Sarah was hired as an HR manager. She has a degree in human resources, years of experience in recruiting and employee relations, and a genuine passion for helping people succeed in the workplace.
But these days, Sarah spends more time calling HVAC contractors than interviewing candidates. She's more familiar with plumbing supply companies than benefits providers. And she can tell you more about the building's problematic second-floor restroom than about the company's employee development programs.
How did this happen?
It started innocently enough. "Sarah, while you're at your desk, could you get a couple of quotes for fixing that broken door?" Then it was the HVAC system. Then the lighting. Then suddenly, facility management wasn't just a few phone calls—it had become a significant part of her job.
A job she never applied for, wasn't trained for, and frankly, shouldn't be doing.
At Managed Services, Inc. (MSI), we hear this story constantly from businesses across the Twin Cities metro area. Receptionists. Office managers. Administrative assistants. HR personnel. People hired for specific professional roles who have had facility management dumped on them.
This isn't just inconvenient—it's expensive, inefficient, and unfair to everyone involved.
In this article, we'll explore how this happens, why it's so problematic, what it's really costing your business, and how to solve it properly.
How Non-Facility Staff Get Stuck with Facility Management
The pattern is remarkably consistent across businesses of all sizes.
The Desk Time Assumption
Here's the flawed logic: "You work at a desk with a phone and computer. You have time to make some calls about building maintenance, right?"
What seems like a small request—"Can you just call around and get quotes for this repair?"—quickly snowballs into becoming the de facto facility manager. Once someone handles one facility issue successfully, every future issue gets directed their way.
The thinking becomes: "Well, Sarah handled the HVAC repair last time. She knows how to deal with these contractors. Let's just have her handle all building stuff."
Suddenly, Sarah's job description has expanded to include responsibilities she never signed up for.
The Vacancy Gap
Many small to medium-sized businesses don't have dedicated facility managers. When building issues arise (and they always do), those responsibilities have to land somewhere.
In the absence of a clear facility management role, businesses often default to whoever seems most available or most capable of handling vendor relationships. That's usually someone in an administrative or support role who:
- ✔Has office hours (unlike field personnel)
- ✔Knows how to coordinate with external vendors
- ✔Can communicate professionally
- ✔Seems organized enough to track multiple issues
These are valuable skills. But being organized and professional doesn't mean someone is qualified to manage complex building systems.
The Incremental Burden
Facility management doesn't get dumped all at once. It accumulates gradually:
Before long, facility management isn't an occasional favor—it's a regular part of the job, consuming 10, 15, sometimes 20+ hours per week.
The Path of Least Resistance
Here's an uncomfortable truth: delegating facility management to non-facility staff is often the path of least resistance for business owners and executives.
It's easier to say "Can you handle this?" to someone already on staff than to:
- Hire a dedicated facility manager
- Contract with a facility management company
- Develop a structured approach to building maintenance
So the burden gets passed to whoever won't push back strongly—usually someone whose primary role is being helpful and accommodating.
Why This Is So Problematic
Having non-facility personnel manage your building creates a cascade of problems for everyone involved.
The Employee Loses
They can't excel at their actual job. When an HR manager spends 15 hours a week dealing with building contractors, that's 15 hours they're not recruiting, developing talent programs, or handling employee relations—the work they were actually hired to do.
Performance suffers. Try excelling at two completely different jobs simultaneously. It's nearly impossible. Performance in their primary role inevitably declines because their time and mental energy are being diverted.
Career development stalls. How does an HR manager build their career when half their time is spent being an unofficial facility manager? They're not developing HR expertise, not taking on career-advancing HR projects, and not building the portfolio of work that leads to promotions or better opportunities.
Job satisfaction plummets. Most people choose their profession based on interest and aptitude. An HR professional chose that field because they enjoy HR work—not because they want to manage contractors, track repair quotes, or understand HVAC systems.
Compensation doesn't match the work. They're still being paid as an HR manager while doing the work of a facility manager. They're not compensated for the additional responsibility.
The Business Loses
Having non-facility staff manage facilities creates hidden costs that are easy to miss but add up significantly.
You're paying professional-level salaries for facility coordination. An HR manager earning $70,000 per year who spends 20% of their time on facility management is effectively costing you $14,000 annually for facility coordination—plus you still have to pay the contractors actually doing the work.
Their primary role suffers. What's the cost when your HR manager can't focus on recruiting and you miss out on top candidates? Or when employee development programs don't get implemented because there's no time? These opportunity costs are real even if they're not immediately visible.
Decisions get made without proper expertise. Non-facility personnel making facility management decisions often:
- Overpay for services because they don't know market rates
- Hire based on price rather than quality, leading to poor work
- Miss opportunities for preventive maintenance that would save money long-term
- Create liability risks by not understanding building codes and safety requirements
- Fail to properly evaluate contractor qualifications
Vendor management is inefficient. Someone without facility management experience doesn't have the industry knowledge to:
- Negotiate effectively with contractors
- Identify whether work is necessary or can be deferred
- Understand when they're getting accurate technical information vs. being upsold
- Coordinate complex projects involving multiple trades
Response time suffers. When facility issues arise, the non-facility person handling them has to stop what they're doing in their primary role, research contractors, get quotes, coordinate schedules, and manage the work. This takes longer than it would for someone with facility management expertise and established contractor relationships.
