Building a career in Facility Management

By Anand GD, Chief Operating Officer, Technique Control Facility Management (TCFM)

Facility management (FM) today is the core of business operations. It needs a right mix of science and art to provide an enhanced experience to people at tech parks, residential buildings, airports, hotels, or any public places that need to be monitored, maintained and managed.

The rough understanding of the sector revolves around housekeeping, security and surveillance. However, FM is a vast sector that includes various aspects like Technical Engineering and Services, Environmental Health and Safety, Building Compliance, Energy Management, Water Management, Waste Management, Project Management,  Asset Management, Soft Services, Risk Management, Landscaping & Horticulture, Pest Control, Business Support Services, etc.

All the above services are not only specialised but the bandwidth of these services expand based on the scale of the projects. These projects may vary from small scale properties to larger IT/ITE business parks or industrial warehouses. The FM companies have focused teams who are specially trained for tasks that are heavily operational and complex in nature.

Facility Management is crucial to employee welfare and business operations

The traditional role of FM has been limited to keeping the premises safe and hygienic. However, today FM plays a vital role in helping businesses reduce carbon footprints, become more sustainable, attract and retain talent, and even overall experience and welfare quotient of people at the offices. A facility is often defined by how clean, green, efficient, and sustainable it is; these aesthetics are very important to all stakeholders.

Interestingly the FM companies manage their prerogatives through predictive and prescriptive methods. They assess the issues pertaining to the facilities like man, machines, infrastructure, resources, etc and execute the palpable solutions by preparing for the backups. This helps in optimising cost and saving time mitigating impacts that otherwise would have cost the companies higher.

The diversity in roles of a facility manager

From effective functioning of internal processes like managing staff, manpower, security- surveillance systems, emergency response, fire and safety, visitor/vendor management; Utilities management, waste management, Horticulture etc., is the prerequisite of a facility manager. Based on the scale of the project it is the manager’s responsibility to assess and decide on specialized services that fall under the category of EHS (Environment, Health and Safety), Project Management, Audits & Certifications, Compliance, Energy Management, Technology implementation, Risk Management, Engineering, etc.

The skills required to excel as a facility manager

For any leader to be successful, he/she must be proficient in people management skills. Next comes clear communication that would aid him/her in solving multiple issues that arrives in this job portfolio on a day to day basis. The most important skill that a facility manager develops overtime is delivery of tasks with less hurdles. It is imperative for the companies to invest in technological solutions that facilitate managers with advanced and customized tools for a seamless task management.  The basic qualification along with a degree in engineering, technology or hotel management is the most preferable skill set for the industry.

Scope of growth in Facility Management

Any facility that is functional requires an expert facility manager. While most companies outsource various services from different sources, it is easier and more efficient to have one facility manager who could take care of all the prerogatives by themselves. This not only allows companies to optimise spends but guarantees them with assured results. The pandemic has reshaped traditional sectors like real-estate who are exponentially investing on technology and facility management. Similarly, many MNCs are overtaking modern businesses and are in turn looking for certified and effective FM companies for their advanced properties.

People who have an inclination towards fields which provide a variety and are evolving in nature, can explore facility management as their career. The FM industry is estimated to grow over 400 billion USD by 2025 with CAGR with 18%. This indicates that the industry will be a job generating portal for many in years to come and will have immense scope for innovating leading the transformation in the new normal.

* TCFM is a 100% subsidiary of Embassy Services Pvt Ltd