Employee engagement and customer experience.
FM Summit 2016: Only 4 Weeks To Go!
Don't miss out on the FM event of the year.
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Let your staff nap on the job.
In the past few days ISS A/S won the overall prize and the ‘peoples choice’ award at the European Workforce Analytics Summit. It is not at all surprising that a positive and deeply engaged workforce will lead to much greater customer satisfaction – now there is clear evidence for this, based on this award-winning research.
1. Employee engagement correlates strongly with customer experience – even to a level where customers will actively recommend the service to others.
c. Knowledge of, and ability to act on, customer expectations by service staff – implying some independent thinking.
3. Customer experience is closely linked to contract profitability – as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS).
Apart from NPS, it is important to take into account employee churn, absenteeism and training hours. I am reminded of the quote from management guru, Tom Peters – ‘If you love your company and what you do, you will serve your customers better - period’.
We believe in the value of investing in training and education. In this regard, I am very pleased to confirm that the FMA’s Diploma of Facilities Management has been revamped and improved, and is once again open for enrolments. FMANZ members will continue to have the same fee structure as FMA members.
During the last half of 2015, the diploma underwent an accreditation review that included input from industry, students and educators. The diploma has now been relaunched with a suite of revised materials and a new education supplier, UNE Partnerships. During the review, much of the subject course materials and assessment resources were updated to ensure their ongoing relevancy and use. In addition, course nominal hours have been reduced, from 850 hours to 700 hours, and units from 18 to 12 (eight core and four elective units) - bringing them in line with similar programs. The diploma is expected to take between 18-24 months to complete - via flexible online study as before. Importantly it will be priced approximately 25% lower than the previous version. Click here for details.
I am delighted to confirm that Nicholas Burt, Chief Executive of the Facility Management Association of Australia, will be our guest at FM Summit 2016. Nic will provide a comprehensive presentation of the new Diploma Program and provide details of the strategic direction of education (particularly vocational education) in the facilities management sector.
To revise each set of the principles to reflect and incorporate industry feedback.
We will bring more news of this work and the names of committee members in the near future.
To our FMANZ Corporate and Summit sponsors, our heartfelt thanks. Our sponsors are critical to the work of FMANZ and their support is greatly valued. I am delighted to welcome Goleman Exterior Building Care as a new FMANZ Diamond Sponsor, and also new Summit Diamond Sponsors – EECA Business Solutions, United Cleaning Services and Broadspectrum.
I also extend a warm welcome back to FMANZ’s senior sponsor circle – Platinum sponsors City Care and Valspar; Diamond sponsors City Cleaning, Inscape, Meridian Energy, and Cushman & Wakefield; and Gold sponsors McAlpine Hussmann and SPM Assets.
We are delighted to again have Argus Fire Protection as our Platinum Summit sponsor and Schindler as a Diamond Summit sponsor. WT Partnership is again our Lanyard Sponsor.
Registrations are running significantly ahead of last year at the same time, and there has been a very encouraging response to the programme. Trade Expo stands are almost all sold – be quick to contact Marjolein! Judges are working through the nominees for awards, two new Fellows will be acknowledged, and Rod Emerson has created a new FM cartoon to be auctioned!
Do not miss this outstanding event of 2016.
Don't Miss Out on the FM Event of the Year!
FM Summit 2016 (4-5 May) is proving popular, with places filling fast and registrations significantly ahead of last year. Don't miss out on what is promising to be the best FM Summit yet! Click here to see the fantastic programme and here to register. Be in before 15th April and you’ll go in the draw to win an iPad Air 2, plus two runner-up gift pack prizes of fine Villa Maria wine!
A not-to-be-missed opportunity to up-skill, network and expand your thinking, the two-day Summit is once again being held at Auckland's picturesque Villa Maria Estate. Boasting a stellar line-up of speakers and topics, FM Summit 2016 consists of one day of seminars; one day of conference presentations; a Trade Expo showcasing products and services at the cutting edge of FM; and a wine tasting and Gala Dinner hosted by Jaquie Brown, TV personality, actress and radio presenter.
Remember this from last year? We have commissioned another cartoon from award-winning cartoonist Rod Emmerson, to be unveiled on the Summit programme and auctioned off at the Gala Dinner. Money raised will go to the FMANZ Foundation. Will you be lucky enough to win the bidding?
After all the stimulation of the seminar day, delegates will have a chance to relax. The evening kicks off with a wine-tasting at 5pm, followed by the Gala Dinner, hosted by Jaquie Brown. During the evening FMANZ Fellowship Awards will be presented to those who have made a significant contribution to FM and FMANZ and, for the first time ever, we will be presenting awards for Young Achiever of the Year and the Brian Happy Facilities Manager of the Year. Then, it’s your chance to bid at auction for the FM cartoon. Also, everyone who registered before April 15 is in the draw to win an iPad Air 2, with wine gift packs for two runners-up.
