Facility Manager Responsibilities And Strategies For Effective Operations

Site A

• Don’t want to keep Site A (upgrade and sell to someone else which can get money to help maintain site B) and move facilities to Building B.

• In centre which is near station and good location (benefit someone willing to buy it).

• Problems:

o Car park

o Noise, roof, disability (FM need to responsible and operate)

• Lack of space they current need

• Conference/training better system which can offer 1 location as opposed of 2 locations.

• Addition cost in 2 building e.g. heating, electricity, stationary 3.

Site B

• Keep this building and maintain for the hotel owner to use facilities.

• Site A as training suite relocate to Site B and provide mini bus for staff from the station. 

• Site C as administration centre facilities relocate to Site B because is bigger building.

• Upgrade:

o Maintenance

o Insulation

o Double glazing window and door

o Sound insulation

o Disability access

o Fire safety

• Car park need to provide a barrier for public access, if someone willing to park charge money for it. 4.

Site C

• This site is leases

• Refurbish this Site and sub-let who willing to rent

• Upgrade disability

Site D Hotel

• Remove swimming pool because is expensive to maintain and a lot of people don’t use it.

• Gym need to be modernise and then provide gym membership for public user to use for making more money.

Site E Staff Issues

• Need to employ General Manager and HR manager

• Bus drivers o HR need to write letter to leave earlier retirement.

o Sell all the buses because we don’t want to keep repair (no people who can repair which is need high cost in term of bus service)

o Use outsourcing the company who have mini buses (company provide buses)

• Cleaning staff o Use outsourcing for the hotel

Responsibilities as a Facilities Manager towards Customer

Part A 

Responsibilities as a Facilities Manager towards building and employees 

The facility manager has a number of different responsibilities in his hands. There are times when the facility manager may have to conduct a meeting, provide a plumbing advice, go through a number of documents related to the office maintenance, provide plumbing or electrical advice and also present a proper course to the renewal of the office. However the most important part of being a facilities manager is to ensure that the operations of the business go on smoothly (Masa’deh et al. 2017). The facilities manager of the organization has a number of different tasks in his responsibility as he is assigned to take care of the health and safety of the workers as well as the other individuals who intends to use the services of the organization. In this particular organization the facilities manager has a huge task in front of him. The main aim of the manager will be to change the entire structure of the organization and increase its revenue by means of a large scale innovation process.  The hotel cum conference center is located close to the Heathrow Airport and has a total of three such buildings apart from a separate hotel. The earlier management of the organization has failed to maintain the estate properly and it is now in the hands of the facility manager to make sure that the organization runs in the proper state. The primary task of the facilities manager will be to take care of the buildings and ensure its full utilization. The first and foremost responsibility of the manager will be to look after the operational aspects of each and every of the buildings owned by the hotel chain.   

Responsibilities as a Facilities Manager towards Customer

It is always the responsibility of the facilities manager in a hotel to identify the needs of the customers and meet their demands accordingly. The facilities manager of the mentioned facility thus must take a note of the choices of the tourists and the customers visiting their places and thus arrange the facilities in that particular way. According to, Azhar Khalfan and Maqsood (2015) the manager must also ensure the proper care of the customers and can arrange for a customer care assistant, customer care department and complaint center in the hotel and the conference centers. It is also important for the facility manager to ensure the health and safety of the customers. There should be provisions for on call doctor round the clock to avoid the occurrence of unforeseen circumstances. The facility manager has to oversee the facilities offered to the customers regularly to maintain the standards.

Statutory Regulations of UK that affects the operations of the hotel

Part B 

Statutory Regulations of UK that affects the operations of the hotel

There are a number of different laws, regulations and codes that must be followed by the owner of the hotel before claiming to be an hotelier. A minefield of bureaucracy has to be considered in advance starting from the licensing rules to food, hygiene and the regulations related to the prevention of fire.  The total responsibility of any untoward incident in the hotel will lie on the hands of the hotel management as well as the owner. This may involve in different civil and criminal procedures against the owner and the management. The simple process of the Hotel name has regulatory implications (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). The Business Names Act of 1985 states that every owner must display a notice in front of the hotel which shows the hotel name and is different from the name of the owner. At the time of implementing the booking process in the hotels the hotelier must be made aware by the facility manager to compliant with the Credit Card Order 1990 and the Data Protection Act of 1998. It is the duty of the management to make sure that the privacy of the credit cards of the customers is maintained and also ensure the absence of any form of data theft. Some of the main other rules and codes that must be applied by the mentioned organization are provided in a chart below;

