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Running with the team to achieve business success
Executive Patricia Ng is leading her subordinates to meet company objectives
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Executive Patricia Ng is leading her subordinates to meet company objectives.
Teamwork is an essential factor that drives a company forward, according to Fraser Residence Menteng general manager Patricia Ng.
For that reason, she is striving to guide and coach all members in her team to build a solid teamwork to achieve her company's goals.
Ng has been in her current position since 2013. The Fraser Residence Menteng is part of Singapore-based Frasers Hospitality and located in Jakarta's prestigious area.
'If you're running with your team and you are the only one who runs fast, leaving your team behind, what's the point? You're not going to meet your targets and objectives. No man is an island, you need your team [to execute your business plans] with you,' she said.
She admits she has always had a very fast working pace. In the past, she was very impatient and demanded that her team members follow her pace.
However, a number of international work assignments in countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Thailand exposed her to different working cultures.
'The experiences helped me realize that sometimes I had to compromise, to meet my team members at their pace,' said Ng, who has been working in the hospitality sector for over 27 years.
Going at a slower pace, however, doesn't mean being sluggish.
'Going slower means explaining and communicating things in such a way until I'm sure that my team members are able to catch up with my expectations,' she explained.
There are several things that she does to make sure that her team's work is in harmony with hers.
'First and foremost, we need to explain the company's objectives to everybody, right from the moment they come in. They need to understand the 'why' behind everything they do,' she said, adding that she always told her staff members of her expectations of their work.
She said that she always gave her staff members the necessary knowledge and skills required to complete their tasks. 'After giving an assignment to my staff members, I always ask myself: do they fully understand my expectations? Do they need any more assistance from me?'
When she knows somebody is stuck with a problem, she will approach that person and ask how she can help. She also encourages her subordinates to ask questions.
'This is important because a lot of Indonesians are malu [reticent] to come up and ask a question,' she said.
She regularly conducts brainstorming sessions where her team members are able to participate in decision-making processes by conveying their thoughts and ideas on how to deliver excellent services to their clientele.
'I'm guiding them so that in the end, they will be able to gradually increase their [work] speed, to 75 kilometers per hour from their initial working pace at the infancy of their knowledge transfer stage, which might be 50 kilometers per hour,' she said.
She added that although she always attempted to be flexible in accommodating her subordinates, there were certain things, especially the company's standard operational procedures and crisis management procedures, that she did not compromise on.
Realigning underperformers
Despite all the actions taken to ensure that the business runs smoothly, mistakes and cases of people underperforming will always occur in the workplace.
How should a manager deal with these things?
'When somebody is hired by us, that means he or she must have passed our hiring criteria. If this person underperforms, then we must ask: is this person overwhelmed by work or is he or she just underequipped with the right knowledge or not confident enough to execute his or her task?' she explained.
'Once we get to know the root of the problem, we need to decide how to solve the problem: do we need to do training to boost skills or morale? Maybe the person needs to be rotated to a different department. After we realign the underperforming staff member back to our fold, we can continue to work to get things done,' she concluded, adding that in cases where mistakes were repeated, the company had to ultimately say good-bye to the employee and tell the person to find a job that better suited them. (Sebastian Partogi)
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Place and date of birth
Malaysia, Sept. 19, 1967
Experience
General manager of Fraser Residence Menteng since 2013; previously was executive assistant manager of Fraser Residence Sudirman Jakarta (2011-2013); director of sales and marketing at Fraser Suites Hanoi (2009-2011); various directorship and managerial positions at several hotels in Malaysia and Vietnam (1992-2008); sales, group and tour executive at the Pan Pacific Resort Pangkor, Malaysia (1990-1992); management trainee at several hotels in Switzerland (1987-1990).
Education
Les Roches Hotel Management School in Switzerland
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At Ease
Painting admirer
I would like to learn to paint. I love paintings so much. When you asked me to mention the names of my favorite painters, I can't name them because I don't really pay attention to the name of the painters. I just admire the beauty of the paintings, especially those that depict sceneries of nature as well as village children and adults.
Music to soothe the mind
To relieve stress, I love listening to music. But as one gets older, you don't really go for heavy metal and rock and roll music anymore. I go for RnB and jazz instead.
Comedy movie buff
Once I get home, I try to switch off my electronic gadgets if possible, then go into my room and watch movies. Comedy is my favorite genre. To rejuvenate myself, I watch hilarious movies and have a good laugh.
Hanging out with friends
During my free time, I like to meet friends from outside the industry, and talk about things not related to work. If you meet those who work in the same industry, you will end up talking about work.
