network. The impact that we have on the environment, society and
communities and the benefits we bring will be under greater scrutiny
and may become a key purchasing criteria. Sta wellbeing will also
be increasingly at the forefront of business as companies compete to
attract and retain a depleted talent pool and start to understand the
benefits this brings in terms of productivity and engagement.
THE IWFM’S VIEW
CHRIS MORIARTY,
DIRECTOR OF INSIGHT &
ENGAGEMENT AT IWFM
Twelve months ago, we
were reflecting on a year
bookended by shocks.
The fall of services giant
Carillion had cast such
shade that the wobble
of another megalith,
Interserve, called into
question a model once
thought unshakeable. Who
could have predicted a
December General Election? With the only certainty, uncertainty, we
think many of 2019’s predictions will remain in focus.
Evolution is, by definition, slow. How contracts are outsourced
and managed is FM key critical and while the theme hasn’t bobbed
above the parapet in 2019, there has been much activity below it. We
continue to advocate a value driven approach and our partnership
with NEC to develop an FM-specific contract form is expected soon
to bear fruit. Elsewhere our work with the National Social Value
taskforce will mean a standard metrics framework to measure social
value in contracts.
Social value, providing a wider community of public benefit, is
linked to wellbeing, a key theme this year. Journalist Martin Read
argued recently that while providing healthy and productive workspaces
isn’t novel, “measuring workplace productivity has brought
to the mainstream a range of wider human issues. It’s not that
wellbeing is new…its component parts are being better defined as
actionable elements.”
Technology also dominated the discourse; and we will keep it there
as we explore its role in high performing workplaces, building on the
22 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2020
challenges identified in our 2018 research. It found the profession
unready or unable to think beyond the present tech toolbox, despite
predictions of exponential advancement in machine capacity and
learning.
On both wellbeing as on technology, we want to help organisations
create connected and successful workplaces, and the trick is moving
from a position of helping us to do our job e ectively to redefining
it as one which helps everyone else do theirs in our more business
centred way. It’s the di erence between providing a yoga room in
the space plan and a proactive strategy for workforce wellbeing; or
between installing sensors to monitor use and a technology strategy
to enhance experience. That people are being employed in both
private and public sectors with specific responsibilities in wellbeing,
social impact, technology architecture tells us these themes will
endure.
The obvious 2020 rollover is Brexit. If markets hate anything
its uncertainty; yet one beneficiary of the stasis is the ‘space as a
service’ market. Despite recently publicised troubles, Wework and
peers, are posting significant numbers with research showing a new
‘coworking’ space opening in London every five days. Uncertainty
makes their flexible o er a more attractive proposition than long
term traditional leasing arrangements.
Space-as-a-service looks set to grow, but we suspect organisations
will hedge to a blended approach, skirting wholesale change, with
other players entering the market.
The dominant matter for 2020 is climate. David Attenborough
dubbed it “the major challenge facing the world”. The built
environment contributes 40 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions
and if we have any hope of achieving “net zero” by 2050 then a
serious plan is needed. Workplace and facilities leaders have been
quietly contributing to carbon reduction for some time. Can they
lead further change?
Despite everything the new decade holds excitement. The
innovators have worked diligently in the background and, with
insights projects on both wellbeing and tech (the latter with
Microso ), we look forward to helping guide the profession
forward.
Do you have a question that you’d like
answered by the FMJ Clinic?
Email: sara.bean@kpmmedia.co.uk
FM CLINIC
Chris Moriarty
ADVICE & OPINION
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