Internship Report 6u2f45

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Aims of internship The objectives of the nine week internship at KFEM are to expose me to how the estate management business and how individual development are being managed.

1.2 Type of Organization Knight Frank Pte Ltd is a real estate consultancy firm and has a separate firm dealing with real estate management instead of a department. This is to give better flexibility in the management of real estate.

Chapter 2

Brief Description of Organization

2.1 Background KFEM, the new subsidiary of KFPL, was established in January 2001 with staff strength of not more than 60. Its vision is “To be the largest and most prestigious property management company in Singapore”. It began with a small portfolio of 50 properties but since its inception, KFEM has grown to manage a current portfolio of 100 properties comprising prestigious residential and commercial buildings, making it one of the top five estate management companies in Singapore. Presently, its staff strength comprises 200 Team Managers and qualified site personnel serving diverse property types in different locations in Singapore.

2.2 Hierarchy of KFEM Jordan Neo, its Managing Director together with Director Chan Wen Sun formal director of the BCA and the heads of six Business Units has expanded their business within a short period of time. KFEM now has comprehensive IT, Human Resource, Finance and istration departments to help with the smooth operation of the company. A new Corporate Services Department has been added to provide continuous improvement in the operations and processes of the company.

2.3 Corporate Objectives KFEM’s corporate objective is to implement systems that would boost its productivity and service quality because the management is aware that in the line estate 1

management service, quality service and management forms an important part of the business. The Management also believes in investing time and financial resources to train its employees. Monthly trainings, annual dinners, outing trips and even competition games are organized to improve the overall ability of its staff and to build team spirit among employees. This is a good way to improve communications between the staff at Head Office and the site, and thus building strong bonds among its staff.

Chapter 3

Description of Internship Training

In this chapter, it will be divided into nine weeks and in each week; I will discuss about the training and what I have learnt during the training. In the whole nine weeks, I was given a chance to see how the business is managed and intermittently I was also given a chance to see the operations in each development.

3.1 Weekly Training Week 1 (16th to 20th May) At KFEM, I was assigned to the Corporate Services (HQ) to help out with the work there. In the first week, I was given a few tasks to do. These tasks include setup and reformat hard disk, to cover for a staff at Beauty World Centre on sick leave, sort out NUS-KFEM mailing list and help with induction session for new staff.

Throughout this whole week I have learnt that in order to manage a business well, there is much other knowledge that I must learn or must know besides real estate business. Take for example some IT knowledge as business is heavily depended on it. When I was at Beauty World Centre, I am fortunate to follow the centre manager for cleaning inspection where I am told what to take note during inspection. I am able to participate in the induction session and its aim is to welcome its new employees and let them feel like a family.

Week 2 (24th to 27th May) I had a chance to learn and see different aspect of property management this week as I was asked to stand in for employees who go on leave at both Beauty World Centre and Elmira 2

Heights. In the later week, I continued to sort out the NUS-KFEM mailing list as this assignment is an ongoing updating of mailing list and I also get to participate in KFEM’s monthly training. It is a good experience as I get to know at what is happening on site. Some aspects I get to learn include asking for quotations of replacement of light bulbs, repairing defects, looking into residents’ requests, etc. From my stay at the site, I have recognized that there is a need to handle complaints tactfully. During my participation in the monthly training, I realise that it is important to upgrade. KFEM has recognised this aspect and have organized the monthly training to help employees improve themselves and also this indirectly will enhance the quality of the company.

Week 3 (30th to 3rd May) The Corporate Services Department had to reorganize the document filing for the Business Units. I was asked to help record all the documents in the shelves so as to identify the amount of space needed for each Business Unit (BU). The next step is to reorganize the shelves for better space allocation and neat filing. This assignment took a few days and in between I have been asked to update the key press list to match key with cupboards. At the end of the week, I was assigned to take pictures of nine buildings for the purpose of an project in the next week.

What I learnt this week is that in order to make full use of space and effective working environment in a company, a proper system of filing and allocating space is required. Although it is convenient for people to put near the shelf that they are seated but this will cause a mess if it is properly grouped. I also took the chance to read some of the documents thus provided me a clearer picture on the operations side of KFEM.

Week 4 (6th to 10th June) For the whole week I have been involved in a project that KFEM is preparing. This is a tender project for the management of a total of eleven buildings (nine commercial buildings and two multi-storey carparks). The tender document was prepared by a few directors and I have been asked provide , that is, to do some editing and compilation of the document. I have also been asked to compile a comparison on pricing 3

of three internet service providers and to compile a standard house rule for new start up projects.

This week had been a rewarding time as I am able to get a clearer picture about the property management business. I get to see two different perspectives – human and technical aspects. The first aspect (human aspect) is the house rules. They are an important aspect in the property management because it is related to the residents. The rules govern how the residents are to behave and to enjoy the facilities in their condominium. The second aspect (technical aspect) is the tender project. In order to submit an accurate tender report, site investigation is very important and information must be comprehensive to provide an accurate analysis of the building with respect to three different aspects. These will be structural, mechanical & electrical and property management. Once these are reviewed, only than can capital expenditure be accurately identified and projected into the future.

