Facilities Management Careers Guide 2011 by Redactive Media Group

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT CAREERS GUIDE 2011 GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FACILITIES MANAGEMENT 2011

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WHAT IS FM? GUIDE TO FM | OCTOBER 2010 | 5

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Advance your career in FM

Whether you’re currently managing in-sourced or out-sourced facilities, or providing facilities management services to other organisations, our courses can help improve your career potential. In addition to our suite of undergraduate FM courses, and the only MBA FM in the country, we have a dedicated research centre which allows us to deliver leading-edge education and bespoke training, and offer consultancy and training services. Contact our course leaders for an informal conversation

Mel Bull 0114 225 3240 m.bull@shu.ac.uk

Paul Wyton 0114 225 4565 p.g.wyton@shu.ac.uk

‘The course has not only provided me with invaluable theoretical knowledge – it has widened my professional network by exposure to like-minded individuals within the FM arena.’ Real Estate Manager, BAE Systems, MBA Facilities Management student

‘The certificate enhanced my reporting skills and ability to reflect, helping me be effective at work.’ Client Manager, MITIE, Certificate Facilities Management student

or for general information please email sbs@shu.ac.uk or phone 0114 225 2820.

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INTRODUCTION WHAT IS FM?

GLASTONBURY, BBC, MI5 – ANYONE FOR FACILITIES? As a facilities management professional, you could find yourself working in a large, diverse an interesting field. But what exactly is facilities management and what do facilities professionals do in their day-to-day roles? acilities management, in a nutshell, is providing the right environment to help people to work happily, productively and efficiently. This is generally in buildings, and often traditional offices. But the facilities manager’s remit extends to supporting work wherever it takes place – at people’s homes, on trains, planes or in the local Starbucks. What no definition can convey is the importance of facilities management to an organisation. It can make or break a business. Imagine if the whole building goes up in flames or there’s an outbreak of food poisoning in the restaurant or legionella in the airconditioning system? Or there’s a major accident on the premises? But facilities management is not just about preventing crises. While a good deal of a facilities manager’s time will be about adhering to legislation and ensuring the worse doesn’t happen (and having plans in place in case it does) you will also lead projects which can make a massive positive impact on people, the workplace and the environment. Imagine working with a team of architects and engineers to design a brand

GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 07

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INTRODUCTION WHAT IS FM?

spanking new headquarters for a blue-chip company? Or introducing a flexible working strategy in an organisation, whereby individual ownership of desks is removed and everyone chooses a different desk when they walk into the building each day? You could find yourself working alongside the company’s board to integrate a new portfolio of buildings, and people, after a major acquisition, moving several hundred (or thousand) people to new premises over one weekend or writing a security strategy to help to avoid, or react to, a terrorist attack on your building. Facilities managers are also the guardians of an organisation’s sustainability policy from ensuring people recycle their waste (and create less in the first place) to reducing the amount of CO2 a property produces. So you could find yourself working with a sub-contractor to create a green roof, introducing a cycleto-work scheme for employers, ensuring that your catering team reduces the distance that food travels from farm to fork and introducing a seasonal eating menu or cutting the amount of energy and water a building uses. Every organisation has someone who is charge of their facilities. In small businesses these responsibilities might be attached to someone else’s job, such as a personal assistant or office manager. In larger organisations there will be a team of facilities managers responsible for all aspects of the workplace. Facilities managers work in the private sector, public sector and for charities – wherever there are buildings, there are people who need to look after them and keep them working effectively and efficiently. Think schools, universities, hospitals, libraries, sports stadiums, factories, museums, prisons, scientific laboratories, shops and business

parks and there will be an FM working busily behind the scenes to ensure the building runs like clockwork. And it’s not just about work. Facilities managers also look after social housing, ensuring that they council houses are well-maintained, safe and fit for purpose. Because facilities managers are involved in so many different aspects of the workplace, you will find yourself working alongside the other support services within an organisation, such as human resources (HR), IT and finance. After people, property and facilities management is the biggest expenditure in most organisations, so most boards take a keen interest in what the facilities management team is doing – and you can make a big difference within your organisation from day one. You will become a master of many different skills. Good procurement and negotiation skills are an essential tool in the FM’s armoury as you will find yourself purchasing everything from plants, furniture, cleaning products and stationery to multi-million pound contracts for security, maintenance or consultancy. You will become adept at multi-tasking, looking at next year’s budget or plans for

the next crisis management plan rehearsal one moment to climbing around the roof inspecting the air-conditioning system or literally fire-fighting the next. Time management and a cool calm head is essential. Everything that a facilities manager does must have the customer at its heart, whether that be creating a halowe’en themed party in the canteen, ensuring that all the lifts, loos and lights are working or ensuring that the building is compliant with the relevant health and safety requirements. Some facilities managers are directly employed by the organisation for which they look after the facilities such as Barclays, Shell or John Lewis. They are known as clientside FMs. Other organisations outsource their facilities management to FM service providers, such as Johnson Controls, Mace Macro, Sodexo and Reliance FM and many FMs choose to work directly for service providers but on a client site. They are known as supplyside FMs. The industry, which is worth between £40 billlion and £95 billion, is also made up of consultants and numerous product suppliers.

And as we outline on the next page, the salaries and benefits are pretty good. There’s a skills shortage in the profession for outstanding facilities managers (hence the good salaries) and as companies look for innovative ways to reduce costs and keep staff motivated in tough times, this is the best time to make your mark in facilities management. Despite the recession, and the focus on costcutting, sustainability is rising in importance in many organisations and with FMs being the guardian’s of an organisation’s environmental and ethical policies, if going green is your thing, then you need to be in FM. And perhaps of greatest importance for first jobbers is the fact the facilities management professional are proud of the responsibility they are given in their jobs from day one. You may be building relationships with suppliers, walking the floors of your building to ensure that your customers are happy and productive or looking at ways to be more sustainable as a company. And the chances are you will be doing it from that first Monday morning.

WHEREVER THERE ARE BUILDINGS THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO NEED TO LOOK AFTER THEM, AND KEEP THEM WORKING EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY

8 | GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011

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INTRODUCTION SALARIES

EARNING POWER Salary-wise, it could be the right time to join facilities management. With sustainability, flexible working and cost-cutting all top of the business agenda, the department which leads in these areas is increasingly important.

espite tough economic conditions, the facilities management sector still offers competitive salaries and benefits to the right candidates. And compared to other related sectors such as property and surveying, there are still pay rises to be had, compared to pay cuts in other industries. According to the 2009 FM World salary survey, in association with facilities management service provider John Controls, in the last 12 months a third of respondents had a wage increase of 1-2 per cent. However, facilities managers are still confident of increased earning in the future: a healthy 67.1 per cent felt that their salaries would increase at the next review. The trend in recent years has been for salaries to rise by about 3-4 per cent every year. And clearly facilities managers expect them to return to these previous levels. The research reveals that most facilities managers earn between £36,000 – £45,000 (31.3 per cent), with the next common bracket £26,000 – £35,000 (24.7 per cent). Some of the top City-based facilities professionals command six figure salaries for looking after organisations such as banks and law firms. Starting salaries vary enormously from organisation to organisation and role to role but turn to page 55 to get an idea of what individual FM firms are offering.

ISTOCK

Benefits Despite the times of austerity, facilities managers still boast a good benefit package: two in five have a company car GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 09

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INTRODUCTION SALARIES

or car allowance; and over half have a health plan. The pension provision afforded by the industry is still very good, and 81.5 per cent are part of a pension scheme. In terms of motivation, 45.6 per cent receive a performance-related bonus; and 44.6 per cent receive a bonus of up to £9,999.

Qualifications Facilities managers are a well-qualified bunch holding qualifications in a huge range of areas: FM itself, mechanical and electrical engineering, building services engineering, building surveying construction/civil engineering, soft services (eg hotel and catering), and business management. Roughly half of respondents to the FM World survey have a BA or BSc (47.8 per cent), while one in five have Masters degrees. In total, a third of all respondents hold a postgrad qualification. In terms of industry qualifications, 64.9 per cent hold an Iosh (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) qualification; the figure is 42.8 per cent for Nebosh (National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health). ONC/HNC and OND/HND qualifications are still popular, being taken by just under half, and a third of the industry, respectively. M&E engineering and business management are the most popular subjects for both. The survey results show that it is financially beneficial to take postgraduate qualifications such as an MSc in facilities management and the BIFM range of qualifications: roughly a third more respondents who were placed in the £36,000 £45,000 wage bracket had a post grad qualification, than without. Following a similar trend, 58 per cent of those with PGqs had been promoted in the last two years, as opposed to 43 per cent of those without. See pages 17-19 for a

look at all thequaifications you can time in facilities management.

How FMs feel Loyalty remains high within the sector with 66.9 per cent of respondents having been with their employers for one-six years. Over half have been at the same company for at least nine years. Interestingly, 72 per cent felt disagreed with the sentiment that their companies had high turnover of staff. The results also indicated that most facilities managers believe that their company offers staff the opportunity to work flexibly, both in terms of time and location, where possible 68.3 per cent. This suggests that companies are applying new ideas of flexible working in the sector. Revealingly, only 5 per cent gave ‘unhappy with pay and benefits’ as a reason for leaving their last employer, indicating a pervasive satisfaction with salary and benefits.

Motivation There is a clear difference between the motivation to work between supply and client side FMs (see box for an explanation of whatthese terms mean). While the top four is the same for both groups (salary, challenging work, job security and career prospects), they are given different levels of importance. Career prospects are more motivating on the supply side than the client side – 51 per cent (who gave ‘career prospects’ in their top three motivations for working), as opposed to 34 per cent. This possibly reflects the promotional opportunities and succession planning available on the supply side. 46 per cent of respondents from service providers have been promoted in the last two years as opposed to 33 per cent of those working as in-house FMs. In-house FMs on the other

WHO’S WHO IN FM? FM is still a male-dominated sector (the ratio is broadly 70:30) but less so in previous years when there were very few women in the sector. Despite being based in urban conurbations (where the buildings tend to be!) there is a relatively small percentage of ethnic minorities working in FM - about 2.6 per cent which is slightly below the national average. Almost two-third of facilities managers work client side, so directly employed by the organisation for which they provide facilities management - big names such as BP, Barclays ,HSBC, Diageo or for local authorities or central government. Whiule thre remainder work for FM service providers, but often based at client sites. Those who work for service providers (supply side) tend to work for Total FM companies (those which provide all FM services such as catering, cleaning, security, maintenance, landscaping etc to a client as

one service). A much smaller percentage work for soft FM companies (catering, cleaning, reception etc) and hard FM companies (mechanical and electrical maintenance etc). There are still two main routes into the industry: building services/engineering (17 per cent) and management/ administration (17 per cent). The armed forces is also a popular vocation preceding entering the industry (9 per cent). A diverse range of alternative backgrounds includes: musicians, academic research, dairy production and being a housewife. But more and more people are choosing FM as a first-choice career, and joining straight from education. T There is a gender split in terms of how people join the industry: women tend to enter via office management 33 per cent, and customer services/hotel leisure (24 per cent total). Men are usually from building services/ engineering backgrounds (24 per cent), the military (12 per cent), office administration (10 per cent) and construction.

hand are more worried about job security then those working for service providers. One possible reason is that in-house FMs are less confident that their skills are transferrable. Women were more interested in challenging roles than men (62 to 52 per cent), flexible working (30 to 18 per cent) and holiday entitlement (13 to 8 per cent). Those in the 18-25 age band are most interested in working flexibly. The desire to be recognised peaked in the 26-35 age group, while the desire for job security peaked at 36-45.

10 | GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011

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INTRODUCTION SALARIES

JOIN US The BIFM provides information, education, training and networking services for over 12,000 members – both individual professionals and organisations he British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) is the leading UK professional organisation for FM. Its mission: to “advance the FM profession”. FM’s scope has grown enormously over the past decade. It includes a range of disciplines and has been driven by a number of influences including the shape of the economy, legislation and sustainability. These factors have also driven demand for FM skills. BIFM is recognised as an Awarding Organisation by Ofqual, the regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and vocational qualifications

in Northern Ireland. Ofqual provides external recognition and has enabled the BIFM Qualiﬁcations in FM at levels 4, 5 and 6 to be accredited onto the Qualiﬁcations and Credit Framework.

Support your FM career Membership of the BIFM says much more about you than FM qualiﬁcations alone. It indicates that you are committed to a career in FM and to continuing your professional development. Post-nominals, whether at Member (MBIFM) or Certiﬁed (CBIFM) grade, are your professional credentials,

demonstrating both your qualifications and experience as well as your ongoing development as an FM. The BIFM is inclusive – anyone with an interest in FM, in the industry or not, can join at Associate level. If you wish, you can then progress, with experience and qualifications, through Member level to Certified member status and then to our highest level of assessed membership, Fellow. By joining the professional body for FM, you are committing to your ongoing development. You are also more likely to find opportunities that will challenge you – and an employer who values the contribution that you can make. For more information on how BIFM can support your career and how to join, visit the Membership area at www.bifm.org.uk It has a helpful diagnostic tool, ‘Which grade of membership is right for me?, to help you identify

BIFM GRADE STRUCTURE – APPLICABLE FROM 2010 Fellow (FBIFM)

Fellow is our highest professional grade of membership and recognises a high level of professional experience and influence in a senior role, together with a significant contribution to the FM industry. Upgrade to Fellow is only possible from CBIFM.

Certified Member (CBIFM)

Certified Membership is our highest direct entry route to membership and recognises significant professional experience and qualification in an FM role. Upgrade is possible from Associate or Member grade. A qualification at Level 6 on the QCF is required, or Chartered membership of a professional body in an FM-related discipline, plus several years’ FM work experience.

Member (MBIFM)

Member is our first level of assessed grade, recognising FM experience and knowledge at a middle management level. Entry is by qualification at Level 4 on the QCF and some work experience, or via our vocational route for those with extensive FM work experience.

Associate

Associate is our entry level grade – all applicants will automatically join at this grade to access our services. Anyone with an interest in FM can join as an Associate.

BIFM MISSION

“To advance the facilities management profession” Membership - September 2010 GRADE

NUMBER

Member

6473

53.41

Fellow

140

1.15

Honorary Fellow

0.07

Certified Member

0.4

Associate

3040

25.08

Organisations

435

3.59

Nominee

1965

16.22

Group Member

0.06

Total

12,118

100

the grade at which you should join with your qualiﬁcations and experience. If you have questions about membership beneﬁts or how to join please contact our membership team on 0845 058 1358.

WHATS IN IT FOR ME? ● The BIFM is the leading professional body for FMs, providing a range of services to support you throughout your FM career. ● As you start your career you will need help finding the right job to challenge and reward you so we’ve provided a range of services that will help you get started. ● Our fortnightly publication, FM World, advertises a range of jobs in FM from graduate to senior roles. ● The BIFM website offers a range of articles on choosing an employer, CV writing, application forms, interview skills and other practical tips to help you find the right job. ● Our articles on areas such as personal effectiveness, communication skills and office politics will help you settle into your new role and make a good early impression.

