IWFM Impact Awards 2022 the themes emerging

PROUD TO PERFORM

The sheer variety and scope of the people and projects recognised at the 2022 IWFM Impact Awards stands as testimony to this evolving sector’s extraordinary work for its clients – and should be cause for considerable pride amongst all involved. Martin Read and Bradford Keen report on the awards, and the themes emerging

his year’s IWFM Impact Awards ceremony took place in a year that has seen equity, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) become the focus of many within the sector. It’s why the IWFM decided to relax the formal dress code, for the first time allowing guests to ‘dress to impress’ rather than adhere to black tie and ball gown orthodoxy. A small gesture perhaps, but a strong message from a sector more than aware that challenges lie ahead in attracting a new generation. Celebrating frontline heroes was an important category choice, because it is from such individuals that the facilities managers of tomorrow emerge.

Indeed, EDI was a theme that coloured many of the night’s award-winning projects, with fast-growing facilities service provider Pareto FM having something of an Oscars experience, winning in three categories on the night.

The ceremony followed fast on the heels of all the pomp and ceremony associated with the passing of Her Majesty the Queen and the King’s subsequent accession. Many have mentioned how facilities management did exactly what it has always done in the circumstances; quietly but very effectively adapt to circumstance,

allowing others to turn up in all their fineries for the various ceremonies we saw in the days up to and including the Queen’s funeral.

Naturally, the practice of workplace and facilities management carried on regardless, as it always does. Indeed, FM professionals were critical to meeting the sudden demands of Operations London Bridge and Spring Tide, diligently working behind the scenes. Whatever was asked of it, the profession delivered. It always has and always does, however small or majestic the occasion.

Except, to our mind, there are surely times when FM should be able to show off its own honours. Hence this edition’s cover, and hence the embroidered badges you’ll find as you navigate this feature. As well as equity, diversity and inclusivity, two other broad themes emerged when we analysed the winning entries: change management in all its varieties; and how workplace and facilities management is helping reduce the environmental burden. Over the following nine pages we consider these three themes by talking with sector specialists, after which you’ll find a five page digest of who won what in which category on awards night, and why.

For the first time, guests were asked to ‘dress to impress’ – noting that black tie and ball gown were optional. The decision was , in part, tied to a growing focus on equity, diversity and inclusion in the sector, as cultural dress was encouraged. But it was also about relaxing traditional formalities in an evolving profession

Drinks, dinner and dancing capped off a heady night of victories, successes, upsets and, most importantly, celebration of this most unique and vibrant workplace and facilities management profession

aybe you know it as diversity and inclusion (D&I); perhaps you refer to it as equality, diversity, inclusion (EDI) or even equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) – a smaller number – no doubt fans of Star Wars – may even add justice to the list (JEDI).

Regardless of name, the core belief is that workplaces need to be safe spaces where people feel they can belong and be their authentic selves. As evidenced in many of the submissions to the 2022 IWFM Impact Awards, the workplace and facilities management sector has ignited the fire to bring about this important change in their own organisations and to support their clients’ ED&I agendas.

“An inclusive workplace is one where there is genuine psychological safety at all levels, allowing people to feel heard and valued,” says Raj Jones, head of diversity, equity & inclusion at Sodexo UK & Ireland. Such a workplace invites people to be their “authentic selves at work”, not feeling a need to hide part of their identity to fit in. “Everyone at all levels has a need to feel they belong, and ED&I plays a key role in

Whether motivated by a sense of morality or by potentially boosting bottom line performance, equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) has become an imperative for which FM can be key A PLACE TO BELONG

IMAGES: PETER CROWTHER ASSOCIATES, ISTOCK

WHY EQUITY AND NOT EQUALITY?

IWFM’s EDI Focus Group refers to the continuing efforts the institute is taking to shape practices, strategy and policies and deliver meaningful change in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Each member of the group is a workplace and facilities management professional with significant experience, insight and expertise relating to EDI policy and implementation.

But what does equity in this context mean? IWFM says: “Equity extends the concept of equality to include the provision of varying levels of support based on individuals’ specific needs in order to achieve fairness of treatment and equal opportunity of access. Achieving equality requires the application of policies which ensure equity.”

achieving this.”

