Challenges in the facility management industry

To provide an effective facility management services, an organization should allocate the necessary resources (finance, manpower, technology) to its FM department, but this is not always the case.

The facility management industry is at its infancy stage and its awareness is low. Larger percentage of FM practitioners found themselves in the profession accidentally and are not really prepared for the tasks ahead.

The common challenges faced by FM practitioners include the following:

• Inadequate allocation of resources.
• Unstable power supply.
• Lack of transparency and accountability in the administration of service charge.
• Inadequate representation of facility managers at the strategic level.
• Numbers of skilled practitioners are low.
• Working environment for facility teams are not conducive.
• Being reactive rather than being proactive.
• Economic instability.
• Awareness of facility management services is low.
• Unhealthy competition among practitioners.
• Inadequate dissemination of useful information that can boost knowledge base among practitioners.
• Poor construction design and works.
• FM technology adoption is low.
• Lack of policies and professional standards.

Opportunities in the facility management industry

There are huge opportunities for growth for facility management practitioners and FM service providers. The FM services are either outsourced or manage in-house.

Large organizations usually outsource their facility management services to FM service providers, while some smaller organizations may decide to outsource or manage their FM services in-house. There are great values in outsourcing an organization’s FM services, it allows organizations to focus on their core businesses. There is a practice by the multinational FM service providers to outsource some of their FM services to other smaller local firms.

There is a growing need for FM services in our built environment, these services are tailored to meet an organization’s business needs.

Areas of opportunities are open to organizations providing facility management services, organization providing associated services to FM, FM training providers, facility managers, FM enthusiasts, FM professionals, FM practitioners e.t.c.

Area of opportunities include:

• Establishment of FM training centres.
• Establishment of FM firms.
• Lecturing in FM departments in Higher institutions.
• Facility management curriculum development.
• Provision of FM associated services.
• Providing mentorship/leadership to young professionals.
• Deployment of FM technology solutions.
• Educating people about facility management.
• Becoming a construction facility manger.
• Becoming a facility management consultant.

Services that are within the scope of facility management

The associated services that are within the scope of facility management include the following:

• Security
• Catering Services.
• Space and Move Management.
• Landscape and Gardening Services.
• Janitorial
• Mechanical Services.
• Plumbing Services.
• Electrical Maintenance.
• Fumigation and Pest Control Services.
• Building Maintenanceand Management.
• Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning.
• Renovation and Remodeling Services.

Competencies of facility management practitioners

Our built environment is ever changing, FM professionals should continuously seek knowledge to acquire the necessary skills (technical skills and business skills) and capabilities to be able to effectively carry out facility management functions.

The competencies required from the modern facility managers include but not limited to the following:  

• Operations and maintenance
• Emergency management
• Leadership
• Facility security
• Technology savvy
• Finance
• Health and safety
• Sustainability
• Communication
• Business continuity
• Real estate

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