Week 5 (13th to 17th June) This week I was not given much assignments to do therefore I continue with formulating a standard house rule for the purpose of offering it to the developers and residents for them to make additions or alterations to this template to suit their own needs and requirements. In the late week, I was given a task to update the checklist of “Directory of KFEM” and to use it to draw up a list of files and documents such that different security access level can be affixed to the files and documents. I was also asked to draw up a layout plan to accommodate seven BU heads in the Directors’ Room.

After reading a few house rules of different condominium sites, I feel that staying in the condominium is being governed more strictly than public estates. But it is because of these rules laid out clearly that discrepancies and misunderstanding are reduced. I have been able to put to use what I have learnt from the module “Building Technology” to accomplish the drawing the layout plan.

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Week 6 (20th to 24th June) At the start of this week, I continued with the drawing the layout plan. After this I was given a chance to participate in a start up project at Lilydale. KFEM has been asked to take over as Managing Agent from G. It is the monthly training and I was asked to help out and also participate in the monthly training. In order to facilitate smooth handing and taking over of MA duties, it is a must to gather key information relating to the estate. Take for example, the location of important documents like the constitution of MCST certificate, the term contracts expiry dates and what these contracts encom, etc. After gathering this information, tabulating them properly will enable site staff to be able to have this information at their fingertips. In this monthly training, once again I benefited from the talks and discussions that were held during the training.

Week 7 (27th to 1st July) For the whole week, I had learnt quite a lot through helping the start up team with the taking over process of Lilydale Executive Condominium (EC). Some of the major tasks include compiling a “Key information List” and defects inspection. Because the hand over and take over date was on 30th June, there are a lot of things to prepare and do before and on the actual day itself. Even after the take over, there are still many things to follow up such that the management of the EC can be done smoothly.

For any take over, it is best that key information about the development is compiled, its minutes of meetings checked, outstanding items to take note of and defects inspection done as these will tell about the history, the changes made and the status of the development. Any discrepancies or grey areas can be clarified. With the information it will be easier for the condominium manager to understand the current situation and follow up on any urgent issues. Also doing defects inspection to reduce any discrepancies on defects issue. Another thing that I took notice of is that the site staff are not very helpful and showing attitude indicating lack of professionalism towards their job. I think it is important that hand over staff is professional as it reflects the image of the company and also shows how much responsibility the person has. Another important issue is that preparing checklist by hand over staff beforehand is very important. It should be accurate and in proper sequence so that the hand over process can be carried out smoothly. 5

Week 8 (4th to 8th July) This week I am following up on the tasks that were being assigned in the previous weeks. The tasks that I am following up include writing the standard template for house rules, sort out the mailing list for NUS-KFEM seminar and finally tabulating the defects inspection. I was also asked to stand in for one of the staff that was on leave at Beauty World Centre.

In tabulating the defects inspection list, I tried to formulate a template such that pictures of defects and remarks are together. This is to allow the reader to see at one glance the defects and what the picture is revealing. Presentation is very important when it comes to presenting lots of information such that the reader will be able to get the correct information at a glance. At Beauty World Centre, the staff there have finalised the design for implementing “Muslim Food Village”. This move is to bring crowd back which in the long run can maintain and even enhance the value of the shopping centre.

Week 9 (18th to 22nd July) In order to gain an insight of how individual property is being managed, I requested to go to a commercial or mixed development and was assigned to Lucky Plaza. I was very lucky as there was a council meeting and an AGM at Lucky Plaza and I asked to attend both of them. Throughout the whole week, I was exposed to how a mixed development was being managed, the things to take note of and various other aspects.

The most eye opening activities are council meeting and AGM where I get opportunity to see how the meetings are held. As a complex manager, the most important thing during council is managing the meeting. There will be lots of conflicts the complex manager and in order to solve the problem and reduce human friction, the complex manager must attempt to resolve the conflict into a “win-win” situation where all parties are happy. Also the complex manager has to be well prepared to answer any questions and and be able to reason i.e. because each individual accept different reasoning therefore with anticipation and precision reasoning the problem can be resolved easily.

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3.2 Conclusion Throughout the whole attachment, the most important aspect in real estate management I found out was dealing with people. The reason is that estate management is a service industry and each client who come looking for the managing agent has problem at hand, has his/her own expectations and would like the problem to be solved therefore it is very important to handle situations carefully and tactfully. Otherwise, the clients’ expectations towards the managing agent will drop and consequence may be dire.

Chapter 4

Recommendations/Suggestions

4.1 Recommendations/Suggestions Throughout the nine weeks of internship, I have observed a few areas which may be improved to achieve a more enriching and fulfilling internship for students. I would like to recommend a longer internship period for example a whole semester such that students could have a comprehensive exposure into the real estate industry. The second recommendation is that companies should provide a timetable given to the students. This is to ensure that students know what is installed for them. The third and final recommendation is to expose students to different sectors in real estate instead of the students selecting a particular sector for their internship. This is because the students may not have a comprehensive knowledge to select a sector that suit themselves.

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