B

usiness executive Olivier Pierredon believes that keeping all departments functioning well can contribute to a company'€™s growth.

A challenge frequently facing Western executives, when it comes to communication with people, especially in regard to seeking input, forms part of a corporate strategy to build a company'€™s sound growth. However, Olivier Pierredon, president director of PT Sarihusada Generasi Mahardhika, has found a secret to the problem following years of experience working in emerging economies.

'€œIf you have a meeting, then first is that the people should feel comfortable and free to speak up,'€ said Pierredon, who has led the Sarihusada team since 2013.

People are the key to a company'€™s growth and that'€™s why a corporate leader should be able to let people talk openly around the table prior to making a decision, according to the 46-year-old Frenchman.

A good leader should also be able to find the best way that people can contribute to the company, he said.

You started to lead Sarihusada in September 2013. What priority management steps did you take?

In terms of management, one of the key priorities is first to define the mission '€” business and social '€” set up the vision with the team, define what their dream is, where we want to be in five years and then make the vision appealing and exciting for everyone.

Then, of course, to communicate and align the organization and once we have a clear vision, because what you see sometimes is the vision is only shared by a few people, you need to make sure that you embark from the factory to the other faces, to the distributors, everybody around this vision.

The last point is to make sure that you embark with people on the rational [element] of the vision and also on the emotional because as a leader you always '€” if you want to get the best [from] each of your team '€” you need to drive not only with your mind, but also with your heart.

Culturally speaking, as Indonesia is part of Asia, it is different to Europe. When it comes to management, what challenges do you face?

For me, the difficult part is to get people'€™s inputs '€” what we call '€˜speak up'€™. [It'€™s the] most difficult part because sometimes in the meeting you don'€™t know if everybody agrees with your vision or if they have concerns or questions. You don'€™t necessarily know on time whether the things are working or not working well.

For me, it'€™s important to give the space for people to talk, space not only for learning and sharing, but also to give their opinions before you make a decision.

How do you solve this problem arising from different cultures effectively?

If you have a meeting, then first is that the people should feel comfortable, and second is getting opinions of the people before giving your own view, because of excessive respect to the leader. So usually once we have an issue on the table that we want to find some agreement [to], we ask opinions around the table before we make a consensus or decision. If you express too early with people that are [in] lower grades in the organization, then there is a risk that you don'€™t get many inputs or chances.

What are the three points to achieve a company'€™s sustainable growth?

I think the first point of sustainable growth is, of course, people. Because like I said in the beginning, if you don'€™t invest in people there is no long term. Second, you have genuine belief into your vision that is not just something written on the wall, but something that you believe in. Because this way, you get out of the people 100 percent or even 150 percent.

And then probably the last point is the mindset of this company. To make sure that every decision that you make is aligned with the vision.

What qualities should a leader of a company have?

A good leader is first somebody to get the best out of each member of his team, meaning that each of us has qualities and weaknesses. The point is each of those people are able to contribute to the best of what they can and the collective performance is much more than the sum of each individual.

Second point is the respect and authenticity for people, for what they are. You should also be authentic: genuinely fighting for your business and for your people because at the end, if you are a good leader, you want to make sure you develop the business and the team beyond your personal agenda. If you are genuine in this, people will recognize you.

What kind of working environment do you want to create?

Working environment should be an environment where you can express your potential, environment where you learn and develop, an environment where you can experiment, and you have the right to fail, and there the environment where you have openness and meaning that you are open to different ideas but you are also open to the outside, to look around you and not to be centered on your company.

How do you instill the spirit of working genuinely and professionally in each of your employees?

I think to work professionally and genuinely you should be the role model yourself and for all your key managers. Because at the end what is credible is what you do, not what you say.

How does your previous experience support your current position in terms of implementing your company'€™s vision?

The big asset of finance compared to other functions or departments is where you have to follow the achievement, the KPIs [key performance indicators] and the performance of all departments, whether efficiency of the marketing campaign, or performance in supply chain and factories, etc.

So you are supposed to be open to the other functions. You know the basics of each function. In a country like Indonesia, success does not come just because you have a good sense and marketing team, but you need all functions to contribute'€¦ and therefore to acknowledge the cooperation of all departments on top of marketing and sales is the great asset. I consider finance is a good way to become a GM [general manager].

What have you learned from your previous experiences?

What I'€™ve learned from my previous experience is that the companies that are performing well and have good business results are also the ones that have functioning teams, with high spirit. I have been in charge of finance for many years in emerging countries and so what I have learned is that if you have a performing team, you have a good business in the long run.

As you have said, having a functioning a team is very important. How do you make a functioning team?

The first thing in the team is be yourself and be genuine in what you do. Don'€™t try to adapt to what the others want to see, but be true to what you do and say. Be transparent, be honest and disciplined. The other things that probably are key to a performing team is also to make sure that everybody is an entrepreneur [in their] own field, so everybody has a space, the ability to try things differently and to learn from success or failure. Probably the best recipe for a performing team is also to enjoy nice experiences together, so there is a mix of discipline, hard work and fun.

What types of employees do you recruit?

From the employee side, what we need is a good composition of different styles of people. There are people that are really focusing on the harmony and working together while other people are having a more individualistic approach in taking initiative.

Indonesia is a land of opportunity, so you need people that have entrepreneurship skills. But in the end there will be no success without collective performance.

What made you decide to pursue a career in nutrition ?

I am continuing my career in nutrition because to realize that you can make people healthy not by taking pills or going to the doctor but by just having the right nutrition is something fantastic.
(Sudibyo M. Wiradji)