Edward Wagoner talks with Lyle Gladney, Building Operations Director at Claremont Oaks, about the vital role facility managers play in complex environments including crime labs, jails, cancer centers and retirement homes and how their work impacts lives.
In this episode of Connected FM, host Edward Wagoner discusses the crucial role of facility managers in various environments with guest Lyle Gladney, the Building Operations Director at Claremont Oaks. They explore how facility managers impact different sectors, including crime labs, package processing facilities, jails, R&D facilities, cancer treatment centers and retirement homes. The discussion highlights the intricacies involved in maintaining these facilities, ensuring their proper function, and the critical impact on people's lives.
This episode is sponsored by ABM! Learn more about ABM here.
Lyle Gladney: [00:00:00] There are certain specialty items within the crime lab that normal people don't think of. If you are arrested and awaiting trial, it may be months, even years, until you actually come to trial.
So that evidence that you see on CSI and other places that is being looked at, it has to be stored. The samples had to be held at a certain temperature, so we maintained those refrigerators, we monitor those refrigerators. So there are a lot of intricacies that most people don't know about that we maintain.
Host: Welcome to Connected fm, a podcast connecting you to the latest insights, tools, and resources to help you succeed in facility management. This podcast is brought to you by ifma, the leading professional association for facility managers. If you're ready to grow your network and advance in your career.
Go to ifma.org to get started. In today's episode, host Edward Wagner discusses the crucial role of facility [00:01:00] managers in various environments with guests. Lyle v Gladney, the Building Operations Director at Claremont Oaks. Together they explore how facility managers impact different sectors including crime labs.
R and D facilities, cancer treatment centers, and more. The discussion highlights the intricacies involved in maintaining these facilities, ensuring their proper function and the critical impact on people's lives. Now let's get into it.
Edward Wagoner: Hi, I am Edward Wagoner here with ifma on connected fm talking to Lyle Gladney with Claremont Oaks. Lyle, thank you so much for taking time with me today.
Lyle Gladney: Thank you for having me, sir.
Edward Wagoner: I was talking to Lyle earlier and you know, we talk a lot about facilities are everywhere. Facility management is everywhere, and if you're not in the industry, you probably don't realize how much facility managers.
Touch your life and the impact they have. And Lyle, when you were [00:02:00] talking to me and telling me your story and experience, I thought you're the perfect person to help people understand facility management is everywhere. So if you don't mind, I'm actually gonna like walk through some of your experiences and the facilities that you've worked in and let's help people understand just how important the facility management profession is to them, whether they realize it or not.
So the first one that I'm actually really fascinated with, you know, people will often say especially in the office environment, I am not going back into the office. We see that a lot in the headlines.
You know, I'm remote forever, I don't need facility managers. And I'll often say, well, do you have electricity? There's a utility plant, you know, are you doing your Zoom calls? That's going to a facility somewhere, but you reminded me of something else. You know, think about how often we go, where's my package?
Where's that express delivery service? And you were telling me that you've worked in a facility where the facility managers actually [00:03:00] have responsibilities related to those packages and how they get processed and sent to the trucks. Talk a little bit about that. 'cause that impacts everybody.
Lyle Gladney: Yes, indeed.
Those those guarantees that you see on commercials that says they get your package there that means conveyor belts or other modes of transportation are moving those packages. My team took care of the conveyor belts, the overhead doors, not the fleet vehicles, but the machine, the machinery within the facility that helped get those packages.
And oh, by the way if we were at fault for a delay we helped offset that cost to our customer.
Edward Wagoner: That's even like more challenging than those. I'm hot, I'm cold calls. I mean I've actually been inside one of those facilities and seen those conveyor belts. It's not like those grocery store conveyor belts, those things are moving high speed.
Exactly. And there's a lot of technology involved. So that's a special skillset with a lot of technology capabilities your team needs to have.
Lyle Gladney: Without a doubt. Without a doubt.
Edward Wagoner: So that's something that touches all of us. But there's, you know, let's go to something that [00:04:00] touches everybody.
