i-FM: The online resource for facilities professionals

Qualifications vs skills
FM's sector skills council, Asset Skills, has a remit to work closely with employers and the industry on skills issues. When we asked employers and professional bodies what those issues were, it was clear that creating career pathways, promoting FM as a career and raising the profile of the sector were priorities. Career pathways are important to any industry wanting to attract good quality entrants and develop the right skills. Pathways provide progression routes which show someone how they can develop their career through the sector from junior to senior positions. With such a wide range of roles, variety of responsibilities and different entry points, FM as a career can look confusing to the new entrant and to an ambitious facilities manager.

The view is sometimes expressed that educationalists want qualifications and employers prefer skills. In truth, it is often the individual employee who wants the qualification as a measure of their own achievement. Qualifications are actually vital benchmarks for both employee and employer and used in all recognised professions.

As a profession, FM is relatively new and until recently the range of qualifications available hadn’t caught up with the needs of the sector. This has been true particularly of entry level qualifications. Asset Skills has been working with employers and professional bodies, in particular the British Institute of Facilities Management, to address this gap.

A milestone for the industry
The first milestone towards the creation of these new qualifications was achieved at the end of September 2008 when a document of importance to everyone in facilities management received approval from the national approvals body (the UKCG). It is known as a National Occupational Standard and sets out the tasks, activities and knowledge that you would expect to see demonstrated by someone working in FM at entry level (first FM role such as team leader, assistant FM etc). Developing this standard could not have been achieved without the support of employers and the BIFM. This work led to the second standard, for the higher level of Facilities Manager, being completed in 2009. These documents are an important milestone on the road to increased recognition for facilities management.

National standards are a free source document for any skills development activity but the most important use of the standard has been to form the basis for the first entry level and workplace assessed qualifications in the sector. This includes the new FM apprenticeship programme and the qualifications within it. These are the new ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) Level 3 programme and the NVQ, which assess application in the workplace.

The initiative by the BIFM to develop this Level 3 programme with the ILM was an important step for the industry and enabled the apprenticeship programme to gain approval in 2009. For the first time, we have a qualification suitable for new entrants looking to break into the industry. Taken together or combined within an apprenticeship 'framework', these new qualifications will become important tools in attracting new entrants to FM and raising the level of industry-specific qualifications within the sector.

What does an apprenticeship framework look like?
These days the answer has three elements.

One - a knowledge-based element or taught programme. In the case of FM, this is the ILM Level 3 certificate in FM. This programme was developed by the ILM in partnership with the BIFM. It can also be taken in its own right and at three levels (award, certificate and diploma).Stand-alone, this is also suitable for an experienced candidate.

Two – a competence-based element such as National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) at Level 3. Offered by awarding bodies including City and Guilds, FDQ, WAMITAB and Edexcel, this enables the candidate to demonstrate how they are applying knowledge in the context of their job. Stand-alone, this is suitable for an experienced FM candidate.

Three – key skills, including the application of numbers and communications. Information technology is not mandatory but candidates are encouraged to take this as an additional key skill.

It is important that qualified apprentices and other candidates who are successful at this level have options for recognition by the professional bodies. It is also important that they have progression routes open to them. The significant update by the BIFM of their qualifications structure is excellent timing for the industry. This all forms a pathway which can also link to foundation degrees and postgraduate qualifications. Candidates completing the entry level programmes will have options open to them and can see their career pathway supported by further qualifications options.

The qualifications industry is also changing and options to accredit internal training if it maps to national standards will be available, particularly within larger FM organisations. This is great news for all those FMs who benefit from internal training programmes. In the near future, these could be accredited and therefore portable.

The demise of the accidental facilities manager
When you talk to people in facilities management, everyone has a different tale to tell about how they came to be working in the industry. The one thing that most people have in common is that they find themselves in the industry more by accident than design. Very few say they made the move into FM deliberately. For a long time, facilities management has relied on attracting people into the industry from other sectors. With first level qualifications it will be much easier to promote the sector to a younger audience who will be interested as FM as a deliberate career choice and in industry-specific qualifications.

Facilities management will always be attractive to the experienced career changer and it may always need them. With more attractive qualifications options, there will be pathways for any level of entrant to follow. Clearer qualifications options at every level will help entrants at any stage of their career pathway enter the sector by choice. It would be great progress for the profession if more people entered the sector deliberately - and the 'accidental FM' became much less common.

Time to grow your own
There has been a growing argument that facilities management should do more to be recognised as a profession. One key part of being recognised as a profession is being seen as a career of choice to new entrants. Asset Skills also believes the low numbers of people within FM without a specific qualification in facilities management is one of the barriers to raising the profile of the industry and gaining professional recognition. Fit for purpose and relevant vocational qualifications, particularly at lower levels, and clear career pathways for those entering and working in FM are key elements of professional recognition. This would also enable the sector to ensure succession planning and to 'grow' managers for the future.

As a new industry, facilities management (and its people) has never had to contend with a recession on the current scale. In challenging economic times, FM within any organisation can be seen as an easy target for operational savings and needs to present a professional approach and clear strategy to support core business. Is this a good time to be launching new qualifications, and particularly the Apprenticeship in FM? Asset Skills would say the timing has never been better and this is great development for the industry.

Investing in training and development should be an essential part of the response to the recession to help an organisation work its way through the downturn. This should be equally true for FMs on an individual basis and for their teams at anytime to ensure succession planning and professional development. In today's climate, the wise FM will be investing in his or her career, and industry-specific qualifications should be part of the plan.

Current economic conditions present an opportunity for both in-house and outsourced FMs to show value to their clients. Facilities management needs to be in a strong position to attract and keep good people. With so much concern about the future career opportunities for young people, FM will need to consider how it can respond. Career pathways will help succession planning and boost the profile of FM. A skilled, well-trained workforce will ensure the industry’s healthy future and help the UK economy as a whole.

Karen Waterlow is the Specialist Adviser for Facilities Management and Cleaning at Asset Skills.

For more information:

The Employers Guide to the FM Apprenticeship is available at www.assetskills.org

National Apprenticeship Service: www.apprenticeships.org

Institute of Leadership and Management: www.i-l-m.com