Everyone knows what a facilities manager is, what they do, and how they do it. We have written a multitude of blog posts on how to get hired as an FM; perfecting your CV, applying for vacancies, and acing your interview. But what most people don’t understand is how to hire good candidates – which is why so many facilities are still poorly managed.
When you’re hiring an FM for your company, you may think it’s an easy job. However, selecting the right candidate can make or break the efficiency of your building.
Poorly managed facilities are a sure sign that the wrong candidate was hired, which is damaging to your company’s productivity, as well as a waste of your time and money.
The need for quality in Facilities Management is significant, and growing. This fast-paced industry is becoming extremely popular; unfortunately giving rise to a number of undertrained, and underperforming FMs jumping on the bandwagon without realising the specific skill set and abilities required for the job.
Finding someone with the professionalism and capability to perform the job effectively is the only way to ensure you make the right decision. This is where a Facilities Management recruitment company like Maxwell Stephens really comes into play.
The stronger your grasp on facilities management, the easier it’ll be to hire someone who has all the right skills. None of our clients are experts in Facilities Management, but they don’t need to be.
Understanding the reasons you need a facilities manager will help you know what skills to look out for.
There are what is considered ‘hard skills’ and ‘soft skills’ to look for. Employers typically look for one or the other, not both. That is why they rarely get the quality they need.
Hard skills cover spatial planning, carpentry, engineering principles, and other ‘hands-on’ tasks. The more a person understands plumbing, electricals, and how the building functions, the better suited they will be to the overall management of the facilities.
Just about any skilled tradesman can handle the hard skills, but chances are, you need someone with soft skills too. Budgeting finances, time management, and customer relations are all necessary aspects of Facilities Management. It is a crucial part of the service that too many employers ignore.
When you limit themselves for only searching for one side, you are essentially shooting yourself in the foot as far as quality is concerned. To receive a comprehensive service, and save yourself from additional costs, you must find an FM with an understanding of both the hard and soft skills.
There is a recurring theme in facilities management recruitment which is why it’s so hard for employers to get the quality they’re looking for. School leavers and graduates spend years, perhaps without realising, refining their soft FM skills. Working with computers, managing their workload, and meeting deadlines. They know what needs to be done, and have the customer relations to keep clients happy.
But as soon as something physically goes wrong with the facility, they’re lost. Lacking the hands-on skills means your graduate FM will be thrown into the deep end of a work they have no training in when a problem arises.
We recommend training programmes to all our candidates with little experience. By working with an FM recruitment firm, you can guarantee you will only receive workers who are equipped to do the job you require.
The need for quality is vital; it’s what keeps your company making money, and you happy enough to keep your FM for the foreseeable future. Recruitment companies close the gap between hoping your new FM will work out and knowing they have everything covered. It’s a difficult job, which is why a recruiter’s deep knowledge of the FM industry is critical to a company’s success.
If the quality isn’t there, in one skill or another, the facilities in your company will suffer, sometimes very badly.
By finding candidates who possess the skills and experience required to serve your company, you can be sure your Facilities Manager can tackle any issue, and consistently provide you with a quality service.
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