Kema Test of Power Transformer Family Day In ... - Siemens Pakistan

FULL TEXT OF SPEECH OF MD AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Dear Colleagues
Our sign at the Karachi airport says
“Siemens number one in Pakistan”. This
now has the seal of approval of Karachi
stock exchange. We are now number
one in the top 25 companies of the
exchange. My congratulations to you on
this achievement and on the historic
results that led to this position.
As you know it has been a long and hard
journey that has brought us to this
position. As we stand at the top we must
be happy but also extremely cautious
because as you know the higher you are
the harder you can fall. We must
understand that we have surmounted a
peek but not conquered the mountain.
We must now set our eyes higher so that
in the long run we are in the position to
set benchmarks even for institutions that
evaluate us. We must give new meaning
to success and not sit back and relax on
our present achievements. Many
successful organisations have been
destroyed because they thought they
had reached the top and nobody could
even come near them. This is the greatest
folly one can commit and I cannot
emphasise enough the importance of
doubling our efforts if we want to keep
this place and go even higher. Mr.Colin
Powell the former American Secretary
of state gave a very simple formula for
success. He said” There are no secrets
to success. It is the result of preparation,
hard work, and learning from failure”.
So how do you prepare for success ?
The most important thing for achieving
success is making maximum use of your
time. You cannot succeed if you waste
time in unnecessary discussions and in
trying to explain why something has not
been done. I am amazed at the energy
and time wasted in trying to explain failure
rather than to find avenues for success.
No one will give you a medal for the most
articulate explanation of your failure but
you will be recognized if you can present
success and find solutions that lead you
to the top.
Many failures also arise out of the yes
culture. Another American the famous
actor Bill Cosby said “I don't know the
key to success, but the key to failure is
trying to please everybody “. In business
we cannot have a “you pat my back and
I will pat yours” approach. Weaknesses
have to be addressed and they can only
be addressed if you can pin point them
and they can only be pin pointed if we
stop playing this “Everything is perfect“
game. Nothing in the world is perfect and
there is always room for improvement.
Evaluate yourselves, find your mistakes
and address them and encourage a
culture of critical analysis around you so
even your subordinates can tell you your
weaknesses. Everyday I try to find a
weakness because if I can find it than I
can resolve it and if I resolve it I will
become stronger and will be able to reach
higher.
As you know we have changed the
culture of the company and empowered
you so you can take decisions based on
merit and thus have the tool to face this
highly competitive world. One thing
everyone has to understand that there
is a lot of difference between
empowerment and complete freedom. A
few instances have come to my notice
where people made decisions that were
just not logical or in the best interest of
the company and they were than not
happy that higher management
overturned their decisions. Empowerment
is to test your power of decision making
but if it is found that you are behaving
like the little child who wants to touch
boiling hot milk you have to be restrained
and you must evaluate why it was done.
A good manager always weighs a
decision carefully because he or she
knows that every time a decision is over
turned it undermines credibility and
erodes the confidence of higher
management. If all decisions
are accepted the Manager gains the
confidence of top management who
realize that he or she has the ability to
work without need for monitoring or
supervision. That is the ladder that takes
you to the top.
As we grow bigger more eyes are on us.
Siemens name now has real meaning in
Pakistan and everyone is sitting up and
taking notice of our rapid progress. Our
takeover of CTI and our contract with
KESC have put us in the eyes of the
public and we have to be very cautious
confidence of top management who
realize that he or she has the ability to
work without need for monitoring or
supervision. That is the ladder that takes
you to the top.
As we grow bigger more eyes are on us.
Siemens name now has real meaning in
Pakistan and everyone is sitting up and
taking notice of our rapid progress. Our
takeover of CTI and our contract with
KESC have put us in the eyes of the
public and we have to be very cautious
in how we behave both internally and
externally. Compliance is a very important
aspect of our behavior. We have to
comply with all laws and it should be
proactive not reactive. We should not
wait for the compliance officer to lift a
finger at us before we fall in line. I hope
the day will come when the compliance
officer cannot find a single violation and
that too without his prodding. We also
need to work together as a team. The
compliance officer is part of the team not
outside it so he should play the role of a
mentor a person who guides and softly
nudges all of us towards correct actions
that produce exemplary compliance
conditions.
