FM and the Workplace

Facilities Management is becoming more and more crucial to the workplace. There has been in-depth research to support that health, well-being and productivity are all affected by workplace design.

Cleaning, health & safety, heating, ventilation, car park, as well as general office management all come under the realm of the Facilities Management team. All of these aspects – and there is a wide range of activities – have a real impact on day-to-day business for any organisation.

As an employee, you may not really think about the ventilation in your office or the temperature, but it really does affect comfort, which impacts productivity. The IFMA has released details showing the top office complaint is always the temperature being too hot or too cold, so it is not surprising that Facilities Managers go to great lengths to ensure office space is comfortable. If an office space isn’t clean, that will reduce employee productivity and concentration. They will spend time cleaning, complaining, or simply not be able to do their work in the environment.

On the corporate side, Facilities Managers plan office layout and there needs to be space where all employees can work effectively. Some people thrive in a busy, noisy environment; however, some people need silence or privacy. It is important to have areas for both. Smaller things like where the printer is kept or photocopier needs to be considered and the actual products that are available – walking to the printer or waiting for documents to print is wasted time and unproductive.

Facilities Managers also have the responsibility to ensure procedures are sustainable and environmentally friendly – greener buildings are becoming increasingly more valued by investors and tenants. Not only this, the developments in technology are offering a lot of opportunities to the FM industry; Artificial Intelligence, Smart Parking, Blockchain, the list goes on. All of these developments will affect how office space is managed, improving efficiency and ultimately, employee productivity.

BIFM has recently announced they are planning a potential name change to incorporate ‘workplace’. This is to work towards establishing facilities management as a chartered profession, and also demonstrate the industries role in developing the workplaces of the future.

It is hard to put a figure on how much the Facilities Management sector improves the workplace and productivity, but increasing the efficiency of the staff is a bonus for any organisation!