Managing & prioritizing work in an evolving industry
Work order management can often be complicated and time consuming. And as the CRE industry faces a growing talent shortage for engineers, work order management has become more difficult. In fact, property managers said that prioritizing and managing work has become the top priority for equipping engineers this year (40%). That figure differs from last year’s report, where the top priority for equipping engineers was knowledge transfer from seasoned to junior engineers.
Top 5 priorities for equipping engineers YOY
Lack of staffing resources and personnel could explain why prioritizing and managing work has become more crucial for engineers. Property managers surveyed for this report said that lack of staffing resources is a top challenge to completing work orders.
For property managers working with smaller teams, technology that can help streamline and automate processes will be an important contributor to success. That’s especially crucial for tenant satisfaction, as property managers surveyed for this report noted faster responses to work orders as one of the most common tenant requests they get.
However, completing work orders promptly poses a challenge, since ordering parts has become more difficult (and costly) due to material shortages and supply chain issues. Supply chain issues are affecting CRE property teams and the bottom line in several ways, including:
- Increased costs
- Delayed projects or work orders
- Difficulty in finding replacement materials or services
- Decreased tenant satisfaction due to disruptions, which could lead to attrition
Supply chain disruptions aren’t something property managers can control – so it’s important to focus on the things you can control. In those cases, having a streamlined way to create purchase orders directly from work orders could be beneficial for property teams. When purchase orders are linked to work orders and a material library, property teams can track costs and quantities for a single building or an entire portfolio.
What is your biggest challenge when it comes to completing work orders?
Staffing resources to complete work orders
Prioritizing work orders
Ordering parts
Volume of work orders
Ordering services
Other/None
Meeting SLAs of tenants
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