Facilitate May 2020

INFORMING WORKPLACE AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS

x 250

Taster edition

STRENGTH

se CO ct V se or' IDe s r 19 p. es : t 6 p h – on e p. s 13 e,

FOCUS

FAC I LITATE M AY 2 0 2 0

CONTENTS ANA LYS IS

6 COVI D -19 CHAN GE S THE G AME How FM is helping society adapt to a rapidly evolving situation 1 0 SERVI CE P ROVIDE RS RE S PON D FM service firns explain how the pandemic has transformed operations

COVER: SHUTTERSTOCK

12 CRI SI S SPARKS IN N OVATION Air quality and energy management have suddenly become major issues 14 SAF E AS HOUS E S The government has announced the ‘biggest changes in a generation’ in safety measures for high-rise buildings 17 NEWS MAK E RS Ten top stories from Facilitate online

WHAT WE DO

Facilitate – the magazine and online news content resource of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) – keeps IWFM members and others up-to-date on all workplace and facilities management issues, ensuring you are informed of the latest developments and thinking.

COM M UNI TY

KNOW LE DGE

19 IWF M POLICY PIPE LINE The rise of the FM key worker

44 REMOTE CONTROL How leaders can ensure that teams working at home remain productive

3 6 PE R SPE C TIV E S The four most interesting and insightful opinions on FM this month

45 STAY CONNECTED Regular engagement with furloughed staff will help their mental health

3 9 A BIT A BOU T YOU Lauren Todd, workplace manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments

46 SEASON’S EATINGS Contract caterers must put local, ethical and seasonal food on the menu

40 M AY @ IWF M The people and projects currently informing IWFM activity

48 UPDATE ON INCLUSIVITY The new IWFM GPG expands FMs’ knowledge of workplace accessibility

41 C A LL S TO AC T ION The events and training options that deserve your attention

50 FLOW LOGIC Take the pressure off costs, energy use and safety when delivering hot water

LONG FORM

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GAMIFYING LEARNING The way students learn is increasingly influenced by elements of gamification that add a competitive element to the process.

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PLAYING FOR ATTENTION From happy/unhappy buttons in washrooms to apps rating service quality, users are ever more able to influence FM’s response.

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FUN DIRECTION How the application of gaming principles and psychology can help to incentivise employees and boost productivity.

– your award winning magazine

Facilitate is the current holder of the Best Magazine (10-32,000 members) award, as voted for by judges at the Association Excellence Awards, a body which assesses the media brands of trade bodies, professional membership organisations and associations.

We have an ambitious programme for 2020 and look

ce forward to continuing to produce content that meets your needs.. ase We always work ahead, so please e contact us if you have an angle g. or format we should be pursuing.

Got a story? email editorial @facilitatemagazine.com

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F RO NT D E S K A N A LY S I S

As the outbreak of novel coronavirus Covid-19 gripped the UK and the nation went into lockdown, the facilities management industry has been involved in a variety of ways to help society adapt to the fast-evolving situation CRISIS CONTROL

COVID-19 CHANGES THE GAME W O R D S : H ER P R EE T K AU R G R E WA L A N D T H E FAC I L I TAT E T E A M

technological infrastructure necessary to allow employees to work remotely.

In 2019, just 5 per cent of the UK labour force worked from home, but the virtual office has suddenly become standard.

To understand the impact, workplace consultancy Leesman announced a project to analyse how the mass mobilisation of homeworking strategies in response to the Covid-19 crisis is

with restaurants to feed NHS staff and real estate advisers are strategising for a postlockdown ‘socially distanced’ return to the workplace in the near future – all in one dramatic month of change.

When Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on 16 March that people should work from home if they could, many FMs suddenly found themselves key players in preparing the

affecting organisations.

