What Is Facility Management?

If you’re searching for information on facility management, you’ve come to the right place. What is facility management? Essentially, it’s a variety of services which ensure the efficiency, functionality and safety of an infrastructure, such as a business or grounds.
In this article, we’ll reveal why facility management is essential for an organisation, as well as the different types of facility management services.

 

Types of Facility Management

Let’s delve deeper into the different types of facility management services. There are two main categories of facility management:
  • Hard facilities management: the physical aspects of an infrastructure which cannot be removed.
  • Soft facilities management: aspects that are utilised by business employees, such as waste services or catering.

Operations and maintenance

This can cover both hard and soft facilities management, including plumbing, heating, cooling, cleaning, lifts, elevators, grounds keeping and general maintenance.
Why it’s important: operations and maintenance are essential for the overall running of an organisation or grounds. Without these, an operation would fail. For example, if there was a plumbing issue and no running water was available, this could affect the whole business.

Washroom and hygiene services

This involves keeping washrooms fully stocked and clean and the management of sanitary bins and waste.
Why it’s important: to keep staff and customers safe, healthy and comfortable, washrooms need to stay well-maintained.

Health and safety

The overall health and safety of employees and visitors on site, including risk management, safety procedures, etc.
Why it’s important: health and safety is vital to prevent people from coming to harm while on the premises, as well as ensuring legal safety guidelines are met.

Hospitality

Hospitality can include additional amenities or services for guests, helping to deliver and exceed their expectations. Types of hospitality can cover parking, valet, catering etc.
Why it’s important: it helps both staff and visitors feel comfortable and cared for, deliver a better customer or employee experience and it can even aid employee output. For instance, good catering services ensure staff are given the correct nutrition for their working day.

Communications management

This is the planning, executing and monitoring of internal and external communication within an organisation.
Why it’s important: it opens up a line of information between employees, employers and clients. Communication management is necessary to instruct the overall vision, mission and products/services of a company to individuals.

Security

Security keeps a building, its contents, as well as employees, safe from harm. Additionally, it protects the business in the event of criminal activity by employees.
Why it’s important: it’s essential for many reasons, including theft, damage and fraud. Good security management enhances the efficacy and productivity of a business.

Reception services

If you have lots of potential clients coming into your building, excellent reception services are required.
Why it’s important: by greeting external visitors with a reception area, you can log them in and out of the building (an essential step for health and safety), give them a positive introduction to your business, as well as going the extra step to take care of their needs. For example, offering them a warm beverage on a cold day.

Relocations

If you’re a large business with several locations, relocations management may be required.
Why it’s important: relocations help to move people either internally or externally. This could include onboarding tasks and liaising with various teams to ensure relocations occur smoothly and efficiently without disrupting the business.

Why Outsource Facility Management?

Outsourcing facility management to an external company not only improves efficiency, it also provides a wide variety of benefits to the business, their owners and their staff. The many benefits of outsourcing facilities management to an outside team of professionals include:

Enables your business to focus on core activities

Instead of having to focus on varying areas outside of your expertise, you can simply pay attention to core activities, helping you to generate more revenue and more profit for your company. Employing an external team of professionals for facility management gives you the ability to pay attention to the areas you know best – your products or services.

Reduced demand on payroll

By employing less people, you reduce the amount of paperwork required for payroll. It’s best to outsource all your facility management to only one team. In doing this, you only need to focus on paying one external bill each month, rather than paying different teams for different facility management services.

One point of communication

Instead of having to communicate with several different departments, having one external company managing your facilities means you only need to liaise with one contact. That contact can then deal with any arising issues, giving you more time to spend on your company.

Better flexibility to control staffing levels

When it comes to facility management, you have greater flexibility to control staffing levels depending on demand. For instance, if you require extra cleaning staff, you can simply contact your external source of facility management rather than having to hire them yourself.

Access to better technology or equipment

Outsourcing your facility management to an external company potentially gives you access to better technology or equipment that you may not be able to afford. This means your company can run more efficiently and adopt better techniques than they previously could.

Helping Businesses Across Scotland Run Smoothly

Now you’re aware of the meaning of facility management and the different types of facility management services out there, perhaps it’s time to consider the overall running and management of your organisation.
If you need assistance with facility management services, get a free quote from Perfect Clean today.