Infrastructure maintenance with Tunde Obileye
In the competitive, quickly changing world of facilities management and rapidly evolving business environment, facility managers are not only required to maintain and oversee the built environment but are expected to upskill and reskill for sustainable development. However, the local FM landscape continues to lag behind due to various factors. One factor that has become very obvious is the quality of skilled workers operating in the industry.
Whilst the role of a facility manager is not an easy one, requiring a blend of various skillsets, the skill requirements are constantly shifting in response to global industry advancements. Having good FM processes without a competent and skilled workforce to effectively implement them will result in poor results.
To transform the industry to create sustained and tangible value for clients, and end users, the focus of all key stakeholders should be to rethink how we deliver our services and who we engage to do the job.
It is time for key stakeholders in the FM industry to come together for the purpose of discussing the skills requirements of support staff if the industry is to meet employers’ needs to drive productivity and growth. What we currently have is a fractured skills landscape and creating a shared ambition to boost the industry’s skillset is paramount for the future.
There is a clear and urgent need to address the fragmented and complex skills landscape which extends beyond the FM courses offered by higher institutions and training provided by professional associations and other business entities.
The creation of a Skills group will be key to understanding the industry’s skills priorities and setting an overall strategy. This will ensure we have the right skills in the right place at the right time to unlock the productivity and growth targets.
This group must aim to work with government to develop policy for the Skills agenda. This is no easy task as the road ahead will be challenging but it is vital we consider it as a long-term project with the aim of bringing stability and certainty to skill acquisition.
A key focus must be on unlocking apprenticeship opportunities for young people wishing to build a career in FM and encouraging employers to invest more in training that will address workforce skills gaps and shortages. This will allow for targeted upskilling and reskilling of existing FM workers at all levels such as technicians and carpenters. This will essentially support economic growth.
Getting the skill system right will ensure a steady flow of skilled people to drive economic growth and create even bigger opportunities for the transition to the green ecosystem which is inevitable.
We require a workforce with a wide range of green skills to provide businesses with the skills to adapt to a changing climate that will impact infrastructure and supply chains, and to allow developers to build new homes and infrastructure while leaving our natural environment in a better state than they found it.
With the world moving towards integrating Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) goals, the FM industry needs to tap into a more diverse array of talent by promoting equity diversity, and inclusion so that the local FM landscape is not left behind.
Finally, it is imperative to acknowledge that FM practitioners are the unheralded heroes that keep the built environment and its operations running as seamlessly as possible, creating the ideal workspace and setting the stage for the workforce to excel.
Tunde Obileye
Partner, QFM Limited
email: [email protected]
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