To acknowledge and protect the role of mission-critical FM employees, IWFM CEO Linda Hausmanis wrote to the secretaries of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, asking ministers to acknowledge workplace and facilities W W W. I W F professionals M .O RG .U K management as key workers in the

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY

T

he FM sector has been helping with refits of massive conference centres to create makeshift hospitals to help expand the capacity of the NHS, cleaning buildings, public spaces and transport – and overseeing changes in security procedures including the use of thermal scanners to screen for Covid-19 symptoms. Meanwhile, caterers have joined forces

F RO NT D E S K A N A LY S I S

FIE LD HOSP ITAL S

FM STEPS UP: THE EMERGENCY REFITS

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ne of the biggest projects in the UK during coronavirus times has been the conversion and refitting of massive sites into makeshift hospitals. Last month in mere days, the ExCeL London Centre was refitted to take hundreds of beds with oxygen and ventilators.

The new NHS Nightingale Hospital was initially planned to provide up to 500 beds equipped with ventilators and oxygen and the capacity would then continue to increase, potentially up to several thousand beds should they be required.

Engineers and military personnel set up the hospital, liaising with the NHS on logistics, infrastructure and project management.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “Military personnel have been involved in the planning stages and continue to support NHS England by providing infrastructure, logistics and project management advice.”

NHS England also announced that new NHS Nightingale field hospitals were to be created in Bristol and Harrogate to provide hundreds of extra beds if local services need them during the

peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

These are in addition to those under development in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

The new hospital in Manchester is being built at the city’s Manchester Central Complex while the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham will take care of patients as needed in the West Midlands and surrounding area – the region that has been second hardest-hit by the virus.

Each of these new services will initially have up to 500 beds, potentially offering as many as 3,000 more between them if cases escalate.

In Wales, VINCI Construction UK is part of a group that is creating temporary Rainbow Hospitals at Deeside Leisure Centre and Bangor University.

Kier is also converting Bay Studios in Swansea into a field hospital. The film studios and former factory will be transformed into a hospital setting that will provide 850 beds in total. Working with Swansea Council, Kier will build a new structure to house the new field hospital inside the existing 11,000 square-metre single-tier building. Kier will also improve existing infrastructure within the studios, including heating, electricity and water supplies, so that it will effectively support NHS teams when the space becomes operational.

In Scotland, Balfour Beatty has been appointed as a principal contractor to transform Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus (SEC) into a new temporary NHS Scotland Hospital, NHS Louisa Jordan, on behalf of the Scottish Government.

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TIMELINE

HOW THE CRISIS UNFOLDED DECEMBER 2019 The Covid-19 outbreak starts in Wuhan, China.

FEBRUARY 2020 The first case of Covid-19 in the UK is confirmed.

11 MARCH 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak announces a £12bn package of emergency support to help the UK cope with the expected onslaught from coronavirus. This includes a promise that the taxpayer will meet 80% of the wages of employees temporarily sent home from firms hit by the crisis. The World Health Organization declares a pandemic.

16 MARCH 2020 Boris Johnson advises everyone in the UK against “non-essential” travel and contact with others and says people should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and work from home if possible.

17 MARCH 2020 Sunak announces the biggest package of emergency state aid for business since the 2008 financial crash, unveiling £330bn-worth of government-backed loans and more than £20bn in tax cuts and grants for companies threatened with collapse.

23 MARCH 2020 Johnson announces a nationwide lockdown, under which police will be granted powers within days to enforce the government’s social distancing measures.

25 MARCH 2020 The Coronavirus Act 2020 is passed granting the government and other authorities “unprecedented” powers.

3 APRIL 2020 Prince Charles opens the NHS Nightingale Hospital in London by video link. The temporary hospital was created by refitting the ExCeL conference centre in nine days and has 4,000 beds available for the public. It is the biggest hospital in the world.

13 APRIL 2020 The 1,000-bed hospital set up at the Manchester Central Convention Complex opens.

16 APRIL 2020 A Nightingale hospital opens in Birmingham at the NEC with 500 beds, expandable to 1,500.

22 APRIL 2020 Captain Tom Moore opens a Nightingale hospital in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

Makeshift hospitals in Wales, Scotland and 20 MARCH 2020 other parts of England Johnson orders the are due to open in the W W W. I W F M .O RG .UFacilitate K closure of pubs, cafés, weeks after restaurants and gyms. goes to press.

