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PT Pos Indonesia vows to stay relevant for Indonesia
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PT Pos Indonesia (Persero) President Director Gilarsi W. Setijono (Courtesy of Humas Pos Indonesia)
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T Pos Indonesia (Persero) has been serving people in Indonesia for 273 years. Through such a long history, weathering very many twists and turns, the state-owned business has proven itself to be a very experienced and capable company in the postal business in Indonesia.
But now, recent technological developments have been eroding its traditional market, as more and more people are increasingly reliant on information technology and digital-based services to convey their letters and packages.
“At the age of 273 years old, PT Pos Indonesia has surely faced many challenges before. But now, it is facing the toughest challenge in its history,” PT Pos Indonesia (Persero) President Director Gilarsi W. Setijono said.
He admitted that its old business model was no longer relevant amid the current era marked by the advancement of digital technology.
“For example, the business of logistics couriers and financial services that are still pursued by Pos Indonesia are no longer based on assets and staff members, as the businesses have been conducted through collaboration and partnerships with other companies. Under such mechanisms, its storage model has copied that implemented by Air BnB. Meanwhile, transportation services have been conducted by Grab and Gojek,” said Gilarsi.
But he said that despite the growing challenges, Pos Indonesia would remain optimistic. Although the businesses have been increasingly adopting digital technology, they still need what he calls footprints, which have become the competitive edge of Pos Indonesia.
Gilarsi said the key factor to its survival was remaining optimistic and able to see opportunities and the potential to keep being relevant for the needs of Indonesia as a nation. He also based his optimism on the performance of the company.
In 2018, Pos Indonesia managed to book a net profit of Rp 127 billion. Its net income reached Rp 4.87 trillion, an increase of 12.73 percent from its net income of Rp 4.32 trillion in 2017.
Toughest Challenge: PT Pos Indonesia (Persero) is celebrating its 273rd anniversary this year. Facing its toughest challenge ever in its long history, the state-owned company has been forced to transform itself to enable it to deal with the disruption caused by the advancement of information technology.
This year, Pos Indonesia has targeted booking a total income of Rp 5 trillion, which is mostly contributed by its subsidiary Pos Logistik at Rp 3.3 trillion, and its subsidiary Pos Finansial at around Rp 800 million. It aims to increase net profits by 39 percent to Rp 177.52 billion.
According to him, Pos Indonesia will be more focused on serving customers through trading activities on social media.
“For example, online sellers. All goods traded are stored in the warehouses of Pos Indonesia. They only supply electronic data. And we’ll be in charge of packing and delivering the goods to the customers. Hopefully, this business will boom in the future. We’ll also increase our hours of operations in 117 branch offices, from the current working day to 24 hours. In addition to that, we’ll utilize the technology of mobile platforms to serve customers in many areas across the country,” he said.
He said that Pos Indonesia would need a very different kind of skill set to face the new changes. “It will be part of the transformation of Pos Indonesia,” he said.
Gilarsi noted that with a total 28,000 employees who are only trained in the old skills, a transformation would be no easy task. He expressed the hope that the government should also help it in the process of transformation as has been mandated through Law No.38/2009 on postal services. Countries like Germany, South Korea and Australia have assisted their postal service companies to undergo the needed transformation.
According to him, the company will conduct training programs and new recruitment to help drive its transformation.
“With the training and new recruitment, Pos Indonesia will be sure to have the new skill set. Problem-based learning and design thinking are musts that should be mastered by all employees of Pos Indonesia in the future. That way, we can ensure that Pos Indonesia can survive through the tough challenges, and keep being relevant for Indonesia in the coming centuries. This is the spirit that is being ignited by Pos Indonesia in celebrating its 273rd anniversary,” Gilarsi said. (*)
