Culture Beats Dysfunction – Recruitment in FM

• Content
• Opinion
• Culture Beats Dysfunction – Recruitment in FM

16 May 2025 | Updated 19 May 2025

FM recruitment continues to evolve amidst labour shortages, digital transformation and the industry skills gap. Lynsey Storm from Platinum Facilities shares how she’s tackling those challenges.

Lynsey is Director of People, Culture and Shared Services at Platinum Facilities. She is responsible for ensuring the business builds on its commitments to be a responsible business and a great place to work. 

 

Building Connections

 

As a facilities management industry, we’re all too familiar with the challenge of keeping teams motivated, aligned and engaged. Our workforce is highly distributed, with engineers and other facilities staff spread across multiple client sites, often working remotely and during unsociable hours, limiting opportunities for face-to-face interaction and creating natural communication barriers. Meanwhile, the frequency of TUPE and a historically high staff turnover have made it difficult to build relationships and a strong sense of connection with our people.  

That’s why frameworks like Patrick Lencioni’s “Five Dysfunctions of a Team” can be particularly valuable in FM. Business management author Lencioni suggests five core issues that prevent teams from working effectively: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.

In a context where teams are dispersed, interactions are limited, and relationships are harder to build, these dysfunctions can easily take root if left unaddressed. By intentionally applying the model, however, we can create stronger, more cohesive teams, no matter how geographically or operationally fragmented they may be.

 

"Technology presents another major challenge. Facilities management is undergoing a digital transformation, with services such as asset management and maintenance becoming data-led disciplines. If we want to keep pace with the rest of the world, attracting and retaining top talent, we must do more to demonstrate that we are an industry that both values and nurtures these skills."

 

The Demographic Time Bomb in FM

 

At the same time, there are multiple, converging threats. Perhaps the most urgent of these is a persistent and worsening recruitment shortage. Organisations like ours are finding it difficult to plug staffing gaps and recruit the right people. As a recent Building Engineering Services Survey found, nearly half (46 per cent) of businesses are currently looking to fill vacancies, while 46 per cent of this group reported that candidates often lack sufficient knowledge or skills for the job. 

This skills shortage is amplified by a well-publicised “demographic timebomb”. The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board has estimated that by 2026, 91,000 engineers (nearly 20 per cent) and 29,000 technicians (18 per cent) will retire, while the UK is facing a shortfall of 59,000 engineering graduates and technicians each year despite needing 124,000 annually. 

Technology presents another major challenge. Facilities management is undergoing a digital transformation, with services such as asset management and maintenance becoming data-led disciplines. If we want to keep pace with the rest of the world, attracting and retaining top talent, we must do more to demonstrate that we are an industry that both values and nurtures these skills. 

 

Recruitment with Purpose 

 

Bringing recruitment in-house in 2022 marked a turning point for Platinum. It has given us direct control over how we introduce our company to candidates, allowing us to communicate our values, culture, and expectations from the very beginning. In turn, this has made a massive difference in identifying people who not only have the right skills but also resonate with how we work. As a result, our unplanned turnover rate is now well below the industry average.

Before we look to external candidates, we always explore internal options, asking whether someone already in the business could step up immediately or grow into the role within six months with support. And if we need to recruit, our hiring managers work closely with our internal recruiter to define the role, not just in terms of technical skills but also key behaviours and traits. For leadership roles, we use psychometric assessments to help gauge cultural compatibility.

Our end goal is always the same: placing the right people, with the right behaviours, in the right roles.

 

Culture Eats Strategy

 

Of course, recruitment is only half the story. Retaining great people – those who embody our values – is equally vital to our long-term success. We’re committed to internal development and career mobility. When a contract ends, we do everything possible to redeploy individuals elsewhere in the business. It’s not always an option, but we treat it as a priority, not an afterthought.

Personal and professional growth is central to “The Platinum Way” – our people-first philosophy. For top performers, we map out clear routes to leadership. For others, we help identify strengths and opportunities to contribute, even if that means changing roles or departments. When progression isn’t available within our business, we still support those ready to take the next step elsewhere – and celebrate their journey.

Managers play a pivotal role in all of this. We empower our responsible managers to lead proactively and authentically, supporting their teams with empathy and intent. They’re expected to coach, provide honest feedback, and embody our values in everything they do.

As the famous saying goes, culture eats strategy for breakfast. At Platinum, we want to lead by example, building a culture rooted in trust and openness, where people feel confident enough to speak up, ask questions and contribute ideas. In sectors like ours, we recognise this hasn’t always been the norm – which is why we need to do all we can to ensure that every team member feel seen, heard and valued.

Picture: a photograph of Lynsey Storm sitting at a desk. Image Credit: Platinum Facilities

Article written by Lynsey Storm | Published 16 May 2025

Share

---

---

Related Articles

---