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F RO NT D E S K A N A LY S I S

BOARDROOM AGENDA

Adrian Cresswell, CEO, AM Services Group Our role has been cast into the spotlight. FM and the discussion around facilities services, especially in relation to wellbeing, will move right up the boardroom agenda. The public swell of appreciation for our operational teams will continue well into the future. Clients have had a first-hand view of the dedication of facilities teams on the front line, helping to keep essential services running.

NEW GUIDANCE

HOW HAS COVID-19 AFFECTED YOUR WORK?

52%

41%

WE HAD BEGUN PLANNING FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS

WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE HUGE ADJUSTMENTS

7%

WE WERE FULLY PREPARED

FMS AS COUNSELLORS

Mike Boxall, managing director, Sitemark Business leaders have been turning to their FMs as key counsel ever since the coronavirus outbreak took hold on UK organisations.

FMs have really come to the fore in the past few weeks and will continue to be relied upon heavily over the coming months. Perhaps the biggest change hasn’t been their role, but the acknowledgement from others of their importance.

IWFM RESOURCES ON COVID-19

RESHAPING OUR ROLE

Angela Love from Active Workplace Solutions We can say in no uncertain terms that coronavirus will reshape FM’s role and the perception of it. People will recognise the role the industry has played throughout this crisis and will want to become a part of that. FMs already have many strings to their bow and these have been pulled on consistently during this pandemic.

Since lockdown began we have seen a significant number of requests for homeworker packs such as desks and chairs, with FMs taking the lead on this.

CHANGING CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS

Antony Law, MD, Churchill Group This will highlight the relationship FMs have with clients. It underlines the need for FMs to be expert communicators in how they work with colleagues and coordinate with different stakeholders, displaying social and emotional intelligence. It’s essential to remember that we are dealing with people, all of whom will be feeling the effects of the outbreak. It’s a chance for FMs to be a key voice among senior management and perform a pivotal role in navigating through this.

The IWFM has compiled a specific coronavirus resource page on its website. It includes relevant good practice guides (GPGs) to deal with matters related to the pandemic as well as other tips and links to relevant sources of information – to access it, visit tinyurl.com/IWFMCovid-19 GPGs Risk management (2018): Identify and manage risk; Agile working change management (2017): Make new choices about when, where and how people work; and Business continuity (2015): Principles and practical applications of Business Continuity Management.

Further advice on Communication; Leadership strategy; Ensuring business continuity; Managing wholly or partially shutdown premises; Fire safety; Security – physical and digital; Stress and wellbeing management; Trusted information The IWFM says to choose sources of information carefully, prioritising updates from: The NHS; Public Health England; The UK Government Letter template Members can download an authorisation letter template to give to employees who are essential workers, detailing that they are allowed to travel to and W W W. I W from F M .O RGto .Ucomplete K work professional activities.

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Ten of the top stories from Facilitate online last month

NEWSMAKERS Oxford needs more business space

Office rents in Oxfordshire rose by 24.3 per cent over the past year, according to research by property consultant Bidwells.

The firm recorded more than 1.1 million square foot of office and laboratory space in Oxfordshire and found that only 569,500 square foot of space was available, which was less than at the end of 2018. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-Oxford

20/03 20/03

The Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management has published new guidance to help the profession deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

The advice says: “Best practice in risk and business continuity management requires those with responsibility for safeguarding their colleagues and the public to stay informed and up to date.” tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-IWFM

UK spearheads new tech

A report by Tech Nation, a growth platform for tech companies and leaders, suggests that the UK is leading the way on cutting-edge technologies. The report says 2.9 million people in the UK are employed in digital tech, a rise of 40 per cent from 2017 (accounting for 9 per cent of the national workforce). tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-Technology

20/03 20/03

Thousands of energy and utility employees should be classed as key workers so that they can keep energy and water supplies running during the coronavirus emergency, says Unite. It would mean that they would join the list of those whose children would be provided with access to schools. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-Energy

Cleaning sector forms 5% of workforce

Xenon offers help to jobless FMs

Recruiter Xenon Group is offering free training to FMs who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This would include free qualifications for the unemployed, relaxed payment terms and support from Xenon’s recruitment arm. Group director Chris Morris said this could be “a lifeline to FMs who have fallen victim to the economics of epidemics”. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-Training

