Category: Connexus Magazine

Gary Vaynerchuk, PRSM2018 Conference keynote speaker, didn’t waste any time before he challenged conference attendees to “go where the attention is.” “Before you try to sell me anything, before you try to explain your service or your product, you have to grab my attention!” Vaynerchuk emphasized.

Vaynerchuk grew his family wine business from a $3M to a $60M business in just five years. Now, he runs VaynerMedia, one of the world’s hottest digital agencies. Along the way, Gary became a prolific angel investor and venture capitalist, investing in companies including Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Uber and Venmo and co-founding the VaynerRSE fund. 

With more than 3.5 million fans on social media, Gary shares his ongoing journey as an entrepreneur in his daily vlog, #DailyVee. He also hosts The #AskGaryVee Show, on which he answers questions about digital media, entrepreneurship, leadership and more.

Success didn’t come easy for Vaynerchuk. However, he started early in life. “When I was six, I had a five lemonade-stand franchise operation and I spent my summer days identifying ways to get the attention of new customers, and it worked. I used that same work ethic and practice in the family wine business. I went to where people were naturally going and grabbed their attention,” Vaynerchuk said.

Today, customers, even B2B customers, are on social media. “You don’t have to be a genius to be successful using social media to sell facilities services. Just Google how to create a podcast, or how to set up a Facebook company page. Just start – 99 percent of your competitors won’t do it. If you’re the only one out there doing it – you can become a respected industry expert,”Vaynerchuk explained.

“I chase under-priced attention and punt over-priced attention,” quipped the digital prodigy. “I want to put myself and my services in the media that captures the most attention at the lowest possible cost – if not free – and avoid paying for media that doesn’t work.” That is why he is a huge advocate of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and emerging media.

“Five years ago, 90 percent of you thought Facebook was just something your teenage kids wasted time on, but, today Congress told Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook has too much power. So, do you still believe it’s just something for teens? If a media channel has enough power to get the attention of Congress, do you not believe it can get the attention of your clients or potential clients?”

Vaynerchuck boasted, “I don’t understand technology and how all this stuff works. What I want to do is sell stuff. I want to promote my stuff. You either catch the wave or get sucked under by it as your competitors or new companies roll over you.”

“Everyone in this room is in the B2B media business,” he continued. “You need to be the B2B magazine for your industry. Share your insights, your experiences. Ninety-nine percent of you won’t do anything. It’s always easier to keep doing what you have always done. Everyone is trying to reach the same client. You must do something different to stand out from the crowd and get their attention. Creating a social presence for you and your company can make a huge difference.”

“We are living though the greatest shift in attention since the printing press. History tells us the future. When we shifted from radio to TV, everything changed. Today we are entering one of the most exciting periods in history. You need to be on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

If you don’t know how, hire someone who does. Technology is going to eat everything. It is the biggest force in our society. You need to learn to ride the wave today, or you will drown tomorrow!” he concluded.

Empowering employees for the retail revolution

Speaker, trainer and author Pete Smith is a leading thinker in the fields of leadership, management and personal growth. Author of the popular and inspiring Dare to Matter: Choosing an Unstuck and Unapologetic Life of Significance, Smith recently spoke at the PRSM National Conference in Nashville on “Advancing Your Career: A Focus on the Five Pillars of Progress” and “Built for Legacy: Developing and Leading Teams that Matter.” Here, he offers insight into the relationship between business productivity and a personal sense of purpose.

PRSM: How do you and your company, SmithImpact, help businesses?

Smith: My primary focus is to work with employees and managers on incorporating significance into their lives, both personally and professionally. Everyone wants to know with certainty that what we do matters. The keys to motivation, engagement, recruitment and retention exist within someone’s relentless pursuit of significance, not solely in someone’s pursuit of success.

PRSM: We are often advised to “follow our passion.” How does this differ from the pursuit of purpose?

