Melissa Grimes serves as a regional vice president at ESFM, the corporate facilities management division of Compass Group USA. In her role, she supports life science pharmaceuticals accounts with over 25 campuses across North America totaling more than 100 buildings.
According to Grimes, her most important responsibility is contributing to the success of her team by providing leadership and mentorship that will result in superior performance to exceed client expectations. A key component of her role is ensuring performance and financial successes are achieved and accurately reported.
Grimes joined ESFM in 2023 and has worked in the facilities management industry for over a decade. Notably, in her previous job at commercial real estate services provider CBRE, she won both the Procurement Savings Collaboration of the Year Award and Supplier Leverage of the Year Award in 2022.
To learn more about Grimes and her take on industry issues, please read the “Faces of Facilities” interview below:
How did you get your start in the field?
I’ve held many positions throughout my 20-plus-year career in the oil and gas, government consulting, and facilities management industries. While working with ExxonMobil Oil Corp., I took advantage of their educational reimbursement programs and earned my bachelor’s degree in business management and two professional certifications from Management Concepts.
My facilities management career began in 2013 at CBRE, where I worked in finance for four years focusing on financial reporting and analysis and savings governance. Through collaboration with procurement on savings and innovation opportunities, I realized I wanted to explore a career in procurement as I found that it provided the perfect blend of my knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Over the next six years, I moved up steadily from senior procurement analyst to procurement manager to senior procurement manager, and finally into the role as global procurement director/PMO director where I managed an $80 million life sciences account. I had the pleasure of working with ESFM leaders during my time at CBRE where I established a strong working relationship built on trust and collaboration leading to successful outcomes and positive impacts. This strong working relationship led to my most recent career move to ESFM as regional vice president.
What’s your best mistake, and what did you learn from it?
The best mistake I made was accepting a position that did not fit my skill set. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is part of professional and personal growth and development. Being in a position where I struggled allowed me to re-shift my focus, re-center myself, and find a path where I felt comfortable. This allowed me to explore other options and eventually led me into a role where I thrived and quickly escalated my career into the position I hold today.
What are some of the biggest facilities management issues at your organization?
A challenge my organization is facing is the increasing cost of goods and services. We’re in a post-COVID environment, and we’ve not yet recovered from the inflationary impacts of the pandemic and the subsequent aftermath. This is not just felt within facilities but across all industries, making roles for operational leaders increasingly difficult.
While we maintain facilities to deliver on client outcomes, we’re challenged with driving cost reductions without reducing services or headcount. This requires unique partnerships with our clients to establish ways where we do not impact service delivery and still achieve contractual savings commitments in creative ways. This is done through innovative technologies and partnering with strategic vendors to optimize performance and execute long-term contracts negating inflationary increases.
Where do you see the industry heading in five years? Are you noticing any major trends?
I see the future of FM focused on sustainability initiatives and smart technology to focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and building automation systems. Through the use of smart technologies, facilities managers are better enabled to monitor operations and optimize the systems for enhanced energy management and potentially drive energy cost reductions.
Another key focus of FM is workplace experience. In the post-COVID environment, companies are focused on enticing their team to come back into the office with upgraded interiors, wellness and fitness programs, and meditation/relaxation spaces so the office feels more like “home.”
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of my team. I work with an amazing group of men and women who are truly dedicated to our mission and our clients’ success. I learn so much from them daily on patience, perseverance, and dedication. We operate in a challenging environment where we’re constantly managing multiple projects with tight timelines and significant risk, and their ability to maintain a positive attitude and work collaboratively inspires me.
Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
If you’re entering facilities management, know that everything breaks, every day is different, and patience is a virtue. The key to a successful facilities program is having the right team in place, ensuring you have solid processes and procedures the team adheres to, solid FM governance, and a good work order management system to ensure they stay on track of deliverables. With this you have the perfect combination of a successful FM program.
Are you or a colleague an FM professional interested in being profiled for the “Faces of Facilities” series? Please contact Editor Joe Bebon at JBebon@BLR.com.