OpenWorks Versus Traditional Facility Management Companies

Facilities management, including commercial cleaning is complicated, and mastering it requires consistent training, specialized tools, and advanced techniques. Once you decide to go with a traditional facilities management company, you need assurances that the company will meet all your facilities' individual needs. 

The largest facility management companies do not provide true janitorial service because janitorial is extremely difficult. It's one of the three jobs on the planet where nobody notices if the job is done well. If it's not, everybody notices and has an opinion because everyone believes they know how to perform it.

We know that's not true. But the larger traditional facility management companies want you to believe it's simple and that all your sites can be treated similarly. The bottom line is they shouldn't be, and your sites are unique. And they should be treated as such.

Let's break down what's missing in a traditional facility management company and how OpenWorks is different:

1. Traditional FM Lacks Personal Attention.

All companies claim to offer personalized attention, but traditional facility management companies struggle to deliver personal attention to smaller and medium-size companies. That’s because they are structured to meet the needs of large corporations that require on-site facility managers and staff. These companies implant facility teams inside large, enterprise organizations that need a full presence during all times of operation and an extensive range of services including: foodservice, parking, security, grounds maintenance, procurement, energy management, and cleaning.

If you manage an airport, large stadium, data center, or public university, traditional facility management companies may be a good fit for you. This focus on larger customers means that other clients may not receive the personal attention and focus they need. Instead, you receive a standard, generalized level of service at each of your sites.

This lack of personal attention can lead to disastrous results, especially if your company must adhere to regulations including the Department of Health, OSHA, or the FDA. A shutdown from these organizations will stop your operations while you fix issues, document them, and wait for another inspection.

<sup>OpenWorks is structured to meet the needs of multi-site, specialty companies that require standard operational processes across their sites, but with personal attention at the site level.

That’s because OpenWorks partners with franchises and service providers that understand your local needs, while OpenWorks Performance Managers and Account Managers ensure quality and consistency of service.</sup>

2. A Never-Ending Battle of Quality.

Traditional facility management companies use what’s known as a self-perform model. Unlike OpenWorks, service providers working at your sites are directly employed by the FM company. These employees are typically minimum wage-earning workers, which experience upwards of a 200% turnover rate.

This means that new employees are continually re-learning all the nuances of your sites. And it creates a constant hiring and training cycle that leads to inconsistent results and building inefficiencies.  As a result of consistent turnover, traditional facility management companies have become proficient at creating standardized processes and employee training.

Although this training is designed to meet most of the service needs of many companies, it is not designed to meet your specific service needs. This simplification results in a one-size-fits-all cleaning approach with a constant influx of new service employees that do not understand your business.

Jillamy, a third-party logistics provider, experienced this when their traditional facility management provider left them exposed to FDA and OSHA audit risk when the provider model could not accommodate for specific service needs in their Phoenix location. They required a company that could create operational consistency while understanding the different needs in Phoenix versus Los Angeles.

<sup>OpenWorks service providers include independent business owners that take pride in the quality of work performed. We offer personalized attention to each of your sites, customized cleaning programs, and a streamlined single point-of-contact.

In addition, OpenWorks will provide a tailored solution to each of your sites with data and an in-depth needs assessment that will save you money and time.</sup>  

3. Traditional FM Includes Management Fees.

Traditional facility management companies not only provide services and staffing. They also provide management oversight of your operation. This bundled service cost is known as a “property management" fee. This recurring charge can be a flat fee or a percentage of service billing.

Management fees are a foundational part of the traditional FM model. However, we find that most of our customers do not require that level of management oversight and therefore pay for a fee that is unnecessary.

With today’s technology, facility leaders can work with service providers to streamline their operations and provide consistent service across their locations. Unless you require outsourced staffing at your facility, the traditional FM management fees and services are not necessary to meet your needs and can actually place your organization at risk.

<sup>OpenWorks provides a variety of facilities management services with one point-of-contact, corporate oversight, and technology tools to provide customer visibility and self-service. 

Customers receive end-to-end service management without management fees.</sup>

OpenWorks is a facility management leader because we care about what we do and the people we work with. Our unparalleled quality, customer service, robust technology solutions, and proven network of elite service providers continue to deliver consistent solutions that exceed expectations and have earned us an industry-leading 99% customer retention rate.

Our mission is to make your world work better. And we're here to get you there every step of the way. This year, make your employees your priority by taking care of them where they need it the most – at the office. Schedule your free consultation with OpenWorks to learn about our facility management services today.