Ring in the new

30 January, 2010

As we start 2010, the recession is still at the forefront of everyone’s minds. So what impact does the recession have on training? A moratorium on training sounds good to the finance director, so let’s have one of those! Who said accountants know the cost of everything and the value of nothing?

It is interesting that in the public sector, and the health service in particular, training is often one of the first casualties of any downturn, yet this is so shortsighted of senior management – public and commercial alike. Read any of the archetypal articles on motivation in the workplace, and one of the key long-term motivators is advancement through access to valuable training (‘The Motivation to Work’, Herzberg, 1959).

Professional training demonstrates commitment and gives the member of staff a feeling of worth which is repaid many times over by their increased productivity.

The average FM is no different and, given the various non-academic routes into facilities management taken by many FMs, professional tuition in the major FM competencies provides an underpinning knowledge which can result in enhanced workplace confidence and greater respect from superiors, peers and subordinates due to that increased technical knowledge.

Not convinced? OK, let’s try another argument. Within the world of facilities management there is a major reason to ensure that FM employees are fully FM trained – the increasingly litigious climate in which we live and work. Consider this: if the cost of training is an issue now because of the current economic climate, how much more will HSE prosecutions, employee claims and the simple loss of client respect (translation: sales) cost the business as a result of some future oversight?

So what is the FM training situation today? Contrary to the widespread belief that there is little FM training capability around, surprisingly it is good news. FM training has been totally revamped, top to bottom, to address the FM training needs of the next decade.

To meet the needs of facilities managers operating at a range of different levels, 2009 saw the introduction of a variety of qualifications made up of FM educational units which sit on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), and which provide a range of FM training options from bite-sized chunks to a full 60-credit diploma.

The qualifications are offered by both the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM – including City & Guilds) and the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), and can be studied at levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 (equivalent to A level through to degree level), providing an excellent progression route for people entering the profession and aspiring to reach the top. The ILM level 3 in FM is aimed at people new to the profession working as first-line managers, whereas the BIFM level 6 is aimed at senior managers with a degree of strategic decision-making responsibility.

These qualifications have three key advantages. First, they are vocationally related qualifications (VRQs), which mean they provide underpinning knowledge directly related to occupation or workplace sector. They are also linked to the National Occupational Standards, the agreed statements of skills, knowledge and understanding identified by Asset Skills, the sector skills council for facilities management.

Second, all four programmes are unitised, meaning that learners can opt to study individual units and receive accreditation, or elect to study an award, a certificate or a diploma at each of the various levels. The difference between an award, certificate and diploma is not so much in the complexity as in the breadth of study undertaken. Complexity is addressed by progressing through the levels from 3 to 6. Finally, because the units sit on the QCF, the credits gained can be used to gain Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) on other FM and non-FM courses at the same level.

So as the New Year gets under way, it is not all doom and gloom. For the first time, FMs have a distinct and clear training programme and progression route, with the Xenon Group being the first to deliver at all levels. At long last, there is a training framework which addresses the needs of everyone in FM, from receptionists and cleaning/catering/security/ waste managers looking for wider career prospects, through to senior FM managers and FM directors, perhaps with no formal graduate qualifications, looking to achieve an internationally recognised FM qualification.

As more and more employers are specifying such qualifications as essential rather than desirable, it looks like a rosy 2010 for FM professional training.