What it is	Whom does it apply to	What is it	What is the purpose	Exemptions
Alcohol Licensing	Licensing Act of 2003 The hotel is considered to be a seller of alcohol as it has alcohol in its varied menu.	License must be obtained to sell alcohol or else it will attract legal procedures against the management of the hotel Applying community safety measures by prohibiting the sell of alcohols to only those who are permitted to have them	Public safety and prevention of Nuisance	Applies to all
Guest Registry	Immigration or Hotel Records Order, 1972 Serviced and self catering accommodation	Record of all the guests over the age of 16 must be kept either in written or in computerized format.	Community and National Safety	None
Booking	Booking Act All people who have to book the hotel and conference venues in a proper manner	Honoring the booking of the guest	Consumer Protection	None
Transportation of Guests	Providing transport which is chargeable and frequent	License is required for regular transport	Consumer protection	Transport of a guest totally free of charge
Safety Management	Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 All the employees	Duties and responsibilities during work	Protection of the consumers	None
Product Safety	General Product Safety Regulations, 2005	Supply of only safe products for the guests and ensure product remains safe	Consumer Protection	None

Health Safety and Environmental measures that must be implemented in UK

There are a number of different health safety measures and environmental measures that needs to be undertaken in UK to suit the environmental needs of the country and carry on the operations of the business smoothly. Health and safety are two of the main issues that needs to be considered to implement an effective hotel management system (Chan Okumus and Chan 2015). There are generally two different kinds of risk which are;

1. Pure risk in the form of fire, theft, natural disaster, violence and many other similar things
2. Business Risk like the change in the policies and regulations of the government, Economic Impact and most importantly sudden and abrupt changes in the demands of the customers.

The task of the facility manager will be to create the exact way to formulate a proper health and safety measures that addresses the above mentioned criterions as well as fulfill the regulations of the mentioned country. The facility manager can choose any specific framework to address such regulations. The HSE model can be one of the best ways that has been recommended by the facilities manger. The HSE model incorporates;

1. Look for the Hazards-The hazards like occurrence of fire, natural disasters, damage in buildings and short circuit from electrical connections must be identified and adequate steps must be taken to prevent any form of accidents that might be hazardous to the organization (Davis et al. 2018).
2. Decide on who might be harmed and how- The facility manager has to identify the people who are vulnerable to the risks and take the exact measures to save them from any such risks by acting against the item or the source that tends to cause the risk.
3. Weigh up the risks and decide upon the existing precautions are adequate or needs to be changed –The task of the facility manager will not end once the risks are identified by him (de Paula Arditi and Melhado 2017). He must also make sure to weigh the risks on different parameters and assess the importance or amount of threat it possesses. The judgment of the amount of threat possessed by the risks is important because it helps the management to deal with such risks accordingly. The following procedure also helps to identify whether the present system of risk mitigation is obsolete or updated and thus take the necessary steps accordingly.

Identification of the Control Systems for effective facilities operations

The health and safety measures address the needs of both the employees as well as the customers. The main such measures that must be implemented by the facility manager are as follows;

1. Ventilation
2. Temperature control in all of the buildings
3. Adequate lighting in all the buildings
4. Sanitation and Hygiene in every buildings, rooms and especially the washrooms
5. A proper and safe fire exit must be kept in all the different buildings
6. The provision for a proper and effective health and training program must be kept.

Review of the current Staff Position and the implications for sustainable operations

As mentioned in the case study the hotel currently lies in a turmoil state as most of the employees are new to the role and thus lack the experience to manage the hotel accordingly. The ultimate loss has been the sudden disappearance of the General Manager.  The Hotel Manager was employed to fill up the position but he was quite inexperienced to do justice to the new post.  On the other hand most of the cleaning staffs are of zero hour contracts accept six full time bar tender and catering staff. The company also has five part time drivers for the vehicles it possesses. However most of them are temporary or part time drivers and they have a record of absence every now and then. Thus overall the condition of the hotel is bound to suffer given the condition of the staffs.

