Business executive Lynn Ong believes in the power of teamwork, and takes preventive measures to avoid having negativity that hinders business performance
usiness executive Lynn Ong believes in the power of teamwork, and takes preventive measures to avoid having negativity that hinders business performance.
The negativity that stems from office politics and workplace bullying brings with it many detrimental effects, as it creates an unpleasant environment leading to inefficiency and an overall hampered productivity, asserted Lynn Ong, president director of Electrolux Indonesia, a Sweden-based home appliances giant.
'I neither like nor believe in office politics. I also don't tolerate bullying. I have always believed that the work environment has to be a positive and happy place because we spend so many of our waking hours working. And sometimes you find yourself still thinking about work even after you're home,' Ong told The Jakarta Post during a recent interview in her office.
She said that negative working environments hampered teamwork and led to inefficiency and difficulty in reaching targets.
Workplace bullying is generally defined as harassing, offending or socially excluding a colleague, or otherwise negatively affecting someone's work performance. Many studies have indicated that workplace bullying results in numerous adverse consequences for both employers and their employees.
For the employers, bullying can result in high absenteeism, high turnover and a decline in overall productivity, lowering the quality of products made and services delivered. As for the employees, it can result in prolonged distress and anxiety causing a drop in work ethic, overall performance quality and commitment to their organization.
At the helm of Electrolux Indonesia, Ong understands the risks, and shared her secret management recipe, which keeps the work environment positive and maintains vigilance with regard to office politics and workplace bullying. The approach includes the implementation of a performance appraisal system as well as a straightforward manner of delivering feedback and resolving conflicts.
'Initially, our performance appraisal system was based on business only, but in the last couple of years, we have added elements of leadership. The business elements and the leadership elements each now account for 50 percent,' she explained.
'The 50 percent of your performance appraisal relating to business may see very high scores if you reach your targets and are very result-oriented. When it comes to the leadership 50 percent, however, if you are a bully and have attitude issues, and for example, you bully people on support teams like supply chain and finance, then that behavior will earn you an 'improvement required' result,' she said.
According to Ong, in cases where somebody is involved in acts of bullying, he or she will get a warning letter for not complying with the company's codes of conduct and ethics.
Straightforward communication
Ong also tackles office politics in a very straightforward way. 'I don't like to beat around the bush and go in circles because I think these behaviors are such a waste of time. If somebody comes to me and starts to nag, 'this person doesn't work...', I will say, 'OK, stop, pull the other person in!' then we will look at the problems and issues and resolve them. I would rather deal directly with the issue than swallow what people tell me about their peers.'
She said that it was part of her management style to communicate in a very straightforward way in order to not waste time and to avoid the possibility of someone misunderstanding her message.
'We can't afford to waste our time. People need to learn to collaborate. The departments have to work together and in order for this to happen, communication has to be very clear,' she emphasized.
She added that every email sent by her employees had to be circulated to her also in order to make sure that things remain smooth.
'I do that so that if somebody doesn't cooperate or intentionally doesn't reply to their colleague, I can immediately chase it up in order to support the person who sent the email. Furthermore, if people argue via email, I can quickly interrupt them ' 'OK stop it, this is what we'll do' ' in order to save time and energy.'
Collaboration matters
Smooth communication, according to Ong, leads to strong teamwork and collaboration. '[Achieving that] requires a leader to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each of team member, because nobody is 100 percent perfect. Then you allow these people to complement each other's strengths in order to create a winning team.
'For example, salespeople are very good at handling customers, talking and selling, but they are very weak in administration. Therefore, I will not load up my sales team with a lot of reports. Instead, I will appoint others to deal with the administrative work.'
In order to enhance her team members' strengths and improve the areas where they are weak, Ong constantly coaches them and provides them with feedback.
'I use concrete examples when I give feedback, drawing directly from what that person did and suggesting what she or he needs to do to improve. We don't need to wait for our twice-yearly performance appraisals to give feedback to staff because by then, everything will have accumulated,' she said.
She concluded that in order to deal with the complexities of tackling workplace negativity ' ensuring smooth communication and strong collaboration ' a leader needs to be driven by internal motivation and passion for what she or he does.
'A leader needs to have strong self-drive, self-motivation and optimism to sustain him or her during tough times.' (Sebastian Partogi)
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At Ease
Music and dance lover
I like to listen to music, especially jazz. When I listen to music at home, often I have an impromptu dance. The music just moves me. When I go to parties and some catchy music starts to come out of the speakers, I just can't resist dancing.
Thought-provoking movies
I like to watch movies, particularly those that make you think and that convey deeper meanings. I love movies about legal battles, like The Judge. It's a fantastic movie. One particular scene depicting an argument in court always lingers on my mind long after the film finishes. I also really love this Indian movie called PK, a movie about diversity, which I find very funny and meaningful at the same time.
Place and year of birth
Singapore, 1961.
Experience
President director of Electrolux Indonesia (2014-present), managing director at Electrolux China (2012-2014), general manager at Electrolux Vietnam (2007-2012), general manager at Fonterra Brands Vietnam (2006-2007) and country manager at Gilette Vietnam (1995-2006).
Education
Marketing Institute of Singapore (1982-1984).
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