How to Scale Your FM Services without an HR Nightmare
When do you need to scale your FM services?
Buildings need their facility management to scale up or down for a variety of reasons.
FM Needs to Scale Up
- The building portfolio increased.
- Construction is taking place.
- An influx of facility projects, such as preparing to re-open after a closure.
- COVID-19 outbreak, requiring quick replacements.
FM Needs to Scale Down
- Building closures took place.
- Reduction in staff.
- Real estate sold from the portfolio.
Special facility project wraps up.
How does the HR department prepare for scaling?
Hiring, firing, and temporary lay-offs are part of the human resources department's tasks. But for companies that are regularly adjusting the FM needs, this can turn into a nightmare.
For each new hire, HR needs to:
- Source candidates
- Interview
- Conduct background checks
- Conduct drug tests.
- Complete payroll and insurance paperwork.
- Complete retirement package paperwork.
- Deal with employee unions
If your HR department is consistently adding and subtracting facility personnel, it doesn't make financial sense to do this in-house. One aspect of their job takes too many hours.
Rather than keeping facility management in-house, companies with evolving FM needs should outsource the entire department.
What are the benefits of outsourcing?
Many departments are steady. You have the same work that needs completed week in and week out. But the facility department is not one of them. Machines don't break down on a schedule. An outbreak that requires quick disinfection doesn't wait to be scheduled in your calendar. That is why outsourcing FM is ideal for portfolio, campus, or single buildings.
Faster Staffing
The process of staffing and filling positions is not easy to become an expert in. From recruiting, hiring, background checks, union requirements, and many other process, it makes it difficult to stay agile. For outsourced providers, this is a key focus, and they are constantly focused on and improving their “time to fill” for positions. Leveraging a company who has made a living at doing this well, can bring major benefits to your team.
Facility Engineering
An expert facility engineer will use data to make proactive facility decisions. An outsourced facility engineer can pre-schedule maintenance through smart technology to ensure critical equipment is always working optimally. Additionally, facility floorplan adjustments - such as social distancing protocol - can be made using data, providing a seamless transition.
Disinfection Programs & Housekeeping
Right now, housekeeping, disinfection, and sanitation teams are having their moment in the spotlight. But, that doesn't mean you need to hire an in-house team. Outsource this function. If an outbreak were to occur, you would have a professional team with the proper equipment ready to deploy. But, you would only pay for them when you need them.
Specialty Services
You don't always need a plumber, electrician, or HVAC professional around. But when you do need one, you need them now. That is why working with a full-service facility management company can be so beneficial. You don't need to source a specialty service in-house. Instead, use your FM company, which has already vetted them to hire, manage, and pay the service provider.
Maintenance
Maybe you have a big event or a particular project like a new recycling program. These would fall into your facility department's tasks. Rather than choosing between cutting one task to add on the special project, outsourcing FM allows you to have it all. Extra personnel can be assigned for an event to prepare and break down afterward.
Exterior Grounds
Keep your grounds looking pristine by outsourcing your exterior grounds. Outsourcing is especially beneficial in locations that have varied weather. Buildings look professional all year long when raking, plowing, and pruning are kept on top of.
Construction Cleaning
You don't have construction every day, so you don't need to worry about cleaning dust and demo mess regularly. But, for anyone who has gone through a construction project, you're well aware of the disarray that can occur. An outsourced FM service provider can add on a construction cleaning crew to keep your space as tidy as possible during those inconveniencing construction projects.
By outsourcing your FM services, building owners can scale up or down as needed. This is a convenient and adaptable solution for ever-evolving businesses.
Encompass
Encompass is a full-service facility management company that supports businesses by proactively maintaining their building portfolio. They balance infrastructure and service needs with regulatory and operational requirements to fulfill time-strapped facility departments' needs. Their state-of-the-art, Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC)-certified COVID-19 disinfection program is built for rapid deployment to assist your facility when you need it. No waiting weeks for assistance in containing an outbreak. Encompass can be there within 24 hours.
But Wait There's More!
Healthcare Case Study
Hospitals that service civilly and forensically committed patients require outstanding levels of janitorial service as well as expertise in medical compliance and infectious disease control. Our in-house Healthcare Director of Operations, well-trained managers on-site and EVS workers who function as part of the patient care team have made this account a success. Our proprietary software platform, Encompass One, helps manage staffing and quality control while providing required compliance data. Encompass has consistently earned Excellent ratings from the Joint Commission Surveys conducted under the auspices of the Florida Agency of Healthcare Administration and are the gold standard for quality for non-government healthcare facilities.
University Case Study
Long-term relationships are built on communication and trust. Read how a decade-long account matured into a seamless partnership with a sense of united purpose and mutual respect. Discover how a “one team” mentality can mutually benefit both the service provider and the customer.
National Bank Case Study
A 200+ branch bank was expanding its reach rapidly and looking for a provider with a proven track record of successfully scaling with a rapidly growing company. We were able to lean on our strong network of professional partners to expedite recruitment and training and were fully staffed up and onboarded prior to the start of our contract. We were the bank’s first Systems Integrated Service Provider, syncing its internal CMMS with our Encompass One platform, instantly providing the ability to digitally issue and track work tickets, confirm quality of completed orders and provide feedback in real time. In response to our performance, the customer increased our scope of work from 13 to 33 sites within two months.
State Hospital Case Study
This extensive inpatient psychiatric hospital complex needed to improve staffing, cleanliness and state and federal mandated standards. We transformed its cleaning and quality standards by incorporating our proprietary software platform to monitor staffing, quality and track KPI. We also integrated our in-house health care compliance expert into their Compliance and Infection Control Team to improve patient outcomes and quality reviews. Read how we turned things around for this large, vital behavioural healthcare facility.
