Facility management taking realty to next level

The concept of specialized Facility management is gaining strong footholds in the Indian real estate sector, with maximum popularity in the commercial and residential segment.

The cause of this burgeoning need for efficient facility management could be attributed to rapid globalization, modernization and urbanization.

Talking about how facility management is impacting workplaces; employees today are increasingly selective about their workplace in terms of services, amenities and technologies they offer.

The newfound attitude has transformed the concept of facility management (FM) globally. The focus is now on outcomes and end users, with technologies playing definitive roles.

Choice and preferences of tech-savvy millennials too are playing a decisive role in the changing scenarios of workplace landscape.

Full visibility of the portfolio & transferring risk

CBRE research highlights that an integrated approach can deliver up to 45 per cent more value for organizations. This assumes significance amid a rising number of tech-savvy young people in the workforce, who are disrupting the traditional patterns.

Generation Y will make half of the global workforce by 2020. Tech-savvy, connected, urban and educated millennials are already disrupting the world of business.

There's been a lot of noise about the tastes and preferences of this age group. Often, Gen Y is portrayed as non-hierarchical in outlook, with a preference for working where and when it wants.

Indeed, CBRE's own research on millennials, supports the importance of the work environment, confirming that 78 per cent of CBRE's own millennials see workplace quality as important when choosing an employer.

Facility management in residential market

The growing significance of facility management led by the demands of GenY and millennial has percolated into the residential segment too.

More so, because the GenY and millennial population today claim a major share in the overall working population in India.

Very similar to workspaces with managed facilities, co-living has emerged as an alternative asset.

This concept is characterized by private living spaces and shared communal facilities.

FM is coming of age

Technology is changing attitudes at the workplace and homes and is also driving the transformation towards co-working and co-living with comprehensive facility management.

(The author is Managing Director, Global Workplace Solutions & Property Management, CBRE)