The Best Practices in Facility Management: Creating an
Environment of Operational Excellence
Kit Tuveson, CFM, IFMA Fellow
&
Chris Hodges, P.E., CFM, LEED-AP, FRICS, IFMA Fellow
Introduction
Facility managers around the world are under increasing pressure to lower operating costs
by utilizing best practices for the type of facility managed and by making their existing
buildings more energy efficient. Without an effective strategy for doing this, they are
limited to their own experiences and will struggle to find the most effective approach.
The facility management field is constantly evolving – utilizing the best in technology,
management practices, and stewardship of physical assets and the environment. No
matter what the industry, FM’s are being challenged to reach beyond their capabilities
and industry and utilize best practices to strive for operational excellence.
The club environment is no different in regards to the pressure to make assets perform.
Every club relies on properly designed and maintained facilities to support the many
different programs enjoyed by members. A key member of the GM staff, in a moderate
to large Club should be the facility manager, a professional with planning, financial, and
leadership/management skills. This individual must be carefully chosen, assigned
targeted responsibilities, and reviewed properly to assure a fully functional and reliable
facility operation department. With respect to a small Club this responsibility may fall to
the GM or an assistant.
The FM function can benefit from a regular review of FM organizational structure and
characteristics, process reviews for efficiency, assessment of current conditions and
forecast of future needs, and a continual review and improvement of the knowledge,
skills, and abilities of FM personnel. Like any organization, the FM function should have
a high-performance goal at all times.
Although clubs differ from many other industries, the creation of a highly competent FM
department will help the GM assure member expectations are met and financial results
are within expectations of the Board. One way to assure performance is to adopt a
leadership philosophy of high-performance.
Defining a High-Performance Organization
A common goal of Facility Managers is to create a high-performance organization. High–
performance organizations are defined by their commitment to their members and the
ability to consistently deliver cost effective services. The FMs role is to maximize
performance of the physical assets of the club and to align FM services with the mission
of the organization.
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A Framework for High-Performance starts with a systematic approach to assessing the
current state of the FM function, defining strengths and weaknesses, closing the gap
between the current and high-performance state, and enabling a culture of continuous
improvement.
Many current FM assessment tools used today are based on quality measurement systems
designed to measure product quality and improve process engineering. These
measurement systems include TQM (Total Quality Management), Six Sigma, ISO
(International Standards Organization), and BNQP (Baldridge National Quality Award).
TQM and Six Sigma systems generally concentrate on driving process improvement to
increase product quality and generate cost savings. ISO, like Six Sigma, also focuses on
fixing quality defects and product non-conformities. While some of the concepts are
valid for facilities organizations, a more specific framework for FM organizations should
focus on improving performance through leadership and management initiatives and
increased member satisfaction.
The assessment framework outlined below integrates recognized quality standards for
FM services that is clearly linked to KPIs aligned with the organization’s strategy. This
allows the FM organization to be very effective in implementing improvements aligned
with the mission/vision of the organization, accurately measure the results and track
trends.
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Where do you start the improvement process? Using the tools above, facility managers
can zero-in on enhanced performance. The first step is to develop a sound strategy that
utilizes Leadership and Planning skills and member focus. From there, development and
training of the workforce with an emphasis on improving FM processes and monitoring
and measuring results will lead to more efficient facilities, higher member satisfaction,
and lower operating cost.
Focus on Process Management – Operational Excellence and Best Practices
For the purposes of this discussion, we will concentrate on one of the most important
aspects of Club management that links the FM to the organizational strategy – the
Process Management portion of the framework. Concentrating on the Process
Management portion of the framework allows the Club to continually evaluate and adopt
FM industry best practices that lead to an environment of operational excellence.
O&M Process Management: The performance area of O&M Process Management
should include the evaluation of the following categories: Workflow processes and
documentation, work management and work orders, asset and equipment inventory and
management, facility audits and assessments, project and construction management,
energy and sustainability management, grounds and custodial services, facility operations
and procurement, levels of service, maintenance programs, security and life safety,
adherence to applicable laws and regulations, and facilities management technology
(automated work management).
A well-structured FM organization should have effective and efficient O&M processes.
