5 Critical factors to consider before making a job offer in Facilities Management

The final stage of the facilities management recruitment process, the ‘offer’, is the most important part of a usually extensive recruitment process; the decision of whom you will offer the facilities management job to is the conclusion of much effort and hard work from HR teams, facilities management recruitment consultants, Hiring Managers, and candidates. But who will get the job?

Factors to consider when making a job offer in Facilities Management

This decision will affect how your business runs, how your team performs and how effective the chosen candidate will be in the role. The dilemma comes when all finalists could be successful in the role; you should give full consideration to all of the information you have to hand including interview notes, feedback from fellow interviewers, references and give thought to what the business and team needs.

Interview Process

All facilities management candidates should be asked the same questions to ensure they have each had the opportunity to present themselves fairly. Ensure you have reviewed the job specification and tailored your questions around the essential and desirable skills and experience required for the role. Ensure candidates give examples on previous work situations rather than hypothetical answers, i.e. not what they would do in that situation but what they have done in that situation. You will find by probing specific examples you should get the information you need to assess whether a candidate meets the requirements of the role. Notes should be taken at interviews, ideally throughout or immediately following the interview to ensure you have taken down the correct information and nothing has been missed. Review the feedback from the interview team

Organising interviews with people from all stages in the company in the panel can prove beneficial, however finding the time and resources can prevent this from being possible. They may hold different view-points about a candidate and may have feedback that can be very useful, all comments and observations deserve attention and consideration. This meeting should be held as soon as possible after the interview selection process whilst candidates’ performance is still fresh in the mind of all interviewers/assessors. You should be aware that candidates present themselves differently dependant on who they meet; meeting members of your team who would be their future colleagues in an informal situation can prove very beneficial as it is normal for a candidate to let their guard down and perhaps make comments they would hold back in a formal interview. Feedback from peers is usually interesting and can be very valuable when reaching your decision.

References

References from previous line managers can provide important information about a facilities management candidate, who better to give you an insight to how a candidate performs in the workplace? References direct from previous employers can have their limitations; for instance an employer can be hesitant to provide an unfavourable reference for a former employee. Candidates usually select a referee whom they know will give them a glowing reference and sometimes referees are friends. Yet despite the limitations the most important question to ask when seeking references is ‘would you re-employ them?’ Needless to say the answer should always be yes! If a referee hesitates or answers ‘no’ then this is a big cause for concern, why would they not re-employ them? Could it be they weren’t effective in their job role? You should carefully think through all of the information you have been given regarding the reference.

Cultural fit

Take an objective look at your own work environment and how your business operates, what is the culture of your business and what is the attitude of your staff? How will the candidate will fit in; will they succeed in the workplace? Do they have the attitude and the values that are important to your company? Hiring managers can have a tendency to recruit like-minded individuals, people they get on with and share the same interests and views but is this really what your team and business needs? When reviewing interviews, you need to look beyond candidates’ credentials and experience, and instead look at how they achieved their results in their last few jobs. Look at both what they enjoyed and what they struggled with in their past jobs and see how your environment compares. Will they fit in with your company’s vision and are they going to enjoy working for your business and the way it operates?

Skills and experience

It is rare that facilities management candidates will be a 100% match for the role, yet it is important that their experience fulfils the requirements of the role and any areas they are lacking are skills that can be developed through coaching or training. Perhaps your candidate has the experience but is missing the technical qualification, this is a quandary and only your business can decide if this is something you are willing to compromise on. Think about the main aspects of the job and how quickly you want a candidate to make an impact. Does their current skills and experience outweigh the areas they need to develop? Think through carefully and make your decision based on your business needs.
If you take all of these points into consideration then you should now be at a stage ready to make a job offer to the facilities management candidate who is the most suitable fit for the role. This decision should be based on which person is going to perform best in the role, who will bring skills and experience and new ideas to the role and who will fit in with the attitude and culture of the company.

Congratulations on coming to the right decision!

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Ebook – Recruiting a Facilities Manager: The 10 Things You Need to Know

Finding qualified Facilities Managers to hire can be a struggle, even in a bad economy. However certain things hold true, no matter the economic conditions.

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