Facility management is one of the most important steps that you need to take to make sure that essential services are outsourced to another company. To put it simply, facilities management simply includes a range of different services that are designed to ensure the efficiency, safety, comfort, and smooth functioning of a specific environment. In most cases, this relates to real estate and infrastructure. Buildings often have separate departments for facilities management and maintenance.
Facilities management is often further divided into two separate categories: hard facilities management and soft facilities management. The former focuses primarily on physical facilities that need to be maintained, such as elevators, plumbing, cooling, and heating.
On the other hand, soft facilities management primarily focuses on services including groundskeeping and landscaping, security, catering, and janitorial or custodial services. Essentially, you are giving the responsibility of keeping things ticking in the hands of another company.
If you do not hire the right people for facility maintenance, you may face a lot of difficulties. You have to understand that in a building setting, facilities management is essential. Otherwise, multiple systems are going to fall apart, thus making it difficult to keep the place neat and clean and ensure that essential functions continue to perform smoothly.
Why Is it Important?
First and foremost, it is important to understand that facilities management can be adapted and adjusted according to the needs of the organization. For instance, if it is a larger building with multiple floors, facilities management might be needed for all the corridors and walkways, along with the lobby.
If you are still on the fence about hiring a facility management company, here are just a few reasons why facility management is so important.
1. Ensures the Safety of the Tenants
This one is fairly obvious. Larger buildings must adhere to a strict code or a set of regulations that are designed to ensure the safety of the people in the building. When you hire a private company for facility management, they are already going to be aware of all the codes and regulations that the building must adhere to.
This expertise is going to be critical and will ensure that everything in the building runs smoothly. For instance, all of the equipment will be checked and the managers will ensure that a proper maintenance schedule is followed. Not only that, but they are also going to check the performance of the equipment and the machinery.
More importantly, they are going to prepare the different systems and surfaces within the building for the varying weather as well. Making sure that you have a good facility management program is important as it’s going to ensure that all of the tenants in the building remain happy and are satisfied with the level of cleaning that is observed in the shared spaces.
Clean spaces are important as they prevent infections from spreading and also reduce the chances of injuries that are likely to occur. This is incredibly important and will ensure the safety of the people who reside in the building.
2. Efficiently Maintain the Different Systems and Services
It is important to understand that facility management does not just focus on the regular upkeep of these systems. The best companies that offer facility maintenance services usually ensure that the different systems and services are regularly maintained.
Maintenance management is not something that most building companies focus on, and that’s a terrible idea. You have to understand that preventative maintenance is necessary to ensure that the services continue to run smoothly. If there is a breakdown in essential systems, it’s only going to make matters worse. You need to make sure that all the systems continue to run smoothly to avoid any kind of major problems that occur.
3. Reduced Costs
Facilities management is also very important because all of the services that are required to run the facility are brought into one single head. When you have a manager running all of the activities needed to keep the space clean, including dealing with vendors, you will be able to keep a clear eye on your budget and your expenses.
This way, the manager will be able to reduce overlap and will have a better idea on how to keep the costs as low as possible. Ultimately, you will notice a drastic reduction in the monthly expense that is incurred on maintaining these systems. The cost of running the space and making sure that every vendor is paid on time is also going to be reduced.
4. Responsibilities Are Streamlined
Another major benefit that you get for hiring a professional company to take care of your facilities management is the fact that responsibilities are going to be distributed more efficiently among all stakeholders. The services, as mentioned above, vary largely based on the size of the building and the extent of work to be done.
When you work with a professional facilities manager, they are going to first sit down with you and create a dedicated management plan. Having a management plan that is specifically designed for catering to the needs of your building is important.
A tailored management plan is going to play an important role in determining the needs of the facility and exactly what is required to allow for success. With a dedicated management plan, the efficiency of all related systems is going to go up, and you are going to notice a major reduction in the monthly expenditure.
5. Redirect Your Focus
As a business manager, you don’t want to be encumbered by system breakdowns or equipment failures. Instead, you want to focus on your own responsibilities. This is only possible when you have a professional team that is taking care of all your regular facility systems and operations.
Instead of worrying about these petty things, it gives you the opportunity to focus on things that are bigger and more important. You will have the opportunity to focus on bigger things that could eventually help increase the value of your property instead of spending your time haggling with the vendors and suppliers.
Are There Any Drawbacks?
While it mostly has positive impacts, you need to understand that hiring a facility management professional might not be in the best interests of certain spaces. Before you hire a management company to take care of all the facilities, it is important to evaluate the following drawbacks, and see if hiring a facility management company may cause these issues for you.
1. The Cost-Benefit Analysis Is Not That Good for Smaller Organisations
When you bring on a facility management company, you have to understand that they are going to charge a fee for their services. For smaller businesses and organizations, where money is tightly allocated, it might not be easy to bring on a facility management company.
Instead, it would be better to outsource the services to several professionals and custodial services providers. Do you really need this much organization? The good thing, however, is that many facility management companies usually offer tailored programs, so you could save a bit of money this way. If, however, you feel that this is still going to cost you more, it might be a wise idea to look for other options.
2. Reduced Control
As a property manager, you will have to reduce your control over the property when you hire a facility management service provider. Many people who like to keep responsibility firmly in-house generally avoid hiring facility managers because they simply do not want to delegate.
Obviously, when you delegate such services to another business, you will want to establish a degree of trust between them. Failure to establish trust could lead to strained relationships, and this could ultimately create tensions between the two parties, which might not be conducive to growth. Ultimately, if you feel that this is the case and losing control is not an option for you, you might want to consider not going for this option.
3. A Risk to Confidentiality
This one’s a given: you will have to open important accounts and give access to a facility manager to handle all of the systems and equipment. This means giving access to secure information such as access controls, passwords, key codes, and other things. Obviously, this confidential information is going to be highlighted in the contract, and more importantly, a nondisclosure agreement will also be signed between the two parties.
Do you feel that you are comfortable with this change? It might not be suitable for people who don’t have an element of trust with their facility managers. There is a slight potential for a security breach, albeit very narrow. As long as you have signed an NDA and have everything in order, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Hiring a facility management company is generally a wise decision because it results in a litany of benefits, such as streamlined responsibilities, enhanced tenant safety, and cleaner spaces. It’s a wise decision, though some property managers might not find it cost-effective, or the lack of control may not be up to their liking.
