Winner: NHS Property Services Facilities Management Team

Sponsored by: Premier Technical Services Group

Through innovative people management, the NHS Property Services FM team created a positive culture, which led to winning the title of Team of the Year.
Government-owned NHS Property Services (NHSPS) has an FM team of more than 6,000, no less than 85% of its workforce. Team members manage a portfolio of more than 3,000 healthcare buildings and their 7,000 tenants.
For 2021/2022, the NHSPS FM team’s goals were directly linked to the organisation’s goals and comprised key objectives.
Operational performance:

  • improved customer satisfaction to 8/10
  • supported the delivery of 200 transformational customer projects
  • ensured 95% of SLAs were met.

People development:

  • assessed on colleague engagement surveys, with a score of 7.8 or over demanded
  • 95% completion of NHSPS leadership training.

Health and safety:

  • a wellbeing score of 8
  • 1,200 near misses reported.

Financial performance:

  • the NHSPS executive team agreed to corporate performance measures for the year with the Department of Health and Social Care
  • leaders set the direction and clarify expectations for their team to ensure every individual’s work and development aligns to the agreed strategy.

These objectives supported NHSPS goals to improve the company’s reputation, deliver transformational customer projects, deliver consistently high levels of FM services, formalise ACS agreements and ensure maximum operating costs for the organisation were not exceeded.
In pursuit of its aims, the firm introduced a new people strategy targeted to ‘get, grow and keep great people’. This has resulted in a shift in the way NHSPS teams are led, how decisions are made, and how team members are developed.
Managers are now called FM leaders, with all staff referred to as colleagues (‘Staff work for you, colleagues work with you.’). Training programmes have been introduced at all levels, with newly diversified communications channels aiming to create an inclusive culture among a nationally spread workforce.

These channels include:

  • regional and quarterly award schemes and an annual People’s Champion awards to celebrate the FM team’s commitment to these new values
  • a quarterly ‘People First’ magazine delivered to all team members
  • a bi-weekly podcast
  • regular text messages to keep the circa 2,600 frontline colleagues with no computer access in the loop.

Also In 2021, NHSPS appointed a diversity and inclusivity manager, created a D&I forum, and set up listening exercises.

Results gleaned
An aim for 95% of personnel to partake in leadership training was also achieved while more than 1,100 team members completed leadership training.
All of which was done with the ever-present ‘day job’ to consider. Patient surveys on the quality of NHSPS service buildings, such as cleanliness and ease of navigation, achieved the goal set of maintaining 8/10.
The team also supported in the delivery of 200 projects from refurbishments to fit-outs, supporting customer needs for better and increased clinical space.
The past year also saw the completion of 30,000 emergency or urgent FM jobs on top of 109,826 non-urgent tasks.

Best practice learning point
Sustainable development of teams comes from within. NHSPS frontline team members are being given the opportunity to grow and develop, with 70% of vacancies this year being filled by internal candidates.

Key quote
‘Our People Strategy forms part of the overall business strategy to ‘Get Grow Keep’ great people. We now recruit for attitude (customer centric) and train for skills, with an extensive L&D programme with a particular focus on front line operational teams.’