Only 12% Of Maintenance/ FM Departments Believe They Are Adequately Resourced
Following a recent poll of 438 participants across multiple Linked In groups we asked what % of people feel their FM/ Maintenance department is adequately resourced when it comes to the maintenance of buildings.
From Facility Managers, to Directors, Operational Managers, Maintenance managers and more across a range of industries we were shocked with the outcome!
Only 12% of participants felt their department was adequately resourced!
24% selected “To some extent”.
While a whopping 64% selected “We are under-resourced”.
In this article we are going to uncover what might be the potential reasons for this.
- Increasing workload and complexity
The modern workplace demands more from FM departments than ever before. With the integration of technology, evolving compliance requirements, and the growing complexity of facilities, the workload has surged, often outpacing available resources.
The IFMA recently shared 11 core competencies of FM including:
Operations and Maintenance
Project Management
Leadership & Strategy
Communications
Performance & Quality
Finance & Business
Facility Information Management & Technology Management
Occupancy & Human Factors
Real Estate
Risk Management
Sustainability
To keep on top of all these core competencies is becoming more complex and a time-consuming task. It could be a job in itself for some companies to keep up with the latest best practices and standards expected.
- Budget Constraints
Tight budgets have long been a challenge for FM departments. Cost-cutting measures and the need to do more with less can leave teams feeling stretched, impacting their ability to invest in critical resources.
Increased costs such as energy , rents and general maintenance of buildings due to the pandemic and various other economic factors have led to many owners looking for savings to help their bottom line. Business Leader said 76% of senior decision-makers in large business identified rising costs as the biggest risk to their business in 2023.
Maintenance costs (unless you’re an FM provider) are always going to affect the bottom line and let’s be honest, some senior team members just see it as a waste of money (harsh, but speaking from experience I know it’s true).
With the focus shifting from long term savings to short terms gains when it comes the maintenance of buildings a lot of strategic FM plans end up getting scrapped such as Asset Lifecyle Replacement plans. Meaning there is no replacement strategy for assets, and therefore more reactive repairs on equipment and an increased workload for FM/ Maintenance teams.
- Shortage Of Skilled Labour
FM roles are becoming more specialised, and there’s a growing shortage of skilled personnel in specific areas. This scarcity puts additional pressure on existing teams, leading to them being under-resourced.
Maintenance/ FM roles are a very fast paced and stressful. Couple this with budget constraints and industries just not being able to pay more, it’s a constant struggle.
- Lack of Visibility and Understanding at Senior Level
A lot (not all) of the senior teams may not understand the complexity of facility management and the work involved to keep everything running smoothly and compliant. With this, they underestimate the time and detail required. Senior teams just want to know issues are being dealt with, everything is compliant, and everything is within budget.
This is fine, but they aren’t the one’s dealing with a pipe leak at 10pm on a Sunday night!
The problem here is the detraction between the hierarchy and resource allocation being underestimated because the current department is “coping”.
- Lack of operational efficiency
Some maintenance/ facility teams are working in the past. They are still using spreadsheets to manage their day-to-day operations.
Although it may be working, there is a lot of inefficiencies and potential data insights they are missing out on.
In a previous article we looked at 11 Ways a CAFM system can save you time and money. It’s certainly worth a read, click here to view.
It’s important teams adopt and embrace new technologies within their operations.
- To free up their time and reduce the workload.
- To make data driven decisions to reduce costs and spot trends.
- To provide reports to the senior team so they become more involved and appreciative of the work involved.
- To set more realistic budgets and monitor these budgets in real time.
If you want to have a chat about how a CAFM system can help you get the budget you need for 2024 then please book in a demo below.
Author
Charlie Bown
Ex Facility Manager, I feel your pain!
