Workplace environment has a lot to do with workers’ performance. facility management BSC must be focused on providing employees with an environment that is conducive to good performance.
The idea that an employees’ environment has a lot to do with productivity has been gaining acceptance from businesses during the past few years. Today,
when people say facilities, they refer not merely to the buildings and properties but a package of support services that will make the employee work better. This package of support services will also include maintenance, receptionist work, utility, security, housekeeping, information technology, even catering. It has become an integral function of good administration. Thus, formulating and implementing a relevant facility management BSC is a task that businesses cannot afford to neglect if they want their employees performing at peak levels.
Sales, marketing, and production are what managers call profit centers of any business organization. The balanced scorecards of these areas will deal primarily with formulating plans, strategies, appropriate allocation of resources, and establishing accountabilities for the desired outputs. Balanced scorecards of facility management companies or departments follow practically the same pattern, except that it is more focused on creating an environment where employees work without unnecessary distractions and can give their best. This overall goal provides the framework for the creation of an efficient BSC of a facility management system.
A facility manager of a company in whatever business the company is engaged in will be expected to possess a variety of skills, as the package of support services is wide-ranging. The manager must know enough of just about everything – building engineering and construction, IT and security systems, maintenance, people management, planning, and a lot of others. This means that the first thing a company must consider is to develop a scorecard for people who are qualified for the job. Only after this requirement has been duly accomplished can an efficient balanced scorecard for facility management be formulated.
The best facility management practice will naturally center on how the construction of the building and its accompanying interior layout and amenities can contribute to the creation of a workplace environment that is inductive of efficient employee performance. Nobody would like to work in place where it is too cramped, gloomy, or where premises are not fully secured. Such inconveniences dampen the work force’s enthusiasm and productivity.
It will be good for a facility manager to hold consultations with other managers on what they like, especially in setting up the information systems. An IT system that serves the needs of all departments will facilitate a more systematic flow of information from offices to offices. And thus, result to easier performance of tasks.
The construction of buildings, interior layout, amenities, and installation of the appropriate equipment and other services that will speed up work is the easy part of a managers’ responsibility. After all these have been put in place, the facility management BSC should now be focused on creating a workable maintenance plan. This plan must contain the strategies, timeframes for performance of activities, resources allocation, as well as establish accountabilities for outputs. It should also be supported by regular inventory taking and a mechanism for monitoring plan and policies implementation.
