Many businesses want to get down to the details and talk about price when dealing with services. One of the first questions is how much will it cost? When bargain basement discounts are such an absolute, you may miss out on some of the cost-saving benefits that come with the quality that can only be achieved at a higher price.
Similar to when you spend a little more, you get a little more, investing in your facilities and facilities management team will bring a return on your investment over time.
Have you ever paid a little extra for something that was important, or you felt was better quality?
Maybe you chose to fly one airline over another and paid more for your ticket. Maybe you chose to buy a more expensive brand of car because you thought it would be more reliable or better for the environment.
That same insight can hold true for the services that you outsource within your business. You can pay for trashcans to be emptied and floors to be vacuumed, or you can raise the bar on service levels, make your employees happier, catch simple issues before they become big problems and interconnect multiple sites on one knowledge base.
While many things in today’s world are based on immediate gratification, in this situation you’re playing the long game. There won’t be a huge sign stating, “because you made smart facilities management choices, you have gained the following benefits,” but take away some of the niceties and you would quickly see a difference.
How productive is your workforce when the coffee machine is down or when the restroom is out of order? A facilities manager can tell you that even small things can bring workforce productivity to a grinding halt.
There are many ways an experienced and high-quality crew can be worth it’s weight and more. Here are a few examples where it pays to spend a little more:
Staffing Your Facility Crew
The current economy has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the past 50 years and a shrinking pool of candidates. Employers are experiencing increased turnover, higher costs and scarcity of qualified candidates. It is important to have a fully staffed and well-trained crew for your business. In this highly competitive economy, potential candidates are expecting better wages, robust benefits and a clear path for advancement.
Therefore, it pays to use a company that knows how to implement technology along with a client-focused crew so you have high-value tasks completed by people that value customer experience, and technology to work on tasks that are more repetitive. These specialists, along with high-tech machinery, may cost more initially, but over time will be able to reduce overall costs.
Staff members who are specialists and advancing also tend to have greater longevity. In the janitorial industry, turnover can be extremely high. When your employees see the same faces every day, that gives them a sense of security and well-being. A company that cares about their employees as much as you care about your employees, will help create a harmonious relationship.
Strong Relationship
You want crew members that will go above and beyond for you and your employees. When things happen, you’ll want to know that you can count on them to be there and get you through a troubling time. You want a partner, not just someone that will ride the high road with you. Fair-weather friends are easy to find, but someone that will stick with you when the times get tough, now that’s worth it’s weight in gold.
Crew members that work to build and improve your organization can help you become better while cutting costs through reducing steps and safety concerns. Those that are experienced in Lean Six Sigma and the 5S Method can logically organize work spaces and remove unnecessary items to standardize processes and efficiency.
Improving the Asset Infrastructure
When assets are well-maintained, they tend to have a longer lifespan. If your business can get an extra year or more out of your HVAC unit, flooring, generators, or other large-scale building assets because they are well cared for and well maintained – what will that do for your bottom line? Proper maintenance, a strong cleaning regimen and proactive measures can help improve the durability and sustainability of some of your most expensive assets.
Beyond that, properly managing a CMMS solution is important, especially if you have multiple sites, to make sure they are interconnected and on the same knowledge base. This will provide a layer of transparency so you can operate more efficiently, effectively and more accurately develop capital plans.
These are a few reasons why it pays to spend a little more for services that can add to your bottom line in the long run. And while not every situation can be avoided, many can be planned for and contingencies can be put in place. When you have the right facilities management team, workforce productivity thrives, high value assets have longer lifespans and collaborated innovations help you stand out from your competitors.
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