FM and the future world of work

Briefing Paper

 

As a forward-looking facilities management professional body, we felt in 2017 it was time to explore the state of that profession. We wanted to understand how those working in and around the facilities management felt about it, the future, the relationship between FM and ‘workplace’, and the role of the professional body, BIFM.

To understand more about this, we commissioned 3edges to undertake a research project for us. Initially their approach was designed to inform our own strategic direction. But as the research unfolded we became aware of just how rich the dataset was. It was clear that we needed to share the findings more widely.

Following publication of The Workplace Advantage report by The Stoddart Review in December 2016 and other publications, including the RICS/IFMA ‘Raising the Bar’ series (2012-2017), it seemed clear that the desire and potential for facilities management to enable organisational success was as strong as ever, yet challenges old and new often prevent this being realised. Moreover, the term ‘workplace’ has become commonplace, used far and wide for different ends but likely to mean different things to different people. We wanted to consider, from our own starting point, what workplace might mean for FM and whether it provided an opportunity for the profession to think and act differently.

This briefing paper in parternship with 3edges is the first public output from the research. It provides a broad overview of the key research findings and themes. A more in-depth Knowledge Report Embracing Workplace to Move FM Forward is also available.