Sharon Slinger, owner and director of the built environment D&I consultancy Constructing Rainbows Limited, believes the increased focus on ED&I in the facilities services sector is very much driven by clients.

“A lot of the clients in the public and private sector are now asking their FM providers to do more on D&I. A vast amount of research has come out revealing the business benefits of diversity and inclusion. So there are a lot of clients wanting to get on board with that.”

In other industries the shift is more consumer-driven, says Slinger, with the next generation of workers and consumers wanting to earn and spend money with organisations focused on social justice.

Top-down success

Regardless of whether clients are driving this change in facilities services partners, FM organisations need to champion it for themselves and their clients alike. “Being inclusive starts at the top, and I believe our leadership team is truly open to listening and improving,” says Webster Sib, who is senior contract administrator at Kier Places and co-chair of Kier’s Racial Inclusion Network.

Sib meets monthly with Kier Places MD Mark Whittaker, who is also part of Kier’s Inclusion Network.

“Collectively, this is a continuous exchange of information and learning for us both. We then impart this knowledge, talk about lived experiences and perspectives to our colleagues which is key to supporting inclusivity for all,” adds Sib.

Last year, Kier launched its own D&I roadmap “to deliver real change”, Sib explains. Real change means “true inclusion” which Sib defines as a workplace or workforce in which “everyone can have their

ASSOCIATED IWFM IMPACT AWARDS

● The Social Value award went to Pareto FM for its bold decision to employ young people through the government’s Kickstart scheme. ● Pareto FM MD Andrew Hulbert’s work with these and other EDI-focused projects won him the Outstanding Contribution award. ● ● Pareto again Pareto againPareto again won in the Sector i h S Breakthrough category for its wider social impact initiatives. ● CBRE won in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative category for its campaign to increase diversity within its supply chain.

voice heard, be listened to, and represented”. Kier has more than 700 engaged colleagues in the company’s employee networks.

At Sodexo has also placed a priority on ED&I initiatives. Jones tells of the company’s “various mechanisms and frameworks… including six employee networks and learning programmes based on listening and learning from the lived experiences of staff”. The result is the co-creation of an inclusive culture. Importantly, Jones points out, “ED&I should not exist in a vacuum. Every organisation that promotes the narrative of ED&I should be looking at their supply chains and entire ecosystem to achieve sustainable change”.

Procurement at EDI’s heart

Jones points to challenges deeply entrenched in society; for example the huge imbalance in men to women in facilities management leadership roles. And then there’s the ability to influence organisations’ structures through the supply chain. ”This will not change overnight,” says Jones. “but we can take action to diversify the supply chain so we can have a bigger and wider impact,” says Jones. And indeed, at the IWFM Impact Awards CBRE Global Workplace Solutions won in the EDI initiative category for its championing of supply chain diversity, boosting support for suppliers from underrepresented communities. Jones talks of Sodexo making a similar global commitment “that £10 billion of our business value will benefit SMEs.”

Sib, too, believes that ED&I is about organisations, clients and supply chain partners sharing best practice. “I don’t believe there is a wrong or a right way, but I do believe it’s important to align with businesses and a supply chain who share similar values, rather than those who might treat ED&I as a tick-box exercise.”

Kier, too, now has an action plan for inclusive procurement. “This means working with the Supply Chain Sustainability School and members at our supply chain to find ways to improve diversity and inclusion across our industry,” says Sib.

PRACTICAL AND MEANINGFUL ED&I

Listen to colleagues and understand that D&I can’t be implemented without consulting the workforce. “We do a lot of work reaching out to our people and gett ing their input, whether that’s through our employee inclusion networks, through confidential listening groups, or regular surveys,” Sib explains. “It means we continue to listen, learn and implement meaningful action.”

Be practical through impactf ul campaigns. Through Kier’s Expect Respect campaign, the company has provided training to all employees, educating them on inclusive language, Kier’s zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, and how to report anything they see or hear that makes them feel uncomfortable through an anonymous reporting line. “We’ve implemented five respect basics that sit alongside our SHE basics, so this becomes part of how we operate,” Sib explains.

