Your business is comprised of a few essential building blocks.
Your workers are the ones who keep your company in motion. But without good facilities, your workers can’t do their jobs.
This is where a facilities manager can help. In many ways, a facilities manager acts as your eyes on the ground, making your facilities more effective and efficient so that your workers can stay safe and work smarter.
Not sure how to make use of a facilities manager? Not sure what that role is? Here’s a quick guide to help.
What Is a Facility Manager?
Facilities managers come from a variety of disciplines and handle a number of responsibilities, depending on their particular employer.
Facilities management is the process of integrating people, place, and process to improve the quality of life of those within the core business.
A facility manager, at the most basic level, ensures the safety, efficiency, and comfort of a built environment. To do this, they have to incorporate a variety of disciplines into their work, including:
- Communications management
- Emergency management
- Environmental sustainability
- Sourcing sample boards and building materials
- Hospitality
- Human factors, resources, and ergonomics
- Operations and maintenance
- Project management
- Real estate and property management
Facilities management is split into two areas: hard facilities management and soft facilities management.
What Do Facility Managers Do?
What facilities managers do depends on whether they’re involved in hard or soft facilities management.
Hard facilities management involves physical assets, like elevators and cooling systems. Soft facilities management involves tasks performed by people, like maintenance, custodial work, security, or groundskeeping.
Either way, their task is to maintain the assets under their care to the betterment of their company. That’s a big deal, considering that they may be responsible for caring for an organization’s most valuable assets.
Key Features of Good Facilities Management
While the exact job tasks will vary between facilities managers, the signs of high-quality facilities management remain the same.
For one thing, great facilities managers use comprehensive systems. For example, they may utilize data from the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor things like indoor air quality or energy expenditure.
They also know how to integrate the systems and data they have to collect actionable information and make informed decisions. They don’t just take in data – they know how to leverage data to predict anomalies, rather than just responding to problems.
By doing this, they can offer real solutions to their management team, solutions that strengthen the company’s bottom line and allow you to stay competitive.
Why You Need Them
All of this begs the question: why do you need facilities managers?
Simple. Facilities managers fulfill a role that you can’t replace.
They help you use your resources more efficiently. They help you stay compliant with industry regulations. They help keep your workers safe. They help recognize and address environmental concerns before they turn into hazards.
Basically, a facilities manager is your go-to person to make your facilities more efficient than ever.
Taking Control of Your Management
A facilities manager allows you to take your facilities to the next level.
Sure, they’re work environments. But when you get down to it, they’re more than that. They’re the place that your company thrives. And if your facilities are struggling, your company will soon follow.
So really, without a good facilities manager, your company is set up for trouble.
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