Post COVID-19 Business Drivers for Facility Managers

Here is what subject matter experts are saying:

1 - ENSURE HEALTHY & SAFE WORKPLACES

”Even after a vaccine is developed, the health and safety of employees will remain a top priority. This forced trial of virtual working has proved effective and as larger portions of the workforce remain virtual, communication and collaboration will be crucial for success. Employees who are no longer traveling to an office must still feel connected to their employer and employees. For many companies, this change will require a shift in culture. More trust must be placed in the employees’ hands.”

“The way we work will be very different post-COVID-19. Most important is the safety of the workplace for the employee, but the workspace needs to be agile and flexible to suit the requirements going forward, which will be different and the crisis will leave us with having to reduce our costs.”

2 - ENSURE HEALTHY & SAFE WORKPLACES

”I believe many CXOs now see the possibility to reduce real estate and FM costs, but also improve work performance and productivity, as well as increase organizational agility and flexibility.”

”In order to come away from this as a profitable organization, the employees returning will be required to be more efficient and productive. In order to make that happen, an investment will need to be made to support the internal communication and collaboration platforms being used by company teams. On another note, we are seeing a surplus of companies using this opportunity to ‘trim the fat’ so to speak. This means positions will be available, but focus is going to be on attracting the best new talent available.”

3 - INCREASE ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY & FLEXIBILITY

”This pandemic showed that organizations need to be as flexible as possible to manage in highly uncertain times. They should also be resilient and decrease their vulnerability. Work performance is something that workplace management in general should be concerned about, and then when it comes to workplaces, they first have to be safe and then should build up from there.”

“We have learned it is a must to be agile, flexible and resilient and our workplace plans (whether plan A, B or C) need to be in place. We know now that health and safety are more important than ever; yet in the midst of these new learnings we must produce and keep our companies profitable.”

4 - REDUCE REAL ESTATE & FACILITIES COSTS

“I would love to get rid of reducing real estate costs and substitute it with something more meaningful, but to the extent that businesses will need to survive, they’ll need to reduce their fixed costs anyway.”

”The top driver will be cost reduction. In large part because space needs will be reassessed in light of growing remote work and companies will be seeking new opportunities to improve their financials after the damage of the pandemic.”

”I list reduce real estate and facilities cost, but what I mean is ‘optimize’ real estate, which likely means reducing the square footage. It appears that there is a pretty consistent expectation that the amount of individual space required will drop in the post-COVID environment.”

Article content courtesy of IFMA's October 2020 report titled: "The Experts' Assessment: The Workplace Post COVID-19."