{"id":2343,"date":"2024-02-24T19:11:39","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T19:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facilityuniversity.com\/?p=364"},"modified":"2024-03-07T02:04:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T02:04:43","slug":"facilitopia-a-brighter-vision-for-the-facility-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/facilitopia-a-brighter-vision-for-the-facility-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"“Facilitopia” – A Brighter Vision for the Facility Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"facilitopia-fm360-facility-management\"<\/a>I am honored and excited to be this year’s keynote at NFMT in Baltimore, where I will be speaking about a topic near and dear to me – Facilities!\u00a0 This passion for the industry is the impetus behind my utopian vision for facilties, that I have lovingly coined \u201cFacilitopia<\/i><\/b>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, I am not looking for facilities to be the new glamour career.\u00a0 The only fame we might get is \u201cinfamous\u201d (that\u2019s \u201cmore than famous\u201d\u2026); however, I would like to see our industry and the professionals that work in it gain the recognition they deserve.<\/p>\n

I have idealized three key areas for Facilitopia<\/i> \u2013 Value Recognized, Increased Wages, and Executive Facility Position<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Value Recognized<\/b><\/p>\n

Facility folks quite often are seen (and funded) as \u201cglorified janitors\u201d \u2013 we change light bulbs, we plunge toilets, etc.\u00a0 I can understand the misperception (In my humble opinion, this is primarily self-induced, but more about that later.)\u00a0 However, I get real heartburn over the lack of value that management, occupants, and customers assign to facility professionals \u2013 again somewhat self-induced.\u00a0 Allow me to give an example.<\/p>\n

When something turns up missing (or more likely misplaced), who is the first to get blamed for it?\u00a0 Yep, the custodians.\u00a0 These are the same people that come in early in the morning or late at night and on weekends to clean up the messes that many would not touch with a 10-foot pole.\u00a0 In general, these are hard-working custodians that are willing to do jobs that most would not fathom.\u00a0 Let us not forget the significance of their function in maintaining a safe, clean, aesthetically pleasing environment \u2013 that has a direct impact on employee productivity, client satisfaction & perception, and ultimately, a positive return to the bottom line (See \u201cFacilities Department Not a Profit Center \u2013 But Can It Be?<\/a>\u201d).\u00a0 They have value.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s extend that to thought to include the rest of the facility team, such as skilled HVAC mechanics, electrical journeymen, energy specialist, maintenance managers, project managers, facility managers, and the various contractors used to operate & maintain a facility.\u00a0 Each one plays a critical role in the success of the overall organization, including returning value to the bottom line, employee productivity, and customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n

This much deserved recognition is needed to help us in soliciting and justifying resources.\u00a0 (See “More than Glorified Janitors<\/em><\/a>” to learn more about recognizing and selling the value of facilities management.)<\/p>\n

Increased Wages<\/b><\/p>\n

Growing up my mom taught me that \u201cyou get what you pay for\u201d.\u00a0 Now that truism does not necessarily hold when it comes to facilities because the facility engineers and managers are typically not equitably compensated for their knowledge and skill sets, at least when compared to other departments and corresponding required experience, knowledge, and expertise.\u00a0 That, of course, can be attributed to the above point regarding the lack of recognized value.\u00a0 However, with my Facilitopia vision, I would like to see facility professionals\u2019 pay be more in-line with their knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs).\u00a0 For this to come to fruition, I believe, the Facilities Department needs representation at the executive level to champion for such changes.<\/p>\n

Executive Position for Facilities<\/b><\/p>\n

Given that facilities generally accounts as an organization\u2019s second largest asset and expense, it makes financial sense to have an executive position focused on managing these multi-million dollar assets and budgets.\u00a0 However, most facility departments do not get a seat in the C-suite.\u00a0 In fact, predominantly facility organizations report to Human Resources.\u00a0 Human Resources is busy enough managing their own budgets and issues that they do not and should not have to try to understand and champion facilities\u2019 causes.\u00a0 As much as we can and should make this a grass roots effort, ultimately, we will need a seat at the executive table to bring Facilitopia to fruition.\u00a0 (Read “Getting an A-Grade at the C-Level<\/em><\/a>” to learn more.)<\/p>\n

So then how do we affect change?<\/b><\/p>\n

If you are waiting for management to open up their eyes and bring about Facilitopia, you will be waiting a while.\u00a0 Granted, I think the tide is changing, but it will be a slow change if we do not step up and do what we can to affect that change.<\/p>\n

See Our Value<\/b><\/p>\n

The first hurdle to overcome is to see how our role and that of our respective team members, from janitorial and grounds to mechanics and managers, impacts operations and those we support.\u00a0 If we do not understand the impact we have on the triple bottom line, then how we can convey it to others?\u00a0 (See \u201cThe Rule of 100\/10\/1 \u2013 Learning to Speak Bean<\/a>\u201d)<\/p>\n

Preach Our Value \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Once we understand the value we provide to the overall organization\u2019s success, it is incumbent upon us to preach this value.\u00a0 The frequent interactions with occupants, customers, and management provide ample opportunities to passively toss out little nuggets that communicate the on-goings of the Facility Department (e.g. maintenance, productivity impacts, cost savings, and other value-added services provided).\u00a0 Start with a facility vision & mission statement, then develop an \u201celevator speech\u201d that allows you and your colleagues to take advantage of those 20-second conversations.\u00a0 .<\/p>\n

Deliver Our Value<\/b><\/p>\n

Lastly, we have to live up to our promises.\u00a0 We are managing customer expectations and perceptions<\/i>; thus, we need to understand and communicate well with customers and management.\u00a0 How we deliver services and respond\/react to requests & complaints will dictate how they perceive facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am honored and excited to be this year’s keynote at NFMT in Baltimore, where I will be speaking about a topic near and dear to me – Facilities!\u00a0 This passion for the industry is the impetus behind my utopian vision for facilties, that I have lovingly coined \u201cFacilitopia\u201d. Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[283,287],"tags":[285,353,288,307,293,294],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2343"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3023,"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343\/revisions\/3023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fm360consulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}