SOCIAL - BLOG
Martin Pickard @thefmguru
During the minutes silence let’s all remember
the #FacMan #keyworkers we have lost to this
terrible virus - Cleaners, security, maintenance
workers and managers all putting themselves
at risk each day
FMJ JOBS @FMJOBFINDER
Over half of Brits are happy to work from
home for as long as is needed https://
buff.ly/3bS5rLa #fmjjobs #homeworking
#workingfromhome
Institute of Workplace and Facilities
Management www.linkedin.com/company/
iwfm/ Building safety: act now to get ready for
the shape of things to come - Read our latest
blog article http://ow.ly/w6MR50zmXOD
Facilities Show @Facilities_Show
Join our #Webinars on May 22 which will
address topics like #Coronavirus and #FM and
Achieving Net Zero by 2030.
Register for free on: https://attend.ubmevents.
com/digital-week-2020/
You will get access to the entire Digital Week
Paul Bagust @PaulBagust
Resilience at the frontline – the future
of Facilities Management https://t.co/
V7XkLFDjxI?amp=1
Peggie Rothe www.linkedin.com/in/
peggierothe/ Chief Insights & Research
Officer (CIRO) at Leesman. As we’re waiting
for comprehensive home working experience
data to come in, I wrote a piece about what
we can actually already now learn from the
workplace experience that is already available.
https://lnkd.in/eYTXFZ2 #homeworking
#employeeexperience #workplaceexperience
RIBA @RIBA Architects across the UK are
pulling together to tackle the shortage of PPE
needed to manage and treat COVID-19. Find out
how our members can contribute: https://bit.
ly/2VIzWfP
David Emanuel @davidifm IFMA tackles the
pandemic: it’s been assembling an expert
task force, has a 3 day virtual conference,
return to work framework @IFMA @IFMA_UK
whilst @IWFM_UK wants us to send in awards
applications - very different approaches
18 MAY 2020
BLOG FROM RACHEL HOUGHTON, MD, BUSINESS MOVES GROUP
FM AND BUSINESS
RESILIENCE
We are living in a crisis like no other.
Although it will eventually come to
an end, none of us know when, and
nobody can predict what the new ‘normal’ will
look like.
This uncertainty could be our undoing if we
fail to build business resilience, because the
economy is likely to be fragile by the end of
this pandemic. Currently, British workers seem
to understand the almost impossible position
some businesses are in – and that understanding
is perhaps one of the reasons why most are
accepting pay cuts and furloughed leave.
However, we need to prepare for the
eventuality that the economy may not just
‘bounce back’ to where it started when lockdown
and social distancing ends. What’s more, if
the government support ends before British
business gets back on its feet, then there’s every
chance we could witness another recession.
I was promoted to Managing Director
of BMG in 2008, just two weeks before the
Lehman Brothers collapsed and the
subsequent financial crash. It
was a strange time. Initially
we saw a real surge in
work, albeit a di erent
kind of work. Rather
than expanding their
property portfolios
or moving into larger
premises, businesses
were consolidating and
downsizing. This kept us
reasonably busy to begin
with, although not as busy
as we’d been used to.
There’s a massive temptation
to cut costs and to reduce prices
when there’s less work as a result of a
crisis. Back in 2008, we curbed the costs we
could, those that wouldn’t be too detrimental
to the business. Yet, we weren’t going to start
cutting our prices in the hope of receiving more
work. No, for us it was about believing in the
value we bring customers, and that was our
catalyst for thinking harder about all the ways
we could continue to provide the best service,
maintain our relationships and retain our best
talent.
Our decision was to hold strong. And that
approach served us well. In fact, it made us more
robust.
The key lesson back in 2008 was the
importance of adapting to the new reality. As a
Rachel Houghton, MD, Business Moves Group
business operating in a time of crisis, you adapt
or die. You have to communicate better than
you’ve ever communicated before.
And you have to stay true to who
you are.
Workplace management
is a business-critical
profession which can
help organisations
shape new and
innovative ways of
working. And that’s
what we need right
now. The coronavirus
outbreak provides
us with an opportunity
to think about the ways
businesses may have to adapt,
There’s a massive
temptation to cut costs
and to reduce prices when
there’s less work as a
not just during the lockdown, but
result of a crisis.”
a erwards when life starts to return to a
closer version of normal.
Forward-thinking companies will be talking
to their employees, their supply chain and their
customers in order to build a strategy that takes
onboard everybody’s experiences. This will
allow them to introduce step-change processes
that will better support the business, and
everyone who’s part of it, in the future.
Let’s recognise there is no normal. And let’s
become as resilient as possible so we can bend
and sway with whatever’s thrown our way.
Keep communicating. Act with integrity. Be
adaptable. Change quickly. Trust in people, trust
in yourselves. And don’t lose that sense of who
you are and how you like to operate.
ADVICE & OPINION
/
/3bS5rLa
/iwfm
/w6MR50zmXOD
/3bS5rLa
/
/peggierothe
/eYTXFZ2
/2VlzWfP
