Whether you run a chain of retail or hospitality outlets, the challenges for facilities directors are the same. Managing the maintenance and operation of highly distributed premises — whether they’re shops, pubs, restaurants, cafes, wine bars or hotels — is possibly the toughest challenge for centralised directors.
Laborious processes and headaches
Due to a lack of shared, common technology and information security policies and procedures, the way things are done in many chains is manual, laborious and time-consuming. Scheduling checks and repairs and recording the data usually involves hand-written paper records and fragmented IT, like spreadsheets and email.
And facilities requests are usually dealt with via email and phone. All this makes standardised compliance with H&S, fire regulations, COSHH and data protection a headache for facilities directors. It also fails to provide accountability in the system and falls short of offering transparency into the workflow. Often, sifting through multiple spreadsheets to prepare reports for the board can take several days.
Removing headaches for facilities directors
With today’s technology, like ServiceNow, businesses can digitally record and store all this information within one internet-based platform, with multiple apps for each service area, in this case Facilities Service Management. Furthermore, tracking engineers and maintenance staff can be automated, along with rescheduling features that help support the efficient use of field-based workers. This can even extend to fully traceable and recorded field worker risk assessments. No more lost records; quicker, easier recovery of data, more accountability and an ability to identify trends and bottlenecks in the workflow processes.
All in all, it’s a powerful tool for managing facilities in a retail or hospitality business which has scores of sites dotted around the country.
Legislation demands more
Furthermore, government legislation is starting to expect this way of working from larger businesses when it comes to compliance. So using a system like ServiceNow, where data is stored electronically, is fast-becoming the norm, not some ‘futuristic’ ideal. Many ServiceNow users have extended the reporting data to help reduce the cost of their compliance and quality standards by reducing the complexity associated with the audit process.
Improved insight
The ServiceNow Facilities Service Management app creates an online ‘storefront’ for businesses, with user-friendly interfaces for all staff, so managers can see information presented in customisable dashboards, and end-users can send requests and track progress — all within the same app.
Self-service culture
On top of this, the self-service facilities portal provides 24/7 access to facilities information and services on mobile devices as well as desktop computers. This means field based workers have access to up-to-date information. They can then respond to urgent requests more effectively and link repairs to orders (where equipment is part of the repair) which can be included in meeting their SLAs and KPIs.
Tying it together — a new way to work
Chains across the country are streamlining the way they work with ServiceNow, a suite of apps designed specifically for the retail and hospitality sector. Download our ebook: ‘Gaining a Competitive Advantage in Hospitality and Retail’ for more ServiceNow benefits to your organisation.
