The smarter cleaning vision
Nils
J.van der Zijl, VP Sales & Marketing at Softbank Robotics EMEA, looks into the smarter cleaning future envisioned by FM leaders.
than people working at their desks all day long. We’re also likely to see a strong focus on employee wellbeing, both physical and emotional.
It’s worth remembering that all of these shifts were happening anyway, prior to the events of this year. Forward- thinking employers were already re-inventing their office spaces to reflect changes in employee behaviour and demands, and to meet the digital-led expectations of new generations of workers.
It’s hard to predict the long-term impact that COVID-19 will have on working practices in Europe and the knock-on implications for commercial real estate and workspaces.
Dramatic reports about the demise of the traditional office are too simplistic. The longer the pandemic lasts, and with lockdown restrictions being re-imposed throughout Europe and the wider world, both employers and employees are recognising the value and benefits of the workplace.
Without doubt, the pandemic will act as a powerful catalyst for workplace change and an accelerator for the transformation of real estate. For businesses, it’s providing a window of opportunity to reimagine the future of work to meet the needs of a future, more agile workforce.
However, as a recent JLL study observed, the drop in demand for commercial office space is to be expected as a direct result of the severe global recession, but there is still little evidence that demand won’t bounce back to somewhere near its previous level once the pandemic has passed. As the report observes, increased working from home doesn’t equate to less demand for office space.
Accelerating the smart shift
Where there is broad consensus across all corners of the property and facilities management industries is that COVID-19 will speed up the shift towards smart and connected buildings.
Forward-thinking businesses are already looking beyond the immediate priorities of re-entry into buildings, and re- thinking how they can better utilise their office and work spaces to provide safer, more engaging and aspirational experiences for their people. They’re thinking big, re- imagining the ‘emotional, digital and physical dimensions of their spaces’.
As working patterns become more flexible, with a more even split between remote and office-based work, businesses will need to re-think the purpose of their workspaces, to emphasise and maximise the benefits of the aspects of work that cannot be replicated from home. So, we’ll see offices re-designed with a greater focus on spaces which encourage face-to-face interaction rather
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Of course, there are other drivers for these changes beyond employee experience. The move to smart buildings also enables organisations to drive cost efficiencies through reduced energy consumption and data-driven decision- making, allowing them to run more environmentally-friendly and sustainable operations, as well as enabling greater security and enhancing workforce productivity.
Smart buildings and FM
The move towards smarter buildings undoubtedly has major implications for the FM industry. The make-up of services and delivery models will need to evolve dramatically to cater for smart, connected buildings, and the businesses and end users that occupy them.
Whilst the shift towards smart buildings represents a real opportunity for FM professionals (both on the supply and demand side) to deliver strategic support and counsel to businesses, there are fears that they simply aren’t ready to rise to this challenge, given the immediate pressures and priorities they are juggling.
In research that we carried out at the beginning of the pandemic, 80% of European FM leaders admitted that delivering on their organisation’s smart building and smart workplace vision is a real challenge, but 87% said that it needed to be a top priority over the next two years.
Smart cleaning characteristics
FM leaders recognise the urgent need to innovate within their cleaning operations to support the shift to smart buildings and, most importantly, to meet and anticipate rapidly-evolving expectations around hygiene. Innovation within FM and cleaning has become mission-critical – 73% of senior leaders believe that the whole vision of smart buildings will be compromised without innovation in cleaning over next five years.
The question is: exactly how does cleaning need to change to stay relevant and be a catalyst for transformation?
For a start, cleaning operations will need to become more agile and resilient to cope with the pace and scale of constant change that is set to continue as part of everyday business, even after the pandemic. As a recent Accenture
(
https://www.jll.co.uk/en/trends-and-insights/research/future-of-office-demand) (
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/company/coronavirus-business-economic-impact)
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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