Issues around recruitment, the skills gap and diversity in FM are as pronounced as they ever have been. The theme for World FM Day this year is “Inspire, Integrate, Innovate: Ignite your career in FM,” and despite making some strides, levelling the playing field and ensuring diversity in our sector remains a considerable challenge.
At Integral, our commitment to creating a culture of equity and delivering opportunities to develop and progress, is underlined by the belief that a diverse workforce drives innovation and business success. Our collaboration with JLL in recruiting ex-service personnel demonstrates our commitment to leveraging diverse talent pools. Ex-service individuals bring valuable skills and experiences that make our teams better and contribute to our success.
While this approach helps to address the skills gap, more needs to be done and gender bias remains a significant challenge in the sector. Last year, the WISE campaign celebrated the milestone of one million women working in UK STEM sectors. It also noted, however, that progress has stalled with stereotypes and a lack of female role models cited as primary barriers.
Within our business, we have set diversity targets across all levels and instituted structured career paths for women. One example is a colleague who started her career in Marketing. She transitioned to a project coordinator role working on Integral’s digitisation and integration programme and progressed to a project manager position where she was instrumental to the digitisation of Integral’s workforce management and service delivery. Her success highlights the importance of providing avenues for skills development and career progression.
We’re also leading the sector in terms of our recruitment strategy which prioritises attitude over qualifications. We have expanded our search criteria and embrace non-traditional talent pools. Initiatives such as apprenticeships and insight days provide opportunities for candidates from diverse backgrounds to explore careers in FM. We also conduct diversity training and shadow boards, a further commitment to challenging unconscious biases and taking a more proactive approach to creating a culture of inclusivity.
However, there’s still work to be done. Achieving true inclusivity will allow us to create environments where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and contribute their unique perspectives and talents. It isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s a strategic advantage and a source of strength and innovation.
