Arun Khanna

Khanna has been steadfast –innovating and pioneering many changes and introducing new systems, models and working systems in the realms of facility management, property management as well as estate and portfolio management. His career began after completing his post graduation from Birla Institute of Management Technology, when he started work as a ‘Potential Chief Executive’ in the Real Estate Division of Usha (India). He went on to work with CB Richard Ellis, Insignia Brook India, UHG, HSBC Group and DLF before his current stint at Optum Global Solutions.

Providing insights on some of the key strategies adopted by his team to improve workspace efficiency, Khanna states: “We have created a standard staffing template of deployment for any centre, cluster or acquired company in any city. We’ve also created design standards for offices, after elaborate discussions with internal customer leadership team and converted them into templates. Additionally, we have established a strong relationship with outsourced partner with empowerment and trust as key ingredients along with performance metrics and a well-defined SOP. Finally, we have taken initiatives to get various standardisation certifications like ISO 27001, OSHAS 18001, LEED ratings of existing/new centres, among others.”

“The inability to plan long term – beyond three years – because of the continuously changing environment and customer requirements in IT/ITES industry is one of the major challenges for the fraternity,” explains Khanna. He adds that there is also continuous pressure to reduce costs to remain competitive, which is additionally burdened with the lack of standardisation and transparency in real estate transactions.