27/03

Government raises national minimum wage rate

The government has published its new national minimum wage and the real living wage figures in the UK. The national minimum wage has gone up from £8.21 an hour to £8.72 in April and the real living wage currently stands at £9.30 across the UK and £10.75 in London. Go to page 63 for more. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-NMW

Research by the British Cleaning Council (BCC) suggests that there are about 1.63 million workers in the industry – making up around 5 per cent of the UK’s workforce. The figures put cleaning on a par with the transport and storage sectors and make it one of the top 10 largest UK industries for employment. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-Cleaning

24/03

31/03

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has appointed four co-chairs to its Covid-19 task force. They join other expert co-chairs from the US and China who will help define the critical role buildings, organisations and communities play in reducing the health burden from this coronavirus and other infectious diseases. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-IWBI

TOP STORIES

Utilities staff ‘are key workers’

IWFM publishes Covid-19 guide

IWBI recruits more experts to Covid-19 task force

F RO NT D E S K

02/04

Compass pays bonuses to frontline workers

Caterer Compass Group has announced new measures including pay bonuses to support its frontline staff delivering essential services – including those at the new field hospital at ExCel, London. The company said it wanted “to recognise the exceptional efforts of its colleagues and support its communities during this crisis”. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-Pay

03/04

BCC: Cleaners should have key worker status

The UK Government “should follow Ireland’s example and say cleaners are critical workers”, says the British Cleaning Council (BCC). The council is urging employers of cleaners supporting these essential industries to write letters for their staff to be produced for authorities as evidence that their roles are critical. tinyurl.com/FacMag0520-BCC

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07/04

l @Facilitate_Mag f FacilitateMagazine 17

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LO N G FO R M

G A M I F I C AT I O N O F T R A I N I N G

The introduction of gamification techniques into training for workplace and facilities managers is triggered by students’ changing relationship with the internet; the utility of their smartphones; and their desire for personalised, on-demand learning. Martin Read reports

he ways in which organisations assess the fitness for purpose of employees, as well as how employees go about maintaining that fitness, are being influenced by the way on-the-job learning continues to be turned inside out by the internet.

Many of these changes involve gamification techniques of the kind increasingly finding their way into business management. Right now, many providers of training are taking their content and converting it for a variety of formats so that students can essentially compete with others, or themselves, to reach knowledge acquisition targets. Short, sharp modules are the key, with firms in this space eulogising the greater knowledge retention rates that they say result from such an approach.

Digital workplace learning solutions provider International Workplace calls such short modules ‘spaced learning’ to be accessed ‘little and often’. When the firm’s managing director David Sharp, in his role as an IWFM awards judge, was considering the attributes shared by the best-performing FMs across the years, “I came up with the idea of testing their ‘DNA’, to see

if there was something in their skills, attributes and attitudes that made them all successful.”

An associated workshop “got me thinking in a much more granular way about how we identify, promote and measure desired personal development outcomes.”

This approach has underpinned development of Workplace DNA, a continuous learning service based around a cloud-based digital platform and born of an acceptance that the way students learn has fundamentally shifted. It’s more about acquiring knowledge at the time and point of demand, with employers using engagement and impact are the new metrics of choice.

Workplace DNA uses structures such as leader boards – an option for employers when setting up the service up – to introduce a gamified element to the learning experience. The system notes a user’s engagement with the product’s learning resources, reporting the user’s progress in the form of a ‘DNA score’ – “a simple measure of engagement that reflects their knowledge and understanding of workplace management”.

The trick here is that the DNA score isn’t always headed upwards; failure to keep up with resources

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LO N G FO R M

G A M I F I C AT I O N O F T R A I N I N G

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LO N G FO R M

G A M I F I C AT I O N I N FAC I L I T I E S M A N AG EM EN T

: N O I T A C I F I GAM KNOW YOUR TARGET GROUP AND KEEP IT SIMPLE Pauliina Tuomi (PhD), a postdoctoral researcher at the Tampere University, Pori Unit in Finland, shares findings from her research into the gamification of facilities management jobs – specifically cleaning and maintenance

O

ne of the fundamental purposes of gamification is to solve problems.

