The FM industry is one of those industries that is positioned for a V – Shaped recovery, according to many industry pundits. However, the leaders in the industry will vouch for the numerous challenges they face, especially when it comes to the amount of time, they had for responding to the COVID induced changes and the challenges.

An industry categorised as ‘essential services’ did undergo tremendous challenges in the recent months. As the client expectations off the FM industry players undergo a major shift, FM players are under pressure to transform what they offer, how they offer, and what can make them abundantly resilient.

IMMEDIATE & MEDIUM-TERM CHALLENGES

1. Pressure to deliver more with less as the players are forced to scale down operations to compensate profits squeeze (Covid related expenses spiral upwards while the SLA review pushed the revenue downward))
2. Contract re-scoping / cancellation resulting in pressure to sustain.
3. Urgency of re-calibrating manpower due to new business acquisition.
4. Prolonged uncertainty, disruptions, changing guidelines and evolving compliances will result in cost escalation.
5. Relatively higher employee attrition rate.
6. Urgent necessity to use of technology and bring in more and more ‘low-touch’, ‘no-touch’ practices.
7. Data quality issues at multiple levels – Timeliness, accuracy of input, data planning & mining, and finally data visualization.
8. Intensify predictive triggers within the systemto enable quicker action; as the industry’s core is faster redressal of customer complaints / problems.
9. Profit leakages due to lack of real time business intelligence.
10. Insufficient actionable insights on what weighs the business down. These weighs pull the business down with every new contract.

STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS TO OVERCOME CHALLENGES AND LEVERAGE NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Do a Business Health Check as the start point. It is pertinent and crucial to know what weighs the business down under current circumstances and what behavioural patterns need correction.

Keep Employee experience / Community experience as top agenda that organizations and Owners associations will not want to compromise. However, cost of doing so will pose short term hurdles for FM companies. Hence FM companies coming up with commercially innovative and holistic solution will hold the key for the future.

Re-look at all operations and replace touch-based services with ‘low-touch’ – ‘no-touch’ approaches. This will provide a competitive edge for newer contracts as well as contracts renewals. Design thinking approaches will play a vital role as it can bring very cost-effective solutions.

Replace reactionary and static approaches and processes with real-time diagnostic and early detection system to stay on top of challenges. All said and done, building maintenance is seen as a real-time operation.

The most important factor that will determine a facilities management company’s resilience and growth is how serious they get to prepare themselves in the upcoming 3 – 6 months’ and put the organization on a path of continuous adaptation.

It is now more or less clear that the COVID uncertainty is here to stay and we need to find ways to cope with it.

In my next article, I shall articulate more on the checklist for profit improvement.

About the Author

Vasudevan Kidambi is a business (Digital) transformation Coach and leader in helping business recover, in these extraordinary times. He has spearheaded digital first, mobile first solution for global organizations. He has assisted business across multiple industries including facilities management to realign to the new business realities. He also has led transformation assignments for facility management companies towards improved profitability

Using 100% design thinking approach, he has combined data analytics and the art of storytelling into a compelling service – Business Health Check which is crucial for any organization trying to stay relevant in these testing times. He has continuously made himself relevant to key decision makers through powerful posts and articles that changed way leaders think. He is strongly motivated by ancient wisdom and uses that with innovation to solve today’s global crises.