APO Standards Guiding us for New Challenges as a Municipal Operation

 

By Tavris Parker, CAPP

Accredited Parking Organization logoEach season we huddle up and discuss the new challenges for the upcoming year. Each person’s roles and responsibilities are essential to the operations success. We follow the IPMI Accredited Parking Organization (APO) Standards to guarantee we are always ready.

As we discuss the new challenges for the season, we make a list, along with questions and solutions to the challenges.

  1. Staffing – did we do a good job on employee retention? Are people applying? Are the applicants coming in for the interview? Are we offering different styles of interviews to accommodate everyone (virtual, or face to face)? Are we drug testing the same way? Marijuana is now legal in our state, how does that effect our hiring?
  2. Training – were refresher courses provided to the retained staff? Do we have a plan for the training of the new group of seasonal employees?
  3. Work locations– are the locations cleaned and ready for the season? Any new signage or items needed to better assist with the customer’s questions? Cleaning supplies/products should be green seal certified.
  4. Any new services provided for the new season – what programs or equipment updates do we need to inform the team and public about? How is our media and communication team?
  5. Construction of new and old locations – how many spaces would we be losing? How many spaces would we be gaining?

The list continues to grow weekly as we check these items off our list.  Providing the details and direction to the public for parking is the most important part. Our community engagement has always been a high priority. Thanks to the guidance of the APO Standards, I do believe we are ready for the season and this year’s challenges!

Tavris Parker, CAPP, is parking operations manager for the City of Virginia Beach.