K. Moraitakis (UNISON): The CEO must ‘read’ the market and take advantage of the opportunities

Konstantinos Moraitakis, CEO of UNISON, refers to how teleworking has affected the facility management industry, who, among other things, refers to the role of CEO today, emphasizing that he must look for stimuli, be fully receptive, but also flexible.

– How and to what extent has teleworking affected the facilities management industry?

Teleworking has greatly affected the facility management industry, as it has greatly overturned the traditional model of office work. Despite the fact that remote work had gained ground in Europe and America, our country was more conservative in dealing with this way of working. This changed violently, one might say, with the pandemic and very quickly Greece has come to the telework rates of other European countries. In this context, the companies operating in the field of Facility Management were called to support a new reality with the ever-changing needs of our customers. In addition, the issue of hygiene and safety in the workplace has emerged very strongly, since what is required now is not just the proper maintenance / cleaning of the workplace, but the creation of a safe and healthy work environment. We at UNISON, from a very early age, realized the new needs and took on a consulting role to our clients, providing complete solutions that promote safety and health in the workplace.

– What is the growth potential of the Facility Management sector in our country? What challenges does the industry face?

The Facility Management sector in Greece still has huge growth potential, as it lags significantly behind the other European markets. The model that has prevailed in recent years abroad is long-term assignments (3-5 years) through tenders, for all the services of each building installation. The logic is that, with long-term contracts, the company that manages the installation manages to become a strategic partner of the client, fully integrated in the philosophy and business goals, acting essentially instead, providing a range of services that go as far as procurement. outsourcing. In a more sophisticated model, facility management is linked to an overall property management agreement by the Facility Management provider.

As a market leader in the industry, we lead the developments and focus our efforts in order to “train” the Greek market to move from single service short-term contracts to the global standard as described above. Facility Management has unlimited possibilities, as long as methodical moves are made to highlight the real value.

In such a model, the real benefit to the customer from working with a company like UNISON comes in the long run. We want to accompany each of our clients on the path to sustainable development, with the goal that success comes through harmony at all levels of operation of a business.

By providing comprehensive services, we help our customers to be released, so that they can dedicate themselves to their business activity. For example, we offer services related to the protection of the environment and energy, while the Contact | Less service has also received a great response from companies, with which we offer complete solutions by creating safe workplaces, as the main concern of all is return to normalcy.

– How is a CEO trained & informed today?

The role of a CEO today has changed dramatically from what it was a few years ago, mainly due to the rapid changes in the economic and social environment. A successful CEO nowadays is called to be a visionary and to be able to quickly adapt the company’s strategy by “reading” the market and to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that arise even in times of uncertainty or crisis.

His training must be continuous and multifaceted in order to be informed and to be able to properly assess any opportunities or threats that appear in the market. It is now necessary for recruiters not to be limited only to their field of activity, but to extend to the wider business environment and from various sectors, since we live in an era characterized by high interdependence of the various sectors of the economy.

A CEO must therefore look for stimuli, be fully receptive, but also flexible. To research best practices in order to utilize them accordingly, as well as to listen / translate the messages transmitted by the wider industry in which it operates. This can be applied from the expansion of the services provided to the evaluation of large investment opportunities that arise.

In terms of technical skills, the training is done either “onthejob” learning from the organization and the victories and sometimes from the defeats, or from respective training programs. invest in the field of personal development through coaching or mentoring programs, the necessity of which has already begun to be recognized in our country.

– What is the role of the CEO in maintaining and developing his executives and who in attracting new executives from the market?

The role of the CEO in retaining, developing and attracting executives is extremely important, as he determines the culture of the company, which must be in harmony with his personal values ​​and ethos.

Competent executives nowadays, are looking for a wider package of benefits from each employer that extends to a large extent to the work environment, the corporate culture and the business ethic. They need an environment where they can feel comfortable and show off their skills with a clear plan for personal and professional development.

In this direction, concepts such as careerdevelopment, successionplanning, retention, motivation, etc., have emerged and become very important, which must now be applied by companies aimed at high-level staff. Equally important are cooperation and open communication in the workplace, which can only be achieved if there is a conscious and systematic effort in this direction.

– Is a CEO’s personal involvement with issues that concern society part of his role?

In recent years, it has become clear that, in the long run, a successful company can not thrive in a rigid social context. As a result, corporate social responsibility programs have been high on the agenda, in the beginning of the multinational but also in recent years of the Greek companies, of which the CEO is always the ambassador.

The CEO incorporates in his face the company culture and in this issue, he is the one who is called to raise the awareness of the employees and the shareholders in the importance of corporate social responsibility. It is also necessary for corporate social responsibility to be integrated into the core of the culture and values ​​of the company.

At UNISON we firmly believe that through our strategy and initiatives for sustainable development, we promote a better future for all, oriented in a way that combines social and environmental benefits with business profit. Being a strategic partner for every company that trusts us, we proceed consistently, confirming our business decisions.