Flying start for the “new normal” in FM
The changed world of work “requires new service concepts” writes the consulting firm Lünendonk & Hossenfelder (a German market research company) in a thematic dossier “Facilities Management for the New Normal”. Digitalisation and sustainability remain important despite Covid-19, it says, service providers and consultants support their customers with new operational concepts. After all, returning to offices during Covid-19 presents facilities service providers with a challenging task: “Only if protection against infection is guaranteed, can normal operations be resumed as far as possible.”
We, as Sasse Group, share these observations. Since the beginning of measures against the spread of the pandemic were introduced, our know-how has been in demand in numerous properties and in various sectors – whether in the development and implementation of more stringent hygiene concepts or in the realisation of concrete measures for tasks “which were not previously available or foreseeable in this form and intensity, either for our customers or for our teams”, Dr Christine Sasse analyses in retrospect.
As an example, she refers to local public transport, where it was necessary to counteract the reluctance of passengers with offensive hygiene and safety measures: “We assume that much of what was initiated in the course of the pandemic will remain in place in the long term – sometimes in variations, sometimes in a flexible form that can be adapted to current needs at any time. The issue of safety and well-being in public transport plays just as important a role in the acceptance of offers as it does for the attractiveness of a workplace,” she emphasises, “We notice this not only on the customer side, but also amongst our employees.”
The pandemic as a diversion
Elsewhere, too, Sasse Group sees a changed “roadmap” rather than a complete restart. “Our market success has always been based on the fact that we have quickly, reliably and sustainably innovated and found solutions that benefit our clients – not only in the here and now, but also in the long term”, explains Dr Laura Sasse, Chief Digital Officer of Sasse Group. “Precisely because we have already achieved a high degree of digitalisation for many work processes and services, the market consequences of the pandemic did not entail a hard stop for us, but rather a diversion. That is why we were able to quickly regain momentum under the new conditions.”
She therefore believes that Sasse Group is well positioned to actively serve a further area of activity outlined by Lünendonk & Hossenfelder: “We have already recognised the change in the use of properties, such as home office or video conferencing, as a New Normal with our clients and are working together with them on ideas and concepts to guarantee the same level of Sasse Service Excellence as pre-Covid-19. We are pleased that Lünendonk & Hossenfelder confirm our course with their new dossier – both in terms of the organisational side of FM and in terms of the people who should feel comfortable and secure in the properties and facilities they work and live in.“ Like the market analysts, Sasse Group also assumes that the forced reorganisation of work processes and locations will prove to be “an accelerator of development in many cases” and that the knowledge of FM providers will be in greater demand, especially when it comes to the profitability of changed working and living environments.
