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January 29, 2025
By Emma Lambert, Head of Talent Development
When it comes to facilities management training, it takes two forms: training tailored to our clients’ needs and requirements, and training aimed at personal and career development for our people. Training is a continuous process that must constantly evolve to ensure our people are the best they can be.
Training is indeed a key pillar in both personal and professional growth within any organisation. It not only enhances skills but also fosters employee retention, directly impacting a company’s reputation and success.
There has been a huge move in the industry towards mentoring and coaching. So much of FM delivery is practical and problem solving, so learning from the experience of others is invaluable.
Formal qualifications are relevant and can provide a great basic knowledge as an overview, but they are not necessarily tailored to what our clients need on a daily basis. Mentoring plugs that gap.
This is why the active contribution of management is so important. Managers play a crucial role in supporting their teams’ continuous learning by identifying development needs, providing effective coaching and creating opportunities for growth.
When managers actively encourage and enable ongoing training and incorporate coaching into their approach, they empower their teams to build new skills and adapt to changing demands, fostering both individual and organisational success.
For this style of training to work, it must be embraced by managers and may require changing mentalities. People learn from example and so with the right guidance and encouragement, positive influencing should be alive and kicking across the business.
However, the idea of becoming a mentor or coach is still one that is often shied away from. Common challenges include:
To combat the above, a cultural shift to alter the style of management in an organisation is often required. If all staff are developed in the same way from the top down, then managers and supervisors can lead by example.
The advantages of training in FM are far reaching, benefiting FM providers, clients and customers alike:
But before thinking of the secondary benefits, you must start with your own people and focus on developing them first and foremost. This is something that Gemma Rigby, Anabas’ HR Director, believes strongly: “The value of ongoing progression and development cannot be understated when it comes to staff attraction, satisfaction and retention.
“Training that’s tailored to teams and individuals ensures staff at every level are contributing to your business goals and, crucially, feel a part of your success.”
Support, for both the learner and the coach, is crucial in implementing an effective mentoring programme. These steps will help get you started:
And remember, the key to being a successful coach is collaboration and developing a good working relationship with the learner.
CPD is designed to identify areas for improvement or where development is required. It is also a great way to measure success on both a business and personal level.
While coaching and formal training should make up part of the process, your staff are also responsible for their own development. As such, they need to take responsibility, identify their own needs, set their own pace and use their own initiative.
We create our training programmes with CPD in mind and consider where our employees can take ownership of their own training. Tailoring this to individuals is vital to positive outcomes, and it also provides our employees with the power to steer their own progression.
There are many different types of training, and not all of it is confined to a traditional classroom setting. While online and classroom learning have a place, training at Anabas extends to more practical experiences such as on-the-job learning, shadowing and mentoring.
A good FM provider not only provides a great service to clients – it also offers facilities management jobs with real progression and development for the people delivering that service.
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