“We’re also taking specific action to address Black inclusion in Kier, and have signed up to the ‘If Not Now, When?’ campaign, to increase inclusion and equality for Black employees in the workplace, and we’ve just announced our commitment to 10 Black interns joining us as part of the 10,000 Black Interns programme. “All of these actions – big and small – are vital to creating a diverse, inclusive and thriving workplace.”

Understand the data. Use data you have to align initiatives to your business needs, Slinger advises. Proper data analysis will enable organisations to: ● Align senior leaders and the rest of the organisation – do your people want what the leaders want? ● Know why you’re implementing ED&I initiatives – is it a business case, a moral case or both? ● Communicate your why – when you know why you’re doing something, it’s easier to convey the value of this to your people and motivate them to get on board.

Learning, sharing and recruiting

Whether it’s better for organisations to be driven by moral or business imperatives to deliver meaningful ED&I is debatable, but Slinger says that focusing on the latter can often result in more resilient and lasting initiatives. When ED&I is part of a broader business strategy, related initiatives are harder to drop during challenging times.

“When Covid happened, you could really see the organisations that understood the importance of D&I,” Slinger argues. “They stepped it up because the situation was so awful for so many people, which meant the focus on people became even more important.”

Even those leading ED&I initiatives and policies at organisations who are motivated by morality should sell it on the business case, Slinger says, because it’s easier to sell to a larger number of people.

Nevertheless, ED&I initiatives succeed when there is a coherent strategy in place linked to the overarching business strategy. Fail to get this right, and Slinger says: “You’re just going to do a series of initiatives and it’s not going to properly change the culture of the organisation.”

As for the future face of FM, several IWFM Impact Awards judges spoke of the naturally high level of influence this sector has in attracting diverse talent, recruiting for character and temperament over tickbox qualifications. Canny FMs are looking beyond the job description to focus on recruiting in a more inclusive way.

“A lot of the clients in the public and private sector are now asking their FM providers to do more on D&I”

A WIDENING RESPONSIBILITY

For more than a decade, FMs have tackled the monumental task of reducing their organisation’s environmental burden. This year’s IWFM Impact Awards recognise some great innovation in this space. But as the climate emergency becomes more urgent, what more needs to be done?

t’s not a popular opinion, but recycling might be a waste of time. “I know people won’t like that,” says sustainability consultant Georgia Elliott-Smith, “and it’s a very broad-brush statement because, of course, things like toxins, batteries and electrical waste absolutely should be sent to recycling.

“What I mean is the colour-coded recycling bins you see in offices and canteens. By the time a material becomes waste, the opportunity is lost. What you do with it once it becomes waste – it’s sort of good housekeeping to have recycling bins, but it’s very much an end-of-pipe solution. What we really need is to stop buying materials that become waste; certainly stop buying materials that become problematic waste.”

A far more impactful approach, she contends, would be to spend more time considering how procurement can reduce the amount of material that will end up as waste coming to a facility in the first place.

“So, rather than sticking in a load of plastic recycling bins in the canteen, don’t buy plastic, don’t buy disposables,” ElliottSmith explains. “Don’t buy materials that come in plastic. Reduce the amount of stuff that you’re purchasing in the first place. Packaging waste – whether food, drinks, containers or other products – is by far the largest waste stream in most facilities.”

Part of the challenge when it comes to the colour-coded recycling, ElliottSmith explains, is educating the diverse communities of facilities users. “They all come from different areas of the country where the recycling rules are very different. It’s really hard to train thousands of people to know how to use the recycling bins at work appropriately – and most don’t. It doesn’t take much to contaminate a bin and then the whole lot just has to go to incineration.”

Elliott-Smith believes that this lack of perspective – looking at recycling rather than procurement – “hints at the larger problem, which is that organisations need to be strategic and really understand the meaning behind their activities compared with what is just window dressing and virtue signalling”.

Taking it further

What is preferable is for organisations to implement strategic ESG. “What is genuinely our contribution to the big problems we’re facing? Modern slavery, climate change, waste? Those are the things we must prioritise and spend our

IMAGES: PETER CROWTHER ASSOCIATES, ALAMY, ISTOCK time, effort and resources – and educate our staff – to make a meaningful difference in that area,” Elliott-Smith says.

