Considering Skills in a CAFM systems

Following on from my previous blog on Configuring SLA and KPI's in a CAFM system, I thought it would be a logical progression into employees’ skills.

Getting the right person to a job, not only helps with first-time fix ratios and productivity but also in certain circumstances meets statutory requirements. I am, as in the previous blogs, looking at this from a Facilities Management perspective and configuring a Computer-Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system.

So, what is a skill? From an IT perspective, I would group these as qualifications, information, and competencies, that are specific to an employee undertaking their role.

Qualification skills

A formal certified qualification that confirms the employee has attained a certain level of competency. These need to be understood as, for example, an Electrician may hold several different City and Guilds qualifications, and certain jobs such as High Voltage require a specific qualification.

Qualifications may expire or require recertification. So, this needs to be planned into the systems to allow sufficient time for recertification. The system should prompt action that facilitates the booking of training courses and tracking of results accordingly.

Don’t forget to capture the obvious skills like the ability to drive, multiple languages, etc.

Information skills

These are the ones related to efficient scheduling of employees:

1. Site induction - many companies require an induction into a site for such areas as Health and Safety etc.
2. Permits to work on site.
3. Zoning - this would be a skill related to the geographical locations an employee covers.
4. Secure location – so specific security clearance is required to work on site.

I have wondered if roles should be added to this section such as a crew leader, but I will leave this one open to debate amongst the readerships.

Competency Skills

In this, I would add those related to qualifications supporting best working practice and safety, so examples would be:

1. Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM)
2. National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH)
3. Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH)
4. Trained at working at heights
5. Confined space trained

You also need to cover the reverse of the above, so a person may have a “must not” skill. So, a person may not visit a site with animals etc.

In the above I have not covered the level of skills or what costs this attracts, that is for another article on scheduling that I hope to write in the near future.

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