Facility management is a strategic planning function critical to an organisation’s competitive advantage. Therefore, it follows that for facility managers and building owners, facility maintenance issues can feel like a headache that never goes away.
As we probably know, facilities are the largest investment an organisation will make, and this can be problematic when many facilities reach the end of their lifecycle. Most times, organisations have to decide whether available resources should be applied towards repairs, updates and renovations instead of embarking on a new construction project or procuring new equipment. It is a balancing act.
It is crucial we understand that facility management has a critical role in contributing to these organisations and, by extension, the built environment. This mindset is important as the belief in the practice of FM will, no doubt, affect our thoughts about it.
FM practitioners, either as facility managers, service providers or consultants, have to constantly demonstrate the value they bring or ensure focus is on matters that are so essential to organisations for the profession to be considered as a business partner, providing or assisting in developing the right strategy.
Many factors play out when considering and designing a robust strategy. These factors may come in the form of existing challenges such as funding, staff shortages, knowledge gap, shifting priorities, time, lack of data and technology. For facility managers, funding is the no.1 challenge, and to overcome this in the best possible manner, if at all, requires robust planning.
Much of the challenge of funding lies in the failure of leadership to fully understand what they do and how they do their maintenance tasks. People, whether occupiers, employees or visitors, expect everything in a building or workplace to be perfect.
The end-users usually don’t have enough knowledge of how the FM system operates. They believe everything just somehow happens because the lights are working, the floors are cleaned, and they come in and turn their computers on. They think that it is the norm, and this becomes a double-edged sword because, for the most part, the maintenance team works in the background.
Another challenge is the hiring and retaining of qualified staff who have the skill set and competence to manage, maintain and operate systems. There is a shortage of talent in the industry, and this, to an extent, impacts the ability of FM service providers to deliver consistently to their clients.
The key element in demonstrating the role of a strategic partner is to have a clear understanding of the needs of the organisation and its business objectives. This requires an objective perspective to help define areas of emphasis and make balanced decisions based on impact.
Hopefully, FM practitioners will continue to strive towards applying best practices to enable quality service delivery.
