FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Like many sectors, the shortage of skilled labour is a major challenge facing the FM industry. According to a RICS UK Facilities Management Survey, 65% of FM services are facing difficulties in sourcing workers (Q4 2022).
The challenge has been intensified recently by post-Brexit immigration laws, Covid-19, evolving age demographics and the desire to have a work-life balance. In particular, the talent shortage is acute in areas such as Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), electrical, plumbing and general maintenance. This has made it difficult for FM organisations to find qualified and compliant contractors to perform the work they need to manage. As a result, safety and procurement teams are being left with a reactive, ‘quick fix’ approach to contractor management, just to get the job completed.
The reality is, however, that FM organisations simply cannot afford to cut corners or let standards fall by the wayside when it comes to the contractors they work with. This is especially critical for the FM industry, which has a responsibility to make sure they are delivering services to clients on time, safely, ethically and sustainably.
So, where can you find contractors with the necessary skills to carry out essential work needed to keep your business running?
What you need to think about
The threat from the skills shortage is creating even more business risks, such as business inefficiencies, regulatory non-compliance and the potential for more incidents and accidents.
This requires a re-think in the approach to hiring contractors, as FM organisations can’t keep ‘plugging the gaps’. At the core, is the need to hire contractors who have the right skills and are safe and compliant to do the job.
What could be riskier than hiring a new, unknown contractor or sub-contractor? You wouldn’t expect someone to apply for a job that they don’t have any experience in, and the same is true before hiring a contractor.
Contractor management is about getting it right. So, it’s important to assess your contractors not just for health and safety but insurances, financial stability, and ethical and sustainable practices too. That means only hiring contractors who have a strong safety record, the evidence of their experience and a pro-active approach to on-site risk management. Otherwise, they could end up costing your business money and worse, a fatality. Then there’s also unethical practices to consider, so that you don’t expose your business to reputational damage.
Building a credible, safe, and compliant contractor network
Generally speaking, selection and sourcing decisions are not based only on cost but other factors including quality management programmes and business standing credentials to help proactively avoid disruption as much as possible.
The key to achieving this is to implement a robust sourcing and qualification strategy that provides the answer ‘Yes’ to three key areas:
COMPLIANCE: If you were audited, could you demonstrate that your business is compliant with the latest regulations?
VISIBILITY: Do you have one consolidated view of your contractor risk profile data?
EFFICIENCY: Do your processes and systems produce cost and resource savings?
While there’s no ‘quick fix’ to resolve the current situation, it really is essential for FM businesses to think and act strategically when it comes to sourcing and managing contractors. That means building a credible, safe and compliant contractor network to avoid non-compliance, or even worse, causing harm to people.
Download Alcumus’ latest guide: ‘Contractor Selection and Management in Times of Labour Shortage’ to explore the key aspects that are driving organisations to improve contractor management strategies and establish better working relationships.
