10 QUESTIONS WITH…
In each issue we ask an FM professional the Tomorrow’s FM 10 Questions. This month we spoke to Jonathan Gawthrop, Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing for EMCOR UK.
Q1
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
My first job was delivering the Sunday paper round in my neighbourhood when I was 13 years old. It was a great way to earn some pocket money especially since Sundays paid more than usual because the supplements caused the bag to be heavier.
Q2 Q3
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY? I moved from contract catering into FM when I joined EMCOR UK. It was the role rather than the industry which attracted me, swapping knives and forks for spanners and scaffolding but now that I’m here I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.
HOW DO YOU CHALLENGE THE
STATUS QUO?
I always ask for the meaning behind the acronym. For the first 12 months I struggled to understand what anyone was talking about because FM (ahem) loves an acronym, which to an untrained person can be a barrier to entry. Unless that is, you are prepared to ask the questions in order to really understand. It’s not and shouldn’t be a dark art. There are of course, some very technical skills being applied in this industry but underpinning all that we do is great customer service and people working with people. We shouldn’t look to make it any more convoluted.
Q4
SINCE YOU STARTED IN FM WHAT HAS
BEEN THE BIGGEST CHANGE THE INDUSTRY HAS SEEN/
YOU HAVE OBSERVED? Bad press and challenging the perception that FM is at the bottom of a customer’s service model. There are some incredibly talented and technical people in FM and an
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integrated service can bring huge value to a customers’ organisation when those talents are embraced. We are lucky to enjoy some terrific relationships with our customers where that is absolutely the case.
Q5
WHO, IN ANY OTHER INDUSTRY,
DO YOU MOST ADMIRE? There are some extraordinary people making a difference in the areas of health and wellbeing with a focus on improving how we all work. For me it would have to be Sidney Dekker who is changing the narrative around how we approach safety and risk leadership. He operates in the aviation industry and is a Professor of Psychology who focuses on challenging thinking around responsibility and fairness and amongst other things, proposed the adoption of a Just Culture model. I am inspired by those who look to make things better.
Q6 Q7
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK?
I will have to mention two books as both of them are worth reading. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Completely opposite in their writing styles but equally powerful in their portrayal of being and in their own ways, a philosophical look at life and what it’s all about.
IF YOU COULD HOST A DINNER PARTY
WITH THREE GUESTS, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD
THEY BE AND WHY? I would invite my wife Helen (she’s always on my list), Elvis Presley because as John Lennon said, “Before Elvis there was nothing” and Aristotle just because there are so many questions…It’s fair to say that I may not have thought about the relationship dynamic here though.
Q8
ANY ADVICE TO SOMEONE JUST
STARTING OUT IN
THE INDUSTRY? It’s important to have a plan, particularly in terms of personal development. Then I’d recommend selecting a company - by which I mean make sure you do your research to choose an organisation, which shares an approach and exhibits behaviours that match your own beliefs. Get that right and both parties should enjoy a successful journey together.
Q9
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE FUTURE
OF THE FM INDUSTRY? I believe FM has a fantastic and important future provided businesses are agile enough to anticipate as well as adapt. Organisations are increasingly challenged to support a sustainable agenda and that creates change and remodelling on a seismic scale. FM needs to support that change but also has both a responsibility and an opportunity to affect and inform it.
Q10
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS
OFTEN CITED AS THE NEW BATTLEGROUND FOR SERVICE LED ORGANISATIONS. WHAT IMPACT DO YOU FEEL THIS WILL HAVE ON OUR INDUSTRY OVER THE NEXT
FIVE YEARS? I don’t see this as a five-year challenge but as the challenge which we face here and now and in fact, how it should always have been. FM is a customer service industry and therefore, without CX (sigh…) being at the very centre of our product, we are really left with little else to offer.
www.emcoruk.com
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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