C

orporate leader Gatot Setyowaluyo is building the quality of human resources with trust and encouragement.

For Gatot Setyowaluyo, the comfort zone is a big threat to growth.

'€œWhen I first joined this company, I noticed that some of us were in the comfort zone. They saw Taman Impian Jaya Ancol as the only player in town, with no competition. And this could lead to idleness,'€ recalled the president director of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol.

Gatot believes that honesty is of the utmost importance, and involving his staff in the company'€™s strategic plan helped them to shake off their idleness.

'€œAt that time I told them directly what sort of state Taman Impian Jaya was in. The growth of our earnings after tax (EAT) was around 10 percent annually, which is not ideal. Then I got them to sit down together and draw up a strategic plan for the company. We have come up with a strategic design to get EAT growth of 27 percent by 2020.'€

He added that doing things well required reliable data, synergy and good cooperation, integrity, creativity and entrepreneurship.

'€œWe have to come up with something new and create new business. That way the corporation will have a new source of earnings. It is a team effort; nobody should be more important than the others.'€

Gatot wants Pembangunan Jaya to fully adopt a modern business philosophy and conduct its business as a corporation. He realizes that the Jakarta administration owns a majority share of the company, which therefore has the status of a regional-owned enterprise. Nevertheless, he wants the company he is leading to show the degree of professionalism demanded by today'€™s highly competitive industry. This includes his efforts to streamline the management and even remove certain posts in the management.

'€œThe result is that we are now more accountable and can move quicker in our work,'€ he said of the restructuring.

Pembangunan Jaya manages Taman Impian Jaya Ancol, the biggest recreational park in the country. '€œLocally we are already strong, with a loyal market. Taman Impian Jaya Ancol is the only recreational and theme park in the country with its own beach. We have plans to continue to develop Ancol as an international tourist destination,'€ he explained.

Gatot, who turns 51 this month, is also hard at work realizing one of the corporation'€™s grand projects: Dufan Ocean. The project is slated to be completed in 2018 and is set to cement Dufan'€™s name as a world-class theme park. '€œFor recreation, we are also developing a new beach 4.5 kilometers long, and a culinary center which won'€™t be just a support facility, but a destination in itself,'€ he added.

Pembangunan Jaya is also involved in the Jakarta Bay reclamation project. The megaproject will create dozens of new islands off the coast of Jakarta Bay, and the company holds concessions for four islands.

'€œWhen the Jakarta administration was looking for a new person to lead the company, I was shortlisted. Pak Ahok [Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama] who was deputy governor at the time, asked me what I thought of the corporation'€™s stock value. I responded by saying that the corporate stock was undervalued,'€ Gatot recalled.

He argued that despite being in the property industry, the corporation may have problems attracting investment, as it is seen as having little potential because of its limited land reserves. But with the reclamation project, investors will see the great potential the corporation has. Now, after less than three years, the corporation'€™s stock has almost tripled in value.

Quality human resources to realize the corporation'€™s vision are another priority for the graduate of Gajah Mada University, who said that the people in the corporation, as the operators, must be prepared to achieve any target.

'€œEveryone has a stake in the corporation, and I ask my staff to be responsible for what they have been entrusted to do,'€ he said of the importance of teamwork. '€œBut there are things you cannot just delegate to your subordinates, for example; this means you really need to master your field.'€

After relocating to Jakarta from his hometown, Yogyakarta, Gatot joined a company for a short while. He then moved to Jaya Real Property, a subsidiary of Pembangunan Jaya, and developed his career there.

'€œIt was a big decision for me to move to this company as my previous company had offered to pay for my study in France.'€

Asked about his influences, Gatot said he liked to read the works of a number of business figures. However, he picked Ciputra as the person he most looked up to in the industry, feting him as a visionary.

Ciputra founded PT Pembangunan Jaya in 1961.

'€œI say I want to be like Pak Ciputra. I still believe in the corporate values Pembangunan Jaya holds, those of honesty, integrity and professionalism,'€ he said of the corporation where he has built his career for close to a quarter of a century.

'€œPak Ciputra once advised me that if I had a concept, I should put it into practice. If you keep it to yourself, you are already lost. But if you apply it, you can either achieve what you intended to achieve or lose. But if you don'€™t try it, you'€™ll never know,'€ he added. And that is why it is always necessary to have the courage to make decisions, which some people find difficult to do.

As an important and busy man, Gatot admitted he had to limit the amount of time he spent on his hobbies. He prefers to spend his spare time with his youngest child. Of his three children, the oldest is now a doctor and the second is studying to be a dentist. '€œI have cut down on playing golf to be with my youngest son,'€ he said.  (Gandi Faisal)