However, what is often the case is a “whack-a-mole” approach, hitting on “whatever trendy issue seems to be in people’s minds”.

Element4, at which Elliott-Smith is the managing director, has submitted several proposals to facilities service providers that have asked for support with green initiatives. “Our proposal to them is, ‘You’ve got to go about this in a much more strategic methodical way to understand what is meaningful for your organisation and work on that’. But it feels like they’re still stuck in this mentality of, ‘Oh, well just write us a green policy; help us do something that will look good in our brochures and make it cheap’.”

Nevertheless, Eliott-Smith says that she has worked with – or knows of – heads of in-house FM departments and facilities service providers who are making positive strides with their ESG agendas. For example, awareness of the potential dangers to end users of the indoor environment such as air quality and toxins as well as chemicals is increasing.

A number of leading service providers are “really trying to improve the lives and opportunities of their on-the-ground workers”, she says. “They are talking about how they better communicate with workers, promote them and improve their lives.” This stands in stark contrast against many other companies that trail behind, hanging on to zero-hour contracts and other unfavourable labour practices.

Workplace and facilities

ASSOCIATED IWFM IMPACT AWARDS ASSOCIATEDIWFM

● The Wellbeing award went to 14forty for its sustainable food offering. It’s seen a 58% growth in sales of plant-based menu options with 45% of its menu offering completely plant-based recipes ● The Technology award went to The National Library of Scotland for its work with partners on a soft ware platf orm through which to cut its carbon footprint – a project it now seeks to push out to the wider academic sector ● Landmarc Support Services’ NetZero Carbon A Accommodation Programme won in the Positive Climate Action ClimateAction category for the first cate carbon-negative accommodation to be delivered across the UK Defence Training Estate

management departments and providers have also shown their commitment to sustainability in catering provision. “A lot of places I visit, people are realising that single-use plastics are a bad thing. I see quite a lot of initiatives to remove singleuse plastic from portfolios, which is great. It’s really great.”

The important point, she says, is not to blame organisations or departments as they are all battling against an economic set-up that makes change hard to achieve. “We all know the profit margins are slim and getting slimmer, but I do think there’s an incredible opportunity for facilities management companies to steal a march on this approach and really take it seriously and start grabbing the issues and become an educator of their clients as well.”

They need to think about unique opportunities for a particular building rather than take a “cut-and-paste approach from all of their previous jobs”. Elliott-Smith says: “I would like to see some fresh thinking aligned to real sustainability priorities.”

Vague directives

Part of the challenge for organisations that are trying to tackle sustainability issues is a lack of consistency in the messaging from the government. So says Richard Lupo, managing director at SHIFT Environment, chartered environmentalist and full member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). This is true, he says, for private residences, social housing or commercial buildings.

For owners and operators of commercial buildings, guidance from the Climate Change Committee remains pragmatically steadfast: switch from gas to electric heating. Except, the price of electricity has skyrocketed, rising higher than gas.

“Part of the reason it costs more is the levies on electricity,” Lupo explains. “So, there’s cases of switching the levies off electric and putting it on to gas to encourage a financial objective and carbon incentive to move to a net zero future. This is already happening.”

Lupo says workplace and facilities managers have likely already seen an increase in tariffs for non-domestic gas. “They’re not reducing the electricity tariffs, but they’re making it higher on gas. You’ll see another price hike on gas over the next couple of years.” This information has already been published in the Heat

“I would like to see some fresh thinking aligned to real sustainability priorities”

and Buildings Strategy, so Lupo asserts: “It’s no secret.”

District Network Operators are also unable to deal with a surge in demand for electric heating. Lupo says that social housing associations are being asked to build their own substations and hand them over to the DNOs to operate. “They’re basically using rent from vulnerable people to fund grid operators.”

The government has not been clear on EPC requirements either, Lupo laments. New-builds, he says, require an EPC rating of B and not A, which is the most energy efficient. “Why not just change the regs? It’s all doable. We’ve got 28 years until 2050 when we’re supposed to be net zero. If you’re building new buildings over the next 28 years, you have a fair proportion of the non-domestic stock going to be EPC A. But there’s nothing in the regulations about building it to that level.”

