W

im Timmermans believes that having a clear vision of objectives is part of the recipe for business success, and also for dealing with challenging times.

“In business, it has to be clear on what you want to do in good or bad times,” said the PT XL Axiata Tbk director and chief operating officer.

“My principle is very clear. If we are not clear on what we want, then very likely we’ll not get what we want. Even though we have to make a few changes in business strategy, it is OK, as long it’s clear what we want to achieve.”

The Dutchman, 48, joined PT XL Axiata Tbk as chief financial officer in 2006 and was appointed COO in May 2011. As COO, Wim oversees the directors of four divisions, namely commerce; marketing; technology, content & new business and service management.

Timmermans faced challenging times when he had to explain strategic measures in 2007 and 2008, calling for clear communication to avoid misunderstandings.

However, which people were involved in that communication depended on the issue.

According to Timmermans, XL was formerly an expensive company with limited coverage and that also encountered a rough patch in 2007.

“So, in 2007 we completely changed our strategy in order to grow much faster. We called on a new strategy, or a ‘minute’ strategy because we felt it had an effect on every minute. Basically we changed from a premium market position to a cheap price market position. We had a whole series of workshops to socialize the changes and explain to people what it meant. The program was communicated to the whole organization,” he said.

The successful outcome has led to Timmermans’ recognition as a pioneer in low-cost telecommunications services.

He cited another example of emphasizing clear communication.

“In 2008 we had to downsize investment because in the fourth quarter of the year, the business was not good. Then in 2009, we invested less. This does not necessarily mean that we were less aggressive in taking steps. In reality, it does not have to be the case. It has to be balanced. OK, now we’ve reduced capital expenditure because of the economic situation but at the same time, of course, we wanted to be as aggressive as possible. So there must be a balance and so we had to explain the context as well,” he noted, adding. “In this regard, we talk to people relevant to this issue.”

High points

Clarity in XL also covers the company’s management vision of its employees.

“We want XL to be an organization with high performance people, high quality but with not so many employees,” he said. “That means that we want to be an organization that focuses a great deal on performance. You deliver a lot and then you’ll generate a lot of results. Then you have a much better salary increase and bonuses than someone who did less.

“With that we can build a performance-driven culture in our organization. People try to deliver as much as possible. So, we focus on the quality of people, not the quantity of people.”

The company also sets out to motivate employees to be productive and creative.

“We challenge people but we also reward people,” he said, citing a special initiative program in which employees are challenged to work together as a team and are entitled to a monetary reward or a trip if they deliver good results.

The management also boosts the performance of employees as a team by conducting job rotation and cross functional assignment on project basis, which encourages employee to take tasks outside his or her scope of work or a step beyond their comfort zone.

“If, for an example, an employee from the finance division has an opinion on marketing, he or she is encouraged to be involved in improving marketing. If you are an employee in a network division but you have an opinion on sales, then you can participate in a sales project,” he said.

“So, this will help people (employees) get exposure to new things, something outside the scope of the job.”

XL builds an open culture and environment “in which everyone is encouraged to give inputs or complaints if there is something wrong, not bos selalu benar (the boss is always right). So there is a whistle blower channel.”

Indeed, there are times when employees as a team abandon the daily routine by joining an organized team-building program, but “there must be clarity in terms of content and objectives of our team building program, which includes outbound activity. So, it is not only meant for fun.”

As a COO who oversees four departments and likes to make sure the job is done, Timmermans has a tight schedule. In his spare time, he runs or works out to maintain his health, and also likes to read.

There is one quote that still lingers in his mind. “A good example creates good followers. A bad example creates bad followers.”

He heard it when he attended management training in his homeland 20 years ago.

“The quote means that if you want people to do the right thing, give the right example. If you don’t want to give the right example, don’t be surprised if people do the wrong thing.”