The Facility Loses
Most importantly, the building itself suffers when managed by non-experts.
Reactive instead of proactive. People without facility management training typically operate in a reactive mode—fixing things when they break rather than maintaining systems proactively. This leads to more breakdowns, shorter equipment life, and higher costs.
Poor maintenance records. Without proper facility management knowledge and systems, maintenance history often isn't tracked effectively. This makes it impossible to identify patterns, plan for equipment replacement, or document warranty work.
Deferred maintenance accumulates. When the person "managing" facilities is overwhelmed with their dual responsibilities, non-urgent maintenance gets pushed off repeatedly. Small problems become big problems. Efficiency degrades. Equipment life shortens.
Building systems aren't optimized. An HVAC system that's just "working" isn't the same as one that's properly maintained and optimized. Non-facility personnel typically don't have the knowledge to ensure systems are running efficiently and cost-effectively.
Real Stories: The Hidden Cost of Misplaced Responsibilities
Let me share some actual situations we've encountered.
The Receptionist Who Became a Reluctant Facility Manager
We were called by a professional services firm where the receptionist—let's call her Jennifer—had somehow become responsible for all building maintenance.
Jennifer was excellent at her actual job: greeting clients professionally, managing a complex phone system, coordinating schedules, and providing top-notch customer service.
But over two years, facility management responsibilities had been progressively added to her plate:
- Coordinating with janitorial services
- Handling all repair calls
- Getting quotes from contractors
- Scheduling maintenance work
- Tracking invoices and payments
- Dealing with building complaints from staff
By the time we met her, Jennifer was spending roughly half her workday (20+ hours per week) on facility-related tasks.
The impacts were clear:
- Front desk service had declined (she was often on calls with contractors)
- Phone coverage was inconsistent (she had to leave to meet contractors on-site)
- Client experience suffered (visitors sometimes waited while she dealt with facility emergencies)
- Jennifer was visibly stressed and overwhelmed
Here's the kicker: the firm was paying Jennifer's receptionist's salary for time spent doing facility management, then still paying contractors to do the actual work. They were getting the worst of both worlds—expensive and inefficient.
When we took over facility management:
- Jennifer could focus entirely on her actual role
- Front desk service improved dramatically
- Phone coverage became consistent
- The building was actually better maintained because we brought facility management expertise
- Jennifer's job satisfaction improved considerably
The firm's total cost didn't increase significantly—they just stopped wasting money paying a receptionist to do facility management work and got professional expertise instead.
The Office Manager Who Couldn't Catch Up
A growing tech company hired an experienced office manager to handle operations—HR coordination, office supplies, vendor management for IT and office services, and workplace culture initiatives.
Within six months, she had somehow also become responsible for managing their expanding facility, which included:
- A main office
- Two satellite locations
- Coordinating maintenance across all three
- Managing relationships with multiple contractors
- Handling tenant improvement projects as they grew
She was working 60+ hour weeks, trying to keep up with both roles. Projects in both areas were delayed. Nothing was getting the attention it deserved.
When management finally recognized the problem and brought us in for facility management, two things happened immediately:
First, the office manager got her life back. She went from 60+ hour weeks to normal hours because she wasn't managing contractors, chasing down maintenance issues, or coordinating repairs.
Second, the facilities were better managed. We brought dedicated expertise, established systems, and proper tracking that hadn't existed when someone was trying to manage facilities as a side responsibility.
The company realized they'd been burning out a valuable employee by asking her to do two full-time jobs simultaneously—and neither job was getting done well as a result.
The HR Manager Who Missed Key Hires
This story is particularly telling about the hidden costs.
A professional services firm's HR manager had become the de facto facility manager over time. She was spending significant time each week dealing with building issues, contractor coordination, and maintenance scheduling.
During one particularly busy quarter where multiple facility projects were ongoing, the company lost two excellent job candidates because the HR manager couldn't respond quickly enough to schedule interviews and move the hiring process forward.
Both candidates accepted positions elsewhere while waiting for responses.
The cost? The firm eventually had to hire a recruitment agency (at significant cost) to find replacement candidates. The positions stayed vacant longer than necessary, impacting productivity. And the HR manager was frustrated that she couldn't do her actual job effectively.
All because facility management responsibilities were preventing her from focusing on HR work.
When the company finally partnered with MSI for facility management, the HR manager could get back to doing what she was hired for—and what the company actually needed her to do.
The Unfairness Factor
Beyond the business costs, there's a fundamental fairness issue that deserves attention.
When someone is hired for a specific professional role—HR, office management, reception, administration—they accept that position based on certain expectations about what the work will entail.
Gradually adding facility management responsibilities without:
- Adjusting their job title
- Increasing their compensation
- Asking if they want these responsibilities
- Providing proper training
- Giving them decision-making authority
...is fundamentally unfair to the employee.
