As more organisations create smart offices and adopt agile working practices, the role of facilities management is undergoing a major shift, according to a new study, “Top 10 Workplace Trends Impacting HR & Facilities”, published by Smartway2, a unique cloud-based platform that enables businesses to help their people, places and technology work better together.

Historically, the term “facilities” has tended to conjure up images of health and safety procedures, office maintenance, cleaning and security. While these elements of running an efficient, compliant workplace are still important, notes Smartway2, the emergence of a new era of facilities management means a whole new host of responsibilities are now falling on facilities managers.

“Facilities management is set to come out of the back office and into the boardroom,” said Smartway2’s CEO John T. Anderson. “You might say facilities management is fast becoming facilities leadership.”

He added: “Today’s facilities leader is more strategic than ever before. They wield enormous power to influence the productivity of our workforce and improve the employee experience.

“As we learn more about the way our working environment influences employee engagement and sows the seeds of collaboration, we discover it’s vital to set a vision for Facilities that closely aligns with an organisation’s wider people strategy.”

Anderson expects to see Facilities working more closely than ever with HR in future. “Facilities managers will no longer just be doing the doing,” he said, “but also doing the thinking behind workplace transformation.”

According to research by Unispace—a leader in business and commercial interior design—some 80% of global HR leaders foresee a greater HR ownership of the physical workspace. This shift is driven by a greater need for cross-functional collaboration amongst teams and the need to accommodate headcount growth. The same study found that 68% of global HR leaders expect to be involved from the start of a workspace change project.

A recent survey by the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) found that the workplace is now considered to have three key components that are now intrinsically linked: physical space, the cultural environment and technology.

Smartway2’s technology provides capabilities that are vital to organisations striving to create a more agile workplace—such as enabling users to book desks, meeting rooms, catering services, equipment and other resources on-the-move.

The Smartway2 platform features a powerful rules-based engine that combines with leading room and desk signage to improve employees’ interaction with their company facilities. The solution also delivers extensive workplace analytics that drive better space utilisation.

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