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INTRODUCTION BIFM

BIFM STRATEGY

Stakeholders » Represent and promote the interests of members and the wider FM community. » Promote participation and collaboration. » Build an effective relationship with Government and other stakeholders.

Why you should join BIFM membership exists to support Facilities Managers in their professional careers. The membership grades available are dependent on your level of experience, knowledge and qualifications. All applications for Member and Certified grades require a full CV, current job description and reflective CPD record. Further supporting materials will also be required dependent upon the entry route of your application. For more information on the routes to membership, please contact the membership team on 0845 058 1358. All members receive the following benefits when they join the BIFM : ● Members only access to our interactive website ● Membership of your local region ● Free membership of our Special Interest Groups ● Networking, by attending BIFM Events and through the use of our online forums ● FM World magazine, every 2 weeks (not available to Studying Members) ● Industry news sent to you daily and/or weekly by email ● Extensive knowledge resources from our online library and other resources ● Access to our KPI Register ● Use of our online continuing professional development tools ● 20% discount on FM courses provided by BIFM Training (not available to Studying Members) ● Progression through the membership grades to gain your post nominal letters ● Access to a range of career development information and tools ● Subscription fees are also Tax Deductible

Ismena Clout

Relationship Manager – FM powerPerfector plc “I joined BIFM in early 2004 and at the time was a standalone FM in a media company, I started attending events and the opportunity to meet fellow FMs really helped with my knowledge base and practices. I was able to be much more effective in my role and bring new ideas to the company to ensure the running of the building matched with their business plan. Since then my career has grown and my networks have been invaluable in helping with that.”

Leadership » Deliver best in class services, benefits and offers for members. » Promote a professional standards framework. » Enable continuing professional development. e-Institute » Maintain BIFM as a best of class, online Institute. Management » Determine policy and strategic direction to support mission. » Run the Institute effectively and efficiently. » Demonstrate good governance. Communication » Deliver a comprehensive communication programme. » Identify and target key audiences. » Use most appropriate and effective media. BIFM MEMBER BENEFITS ● Progression through membership grades to gain post-nominals indicating your professional status ● Access to a range of career development information and tools ● Use of our online continuing professional development (CPD) system to record your ongoing learning ● Local region membership – a great way to meet your peers ● Up-to-date news and a wide range of FM articles, via FM World, our fortnightly magazine, plus daily e-news ● Free membership of our special interest groups and regions ● A great range of BIFM events offering learning and networking opportunities ● Member-only access to our interactive website ● Opportunities to learn from peers and more experienced members through our online communities ● Industry news by email sent to you daily and/or weekly enabling you to keep in touch with who’s doing what, where and when ● Extensive FM information from our online knowledge area, including Good Practice Guides and access to our Sustainability website ● 20% discount on FM courses provided by BIFM Training ● Tax deductible subscription fees

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Follow the best FM career path Take the fast track with the BIFM today. Whatever your position in facilities management, joining the BIFM can send your career in the right direction. Our extensive targeted training and recognised professional qualiﬁcations can give you a clear path through to the top of your profession. As well as qualiﬁcations, our dedicated BIFM Training division offers over 40 different interactive short training courses. You also get Good Practice Guides and updates on key FM issues in our fortnightly FM World magazine. BIFM is a recognised Awarding Body and sets the national standards for FM competencies. As a member, you also get the chance to learn through the BIFM’s extensive local, regional and international network of expertise and events. So why not follow in the footsteps of our 12,000 plus existing members and join today?

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T: 0845 058 1358 E: membership@bifm.org.uk www.bifm.org.uk

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INTRODUCTION QUALIFICATIONS

GET WITH THE PROGRAMME Whether you are starting out or building on your skills, qualifications will enhance your prospects. The BIFM’s professional standards and education director, Valerie Everitt, describes the qualifications framework for FMs here is now an established qualifications framework in FM, supporting career development from levels 1 to 8. Whether you are a young person choosing a career, or building on your FM or related skills, there are plenty of opportunities to

enhance your career prospects. Research shows that those with recognised professional qualiﬁcations are paid about 37% more during their working lives. That’s three times more than those with GCSEs and A-levels, so it makes sense to get started on the development ladder as soon as possible

First choice The new 14-19 diploma in Construction and the Built Environment (CBE), launched in September 2008, offers an innovative approach to learning and a real alternative to more traditional A-levels.

CASE STUDY

Mark Spilling CBIFM Mark started his career as an electrician working on domestic, commercial and industrial installations. It provided valuable learning opportunities to develop his knowledge and experience within building-related services. He became hooked on FM while working for the Co-operative Group and was inspired by the variety, challenges and endless opportunities that a career in FM provided. Mark continually developed his capabilities in order to become recognised as a leader in FM. He was one of the first FMs to gain the QUAL (now Certified) status in the BIFM. He then progressed through successive promotions to become Head of Facilities at the Co-operative and eventually launched his own FM company in 2008. Mark now works as a professional FM consultant and interim Director of Facilities, working with a multitude of organisations to improve services and deliver efficiencies. He has recently enrolled onto a Lifelong Learning Teaching Course in order to deliver the range of new FM qualifications and transfer knowledge and skills to help develop FMs of the future. He says: “Being part of the BIFM has provided a structure and foundation to guide and support my continual development and given me credibility as a professional within the construction and property industry.”

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Offered at levels 1, 2 and 3 in the National Qualifications Framework, the qualifications combine essential skills in English, Maths and Information and Communication Technology, with practical skills development and theoretical/technical knowledge from the construction and built environment sectors. FM features at all three levels, with an increased focus at level 3. The diploma is delivered though local groups of schools, colleges and employers forming “consortia” and providing young people with the chance to study in a stimulating and practical environment. So far, more than 3,000 young people have registered for the CBE diploma over two years. Many high-flying teens have chosen to leapfrog university and move directly into apprenticeships and work-related training. For them, taking the diploma could be the first step towards a career in FM.

There are also national vocational qualiﬁcations (NVQs) at level 3, offered by Edexcel, WAMITAB and City & Guilds. Learners’ competence is assessed in the workplace. An NVQ may appeal to those wanting to demonstrate knowledge already gained in an appropriate FM role. Vocational qualiﬁcations and NVQs are combined within the new level 3 apprenticeship framework (see page 22), now being launched with major employers in the sector.

Levels 4-6 qualifications At levels 4, 5 and 6, qualiﬁcations are offered by BIFM and higher education institutions. Designed primarily for those already working in FM, study is usually combined with a full-time management role. It’s a demanding route but works well for managers who can take new knowledge directly into the workplace, adding value to individual and business performance – and that’s

a real return on investment for employers. The BIFM qualifications in FM, developed with extensive industry support and launched in 2010, are unitised and accredited within the Qualifications and Credit Framework. With a framework of mandatory and optional units, or specialist facilities management topics at levels 4 and 5. These include management of support services, customer relationships, property and assets, contracts and health and safety. Level 6 is strategic and focuses more on FM strategy, quality management, governance and risk. You can start at the level which is appropriate for your role, experience and knowledge. If, for example, you already have a more senior position, you could go straight to level 6. These flexible, work based qualifications are offered at a range of BIFM recognised centres and learners have up to two years to complete a programme.

Level 3 qualifications If you already have a foothold in the workplace and a background in a related area such as cleaning, catering, security or health and safety, there is an excellent pathway to developing skills and moving into a dedicated FM career. Vocationally related FM qualiﬁcations are offered at level 3 by the Institute of Leadership and Management. Developed in association with the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), the qualiﬁcations have been designed to develop FM knowledge and skills in areas such as managing services, projects and sustainability, alongside a range of generic leadership and management topics. Assessment is practical and work-based with no formal examinations, so learners can apply knowledge to live business projects.

Positive role model ne person who has demonstrated success at postgraduate level is Dr Andrew Green, tutor in Facilities Management and Course Director for the Postgraduate/MSc programme in Facilities Management at the College of Estate Management (CEM) Reading. Before starting his academic career, Andrew held senior positions in major property and FM consultancy companies in the UK and SE Asia. This followed 20 years of specialist roles in the RAF, where he rose to the rank of Wing Commander. Andrew originally graduated with a four-year honours degree in Business Studies, specialising in marketing and accountancy. On leaving the RAF, Andrew ensured his CPD by completing a postgraduate diploma in FM in 1998, a one-year Master of Administration in 1997 and a four-year Doctor of Business Administration in 2007. The MBA and DBA qualifications were both in the strategic FM arena. As Course Director at CEM, Andrew is now sharing his FM expertise and experience with aspiring mid-career professionals. His high-end achievement, and the introduction of the 14-19 Diploma for those just starting out, is a reflection of how far the framework for FM education has progressed in recent years. The qualifications landscape is looking very healthy.

Full time undergraduate degrees in FM have been slow to emerge but there is now a course available at the University of Central Lancashire. The ﬁrst intake is planned for September 2010.

Increased marketability Besides the tangible benefits of management qualifications in terms of employment, career prospects and financial rewards, there are wider personal benefits in undertaking courses at undergraduate level. Increased confidence and self awareness help managers lead and motivate their teams more effectively, while enhanced skills can be transferred to new roles and challenges, making an individual more attractive to current or prospective employers.

Postgraduate qualifications At level 7, there is a good range of postgraduate diplomas and master’s degrees available at higher education institutions. These mainly attract middle to senior level managers who are already working in FM and who are keen to enhance their career prospects. Courses also appeal to graduates who recognise FM as a dynamic, growing profession and want to enter the ﬁeld. As many entrants to a postgraduate diploma, MSc or MBA are holding down a demanding full-time job, courses are typically offered on a modular basis through a blended approach of taught sessions and/or distance learning. Successful completion of a postgraduate course can have a positive impact on earnings and career progression. Levels 4-7 qualiﬁcations are also mapped against BIFM membership grades (MBIFM and CBIFM), postnominals, which are increasingly recognised by FM employers. GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 15

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INTRODUCTION APPRENTICESHIPS

IN THE BEGINNING… A

sset Skills, the Sector Skills Council, which represents FM, believes the new FM Apprenticeship it developed with employers is the perfect route for career development.

Karen Waterlow, Specialist Adviser for Facilities Management with Asset Skills, introduces the new Facilities Management Apprenticeship and explains why it is such an important development for the industry

The ‘real’ apprentices For a great many people, the word ‘apprentice’ conjures images of young go-getters starring in the hit television show. But away from the small screen and into the very real, big wide world of FM, an increasing number of apprentices are carving out new routes to great careers. Apprenticeships are very much part of the current qualiﬁcations picture and have become one of the main platforms for vocational, ‘on the job’ learning. For many industries, such as construction, engineering and hospitality, an apprenticeship is an established route for people to enter their chosen ﬁeld of work. In recent years, the range of industries and areas covered by apprenticeships has grown, particularly as the model has become a key part of government policy. Management and business apprenticeships have been introduced and the Apprenticeship in Facilities Management is one of these new programmes.

PHOTOLIBRARY

The Apprenticeship in FM FM is a new industry and has developed at a rapid rate. Following this period of growth, FM has found itself in a reflective period. Issues such as developing the right skills, career progression and how to attract people to the field have continued to preoccupy many. Asset Skills has worked with FM employers on a number of these issues. Being a relatively new profession, the range of available vocational qualifications had

18 | GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011

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not caught up with the needs of the sector. This has been true particularly with entry-level qualiﬁcations. Working with employers and professional bodies such as the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), Asset Skills focused efforts towards addressing this gap. The year 2010 has been a landmark one in terms of the development of a full structure of new FM qualiﬁcations and the FM Apprenticeship that will support career development. The principle of an apprenticeship is a simple one and works well. An apprentice is employed in their chosen industry and receives a package of learning which relates to their daily role. FM as a sector is a practical industry with skills and knowledge acquired on the job. This makes it a perfect arena for apprenticeships. Experience is also an important element in FM career progression and this is a key component of the framework. Undertaking an apprenticeship gives the candidate important experience which helps their career progression.

TOP TIPS

The FM Advanced Apprenticeship Framework (Level 3) An apprenticeship programme has three elements:

1 THEORY A knowledge-based element or taught programme In the case of FM this is currently the Institute of Leadership and Management Level 3 certificate in FM. This qualification can also be taken in its’ own right and at three levels (award, certificate and diploma). Standalone, this is also suitable for a less experienced candidate (under two years).

2 PRACTICE A competence-based element The Certificate in FM (previously NVQ) at Level 3 is offered by awarding bodies such as City & Guilds, FDQ, WAMITAB and Edexcel. It enables the candidate to demonstrate how they are applying knowledge in the context of their job. Stand-alone, this is suitable for a more experienced FM candidate.

3 KEY SKILLS Employment rights and responsibilities Common to all apprenticeship programmes, including the application of numbers/maths and communications/English. IT is not mandatory but candidates are encouraged to take this as a key skill. Candidates with existing qualifications may be exempt from certain key skills elements.

A younger workforce As an industry FM has traditionally had an older age profile and is increasingly aware that succession planning is an issue which needs to be addressed. FM also has a low public profile, so an apprenticeship scheme will help raise that profile and draw in younger recruits. For the first time, FM has a qualification to offer that will put candidates on a clear path of progression. Typical apprenticeship candidates are 16-18 year olds, but this is only part of the picture. Government policy has been linked to targeting this age group for apprenticeship programmes

It may be helpful for some candidates to undertake a related apprenticeship at a lower level ﬁrst. First apprenticeships at level 2 are available in Business Administration, Customer Services, and Cleaning & Support Services. Asset Skills is considering the development of a ‘facilities services’ programme at this level.

Developing existing skills The FM Apprenticeship is a key tool for recruiting new talent into the industry but is also an excellent development programme for existing staff as it is also about developing the right skills for the industry. Although the typical image of the apprentice may be a school leaver, this learning package is suitable for any age. In fact, the oldest FM apprentice to complete the programme was aged over 60! So age is no object to becoming an apprentice; older, experienced FMs can beneﬁt in equal measure. As many people progress into FM as a career change from a related sector, this method offers an excellent grounding in the industry. The range of learning within the programme makes it an excellent way of developing potential FM career talent in any organisation.

The qualifications package and this is where employers receive most funding. Because apprenticeships are essentially a package of learning, they are actually suitable for candidates of any age. The FM Apprenticeship has been undertaken with 16-19 year olds in mind but is equally suitable for older recruits, although funding will vary. If someone is being recruited into a position speciﬁcally as an apprentice, minimum wage rates apply (depending on age). In reality, employers should look at

paying market rates for that role within their organisation. Any candidate should be academically capable of undertaking their chosen apprenticeship. The FM programme is at level 3 – an ‘advanced’ apprenticeship. In educational terms, it is equivalent to A-level standard. Even for the youngest of candidates, previous experience of the working environment is likely to be helpful as the content covers management-related subjects.

