What Is Facilities Management?

Facilities management covers a range of disciplines and services to ensure the functionality, comfort, safety, and efficiency of a company’s buildings, assets, and systems. On top of managing day-to-day operations and maintenance management, facility managers must also execute their company’s long-term strategic facility management plan. In this article we will provide an overview of exactly what a facility manager does and what effect they can have on your business:

Facility Management vs. Facility Maintenance

To many people, facility management and facility maintenance are the same things, but actually, they are not. The difference between the two is comparable to the difference between a digital marketer and a project manager.

The project manager is responsible for managing the whole project, while the digital marketer’s role is only promoting the product by positioning it in the minds of customers.

In our case, facility maintenance is within the scope of facility management. The facility manager is responsible for developing a strategic plan that is centered around predictive and preventive maintenance to keep the production line up and running without any sudden shutdowns.

Facility maintenance also deals with the day-to-day operations of a building. Facility managers oversee grounds maintenance, asset maintenance and repair, management of fleet vehicles, and inventory management services.

The Importance of Facility Management

By improving productivity and reducing maintenance costs via preventive maintenance, the facility manager contributes to the bottom line of their company. They work to build an environment where every employee can perform their job as efficiently as possible. Their leadership skills contribute to the profitability of the business.

Supporting the Workforce

Offering a productive work environment for all employees in the building is the most important objective of every facility manager. This includes many broader goals, including building a collaborative workplace culture, enhanced efficiency, and productivity, and attracting and retaining top talent. Here are some ways a facility manager provides support:

• Preparing an emergency plan
• Efficient space utilization and facilitating relocation
• Creating and updating an employee database
• Coordinating seating arrangements
• The facility manager deals with issues of comfort, safety, accommodation, etc. to ensure every employee can perform at their best possible level.

The facility manager also takes a long-term approach to workplace optimization and provides vital planning data to the management. Facility managers can point out the areas of competitive advantage at the individual employee level from their everyday observation with the workplace.

Read the full blog — What is Facility Management?