What Are Facilities Managers’ Challenges, Goals and Projects Today?

We love reaching out to our customers and getting their perspective on what they’re facing and how they’re grappling with everything that’s thrown their way.  As is continually evident, the facilities management field is one that’s in constant motion.

Business strategies continue to evolve, forcing changes on companies’ physical locations.  Customer experience has become preeminent and often the number one priority for any company that serves customers in person.  Technologies keep moving from the category of emerging to virtually one of being a standard.  Facilities professionals have their plates filled just keeping abreast of all that’s happening.

Our hugely popular Facilities Management Survival Guide has covered a wealth of important information to help anyone connected with the field stay up to speed on all that’s happening.  Prior posts have detailed some of the most important innovations & trends impacting facilities management, FM best practices to put in place now and a number of key facilities sector data points.

As part of our research for this Survival Guide, we reached out across our 500+ strong customer base of retail, restaurant, gym & fitness, healthcare, financial brands to get some of their insights on what are some of the issues that are keeping them up at night (or at least focused on during the day!).

Below, we highlight some of the challenges faced, goals targeted and projects underway at some ServiceChannel customers.  We’d love to know what you’re dealing with…let us know @ServiceChannel

Facilities Management Challenges

What’s the biggest business challenge you’re facing in 2018 and how is it impacting you and/or your company (i.e., what’s keeping you up at night)?

Vendor compliance

– Director of Facilities, Regional Fitness Chain

Seamless communication between the store, vendor, and myself

– Retail Facilities Manager, Cole Haan

Rise in labor costs have affected the cost of repairs and maintenance

– Director of Facilities, National Coffee Chain

Asset management – identifying equipment, ensuring the equipment that has issues is correctly identified on a work order, making sure the work order history remains with the equipment history and that we are aware of end of life approaching

– Senior Manager Store Support, Regional Convenience Store Chain

Keeping our culture intact as we expand our brands

– Director of Facilities, Regional Restaurant Chain

Trying to figure out which projects are priority one vs. two, so as to keep inside the budget but also provide the most impact and bottom line results

– Director of Facilities Management, Collier Restaurant Group

FM Goals for the Year

What’s your primary business and/or departmental goal for 2018 and what are you trying to accomplish?

Decrease cost and noise between vendors and studios (locations)

– Director of Facilities, Regional Fitness Chain

Reduce our spend and reduce the number of return calls for the same issue

– Retail Facilities Manager, Cole Haan

Transition and integrate all sites under the same operating system. Expand internal preventive maintenance program.

– Director of Facilities, National Coffee Chain

Reduce spend by handling more work in house

– Senior Manager Store Support, Regional Convenience Store Chain

Maintain site uptime to produce sales

– Director of Facilities, Regional Restaurant Chain

Creating standards and programs to follow that work for company-owned locations and several versions of franchise type locations

– Director of Facilities Management, Collier Restaurant Group

Planned Facilities Projects

What’s the single biggest project you’re planning for 2018, and what’s driving it?

Remodels

– Director of Facilities, Regional Fitness Chain

Cost reduction on R&M in an effort to build new stores more cost effectively

– Retail Facilities Manager, Cole Haan

Internal preventive maintenance program expansion from 2 DMAs to 4-6 DMAs

– Director of Facilities, National Coffee Chain

Moving our repair and maintenance in house and having better mobile functionality for our field employees

– Senior Manager Store Support, Regional Convenience Store Chain

Three new store openings, demand

– Director of Facilities, Regional Restaurant Chain

Remodels of existing properties because of franchise agreements and bringing some old deferred maintenance up to speed

– Director of Facilities Management, Collier Restaurant Group

Learn how ServiceChannel’s solutions can help FMs conquer pressing challenges and meet 2018 goals.

Photo by Nuno Silva on Unsplash