Since the onset of the pandemic, the FM industry has shown courage and put its best foot forward in warding off the impact of COVID-19 to some extent. However, the main change one has seen is the mindset and the willingness to adapt to new strategies. And this has shown accelerated growth in business, enabling companies like ServeU, a wholly-owned subsidiary of one of the leading real estate developers in the UAE, Union Properties, to reap the benefit of the learnings found during the pandemic. Regarded as one of the top facilities management companies in the UAE, with a rich history of FM expertise spanning over 40 years. They currently employ over 6,000 staff, manage over 900 active projects, and have more than 600 clients and more than 100 corporate partners across the region. In an interview with Gary Reader, the General Manager, ServeU, tells CMtoday that they have achieved strong performance and embrace sustainable growth despite the pandemic. Rightly so, the year 2021 began with a bang! With ServeU bagging the coveted Middle East Cleaning, Hygiene, & Facilities Awards (MECHF) for the 'Top Cleaning Company of the Year.'

"It is great to see how forums like MECHF Awards recognize the effort and hard work being put in by the people working within the FM industry. ServeU is one of the biggest FM companies in the UAE with a cleaning department consisting of over 4,000 cleaning staff, so winning the Cleaning Company of the year means a lot to us. Especially for our employees, who worked hard to make ServeU the successful business we are today, and this is worth celebrating," adds Gary.

Business Continuity

And since the start of the year, ServeU has also won multiple key contracts, and the performance has been primarily due to the company's quick response and active effort to ensure the continuity of its services. At the same time, they adopted effective steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their employees. They enabled home working setups for all office staff. They also moved the call center to cloud setup immediately after the pandemichit. Elaborating more, Gary says, "We operated at 50% rotation occupancy for operational staff only. To ensure the safety of our staff, we installed sanitization gates at all facilities, temperature checks, conducted regular PCR tests, amongst other safety measures. After the vaccine was available, we arranged to vaccinate 100% of the staff, which ranges more than 6,000." From an operational perspective, while the customers' needs were cut from the average MEP and Cleaning requirements, they focused on on-demand services, tailoring these services around the customers' needs, focusing on disinfection and sanitization, duct cleaning, etc. Challenges & lessons learned Of course, there were challenges on the way, especially regarding service delivery in the new normal.

ServeU overcame them and redefined their approach towards it this year. "Safety of our staff has always been of utmost importance to us. However, with most of the businesses working from home and less occupancy in the offices, this did pose a challenge," adds Gary. Recruitment was another challenge; "As the business started opening up on one side, on the other we were facing the borders closing up from other countries, making the recruitment process very difficult as we had to quickly find suitable candidates for contracts," explained Gary. Another key lesson we learned was the way ServeU rose to the challenges. The pandemic and the challenges that it brought with it allowed ServeU to rise above it and bring in a fresh perspective on how best to focus on the customers. This approach towards enhanced efficiency has led to several new streamlined processes over the last year.

The pandemic also sparked some great innovation; Gary agrees that the year saw some of the best practices in the FM industry. This also enabled many of their clients to realize the true value of the services and didn't mind investing in quality services. A key lesson that helped ServeU truly up its game plan was to break away from traditional approaches and bring in innovations.

Technology

 ServeU has always been working towards redefining what they have to offer to the market and how they deliver their services to their clients. And this can be seen in the way they have adapted to the use of technology. ServeU has been at the forefront when it comes to technology. They have been heavily investing in technology implementation over the last few years. They have been offering their clients insightful solutions that provide the best-in-class client support. This has enabled them to broaden their market reach across their key sectors.

Digital transformation has long been a priority, but the last year accelerated our progress in many areas, says Gary. Like always, their primary focus is to provide their customers with an integrated FM service with state-ofthe-art technology, rather than relying on manpowerbased contracts. "In ServeU Essentials, we have been integrating our back-office systems such as ERP, CAFM, and other helpdesk management systems, which will interface with our Customer Mobile App. The app provides a human-less interaction experience to our customers, one of its kind in the FM industry," explains Gary.

In the first phase, launching a B2C app for ServeU Essentials, and later, by the end of Q4, the B2B app will be launched to help their corporate clients. "Along with the automation of our internal processes to enhance our customers' experience, we are also implementing smart technologies such as smart homes, washrooms, IoT, which are integrated with our backoffice system providing real-time insights to our customers," he adds.

The 'need of the hour'

As the saying goes, 'the proof is in the pudding,' Gary says that the incredible effort that the team at ServeU has put into this last year has enabled them to translate to continued business. The pandemic certainly did not spare anyone; however, it did urge the facilities management business to break away from the 'normal' and change from the typical service delivery.

While ServeU has adapted to the new normal, Gary still believes a few aspects need to be adapted to the pandemic's next phase. Gary foresees the FM industry adopting technology in the UAE faster than ever in line with Dubai 10X strategy. He also says that there will be more dependence on sensors and systems such as CAFM, IoT, BIM, GIS systems, and other smart technologies that help human interventions.

"The new-normal has paved the way to work contactless, however with people still a bit hesitant to provide access into their homes and offices. Hence, it is important to adapt to more safe and contactless methods of providing services," says Gary.

 Most importantly, for ServeU, the year ahead, Gary says that he sees more promising opportunities. "Our top priorities for the coming year include ensuring the safety of our employees and focusing on sustainable solutions across all our services. And lastly, we will continue to focus on improving customer satisfaction and strengthen the brand identity that will strive to set best practice in the industry," sums up Gary.