by Brianna Crandall — November 17, 2017 — Citing a critical need for facilities management (FM) professionals to obtain the necessary skills to optimize the performance of buildings and the people within them throughout the world, a newly established commission of FM thought leaders, employers, practitioners and educators have joined the Professional Facility Management Institute (ProFMI) to create a new global standard of FM knowledge and competency.
Formed in April 2017, ProFMI is a partnership between National Facilities Management & Technology (NFMT) of Milwaukee, WI, provider of live and online FM education, and Holmes Corporation, an instructional design, marketing and distribution firm delivering premium-quality learning systems to professionals around the world.
According to John Hajduk, Director Penn State Facilities Institute and founding member of the ProFMI Commission:
This is a critical time in FM. Roles and responsibilities are expanding while we are seeing our most experienced professionals retire. We need a universally accepted checklist of the broad range of [FM] skills and abilities — and a way of gaining those skills. This is about coming together as an industry to ensure our future leaders have the knowledge, competency and confidence to make the right decisions.
Based upon these industry needs, ProFMI has created a new credential: The ProFM, which the group says comprises the knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors required for facilities managers to be impactful now and in the future.
The ProFM designation was reportedly developed through extensive market research of more than 3,000 facility professionals in 93 countries, who provided input on the essential skills required of today’s FM professionals and executives. The resulting ProFM Body of Knowledge became the centerpiece of the ProFM designation, identifying broad coverage of 19 functional areas and five core competencies that the group says have never before been included in one complete program.
The ProFM Body of Knowledge and credential is designed to help individuals and employers better understand the broad range of FM responsibilities while providing a framework to identify and close skill and knowledge gaps.
Stormy Friday, president of The Friday Group and founding member of the ProFMI Commission, commented:
Most facility organizations aren’t prepared to determine their future needs. They have an existing workforce and a future need, and there’s a gap in between that. ProFM can fill that gap. It can make sure that both new entrants to organizations and current employees have the right knowledge, skills and abilities to meet the needs for the future.
The new ProFM credential will be available to the public in the first quarter of 2018. Facility professionals will have access to a complete self-study program and instructor-led courses offered by ProFMI’s Education Partners around the globe. More information is available at on the organization’s Web site.
