Joseph Gonzales

What is your long-term vision for your team and your team’s impact on student’s success?

Every year I set a goal for myself with this department. My first year I was hired to build a team so the first year I was getting to know my team members and allowing each member to have a voice. I realized when I was meeting people that some were upset that they didn’t have a voice, they felt like there were favorites, etc. So, the first year I wanted to get to know everyone, and let them get to know me, I sat down with them individually and let them know I have an open-door policy, I’m here for anything they need. I’m here to support and to listen. That first year was very important to me. Each year I set new goals for myself and the team. Another year’s goal was closing out work orders. We get work orders daily and when you get so many work orders piled up it means you’re not getting the job done out in the field. If it’s a restroom or a faucet that’s not working, that’s impacting the students. Our goal was to get a work order and address it immediately.

Safety was a goal we focused on one year and now we talk about safety every morning. We emphasize watching out for each other, watch out for faculty and staff, watch out for everyone in the district. We have a morning meeting to start our day and we have a “safety tip of the day” in each meeting. Next month we look forward to celebrating seven years of being accident free. We’re #1 in the state of California and now there’s a lot of pride in being safe and completing work.  I also look at customer service, teamwork, respect, how we’re all equals, helping our new hires be successful, supporting each other, and a sense of urgency while being safe..

How does your team promote positive mental health?

I tell them to acknowledge the students they see with a smile and a friendly greeting because you don’t know what their home life is like outside of school. Kids need those smiles. We’ve got students who come from all sorts of backgrounds. And within our team, whenever we have a new hire, I take time on their first day to sit down with them and share with them my expectations while they’re on the team. I’m going to guide them and give them a roadmap to success. Follow the roadmap, and you’ll be successful here. We talk about safety, a sense of urgency, and the last thing I tell them that’s very important to me is to have fun at work.

My job is that when you go home you’ve had a great day, and when you come back, you want to come back to work. It’s important that we create an environment and culture that you love working here. I let them know they are important to me, they are supported by me, and I don’t want them to guess how they’re starting off their day. If my door is shut and they think I’m in a bad mood, I don’t want them thinking they have to wait to ask off for an hour to run to the dentist. My open-door policy is very important. I want to be the same guy for every team member, and each day I’ll take time to listen and support them without them having to guess what my mood will be. I feel like that’s helped the morale and culture of our department. I have staff who open up and share their personal issues with me because they know I’m here to listen and support them, and they can talk to me without any fear. I also tell them not to look at my kindness as weakness, and to remember that if I come to them with an issue, this is business that we have to take care of.  But they know they can always come to me.

From the grounds team, what do you do that helps promote the safety of student athletes?

One of the things that we’ve done for soccer fields and baseball fields at our sites is to put safety padding around the pole lights.  We also look at the placement of the scoreboards. Some of our schools are more in the country and we’re always looking out for any rodents or squirrels who may burrow or make holes that could become trip hazards or cause a broken ankle.  We have head custodians who report on holes daily. We look at trees that may have been damaged by a recent drought. Looking for any trees near play fields that could be a hazard. We check seams in artificial turf to help eliminate injuries. We check our tracks, and bleachers. Safety is so important to us, and we count on our head custodians to report things as soon as they come up. We do inspections on basketball courts, nets, frames, and the hoists. Our grounds team who oversee mowing are able to see a lot as well, so they report things to us for immediate attention.

What’s the role of technology for your team?

We use an online work order system and I keep an eye on any urgent work orders that need immediate attention. Then in our morning meetings I print those out for the team. They can use their smart phones to look at work orders, open and close the work orders, check the status or make notes. We make note of any orders that need to be prioritized, and at the end of the day I go into the system and close out the completed work orders. Principals can see the work orders, but I often like to call and tell them personally about any important work orders we’ve completed that day. I try to be hands on and visible, and we’re always trying to improve our communication. Letting staff know why you’re on site, what you’re doing, and communicating with them when you’re finished with the job.