Benchmark: The world's leading facility management providers

What are the world’s leading facility management providers? New research by Hospitality Group sheds light on the sectors frontrunners, and what they are doing to stand out from the rest.

In the inaugural edition of its ‘Facility Management Provider Performance’ benchmark, Hospitality Group sets out to explore what defines excellence in the industry, and which providers receive the most plaudits from their clients.

Several of the world’s largest facility management organisations were included in the analysis, with clients responsible for facility operations asked to review the performance of providers across six dimensions. Clients from across all corners of the globe participated in the study.

Across the board, the analysis concludes that facility management providers are coming a long way in achieving the objectives of their clients, with an average score of 8.1 out of 10.

Asked what defines a successful relationship, most clients pointed at operational excellence (meaning providers have full control of processes and that they are efficient and streamlined) and relationship & collaboration (the ability of a provider to build and nurture a constructive and mutually beneficial relationship with a client).

Notably, the facility management providers assessed score highest on these two elements, according to the researchers demonstrative of “the awareness of the importance of meeting market needs”.

The other dimensions assessed were: Alignment with the core business, Integration of services, Reporting and financial management, and Innovation and continuous improvement.

In 95% of all facility management contracts studied, maintenance (e.g. corrective- and preventive maintenance and/or handyman services) and cleaning (e.g. office cleaning, waste management and/or sanitary supplies) activities are part of the mandate, illustrating the high inclination to outsource these areas of service.

While they do fall under the responsibility of facility providers, they in practice tend to subcontract this work to third party providers specialised in services such as security, cleaning and food services. Meanwhile, facility management services such as service desk, contract management and/or site management tend to be performed by in-house employees.

Meet the leaders

In terms of scores, the top spot in Hospitality Group’s benchmark goes to Mace Operate (part of engineering giant Mace), with an average score of 8.5 out of 10. Flexim ranks second (8.4), followed by Jones Lang LaSalle (8.0). The fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively go to Sodexo (7.9), ISS (7.5) and CBRE (7.4).

Notably, smaller facility management service providers (based on: workforce and revenue) tend to outperform their larger peers in terms of client satisfaction levels. Despite enjoying less financial muscle, smaller players are able to “operate more agile and therefore better align their processes to the client’s needs and ensure more adaptability throughout the working relationship.”

More information? View the full study on the Facility Management Provider Performance website.