The First Facility Management Blog

Companies are offering employees a wider range of amenities than in years past, according to results from a recent International Facility Management Association study. When compared to similar data from 2004,the most common amenities are still break rooms and coffee bars, but employers are increasingly providing Internetcafés , outdoor recreation areas, and employee health facilities as well, according to the report,”Benchmarks V: Annual Facility Costs.”

While previous IFMA studies have shown employee workspace size decreasing—middle manager office space, for example, has shrunk from an average of 151 square feet in 1994 to 121 in 2007, a decline of nearly 20%—the variety of amenities being offered is on the rise. This increase in employee amenity options could be attributed to companies wanting to attract and retain the best employees while compensating for reduced workspace size.

“As companies reduce personal workspace, employees place greater importance on in-house amenities that simplify and enrich their work day, such as lunch-hour yoga at the company fitness center,” said AngieEarlywine, workplace strategist for HOK Advance Strategies. “Employees benefit from feeling refreshed and relaxed as they return to the remainder of their day, and employers benefit from the increase in afternoon productivity.”

Headquarter and educational facilities are the most likely to offer the majority of
employee amenities, according to the report, and while some amenities are being offered by fewer companies than in 2004, the emergence of new alternatives is pronounced. Multi-purpose space, for example, has become a popular feature, being offered by 35% of survey respondents. Other popular amenity options found by the new study include exercise parks, cot rooms, and nursing/lactation areas.

Based on a survey of 1,032 facility professionals from across North America, the
new report covers a variety of costs associated with employee amenities. The costs are broken down by industry, facility type, and geographic region. Companies on the West Coast, for example, annually spend an average of 30 cents per square foot to operate and maintain amenities, while those in the Midwest spend only 4 cents.

IFMA annually conducts a benchmarking survey of its members in an effort to
collect data that allows for easy comparisons of built environment costs and practices. These reports allow facility professionals to gauge their performance against similar facilities—whether in the same industry or a different one. This year’s report includes data from more than 1,000 facilities and isIFMA’s largest benchmarking study to date, with many survey respondents supplying information from multiple facilities.

To learn more about the “Benchmarks V: Annual Facility Costs” survey results and methodology, or to order a copy of the report, visit www.ifma.org/tools/research/benchmarks_v.cfm.

What amenities have you added to your facility in the recent year? What are employees looking for when it comes to amenities? Post a comment below and share your thoughts with other facility managers.

Kent Moyer, CEO of The World Protection Group, a company specializing in executive protection, uniform protective services, investigations, and threat management based upon proactive U.S. Secret Service philosophies and security best practices, was recently a featured keynote speaker at the Simposium Interacional de Seguidad Publica in Mexico City. The symposium was attended by nearly 700 people involved in national security and safety including Mexico’s congressional, judiciary, and law enforcement leaders, as well as attorneys and corporate and private security professionals operating in Mexico.

Moyer spoke by special invitation from the Mexican government based on his extensive career in private security, law enforcement, and operations in Latin America that relies on cooperation with local and federal law enforcement on both sides of the border. The symposium featured four English speakers including Moyer, a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice, and representatives from Scotland Yard and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Moyer’s presentation emphasized the importance and relevance of recruiting, training, and incentivizing law enforcement and private security, highlighting the challenges facing Mexico such as lack of uniform standards and limited financial resources, that also challenge United States public-private partnerships. He also highlighted the value of “working together to combat criminal activity” citing working examples in the United States, such as Building Improvement Districts (BIDS), where businesses pool resources to employ private security to proactively deter, detect, and detain criminal activity in support of local law enforcement.

Moyer has been involved in private security for nearly 17 years and is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business, at the University of Pennsylvania; the Executive Security International Executive Protection & Protective Intelligence program; the Executive Protection Institute, and the Los Angeles & Orange County Sheriffs Academies.