A few years back when Clean India Journal interacted with a number of admin heads of different corporate houses, banks and other business establishments, we still found them uncertain when it came to outsourcing of cleanliness & maintenance activities to service providers. What prevented full dependence on an outside agency were probably cost considerations, lack of clarity on results sought for and frequent changes in manpower from the agency side. However, things have changed now. Mangala Chandran, Editor-in-Chief, Clean India Journal, catches up with the heads of administration of leading corporate houses on FM today, outsourcing and sustainability.
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– D.K. Namdev
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D.K. Namdev, General Manager & Head Facility Management, Bank of Baroda, says that the BOB corporate office building, came in existence in 2002 at BKC. “Sustainability of any building depends on its hygiene care & upkeep of its premises. Major cleaning & maintenance practices were adopted since this building’s existence. Highly advanced cleaning tools and cleaning machines are deployed to assist the human resources to achieve superior quality of cleaning and enhanced productivity.
“Along with these machines, best hygiene is supported by fleet of Facilities Management Services which are outsourced, and best service providers are hired for the cause.”
BOB uses the FM services from UDS. The workers are present 24X7 in the building not only to keep a check on cleanliness but also to consistently to make the environment greener & healthier. Almost 50% of the area of the plot is covered with greenery and open spaces to breathe fresh air.
“We are projecting our focus on a building model based on responsible growth to take up today’s major energy and environmental challenges: meeting energy needs, ensuring the security of supply, fighting against climate change and maximizing the use of resources. The seek highly efficient and innovative solutions for our buildings cities and businesses by relying on diversified gas-supply sources, flexible and low-CO2 -emission power generation as well as energy efficiency services and independent power production from Solar energy.”
How has his experience been especially with multiple services providers involved?
“Our Bank’s premises are being looked after by an outsource agency which has employed approximately 70 people to cater to housekeeping, meticulously, in every possible manner. In our organization, service providers are chosen through tendering process which is based on highly technical criteria and very competitive agencies participate in this process. Best ones are selected by a panel of qualified officials and work is assigned as per the highest achieved ranking.”
Outsourcing again, has not always been a success with every facility. There can be factors in the outsourcing model which need to be looked at.
“It is very true that not every field of work benefits from outsourced services. For example, it may be best to hire housekeeping services but the skill for allied/specialized works such as carpentry & plumbing work provided by facilities management agency may not be of desired quality.” Namdev feels that one of the discomfort points for any organization in outsourcing could be the process of outsourcing and managing it.
“The odds of recognizing the requirements of a company and actual services provided are on lower side. This gap of understanding between the service provider and receiver is always hard to bridge. Specialized skills may be compromised in procuring services from third party. Liability and accountability to comply with local laws in assigning job to the outsource agencies. Providing facilities/work space/security and responsibly of manpower involved.” He adds that in coming years, the gap is expected to be bridged soon looking the competitive scenario of service providing market and innovative techniques/products being introduced in the system.
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“Outsourcing is always better and reduces burden from the companies as the complete operation is taken over by the agencies. Companies only need to have control measures in place to control and direct these agencies to desired/set goals.”
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Talking of outsourcing, Arvind Yadav, Vice President – Administration and Facility, YES Bank Ltd states that “Outsourcing is always better and reduces burden from the companies as the complete operation is taken over by the agencies. Companies only need to have control measures in place to control and direct these agencies to desired/ set goals. It is advisable to have multiple service providers for large scale operations. It creates a healthy competition amongst the players and reduces dependability on one vendor during crisis situations.
“We at the corporate office, handle the complete gamut of facilities operations as well as administration function. It includes, safety and security of premise, housekeeping, building operations (Electricals, HVAC, utilities, etc.), cafeteria management, pest control, landscaping, Mail room management, marble and carpet care etc. Housekeeping is responsible for the complete office upkeep and maintenance. YES Bank uses services of UDS for technical services and Master Polishers for soft services. Pest Control and façade cleaning too go to different service providers”.
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“Quality of delivery is monitored through a Service Level Agreement based system wherein each task / job is given points and is monitored on a daily basis. For monitoring we have also developed an app.”
– Major Ramakrishnan A.K
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When it comes to a company like Reliance infrastructure Ltd with divisions like Energy, Infrastructure and EPC, the housekeeping process takes a different design. Energy centres require multiple locations and thousands of employees. The company has to ensure cleanliness in all the distribution centres, receiving centres and the corporate office.
“We have task allocation for housekeeping as per industrial standards whose work we can monitor against specifications” says Major Ramakrishnan A.K., Senior Vice President -Administration.
“We have 75 Receiving Stations out of which, a few are unmanned where we have butterfly schemes of housekeeping. The housekeeping activity at Receiving Station is by rotation in which the designated housekeeping staff cleans the premises in a week. Receiving Station being technical area, housekeeping is carried in presence of an engineer to ensure safety parameters. We do have two service providers. Work orders are given the beginning of the financial year where the scope of work is defined to check the parameters of performance. There is a system of penal deduction for every fault.
How does he ensure quality delivery and monitor the efficacy?
“Quality of delivery is monitored through a Service Level Agreement based system wherein each task / job is given points and is monitored on a daily basis. For monitoring we have also developed an app,” adds Ramakrishnan. Even though outsourcing is cost, getting the to deliver quality services is very difficult.
