The Role of FM in Supply Chain Management & Meeting ESG Goals

Charlie Green (Host):

In todays episode we had the pleasure of spending some time with Karl Haynes, the site facilities manager at GXO logistics. Karl has worked with well known companies such as Incentive FM, Mitie and ISS Facility services. In todays episode we took a deep dive into Karl’s professional journey from Field Support Coordinator to Site facilities manager, the installation of beehives at his current company GXO as part of their ESG efforts, the importance of embracing new technologies and his passion for educating people on the importance of facilities management and driving appreciation for FM teams.

Lauren (Organiser):

So first of all, thanks for joining us today, Karl. We really appreciate your time to talk to us about facilities management. I’m Lauren our podcast organizer. And as I mentioned previously, we find that facility teams are often underrated, which I’m sure you agree with. So hopefully with your podcast, we are going to further highlight the importance of FM to our audience.

Karl Haynes (Guest):

Absolutely.

Lauren:

We do these podcasts to get insights from experts in the facilities management field, and we learn a lot from your experience. We understand that GXO are working towards hitting their ESG goals, so we know your insights will be really helpful to our listeners. And with that said, I will pass you over to my co-host, our senior research analyst, Charlie.

Charlie:

Yeah, thanks so much for joining us, Karl. It’s fantastic to have you on this podcast. We’ll jump straight into the questions. We like to start these chats with a sort of origin story, if you like. And I’m sure our listeners will be very keen to hear about your professional journey and how you got into the world of facilities management.

Karl:

Okay, so I started at the age of 15 up until about the age of 32, 33, working through retail, retail management, working on the DLR as a events station manager, then moving out of that into security. So I kind of had some of that experience in the soft services, staying in security from about 2015, 2016 and actually leaving the industry last year to get my first opportunity within FM. And yeah, it’s been really good. It has been really, really good.

Charlie:

That’s a very varied career. Sounds really, really interesting. And you kind of touched on it there, going from kind of field support coordinator at Kelly Communications to site facilities manager at GXO. There must be a huge difference in responsibilities. Could you talk us through what a typical day looks like for you now as site facilities manager?

Karl:

Yep sure. Normally get in, you know, do the meet and greets with the rest of the team and the colleagues. Then I would do a walk around of the sites, just catch up with any bits and pieces from some of the managers over the weekend if there were any issues that’s normally chased up with the emails that I send out. Once that is all the walk around has been done, then I would head back to the office. Make a few phone calls to a service provider and then just basically a couple of emails here and there. Any reactive works, then I’m back on the phone sending a couple of emails. I deal with maintenance teams that are usually on site once or twice a week, once in the week for PPMs and then any handyman duties that we have on site. I’ve been involved in a few meetings. It depends on the day-to-day basis. Some meetings with the health and safety manager and other senior managers. And then just basically just get on with my day from there.

Charlie:

So no quiet days then, it sounds like. Sounds like you’ve got a lot going on.

Karl:

There is no, listen, there is never a quiet day when you’re an FM, regardless of you being on a logistics site or in corporate real estate, no two days are the same. And you know, it keeps you on your toes, which is the best thing to say.

Charlie:

Yeah, that sounds fascinating. And on top of that, and we’ll touch on it now, a topic that’s been consistent throughout these podcasts with our FM experts is their work on sustainability. And we saw your comment at ESG in the workplace through the installation of the on-site beehives. Can you talk us through the installation of the beehives? What’s the plan behind this? And also give us a bit of an insight into the ESG goals at GXO.

Karl:

Okay, so my GM, he actually came to me and said to me a couple weeks beforehand that we were going to get an installation of beehives. I know this is going to sound cliche, but there was a bit of a buzz about having the installation done because I had just picked up on doing the PPMs for the living wall that we have on site and it was going to be the same company that was doing the living wall to doing the installation of beehives.

So on the day of when the installation was being done, it was actually quite different than what I had expected it to be. You see the guys coming in with the big old bee hives, the bee suits, not getting stung and everything. He was actually up on the roof doing the installation. You know, it was just fascinating to watch. You see all the bees coming out of the little bee boxes, buzzing around.

I’d asked so many questions as to why the bees were all flying around because they were quite disorientated. They don’t know their surroundings and it will take them a good couple of weeks before they actually settle in. So with that being said, watching the beekeeper do the installation was probably the highlight of the day for me.

