Facilities Management Trends – 2018
Facilities Management in 2018, what’s on the agenda and what should we be looking to change?
Workplace wellness is a big, big thing
This may be seen as more of a HR or office management topic, and you’d be forgiven for thinking what does this have to do with FM?
The push for employee wellness has been a hot subject in the last few years and I’ve seen firsthand some incredible workplaces both here in Sydney and in London. Employees spend a huge amount of their time inside these workplaces and the facilities can make a vast difference in productivity and employee satisfaction. All equalling a happy workforce!
This is how the role of an FM is evolving. The manager of a building label (in terms of fabric, M&E and soft services) is no longer. Facilities Managers are now being tasked with also looking at the “experiences” of a building and how these can be improved. One example may be the quality or even presence of end of trip facilities, or the different types of lighting used and access to natural sunlight. Even the open plan office set up is under question due to the stressful distractions and noise causing stress and negatively affecting performance.
The entire ‘Outsourcing’ debate
Being from the UK originally and having a large network in London, I’ve kept up to date with the whole Carillion collapse and the fallout that has happened, subsequently affecting hundreds of people and their families.
The microscope is out on these large outsourced providers now, looking at how they operate and more importantly price themselves to win the business in hope to avoid this in the future. Hopefully procurement professionals from both public and private sector entities can take note of this and the profit margins they thought possible are in fact damaging to both the stability and service of the suppliers.
This ultimately should be a positive sign for outsourced suppliers which have a history of being forced down on profit margins and dishing out smaller and smaller quotes to win the business. Let’s just not get greedy now hey…
Security
Unfortunately, the current world we live in there is a constant level of threat in some shape or form to buildings/offices/companies and more importantly employees and consumers. You only have to put on the news to see terror threats, I.T data breaches etc.
FM’s role in this? Well number one would be the working relationship with security teams, be that in house or contracted. This working relationship needs to work harmoniously to prevent activity that could cause harm to the facility or occupants within. Sounds ominous doesn’t it? But it’s all a preventative measure that is imperative in this day and age, especially in major cities.
These are only a few topics I’ve had discussions with clients and candidates over the first half of 2018 and I’m sure there are many more out there that are relevant to shaping this industry.
As ever, I’d be keen to speak with people in the industry for more views and opinions they may have and of course assist in securing a new role or hiring new FM talent.
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