NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
ASSOCIATION NEWS
GOING DIGITAL – RICS STRATEGIC FACILITY MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
Paul Bagust, RICS Global
Property Standards Director
OUR GREATEST OPPORTUNITY POST-COVID-19
8 JUNE 2020
Over the past few
months, we’ve
all been tested in
ways we were never
tested before. The
FM sector has made a
crucial contribution
to the NHS front-line,
while the creation of a
new ‘home front’ has
seen FMs succeed almost overnight in relocating
o ice-based sta away from the workplace to
operating entirely from home.
What’s been striking is that for the vast majority
of employers, managing both their people and
processes via a digital platform has been more
successful than any of us could have guessed.
With that in mind, the annual RICS Strategic
Facility Management conference, in partnership
with IFMA, returns in 2020 on a digital platform.
Running from 08:30 am until 5:00 pm on Tuesday
the 16th June, via GoToWebinar, the conference
will explore FM in the twenties.
Major themes being explored during the event
include an economic and market analysis by Simon
Rubinsohn, Chief Economist, RICS - An expert take
on the impact of COVID-19 on the UK FM sector,
future market risks, trends and opportunities and
a snapshot of the RICS UK Facilities Management
Survey 2020.
The home working phenomenon will be
explored, with a look at how COVID-19 is changing
workplaces. While people can soon return to the
o ice, what needs to happen to persuade workers
and their employers that it’s a safe environment?
Because as FMs bring buildings back into operation
they’re going to have to look very di erent to the
pre-COVID world, with social distancing the norm.
We’ll also be exploring the new RICS
International Building Operations Standard (IBOS).
This high level, data led international standard
project delivers on the recognition of the role that
the physical space and its use has in delivering
organisational objectives. To help us understand
its implications I’ll be moderating a session with
Young Hyun, Workplace Experience Lead, Sodexo
and Nicholas Caton, Commercial Director –
Corporate Real Estate, Barclays who’ll help explain
how this RICS global standard will o er improved
consistency, benchmarking and quality throughout
the FM sector.
Our keynote panel will discuss how do we revive
our sector in a post-pandemic time which will
explore the current challenges, overcoming such
unprecedented barriers and the future for FM in the
UK. The panel includes Tim Oldman, CEO, Leesman
Index who will also be presenting the findings of
Lessman’s work at home research (supported by
RICS) which will give us some real insights into the
ways we work now.
Other sessions will explore the social impact
of the built environment, optimising wellbeing
and performance in the workplace, the e ects
of digitisation on learning and the influence of
technology in real estate.
How our industry will overcome the impact of
this crisis and thrive is down to our future leaders
so our final session of the day will be devoted
to them. We’ll hear from the next generation of
leaders on why they’ve joined the sector, what
changes they want to see and what major shi s
they think will transform the profession as we
know it.
For more details visit
www.rics.org/strategicfm
I’m not alone in
feeling like I have
almost forgotten
what normality (or the
old version of normality)
was before COVID-19.
A er months of social
distancing, studiously
washing my hands,
trying to remember to avoid touching my face,
and keeping metres away from people during
my occasional appearances outdoors, I probably
won’t know what to do with myself when I feel
freedom again. It will be an adjustment, just as
it was when lockdown measures came into force
back in March.
When we do reach the promised land of
whatever kind of normality awaits, it’s likely
that much of it will be very familiar, and that
includes the challenges that are legacies from
pre-COVID-19 times. Sustainability is arguably
the greatest of those challenges but equally the
greatest opportunity for workplace and facilities
management professionals to make a profound
impact. Almost all of the UK’s facilities managers
already take responsibility for sustainability and,
according to the Sustainability Survey 2018,
two thirds of IWFM members deem it extremely
important to their role.
The work you do in the months and years ahead
could help societies, economies, and the world
for generations to come. That isn’t hyperbole:
sustainability can be our profession’s legacy by
defining the new normal.
I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the
main priority for the foreseeable future – excluding
public health - will be nursing organisations and the
economy back to full strength. Clearly this is crucial,
but the threat this poses is that organisations could
return to old habits and prioritise cost over value -
the short term over the long term.
We now have the chance to build back better and
as enablers of some of the key levers that drive
organisational performance, you will have a huge
say in what happens next. Energy e iciency and
recycling or waste management are o en the first
things on people’s minds when talking about the
sustainability agenda, but it goes much deeper
than that.
More organisations are looking at the wider
meaning of sustainability, including the social and
economic elements, and some FM organisations
are seeing the far-reaching benefits of incorporating
social benefits into their sustainability planning.
Workplaces that can create better health and
wellbeing outcomes bring productivity and
performance benefits to users, while organisations
that engage better with local communities and
build in basic rights to their supply chains (for
example, fair and timely pay) get increased loyalty
and service in return.
This leads me to IWFM’s Sustainability Survey,
which is not only the longest-running research
of its kind in the UK, but also one of country’s
most important evaluations of sustainability and
workplace trends. Please keep your eyes open for
the Sustainability Survey 2020 in partnership with
Inenco, which will be launched week commencing
22 June.
The findings from the survey o er an indication
of trends supporting change, the future of
sustainability, and the key driving factors
underpinning the agenda; who is leading it within
organisations, which issues are covered, how it is
measured and reported, as well as understanding
the latest issues a ecting everyday practice.
You can find out more about our sustainability
work and the Survey by visiting: iwfm.org.uk/
insight/sustainability.html
The economy must be revived, but what use is a
healthy economy in an increasingly poorly world?
Peter Brogan, Head of Research and
Insight, IWFM
/strategicfm
