22 February 2012
Speakers at yesterday’s Workplace Futures conference in London called for outsourced FM suppliers to align themselves more closely with the business objectives of their clients in order to survive.
Vivek Madan of OC&C Consultants warned the 150 delegates that the FM service sector had “entered maturity” after a growth phase lasting from the 1990s to 2005. Service providers were now seeing a slowdown in growth and intensifying competition which, said Madan, was a “structural, not cyclical” change. Madan further warned of “volume hungry and well capitalised competitors coming into the FM sector”.
The role of FM service suppliers needs to adapt to this new reality, said Madan. “Breadth of activity is important. Market leaders in FM are effective when they move from offering individual inputs to managing the required service outputs laid down by clients.
“Market-leading service suppliers are those that are managing their clients’ outputs,” said Madan. “They are the firms that have become integral to their clients’ operations.”
In another presentation, Barry Varcoe of Zurich Financial Services took this logic further, saying that “FM needs to move from being a co-ordinator to an integrator, moving beyond cost to a focus on value. We need to understand our clients’ desired outputs first and then work backwards to process and inputs from there.”
Varcoe agreed with Madan’s earlier point that the FM service sector is vulnerable to other service providers entering the market. “The danger is that while facilities management will still be required, it may be that other people will be providing it,” he said. “We’ve got to be brave and embrace change. If we do, there’s another 25 years of growth and relevance for this industry. If we don’t – heaven help us.”
Other news for Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Schools agency snaps up senior Boots FM
CH&Co reshuffles two new chief exec positions
Focus on outputs key to future FM growth
Social interactions define good workplaces
Contracts round-up
Complete our survey to enter iPad draw
FM World launches 2012 Salary Survey
FM World Blog: Changing the mindset of an FM
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