If you’re in Facilities Management and looking to upskill, or know someone who is interested in embarking on a career in FM, there’s no better time to start. Subject to CUAP approval, from 2017 Auckland University of Technology (AUT) will be offering a degree majoring in Facilities and Asset Management – the first FM/AM degree in New Zealand!
Alongside this, the Diploma of Facilities Management provided by the Facility Management Association of Australia has recently been revised and updated and is now reopen for enrolments. And, for those of you looking to expand your knowledge over a couple of days, we’re looking forward to another season of our successful AUT/FMANZ Master Classes, beginning in June.
Don't miss the 'Spotlight on Education' seminar at the FM Summit, presented by Nicholas Burt, CEO of FMA, and Professor John Tookey from AUT. Click here to find out more.
How often do we hear of ‘accidental FMs’? Happily a career accident should become a career plan for graduating high school students, and others wanting to join the FM industry. Subject to CUAP approval, AUT will offer a Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BEngTech) degree with an FM/AM major from February 2017. Although the FM industry in New Zealand is valued at close to $9 billion or just under 4% of GDP, up until now there hasn’t been a homegrown FM undergraduate or postgraduate offering. FMANZ is very appreciative of the strategic relationship with AUT, who have supported this very important advance for the FM industry. Watch for more information about the degree in upcoming issues of FMANZ e-mag and on our website.
During the last half of 2015, the FMA’s Diploma of Facilities Management underwent a review that included input from industry, students and educators. The diploma has now been relaunched with a suite of revised materials and a new education supplier, UNE Partnerships. During the review, much of the subject course materials and assessment resources were updated to ensure their ongoing relevancy and use. In addition, course nominal hours have been reduced, from 850 hours to 700 hours, and units from 18 to 12, to bring them in line with similar programs. FMANZ members continue to enjoy the same discount as FMA members.The diploma is now much more affordable and is expected to take between 18-24 months to complete, via flexible online study. Read more about the diploma here.
Over the past two years we have seen the continuing success of the AUT/FMANZ Master Class programme. This year we are offering four classes, one of which will be run in Wellington (the other three will be run at AUT in Auckland). Facilitated by professional lecturers and consisting of small groups, these two-day Master Classes are tailor-made for FM professionals.
WELLINGTON: 10 June + 1 July 2016: Leadership, Strategy & Change Management - for mid-career to senior professionals and managers who want to successfully design and implement FM strategies.
AUCKLAND: 29 July + 19 August 2016: Procurement & Supplier Management - for young to mid-career professionals and managers who want to source and manage critical FM suppliers.
AUCKLAND: 2 + 23 September 2016 Professional and Team Leadership - for young to mid-career professionals who want to better manage FM projects or FM teams.
AUCKLAND: 21 October + 11 November 2016: Facilities & Asset Management - for young to mid-career professionals and managers who want an integral understanding of AM and FM.
To find out more about educational opportunities check out the FMANZ website.
FMANZ Diamond Sponsor Goleman Exterior Building Care, is establishing an office in Auckland, open in early May. The company also has established offices in Wellington, Christchurch and Nelson. Goleman is New Zealand’s leading provider of specialised access, building maintenance and cleaning.
Goleman has established a unique management system, composed of quality, safety and innovation, that is designed to reduce reactive maintenance costs and maximise the projected life cycle of any building.
You can contact Alex Parnham, Goleman’s Operations Manager based in Auckland, on 027 5357775 or via email alex.parnham@goleman.co.nz.
To contact Goleman for specialised access, building maintenance and cleaning, phone 0508 GOLEMAN or go to www.goleman.co.nz.
Five years on from its formation, we caught up with David White, Director of the Government Property Group (GPG), formerly the Government Property Management Centre of Expertise (PMCoE), to find out what the Centre has achieved so far and where it is heading.
Based in Wellington, GPG is responsible for 1.6 million m2 of office and public interface space housing 61,000 government employees. Since its inception, the organisation has led cost savings and cost avoidance of more than $132 million and that figure is expected to escalate over the coming years. GPG’s goal is to reduce the cost of property holdings by at least $110 million per annum by 2023 and to make government workplaces more productive and effective. They are also charged with supporting agencies to create modern workplaces to both future proof the public sector and to create consistency across the Crown Office Estate nationwide.
David has 20 years experience in the property industry in New Zealand covering both the tenant and landlord perspective as an internal or consultant. He has worked for Westpac, AMP, Ernst & Young, Dow Group and Opus International. Before being involved in the establishment of PMCoE, David worked at NZ Treasury, where the policy work for the PMCoE was initiated.
Firstly David, can you tell us about your recent move from MSD to MBIE?
regional development role and building regulation. The shift seems to have gone without a hitch and we have been able to carry on business as usual.
The only change to PMCoE is that we will now be known as the Government Property Group (GPG) because that better reflects the wide range of services and support we provide across the Crown Estate nationally. It is a name change which we have been working on since last year and put on hold until the move to MBIE.
It has been five years since PMCoE was established – how did it come about?
It has been a bit of a journey to get to where we are today. Firstly, a bit of background. Historically, the State Sector carried out property-related procurement and management largely on a siloed, agency-only basis, with only limited co-ordinated planning occurring between agencies. This resulted in a fractured Crown property portfolio.