The Apprenticeship ‘framework’ comprises three elements: a technical certificate, workplace assessment and underpinning skills. • The technical certificate is the Institute of Leadership and Development level 3 programme – the taught part of the programme. Candidates can expect to spend some time in a classroom setting but the format and frequency of this would be set by the training provider and is often flexible to meet the GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 19

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INTRODUCTION APPRENTICESHIPS

CASE STUDY needs of the employer. • FM practice is an assessmentbased qualification where candidates are assessed on their application of knowledge ob Wilson became in the workplace and their one of the first FM experience. Taken together apprentices in the UK or combined within an when his employer, Compass apprenticeship framework, these Group UK and Ireland, piloted the new qualifications will become programme with their training important tools in attracting partner, The Training & Learning new entrants to FM and raising Company. the level of industry-specific Rob, 32, works for Eurest Services, qualifications in the sector. part of Compass, and is a general Each of the qualifications manager, looking after one of its contains a range of units which national contracts. He started are mandatory and optional. working in FaM in April 2009 when Mandatory units cover the Compass was awarded the FM essence of the FM role and contract at this site for the full essentials such as health and safety. range of soft services, including Optional units reflect the reception, portering, grounds variety of roles in FM and there maintenance and cleaning. are options for all the services Rob was catering manager at areas and specialisms with the this site for several years before industry. the contract was expanded and There is no fixed length to when the opportunity came up to the apprenticeship programme undertake the apprenticeship, Rob and different training providers saw it as a chance to gain more may allow varying timescales knowledge about FM. for completion. Typically most providers allow candidates a year Rob, who also has a degree in Journalism, hoped to gain insight to complete the programme. into the wider FM industry as well Each of the component as knowledge that he could take qualifications can also be taken back to his newly expanded role. He independently but it is the felt the apprenticeship programme full package that makes an was the right qualification to give apprenticeship. him experience in his new field. Training providers are a mixture of further education colleges and private companies. Most are part of a network to higher qualifications and run by the Asset Skills Virtual recognition by the professional Academy for Business Services. The Academy is a collaborative bodies. The significant update by the BIFM of their qualifications training venture that employers structure is excellent timing can join to access providers, for the industry and offers an funding and other training appropriate progression route benefits. – For more on this, for completing candidates. Asset go to www.assetskills.org/ Skills will also be developing a virtualacademy higher level apprenticeship at Career pathways level 4 to offer the ‘package’ It is important that qualified format as a progression. apprentices and other candidates This forms a pathway which who are successful at this level also links to Foundation degrees have options for progression and postgraduate qualifications.

Rob Wilson - Compass Group UK and Ireland R

Rob and his fellow students at Compass became the first apprentices to complete the qualification in August 2010. The group enjoyed the programme which they found focused and challenging. Significant benefits Rob feels his expectations have been met: “I have learned about the world of FM and how it works within my business, and how to deliver effective service and manage all of the different aspects of my business effectively” he says. Rob is now confident that the industry insight and knowledge he has gained has given him skills to improve his performance and will help him with his career progression. Jane Leeming, Qualifications Manager, Compass Group UK

The full pathway is in the careers section of the Asset Skills website: www.assetskills. org/CareersandTraining/ ProgressionRoutes Candidates completing the entry-level programmes have options and can see their career pathway supported by further qualiﬁcations. With such promising training programmes and progress routes in place, the Facilities Management Apprenticeship is set to become the FM qualiﬁcation of the future.

and Ireland, commented: “We have been very pleased with the response to the apprenticeship and can see significant benefits to our business going forward.” Compass has found the apprenticeship to be a valuable development programme for its future FM managers. Many of the first candidates are progressing onto other accredited qualifications and internal management development programmes.

Useful contacts

The Employers Guide to the FM Apprenticeship and FM Career Pathways www.assetskills.org Asset Skills Virtual Academy for Business Services 0844 822 2525 www.assetskills.org/ virtualacademy National Apprenticeship Service www.apprenticeships.org Helpline 08000 150 600 Institute of Leadership and Management www.i-l-m.com

20 | GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011

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JOB HUNTING JOB HUNTING WORDS HERE

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JOB HUNTING CREATING A CV

YOUR CV You have seconds to persuade a potential employer to interview you – and your stand-out CV may be the only way to catch their eye. Don Searle shows you how Addressed to impress All recruiters agree on one thing: that your curriculum vitae is primarily a passport to interview, your main weapon in the struggle to get in front of potential employers. It isn’t your life story but it is a clear, concise explanation of why an employer should want to talk to you in person. Surveys show that your CV has between 10 and 20 seconds to make an impact, not unlike first impressions at interview, so it needs to be well thought out. If you can’t produce a stand-out CV, you can’t expect to impress anyone. When applying for several jobs, don’t expect a one-sizefits-all CV to work in every case. But if you’re targeting a specific job, the CV should focus on the experiences and achievements most relevant to that position. This is also true for CVs posted to internet job sites. Make sure the version you post suits the theme of the site. For employers, using job sites can be like going fishing with dynamite – the results are indiscriminate unless you finetune the searches. Thus candidates must be sure to research the keywords that will single them out.

ISTOCK

What do I put in? You will hear some people insist that a CV is no more than two

pages long. Not so. The front page is critical but provided you have that just right, you can stretch to three pages as a maximum. The all-important first page should contain your full contact details, profile, expertise list and achievements. There’s no need to put ‘curriculum vitae’ at the top. Your profile should be written in the third person and no more than five or six lines long. It should target the position you are seeking and include words or phrases that appear in the vacancy. Use bold letters to emphasise the position title. Your expertise list should be a series of about 10 bullet points, laid out as such, which reflect the abilities and experience you have that are relevant to the job. It should contain both technical and personal skills. Achievements are the final and most crucial element of your CV’s front page. How did you translate your skills and experience into results for previous employers? Future employers want to know what they can expect for their money if they give you the job – so show them. Once again, these achievements should be relevant and listed as bullet points. If your employment history is less than 10 years, list your academic qualifications and education history. However long

you’ve been working, always explain any gaps in the timeline of your career and keep the dates as accurate as possible. After your work history, pay special attention to any professional qualifications, training and development you have completed, giving prominence to those with a specific bearing on the position you’re applying for. As the FM industry matures, employers are learning to ask for the right qualifications, so give them the details. TOP TIPS DO: ● emphasise your achievements ● focus on how you match the employer’s requirements ● accentuate the positive throughout ● keep it punchy and relevant ● make sure it’s updated and fresh

DON’T: ● write your life story ● make claims that you can’t support with hard evidence ● include a photo, use coloured paper or fancy fonts ● send your CV until you’ve checked it thoroughly ● expect last year’s CV to get you interviews this year

Now you can list your hobbies and interests, including any voluntary or charity work you may be involved in. Employers do want to know that you have a life outside of work but don’t waste time reeling off mundane social activities. There’s no need to name referees but you can say that their details are available; most employers are only interested in you, the applicant, at this stage. On the question of age, your work history and education will give employers a pretty good clue, but there’s no harm in including your date of birth at the end of your CV. Good employers with effective diversity policies will welcome the information.

What do I leave out? There’s no need to include reasons for leaving previous jobs. Not all may be positive and the last thing a CV should do is put doubt into an employer’s mind. Likewise, you needn’t attach copies of certificates or references – they may make your CV appear too long at the sifting stage. Avoid non-essential personal details such as health, height, weight, number of children and their ages, and religious or political beliefs, and steer clear of humour, however wellintentioned, as it rarely reads the way it’s intended. Also, don’t include your salary details in the CV – this is one for the covering letter or at interview stage. Most advice will tell you to avoid jargon and abbreviations but every industry has its common language and FM is no different so certain expressions and acronyms are fine, but try not to make your CV look like the CAPS LOCK key has got stuck... Don Searle is projects and contracts manager at Catch 22

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JOB HUNTING WRITING A LETTER

COVERING LETTERS Time invested in CV writing is never wasted but that commitment could come to nothing if you don’t get the covering letter right – they come as a pair, says Don Searle The law of the letter Try to imagine Laurel without Hardy, fish but no chips, Wimbledon sans tennis; they wouldn’t be as memorable alone because they are inextricably linked. So it is with your CV and the covering letter – they are the inseparable components of your job application and one without the other will not measure up. First impressions count way before the interview stage and your covering letter needs to reflect your quality, style and professionalism. So, how do you make your letter a ‘must read’?

submission. In this case, your CV should be included as an attachment and your covering letter in the body of the email, remembering the one-page rule.

3 Know your style and stick with it If hard copy applications are required, make sure your covering letter matches the style of your CV – that means an easily readable font in the right size and no coloured paper. Use black ink as it is easier to photocopy and remember to sign your letter by hand rather than insert an electronic signature.

5 Show what you know and why it’s relevant Employers are impressed by research so marry what you know about the company and its operations to your skills and strengths and always refer to the keywords you find in the advert.

6 Say why you want this job Tell the reader why their company attracts you but avoid lengthy paragraphs of information. Try and show the employer that you have obtained the skills appropriate to the job and illustrate the strengths you can bring to the role.

7 Strike the balance

appear to be grovelling. This will undermine your application and give the impression you are making up with pleading for what you lack in skills.

8 Additional info Additional information should include when you might be unable to attend interview, your willingness to relocate if necessary and the areas you would consider. The subject of salary can be left till the interview stage. If your application is speculative then you should indicate the salary range you’re looking for.

9 Keep up the enthusiasm

Avoid repeated use of ‘I’, as an egocentric or even an aggressive style will usually make the reader wary, but neither should you

Try not to end your covering letter on a passive note and maintain the tone of keenness that you have demonstrated in the previous paragraphs.

TOP TIPS

10 Before you hit ‘send’

1 No life stories Make sure that it’s neither an autobiography nor a regurgitation of your CV. This is your chance to personalise your application and highlight why you want the job and what you can bring to the employer’s table. The covering letter is your one page chance to sell yourself and your CV. It needs to be cohesive, concise and persuasive.

ISTOCK

2 Stick closely to the one-page rule The job advert will always indicate how the employer wants to receive applications and the trend is strongly toward email

4 Know who are you speaking to Ensure your letter is addressed to the right person by name and position, and that it tells them which role you are applying for and where you found the advert. Don’t be tempted to use a letter from your old job searches; HR people will know instantly if it’s a recycled template and that’s guaranteed to sideline your CV. If you are sending speculative applications, be aware that up to 60 per cent don’t reach the correct decision-maker because the senders failed to do their homework.

● State the job you’re applying for, where you found it and when you’re available to start ● Tell the reader why you’re interested in the job and why their company attracts you ● Itemise your strengths and indicate how they would be an asset to the company ● Relate your skills to the requirements of the job as closely as possible ● Thank the reader and promise to follow up – be positive

Do not hit the ‘send’ button or seal the envelope without checking and re-checking your spelling, grammar and punctuation. Don’t rely on your computer’s spellcheck, rather get someone else to carefully go through both covering letter and CV. All your efforts in putting together a knockout combination that sells you as the perfect candidate could come to nothing if you appear unprofessional... Don Searle is projects and contracts manager at Catch 22

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JOB HUNTING FILLING OUT A FORM

APPLICATION FORMS You’ve got your CV just as you want it but the job requires you to fill out an application form. By hand. It’s time to dust off your pen and remember the eight golden rules 1 Read everything Most applications come complete with a job description, person specification and guidance notes, but it’s a good idea to keep the original job advert for reference. All of these contain information and clues to the type of person the employer is seeking, so make sure you analyse the keywords and include them in the form.

2 Do your homework Back up the information the employer has sent you by researching the organisation on the internet. This will give you a feel for the type of industryspeak they use and you can reflect this in your application.

3 Answer all the questions

DREAMSTIME

The employer has put them there for a reason, and no, it’s not good enough to slip in a copy of your CV and ask them refer to it. If the question is not applicable to you, then say so in the space provided. Don’t be tempted to over-elaborate or volunteer information that isn’t asked for.

4 Use the right keywords Refer to your research and make sure that you include the words

or phrases you found there in a positive manner. Larger organisations are increasingly using screening software on both hard copy and online application forms to monitor keyword usage in order to determine whether you have understood the information you’ve been given.

5 Practise your answers Whether the form is written or electronic, always have several copies of the blank form to try out your answers. Nowadays, using a pen for anything more than a signature may come as quite a shock, and the neat handwriting you were praised for at school may have deteriorated into a spidery scrawl. Nevertheless, try to be as legible as possible. If you are tackling an online form, remember to back up your copy. Some sites have a time limit but you can always cut and paste your answers into the form when you’re happy you have got them right.

6 Take advantage of the personal statement Most application forms give you the chance to express why you believe you are the right

person for the job. You can use the creativity that you invested in your CV to generate a picture of yourself for the employer but remember to do this in conjunction with the person specification. Show how your skills, qualities and experience fulfil and exceed those the employer is looking for, bearing in mind the need to be concise and waffle-free.

7 Play to the whistle If the form asks you to give referees, make sure you ask them first, and try to use the most pertinent ones to match the job you are applying for.

8 Check and recheck Make sure there are no mistakes. For an online form, you can check spelling and grammar automatically using Word before

you transfer it to the relevant space on the form. A hard copy needs more care and attention so you may want to get a second pair of eyes to check it. Before sealing the envelope or clicking the ‘submit’ button, ask yourself, “would I want to interview me on the basis of this application?” Don’t forget to keep a copy of your final submission as this will be the starting point of questioning in the interview. Application forms can be daunting. The sheer bulk of some of them is enough to make you think twice about the job that seemed so perfect in the advert. But this can be a selection factor – you must really want the role to wade through the paperwork. Don Searle is projects and contracts manager at Catch 22

TOP TIPS DO: ● read all the information before filling out the application form ● carry out your own research ● answer the questions truthfully ● use their keywords and phrases in your answers ● practise your answers on paper or a computer ● make the personal statement work for you

DON’T: ● be deterred by the size of the form ● send it off until you have triple-checked it ● include your CV and ask them to refer to it ● include information that is not requested ● use negative language GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 25

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JOB HUNTING INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES

SUCCEEDING AT INTERVIEW You have literally seconds to make a good impression at the start of a job interview, so get it right first go. John Davis offers some top tips on how to get that top job ou should conduct a job application as if it were any other business process: the key to a good presentation is knowing your subject, and who knows you better than yourself? You will overcome nerves if you treat the interview as a mutually beneficial business meeting.

Research You can never do enough research about your potential employer. Review their website for key facts and search the internet for extra information. Download their company accounts from Companies House to ensure your facts are accurate and that they are financially sound. Request their company brochure. Speak to industry colleagues confidentially to get first-hand opinions. Ensure you have a copy of the job specification and prepare a briefing document of how your skills match their requirements.

ISTOCK

First impression Plan your journey to the interview. Aim to get to the venue 15 minutes early, to give yourself time to collect your thoughts, freshen up and check your appearance. Ensure that you are dressed

appropriately to match the culture of the company. Don’t put off getting that haircut and avoid physical statements such as brightly dyed hair, nose rings, etc.

Rehearsal Most companies ask the same open-ended questions to encourage the interviewee to talk about themselves. These are a great opportunity for you to sell yourself and why you are right for the role. Practise your answers either in front of the mirror or to a friend, asking them to positively critique. Ensure your answers do not last more than two minutes – psychologists have advised that interviewers might lose interest after this.

