Motivating the ‘Vigour’ of IFM Services

In today’s occupational hierarchy, it is a rarity to find organisations nurturing those in the unskilled cadre to acquire managerial proficiency to rise up the ladder. Vigours Hospitalities Services Pvt. Ltd, an eight-year-old facility management company, has chalked out the roadmap not only for its growth but the entire team starting with the security man at its door. Ably guided by Managing Director MMani Iyer, Vigours Group has made discipline, quality, teamwork and trust its founding pillars, passion for uncompromising service its driving force and venturing into newer spaces its growing strength. Iyer tells Clean India Journal that his company has set out to reach the Rs200 crore mark by 2022.

The advent of the millennium saw many security companies entering housekeeping as an additional business. It has been often stated that those engaged in security seldom offer quality or professional housekeeping services. However, this can be highly disputed in the case of Vigours Group that is successfully offering security as well as facility management services since 2009. “The journey has been very challenging. Housekeeping services is all the more challenging than security services.”

“One of my clients, who motivated me to start my own company also gave me enough business with opportunities to grow. Within no time I had a manpower of over 150 housekeepers. And we started expanding.”

Manpower Empowerment

The strength of housekeeping is trained manpower. No two workers are the same, be it at the education level or performance level. “We take raw people and train them off site and on site before putting them on the job. We are investing a lot on manpower training. Like in the army, our workers start from the bottom and rise up; from janitors to supervisors to facility executive.”

Even at the managerial level, MMani Iyer’s staff engages in dedicated work even beyond working hours during trying days. “When it comes to completing work, I don’t mind even if it is late, as we get escorted home and there is always a call from MMani sir enquiring if we have reached home safely. Today, I have grown in the accounts department and am a team leader now. There is no doubt that I will grow under the able guidance of my seniors and would like to remain in this organization forever,” said a candid Neeta Gurav, Team Leader-Accounts, who is working with Vigours for the last two years. The feelings are similar with almost everyone in the organization. “It is a great learning experience at Vigours Group. With constant guidance from the seniors, I have grown to become the team leader of HR and aspire to rise to become the Group Head in HR,” said Reshma Manchekar, Team Leader-HR.

Besides manpower, another governing factor in the success of a facility management service provider is technology and mechanization. “Today, the talk is all about Smart Cities. It is nothing but Technology. Our Prime Minister is very clear in his vision and is directing the country towards technology. We are far behind many of the developed countries where technology is concerned.

“The skill development programme is unique and will actually help all those who are struggling to come up. This again is not just a campaign that the prime minister can achieve alone. We facility management companies or every citizen have to contribute extensively. It is with this contribution that India will grow.” FM today provides employment to such workers in large numbers.

[box type=”shadow” ] “I want my company to become very professional; a place where job seekers should get inspired to be part of the Vigours Group. Dedication, commitment and customer satisfaction are the secrets of our success. We are 100% pro-customer and people oriented. For me customer comes first. We need to follow the rules — first rule says customers are always right and second rules says, if he is not, please follow rule number one.”
– MMani Iyer [/box]

If today we are looking at how to convert sea water drinkable, it is technology. FM too is technology-driven and skilled manpower is required for it. “Recently, we were talking about introducing FM software for better and timely service. Soon, at Vigours we will be installing apps where requirements or areas that require attention can be immediately looked into.”

Richard Lasrado, Vice-President IFMS, Vigours Group, adds, “We will have only skilled manpower. Instead of engaging 10 people, we will have five people doing the work with the help of technology. This is all about going Smart. Earlier it was more of manpower based contracts, even now it is prevalent but the future will be only SLA based FM.”

Manpower earlier again was available in abundance and was exploited but today things have changed. Skilled manpower is scarce and smart. “We need to take care of our workers. When we do take care of them, they will take care of us. This is what growth is all about,” adds Iyer. At Vigours, this quality of caring and sharing goes right from the top to the bottom. Richard as a vice-president does not hesitate to correct the operations head on how to treat the workers. He would say “don’t shout at them. Treat them with respect. Teach them to do it correctly”. At the same time, Lt Col (Retd) SV Jadhav, COO, would personally go to the security guard and explain to him the benefits he should get against his services.

“Today, every employee in the organization has access to the top management. I get calls from housekeepers in Delhi and Chennai, who share their problems and seek assistance. It is a matter of having that human touch which is largely missing in this industry,” says Iyer.

“In fact, with lack of skilled manpower who are now engaged in IT and other sectors, we get our resources in a very raw form for FM services. That is precisely the reason why all our lines are open to all workers 24/7. What disturbs us most is not the call received at midnight but why such a situation has risen causing worry to our workers,” adds Lt Col Jadhav.

“The trend today is in deploying more machines and reducing dependency on manpower. In the coming years,Vigours will also engage extensively in mechanized cleaning. However, the clients are not very sure about the advantages of cleaning with equipment. Cost of cleaning is still a determining factor and thus the pressure of working with constrained budgets. Only segments like the Railways, and Airports are doing mechanised cleaning on a large scale. Clients from retail, industries or corporates are going for professional cleaning with equipment. Often companies prefer to employ four people instead of buying the cleaning equipment.”

Nevertheless, Iyer feels that there are visible changes in the mindset of the end-user companies. “There is a difference from where I started. People are more cleanliness conscious; what should be cleaned and how it should be cleaned, what chemicals to be used, etc. The market is definitely growing. In the chemical and machinery market, new players are coming in with new technology and products.”

Vigours caters to banking, corporate, builders and retail sectors. “Schools is another sector we are offering services. We have about 41 workers deployed at the Poddar International School in Mumbai. We are providing both security and housekeeping services here.”

The Vigours Group has three verticals Vigours Hospitalities Services Pvt. Ltd, Vigours Security Services and Repair Maintenance and Technical Solutions.

Challenges in maintaining a contract

“Clients do expect a certain standard of service. But they do not realise that there is price attached to it. They want the best performance in the lowest price. A client often gets caught in the systems of L1 and L2 and does not talk about the performance. Again, it is important that only licensed agencies should be allowed to provide security services. There should be clear processes and procedures and the owner should have the required qualification.”

Facility services sector has mostly been unorganized. Iyer feels that the service providers should come together like how the Security companies got collected together, tried to be organized and even procured the license. FM companies should stand collective so that they can avoid being taken over by bigger companies.

Growth Path

Vigours aspires to be the name and company where anyone would feel pride in seeking employment. With a clear growth plan set Vigours is targeting the `200 crore mark in the next five years. “We never compromise when it comes to bagging a contract with the right margins or paying the right wages at the right time. We believing in empowering our staff and giving them the right knowledge and training as they grow along with the company.”