The Recruiting Game

The need to replace retiring professionals with new and diverse talent is overwhelming, and largely attributed to an uninformed audience. Because FM tends to be a business-to-business industry, there is a disconnect for consumers and the general population, making talent acquisition challenging. Many FM providers struggle with fi nding quality candidates despite its size and prestige within the industry.

While FM might lack the cachet of other industries, there are countless benefits to joining the profession. Stable work, room for growth, safe and professional environments, and the opportunity to work within diverse and prestigious facilities top the list of industry assets.

For FM companies, partnering with IFMA can play a key role in acquiring new talent. In October 2019, members of the ABM leadership and recruitment team attended IFMA Foundation’s Global Workplace Initiative IgniteFM! student competition. Through the Foundation, a connection was made with Tanner Hulka, a student at Brigham Young University. Throughout his last year of college, Hulka stayed connected with an ABM contact and was eventually offered a position as a site coordinator in Houston, Texas, USA.

As a promising FM candidate, Hulka shares what drew him to the industry, his challenges, career goals and more.

Q: How did you hear about FM and why have you gravitated toward the industry?

A: I went to school in Utah at BYU. I was in exercise science at first and then switched to recreation management. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do; I was just taking general credits at the time. I was probably two years in, trying to figure out what I wanted to do and then my brother, who was in the facility and property management program, said to check it out. I looked at the course credits that they had and thought it looked interesting. I spent the next two years going through the classes and really enjoyed it.

Q: You started in February. What have you learned so far about the FM industry?

A: It’s been a wild ride since I started: it’s been go, go, go. I think we really appreciate skilled technicians in facility and property management. Documentation is very important when it comes to work orders and making sure things don’t fall through the cracks. Things can get very busy and with a lot of work coming in, making sure that we can track the purchase orders and work orders is important. At this point, I’m just trying to be a sponge and soak up everything. People that you deal with sometimes might act like a know it all, but you can’t know everything. I think being humble to learn from technicians or your manager or the people that you manage can take you far.

Q: As a site coordinator, you have a lot of different responsibilities. What would you say a good day at work looks like for you?

A: Every day is different: you come in and there might be some emergency on site. A good day would be answering everyone’s emails and questions. A good day would also be setting up new vendors, so if we need a new vendor, making sure I reach out to them, get their paperwork and make sure they’re in our system. Ordering any supplies, that would be a good day, making sure I stay on top of that, trying to help where I can.

Q: What challenges have you faced (and overcome) so far?

A: I think a big challenge for myself right now is just the learning curve. How ABM does things, their systems, and trying to learn that as well as our client that has their own systems and way of doing things. Trying to learn both of those and how we connect those systems together has been difficult. What’s helping me out is being in those systems everyday to familiarize myself with them. I think the best way to learn something is to keep getting familiar with it. It’s hard when an emergency comes up because you have to give up the other things that you’re working on to attend to that. It’s also making sure that you can fully understand the situation — what is needed from myself, what other things do we need to coordinate. We’re able to get with the client to talk out everything that we need, making sure that there’s communication and nothing falls through the cracks. We’re doing our best to meet the client standards and help them out.

Q: What appealed to you about this career path and not a desk job?

A: I think what initially brought me to this industry was that I’m fascinated by buildings. My dad is a residential appraiser and he showed us a couple cool properties that he was able to work on. Being able to work in a cool building is always something that I’ve liked. I still do some desk work, but most of the time I’m helping out where I can, walking around. Every day is different, which sometimes is a good thing, sometimes it is a bad thing. My priority is to make sure that our client has a comfortable space to work. I’m successful when our client is successful and their employees are able to do the work that they do. I feel like doing what I’m doing now is helping them out more than sitting at a desk.

Q: What is one thing you know about the FM industry that you think would attract other students to the field?

A: I think the first thing is the need for people in this industry, there’s a huge demand. People don’t even know it exists. If you walk around at a job fair, students have no idea what FM is. I think showing potential students that this is a job that is really hot right now, that you’re pretty much guaranteed a job. The second is realizing that FM is everywhere. You can pretty much go wherever you want.

Q: Do you have any specific goals for what you hope to achieve in your career?

A: I don’t have a desire to “climb the corporate ladder.” Interacting with my boss and my boss’ boss, they’re very busy and I don’t necessarily want that for myself. I don’t necessarily either want to be in the day-to-day operations, in the trenches every day. I think my career goals are to just help my employees. Whether I’m a site coordinator or an FM or an account director one day, I just want to be able to help my employees the best that I can. I try to be service-oriented and tend to be a yes-man. It’s not a very specific career goal, I just want to be successful in what I do now — making sure I put in the effort every day to help my employees as well as our clients.

Conculsion

As the FM services industry continues to grow, so too will the demand for talent. However, it is important that hiring managers continue to remain selective when fi lling roles. In Hulka’s case, showing initiative and genuine interest helped him to stand out among dozens of other FM students. For FM career development and growth, initiative and determination are two of the top variables for success.

“Success in the industry requires commitment to the industry. If you’re going to be in this world, you have to finish what you start. I think if you want to grow, you have to see it through,” said Dustin Little, senior director of talent acquisition for ABM and IFMA Foundation Global Workforce Initiative Advisor.

While a talent shortage may seem like a substantial setback, the FM industry can take advantage of the job market and recruit candidates that may not have considered an FM career. In a time when job security is highly valued by both college graduates and veterans, FM or janitorial frontline work could prove to be a promising path. By marketing industry benefi ts like job stability, safety, and growth opportunity to potential applicants, chances of securing and shaping top talent could increase exponentially.

Tanner Hulka graduated from an FM degree program accredited by ABET and the IFMA Foundation. These schools are graduating top-notch future facility managers. As a GWI Advisor, the ABM Talent Acquisitions team are able to meet students like him and others through these Accredited Degree Programs, the IFMA Foundation student scholarship programs, career webinars and IgniteFM! competitions. Partnership with the IFMA Foundation provides much needed talent to fill the looming gap in FM employment.