The International Facility Management Association Foundation seeks to position facilities management as a career of choice, ensuring the path to a fulfilling career in the industry is available to all who seek to enter the profession.
The Global Workforce Initiative, a program from the IFMA Foundation, helps grow the FM workforce talent gap as more than half of today’s practitioners are expected to retire in the next five to 15 years. IFMA is working to introduce the profession to students through various programs.
To further interest people in the industry, C&W Services has created Tips from the Field—a series of posts from our professionals with advice for those considering a profession in FM or just starting out in an FM position.
Find advice from Kim—a CMMS coordinator at a high-tech company in Texas—below, and read more about her story here.
Kim loves the fast pace of her job and thinks of her role as another form of customer service. “You might think about customer service as working in retail, but in FM it is a special setting. You get to know people in the building—it’s like a family.”
Kim remembers a day when a visiting executive asked the events team to stock a refrigerator with extra water in advance of a regular client meeting. But Kim and the team also knew the executive had a penchant for hazelnut-flavored coffee creamer, so they included the coffee creamer as a special touch. “In retail environments,” Kim explains, “you don’t always get to know your customer in the same way.” But in FM you do. Kim thrives on the warm and familial atmosphere of her dynamic client site.
Two months ago, an employee at Kim’s site called her work order hotline and asked for permission to put up some PVC piping to make a giant soccer net and hang it from the ceiling above their desks. Kim was surprised by the unusual request, but she takes every work order seriously, and looked into how she could help the team fulfill their request. The net ended up getting built in a safe way that didn’t interfere with the lighting or sprinkler systems or present any other danger.
Other unique challenges include setting up complex desk-side haunted houses for Halloween—she loves the exciting projects that pop up every day.
Kim’s advice to anyone starting out as a work order coordinator is simple: “Get to know your techs!”
Knowing the service delivery team on a personal level really helps with the coordination. Kim has become friends with the people who deliver the work on the other side of every work order, and she feels this really makes the team run more efficiently.
Kim works for a fast-paced growing company, and her days are often full of unexpected unique calls and requests.
On a normal day, Kim starts off by looking at the work orders that came in overnight and reviewing what the overnight maintenance technicians and janitors completed. She answers emails that came while she was away, and as the morning gets going, she follows up on reports.
Throughout the day, Kim answer phones and emails. She talks to the employees logging work orders and, depending on the situation, the techs completing these tasks. Sometimes a call to the tech is a better way to share important background information if it can’t be easily explained via email. After all this, Kim runs more reports. She sums it up as keeping people on task.
If Kim’s story sounds interesting, check out our Careers site. We regularly post CMMS Administrator roles for our client accounts across North America. If you don’t see a job like this near you, you can join our talent network, and we will send you alerts when a similar job opens in your area. Join today!
