Analyse the strategic importance of workplace and facilities services
Overview
This standard covers the analysis of workplace and facilities services and its strategic importance in the wider business environment. It is about understanding the way the organisation operates and incorporating this into your workplace and facilities services work, maintaining compliance with systems, policies and procedures including business efficiencies and sustainable practices. It is also about looking at the culture of your own organisation and other organisations, and how they interact.
It is important that you know and understand your responsibilities under the current environmental and health and safety legislation, codes of practice and policies of the organisation.
This standard is applicable to those who deliver workplace and facilities services, this can be to an internal client (within your organisation) or to an external client, both are referred to as the "organisation" within this standard.
Managers working at this level will be required to drive workplace and facilities services within the organisation.
This standard has links to the standards suite Facilities Management and the standards suite Management and Leadership managed by Instructus.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- carry out your work in accordance with the current environmental and
health and safety legislation, risk assessment requirements, the codes of
practice and policies of the organisation including business efficiencies and
sustainable practices - conduct yourself and carry out your work in a way that reflects the
culture of the organisation and the function of workplace and facilities
services - incorporate the objectives, policies, procedures and resource
constraints of the organisation into your role - analyse workplace and facilities services, what they mean to the
organisation and how they fit within the overall strategy of the organisation - inform those involved in and affected by workplace and facilities
services of how they fit within the organisation, and underpin this with the
required information - establish and drive the workplace and facilities services function
within the organisation - confirm that workplace and facilities services activities comply with
the systems, policies, procedures and resource constraints of the organisation,
including business efficiencies and sustainable practices - regularly review and engage with the internal structures of the
organisation in order to optimise workplace and facilities services - monitor developments within the sector and assess these against the
workplace and facilities services function to identify any risks and
opportunities - assess the costs, risks and opportunities of planned actions
- demonstrate an understanding of the strategic importance of workplace
and facilities services to the organisation, in terms of productivity and
employee engagement - develop an understanding of the future direction of workplace and
facilities services and the opportunities this presents to the development of
the workplace and facilities services function within the organisation - embed the workplace and facilities service function within the
organisation and integrate it with the organisation's core activities - identify and capitalise upon opportunities to grow the workplace and
facilities services function - confirm that the organisation operates within
the current legal requirements and social responsibilities
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- your responsibilities under the current environmental and health and safety legislation, codes of practice and policies of the organisation including business efficiencies and sustainable practices
- the importance of complying with the organisation's systems, policies, procedures and resource constraints when undertaking workplace and facilities services
- the organisation's business objectives and its business culture
- the overall strategy of the organisation and how this affects your role and responsibilities
- the market in which the organisation operates, its trends and business drivers
- the strategic importance of workplace and facilities services to the achievement of the organisation's mission
- how workplace and facilities services policies can impact on the rest of the organisation
- the interdependencies between workplace and facilities services and other core services or activities in the organisation
- how to identify opportunities for growing the workplace and facilities services function and the future direction of the organisation
- the costs, risks and benefits of the planned actions
- the importance that those involved understand how workplace and facilities services operate within the organisation's objectives, policies and procedures including business efficiencies and sustainable practice policies
- what workplace and facilities services means to different organisations and how it is interpreted
- the types of best practice techniques in workplace and facilities services and how to apply these to different organisations and sectors involved in and affected by your work
- the range of workplace and facilities services that are offered and available to the organisation
- the responsibility of managing workplace and facilities services in accordance with the current legal requirements and social responsibilities
- the different models of delivering a workplace and facilities services service
- the importance of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and self-development in the management of workplace and facilities services
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Business efficiencies
This relates to the sustainable management of resources such as water, energy efficiency and waste management, in line with the organisation's business efficiency policies which aim at improving operational efficiency. In business, efficiency refers to the production of goods or the offering of services by using the smallest amount or resources, such as capital, energy etc. Efficient businesses can create products, offer services and accomplish their overall goals with the minimum effort, expense or waste.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Continuing professional development is the means by which people maintain their knowledge and skills related to their professional lives. CPD obligations are common to most professions.
Operational performance
This refers to an organisation's performance measured against a standard or prescribed indicator of effectiveness, efficiency, and environmental responsibility. These indicators could include time, productivity, waste reduction, and regulatory compliance.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
A service-level agreement (SLA) is a commitment between a service provider and a client. Aspects of the service – quality, availability, responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user. The most common component of an SLA is that the services should be provided to the customer as agreed upon in the contract.
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Social responsibilities
Social responsibilities refer to a type of self-regulatory business plan
and the efforts made by a company to improve society and contribute towards sustainable development. It describes initiatives run by a business to evaluate and take responsibility for their impact on issues ranging from human rights to the environment.
The business plan will focus on achieving economic, social and environmental benefits for all the stakeholders involved (employees, consumers, investors and other groups).
The purpose of it is to encourage businesses to conduct their companies in an ethical manner and work towards having a more positive impact on society through ensuring sustainable growth.
Sustainable practices
Sustainable business practices are characterised by environmentally friendly practices initiated by an organisation for the purposes of becoming more sustainable. Organisations aim to reduce their environmental footprint through initiatives that cut down on waste, poor environmental stewardship and unethical environmental practices so that they offer a reduced level of sustainability within the organisation's policies and practices.
Sustainable business practices differ between industries and are often specific to the type of organisation and the product or service it produces or provides.
Workplace and facilities services
Workplace and facilities services is "the organisational function which integrates people, place and process within the built environment with
the purpose of improving the quality of life of people and the productivity of the core business." Workplace and facilities services professionals are responsible for services that enable and support business performance.
All organisations have responsibilities under the current health, safety and welfare regulations to ensure the daily health, safety and welfare of their employees. This includes ensuring provisions are made for:
Workplace and facilities services (soft services)
• Soft services are ones that make the workplace more pleasant
or secure to work in.
Examples of soft services are cleaning, catering, security.
Facilities Management (hard services)
• Hard services are ones that relate to the physical fabric of the
building and cannot be removed. They ensure the safety and
welfare of employees and generally are required by law.
Examples of hard services are plumbing, heating and lighting.
Hard services are covered in the Facilities Management suite