Why Facilities Management Is A Great Career Path For Women
With a career spanning 40 years, Trish Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer at NHS Property Services (NHSPS), has the overall responsibility for the organisation’s operational delivery. Prior to that, Trish held leadership roles at County Durham and Darlington Foundation NHS Trust and Monteray Ltd. With facilities management traditionally seen as a male dominated industry, Trish shares her advice and thoughts on helping women to not only get into the industry, but also to thrive in this career path.
Despite progress made to improve progression of women’s careers in facilities management (FM), it has been reported that men outnumber women 9:1 in FM leadership roles1. This figure is shocking and shows that more needs to be done for women to not only get into FM, but also thrive within this sector.
When I started my career, men were automatically expected to progress, and it was assumed that women would leave at some point to start and raise a family. This has changed in many ways as more women are in the workplace and are juggling family life with their careers. Alongside this, we have seen the introduction of initiatives like paternity or shared parental leave, and a general culture shift where men are taking on more of the responsibilities at home.
Breaking into a male dominated industry can often be quite intimidating. However, more women are rising through the ranks in FM. There has never been a better time than now to shine a spotlight on women in this sector and for them to make their mark.
Hiring For Attitude, Training For Skills
We recently celebrated International Women’s Day, the theme of which was ‘Embrace Equity’, focussing on why equal opportunities are not enough for women. People start from different places, have different backgrounds, and different experiences. This is why measures such as blind recruitment, and a variety of interview techniques like written exercises and spoken interviews are needed to hire the best candidates. We need to look beyond the usual credentials of good grades and impressive internships and look at how such experiences have shaped these candidates. More importantly, we need to assess whether they have a proactive, hardworking, and curious attitude. Skills are important, but they can be taught and nurtured, whereas a good attitude is something that is innate and cannot be taught. A good attitude can go such a long way when it comes to building good relationships with peers, managers and customers, as well as learning new skills in the business environment.
Empowering women within the workplace is incredibly important. This includes training, a robust line management structure, as well as internal and external networking events to improve relationships within the FM sector. Beyond this, having inclusive policies for women is also critical, such as flexible working hours, particularly for working parents or carers, and dedicated women’s networks and support groups. Something that has been particularly topical recently is having policies specifically around women’s health. This year, Spain became the first European country to entitle workers to paid menstrual leave2. In addition, with menopausal women being the fastest growing demographic in the workforce3, and one in ten women leaving their jobs due to menopausal symptoms4, building in policies that support women’s health can be transformational for not only keeping women in the workforce for longer, but also empowering them to continue progressing with their careers.
Taking Action To Make FM More Inclusive For Women
While organisations can implement many measures to support women, there is also a call to action for women to make the most of their FM career. Women should feel emboldened to seize opportunities whenever they present themselves, and not be afraid to push for more interesting, challenging work, and go beyond their comfort zone. My advice to women in FM is: get yourself out there and make the most out of every opportunity that comes your way.
1: Women in Facilities Management. Why WFM?
https://gowifm.org/
2: The Washington Post. Need time off work for period pain? These countries offer ‘menstrual leave’.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/17/spain-paid-menstrual-leave-countries/
3: Henpicked. Menopause and work: why it’s so important.
https://menopauseintheworkplace.co.uk/menopause-at-work/menopause-and-work-its-important/
4: NHS Employers. Menopause and the workplace.
https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/menopause-and-workplace
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