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Friday 8th February 2013
The latest BIFM comment column. Oliver Jones looks ahead to this year's BIFM Awards.
8 February 2013
The judging team for the BIFM Awards programme is no different and, as we embark on a new season, we are delighted to have set ourselves new targets and created and refined our judging categories. Perhaps most importantly, however, we've listened carefully to feedback to ensure we maximise value associated with entering the awards for all entrants.
We made a huge step forward in terms of the number of entries last year - with the highest ever number of submissions across the 11 awards categories. This was an extraordinary achievement encompassing entries from the very best organisations in FM, large and small.
In 2013, we want to exceed these entry numbers and will continue to try and raise the bar for industry excellence even higher.
Subsequently, we have reviewed the categories to ensure that every leading organisation can take part and show how and why it excels. This has included widening the criteria for the Customer Service category to focus on excellence rather than just innovation, and introducing a brand new category for individuals, teams or organisations that have had a 'Profound Impact' on our industry over the past five years.
We have retained our core, most established categories alongside these changes. This means the awards return this year fully refreshed. They will hopefully attract more diverse - although equally excellent - entrants from across our thriving industry.
In terms of giving feedback to entrants, we have also made some changes. To win an award - whether as a team member, a client representative or member of the leadership team - is extremely tough. Winners can be proud of this achievement, which provides a true demonstration of independently evaluated differentiation in a highly competitive market. However, it can mean that many first-class organisations and teams feel frustrated at falling just short of their goal.
Increasing feedback
To address this, we plan to increase the level of interaction and feedback in this year's judging process, enabling the journey to be valuable in team building and success recognition, rather than simply based on the final outcome.
We need to help entrants in their development as well as reinforcing the absolute achievement associated with becoming a finalist in October, perhaps securing a Highly Commended Award should the entry not be the ultimate category winner.
The rigour of our expert judges has been the key to the development of our position so far and we are very proud that the BIFM Awards are a reference point for other awards programmes. All judges are volunteers, selected for their industry skills, experience and ability to contribute as part of the overall judging team of around 80 professionals. As such, their insight and ideas could be tapped more deeply.
The key changes this year will be to, first, raise the profile of the personal and direct feedback available from this group and, second, to place greater emphasis on the process and programme. This will enable teams to prepare, giving them the best chance to communicate their capabilities and experience.
We have always provided feedback, but to date this has generally been in response to an entrant's request. This year, however, the lead judge will contact each entrant after the awards have been made to offer to discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses and enable teams to reflect in a more informed way on the results. To make this more immediate, I would encourage any entrants from 2012 who want to try and do better this year to start by seeking feedback on their last entry; we always maintain fully documented records of why decisions have been reached.
Earlier judging dates
We will also be setting the judging dates earlier and will be even more clear about the overall process planned for each category. This will allow plenty of time for teams to book optimum dates from those offered by our awards team, and will ensure that all entrants understand the steps that will be taken and when towards being announced as a finalist. For example, after initial desk-based evaluation, award categories requiring site visits will typically have a primary judging round before a final, second judging site visit has been undertaken.
After this point, the decision on the published finalists will be announced. Each entrant will be made aware of how these steps or the relevant alternative steps will apply to their category and what dates will be adhered to after entries close on 26 April.
We hope these changes will allow us to continue to improve the experience and value of the awards. We are also certain that the competition will be strong as the best in FM seek to make their mark by putting themselves up for professional and rigorous assessment against their peers.
I would like to encourage all leading organisations to target an appropriate category and test themselves. We are looking forward to an exciting and challenging year. www.bifm.org.uk/awards2013
Oliver Jones is chairman of the M&A advisory company, Morphose Limited, and chief executive of international data centre developer and operator, Chayora Limited
Every new year is an exciting time in business as organisations and teams return to work reinvigorated and determined to set new standards and achieve new goals.
The judging team for the BIFM Awards programme is no different and, as we embark on a new season, we are delighted to have set ourselves new targets and created and refined our judging categories. Perhaps most importantly, however, we've listened carefully to feedback to ensure we maximise value associated with entering the awards for all entrants.
We made a huge step forward in terms of the number of entries last year - with the highest ever number of submissions across the 11 awards categories. This was an extraordinary achievement encompassing entries from the very best organisations in FM, large and small.
In 2013, we want to exceed these entry numbers and will continue to try and raise the bar for industry excellence even higher.
Subsequently, we have reviewed the categories to ensure that every leading organisation can take part and show how and why it excels. This has included widening the criteria for the Customer Service category to focus on excellence rather than just innovation, and introducing a brand new category for individuals, teams or organisations that have had a 'Profound Impact' on our industry over the past five years.
We have retained our core, most established categories alongside these changes. This means the awards return this year fully refreshed. They will hopefully attract more diverse - although equally excellent - entrants from across our thriving industry.
In terms of giving feedback to entrants, we have also made some changes. To win an award - whether as a team member, a client representative or member of the leadership team - is extremely tough. Winners can be proud of this achievement, which provides a true demonstration of independently evaluated differentiation in a highly competitive market. However, it can mean that many first-class organisations and teams feel frustrated at falling just short of their goal.
Increasing feedback
To address this, we plan to increase the level of interaction and feedback in this year's judging process, enabling the journey to be valuable in team building and success recognition, rather than simply based on the final outcome.
We need to help entrants in their development as well as reinforcing the absolute achievement associated with becoming a finalist in October, perhaps securing a Highly Commended Award should the entry not be the ultimate category winner.
The rigour of our expert judges has been the key to the development of our position so far and we are very proud that the BIFM Awards are a reference point for other awards programmes. All judges are volunteers, selected for their industry skills, experience and ability to contribute as part of the overall judging team of around 80 professionals. As such, their insight and ideas could be tapped more deeply.
The key changes this year will be to, first, raise the profile of the personal and direct feedback available from this group and, second, to place greater emphasis on the process and programme. This will enable teams to prepare, giving them the best chance to communicate their capabilities and experience.
We have always provided feedback, but to date this has generally been in response to an entrant's request. This year, however, the lead judge will contact each entrant after the awards have been made to offer to discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses and enable teams to reflect in a more informed way on the results. To make this more immediate, I would encourage any entrants from 2012 who want to try and do better this year to start by seeking feedback on their last entry; we always maintain fully documented records of why decisions have been reached.
Earlier judging dates
We will also be setting the judging dates earlier and will be even more clear about the overall process planned for each category. This will allow plenty of time for teams to book optimum dates from those offered by our awards team, and will ensure that all entrants understand the steps that will be taken and when towards being announced as a finalist. For example, after initial desk-based evaluation, award categories requiring site visits will typically have a primary judging round before a final, second judging site visit has been undertaken.
After this point, the decision on the published finalists will be announced. Each entrant will be made aware of how these steps or the relevant alternative steps will apply to their category and what dates will be adhered to after entries close on 26 April.
We hope these changes will allow us to continue to improve the experience and value of the awards. We are also certain that the competition will be strong as the best in FM seek to make their mark by putting themselves up for professional and rigorous assessment against their peers.
I would like to encourage all leading organisations to target an appropriate category and test themselves. We are looking forward to an exciting and challenging year. www.bifm.org.uk/awards2013
Oliver Jones is chairman of the M&A advisory company, Morphose Limited, and chief executive of international data centre developer and operator, Chayora Limited