Integrated facility management incorporates soft services to ensure a pleasant and safe working environment. Soft services encompass a range of solutions, including improving accessibility, enhancing aesthetics, and elevating cleanliness standards. Though not essential for basic functionality, these services promote workplace productivity, satisfaction, and overall quality of life. To ensure client satisfaction, soft services must maintain high standards of hygiene, cleanliness, and comfort across all areas.

The Facility Management market in Egypt is experiencing rapid growth, largely due to the ongoing infrastructural development nationwide. Additionally, increased public awareness, particularly around the importance of hygiene in soft services, is driving this growth. Such hygiene measures have become a key requirement for many clients seeking facility management services, prompting companies to enhance their efforts to meet these demands and maintain industry-leading standards.

The demand for soft services has experienced significant growth due to the rapid development of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Additionally, the changing economic environment has contributed to an increased demand for facilities management services, leading service providers to innovate to improve productivity, maintain quality, and continue to sustain growth. To address the needs of the highly price-sensitive end-user sectors, we initiated a digitization journey in 2004 that began with the implementation of a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to significantly improve efficiency and enable cost savings. Customer reports were then developed to improve customer access to facility information. Subsequently, we introduced an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to improve inter-departmental communication and provide better resource tracking. 

In 2022, we launched the Client Mobile Application to enable customers to access real-time data and

reports on their mobile devices. Finally, in pursuit of our continuous improvement objectives, we embarked on the first phase of our Client Web Application, which will provide better control and monitoring of soft services plans and processes. The application includes a customized checklist to track the status of each area (clean and uncleaned) and targeted areas, along with the time of cleaning. These initiatives aim to make it simpler for customers to access their data and enable organizations to maintain focus on industry-leading standards.

In addition to our efforts in digitalization, incorporating highly qualified personnel through comprehensive and rigorous training procedures is essential in achieving and maintaining superior service levels. Our staff training is focused on leveraging the most advanced tools and equipment to consistently deliver excellent services, while optimizing time management for maximum efficiency. Furthermore, investing in employee training and development enhances their sense of purpose, fosters a positive work environment, and promotes employee retention, which can lead to better outcomes both for the employees and the company. By nurturing employees' skills and career aspirations, we demonstrate our commitment to their growth and satisfaction, which positively impacts the overall performance of our organization.

About the author

Fady Samir is the Deputy Operations Director- Soft Services at Contrack Facilities Management S.A.E, Egypt.