyzed, there was no significant difference between the scores of award-winning municipal government agencies, the golf operations or the professional teams. The gold medal award organizations, professional teams and golf organizations scored a combined average 76.68 for the twenty-five items. That score demonstrated that the respondents consistently feature excellent maintenance in a majority of the categories.

Non-gold medal municipal departments and YMCAs scored an average of 68.25. That score indicates that they are being attentive 85 percent of the time with their maintenance practices.

The maintenance directors at the best-maintained venues had completed their masters’ degrees. There was a strong relationship between advanced degrees and oversight of larger budgets. The majority of the maintenance directors were male. Other notable results:

The lessons learned

The research identified several relationships that describe how “the best of the best” managers approach the twenty-five key maintenance factors. A total of 13 factors differentiated the best from the rest when it comes to the care and custody of world-class sport and recreation venues.

The research found that the best maintenance departments:

• Always adhere to accepted safety standards, and they protect and value their employees;

• Invest in back-up systems and parts so customers are not inconvenienced by delays;

• Quantify personnel outputs everyday and share that information with the staff. Most use handheld computers in the field so the information can be downloaded easily;

• Purchase high quality, durable materials at the best possible rate;

• Eliminate avoidable maintenance and use time and motion studies during job design considerations;

• Ensure workers make a commitment to their equipment and the project;

• Ensure workers “do it right the first time;”

• Fund lifelong learning and continuing education courses that highlight the latest trends and techniques for employees;

• Ensure that employees respect the fact that a complaint is a gift (The department has “warp speed response teams” that can turn a resolved complaint into a positive marketing weapon for the organization.);

• Enables the department to maximize output by using computers, CAD and GPS systems;

• Adequately staff all needs (See Average Maintenance Staff Size Full-time/Part-time);

• Feature earth colors for all man-made sites and facility structures; and

• Feature a mix of in-house, privatized and mixed teams to accomplish goals and objectives efficiently.

• Matthew J. Pantera is the chair of Sport Management & Recreation at Springfield, Mass.-based Springfield College, and Daniel Queen is a graduate student at the college.

  Keys: The maintenance variables that differentiated award-winning gold medal departments, professional teams and the top 49 golf courses from non-gold medal departments and YMCAs.

• Always adheres to accepted safety standards.
• Pays attention to detail; facilities and areas should look continually fresh as if they were new.
• Invests in back-up systems and parts so that the customer is never inconvenienced.
• Always pre-plans for good and inclement weather.
• Quantifies personnel outputs and shares with the staff daily.
• Purchases high-quality durable equipment at the best possible rate.
• Purchases high-quality durable materials at the best possible rate.
• Eliminates avoidable maintenance.
• Clean and neat everyday — all day.
• Immediately repairs vandalized sites.
• Protects the environment.
• Features earth colors for all man-made sites and facility structures.
• Uses visual/digital pictures of sites for public relations and budget development presentations.
• Knows when in-house capabilities are limited and relies on experts for help.
• Workers do it right the first time.
• Features a mix of in-house, privatized, and mixed teams to accomplish goals and objectives efficiently.
• Cultivates “Friends Groups.”
• Individuals are persons of their word who demonstrate uncompromising integrity.
• The department funds lifelong learning and continuing education courses.
• The employees respect the fact that a complaint is a gift, and they turn the complaint into a positive marketing weapon,
• The department maximizes output with the use of computers, CAD and GPS systems.
• The department participates in recycling programs.
• The department participates in native species planting.
• Adequate staffing levels are in place.
• Your idea — Example: Wireless hour reader meters on tractors that flag and create work orders are posted on kiosks for maintenance staff.