PMCoE came out of the Government’s 2009 BASS project which sought to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of various government services such as HR, property, payroll etc. The opportunity to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of office property expenditure was identified as a ‘quick win’ and in 2010 Treasury circulated a working paper entitled Right Space, Right Price, Right Place, proposing a centre of expertise that would support improvements in property management without changing accountability for property decision making. From that, the Property Management Centre of Expertise (PMCoE) was established in April 2011.
At that stage our mandate wasn’t to do any property management; we were in a brokerage, support, advisory role. We were charged with monitoring, and setting up guidelines, standards and the like. It was a case of ‘we’ll show you what to do, and let you do it.’ We had no decision making rights under the CoE model; now we have.
This change came about in October 2012 when we were given a functional leadership mandate. As a result, we have a different set of drivers now which are about trying to get far more cohesion. The first driver is about doing things more efficiently; it’s about efficiency and savings. The second is about doing things more effectively; about doing things better rather than more cheaply.
Can you give us a snapshot of what your portfolio looked like in 2012?
Nationally, we were dealing with office accommodation for over 60,000 staff and contractors in 1129 premises (25% owned, 75% leased), which equated to 1,669,392m2 and a total rent spend of $324m p.a.
What do you see as GPG's main functions?
Our role is to build the best public service workplace we can. The things we are doing to achieve this are many but include approving all Agency Strategic Property Plans (ASPPs), including planned acquisitions, renewals and disposals; co-ordinating and undertaking all-of-government procurement for property-related goods and services; developing strategies, principles, standards, tools and processes relating to property; monitoring agency property performance; issuing property management guidelines; providing a common integrated workplace management system (Government Property Portal, or ‘GPP’); publishing an annual Crown Office Estate report; and providing an intra-government brokerage service.
I’ve read about GRG's ‘enduring themes’ – what are these?
This means achieving economies of scale and cost savings from aggregated procurement and negotiation, co-ordinated funding arrangements, and centralised planning of accommodation and workplace design.
As we achieve efficiencies, effectiveness is becoming more important. It’s all about improving performance through providing staff with the tools to do their jobs, removing organisational barriers, utilising new technologies and adopting new workplace practices and behaviours.
We are working to increase the ability to respond to change through technology, commonality across government and new ways of using space.
This is about raising overall workplace satisfaction and productivity by investing in consistent-quality working environments across government.
And finally, we’re committed to creating safe and secure working environments to minimise injury and illness, and protect Crown property.
Do you feel your focus has changed during the past five years?
Yes, most certainly. We started in the efficiency space, saving money. That’s kind of a given now so the conversation is moving more from cost savings to effectiveness or productivity. It’s more about how the space contributes to government outcomes rather than cost structure. That’s been a real change in focus as we’ve gone through this journey. The challenge is we’re very good at measuring efficiency but it’s a lot more difficult to measure effectiveness – and that’s not just a problem in the public sector. We have a project underway to measure productivity and effectiveness – measures such as worker engagement, sick days etc. so watch this space.
Why is effectiveness/productivity so important?
Anecdotally, we know that effectiveness savings are at least double that of efficiency savings. I look at it like this – the Government spends about half a billion dollars on property per annum. If we’re looking at efficiency savings of 25%, that’s around $110-120 million p.a. On the other hand, the Government spends around $5 billion in salaries each year, so if we talk about a 5% productivity gain – less time walking to meetings or whatever that might be – we’re looking at, through increased productivity, gains of $250 million p.a. That’s pretty consistent with the private sector as well; staff costs are around 10 times more expensive than property costs. So when you look at it like that, the right workplace, where staff have the space they need to do their work, to do more concentrated work, more collaborative work, really pays off. I say to people it’s not about the cheapest space, it’s about the right space.
How important is staff wellbeing/ wellness – is it the next big thing?
I think wellness is going to be important but I think it’s going to be important within the wider context of the workplace as it contributes to employee productivity but also as it contributes to the value proposition for staff. Recruitment and retention is becoming increasingly challenging as the workforce becomes more mobile, internationally and domestically. Having the right workplace is an important part of attracting and retaining staff. Work is more than just sitting at a desk, it’s the socialisation, it’s the colour, it’s the space… space is never neutral, it’s positive or negative depending on how people interact with it. Getting the workplace right is going to become more important as the workforce ages and new generations come through because kids have a far more agile view of working and space and proximity than we have. By the time we’re halfway through the leases we’re signing now, we’ll have four generations working side by side. We need to make sure these workplaces are appropriate for the work being done and the personality types and working styles within them … I believe that will be the big challenge for FM, and part of that is wellness.
Can you share some figures from the latest Crown Office Real Estate Report?
The 2015 Crown Office Estate Report was released in March, and I can share some of the figures. Within the 2014/2015 financial year we saw a significant footprint reduction of 30,997m2 across Government. Additionally, this year alone, we’ve made cost savings of $57.7 million through rental and facilities management reductions.
