Leaders within the Facilities Management industry are focused on providing the very best in service offering and standards. However, it is also important to remember that part of achieving success as a facilities management company is about empowering and ‘giving back’ to the community. Read on to discover some helpful tips and advice on how to do exactly that.
Did you know that Servest recently established the Lesipho Trust Fund – a non-profit organisation that is dedicated to ‘giving back’ to the community in numerous ways? The main focus is on enterprise development and the economic advancement of qualifying black-owned businesses. The Lesipho Trust Fund has assisted ten businesses since its inception in 2014, including Bambanani Food and Herb Cooperative (where we supply professional training, as well as consumables etc.) and Satch More Trading (Pty) Ltd. (where we have provided a grant, as well as a three year contract registering the business as a preferred Servest supplier).
However, while providing these businesses with financial aid is indeed an important part of the Lesipho Trust Fund, Servest believes that, in order to truly ‘give back’ and ensure business sustainability and development, adequate and quality training is also necessary – something which we offer on a large scale. Take our vegetable garden project for example; Servest aimed to create a flourishing garden that could feed and nourish the local communities within Ulundi. Aside from buying and planting the seeds and helping to design the garden using recycled products such as old tyres and plastic bottles, our project leaders also took the time to educate the locals on how best to ensure crop growth and sustainability. In doing so, there has since been little doubt that the veg garden has the potential to feed hundreds of community residents for many years to come.
Ultimately, facilities management companies can ‘give back’ in three main ways, and these include:
Financially: by providing those businesses exhibiting growth potential with grants in order to assist them in reaching their goals.
By Providing Growth Opportunities: should your company require the services of the businesses in question, instead of only offering them financial assistance, why not invest in and utilise their services too?
Through Training: while some businesses may have the potential to succeed, this potential may never be fulfilled if the people involved do not have the necessary skills. In many ways, professional training and mentor-ship is even more valuable than a financial contribution as it helps to ensure business sustainability and consistency.
When it comes down to it, every small contribution counts, especially when you aim to give back and make a difference. As Anne Frank once said, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world?”.
