In FMJ's regular monthly column, our team of FM experts answer your
questions about the world of facilities management
THE FM PRACTITIONER’S VIEW
LUCY HIND, NON-EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR, HARROGATE
HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT
We are all very aware that there is
currently a rise in concerns regarding
mental health and the e ects that
COVID and isolation have had on
our workforces due to enforced
working from home and isolation
from colleagues and teams. With
continuing changing working patterns
this opens up the question as to how
the FM role could change to meet the challenges ahead. I would
foresee that with more and more people working from home,
the business estate in its current form will shi and remote
working locations will start to make up a proportion
of corporate real estate. This opens up the need
for reviews and discussions on how to ensure
remote working can be achieved while ensuring
the minimisation of safety and health risks.
This gives FMs the opportunity to take a lead
in employee engagement, communication
and wellbeing as part of the work at home
discussions.
It could be said that the best-known people
within a workplace is the FM manager and the
FM team, as they are the problem solvers. Now,
with organisations’ estates being disrupted there
is no reason for this to change. I predict that the FMs
will work closely with department managers and HR
to ensure that teams work safely and well from their remote
locations. While training may be required to help spot struggling
20 OCTOBER 2020
individuals and be able to gauge
the levels of support required,
this opens up the opportunity
for FMs to step up and become
a key conduit between remote
workers and their organisation’s
management teams. The FM will be
needed to determine issues such as
ensuring that the working environment
is right for the individual, including
desk set up, the amount of space required
in the remote location, lighting and ventilation
levels etc and to help identify individuals who may be
struggling and need extra support.
This also opens up the discussions around space utilisation
and whether communal space can be designed to ensure
employees get some social interaction with teams while
adhering to social distancing rules. My advice for senior
management is to look closely at your FM teams, as these people
could be a bedrock in promoting wellness, identifying where
there could be potential issues and helping to support our
remote workers into the future.
THE MANAGING DIRECTOR’S VIEW
RACHEL HOUGHTON, MD OF BUSINESS MOVES GROUP
Without sounding controversial,
I don’t think mental health is a
directive that can be managed
with an o -the-shelf policy. In
other words, it shouldn’t be a
tickbox exercise. Nor should
there ever be a ‘this is how
you deal with mental
health’ manual
as a lone
guidance.
Rather,
it has
to be
embedded in everything you do as a
business. I suppose that’s easy for me to
say, working as I do with such a closeknit
team, but to successfully embed and
develop a culture of wellbeing, I honestly
believe you need a palpable sense of
openness.
At BMG, we know the people we work with.
We notice if someone’s behaviour changes, even
slightly. We can spot the signs, the little things that could
suggest somebody’s not coping – if the phone calls are not being
FM CLINIC
Recent research
published by Warwick
Business School suggests
that companies that don’t
do enough to support their
workers’ mental health,
risk seeing their overall
productivity drop by a quarter.
With employees facing continued
disruption to their work and
personal lives due to COVID, what can be
done to help them develop their mental resilience in
the face of continued uncertainty?
Lucy Hind
Rachel Houghton
ADVICE & OPINION
knit I don’t think mental health
is a directive that can be
managed with an off-the-shelf
policy. In other words, it shouldn’t be a
tickbox exercise. Nor should there ever
be a ‘this is how you deal with
mental health’ manual as a lone
guidance.”
Rachel Houghton