26 February 2015
BIFM Awards have been streamlined this year with a slick new website, a simpler structure, and more consistency across the Award categories.
The most obvious change is the grouping of the 12 Awards into three areas that neatly summarise what FM - and BIFM - are all about: people, impact, and innovation.
As Lead Judge for the 'Learning and Career Development' Award, I'm responsible for one of the five awards that come under the 'people' umbrella, the others being: Rising Talent in Facilities Management, FM of the Year, FM Team of the Year, and the BIFM Lifetime Achievement Award.
Together, these five awards map out the FM career journey.
Rising Talent celebrates those who are relatively new to FM and are successfully forging a career for themselves. The Award not only provides recognition for people with potential, but also gives them something tangible to aim for. If you're serious about progressing and want to make a name for yourself in the industry, you need to enter this Award.
The Learning and Career Development Award has proved a popular one. You don't have to be a service provider to enter: we're looking for any team or organisation that can demonstrate its commitment to learning and development by investing in its people. If you're in HR or L&D and in the FM sector, we want to hear your story.
The FM of the Year and FM Team of the Year Awards single out the very best performers, setting the standard that others aspire to. The former, known colloquially as FMOTY and now in its 15th year, is a real highlight of the BIFM Awards for many, and the ultimate accolade for anyone working in the industry. The FM Team of the Year Award has evolved and is open for everyone in FM to enter, regardless of the size of your business or the nature of the work you do. Entering this Award is a great way of showing your team how proud you are of the work they do, and giving public recognition to their achievements.
The last of the 'people' Awards acknowledges one very special person each year for their Lifetime Achievement in the course of their career in FM. These are people who have contributed to the growth of facilities management in the UK and internationally, raising its profile and leading by example.
What unites these five awards is a recognition of the importance that people make to the effective delivery of services in what is all too often a sector associated with building infrastructure. Effective facilities management is all about adding value by enhancing an organisation's primary activities. It's the people who make this happen, and who BIFM is looking to celebrate again at the awards this year. Will you be one of them?
BIFM Award entries close on 22 May 2015, full details on all categories are on www.bifmawards.org.
David Sharp is Lead Judge for the 'Career and Learning Development' category at the BIFM Awards, and Managing Director at International Workplace