You are very
fortunate to work with
Siemens. It is a
company that
provides you with all
the tools necessary
for success. All you
have to do is to use
the tools and you can
climb the highest
peek. We have
fit4more principles
and top+ that leads
us to the recipe for
profit and growth. I
want you to follow
this recipe and aim
for sustainable
growth. Many
companies grow but
It is a company that
provides you with all the
tools necessary for
success. All you have to
do is to use the tools
and you can climb the
highest peek. We have
fit4more principles and
top+ that leads us to the
recipe for profit and
growth. I want you to
follow this recipe and
aim for
sustainable growth.
like a balloon being filled with hot air that
bursts eventually. We have to be different
and we have to ensure sustainable
growth so that every year we achieve a
landmark and never have to look back
in our march forward to growth and
prosperity. An important tool for
sustainable growth is cross selling. Now
that you are concentrating on this you
can see the fruits that it can bring to your
basket. This is just the tip of the ice berg.
A well organized cross selling effort can
establish every one on solid lines. To
encourage such efforts we are giving out
an award this year for the best cross
selling efforts. We are one Siemens family
and we must work together as one
helping each other by identifying
synergies that will push our successes
in the future.
This is where key account managers can
play a vital role. As we all know the key
account managers are our ears and eyes
as far as customers with different
requirements are concerned. The key
account manager must maintain constant
and good contact with the customer and
as soon as there is need for products
and services that he or she knows the
customers desires and Siemens can
provide he should immediately put
forward an integrated solution based on
Siemens Synergies and also alert the
concerned business unit . We must all
understand that though we might be in
different businesses we are one Siemens
just like the human body that has different
parts doing different things like smelling,
hearing, eating and seeing but every
different part serves one body just as
different business units serve one
Siemens.
As we stand at the top we need to survey
the scenario. As our doors open up and
international competition comes knocking
we must be prepared because only the
best will survive in the coming days and
years. We need to be lean and mean in
order to get ahead, we need to cut costs,
streamline processes and be able to face
competition that gets tougher by the day.
It will not be done by just thinking about
it but by taking steps today to safeguard
our tomorrow. We need to maintain and
develop human excellence because
Human excellence can provide you the
advantage that nothing else can. Siemens
offers a host of opportunities for you to
train educate and uplift the human
resources you command. You must take
advantage and not only hire the best but
provide the best learning opportunities
to those you hire. It is crucial that we do
not ignore merit when hiring and do not
favor anyone that we find below our
standards. A wrong addition to your team
done in haste or for some other
consideration can become a lifelong
liability that can shackle your progress.
Human resources is an important
partner in our quest for people
excellence and I want you to give them
timely feedback so they can serve you
better. I know that you are all very busy
but a little time taken out to give
feedback to HR can help the company
identify areas that need attention and
benefit all of us in the long run. HR can
help you utilize the right person for the
right job which is so important if we
want to grow and not stagnate. If we
do not have the right person for the
right job we would be wasting precious
human resource. Quality, customer
satisfaction, value addition and skill
enhancement are others areas which
require our attention and are vital to
the growth of the company. Safety at
the workplace is another important
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element that we should not forget. We
should ensure that safety standards
are followed because if there are
accidents we are not only paying the
medical costs but also costs related to
work loss. We must also ensure that
we keep the environment clean so that
it does not pose a hazard to our
neighbors. Siemens is a very
responsible company and we are
dedicated to preserving the
environment.
I have seen the flyers sent by the
medical centre and there is also
information in SKD relating to
prevention of various diseases.
Recently we have had the Hepatitis B
vaccination made available to
employees because we believe
prevention is better than cure. We
should continue our efforts and enhance
them in the coming days so we can all
remain healthy and enjoy a good quality
of life
In the end I want to say that the time
has come for you to take control of your
destiny. Over the last few years we
have gathered for the annual
conference and
each year has
been better
than the last.
We have to
continue to
meet to consult
and to have a
frank and
h o n e s t
evaluation of
our processes
and efforts.
This is the time
of the year to
strengthen our
resolve and
indulge in a
f r a n k
assessment of
our efforts so
we can find our weakness and by
addressing them come back next year
much stronger and on a higher peek of
the mountain of success. When will we
conquer the mountain? Not in our life
time because success breeds success
and when you get to the top of one
peek you find another more challenging
and as human nature dictates we forget
the one we have climbed and set our
eyes on the next that stands above us.
I wish you a very happy new year and
every success, health and happiness
to you and your family.