TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Orias Moedak Petrus: Exerting a winning influence in the workplace
JP/Sudibyo M
Change Size
JP/Sudibyo M. Wiradji
Fostering a love of doing good, honest business, including avoiding 'money game' practices, is what Pelindo II CFO Orias Moedak Petrus does to allow his employees to take pride in their work.
Not all business executives moving from one company to another are driven only by highly attractive remuneration packages on offer from their new employer.
Kupang-born Orias Moedak Petrus is one such exception.
The chief financial officer (CFO) of state-owned seaport operator PT Pelindo II acknowledges that money is not the main reason why he accepted an offer to join the company a year ago, but rather because of a 'mission' that he had to carry out at the new workplace.
'A winning influence,' said the 44-year old of his 'mission'.
'That's my underlying reason for moving from one company to another,' said the outspoken and straightforward executive who started his career as an auditor with the professional services and auditing firm Ernst & Young in the 1990s.
He went on to say that by winning people's trust and using his influence with people, particularly with respect to his area of expertise, he aims to enable a company he is with to develop and move forward.
The graduate of the University of Padjadjaran, where he specialized in economics and accounting, and of the Galilee International Management Institute, has extensive work experience including roles in corporate finance, investment banking, capital markets and auditing.
'I have to influence people at work especially with regard to how they do business and their way of working. If I am not able to influence people, why should I work here?' said Orias whose previous role was with Daiwa Capital Markets Singapore Ltd. as managing director and head of Indonesia coverage and investment banking.
Having more than two decades of experience in funds procurement, across several different companies, Orias can immediately detect any weaknesses in a company's financing processes and identify the steps needed to eliminate them.
He attributes the problem facing his current employer to how the people in the finance division see the role that they play within the corporate business a whole.
Serving as a 'locomotive'
'When I first came here, I noticed that people in the finance division saw their role as merely supporting the corporate business. I thought that view was wrong and needed to be changed. The finance division should serve as a 'locomotive' for the company as a whole, not just as a supporter,' he asserted.
'This means that it is the finance division that sets up the company's finances. To use a football metaphor, it is we that should set up the game and decide where the ball goes'¦ we are in the middle, not down the back, nor up the front.'
Serving as a 'locomotive' for the company means that the finance division should be active and smart in procuring funds to finance the company's projects, instead of just relying on funds provided by the company's shareholders, according to Orias.
Therefore, upon discovering that the company had what he considered insufficient funds, he encouraged the finance staff to borrow money from banks and also to issue bonds to raise funds for paying off the debt.
'Borrowing money to fund projects is common practice in any company. But, of course this should be based on correct and well thought out calculations. Management that never borrows money from the bank is either lazy or stupid,' he said.
Even though many were initially worried about the company possible going bankrupt if it was unable to pay off the large-scale debts, staff eventually understood Orias' vision after hearing his thorough explanation.
Following the finance division's move to borrow money from banks and issue bonds, 'the company's cash position has increased from Rp 2 trillion [US$150.3 million] to Rp 15 trillion within a year, one year earlier than the targeted two years. In this way, my colleagues in other divisions can start implementing their projects,' he pointed out.
With the amount of money available, the company's shareholders are happy because they also gain new income from the debts, but this, said Orias, 'entails hard work on the part of the staff so as to generate income higher than the cost of the debts that we have to pay.'
Encouraging his finance team to borrow money from banks is not the only priority program that he runs. Orias has also introduced the importance of integrity to the employees, which, according to him, remains a big challenge given that the 'money game' and bribery have been rampant. He says to some extent, this characterizes business conducted by state companies in the country.
For example, it is common, when it comes to debt payments worth millions of rupiah, that lenders will give a certain percentage of the value of the debt to finance directors as an undocumented reward for facilitating the process.
'No money game, please. If we commit to paying our debts, we'll be able to pay on schedule, but if there are delays, we'll give logical reasons. But try not to play the 'money game' with me,' he said.
It is also no secret that bribery practices are commonly used as a strategy by many state-companies to win tenders. 'However, I prohibit my staff from doing that despite the risk of losing the tender,' he said.
'Losing a tender poses no problem and we are able to be accountable for that but it must be done in a good, clean fashion rather than winning a project but by 'dirty' means, which leads to long-term damage for the country.'
According to him, money game practices and bribery in business should come to a halt as the country has been severely morally damaged.
Learning new things
Orias reflected that the person he is today has been very much influenced by his childhood when his parents instilled in him values of honesty and discipline. 'In this later phase of my career, I have also interacted with honest, clean but assertive people that exhibit excellent integrity, such as Lin Che Wei,' he said.
Despite his having held a variety of managerial posts at several companies, holding a position as CFO at a seaport company is a first for him, and therefore, prior to joining the company, he travelled to Israel and learnt about ports at the Galilea Institute where he was the first and only Indonesian student and where he was amazed by the country's smart, highly effective measures relating to security at ports.
'The security at those ports is really incredible. There are cameras under the sea and blank TV screens at security posts are automatically brought to life when there is a sign of danger.'
Learning about ports overseas helped him a lot when facing the fit-and-proper person test before legislators ' a precondition for taking up his position as CFO at Pelindo II.
Orias sees a love of learning as a basic consideration when recruiting new talent and fosters a love of working hard and doing one's best among his employees as a way of enhancing their self-esteem and dignity.
'I always emphasize the importance of empowering people. People first,' he said.
With all the influence he has on people at the company, he wishes to make it such that when an employee, for whatever reason, parts ways with the company, he or she leaves with their head held high, knowing that they have helped the company become a highly reputable one.
____________________
AT EASE
Dining out
Away from my job, I like dining out and traveling with my family.
Chelsea maniac
For exercise, I play golf. I no longer play badminton and soccer even though I still enjoy watching the soccer. Chelsea is my favorite soccer club'¦ I am a Chelsea maniac.
Good character
My favorite football player is Morinyo. I think he has good character, and does not like to hide anything. He says something is right when he thinks it's right and bad if he thinks it's bad.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- CFO of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II or Indonesia Port Corporation II (2014 ' Present)
- Managing director, head of Indonesia coverage and investment banking at Daiwa Capital Markets
Singapore Ltd
- President director of Reliance Securities, Tbk (2008 ' 2010)
- Managing director of Danareksa Sekuritas (2003 ' 2008)
- President commissioner of Mitra Ventura Indonesia
- Commissioner of Sarana Sulsel Ventura, Makassar
- Director of Bahana Artha Ventura, Jakarta
- Director of corporate finance at Bahana Securities (1994 ' 2001)
- Senior auditor at Ernst & Young
EDUCATION
- Galilee International Management Institute
- University of Padjadjaran, Bachelor, Economics, Accounting
BIRTH
Kupang, August 26, 1967