I thought I’d be flinching and everything with all the bees being around, but if you stay calm, they don’t do anything to you. So that was good. Still asking a load of questions. How long would it take for them to settle down? When the beekeeper is going to be back on site? So, yeah, a million and one questions. I just wanted to be in the know of it. And it was really good. Then probably a couple of weeks later, just posting out on LinkedIn, just to let people know about our ESG for the site.

Charlie:

Fascinating. Was there any purpose to the beehives? Are you going to be harvesting the honey or is it just to kind of help them with new habitats and stuff and just help the environment in general?

Karl:

I think it’s a mixture of both. Yes, we are going to have some extracts of honey from the beehives at some point because we’re now later in the year and when they’ve done the installation, they’re going to be settling down and basically just be in the beehives and then next year it will start up again. We are looking forward to actually doing something with this because I know there are a lot of issues with the English bee at the moment because they’re being killed off with a lot of the invasive species like the African bees, the Asian hornets. So whatever we can do on site and as a company to promote the English bee, then we’ll do that for sure.

Charlie:

That’s awesome. That’s really novel. We’ve not heard anyone discuss anything like this before. So that’s really cool. We’re kind of going to a bit of tech talk now, which I’m sure applies to you quite well. A growing theme throughout the FM world is the adoption of connected technologies, for example, IoT powered tech. And from our research, GXO, you boast over a hundred different types of technology to help small and large businesses with supply chains. And you also have a digital warehouse in Leicestershire.

Karl:

Yeah.

Charlie:

It’d be fascinating to hear whether you think connected technologies will change the way you work and other FM’s work in the future.

Karl:

We live in an industry that is very aging. So I would say we, as an FM, we do need to be at the forefront of any technology that is coming out. So I know with AI is how do we adapt to that as an FM? That’s gonna be new territory for a lot of us that are looking to go that way. Yes, it will revolutionize the way we do things.

The way we interact with computers and so forth like that. But I think on a whole, yes, we do need to go that way. The old pen and paper is good up to a point, but then you’ve got to talk about sustainability with the amount of paperwork that builds up. 

We are probably one of the most innovative ones when it comes to our warehouses. A lot of the warehouses over in America, they use automated pickers, quite similar to what they use over maybe in Ocado and a few other warehouses. But I know having automated pickers, you know, using a lot of robotics, you’re always gonna have, I guess, some sort of glitches in it. So to still have that human element there as well is always a good thing. And I guess I think a lot of industries are using a lot of robotics as well, as well as warehousing and gradually it will go that way. But we still need that human element to it as well.

Charlie:

Yeah, you kind of touched on it there. And while we’re on the subject of tools, a lot of the FM experts we’ve spoken to in previous podcasts seem to find a good balance between using tools like software and continuing to use spreadsheets. What are your thoughts on software tools in general? And do you think spreadsheets still have a place?

Karl:

Mm-hmm.

Karl:

Yes, they do. When it comes to figures, you know, you still do all your pie charts off of using Excel and so forth like that. If you’re using the fm systems and you’re using it effectively, you can extract the data correctly in order to give you the information you need to put onto a spreadsheet. You know, these are things that we essentially use, not so day to day, maybe weekly, monthly, or yearly when we’re having our meetings with our clients.

Charlie:

Fantastic. That’s really interesting. It’s good to hear that they will have a place because they have been around for so long.

Karl:

Yeah.

Lauren:

So sort of switching up gears now, we have noticed that you’re very passionate about highlighting the importance of facilities management and what it entails. And there was a quote you reposted on LinkedIn, which said, ‘being a facilities manager is easy. It’s like riding a bike, except the bike is on fire. You’re on fire and everything else is on fire.’ And we found this very amusing.

Karl:

Hahaha

Lauren:

How would you sum up the role of a facilities or site manager and how important do you feel the FM team is in helping drive a business?

Karl:

Well, a captain is only as good as his crew. So I thrive more off of my team than I do on my own. And to give recognition where recognition is deserved within the team, then I am absolutely for it. I’ve got a cleaning team and I’ve had a couple of them awarded month on month for recommendations. They’ve got their gift vouchers. I will be doing that with the security team as well, to improve their standards from having 10/15 complaints about them on a daily or weekly basis to having zero complaints about them now. And I always say to the security managers that they’re doing really well. Same with the clean managers. I always promote good work wherever I can.