The government is “hell-bent on growth”, Lupo says, and it’s asking how can Net Zero contribute to a 2.5% growth rate? “You should be asking the question the other way around. How can increasing growth contribute to Net Zero is more important.”

Growth, in terms of increase in GDP, considers whether we buy petrol for cars and gas for boilers, for example. A better option, Lupo says, is to exclude fossil fuel use in GDP calculations. Net zero aspirations can lead to growth anyway, with the focus on insulation for homes and buildings, solar panels, heat pumps, batteries, double glazing, good doors, and building energy management systems. “There are costs to implement those. And once that cost is going into the economy that would boost your GDP.”

And investors are increasingly looking to put their money in ESG initiatives. “Attracting that investment relies on having net zero plans or low carbon emissions. If you haven’t got them, the UK is not going to attract investment and then there’s no money in the economy to boost the growth.

Reaching the Net Zero target of 2050 is “doable” says Lupo. “There are no technological barriers and there don’t seem to be any financial barriers either. There are billions and billions and billions of private investments looking for something decent to invest in and to divest out of oil, basically. So, it just takes a bit of political will.”

hen we look back at what we have learned over these past 30 months, top of the list must surely be how little control we have in this world and that, while planning is essential, it is ultimately our ability to adapt that will help us weather the unforeseen.

From the sector’s frontline heroes who supported healthcare and education during the pandemic, to the business leaders and HR teams that have had to adapt to a new way of living and working, workplace and facilities management professionals have shown that when the going gets tough, they adapt and deliver. This year’s awards winners have demonstrated management of change in a great variety of ways. How, then, should all those in an organisation be brought along when change confronts them?

For Jamie McDonald, customer experience director at VIVO Defence Services, it’s about making behaviour change a necessity. A client recently requested greater focus on promoting more customer-focused behaviours, so McDonald and his team created the Customer Experience Passport, which comprises five mandatory learning models centred on behaviours staff should exhibit for customers.

Every employee from frontline cleaner to back-office support to the managing director has to pass the five modules. “Regardless of your technical skill, how well you can clean, cook, maintain repair – if you can’t do it in a way that makes customers smile, you can’t be part of the family.” McDonald, who is also chair of the IWFM Customer Experience SIG, says the aim is not to lose any staff but instil in them the importance of this focus and help them with practical training to deliver great customer service.

Appraising the success of a change management programme requires careful consideration. Julie Lecoq, senior workplace strategist & change management specialist, EMEA, Unispace, says: “What’s classified as a ‘success’ is dependent on the initial objectives versus the final achieved outcomes, and this can vary drastically from programme to programme. What ‘good’ looks like will differ.”

Nevertheless, the best results tend

Adaptation to ever shifting requirements has been the hallmark of many IWFM Impact Award winning stories. But while change is unavoidable, managing people through it is equal parts hard science and creative art

TURN AND FACE THE CHANGE

IMAGES: PETER CROWTHER ASSOCIATES, ISTOCK almost always to occur when senior leadership buys into the programme and commits to its outcomes. “One programme we worked on for a global pharmaceutical company, for example, had a project sponsor who was highly visible and engaged throughout the process,” Leqoc explains. “She led town hall meetings and communications that ensured everyone was on board from the beginning.”

Holy communication

As often as we may have rolled our eyes when hearing the oft-mentioned phrase “there is no one-size-fits-all solution” – the truth is managing change and communicating that change is going to be unique for every business. Of course, there are generalisable best practice points such as ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard and considered. But as Lecoq points out, communication succeeds when it is tailored to what the audience is most comfortable with.

“Everything from the tone of voice, communication channel and who the messaging comes from needs to resonate with staff,” Lecoq explains, “regardless of whether it’s being produced by an internal or external supplier.

“There also has to be a consideration as to how people consume communication. Face to face can often be preferred due to the more human element of the interaction, but given that messages only really sink in when repeated, pushing communication on multiple channels is crucial.”

