Virtual debut of Facilities Show India concludes successfully, engages industry professionals

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 17 (ANI/PRNewswire): Facilities Show India, the UK originated 'Facilities Show' by Informa Markets concluded its debut virtual edition on a high note. The Virtual expo witnessed a footfall of 2155 buyers from 17 countries namely USA, UK, Canada, China, South Korea, UAE to name a few. The expo acted as a global hub for facilities management (FM) supplier industry and field service management professionals while introducing the buyer community to innovations, solutions and ideas within the sector and connecting them with industry connoisseurs. Moreover, the virtual conference alongside the expo brought together local and global thought leaders and experts to share their insights on various pertinent areas regarding organisational culture, Business Continuity, Workplace transformation, Employee wellbeing among other areas.
The inauguration of the Facilities Show India Virtual Expo was marked by the presence of Mahender Singh R, Director, International Facility Management Association, India and South East Asia, Yogesh Mudras, MD, Informa Markets India, Chris Edwards, Group Director, Informa UK and Mr. Pankaj Jain, Group Director and Digital Head, Informa Markets India.
Speaking on the successful debut of the virtual edition of Facilities Show India, Mr. Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India said, "The Indian FM industry is in the midst of rapid growth in the end-user industries, which has led to the significant growth of commercial activities in metropolitan cities such as Delhi /NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and Bengaluru. The industry today, faces a big challenge, that is, availability of specialists, semi-skilled and unskilled manpower. The supply of professionals that are capable of handling large scale infrastructure projects is still relatively low in India especially when it comes to technical services. Also, With the post-Covid-19 'new normal' necessitating facilities management to deliver unprecedented quality, and consistency than ever before, there is a compelling need for the widespread adoption of smart building technologies. With such a growing demand, putting up a virtual show for the industry was the need of the hour. It is just one of the many endeavours from Informa Markets in India to focus on the importance of the FM industry and to modernize business operations. The show also successfully attempted to bridge the knowledge gap by presenting a conference for the FM industry touching upon topics that need attention and have not been highlighted in the past."
Speaking at the inaugural function, Mahender Singh R, Director, IFMA India and South East Asia observed, "IFMA India carries its global vision of giving importance to education in facility management as a basic fundamental requirement in creating robust and knowledgeable workforce that will help create the infrastructure and management of workplaces in the days to come. India as a developing nation needs professionals in great numbers who will adopt global standards of facility management and help build and maintain healthy green environments and spaces. FM today serves new value proposition driven by technology and innovation and is emerging as a career of choice rather than chance."
Key Speakers at the conference included Mr. Sandeep Sethi, Managing Director, Corporate Solutions - West Asia, JLL; Mr. Mahantesh Mali, Sr. VP - Real Estate Operations, Nucleus Office Parks, Blackstone Portfolio Company; Mr. Sumeet Sharma , Global Contracts Director, Workplace services at Capgemini group; Mr. Aman Dutta, Partner EY Consulting, Dr. Shalini Lal - Organizational Consultant; Mr. Parthajeet Sarma, Workplace transformation specialist, Workplace Evolutionaries (WE) Hub Lead, Chevening scholar; Mr. Arunjot Singh Bhalla Managing Director India, RSP Architects Planners Engineers; Mr. Keith Monteiro- Senior Vice President, Reliance Industries Ltd among others.
The power packed conference sessions saw several key takeaways and dealt with different aspects of The Future of Work , Building Employee Experience and Organizational Culture through Workplace transformation, Business Continuity, How FM will be delivered in the new world, Healthcare: New ways of working, health and wellness at the workplace, The changing face of work and workplace design, Technology -Reinventing for the Future of Facilities, Leading and Developing Emerging FMs, FM Specialisation -Exploring Changes and Innovations.
According to Sandeep Sethi, MD, Corporate Solutions -West Asia, JLL, "Companies are being introspective and have reached an inflection point of view. There is an effort to do the right thing. Health and Safety are on the top of the agenda and organizations have felt the need to address both the physical and psychological security of employees. Sustainability and carbon neutrality will be the other important features of workplaces. There would be the opportunity to redesign workplaces where we will see the Hub, Spoke and the Edge. The Hub would mean larger offices, Spoke the smaller satellite offices and the Edge would be to work from home. Real estate requirements will take a year to settle down. Office spaces may come up closer to apartments."
On Building Employee Experience and organizational Culture through Workplace Transformation the panelists were of the view that the recent pandemic has taught them that 'Employees do not come to the workplace only for work, but for an experience they do not get elsewhere, that involves trust, togetherness, socialization and much more.'
Setting the tone for the session, moderator Parthajeet Sarma observed, "It has often been said that an organisation's employees are like its customers...its internal customers; keep them happy and they will keep your external customers happy. While concerted attempts have been made to design 'experiences' for customers, such that they keep coming back to 'buy' more, employees, in general, have not been so far looked at through the same lenses. The Covid 19 pandemic has driven home the fact that employees do not come to the workplace for 'work' anymore; but they come there for an 'experience' that they cannot get elsewhere; an experience that involves trust, camaraderie, socialization, and much more.
The work-'place' is today one part of an employee's perception of work; and a very significant part. Workplaces need to be transformed to serve a greater purpose than 'work' alone, in a world where work and life gets integrated and are not seen anymore as two silos that needs to be 'balanced'. A transformed workplace, when aligned with an organisation's vision, can act as an exoskeleton of an organisation's culture. A workplace, in the Covid era and beyond will need to serve as one of several touchpoints that an employee will experience in his or her day-to-day experience with the organisation. It needs to be blended with the overall and uniform experience that an organisation designs, for its employees, its first line of customers."
The India Facility Management Market is anticipated to record a CAGR of 24%, over the forecast period (2020 - 2025). The growing emphasis on outsourcing of non-core operations and growth in the real estate sector is expected to drive the Indian market for facility management services. Along with this the government regulation on safety measures and environmental concerns to follow green practices is expected to drive the market. While, currently, the industry is highly fragmented and is dominated by unorganised small operators, with larger players increasingly acquiring smaller players, the industry is projected to become more organised in the coming years. Corporate offices like IT, BPO, and BFSI sectors are rapidly shifting towards outsourcing their services, thus, driving the industry growth in India. The industry is primarily concentrated in Tier 1 and metro cities. Pune and Mumbai are expected to witness significant growth within the industry. Globally, too, the industry is growing rapidly, driven by the rising outsourcing of services by companies. The industry is also being supported by the growing demand for integrated facilities management in the Asia Pacific region. The Asia Pacific region is also the fastest-growing region for the industry, driven by the growing economies like India and China. The rapidly rising population in these regions is also boosting the market growth.
This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)