What have been PMCoE's greatest achievements in the first five years?
Establishing the National Property Strategy is a huge achievement. It’s the first time we’ve had a cohesive and strategic view of where we want to go with property.
Getting the Government Property Portal (GPP) up and running. Again, this is a first - the first time the government has had a property management system across the entire portfolio. This is a big achievement.
Also, the major projects we’ve done, for example the Wellington Accommodation Projects. WAP 1 sees the Ministry of Education settled into its new home on Bowen St and on track to save $27m on accommodation and running costs over the 15-year term of the lease. Tranche Two (WAP2) is off on a positive note with the successful completion of the Department of Conservation’s Conservation House Project in Manners Street. This will see DOC’s operating costs fall by 18% over the life of the lease.
One of the biggest challenges is the fact that everything we’ve been doing is unique. When we’re developing something, we can’t just pull it off the shelf. A lot of the time we’re breaking new ground, coming up with solutions from scratch. The second challenge is getting buy-in from stakeholders. They’re supportive but because it’s all new, getting support can be a challenge at times.
What do you see as the main challenges for GPG in the next 5 years?
The main challenge is not the work we do, it’s gaining an acceptance of the importance of the workplace as more than a cost to be minimised. It may well be that the workplaces that are ideal are actually twice the cost of the ones we have now. At the moment the cost is around $6000 per person but it’s not so much about the cost but what tax-payers get for the money. So there is a question around the value proposition of the workplace and getting an appreciation of how that can impact on productivity, employee wellbeing, employee retention, culture, and so on rather than just saying it’s a cost to be minimised. At the moment we have moved from that cost efficiency mind-set through to one around effectiveness, but to really make the gains we need to appreciate how the workplace contributes to productivity. That is going to be most important.
Do you think the value of FM as a profession is being recognised more?
Yes, I do. It’s the natural consequence of the realisation of the workplace as having a huge influence on employee productivity, wellbeing, retention, etc. There’s a quote down in foyer of the Treasury building, by Winston Churchill: “We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us.” The workplace is never neutral on how people interact and how they get their work done. That realisation in recent years, rather than treating facilities as a cost to be minimised, I think has led to the rise and interest in FM as a discipline and therefore as a profession.
What do key decision-makers in government expect from the FM profession do you think?
It’s fair to say they expect value for money to be demonstrated. At the end of the day we’re spending taxpayers’ money and we have to be wise with the money that people provide to us. I say value for money rather than necessarily cost minimisation because sometimes you have to spend the right amount of money. Value proposition is about the benefits you get rather than just the cost but we need to be able to quantify benefits, which is notoriously difficult. Performance needs to be measured differently now we’ve moved to a knowledge based economy. It used to be if you were in attendance, you were working, but now it’s not about where you are, it’s about what you do and the output you produce. As our definition of work has changed, our definition of the workplace has changed, particularly with the advent of mobile technology. It’s more about collaboration and interaction, and making things happen rather than purely processing paperwork.
What can FM professionals do to elevate the FM profession?
I think it’s about being able to articulate the value proposition of good FM. What does ‘good’ look like? And what does good FM provide to an organisation? Part of good FM is BAU and ensuring everything works, but I think the bigger part – and it’s bigger for some organisations than others - is if you are looking for change in the workplace you have to start having those conversations at quite a senior level. When I look at how it happens in government, there’s a fairly senior conversation going on about what we’re trying to achieve with the value workplace proposition. That elevates the conversation which means the decisions that are taken from there are more strategic.
What skillsets and competencies do FM managers need within the Government to support GPG’s objectives?
What are the trends in FM and business that you think FM professionals need to prepare for?
The different ways of working. With new generations coming through, the rate of change is accelerating. The main thing that’s changing is how we define work and how work is undertaken - where and by whom. All that stuff is changing rapidly, partly driven by demographics and partly by technology and we have to keep up. We need to be ready for the fact that not only is the workplace changing, it’s also diversifying. You’ve got the older generation, the more traditional workers, sitting side by side with graduates who are totally mobile and agile. When it comes to workplaces, one size doesn’t fit all any more, we know that. Back when I first started working, you bloody fitted in, whereas now we realise we have to be more flexible to a wider range of working styles and personalities.
Finally David, what do you hope to achieve through the Government Property Portal?
The first thing is really good information. The 18 month GPP Project, which is about developing and implementing more advanced property management capability for agencies, has passed the half way stage and the pilot agencies are already gaining benefits through improved access and visibility of their information. They’re keenly anticipating the full project benefits which will include reduced costs of managing space, capability for asset life cycle management, and effective management of assets and space. The GPP will enable us to manage our portfolio as a portfolio, so we’ll be much more effective. There are also smaller advantages. It will enable property managers to move between departments and hit the ground running. They can treat the public service as a career as they will be able to move from agency to agency with a consistency of approach. Also we can start to include our compliance, health and safety regimes, all of that can be added in over time, and there’s an opportunity to put the energy efficiency module in there too.
