(A post from Sodexo’s Career Blog)
This girl is on fire; hard hats and high heels, she is on fire!
While a slight variation from the inspirational Alicia Keys song about women finding their voice, it’s quite fitting for Sodexo’s Lynn Baez, CFM, SFP, FMP, CBCP, Vice President of Operations for Facilities Management. She oversees the facility operations of 130 sites in North and South America, including a $65 million portfolio in the United States.
Lynn has more than 17 years of relevant experience as an integrated facilities management leader with a keen focus in life cycle operations for the built environment. And now, she is taking the facilities world by storm as a respected leader in the industry.
Lynn serves as the Second Vice Chair of IFMA’s Global Board of Directors, Member of the Board of Trustees for the IFMA Foundation and Chair of IFMA’s Government Relations Committee. She is also moving the needle at Sodexo in the Facilities Management space, while influencing women FM leaders all around her.
Every year facilities professionals from across the world attend both IFMA & NFMT events to learn new and innovative trends in the industry. Sodexo has long been a proud sponsor of the Women in FM panels at these conferences.
We were honored to have our very own Lynn Baez as a guest speaker representing Sodexo at both IFMA World Workplace & NFMT Orlando at the end of 2017, and next week, she’ll be joining another group of Sodexo’s leading ladies at IFMA Facility Fusion in Chicago.
Having had the opportunity to hear Lynn speak on multiple occasions, we borrowed a few minutes of her time to ask about her advice to women in FM and to learn more about her role at Sodexo (No. 6 on the Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies list).
What’s the most important piece of advice you would give to women in Facilities Management
LB: Be flexible, agile and adaptable. FM is always evolving and what was true even 5-10 years ago is changing. We are becoming stewards and utilizing the skill of being open and flexible as we build the environment for future women in FM.
What do you personally enjoy most about working in FM at Sodexo
LB: What I enjoy the most is working with recruitment because there is such a diverse talent pool in the marketplace. As a leader in FM, it helps me look in areas such as IT and hospitality, which are industries that we did not typically consider in the past. People in these industries have talent and transferable skills. Getting the right piece of the puzzle for an account is so important, and when they all fit together, your team is unstoppable!
How has Sodexo contributed to your career growth
LB: In less than a year, I have had so much access to other accounts. The way they are designed and managed has given me the opportunity to leverage cutting edge insight that can be utilized internally or externally. I work on different types of contracts domestic and global and some use specific technology, some use different manpower, and this has really helped me as I grow my career.
As you can see, Lynn is on fire and her flame continues to burn with all she has to offer the FM world. Last November, she provided some amazing insight for the women in attendance, which we’ll end with here:
“Never discount anything you bring to the table and find the right environment for you.”
Post by Jennifer Tschilar, Facilities Management Recruitment Manager, and Lisa Curry, Senior Recruiter, as part of Sodexo’s Recruiter Series.