Smith: There’s a lot of talk about the importance of passion, and while I’m a believer in passion, for many people, passion is a feeling, and feelings come and go. The larger thing we want to focus on is purpose; passion is your fuel, but purpose is your roadmap. Especially for the sales managers and sales teams of tomorrow, I would engage them in conversations that will involve them in purpose on an individual and collective level.

PRSM: How does an individual or a sales team find their purpose, beyond the obvious goals and objectives of their workplace?

Smith: I think there’s a bit of a myth around purpose, in that many people think it’s lost and it needs to be found. My perspective is it’s not lost; it simply needs to be chosen. You choose those one or two words that embody everything you want your life to be about. If people can articulate an answer for that question, they’re much further along in identifying their purpose.

PRSM: Why is this important for business?

Smith: If there’s a disconnect between personal and professional purpose, people burn out. For example, if you personally stand for equality, it would resonate in your relationships and your parenting; it penetrates every aspect of your life. You apply it individually, and you also apply it to your team.

You have organizational identity, team identity and personal identity. One team identity was summed up in the sentence: “We don’t let a day go by until at least one sale is made.” Their product is a $3,500 product. One member of the team personally stood for opportunity. He viewed his role as creating opportunities both for the sales people on his team and for the customer. Someone else had a stand for achievement; through being a part of that team, he fulfilled his purpose.

We always hear that we have to keep our personal life separate from our professional life. That sounds awesome, but I’ve never seen it in action.

By: Sarah B. Hood

The 2018-2019 PRSM Board of Directors officially assumed office April 9 during the PRSM2018 National Conference in Nashville, TN. The new officers are:

Chair: Jonathan Bauer, Sr. Director Store Development, Gap Inc.

Vice Chair: Stacy Brown, Director, Strategic Planning & Development, Global Facility Management & Construction

Treasurer: Chris Slocum, Founder, Chief Customer Officer, Cornell Storefront Systems, Inc.

Secretary: Myriah Kingen, Director, Repair & Maintenance, Extra Space Storage

As Senior Director Store Development, Gap Inc., Bauer, PRSM’s Board Chair, leads the construction, store maintenance and minor remodel teams that support the store North American Gap Inc. fleet. This past year Bauer served as Chair. Prior to that, he served as Director on the PRSM Board and on the Board’s Audit & Investment and Nominating Committees. In 2015-2016 he was a Retail Alternate on the Board, and was Board Liaison to the International Committee. In 2014-2015 he served as Co-Chair of the National Conference Task Force.

“I am honored to be selected to lead the PRSM Board for another year, and I want to sincerely thank those Board members who just completed their term,” Bauer said. “We have made significant changes in the last 12 months and as retail continues its evolution, I am excited about the opportunities for PRSM and our members in the years ahead.”

The Association membership also elected two new retail Board members to three-year terms and two retail alternates to a one-year term. Retail directors include:

• Steve Andrews, Sr. Regional Manager Facilities Maintenance, Walmart, Inc.

• Sean Coakley, RFMP, VP/Director of U.S. Facilities, TD Bank

• Neil Butler, LEED Green Associate, VP Store Maintenance, Luxottica Retail – Retail 1st Alternate

• Kirk Beaudoin, RFMP, FMA, LEED Green Associate, Senior Facilities Manager, adidas – Retail 2nd Alternate

Two supplier Board members were elected for a three-year term, and one supplier alternate elected to a one-year term, on the Board include:

• Jaclyn Frenzel, Vice President, AFM, Inc.

• Tom Buiocchi, CEO, ServiceChannel

• Grant Baecker, President, Authority HVAC – Supplier Alternate λ

Left to right: Jordan Campbell, Matthew Whelan, Stacy Brown, Neil Butler, Jaclyn Frenzel, Sean Coakley, Myriah Kingen, Steve Andrews, Bill Yanek, Jonathan Bauer, Chris Slocum, Leigh Pearson, Kirk Beaudoin, Shawn Browning, 
Grant Baecker, Tom Buiocchi

Get an unbiased opinion before deciding to replace your store’s roof

If your car began acting up and you needed an expert opinion on whether to fix or replace it, you wouldn’t seek out a new-car sales associate. In the same vein, FMs who notice a leak or weather damage to their store’s roof shouldn’t immediately turn to roofing companies that focus on selling new roofs. That’s the message from the guys at Sodexo | Roth’s integrated facilities management company based in Youngstown, Ohio.

