The FM Talent Scan is a decision diagnostic for organisations facing a senior Facilities Management hire, promotion or restructure. It starts with a free five-minute online check across six areas of the function. Where the pressure is real, a senior consultant tests it against roles, structure and evidence and sets out three options: fix internally, redesign, or hire.
Most Facilities Management hiring mistakes are made before the search begins. Pressure builds in the function, a role is created to relieve it, and the appointment absorbs the uncertainty while the underlying risk stays where it was. A capable person then inherits a problem that a hire was never going to solve.
The FM Talent Scan exists to interrupt that pattern. It is a decision diagnostic, used before an organisation commits to a senior hire, promotion or restructure in its Facilities Management function.
Start with the free check
The first stage is a free online check. Thirteen questions cover six areas of the function (structure, capacity, capability, tools and technology, leadership and culture) plus the people decision you are facing in the next six months. It takes about five minutes, gives an immediate result and needs no email address.
The result shows where the pressure sits, how the weakest areas interact, and one of three verdicts: a Talent Scan is worth doing, the situation is worth a conversation, or you probably do not need a Scan at all. If it is the last of these, it will say so and point you to our Role Readiness check instead.
Take the free FM Talent Scan check
What the full Talent Scan looks at
Where the pressure is real, the full Scan is led by a senior Maxwell Stephens consultant. It looks at roles and the relationships between them, not at individuals in isolation. Each role in scope is tested against seven questions: why the role exists now, its capability depth, the decisions it genuinely carries, what breaks if the person in it leaves, whether it is compensating for weaknesses elsewhere, whether it is built for today or for what comes next, and how realistic succession is.
What you receive
- A red, amber and green risk map
- A clear statement of what is actually at risk
- Clarified role intent where it is ambiguous
- Three options, not one recommendation: fix internally, redesign the structure, or hire, and if so, what kind of hire
The decision stays with you.
Why a recruiter would build this
It is a fair question. Our answer is the rule we hold the Scan to: if it always led to recruitment, it would have failed. Its value lies in preventing unnecessary action as often as enabling necessary action. If the Scan does lead to a search with Maxwell Stephens, the Scan fee is credited against it, so we gain nothing by recommending a hire you do not need.
When it is not the right tool
The Scan is not for low-risk or high-volume roles, for decisions where the cost of getting it wrong is marginal, or where leadership already has clear, testable evidence. It is also the wrong tool when the outcome has already been decided and what is wanted is validation. In those cases we will tell you.
Talk to Maxwell Stephens
If you are weighing a senior Facilities Management hire, promotion or restructure, start with the free check, read how the FM Talent Scan works, or talk to us before you commit.
