By Kelly Howell – HR Director – UK & Ireland

FM is an exciting industry. It’s about the unsung heroes who work behind-the-scenes and it’s happening everywhere. In every pocket of the globe, there’s a need for facilities management. As such, for those pursuing a career in the industry, it isn’t always necessary to relocate, however, the more flexibility you have the more opportunities there are.

Flexibility is a key attribute that is required if individuals decide to pursue a career with a service provider like Atalian Servest. FM organisations tend to be multi-site and subsequently employees need to be relatively mobile. Opting for this sort of work means that every day will offer something different, which some will love. Senior members of our catering division, for instance, not only work client-side but they also support the operations and sales teams. This means they can be in numerous locations on any given day. To them, the fact that their schedule is ever changing keeps things interesting.

There is a lot of behind-the-scenes project work going on across other areas of our business, which means many of the team are often out and about. Yes, working for a service provider requires travel but the rewards are that you will meet a lot of different people, spend time at lots of different sites, work on a range of projects and learn plenty of transferable skills.

Adapting to change is sometimes necessary when it comes to following your dreams. Adapting to change is sometimes necessary when it comes to following your dreams. Such opportunities aren’t always on your doorstep but the rewards reaped from taking the plunge often outweigh any work/life challenges you face.

Travel isn’t the only way those working in the sector are required to be flexible. FMs are currently responding to a range of macro influences – such as changing demographics, the uptake of flexible working, new technologies and social change – by adopting a new way of looking at the workplace. The nature of FM in 2019 means that adaptability and agility is required more than ever before. Not only on site, with the variety of assets, buildings, services and people that FMs look after, but also seeing as the nature of how, where and when we work is changing at an alarming rate.

There’s now also a virtual and physical world to manage, bringing with it new and emerging threats but also a wealth of new opportunities. Data-driven decisions are now considered the norm; it’s down to FMs to arm themselves with the skills to make the most of what’s at their fingertips. Facilities management can continue to be one of the most important professions in the built environment and one of the largest slices of UK PLC.