When Responsibility and Authority Don’t Travel Together

Why the distance between the customer and the decision-maker matters in facility services

Recently, I heard from an old friend and former colleague from the facility-services industry. We had worked together years ago, so part of our conversation was simply catching up—talking about where our careers had taken us and what had changed since we last worked alongside one another.

He now works for a very large service organization. As we spoke, he shared a growing frustration: everything seems to take too long.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what his customers needed. In many cases, he knew exactly what needed to be done. The problem was that even relatively simple decisions had to move through multiple layers of review, communication and approval before anyone could provide the customer with a firm answer.

Meanwhile, the customer was waiting.

From the customer’s perspective, a request had been made and nothing was happening. From his perspective, he was doing everything the organization required—but he still could not move the solution forward with the urgency the situation demanded.

He carried responsibility for the customer relationship, but not always the authority to make the decisions necessary to protect it.

This is something I have seen throughout the facility-services industry. I sometimes refer to it as “Big Elephant Syndrome.”

The organization is powerful. It has tremendous resources, established systems and layers of operational support. But its size can also make it difficult to move quickly. What should be a straightforward decision becomes a work order, an escalation, a budget review, a regional discussion and another round of approvals.

The process may be moving internally, but from the customer’s perspective, the elephant is standing still.

At Total Facility Solutions, we view accessibility as an operational advantage.

Our clients are not separated from decision-makers by multiple layers of management. Our field leadership has direct access to the people who can authorize additional resources, adjust the response and move the work forward.

As the owner of the company, I remain personally involved in our operations. I understand what is happening in the buildings we service, and I make myself accessible when an issue requires executive attention. When a decision reaches me, it does not sit on a desk waiting to travel through another level of management. It receives the attention—and the sense of urgency—the situation deserves.

That does not mean we operate without structure, documentation or accountability. We have a process, but we do not allow the process to become the service.

Our size keeps us close to our clients, our employees and the work itself. When something needs to happen, the people responsible for the outcome can reach the people authorized to make the decision—often immediately.

In facility services, responsiveness is more than answering the phone or acknowledging a work order. True responsiveness means having the authority, resources and operational readiness to act.

Responsibility and authority must travel together. Because sometimes the greatest advantage is not being the biggest company in the room.

It is being the company that can get the job done.

—Sergio Perez | Total Facility Solutions, Inc.