That is what makes games motivating.

Gamification is often described as the use of game elements to improve user engagement and experience with nongame initiatives.

Gamification at work has been the interest of recent studies, looking at how it supports user engagement and enhances positive patterns in service use such as increasing user activity, social interaction, or quality and productivity of actions. Gamification primarily aims to increase users’ positive motivations towards given activities or use of technology.

At best, gamification motivates employees and encourages them to engage with their work and the organisation.

Studies of the gamification of different work tasks have focused mainly on conceptual considerations that are often lacking on empirical evidence. This is what we wanted to tackle.

Our aim and methods

Our KiSA research project (2017-2018), funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund, focused on the gamification process in facility services jobs – cleaning and maintenance.

The project manifested the process of gamifying facility services jobs from the pre-interviews of staff to

Pauliina Tuomi: Games and applications should be fast, simple, and motivating for the employees to use them

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the implementation of the custom-made application, WorkAI (in cooperation with Headai Ltd). Eighteen employees took part in our pilot study and filled in a questionnaire and attended semi-structured endinterview sessions.

Organisations have become increasingly aware of the positive implications of promoting wellbeing at work. In our study, the overall approach was to explore whether the gamified approach influences both the self-awareness and the knowledge acquisition of respondents during the pilot.

We used a gamified solution called WorkAI that aims to track the employee’s daily routines and feelings through relevant thematic areas. WorkAI – with a user interface similar to WhatsApp or Messenger – is an AIbased software robot (bot) that asks users 15 different W W W. I W F M .O RG .U K

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V I E W P O I NT

SEEN AND HEARD

“One of the things the government should do now is suspend all dividend payments or other distributions by companies. Any spare cash needs to be kept in the companies. In addition any loans or grants made have to be for operational purposes and not shareholders or any other spending. That is to pay people and suppliers. Also CEOs and others on large pay packets have to take a hit.

It’s called leadership. Do it.”

CHRIS MACKENZIE-GRIEVE, INTERIM MD AT EOM, SHARES HIS EXPECTATION ON GOVERNMENT AND COMPANY LEADERS DURING THESE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES

“#Coronavirus will force through change across many sectors that can have positive impact outcomes and may well stay in place after it is over. Particularly good news how this is unfolding in the #NHS, especially in the short term in order to free up capacity.

Very much hope thiss is not an outlier.”

FOUNDER, SCALEUP CEO AND RTHY ENTREPRENEUR DAVID GALSWORTHY LOOKS AT THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS

“In a nutshell: asbestos os can be found in buildings constructed before 2000. It can n be found in insulation d pipes/boilers, fire and ng noise protection, ceiling g, and floor tiles, roofing, d guttering and textured coatings.” #asbestos EMMA BAILEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT INTERIM FM SOLUTIONS LTD, SUMS UP ULD WHETHER OR NOT YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT ASBESTOS

Ideas and comments made around the sector this month

FM@LARGE “Coronavirus, Facilities Management and the Value of ISO 41001. Many challenge the value of implementing such Management Standards as ISO 41001 for Facility Management. Those that implement the standard will already have ‘ensured that their management system manages risk (5.1); planned for the prevention, reduction of undesired effects (6.1); addressed risks and how they can and how these risks can change with time (6.1a); identified who will be responsible (6.2); undertaken internal and external communication associated with the risks (7.4); considered continual improvement opportunities… of controls responding to external events (9.3f).’

Whilst nothing as we know is foolproof, the odds are they will have been better prepared than most!

STAN MITCHELL, CEO OF KEY FACILITIES MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL

“Whilst the world goes into lockdown, I really do urge corp companies to do their bit and support the vendors and contractors they do business with.

This is a time to protect each other and ensure that we can all pick up where we left off.”

TOM WESTALL, FACILITIES DIRECTOR EMEA & APAC AT NATURAL MOTION & ZYNGA, OFFERS WISDOM DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

NOTED&QUOTED “WE BELIEVE 2020 IS GOING TO SEE SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN THE ADOPTION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES. THIS WILL CREATE SOME GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR REGIONS AND BUSINESSES ACROSS THE UK.”

