Äänekoski's properties and green areas are managed with close cooperation and more cost-effectively than ever before

The city of Äänekoski and the city-owned Äänekosken Kiinteistönhoito Oy are working on a new type of cooperation in providing property maintenance services. A new type of strategic partnership operating model has proven to be cost-effective, processes have become more efficient and cooperation has increased.
Äänekoski city's real estate maintenance and upkeep services have been implemented since 2021 with the help of a new type of cooperation-based strategic partnership operating model. Äänekoski city vs. developer manager Erika Räihä has just finished his YAMK degree thesis on the topic.
- Previously, we had a client-producer model with Äänekoski Kiinteistönhoindo, meaning that we only did what was agreed in the contract. Now let's think together and solve the problems together. Close and concrete cooperation, Erika Räihä describes.
- As far as I know, no other city or municipality is using such a partnership model for providing real estate management services. We have been using it for the third year now and it has brought cost savings, closer cooperation and we have a lower threshold to communicate with each other. We are also interacting with each other even more, Räihä says.
The goal is cost efficiency and better services
During the first two years, the operating model fell short of the savings targets set for the contract period. Property management was implemented 23% more cost-effectively than in 2020. However, the quality of property management remained at least at the same level as before the implementation of the operating model. In addition to cost savings in property management, the operational model's enhanced processes have also brought other savings, e.g. the time needed to process invoices has decreased considerably.
Property maintenance services have been produced more comprehensively than before. The property management contract in the partnership includes not only property management but also maintenance and user services.
The partnership model works when there are the same goals and the background is a common Äänekoski phenomenon strategy. In the partnership, there are work pairs across organizational boundaries and the work is guided by the partnership's own organization.
In the operating model, there is a commitment to jointly agreed goals. These goals are cost efficiency and better services.
The strategic partnership agreement has been drawn up as a five-year cooperation agreement with the city of Äänekoski and ÄänekoskenKiinteistönhoito Oy. The services of the strategic partnership include all the support services that Äänekosken Kiinteistönhoito Oy provides for Äänekoskenkaupunki. The property maintenance part is one part of a broader strategic partnership agreement. The partners of the partnership have agreed on the development of property management services in cooperation with the help of a joint organization.
The experiences have been good
After the first two years, regarding property maintenance services, the quality of property management services has been investigated by means of a survey of property users and a survey of operators. The studies show that people are satisfied with the services and quality of property management in Äänekoski.
In the most recent resident survey of the city of Äänekoski, the quality of property management received a rating of 3,7, when the quality was evaluated on a rating scale of one to five. In addition to this, those implementing the activity felt that the new operating model is a clearer whole than before and that cooperation and communication between organizations have increased.
In addition to this, the survey has sought proposals for measures for the development of property management, and based on these, a plan has been drawn up for the development of property management services for the period at the end of the contract period. The purpose is to achieve increasingly cost-effective processes and better property management quality and service. By the end of the contract period, the goal is to achieve a commendable quality level in terms of property management.
- The strategic partnership operating model has enabled wider and multi-level cooperation between the partners of the partnership. As a result, the operating model has been developed so that everyone's strengths have been used to promote the common goal, says Erika Räihä.

For more information:
Vs. developer manager Erika Räihä, 040 762 3811, erika.raiha@aanekoski.fi
Erika Räihä's thesis 2023: A strategic partnership operating model as part of the development of real estate services
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News published 5.7.2023, modified 7.8.2023/08/45 at XNUMX:XNUMX