Future Perfect

8 July, 2009

For many years facilities managers around the country have been crying out to be brought in from the cold. They want to be allowed into the boardroom, to raise their visibility in the corporate world and try to prove that they are more than just what has been described as ‘the second largest overhead after wages’. Yet the boardroom doors have remained firmly closed. Only the heralded MDs, CFOs, COOs, CIOs, CEOs and possibly HR directors have been granted entry to the inner sanctum, with its grandiose table and luxurious leather chairs.

Facilities managers have often traipsed back from the door, defeated and with head bowed, tasked with reducing costs, consolidating suppliers – and, if they’re lucky, a relocation and new property to play with. However, over the last two years, a rise in optimism has been palpable among the ranks of FMs and real estate professionals, in what they are hoping can be the subject that at last gets them noticed in the boardroom–the future of work.

Linking workplace design with organisational effectiveness isn’t new. For years, designers and consultants have grappled with the workplace holy grail of productivity (and still not solved it). But in recent years, new terms such asmobility, flexibility and ‘Generation Y’ have replaced the old terminology of hotelling, hot-desking and desk sharing. Yet while the ‘science’ of the workplace may have significantly moved on, there are somemodern trends to be wary of, and some key questions remain unanswered.

Where Is Work?

The now overused mantra that ‘work is something that you do and not a place where you go’ promotes the modern thinking about mobility. It’s about using technology to enable work from many different locations at times that suit the individual – especially if the specific work involves dealing with people based in different time zones.

But to allow people the flexibility they may desire – or that legislation dictates – often means a change in management style. It’s a move from the ‘line of sight’ to the ‘virtual’, and therefore is an inherently more trusting HR model. It has significant benefits if HR professionals see how they can play a part in implementation and change – but unfortunately, they often don’t.

The current economic climate has also challenged this convention, particularly regarding trust between employer and employee. Employee visibility in the workplace has become more important; the employer wants to see the employee and what they are doing, while the employee wants to be seen making a contribution. The fashionable mobility of the workforce could be challenged by the need to be seen. And sometimes virtual isn’t good enough.

When Do Roles Become People?

The toolbox approach to workplace design can be easily summarised. Take your workforce, divide it into roles (assigned or permanent,mobile/flexible, home workers), create a ratio for each and away you go. But where does the role become a person?

The workplace is frequently dictated to by its design – and the designers who created it. Good designers try to recognise the work process, which inevitably results in different work settings to complete differing work tasks. It’s all very well, but not highly imaginative. Work is more than that; it’s not just about the role but also about the person. Not everyone wants to work flexibly, or are able to. Some actively seek the solidity and regularity of the office and don’t like the relatively unplanned and dynamic life that mobility brings with it.

What Is Work?

How many of us have actually been trained to ‘work’? Sure, we’ve had training, but in our early working lives how many were sat down and had it explained what work is, what it does and how it expands beyond a particular task or tasks? In the modern economy this is becoming an increasingly important consideration, especially with mobile workers, where protocols have diminished and work can in theory be carried out anywhere.

Just as trust has a major influence on management style, discipline is an enormous factor on a person’s ability to work flexibly and without training.

The issue of mobility leads to an often unasked question: ‘Where does the company Expect me to work?’ Mobility and flexibility can often be mistaken for home working, and theoretically pushing the workforce away from the workplace. When this happens, organisations often wonder why there is a lack of buzz in the office. It can have a mixed message if not communicated correctly: we want people to collaborate more, yet be flexible and therefore in the office less. So why come into the office when there’s no-one there to meet, or collaborate with?

GEN Y – Suddenly Not As Important

If ever there has been a bandwagon then this has to be one of them: designing the workplace for the next generation, or Generation Y – whoever they are. Supposedly, this technology-enabled group of virtual socialites and martini workers are the people that every good corporate should be trying to attract. Or they were, until the recession. All of a sudden, attracting talent isn’t so vital, as no-one is leaving of their own accord. And hey, if they don’t like the current workplace, there’s a huge list of people who will.

What is just as dangerous about focusing solely on this new generation is the possible exclusion of existing workers, of which there are many, as there aren’t many employers who have a complete workforce aged less than 30. The government is also intervening, increasing retirement ages and therefore taking us towards an ageing workforce; one that may not so much need a place to touch down as have a nap in the afternoon. Joking aside (and this may not actually be a joke), the next generation of workers might not be the ‘get it now, have it, bin it, get the latest model’, but the ‘been there, seen it, done it and got the T-shirt’ brigade.

Where Is Work Going?

The best futurologists and economists in the world could not predict the financial turmoil we have witnessed in the last 12months, so predicting the future of work is tricky to say the least. Some of the best minds in the profession have had a go. Inmy opinion, one of the best attempts is Herman Miller’s study ‘The Future of Work – how and where we will work in 2030’. However, the new world order, with political, economic and environmental situations all increasingly interlinked, presents us with a hazy future that few realistically can penetrate.

Work may carry on down the knowledge path, with people working across locations and time zones in a virtual world. It may regress, pulling people back into centralized hubs with companies focused on carbon rather than pounds, dollars and euros (it is ironic that some of the financial companies have for years termed their back-of-house operations as ‘manufacturing’).

One thing is for certain: work will need workplaces, and these workplaces will need facilities managers to support them. Perhaps not in the boardroom, but still playing an intrinsic part in a company, as an essential cog in the wheel of commerce.