FACILITIES MANAGEMENT JOURNAL JOBS
FM CAREERS - CAREER LADDER
FMJ chats to a facilities professional about
how they got into the sector and takes a look
at their career path. This month we talk to
Muhammad Asif Khan, Ph.D., Sr. Business
Development Engineer at QD for Operation
and Maintenance.
Name:
Muhammad Asif Khan, Ph.D.
Current role:
Sr. Business Development
Engineer
Employer:
QD for Operation and
Maintenance
How did you progress through
the profession to your current role?
While looking back to 2009 when
I graduated, I had no idea what
facilities management was. I started
my professional career in ICT sector
and worked for over three years in my
home country (i.e. Pakistan). In 2013,
I got the opportunity to join QD O&M
as a “Facilities Engineer” in the airport
facilities management project. It was
challenging yet exciting to work in the
FM sector. Within two years, I found
myself fully transformed into an FM
professional. My utmost dedication
and love for my work led me to take a
new position of “Planning Engineer” in
2016. In this role, I had the opportunity
to have a bird’s-eye view of the whole
FM process and learn about various
functions in an FM project.
In 2019, I was o ered a role with
the newly established business
development team. Since then, I have
been working as a Senior Business
Development Engineer. My current role
involves FM market analysis, searching
potential FM tenders, improving our
existing FM processes, managing new
tenders and preparing company policies
and procedures.
What has changed about your
job role since the COVID-19 crisis?
E.g. home working, furloughed,
redeployed?
The COVID-19 crisis has shaken the
whole globe for a while and almost
every organisation has felt its heat.
Many organisations world-wide had
introduced major changes in their
strategies. In our company, we have
reduced the number of employees
working in o ices a er government
instructions. Our plan was to allow
those people to work at home whose
o ice-presence is less required and
our department was one of them. This
means I worked for around one and
half months at home. During this time I
connected remotely to my o ice PC to
access my files and programs. We also
attended meetings via video meeting
applications.
What have you found most
challenging about your job in FM
since the lockdown?
The lockdown led to more than half
of the employees in almost every
organisation to work from home and
logically these people had no or less
access to their o ice phone and emails
with, the major challenge being a delay
in responses from people. I believe it
happened because people were not
ready for such circumstance and we
have learnt now from this experience to
prepare for any similar situations in the
future. Another challenge of working at
home was to deal with the blended role
i.e. you have to be a spouse, a parent
and an employee in the same place and
almost at the same time.
What qualities do you think are
most needed for a successful career
in FM?
For a successful career in FM, one needs
to be flexible and ready to adopt to
changes. The FM sector is developing
fast. There are major standardisation
works in progress that will transform
the FM sector into a very high-tech
industry. This means to be a successful
leader in the FM sector, you need to be a
tech-lover as well as fully aware of both
new international standards and local
regulations for mandatory compliance.
Additionally, top management need to
be aware of incoming transformations
and prepare their organisations by
engaging their people accordingly.
What is your organisation doing
to ensure the safe return of sta to
the workplace?
QD O&M is highly committed to adhere
to the local laws and sta welfare. As the
situation is still evolving, the company
strictly follows the instructions of the
local health authorities to ensure safe
operations. Initially the number of
people working at the o ice has been
reduced. More accommodations and
transportation facilities are available for
employees living in company residences
to help ensure social distance. The
number of sta based in the o ice will
then be gradually increased, as required.
The company is acting proactively and
taking every step to ensure smooth
operations, while not compromising on
quality of service delivery to clients.
Are you a member of any FM
association or body and if so what
benefits do you think they provide?
I am currently a member of MEFMA
(Middle East Facility Management
Association), and a member of
Global FM. MEFMA o ers access to
th latest information, case studies
and knowledge of the FM sector in
Middle East. The MEFMA like other FM
associations is playing a good role to
promote the FM sector in the region.
Do you believe the pandemic has
highlighted the important role of
the FM sector and the part its people
pay in keeping workers safe and
buildings clean and maintained?
The pandemic has both negative and
positive impacts on highlighting the
role of FM in today’s world. The negative
impact is with many of the companies
considering FM as the less necessary
function during the pandemic, and
reducing FM operations to save costs
without evaluating the trade-o . The
much stronger and positive impact of the
pandemic is the way it had highlighted
the importance of FM, especially when
it came to so services. The significance
of the FM personnel was realised and
acknowledged by clients, authorities
and even visitors. Second to health
professionals, they were widely seen
as the front-line fighters against the
pandemic.
What do you predict could be the
main changes to the FM sector due
to the impact of the Coronavirus
pandemic?
I believe the pandemic would allow
the people in the FM sector to rethink
their strategies. The health and safety
professionals in FM will be further trained
on novel infectious diseases. They
will update their standard operating
procedures to cope with such long-term
situations. The top management will
rethink their sta ing strategies and adapt
to new technology. The maintenance
planners will consider updating their
maintenance plans and strategies. In
this way everybody will consider these
changes, re-define their strategies and
adapt to the new environment.
Would you, or someone you know, like to be featured in our career ladder column? If you’re an operational
FM with more than 10 years’ experience in the sector, then email sara.bean@kpmmedia.co.uk
54 JULY 2020
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