You will hear people say that communication is a two-way

ASSOCIATED IWFM IMPACT AWARDS

● The Change Management award went to Mitie in recognition of the impact of its Net Promoter Score (NPS) programme and the change projects introduced as a result ● Personal Development and Talent Retention: NHS Property Services was recognised for its work in undergoing a culture change to become a learning organisation

process. McDonald says this is not always so in reality. “Often, when companies think they’re communicating, they’re just telling.” Effective communication is built on engagement, which requires parties to be involved in the design and roll-out of the change process. This, although it takes longer and is more complicated, is also “far more likely to stick”.

When people see change being implemented in a way that they have helped to define, McDonald says they will often become evangelists for the cause. “It’s really powerful, but you need the right emotional intelligence to make that happen.”

So how long is this all going to take to get right? “There’s no rule of thumb when it comes to changing management timescales,” Lecoq explains, “simply because the nature of any programme should be unique and bespoke. Indeed, if any previous project is simply copied and pasted into another, it won’t deliver true results and could possibly be detrimental to the overall project.

“What I would say in terms of timescales, is that running change management from the moment you know there will be transformation of any sort is critical. A programme should not be a means to fix problems, but rather prevent them. Change management needs to inform any transformation to frame solutions if it is to have a real impact.”

The sector tends to focus too much on tools, processes and systems, says McDonald. These are important, but tapping into what’s in people’s “hearts and minds is far more powerful. Tthis is how the right behaviours can be encouraged.

“If the right behaviours are there, then people can leap tall buildings,” McDonald adds. “But often businesses don’t place much focus on the behaviours that are important; they just hope they’ll get there eventually.”

“If the right behaviours are there, then people can leap tall buildings”

Talented finds

Seeking employees with the right kind of behaviours has always been the focus of HR professionals and hiring teams. In such a competitive labour market currently, organisations are having to promote themselves as being employers of choice. Part of that is adapting to fill their needs while balancing those of jobseekers.

“Hiring for attitude is key,” says Mel Taylor, group HR director at Churchill. “With a positive attitude, there are no limits to how far someone is willing to develop and grow within our organisation. A willing and positive colleague drives their own career forward and inspires those around them. The conversation for development is easier and skills gaps can be trained and developed. For those that don’t succeed, it is likely to be due to a poor attitude as opposed to skills. “People work for people and an organisation that puts attitude first will attract talent. Of course, there are some considerations and challenges. It can take time to get new recruits up to speed, and also the unknown experience of handling pressure may also be a factor, particularly in a fast-paced environment, so a blend of established experience in a team is key for everyone.”

Elizabeth McGarrity, senior HR director in London at global immigration services firm Fragomen, says her focus is to hire for potential, which includes attitude but also aptitude. In her field, recruitment is niche, so the talent pool is limited.

“We have to be quite creative about where we find talent and build our own talent,” McGarrity says, undoubtedly echoing a sentiment shared by many in the workplace and facilities management sector. Her advice is to be prepared to train on the ‘technical’ aspects of the job but try to determine the potential of the candidate – and part of that is hiring for attitude.

Organisations are having to present themselves in a way that is attractive to jobseekers. “That means an employer who can be trusted to deliver fair reward, development, and progression opportunities with both role and colleague evolution,” Taylor explains. “An employer that can be trusted to innovate and embrace technology and creativity and trusted to do the right thing for our local communities in which we operate and our planet.”

Both Taylor and McGarrity emphasise the importance of an organisation’s Employee Value Proposition. For Churchill – ‘We always do right: We are inclusive. We are empowering. We are human’ – that means striving and supporting employees but “if we get things wrong, we look in the mirror and face these challenges to improve moving forward”, Taylor explains.

Our flexible futures

Covid-19 has necessarily made Fragomen a more forward-thinking company, McGarrity contends. “The number one ask from all of our employees – it doesn’t matter what level – is flexibility. And we know this because we ask groups of employees from around the globe picked at random the same questions every time.”

But flexibility is not enough.

“We are definitely seeing a muchneeded shape change to our employee value proposition. What do we stand for? What is our purpose? What is our mission?” McGarrity says employees are increasingly asking for more clarity about Fragomen’s social value initiatives and how it is giving back to society. These initiatives need to be genuine, of course, but they also need to be communicated to employees and jobseekers, so the way organisations present their ethos is important, she adds. “People are saying, ‘I want to work for an organisation that actually makes me feel good’.”