Filling the Skills Gap with Bill Conley of Yamaha Motor Corporation and Randy Olson of ProFM

Quotes:

“91% of FM staff said they feel like they could really utilize additional skills, training, knowledge, and abilities in FM for their current job.”
(0:31) – Bill Conley
“Overall the profession is changing on a daily basis whether it’s sustainability or technology… and for people to keep ahead of the curve they need to continue their education.”
(13:31) – Bill Conley
“It’s very important to instill intrinsic motivation…You can give them a day off, but if you can instill intrinsic motivation to have people do things the right way, because they want to do things the right way, that’s the key to success as far as I’m concerned.”
(15:32) – Bill Conley
“Continue learning, keep your mind open…We don’t want stagnancy. We don’t, again, we don’t want that status quo.”
(29:10) – Bill Conley

Filling the Skills Gap with Bill Conley of Yamaha Motor Corporation and Randy Olson of ProFM

2021 FM Statistics on The Growing Skills Gap

Do you desire more training, education, and skills in your FM career? You aren’t alone. In fact, statistics have revealed that 91% of those in the facility maintenance realm desire to grow in each of those areas!
In this week’s episode, Randy Olson of ProFM and Bill Conley, national manager of facilities services of Yamaha Motor Corporation, join our host, Shawn Black. From skills gap to sustainability, we discuss all the new trends in FM!
Last month, our guest Eileen McMorrow joined us to discuss the 2021 FM Outlook Survey results, and we were blown away by the data collected. The most impactful takeaway had to be that glaring 91% statistic. It stated that 91% of all FM staff believe they need additional skills, training, knowledge, and abilities in FM to perform their current job. On top of that, a similar statistic showed that managers believe that the skills gap is large enough to hinder staff from performing managerial tasks. The responses came from over 23 countries, including staff and managers with a wide range of work experience. The consistency in responses alongside the diversity of responders makes these results even more alarming.
Since this statistic rose 12% since 2019, we are taking this episode to break down why the gap is there and how we can respond to it to better the future of FM employees.

What Causes This Gap?

Bill Conley came out of the gates swinging with ideas on how to fill the gap. The main two were prioritizing education and instilling intrinsic motivation. Not just knowing how things work, but knowing why they do. Learning to optimize quality, save energy, and choose cost-efficient techniques are amongst the list of things to be trained in. Education needs to be built on the foundation of getting your company behind a goal and passion rather than bribing with extrinsic motivations ( raises, days off, etc.)
Embracing progress and challenges will be obstacles to overcome, but start with leaders willing to adapt to changing times.

Training Tools for Your Team

Randy pointed out the importance of managers knowing their staff and staff communicating their needs clearly. When the relationship between those two is healthy, the skills gap can be addressed most efficiently and effectively.
Sustainability and innovation have become hot topics since the pandemic. The survey revealed specific areas that both managers and staff needed the most knowledge on and had the least familiarity with. Remote working, hybrid work, and project management have become a routine in the past 18 months but most found themselves floundering.
The spotlight is on FMs right now, with most every business being back open and under a magnifying glass.

Coming Alongside Your Team in Accessing Training

Rather than preaching to your team to get educated, coming alongside them by learning where they need to grow and giving them the tools to access training will be the game changer of the FM world in 2021.
Bill discussed how he has made it an annual objective and then keeps up with the progress of the continuous learning of his employees.
Employees feeling challenged and fulfilled in their work is what produces career longevity. Randy discussed the ProFM program, which is designed for that purpose. The program is broken down into 24 things every facility manager should know and broken into four functional areas with several cross-functional competencies. The program is integrated with the technical, soft, and critical thinking skills needed to make the right decision in today’s current climate.
The takeaway? Seek education. Things are constantly changing, so we should always be learning!

This episode of FM evolution is brought to you by Pro FM. How do your FM skills measure up to the global standard? Try our free map your gap self-assessment at profmi.org/evolution and check out ProFM’s credential course!

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