fm-world.co.uk 27 April 2017

What do you do? I provide building management services to the Manchester office. We have three sites with over 650 employees. I look after support departments including post room, reception, records management, reprographics & FM team, and outsourced services such as M&E, security and housekeeping.

What attracted you to FM, and how did you get into the industry? I happened on FM by chance after working in office management for several years. I was introduced to BIFM by a former line manage.

How long have you been in your current role? Just over 12 months as FM, having been with BLM for almost 10 years.

Do you see yourself predominantly as a task or a people manager? I’m certainly more of a task manager, having been in technical roles for most of my career, however, since taking on a large team I have found the people management side really enjoyable and it’s essential to be able to balance both elements in a leadership role.

Would you describe your role as predominantly operational or strategic? The majority of my role is operational, but this varies depending on the requirements of the core business and any projects I am responsible for.

How many people are there in your FM team, and who does the FM team ultimately report to? I have 20 members in my team. We report to the head of FM, Christine Cheetham.

V I E W P O I NTA B I T A B O U T Y O U

RACHEL CROWBEHIND THE JOB

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“THERE IS DEFINITELY A SHIFT IN THE BALANCE OF MALE/FEMALE LEADERS WITHIN FM AT ALL LEVELS”

RACHEL CROW

is facilities manager

at BLM Law LLP

VI E W POI NTA B I T A B O U T Y O U

What was the weirdest day you’ve had in the office? Whether it’s locating the source of a rogue onion that seemed to fall from the sky almost crash-landing on someone, or watching a cleaner empty out all the hole punches to vacuum up the bits is all in a day’s work.

Early bird or night owl? Usually an early bird, but not so much in the winter.

What FM job in the world would you love more

than anything? Managing the Las Vegas CityCenter development – it’s one of the world’s largest sustainable developments, covering 67 acres.

And where would FM be an absolute nightmare? Anywhere remote where a resource can be hard to obtain.

To whom would you most like to say thank you, and why? My fabulous team.

Your life outside FM mostly involves? Any spare days are spent with my husband, often out on country walks with our two American Akitas.

My top perk at work is… Being in Manchester city centre.

What has been your biggest career challenge to date? I inherited a team of over 20 people when I took on the role and with limited line management exposure previously, the thought at first was terrifying. I was learning the role of FM, managing a site with several hundred people and completing a BIFM qualification. It was quite a year!

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be? People seem to think we are either cleaners or handymen. FM is a diverse industry with a wide variety of services on offer to suit many organisations with supporting their core business.

Any interesting tales to tell? A favourite of mine is the time we had a cleaner enter a partner’s office with the vacuum cleaner attachment

– not attached to the vacuum – proceeding to clean with the attachment around the floor and just making the noise – [that] always puts a smile on my face.

If I wasn’t in facilities management, I’d probably be… A physiotherapist.

Which FM myth would you most like to put an end to? That FM is a male-dominated role. The industry is constantly evolving and there is definitely a shift in the balance of male/female leaders within FM at all levels. I’ve worked in organisations where there is a strong female presence across different disciplines.

What single piece of advice would you give to a young

facilities manager starting out? Find a

good mentor. Having someone there who has already overcome the challenges FMs

often face will be able to give a different

spin on the challenge at hand.

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