Facts Interviewers want people with specific experience. You should illustrate your background with specific facts and data that you can substantiate. This information must be factually correct and can be substantiated by references. Never lie at an interview. Take a copy of your CV with you and use it as your prompt for answering questions. Use a small portfolio document folder rather than a case, and have at hand any relevant literature about your current role.

Personality Be personable at the interview. Interviewers want to employ somebody that they get on with. Talk to the receptionist; greet the interviewer and give a professional, firm handshake; use the interviewer’s name; hold their eye contact; don’t stare at your notes or the floor.

Answers Deliver your prepared answers to the questions as rehearsed. All answers must be credible and positive. If asked an un-rehearsed question, turn any negative into a positive.

Questions Have a prepared list of typed questions, ensuring that they are not trivial or purely

related to remuneration. Even if the interviewer has covered all of the questions you had, ask at least one question.

Feedback At the end of the interview ask the interviewer for their thoughts as to the likelihood of your application progressing and ensure you clarify what the action plan will be after the meeting. When leaving, thank the interviewer for their time, give a firm handshake and say goodbye to the receptionist.

John Davis was chief executive of Facilities Recruitment Limited. He died unexpectedly in September 2010 and this article is printed with permission from his wife Sandra

KEY POINTS ● Research your potential employer ● Plan your journey to the interview ● Dress appropriately ● Rehearse possible answers ● Take your CV/documents to the interview ● Substantiate relevant facts and data ● Be personable ● Don’t waste time with fussy refreshment demands ● Ensure answers to questions are honest, credible and positive ● Prepare a list of questions ● Thank the interviewer and clarify an action plan ● Write immediately afterwards confirming your interest

26 | GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011

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BUILDING

confidence not obstacles

Catch 22 has been supplying management and staff to the FM and Property industries since 1982. We know the industry, how it operates and what good FM employers are looking for in a successful candidate. We strive to help our candidates make the best of their career prospects, whatever stage they are at, through experienced advice and opportunity. Build your career confidence â&#x20AC;&#x201C; contact a Catch 22 consultant now. London & South 020 7630 5144 North 0113 242 8055 www.c22.co.uk

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Providing Quality People

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JOB HUNTING USING NLP

NEURO LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING Neuro Linguistic Programming is a technique exploring the connection between thinking, language and behaviour. Anne Lennox Martin examines how NLP is used in an FM context euro Linguistic Programming, (NLP) is increasingly recognised as a valuable toolkit for business, education and personal growth. NLP is concerned with what happens when we think and the effect of our thinking on our behaviour, and the behaviour of others. NLP is the study of human experience, communication, thinking, language and behaviour. In facilities management we can use our knowledge of it to improve the way we communicate with our colleagues and customers; to change our selflimiting beliefs and our individual success, and to dramatically influence the way we do business to improve our key performance indicator results and our impact on the bottom line.

Basic principles NLP has six basic principles known as the ‘pillars’ of NLP. ● you – the individual is the most important part of any NLP intervention ● the presuppositions – 14 guiding principles which underpin actions ● rapport – the quality of relationship

● outcome – knowing what you want ● feedback – how will you know you are getting what you want? ● flexibility – if what you are doing is not working, try something else. NLP looks at perception, how it is created, and how we can change it. Perception is literally projection. You cannot see anything outside of you that isn’t you. What you see in others is often a reflection of yourself. What you believe to be true about others you will project and it will become your reality. Our unconscious mind takes in around 2 million separate pieces of data every second through our five key senses: ● Visual – what we see ● Auditory – what we hear ● Kinaesthetic – what we feel ● Gustatory – what we taste ● Olfactory – what we smell The human brain can use only a fraction of this information and we filter our experiences in our own individual way to create our internal world. Each one of us has a unique set of filters which is why we all understand things differently. NLP says that all natural learning, behaviour and change is unconscious. To bring about

change we have to bring things into our conscious state.

Our unconscious mind Whether you believe you can or can’t do something, you will be absolutely right – our beliefs are self-fulfilling prophecies. Changing our beliefs and values is possible using NLP. When we set out to learn something we go through four key stages: 1 Unconsciously incompetent – we don’t know what we don’t know 2 Consciously incompetent – we realise we want to know or do something 3 Consciously competent – we study and practice until we can do it 4 Unconsciously competent – we just do it automatically This can be illustrated by thinking about learning to drive.

As a young child we don’t think about driving ourselves. As we mature into a young person, we become aware that we, too, will be able to drive when we are old enough if we want to do so. After 17, if the time and circumstances are right, some of us will choose to take lessons. After passing our test we still have to consciously remember what we have learnt in order to be a safe driver. Over the years, as our driving experience becomes second nature, we achieve auto-pilot, where our unconscious mind carries out the function instinctively under normal conditions. Sounds a bit unbusiness-like? Not everyone feels comfortable in delving into their own thinking and the influence we all have over others. However, although NLP is used for therapeutic interventions, it also has detailed tools and specific methods to affect business performance. The study of NLP is fascinating and rewarding. It gives us awareness of what makes people tick and tools to help ourselves and others achieve both personal and organisational excellence. Anne Lennox-Martin is a qualified practitioner in NLP and an independent FM consultant

CASE STUDY

Re-framing – NLP in action ne example of NLP in action is ‘re-framing’. Take something like potential redundancy. An individual may be worried and losing sleep because they think they might lose their home or their relationship, as well as their job, and they don’t believe they could cope with the consequences. NLP has a technique which can re-frame their thinking into seeing that potential redundancy could be an opportunity to change career path and lifestyle. From being worried and anxious the thinking changes to, “we could cut our losses and move to the country. Maybe I could spend more time with my family and re-train for something else in the meantime.” When the thinking changes, the state of mind changes from worry and despair to curiosity and excitement. When the state of mind changes, the behaviour changes from irritation, impatience and anger to consideration, listening and supporting.

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JOB HUNTING SOCIAL NETWORKING

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS Social networking tools are not just for keeping in touch with friends but also for developing professional contacts and networks, says Liz Kentish or the longest time corporate communication teams in organisations have controlled what messages are put out into the world about the company and its people. Often only the most senior or glamorous get to become spokespeople and the real specialists are hidden away, never getting the chance to talk publicly about their subject or engage and debate with others, for the benefit of their peer group. Social media changes all of that, allowing everyone to have a voice. While it’s not suggested you do anything that contravenes your company’s communication policy, such as contacting the media directly with your point of view, you can use social media to build your profile for the good of your peer group, and your own career development. This article aims to give some practical advice about how it works and how to get started.

the people that you trust, and vice versa. On the site, you will connect with the people that you know now and the people that you’ve lost touch with, say, from previous jobs. Once connected, you then have sight of all their contacts: their little black book. As you move around, you simply update your details so everyone in your network knows where you are and what you’re doing – a very clean database not previously available. At the very least, this gives you a very soft route to contact people. There may be people that you wouldn’t dream of telephoning or emailing to enquire if they can help you in your job search, or help with particular task, but connecting through LinkedIn is usually acceptable and allows for conversations that otherwise wouldn’t have happened. Although your direct contacts may not be in a position to offer you a new job, they may know someone that can.

REX

Professional network Whether you plan to be, or are employed within a client-side or supply side organisation LinkedIn is an important tool for you. It helps you make better use of your professional network and helps

Your personal profile You will need to develop your online profile. Once done, make sure you use it consistently across all social networks. Employers do use social networking sites to

check potential candidates, so make sure everything adds up. As an aside, watch out for Facebook. This is the place where you express yourself to your friends which may be very different from your professional persona. Be careful about who you accept into your Facebook network and ensure you set your account so only your friends see your information. When developing your online profile, consider what it is you do and who you serve. Choose a picture or avatar (a graphical representation of yourself) and use it across all networks. This isn’t the place for your favourite bikini shot; this should reflect your professional image. It will become your logo and people will come to recognise it as your part of your personal brand.

Building your brand Choose your specialist subject. This might be tough if you are new to the industry, but perhaps use this newness to your advantage and discuss what it’s like to be new to FM. Search for people that are already talking about coming into the industry, perhaps through their blogs and subscribe to their feeds through Google Reader,

or similar. This will provide you with material and comment about the subject. Combining what you find with your own material, get active online. Talk about your experiences in online groups and forums, write regular blogs (at least two a month), record PodCasts, place great presentations on SlideShare, make short instructional films and place on your own YouTube channel and broadcast links to these and other’s materials through Twitter. This type of activity will, over time, make you the ‘go to’ person for being new in FM, or whatever your subject is. You’ll start to get known, you’ll build a following and people will start to recommend you. Your brand equity will rise and your access to opportunities will increase. Of course social media is just part of your toolkit when it comes to your career development, but think, if you get started now, and become a valuable contributor to your network, you may within a matter of months be perceived as the expert on your subject. Not bad, eh? But do check your company’s policy when it comes to you using social media. Liz Kentish is an FM coach

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JOB HUNTING MAKING CONTACTS

NETWORKING Networking, or making contacts, is critical in FM, not only to businesses, but to us as individuals as well, says Ian Fielder etworking comes naturally to some people – those who work in sales and marketing, for example – but many of us look down on it, not realising it can be a valuable tool in our dayto-day lives, as well as helping us to plan our future career moves. Career networking can be vital and is about gathering and sharing information, as well as doing favours for your contacts that they might, in turn, repay. The goal is to make connections with people who might be able to help you achieve your aims. Many think of networking as attending an event and ‘working a room’, but it also takes place every time you meet a business associate or contact who may turn out to be your next employer. Any time you meet people and tell them about your business, you are networking. You never know who you might be talking to or who they might know. It is an essential tool in furthering your career as you build and extend you personal sphere of influence.

ISTOCK

Make the connection The importance of networking shouldn’t be discounted when you are searching for a job. In fact, it should become part of your daily work. Your network should be in place for when you need it, both for job searching and for moving along the career ladder. Your network can include family, neighbours, and anyone with a connection that might help.

More than 80 per cent of job seekers say that their network has helped with their job search. Networking contacts can help with more than job leads. They can provide referrals to or information about firms you might be interested in, and information on career fields or the job market in another part of the country. They can also help you review your CV. Keep in touch with your network regularly – even if it’s just a brief email to say hello and ask how they are doing. People are more willing to help when they know who you are. Networking shouldn’t be a oneway street. If you come across an interesting article or a relevant job listing, share it. The point of having a career network is to have resources that can help, but you should reciprocate too. Keep track of your personal career network somewhere. Make sure you know who is who, where they work and how to get in touch. Online job-search networking does work. Sites like Monster and Bright Star, can help you get in touch with other networkers at specific companies, with college affiliations or in a certain geographic area. In addition, if you’re a college graduate, your institute may have an alumni career network you can access. When networking with people you don’t know, make sure that you know what you want. Are you looking for company

information? Do you want to know about job opportunities? Be specific in what you ask for. Networking in person works too. The BIFM offers excellent opportunities to network, especially at regional events. You’ll find that many of the participants have the same goals as you and will be glad to exchange business cards. Your network can tell you what it’s like to work in a given field of FM. They can also tell you how FM may have changed and what they see for the future. They can help you understand what’s needed to be successful in a particular field. They

can give you insider information on an organisation, such as who is in charge, what the culture is like, the kind of people who have held the job you’re looking at, what it takes to succeed in that position, what changes might be coming up, how to customise your application and CV to get noticed and tips for interviewing. The information might give you an advantage, but more importantly, you will establish a professional network that will last you a lifetime

Ian Fielder is CEO of the British Institute of Facilities Management

TOP TIPS There are many ways to identify networking contacts. Here are some places to find people who know something about a subject or an organisation you are considering: ● Your college association or career office networking lists ● Your own extended family ● The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) ● Recruitment consultants ● Training courses ● Your friends’ parents and other family members ● Fellow workers or former work colleagues ● Members of clubs, religious groups and other organisations to which you belong ● All the organisations near where you live or work.

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FACILITIES PEOPLE 31

FM | WHITECHAPEL GALLERY

Seven professionals describe their experiences working in facilities

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FACILITIES PEOPLE PEPSICO

VARIETY SHOW Katherine Forbes turned a temporary FM job into a challenging career and discovered unusual requests are the best bits of her role

NAME: Katherine Forbes JOB TITLE: Technical facilities coordinator WORKS FOR: PepsiCo

Like most people you talk to in facilities management I fell into the role. I had just spent a year travelling around Australia and had no idea what I wanted to do. When I came back, I was offered a temporary job for the facilities department in PepsiCo on a three-month contract. My role was then made permanent and three years on I am still here and enjoying it. I had no idea what facilities even was when I took the role but I soon realised it was a very varied role. I work with a great team and no two days are the same, which to me were all vital when it came to looking for a career. As technical facilities coordinator and my main responsibility is the day-to-day running of all hard services for both our Theale sites. This includes all mechanical and electrical, planned preventative maintenance schedules, landscaping, fabric maintenance and, more recently, our cleaning contract. As well as these tasks

I have also been lucky enough to work on many different projects over the past three years including event planning, branding of the office space and, the one I am most proud of, developing the first fully functional crisis management policy for the Theale facility. The best bit of my job is laughing over the unusual requests we tend to get, birds trapped in the atriums, hands stuck in drawers, mobile phones dropped behind the stairs and swans attacking the windows, all of which could be classed as unusual challenges. I also enjoy the diversity of my role and am very proud of the amount I have learnt, in particular since taking on hard services in October 2009. My high point was receiving an award from my organisation’s chief procurement officer and chief executive officer for my crisis management policy work, and winning the photo competition run by British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) for World FM day 2010.

Drawing inspiration My mentor is my line manager Jennifer Tompkin. Her knowledge of facilities management is outstanding and the whole team

learn something new from her everyday. She is a big advocate of women in FM, she is a hugely supportive line manager and a great role model. Without her I think my experience of facilities management would be very different, she entrusts me with some fantastic projects and is always very proud of her team. Since coming on board in September 2008 a big objective of hers has been raising the profile of the team which involved many changes, firstly the renaming of the team to business services and then training us to put emphasis on the “quick wins” to ensure our work here is noticed as well putting across our customer service skills. Another key change was increasing communications to our colleagues, informing them of what work we have done and any changes they will notice in the coming months. It is due to her hard work that we get the amount of backing we do from

those higher up in the company. Jennifer does a huge amount of work on both the Theale and Beaumont Park sites for PepsiCo, she is the backbone of the business services team and it is a privilege to work for her.

Snow mean feat The most surreal day I think was in February 2010, we had 30-40cm of snow in our car park but the business remained open as usual. It was our job to get in as early as we could to clear car parking bays so people could park. The team then spent over four hours shovelling snow, directing traffic and helping people safely into the building. There was a real sense of team spirit that day, people would come out bringing us hot drinks, others got shovels from their cars to help and although it was hard work it was a real team building morning, and just goes to show there are no boundaries to FM and the role we do in keeping people safe and happy.

