Facility management careers are a team sport. Success depends on many people working together to overcome complex challenges and deliver service excellence. The tone gets set at the top, with leaders needing to be actively involved in prescribing the right training and skills for each employee and making the training readily available. Once trained, it is up to each employee to take control of their own development. Although conventional wisdom says there’s no “I” in team, if each individual does not do everything they can to bring their “A” game, not only will the FM organization suffer, the individual — and their career — will stagnate.

Here are five best practices that facility professionals can follow to propel their careers:

1. Establish relationships with mentors

Having a mentor, or two or three, can be enormously helpful in gaining the insights and tribal knowledge needed to develop career paths and open new doors. Many people look to cultivate relationships with leadership team members who have characteristics they want to emulate. That is one part of a good strategy.

The other part of a good strategy is seeking out mentors who have different styles and skills, and perhaps are more challenging to work with. Although people are inclined to want to work with like-minded people, innovation often happens when collaborating with people who are not similar. By establishing relationships with these types of individuals, mentees are more apt to view projects, challenges and opportunities from a fresh perspective and build skills that complement those they already have. They will be able to tap into diverse perspectives and get a more holistic view of how others see them evolving.

It is important to step outside of one’s comfort zone by approaching potential mentors inside and outside the company that one does not already know. Whoever they choose, mentees must find the confidence to articulate what they want from the relationships, because more likely than not, mentors will not take the time to find out. They should discuss the type of opportunities they are looking for, projects they have worked on that were rewarding and meaningful and what gets them excited to go to work. Mentors can then keep these points in mind when they come across interesting opportunities and perhaps open employees’ eyes to new career paths.

Keep in mind, however, that mentorships are not a one-time thing. They must be nurtured. To do this, get to know mentors as people. Find out what is important and exciting to them, what their hobbies are and what goals they want to achieve. These tidbits provide fodder for future conversations and touch-based texts and can lead to deeper, more rewarding relationships.

2. Build soft skills

Technical skills are essential for FM professionals. They need to be developed and honed. But soft skills—like communication, teamwork and problem-solving — are how people differentiate themselves and rise above the pack. Soft skills are what separate mediocre FMs from extraordinary FMs and they are vital for moving up the career ladder.

The more one shares information, practices empathy and listens to others, the more trust is earned, and the more connected and engaged employees become, the better the outcomes for everyone. As American poet Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

The pandemic shined light on the value of communication. When people were distanced and working on their own, it became clear that there is no such thing as over-communicating (and there never was). In fact, the ability to listen and distill learnings into actions enabled some companies to come out of the pandemic stronger than before.

Listening plays a huge part in FM professionals being able to excel at their jobs. Take, for instance, a service problem that crops up such as empty soap or paper towel dispensers. An FM staffer could work on the issue at hand, taking it at face value. That is akin to putting a band-aid on it. However, if they dive deeper into the root cause and truly listen to the stakeholder’s concerns, not only will it help resolve the immediate problem, it could also enable them, and others, to address similar issues faster the next time around or even minimize or eliminate the chances of them happening again. It will also leave a lasting, positive impression on the stakeholder and on those who can help accelerate the FM staffer’s career advancement.

3. Cultivate openness & a continuous learning mindset

The power of openness and curiosity cannot be understated. Both qualities are huge contributors to happiness in both personal and professional lives.

At work, they are critical to the long game. People who advance in their career have a strong appetite for knowledge and a deep curiosity. They seek out feedback, especially constructive criticism, because they know it will help them address blind spots that could hold them back and keep them from achieving their goals. They are eager for experiences that give them new skills and insights, open their minds to new possibilities, and enable them to challenge themselves to meet the evolving demands of their industry.

This open, continuous learning mindset is innate in leaders. But even people who are not born with it can emulate it by being more conscious and resourceful. For instance, someone whose gut reaction is to look at barriers can try to positively reframe difficult situations and look for silver linings instead. Individuals who tend to be cautious and whose first reaction to something might be “no” can catch that voice in their head before they express it out loud, and instead say “yes,” thus practicing being more open-minded.

Everyone should say “yes” when it comes to learning and development opportunities even if they seem inconvenient or irrelevant to current responsibilities. Often, FM workers are shocked at how these opportunities pay dividends in unexpected ways now and down the road. Stepping out of their comfort zone helps harness skills they do not get to flex much in their current positions. For example, public speaking training may seem irrelevant to facility technicians. However, even if they do not speak with large crowds, there are skills that can be applied to meetings with small teams or a supervisor and one-on-one interactions with building occupants – and this can help advance their careers.

4. Embrace natural strengths

In the past, management teams and career coaches focused on helping people figure out and address their weaknesses. This is important because weaknesses can prevent people from moving ahead. However, focusing exclusively on them is the wrong tactic. Leveraging strengths is equally — if not more — critical. When someone leverages and amplifies their strengths they are bringing their best self to the game, and they are happy to do so.

Employees who want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their career need to be realistic about their strengths. How can one ascertain what is and is not a strength? Strengths are qualities that come naturally. People can tell when they’re doing things that align with their strengths by the minimal amount of time and energy they have to muster. They do not have to dig deep or struggle.

Some FMs are naturally great with process improvements and administrative operations; some are very customer-service oriented and flexible; others feel more “at home” when putting procedures in place and ensure people follow them.

Knowing one’s strengths and actively seeking positions that take advantage of them quickly opens doors to new opportunities. FM managers and leaders should also try to understand the strengths of individuals on their teams so they can assign the best-suited players for the situation at hand.

5. Find purpose in work

People who find meaning in their work are more fulfilled and energized by it. This sense of purpose helps propel their success.

Finding purpose is much easier for people who know what is important to them and what they value. Knowing this is not always easy, though. People may think they value one thing — like working long and hard — when in reality they are pining for more work/life balance. Or they are so used to being an individual contributor working behind the scenes that they think it is satisfactory, when what really motivates them is being front and center and working as part of a close-knit team.

It is important to do the hard work of figuring out one’s values. One way an individual can approach this is by reviewing what they have accomplished, what they do on a daily basis and what is coming down the pike – and then overlay their feelings about each of these things. Honestly addressing emotional reactions to different aspects of one’s job helps people know at their core what they really want so they can shape a rewarding path forward.

There are also resources, such as personality tests, that employees can use to better understand what drives them. Although the results of these assessments may not be 100 percent accurate, they can provide nuggets that help individuals become more informed and self-aware.

Sometimes employees’ internal values don’t align with the values of their organization. If that is the case, it will not be a good long-term fit. It is better to look for opportunities at other companies that allow them to live their values.

Succeeding in FM requires a team mentality with a focus on the “I.” Organizations are only as strong as their employees, and individuals can only truly succeed if they are happy in their jobs doing things that motivate them and amplify their strengths. For people who like challenges, strive for personal and professional improvement, welcome diverse perspectives and demonstrate excellent soft skills, FM can be a truly rewarding career.