SIMON KENDREW, MARKETING DIRECTOR AT ENGIE, PREDICTS A GREENER FUTURE

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“Leading and managing remote teams requires consistency, empathy and care” MIKE KELLY, LIBRARY SPACE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, OFFERS ADVICE TO LEADERS FINDING THEMSELVES MANAGING REMOTE TEAMS

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K N OW H OW EXPL AINER

Mistake 1: Relying on vague estimations based on approximations by nonbuyers

It may seem obvious that any company valuation should be detailed and rounded, and not just based on vague estimations. But it’s a point often missed; business sellers regularly fall for attractive valuations without questioning what the figure is actually based on. Worse still, they use these higher valuations to measure the potential effectiveness of the broker.

Solution: Beware of business brokers who offer a high valuation figure while failing to ask questions relevant to your specific business.

Mistake 2: Basing your valuation on recent

HENRY CAMPBELL-JONES is director of Hornblower Business Brokers

financial performance

business prospects

Solution: Be sure to be thorough and include longterm financial performance.

To ensure that you receive a meaningful and robust valuation, it is essential that your company is assessed against a range of financial and non-financial criteria. Here are just a few of these: Revenue and profit profile for the past three years and the expected growth trajectory; Current shareholders’ roles and the company’s dependency on these roles; Shareholders replacement costs and whether there is planned succession within the company; Size of customer base and customer revenue concentration; and Proportion of contracted or recurring revenue, which is particularly relevant in the facilities management sector.

Mistake 3: Following your heart and overrating your business

Most people are familiar with the cliché that any company is only worth what a buyer will pay for it. The more elegant way to express this is that provided a broker does their job properly, the ultimate price of any company will be dictated by the market appetite for that company.

Companies are typically not marketed with a specific market price and instead offers are invited from potential buyers. Even if the broker has been a little conservative in a valuation, the market will soon make this clear.

Solution: Trust the broker.

It is better to have it this way than wondering why you are receiving much lower offers than you were led to believe you might!

COM PANY VALUAT IO NS

BROKERING A DEAL

Mistake 4: Be tempted to go with a broker who promises to achieve the highest price

There are several common mistakes people make during the valuation of their FM business, but these can be avoided says Henry Campbell-Jones

The good news

Receiving an inflated initial valuation may negatively impact the eventual sale of your business. Serious buyers will not take the valuation seriously, resulting in a protracted sale process.

Solution: It is better to have a broker that is aiming at the optimal value after a careful assessment of your business.

Mistake 5: Looking at macroeconomics rather than 52

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The key attribute of a FM business – whether they are oriented to commercial cleaning or to security – is that the business model is based on a monthly recurring revenue supported by a service contract.

In terms of a sale, there are advantages to being either single or multi-service, the ultimate goal of an FM business is to be able to provide the full range of services to its client base so that there is the potential to cross-sell services and grow more quickly.

Single-service companies will be of strategic interest to trade buyers that are looking for a particular service to add to their suite of services and will provide an immediate client base into which their existing services can be offered.

Solution: Instead of being influenced by what people say about the market, focus on the potential of your business model and select a broker who is taking this into consideration.

While Brexit and the coronavirus dominate the news, we find that buyers tend to remain positive about the future, and we remain busy with business as usual.

Since the Brexit vote, we have completed several successful FM deals. These included a commercial cleaning company (turnover £853,000), a well-established 30-year-old building mechanical services business (turnover £3.7 million), and an IT support and hosting company (£1.2 million).

There is a strong demand for our FM sales mandates, and we see it as very much a seller’s market. There are many buyers and acquisition W W W. I Wtoo F Mfew .O RG .U K opportunities.