Sodexo | Roth, which started as a roofing company 95 years ago and now offers a wide range of FM services, does not sell roof replacements but instead focuses on extending the life of clients’ existing roofs through reactive repair and preventative maintenance. If Sodexo | Roth’s roofing consultants determine a building needs a new roof, they will design the roof, bid that project out to construction companies and supervise construction for clients, but the goal is to extend the life of the existing asset and avoid the costly capital investment of installing a new roof.

The typical flat roof on a retail facility can be expected to last 15 to 25 years if properly installed and maintained, according to Robert Swartz, a sales executive in Sodexo | Roth’s roofing division, so FMs shouldn’t assume that a roof showing wear and tear needs to be replaced.

“When people have a leak and begin to have issues with a roof, they immediately think, ‘I’m going to have to replace it.’ But not always,” Swartz said. “Sometimes you can do repairs and stretch out those capital dollars for a number of years. Unless the damage is from a major storm event like a hurricane or a tornado, more than half of the roofs we see that have been neglected for a few years can be repaired and can have some extended life.”

Barry Wardle, Sodexo | Roth’s Vice President of Sales and Business Development, said retail FMs should be wary of roofing contractors whose first impulse is to sell them a new roof.

“It’s definitely important to have a third party involved to guide the process of deciding the right time to have a roof replaced.”

Swartz said retail FMs seeking reputable roofing consultants should turn to professional organizations such as PRSM, the RCI Inc. roofing trade association and the National Roofing Contractors Association.

Roofing companies that are members and attend these events are much more likely to get the continuing-education and training opportunities necessary to keep up with changes in roofing materials and maintenance and repair practices, Swartz said. The 2019 IRE, for example, will offer 122 hours of education at 44 sessions spread over three days next February in Nashville, Tenn. For roofing contractors, these training sessions help ensure that the repair work they do is consistent with the warranty requirements for stores’ roofs.

Swartz said a good place for retail FMs to start is to have a roofing consultant perform an initial inspection, which might include taking high-resolution digital photos so changes in the roof can be monitored over time. Prior roof maintenance and repair work can be evaluated, and a maintenance program can be developed.

“If you have a game plan of how your roof is going to be maintained over a five- or 10-year period, you’re probably going to add to the life of the roof,” Swartz said.

By: Nick Fortuna

Renee Prager, President and CEO, Brinco Mechanical Management Services, Inc.

How long have you worked in FM?

Ron: 25+ years as a single trade vendor.

Renee: 20+ years.

Why were you interested in FM?

Ron: Brinco began as a local NY Commercial HVAC/R service company and at the behest of our retail clients, expanded into a National HVAC/R Management Company servicing multisite accounts. HVAC has always been a pain-point for managers of all types of facilities. As a mechanical engineer, and a certified HVAC technician, I understand the impact mechanical systems have on the overall client experience.

Renee: I became interested in FM and joined PRSM 20 years ago when recognition of the FM industry as a profession was at its start. At that time, facility managers were being challenged to expand their skill sets to include knowledge of risk management, budgeting and finance, and software applications. I felt my background as an attorney would be useful to the organization during its formative years. I have served two terms on PRSM’s Board of Directors, and have seen the continued expansion of the facilities management industry.

What is the most interesting FM task you have been asked to do?

Ron: Finding solutions for long-term HVAC issues where others have tried and failed is most rewarding to me, on both the service and the design side of the business.

Renee: I find dealing with clients’ budgetary constraints, reporting requirements and development of strategic programs to preserve their HVAC assets exciting. HVAC is a high-profile area within facilities management requiring specialized trade expertise. We all know that facilities management is considered a cost center, not a profit center for our clients.

