Intermittently, I would experience a few hiccups in its ability to take me from one part of Lagos to another during a given month. This was as a result of a combination of a dishonest motor mechanic, fake spare parts, and certainly the advanced age.
After using the car for 3 years, one day I woke up to the reality of the fact that the car had served me enough and needed to serve a new owner. To give it a new lease of life, I told the next owner, who bought it at a giveaway price, to buy a newer engine.
Subsequently, my Wife and I decided to buy a more recent and fairly used car. This time around, we opted for a five-year-old Nissan Altima, American specification. It was a big difference from our ultimate utility 190 Mercedes-Benz. Even at five years, the car drove like it had just left the factory. I decided in my heart of hearts to keep it as new as it was the same day I bought it, to retain a considerable amount of utility value.
To do that, I realized that I had to adhere strictly to a recommended maintenance schedule in the car’s manual. Now that’s a tall order in our part of the world, what with bad motor mechanics, fake spare parts, bad petrol, and terrible roads. However, it occurred to me at that point that there’s nothing as good as when a utility item is brand new or kept close to brand new.
With this conclusion in mind, I began to understand better why we need to not only develop a maintenance culture in our hospitality establishments but also why we must also embark on training our staff on how to properly manage a facility.
The deeper understanding was established in my psyche on my first flight with Arik Airlines when I boarded their brand new Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ900 Aircraft. I could smell the newness of the interior of the plane on boarding. I not only felt the strength of the engine purring, but also its effortless flight to Lagos. In years of flying the Nigerian skies, this was the first time I didn’t feel a sense of trepidation.
It is said that a stitch in time saves nine. This truth is easier said than done. The bottom line is that maintenance must be a culture for a facility to make good on its promise of delivering the desired Return on Investment (ROI) to investors.
Investors and managers in the industry need to understand the implications of an excellently maintained facility. Excellent Facility Management will ensure that a creative maintenance plan is put in place. This plan will become operational and strictly adhered to, becoming a staff appraisal issue. Staff must be trained to understand the significance of maintaining the facility management plan and how it impacts the bottom line.
Services and Maintenance, or Facility Management, is the key to keeping your establishment new and a fundamental aspect of ensuring repeat business. Facility Management must be integrated. The practice of coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of the organization must be ingrained into the psyche of management, which must be established as a culture in every hospitality establishment. Integrated Facility Management integrates the principles of business administration, architecture, and the behavioural and engineering sciences.
Facility Management dynamics relate to two key areas, which are Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Soft Services. O & M has to do with the execution of technical tasks to ensure availability of engineering services, while Soft Services ensures the availability and functionability of business support services, such as security, custodial, janitorial, landscaping, catering, mailroom, reception, photocopying, and pest control services, which many times is outsourced.
Benefits of Integrated Facility Management (IFM)
Some of the benefits of IFM are as follows: -
• Improved levels of service
• Cost savings
• Strategic focus
• Innovation
• Accountability
The simple equation of a Cost Saving Mechanism (CSM) is Management System + People = Guest Satisfaction + Reduced Cost.
Good Facility Managers must establish key performance parameters for O&M. This will be in the areas of Corrective Maintenance, Scheduled Corrective Maintenance, Routine Corrective Maintenance, Breakdown Maintenance, and Emergency Maintenance.
For as long as the desire of owners and managers is to ensure that their Facility must be profitable, these basic principles outlined in this article must not be compromised. The Facility must continue to look new in the eyes of the Clientele.
As I cruise around in my Nissan Altima, the challenge of “keeping it new”, for it to keep serving me, is strengthened by its willingness not to break down on the streets of Lagos due to its “maintained newness”. Daily, I measure the related cost of “keeping it new” and realize that the benefits far exceed the challenges. This is the fundamental principle to ensuring that your hospitality establishment retains its benchmark position amongst your competitors – “Strive to Keep it New”
Adedayo O. Adesugba - 2007