If you haven't done so already, take the time this week to complete the 2015-16 Industry Census Survey. FMA have released the survey, with the support of FMANZ, and they want as many FM purchasers, practitioners and suppliers as possible to take part. So go on - it only takes about 15 minutes to complete and it's totally confidential. Click here to get going.
Just a reminder that FMANZ membership fees have increased. Annual individual membership now costs $175 plus GST, corporate membership $800 plus GST; professional membership $200 plus GST; and student membership $25 plus GST.
Global FM has announced Wednesday 13 July as the date for ‘World FM Day 2016’. The theme will be ‘Empowering people for a productive world’, and will look at how facilities management enables different business disciplines to collaborate to deliver high quality business performance. Speaking on the theme, Duncan Waddell, Chairman of Global FM, said “FM is all about enablement; as a sector we enable people to work, we enable the economy, we enable technology, we enable social interaction – the list is endless. At the crux of all of this is people - and for this year’s World FM Day we aim to highlight how we, as FM professionals, empower people to reach their full potential and in turn create a productive world”.
The boundaries that define traditional workspaces and organisations continue to change. But how can facilities managers support their client organisations throughout the transformation process? Find out here.
Do all your employees know what they do and why they are doing it? And do they feel engaged or driven by it? According to the internationally recognised leadership influencer, John Baldoni, one of the most important traits of effective leadership is to be driven by purpose. Discover more about leading with purpose here.
Click here to see the EECA Awards finalists. Winners will be announced at the Awards evening on 18th May.
The UK government will adopt the new International Property Measurement Standard introduced in January 2016 to “future-proof” the way it measures its buildings and to ensure consistency across the UK and internationally. Matthew Hancock, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, made the statement in the government’s State Of The Estate report 2016. “The Government Property Unit will be adopting this new standard of office measurement and will be applying it to all new acquisition and building upgrades. Find out more here.
Data and analytics can be an indispensable part of a company’s decision-making process, but not all firms are making use of it, suggests a report by real estate group JLL. By building on data and analytics, companies can measure and, in the process, learn more about their businesses and, in turn, make that knowledge work for them.
But despite the apparent benefits to be gained from enhancing use of data and analytics, corporate real estate (CRE) teams “do not appear to have taken to data and analytics as enthusiastically as might have been expected”. Read more about the report’s findings here.
The recent move by firms to bring more hospitality staff into frontline FM, and the growth in competition to provide reception and concierge services, allows the profession to showcase just how powerful these best practice FM principles can be, writes Martin Read. See more here.
The future of FM outsourcing could see the “uberisation” of contracts, in which individuals providing facilities services are crowdsourced, according to Peter Ankerstjerne of ISS World Services, keynote speaker at FM Summit 2015. Speaking at a recent Workplace Futures conference, Peter noted that a number of the largest organisations in their respective industries, such as Uber, AirBNB and Facebook, own no assets. Similarly, he said, the FM industry could see a service company in future years employing no service individuals. Read more here.
Research from the University of Canterbury indicates that using a fire extinguisher in the event of a minor fire can potentially reduce the need for a visit from the fire service, and the business from expensive recovery costs. Yet many New Zealand businesses are putting their staff and property at risk by choosing to remove fire extinguishers and hand operating firefighting equipment (HOFFE) from their premises to save costs. To better understand the effectiveness of HOFFE, the New Zealand Fire Service Commission has undertaken a research project. Part of the project is a survey that aims to better understand the use and benefits of HOFFE. The Fire Service is working with the fire protection industry to encourage businesses that have recently experienced a fire, to participate in the survey.
If you've recently experienced a fire, answering some questions about how the incident was managed will help to build a picture of the benefits of HOFFE. For details about the HOFFE project or to participate in the study, visit the survey webpage.
A sentencing in the Lower Hutt District Court in February has highlighted the importance of identifying and managing asbestos at a demolition site. Read more here.
Procurement teams should have an incentivised target to bring social enterprise businesses into their supply chains, delegates at a UK conference heard. Colin Downie, partnership development director for office supplies social enterprise Wild Hearts, who was speaking at the 2016 Social Value Summit run by support services company Interserve and Social Enterprise UK in London, said that many companies were doing good work towards social value goals, but there was no real commitment. See more here.
After the excitement of FM Summit 2016, you might be inspired to head across the Tasman to FMA’s Ideaction 2016, which is being held in Melbourne 5-8 June. View the programme here.
As part of ISS’s recent “A diverse leadership yields higher earnings” research, they concluded that companies with diverse leadership perform better financially. But why is that? And how does diversity in the workplace create value for customers and shareholders? Find out here.
Regulations to help you understand what you need to do to meet your duties under the new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) are out now. These regulations came into force this week, along with the HSWA. These include regulations applicable to all businesses as well as others focused on a particular activity, risk, hazard, or on the operation of an industry.
Looking for a new T-shirt? Try this one on for size!
In order to establish, strengthen and sustain lasting customer relationships, customer experience management is a necessity for businesses of all kinds. Read how you can make it a true success.
