Facility management (FM) is facing a critical shortage of professionals and urgently needs to attract new talent, a new research report by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) concludes.
More than 2,500 facility managers from around the world were surveyed as part of the report, titled “Raising the Bar: From Operational Excellence to Strategic Impact in FM.” The report calls for the FM profession to transform its “Cinderella” image to attract diverse new talent, as the average age of the workforce is 50.9 years.
The report also identifies the need for increased focus on the strategic impact of FM and the benefits FM professionals can provide.
“In the past, facility management has been seen as a Cinderella profession, which explains the problems in attracting and retaining new talent to replace professionals when they leave,” UK Commercial Property Director Paul Bagust said. “To challenge this image, we must increase our strategic focus and champion the ways in which facility management can enhance productivity in the workplace and show the vital role that FM professionals play in the workplace.”
As work practices evolve in the digital age, facility managers will need new skills based on collaboration and interpersonal relationships, Bagust said.
In 2016, IFMA and RICS launched a global collaboration.
“By working together to standardize working practices and standards across the globe, we will unite the FM community and ensure it is ideally placed to attract a diverse range of new talent and take advantage of the opportunities that exist for this dynamic and fast-evolving profession,” Bagust said.
To download the report, go to www.rics.org/raisingthebar.