The professional world is changing fast, thanks to or because of exogenous events such as market demands or a pandemic. Will service providers be able to reinvent themselves and no longer live off the top of their heads? All bets are off and the challenges are many.
Most FM providers stick to their core business, not seeking to invest or innovate because doing so may mean reducing volumes and margins in the short term. However, suppliers often do not have the desire or the technical or financial means to change their approach.
Customer requirements are changing rapidly, and most companies want to reduce the number of intermediaries or service providers. This thought leads to a few others:
• Why shouldn’t an FM provider offer fully equipped and managed workplaces to its customers, who are ‘only’ tenants of the services and benefits?
• Couldn’t a property owner, manager or estate agent do the same, thus freeing the tenant from all the constraints of fitting out, management and investment?
• Isn’t the mutualisation of services the future for clients, who certainly lose a little independence but gain economically (thanks to volumes) and administratively?
• Why is there only traditional “coworking” or private spaces in companies, when a mixed form of 2-3 companies sharing “common spaces” could be more present?
These are of course proposals that most will find iconoclastic or completely unnecessary or illusory. On the contrary, we believe that these forms of work will complement those we already know.
Most providers are expanding their services, seeing that clients are becoming less captive and therefore reducing the volumes so necessary for those providers. But the process is often not fully completed.
This is a pity, because the offers will evolve and only the fastest and most innovative will be able to make their mark. The only ones left will be the small provider with a single targeted service or the provider who offers the full range of services.
Good thinking and good reading.