Ron Prager, Vice President and COO, Brinco Mechanical Management Services, Inc.

What are the main benefits you get from being a PRSM member?

Renee: PRSM provides us with opportunities to visit with our clients and our peers, exchange new ideas and discuss changes in the FM space.

Ron: We also benefit from retailers being able to network with each other.

What advice would you give to someone entering the FM industry?

Renee: Listen to everyone but always draw your own conclusions, and never stop learning.

Ron: Ask questions. That drives the increased professional knowledge and allows you to learn from the experience of others.

What do you see as the biggest challenges to the FM industry and why?

Renee: Repurposing overbuilt space. My definition of retail is any space where a consumer visits to purchase goods or services, whether it be a restaurant, healthcare center, or financial center. Retail space has been overbuilt by approximately 20 percent. How will those areas be repurposed based on the changing economic climate, and the shift of consumers to experiential based consumerism vs. goods based consumerism? Which industry disrupters and leaders will take advantage of those properties?

Ron: I agree, and I think that dealing with the fallout due to the repurposing is the major challenge for FMs. How does a retail facility manager make a business case for investing in and replacing an HVAC system that should have been replaced years ago if they don’t know how long they’ll be occupying the space due to a short lease term or the unknown viability of that retail center?

PRSM does many things well,  but to be even better,  we must focus on what we do best.

The Retail Revolution Continues. In 1995, I came across a magazine called Fast Company, a magazine with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, world changing ideas and design. Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, two former Harvard Business Review editors, founded Fast Company on the premise that a global revolution was changing business, and business was changing the world. Today, Fast Company continues to chronicle how changing companies create and compete, and highlights new business practices. It also showcases the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business.

A Change in Mindset is Necessary. Regular reading of Fast Company built my interest in the concept of the “entrepreneurial mindset.” There are many definitions of this “mindset,” but there are shortcuts to finding a true definition. Most directly, find those visionary entrepreneurs and find out what they know. In the early 2000s, the pages of Fast Company introduced me to a budding entrepreneur named Gary Vaynerchuk, who was making his name in the world of online wine sales. Since that time, Gary’s popularity and influence have grown exponentially. His VaynerMedia LLC operates as a brand consulting agency. Its services include creative and production, paid media, account management and strategy, social analysis, community management and consumer insights. With more than one million fans / followers / viewers of his social media efforts, Gary lives in the rare air of social media icon.

@garyvee. Gary’s podcast is a must-listen for leaders at all career stages – especially if you desire to lead in this digital age (www.garyvaynerchuk.com/podcast/). He is king of the blunt assessment – he pulls no punches. Gary is also the rare CEO unafraid to deliver his message and predictions with verve, energy and candor. Those of you who will be joining us in Nashville at PRSM2018 National Conference will have the opportunity to see him in person. In this time of reinventing retail, Gary’s message is exactly the right message for the moment.

When Doing Less = More. In 2011, Morten T. Hansen, a professor of management at the University of California, Berkeley, decided to try to answer the question of why some people outperform others. He recruited a team of researchers with expertise in statistical analysis and began generating a set of hypotheses about which specific behaviors lead to high performance. He then conducted a five-year survey of 5,000 managers and employees, including sales reps, lawyers, actuaries, brokers, medical doctors, software programmers, engineers, store managers, plant foremen, nurses and even a Las Vegas casino dealer.

The widespread practice Hansen found among the highest-ranked performers in the study wasn’t a better ability to organize or delegate. Instead, top performers mastered selectivity. Hansen’s new book, Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More, explains in more detail his findings. This concept of delivering more effectively by doing less better is directly relevant to PRSM. PRSM does many things well, but to be even better, we must focus on what we do best.