We've spoken with numerous people who feel stuck:
- They don't want to seem unhelpful by refusing facility management tasks
- They worry about job security if they push back
- They feel guilty that building issues need handling
- But they're frustrated, overwhelmed, and unable to excel at their actual role
This situation creates resentment, reduces job satisfaction, and often contributes to turnover, which creates even more costs for the business.
What Professional Facility Management Solves
Your Staff Get Their Jobs Back
The receptionist can focus on reception. The HR manager can focus on HR. The office manager can focus on office operations.
Everyone gets to do the work they were hired for, trained for, and want to do. Job satisfaction improves. Performance in their primary roles improves. Career development gets back on track.
You Get Actual Facility Management Expertise
Industry knowledge and experience. We know building systems, understand maintenance requirements, and have relationships with quality contractors across all trades.
Proper vendor management. We negotiate fair rates, ensure quality work, and know when you're being sold something you don't need.
Preventive maintenance programs. We don't just fix things when they break—we maintain systems proactively to prevent breakdowns and extend equipment life.
Code and compliance knowledge. We understand building codes, safety requirements, and regulatory compliance issues that non-facility personnel wouldn't necessarily know.
Efficient coordination. Because facility management is our specialty, we handle issues faster and more effectively than someone juggling it with other responsibilities.
You Get Systems and Accountability
Professional services come with:
- Proper documentation and record-keeping for all maintenance activities
- Work order tracking so nothing falls through the cracks
- Performance metrics to measure service quality
- Accountability structures to ensure work gets done properly
- Management oversight to catch and correct issues quickly
Compare this to hoping an overwhelmed non-facility employee can keep track of everything manually while also doing their primary job.
You Get Single-Source Simplicity
Instead of your staff managing relationships with multiple contractors:
- One call to MSI handles all facility needs
- We coordinate with any necessary subcontractors
- We manage schedules and ensure work gets completed
- We handle all the vendor management headaches
Your team gets back hours every week that were spent coordinating contractors and chasing down maintenance issues.
What This Means for Your Bottom Line
Let's do some real math on what misplaced facility responsibilities cost:
Scenario: Office manager earning $60,000 annually, spending 15 hours per week on facility management:
Calculation: (15 hrs/wk * 52 wks) * ($60,000 / 2080 hrs) = $22,620
You're paying $22,620 annually for someone without facility management expertise to coordinate contractors and handle building issues—and you still have to pay the contractors who do the actual work.
Plus the hidden costs:
- Their reduced effectiveness in their primary role
- Missed opportunities because they don't have time
- Potential mistakes from lack of expertise
- Higher contractor costs due to poor vendor management
Professional facility management alternative:
- One monthly fee for comprehensive coverage
- Actual facility management expertise included
- Better vendor relationships and pricing
- No impact on your staff's primary role performance
- More efficient, effective building maintenance
In most cases, professional facility management costs roughly the same (or less) than what you're already paying—and you get dramatically better results.
Making the Change
Identify who in your organization is spending time on facility management and how much time it's consuming. You might be surprised by the total.
We meet with you to understand your facility's needs and develop a service plan that covers everything currently falling on your staff.
We take over facility management responsibilities and become your team's single point of contact for all building needs.
Your staff get back to their actual roles. You get professional facility management. Your building gets better maintained.
Better building maintenance, happier staff, more efficient operations, and often lower total costs.
The Bottom Line
If you have receptionists managing contractors, HR managers coordinating repairs, or office managers overwhelmed with facility responsibilities—you have a problem that's costing you money and damaging morale.
These valuable team members should be focused on the professional roles you hired them for, not struggling to manage complex building systems without proper training or expertise.
Professional facility management isn't a luxury—it's a practical solution that:
- Improves building maintenance
- Reduces total costs
- Allows your team to focus on their actual jobs
- Eliminates a major source of stress and inefficiency
At MSI, we've helped dozens of Twin Cities businesses solve this exact problem. We've taken the facility management burden off employees who never should have had it in the first place, and we've given them back the ability to excel at their actual jobs.
Your team deserves to focus on what they do best. Your building deserves professional facility management. And your business deserves the efficiency and cost-effectiveness that comes from having the right people doing the right work.
Ready to Give Your Team Their Time Back?
If you have non-facility staff spending valuable hours managing building maintenance—or if you're wondering why team performance isn't meeting expectations in their primary roles—let's talk about how professional facility management can solve both problems.
Contact Managed Services, Inc. today to schedule a free consultation about taking facility management off your staff's plates and putting it in professional hands.
We serve businesses throughout the Twin Cities seven-county metro area with comprehensive facility management services including:
- Single-source facility management
- HVAC mechanical services
- General maintenance and repairs
- Preventive maintenance programs
- Vendor coordination and oversight
Managed Services, Inc. (MSI) is a self-performing building maintenance service contractor serving the Twin Cities metro area. We specialize in providing comprehensive facility management services that free your staff to focus on their actual roles while ensuring your building receives professional care.
