Once upon a time in a building not so far away a custodian with an office in the dark, dusty, hot basement next to the boiler, managed everything to do with the building which wasn’t much. Minimal training required, no ongoing training because nothing changed. There was no concern with IEQ, lighting, cooling, inspections, preventative maintenance. Run to fail, fix it when it breaks was the norm and all that was expected.
FAST FORWARD TO TODAY
No more dark, dusty, hot basements. There are teams of people in the Facilities Department to manage all of the high efficiency equipment that maintain the IEQ for the occupants. Those teams have specialized training, use hand held diagnostic and calibrating equipment that is more technically advanced that that old boiler by miles. They communicate with devices in their hand that have more computing power than the first lunar landing rocket and module.
We have come a long way, and we are not done. Ongoing training is a requirement, being a lifelong learner is job preservation. Sustainability, ESG, Carbon Neutrality, Energy Efficiency, Green Buildings, AI, EV charging, need I go on?
WHAT NEXT
How do we stay abreast of everything that is going on? How do we select which webinar to view, article to read, seminar to attend, blog to read, podcast to listen to? Well for this FM, the prime source is the leader in FM education, the International Facility Management Association (IFMA pronounced as a word, not the individual letters!) Why do I say that? IFMA listens to the community, to the vendors, to the technical world and reduces the chatter to reality. IFMA provides ways to learn that fit our individual style, emails, blogs, podcasts, seminars, webcasts, in person events, FMJ magazine.
WHERE DO WE GET IT
Education is valuable, but IFMA continues to go beyond, they have created the Industry leading credentials and certification that major corporations are specifying in their job descriptions. The Facility Management Professional (FMP) provides a basic education in: Maintenance and Operations, Finance and Business, Leadership and Strategy & Project Management, 4 of the 11 core competencies of Facilities Management. The Sustainability Facilities Professional (SFP) takes you through the 12 principle pieces of managing a sustainable facility and creating the business case for the initiatives. Then there is the premier Credential, the Certified Facility Manager (CFM). To sit for this proctored exam you must have a degree in Facility Management or at least 5 years experience in the field. The CFM is more of a determination of your knowledge and experience than book knowledge of the remaining 7 core competencies. This requires CEU credits and recertification every 3 years to make sure you are current.
Could you ask for anything more? An organization that not only listens to, but surveys it’s members to find out what our pain points are, and then puts together education to guide us through it. I for one couldn’t be an FM of value without IFMA and it’s support. This is also why I am so involved in my local chapter, in the Facility Management Consultant’s Council, the IFMA Foundation, and other aspects of IFMA. This is why I insist on being at World Workplace and Facility Fusion. I do not want to be left behind.
Thank you IFMA for all you have done, are doing and no doubt will do. You are my valued partner in managing Facilities.