Towards 2020, new models of collaboration will emerge, and organisations will shift towards business proposition rooted in relationships and outcomes, rather than transactions and inputs, says ISS. These megatrends, among others, will reshape outsourcing as we know it today. Read more here.
Microsoft has submitted plans to the city of Mountain View to expand its Silicon Valley headquarters. As with Apple’s upcoming building and Google’s proposed campus, this one is also pastoral and eco-minded. They're opting for low-rise office buildings enmeshed in a riparian landscape and topped by an expanse of verdant meadow. Read more about Microsoft’s green roof here.
Now that the economy has recovered, the war for talent is accelerating. Various estimates estimate that by 2020, employers in the wealthiest countries will be short of nearly 18 million college-educated workers. In addition, as baby boomers start to approach their retirement, the situation will become even more critical. Find out how to win the war on talent here.
Speaking of which, this interesting article talks about stemming the FM shortage and highlights the war for talent and the need for education.
And if you're looking for work, William Betts, Associate at recruitment consultancy MacDonald and Company, discusses the FM recruitment landscape and the skills employers are looking for in 2016. Find out what they are here.
More than a third of respondents in a survey of office workers say they believe their organisations would need to offer flexible working to stay competitive. A study by digital experience consultancy Infomentum, found that 40 per cent of respondents want to work flexibly outside of a traditional office. But more than half of respondents (51 per cent) are not allowed to work flexible hours, with 57 per cent reporting that their employer would “not trust them to do a good job” if they worked outside the office. Read more here.
And finally, longing for summer?
With the chill of autumn setting in, are you dreaming of long summer days? Check out ArchitectureNow’s top 5 beach houses – inspiration for that hoped-for Lotto win perhaps?!
By Jennifer Mills, Partner, and Jess Greenheld from Anthony Harper. Don’t miss Jennifer’s presentation, ‘The New Health and Safety at Work Act: What do you need to know’, on 5 May at FM Summit 2016. Click here for further information.
As New Zealand's new health and safety regime comes into force, those in management positions should again look to Australia for an indication as to whether they will be held liable, as an "officer", for neglecting their due diligence obligations. These decisions provide valuable guidance to companies, employees and courts alike as to what to expect, given the Australian Model Law served as the main influence for our own Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
Under New Zealand's former legislation, directors and senior managers remained relatively free from individual liability for their organisation's failures. The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 placed no positive duty of health and safety on those in governance. Instead, the only opportunity for persons occupying these positions to be convicted was if they directed, authorised, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in" their organisation's failure under the Act to take all practicable steps to prevent harm occurring in the workplace.
By contrast, the new Health and Safety at Work Act introduces direct liability in relation to workplace health and safety for any person occupying a position that allows the person to exercise significant influence over the management of the organisation (an "officer"). For example, this may be a Director, Partner or Chief Executive Officer. An officer must exercise due diligence to ensure that the primary duty holder, the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking ("PCBU"), complies with its obligations under the Act. The extent of the duty has recently been illustrated by Safe Work New South Wales v Austral Hydroponics P/L & Anor  NSWDC 295.
Austral Hydroponics is one of the first successful prosecutions of a director under the new health and safety legislation in Australia. Austral Hydroponic Pty Ltd was in the business of growing greenhouse truss tomatoes. Its sole director, Mr Lam, was in charge of the supervision of the company's five employees, including Mr Nuon, who was employed as a farmhand.
In the course of his duties, Mr Lam instructed Mr Nuon to remove plastic sheets from the roof of a hot house located on the premises. Mr Nuon climbed onto the roof using a ladder and stood on the gutter whilst he attempted his task. As he pulled at the sheets, Mr Nuon lost his balance and fell 2.5 metres to the ground, sustaining a spine fracture which resulted in tetraplegia. He remained in hospital for 17 months before passing away due to respiratory failure and recurrent aspiration.
Safe Work NSW prosecuted Austral Hydroponic under section 19(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), alleging that its failure to comply with its health and safety obligations had exposed workers to a risk of death or serious injury (a Category 2 offence). Mr Lam was pursued alongside the company for his failure to exercise due diligence in these circumstances.
Both parties pleaded guilty. Upon sentencing Mr Lam, the District Court of New South Wales commented that there was an obvious and foreseeable risk that an employee could fall from the roof of the hot house. Despite this risk, Mr Lam had failed to take a number of crucial steps. He had not provided training or instructions to Mr Nuon in relation to working at heights, had not conducted a risk assessment, and had not adequately supervised Mr Nuon whilst he performed the task. These failures caused Mr Nuon substantial injury and emotional harm.
There were a number of mitigating factors in relation to Mr Lam's conduct, including that he had no prior convictions, was unlikely to re-offend, was remorseful, had co-operated throughout the investigation and had entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.
However, the Court ultimately considered that a significant penalty was necessary to "draw attention to persons operating similar businesses which are inherently dangerous to employees that it is necessary to ensure that they operate without avoidable risk to the health and safety of their employees." Mr Lam was therefore fined $15,000. This was considerably lucky, considering the maximum penalty for an officer involved in a Category 2 offence is $300,000 in Australia (and now also New Zealand).