“We have faced issues of quality in the past, adds Yadav. Such scenario is not different, if this would have been handled by organisations directly. The only difference here is the agency is responsible to fill the shortfall, train people. There has to be defined SLA and KPI which binds the vendor/agency to perform at any given point of time.”
About the systems followed to ensure quality and employee satisfaction, Yadav says that there are many ways to seek feedback/ suggestions on the services offered. There is a dedicated desk which receives and cascades the information to responsible authority. We have quarterly monkey survey for our employees to get feedback. These feedbacks are consolidated and actioned upon with TAT. “We have introduced “Shout Out” program on monthly basis, wherein we involve employee from different departments to participate and give constructive feedback/ suggestions. On a daily basis, my team meets important people and takes their feedback.
“We do engage in mechanized cleaning as the efficiency and productivity of an individual increases tremendously. We always analyse and evaluate new technologies which boost the quality of work and reduce the regular operational cost.”
“We have given access control cards to the employees of the vendor companies also,” says Garg of IOC.
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– R. Garg
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“For a huge corporation like Indian Oil Corporation limited, maintaining the workplace can be challenging,” says R. Garg, Chief General Manager, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
“Considering the area of the facility to be cleaned, we have been outsourcing the function to external service providers. As with most of the government organisations, we were also selecting the service providers purely on the basis lowest bid. However, we are now in a transformative phase. The Petroleum Ministry has given us the directive to alter the tendering process by giving more weightage to quality, the profile of the service provider and his experience in handling similar organisations, etc. It will now be 60% for the service provider’s qualifications and only 40% for the costing. This is a welcome move helping us to get better service.”
What is the kind of investment that corporates need to make in cleaning and maintenance?
According to Namdev, organization like Bank of Baroda strives for perfection therefore, it looks forward to cleaning / hygiene products and techniques of international standards (like air purifiers, hand washes, hand sanitizers and cleaning agents of all sorts).
“More than 70% of our investment apart from the cost of services, is kept aside for innovative techniques/ products – like washroom hygiene – WC /Urinal sensors, waterless urinals for greener environment, mechanized air purifiers, odour control sensors, etc.
“Apart from the mechanical means, we are bent to provide sustainability through eco-friendly manner by introducing green buildings; Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s lifecycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. Green vertical gardens, green walls, terrace gardens have also added to the contribution in clean and green wave.
“Smart buildings are being introduced which take care of overall services management (water, heating, cooling, safety, upkeep, etc.) state-of-the art technologies for measuring and monitoring consumption. Management of inside air quality is another focal point.”
However, for Reliance Infrastructure, investment is by way of imparting training to every housekeeping staff.
Companies like Reliance Infra and Indian Oil Corporation have huge requirement for hygiene solutions at the food handling areas. While Reliance has to provide 6000 packets of cooked food every morning to the employees on the field, IOC western marketing headquarters has to cater for 1,000 employees. Reliance has the food prepared at 11 points. “Monitoring the menu every morning is also very important,” says Ramakrishnan. “We have dedicated Canteen Supervisors for all the locations where food is prepared for maintaining quality and hygiene. Training is provided to the pantry staff on a quarterly basis. Medical test is compulsory for all Kitchen staff on a half yearly basis. We have dry waste compost machine where compost is generated and used for horticulture.”
At IOC, the administration department is keen on training workers on kitchen hygiene and other solutions.
Waste management now is gaining importance…
Management of waste in Bank of Baroda is being technically handled, by limiting the waste by minimizing paper work and digitalizing the data; having waste collection and personalized sewage treatment plant in the premises; providing paper shredding machines; Selective sorting and recycling of waste and by having 24/7 pneumatic waste collection.
At Yes Bank, there are separate zones for dry waste, wet waste and washroom waste. Recycle bins are placed near printer areas to collect waste papers and further processed for recycling. Wet garbage is disposed of on a daily basis at centralized zone. The building management disposes the waste outside in coordination with BMC and private agency.
“To contribute towards environment & reduce carbon footprint, we have tied-up with an agency wherein we earn points against the paper waste processed for recycling. Against points, we buy recycled stationaries which are given to our employees,” says Yadav.
Empowering the service providers is the crucial aspect in outsourcing.
In IOC, access control cards are given to the staff of the service providers as well.
BOI’s Varadarajan has his own ways to connect with the vendor staff. Speaking of one of his vendors, Sparkle, he says that to him, a junior staff member or a supervisor of the service provider is as important as the top-level executive. A bond is created in such a way that, even when there is a change of vendor company, some of the staff members choose to stay back with us. This in a way helps in continuity and increase effectiveness.
Awareness creation is also part of the game. Creative displays are placed in washroom & pantry area and mass mailers are circulated to the staff, says Yadav.
Garg tells us that IOC does try to create awareness among the employees about hygiene and cleanliness. “Posters are used to communicate basic Dos and Don’ts.”
In short, there is more awareness, there is a tilt towards green practices and cost cutting is slowly on the way out. However, the process of selection of vendors and retention is yet to be improved. Penalising a housekeeping company for bad performance may not always be the best solution. The end users should also see what category of service providers they want: Whether companies providing just the tasks as per the agreement or the ones that also has the expertise to go beyond the dotted line when required