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RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations address the FM industry’s transformational challenges, in no particular order.

  • Don’t fear transformational challenges: Organizations need higher quality spaces and places that foster social networks, promote productivity, cater to end-users’ diverse requirements, and support occupants’ health and well-being while having much smaller environmental footprints. FMs will be critical for meeting these challenges through design and support.
  • Focus on interdisciplinarity to help contend with increasing complexity in FM operations: The challenges above require holistic approaches with input from several experts representing different domains.
  • The opportunity to play a leading, facilitating role is there, and facility managers can position themselves to do so: Organizations face significant decisions about how, where, when and who should perform work. These decisions will have fundamental facility implications and will have to be reviewed on an ongoing basis as the organization evolves. Facility managers have an intimate understanding of the organization and know how the built environment can be made fit for purpose and flexible. They can “reduce the friction of work.”
  • Foster agility among the FM team. Work iteratively and be prepared to change course. Organizations seek greater flexibility in leasing arrangements, accelerating their adoption of digital technologies and transforming operations to meet sustainability objectives.
  • Curating the employee experience regardless of where an employee works is critical to FM’s success in the future. Improving employee experience will include identifying ways to support remote workers better.
  • The role of the workplace is as important as its size. While right-sizing facilities’ footprints and realizing cost savings are essential, FMs should consider their spaces’ role in value creation, collaboration, culture creation and more.
  • There is a “no one size fits all” solution for hybrid and flexible working. Researchers have identified several ways ”flexible work arrangements can be implemented, including Flex Office (FO), Coworking (CO), Total Home Office (HOT) and Partial Home Office (HOP).”1 Each can provide value to the organization.
  • Think beyond the confines of the building: Digital technologies enable greater awareness of the types, availability, quality and costs of buildings in the surrounding neighborhood. FMs should use this information to identify new ways to offer services to end users.
  • Become familiar with digital transformation to get the most out of digital tools and environments: There are opportunities to improve services and increase the value of facility operations through digital transformation. Focus on the following areas: customer experience, operations, employee experience and business models (See IFMA’s Leading Digital Transformation white paper for more information).
  • Find ways to reduce stress in the workplace: Stress is the leading health and well-being challenge. FMs can improve design, ease the navigation of the space and foster support services that ease burdens on workers. Cumulatively, these suggestions can reduce the cortisol levels that erode health.

1 Inka Sankari and Suvi Nenonen (2022). Hybrid profiles for knowledge workers – flexible workplace and time

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