Part C 
Identification of the Control Systems for effective facilities operations

There are a number of control systems that can be effectively installed within the hotel in order to provide the effective facilities operations are as follows;

1. Budgeting- Budgeting forms an important part of the facilities operations as allocating the funds amongst the different departments of the hotel is important for the control on expenses and different other financial aspects (Doppelt 2017). The financial manager has the task to differentiate and allocate the funds to the departments of the hotel.  
2. Accounting and Auditing- Accounting and Auditing is the area where the budgets and the finances are checked, summarized and audited. The facilities manager has the task in hand to guide the staffs and other employees of the hotel on the different procedures that has to be implemented in terms of the audit and the financial aspects of the mentioned hotel.  
3. Purchasing and Sales-The facilities manager has been appointed at a time when the hotel and the conference center are in a crisis situation in every aspect. The manager must make a note about the proper sales and audit of the organization (Kasim et al. 2014). The manager must also take care of the proper processes to deal with the sales of the hotel in an effective way.
4. Operational Management and Sales- As said earlier the facilities manager of the business has the task to have a regular update on the different operational aspects of the hotel.
5. Regular Checking- The facilities manager of the mentioned hotel needs to implement such a system in the operations of the hotel so that the facility can be utilized properly. This includes different types of regular updates and quality checking. Though it is very much difficult to maintain such kinds of checking, it is key to the success of the business in UK. The different kinds of checking include the likes of Spot Checking, monitoring different e-mails, video recording, surprise visits and many more as such.

The system is difficult to implement as because a number of ethical concerns arise while quality checks are implemented by the facilities manager. Monitoring the works of the employees on a regular basis, surprise visits may lead to the breach in the trust of the employees. Apart from this the monitoring of the personal e-mails of the employees can lead to a serious issue (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017).

Systems needed by the facilities manager to support effective Building Management 

A number of different systems are needed for the effective management of the hotel and conference buildings. This includes the likes of;

1. CCTV and Monitoring System- The facilities manager in order to support an effective building development has to implement a number of different technological measures to ensure the safety of the hotel and also to keep a check on the various activities of the staffs (Kojo and Nenonen 2015). The installation of CCTV cameras in different areas of the hotel will help the management in the following process as they would be able to keep a vigil on the movement of the staffs and the visitors round the clock. This will help ensure both safety and proper monitoring by the organization.
2. Plumbing System-The plumbing system will take care of the different kinds of operations that are related to the plumbing features in the hotel. The facility manager must ensure that the visitors can access running water and other sanitary needs of the hotel each and every time of their need.
3. Fire Alarm System-Fire safety system is the basic and the most important in each and every hotels. It is important for the hotel to have an effective fire safety planning in place to make sure that the building is not vulnerable to any fire related accidents (Lai and Choi 2015). The different kinds of fire related systems that must be implemented in the hotel are fire checking and evaluation program, fire alarms, fire control instruments and a dedicated water supply line to control fire automatically.  
4. Engineering System- The engineering system will be taking care of the different kinds of machines and other systems that are installed within the hotel. This may include the likes of the computer systems, building heating systems, CCTV maintenance and other similar kinds of jobs.  
5. Security Arrangements-The security system of the hotel must be looked after by the facility department of the hotel and a well maintained security system must be maintained by the management to ensure the safety and the security of the customers as well as the employees of the Hotel.
6. HVAC System- The following type of system will be installed by the facilities manager to take care of the air conditioning and the heating of the rooms in the different conference buildings as well as the hotel.
7. Parking Systems- As mentioned in the case study, the conference buildings especially Site A has a huge parking problem that aims to destabilize the business of the organization (Masa’deh et al. 2017). The lack of adequate parking can lead to the loss of the business. Therefore it is up to the facilities manager to make sure that they have the best
8. Automation and Operational Management systems- There are lots of operational and automatic operations and maintenance systems that need to be upgraded and implemented within the hotel to maintain the business in a proper way.  

Part D

 

Establishment of the Appropriate Criterion to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of facilities operations 

The most important task of the facility manager is to make sure that the hotel has a proper criterion in place to evaluate the quality and the effectiveness of the different facilities operations of the hotel. This includes the review of the timings that are being organized for the different staffs working for the hotel. The training procedures and the training programs must be evaluated and judged by the facility manager to make sure that the employees and other staffs of the organization learn the different techniques of the trade easily and in the right way (McArthur 2015). The development of different offline as well as online processes on the feedback of the customers is necessary for the organization to get an idea of the different loopholes, weaknesses and wrong process that are currently being followed by the management of the hotel. It also helps the management to get an idea of the choices and needs of the customers, thus making their task easier. Apart from this the facilities manager must also ensure the maintenance of the quality of the services that are provided to the people opting for the services of the organization. A checklist will also have to be maintained by the facility manager to keep track with the tools, equipments and the different machines of the mentioned hotel in UK.  

