EDUCATION
Education
Winning (not whining) at Budget Time by Pete Nettleton 01/2012
The challenges of today’s economic conditions are putting ever increasing demands on the facility professional to do more with less as regulation and market conditions eat away at our organizations’ bottom line. Facilities are often taking the biggest hit at budget time because they are considered an easy target by executives and board members whose backgrounds are typically more oriented to the core business of the organization. The result is that many facility budget requests get moved to the dreaded “deferred maintenance” category. Yet, building components continue to age and wear and affect operations. It is our responsibility to keep the facilities running well, but the cumulative result of deferred maintenance can lead to an operational nightmare.
So, how do you convince your bosses – and theirs – to fund these inconvenient (for them), but necessary (for you) obligations? The three P’s: Preparation, Planning and Presentation.
Preparation is imperative. You already have an organized tracking system that lists all of the major components of your facility, broken down into reasonable and manageable details. You also justify your budget requests in categories such as life safety, code or regulatory compliance, modernization, operations requirements, replacement of obsolete items, and other keywords relevant in your operating environment that the executive suite can understand. A companion to the list is cost justification, which is especially important for capital repairs and replacement. If you are spending more to maintain your equipment to just keep it running than the capitalized cost of replacement, you need to provide that justification. And operational efficiency and energy savings should be part of the equation. Odds are your CEO and Board of Directors has neither the desire nor knowledge to assemble that backup for every budget request, but think how impressive your argument would be if you did! It takes a bit of effort to establish the system, but once it is set up, ongoing and annual budget updates are easy.
Planning is the next logical step in the process. OK, you have prepared and updated your plan, but only 2/3 of your budget was approved, now what? First, make sure you were reasonable in your analysis, then, move those needed but overlooked requests into a deferred maintenance category that tracks your (often repeated) requests. This approach requires some really honest review of your analysis, which is a good idea anyway. This information also supports your argument for subsequent requests – or backs you up in case of a failure. And those projects you really wanted that didn’t get approved? Well, the time to start selling them is not at budget time. Set up a plan for “selling” each item throughout the year, based on the facts.
Presentation is the final step in the process. Think about the format in which you present your budget. Is it neatly and efficiently organized with good backup referenced? Is it based on facts that are well supported? Are there surprises that will catch the receiver off-guard? Also, make a point of presenting the past deferred maintenance projects in summary format and as a specific budget line item, with backup showing the number of times the request has been turned down and comments on why that item is becoming more critical, and probably more expensive, as the item ages. If the requests are neatly organized, efficiently summarized with cross references and properly substantiated, your budgets process will take on a more professional appearance and will likely also get a more favorable response.
For additional Information contact:
Pete Nettleton, President
Nettleton Management LLC 443-506-6103
Education Program Reimbursement Form - revised 01-18-11.pdf
Educational Fund – Don’t miss-out on free tuition reimbursement.
The CASHE Board is pleased to announce that we have educational opportunities for our members and/or their staff. Healthcare members interested in learning new “Trades” skills and/or members who have staff interested in learning new “Trades” skills are encouraged to submit an application to the CASHE Board of Directors for review and consideration. Education opportunities are available in the areas of Plant Operations, HVAC, Controls, & Electricity.
Application Criteria
Any member of CASHE can apply and/or nominate a current healthcare worker for the program; the nominee does not need to be a CASHE member.
The criteria to be selected are as follows:
· Must be working in Healthcare.
· Must be a reliable hard working employee.
· Must be someone that shows motivation to improve their skills.
· Must be willing to complete the class with a passing grade.
Any non-CASHE member who successfully completes the training will be eligible to join CASHE without paying the application fee.
Follow link to website and reimbursement form. http://www.cashe-md.org/education.php
Contact: stephen.adams@erickson.com or any CASHE Board member for additional information or submit an application for education reimbursement.
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