FMA is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The creation of the association three decades ago was the first formal recognition of facility management as a profession. Over this time period, the discipline has developed into a multi-tiered composite of experience, knowledge and wisdom. As a group, facility managers have matured. Facility management consists of a cadre of seasoned veterans, established managers and newcomers entering the industrynot just the pioneers of the profession, as was the case years ago.
In that respect, the ceiling of prospective career growth must be raised higher and/or broken through. There are goals to which facility professionals should aspire as their responsibilities and expertise growone would be to join senior management and get a seat in the C-suite.
The opportunity to move up
Sustainability and the green movement have created such an opportunity. The position of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) is now being created in many corporations and businesses. It is currently being filled by executives from all walks of life. This executive would ensure that the organization integrates sustainability actions as a whole and then reports on those efforts. It entails systems thinking, project management, coordination and cooperation throughout the enterprise. A CSO must be able to talk corporate language, communicate well, focus on economic factors and have the ability to operate with an overarching view of how a business is run and where improvements could be made.
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There is no professional better suited to be successful in this capacity than a facility manager. The traits that will define a successful CSO are the ones that facility managers have developed over the years with the guidance and precepts of the core competencies.
One of the greatest advantages facility managers have in developing or competing for this position derives from how deeply immersed they have become in these competencies. Mastering them is the true training ground for the upward move as the parallels with sustainability and related corporate decisions are reflected throughout facility-related education.
Of course, not every organization has seen the need for this position, so it will be incumbent on the more assertive facility manager to create the case for a CSO in the company and be able to argue it well. Fortunately, the profession is well-equipped with the tools to do so.
Its a system
Sustainability must be approached through systems thinking, as does facility management. Systems thinking is a holistic viewa process of understanding how things (i.e., people, departments and output) influence one another within the whole as they work together to make an organization healthy or unhealthy. It focuses on cyclical (whole cycle assessment) rather than linear cause and effect and concerns an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that compose the entirety of the enterprise.
A major component of facility management is the ability to view problems and solutions as part of an overall process rather than reacting to a specific part, outcome or event. Everything has to be taken into account where operations and procedures are implementedavoiding quick fixes that could lead to unintended consequences. Recognizing that an improvement in one area of a system can adversely affect another, facility management promotes organizational communication at all levels in order to avoid the silo effect.
To best serve all customers in a facility, a facility manager knows a companys systems better than anyone, and already has professional ties with the departments that would need to be involved in a sustainability program.
Like facility management, sustainability is stakeholder driven. Both disciplines concern the welfare and satisfaction of tenants, employees, occupants, consumers, suppliers and even the local community. While a shareholder has a direct financial investment in the company, a stakeholder is affected more through a direct emotional investment, even if they have an indirect financial one. Facility managers need a perspective above and beyond simple shareholder value, as more often than not, they represent the stakeholders of a company. Understanding and being able to address needs of both stakeholders and shareholders are skills facility managers must acquire in order to be successful. This aptitude would serve them well as a senior manager in charge of corporate sustainability.
According to IFMA, the role of a facility manager is to satisfy customers, provide economic benefits and create positive visibility to upper management.
Sustainable operations fulfill all those criteria and being a part of the C-suite will ensure that no part of the efforts get lost in translation. Being able to report directly at the table while creating a dialogue with other corporate decision makers is of inestimable value. The process will lead to financial benefits for the company through sustainable actions, as well as a healthy increase in salary for the facility manager or CSO.
Understanding sustainability
As a CSO, facility managers must be able to assess current sustainability goals and strategies and bring about better coordination of efforts throughout the enterprise. They must understand sustainability, be able to explain it and translate sustainable actions into corporate benefits.
Through energy consumption, water usage, transportation practices and the generation of waste, existing buildings have the largest cumulative effect on the environment than any other source of impact. A facility managers familiarity with operations and maintenance responsibilities, as well as corporate policies and how these affect the environment, serves as a solid foundation from which to work.
Another aspect of sustainability ties in with the human and environmental factors. Green practices lead to a safer, healthier workplace; there is no exposure to hazardous chemicals or practices. Through custodial processes, dust and indoor contaminants can be reduced. Proper ventilation and exchange rates enhance the air quality. It is proven more and more that improved indoor environmental quality contributes to increased productivity, decreased absenteeism, better morale and customer satisfaction. A knowledgeable CSO, trained as a facility manager, can point out that personnel costs are the highest expense in any organization. Thus, safeguarding employee health and state of mind contribute directly to the bottom line.
Management and leadership
One thing that cant be taught is a passion for sustainability, but it is an important attribute as facilities and organizations transition to sustainable practices. Such a passion can be derived from an intrinsic sense of right and wrong, or it can be driven by the cost savings that such streamlined operations can deliver. However, whether the motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic, it must be developed and translated into action. A facility manager and/or CSO must be able to exhibit strong leadership skillsas the shift to sustainability will meet some opposition.
