At Anabas, we often reflect on what contributes to a High Performing team. Planning and clear direction are key, but so is having the right personalities and skills mix. As such, training and development can be used to enhance and develop skills within the team. Training for FM staff comes in two forms – training to ensure personal and career development, and training that is tailored to your clients’ needs and requirements, enabling you to deliver the best possible service.

Developing new skills to enhance client services

So much of FM delivery is practical and problem-solving, so learning from experience in the form of mentoring and coaching on a one to one basis is invaluable. Formal qualifications are relevant and can provide a great basic knowledge as an overview, but they are not necessarily tailored to what your clients need on a daily basis.

Why one to one?

People tend to learn from example regardless of their preferred learning style and so with the right guidance and encouragement, positive growth and job satisfaction should flourish.

The idea of becoming a mentor or coach is still one that is often shied away from. A number of common challenges include:

• Managers can lack the skills to teach and develop others simply because they have never been taught how to do so;
• Coaching is a difficult skill to master. Most managers are only used to directing rather than developing others to deliver something; and
• Lack of Time – Managers often feel they don’t have the time to coach others but this can be counterproductive. Making time to pass on skills will save time for the business in the long run.

In order to combat the above, a cultural shift to alter the style of management in an organisation is often required – but if all staff are developed in the same way from the top down, then managers and supervisors can lead by example.

Making it work

• Develop and implement a plan and process to provide steps for both the coach and the individual to follow, e.g. the GROW model – a simple structure which can be adapted to suit the style and skills of the coach/manager;
• Encourage regular and honest conversations;
• Trust others – allow those you are coaching to make mistakes. These provide an opportunity to reflect and to discuss how a different approach could have delivered a more positive outcome;
• Set or suggest clear goals, objectives, and timeframes; and
• Map the journey and measure progress at regular intervals.

And remember, the key to being an effective coach is a good collaborative working relationship with the learner.

Learning key FM skills & measuring success

Coaching and formal training should mark part of the development process and our staff are also responsible for their own development. They need to identify their own needs, set their own pace and use their own initiative.

A combination of learning styles and resources can be used and these include;

• Online training guides;
• On the job – shadowing;
• Reading and self-learning; and
• Industry Influencers.

Develop a training plan with each member of staff and document progression in the following ways:

• Employee journals – learning and development action logs can be used to document the journey;
• Records of all development – training attended, qualifications gained, resources read or viewed; and
• Sharing the learning – encourage individuals to demonstrate new skills or knowledge and share accordingly.

Training should be an ongoing journey based on the individuals in your business, your clients’ needs, changes in the industry and legislation. It comes in many forms, from online self-managed learning to a more formal classroom setting, shadowing and mentoring.