New BIFM professional standards give FMs yet more career choices

Unlike HR, which is wholly represented by the CIPD, FM continues to offer a choice of professional bodies. RICS boasts it is the only one that gives FMs the opportunity to achieve Chartered Status, something which the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) is yet to offer. The BIFM has now announced the launch of a set of standards to “form a global competence model for the profession”. The Facilities Management Professional Standards its says, can be used to benchmark skills, knowledge and competence for those working at all levels in the FM profession. While RICS positions itself as the preferred route for a strategic facilities management career, the BIFM competences are intended to define each level in an FM’s career, from a support role through to a strategic role. FMs then, are still faced with the choice, to follow one or both organisations.

The BIFM FM Professional Standards were created in consultation with facilities management (FM) industry stakeholders, experts and professional standards writers and are aimed at:

• FM professionals (at any career level) – to understand what is required in the role, where he/she can develop skills and knowledge to enhance performance and advance their own career.
• Employers of FM staff – to better understand the skills and capability they can expect from FM teams.  The FM Professional Standards can be used to identify capability gaps and aid workforce planning to identify purposeful training and professional development needs as well as assist with FM recruitment.
• Learning and development professionals –  to identify  development needs aligned to The FM Professional Standards. They can also use the FM Professional Standards to inform learner assessment processes and tools.
• New entrants to the profession – School leavers, career changers, anyone considering a career in FM – to identify the types of roles and responsibilities involved in FM and the skills and knowledge requirements.

Gareth Tancred, BIFM, CEO said: “Ensuring that we have a proficient, qualified and skilled workforce is essential to driving up the standards across the profession. Our work with stakeholders to develop these standards means that we now have a robust set of professional standards by which professionals and employers alike can benchmark themselves against.

“Professionalisation of facilities management is needed to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the discipline to business. Organisations and business leaders now have a framework with which they can ensure they are fully utilising the management discipline of FM.”

To complement the framework, new tools for both individuals and organisations to use in their professional development programmes will be introduced in due course. The FM Professional Standards are closely aligned to the BIFM qualifications to ensure consistency and relevancy.

The BIFM Facilities Management Professional Standards can be found at www.bifm.org.uk/FMstandards