HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Facility Management is facing a critical shortage of professionals and urgently needs to attract new talent. This emerged from a new research report by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed.
The report, called Raising the Bar: From Operational Excellence to Strategic Impact in FM, is in its third edition and was launched in Shanghai this week during the Annual Summit of the World Built Environment Forum*.
More than 2 500 facility managers from around the world were surveyed as part of the research report. It calls for the FM profession to transform its “Cinderella” image to attract diverse new talent, as the average age of the workforce is currently 50.9 years**.
The report also identified the need for an increased focus on the strategic impact of facility management as well as increased efforts to champion the benefits professionals can deliver in workplaces and to the people and organisations that use them.
“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. 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.”
- UK Commercial Property Director Paul Bagust
Bagust adds that as working practises evolve in the digital age, facility managers will need new skills based on collaboration and forging interpersonal relationships.
“Our innovative collaboration with International Facility Management Association (IFMA) is an exciting development to encourage and nurture these skills. And, by working together to standardise 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.”
- UK Commercial Property Director Paul Bagust
IFMA and RICS launched a global collaboration*** in April 2016. This collaboration represents a significant evolution in the FM sector, providing an unprecedented level of industry support to meet the growing demands of the 25 million FM practitioners around the world.
“This is a valuable report provides empirical support for what many FM professionals have been saying for years. It should serve as a clarion call to action for the global FM industry. Our collaboration with RICS ensures our global thought leaders within the FM industry will have the platform to attract fresh new talent to workforce management. By supporting universal standards and practices and fostering a greater appreciation of the impact of facilities and workforce management, we will enhance the outstanding service FM professionals provide to the built environment, ensuring the transformative effect on workplaces and the people who use them.”
- Tony Keane, President and CEO of IFMA
Our upcoming RICS Annual Conference 2017 will be held 19 May 2017 at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. The conference theme – Asia’s global metropolis: Leading Hong Kong to a new horizon – will explore various growth potentials and deterrents that are shaping Hong Kong’s near-term business landscape, with views and case studies shared by experts across a broad range of industries. In the afternoon breakout session, we will discover the new trends and technologies in the facilities management industry as well as value-added services. We are honoured to be joined by the following industry specialists:
Mr Graham Tier MRICS, Head of Property Facilities Management, The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Dr William Chan, Chief Operating Officer, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
Ms Linda Chandler, Smart Cities Lead, Microsoft Service APAC
Mr Robert Hutton, Managing Director, Integrated Facilities Management – Greater China & Korea JLL
Download the Full Report here:
www.rics.org/raisingthebar
Notes to editors
* For more about the World Built Environment Forum, see: www.wbefshanghai.com
** See full explanation and context in the report.
*** For more on the IFMA-RICS collaboration, please see: http://www.define.fm/
About RICS
Confidence through professional standards
RICS promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards – bringing confidence to the markets we serve.
We accredit 125,000 professionals and any individual or firm registered with RICS is subject to our quality assurance. Their expertise covers property, asset valuation, real estate management; the development of infrastructure; and the management of natural resources, such as mining, farms and woodland. From environmental assessments and building controls to negotiating land rights in an emerging economy; if our members are involved the same professional standards and ethics apply.
We believe that standards underpin effective markets. With up to seventy per cent of the world’s wealth bound up in land and real estate, our sector is vital to economic development, helping to support stable, sustainable investment and growth around the globe.
With offices covering the major political and financial centres of the world, our market presence means we are ideally placed to influence policy and embed professional standards. We work at a cross-governmental level, delivering international standards that will support a safe and vibrant marketplace in land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, for the benefit of all.
We are proud of our reputation and work hard to protect it, so clients who work with an RICS professional can have confidence in the quality and ethics of the services they receive.
About IFMA
IFMA is the world's largest and most widely recognized international association for facility management professionals, supporting over 24,000 members in 104 countries. This diverse membership participates in focused component groups equipped to address their unique situations by region (133 chapters), industry (14 councils) and areas of interest (six communities). Together they manage more than 78 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$526 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies professionals in facility management; conducts research; provides educational programs, content and resources; and produces World Workplace, the world's largest series of facility management conferences and expositions. To join and follow IFMA's social media outlets online, visit the association's LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr pages. For more information, visit the IFMA press room or www.ifma.org.