A multi-national media company optimizes facility strategy in the nick of time

With the media industry continuing to expand its reach through digital channels, a multi-national media firm with a workforce of over 20,000 across 200 countries needed to proactively streamline its facilities operations in anticipation of enterprise growth. To accelerate the firm’s transformation into a simpler, more agile business, its CEO made a series of commitments – one of which was to be in businesses that will drive growth, scale, and value.

One of the early changes towards this simpler, more agile model was to outsource almost every aspect of the group’s facilities management needs, which were deemed non-core activities. This decision affected dozens of roles across the organization, in specialty functions including catering, security, health and safety, and mechanical and electrical maintenance. As first-time outsourcers, the firm was navigating unfamiliar territory and the outsourcing process had to be approached rigorously and transparently, in close collaboration with the chosen outsource partner – in this instance, CBRE.

Reflecting on the change, the firm’s Director of Workplace & Facilities Management commented that the primary objective was to professionalize how FM was run. Historically, real estate decisions had been complicated by a lack of clarity about the total cost of occupancy (TCO) and the FM organization had been slow to adapt to evolving business needs.

The company also noted that the value of outsourcing the firm’s facilities became clear when the pandemic hit. The company implemented a ‘workplace at home’ philosophy, and FM teams rose to the challenge. There were many details that needed to be addressed in order to shift the working model. The firm worked closely with CBRE to outline new digital workflow processes and analyze how these would affect functions such as scanning, printing, and archiving. The company was met with a switch to remote working that was far smoother than many anticipated.

Even prior to COVID-19, other benefits were evident. The move towards ‘hotelification’ of the company’s offices had been accelerated by leveraging an outsourcing provider with in-depth knowledge of what this change involves, gained from experience supporting clients across sectors through similar transformations.

The company’s leadership team noted their understanding of one of the factors that can cause first-generation outsourcers to hesitate; when an organization has no history of partnering with an external FM specialist, there will inevitably be concerns about how the change will affect individuals and the roles they perform. Left unchecked, this can breed fear and instability.

Executives at the firm commended the managers on both sides who led the process and ensured clarity and alignment on commercial objectives, communicated openly and regularly, and provided an attractive vision to the employees of the future state: “We had many outstanding staff members on the FM team who were committed to excellence and knowledgeable about the trade. However, their career opportunities within the company were limited since their skills were not relevant to our core capabilities. One of the things that has delighted us as a firm is seeing how their careers can flourish when their employer is a professional FM company. The opportunities are so much greater.”

Looking ahead, the company remarked that they are enthusiastic about the future as the firm aims to maintain its position as a preeminent media company. CBRE looks forward to the continued partnership as this ambition becomes reality. As the client’s experts create new learning models for the students of the future, CBRE will use modern FM practices to support a world-class culture among the workforce.