FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
DATA ADVANTAGE
Being a financial services firm M&G’s people do like data, so when the workplace solutions team is dealing with different parts of the business, when some question if they have enough space, or where are their people going to be based, the app helps estates demonstrate how in reality the space is being utilised.
Says Gingell: “I think that’s one of the most powerful elements of the app. People might interpret their space quite differently – for instance it might feel quite busy, but when we have a look at the data we can see that actually it’s not quite where they thought it was and we can see where there are gaps. We can also track which days people are coming in and work with teams to ensure they are getting the most out of their space before making any physical changes.”
The technology also helps to streamline services, giving users the option of informing the property help desk if there is an issue. For instance, if they go to the coffee machine and it’s not working they can scan it on the QR code and it will automatically create a ticket they can track. But the ultimate aim is to identify any issues before it happens.
Says Gingell: “If you’re an FM working on the site it’s a useful way of determining how we can proactively respond to things. We’ve got around 4,000 sensors around our UK estate and we want it to show us the state of assets as it happens. For example, when it comes to monitoring energy use, with our environmental sensors if we know they are deviating from our parameters.”
“In fact, the level of data has given us and Spica challenges so they’ve created a level of functionality on the dashboards to see what works and pull data out that is genuinely insightful.”
M&G’s MyWorkplace app has understandably been very well received by the property service teams as well as end users, but what about the board?
Says O’Reilly: “They’re massively supportive of the app, of what we are doing and that we are creating really efficient workplaces, so it’s got a lot of profile. Like everyone else ESG is massively important to M&G and sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, from an energy perspective, carbon perspective, or indeed a wellbeing perspective. The app gives us a fantastic data point that we can then use to show the value add and also to constantly improve, so it’s really valuable.”