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FACILITIES PEOPLE BARTS HOSPITAL

CREATIVE LICENCE After finishing an MBA Bruno Condo fell into a facilities role. He learnt positivity and creativity are key to success in the industry

NAME: Bruno Condo JOB TITLE: Office/facilities manager WORKS FOR: Skanska/Barts and The London

I do the same every facilities manager does: managing and maintaining facilities; setting up preventative maintenance schedules; negotiating contracts; raising purchase orders, health and safety. The exciting bit was when we realised the potential to let available areas in our building to other parts of the business. We now have 13 parts of Skanska living under our roof. It is a little bit like being a hotel manager! Skanska is an excellent company to work for but my intention was to be there only for a short period of time while finishing my MBA. My plan backfired when my boss, then office manager, left the company and they offered me her position. I may have fallen into facilities management by accident, but it seems to have been a perfect match. I consider myself to be a very diplomatic person but had no idea how useful this would be when I started in this industry. It is all about people - the

relationships you build with them and most importantly how much you care about them. In this profession we get to interact with virtually every department in the company. This is great if you want to know who ended up doing what with who (and where!) after the Christmas party. But I can’t reveal any more here for fear of reprisals...

Positive thinking The best bits about my job is the autonomy I have. It allows me to manage my team the way I want, to come up with ideas to entertain staff, to change things the way I want. It also allows me to be creative, which I think is extremely necessary in the world we live in. Facilities management can be a very creative profession if you adopt a positive posture. My boss, the operations director here at Skanska, is a great inspiration for me. Observing how positive he is and his posture dealing with problems has taught me a lot. He deals with every problem, big or small, in a very positive manner and this approach inspires not only myself, but everyone in our team. Facilities management is a rewarding career and challenges often arise. We go through five health and safety audits per year.

I have, as a personal challenge, to comply with these audits without having a single note raised in any of them. In the recent ones we had a commendation for the excellent preventative maintenance schedule established for the offices.

Not just big spenders I sincerely hope one day facilities management can be seen as a part of the business which can ‘make money’ rather than just being seen as ‘big spenders’ within the organisation. Facilities managers have the power to negotiate great deals, build good relationships for the business, figure out good business opportunities and organise things in a way to save money significantly. If facilities managers don’t feel recognised they will not identify any opportunities and the business will definitely suffer with this lack of motivation. I think we are ‘prouder’ of what we do these days… I also think we

talk more to each other, sharing experiences and working together to find solutions for common problems. Hopefully, if we keep at the same pace, we will have a bigger number of bright and positive youngsters raising the profile of our industry. This will generate more recognition from senior managers which will automatically turn the industry into a more attractive environment for brighter and positive youngsters. For those considering a career in facilities management I would say – be positive and be creative. Never assume there is no solution for your problem – there is always a way out and it can often be a great solution. Be as cordial as you can to everyone you deal with whether they are clients, suppliers, operatives or staff – these people will notice if you are kind and care about them. And this will most certainly get back to you (and to your boss – hopefully!). It’s a small industry, and everyone knows everyone. GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 33

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FACILITIES PEOPLE RENFREWSHIRE SCHOOLS

GETTING AN EDUCATION At school Francesca Kavanagh wore her coat during lessons as the heaters didn’t work. At 23, she’s leading a team of FM professionals

NAME: Francesca Kavanagh JOB TITLE: Operations manager WORKS FOR: Amey/ Renfrewshire Schools

As a high school student in Lanarkshire, Scotland I remember wearing my coat during school lessons, because none of the heaters worked and we were all freezing cold in the classroom. Six years on and now at the age of 23 I am leading a team of facilities management professionals from facilities management service provider Amey – all dedicated to delivering the best possible facilities for young learners. I have to say I wasn’t aware of opportunities in facilities management while studying for my degree in marketing at Strathclyde University. But after university I joined Amey’s graduate leadership programme, which introduced me to a wide range of different careers, including facilities management within the organisation’s Built Environment division. I am now an operations manager for Amey which involves coordinating a team of 80 cleaners, janitors, electricians

and caterers at four schools across Renfrewshire – just half an hour away from where I went to sixth form college. My work in the company forms part of a wider Amey contract to provide a range of facilities management services including building maintenance, security and grounds maintenance to 10 schools on behalf of Renfrewshire Council. Working in facilities management allows you to learn about business extremely quickly. I have dealt with all kinds of personnel matters, I’ve helped the team to implement innovations that have saved thousands of pounds for the client, I’ve learned about managing different types of people – you just don’t get that broad experience from a lot of other professions that I know about. There is never a dull day in facilities management; it is always fast-paced and demanding. Anyone considering a career in FM should be prepared to enter a challenging profession. At the start, it can be tough to manage people who are up to 50 years older than you but if you treat people with respect, they will do the same. To succeed in facilities management, you have to

THERE IS NEVER A DULL DAY IN FACILITIES MANAGEMENT; IT IS ALWAYS FAST-PACED AND DEMANDING. ANYONE CONSIDERING A CAREER IN

be committed to providing a service. The schools we work in are used day and night; they are a major part of the local community, especially in rural areas. That means we all have to work unsociable hours to keep the facility operational, but it’s worth it. Everyone is a customer – from the children that use the schools to the parents and teachers, as well as the council and the local community who use the schools for activities outside teaching hours. We’re answerable to them all in one way or another. At my school, the whole experience of studying in the building was uninspiring. That experience really motivates me to provide a better learning environment for young people. The opportunities I’ve been given with Amey are fantastic. I am working for a UK-wide company with international connections but I can stay in Scotland without sacrificing any aspect of my professional development.

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FACILITIES PEOPLE ROLLRIGHT FACILITIES

ROLLING OUT FM SUCCESS Finishing off at university five years ago little did Andrew Hulbert know that he would end up handling a £2m spend across 24 sites

NAME: Andrew Hulbert JOB TITLE: Commercial manager WORKS FOR: Rollright Facilities

My journey into facilities management started back in 2005 when I decided to go to the University of Essex to study business management. In my second year I started to think about how I could make myself more employable when it came to finishing university and decided to apply for the Shell Step scheme. This scheme links up penultimate year undergraduates with small and medium-sized businesses for an eight-week project. Luckily for me, for the first time Rollright Facilities was running the scheme I got paired up with them. My eight-week project consisted of a competitor analysis, looking at various competitors to Rollright and creating a 100-page report with 10 key recommendations. One of those was that Rollright should gain an environmental accreditation as it was clear the majority of our competitors had them and they would become a requirement for bidding on larger tenders. Twelve months on I was glad to see Rollright had achieved ISO14001.

I finished my eight-week placement in August 2007 and returned to my final year of university. I graduated one year on with a First class degree in Business Management – all the while keeping in touch with Rollright, visiting the office in Christmas and Easter. In August 2008, I had a final interview with Rollright and was offered the permanent position of commercial management graduate trainee.

First steps The first aspect of the role was to get to grips with the commercial side of the business. This included understanding how the business built up costings, how profit was made, the relationship with clients, how to act towards clients, report writing and costing proposals. I also got involved in the marketing and completed some telemarketing and helped to build up a database of key information to target. Towards the end of 2008 Rollright won a large contract at a multinational ICT organisation and I was selected to be part of the core four implementation team. My primary role was to ensure a smooth transition for the 50 subcontractors across the UK. During this time, I brought in a number of our own contractors to ensure a good quality in service, we brought some lines in house, we reduced

the overall number of contractors and managed to making a saving of 10 per cent (£20,000). I also held a sub-contractor day on-site, inviting many of the key contractors to show them how Rollright operated and what we expected from them. The implementation for this site was completed in January 2009 and I had proved myself operationally. I was then promoted to commercial manager and given account management responsibility. I started with a few accounts to build my knowledge and competence but within 12 months I had a full compliment of accounts looking after 13 clients, 24 sites, 48 staff and around £2m of budgetary spend. Within this time I had made a number of improvements on the accounts. This included reducing reactive calls on one site by 35 per cent (250 calls), reducing the number of sick days lost by 96 per cent, saving over £150,000 on another site by controlling spending and changing subcontractors, generally improving health and safety compliance across

and putting forward ideas for reducing environmental impacts by installing coffee timers or increasing recycling. In August 2010 my role evolved into strategic client account management. I handed a number of the smaller sites to another manager and moved to five key strategic clients for Rollright Facilities. To supplement my role, I have just started a MSc in Facility and Environment Management at University College London which I will complete over two years. The main reason I have progressed so quickly is due to the support of the senior management team at Rollright. The commercial director, Charles Sinton, is my board sponsor and has ensured everything has been in place to allow for my development and progression. I have recently entered the FMA Young Manager of the Year 2010 award. I have reached the final three and I await the results in early November at the awards dinner. GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 35

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FACILITIES PEOPLE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

A FOREIGN AFFAIR Rubbing shoulders with the Royal family and senior military figures was not what sprung to mind when Alan Sillince started out in FM

NAME: Alan Sillince JOB TITLE: Facilities manager WORKS FOR: Interserve/Foreign and Commonwealth Office

I am responsible for the operational delivery of both soft and hard facilities management services at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office buildings within their London estate. This includes the prestigious Foreign and Commonwealth Office Headquarters, Old Admiralty Building, Lancaster House and 1 Carlton Gardens. I am also responsible for new works and supporting the major project delivery team on this contract. The variety and opportunity to make a difference are the most rewarding parts of my job. No day is ever the same and you can learn so much that can be applied in every aspect of life, both work and personal. My top perk at work is being part of some of the extra special events held at the FCO, in particular Remembrance Sunday, where we help to ensure the smooth running from within the FCO, which hosts the Royal family, senior military figures and ambassadors on the morning. I especially enjoy viewing

the parade as it passes from one of the VIP boxes overlooking the parade itself and clapping those extra special service men and women that walk past the Cenotaph in memory of those past and present. As with most people I got into facilities management by chance. I worked in a bank previously but I was asked to come and work as part of a compliance unit team at the MoD main building. Once I started I realised that the world of facilities management was huge. I asked what we were responsible for and the response was everything from the reception and service desks, the building fabric to all the inner workings of the building, cleaning and much more. I believe facilities management can provide a role for anyone at any level who is prepared to work hard and wants the opportunity to learn. I recently passed the first ever Facilities Management NVQ Level 3. I was one of just 10 people in the country to achieve it and hopefully my work will set the standard for other aspiring facility managers.

Never a dull day There are some interesting tales I could reveal about my time in facilities management but one in particular sticks out. A long

time ago when I first started out in facilities management I was carrying out an inspection and got stuck in a medium-sized cupboard. I’d checked inside only for the door to close shut behind me, unfortunately the door handle had fallen off and I got stuck for five minutes in pitch black. A colleague was just about to call the fire brigade but luckily I managed to get it open from the outside. I definitely wouldn’t have lived that one down. Over the last five years there are a number of aspects which have changed in the industry, from my experience; in particular technology which is now faster and more efficient than ever. The change in employers’ attitudes to allow more flexible and mobile working has vastly improved. I also believe health and safety is now taken more seriously and bad practice is being highlighted significantly more to prevent unnecessary accidents. Finally, the focus on sustainability and the environment has significantly changed. We are

now more focused than ever on reducing our carbon emissions and carbon footprint. There is always a need to minimise cost but most importantly the need to reduce the impact we all have on the environment. I believe the focus on energy, sustainability, recycling and our environmental targets will have one of the biggest impacts. There is also no doubt technology will evolve further than before but how, I am not entirely sure – maybe in line with the social networking and smart phone technology. My very first set of line managers in facilities management; Lynne Jury and Nicky Diggins, both gave me my first real opportunities. They gave me good advice and taught me a lot about facilities management in general however their speciality was customer focus and attention to detail, which I now carry with me in all that I do. For those young facilities managers starting out I would give one piece of advice – be courageous and bold and show respect and the willingness to listen and learn.

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FACILITIES PEOPLE TOWER 42

HIGH UP ON THE AGENDA Terry Burns started out as a porter and now handles all kinds of requests as head concierge of the fifth tallest skyscraper in London

NAME: Terry Burns JOB TITLE: Head concierge WORKS FOR: Tower 42

I started my career as a hall porter at the exclusive Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall in 1982. As a sociable outgoing person, it felt like an ideal job, being deskbound was not for me. My role there involved looking after the club’s exclusive private members. I worked my way up to become head hall porter. I think showing initiative and being a self-starter were key qualities. I was able to help people with the service that they wanted and needed. My role involved requests by clients to assist them with their reservations and private itineraries and I became well-known for my resourcefulness and ability to get the job done in record time. I relished the challenge of helping people, and with no formal qualifications in this field, I created a bespoke market to meet the wishes of clients. To this day, I get a big buzz out of making the impossibility a reality.

Moving on up In 1997 I was headhunted by a member of the Royal Automobile

Club for the position of head concierge at Tower 42, the international finance centre. Tower 42 is the tallest skyscraper in the city of London and the fifth tallest in London as a whole. It was originally built for the National Westminster Bank, hence its former name, the NatWest Tower. This is multitenanted building with over 3000 people in the estate. The building has 42 floors of office space and the Gary Rhodes Restaurant on the 24th floor, and the famous Vertigo champagne bar on the 42nd floor. I am the first port of call when people enter the building. I love assisting people and was recently awarded the 2009 WOW award for Customer Services, I am referred to in the book called WOW! That’s What I call Service written by Derek Williams and Don Hales. One of my proudest moments was when I was sent to the US to receive the Building Owners and Managers Association award for Tower 42.

Pulling out the stops A typical day is a whirlwind of telephone calls, texts, and email requests giving personal attention to hundreds of people at any time. Multi-tasking is key in this job and I need to have

I’VE BEEN KNOW TO ARRANGE PRIVATE JETS FOR VIPS, CHAUFFEURS FOR AIRPORT DROP OFFS/ COLLECTIONS THROUGH TO ORGANISING VIP TICKETS FOR SOLD OUT SHOWS

an encyclopaedic knowledge of recommended restaurants, hotels, resorts, night clubs, casinos, shows, concerts, sporting events, chauffeur and sports car hire in and around the capital. But work doesn’t stop there – I’ve been know to arrange private jets for VIPs, chauffeurs for airport drop offs/collections through to organising VIP tickets for sold out shows. I like to think that I make the impossible possible and I need to have a can-do attitude and a good sense of humour in this job. More recently I was asked to asked to arrange an away day for a national charity with a very limited budget to spend on their team activity. Negotiating with various suppliers I was determined to give them a lovely day. One of my regular discerning foodie clients asked me to book someone a restaurant which would serve her three courses of deserts only (she recently discovered that she was pregnant). It’s all in a day’s work. GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 37

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FACILITIES PEOPLE BUPA

A HEALTHY MOVE TO FM Leaving Pizza Hut a few years ago led Laura Wilson-Hutt into facilities management where the catering contract now falls under her remit

NEIL TURNER

NAME: Laura Wilson-Hutt JOB TITLE: Assistant facilities manager WORKS FOR: Bupa

As Bupa’s assistant facilities manager, based in Salford, I am mainly responsible for managing the catering contractor at the site. Together with Will Greene, the campus’s facilities manager, I was responsible for the recent tendering process, which saw Charlton House shown the door after 15 years with the firm and the arrival of catering provider Baxter Storey. I’m one of two assistant facilities managers on the campus, and part of a 31-strong in-house team spread across the UK. I, alongside my colleague, Malachy Walsh, look after the contracts with me looking after the gym, restaurant, hard services and in-house reception team while Malachy looks after post and stationery, cleaning, security and the in-house facilities admin team. It’s a busy, varied role and a world away from my previous job in retail which was no fun at all. I worked for Pizza Hut as an assistant manager and after being made redundant found my first job in facilities management.

