NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
ASSOCIATION NEWS
THE WORKPLACE OPPORTUNITY LAID BARE
8 MAY 2022
The impact
of COVID
accelerated the
trend towards
working from
home in an
unprecedented
way. Now even
with remaining
restrictions fully
li ed, polling
indicates there
is a general consensus that we will never see
workers return at the same rate as before.
The shi to WFH means that many hospitality
businesses are just not seeing anything like the
business patterns that were the norm before
the pandemic. Many businesses have adopted a
hybrid o ice format, with either two or three days
at home and the rest in the o ice. While some
mandate that either Monday or Friday attendance
is required, many do not – so the impact is larger
at the beginning and end of the working week.
What’s more, with prime o ice space so costly
in city centres, some businesses have taken the
opportunity to dispense with physical o ices
altogether.
The contract catering sector is wrestling with the
challenges – half empty o ices are obviously going
to have lower footfall in the sta restaurants. Many
are finding their contracts unviable and are having
to remodel their o erings to remain sustainable.
So how can hospitality businesses survive these
challenges? The answer in any business is to focus
on the things you can change, optimise them,
but never tick the ‘job done’ box, because it never
will be.
Many are putting their voice to support UK
Hospitality’s campaign for a reduced VAT rate to
12.5 per cent, although given the state of the public
finances many feel that this will be a long battle.
Everyone is, of course looking at their opening
times and sta ing models, it is estimated that WFH
has reduced the hospitality headcount by in excess
of 90,000 people.
Some businesses are having success
renegotiating terms with landlords. Others have
redesigned their menus, opening times and
processes to improve e iciency. Ours is a resilient,
savvy and agile industry, used to meeting and
overcoming challenges. Businesses are matching
rotas to forecasts more closely, using the smart
technologies that have evolved over the last
decade to add science to the process.
Design and layout matter greatly now, and
so, of course, does a sense of cleanliness and
hygiene. Post-pandemic these are no longer
minor concerns, they are, and will remain high on
people’s consciousness. We all recognise both
that people must feel safe and protected, and that
they are more aware of the risks of poor hygiene
than ever.
So, despite the challenges there are reasons to
be optimistic. Our industry has a long history of
reinvention and innovation. In my lifetime the
quality at every level, from the sandwich and
co ee shops through to the luxury hotel has
improved beyond measure. We are more in tune
than ever with meeting and exceeding customer
expectations. This is also true when it comes to
cleaning and hygiene practices.
Businesses must create a clean, hygienic and
fresh-smelling environment for the best customer
experience possible. P&G Professional has trusted
brands that help by providing innovative products
and systems that are simple to use, streamline
cleaning practices to get the job done right the
first time, while helping hospitality establishments
instill confidence in their clientele through the use
of trusted, quality products.
Whatever the future holds, hospitality businesses
must demonstrate their agility and above all, their
quality in order to stave o their competitors and
truly thrive.
IWFM’s latest Market
Outlook research,
released last month,
has provided a clear
picture of the state of our
sector and where it goes
from here, highlighting
some intriguing and
encouraging shi s amid
continuing challenges and uncertainty.
With the caveat that our research preceded the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the general outlook
could be described as one of recovery and optimism
as the six in 10 expecting an improved outlook for
2022 remained consistent with 2021, with fewer
expecting it to worsen.
Earlier research has revealed that the workplace
and FM profession has o en felt pushed into the
background, marginalised by the C-suite and
excluded from strategic decision-making; it’s
therefore very encouraging to note that more than
one in three professionals surveyed say they are now
better positioned within their organisation.
Of course, correlation doesn’t equate to causation,
yet the findings align with what we’ve been hearing
anecdotally for the past two years: the impacts of the
pandemic, and our profession’s crucial management
of and responses to them, were key in highlighting
the value and influence of workplace and facilities
management.
From an awful crisis arose the chance to shine
and our profession seized it. We are seeing multiple
opportunities appear at once, chief among them
being the opportunity to reimagine the workplace.
Our findings echo the impact that COVID has had
on the client organisations of survey respondents:
79 per cent have changed their working strategies to
cover working from home or elsewhere, 56 per cent
have included working flexibly. Importantly, almost
half (44 per cent) reported having reduced occupied
spaces, indicating a wide adoption of the midpandemic
workplace lesson that work is an activity,
not a destination.
There are, however, di ering views on what these
changes mean for our profession’s future. On the one
hand, a recognition of the changing requirements
to manage this new working environment comes
through as a negative impact, as concerns that
reduced o ice footprints and increased home and
hybrid working will reduce the demand for FM
services.
On the other hand, there is acknowledgement
of positive impacts in the shape of improved
positioning for the FM team. Perhaps among
them are the third of respondents who saw their
‘professional focus’ as ‘enabling work wherever it
happens’ rather than ‘managing spaces in which
people work’.
It has been said that opportunities for
the workplace profession to see through
transformational change have previously been
hampered by cost and board level ambivalence. As
our research suggests – at least for some - C suites
have been attuned to hybrid working as business
owners have seen workers adapt easily to sudden
relocation, causing them
to reconsider long held
perceptions of what ‘o ice
work’ is.
THE IMPACT OF WFH ON THE
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Peter Ducker, a member of P&G professional’s
expert advisory council and former CEO of the
Institute of Hospitality
IWFM CEO, Linda Hausmanis