A high-performance FM organization should focus on preventive maintenance (PM) and
have well documented systems for work management. There could be enhancements
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through the incorporation of predictive testing and inspection (PT&I) methods to
supplement the PM program.
Implementation of facility audits (facility condition assessments) should be integrated
into the overall maintenance and repair program. A high-performance FM organization
should have well developed project management and construction delivery practices
incorporating good communication, project collaboration, and design guidelines. A
formal commissioning process for major building equipment and systems should be in
place.
Energy management and sustainability policies should be in place. Building automation
systems should be in place in a majority of the major buildings in the Club environment.
Sustainability practices should be incorporated into new building construction and
renovations. Initiatives for sustainable practices could include; energy and water
management, recycling and reuse of materials and resources, integrated pest management
(IPM), green cleaning, sustainable purchasing, and sustainable site management.
Grounds and custodial services operated with a high degree of proficiency to provide safe
athletic facilities with a focus on cleaning for health, not just appearance. Security, life
safety, and environmental health and safety programs and awareness of codes, laws, and
regulations are among some of the best practices in a Club setting.
Establishing KPI’s for High-Performance
The FM needs to be armed with the right tools for improving the facility function.
Developing measurements for success can often be a painstaking process, since not all
things measurable are worth measuring. It is up to the FM to develop key performance
indicators (KPIs) that are easily determined, updated often, are meaningful to the user,
and that have the most significant impact on the desired to create a high-performance FM
organization. Identifying and monitoring the right key performance indicators can have a
positive influence on operational characteristics and practices that can lead to significant
efficiencies and cost savings.
The search for the proper KPIs and development of a “dashboard” of operational
indicators allows the FM to constantly measure and monitor the most important
operational characteristics. These KPIs can then feed into a Balanced Scorecard that
allows an organization to measure and constantly evaluate their efforts to improve
operational efficiency. These measures can be used to check progress against specific
goals, or to benchmark against the operational efficiency efforts of other organizations
and adopt best practices in FM.
The next figure represents a number of KPI’s that relate directly to operational excellence
and represent best practices in facility management.
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Metric Description
Std.
Metric Description
Std.
Facility Condition Index (FCI)
<0.05
Stockroom Turns / Year
2-3
Deferred Maintenance Backlog
Trend
Annual Training Hours
>40 hrs.
On-the-job Wrench Time
>60%
Maint. Cost / Replacement Cost
3 - 4%
PM / CM Ratio
70 / 30
Percent Return Work
<5%
Unscheduled Maintenance Downtime
<2%
Mean Time Between Failures
Trend
PM Schedule Compliance
>95%
% Failures Assessed: Root Cause
>75%
CM Schedule Compliance
>90%
Maintenance OT Percentage
5-15%
Unscheduled Man-Hours
<10%
% WO Covered by Estimates
>90%
WO Turn-Around Time
Trend
On-Site Supervisor Time
>65%
Emergency Response Time
<15
min.2
Stockroom On-Time Delivery
>97%
Stockroom Service Level
>97%
Material / Part Performance
>98%
This table represents only a fraction of the metrics available that can drive the FM
organization toward operational excellence in the Process Management realm of the highperformance framework. The difficulty is in identifying and managing the list of metrics
down to the few that are most meaningful in aligning with the mission and vision of the
club.
Done well, and performed within the framework of solid leadership, planning, member
focus, and workforce development, this will create an environment and culture of highperformance and operational excellence.
The Next Step – the Balanced Scorecard
The next iteration of this process is the development of a Balanced Scorecard that bridges
the gap between the organizational strategy and the delivery of a high-performance O&M
environment. The BSC is a performance management tool that allows the FM to develop
initiatives, measures, and targets that are used to measure success around all of the
elements of the performance management framework.
The purpose of this presentation was to allow the FM to establish a starting point for
developing a high-performance FM organization around the basic building block of FM
practices – Operations and Maintenance. The next step in improving operational
effectiveness is the development of a scorecard to deliver a high-performance O&M
system, and inclusion of the other key elements in the process – Leadership, Strategy,
Workforce Development, Member Focus, and Measurement and Analysis.
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