An integrated facility management company sells cleaning, technical upkeep, security, pest control and front desk as one contract. Each client site mixes trades and shifts, and margins depend on how well the whole workforce is planned and costed.
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Share your requirementsAn integrated facility management company wins contracts to run entire premises for corporates, hospitals, campuses and factories. One site may need housekeeping teams, electricians and HVAC technicians, front desk staff, pantry attendants, gardeners and a site manager, with some services done in house and others through partners. Each contract has its own manpower schedule, rates and service levels, so one group of people is spread across many pricing sheets. Clients expect one accountable face, the site manager, while the company's profit depends on the mix of people it keeps at each site. The wider facility management hub covers what all facility businesses share.
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
Roles, shifts and rates differ site by site, so a person moved between clients may be doing a job priced very differently.
They hold client relationships, hire locally and rarely get management training, and a poor one costs a contract.
Technicians, cleaners and desk staff have different pay, status and hours, and resent each other when treated unevenly.
An empty post may be billed back, so who covered it matters. Relievers are valuable and short.
Overtime, replacements and added posts are not always claimed from the client, and the loss appears only at the year end.
Capable site staff are offered a direct job by the customer, and the company loses its best people at the sites that matter.
Start with the topics that matter most here: Compensation, Payroll and Benefits; HR Analytics and Management Reporting; Organisation Design. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for facility management, not in general.
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
The pieces a integrated facility management companies business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Make one sheet per client showing posts, shifts, pay grades and the target margin.
What this coversHideMake one sheet per client showing posts, shifts, pay grades and the target margin. Review it with the area manager each quarter. See compensation benchmarking.
A regular programme on client dealings, rosters, conduct and basic people handling, with peers sharing what works.
What this coversHideA regular programme on client dealings, rosters, conduct and basic people handling, with peers sharing what works.
One ladder across trades with local pay bands, so a move between sites is understood and fair.
What this coversHideOne ladder across trades with local pay bands, so a move between sites is understood and fair.
A shared bench by city or cluster, with inducted staff who know several sites and can step in on short notice.
What this coversHideA shared bench by city or cluster, with inducted staff who know several sites and can step in on short notice.
Overtime, absence cover, vacancies and billed posts shown together per site, so leakage is spotted early.
What this coversHideOvertime, absence cover, vacancies and billed posts shown together per site, so leakage is spotted early. The HR reporting work covers the layout.
A route from supervisor to site manager to area manager, with training and review at each step.
What this coversHideA route from supervisor to site manager to area manager, with training and review at each step.
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirementsConfirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
Grades and pay bands across trades, set against local rates, so moves between sites are fair.
Client-wise manpower cost, vacancies and exits shown together for area managers.
Practical training for site and area managers who handle teams and clients.
A fair route for complaints and misconduct across many sites and many supervisors.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in facility management, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
Housekeeping, technician and security staff at client sites leave for reasons head office rarely hears. How to ask, what to look for and how to act on it.
7 min readRead article
How to design incentives for operators, setters and inspectors in fastener, gear, spring and valve units so that accepted lots, not piece counts, earn the bonus.
7 min readRead article
Six numbers, one page, same format each month. What they are, how to define them so they mean the same thing twice, and what each one tells you.
8 min readRead article
A flat structure works until the founder becomes the only route to a decision. How to tell when you have passed that point, and how to redesign without a reorganisation.
8 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Cost each contract by role, track actual overtime and replacements against the plan and review quarterly. Keep a common grade ladder so that moves are fair and costing is clear. Do not hide leakage in averages.
They hold the client relationship, select and supervise the team and spot trouble first. A strong one retains staff and contracts. A weak one, however skilled in trade, loses both.
Be open with staff about career steps inside the company, keep pay competitive and check the contract terms on non-solicitation. Do not trap people; give them reasons to stay and a path up.
Use one framework and list the differences by trade. Core rules on conduct, leave and grievance can be shared, while shift, safety and pay bands are set by role.
Size it from your own data on absence, leave and exits across sites, then hold a modest bench by cluster. Review it each quarter. A pool that is too thin causes empty posts, and too large drains margin.
We would ask for your three largest contracts, compare planned and actual manpower costs, and find out how site managers are chosen and trained. A common grade ladder with a monthly workforce report is a natural first job, and scope is written for your approval.
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