Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on April 17, 2017 - April 23, 2017

THE Taipan Masterclass 2017 conference last week, organised by the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Malaysia, centred on the changing dynamic for organisations wanting give their staff a greater sense of value in their work. Discussions focused largely on addressing the changing needs of the workforce and cultivating a culture where talent will thrive.

In a panel discussion, titled “CEO Panel Session: Level Up”, Malaysia Airlines group managing director and CEO Peter Bellew, Eco World Development president and CEO Datuk Chang Kim Wah and Holstein Milk Company Sdn Bhd managing director Loi Tuan Ee reflected on their personal management styles.

The key takeaways from the discussion included the importance of nurturing staff to offer them a greater sense of value and constantly communicating the vision of the company in order to empower its people.

 

Adopting a different approach

“In the West, most families have an uncle whose family members go to if they are in trouble. That uncle will help sort things out for them. They call him a ‘mad uncle’. That’s me [in the company],” says Bellew.

He was reflecting on his past role as the airline’s chief operating officer in 2015, when he first joined in the wake of the MH370 and MH17 tragedies.

In what was a “huge cultural change” for Bellew, who was brought into the airline to sort out operations with an “analytical accountant’s type of head”, he quickly realised he needed to change his approach.

“The whole organisation was still very emotional in 2015. I had to quickly switch from being chief operating officer of Malaysia Airlines, using very [Western] methods, to become a mad uncle,” he recalls.

Bellew says the staff were not sure whether to trust him as they were uncertain if he was sincere about helping out the airline.

“But I had genuinely come with the purpose [to help] because back in Europe a lot of people were also very emotional about what had happened with Malaysia airlines.

“So ... I worked shifts in the baggage hall. I worked with the engineers. I did service with the cabin crew and worked through the night in the operations department,” he says.

He says this made his transition to CEO last year smoother as he had been working on the frontline with the staff and many already knew him on the operations side.

“I think it is about being authentic, particularly in this culture. I don’t think people buy into this ivory tower [thinking] anymore in Asia. The successful people that I have met in Asia seem to be the kind of people who understand what their employees want.”

 

Empowering younger ones

EcoWorld’s Chang believes a fresh approach is needed to adapt to the needs of his young staff. He says 65% of his staff are young — Gen Y or Gen Z — who work differently and need mentoring.

He says senior management provided guidance to those who moved from S P Setia Bhd to EcoWorld. “It was a difficult task, but we convinced the senior management to let go, guide and train them.”

The property veteran says that while a lot of decisions are made by senior management, EcoWorld allows some departments to be run by solely young people. For example, Gen Y staff are running the marketing department.

Chang recalls a proposal by a young staff member to open a coffee shop in one the sales galleries in Johor Baru. He says he was initially reluctant but “they went ahead and, before long, the coffee shop became the place to be in in JB. It even had an impact on sales”.

“The future is always with the young. We have to trust the young ones to lead us,” he says.

 

Long-term value for staff

While managing the needs of staff is critical, finding people who will stay on is the first challenge for Loi of the Holstein Milk Company, which is known for its Farm Fresh milk products.

“Talent retention at the farm is the most difficult because some of our farms are isolated. And to attract young people to work on the farm is really a big challenge. That is one of the things we continue to struggle with,” Loi says, adding that talent retention in this industry is especially challenging because it is still undeveloped.

“You have to find people who genuinely like the animal or else I think it’s quite difficult,” he says.

To pursuade his workers to stay on, he offers them RM2.80 per litre of milk, which is double the market price.

“If you don’t pay them well, they won’t want to do the job,” he says.

He is aware that paying them more will allow his workers to provide for their children, and this provides long-term meaningful value for his staff.

 

Communicating the vision

Bellew says the national carrier was an “immense cauldron of emotions” when he first joined. He knew that wearing the “mad uncle” hat was more than just juggling the physical problems. He says in the fragile environment that he faced, it was crucial to constantly communicate the spirit and vision of the airline to the staff.

Bellew describes a situation he encountered recently with the engineering side, who were underperforming.

“Some of the staff are in their late 40s to 50s, who are brilliant but overworked. I told them to give one last push before they retire,” he says. “I told them, you owe it to yourself and your country to fix this thing. If this is the last thing you do in your life, turn it around and make the country proud of this airline again.

“And when there were problems with the Rolls Royce engine in one of its A380 aircraft that required immediate attention, the fastest change of a Rolls Royce airbus A380 engine ever in the world was done in Sepang, in under 24 hours.”

“And it was done by Malaysia Airlines engineers in their 50s,” Bellew says with pride.

 

 

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share