Wilson Selvaraj, Senior Vice President of Industry & Manufacturing at ISS India exemplifies how ISS provides rich opportunities for development and growth – across roles, customer segments and geographic regions. With 16 years’ experience at ISS, Wilson Selvaraj has forged a long and fruitful career in facility management and played a crucial role in ISS’s success. We caught up with Wilson to discuss his journey across borders and areas of expertise.
A world of opportunities
Wilson’s journey at ISS started in 2004 when he joined as Manager for Aamby Valley City in India. It was his first role in the area of facility management, and despite the operational challenges and struggles that came with leading a new team, Wilson quickly proved himself by significantly growing the account, winning the ‘Best Branch’ award along the way.
Keen to grow and improve his skills, Wilson took part in comprehensive training and development programmes to gain a thorough understanding of the business and insights into the organisation at regional, national and global levels.
“I completed a number of ISS training programmes – from the employee exchange programme to specialised training in integrated facility management – which allowed me to quickly learn the ropes and hone my skills as a leader,” he says.
In 2012, after working in a handful of different positions, Wilson was promoted to Vice President and offered a position at ISS in Mumbai. With the support of his managers and mentors, he took the role and moved to Mumbai with his family. Here, he played a crucial role in growing the business to what it is today.
“Mumbai, although one of the largest regions for ISS India, was not performing well. Together with the team, we carefully analysed the situation and made a few hard decisions to let go of some loss-making accounts. Slowly the region started showing results, and in 2013, Mumbai region was awarded the ‘Best Performing Region.’”
In 2017, after a strategic business decision to restructure the business into segments, Wilson was offered the role of Business Head for the Industry and Manufacturing segment. Today, he manages multiple large and key accounts spread across Heavy Engineering, Fast-moving consumer goods, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare segments.
In all his years at ISS, Wilson is proudest of his time spent working on one of our key accounts at ISS – an Indian multinational conglomerate.
“We started the contract in 2006 with 36 people and an annual revenue of INR 8 million. Today, we have more than 3,000 people and an annual revenue of over INR 580 million. It’s now one of the largest, profitable and consistent key accounts at ISS.”
