Thursday 14 April 2016

How engineering and construction technologies have facilitated real estate industry

The most important aspect of the industry is the tools that are used to build it. Like any other sector the tools of the trade in the real estate industry have evolved. These advancements have been leveraged to build new business in a professional, efficient & effective manner.

Companies like JCB, CAT etc have been investing heavily in research and development to produce world’s toughest, fastest, smallest and fuel efficient construction equipment. Latest backhoe loaders, tracked excavators, wheeled loaders, compactors, drills etc reduce the time and improve the efficiency of construction work which was not possible otherwise.


High rises usually have long gestation period which escalate the cost. Today exciting new technologies have emerged like Jump from ie climbing form. With this the core walls can be completed ahead of the rest of the building structure. The monotonous and engineered nature of form work, allows fine tuning of construction operations which in turn leads to minimal concrete wastage.

Low rise and value homes have been blessed with pre cast technology. In this case various sections of the structure are cast in factories and then assembled on site. This technology thrives on economies of scale and similarity of layouts.  It can achieve almost zero wastage and reduction in the number of highly skilled engineers leading to reduction of cost.

Aluminum formwork technology has helped in constructing huge number of houses in short period of time. It involves using room sized forms to construct wall and slab in one continuous pour of concrete. On removal of bolted forms a high quality concrete semi-finished product is produced which requires no plastering. Such technology requires less labor, provides uniform quality and reduces chances of leakage.

With rapidly increasing GDP of India we can expect engineering & construction technology companies investing more in research and development wing in order to come up with superior products.

Monday 4 April 2016

Employee Engagement more than just a ‘buzz word’

Who is an engaged employee? Author Tim Rutledge explains that an engaged employee is the one who is inspired by his work.  Engaged employees are willing to invest discretionary effort and exceed working hours to make sure that the organisation succeeds. But does the onus of working with commitment towards the greater goal rests only with the employee or does the organisation and the leadership have a role to play? It is the responsibility of the organisation to create an environment which is conducive to learning via training, mentoring etc as it is noticed that these things are directly proportional to the commitment or engagement quotient of the employees.

To ensure that employees work with the same rigour and robustness through the year,organisations can take the following steps-



Encourage Higher Education –
Most employees want to do new things with their jobs. Some even want to pursue higher education in top universities, but often hesitate because of financial challenges or work pressure. However, if the organisation encourages the employees to take up a course it sets an example that the organisation cares for them.

Conduct Training Sessions –
Case study led training modules with experts across the organisation  inspires the employees to strive for more. These sessions should be interactive, where the employee gets an opportunity to collaborate with the senior management. These sessions should be in collaboration with other functions of the organisation, which will help the employees to know their colleagues from other departments and will help them understand group goals beyond personal targets.

Have an open door policy –
To create leaders out of employees it’s important that they interact with the leaders without any hesitation. When empowered with the opportunity of being part of the decision making process of the organisation, employees take ownership of the problems. Having an open-door policy or style creates room for employees to drive innovative ideas.

Provide constructive feedback –

Employee engagement is not a onetime activity; it is in fact an activity that the leader should undertake on a regular basis. Most of the organisations have quarterly reviews and appraisals as a standard procedure to share feedback with the employee, if the leader provides positive and constructive feedback to them at regular intervals it provides great encouragement to the employees.

In conclusion, employee engagement ensures that the roadblocks towards the growth of the company and the employees are cleared and the true talent of the employees is unleashed.