Nearly a quarter of major corporate companies do not treat facilities management (FM) as a strategic priority and, as a result, fail to take full competitive advantage in their sector, new research published by RICS shows.
Nearly a quarter of major corporate companies do not treat facilities management (FM) as a strategic priority and, as a result, fail to take full competitive advantage in their sector, new research published by RICS shows.
Hundreds of FM professionals across 40 countries took part in the research entitled 'Raising the Bar - Enhancing the Strategic Role of Facilities Management.' The study also explores the benefits of giving facilities management a 'real voice' at the boardroom table.
Johnny Dunford, RICS Global Commercial director, said: 'What’s become abundantly clear is that when facilities management is treated strategically, it can give companies real competitive edge. FM goes to the heart of core business issues like financial strategy, talent attraction and retention, and even business technology needs. Get it right and good FM can be a valuable strategic asset, as many companies have realised. Get it wrong and the whole business can suffer.'
The research also highlights how FM has had mixed success achieving strategic alignment with other elements of the business. Only about half of those surveyed considered themselves well-aligned with their peers in IT, and just over 40% believe they are in alignment with HR and other infrastructure groups. Many of those surveyed also point to a potentially serious future talent shortage in the profession.
Paul Carder, the report’s author, commented: 'Practitioners and businesses are telling us that the time has come for facilities management to embrace a strategic approach. Today, for instance, the average head of facilities spends over 50% of their time on day-to-day issues and less than 21% of their time on strategy and planning. This needs to change for FM to fully realise its potential.'
RICS will follow the publication with a series of industry roundtable discussions to explore how the findings might be applied. Cities hosting the discussions include London, New York, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.
