Jerry DiCola, a leader in the facility management space, comes on the show today to talk about the current state of the workplace.

A little background on Jerry: Jerry started his career off doing HR management, doing HR for a number of businesses and later even became a business owner with his wife. From there, Jerry went into sales and later found himself in facility management.

Jerry discusses how from a facilities standpoint, facilities impact everybody in the workplace, whether it’s a minor change (moving a rug, for example), or making a significant change (adding new furniture, changing the layout). 

With these changes, facility leaders need to understand that these changes will have an impact on someone’s life, and be cognizant on how these changes will impact someone, both good and bad; understanding the power dynamic is important.

“Facility leaders should never do something or make a change just for the sake of doing it. There has to be an understanding on how this change will impact someone.”

A huge part of Jerry’s success has been the education aspect of his career. Jerry constantly seeks out new accreditations to add to his professional career.

Alongside all of this, Jerry is also an instructor. When Jerry instructs his students, he approaches the relationship with his students like it’s an interview, and then tries to get his students to come out of their shell. Jerry brings this up because he mentions that the best stories come from people who are comfortable with themselves and don’t feel like they are being obligated, or forced, to do an activity.

When talking about AHEAD, Jerry talks about how AHEAD has taken on the “hybrid” model, where the organization is looking to see what they can do to make sure their employees are always engaged to work. Some people want to be in the office, some don’t. 

Being able to connect to employees and colleagues is an important step for professional growth, so figuring out each individual’s preference for the hybrid work model is important, Jerry notes.

Jerry discusses how the career of “facility management” has significantly changed from 20 years ago. Facility management professionals nowadays are more than just people who understand the mechanicals of an office (the HVAC’s, for example), but can now provide expert guidance on how to best utilize a space. Facility management professionals can offer organization sustainability, critical thinking, and being a senior leader.

When talking about the impact facilities can have on their workers, Jerry talks about how the biggest thing that organizations need to have is flexibility, whether it’s flexibility with how people work, where people work, what type of office building the company is in, etc. 

When it comes to professional growth, Jerry sings the praises of being able to mentor someone. Teaching and coaching someone is invaluable to not just the company but to your personal network as well. Mentoring someone is a way to give back to your colleagues and also a way for yourself to learn from the person that you are mentoring. Mentoring someone is one of the best ways to overcome generational diversity.

It’s because of this that it is important for hiring managers to constantly be hiring people from different and diverse backgrounds. These individuals with diverse backgrounds will make it so people can connect and engage with people that they might not normally have outside of the workplace.

“As a manager I think to talk to you and find out what you need from me as a manager and what kind of interactions you need from me.”’

The simple process of good communication and understanding that everyone is different and needs a different approach is instrumental when creating a good workplace culture.

Jerry’s top advice that he gives to everyone is to network to build your LinkedIn profile (or Facebook, Instagram, etc). Networking to have a resource that you can rely on and vice versa will benefit you no matter where you end up career wise.