Post-Merger Facilities Team Morale and Span of Control
Eight months after a merger, the facilities organization has 38 staff drawn from two companies. One site is unionized; the other is not. The two groups use different CMMS platforms, title structures, and pay bands. Voluntary turnover is 26% over six months, the engagement score is 54%, and overtime is $420,000 over budget. Five supervisors have spans ranging from 4 to 13 direct reports. Two senior HVAC technicians resigned last month, and the maintenance backlog has risen 18%. The new vice president wants to cut six FTEs, centralize all scheduling at headquarters, and freeze hiring to protect the budget. The union has requested consultation on any restructuring. A customer survey shows satisfaction fell from 82% to 68%.
1. Diagnose the people and operational risks in the proposed restructuring. What should the VP do in the first 90 days?
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The proposed cuts address headcount cost but not the causes of overtime, turnover, and backlog. A 26% turnover rate and the loss of two senior HVAC technicians signal a skills and retention problem; cutting six FTEs before stabilizing would likely increase overtime, contractor dependence, and outages. Centralizing all scheduling at headquarters would also remove local knowledge exactly when the CMMS data is inconsistent across two platforms. The unionized site adds a consultation obligation and potential grievance risk. In the first 90 days, the VP should freeze only noncritical hiring, complete a skills and criticality map, hold listening sessions, and audit the backlog by building system. Then negotiate a phased plan with the union, retain scarce HVAC skills, consolidate only standards and reporting centrally, and leave day-to-day scheduling with local supervisors until the CMMS is cleaned up. Quick wins should include clearing aged work orders and fixing the worst span-of-control outliers. The judgment is sequence: stabilize, integrate, then reduce.
2. How would you design the post-merger organization, including span of control and CMMS consolidation?
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Design around work and criticality, not legacy titles. Create common job families with pay bands benchmarked to the local market, and place employees using a skills matrix rather than site of origin. Set supervisory spans at roughly six to eight direct reports for mixed trades, with narrower spans for complex labs or critical environments and wider spans for standardized janitorial or grounds work. Merge the CMMS in phases: first standardize asset naming, work-order priorities, and criticality codes; then migrate data; then go live at one site as a pilot. Keep local scheduling authority during the pilot, with central oversight through dashboards. Consult the union before changing job duties or shift patterns. Retain at least one senior technician per critical system and create a cross-training plan. The design should reduce duplicate overhead through standardization, not through indiscriminate cuts that remove the people who keep the buildings running.
3. What metrics would show whether the changes are working?
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Use a balanced scorecard tied to the original symptoms. People: voluntary turnover, engagement score, vacancy days for critical roles, and training completion. Operations: PM completion by criticality, backlog age, unplanned downtime, mean time to repair, and overtime cost per work order. Customer: satisfaction score, hot/cold calls per 1,000 ft², and response-time compliance. Financial: overtime and contractor spend, cost per ft², and headcount versus service level. Integration: CMMS data accuracy, percentage of assets on a common naming standard, and time to close work orders across both legacy sites. Review monthly with the union and supervisors, and set thresholds that trigger a pause on further cuts if backlog or turnover worsens. Metrics should test whether the organization is stabilizing before it is downsized.