Lauren:

That’s really cool. Yeah, we find that’s so important in your sector because otherwise you can almost be forgotten. But, you know, you know your passion for sharing what FM involves on LinkedIn is great for educating people about exactly what facilities management is. Why do you think it’s important for more people to understand the value of facilities management in businesses?

Karl:

Absolutely, yeah.

Karl:

See, this is where a lot of people haven’t really appreciated an FM or building managers, property managers, you know, it’s one of those things. We were almost like unsung heroes, you know, within any sort of environment. When things are going smoothly, you don’t hear from us. When things are going badly or could go badly, then you will hear us. Then you know, people will be coming to your FMs.

Your property managers, your building managers, you know, they’re the ones that you, they’re your go to people and to give people or to, to really promote that within the office environment. I think I remember when I first started. I was at a client’s office in Paddington. Not many people knew who I was. And then sort of like after the Christmas party, everybody goes, yep.

We know who he is. He’s the go-to guy if we need anything. He’s got a good team there to support him. I’d always shout about these guys, absolutely. I’d also shout about my regional manager at the time, Michelle Fleming. She actually helped me to get into the industry and really gave me the step up I needed. And it’s kept me going.

Lauren:

That’s brilliant. And that leads us perfectly into our next section, which is driving appreciation for facilities managers and their teams. And we’ve realized in talking to facilities managers in the podcast that a range of skills are required to help provide a good service to your colleagues. And it’s a skill that I’ve noticed you’ve taken along from your earlier roles to now, which is customer service. Do you think it’s important in your role?

Karl:

Yep. Mm-hmm.

Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, the shoes on the other foot with the current role I do at the moment because I’m the client, I’ve got a service provider, our end users are our customer from the other side, which would be the pubs. And obviously we’ve got to maintain an effective relationship across the spectrum. So whether you’re a cleaner, security, a contractor on site or somebody that works within the site, you’re my customers and I will endeavour to do the best I can to make sure that you’re looked after, I guess.

Lauren:

Brilliant. Yeah. But I think customer service is one of those skills that can be transferred across the board. So yeah, it sounds great. And in your view, you mentioned earlier the use of gift vouchers and shouting about great things that your teams are doing. How do you think facilities teams should go about driving appreciation in busy and dynamic workspaces, like where you say one minute you’re not seen and the next minute you’re not.

Karl:

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Lauren:

You’re on the top of everyone’s list.

Karl:

I think we just continue just doing what we’re doing. And then, you know, if it’s not recognized, you know, a job is worth doing when it’s done. And when you do get the recognition, or if any of the team want to get the recognition, then absolutely, I will support, or we will support, you know. We use LinkedIn as one of the platforms, or we’ll use our internal, social media platform as well to promote it. I think this is one of the things that we did when we were promoting the beehives being installed and then I kind of latched onto it from my GM promoting it to put it onto LinkedIn as well. So yeah, whatever we can do to support one another within the industry. Yeah, let’s do it.

Lauren:

Great. And one final question from us now, Karl. We like to end these podcasts by leaning on your facilities management experience to provide helpful insight to others. What would be the best advice you would give someone just starting out in the FM field or wanting to get into a position where they’re responsible for FM teams and duties?

Karl:

Good, probably the same way that I started off, network really hard for the first good part of a year, then once you get that break, you know you’re on the right path and you’ll continue to go walking down that path and climbing stairs or climbing up a mountain because being an FM. You’re inspired by others. You’re inspired by your team. You’re inspired by the people that you work with. Again on all four fronts whether they’re the end-user, your service providers Clients, you know, you’ve just got to really start from the bottom and then just work your way up. It’s not easy. But once you get there, you’re flying. You’re absolutely you will be flying high like a kite You know. That’s the best part of the challenge, I guess, with being an FM.

Charlie:

Amazing. And that’s it. Thank you so much for your insight today, Karl. It’s been great to understand your FM origins and see your passion for facilities management. We’ll be back soon with more fantastic guests like Karl. Bye for now.

Karl:

You’re welcome. Take care guys, thank you.