A factor could also be expected to deal with property repair, maintenance, cleaning, landscaping and snow removal, to be coordinated with the landlord's wishes.
They were the implementers and, often, designers of the improvement programmes that gave rise to the first phase of the Highland clearances, they managed famine relief, including during the Highland potato famine, they organised evictions and 'assisted passages' during the second phase of the clearances, they gave evidence to government enquiries such as the Napier Commission, and they were the object of much of the protest during the crofters' war in the 1880s.
When agricultural improvement got underway in the latter part of the 18th century, new skills were required: an understanding of the latest ideas in agronomy, business acumen, together with accounting and legal knowledge.
In addition to the technical skills, he needed to be a person of sufficient social standing to deal with larger tenants and to act as representative of the landowner in local society.
[1] Given the size of many Highland estates, and the remote and inaccessible locations under the charge of a factor, the job required substantial physical stamina.
In addition most factors would be provided with a house and a home farm to run for their own profit (thereby giving an example of the latest agricultural methods to the tenants).
[2]: 19–20 In a later generation of factors, Evander McIver steadfastedly criticised the existence of overcrowded crofting communities that had been created in the first phase of the clearances.