FACILITIES MANAGEMENT JOURNAL JOBS
FM CAREERS - CAREER LADDER
FM is known to be a career that people fall into
from other sectors. In this regular column, FMJ
chats to a facilities professional about how they
got into the sector and takes a look at their
career path. This month we talk to Hannah
Serpant, Account Manager at JLL.
Name: Hannah Serpant
Current role:
Account Manager at JLL
Born: Ashford, Surrey
Lives: Ashford, Surrey
How did you progress through
the profession to your current role?
A er studying fashion at university,
I started a temp role for Johnson
Controls on the Cisco account on
the switchboard. Now 14 years later
I am still in the industry and have
never looked back. At JCI I worked in
a variety of roles including reception,
supervising the helpdesk and as a
Facilities Coordinator.
I joined CBRE in 2009 as Account
Coordinator on the Colt account and
a er two years I moved to a central FM
coordinator role supporting all the FM
accounts across EMEA. I completed
my lean six sigma training and
progressed into Performance Manager
and Continuous Improvement roles.
I joined JLL in 2018 as Operations
Manager and am now an Account
Manager for a group of IFM accounts
across EMEA.
Do you have any qualifications
or training in FM and related areas
such as health and safety? And how
have you benefited from them?
Achieved IOSH managing safely and
lean six sigma green belt qualifications.
IOSH is such an important part of FM
and lean six sigma gave me the tools
I needed to progress to performance
management roles. Training courses
provide you with all the information,
but I also really believe that some of
the best learning experiences I have
had have been from the day job and
learning as much as possible from the
people you work with.
What is your greatest
contribution to the FM sector, or
your current role?
I’ve started from the front line and
have worked my way up to where I
am now. This gives me the ability to
talk with credibility to clients, internal
stakeholders and to the teams that
report into me. By working in a
variety of roles I have built a good
understanding of FM and this has
helped me position our service o ering
and develop solutions that work for
our clients. I have young children
so am proud to be able to promote
returning to work and developing your
career journey while raising a family.
What do you enjoy most about
working in FM?
All the lovely people I have met and
get an opportunity to work with - too
many to name. Also how varied the
role can be; it is a cliche, but it is true
that no two days are the same in FM.
I really enjoy meeting di erent clients
and learning about their businesses to
identify ways we can support them. FM
is such a great industry to be working
in as it provides so many di erent
career options. When I worked in a
central role, I gained such good insight
into all the di erent options a career in
FM can provide.
Do you have future projects or
career goals in mind?
Continuing to progress my career at
JLL. At the end of 2019 our team won
an internal outstanding achievement
award which was great. My personal
career goal is to be nominated for or
win an industry award.
What personal qualities do
you think are most needed for a
successful career in FM?
Communication, attention to detail
and maintaining integrity.
What do you think would make
the biggest di erence to the FM
sector?
Raising awareness of FM and for it
to be recognised early as being a
credible career o ering at school and
degree level. I think this has improved
and is heading in the right direction,
as raising awareness would help us
attract new talent into the industry
early on. Also, AI technology will
make a big di erence and it will be
interesting to see how we integrate this
into the workplace and FM.
Are you a member of any FM
association or body and if so what
benefits do you think they provide?
I’m a member of IWFM. Being a
member of a FM association provides
you with lots of useful information and
opportunities to network across the
industry.
What advice would you give
to someone coming into the
profession now?
Safety first!
Networking - develop your personal
profile and establish a good network
within the industry by engaging
with peers, other accounts and
professionals etc. as much as possible.
Learn as much as you can from your
role and by working with others to
find out about their roles. And identify
solutions to problems - this is such an
important part of FM as you’ll need to
be proactive and a problem solver.
What are the greatest challenges
of working in FM?
Keeping on top of the ever changing
developments in technology and
ensuring our people and our buildings
are prepared for the changes. There
are so many tools available in the
market and more are being developed
every day. It’s challenging to stay on
top of what is available but also what
will be the most beneficial. Also being
receptive to innovation across the
world and its impact on providing FM
services. For example, how prepared
are we all for our employees to start
arriving to the o ice possibly via ‘uber
air’ in the not too distant future?
What do you predict could be
the main changes to the FM sector
over the next few years?
I think the industry’s primary focus is
changing from buildings to people.
Working in FM is now so much more
than just managing a building, it’s
about user experience and employee
wellbeing. More roles are being created
that focus on human experience, this
is opening a whole new career path
within the industry for people to move
into or join us from other sectors
where they previously wouldn’t have.
Would you, or someone you know, like to be featured in our career ladder column? If you’re an operational
FM with more than 10 years’ experience in the sector, then email sara.bean@kpmmedia.co.uk
58 MARCH 2020
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