MENTAL HEALTH, STRESS & WELLBEING EASING THE PRESSURE
Scott Saunders, Technical Service Manager at Watco, discusses why the workplace experience for facilities management professionals is a concern and how this can be addressed with greater support.
The top priority for a facilities manager (FM) is to ensure a safe, smooth-running environment. Whilst this is still critical, the range and nature of responsibilities for an FM have increased and evolved, so it’s not surprising that professionals in the industry today are feeling the pressure.
In December 2023, Watco conducted research 12 months on from its previous survey to reassess attitudes towards workplace experience. The latest data revealed that over a third (38%) are often stressed because of their workload. This is a concerning increase since the previous survey (26%), highlighting that greater understanding and support are sorely needed.
WHAT IS CAUSING THE INCREASE IN STRESS
LEVELS AMONG FMs? To deliver meaningful support to facilities managers and improve the workplace experience, the biggest causes of stress must first be identified.
One of the factors that is having a significant impact on stress levels, as identified by the research, is the increasing workloads that FMs are facing. Almost half (41%) of FMs now agree that their workload has
36
increased in the past year, in comparison to 29% in 2022, which is a worrying jump in just 12 months. Workloads have drastically increased over the past few years because of events and changes such as Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and building regulations. This has become difficult to manage because although the responsibilities and skills required for the FM role have increased, the budget allocated has not, and in many cases has actually decreased.
Four-fifths (80%) of FMs surveyed said that they had had their budget cut in the last year, with one fifth (20%) confirming a significant cut of between 26% and 50%. The cuts force difficult decisions to be made around resource and prioritisation, and are also negatively impacting the safety of facilities. A third (33%) of FMs agreed that budget cuts have posed a safety risk to their business over the past year. In addition to this, over a quarter (28%) of FMs do not believe that employees are aware of potential hazards and know how to control/report any risks in their facility. This is a significant concern and will undoubtedly contribute to stress levels when accidents occur, however, without the budget and resource to allocate to this training, FMs are caught in a very difficult position.
www.tomorrowshs.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
