The business of Keeping – IT CAMPUSES CLEAN

Wipro

Wipro’s policies and processes recognize the importance of satisfied customers- both internal (employees) and external. It also takes the responsibility of contributing towards a safer and greener planet. The practices and policies revolve around people and planet. Ensuring employee comfort and according environment, health and safety utmost importance, Wipro’s facilities are a proof that both are taken care of in abundance. With mammoth campuses in Bangalore and multiple offices around the country, facility management requirements are huge. The 25 acre, 6000 employee Development Centre at Sarjapur in South East Bangalore is a Silver rated LEED certified facility where green initiatives are happening all through the year. Keeping in mind the founder Azim Premji’s commitment of not building business at the cost of ecology, areas of operations revolve around ecological parameters. The Sarjapur campus boasts of paper recycling, bio gas and sewage treatment plants, organic waste convertors and rain water harvesting. Eco friendly LED lights have been installed in the common areas and the customer care centers. Bio gas generated from bio waste is used to fuel the cafeterias. Some of the newer technologies like wind, solar and LED have been used across campuses. Reduce, reuse and recycle mantra is preached and practiced. Most of the Wipro facilities are LEED certified Green buildings and even the products used for cleaning them are biodegradable and eco friendly. Ramakrishnan Ramaswamy, VP-Facility Management, Wipro Technologies informs that “The Environment Health and Safety department goes through the Material Safety Data Sheet of each of the products and confirms its eco friendliness”. About the maintenance of these facilities and the role of tie ups with service partners for the same, he says “The maintenance of such ever growing massive campuses require the expertise of trained professionals as well as professional service partners. We have Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with the service providers where parameters like the total service area, specific maintenance requirement of each area and the SLAs to be delivered in each of these specified areas, specific cleaning practices and the periodicity of cleaning are pre defined.

“The vendor is encouraged to make multiple visits before signing the contract to understand all the areas, namely: work space, recreation, parking and common areas, restrooms, cafeteria, etc., and the type of cleaning expected. The service provider is given clear instructions on the requirements as well as expectations. We have also come out with an in house manual on housekeeping methods which specifies the cleaning processes in various areas, cleaning methods, material to be used etc. We also ensure that their staff are taken care of and insist on they being provided with protective work gear, made to undergo periodic medical tests and treat them as equals by making available common facilities like cafeteria and restrooms open to them for use. SLA/KPI reviews are held monthly with rewards and penalty attached. The review helps the service provider understand the performance better and work towards the desired improvements. The role of our key internal staff is to coordinate, interact and manage to ensure the deliverables are on track and also provide necessary financial clearance when needed. The operational needs are met by the service providers”.

Ramakrishna elaborates, “The challenges faced by our vendors are higher level of attrition, training and development of their work force. I recommend service providers to have regular interaction with the ground level personnel to understand their needs, provide necessary training, refresher programmes and encourage the good performers through rewards and recognition.

The contracting agencies also give them periodic reward and pat them on the back for a good job done. These are things which will help the workers gain confidence in their job, in their profession. There is a need to find ways to constantly churn trained people.”

Another challenge is the verification of the worker’s background. “Now with the kind of environment and security threat that exists in today’s times, there has to be a good system to do a thorough background check and Wipro follows stringent practices to ensure that security is not compromised ever.

“Sometimes we also interview the candidate for key positions and they would be exclusively working for Wipro. While we work on the costing, the agency takes care of the payment of salary and other legal compliance. Organisation wise we first have the regional heads and then the executives and managers who have experience and training in this field. Only the top positions are handled by Wipro and this involves monitoring the work performed by the agencies. This model has been implemented at various locations. Wipro recycles 76010 of waste generated at its facilities. The waste mainly consists of paper and other bio waste from the food areas. Shredded paper is crushed into pulp and made into paper bricks which are sent to the manufacturer to make scribbling pads. The bio waste is processed in the organic waste converter and the manure thus generated is directly used in the landscape area. In some of the facilities like the campus at Sarjapur, the food waste and sludge generated is fed into the bio gas plant, which supplies fuel to the canteen. In case of e-waste disposal, the pollution certification is obtained and proper disposal is done.

“We also have medical waste, oil waste and hazardous waste that are given away to authorised vendors. The EHS department does periodic inspection and conducts checks on the vendors. It also verify and ensures that there is proper disposal of such waste.” There are instances of used tissue papers lying on the floors of the washroom or chewing gums being thrown anywhere and everywhere. In the various clean initiatives taken by Wipro, posters are hung near the mirrors and on the walls of the washroom educating the users. In the office area, every quarter, the company organises the clean desk activity.”

Wipro Ltd has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and it is not without reason that they are part of the enviable Index which has only three companies from India in the list.