Judging FM : How do organisations across the legal, media and private banking sectors approach facilities management differently? In the first of a three-part series, Anthony Bennett, owner director of bespoke hospitality services business Bennett Hay, will focus on the legal sector’s approach
Partners in law firms can be very demanding. It is not uncommon for a partner to declare at the eleventh hour that he absolutely must conduct his meeting in his favourite room (the one with the jaw-dropping view of the city skyline). But what happens when that room is already booked? Does the FM feel his heart beat a little faster? Does he break out into a cold sweat? Does he run and hide rather than bear the wrath of a demanding legal eagle.
It is not surprising that lawyers are demanding, and expect to receive five-star service in their workplace, since the law, alongside medicine, has always been the most elite of the traditional professions. Indeed, walk into a London law firm and you could well have walked into a five-star boutique hotel. There might be a small reception area with a warm, intellectual feel, with antique furniture dotted around, Impressionist paintings on the walls, Persian rugs on the floor and an array of today’s broadsheets and law and business magazines on a coffee table or accessible through tablets.
Compare this to the experience of walking into the headquarters of a media company where the bustling atmosphere is complemented by the latest funky furniture, whacky art and a coffee concession. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, imagine walking into a private bank with deep-pile carpets.
The differences go deeper. Delve under the skin of a law firm, media company and private bank and there is a very different approach to facilities management, because there are different client needs and expectations. What is similar is that the service provider must shape the service delivery and guest experience to the client’s exact requirements.
Law firms and many others businesses are turning to the hotel and hospitality sector to gain an insight into how guests – building users, be they internal staff or external visitors – should be treated while they are on the premises. Firms are working hard to not just meet guests’ physical needs but also to respond to and anticipate their emotional needs.
This guest experience is vitally important to law firms, and it is carefully shaped for each firm to reflect its brand and culture. By delivering a unique and outstanding guest experience, a law firm differentiates itself from the rest in a very competitive market place. Firms can even arguably win and retain, or lose, business and staff on the guest experience alone.
Lawyers love to entertain clients. A partner might invite a client in to discuss their case over lunch in the onsite fine dining facilities. They might invite a potential new client in to the latest seminar or debate on an industry issue. They might even invite a client to drop in to use the facilities, even when they don’t have a scheduled meeting. The FM service has to be geared up to warmly welcome these visitors at every point in their journey through the building. The client’s first contact with the firm will usually be through a member of the FM team: a receptionist, a security guard, a telephonist or the concierge. And they will meet several members of the team, such as housekeepers and catering staff, throughout their experience with the firm. In these situations, as the gatekeeper of the client’s brand, FM can either reinforce the firm’s brand or undermine it.
FM also has to be sensitive to the fact that law firms are extremely focused on billable hours. Time is money. Lawyers may urgently need to print out an important document and don’t have the time, or the patience, to make a call to a facilities helpdesk to request that the printer ink be changed, then wait around for it to happen some time later that day.
One way to support law firms to get their guest experience absolutely right is guest experience mapping and transformation training. The former sees the facilities team walk through every touch point (where facilities staff interact with guests), from outside the building, to meet and greet, to a meeting room, to lunch, to communal areas, and, finally, to departure. In this way, the facilities team experiences it all from the guest’s perspective. There is role-play at each point of the journey, and everyone on the team takes part in refining the guest experience.
Transformation training encourages facilities colleagues to ‘own’ any guest request. This is particularly important in a legal environment where partners expect a personal, responsive service. Each colleague therefore has the authority and confidence to make decisions, and act, without having to refer to a manager. Since partners like a personal approach, facilities colleagues are also trained in how to build relationships with partners, and other guests, and to remember their preferences. Some partners might like to have their papers printed and bound in a particular way. Others might like to have a particular snack at a specific time. Colleagues are also coached in how to be resilient in the face of a challenging situation such as informing a partner that his meeting room of choice is fully booked.
As a result of these initiatives, facilities colleagues are proactively taking ownership of even the spaces that they are just passing through. Everyone is multi-skilled in how to set up a meeting room for a beverage service, refill the paper and toner on an MFD, let the hospitality team know that a client has vacated a meeting room which requires a tight turn around, assist a client to find their coat as the reception team are currently busy, and much more.
In recent years, a number of law firms in the City of London especially have moved into new buildings that have a more contemporary look and feel. Arguably, in these spaces, the human element offered via the guest experience becomes even more important. An otherwise aloof, distant and same-looking space is suddenly transformed into a warm, welcoming and personal one.
There are also built-environment challenges commonly found in law firms. Since law firms can generate literally tonnes of paper documents in a year, storage is a constant pressure. The FM may be tasked with introducing or managing an efficient archiving system, and many FMs can take credit for introducing electronic applications to capture data, which has reduced paper volumes. And the most important FM duty of all in a legal environment? Arguably it’s facilitating any late night food requirements. Lawyers often work into the small hours of the morning, and they need fuel to do so.
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Source: FMJ
