Facility Management

Crean International having gained extensive experience in Afghanistan can offer a comprehensive, discreet facilities management service that focuses not alone on the management of infrastructure, but also combines the provision of professional advice to senior management with responsibilities critical to the client’s business.

Crean International provides facility management services as a part of its business portfolio. Facility management is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality. This is built by integrating people, places, processes and technology in any environment. Core Competencies of our Facility Management services are:

  • Communication;
  • Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity;
  • Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability;
  • Finance & Business;
  • Human Factors;
  • Leadership and Strategy;
  • Operations and Maintenance;
  • Project Management;
  • Quality;
  • Real Estate and Property Management;
  • Technology.

In dealing with the volatile and unpredictable environment in Afghanistan, Crean staff, while working with the Telecommunications Development Company Afghanistan (Roshan), developed an operational policy based on community involvement and launched as an acceptance strategy. The strategy is designed to manage risk and security concerns of companies and individuals in complex environments.

Prior to the creation of the acceptance concept the telecommunications sites, consisting of towers and communications equipment, were constructed and protected through the deployment of a combination of state and private security.

Disruption and attacks on sites resulted in the associated cost of security becoming unacceptable and restricted the expansion of the telecommunications backbone infrastructure, essential to the commercial growth of the industry. The acceptance strategy once engaged has successfully permitted the sector to extend an operational footprint to all thirty four provinces in Afghanistan.

2. Acceptance Strategy

The strategy derives its roots from the Non-Government Organisation (NGO) community who in order to deliver services and aid to countries and communities, either disrupted or in conflict, sought consent from the parties involved to operate. The consent obtained through communication and relationship building reduced the risk environment thus enabling the establishment of programmes.

Through Crean’s experience in Afghanistan they have developed this process to create a unique operating strategy, implemented through their facilities management service delivered to the telecommunications sector. The strategy engages a partnership approach from Crean to community involvement in accepting the projects and involves a step by step process that contains elements of communications, negotiation, respect and cooperation.

The strategy also delivers economic benefits to each community where Crean operates through the employment of local staff selected and trained in consultation with e community leaders and deployed with the ethnic, religious and political considerations specific to each operational district.

3. Elements of an acceptance strategy

The key elements of Crean’s acceptance strategy have been aligned with the project’s mission goals and the community requirements, each deliverable through the relationships that have benefited both over the past eight years. Crean on behalf of the company to whom they are providing services will act as the responsible party on behalf of their partners.

The key components of the strategy are summarised as follows:

  • Crean’s mission is transparent and communicated to the community.
  • Crean’s activities are impartial.
  • Community involvement in the design and evaluation of projects.
  • Community has a stake in the project(s) and participates actively.
  • Project(s) reflects local priorities and delivers short and long benefits to the community.
  • Crean staff and conduct are at all times cognisant of the acceptance policy guidelines.
  • Written policy and training provided to all Crean regional and district managers and staff.
  • Crean’s employment policy is transparent, communicated to the community and geared towards local employment.

4. Conclusion

The Crean facilities management service places high value on the partnerships created throughout Afghanistan. The company structure and staff are focused on monitoring and responding immediately to any disruption to the business operation or the relationship with the partner communities. Specific examples may be studied, whether tower disruption or staff kidnapping. The strategy has been ‘operationalised’ successfully and through experienced staff this process can be applied to other theatres through Crean’s facilities management offering.

With the goal of delivering reduced risk and managing security in complex environments, the strategy is based on creating partnerships while delivering mutual benefits to corporate entities and communities.