An interview with Pete Sellars of IHEEM
Here at Asset Wisdom we’re continuing to practice what we preach with our ongoing commitment to our personal development and learning.
To deliver this, in the last few months we’ve been holding discussions with key people in the asset management field around thought leadership. Most recently, we’ve been proud to host Pete Sellars, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM).
IHEEM is an International Professional Engineering Institute, specialising in the Healthcare Estates Sector. Founded in 1943, the institute is a professional development organisation, keeping its members up to date with developing technology and changing regulations within the industry. Its primary aim is to ensure members have the skills, capabilities, and knowledge to carry out their duties.
IHEEM’s position as a professional development organisation is perfectly aligned with the Asset Wisdom ethos of learning and growth. Pete explained how IHEEM and its membership have responded to COVID-19, and how the current uncertain climate has influenced our collective ways of working in challenging circumstances.
Making quick decisions and building relationships
Pete explained the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and how it has directed decision making. The pandemic has proven that, where support is in place, the system can make decisions rapidly when necessary. He credits the quick adaptability of IHEEM (such as changes to home working) for the effective systems that allowed the organisation to continue to support the healthcare industry at an exceptionally crucial time.
Small delays in making decisions can have a big impact on outcomes, so managing them successfully is an ongoing consideration. Learning from others worldwide (IHEEM did this with its international partners a quick turnaround of an international information newsletter) and reaching out to share knowledge is essential.
COVID-19 has been a key factor in strengthening existing relationships and sharing knowledge about best practice. Pete explained this also includes personal experiences, with clinical and non-clinical staff working closer than ever to ensure quality patient care with a whole lifecycle approach being essential for good asset management practice.
Providing visibility and sharing knowledge
Pete shared that a big issue for the NHS at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was non-clinical space. NHS workforce, at all levels, were vital during the crisis, a positive output of the crisis was strengthening of relationships between clinical and non-clinical staff with a recognition of the importance of every role in delivering quality patient care. and remain so today. Again, the whole-lifecycle value was stressed as Pete explained IHEEM needed to learn from this to give its members visibility of the full picture of events during planning stages.
Pete stressed we must ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge, and opportunity to learn. In fact, the IHEEM is accelerating plans to deliver a mixture of online training and webinars, through the IHEEM knowledge portal.
Pete’s message was one we share wholeheartedly. Successful personal and professional development stems from reflection: the need to look at what worked well, what can be changed, and what lessons will be learnt. From that comes resilience to tackle upcoming challenges, whether they can be foreseen, to make sure peaks and troughs can be successfully managed.
To watch the full interview with Pete Sellars and our MD, June Lancaster, click here.
To find out more about thought leadership, read our learnings taken from our conversations with Institute of Asset Management MD Andy Watts.
At Asset Wisdom, we’re delighted to be in conversation with people, like Pete, who share our goal for the successful delivery of asset management on a worldwide scale. It makes crisis management easier, is accessible for every industry, and supports our collective resilience with system-based approach that helps meet and manage challenges.
For personal and professional development courses that build relationships and resilience for asset management success, click here to browse our selection of online learnings.
