2021 FM TRAINING OUTLOOK SURVEY KEY FINDING 3
IMPORTANCE OF FM CREDENTIALS
It is clear that FM credentials and qualifications influence career advancement. They are such an important differentiator that staff are willing to fund their goal if employers won't.
SURVEY STATISTICS
While professional credentials are often thought of as an individual goal for career advancement, credentials are a win-win opportunity for both individuals and employers.
Knowledge and skill development means better job performance and productivity, while credentials communicate credibility to clients. For employers who support their staff, satisfaction and retention rates increase.
According to FM staff, the top 3 benefits of FM training and credentials are preparing for career advancement, credibility with employer/clients, and better job performance.
Prepare for career advancement
Credibility with employer/clients
Better job performance
FM Credentials Help Facility Managers Stand Out from the Crowd.
72% of FM managers say a credential or qualification is an influential factor in hiring or promoting FM staff.
Only 21% of FM staff have earned an FM credential, making it a real differentiator among job candidates.
- FM Staff Are Willing to Invest if Their Employers Won’t.
of FM staff would or have already invested their own money in FM career
development/training.
Up 42% from 2019
of FM staff would pursue an FM credential if their employer
supported them financially.
Up 24% from 2019
INDUSTRY REACTIONS
Join the conversation by reviewing some of the additional insights shared on this topic or by sharing your own.
What Industry Experts Are Saying
When you support your team to earn a holistic FM credential, you get everyone speaking the same language, moving in the same direction and working as a team. I chose to pursue a credential, and asked the management team to do the same, because I don’t want to ask my team to do something that I’m not willing to do myself.
Keith Tate, ProFM, AIA, CPM, LEED GA
Facilities Management Director, Polk County BoCC
Our FM industry has changed dramatically over the past decade. Not only are we seeing a knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) gap, as seasoned professionals leave their organizations, but we’re also seeing FM professionals being asked to take on more strategic and business-oriented functions. With new ISO standards, regulatory changes, and redirection of business objectives, FM professionals are facing a spectrum of responsibilities that require a broad set of skills.
Stormy Friday, MPA, Hon. FMA, IFMA Fellow
President, The Friday Group
As an FM leader responsible for the execution of services at multiple properties, I feel it is imperative that our team members on the front line be equipped with the tools and skills necessary to perform successfully. In today’s busy climate, time is a high-priced commodity; team members would benefit from an efficient method to fill their toolboxes, and enhance their skillsets in short order.
Darrell X. Rounds, FMA®, C.E.M.
Operations Group Manager GM Sustainable Workplaces
Facilities management is truly coming of age in part due to its growth internationally but also in part to the growing competencies, skills, and awareness of those that are serving within the sector.
Stan Mitchell
CEO Key Facilities Management International
A large percentage of facility managers that remained on site during the COVID pandemic typically worked for essential businesses and remained on site out of necessity due to unprecedented challenges. These FMs were executing business continuity plans, expanding sanitation services, performing temperature screening services, augmenting site and furniture configurations to accommodate social distancing, and more.
John Hajduk, ProFM
Vice President Facilities Services Sodexo
