Mobil Corporation's facilities management network.

Mobil sets the standard for a true communications network.

A successful platform for best practices in any global business requires both imagination and foresight. Some companies talk a lot about it; others just do it. And there are those that talk about it first; then do it - and do it

better. Like the facilities management team at Fairfax, VA-head-quartered Mobil Corporation. Here, and throughout Mobil's businesses in 100-plus countries, a decidedly ambitious and precedent-setting facilities group combines the company's successful business philosophies with an entrepreneurial spirit quite unique to big business - one with an interactive "voice" heard around the world.

Although Mobil had long recognized the key role Facilities Management played in workplace productivity and the bottom line - in 1994, Mobil spent $385 million worldwide to occupy and operate office/lab facilities - no one predicted just how significant that voice would inspire performance, in personnel and properties. Where there once existed common, fundamental values, assumptions, and a consensus of strategic direction (the "usual" framework of a corporate facilities structure), Mobil's facilities group established a responsible - and responsive - network of communication. "Full information," an enhancement to these more formal structures, created a framework by which the new operating principles of the facilities organization could be developed, nurtured, and allowed to flourish.

And flourish they must, according to Mobil's Mission statement: "to be a dynamic company that will continually find and develop opportunities for profitable growth in our core businesses, and that will realize the greatest value from our existing assets while keeping tight control of our costs." This objective, according to Mobil Chairman, President, and CEO Lucio A. Noto, relies on employee empowerment - and mutual accountability - as its pivotal centerpiece "to make Mobil a company that, in the words of our Vision statement, sets the standard for excellence."

In 1989, that standard for facilities excellence came under fire, when Mobil relocated its headquarters from New York City to Fairfax. Reduced overhead was management's mandate, and Fred Schoenebom, a seasoned professional in Mobil's Design and Construction division, was tagged to coordinate any necessary transitions. He was asked: Are there opportunities to reduce overhead costs in facilities? How much is it costing to run buildings? Is Mobil doing a good job in the facilities area? Schoeneborn readily admits he knew a lot about building buildings. But did he know how to run them efficiently?

He soon found out.

In his new capacity within Mobil's Facility Management Coordination, a voluntary program in Real Estate Services dedicated to providing management tools for the cost-effective operation of Mobil's facilities worldwide, Schoeneborn relied upon his many contacts, both in and out of Mobil, to receive his education. A give-and-take exchange ensued, and out of that reciprocity came a facilities management network unlike any other. Today, according to Schoeneborn, the internal Mobil facilities management network shares facilities information with more than 10 outside companies, including such leaders as Johnson & Johnson, Chase, and AT&T.

"You can't manage what you can't measure," a phrase coined by Ed O'Shea from Chase, one of Schoeneborn's many colleagues, became a fundamental basis for the network's efforts in Facility Management, Energy Management, and Mobil's Office Facility Recycling Program. Each relies on developing a comprehensive benchmark of existing costs, services, or strategies through the program's well-packaged assessment guides. However, achieving results becomes site specific, as Mobil's Facility Management Plan not only encourages flexibility and innovation, it requires it:

"The [Facilities Management Business] Plan provides a framework for defining and assigning roles and responsibilities. It is intended to challenge each of us with realistic, attainable, positive, and measurable objectives. It also ensures that people are individually rewarded for achieving their objectives.

"There is a clear intention that, if you are responsible for an activity, you have the freedom to use your experience, knowledge, and skills, together with those of your colleagues and other Mobil resources, to achieve the best result. You devise the solutions. You make sure they work. This does not mean you are on your own. You are free to consult your line manager, specialist advisers within the Internal Resource Program, or anyone else [in or out of Mobil] you think can help. There are also standards, procedures, and guidance to refer to. When you need advice, guidance, or resources, they will be provided."

Advice, guidance, and resources come from a cadre of facilities professionals who interact informally, as well as through Mobil's more formal training and career development programs: on-site training, facility audits, organization and staff development, and continuing education programs through the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). Through Facility Management Coordination, multi-day regional and international facilities management seminars afford participants opportunities to communicate with their global counterparts face-to-face - all focused on common goals, and with inventive, thoughtful, and often different approaches.

Encouragement and recognition prevail, a fact appreciated by those in the network - and not unnoticed by Mobil management. After all, Schoeneborn notes, management now realizes (through information exchanges with the Facilities Management Network) that, over the life of a facility, maintenance costs are eight times the cost of building it.

But trust and strength in numbers didn't happen overnight, as Schoeneborn recalls. "We slowly built our Network: In 1990, we had nine facilities participating in the Network; in 1991, 42; and now we're around 91."

In retrospect, Donald R. Bianchi, CFM, Mobil Chemical's manager of Facilities Management, Rochester (NY) Area, remembers his first meeting with Schoeneborn to discuss Facility Management Coordination. "I had worked in Corporate in New York City before I went to Rochester, and when [Schoeneborn] said, 'Hi, I'm Fred from Corporate. I want to help you.' I said, That means more work for me.'

"But, then, we started. He came to see me. We talked and shared information. And the trust was built rather quickly."

Rapport and dialogue alone, however, don't ensure success, adds Bianchi. "There are other ingredients to a successful network: enthusiasm, energy, marketing skills, and an ability to showcase people who want to contribute, to name a few," he says, pointing to a number of awards, recognitions, and framed documents on Schoeneborn's office walls - visible evidence of Facilities' continuing (and shared) success.

It's that foundation that will see Facilities through its Staff Redesign Project (SRP), in which downsizing and outsourcing will play a more prevalent role in meeting Mobil's facilities needs. An organizational structure of shared services is under development as well, opening up opportunities for Facilities as a business unit while creating new competitive challenges as an "independent" service provider.

Clearly, it's no small task. But success will be measured, then ensured, by those who can communicate among themselves and with their customers. Who better than Mobil's Facilities Management Network?