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BAC K PAG E

EPHFMERA

Facilitate, incorporating FM World, is the publication of IWFM, the professional body for workplace and facilities management. For information on membership, qualifications and training contact us:

The stories that just don’t fit anywhere else (Email us: editorial@facilitatemagazine.com)

Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management Charringtons House, 1st Floor South, The Causeway, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 2ER, UK Tel: +44 (0)1279 712 620 Email: admin@iwfm.org.uk Web: www.iwfm.org.uk

Redactive Publishing Ltd 78 Chamber Street London E1 8BL www.facilitatemagazine.com EDITOR Martin Read 020 7880 7664 martin.read@facilitatemagazine.com

DEPUTY EDITOR Bradford Keen 020 7880 7615 bradford.keen@facilitatemagazine.com NEWS EDITOR Herpreet Kaur Grewal 020 7880 8544 newsdesk@facilitatemagazine.com

SUB-EDITOR Deborah Shrewsbury 020 7880 6223 deborah.shrewsbury@redactive.co.uk SENIOR DESIGNER Seija Tikkis 020 7324 2746 seija.tikkis@redactive.co.uk

PICTURE EDITOR Claire Echavarry 020 7324 2701 claire.echavarry@redactive.co.uk CONTENT ASSISTANT Prithvi Pandya 020 7880 6229 prithvi.pandya@redactive.co.uk

SALES — DISPLAY, DIGITAL, EVENTS 020 7880 6206 display@facilitatemagazine.com

On our soapbox

H

ow many times have you been using the washroom and seen someone exit a stall, splash their hands with water (no soap) and wave them under or inside the hand dryer?

Perhaps your presence convinced them to go through the hand-washing motions; without you there, they would have left, carrying whatever invisible remnants they should have soaped off.

Don’t celebrate just yet – all you’ve done is use social awkwardness to force them to take half-hearted cleaning action, and then use the hand dryer to blast filthy air around the room and maybe into your lungs. So it’s your fault.

Putting the blame game aside (it isn’t really your fault) we must question why it has taken a health crisis on the scale of Covid-19 to convince educated

adults living in a nation with access to clean running water and any number of exotically scented hand soaps (cucumber and ylang ylang, raspberry and pineapple, sunflowers and kittens) to wash their hands properly.

Yes, there is a proper way to wash your hands. The NHS diagrams have been around long before the pandemic.

The NHS wants us to wash hands our hands if you were surgeons – under the nails, between the fingers, the back of hands and the palms, all the way to the wrists, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice to make sure the procedure lasts the recommended amount of time.

Remember, surgeons stick their hands into people’s bodies. Typically, our endusers just touch door handles.

Joking aside, change is possible.

People all over the world are now washing their hands frequently and thoroughly. FMs should be motivated by this. What else could end users finally be convinced to do after so many posters, nudges and warnings have gone unheeded? Anything, perhaps, just as long as the motivation is strong enough to do so.

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FacilitateMagazine.com / May 2020

SALES — RECRUITMENT 020 7880 6212 recruitment@facilitatemagazine.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Aysha Miah-Edwards 020 7880 6241 aysha.miah@redactive.co.uk

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Joanna Marsh 020 7880 8542 joanna.marsh@redactive.co.uk Subscriptions IWFM members with Facilitate subscription or delivery queries should call the IWFM’s membership department on +44 (0)1279 712650.

Facilitate is sent to all members of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management and is available on subscription to non-members. Annual subscription rates are UK £110, Europe £120 and rest of world £130.

To subscribe call 01580 883844 or email subs@redactive.co.uk – alternatively, you can subscribe online at www.facilitatemagazine.com/about-us/subscribe/ Editorial Advisory Board Simon Ball, market director, Engie UK & Ireland Peter Brogan, head of research and insight, IWFM Rob Greenfield, director, Assured Safety & Risk Management Ian Jones, director of facilities, ITV Martin Stead, managing director, Sewell FM Dr Matthew Tucker, Liverpool John Moores University Jo Wake, head of global workplace, Deliveroo Kate Smith, solutions development director, CBRE Liz Kentish, managing director, Kentish and Co. Simone Fenton-Jarvis, Workplace consultancy development director, Ricoh

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Average net circulation 14,996 (July 2017 to June 2018)

facilities to find out how.

FACILITATE IS THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF WORKPLACE AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT. TO ACCESS THE FULL VERSION EVERY MONTH, JOIN IWFM TODAY. WWW.IWFM.ORG.UK

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