Sunil Nayak, CEO for Sodexo India On-Site Service Solutions, talks about the factors that he believes will help companies take advantage of the unique economic climate present in India at this time.
There is an old saying that goes ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’. As with many of these sayings there is a counter and that goes ‘don’t spoil a ship for a happenyworth of tar’ and in a growing economy like we are experiencing in India the latter is definitely the key to success and the former a trap of our own making.
This is not to say that largesse is the order of the day but that constant scrutiny of the outgoings is only going to cause companies to miss the key opportunity in such an economic boom as we are experiencing today. The real goal for any organization is firstly to ensure they grow profits faster than their competition and then to grow faster than the economy. If they achieve both of those goals then their financial future is generally secure. And in an economy where growth is circa 9% it is important to ensure they focus on the very things that are likely to deliver double digit growth and not on the lesser value element of just cutting expenditure for the sake of it.
Sodexo is the leading provider of facilities management solutions in India and as such we are in a pretty unique position to be able to see and observe the actions companies all across the nation are taking to maximize growth in these exciting times. I have seen four main trends that come to the fore in successful organizations and are missing in those that are less than optimal.
Focus on that which makes you what you are: Many companies look to outsource services because they believe this will help them focus on what they do. The argument goes that car companies shouldn’t worry about cleaning or catering as this will cause them to lose focus on being car makers. Actually, this is only half the truth, car makers should care very much about who does their catering or cleaning because without care and attention from experts in this area the productivity of the organization will be compromised, though like an iceberg the bulk of the loss is often not easily visible for all to see. For this reason, focus on what the company does should be front of mind at every moment. An example of this is the cleaning lady at NASA who, when asked what she did for a job, replied ‘I helped put a man on the moon’.
Value that which brings you value: A constant trend in emerging and developing economies is the war for talent. As employees become trained and developed in the ways of working they become desired commodities, even at the lowest levels of working. This is because their skills and general attitude to work can get them ‘up to speed’ in a new organization far quicker than recruits who do not possess the skills, whether these be technical or just the way to handle themselves in the corporate world. Therefore, time needs to be taken to communicate to these employees the value that they bring to the company in order to bolster employee retention and satisfaction. Provision of fringe benefits and general attention to the workplace is a key opportunity to ‘walk the walk’ and demonstrate clearly that working for the organization is not just about take home salary.
Everything that happens at work drives productivity: Profit in an organization is fuelled by its ability to do things more effectively and more efficiently than its competition. However, often the drive for these goals is not always delivered via a direct challenge on output at the point of production. The services that the employee encounters, at every touchpoint in the workplace, will directly influence the way they feel about their work and this will directly impact their productivity within it. Indeed, studies out of the United States and Germany have repeatedly demonstrated this fact in a number of environments – from school children and exam results to employee satisfaction results in factories.
The quicker the question can be asked the quicker the answer will come: Working within a team requires the ability to quickly and easily isolate the person who is responsible for making the difference. Even in extended teams, and with suppliers and partners, it is necessary to know who to pick the phone up to in order to get a desired result. Two elements help companies get the answer quicker, one being able to know who to ask the question of and the second being sure that once you have found that person they have the expertise to answer rapidly and accurately. If you don’t have these two elements in place you run the risk of bouts of email and telephone tag that move focus away from what needs to be done.
For a company like Sodexo - who help provide services from catering to housekeeping, technical facilities support to mail room solutions – it is important to work with clients in a way that keeps these four goals at the forefront of all that we do. For us to just turn up and provide the cheapest possible food, or to care about cleaning from the angle of how much we can save on labour, is to fail our clients in their ongoing aspirations. I encourage my senior managers and operators to really challenge our clients on how we can help them and how we can push forward in the four areas already mentioned. Only then can we be confident that we are really providing value rather than just help cut costs. After all, as they say, you can’t cut your way to greatness.
Sodexo is the leading provider of on site service solutions in India. With more than 30,000 employees and clients in 22 states they provide more than twenty different types of facilities management solutions to customers in industries as diverse as manufacturing, BPO, KPO, healthcare and education. If you would like to learn more about Sodexo or how they might be able to help your organization please contact enquiries.in.amecaa@sodexo.com