Austral Hydroponics illustrates the onerous health and safety duties placed upon directors, partners and others who exercise significant control over the business under the new regime. It is no longer sufficient to just 'tick the boxes'. Instead, anyone who falls within the definition of an officer must proactively test what their organisation is doing to identify, minimise and respond to health and safety risks.
New Zealand courts are likely to follow the same approach. Indeed, we have had a taste of an increased vigilance of the courts in holding directors to account in one of the last cases heard under the old Act.
Michael Kevin Haines died in May 2014 after a newly dug trench collapsed on him. An investigation conducted by WorkSafe New Zealand found that the trench was not created safely. The employer had not assessed the site to ensure that it was sufficiently stable before work began and the trench was not structurally supported from collapse. The company, Steelcon Construction Limited, and its director, Rodney Bishop, were charged under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.
Mr Bishop pleaded guilty to all charges, including failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of workers, failing to take an action that is reasonably likely to cause serious harm, and directing, authorising, assenting to, acquiescing in, or participating in, the failure of the company. He was sentenced to four months home detention. This was the first decision of its kind and clearly in anticipation of the incoming regime, which holds officers to account against a three-tier regime. Those in governance have thus been given a clear warning that, from 4 April 2016, they will need to have good health and safety practices in place.
Please email Sara at editor@fmanz.org if you have any questions or topics you would like to see covered in our regular Health & Safety feature.
Patrick Homan is the Asset Manager at Victoria University of Wellington, where he has been working for 4 ½ years. The role sits under Facilities Management, which is a team under the wider Campus Services umbrella. Patrick is co-presenting a seminar at FM Summit 2016 with Tony Smith, Contract Manager at Cushman & Wakefield. SAMP for the TD (Strategic Asset Management Planning for the Technical Desert) will offer advice on identifying and collecting asset component, legislative and organisational data and turning it into a long-term Strategic Asset Management Plan. What do you need to consider in order to provide the plan in a suitable format for senior management? And, once you have the plan, how do you deliver and maintain it during its lifecycle?
I’m responsible for the long term strategic asset management planning (SAMP) to ensure that the University’s built environment is managed in a responsible and effective way to support the achievement of the University’s Strategic Plan objectives. It includes the cost effective and timely delivery of the annual Capex and Opex Renewal programme to align with the SAMP whilst considering a ‘whole of life’ and ‘whole of University’ approach for prioritisation. The ultimate goal is to ensure the SAMP appropriately targets resources whilst balancing asset failure risk against clearly identified organisational strategic priorities and objectives.
Facilities management ensures that the built environment that incorporates buildings, grounds and infrastructure are available for use by our staff, students and visitors. It is the behind the scenes operation that keeps everything going.
I’m not sure that any day in a FM’s life is typical, but my day encompasses a wide variety of activities that range from analysing asset data, working on reports for senior management, meeting with the Campus Development team to understand forward projects and align any works with asset renewal programme, discussions with the Space Planner and Asset Analyst around possible future demands and impacts, liaising with the Technical Asset Advisor on current projects being delivered and getting out and seeing the condition of my assets!
What are some of the challenges of your job/your organisation from an FM perspective?
The University has to undertake a lot of its work outside of the times that students are on-site. With building maintenance and construction having to be completed within these tight timeframes and changing priorities it can be quite full-on especially over Christmas.
The diversity and age of the University portfolio – within one day you can be working on a multi-million dollar premier new building for the School of Biological Science, the restoration of a 100-year-old stain glass window in our Council Chamber, and the seismic remediation of our student accommodation portfolio.
I love the variety that the University environment provides; no two days are ever the same. I also enjoy walking or cycling up the hill in the morning to the University knowing that I am maintaining and creating learning environments as part of New Zealand’s capital city’s globally-ranked university.
The ability to think on your feet whilst understanding the wider picture of what is happening in the environment. The environment within the University is constantly changing and whilst we are typically following a set path this can change quickly and you need to be able to adapt to this.
I would say that I sit in the ‘accidental’ FMer basket. Following the completion of my Mechanical Engineer diploma, I was fortunate to become a cadet with MECON and spent several years doing technical submissions, drawings and installation work on-site. This provided some great grounding on how things work at the coal face. From there I worked as both a service and maintenance manager, interacting with both staff and clients to provide cost effective and timely solutions. The opportunity to get into FM came when I started at NZ Post and it provided some very valuable lessons on dealing with people across different levels from CEO to cleaners. The role at the University has allowed me to draw on my past learnings and experiences and apply them.
consolidation of various suppliers into single supply contracts and the implementation of them, tender and implementation of a nationwide facilities management contract at NZ Post, involvement with the new biological science building and restoration of the large stained glass memorial window at the University.
Enjoy it – there will be plenty of adversity and challenges thrown your way but if you’re enthusiastic, a person of your word, trustworthy and thrive in a crisis then you’ll definitely go places in FM!
