World FM Day: prioritise skills for our sector’s success 

News

By Linda Hausmanis, IWFM Chief Executive 

I’ve been reflecting on World FM Day 2024’s theme, 'Inspire, Integrate, Innovate: Ignite your career in FM’.  At IWFM, we look to inspire diverse talent pools – school leavers, graduates, professionals returning to the workplace, veterans – by highlighting the opportunities available in workplace and facilities management (WFM).  We integrate the WFM community through networking, events and community groups. We help WFMs to innovate with actionable insights dedicated to organisational change.   

To me, ‘ignite’ – the spark, the energy, the catalyst – represents skills. Through speaking at Workplace Futures and articles with Facilitate and FMJ, I’ve sought to highlight the importance of skills in the sector. From creating resilience for tomorrow’s opportunities and challenges to meeting organisational priorities such as sustainability and digital innovation, the key to improving recruitment, retention and organisational success is prioritising professionals’ insight and abilities.  

Today’s jobseekers are increasingly seeking employers that offer opportunities for professional development and career growth, so by focusing on skills and providing learning and development, WFM professionals create a workplace that is attractive to ambitious professionals. A skilled workforce not only enhances organisational competitiveness but also fosters a strong organisational culture. 

To support the focus on skills and so that IWFM can ensure its global professional standards stay relevant, IWFM will soon launch the 2024 Skills Survey.  Gathering the most germane insights, the survey is intended to discover the universal competencies of professionals at every career stage. By doing so, we better create resources for our studying members alongside our members and positively influence the sector by showing what good looks like and helping close the skills gap.   

Through key collaborations with partners such as Accruent and Equans on topics like post-pandemic working and sustainability, we seek to help organisations make tangible gains while giving generations of WFM professionals the skills they need to prosper in tomorrow’s conditions. Through outreach in the community, our ‘Navigating turbulent times’ webinar series continues to educate and inform the community on the sector’s major developments.  

Furthermore, launched in 2023, IWFM Mentoring offers professionals the opportunity to connect, talk and share learnings. Since the programme launched, we’ve welcomed over 160 mentors to help enhance their mentees and build on their own skills and experience. 

Skills are the lifeblood of WFM professionals and the sector. With a combination of technical and soft skills though our training and qualifications, professionals can effectively manage their environments, ensure the smooth functioning of organisations – and so much more. Continuous learning, teamwork and collaboration are key to sustained success in this lynchpin profession. 
 
Happy World FM Day.