FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
THE UNIVERSITY LECTURER’S VIEW
PAUL WYTON,
PRINCIPAL LECTURER IN FACILITIES MANAGEMENT, SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY
A simple answer to the question ‘are FM services suppliers supporting existing FM staff sufficiently to gain academic qualifications?’ NO. Against this there are some employers who are excellent at supporting personal development, our experience at Sheffield Hallam University is however very mixed with much of the energy, drive, commitment and resources coming from individuals wishing to progress themselves rather than being truly supported by their employers to become better.
Facilities management has become a multibillion pound industry, a significant part of the UK economy with world leading service providers and employs tens of thousands. As a profession facilities management offers great opportunity for progression and yet very few of us chose to become FM’s. The 2017 Business Confidence Monitor identified a war for talent with 47 per cent of respondents reporting a shortage of skilled trades and 31 per cent reporting a shortage of managers. FM provides great opportunities and the industry needs more good people yet there is a reluctance to support management development.
Despite the excellent work of BIFM to create a development pathway and promote the value of qualifications within FM there is still no standard career structure, this is both a strength in providing great opportunity for anyone to succeed, but is also a weakness, with no recognised or required qualifications there is a lack of incentive for individuals to become qualified and organisations to support qualification. FM being such a practical discipline the argument is put forward that experience is what matters questioning what academic qualifications and theory can add. Our view at Sheffield Hallam University is that experience is vital but so too is learning from others, whether they be academics or others working in the industry. Qualifications demonstrate knowledge and understanding but also evidence of professionalism, provide status when working with others in the business and a growing sense of confidence.
Despite recent challenges the FM industry continues to grow, is more complex with the development of IT, smart buildings, and other technologies and is becoming far more challenging with the constant demand to reduce cost. All of this requires more and more capable managers who are properly experienced AND qualified.
Traditionally FM has been good at supporting training and development around compliance however support for management qualifications has been limited. With the introduction of the apprenticeship levy there is now a financial incentive for FM organisations to develop people. After two years of extensive work to develop apprenticeship standards and suitable qualifications, the FM industry will now be able to use that levy funding to develop their people through facilities management qualifications from level 4 (first year degree level) right the way through to Masters. This is a great opportunity for the FM industry to develop both existing staff who demonstrate great promise for progression, but also to recruit bright young people into the industry through a development programme tailored to the organisation’s and the individuals particular needs. Degree apprenticeships are development programmes where experience and academic learning are equally valued, the curriculum developed in consultation with the wider industry. These learning programmes are about to be launched and can be paid for through the apprenticeship levy whether a levy payer or not. The industry needs more and better qualified managers, business should support personal development to be better and individuals need to qualify for personal progression, degree apprenticeships are the means to meet these three needs.
THE PEOPLE DIRECTOR’S VIEW
LISA HAMILL,
UK PEOPLE DIRECTOR, ATALIAN SERVEST
With Brexit ahead, the next 12 months will almost certainly become more difficult within the FM industry. The areas that will likely be hardest hit include the finance sector, automotive, manufacturing and in particular roles such as cleaning and housekeeping. Across these key roles, it may not be simply a shortage of skills, but rather a shortage of people. At Atalian Servest, about 34 per cent of our colleagues are EU, non-UK-based.
We can acknowledge that facilities management is not a traditional industry. While within FM, we’re very good at promoting the industry, we have a responsibility to talk about it to younger people, who may not even know it exists, and show FM as a valid and exciting career opportunity. We don’t find many people who knew about FM from a young age and decided to follow it as a career path – it’s a bit of a hidden industry in that way. When people find FM however, and decide they have a future in it, we have an obligation to give them the skills to support the talent pool.
The responsibility that rests on FM organisations is to reflect on their recruitment strategy as well as carefully considered choice-driven learning and development programmes to equip their workforce with the necessary skills and character to perform their roles. To achieve this, organisations must have the intention to invest in their people. Our apprenticeship levy supports the growth of our people and we’ve never been in a better position to offer our colleagues a commitment that truly supports them. We’re in an ideal situation, the industry is growing and we’re in a position to offer people exciting, strong careers paths.
While the likes of BIFM and IFMA each offer their own accredited qualifications, the most important consideration for us, is finding someone who is the right fit for the business. Our recruitment processes are based primarily on attitude. Once you’ve found the right person, there is an obligation to provide the necessary opportunity within the FM sector by offering choice and support for anyone wanting to complete a qualification. If someone wants to take up an FM qualification as part of an apprenticeship for example, we will help them to do so. Nurturing internal talent should be embedded into an organisation’s culture and we have an obligation to provide the training people need in order to perform.
Organisations need programmes which demonstrate their commitment to attracting the best people into facilities management and developing their own colleagues by ensuring a progression path. By focusing on internal learning and development, you can equip colleagues with tools that will help them reach their potential. Having robust learning and development provisions should be at the heart of any businesses infrastructure, to build on its own talent pool in a way that positively impacts the performance of the organisation.
