FOCUS FRONT OF HOUSE
are familiar with the new COVID processes to
check themselves in. With Gloria supporting
frequent visitors, front of house colleagues can
have more time to focus on explaining the COVID
solutions and procedures in place and answer
questions for any new visitors.
Angelico of On Verve also believes that
digital technology will also enable integration
with other facilities services, i.e. supporting
temperature checks, connecting with security
gate systems, and giving employees access to
di erent parts of the workplace.
She says: “Scheduling systems have also
been around for some time and will grow
in popularity. Now it’s not just about
booking rooms or desks, it’s about
visibility of who’s in the o ice
to ensure employees won’t
be alone in the o ice or
unable to connect with team
members. Everything being
scheduled helps with booking
AV, catering, and cleaning
schedules to ensure safety and
a seamless experience in the
workplace.”
According to Pritchard of
Moneypenny, there’s now a huge
amount of technology available to
speed up and make the physical ‘check in’
experience more e icient for visitors, such as
contactless video concierge. Alongside this,
asset management systems can allocate parking
spaces, meeting rooms, desks and refreshments
seamlessly. But she says, “technology will never
replace the importance of the personal touch.
For us, technology and people must have a
symbiotic relationship.”
Cooper of SmartSec argues that from a
wellbeing and mental health perspective, you
can’t put a price on actually seeing and speaking
to someone.
“We are lucky that our front of house sta are
seen as part of our clients’ teams. The o ice
experience goes way beyond collaborating with
colleagues. It’s picking up your takeaway co ee
on the way in to work, it’s acknowledging the
regular commuter you see most mornings, and
36 JULY 2021
it’s also the conversations you have with
front of house sta .”
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
If, as has been predicted the workplace
moves towards being more of a destination
place, for a social, team building experience,
the front of house o ering will need to
emulate a hotelier’s concierge/reception
environment. Cummins of Mitie says this is a
trend which has been developing over recent
years as employers focus on creating
workplaces that promote employee
safety and wellbeing.
She says: “This has
resulted in front of house
teams going beyond
their traditional tasks
– booking meeting
rooms and welcoming
customers to taking
responsibility for
managing new
activities, such as
mindfulness and
yoga classes. As more
businesses move to a hybrid
model of working, we expect
front of house colleagues to play an
even bigger role helping deliver wellbeing
initiatives for colleagues with flexible
working schedules.”
For Pritchard, a more agile workplace
means more people coming and going, with
some people very familiar with things such
as the technology, facilities and etiquette,
but others less so, making that concierge
o ering even more important.
“Hybrid working makes employees become
visitors themselves. Issues with accessing
Wi-Fi, how to book spaces, organising lunch,
where to access IT help and how to locate
other visiting colleagues will be best resolved
with a central point of contact. FoH teams
are well placed to do this, and I see their
contribution only growing in importance and
value. FoH professionals will be integral to
the employee and client experience and will
embody an organisation’s culture.”
Taking a hotelier approach adds Hiner
that: “FoH can become a friendly source
of knowledge on a range of social aspects;
from travel plans and weather challenges to
the latest pub and restaurant reviews and
o ers, even a guide to what is happening in
their postcode and special o ers from local
retailers and food outlets.”
But Angelico thinks the workplace will need
to provide more than just a hotel experience
to service a mix of employees / guests
working in the o ice or virtually anywhere
else, home, co ee shops or travel hubs.
“I believe we need inspiration from
other industries that are going through
similar experience while still delivering
phenomenal service, such as the fitness
industry. I think the future of front of house is
about creating energy in the workplace and
helping to support our clients by building
one community. No matter where you work,
you get the same support as if you were in
the o ice.
“We need to go beyond o ering to
emulate a hotelier’s concierge/reception
environment. By this I mean focussing on the
characteristics of the di erent demographics
of the building users. A hotelier approach
o ers one type of service but in my opinion
the modern workplace FoH teams should
deliver services that connects at all levels
and that means looking broader and going
outside traditional approaches.”
FUTURE OF FOH
The SPS research suggests a boom in front
of house services over the coming months,
with the majority (91 per cent) of businesses
saying the way they manage front of house
services will change as a result of the crisis
and 95 per cent stating their entire strategy
has been impacted.
Jess Prichard predicts this boom will
extend from the use of new front of house
so ware tools to outsourced partnerships
and aligned FM technologies.
“Knowing where sta are to transfer calls,
improving the client experience and making
sure all systems support hybrid working (for
clients’ and employees’ benefit) will present
a new set of considerations for FMs and their
FoH teams,” she says.
Hiner believes that with some o ices
seeing higher volumes of workers for longer
hours on certain days and on other days
an almost skeletal occupancy, outsourcing
solutions help ensure a high quality of FoH
service every single day.
For Cooper there is also the question of
servicing the growing number of start-ups
that shot up throughout the pandemic.
She says: “These businesses will soon need
o ice space, even if it is shared co-working
facilities. That’s exactly who I believe will
be occupying the floors that have been
le behind by large corporates who have
embraced the hybrid working model.”
While for the moment, the prime purpose
of FoH is on welcoming employees back, as
we come further out of the pandemic and
confidence in workplace safety grows, the
focus will mature to ensuring that employees
and guests have the best possible workplace
experience.
As Angelico suggests organisations will
rely on: “Having a community host who is
present to help solve problems and make
things happen; they can get under the skin
of the business culture, getting to know the
people and using that insight to learn how to
make their day.”
While for the moment, the
prime purpose of FoH is on
welcoming employees back, as we
come further out of the pandemic and
confi dence in workplace safety grows,
the focus will mature to ensuring
that employees and guests have
the best possible workplace
experience.