I moved to the BBC in Salford, starting out as a facilities administrator which saw me doing a bit of everything from catering to reception. Three years ago I joined Bupa, initially as a facilities administrator. I like FM because it’s very people-oriented. Every day is completely different which is the complete opposite of Pizza Hut where every day was structured exactly the same for me. A typical week involves a meeting with each of the contractors I am responsible for where we look at performance and issues arising. We encourage them to constantly come up with new ways of doing things and to bring innovation into the contracts.

Good communication All the Bupa FM contractors, myself and the facilities manager come together once a week for a joint meeting. It’s a good opportunity to get them us together so, for example, if something that the maintenance team is doing affects the cleaning team, they can talk about it. Then they don’t come to us about issues and instead talk to each other and solve any problems. Sometimes it can be tough and I’ve felt like “piggy in the middle” between contractors in the past. But now the wider FM team gets involved with

something like the cleaning audit of the restaurant and gym, so we can all work together to improve the facilities function. With the restaurant at Bupa as my main focus I was heavily involved in procuring a new catering supplier – going out on site visits, assessing suppliers’ tender documents and presentations. Starting with 12 potential suppliers, I helped to narrow this down to five for site visits and then the final two. Baxter Storey now handle the catering at our site and staff feedback has been good, once a few early teething problems were ironed out. The main complaint has been that we are no longer selling Muller Rice, so things can’t be bad. It is important for us to interact with the people using the building wherever possible and we tend to do this through gym forums, learning at work days, forums and FM walkabouts. My job is not just about being on the phone and answering emails.

We’re strongly encouraged to regularly walk around the building. It’s called ‘taking off the seatbelt’. Creating a campus approach and ensuring staff talk to each other, not just across the Salford site, but internationally (Bupa serves 10m customers in over 190 countries) is really important. We recently launched Bupa Live, a networking forum for all staff in all countries to keep in touch.

Shared knowledge Sharing experiences is high on our agenda. I conduct fortnightly video conference calls with my fellow assistant facilities managers across the other sites to discuss site issues; while the FMs have a weekly call and the facilities administrators have a quarterly video conference. Once a year, the entire FM team across the UK are brought together for a couple of days off-site. “It’s a great opportunity for us all to get together; we always learn from one another and it’s a fantastic teambuilding exercise.”

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SKILLS

Our experts give you some tips on some of the key skills you will need to be a good facilities manager

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SKILLS SERVING CUSTOMERS

CUSTOMER SERVICE Facilities management is first and foremost a services industry and customer care is at its heart. Good communication skills are key – as is a winning smile f you decide on a career in facilities management, a huge part of your role will be looking after customers. FM is a service industry and customer care remains a continuous process which requires excellent communication, the ability to understand needs and a passion for good service Customers are defined as those paying for or receiving goods or services. FM’s main

customers are its organisation’s executive management. They are responsible for providing FM with its budget. However, there is a second group who use FM services, made up of employees, employees of third parties, visitors, including the organisation’s customers and potential customers, stakeholders in the business (eg, shareholders) and members of the public. Don’t forget: everyone has a view of how good facilities

INSIDE TRACK

I’VE ALWAYS WORKED IN JOBS WHICH HAVE BEEN CUSTOMER-FOCUSED, MANY OF WHICH HAVE BEEN SUPPORT ROLES DURING MY TIME IN THE MET OFFICE. SO WHEN MY CURRENT ROLE BECAME VACANT, IT WAS A NATURAL PROGRESSION FOR ME. Sandie Coxhill, Facilities service manager, Met office

should be delivered – and they won’t be afraid to tell you. Keeping your cool when confronted with complaints from customers is a key part of customer service.

What do you need? The first step in delivering good customer care is to understand your customers’ needs – at corporate, departmental and individual levels. Start by reviewing the corporate mission statement with senior managers to ensure a clear understanding of the corporate strategy and the impact it has on FM. Talk to individuals, particularly executive assistants, to identify which FM functions take priority for their part of the business. But use your common sense too: what would you expect of an FM provider?

Lead by example Customer service culture is defined by the way FM people think and act. Excellent customer service starts at the top. Senior FM managers must demonstrate to their FM teams, as well as their customers, behaviours which underpin the values of mutual respect, service, understanding and teamwork. Without this, any customer service culture will fail. Customer service should be integrated into every aspect of FM work and management. To achieve this, interpersonal skills and abilities criteria should be included in the hiring, training and appraising of FM staff and service suppliers. Whichever outsourced approach is adopted it is important to create a One Team approach. In this way the customer receives consistently good service from all sources. To achieve this: ● Share the overall vision for FM with in-house and service provider managers and staff ● Ensure adoption is part of the contractual agreement with

service providers as well as the in-house appraisal system ● Hold monthly meetings with the in-house team and service providers to review: – forthcoming business events, for example, an annual results presentation – service failures and their recovery together with successes – project progress – FM initiatives, for example, a move to zone waste bins

Communication Communicating with customers is a key part of good customer care. Communications, to be most effective, are best carried out through multiple channels – departmental and team meetings, emails, informal chats, noticeboards and intranet. FM staff must have high visibility, for example, regular floor walks, seeking out key customers for even just a greeting. And don’t forget a smile. From time to time there will be service failures. Excellence in service recovery is an important part of winning high ratings from customers. FM teams should have a recovery process in place with the following features: ● Acknowledge the failure to the customer and delivery team ● Put someone in charge of the service recovery process ● Gather the facts ● Work out what’s necessary to deliver the required service ● Ask for customer approval ● Deliver the required service ● Ask the customer to confirm the failure has been recovered ● Hold a no-blame review The British Institute of Facilities Management has published a Good Practice Guide to Customer Care, by Anne Lennox-Martin and Ivan Newman and sponsored by Reliance FM. To buy a copy for £10 email gpg@redactive.co.uk

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SKILLS MANAGING PROJECTS

PROJECT MANAGEMENT With no two days the same, facilities managers need tools and a structured approach that lets them deal with the unexpected. Strong project management skills are the answer, says Ian Studd alk to any facilities professional and they will tell you that no two days are the same, and that’s why they like being an FM. Of course there are routine tasks that need doing, but more often than not today’s to-do list gets set aside to deal with the leaking roof in the director’s office, the last-minute request for a fine dining lunch for 30 dignitaries from Japan and the small fire in the boiler room. As well as managing day-today issues such as maintenance, cleaning and security schedules, facilities professionals also get involved in projects, and good project management skills should be a key part of your arsenal. Successful project management should be structured and methodical. You shouldn’t just “get on and do it”. Imagine if you have committed your organisation to expensive equipment and hiring of contractors and then find that the organisation needs a completely different solution?

ISTOCK

On the move FM is associated with business and organisational change,

and sometimes with radical transformation. At some point you’ll probably need to think about managing complex and challenging change programmes that involve the wholesale relocation of people, premises, furniture and IT infrastructure – maybe having to co-ordinate a move during major refurbishment or building works, and manage relationships with a number of external service providers, all at the same time.

Component parts As with any major project, the formula for success lies in breaking it up into its component parts, detailed planning, allocating roles and responsibilities, establishing timelines and, importantly, involving and communicating with all those who will be affected in order to minimise disruption, disaffection and operational downtime. You’ll need people skills as well as operational know how for this. Learning or building on your project management skills, and getting familiar with some of the better project management software that can help you, are

all essential. But you should also remember that many of the external service providers who may need to be brought into the project will also have a lot of hands-on experience of project management, and particularly of risk and cost management. While you’ll want to take final responsibility (and the credit) for a successful programme, you don’t have to do it all on your own. Mobilising the talents of others is the essence of good management and leadership. One thing to bear in mind is that your principal contractor is often able to call on experienced service partners, or on other divisions of their own firm if it’s a large national company, or manage multiple subcontractor TOP TIPS ● Determine the objectives and scope of the project ● Plan the work and estimate the duration ● Schedule in the activities ● Resolve any resource overloads ● Report progress ● Manage any risk ● Manage change ● Hand over the project ● Review achievements

relationships on your behalf. Relocation project managers, for example, will also be experienced at working with other contractors and trades, from architects and builders to local authority planning departments, landlords and utilities, to fabric and flooring fitters.

Start early If you know you’re going to need expert help, involve your move contractors at an early stage. They will point out pitfalls, help you plan for contingencies, save costs by consolidating the supply chain and find the best solution for what might seem at first glance to be major logistical or operational problems. Most of all, you need to avoid disruption to business processes during a time of change, particularly if you want to continue to access company information or records in temporary storage. Modern storage and retrieval methods ensure both the security and accessibility of information so the organisation goes on working while you are busy managing the project that’s going to get it working better. Ian Studd is business relocation director at Harrow Green

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SKILLS

TIME MANAGEMENT

MANAGING TIME As a facilities manager, managing your time effectively is the key to staying in control and doing the job well. Patrick Forsyth points the way to greater productivity Because time flies Time is a resource like any other. It is an important one: respect for it can boost career success. Time management can enhance productivity, focus you on priorities and act directly to improve your effectiveness. So, if time management is so much common sense why aren’t we all time management experts? The bad news is that time management is difficult There is no magic formula. Circumstances – and interruptions – often conspire to prevent our best intentions working out. Few of us organise our time perfectly, but some are manifestly better at it than others. Why? Because those who are more successful have a different attitude to the process. They see it as something to work at. They recognise that details matter. They consider the time implications of everything, and they work to get as close to their ideal of time arrangement as they can. It’s not easy, but a conscience effort to change can ensure good practice quickly becomes habit; and thus things get progressively easier.

ISTOCK

The principles The principles are not complex. The three main ones are:

● List the tasks you have to perform ● Assign them priorities ● Do what the plan says The last two can cause problems. However, it is useful to categorise tasks, grouping telephone calls together, for example. Similarly, allocate time for tasks just as you schedule appointments; and balance key areas such as study and work. A fundamental principal of time management is investing time now, to save time later. Consider a customer presentation: it must be right and there is often a lot hanging on it. Preparation takes time. But initiating contact with another prospect if an approach nosedives through lack of preparation takes much longer.

Staying ‘on plan’ Three main influences conspire against task completion: other people, events – and you. You may delay action because you are: ● Unsure what to do ● Dislike the task ● Prefer another task (despite the clear priority) ● Fear the consequences etc. You also spend too long on things because you like them,

don’t you? Be honest. Remember: regular tasks poorly handled waste more time than one-off tasks. It is a fallacy that problems get easier if they are delayed. Rather, the reverse is true: so taking prompt action where appropriate can save time. When colleagues interrupt with a”Got a minute?”, an hour vanishes unconstructively. Sometimes a firm “No” is inherent to good time management. Likewise, ringing telephones may punctuate our day, but you are allowed to be unavailable – some tasks can only be completed in a quiet hour.

The meeting Nothing is a better example of wasted time than a business meeting, especially internal ones. Who doesn’t remember a meeting that they considered a “waste of time”? There is the time it takes most meetings to get underway. Scheduled for 2pm people, dribble in over the next 10 minutes. A start is made only to TOP TIPS ● A start time ● A finish time (so people can plan what they need to do afterwards and when) ● A clear agenda (maybe with timing for different topics, and certainly circulated in advance) ● Good chairmanships (to keep discussion on track) ● No distractions (to allow concentration – so organise refreshments beforehand and switch off those mobile phones)

be interrupted five minutes later by a late arrival. There is a pause, a recap and the meeting restarts. We all know the feeling. Yet there is no reason for it to be like this. Culture and habit within an organisation can combine to save people significant time. If someone – you? – takes a lead it can be a different story. Above all, meetings need clear objectives. Ban any meeting with a time in its title – for example, the monthly administration review meeting – it will just become a routine. Convene a meeting to explore ways of reducing costs by 5 per cent in the last quarter of the year, but not a meeting just to “discuss cost cutting”. With clear intentions, good time keeping and a firm hand on the tiller, most meetings can be productive. This approach can be applied to many areas. It means respecting how things must be done if they are to be effective and organising them so the best way of working becomes a habit for all concerned.

A major asset Good time management is a real boost to competence. Explore the possibilities, instigate good habits and avoid any dilution of your firm intentions. The results may well surprise you. Patrick Forsyth runs Touchstone Training & Consultancy and is the author of many successful business books including Successful Time Management (Kogan Page)

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CAREER PATHS

Six senior professionals tell us about life at the top and how they got there

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CAREER PATHS CHRIS NEWTON

BANKING ON ENERGY LEVELS Chris Newton, facilities management director at Lloyds Banking Group believes that bags of energy is the key attribute for prospective facilities managers What first attracted you to facilities management? Prior to facilities management I studied quantity surveying and worked for a number of contractors and property developers. I rather fell into facilities management, as I was appointed as a project manager at Asda leading the build and operation of a 350,000 sq ft multi temperature distribution centre. Within this I became the facilities manager for the site setting up all the site contracts, such as fork lift trucks, mechanical and electrical maintenance, cleaning, catering, gyms and crèches. As well as facilities management, I was asked to lead the customer service team dealing with all the stores’ queries served by the site and health and safety responsibilities for the site. Prior to my current role as facilities management director for the entire Lloyds Banking Group, I led the estates and FM function with HBOS. Thus a bit of a fall

into facilities management, but I love every minute with the fast pace of making a difference every day, it is hugely demanding and I have to ensure that all my team manage their energy levels appropriatley (and thats not the utilities in Lloyds!).

How many people do you manage? I have 221 within my team, however at last count we have about 10,000 supply partners serving our estate willingly and well everyday, without whom we could not deliver our service.

What is the size of your annual budget that you oversee? The total annual property budget is about £1billion

What was your big career break? Graduating and successfully finding a role in a local property

developer/builder in north-east England; small in number of employees but carring out some industry leading and award winning projects. I had a great mentor and learnt how to do most things in construction but also how to manage a business including doing the VAT return! I believe you make your own career and that you constantly need to develop yourself... three degrees later I am still learning.

Facilities management makes a difference because... The facilities management team are the hidden doers within an organisation... they deliver 24/7/365, but many in the organisation just take it for granted and think that it happens by magic. Many don’t realise the effort it takes, for example, to clean 3,200 branches and 400 office locations to the performed high standards as we do at Lloyds Banking Group. And when things don’t go to plan, it’s the facilities management team that are at the heart of getting things put back together. If anybody asked me 20 years ago when I graduated that I would be chairing the winter maintenance

committee for Lloyds Banking Group, known as The Grit Team, I would have laughed. But this team was so valuable during last year’s harsh winter, with many plaudits throughout the business keeping us operational. Currently I am leading the integration of the two large facilities management functions from the old LloydsTSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) days into a new class facilities management provision for Lloyds Banking Group. This is having a huge impact on the organisation as is assisting the definition of the culture of the new organisation, as well as having harmonised specifications and providing some significant economies of scale in terms of cost reduction, thus assisting the overall integration target communciated to the City.

