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FM professionals are perfectly placed within organisations to develop resilience expertise across the wider business, say two risk management consultants.
Last month, the IWFM launched Resilience Alliance, a collaboration with three other professional membership organisations – Airmic (risk managers), ASIS International (security managers) and the Business Continuity Institute – to address how organisations could better deal with changes and sudden disruptions to the business.
Steve Dance, chief executive at consultancy RiskCentric, said that the alliance offers FMs an opportunity to exchange knowledge and expertise “across a wide, yet related spectrum”.
“This is a worthwhile and bold initiative,” said Dance, ”with the potential to make a significant contribution to the overall body of knowledge in creating organisational resilience at both strategic and operational levels.
“The IWFM’s participation in this alliance will ensure that the important issues of workplace effectiveness security & compliance figure have a role in resilience initiatives and that, via these professional bodies, a cohesive approach is adopted by all participants.”
Dave Cooke, chair of the IWFM’s risk and business continuity management special interest group, said that the profession’s interconnection with the wider business makes them ‘key players’ in building an organisation’s resilience structure.
He said: “True organisational resilience touches every element [of the business]; it’s not just about dealing with emergencies.
“FM professionals tend to be well connected in their organisations – they understand how organisations work and are key players in helping the organisation build that ability to respond to both foreseeable and unforeseeable challenges. The resilience alliance is an important development which will help build a valuable shared knowledge base and take forward thought leadership in this key area.”
Dance said FM specialists have a role to play in both adapting to changing business conditions and in the more immediate reactions to operational shocks, citing the continuing pandemic as an example of FM’s influence.
“FMs have the ability to provide and manage workplaces that facilitate the organisation’s strategy, such as providing the flexibility to accommodate a fluid workforce, whilst also ensuring current and emerging compliance issues.”