Innovating From the Core in Facilities Management
How the pandemic triggered a radical re-think and uncovered innovation opportunities in the facilities management sector. A discussion between OneLeap’s CEO, Hamish Forsyth and Ann Rogers-Bell, Managing Director of Property Care Services, Thailand.
Innovating through The Reset
OneLeap’s CEO, Hamish Forsyth caught up with Ann Rogers-Bell to reflect on the ways in which the world is shifting, and to discuss how leaders can innovate and think more entrepreneurially to take advantage of this Reset Moment.
As Managing Director of PCS for Thailand, one of the world’s largest privately held facilities management firms, Ann has a unique perspective on these shifts and continuously applies entrepreneurial principles to her work in pursuit of the required transformation.
The following is the summary of that discussion. You can also watch the highlights video here.
Facilities management faced acute challenges during the pandemic, both in terms of demand levels and the nature of customer requirements dramatically shifting.
ADAPTATIONS HERE TO STAY
Many of the adaptations witnessed during the pandemic have been accelerations of trends already on an upward curve.
For example, working from home and expectations around personalisation - with B2B demands reshaped by individuals’ personal experiences as B2C consumers. These combine to completely change client needs from mass facilities servicing to much more bespoke, personalised pieces of work.
“What that looks like varies from helping clients re-scope offices to be more useful in the future, to providing better working environments in the home.”
FUNDAMENTAL UPHEAVALS
The situation has gone on for so long that expectations and new demands have become baked in.
“You can no longer take a defensive stance of weathering the storm until you can put the puzzle back as it was.”
Fundamental changes in the facilities management space include:
Different expectations of hygiene standards, and permanently raised awareness of previously disregarded issues like circulation and movement and airflow.
The way businesses assess their risk profile and portfolios. An early priority within PCS was to understand how much of the portfolio was reliant on tourism versus a domestic economy, and to establish how to change with that, or become irrelevant.
On a more personal basis, a profound reset has occurred around human appreciation of jobs that had almost become seen, but not heard. Respect has increased for these everyday jobs, presenting a massive opportunity for industries to make these jobs great.
The above topics, all once peripheral at best, become intrinsic to a business’ brand.
RESPONDING TO OPPORTUNITIES
Three approaches helped in shaping a response and taking action despite ongoing uncertainty:
1. Examining needs first, and customers second
Counter to some conventional wisdom, but consistent with some of the thinking around examining “arenas” of competition rather than industry verticals.
For example, PCS was able to spot the rapid repurposing of hotels into vaccination centres and low-level clinical facilities (“hospitels”), opening a new window of opportunity for facilities management work.
2. Keeping sight of the guiding star and core capabilities
Although the profile and needs of strategic customers evolved, it was important to remember the core services PCS delivers competitively and keep those central to planning around how to follow growth opportunities.
Strategic agility was achieved by not attempting to evolve the shape of services, target verticals and underlying capabilities at the same time.
3. Tapping into unmined gold
Most large organisations sit on ‘unmined gold’ that they have become blind to.
External shocks can be the catalyst required to see resources, networks and capabilities with fresh eyes, and to discover opportunities that are easier to implement and move quicker to market.
TOP TIPS FOR LEADERS
In closing, three thoughts present themselves about seizing opportunities in the wake of crisis:
Follow the client.
Forget about how you do something until you’ve made sure that what you do is still relevant.
Balance the risk in your portfolio.
COVID-19 was on relatively few risk registers – and the biggest risks are the ones you don’t know you have.
Spend less time in the boardroom…
…and more time with your team. The same as always! You’re only as good as your worst cleaner, your worst security guard, or your most disenfranchised tech engineer.
Our thanks to Ann Bell-Rogers for this discussion!
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