For a place to operate smoothly, you need proper facility management services like security, health and safety measures, building and asset functionality, etc. And this is something required in all factories, Premises, and real estate properties. To make this work efficiently, you need hard and soft services to take care of your facility management needs.
The kind of facility management services you will need may differ depending on the infrastructure of your building, your assets, and the services you specifically ask for. E.g. Some companies require security services, while others are more focused on the management of different appliances, or health regulations.
Whatever your requirement, there are two types of facility management that can make it easier for you to choose which services you need at any given moment:
- Hard Services: Services pertaining to the physical structure of the Premises.
- Soft Services: Services installed to make a facility more comfortable.
Both these services are important to ensure that the building is managed efficiently, and is maximizing operational productivity, and leading to employee satisfaction.
In this blog, we will discuss both hard and soft services, what they include, and how they’re managed.
Hard Facilities Management Services
Hard facility management services, as discussed above, refer to the building’s physical structure. They’re required by law, directly affect the well-being and safety of employees/residents, and can’t be removed or eliminated. They include:
- Janitorial Service
- AC maintenance
- Electrical Service
- Civil Work
- Plumbing Service
Soft Facilities Management Services
Soft facility management services aren’t mandatory or even required by law, their existence depends upon how much you need that particular service more than anything else. Soft services are more focused on making a building more efficient and comfortable for its occupants. The kind of soft facility services you acquire depends on your operational requirements. They include the following:
- Gardening
- Fumigation
- Janitorial services
- Tank cleaning services
- Deep cleaning services
Hard and Soft Services – Which one do you need?
In order to determine which facility management service you need, you need to answer the following:
- Is the service required by law?
- Is it central to your company’s operations?
- Will there be huge consequences for not providing the service?
- Is it relevant to company operations? Will it increase efficiency?
Once these questions are answered, you can determine whether the service you need is hard or soft. You will also need to consider your nature of work, as certain businesses need certain services whereas others don’t.
This is all you need to know about the basics of hard and soft services when it comes to facility management. These services may seem challenging to install, but in the long run, they make your workplace/house safer and more comfortable for employees/residents. Hence, you need to take every factor into account when choosing the services you need.