Facilities management in Malaysia post-Covid-19
We started off 2020 with so much horrifying news. I hope everything will get better in the months to come. Facilities management in Malaysia is one of the impacted industries, as many facilities were shut down.
Since I switched careers and am on this route, I felt that I engaged more with people in the industry. Having more than 15 years of experience taught me about looking at the ‘patterns’ of the trends in the industry.
The question in the headlines is getting more and more relevant, now more than ever. This can be applied to anything or anyone. The organisation you’re working for, your career, the industry you’re in, or even your life. I have met with multiple organisations in the past few months. Safe to say, ‘that’ question popped up every time.
Where are we heading?
So, where do we go from here, FM?
There has been significant development in terms of research and standards being introduced in the past few years in Malaysia, and some companies are willing to invest in improving their services. Though inevitably, the dwindling issue is that procurement is preparing the FM industry for a race to the bottom.
Clients strive to have the cheapest and most unreasonable expectations and a multi-scope of work. The so-called FM companies that are operating on’stupid margins’ (a term my former colleagues in the UK used to say) that bid first, figure out how to operate later, and squeeze the salary packages for staff and subcontractors (some have outstanding invoices for months).
FM is a service business. Hence, much of the scope is still dependent on humans manual labour and interactions, and without the right people with the right attitude in it, it will fail eventually. Service will deteriorate. Clients will get frustrated. Your future clients will be staying away as if you have contacted a contagious flu. Buildings will falter. The issue with pay and packages for FM practitioners is, safe to say, as old as I can remember the last time Liverpool won the league title. (Though this year will be our year.)
Motivation, productivity, efficiency, attracting the right talent—all coming down to one single question: are you paying enough/right? I am interested if there is research that deals with industry pay and packages so that we can be more transparent as income disparity has become a national issue.
The right price and the right strategy
There is also a lot of debate on whether outsourcing is the right move for facility owners, or whether a midsize FM company will serve you better since they have reasonable margins and because they are small and nimble, thus their flexibility is unmatched. As I recalled from a recent conversation with a friend who works in the industry, the profit margins have depleted fast since 5 years ago. This will be a challenge, especially for those non-local companies that carry perhaps top heavy management.
I have elaborated on the article on technology.
All of the above issues surrounding FM shall not detract us from making the right decisions, implementing a sustainable FM approach, and supporting a social value. The FM industry alone has been quite stagnant with a lack of new innovations, proven with less than 1.5% investment for R&D compared to other industries, e.g., automotive, which has seen 4.5% investment for R&D, and we expect buildings to last 100 years.
The process of constructing a nice, fantastic facility that can awe anyone in sight is magical. Equipped with beautiful gardens and landscapes. However, the cost associated with construction only accounts for 15% of total Life Cycle Cost. The rest 85% of the life cycle will be managing the operations of the building.
We could do better if we want to.
So, where do we go from here? We aren’t going anywhere soon if we don’t have a destination yet.