Editor’s note: This is the second in an occasional series of discussions with principals from associations along the supply chain. Each article will help familiarize BSCs with the association’s mission and members, as well as provide tips for working with partners in that market segment.

An industry association’s mandate is to represent, educate, and promote its members. It must work within its own community but also in conjunction with related industries. More and more, these associations are partnering up to deliver the maximum benefit to their members.

For instance, the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has a formal partnership with ISSA, and in this interview, we speak with David Brady, president and chief executive officer of IFMA. Before joining the IFMA staff in 1993, he worked for 22 years in association management, including at the National Association of Credit Management. Brady is a member of the American Society of Association Executives.

Contracting Profits:
What is IFMA?
David Brady: We were founded 25 years ago through an organization called The Herman Miller Institution, part of Herman Miller Furniture. The services we provide are not dissimilar to other member organizations, including profession development opportunities and a major convention in the fall called World Workplace.

We also offer two certification programs. The first is a 13-year-old Certified Facility Manager designation, a competency-based exam that focuses on nine major competencies of facilities management. The second program, Facility Management Professional, was started a year ago and is directed toward individuals transitioning into the profession from a career change or out of a college program.

CP: Who are your members?
DB: We have approximately 18,500 members in 63 countries around the world. The last survey of our members [indicated] they manage 23 billion square feet of building. They manage a variety of facilities. The most common is office space, but they also manage research and development labs, academic facilities, museums and more.

CP: How has facility management changed in the last decade?
DB: One of the major areas that has been a big change is the global nature of business. Our managers are managing facilities in multiple locations, including other countries, and that might not have been the case a few years back. And instead of the traditional 9 to 5, Monday through Friday facility, they are now open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Another major change is source services management. Our recent member survey reflected an increase in the percentage of cleaning services that are outsourced — it’s now up to 82 percent of our members that outsource cleaning. The old days of a facility manager managing an in-house cleaning crew are long past. A new challenge for our members is managing all the outsourced functions, in some cases in multiple locations.

CP: What do facility managers want from their building service contractors?
DB: They want the same thing anyone wants when outsourcing a function — peace of mind. We outsource cleaning services here at IFMA and when I look back on why we did it, it wasn’t to save money, but to have peace of mind that the job would be handled correctly. Because our members are managing multiple functions, they can’t be experts at everything and they certainly aren’t experts at cleaning.

Facility managers also want a commercial cleaning partner to respect the building occupants, to have clear understanding of expectations, and to be responsive. I also think it’s important that they understand the corporate strategies and provide their input on how they can help achieve those goals.

CP: How can a BSC strengthen his relationship with a facility manager?
DB: First and foremost, it’s more than keeping the place clean. When IFMA started, it gave equal weight to people, place and process. In the late ’90s, however, there was a strong focus on place when people were stuffed into cubicles. Today, the message is that all three things are important, but the most important are the people.

Therefore, when a facility manager is looking for a contractor they are looking for the highest quality they can obtain, and not necessarily the lowest cost. Occupants now have a higher expectation of quality so it’s important for the contractor to continually evaluate customer satisfaction.

Responsiveness is also important. Our members are living on the edge all the time. If one of their occupants has a problem that relates to maintenance and the facility manager cannot get a fairly instantaneous response from the contractor, the facility manager is going to be unhappy. There’s such a strong need between outsourcer and contractor to communicate. If those communication channels break down, that’s going to be a problem.

Our members also have a need for full-service providers with the ability to clean in multiple cities. They want it to be more of a partner relationship. Our members are managing multiple facilities, even within the United States. If a member with facilities in Houston, New York and Los Angeles can bundle its outsourced services by retaining one company to provide all those services, it makes life easier.

The last thing is overall honesty and ethics of the company and its employees. Do I have to lock everything up on my desk at night or can I feel comfortable that the folks in here have a level of honesty?

CP: How have the changes in your industry affected commercial cleaners who work with facility managers?
DB: The one thing our members have learned is agility is everything in the workplace right now. Corporate strategies are changing on a minute-by-minute basis and it’s becoming increasingly important for our members to understand the corporate strategies that their companies employ. Without that understanding, it’s difficult for the facility manager to just react to things. Likewise, there is an expectation on the part of the facility manager that a BSC must be able to manage in an agile workplace. In today’s business environment, things change very quickly. What we agreed on a year ago may be different today. You need to be able to make quick changes based on what’s happening the company.

Becky Mollenkamp is a business writer in Des Moines, Iowa, and a frequent contributor to Contracting Profits.




POSTED ON: 5/1/2006