QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Top Problem For Facility Managers

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

This week’s question comes from the Facilities Management Group on LinkedIn.

What is the #1 issue/problem my fellow facility managers are having to deal with these days?

Joe Reidenhour
Facility Branch Manager, Operations Management
Kutztown, PA

Share your feedback and suggestions in the LEAVE A COMMENT section below.


8 COMMENTS

  1. I’m dealing with an increased level of criminal background checks on contractors and all their sub staff. It’s quite an ordeal but you’ll be surprised what you find out with contractors you’ve used for decades. Trying to wrap my head around this one…

  2. Today’s work environment is truly a challenging position for anyone who manages personnel. In the Federal Government world we utilize Federal employees, contracted support personnel and contracted services, a very challenging mix of people. Coordinating work among all these is a real experience. It runs the gamit from top notch to bottom of the barrel performance. Finding qualified personnel and exceptional performers is the most challenging part of operations, dealing with absentism and low work performance levels can frustrate even the best of managers. People unable to think on their feet cause a significant problem when assigned to a task that should be routine but turns into a disaster because the person could not think their way through the situation and makes the situation worse by not completing the assignment.
    Add to this mix the drastic reduction in available funding and the operations suffer more. Determing what items to spend the limited funding on is a exasperating experience for anyone making decisions.

  3. How do I deal with an aging work force?

    My staff are all Union and not obligated to retire at any set point. I am squeezing all the efficiency I can out of my staff, but with age being a factor, what do I do?

  4. Workforce management is the biggest hurdle and headache we have. FMLA, Family Medical Leave Act, has morphed from protection for childbirth to anything you can get a doctor to support. The intermitent leaveleave has become a 480 hour get out of jail free card for many employees to take days off without reprisal. Now the Afordable Healthcare Act has limited our temporary workforce to 27 hour workweeks. These two issues have double-teamed the negative effect of managing personnel in the most effective manner, especially in a unionized environment that many professional must deal with.

  5. Maintaining a relationship with contractors when the building owners are setting such high standards and level of insurance coverage.

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