The three most important attributes of successful facilities professionals are... As with all things facilities management, we need more than three! The ability to communicate, build lasting relationships, internal and external, be able to project management at any scale and to be cool in a crisis are essential. Oh and yes, you need to have bags of energy!

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CAREER PATHS NEIL USHER

PRACTICAL MAGIC However much FM is strategised, it is a practical industry and not a desk job, says Neil Usher, group property manager at Rio Tinto What first attracted you to facilities management? Entering the profession was an accident. I was in the midst of my first assignment as a systems analyst having finished a Masters degree in IT. I was approached about the role and was drawn to its variety, practical relevance and freshness. The profession was in its very early stages and seeking to define itself and its role – there was a sense at the time that something transformational had started to happen.

How many people do you manage? I now have a global property strategy role and so have a small, highly leveraged team – me and three regional managers. I no longer have direct operational responsibility for facilities management delivery.

What was your big career break? The big break was the first role – being offered the position of facilities manager at age 28 with no experience of the profession before – albeit with five years’ management-level experience

in other fields, and a Masters in IT. From there, I was instantly taken with the role and was determined to forge a career in facilities management and the wider property world. I took opportunities to broaden my skills across multiple sites, international environments, industry types – from music to engineering – and all stages of the property life cycle. I also ensured that I spent time on both the supply and demand side in order to understand the commercial pressures driving both. Varied experience in facilities management is vital. But so too is an appreciation of where facilities management fits into the property lifecycle.

Facilities management makes a difference because... it directly affects the performance of the business. Facilities management is an integral part of every organisation. Working environments and support services that successfully meet and anticipate – the needs of the business create the opportunity for the business to function efficiently and effectively, and to grow and prosper.

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT IS A HIGHPRESSURE ROLE WHERE EXPECTATIONS ARE OF 100% SERVICE DELIVERY EXCELLENCE

What is the size of your annual budget that you oversee? Budgets are set by project, so the annual level of approved expenditure varies significantly.

The three most important attributes of successful facilities professionals are... 1. Emotional intelligence: in a customer-oriented environment, being able to understand, empathise with and influence customers is vital. Emotional intelligence groups together a variety of skills and attributes, all of which are relevant within the facilities management arena. 2. Resilience: Facilities management is invariably a highpressure role, where expectations are of 100 per cent service delivery excellence. 3. Practicality: however much aspects of facilities management are theorised, facilities management is a practical discipline. Facilities managers need to think – and work – on their feet. Don’t expect facilities management to be a desk job. GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 45

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CAREER PATHS DUNCAN PARSLEY

IT’S GOOD TO TALK Communication is essential for good FMs argues Duncan Parsley, head of FM at The Wellcome Trust’s Genome Campus What first attracted you to facilities management? My actual career goal was to become a chief engineer in the pharmaceutical industry; my father served for one company for 40 years in engineering for a Swiss pharma company so it is in the blood. Obviously chief engineers have all but disappeared over the last 20 years, my chief engineer that I reported to changed overnight into a director of facilities management picking up the soft facilities management services and so the writing was on the wall; already being a chartered building services engineer and a member of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and Energy Institute - non facilities management, I decided to join the British Institute of Facilities Management and started the journey into facilities management.

What is the size of your annual budget that you oversee? I have a £10.7m annual facilities management budget, a £2m per annum lifecycle budget and in

addition capital projects which currently value at around £2.3m (for a 2MWe CCHP) and am applying for another £4m for a wind turbine (2MWe). I also provide the informed client role on larger capital projects of which there are several but the largest is currently over £500m.

How many people do you manage? Most companies have out sourced contract staff, I have a small team of direct employed facilities managers and admin support including a drawing office. Total in-house staff is 10 with about 135 contract staff.

What was your big career break? Redundancy, not always a negative event but in fact mine turned out to be an opportunity or big break as it took me from being a discovery engineering manager covering maintenance and capital projects within the research division for a Swiss pharma company to a head of FM for a small biotech company. This move gave me the soft FM skills to be able to apply and secure the post I am in now (over seven years), again as

head of FM on a large research campus.

Facilities management makes a difference because... we are a necessary evil, that is to say the business cannot exist without us but the business wishes that was not the case. On a research campus the scientists need to concentrate on their research, not worrying about lights not working, doors not closing or temperature/ humidity control, waste removal and disposal, coffee machine availability etc. FM is there to ensure everything is fit for purpose, fixed before anyone notices a failure or issue while not being noticed. Cleaners on the other hand, need to be around and noticed to ensure customers appreciate what habits they need to have and not abuse their environment. Other services such as grounds, security and catering are more on the peripheral but

have a huge impact on working environment and surroundings, being safe in that environment and being fed and watered. Ultimately we save the business money, not only in keeping the facilities running and allowing occupants to perform to their maximum ability and efficiency to produce or develop the next medical breakthrough (or widget etc)…and keep the business in line with statutory requirements.

The three most important attributes of successful facilities professionals are... Communication, communication and communication... regardless of which service area within FM you are considering. Tell customers what you intend to do, tell them that you have told them what you intend to do, then tell them when you are doing it and then tell them that you have completed what you intended to do is vital.

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CAREER PATHS PAUL FRANKLIN

CUSTOMER IS KING Paul Franklin, change management manager at Reliance FM says that the customer is the most important person in the FM world What first attracted you to facilities management?

internal change programmes driving changes in values and behaviours.

I fully support the concept of outsourcing generally, and with facilities management we have the opportunity to directly influence customers’ working environments from all market areas, and locations across the globe. I like the variety of opportunity that facilities management presents, and here at Reliance Facilities Management we manage wide portfolios of offices, schools and leisure centres, to critical systems and data centres for major public and private sector customers.

What is the size of your annual budget that you oversee?

How many people do you manage? Reliance Facilities Management employs over 500 people, across a variety of facilities management categories. Personally, I have managed national accounts with a service team of 200, through a management team of 10-15 contract and facilities managers. Currently, I am overseeing the change management team across Reliance Facilities Management, supporting a number of projects for our customers ranging from transitions programmes, to

In my current role, I manage projects budgets only, and these can be in the value of up to £5 million per annum per project.

What was your big career break? I was fortunate in being accepted onto the graduate programme for a large PLC, that enabled me to gain a valuable insight into the workings of large organisations and the basic principles of outsourcing. This led to an operational and commercially focused role on a major Total Facilities Management account and following a number of other projects, to me joining the Reliance team.

I LIKE THE VARIETY OF OPPORTUNITY THAT FACILITIES MANAGEMENT PRESENTS. WE MANAGE SUCH A WIDE VARIETY OF PROPERTIES

the external environment, and therefore the cultures and behaviours, of all the organisation’s stakeholders.

The three most important attributes of successful facilities professionals are... 1. A clear focus on the requirements of the customer 2. The empathetic management of a focused and motivated service team 3. The ability to quickly identify a service issue and multitask through to a successful conclusion

Facilities management makes a difference because... It directly affects the bottom line, through direct influence on the working environment, GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 47

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CAREER PATHS JAMIE REYNOLDS

WHY FM IS A JUGGLING ACT The ability to multi-task is an essential part of being an FM says Jamie Reynolds, COO at FM firm Managed Support Services What first attracted you to facilities management? I initially entered facilities management with very little knowledge of the sector. However, I have remained in this industry for the past 18 years because of the opportunity it has provided to broaden my business and operational experience. During my time in the sector I have had been able to develop skills across accountancy, quality assurance, engineering and business management.

How many people do you manage? There are six people directly reporting to me, but I am actively involved in managing the MSS team that includes more than 300 employees across our building services and compliance businesses.

What is the size of your annual budget that you oversee? I am responsible for managing facilities management, building services and compliance solutions for our customers that totals more than £36 million annually.

What was your big career break? I’ve had two big career breaks. Firstly, I met George Lilley, service provider GSH Group’s managing director at the time, by complete accident and was offered an interview opportunity. Unfortunately, there was a bit of an HR mix-up and I was interviewed for a receptionist’s role, which I unsurprisingly didn’t get. I eventually ended up as a Youth Training Scheme trainee at the company. The second career defining moment came when I converted a fragmented, regional delivery model for Marks & Spencer to an effective national delivery model. This became GSH Group’s largest contract and the delivery model was later used as a template for other accounts.

THE FACILITIES MANAGERS OF TODAY ARE NOW MINI MANAGING DIRECTORS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT

The three most important attributes of successful pvfacilities professionals are... In my opinion these key attributes are: 1. the ability to multitask 2. the ability to communicate at all levels within an organisation 3. the experience to manage and mitigate risk

Facilities management makes a difference because... Facilities management provides strategic contribution across many important board matters such as legislation, finance, corporate responsibility and operational performance. The facilities managers of today are now mini managing directors.

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CAREER PATHS GERRY ASKEW

EXPECT THE UNEXEPCTED No two days are the same as a facilities manager says Gerry Askew, facilities director at facilities management service provider SGP What first attracted you to facilities management? The diverse nature of facilities management; ensuring excellent service delivery, analysing compliance and risk, negotiating with suppliers, setting budgets, leading and inspiring the team or managing the customer relationships, ensures that everyday is filled with a challenging mix of business activities.

How many people do you manage? 500 people make up the SGP on-site FM service delivery team for which I am responsible.

What is the size of your annual budget that you oversee?

team. The opportunity to work in a demanding, high pressure environment where I could use the skills I had developed in other roles was extremely appealing to me. The coaching, development and support received during that first foray into facilties management has been the foundation of a successful and extremely interesting career.

Facilities management makes a difference because... our service has an impact on everyone who comes into the building, whether they work there everyday or are just visiting. Our ability to deliver therefore has an impact on the effectiveness of the workplace and the perception of employees, stakeholders, customers and suppliers of the organisation.

The three most important attributes of successful facilities professionals are... 1. Flexibility: your day hardly ever pans out how you expect 2. Empathy: take time to understand people’s concerns but knowing that you can’t please all of the people all of the time

AS AN FACILITIES MANAGER YOU NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE AS YOUR DAY HARDLY EVER PANS OUT HOW YOU EXPECT

3. Common sense: don’t over complicate, often the solution can be simple to even the most complex problem

Our annual budget for those on-site facilities management activities is in excess of £30m.

What was your big career break? My early career was spent in the police force after which I was offered a junior role in the TV AM facilities management GUIDE TO CAREERS IN FM 2011 | 49

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We develop workplaces that help people thrive. Think what we could do for you. We bring ingenuity to the places where people live work and travel. By using integrated technology, products and services, we create smart environments that redefine the relationships between people and their surroundings. It’s a truly global business with over 130,000 employees serving customers in over 150 countries to make their environments more comfortable, productive, safe and energy efficient. Through our growth strategies and by increasing market share we are committed to delivering value to shareholders and making our customers successful. As a workplace, you’ll find we do things a little differently. Invention is at the centre of everything we do. For us, its about being innovative and first to market with smarter solutions. It all adds up to an exciting work environment where your imagination is the only limit. www.johnsoncontrols.co.uk/careers 6156a0910

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COMPANY PROFILES

Organisations which employ and train facilities managers explain why you should work or study with them

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DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE STAKEHOLDER BENEFITS We are a values driven business delivering quality services through directly employed resources.

Our Service Offering includes: Strategic FM Advice H&S and CR Consultancy CRC & Energy Bureau Critical Asset Management Workplace, Project and Change Management Carbon Infrastructure Management

Delivering positive business outcomes with our stakeholders by driving value, through trusted, innovative people and technological change programmes.

REDEFINING BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES Consult...Manage...Deliver...Improve...Assure Tel: 020 8894 6900 路 www.reliancefm.com FMGCareers.2010.055.indd 1 Reliance.indd 1

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PROFILES RELIANCE FM

RELIANCE FM We’re a growing service business. Our people are critical in delivering excellence and so we provide them with exciting career paths t Reliance Facilities Management we have set our targets high. We are committed to developing a reputation for excellence in everything we do, from developmental consultancy appointments with our customers, to the application of leading edge technologies, through to the development of service innovations and new methods of working. To achieve this we must recruit, retain and motivate a high quality workforce.

Meeting the challenges The increasing diversity, depth and complexity of FM delivers organisations with corporate governance, sustainability, social responsibility, organisational, technological, compliance, procurement and financial challenges when managing their buildings and services to their staff. Reliance Facilities Management is committed to assisting our customers in meeting these challenges with subject matter experts in each discipline. As a growing service business, Reliance Facilities Management understands that our people play a critical role in delivering service excellence. Our service approach blends technology with the considered application of quality human resources within a ‘knowledge-enabled’ framework. Therefore, investment in robust training and development programmes for all of our people is essential, as is the identification and application of technologies which drive efficiency. Our goal is to have clear, exciting career paths that provide our people with personal and professional development plans which fit with customers’ objectives.

Company name: Reliance Facilities Management Limited Address: Surety House, 150 Hampton Road West, Feltham, Middlesex TW13 6BE Telephone: 020 8894 6900 Website: www.reliancefm.com Locations: UK Number of employees: 500 Vacancies: Through our growth, underpinning our Five-Year Plan Strategy, we are always looking for high-calibre FMs, in both hard and soft services; Business Development personnel; Technicians and Facilities Agents Major clients: The AA, Accenture, BrendonCare, Botwell Green Leisure Centre, Devon & Cornwall Police, Equiniti, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Health and Safety Executive, Indesit, Infineum, Maidstone Borough Council, Ravensbourne College, Unilever, Westminster Kingsway College Areas of work offered: Our service offering includes: Strategic FM Advice, H&S and CR Consultancy, CRC and Energy Bureau, Critical Asset Management, Workplace, Project and Change Management, Carbon Infrastructure Management, Integrated FM Service Delivery, Asset Maintenance Services, Business Support Services, CAFM Information Assessment, External auditing Services, Behavioural Based Assessment, ISO 9001, 14001 18001, 26001 L8 Risk Assessment, Sustainable Event Assessment Training: Having recently gained the Bronze Investors in People accreditation, we regard training as a very important aspect of our business. We offer specific skills training for the current and developmental opportunities. Sponsorship of appropriate external professional exams is also offered Remuneration: Competitive Salary and benefits offered

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so much more than great food When you outsource your services to Sodexo, you’ll join over one million people whose lives we enhance every day. As experts in providing On-site Service Solutions, we provide a range of services that will help you concentrate on what you do best. We quickly become key players in your team and our experience ensures that we’ll be talking your language in no time at all. In fact, we’re ready to talk to you today. Call us now on 020 7535 7400 or visit us online at www.sodexo.com

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PROFILES SODEXO

SODEX0 A career with us is the beginning of a journey with an employer that invests in career development odexo is one of the UK’s leading providers of FM services to the public and private sectors. Our clients range from financial organisations, schools and universities, prisons, hospitals and the MoD to Royal Ascot and the Chelsea Flower Show. We take full responsibility for the delivery and management of on-site service solutions using our own expert teams. Our expertise allows our clients to focus on their core business. The reach, diversity and pedigree of our business enable us to draw on a large pool of experience within the FM sphere in the UK and Ireland. This provides us with a strong foundation to share and distribute best practice.

