Background
Tindall Riley & Co Limited engaged Maxwell Stephens to fill the role of Office/Facilities Manager, a position central to keeping the firm's working environment efficient and compliant. The role is responsible for the smooth operation of a range of internal services and for compliance with health and safety legislation, in support of the overall goals and performance of the business.
The Challenge
The Office/Facilities Manager would manage the day-to-day operations of several departments, including Reception, Post Room, File Control, Catering and Information Research. The role also carried budget setting, monitoring compliance with health and safety legislation, and the management of various facilities and services.
The ideal candidate needed extensive experience in facilities management, strong organisational skills and the ability to handle confidential information with discretion.
Combined office and facilities roles of this type are harder to fill than either half on its own. The facilities side calls for someone comfortable with compliance, contractors and building systems; the office side calls for someone who can run service departments and lead the people in them. Candidates tend to come from one background or the other, and the search has to find the smaller pool who are credible in both.
Our Approach
To meet these requirements, Maxwell Stephens focused the search on candidates with a proven track record in:
- Strategic facilities management
- Health and safety compliance and auditing
- Maintenance and operational efficiency
- Budget management and cost control
- Team leadership and training
Discretion was treated as a requirement rather than a preference. A manager overseeing file control, post and information research handles sensitive material as a matter of routine, and we assessed candidates for that as directly as for their technical background.
The Outcome
Once in post, the new Office/Facilities Manager took charge quickly and showed the capability and commitment the role demanded. Key achievements included:
- Operational efficiency. Managed the Reception, Post Room, File Control, Catering and Information Research departments so that each met business needs effectively, and provided training and development to staff to improve team performance and productivity.
- Health & safety compliance. Formulated and implemented health and safety policies and procedures in line with legislation, conducted risk assessments and delivered H&S awareness training to employees, supporting a safe working environment.
- Facilities management. Liaised with landlords and other tenants to review facilities, building controls and future plans; managed office and equipment contracts to ensure they were fit for purpose and cost-effective; coordinated and oversaw office refurbishments and renovations with minimal disruption to business operations; and monitored office access systems, alarms and security measures to protect staff and premises.
- Budget management. Prepared and monitored the facilities budget, keeping expenditure within budgetary constraints, and periodically reviewed supplier and contractor costs, managing tenders and conducting due diligence as required.
- Business continuity and CSR. Maintained business continuity planning data and contributed to BCP planning as a member of the BCP Core Group; ensured facilities and resources were managed in accordance with the company's corporate social responsibility statement and contributed to the CSR policy.
- Team leadership and coordination. Acted as the central point of contact for the annual power shutdown process, coordinating with contractors and IT to keep business disruption to a minimum, and formed the link between the Maintenance Department, the Health & Safety Department and other areas of the company.
Why This Placement Worked
The brief was scoped honestly from the start: this was a management role with a compliance and budget remit, not an office administrator with facilities duties attached. Searching for candidates with a genuine track record across facilities, health and safety, budgets and team leadership, rather than strength in one area alone, produced an appointee who could take on every department from the outset and contribute beyond the core remit, in areas such as business continuity and CSR.
If you are recruiting a combined office and facilities manager, or any role where one person must hold operations, compliance and budgets together, Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and find the candidates who cover all of it. Get in touch with our team.