When buildings are maintained properly by educated personnel who are trained in high-performance building management techniques, facilities run better and operating expenses are lower.

There is a decade old federal law aimed at identifying competencies and prioritizing training in federal buildings personnel — the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act (FBPTA). Yet education, particularly in facility management and building operations, is undervalued and training budgets are often the first on the chopping block during budget cuts.

One challenge is that the value of education can be hard to quantify and is not universally understood. In order for education and training to truly reflect the needs of the industry, the training should be competency based. Utilizing this approach protects the integrity of the training and promotes consumer confidence in the capabilities and competence of the people who have successfully completed the training.

Only through an understanding of the actual skills and knowledge that is needed for a given occupation can a training program truly provide the best value to the consumer. It is the combination of training built through a competency-based approach and employers utilizing this approach in their workforce development plans that leads to a truly competent workforce.

Determining Which Competencies Are Lacking

A strong team and competent workforce start with an understanding of the competencies the workforce needs. The establishment of core competencies follows a known process that is intended to produce specific outcomes known as a job task analysis (JTA) that establishes definable core competencies and training curriculum.