Some people in a good way and some people in a bad way, and that's a government crime lab. Now, a lot of people might say, Hey, no, I've never been in trouble with the law. But if you think about, you know, what our police do that protect us, what our government agencies do, talk a little bit about facilities in crime labs and help us understand why that's important and the impact that it has and what the facility manager does in those facilities.
Lyle Gladney: Okay, sure. So above and beyond the building itself, because that's pretty universal across the board. There are certain specialty items within the crime lab that normal people don't think of. For example, if you are arrested and awaiting trial, it may be months, even years, until you actually come to trial.
So that evidence that you see on CSI and other places that is being looked at, it has to be stored. Much of it has to be stored at a certain temperature, at a certain temperature for an extended amount of time. So again, we've been talking about years.So the crime lab [00:05:00] that we were working at there were literally hundreds of refrigerators that had held samples.
We monitored the temperatures within the degree. We had to help by law. The samples had to be held at a certain temperature, so we maintained those refrigerators, we monitor those refrigerators. We had to replace and repair those refrigerators very quickly. And so that's just one example. I mean, there was a, there was also a gun range where Oh, wow.
Yeah. So, so we had to maintain the equipment then make sure that operated accurately as well. So there are a lot of intricacies that. Most people don't know about that. We maintain,
Edward Wagoner: you know, Olivia Benson gets all the credit on law and order, but there's a facility manager working somewhere in the background to handle that evidence.
They bring in on, and I know we're joking about a TV show. But in real life, every situation you see, every government organization that's processing that, there's a facility manager. That's just absolutely fascinating. Absolutely. You know, that leads us into the next one. I made a joke about [00:06:00] Olivia Benson and you know, we see on those shows they, you know, they get the perp, they put 'em in the cell.
And you were telling me that you have experience as a facility manager. In a jail. I never thought, I mean, it's a building, it makes sense, but indeed that's a whole different type of facility management.
Lyle Gladney: Yes, indeed. Talk about that a little bit.
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Lyle Gladney: So the level of security there is intense and part of that security we help maintain.
So that's one the sliding gates uhhuh the gate arms. Part of that is, would fall under our responsibility. But inmates, they have nothing but free time, and so they have plenty of time to mess up their lights. The doors, the locks, you know, we can jam something in there. Again, our responsibility to correct those, the those deficiencies within there.
So there's, of course, there's a lot of processes to keep. All the technicians safe, but there's short windows to go in and do repairs. So it's again, things you don't think about, but there's a lot to maintain and somebody has to do it.
Edward Wagoner: You know, I've helped implement a lot of work order systems.
I'm sitting here thinking about the complexities of the work order system that would manage a jail facility. Let's come out of, you know, incarceration and kind of maybe the dark side of. [00:08:00] Those types of facilities and talk about some that actually help us in our life in ways that we don't think about.
So thinking about an r and d facility. So, you know, we talk a lot about, you know, labs and whatnot, but talk about the importance of the facility manager to keep an r and d facility up in operating and some of the implications if, you know, you have a failure in that facility and what it can do to the research.
Lyle Gladney: Thank you for that question. Emergency power is definitely high on the list at the RD facility because there are certain tests that they're doing that are long term. Like, you know, when I thought about a test growing up. It was like you sit down and you take the test and you're done.
They have trials that go on again, literally for months. And so we have to make sure that there are no interruptions because that ruins the test and they have to start over again. So they have qualifications that we have to help them maintain. Longevity of the test is one of them. Also, accuracy of the equipment.
So we actually had. Two different crews. One took care of the building, the other took care of their specialty [00:09:00] equipment. So specialty equipment, again could be a be an oven that they're baking something at a certain temperature. It could be a precision laser machine, it could be part of their robotics.
All of those things we assisted them in maintaining so that they could do the necessary work that they're doing at that facility.
Edward Wagoner: And if you think about the benefits to all of us from research that goes on and development
It's critical to keep those up and running for the new things that all of us will see and experience.
Without a doubt, there's a facility manager that's a part of everything that you see that comes out new from those facilities. Is there let's bring it a little closer to home and something that's a lot more personal for a lot of people and actually can be very emotional. You shared with me that.
