ENTRY ONE: THE MANAGER

For this entry, I interviewed a close relative of mine whom I have long respected and looked up to. The interview was carried out in his office, which was furnished with a large mahogany desk accompanied by two swivel chairs at one end, and a low coffee table bordered with comfortable sofas at the other. I sat across him on one of the swivel chairs, gripping my notebook in anticipation, and subsequently the interview started.

Name: James Lee Kim Wah

Age: 71

Designation: Finance Director

Company: Wing Tai Holdings Ltd

 

James Lee Kim Wah had served as Finance Director, Executive Director of Wing Tai Holdings since May 1997. He is responsible for the finance, human resource and administrative functions of the company. He sets, manages and controls financial budgets and makes certain that all departments work within set targets. He also has to ensure that the finance team provides timely, efficient and effective services to the organization and applies the best practice in financial control. He has been with the company for more than 30 years and is currently the Treasurer of the Singapore National Employers Federation.

From all that he had told me, it was apparent that his management style was more Human Relations than anything else. He believes that the company is people-oriented and that communication with employees is essential. Every individual is different, he said, and you should get to know every one of your people to the best possible degree. He told me that if a manager communicates well with his employees, productivity in the company immediately goes up. I was instantly reminded of Hawthorne effect of the Hawthorne Studies, which is the impact of management attention on employee productivity.

“No one is perfect, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses,” James Lee replied when I asked about the problems he faces in his position. Sometimes an employee is unhappy with the company or the policies in the company or even the way the people themselves are managed. They become disagreeable and hard to manage and it shows in their work. Therefore, it is stressed again the importance of communication to know what is it that brings forth the discordant attitude. 

One way or another, find out the reason behind their unhappiness. What exactly are they not happy about? Talk to them and understand them. It is of utmost importance that there is mutual trust between the employees and their boss.

When they trust you, they will talk to you and when they talk to you they communicate and in the process of communication you understand each other. The needs of your staff should always be taken into account and you should work with them to appease their unhappiness, yet at the same time maintain the interests of the company. 

Find out the strengths and weaknesses of every individual and work every employee to their best ability. Play their strengths and minimize the opportunities for weakness. For example, O is a very good salesman. However, he is a spendthrift and tends to mishandle any money that is passed through him. To solve this problem you put him at the frontline as a salesman, but do not let the money go through him. Instead, get P who is a terrific accountant but terrible at sales to handle the money. Thus, two birds are killed with one stone.

Not every employee can be managed the same way. As mentioned before, every individual has different thoughts and different priorities, and each must be managed individually. Communicate and convince your staff to work to their fullest potential by putting them in positions to fully utilize their good points. If communication between employee and employer is neglected, productivity of the company will definitely be affected.

In James Lee’s opinion, a good manager must have a good nature and have good knowledge on management principles and communication with people. He says that the most difficult form of communication is between employee and employer and therefore it is also the most important. A good manager must be approachable, he should be able to make the best out of every situation and person, and utilize them to the maximum.

I then asked him, though it was not required for the interview, out of my own interest, should the management style of a manager change? He replied yes. The world is constantly changing and you need to be flexible (another quality of a good manager) and not restricted to old-fashioned thinking. You should be able to learn from good management styles and integrate them into your own. 

For example, the East and the West. The western and the oriental have different management styles. Pick out the best aspects of both management styles and and integrate them together to create the best possible management style that would maximize productivity. And there you'll have the best of both worlds, literally.

Nonetheless, he told me, no matter how the management style changes the company philosophy should remain unchanged. If it changes, employees would think that the company is fickle and that would be the way employees themselves would be treated too. Thus, if the company philosophy changes, the loyalty of the staff to the company would change too. 

And here, my interview concludes, leaving me full of information and insight that only a man with 30 years of experience in the industry could give.