Employment Barriers into US Healthcare Management Industry for New Facilities Management College Graduates

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to better understand employment barriers into the healthcare facilities management (FM) industry for new FM college graduates. Design/methodology/approach: A national survey was distributed to healthcare FM managers and directors to collect information on individual demographics, hiring practices, and opinions of FM college graduates. Designated survey respondents were also contacted for phone interviews. Findings: Results indicate that strong homogeneousness demographics, backgrounds, and paths of entry among existing healthcare FM professionals has created an industry bias against candidates attempting to enter healthcare FM from non-traditional sources. The healthcare FM industry's principal source for new talent comes from building trade succession within healthcare organizations. However, continuing to rely on building tradespersons as the main path of entry into the healthcare FM industry may prove problematic. Most existing healthcare facility managers and directors will be retiring within 10 years, yet it is taking more than 17 years of full-time work experience to prepare building tradespersons to assume these roles. Younger professionals are more commonly entering the healthcare FM through the path of higher education. Although few new college graduates enter the healthcare FM industry, they are experiencing similar promotion timeframes compared to other candidate with many years of full-time work experience. Unfamiliarity with FM academic programs, work experience requirements, limited entry-level jobs within small organizations, and low pay also present challenges for new FM college graduates attempting to enter the healthcare FM industry. Originality/value: This paper is valuable in establishing major barriers of entering the healthcare FM industry for new FM college graduates. Findings may facilitate development of interventions by healthcare organizations and universities to further open FM academic programs as a sustainable source of new talent to help address healthcare FM attrition.

An Educational Framework for Healthcare Facility Management: Preparing Future Professionals

“…Most healthcare FM professionals that entered the industry as full-time college students graduated from undergraduate programs in engineering, construction management, or facility management (Call et al, 2018b). The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE), and the Facility Management Accreditation Commission (FMAC) are the programmatic organizations accrediting engineering, construction management, and facility management academic programs, respectively.…”

“…Accordingly, a primary goal of the FMAC is to ensure FM college students acquire the skills, competencies, and knowledge to positively impact employer organizations (FMAC, n.d.). Call et al (2018b) explained that although new FM college graduates entering healthcare FM typically have no full-time work experience, they appear to quickly and add value to their employer evidenced by similar promotion timeframes compared to those with many years of trade, management, and healthcare experience. Remarkably, there currently exists a general industry perception that new FM college graduates do not possess the necessary skills to be effective entry-level healthcare facility managers; yet the more familiar healthcare FM professionals are with FM students, the more likely they are to have a favorable opinion on this matter.…”

“…Experts include eight facility management executives, employed by large healthcare systems or national service providers accountable for healthcare FM accounts; five of these healthcare FM executives have local or national leadership roles with the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). Two healthcare human resource (HR) directors are also part of the expert panel, as many healthcare organizations control candidate screening and recruitment activity within their HR departments (Call et al, 2018b); both HR directors hold local leadership roles in the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) and have responsibility for healthcare FM recruiting within their healthcare system. Three academics complete the panel as active instructors and researchers within the field of facility management; a technical college and two research universities are represented.…”

“…The healthcare facility management (FM) workforce is aging with no clear path to replace the many professionals retiring within the next decade (Call et al, 2018b). Historically, the FM industry has relied on promotion from the building trades to address management attrition (Sullivan et al, 2010); however, this succession model appears unsustainable as the building trade workforce is experiencing a talent shortage of their own while taking almost two decades to prepare building tradespersons for entry-level healthcare FM jobs (Benavot, 1983;Bigelow et al, 2017;Call et al, 2018b).…”

“…Colleges and universities would seem to be a likely source for new talent in addressing healthcare FM attrition as colleges and universities are the primary recruitment source for most organizations seeking highly-capable new talent (Lindquist & Endicott, 1986;Perna, 2003;Howard, 1986;Miner & Wachtel, 1995), there is a strong industry demand for built environment graduates (Bilboa et al, 2000;Cabral & Mindonca, 2012;Christofferson et al, 2006), and younger professionals prefer to enter healthcare FM through the path of higher education (Call et al, 2018b). Notwithstanding the rationale for leveraging colleges and universities as a key source for new talent, Call et al (2018b) explained that the healthcare FM industry is recruiting and hiring very few new college graduates for entry-level jobs even among new graduates with FM degrees; this hiring dearth may be due to several issue including low pay and an expectation that candidates possess many years of full-time trade experience. There also appears to be a gap between the industry's expectation of entry-level facility manager competencies and contemporary student learning outcomes at FM academic programs.…”