How far should facilities managers be involved in strategic change management? In this edited extract from his award-winning essay, our contributor looks at organisational change and says facilities managers should get in the driving seat
Cultural, technological and organisational change demands a long-term, strategic approach. The facilities manager must therefore take an active role at a strategic level to fully contribute to the change management process.

However, while in some organisations facilities managers operate at a strategic level, in others they continue to operate in a purely operational capacity. So do facilities managers have a role to play in driving the change management process?

While research shows that facilities managers in the public sector have won greater strategic influence, within the private sector the picture is less clear (1).

In supporting the organisation's core business the facilities manager should not only be capable of managing the service process change at the 'coalface' but also articulating changes required to help the organisation achieve its goals. Too readily, facilities managers are limited to rethinking the processes involved in providing support to the non-core elements of the business.

Yet it remains the case that an organisation's built assets and staff costs account for most of its overheads. Only by actively managing each of these valuable assets can facilities management provide added value to the core business.

Any analysis of the role of the facilities manager during the change process must consider the following forms of change within organisations: organisational and cultural, people management, technological and workplace (2).

Cultural change
Management structures within business have tended to become flatter and less hierarchical, with many adopting open-plan layouts as a symbol of single status culture.

This has meant a greater flexibility of working which has been led by cultural change within organisations, rather than advances in technology. The facilities manager of the future must be able to understand the cultural change within the workplace and be able to provide a workplace to fit not only the shape of the building, but more importantly the organisational culture and behaviours of its employees.

Real change within organisations is about people and culture not process or furniture. Understanding the culture of the organisation, therefore, is of real importance to ensuring alignment of business strategy when formulating facilities management policies and processes.

Cultural change is possibly the most difficult change process for the facilities manager to influence, however it has been suggested that organisations should try to establish a link between cultural elements and some critical success factors within facilities management, such as continuous improvement, customer service orientation, cost consciousness, quality and teamwork (3).

The extent to which the facilities manager is able to influence cultural change will have a direct effect on staff motivation, teamwork, focus, and values, which will ultimately translate into the manager's ability to support the organisation's core business.

People management
People can be directed, but their output is governed by the way they 'want' to respond, and not solely by the way they 'can' respond (4). The facilities manager must possess, therefore, the skills required to manage change with regard to its impact on personnel.

The facilities manager needs good interpersonal skills to be able to fully contribute to the change process (5). Managers who consciously consult and involve staff in the change process can prevent resistance to change if personal and corporate benefits are well defined. The most effective facilities manager must therefore be capable of communicating these beliefs positively.

Technological change
Knowledge management through new technology is playing an increasingly important role in commercial success. Traditionally managers from building or engineering backgrounds have focused on the technical and operational dimension of management. However, the facilities manager is well placed to break free from the functional silos and become the enabler for technological knowledge transfer during the change process.

In 1995, 50 per cent of the UK workforce was working within office-based employment. The growth in knowledge-based industries and the move from manufacturing to service based employment is set to continue. This impacts on the role of the facilities manager as a considerable amount of time is spent managing business space.

Technological change and flexible working is allowing a gradual evolution towards the 'virtual' workplace. By embracing the virtual workplace as an extension of the organisation's property portfolio, the facilities manager can contribute to the implementation of IT, alternative ways of working and improved space use to increase organisational efficiency.

Facilities managers have replaced traditional paper-based systems with computerised systems in areas such building automation, design, document, energy and risk management. The adoption of this new technology highlights a willingness to embrace and promote technological change within the organisation.

I believe that the 'department of corporate facilities management' should be our vision. Such a vision would allow facilities management to drive change from board to operational level bringing true added value to the organisation. This would require the facilities manager and or the facilities team to take on new areas of responsibility such as IT, HR, purchasing and supply. Why not? We have already established that facilities management is a multidisciplinary, non-core function more akin to general management than a technical function. Organisations recognising the facilities manager's role in driving and managing the change process should be rewarded with a valuable source of added value and competitive advantage.

References in text to publications by: (1) Pratt 1995, D Rees 1997, (2) K Alexander 1994 (3) WR Rogers and Byham 1994, (4) McGregor and Shiem-Shin Then 1999, (5) S Meads 1994