One of the biggest challenges facing facility managers in 2022 has been hiring and retaining qualified staff. Thanks to the “Great Resignation,” there has been a mass exodus of workers across all industries — and facility management is no exception. Millions of workers have either retired, gone back to school or switched jobs.
Training and skill development can be effective retention strategies, but what skills need to be taught?
During NFMT Remix in Las Vegas, the session “How Training Can Help You Retain the 66% of FMs Considering Leaving Your Team” will share the results of the 2022 FM Training Outlook Survey from the ProFMI Commission. An expert panel, moderated by Randy Olson, VP of Global Business Development at ProFMI, and including Eileen McMorrow, Editor of The McMorrow Reports and FM Link, as well as a few other FM industry experts, will discuss the top three ways to improve retention, as well as how industry credentials can address skill gaps in the team.
NFMT: What is one of the best ways to improve retention?
Randy Olson: According to the 2022 FM Training Outlook Survey, after the obvious increased compensation and benefits, employees named access to training and upskilling as the second highest reason to stay with their current organization. Ensuring staff feels confident, capable and credible while doing the work they’re tasked with can make a huge impact when it comes to deciding whether to stay in their current role, or look elsewhere for opportunities.
NFMT: What are some of the skills lacking in new hires?
Olson: According to the same survey, facility management managers identified a few common knowledge and skill gaps among their teams including compliance and standards, leadership skills, emergency management and project management. FM managers will likely look to new hires to fill in those gaps, while also seeking additional training to ensure current staff is meeting their occupants’ needs.
NFMT: How can departments teach these missing skills?
Olson: When it comes to finding the right way to fill in FM teams’ unique knowledge and skill gaps, the first step is to benchmark existing knowledge and identify training priorities. Once those gaps are identified, FM managers can turn to custom training like ProFM’s 24 functional knowledge areas and cross-functional competencies to assess each member and provide the education needed to fill in their gaps.
NFMT: How does a credential program like ProFM help departments retain staff and develop fresh talent?
Olson: Good training should lead to change, measured by improvements in efficiency or effectiveness. When training also results in a professional credential or qualification like ProFM, the impact is amplified for both organizations and employees. Not only will it help current employees feel more confident and capable on the job, while paving the path for future advancement or promotion, it can also help bring new hires up-to-speed more quickly.
NFMT Remix takes place in Las Vegas, Nov. 2-3. For more information, visit www.nfmt.com/vegas.
Dan Weltin is the editor-in-chief for the facility market. He has nearly 20 years of experience covering the facility management and commercial cleaning industries.