PRSM 2018 Focus. PRSM is a successful association, but we must continue to evolve operations to keep up with the ongoing retail revolution and serve PRSM members most effectively. PRSM has partnered with Strategex to conduct a Voice of the Customer (VOC) analysis and strategic plan development. One major change for PRSM operations will be a renewed focus on what PRSM does best. Vaynerchuk puts it this way: “Whether you’re 9 or 90, stop trying to fix the things you’re bad at, and focus on the things you’re good at.” There are parts of PRSM that will always need fixing, but our strategic efforts in 2018 will narrow our association focus to what we do best – and attack those objectives with an entrepreneurial mindset and energy.

I look forward to seeing you in Nashville at PRSM2018 National Conference.

By: Bill Yanek

Community partnerships, training programs and career paths all part of the solution

There is a gap between the skills needed by members of the retail facilities management industry and the skills available in today’s emerging workforce. The gap, however, is not limited to retail FM – which exacerbates the challenge as FMs and their suppliers look for employees with trade, technology and management skills.

In fact, FMs are competing with manufacturing, construction and landscaping industries for talented individuals who can see career opportunities in jobs that may not be typically identified on a student’s wish list for jobs after graduation.

The reasons for the decline in skilled trades such as carpentry, electrical, plumbing and HVAC are varied, but the emphasis on college educations and careers focused on professional or white-collar jobs for young people is one reason. A slowdown in construction during the recession created a surplus of skilled trade workers who moved into other jobs and did not return when the construction industry began its recovery. For some retail FMs, the construction slowdown helped fill trade jobs in the retail industry, but these employees are closer to retirement, with no young, experienced people in the pipeline.

The gap was identified by members of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in a 2014 survey in which respondents identified the jobs for which they had the most difficulty recruiting. High-skilled technicians were identified by 65 percent and skilled trades were reported by 63 percent as difficult to recruit.1

More recently, 43 percent of PRSM’s supplier members responding to the 2017 member survey reported that hiring and retraining qualified trade professionals (43 percent) is one of their biggest challenges.2

The skills gap is not just related to trades. As FM departments become more technologically dependent on software, mobile apps, energy programs and integrated management systems, the ability to balance technology skills with people skills to ensure good customer service becomes critical.

A 2016 study conducted by SHRM reports that more than half of HR professionals reported some level of basic skills/knowledge deficits among job applicants and 84 percent reported applied skills shortages in job applicants in the last year.3

The most often identified basic skills shortage were writing in English, basic computer skills, spoken English language, reading comprehension and mathematics. The most commonly reported applied skills missing include critical thinking/problem-solving, professionalism/work ethic, leadership, written communications and teamwork/collaboration.

Although HR professionals admitted they were adjusting recruitment strategies to reach qualified candidates through social media, they also identified training existing employees to take on hard-to-fill roles and supporting them in their development of needed skills to fill the gaps as the most important strategy an organization can adopt.

Preparing employees to take on other roles such as moving from field tech to customer service representative in an FM department, supervising a skilled trade group, or managing a sourcing group, ensures retention of quality, experienced employees.

The opportunity to move up in an organization is important – in fact, 82 percent of respondents to the PRSM Retail Member Survey say that one of the challenges they face is difficulty finding a position that allows for career advancement and promotion.4 Because it costs less to train and keep employees, than to recruit, train and lose employees, companies that offer ongoing education and pathways for advancement have an edge on their competitors. Not only does this strategy differentiate an employee in the employee recruitment marketplace, but it also establishes a continuity retail organizations and clients appreciate.

Flexibility in the workplace is another way organizations can retain older workers. More members of the Baby Boomer generation are interested in working beyond traditional retirement age. A number of different strategies were reported by HR managers in a SHRM report on the aging workforce5:

• 48 percent offered reduced hours or part-time positions to older workers

• 40 percent hired retired employees as consultants or temporary workers

• 37 percent started flexible scheduling that included telework and alternative work schedules

• 30 percent created or redesigned positions that allow bridged employment – enabling employees to ease into retirement while the company retains good employees to train upcoming replacements

• 29 percent provided training to upgrade skills of older workers

• 27 percent provided opportunities for older workers to transfer to jobs with reduced pay and responsibility

• 24 percent increased training and cross-training to induce older workers to stay with or join the company

An often-overlooked potential employee pool are military veterans. Training they received while in service might cover a variety of skilled trades or information technology. Applied skills such as problem-solving, leadership and work ethic are all part of military training as well. Matching their experience and skills to the organization’s needs is another option to address job openings and skill gaps.

