Marc Selby, Director of Shared Services at Mitie, says that to achieve strategic FM thinking we need holistic data and analysis on FM, people and property.
How would you define Strategic FM?
Strategic FM is about using all of the facets of FM and property, combined with wider organisational assets and operations. It should deliver the high-level goals and aspirations over the life of an agreed plan (e.g. 3-5 years), aligned to the wider organisations objectives.
Strategic FM should also consider macro-economic factors, such as long-term property cycles and Brexit. It is a helicopter view that doesn’t get into the ‘weeds’ of day to day matters, which is more tactical FM.
How should Strategic FM be integrated with corporate real estate?
There should be no distinction. You can’t have a strategic FM plan that isn’t intrinsically linked with the property asset or corporate real estate plan. All elements should feed into a single plan and it is the quality of data and analytics (as well the objectives and desired outcomes) that drive it.
For example, if a business is thinking about disposing of a building, the property department may typically be looking at break options, lease end points and providing financial planning details, such as the operational and capital costs of exit.
However, the property department will often not consider FM factors such as:
- long-term running costs
- capital investment needs
- refurbishment issues
- floorplate considerations, e.g. desk utilisation
- churn/retention and wellbeing, i.e. the cost of a move from a HR perspective.
By combining property and FM paths, and with an eye on the desired outcomes (e.g. financial, wellbeing and customer service), a fully inclusive plan and dataset will provide greater insight into making the right decision.
What are the challenges to achieving successful Strategic FM?
Property advisors need to better understand the value of FM. They often see FM as ‘blue collar’ and adds no value other than just resolving issues. In return, FM needs to understand property more through improved data and analytics.
Often, FM has no true real datasets or established measurement practice. A critical factor is baselining – if we never truly know the cost base or the measure by which we want demonstrate success (i.e. customer satisfaction), then we can’t hope to show progress or measure progress.
We also often measure the wrong things, such as call-outs, down-times, etc. These are good for tactical delivery but we really want happy staff and customers, who have high-quality environments, with services that increase their wellbeing and productivity. Mix these aims with financial objectives, customer propositions and wider company targets and then we’ll achieve strategic FM thinking and delivery.
Tips for transitioning from operational into strategic FM
It’s easier for FM to become a strategic asset if the director responsible isn’t from a traditional ‘property’ background but from another corporate area, e.g. customer services, where the whole proposition is about people being treated as customers.
Being more strategic will also be achieved if FM can:
- work with high-quality and forward-thinking service delivery partners
- establish a delivery governance board, where both internal management and service providers are jointly responsible for year-end and strategic long-term targets and objectives
- move away from SLAs and KPIs to what truly matters, i.e. positive earnings/profit (unless you’re a charity) and happy, productive and healthy customers and staff
- ensure its plan follows the key principals of the organisation and includes elements such as corporate social responsibility, diversity and health and safety
- identify and gain support from key stakeholders in the leadership team, e.g. chief executive, chief financial officer, chief operations officer, HR director, etc.
Advice for facilities managers wanting to achieve successful Strategic FM
Start by clearly identifying the outcomes you want to achieve, then review whether you have the delivery models and partners to achieve this. Other actions include:
- having a clear one, three, five or 10-year plan (that allows some flexibility)
- creating a central repository that gathers data and performs analytics
- understanding what your true baseline is
- having SMART objectives and being able to measure progress
- broadening your knowledge of property – it’s not a dark art
- understanding your estate – what is operationally critical and where are the issues?
- being clear on who your stakeholders are, what they expect and have a communications path to them
- aligning your objectives to wider company targets and ensuring FM embodies company values
- having the right delivery partners and a manager/director who is fully attuned to your thinking
- having a strategic plan that you can clearly articulate in an ‘elevator pitch’.
The main factor that will influence your success in achieving strategic FM is having complete holistic data – on FM, property and people – and the analytics that deliver meaningful insight, which are attuned to the wider business.
Aligning facilities management with corporate objectives is just one area covered by Jane Hamilton and Sarah Smith in the RICS Leadership Development for Facilities Managers course. Jane Hamilton is the former European Head of Corporate Real Estate at HSBC and Sarah Smith is Senior Associate Consultant, Cegos.
Find out more about RICS Leadership and Management training and how we are supporting professionals across the built environment position themselves as leaders in the industry here.