Global scale Furthermore, Sodexo operates in 80 countries, employing 43,000 people in the UK and Ireland and 380,000 people worldwide. Such scope allows Sodexo to take a global view on markets, not only resulting in a sound financial base, but also a platform to share innovation on an international scale. The range of employment opportunities on offer at Sodexo is enormous: from account managers, technicians and buyers to landscape gardeners, receptionists and chefs. We offer both hard and soft services, such as mechanical and electrical engineering, cleaning, security and catering, to clients in corporate, education, healthcare, justice, defence and leisure markets. We specialise in fully integrated FM for private and public sector clients with complex needs requiring a full range of on-site service solutions. In the public sector, for example, Sodexo UK & Ireland is involved in more than 25 Private Finance Initiatives.

Top talent As an outsourcing company, we pride ourselves on our management, innovation and people. So our ability to attract and recruit top talent is critical to our business success. It is our priority to look after our staff at every stage of their Sodexo career. Given our diverse business operations, staff training and learning and development are of paramount importance. We have a Cadet Apprenticeship Scheme for 16 to 24-year-old job seekers. In addition to in-house staff training, we offer a range of courses leading to professional qualifications. For people with management ambition, there is the Aspire management development programme. This seeks to fast-track staff with commercial savvy, technical ability and the interpersonal skills to manage complex client needs and multiple service lines.

Company name: Sodexo Address: Capital House, 25 Chapel Street, London NW1 5DH Telephone: 020 7535 7400 Website: www.sodexo.com Locations: Nationwide Number of employees: 43,000 Number of vacancies: visit http://uk.sodexo.com/uken/ careers/careers.asp to register for career opportunities Major clients: Nokia, Ministry of Justice, BAE Systems, University of Bradford, BAT, Queen’s Hospital Romford and the Royal Horticultural Society Areas of work offered: Wide range of opportunities: technical FM, soft services, food/craft, managerial, sales and head office functions Work experience offered: Not formally Employee training funded: We have a comprehensive L&D suite including technical, managerial and professional development at all levels Starting salary in region of: Varies depending on role Other benefits: We offer a benefits package that includes private medical insurance, travel insurance and a pension scheme. We also have a staff discount scheme offering savings on a range of everyday shopping items. To apply: Visit http://uk.sodexo.com/uken/careers/ careers.asp

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PROFILES SGP

SGP Bringing new graduate talent into the business is a very important strand of our recruitment strategy GP is in the business of property and facilities management, but that doesn’t tell the whole story about graduate careers in the organisation. Not everyone in the business is employed directly managing facilities at a client site. Although the front line operational role is a multi-disciplined service delivery position crucial to SGP’s success and is the linchpin of the relationship with clients, there has to be a back office support team. These are professionals in their respective disciplines, including IT (SGP develops bespoke software to manage many aspects of property and facilities management), human resources, finance, procurement and marketing. Furthermore SGP’s career development scheme, Pathfinder enables training needs to be identified to develop and fast-track high performing individuals to take up positions of responsibility across the business. These could be general skills development programmes or sponsorship of a professional qualification through the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, or the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. A business degree can sometimes warrant exemptions to certain parts of a professional qualification.

New talent There is always room for new talent and that’s why SGP is convinced of the value graduates bring to the business; both sandwich course students and those who have recently completed their studies. Brett Taylor graduated this year from Loughborough University with a degree in International Business. Brett had been working with SGP for several years during the summer. During his placement year with SGP, Brett undertook a number of projects that gave him an insight into the business. After graduating he was offered a full-time position in the marketing department. Now an employee of SGP, Brett reflects on his time as a student, ‘When I started work I realised that although I had a good theoretical understanding, I wasn’t very confident about the world of work, the business language and interrelationships between departments. It was particularly useful to work in different departments so I could assess my strengths and weaknesses. Spending time in the finance department helped me to gain confidence and skills in that area; critical to my role in the marketing department.’ Will Beresford is another example of a successful placement student who has a job waiting for him at SGP when he graduates. Currently being sponsored by SGP during his final year of an Urban Land Economics Degree at Sheffield Hallam, Will was able to use his placement at SGP to confirm his intention to pursue a career in commercial surveying. Will rose to the challenge of a role in the property department and learned, not just the complicated nature of disposals and acquisitions, but also the expectations and responsibilities of working within the property and facilities management sector.

Company name: SGP Property and Facilities Management Address: Enterprise House, Sunningdale Road, Leicester LE3 1UR Telephone: 0116 201 6800 Website: www.sgp.co.uk Locations: Across UK and Ireland Number of employees: 750 Major clients: HM Treasury, Arcadia, Punch Taverns, Inverness Airport, Marks & Spencers, Mitchells & Butlers Areas of work offered: Facilities management, property, finance, IT, purchasing, sales and marketing Work experience offered: sandwich year placements Employee training funded: vocational and academic training offered Starting salary in region of: dependent on the role

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PROFILES SPIE MATTHEW HALL

SPIE MATTHEW HALL We recognise that people are our greatest asset and provide structured training and development to our employees PIE Matthew Hall is an exciting, dynamic, Building Services and Facilities Management company, packed with innovation and opportunity that offers first class career opportunities and a rewarding place to work. We provide multi technical support services from initial mechanical and electrical design, through installation, commissioning to long term maintenance and facilities management. Working alongside our clients, we have offices located all over the UK. Our ability to deliver all elements of the facility infrastructure allows us to transfer knowledge and best practice across market sectors. This helps us to eliminate waste and lost time, balance the cost of capital investment against the long term building operating budgets and deliver a better quality service in a more cost effective and sustainable way. We offer expert skills in:

S ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Project management Electrical power Public health Fire protection Fabric management Hard landscaping Lifts and escalators Industrial pipe work and ventilation

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Air conditioning Heating and ventilation Security systems Lighting Operation and maintenance Help desk Reception and conference

Graduate opportunities We are committed to providing our graduates with structured training and development that will support their career progression and advancement in the business. As a Graduate on and off site training will be geared to meeting the requirements of professional body schemes, allowing progression to gain full professional status within a realistic time frame. The Company has developed internal training programmes covering technical, the green economy, health safety and environmental, first line management, mid and senior management, plus many specific programmes related to our business activities. We offer the chance to work on many varied and prestigious contracts, and with major UK, European and Global clients and customers.

Company name: SPIE Matthew Hall Address: 7-14 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YR Contact: David Mills, Learning and Development Manager Company website: www.spiematthewhall.com Email: david.mills@spiematthewhall.com Locations: Throughout England, Scotland and Wales Number of employees: 2,150 Number of vacancies: Up to 8 per year Major clients: Barclays, Lloyds, Eli Lilly, Tate Gallery, McLaren Areas of work offered: Facilities Management, Project Management, Business Management, Commercial Management, Customer Services Management, Financial Management, Business Development, Energy Management, HSE Management Work experience offered: Across the range of FM specialist services and work areas as specified above. Closing date for applications: May/ June of each year. Start date: Flexible To apply: careers.smh@spiematthewhall.com

Katy Sliwinska – from a Graduate to Facilities Manager. “SPIE Matthew Hall recognises that people are their biggest asset and by having a vast amount of opportunities available makes the company a challenging business to work for. By adapting a programme to suit my needs and requirements I have consistently gained relevant experience to support my advancement within the business.”

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PROFILES XENON GROUP

XENON GROUP

Company name: The Xenon Group Address: Carrwood Park, Selby Road, Leeds, LS15 4LG Website: xenongroup.co.uk Telephone: 0113 393 5400 Contact: Sue Morris – Training Director Email: info@xenongroup.co.uk Locations: Our Leeds office and state-of-the-art training facilities are in rural surroundings, just off J46 of the M1, with easy access to Leeds city centre and Leeds/Bradford Airport. Courses offered and entry requirements: Our commitment is to provide our students with the most positive developmental experience possible, which is reflected in our exceptional pass rate. Our trainers are all practising industry experts in their specialism. The following provides a general guide to each level; however we always speak to our learners prior to them enrolling on our training courses to ensure that they are selecting the course most appropriate to their experience and knowledge requirements. Institute of Leadership and Management: • Level 3 in Facilities Management Aimed at Supervisors and First Line Managers, who are relatively new to FM and working in a specific discipline such as cleaning, catering and office services. The British Institute of Facilities Management: • Level 4 – Award, Certificate and Diploma Aimed at experienced Operations Managers who are responsible for a range of FM functions. • Level 5 – Certificate and Diploma Aimed at middle/senior Facilities Managers with significant operational and some strategic experience with responsibility for more specialised and complex functions. • Level 6 – Diploma Aimed at senior level Facilities Managers/Directors with significant operational and strategic experience, typically reporting into and influencing a Board of Directors. • How to Apply and Course Dates Please call our helpdesk team or send your enquiry info@xenongroup. co.uk. You can join the courses at any point in the training cycle. Course duration is typically 6-18 months. • Type of Study Offered Our courses are run from our Leeds training centre, but we also provide on-site training Due to worldwide demand, we have developed a Distance Learning Option. ILM Level 3 and BIFM Level 4 are now available, with Levels 5 & 6 being launched in 2011.

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PROFILES LISTINGS

RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCIES Provider name: Blue-Eye Training Address: 68 Kings Mede, Horndean, Hampshire, PO8 9TH Website: www.blue-eye-training.co.uk Telephone: 02392 363 397 Contact:Gavin Horrocks, Training Director, or Sue Potter, Student Support Manager Email: info@blue-eye-training.co.uk

Provider name: College of Estate Management Address: Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AW Website: www.cem.ac.uk Telephone: 0118 921 4696 Contact:Admissions department Email: courses@cem.ac.uk Courses offered:

Courses offered: ILM FM Level 3 Award, Certificate, Diploma / BIFM Level 4 Award, Certificate, Diploma / BIFM Level 5 Diploma / Bespoke foundation programmes

Company name: Catch 22 Address: 199 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5NE Website: www.c22.co.uk Telephone: 020 7630 7410 (London) or 0113 242 8055 (Leeds) Email: london@c22.co.uk or leeds@c22.co.uk Catch 22 has been helping clients and candidates get together since 1982, so you can be sure that we have the right resources whether you’re looking to fill a key role or you’re hunting for that next important career step. Our expert team handles a broad spectrum of job briefs across Facilities and Property Management operations, including permanent, contract and interim assignments. Our primary goal is your satisfaction so we listen carefully to what you want and then suggest the best possible opportunities to suit you.

Company name: Judd Farris Property Recruitment Address: Kean House, Kean Street, London, WC2B 4AY Website: www.juddfarris.com Telephone: 020 7845 5770 / 0161 834 8666 Contact: Katie Noble Email: katie.noble@juddfarris.co.uk Judd Farris specialise in the recruitment of Facilities Management professionals across all levels from Assistant through to Board Director on both a permanent and interim basis. As corporate members of BIFM we are well positioned to provide comprehensive advice to both clients and candidates offering flexible and tailored recruitment solutions. We recruit for a wide variety of organizations including: Private Practices, Service Providers, Consultancies, Local & Central Government, NHS Trusts, PFI/PPP and Clientside Companies.

Postgraduate Diploma/MSc in Facilities Management, BCSC Diploma in Shopping Centre Management

Company name: FRL Recruitment Address: FRL Recruitment, 73 Watling Street, London EC4M 9BJ Website: www.facilitiesrecruit.co.uk Telephone: 020 7652 9677 Contact:: Liz Rees With over 25 years experience, our continued success owes much to our ability to harness the prevailing dynamics of the FM marketplace in order to exceed the expectations and demands of our clients. FRL are one of the leading providers of recruitment and HR services to the Facilities Management and Building Service Maintenance industries. We take great pride in ensuring we develop lasting relationships and deliver exceptional service to our clients and candidates. Services: Facilities Management (hard and soft services) both temp and perm roles

Company name: Macdonald & Company Address: 40a Dover Street, Mayfair, W1S 4NW. Website: www.macdonaldandcompany.com Telephone: 020 7318 1778 Contact: Jamie Williams - Director Email: jwilliams@macdonaldandcompany.com Macdonald & Company is the leading property and FM consultancy with an international reach, from the UK to Hong Kong. We are the only consultancy to have Rics accreditation alongside our corporate membership of the BIFM. The FM team provides complete recruitment solutions across a wide variety of sectors and disciplines accommodating all salary levels. Our experienced consultants are able to assist both clients and candidates using their in-depth market knowledge on a contingency and search basis ensuring a comprehensive and sector-focused service.

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UNIVERSITIES AND TRAINING PROVIDERS Provider name: The University of Greenwich Address: School of Architecture and Construction, The University of Greenwich, Avery Hill Campus, Avery Hill Road, London SE9 2PQ Website:www.grenwich.ac.uk Telephone:+44 (0)208 331 9304 Contact: Pauline Newell Email: p.a.newell@greenwich.ac.uk

Provider name: Edinburgh Napier University Address: Merchiston Campus, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT Website: www.napier.ac.uk Telephone: 0131 455 2477 Contact: Frank McDermott Email: There is an online link on the website to contact us

Courses offered:

MSc Facilities Management MSc Real Estate MSc Project Management

as per the website

Provider name: University of Salford Address: School of the Built Environment, Maxwell Building, Salford, Greater Manchester, M5 4WT Website: www.sobe.salford.ac.uk Telephone: 0161 295 2188 Contact: Brian Meichen Email: progs-sobe@salford.ac.uk

Provider name: Sheffield Hallam University Address: Sheffield Business School, Stoddart Building, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Sheffield, S1 1WB Website: www.shu.ac.uk/sbs Telephone: 0114 225 2820 Contact: Mel Bull or Paul Wyton Email: sbs@shu.ac.uk

Courses offered: MSc Facilities Management, MSc Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, MSc Real Estate and Property Management, MSc Real Estate Development, MSc Better Healthcare Buildings, MSc Urban Design, MSc Regeneration and Urban Renewal, MSc Construction Law and Practice, The Professional Doctorate, BSc (Hons) Building Surveying , BSc (Hons) Property Management and Investment

Courses offered: Certificate Facilities Management Foundation degree Facilities Management BA (Honours) Facilities Management (top-up) MBA Facilities Management

Provider name: UCL (University College London) Address: Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, 1-19 Torrington Place, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT Website: www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk - London (/facilitymanagement_singapore/ - Singapore) Telephone:+44 20 7679 8229 Contact:Ian Lewis, Bartlett Post Graduate Officer Email:bartlett.pgclerk@ucl.ac.uk

Provider name: University of Westminster Address: Department of Property and Construction , University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS Website: www.westminster.ac.uk Telephone: 0207 911 5000 ext 3308 Contact: Andrew Youens Email: youensa@westminster.ac.uk Courses offered:

Courses offered: MSc Facility and Environment Management. Course start date: The last week in September induction, teaching in Terms 1 & 2 (October to March, see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/staff/ term-dates/2010-11/), May exams and summer work on MSc Report

Facilities and Property Management MSc (RICS accredited)

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WWW.THEFACILITIESSHOW.COM

If you are looking to target facilities and estates managers then this is the exhibition you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford to miss! Contact Fergus Bird for further details on stand bookings and sponsorship opportunities at fergus.bird@ubm.com or 020 7921 8660

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