19 May 2016 | Martin Read

A new project that seeks to ensure business leaders fully understand the contribution of the workplace to organisational performance has been launched at BIFM’s annual ThinkFM conference.

The Stoddart Review has been named in honour of Chris Stoddart, the 2011 BIFM Facilities Manager of the Year who passed away in 2014. It has been set up to address the low UK productivity rate in comparison with other G7 countries.

The group behind the review believes that too few organisations place enough strategic importance on the working environment as a key driver of organisational performance.

The aim is for the Stoddart Review to be a periodical publication. The first such report will be published in the last quarter of 2016 with the aim of engaging with business leaders and national media to “challenge and prompt a greater alignment and incorporation of workplace”.

An initial review project will take place this summer, taking into account responses from a number of research activities including in-depth interviews with business leaders and an open forum element to which FM industry experts and academics are being invited to share their views.

Leesman Index, an organisation which surveys employees in the UK and globally on workplace effectiveness, is supporting the project by sharing the research data it has collected since it began surveying in 2010.

The project’s other founding member organisations are BIFM, the Crown Estate and Cushman & Wakefield. Speaking at the review’s launch, Polly Plunket-Checkemian, a commercial property consultant and strategist who is leading on the project, and who worked with Chris Stoddart, explained: “Our purpose is to transform UK’s opinion of workplace as a key performance indicator.”

Review partners are also looking for more organisations to support the project. Individuals wishing to find out more should email research@bifm.org.uk.