There’s a significant gap between the belief that FM should be strategic and the reality of it being operationally focused in most organisations. Five actions are fundamental to effecting positive change.
Positioning facilities management (FM) alongside other strategic business units acknowledges FM as a critical function integrated within the organisation. It also elevates the status of FM to an equal partner in strategic planning processes.
In most corporate environments, however, the challenge is securing an invitation into the boardroom. This will only be met by implementing behavioural and structural changes in the way that FM operates.
In the first global study into FM as a strategic business unit, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) published the report ‘Raising the Bar: Enhancing the Strategic Role of Facilities Management’ in November 2012. This report resulted from an international study by global learning and development organisation, the Occupiers’ Journal. Detailed interviews and surveys were conducted with 400 senior facilities management professionals, resulting in five recommendations for action:
think strategically
act strategically
rebuild the FM organisation and its role in the business
outsource operational activities, and
teach the business how to ask for FM support.
The report highlights that there is a significant gap between the belief that FM should be strategic and the reality of it still being operationally focused in most organisations. Closing this gap requires the practical application of the five actions identified in the report. Fundamental to this is making the time necessary for implementing the required changes.
Align FM activity with corporate objectives through higher-level thinking
Strategic thinking, when it does occur, is often limited to how the property portfolio will be structured, how services will be delivered and how the FM team will be structured. This is a major improvement on operational thinking, but it is still very reactive to the demands of the rest of the business.
In order to move to a more proactive relationship, senior facilities managers need to take the time to fully understand that corporate strategy is about what gives the business its competitive advantage and, more fundamentally, how and why its customers make their purchasing decisions.
This is the starting point for heads of FM to become integral contributors to overall business strategy planning. In this more integrative role, FM becomes a valuable asset to the business, rather than being perceived as an expensive overhead.
Translate strategic thinking into action
With a clearer, deeper understanding of the organisation’s goals and strategic decision-making framework, and the time to develop FM strategies in close support of these, FM is in a better position to propose alternative means of achieving required business results in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.
A key element of this workplace strategy will be a structured and strategic approach to the FM team’s professional development that supports team members in keeping up-to-date with developments in global workplace theory and practice. This is critical if the FM business unit is to maintain its ability to continue to proactively support an ever-evolving business environment.
Reconfigure and reposition the FM business unit
The profile of skills requirements for the FM team will need to be restructured to strengthen operational technical focus with a strong management capability.
Develop training plans and recruitment strategies that place greater emphasis on broader business skills such as financial management, performance measurement, systems planning and interpersonal relationships. These management skills are necessary for effectively communicating with other strategic business units, building productive relationships and meeting service delivery objectives.
Even with the restrictions that industrial relations and employment legislation place on the ability to make wholesale changes in personnel, opportunities exist to rebuild the FM team, including:
transferring existing employees to the new service provider
retraining any retained team members, and
recruiting new employees that match the new criteria.
Inevitably, the FM business unit will be subject to pressure from the rest of the business to reduce its size and cost base in response to implementing these five actions. So, as a cautionary note, any reduction in the size of the FM team must be balanced by satisfying the required changes to team capability.
Transfer operational responsibilities
The initial objective for the head of FM must be to make more time to focus on strategic issues. It therefore makes sense to shed those restricting operational responsibilities and what better way to achieve this than by outsourcing service delivery?
Outsourcing is occasionally the victim of bad press, but this is usually due to failures in process, such as poor specifications, selection of inappropriate service providers and misalignment of corporate cultures. Avoid such failures by adopting current outsourcing best practice and standards at every stage of the procurement process, including:
identifying and rectifying current service delivery weaknesses prior to outsourcing
structuring service contracts to reduce costs and administration, and
implementing a robust performance management framework with strategically aligned metrics.
Failure to do this will divert valuable resources to resolving resulting problems and, therefore, defeat the objective of releasing precious time for strategic action.
The change from in-house to third party delivery, however, can very successfully minimise operational risk, reduce service delivery costs and improve customer satisfaction. These outcomes will result in relationships that require less management time and resources.
Support other business unit goals
Heads of FM need to engage with other business unit managers to help them to articulate their goals and requirements in a way that helps FM to help them to achieve their objectives. Displaying a supportive attitude, demonstrating the value of FM capability and encouraging ongoing consultation will strengthen the transition towards an integrated role for FM in the business and add greater value to FM’s opinions and other inputs.
It is commonly accepted in the industry that facilities management in most businesses is ‘lost’ in the background when everything is going along like clockwork, its existence only becoming evident when things go wrong.
However, there are many positive stories about contributions made to business success that never become general knowledge within the business. The reluctance of FM to fly its own flag hinders the quest for greater recognition and participation in strategic business planning.
Use every opportunity to promote FM successes. This is an excellent way of reminding everyone that there is such a thing as an FM business unit, explaining how to work with FM, and reinforcing the value that FM has the potential to bring to the business.
An achievable challenge
It will have become evident that the challenge of getting an invitation into the boardroom is not something that will happen overnight. It is an achievable objective, but it will require focus and hard work to create the time to think and act strategically, to rebuild the FM team, to rationalise outsourced service providers and contracts, and to educate the rest of the business.
However, the result will pay dividends by: increasing job satisfaction for every member of the FM team through experiencing the direct impact of FM performance on business performance, creating productive relationships with other strategic business units, and establishing the FM function as an equal partner in the planning and implementation of the strategic direction of the business.
-
Martin Leitch FBIFM MRCIS, workplace management consultant, FM Scope, is a prominent workplace management professional with in excess of 30 years experience in delivering a wide range of facilities management consultancy and education services in the UK and Australia.