Trading places

'Most of the innovation in our business is coming from the supplier side and people who want to get involved in leading-edge FM are working for service providers,' argues Martin Pickard, managing director of Citex Property and Facilities.

Pickard has recently made the jump himself. Until six months ago he headed up property and business services for Cellnet. 'I'm getting CVs from people who feel restricted working for an organisation. They want to be doing more interesting things,' he insists.

This isn't the only advantage of working for a supplier, Pickard says. Almost as important for him has been the realisation that what he does – facilities management – is now the core business. He has colleagues in a way he never had them before, people who really understand what he's talking about. 'We're bouncing ideas around and sharing experiences all the time,' he says.

In-house facilities managers have a great deal to offer a supplier too, notably their understanding of how clients think. CoFlex has recruited managers from several big corporates including IBM and BP. Managing director Seamus Grealish says: 'It can be a real benefit getting people from the client side. They have experience of what clients want and that's the strength of a good manager.'

Their general understanding of how businesses work is also a bonus. 'They can look at facilities strategically and work out what will enable their client to become more strategic in his organisation and bid for more responsibility.'

However, in return you must be willing to get your hands dirty, Grealish says. You could find yourself talking to your client's managing director one day and the cleaner the next. 'The problem is that many in-house managers have been used to being of a certain rank within their organisations and can only talk upwards,' he says.

But while this is fine for senior managers such as Martin Pickard, John De Lucy and Mike Harrington [see boxes], it's going to be a long time before more junior managers jump ship for a supplier.

Recruitment consultants specialising in the industry insist it is extraordinarily hard to persuade in-house managers to move to a supplier. 'It depends on the reputation of the service provider, but a lot more want to go the other way round,' says Nikki Millensted a senior consultant with the Synergy Group. 'Those who have worked in the private sector are particularly fussy. They have had good training, competitive salaries and been treated well.'

This is a problem for most suppliers looking to attract in-house talent – once you move away from senior management jobs, pay and conditions simply aren't as good as in-house. For starters site-based supplier facilities professionals can expect to earn up to 20 per cent less than their in-house counterparts.

Add to this the change in status. When you move out of house you cease to be a friendly insider with whom everyone gossips and you become the unwelcome intruder.

Then there is the issue of job security. Although some suppliers are looking to tie clients in for longer service deals, most contracts still only last for only a couple of years – with no guarantee that it will be renewed. So if you work for a supplier you must be prepared to go where the work is.

It's not surprising therefore that Millensted advises clients to check the reputation of a provider and ascertain what work they have on the books before taking the plunge. This means ensuring they aren't over-stretched as well as checking they have enough work to be viable.

Of course skill shortages are forcing most facilities management employers to rethink their reward strategies and many suppliers do not accept this gloomy view of their business. 'We are becoming more professional in our approach,' says Grealish. CoFlex, for example, has achieved the government's training standard Investors in People, which means that everyone has a training plan and everyone is encouraged to pursue further education and training.

Pickard too is working hard to make sure that client-based staff get to talk to each other and share their ideas. 'We've set up evening training sessions and we are heavily into technology such as email and video conferencing,' he says.

Now that it is clear that many facilities jobs will remain in house there is not quite the distrust there once was between in-house facilities managers and their suppliers. But there will never be a true understanding of what each does without more mixing and matching.

Martin Pickard is a case in point. One of the things he has particularly enjoyed about moving to a supplier has been learning how a bid is put together. And it has opened his eyes. 'I never realised how much work went into it – all those times when I thought I'd get another couple of people to give me a price, just in case. If I ever go back to working in house, I'll never do that to anyone again,' he says.