Even if FM managers can retain older, experienced employees, or fill openings with former military veterans, the need to strengthen the pipeline of FM employees for the future is critical. According to the Bureau of Labor, trade jobs account for 54 percent of the labor market but only 43 percent of the country’s workers are trained in the trades.6

Grassroots efforts by industry representatives can offset the negative impression or lack of awareness of career opportunities in trade skills through partnerships with vocational-technical schools as well as efforts to reach high school students. Summer internships, mentorships, sponsorship of school clubs, participation in school community events and even summer job opportunities give FMs an opportunity to further educate students, their parents and school counselors about career opportunities.

Students who like to build and create are the ideal audience for trade schools or apprentice programs. Unfortunately, most parents and high school counselors steer students to college, even if it may not be the best route for them. Skilled trades are often only recommended to students whose counselors do not believe have the academic potential for college.

In addition to promoting the employment opportunity that exists due to the gap between demand for and availability of tradespeople, young people have an opportunity to start a well-paying job with less time in school – two years or less compared to four years. A vocational-technical education is also less costly with little or no school debt depending on the program of study.

The skills gap challenge faced by FMs today won’t disappear quickly. However, experts say that thoughtful, strategic planning can address the need to strengthen the new employee pipeline, create partnerships that develop new employees and establish training programs that help recruit, develop and retain quality workers.   

References:

1. 2014 Economic Conditions—Recruiting and Skills Gaps (SHRM, 2014)

2. 2017 Supplier Member Survey (PRSM, 2017)

3. The New Talent Landscape (SHRM, 2016)

4. 2017 Retailer Member Survey (PRSM, 2017)

5. Preparing for an Aging Workforce (SHRM, 2016)

6. NSC Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics by State (2015), and American Community Survey Data (2015)

Most difficulty recruiting for:

High-skilled technicians: 
65 percent

Skilled

trades:

63 percent

Source: 2014 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey

43%

Job Openings

Hiring and retraining of 
qualified trade professionals 
(43 percent) is one of PRSM members’ biggest challenges.

Source: 2017 PRSM Member Survey

Flexibility with aging employees

48% offered reduced hours or part-time positions to older workers

40% hired retired employees as consultants or temporary workers

37% started flexible scheduling that included telework and alternative work schedules

30% created or redesigned positions that allow bridged employment – enabling employees to ease into retirement
                        while the company retains good employees to train upcoming replacements

29% provided training to upgrade skills of older workers

27% provided opportunities for older workers to transfer to jobs with reduced pay and responsibility

24% increased training and cross-training to induce older workers to stay with or join the company

Source: Preparing for an Aging Workforce (SHRM, 2016)

Over 50 percent of HR professionals reported some basic skills/knowledge deficits among job applicants.

84 percent reported applied skills shortages in job applicants in the last year.

Source: 2016 SHRM study

By: Sheryl S. Jackson

Best practices for recruiting qualified FM employees

Danika Melia, Executive Recruiter at Becker Wright Consultants, said it has become increasingly difficult in recent years to attract qualified FM talent, largely due to strong demand and a shortage of candidates who have all the skills retail companies are looking for, including experience in new construction.

The dearth of qualified FM candidates mirrors the broader trend seen in other industries during a time of nearly full employment in the United States. According to a 2018 statistical reference guide for recruiters put out by the online job board Glassdoor, 76 percent of U.S. hiring managers say attracting quality candidates is their No. 1 challenge, and that is a major reason why the average cost per hire in the U.S. is a whopping $4,129.

