Building for the future

In a two part interview with Commercial Design, PK Mishra, the vice-president and Mahesh Khaitan, director of Salarpuria Sattva Group, reflect on the astute clarity of goals and functions of the company, and shed light on its initiative to translate workplace into a stimulating, creative and collaborative spaces for its inhabitants

In conservation with PK Mishra, vicepresident, Salarpuria Sattva Group

What were the initial steps taken to streamline the facility management practices within the company?

We have come a long way from being a passive supplier to a proactive strategic partner and we believe that in order to support all stakeholders, facility management must step beyond conventional asset deployment and broaden its attention on how to use the workspace more effectively. We need to widen the scope of this segment and build a close collaboration with IT teams not only to align but also to support the overall company strategy. To accomplish this, we have developed strategic relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure outcomes such as: ability and speed of knowledge creation, the impact of the office environment on employee productivity, impact on culture etc. In addition, it can also assess customer satisfaction and the ability to adapt to changes in the external environment.

Furthermore, we aim to focus on value creation as well, not just cost savings. In the past, the facility management industry success rate had relied heavily on costs and how to get more for less through cost-cutting. While the agenda will continue to be dominated by cost-cutting, with a primary focus on minimizing occupancy costs, however, being a strategic partner this will also entail finding newer ways to generate value for the occupants of workspace and other stakeholders.