Management skills must also be demonstrable regarding both people and systems. Sustainability as a major ingredient in future success needs to be handled capably and with a tight rein. There needs to be coordination of activities with departments to accomplish all levels of conservation within the organizationincluding environmentally-preferred purchasing, energy conservation, waste management/resource management, green building and construction, water conservation, greenhouse gas reduction, renewable resources and environmental reporting metrics such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the Facility Reporting Project. All of these practices are currently handled at the facility level and they must reach up to the corporate office.
The need to communicate well is also a necessity. As can be learned in IFMAs communications competency, there are two facets to this skilltranslating the benefits of sustainability to those less knowledgeable and then presenting them, either orally or through the written word.
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Communication is educational in nature, explaining and espousing concepts and actions, thereby opening opportunities for meaningful dialogue. A good communicator must possess a strong ability to educate, persuade and mobilize resources, and be motivational enough to build buy-in, consensus and support. It will be imperative to develop and implement marketing and educational programs that inspire the organization to embrace environmental sustainability practices.
The plan would be to change the thinking, behavior and practice of individuals and the organization as a whole. Along with the doom-and-gloom information dealing with water shortages, landfill excess and climate change, a balance must be achieved by explaining the benefits of improved indoor environmental quality, cost savings and the reputation as an environmentally responsible corporation.
Financially astute
All things considered, being financially astute is one of the most important attributes that a facility manager must have. Whether its selling a project to the C-suite as an outsider on the edge of the table or firmly ensconced in a seat with senior management, being able to speak their language is a necessity in making and financing positive change. The ability to perform financial forecasting and cost/benefit analyses and to communicate the long- and short-term benefits of sustainability efforts into cost savings will enable senior management to make informed decisions. This will lead to the optimization of social and environmental impacts of sustainability program initiatives while generating greater profit.
Planning and implementation
The emphasis on project management in the profession facilitates the development of a comprehensive policy and a strategic performance plan. It will encompass current goals and best practices moving toward a more environmentally sustainable future. This entails being capable of effectively designing and defining a sustainability plan for the organization. It will involve metric systems to monitor and assess progress toward achieving performance goals at all levels of the organization. Subsequently, this assumes the understanding of sustainable technology as it relates to energy, waste, carbon emissions, green building and other areas. Facility managers are already learning to run smarter buildings and to integrate technology into their routineaugmenting their ability to handle these types of tasks.
Through quality assurance and innovation, programs will be evaluated for best practices as well as duplications or overlapping programs within various departments while streamlining identified opportunities for improvement. Ancillary experience in real estate in regard to due diligence, demographics, transportation and infrastructure can assist in creating sustainable sites. Training in business continuity and disaster planning will also help a CSO be innovative and creative in identifying tools and resources necessary to keep current in the field while being able to look ahead. It will lead to appropriate assumptions on upcoming legislation, the cost of utilities and other external factors and will help frame a strategic approach to future possibilities.
Continuous improvement
Climate change has been categorized as anthropogenic. This term, of Greek origin, means manmade. It refers to effects, processes or materials that are derived from human activities with no external stimuli.
The role and position of a CSO is tailor made for an experienced facility manager and should be a goal, either short- or long-term, in a facility managers career path. It can be called anthropogenic career enhancement, as it relies solely on manmade efforts, generated by facility managers.
Challenges are necessary to create interest and vitality in a career and the CSO position is a challenge. If facility managers want an entry into the C-suite, sustainability is the vehicle. Career limitations are already testing facility managers capacity to grow. The time is ripe to seize the opportunity delivered by the focus and importance of sustainable operations to rise to a new level of maturitythe next stage in professional evolution.
Facility managers must be proactive in their organizations. If the CSO position is being created, then ownership of it should be taken. If not, then the role should be created based on the tenets of facility management. A facility manager can then fulfill his or her promise by producing palpable, quantifiable benefits.
This is an action that will determine the progress of the profession. In pursuing this role, the business world can see that facility management has truly evolvednot only in understanding the meaning of sustainability and to contributing smart and viable decisions at the senior management level, but to becoming more than just an operational expense. Many facility management tasks are accomplished behind-the-scenes with little fanfare or recognition. Adding value from the front-and-center position as a CSO will finally showcase facility managers as true contributors to the organization as a whole.
About the author
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Bill Conley, CFM, CFMJ, LEED AP, IFMA Fellow, is owner/CSO of CFM2, a facility management and sustainability consulting company based in Orange County, Calif.
Conley has more than 35 years of experience in the facility management profession and has been a proponent of sustainable operations for more than 17 years.
He has worked on LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) projects as well as assisted companies in implementing and benefitting from sustainable practices. Conley received his Certified Facility Manager designation from IFMA in 1992 and achieved LEED professional accreditation through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2002.
In addition to his induction as an IFMA Fellow, Conley is currently a member of the IFMA board of directors, a recipient of IFMA’s distinguished member of the year award and has twice received the associations distinguished author award. Additionally, Conley helped develop the Orange County Chapter of the USGBC.
