We all face that time of year when we are obligated to review the outcomes from the passing fiscal year and determine our capital investment plan for the next budget term. Without the ability to measure performance progress, we can’t build the business case for future investments in FM programs. Benchmarking and monitoring progress is the foundation for measuring success and making informed decisions for future investment priorities.

FM organizations are keenly aware of the need to be cost effective while adding value to the organizational mission. To better understand their value contributions, the FM organization needs to be able to demonstrate how the facilities and support services are benefitting the organizational mission. This requires alignment of FM performance metrics to the broader corporate mission, so the results are meaningful to top management.

Before we start measuring and monitoring, we need to understand where we are starting. This benchmarking exercise should allow organizations to compare their starting point with peer organizations to understand what the current baseline means compared to similar facilities, industries or market sectors. Once performance metrics are determined, notching a line on the scale sets the baseline and initiates the continuous improvement journey.

What needs to be measured?

How do we determine what is meaningful to measure? Performance metrics should be based on information that will be useful for decision-making in granularity to the FM organization, and meaningful in aggregate to both the FM organization and the demand organization. Just because data is readily available doesn’t mean it should automatically become a performance metric. If the data is just information and does not contribute to decision-making, then it is probably just nice-to-have information that isn’t very meaningful. The key is to interpret the data and turn it from information to usable knowledge, and often the simpler the vehicle the more readily it will get used.

FM performance metrics need to link to an organizational outcome that demonstrates a value add to the organizational performance metric. For health care facilities, the FM performance metrics should align with improving the patient experience or lowering the cost per bed per patient day if those are the organizational goals. For manufacturing facilities, the performance metrics should align with an increase in production, an improvement in quality or whatever the organizational mission may be.

Simply tracking work order efficiency may be useful to the FM organization, but it needs to be translated into a performance metric that aligns with the organization and demonstrates the contributions of FM to the business. What information supports corporate-level decision making? What information provides a competitive advantage for the organization? In the federal or operational market, critical performance metrics center on risk to mission, or what magnitude of disruption to the overall organizational goals is there if the facility is degraded or unavailable at any point. What results from a mission-based metric is a tiered look at the most critical facilities, structures or equipment that assists with strategic prioritization of projects and funds for the senior leaders. This can be combined with information on the condition of the facilities to create an overall prioritization model that spans maintenance and recapitalization efforts.

Identify key areas where results are important. A few examples to consider:

  • Strategic performance drivers unique to a facility or industry can be a metric and very useful to the organization when aggregated to the portfolio level.

  • Compliance and continuity metrics that monitor risk, business continuity, budget controls or compliance audits can track mandated metrics that will be critical for an audit or natural disaster.

  • Service delivery environments that monitor levels of service, asset conditions or asset management can support decision-making for strategic capital investment planning or corporate level initiatives.

  • Service delivery performance for tracking efficiencies for utilities, maintenance, project and contract management are meaningful financial metrics and useful in aggregate or for comparative benchmarking purposes across a portfolio.

  • Workforce metrics such as staffing effectiveness, competencies, resourcing levels or procedure adherence can support staff development and identify workforce skill gaps.

Standards PDAC

What can be measured?

Performance metrics should collect data that can be used to improve outcomes. If the FM organization does not have the ability to improve the outcomes of the performance metric, then it is information, not a performance metric. The FM organization needs to assess their context to the broader organization and align performance metrics with activities they have the ability to control. Are there external factors that prohibit the FM group from being able to control the results of the performance metric? Are there internal influences that the FM group can leverage to affect change in the performance results? Analyzing the activities that support the organizational mission and that the FM organization can control are the quintessential sweet spot of performance metrics.

How are KPIs implemented?

Knowing what to measure is a great start. Embedding the performance metrics into the daily routines of the workforce is required for the metrics to be meaningful and the outcomes to be improved. As with any change management activity, effectively implementing performance metrics takes multiple steps. Key concepts when implementing performance metrics:

  • Identify the organizational culture and what can be changed by working within the cultural expectations

  • Link metrics to activities that support the success of the organizational mission

  • Ensure the performance metrics translate to the intended audience and are easily understood

  • Convey the effects of the performance metric on the organizational mission — what is the consequence (positive or negative) to the mission?

  • Report consistent and reliable data that can also be used for trending, or aggregated to a portfolio or other tiered level that will be meaningful to top management in aggregate

Whether it is quality, customer satisfaction, cost or timeliness that may be a driver in your organization — standards can help frame the process for measuring the effectiveness of an FM organization or service providers. The ISO 41000 Facility Management suite of documents provides guidance and best practices to assist in the performance review of your facility:

ISO 41012: Facility management — Guidance on strategic sourcing and the development of agreements provides a framework for determining service levels and translating needs into requirements. This approach can be used for formalizing levels of service between the FM organization and the demand organization, or between the FM organization and third-party vendors.

ISO 41001: Facility management systems standard provides guidance for integrating an FM management system into the organization for benefits that include “improved efficiency and effectiveness, thus improving cost benefits to organizations.”