Facilities management paper

When it comes to the term of facilities management, which department would be an essential part of the hospitality industry? Some people might believe the cleaning department is significant since we need to clean the room before we sell it. Alternatively, others might argue that the security department would be indispensable because nobody would like to live in an unsafe hotel. Even though both cleaning and security departments are relevant in a hotel, the property department is responsible for maintenance and energy supplement which would be the most vital part in my mind.

It appears that property plays such a fundamental role in the hospitality industry. In fact, it maintains not only the equipment and systems that ensure the property under good condition but also utility supply for the entire building so the hotel can provide standard service. Furthermore, it might maintain energy efficiency and manage waste in order to enhance the sustainability of the property. At this point, if a manager could be mindful about the maintenance, it could save operating cost in multiple ways. For instance, if a manager could do an outstanding job on preventive maintenance, he/she might be able to correct any failures on time. So equipment can be used for more than their services live. Therefore, it reduces equipment turnover fee such as replacement. Meanwhile, it increases the guest satisfaction. According to Stratton, who was a national account manager and now is a director with HD Supply, checking all the necessaries in the guest room with a detailed checklist could provide better service and result in minimizing the number of guest complaints (12).

According to the class, there are six tasks we need to complete in the Facilities Management department: Routine Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Scheduled Maintenance, Emergency/Breakdown Maintenance, Contract maintenance, and Guestroom maintenance. To interact with my future job, which is expected to be the general manager, some of the tasks ought to be linked to the management position.

For routine maintenance, it is more likely to be a day-to-day task, remaining property in a healthy and good condition. As a general manager, his/her job is to cope with the department to ensure the facilities are operating, for example, to make sure the brunt-out lightbulbs are changed in time.

For the second task, preventive maintenance, it refers to extend equipment life, remain the efficiency of equipment, and ensure the safety of the equipment operation. As mentioned above, by extending equipment life, the operation cost could be reduced accordingly. A general manager should pay attention to preventive maintenance, avoid equipment early failure in order to achieve operating cost saving. For instance, establish regular (weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on the condition of the department) check and test for equipment and arrange meetings for discussing the maintenance.

In terms of emergency/breakdown maintenance, it commonly occurs due to the neglect of preventive maintenance, it seems to save the cost in the short term, but on the contrast, it has negative long-term effects such as increased operating cost and capital investment cost, causing cost in repairment and replacement, etc. A general manager should have a reasonable backup plan to reply emergency. Even though most the hotel has backup power generator to handle a power outage, there might not be back up equipment if it breaks. At this point, a general manager is responsible for protecting the business. Take Fairmont Scottsdale Princess as an example; they sign a contract with a local company so it can have a refrigerated truck within an hour if it is necessary to do. (Higgins, 80)

Decisions made by managers could result in significant impact on the operations of the facilities. For example, as mentioned the emergency/breakdown maintenance, managers’ decisions and arrangement are largely response for these situations, it is probably result from the overlook of the preventive maintenance, or the insufficient arrangement of the facilities checking. Thus, the manager’s value of the importance of the facilities is critical, and by making reasonable and prudent decisions, the operations of the facilities could be more efficient, vice versa.

To assisting the manager, facilities department could arrange regular meetings to report the situation of the facilities and offer some suggestion for further maintenance or operations. Also, regular reports are important as well to ensure manager are well informed for the current situation.

For manager, to better help department assisting, maintain better relationship with his/her employees would result in efficient communication and cooperation. Also, managers can establish reward system to motivate employees to carry out their job smoothly.

Work cited

Stratton, Michals. "Small Maintenance Fixes Improve Property's ROI. (MAINTENANCE DOCTOR)." Hotel Management 226.8 (2011): 12. Web.

Higgins, Stacey Mieyal. “Maintenance Prevents Refrigeration Failure, Product Loss.” Hotel & Motel Management, vol. 219, no. 19, Nov. 2004, pp. 80–82. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hjh&AN=14966974&site=ehost-live.