WHERE IS THE LOVE? IN COUNCILS, CONTRACTS & CREATIVITY

THE CHALLENGE

One of the FM industry’s largest and longest running challenges is its aspiration to be perceived by organisations as a strategic resource rather than a cost burden. This is amplified in local councils where FM is faced with a perfect storm of constrained budgets, a high degree of scrutiny and a wide range of stakeholders, including members of the public, councillors and colleagues – several of whom hold mutually contradictory views and are adept at criticising effectively and lobbying proactively.

Anyone who has worked in this type of environment knows the tightrope that the FM team can find themselves walking between meeting conflicting demands and the high level of accountability that comes with the management and delivery of publicly funded services across a transparent, disaggregated portfolio. What’s more, technological innovation is driving increased scrutiny by the general public. For example, the Snap Send Solve app that is being used in more than 90 percent of the councils in Australia is currently reporting in excess of 100,000 issues per annum.

WINDS OF CHANGE

Events like the global depression of 2008, the abrupt and catastrophic demise of Carillion with the loss of 40,000 jobs worldwide, reported troubles at other major overseas FM players