FACILITIES MANAGEMENT JOURNAL JOBS
FM CAREERS - CAREER LADDER
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
Elena Fabbro, EMEA Operations Manager at a
Client Site for JLL.
Name:
Elena Fabbro
Current role:
EMEA Operations Manager at
Client Site
Employer: JLL
How did you progress through
the profession to your current role?
I started working on FM almost by
coincidence, moving out from a
previous role of an MD Executive
Assistant. I am now a professional with
20 years’ experience and still have a lot
of appetite for learning and improving.
A er a relevant experience abroad, the
last six years with my current employer
have been crucial for my career
development and for my personal
growth and professional maturity.
What has changed about your
job role since the COVID-19 crisis?
E.g. home working, furloughed,
redeployed?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had
a profound impact on individuals
and organisations and the current
a ect we are experiencing in the way
we are managing our FM teams is
unprecedented. Many employees within
my team allocated on Client Site are
mainly working remotely and some not
deemed critical have been placed on
furlough. Given the period of uncertainty
our Clients are facing and the fast
changes in their requests and needs, JLL
has already begun to significantly adapt
its workforce to satisfactorily respond
to this new scenario. These initiatives
have had a relevant impact on our Client
management strategy, as well as on the
structure and the size of our headcount
allocated on the Account, in order to fit
the need to demonstrate savings and a
clever use of budget.
What have you found most
challenging about your job in FM
since the lockdown?
During the lockdown we all have
experienced a huge work-from-home
experiment that has brought some
unexpected challenges. This has
required us to reassess priorities to deal
with the pressure of the new remoteworking
mode that sometimes clashes
with the home environment, especially
if young children are quarantined at
home. Through this we have learnt to
communicate better than we have ever
had, and in di erent ways. We have tried
to keep our teams involved creatively by
looking at new ways to do things, taking
advantage of technology and finding
new approaches to collaboration and
sharing.
What qualities do you think are
most needed for a successful career
in FM?
FM, especially if outsourced, is a peoplebased
profession where every decision
we make is focused on how we can
better answer our customer’s needs.
In such a dynamic role where no two
days are alike, some interpersonal traits
are important to succeed in this role.
Being a flexible/adaptable and proactive
forward thinker is crucial to understand
the needs of our team and immediately
addressing issues and concerns.
Emergency responsiveness is essential;
keeping calm when facing adversity,
developing a good crisis recovery plan
and involving the entire team are the
key to success. Within FM, our team
is o en the driving factor behind our
success, being able to empower all
the team members and letting their
talents emerge is a good approach
to strengthen the team performance,
always making sure team members are
happy and productive at work. For this,
our ability to communicate is crucial,
being able to inspire and engage our
colleagues. Last but not least, the ability
of cross-networking across the entire
JLL structure, even outside our Client’s
perimeter, is fundamental. Sourcing, IT,
Finance, HR, are part of our team and
building solid relationships with the
overall FM team is essential to improve
delivery to our client.
What is your organisation doing
to ensure the safe return of sta to
the workplace?
Both JLL and my Client have re-opened
o ices in most countries in EMEA, with
the rest to follow in the next few weeks.
There is a strong focus on getting back
to business, helping our clients through
common challenges and uncertainty,
preparing them for a safe gradual
re-entry by creating and executing a
plan that fits their needs and keeping
the safety and security of our people,
buildings and spaces always as our
main priority. We are working hard to
improve the health and wellness of
our employees and visitors, ensuring
our buildings are safe, ready and
compliant to the new EHS protocols. We
have created new e ective guidelines
and adjustments to our space that
are continuously monitored to drive
adherence to local regulation and
business needs. We have adjusted our
space’s capacity, seating plan and layout
based on social distancing guidelines
and improved signage to clearly show
new one-way circulation patterns and
provide instructions for critical areas:
in elevator lobbies and restrooms, for
example. To let our employees and
visitors feel safe and supported upon
re-entry, in accordance with our Client
requirements we have delivered a
re-entry welcome back kit comprising
post pandemic essentials like hand
sanitisers, disinfecting wipes and masks.
Do you believe the pandemic has
highlighted the important role of
the FM sector and the part its people
pay in keeping workers safe and
buildings clean and maintained?
The role of FM has been crucial in
dealing with COVID-19, taking charge
of the pandemic response plan and
becoming the designated source for
information. In our site we have been
involved in the Crisis Committee Team,
together with HR and EHS, which were
overseeing all the preparedness and
response tactics. It has been critical that
all parties understood their roles and
responsibilities. In addition, being in
charge of the building maintenance is a
crucial FM responsibility, to take action
by implementing the right prevention
and containment strategies in the
workplace.
What advice would you give to
someone coming into the profession
now?
The FM role has significantly changed
across the decades and now it is
more strategic than ever. Typically FM
activities are managed “behind the
scenes” and no one thinks about FM
until something goes wrong. There are
so many areas of responsibility and
so many competencies required, from
communication to finance and business,
from project management and quality
to HR and strategy, from operations and
maintenance to technology that makes
this role very dynamic and challenging
for a new professional approaching
this market now. My recommendation
would be to build a solid background in
hard services but keep eyes and mind
open in trying to develop all the cross
skills that are fundamental to succeed
in this role.
What do you predict could be the
main changes to the FM sector due to
the impact of the pandemic?
It is clear now that the coronavirus
pandemic will forever change our
approach to work. In the future, we
will be probably working from home
more o en than before, spending less
time in the o ice. This is an enormous
professional but mainly cultural change
to the FM strategy. It will require the
readjustment of agile workspace
strategies, significantly reducing the size
of o ices, decreasing the number of
workstations and may also result in the
lowering real estate costs.
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
54 SEPTEMBER 2020
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