Keeping Score: The Most Important Facility Management KPIs to Track

You don't know how you're doing until you actually measure it -- it's a universal law of business (and life!) most of us know, but not enough actually follow. Facility management KPIs make no exception from the rule: if you want to know you're making the most out of your office space, you need to measure (at least some of) the most important key performance indicators.

What are they -- and how to do this efficiently?

In this article, we're taking a closer look at facility and operations KPIs examples. Read on to find out more.

TL;DR:

  • Measuring KPIs is important across all business verticals, and facility management makes no exception 
  • Measuring facility management KPIs is important for cost management, employee engagement, and better business decisions 
  • There is a wide range of KPIs a facility manager can measure, across multiple areas, such as building and space management, cost optimization, employee experience, and sustainability/ energy-efficiency

Facility Management KPIs in the Hybrid Workplace

Hybrid workplaces are increasingly popular. We're not saying it, data is: nearly two-thirds of employees prefer hybrid work. And it makes all the sense, right? Hybrid work gives people the best of both worlds: flexibility, convenience, and work/life balance on one side and the social interaction of an office environment on the other.

However, managing a hybrid workplace comes with its own set of challenges. You need to ensure that both remote employees and those in the office enjoy similar experiences; you need to maximize efficiency while minimizing costs (and carbon footprint); and you need to make sure everyone is satisfied with the setup.

While most workplace KPIs are straightforward in traditional office settings, they become more complex in hybrid environments -- definitely not insurmountable, though. The reason measuring facility KPIs is more difficult in hybrid workplaces is because of the inherently different nature of physical and digital environments -- but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

man looking at a computer working remote

Key Performance Indicators vs Facilities Management Metrics

What is a KPI, and how is it different from other metrics? While general metrics in facilities management collect information about various aspects of your operations, not all this data will help you make decisions. This is where KPIs come into play.

KPIs are a specific type of metric with a unique role: they are closely tied to an organization's goals, set operational targets, and offer crucial information for making strategic choices. Essentially, KPIs are carefully chosen indicators that show how well the business is achieving its goals, serving as a navigational tool for leaders to steer the organization toward success.

Importance of Using Both KPIs and Metrics in Facility Management

While focusing only on KPIs might seem like a good idea because of their significant influence on achieving business goals, ignoring general metrics is not advisable. General metrics provide supporting data that is crucial for refining strategies. For instance, although a KPI like the downtime ratio can tell you how effective your equipment is, understanding the reasons behind downtime—by looking at various other metrics such as the equipment age or the average time taken for repairs—can guide you in taking preventive actions.

By using broad KPIs and detailed metrics together, facility managers can better oversee their operations and ensure their strategies align with overarching organizational objectives.

Importance of KPIs in the Facilities Management

Simply put, tracking facility management KPIs, you can gain insight into how well your hybrid workplace is performing and identify areas where improvement is needed. For example, when you track facility management KPIs, you can:

  • Monitor workplace occupancy levels and workplace utilization rates
  • Measure employee engagement with the physical workspace
  • Assess energy usage, costs, and sustainability initiatives
  • Evaluate office maintenance activities for efficiency and effectiveness
  • Analyze space layout for maximum productivity

Tracking these KPIs can help you manage your office space budget better, plan for future scalability, and assess workplace satisfaction. Ultimately, all these insights will help you optimize your hybrid workspace to ensure employees are productive, comfortable, and safe in both physical and virtual environments.