“Trying to find qualified employees for our clients has been a real challenge,” Melia said. “It’s night and day trying to get someone to call you back now versus 10 years ago. It seems like everyone is gainfully employed. And people use the term ‘facilities manager’ so loosely sometimes. Companies are looking for people to wear more hats than before, and the industry is moving at a much faster pace, so they’re really looking for these FMs to come in and hit the ground running.”

Here are some tips for FM professionals in the highly competitive market.

• Join LinkedIn groups. A quick search on LinkedIn reveals several networking groups for FM professionals that can be used to identify good candidates. These groups include Facilities Management Group, Facilities Management Network, Facilities Management Professionals International and Corporate Real Estate & Facilities Management Professionals.

But don’t just target members when you have an opening. Instead, make sure your company is active in these groups by sharing your company’s accomplishments and what it has to offer employees. Encourage your FM professionals to do the same.

• Focus on important industry events. Professional associations like PRSM are invaluable resources for targeting qualified candidates, so attend events like PRSM’s conferences armed with business cards and a good elevator pitch about what makes your company special. Recruiters should also try to obtain membership directories and lists of event attendees and should reach out to speakers at major events.

“Those are people who are notable in their field, so they’re the ones to reach out to, and they’re usually open to having recruiters and other companies reach out to them,” said Beth Oddan, Chief Executive and Executive Search Consultant with Hellotalent, Inc. “And it’s amazing the amount of membership lists or directories you can get access to even if you are not an attendee.”

• Look outside the retail industry.Separate the must-have skills from the nice-to-have skills, and you might find suitable FM candidates working in other industries such as at distribution and fulfillment centers and other stops along the supply chain. “The wider you can make the hiring funnel in terms of broadening who you’re open to, the more successful you will be,” Oddan said.

• Stay in touch. If you identify a good candidate during a time when your company doesn’t have a job opening in FM, reach out to them anyway and stay connected with them until a position opens up. Doing so allows you to develop a relationship with that candidate and can keep your company top of mind when they decide to look for another job.

“A lot of it is building and maintaining relationships,” Melia said. “So much of it is done through email now, but sometimes you have to actually pick up the phone and make a connection instead of just having your email sitting in their LinkedIn inbox.”

• Make recruiting a team effort.Recruiting top talent shouldn’t be solely the job of a recruiter or the HR department. Remind your company’s executives and other employees that they should be on the lookout for qualified candidates at industry events, alumni gatherings and other settings, and that they should be telling prospects what they like about your company. Having a program in place that rewards employees financially when a referral makes it through three or six months on the job incentivizes them to seek out qualified candidates.

“You’ll have better results as a recruiter if your hiring manager is really an engaged partner in recruiting,” Oddan said.

Once you’ve placed a recruit and they have proven themselves with your company, ask them if they have any former coworkers or friends who might be interested in a new job. “Once they have the job and they feel secure in it, then they feel free to provide referrals or make introductions,” Melia said.

• Tout your company online. Ensuring your company’s website is well designed and you’re highlighting the achievements of your company and its employees on social media are good ways to get the word out to prospective employees that your company is a desirable employment destination. Job candidates increasingly research companies before they apply for jobs, so it’s important to highlight your company’s workplace culture and the benefits of working there.

• Visit nearby schools. Establish relationships with professors and job-placement specialists at colleges and trade schools in your area that have good FM programs, and ask about participating in career fairs on campus. Ask instructors if your recruiter or an alumnus from that school who works for your company can make a presentation in class about your company to FM students, and seek out alumni groups that include FM professionals.

• Do a little sleuthing. Make a list of your top competitors for FM talent and another list of companies whose FM practices should be emulated. Use LinkedIn, companies’ websites and other resources to map out those companies’ organizational structure so you will know whom to target for each level of job opening. Where did their FM professionals and executives go to school, and do those schools have alumni associations? Where did they begin their careers? Did any of your company’s employees graduate from the same schools or work at the same companies?

