The First Facility Management Blog

In a nod to IFMA’s own facility management Awards of Excellence — presented each year at the association’s World Workplace conference — Global FM has developed an awards program of its own it will be debuting this year at World FM Day on June 24.

The Global FM Awards for Excellence in Facilities Management 2010 will recognize efforts by individuals and groups in the facility management industry who have made a positive contribution to the knowledge, practical application and communication of strategies to improve the built environment.

What makes these awards unique is that they are open to, among others, Global FM member organizations from countries that do not currently have awards programs of their own.

For general information about the awards process itself and a more detailed list of rules, click here. To download the submission form for the awards program, click here.

Founded in 2004, ABRAFAC, the Brazilian Association of Facilities, celebrated its fifth anniversary last year. The association now represents more than 450 members from across Brazil. ABRAFAC has worked to raise the profile of both those working in the field and the facility management (FM) profession as a whole.

The formal concept of FM began to be used in Brazil around the middle of the 1990s. Although the activity is well established within large organizations and continues to evolve and gain status, FM still remains to be totally understood by local Brazilian organizations.

Brazilian facility managers (fms) have been enthusiastic in the search for both professional and organizational development, and since the 80s (before the formal adoption of the title of FM, many informal support groups came into existence, each aimed at promoting the exchange of experiences, benchmarking, and good practice. Today’s fms are now tasked with working within the additional framework of the organization’s wider environmental and social objectives and are therefore involved in corporate sustainability in its widest sense.

FM is also the subject of formal qualifications, ranging from a variety of introductory operational/vocational courses promoted and supported by ABRAFAC, to a formal MBA at POLI/USP (one of Brazil’s most respected universities), now in its seventh year.

In other international FM news, Stan Mitchell was honored in October 2009 with the BIFM Award for Overall FM Industry Impact. As BIFM Chairman from 2002 to 2004, he played a key role in the restructuring of the Institute during a period of rapid growth and change. He was also a key player in the workshops, discussions, and negotiations that culminated in a series of meetings in Philadelphia in 2005 to establish the Global FM alliance.

Facility management associations around the world will recognize the contributions facility management makes to the workplace as they celebrate the first ever World FM Day on 28 August, 2009. Global Facility Management Association (Global FM) member organizations will hold public events on five different continents to bring attention to the important role facility management plays in the business world and in promoting environmental sustainability.

With businesses increasingly occupying complex buildings, facing greater cost pressures and responding to calls for better stewardship of the Earth’s resources, professional facility management has emerged as the best way to establish adaptability, flexibility and sustainability within the built environment. World FM Day will highlight facility management’s role as a critical, strategic business discipline that makes real contributions to an organisation’s success.

World FM Day activities will include governmental partnerships, networking events, award presentations, luncheons, video presentations, social media campaigns and more, all with the goal of raising the profile of the facility management profession worldwide.

“I am pleased to see the first-ever World FM day taking shape, with our members organizing local events in France, the U.K., Hungary, the U.S., Australia, Switzerland, South Africa and Brazil,” said Global FM Chairman Steve Gladwin. “World FM day is a great example of how Global FM is advancing facility management around the globe. Each local event will enable our members to demonstrate the objectives and progress of facility management and how critical it is as a strategic business discipline. Moreover, we will be able to showcase the ideals of facility management, not only within the profession and industry, but also to governments and the general public.”

International associations including the Associação Brasileira de Facilities (ABRAFAC), the Association des Directeurs et Responsables de Services Généraux (ARSEG), the Association for Facilities Engineering (AFE), the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), the Facility Management Association of Australia (FMA Australia), FM-ARENA, the Hungarian Facility Management Society (HFMS), the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and the South African Facilities Management Association (SAFMA) will hold public events in Australia, Brazil, South Africa, the U.S. and in countries throughout Europe.

The Global Facility Management Association (Global FM) is pleased to announce the first ever World FM Day, to take place on August 28, 2009. Global FM member organizations on five different continents will celebrate World FM Day by organizing events such as luncheons, seminars, and workshops, or by undertaking any other activity to celebrate and promote facilities management.

Global FM hopes that World FM Day will:

• Draw attention to the aims, objectives and progress of the facilities management profession around the globe;
• Highlight the valuable contribution good facilities management has made—and is making—to sustainable global communities; productive, safe, healthy and secure work environments; and local and global economies; and
• Give worldwide coverage to the ideals of facilities management, not only within the profession and industry, but also to governments and the general public.

“I am very proud that we will celebrate the first World FM Day this August with our friends across the globe, and it is a great sign of how Global FM contributes to ‘advancing facilities management,’” said Global FM Chairman Steve Gladwin. “It will be an exciting day for Global FM and the FM community, because we have the opportunity to showcase in various locations that facilities management is a critical, strategic business discipline, making a real contribution to the success of organizations.”