BENCHMARKING
Facilities Management
BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – www.governmentbusiness.co.uk
Written by Mike Packham, British Institute of Facilities Management
WHEN IS AN APPLE NOT AN APPLE?
Mike Packham, technical expert at the BIFM considers the role of ‘benchmarking’ in effective facilities management So, when is an apple not an apple? The answer to this somewhat juvenile riddle is, of course, when it is an orange, pear, pomegranate, or any other type of fruit you care to mention. This might seem a strange way to start an article that is ostensibly about benchmarking, but my objective is to demonstrate that the sentiment behind it is entirely germane to what can be one of the most powerful weapons in the facilities manager’s armoury. Before starting to develop this proposition, it is perhaps appropriate to review some of the things that benchmarking can be used for – and here I refer back to the BIFM’s Good Practice Guide to Benchmarking, which I was fortunate enough to be involved in the production of. POTENTIAL USES OF BENCHMARKING According to the Guide, benchmarking can be used to provide a baseline against which
to measure service improvements (in terms of cost, process, quality, etc). It is a means of ascertaining the competitiveness of the services being provided when compared to an open market situation. And it is a means of demonstrating to the ‘parent’ organisation that facilities management (FM) services are being provided efficiently and economically. Benchmarking can also be an alternative to a more resource hungry (and hence more costly) re-procurement exercise (why go to the market if your services are already being provided at a competitive
rate?). In the case of a ‘new’ building, it is a way of generating a realistic estimate of what the required FM services ought to cost for a given service quality. When assessing FM tenders in an outsourcing/ re-tendering scenario, benchmarking can be a methodology for assessing whether the tender returns are both in‑line with open market expectations and will provide the required service level. To those readers who are paying attention, it should be evident that there is a common theme running through the potential uses of benchmarking as mentioned. And that common theme is comparison, but not just comparison on any old basis. If we are to draw meaningful conclusions from a benchmarking exercise, then the comparison needs to be undertaken on a strict like‑for‑like basis. To achieve this we need to have two things in place: a classification protocol and a standard method of measurement. E
So, when is an apple not an apple? When it is an orange, pear, pomegranate or any fruit you care to mention. The sentiment behind which is entirely germane to what can be one of the most powerful weapons in the facilities manager’s armoury Volume 20.6 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
45