I enjoy getting out on the mountain bike and am especially fortunate to be able to ride into work on some of the great trails in Wellington. I love spending time with my family who help recharge my batteries.
Energy savings at Wellington Regional Hospital are reducing costs, and improving the quality of care for patients. A few years ago, Capital & Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) was spending six million dollars a year on electricity and gas at Kenepuru and Wellington Regional hospitals.
With support from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), it began an energy management programme which aims to reduce the DHB’s energy use by 40% by 2021.
Operations manager for facilities and engineering Leon Clews explains: "We were concerned about our ability to maintain energy supply after an earthquake, so improvements in energy security were a priority, and we knew we could save money through efficiencies too."
There have already been some satisfying savings for minimal outlay – less than $1,000 spent recalibrating ventilation controls in the car park saved nearly $10,000. A project to install LED lighting at Wellington Regional Hospital is on track to save the DHB more than $40,000 a year. Leon Clews says these small efficiencies are easy ‘wins’ on the way to bigger improvements in the coming years.
Read more about CCDHB's energy efficiency journey here.
With the aspiration to create one of the healthiest headquarters in the world, Medibank headquarters in Melbourne's Docklands enlisted multidisciplinary design firm Hassell to create a head office where employees have freedom to choose how and where they work.
If the Google office style represents an haute couture moment in commercial interiors – inspirational and extravagant, yet unbearably self-conscious – then Medibank shares some of its playful flare, yet represents a rather more grounded evolution in workplace design. As seasoned designers in this field, Hassell has carefully calibrated a balance between step-change innovation and common sense. In doing so, it has created a rare hybrid of social interaction, business innovation and space efficiency.
Read more about the project, and view photos, here.
Building law expert and teacher Rosemary (Rosie) Killip is presenting at FM Summit 2016. Don’t miss her seminar, ‘Are Building Professionals Lying to You?' at Villa Maria on 4 May. Find out more here.
The long and the short of it - the Building Act is silent on this point. The Building Act expects the BWOF to continue regardless and there is no provision in the Building Act to pause or put the BWOF on hold.
For some buildings this may be a nonsense as there may be specific functional reasons why the BWOF checks cannot occur. In other buildings (which are presently unoccupied but fully functional and advertised for lease) there may be no physical reason why the BWOF cannot continue. So let’s take a look at the possibilities here.
Advice: There is no reason, other than the financial one, for the BWOF to be stopped.
Upon investigation the landlord has been formally advised the building is not safe to occupy. All staff and equipment have been removed.
Advice: As there is a planned demo and the building has been permanently evacuated, there would be good reason to apply for the Compliance Schedule to be removed and thus the requirement for a BWOF system eliminated as a result. A letter, with support documentation and a Form 11, could be sent to the Council for consideration.
Advice: Apply for the Compliance Schedule to be removed as there are no longer any specified systems in the building.
Doesn't want to have daily when in-use checks done nor owners’ checks as nobody is on site.
Advice: Apply for the Compliance Schedule frequencies to be reduced through an amendment to the Compliance Cchedule to reflect an agreed reduced procedure (between the council and owner).
If you have found this article useful and are keen to learn more, join BuildNet - your one stop shop for building compliance training and advice - here.
Consider in-house training for your team or a VIP day where you can get Rosie's expertise all to yourself (more info HERE).
What was your initial response to the headline above? Shock, horror and 'not likely!'? If so, you're missing a great opportunity to have healthier employees and a more profitable and effective business, says Robyn Pearce aka ‘The Time Queen’.
Think of the last afternoon you sat at your desk, struggling to focus and wishing for matchsticks to prop open your drooping eyelids. You felt guilty - you knew you weren't being productive. 'I must get to bed earlier' you might have muttered as you dragged yourself off for yet another injection of caffeine.
Peaks and dips in energy are natural - ultradian rhythms of about 90 - 120 minutes. For most of the day we don't really notice them, but early-to-mid-afternoon, if we're carrying a sleep deficit anyway, it can lead to the scenario above.
Do this for long enough and you'll have a health crisis of some kind - either mental or physical.
Power naps are an incredibly simple and cost-effective productivity tool if we're losing focus and feeling weary. That's what kept Winston Churchill operating at full steam through all those tough war years. When fatigued he'd pop upstairs (when he was working at Downing Street) and hop into bed for about 20 minutes. He also had a special nap chair near his office. Other famous names who applied the same habit: Margaret Thatcher, John F. Kennedy, Beethoven, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci, Eleanor Roosevelt, Brahms, John D. Rockefeller, Dali, Robert Louis Stevenson and Albert Einstein.
Have you noticed that the best ideas never come when you're sitting at your desk?
'But I work in a corporate environment and can't take a nap', you might be saying.
If employers will get higher productivity and fewer mistakes, why wouldn't we support such behaviour?
Nike, Google, NASA and Huffington Post are just four of an increasing number of corporations who now provide quiet rooms which their employees can use for napping, meditation or just to take a short break. Other companies make it 'ok' for staff to leave their desks to refresh and revitalise.
And now, I'm off for a 'creative moment'. Happy napping!