(JP/ Tifa Asrianti)Singaporean Rosmalia Hardman is not the kind of manager who demands perfection at all costs. Instead, the director of sales and marketing of Keraton at The Plaza advises her team members to take risks, make mistakes and learn from the experience in the quest for success.

'€œThe fastest and quickest way to learn about a new place is to lose our way because we will struggle
to find our way back,'€ she said. '€œIt'€™s the same being a manager. It'€™s OK to make a mistake, but learn from it. Don'€™t be afraid to take risks. I'€™m a salesperson; if I don'€™t take risks, I will not go anywhere.'€

Rosmalia learned the hard way about being a good manager. In her first managerial posting at Mandarin Oriental Jakarta in 1988, she kept to the Singaporean work pace initially and was oblivious to the local approach. It led to her facing resistance from her staff.

'€œMy general manager, Duncan Palmer, took me under his wing and asked me to observe. I realized that I needed to step back, listen and understand how the culture and people work. It was a good learning curve,'€ she said.

She has kept the same approach in subsequent jobs; to understand the culture, people'€™s behavior and responses and their expectations of her as a foreigner.

As an Asian expatriate working in an Asian country, she admits it was difficult to be accepted during the 1980s and 1990s.

'€œA lot of people questioned why an Asian held the position and, more so, why a woman, because they expected to learn from a male European. I had to work much harder to prove myself than my European male counterparts,'€ she said.

One of her toughest postings was in South Korea, which remained staunchly patriarchal when she worked there in 2003-2004. She found herself ignored in favor of male colleagues.

'€œPeople also frowned on the fact that I have children, I'€™m working and my children are looked after by a nanny. In a country like that [the view was] I should be at home taking care of my children, so it wasn'€™t looked upon in a nice way. I had to offer a lot of explanation and clarification.'€

Nothing speaks louder than success in silencing detractors, and the hotel opening she handled went off without a hitch. A local women'€™s magazine interviewed her to show the community what a woman could do.

She believes that being a woman in her position helped because women in general are more sensitive, tend to pay more attention to detail and have considerably more empathy and compassion than men.

'€œLooking back, it all worked out quite well. Be humble and do not challenge it [opposition], because it is pointless. Prove to them that you can do the job and you'€™ll earn their respect,'€ she said.

Rosmalia, who is fluent in Indonesian, is known as an expert in luxury hotel start-ups and assisted launches, for The Ascott Jakarta in 1994 and Gran Melia Jakarta in 1996.

She left Jakarta to oversee hotel openings in other parts of the world before returning here in 2009 for two years to head up the marketing, sales and rooms operations at Hotel Indonesia Kempinski. Her most recent venture was the successful launch of W Singapore-Sentosa Cove.

Open communication

The mother of four commutes to Singapore every alternate weekend to visit her children who reside there, and also maintains daily communication through instant message applications like Skype and Whatsapp.

'€œWe have a schedule every night to Skype and talk about what we did that day. Thanks to technology, we can communicate. On weekends we are almost always connected.'€

Her Indonesian connections run deep. She had her heart set on living the dream of a Singapore Airlines flight attendant. Instead, at 17, she began working as ground staff in Singapore for the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

The experience taught her she did not want to be a desk-bound person and that her passion was to connect with other people. The work experience also shaped her open management style.

'€œLong before hotels had this open policy, I already opened my financial books and explained to my team why they needed to sell and the consequences if they didn'€™t do it. This is how they understand their roles and contribution,'€ she said.

Rosmalia acknowledged it is difficult to find talented individuals who master both sales and marketing skills. She plans instead to groom talent from outside hotels. One of the important tips she tells her team is to understand the customer'€™s business.

'€œI tell my team to do their homework and learn about the company we'€™re going to meet. So when we go in, we understand and talk in their language and the customers feel comfortable. Knowing the business makes you closer to the customers.'€

While she is open to taking risks and the mistakes that might result, Rosmalia makes sure targets are achieved. During her long career, she has only given reprimands or suspensions three times.

'€œBut if you can see that the person is genuinely trying, all you have to do is identify what is not there yet and help them. My team'€™s failure is my failure. I can'€™t have my team fail,'€ she said.

Rosmalia Hardman

Place and date of birth: Singapore, Oct. 8, 1960

Work experience
After spending four years in the airline industry, Rosmalia began her hospitality career in 1981 as a member of the pre-opening operations team with the Dynasty Singapore (now Singapore Marriott). In 1986, she took on marketing and sales responsibilities and has successfully applied both marketing and operations leadership in her senior executive appointments. She has since held senior leadership positions in Jumeirah, W Hotels, Mandarin Oriental, Rosenbluth International, The Fullerton, Pan Pacific, Melco China Resorts and Kempinski Hotels.

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