Feature
Putting People At The Centre Of Post-Pandemic Estates Rationalisation
By Rob Gilbert, Commercial Sales Director at Totalmobile
Estates rationalisation – already high on the facilities management (FM) agenda for both public and private sector organisations with distributed estates – has long been recognised as a key area for potential capital and operational cost savings. However, as organisations continue to manage the economic fallout of the pandemic, achieving more with less is more business-critical than ever before, and estates rationalisation will take on a renewed importance.
For some time, leading management consultancy firms such as McKinsey1
have been urging organisations to elevate FM to a
C-level priority. Like many areas of organisational transformation, widespread change brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has both highlighted and augmented this need.
Of course, austerity isn’t a new concept; organisations have been adapting business models and scaling down budgets to deal with difficult economic conditions for a long time. Therefore, in many ways, the idea of reducing estates to continue delivering services on a reduced budget comes as a somewhat natural thought process to many businesses.
However, prior to the events of 2020, many organisations had resisted allowing their workforce total flexibility and there was a lot of apprehension surrounding estates rationalisation. For example, what if productivity levels dipped, or if companies were not able to implement the infrastructure needed for more flexible work? The onset of the pandemic resolved many of these concerns. The way the UK adapted to COVID and the new guidelines effectively demonstrated that people could work from home, or with a rationalised estate with the same productivity levels.
38 fmuk Cutting Costs
Naturally, the main attraction of estates rationalisation is the cost-saving element. For those in the facilities management sector, rationalising estates would mean reducing the amount of ‘corporate office’ space and relying much more heavily on technology to remotely organise workforces and eliminate the need for physical check-ins. Scaling down office space and implementing remote work where possible not only reduces costs on rent (an outgoing that often takes up a large portion of any organisation’s budget), but also saves on maintenance costs. For many UK businesses, the office space they currently occupy is in older buildings, which take a considerable amount of time and money to upkeep.
In addition to the cost of basic maintenance and repairs, much of the UK workforce is beginning to expect more modern and environmentally-sympathetic office spaces - an idea popularised and best exemplified by the Google offices. In Google their offices are defined by their innovative rooms, designs that encourage play, and perks such as free lunches. However, for the majority of organisations, this kind of office space is simply not economically viable, especially over multiple large estates in different locations. The best option, therefore, is often to rationalise the estates that they do have. Not only does this reduce overhead costs, but it also frees up more budget to go into updating and maintaining the office space left.
Putting People First
There is no question about it: estates rationalisation makes perfect sense for any company looking to reduce expenditure. However, the cost-saving element is not the only thing to take into account.
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