SOCIAL - BLOG
Joanne Wright linkedin.com/in/joannewright
a6019551 Director of Estates and
Facilities at NHS Nightingale North West.
I’m as proud as can be of my wonderful estates
and facilities team. We have not only done it
but we’ve done it to the highest standard and
we’ve laughed and cried together along the
way. Our last patient has gone home and we are
moving our hospital to standby now but If I have
to do it all over again I hope I have this lot with
me #proud #nightingalehospital #heroes
@IWFM_UK Introducing our new category
today: COVID-19 RESPONSE AWARD. As part
of the #IWFMAwards2020, it celebrates the
incredible work being done during the ongoing
pandemic. It is free to enter and will be judged
by public vote. For more information & to enter -
http://ow.ly/Wrkb50AgfqB
@BAMEinProp Looking for a group of people to
help work on a BAME toolkit for the industry -
up to 10 commitments, which companies can
publicly adopt to show their real commitment
and action to BAME diversity. If you’re keen to
help, please email hello@bameinproperty.com.
@Moneypenny Fantastic future of workplace
discussions today from a great bunch of
experts. Look out for a round-up from @
fmjtoday very soon, we’ll also post the
recording once we have it. #futureofworkplace
#workplaceengagement #agileworking
#hybridoffice
Health and Safety Executive https://www.
linkedin.com/company/health-and-safetyexecutive/
18 JULY 2020
FIRST AID: Our guidance on first aid
in non-healthcare settings will help employers
ensure first aiders are confident they can
help someone injured or ill at work during the
coronavirus outbreak: https://bit.ly/2A2zzFT
@theCIOB The CIOB welcomes Government
commitment to boosting infrastructure. You
can read the full press release at: http://orlo.
uk/JkZpR #CIOB #BorisJohnsonSpeech
@antonyslumbers Sustainability, Coronavirus
and Real Estate. My latest audio blog post.
https://antonyslumbers.podbean.com/e/
sustainability-coronavirus-and-real-estate/
BLOG FROM TIM OLDMAN, FOUNDER AND CEO, LEESMAN
HOME WORKING LESSONS FOR FMS
How ironic. Facilities management spent
years distancing itself from cleaning
and janitorial services, casting these out
as undervalued, commoditised and marginless
activities, in favour of the sparkly lights
of workplace management. Then, in a matter
of weeks, these services were thrust into the
spotlight, front and centre of every corporate’s
o ice re-entry plans.
So, where does the sector go from here? The
scale of opportunity for FM teams to demonstrate
their value is unprecedented. Yet the chances of
squandering that opportunity are of a similar
magnitude. Suddenly, cleaning is sound business.
Board rooms are empty, but the C-suite has moved
workplace to the top of its agenda. Soon, however,
it will want data and later it will demand proof.
The initial data from Leesman’s assessment
of employees’ home-based experience suggests
that employees have adapted well to their new
settings. More than three in four (77.5 per cent) of
the first 10,000 employee respondents report that
their home environments enable them to work
productively. Compare this with our corporate
o ice survey data where only 62.8 per cent of
respondents can say the same for their o ice
workplace.
Perhaps, however, this says more about the
quality of the experience that the average
corporate o ice provides, and casts doubt over
whether these spaces are really designed for the
employee and their role.
The corporate o ice has a new competitor on
the block: employees’ own homes. And for
corporations, that’s an attractively
cheap alternative to upward-only
rents and service charges.
But, before anyone signs
an execution warrant
for the workplace, they
ought to hear the whole
story. A deeper look
into Leesman’s new
data reveals that home
working suits certain
activities crucial to the
vast majority of today’s
workforce. For example, people
do a lot of individual focused
work. In our o ice-based index of
740,000+ responses, 91 per cent of employees
describe this activity as important. And despite
the shi to home working, people’s roles haven’t
changed. In the home working data, 91 per cent of
respondents claim that individual focused work
is important. Yet 87 per cent of home workers
report that their home environment supports this
activity, while 78 per cent of o ice workers feel the
same way about their workplace. We might infer
from this that the home o ers fewer interruptions
and that employees benefit from exercising
greater control over their space and schedule.
It’s a similar story for work activities such
as meetings. Home-based employees feel
Tim Oldman, CEO, Leesman
considerably better supported than their o icebased
counterparts when it comes to planned
meetings (+12.9 per cent) and video conferences
(+28.4 per cent). Perhaps this is down to the
Zoom revolution. As the only way for colleagues
to stay connected while socially distancing, video
conferencing tools have surged in popularity since
March.
However, our research also bares the inherent
limitations of video conferencing and home
working more generally. The data suggests
that employees working from home feel far
less able to learn from others and interact with
colleagues. Zoom calls have their advantages,
but they will never replace those precious
few minutes before and a er a faceto
face meeting. There’s a lot of
cynicism for so-called ‘water
cooler moments’ – much
of it justified – but it is
undeniable that bringing
colleagues together
under one roof creates
more opportunities for
interaction, socialising,
collaboration (spontaneous
or otherwise) and team
learning.
Our home working survey has
almost reached 50,000 responses.
Knee-jerk decisions could
prove to be the FM
department’s undoing.
Not following the data will
tear up years of carefully
considered progress in
When it does, we will have more insights
workplace.”
into this mass home working experiment. Already,
however, our data has revealed some urgent
pressure points. As organisations form their
back-to-work strategies to minimise the spread
of COVID-19, FM departments will need the data
to determine why their colleagues want to return
to the o ice and what support they will need
when they get there. At a moment when millions
of people are rushing to conclusions about the
new normal, and plenty of workplace vendors are
flogging their products, knee-jerk decisions could
prove to be the FM department’s undoing. Not
following the data will tear up years of carefully
considered progress in workplace.
ADVICE & OPINION