Retention and Succession in Facilities Management

It’s Tuesday morning, and Robert is at the client site where he works Monday through Friday.

An important companywide email goes out from his employer — a reminder about a critical compliance training deadline. Only those at risk of missing it receive the alert.

Robert doesn’t see it until Friday evening.

A strong performer who spends his days solving problems and supporting the client, he works entirely within the client’s systems — using their computer, email, and network. He checks his employer email once a week when he remembers. This time, he missed it.

In commercial real estate and facilities management, this happens more often than we’d like to admit. Embedded staff are intentionally woven into client operations — and that’s a good thing. The client relationship depends on it. But when full integration into the client’s environment creates distance from the employer’s own systems and culture, small misses can grow into bigger engagement and retention issues.

Three ways to keep that balance strong:

1. Bridge the technology gap. Make connection part of onboarding. Coordinate with IT and client tech teams to ensure embedded staff can receive critical communications — whether that’s email forwarding, mobile access, or a company-issued device.
2. Create connection rituals. Host a quarterly FM Forum where employees from all client sites join an online session to share strategies, challenges, and innovations. Recognize achievements. Celebrate wins. Keep the sense of one company alive.
3. Build an internal FM mentoring network. Pair newer facility managers with senior mentors from different accounts. Make connection to the employer part of the development plan. It strengthens culture, accelerates learning, and creates an internal bench for future openings — so people move within the company, not out of it.

In a business built on relationships, keeping our own people connected is the foundation that holds everything else up.

- Sahara DerKourkian