D

oddy Widjojo holds firmly to his own definition of success.

“Success can only be measured by the result of one’s work,” said the chief financial officer of Domba Mas Group, an Indonesia-based parent company of several subsidiaries in hospitality, property, farming and oil palm plantations.

His leadership style comprises a set of results-oriented values that emphasize the work process, ultimately leading to better and greater output.

Although he is loath to draw attention to his relationship with his late father, Widjojo Nitisastro, one of the most prominent New Order- era economists, he learned important lessons for his management approach.

“From an early age, my father always reminded me of the saying: ‘less talk and do more work’. Hence, let your work do the talking for you. This adage is also very important because it benefits your performance, meaning you can work your best without thinking about other people’s early expectations of you.”

He stresses to staff that they must value their time like money, finishing their work on schedule and proving themselves to the company.

Doddy, 44, also follows his father’s rule to double check everything he does.

“It’s vital to be meticulous and never underestimate your work, including the problems you encounter. More importantly for those working in finance and accounting, always double check the numbers. Underestimating is a sign of weakness.”

In his position, Doddy holds the highest authority on finance, accounting and investment activities. In communicating with his staff, he adheres to the hierarchical organizational structure, which, in his opinion, provides a proper management system for effective day-to-day operations.

“My direct subordinates consist of managing directors from each subsidiary division who regularly meet with me to discuss budget reports and financial management issues,” he said.

“I respect their position and will never bypass them to talk directly to their staffs. In turn, I give full authority to the managing directors to implement a management scheme that works best for them and their teams. I also give them the right to prove themselves through their performance.”

He dislikes brown-nosing and sucking up to the boss.

“I shoo away this type of employee and instead urge them to take any work-related issues to their immediate bosses, who later can discuss the matters with me. Basically, there’s no ‘bluffing my way up’ rule in my book.”

Doddy offers total freedom for each subsidiary division to be creative in generating greater achievement. He quotes from Albert Einstein” “I greatly believe ‘imagination and creativity are more important than knowledge’ and I always remind employees that they need to have an open mind, be creative, and think outside the box, thus they can be more efficient and productive all the time,” he said.

Job satisfaction

Aside from possessing strong creativity and integrity — vital components for those working in finance and accounting — Doddy seeks employees who genuinely enjoy their work because it affects the end results.

“It’s important to do what you like and always give your full effort to complete the job. After all, it will show in your performance evaluation whether you’re really interested in your work or not.”

But it’s his belief that satisfying performance is only realized by teams, more accurately by super teams, not individuals.

“In a company, it’s never about the individuals. Although they’re always be good individuals, but individuals will never be able to work alone. They always need other people to support them, and that’s what we call team.”

Due to the ability of the finance and accounting department in precisely indicating the current condition of a company, Doddy constantly encourages the team to maintain a direct open line of communication with other departments, from sales, production to marketing and promotion.

“Every department needs to support each other by making themselves super teams. At the end of the day, that’s what makes a company becoming a super company,” said Doddy, who has helped elevate Domba Mas Group into a lucrative corporation in recent years.

His success also relies on his firm’s approach in preserving the priorities of the corporation above everything else, which he strongly applies to both the shareholders and the entire workforce.

“Every professional must put priorities of our corporation before the shareholders. Meaning that if the corporation survives, everyone will automatically survive, including the shareholders. But not necessarily vice versa – if the shareholders survive, the corporation can still be in trouble.”

Shareholders’ decisions are carefully evaluated before they are implemented.

“Whenever there’s a decision involving the future well-being of the corporation, I immediately show the complete data of the corporation’s current condition to the shareholders and explain the consequences that will occur if they go ahead with their decision,” said Doddy.

“And my task as CFO is to advise them to always prioritize the future growth of the corporation above their own interests.”

He constantly reminds staff that the corporation pays their salaries, thus it is their responsibility to protect its interests instead of the shareholders.

“I totally discourage the ‘as long as the bosses are happy (asal bapak senang)’ attitude among the workforce, although sometimes it’s hard for Indonesians to say no to their superiors. Fortunately, the staff understands the principle of putting the priorities of the corporation as their primary duty as employees.”

Doddy conducts an open proactive training policy, allowing staff to actively suggest training modules that will accurately meet their necessities.

“We invite employees to propose the appropriate trainings they need to further develop their skills, either they’re for individuals or a group of staff. Employees are allowed to assess their own needs and would do the trainings wholeheartedly during a scheduled time they have selected themselves,” he said.

“We don’t want to force employees with routine training modules that might not suit their needs and even more, the training schedules might interfere with their work priorities.”

Family values

Despite his results-oriented strategy, Doddy, who is an all-round sportsman, considers family his number one priority.

He spends his weekends with his family and values the togetherness. He also makes an annual trip with his wife and son to San Francisco, the city where he spent 13 years living and studying and he calls his “second home”.

He takes into account his staff’s family responsibilities, believing this compassionate and flexible attitude fosters company loyalty.

“We should never take our family for granted, because they’re our biggest supporters in life. I tell my staff to always be honest if there’s a family emergency, either due to sickness or because they need their help,” he said.

“I will allow them to take a day’s leave rather than force them to finish their work in the office. We have to realize that work is temporary but family is for a lifetime.”