Facility managers are involved in cancer treatment facilities. And I can't imagine anything that's more critical. You know, I think about the emotions and the challenges that individuals are facing. And the last thing you want to deal with is a facility issue when you're having to deal with [00:10:00] cancer.
So talk about facility management roles in a center like that. Okay.
Lyle Gladney: So the, this was laser beam technology at this cancer treatment facility. Oh. So the machine literally is on all the time. So again, power is at the top of the list. You know, our emergency power has to be more than on point. And we have to have a excellent relationship with the local power facility because again, sometimes things happen.
I've never thought about that, right? So, so power. Most important. The other thing is there, there are certain, like the precision required for the equipment, there's a certain quality of water that has to go through. So our filter system has to be up to date on all preventive maintenance and all repairs and the pumps that move the water as and in addition to all the electrical opponents that move the power to this equipment.
So. And it's paramount. Paramount because at this treatment facility, [00:11:00] they treat the pa the same patient gets treatment five days a week. So if he misses a treatment, he or she misses the treatment, then that delays their health, their wellbeing, their healing. So. The precision things that we ha are in charge of.
We have to have them. We, they have to be done, they have to be done, or we are affecting, as you said, lives. So it's it was high stress.
Edward Wagoner: High
Lyle Gladney: stress,
Edward Wagoner: but high reward, you know? And as, as you were talking, I'm reminded of. So often in office facilities, you'll hear people that, you know, get really upset because a work order isn't fixed.
You know, when they think and they'll act like, you know, oh I'm dying from this. They really are in those facilities, and the facility managers in there have just incredible pressure. I just, you know, thank you for sharing that. I, the last one, and this gets really personal, maybe because I might not be too far from this, but.
Your current position, I believe with Claremont Oaks is retirement facilities. And it probably doesn't [00:12:00] get any more personal than when, you know, we put our moms and our dads or our grandparents in those facilities and they can't always take care of themselves or. You know, the facility they're living in, like they did when they were younger and in their own homes.
So, talk about the facility manager's role and that critical facility that's also, you know, it's going toward the end of life for a lot of people. So there's, you know, respect and dignity that's involved there.
Lyle Gladney: Absolutely. So at Claremont Oaks, we want all our tenants to be able to Asian place.
So we want to give them the same level of comfort that they had where they live previously, whether it was an apartment or a house or wherever they live before. And as you said, they're not, they can't. They can't. Some of them can. Some of 'em can't. They can't change their light bulbs or they can't troubleshoot why their heating and air is not working.
So those things we're responsible for taking care of but to, to a point you made as [00:13:00] well. We're also responsible for that interaction with them to sort of pick up on things. Is the oven not working because there's a problem or is the oven not working because perhaps the stability. Of the particular tenant is deteriorating.
So not only do we have to take care of the things within the BU in their unit, the building itself, but we have to kind of keep an eye on them to make sure that they're getting what they need to, again, age in place.
Edward Wagoner: I mean, you've made my case that facility managers are everywhere and impact every part of our life.
In closing out our episode, what advice would you have for people who maybe have never even heard of a facility manager or even thought about it? If they're interested, what would you tell them? Where would you send them? What would you, what advice would you give?
Lyle Gladney: Well, I'd say take action. There's a lot of different ways to do that.
If there's a local IFMA chapter in your area, I'd en I encourage you to reach out, go to a meeting, ask as many questions as you want to. But also ifma.org has a wealth of information where you can [00:14:00] go and start doing your research and some somewhere there's a facility manager in your circle.
You just don't know about it. Find that person and ask them questions as well. Love
Edward Wagoner: that. Again, if you're interested in facilities management or if you've never thought about it, ifma.org, if you're in Atlanta and interested. The Atlanta chapter leader has given a personal invitation for you to engage again.
Facilities are everywhere. They impact every person on the planet, and that means there's a lot of opportunities for many of you to join us as we change the world. Lyle, thank you so much for joining me on this episode of the Connected fm.
Lyle Gladney: Thank you so much for having me, sir.
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