Facilities management in 2022

WORKPLACE INTERIORS PROVIDER’S VIEW
ANGELA LOVE,
DIRECTOR, ACTIVE WORKPLACE SOLUTIONS

The ongoing disruption and fallout from COVID-19 continues to shape our sector.

This has obvious repercussions for how office spaces are used, with a shift away from the majority of space being taken up by individual workspaces towards more collaborative environments.

There is no doubt that the challenges of supporting these newly remote and hybrid workforces will have changed the way FMs do things, both now and into the future.

As well as the heightened emphasis placed on hygiene and making spaces safe, our sector must support businesses and their need to bring people together to collaborate and create the energy to drive progress. Indeed, as the course of the pandemic has unfolded, we have seen many facilities managers morph into workplace experience managers, a transition which has extended their remit beyond looking after a building or workspace. Now, FM very much involves supporting hybrid workforce, from helping IT in getting the right technology to employee’s homes to setting up wellbeing and collaborative spaces in the office.

Another challenge centres around the adoption of technology, not least in supporting FM’s role as a workplace experience manager. Here, uptake of systems that enable the remote booking of desks and meeting rooms are already proving extremely useful. This is especially the case when they are used hand in hand with cleaning scheduling software, programs which communicate with on the ground staff via automated alerts when rooms need preparing and cleaning, before and after use.

Indeed, onboarding FM staff and client employees will be critical to the success of FM operations in 2022. And we also need to keep in mind that technology can and should be adopted to make FM processes smarter, regardless of the changing dynamics we find ourselves immersed in.

Whether it’s the installation of IoT and smart devices into buildings to base decisions and deployments on real time information, or making greater efforts to embrace building information management (BIM) technology in a similar manner to how it has become the standard in the construction industry, there are always ways that FM can become smarter. This underlines a key message as we head into 2022. FM must be agile and ready to adapt to overcome the challenges and uncertainties that lie in wait. 

THE SOFT SERVICES PROVIDER’S VIEW
JAMES BRADLEY,
COO AT THE CHURCHILL GROUP

The pandemic shone a spotlight on the vital work we carry out and the importance of our services in the future of the workplace.

The challenge will be to make sure that our influence doesn’t wane as the pandemic passes. It would be careless to assume that FM will retain a seat at the top table. That’s not to diminish the work we have done, but it’s very easy for people to slip back into old habits. That could well include how businesses resume operations post-pandemic and I feel that we have a critical role to play in creating workplaces and environments fit for the future of work trends.

To use our voice effectively, we need to communicate clearly and frequently on the value of FM. This will support our case for staying collaborative with decision makers.

Perhaps our biggest area of opportunity is cleaning and hygiene. Building users will likely want assurances on the hygiene of their space in the long-term, it might even become legislation driven, after COVID has highlighted its importance.

We have been able to use science-based cleaning to implement effective workplace hygiene programmes. The data gathered from these programmes is invaluable in providing transparency to senior leadership and building users. We can use the data to inform cleaning rotas, target high touchpoint areas and show users when a space was last cleaned.

We’re now using technology to go one step further. We place QR codes on desks with some of our office-based clients. Users can scan the code to find out when the area was last cleaned, request a clean and also leave feedback.

The feedback option has been a pleasant surprise. We’ve had plenty of great comments from users thanking our cleaning teams for their work. These comments have been gratefully received by operatives that have worked so hard in the last 18 months in very trying conditions.

Technology has long been heralded as the future of FM. But too often it is poorly implemented, does not integrate with existing systems, or not utilised to its full potential.

Workplace hygiene programmes backed up by data have shown the power of tech in soft services. As an industry, we must capitalise on this success.

We should work with key stakeholders within a business to identify where tech can help and the software that is best placed to provide that support. The more we do so, the richer the data we will have, which will reinforce our position among senior decision-makers.

Let’s approach every challenge as an opportunity. The key is not to rest on our laurels. Let’s keep offering solutions, innovating and demonstrating why FM is so important. If we can make ourselves indispensable, then we’ll be well equipped to overcome challenges.

INTEGRATED FACILITIES MANAGEMENT PROVIDER’S VIEW
JEREMY CAMPBELL,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, EMCOR UK

The most pressing challenge for FMs in 2022 must be in supporting their organisation’s journey to net zero. In the last six months of 2021, we’ve seen the global discourse focus firmly on the green agenda. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – which assesses the science related to climate change – and a variety of countries announcing detailed plans for their own net zero journey and the historic climate deal secured at the COP26 Conference in Glasgow, although with language reluctantly modified to read ‘phase down’ and not ‘phase out’, have seen environmental commitments top the headlines.

Accelerating real climate change is an urgent imperative we all know but many organisations are not making changes quickly enough. A recent poll we conducted showed that only 12 per cent of organisations are fully or nearly fully prepared to meet net zero targets; a further 36 per cent are fairly prepared and 53 per cent are not very or not at all prepared. There is a massive mountain to climb.

With the built environment accounting for around 40 per cent of carbon emissions and up to 80 per cent in large cities, the way we manage our buildings has a significant role to play in the move to net zero. When you consider that 80 per cent of the buildings in use in 2050 are already in existence, the role of FMs is clear: they are the people to lead their organisations on the net zero journey.

The focus should be on reducing energy use – categorising the carbon emissions a company makes using scope 1, 2 and 3 definitions – and to identify, through cross organisational collaboration with service partner experts, operational carbon (the direct and indirect energy used to run a building) and embodied carbon and make changes across the board. Embodied carbon is where transformational change exists. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources; Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling and it is mandatory to report on these two areas; Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions.

A second priority is wellbeing, specifically supporting people’s mental health. Earlier this year, we became the first organisation in the world to be certified against BSI’s scheme based on ISO 45003, the new global standard providing practical guidance on managing psychological health and safety in the workplace. The pandemic, and the disruption to traditional ways of working, has had a huge impact on mental health and the total fallout is not yet understood. As the world of work continues to adjust, FMs must focus on employee wellbeing to help people stay engaged, be productive and for businesses to thrive.