By: Nick Fortuna

Smart glasses usher in era of augmented reality

For facilities management professionals, reality often leaves a lot to be desired. Equipment breaks down and service technicians often are too busy to respond immediately. Fortunately, augmented reality (AR) promises to make things a bit easier as this new technology gains wider adoption.

Augmented reality is the layering of computer-generated, digital information on top of the physical environment and allows users to integrate that data with the real world. AR technology has become one of the biggest areas of focus for software developers. At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, 10 percent more exhibit space was dedicated to AR products this year, according to the Consumer Technology Association.

The Swedish furniture maker IKEA became one of the first retailers to adopt AR technology in 2012 when it launched a smartphone app that allows customers to see how a product would look in their home. The online home furnishings retailer Wayfair followed suit last year.

An AR product that has important practical applications for facilities managers is the Daqri Smart Glasses, made by the Los Angeles-based technology company Daqri. When an employee wears the glasses, they can see text such as a service checklist or repair instructions strategically positioned right next to a piece of equipment in real time. And to get an expert’s opinion, a service technician can use the Remote Expert tool to see exactly what the employee wearing the glasses is seeing. The new technology helps FM professionals complete inspections and repairs more quickly and with fewer errors and can save retailers money by eliminating the need for physical service visits.

Roy Ashok, Daqri’s Chief Executive, said the glasses make inspections and repairs easier by essentially bringing operating manuals and maintenance instructions to life, letting the FM employee see precisely what the text refers to. The lightweight glasses offer a wide 44-degree field of view and are equipped with a sixth-generation Intel Core m7 Processor, a suite of sensors and a camera.

“We’ve built a product that allows you to access information spacially and in a way that’s relevant to the real world,” he said. “When a worker is managing a facility, they are doing some complex tasks, and augmented reality is beneficial in that setting. These glasses are designed to fundamentally make your world safer and more efficient.”

Facilities managers can use the glasses to make a 3D scan of equipment so they can see if any aspect of it changes over time. Thermal imaging will let the FM see if equipment is running hotter or colder than in the past. The glasses can show BIM (Building Information Modeling) models of the facility so FM professionals can see how bringing in a larger piece of equipment or retrofitting an existing device might alter the layout of the facility or clash with other building systems.

The Remote Expert feature can save FMs time and money by allowing store employees to show them precisely what they are seeing with a piece of equipment. The FM might be able to instruct an employee how to repair it, and the employee will have access to a checklist, instructions, the equipment’s service records and a description of what they are seeing all positioned right alongside the equipment in their view.

If the employee can’t fix the problem, a service technician can be consulted remotely, which likely would cost less than a site visit and could be done quicker. Over time, the savings might more than offset the glasses’ $4,995 price tag.

“The person viewing the equipment remotely can draw a line to a screw that needs to be tightened or another part that has to be repaired, so there’s no chance of any mistakes,” Ashok said.

The smart glasses can be tied into a facility’s asset management program, such as IBM Maximo, to access product manuals and other relevant information. Daqri is working on a web app to allow users to create more content that could be integrated with the glasses.

“We’re trying to lower the barriers to content creation,” Ashok said. “The web app will introduce easy-to-use tools so the content creation time is dramatically reduced.”

Ashok said as AR products gain widespread adoption, they likely will be used for a variety of workplace tasks, such as:

• Training employees through step-by-step tutorials using text instructions layered on top of their workplace setting.

• Conducting meetings between employees working in different locations, enhancing collaboration through visual interaction.

• Touring facilities remotely to check on progress in construction or repairs or to evaluate a building or parcel for acquisition.

• Seeing how clothes or sunglasses would look on a customer without actually trying them on. If the need for private dressing rooms can be reduced, more customers likely would be comfortable buying fitted clothing online, and retailers could see a sharp reduction in stolen merchandise.

• Training drivers how to make simple repairs on trucks and other delivery vehicles and how to use and maintain specialized equipment.

By: Nick Fortuna