Time is right for a new, more ‘evolved’ facility management (FM) model that is broader and offers a more holistic understanding of both buildings and people. The benefits to the industry, and its clients, will be immense.
Facility management has always been an evolving discipline, a dynamic profession responding quickly and effectively to emerging needs, new opportunities and rising expectations. Facilities managers, whether internal or external, are in the business of delivering services that support organisations and their people, which is why facilities services are often referred to as support services.
FM contributes both directly and indirectly to the success of those organisations as a strategic function even though too often this critical point is missed as many view facility management as simply a collection of operational services that can be delivered on a least-cost model.
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Unfortunately, some within the industry also share this view. Inevitably, that approach has effects on an management industry in the country.
What it is, how it is done, where and when are all factors to be considered. An important part of this is a new focus on responsible business, sustainability for our communities, buildings that work, and health & wellbeing for individuals: all factors within the concept of wellness.
Wellness is a vital and broad idea comprising seven dimensions: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental and occupational.
In today’s ‘new world’, FM has both the opportunity and the obligation to play a full role in many of these vital areas and to take a positive lead in some if not all. FM can be the discipline known for its reliable and effective support for the new realities of work, pioneering in areas such as service quality, user experience, wellbeing and sustainability, to meet needs and raise the standard of response even further. And in doing so, there is the opportunity to make a widely recognised mark as a truly value-adding business discipline critical to success.
People, organisations and buildings all need to work towards the same goal, an aim expressed in the idea of wellness and the benefits this brings to both people and the organisations they work for. It has taken about two decades for those promoting and advocating the ideals of FM in more advanced societies than Nigeria to spread the message that facilities management is not just about buildings but about the people who use them, too.
We now need to move much more quickly to a more holistic offer that spans the crucial interactions between people and their buildings to ensure optimal efficiency, effectiveness, comfort, productivity, safety and health.
It is my hope that fellow facility management practitioners and stakeholders will see the need to align with this new and more ‘evolved’ FM model so that clients/end users can get the worth of FM value contributions.