Systems needed by the facilities manager to support effective Building Management

Identification of the Operational Risks affecting the running of the business 

There are a number of different operational risks that can prove to be harmful in the long run of the business. They are as follows;

1. Identification of the theft leading to credit card fraud-The protection of the identity is more at risk in the hotel than ever before. The current management cr5isis can be a golden opportunity for the hackers to hack the system of the hotel and disable it. It will be difficult for the organization to cope with such a loss in the midst of a chaotic situation in the office.
2. Longer or absence of any security audit cycles-The chaotic situation in the office can be problematic for the maintenance of the smooth operations of the Hotel (Nielsen Sarasoja and Galamba 2016). Therefore it is utmost necessary for the business to maintain an efficient security audit every now and then to oversee the different kinds of risk and financial aspects of the enterprise.  
3. Employee Problems- The case study has shown that the General Manager of the firm has been missing and as a result the manager of the hotel has been appointed at the post of the general manager, similarly the finance manager is new to the post which makes it an extremely difficult situation for the organization to manage the operations of the hotel in an efficient way.
4. Loss of Competitive Advantage-The ongoing situation in the hotel has led to the loss of customers as well as a loss in the competitive advantage of the hotel in the market. The loss of the competitive advantage of the hotel has been a boon for the other hotels in the area.
5. Absence of Parking Space-One of the major operational disadvantages of the mentioned company has been the absence of the parking space in Site A which is located close to the Airport and is also in the heart of the city. The absence of parking space leads to a huge loss of the organization as most of the customers of the hotel looks for adequate parking spaces.
6. Absence of Contemporary Technologies-The absence of contemporary technologies like proper insulation, heating machines, new and efficient vehicles have been a pain to the management of the mentioned business organization (McArthur 2015). The facility manager of the business has his task cut out to implement the latest technologies in the business and take the business to the top in the UK market.   

Part E 

Development of a Strategy for the improvement of the buildings and a sustainable growth 

The facility manager has to take a number of different sustainable strategies to ensure the success of the organization in the long run. This includes separate planning for each of the different complexes owned by the mentioned organization. The strategy must be implemented in an uniform way to get the benefits accordingly. The manager can sell the Site A and use the money to develop and maintain Site B. The management can lease out the Site C and gain substantial amount which again can be used in a number of different ways. Last but not the least the management needs a solid planning for the hotel as it is the main source of revenue for the organization. The expensive swimming pool can be removed as most of the visitors do not prefer to use it. Instead of that the management can modernize the Gym and provide memberships to the regular visitors. In view of the vehicles, the management can lease or buy new vehicles that are environment friendly and must also make the drivers permanent staffs to increase their dedication towards work. The strategies if implemented successfully will usher in a bright future for the mentioned organization.

Conclusion:

The following report has been able to highlight the different tasks that need to be done by the facility manager to improve the current chaotic situation of the organization. The facility manager appointed by the management of the hotel is responsible for all the staff issues, operational and functional aspects of the Hotel. The report has described in detail about the needs of the organization and the maintenance procedures to be completed by the facilities manager. Thus in brief it can be said that the operations of the hotel involve the entry of specialized persons who can benchmark the strategies with respect to the hotel and implement the best practices in the hotel.  

The following report is based on the observation of the newly appointed facility manager of a prominent hotel based near Heathrow Airport of London. The report aims to discuss the roles of a facility manager in improving a current crisis situation of the hotel. The report starts with the explanation of the current state of affairs in the mentioned hotel of London and progresses with the brief overview of the different problems and the assumptions of the Facilities Manager on such problems. It also includes the likes of the facility management of the organization. The manager in his report has considered the three different sites of the mentioned hotel and has provided a number of different recommendations based on the following. The recommendations will be an important source of help for the organization as because it will help the organization to improve its performance and be sustainable for the future.

Identification of the Operational Risks affecting the running of the business

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