In FMJ's regular monthly column, our team of FM experts answer your
questions about the world of facilities management
THE CHAIR OF IWFM NORTH REGION’S VIEW
MARK WHITTAKER,
FM SOLUTIONS CONSULTANT,
THOMSON FM AND CHAIR OF
IWFM, NORTH REGION
It has been an eventful 12
months for many within the FM
profession and I believe a very
useful opportunity to reflect on
not only the future direction the
industry should take, but also to
learn the lessons from what has
happened, particularly in terms
of unsustainable margins and
supply chain relationships.
A clear shi– of the industry to adopt and embrace
the workplace agenda will continue apace in
2019. Many from both the supply and client
sides are looking at how they can improve
the workplace experience through the
adoption of cutting-edge technology,
introduction of more innovative working
practices and the development and
training of sta— in the right skill-sets.
The key for me has to be fundamentally
understanding the needs of the
customer and to then develop workplace
strategy around that. The benefits in
terms of improved productivity, reduced
absenteeism, higher sta— retention and the
ability to attract the best talent has to be the
inevitable bi-product.
Sta— ‘happiness’ and the metrics used to measure this I
believe will grow in importance in the coming months. Many
20 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019
organisations do undertake
sta— surveys and for FM to
gain greater traction in the
boardroom, we have to be
able to evidence the improving
experience of our workplace
customers and not just solely
concentrate on the impact on the
bottom line. User experience scoring
metrics still remain rare within FM Service
Level Agreements and Key Performance
Indicators, in part due to the subjective nature of
some of the judgements (“too hot” “too cold”, etc.) and
the need for a su— icient sample size. However, if we are serious
about our service industry credentials, we have to be more
proactive and imaginative in the measurement of the customer
experience, starting with the dropping of the outdated term and
aspiration of customer “satisfaction”; we should set our goals
higher, I believe.
The collapse of Carillion and continued speculation on the
financial performance of others has been very damaging for
the profession and dented the confidence of many with the
outsourcing model. One trend which I believe will continue
into 2019 will be for organisations to fundamentally review
their facilities management delivery model and for some, a
new strategy will emerge to manage and potentially deliver the
services using in-house resources and expertise. I sense risk
aversion in completely outsourcing their FM service delivery for
increasing numbers and is a road they no longer wish to take.
Time will tell if this is a short-term trend.
If we are also looking to the next 12 months, unfortunately we
can’t avoid the “B” word. I am regularly asked about what
I believe the impact of Brexit will be on the industry?
The simple and unsatisfying answer is usually “I
don’t know yet.” Yes, there will inevitably be
some inflationary pressures, particularly on
imported goods and materials and worsening
availability of skilled professionals, but
the scale is simply impossible to currently
predict.
The same unpredictability also applies for
the procurement of FM services within the
public sector, which are currently governed
by OJEU regulations, if the contract value
falls above the set financial thresholds. I
strongly suspect many organisations either
will extend current arrangements and “see what
happens” in the market or alternatively use existing
procured frameworks, such as the Crown Commercial
Services FM Framework (RM3830), to be able to evidence a fair
and transparent procurement process.
FM CLINIC
It’s been an eventful year
for the FM sector which
began with the high -
profile collapse of Carillion
and ensuring debates over
the viability of FM contracts
and ended with the adoption
of the BIFM’s ‘Manifesto for
Change’ proposals to change
the member’s body name to the
Institute of Workplace and Facilities
Management. This opened up a discussion
on the direction of travel for FM and its role in the
wider built environment. What would you predict could
be the biggest issues to impact on the sector next year?
Mark Whittaker
ADVICE & OPINION
The collapse of Carillion
and continued speculation on the
financial performance of others has
been very damaging for the profession
and dented the confidence of many
with the outsourcing model.”
– Mark Whittaker