Top Facility Management KPIs to Keep an Eye On

Enough with the theory, though. If you're keen on measuring your facility management KPIs, learn that there are a few verticals you shouldn't miss when creating your process for the KPI measurement. Here's what you should know about each of them:

Building & Space Maintenance 

Building and space maintenance performance indicators refer to data you collect on the efficiency of the actual physical space around you. These metrics will tell you if the building is up to safety regulations, how quickly service requests are fulfilled, and how effective your cleaning services are. Some of the building and space maintenance KPIs to follow include:

  • Number of service requests
  • Service request response time
  • Building regulation compliance rate
  • Cleaning and sanitization effectiveness ratings
  • Money spent on new equipment vs repairs
  • Reactive maintenance vs proactive maintenance

Cost Optimization

Cost saving and optimization KPIs can frequently intersperse with other types of KPIs (including maintenance and sustainability ones). However, they also refer to other facility-specific expenses, such as energy consumption or vendor contracts. Key performance indicators you should follow in this area include:

  • Cost per square meter
  • Total energy consumption
  • Maintenance costs per year
  • Maintenance costs per square feet or square meter
  • Operation costs per square feet or square meter
  • Utility costs per square feet or square meter
  • Cleaning costs per square feet or square meter

Employee Experience

Employee experience KPIs can be harder to measure because you need to actually ask your employees and run regular surveys. However, measuring this type of KPIs is essential for both the Facility Management and the Human Resources team, so you can make sure everyone is happy in the workplace. Some of the employee experience KPIs you might want to consider include:

  • Employee satisfaction survey results
  • Comfort & ergonomic rating of the workspace
  • Employee engagement ratings
  • Safety & security (as seen by your employees)
  • Workplace facilities (also as seen by employees; this could include their opinions on the relaxation areas, phone call areas, meeting rooms, and so on.)

Sustainability & Energy Efficiency 

Last, but definitely not least, you want to track the energy efficiency of your facility and make sure you're making an effort to reduce your carbon footprint. Some sustainability & energy efficiency KPIs you need here include:

  • Overall energy consumption
  • Energy use intensity (EUI) per square foot or meter
  • Greenhouse gas emissions per square foot or meter
  • Carbon footprint

Side view of young businesswoman with long blond hair analyzing data

How Workplace Technology Can Help Track Facility Management KPIs

Thankfully, you don't have to be alone on your journey to better measure the efficiency of your facility management strategies. If you want to make the most out of this and ensure data is collected correctly and analyzed efficiently, you need to use technology designed for this purpose.

Some types of tools you can use for your facility management KPI tracking include:

  • Workplace analytics tools (to measure employee and visitor presence in the physical workspace)
  • Building analytics tools (to measure energy and resource consumption efficiency)
  • Workplace carbon footprint tracker (to measure the facility's carbon footprint

Measuring facility management KPIs may not be common, especially in very small businesses. However, the larger your business grows and the more complex your work model is (e.g., hybrid work models where everyone picks when they come into the office and when they don’t), the more dire the need for KPI measurement in facility management. While it may sound very difficult, modern tools can help you track the right metrics, generate reports (automatically), and draw insights based on your measurements. 

FAQs: Facility Management KPIs

What Are KPIs in Facility Management?

In facility management, KPIs (key performance indicators) usually measure the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a workspace. A good workplace should provide employees with a safe, comfortable environment and efficient services without overspending. Some facility management KPIs you could measure include energy efficiency, cost optimization, service requests response time, and employee satisfaction.

What Are a Facility Manager’s Primary KPIs? 

A facility manager's primary KPIs revolve around metrics that help them understand the efficiency of a workplace, how safe it is, how environmentally friendly it is, and ultimately, how much it helps employees perform at their very best. That being said, some of the primary KPIs a facility manager should look into include carbon footprint, energy use, physical workspace use, maintenance costs (per year, per square meter/ foot), as well as the ratio between planned maintenance and emergency maintenance.

How Is Facilities Management Measured? 

Facility management can be measured in many ways, and through the lens of many key performance indicators. Ideally, a facility manager uses a toolkit that helps them keep track of the more "invisible metrics" (such as carbon footprint, actual office space usage, etc.) and regular surveys where employees can share their opinion on the workplace itself.

How Do Facility Managers Set KPIs?

To set the right KPIs, facility managers must look into the actual needs and business goals of the organization they work with. This means they should analyze the business' primary concerns, put them against the industry/ economic context, and then draw appropriate conclusions on the metrics that must be followed.

Topics: Facility management

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