Facilities Management and Maintenance – a growing industry

On July 7th and 8th, T2011, the Chamber, through its Facilities Management and Maintenance Committee will host its 3rd Annual Caribbean Facilities Management and Maintenance Conference “Developing an FM Culture in the Caribbean” at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

Now in its third year, the FMM Conference continues to pursue its objectives of raising the standard of the industry, educating professionals on the benefits of maintaining their real estate investments, improving the way maintenance is perceived and encouraging sustainable development. While the value of facilities management is universal, companies in today’s business environment are seeking ways to cut cost. Driven by this factor facilities management will now have to align itself with the core mission, encompass more services, focus upon life cycle sustainability and maintain a client focus. Therefore, this year’s Conference is designed to be an all encompassing educational and networking event.

Further, in previous years, it was often said that “we are preaching to the converted”, as facility managers already understand the importance of the service they provide. Their challenge lies in getting upper management to understand its value, so this year we plan to communicate this to the CEOs and CFOs through a dedicated presentation delivered by one of our feature speakers, Bruce Melizan of Interserve, of the world’s foremost support services and construction companies, operating in the public and private sectors in the UK and internationally with revenue of £1.9 billion and a workforce of nearly 50,000 people worldwide.

Each facility manager is faced with their own challenges, needs and priorities given the type of industry they are in. The response and attention dedicated to each challenge is also driven by the organization’s overall goals and commitment to their facilities. However there are performance management tools that assist in managing facility programmes according to the needs of the customer, which utilizes different skill sets of the facilities manager, priorities the work processes in different ways, and places the emphasis on different financial metrics. These tools which will be elaborated on at the Conference are important for professionalizing facility management functions and increasing the efficiency of organizational processes.

It has always been said that Facilites Management and Maintenance (FMM) is a multi-disciplinary field, therefore the Conference seeks to incorporate other aspects than just how to maintain your building. An important topic that was not touched on in previous years is that of Human Resource Management. We’ve all heard the phrase ‘every manager is a human resource manager” and the facilities manager is no exception. Facility managers hold key responsibilities in the planning, development and management of company grounds, buildings, and surrounding environments. To work efficiently they must also have effective communication skills and ensure the effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish the goals and objectives.

This year a look at the service side of the industry is also included. Unfortunately, poor customer service is prevalent in Trinidad and Tobago. The facilities management industry is not immune to this, and therefore a module has been incorporated focusing on striving for customer service excellence. Practitioners need to understand that expending a little more effort and energy into their customer relations could lead to customer retention and other benefits such as new customers through a recommendation from a current client.

In our current economic climate with construction being virtually  at a stand-still, it is actually the ideal time for existing building owners to look for new strategies to become competitive and also sustain their buildings so they will be well placed as the world economy recovers. With this in mind, focus will also be placed on how to “green” existing buildings. As the demand for sustainable services and products increases, companies continue to pursue sustainability and set targets for minimizing their impact on the environment. While location and cost remain the top drivers for selecting office space, sustainability whether in the form of limited or premium green features, can serve as a differentiator in your property marketing strategy.

But, facility management is not simply about maintaining existing structures. From inception, this Conference has sought to promote the philosophy of including the facility manager from the planning and design stage of a structure. This would allow the facility management team and the architect’s design team to work together to ensure the facility is planned in such a way that the organization can be prepared to embrace it, take care of it and maximize its useful life.

While this Conference allows for the exchange of ideas, experiences and networking, it is hoped that the discussions will influence relevant policies and raise the standards for the industry and its related sectors. Although we do not have current statistics at hand, the growth of the industry is evident by the response we have had to the past Conferences in 2009 and 2010, by the increasing number of tertiary institutions offering facilities management and maintenance courses and the establishment of a local chapter of the International Facilities Management Association in 2009.

This Conference welcomes not only professionals but also students representing facility management, architecture, real estate, information technology, human resources, engineering, interior design, security and other relevant industries. Participants will also benefit from an exhibition area. To date sponsors and exhibitors include Acuitas, Europa, Tracmac Engineering, Total Office, Servus Limited, Kex Limited, Arctic Air, Rose Environmental, Safe Tec, Sub Contractors Association, First Citizens and 3M Interamerica.