LEADING THE WAY: BUILDING DIVERSITY IN FACILITY MANAGEMENT

BY Realty+

IN FM SECTOR, WE DO NOT SEE MANY WOMEN LEADERS. WHAT WAS YOUR JOURNEY LIKE?

Tapasi Chakraborty - I started my career in 2005 after marriage. Coming from a small town to Kolkata and having worked in various odd jobs, the journey to the top was indeed full of challenges but also of a steep learning curve. I finally joined the facility management industry and started working with Astute Outsourcing Services Ltd in 2013 and have reached the top management, rising through the ranks over the years.

Ashwini Walawalkar - I worked my way up all the way from a housekeeper in 1992 to the chief of an 8000+ workforce company which is TCFM. I have seen the FM industry transform over three decades - from being an outsourced service to becoming frontline warriors post the pandemic. Having worked with renowned hospitality chains, I took a conscious decision against friends and family’s opinion of leaving a secure job, to head an FM company.

Bharathi Kamath – Having worked with hospitality giants for more than 12 years, it was a natural progression to establishing my own firm. When I started 20 years ago FM was absolutely new, but the MNCs were coming in India and were outsourcing all their non-core activities, looking for people to provide facility management service. I started off as housekeeping service provider and over a period of time, the company evolved into a multi-faceted service provider.

WHAT WERE THE CHALLENGES YOU FACED AS A WOMEN CLIMBING THE LEADERSHIP LADDER?Tapasi Chakraborty – The challenges were immense, from trust issue to being taken for granted or not seriously. Being a women added to the struggle of making a career in the big city. However, what I am today is because of the challenges I faced. Not giving up and becoming better each day is the key to success. I believe challenges are opportunities in disguise.

Ashwini Walawalkar – Challenges are equal for women in any profession but priorities for women are different, the kids, the family. This is many a times held against them and they are considered unreliable employees. So women have to prove themselves more to be considered equal to their male counterpart.

Bharathi Kamath – In the initial stages, the biggest challenges were working capital and client acquisition. The apprehension from banks as well as clients was if the women entrepreneur would be able to lead the company and the workforce. I had to convince the client that we would deliver the same quality of service and even better than what a man would do. About 20 years ago it was a difficult time for a woman entrepreneur to get a firm grounding in an industry which was predominantly male dominated.

HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED FOR WOMEN PROFESSIONALS NOW?

Tapasi Chakraborty –The mind-set of people is changing, but today’s challenges are very different. Women professionals are getting due recognition but the work pressures are increasing so as the need to keep proving themselves at par with male colleagues while juggling work and home.

Bharathi Kamath – People have accepted that woman can be better than what a man could do because the commitment level of women entrepreneurs is far higher. Today the challenge for women entrepreneurs is to keep up to the benchmarks they have set for themselves and keep evolving with the changing times.

Ashwini Walawalkar - Outlook has totally changed and awareness about facility management has increased. The sector is now technology driven and women are now considering it as a career from housekeeping to technical services. Over a period of time, more women we have in this sector, more will rise to to the top management level and we will see more women leaders in FM.

Tags : Building Diversity Facility Management Ashwini Walawalkar Country Head Technique Control Facility Management Bharathi Kamath Managing Director Carewel India Tapasi Chakraborty CEO Astute Outsourcing Services Pvt Ltd