Monday at eight in the morning. Sharp.
An elegant and cozy meeting room in an office with the concept of a Green Company, a Multinational Company engaged in the Energy Industry, has been filled by a Sales Team consisting of 12 people. David the General Manager of Sales, 10 Sales Managers, and Bulan Purnama who is usually called Luna the only woman in the room representing her team, the Sales Support Team. Of the 10 Sales Manager seats, only 9 were occupied, each with a laptop in front of them. One seat is still empty...
"What is more important than BE ON TIME is, NOT ABOUT THE TIME. But
COMMITMENT."
The meeting was opened by David, and at the same time, there was a knock on the door.
"Morning. Sorry, late." Michael appeared from behind the door.
Long life. Hurriedly the person in question entered the room, his left hand supporting the open and lit laptop, while the other put a tie around his neck and took a seat in the empty chair.
"Why Mike?"
"It's jammed, sir," he answered, placing the laptop on his desk.
"How long have you lived in Jakarta? Don't you know that Jakarta is jammed?" David rebuked quickly "If we want to move forward, don't always give that reason."
"There was an accident, a truck carrying sand rolled onto the road. The narrowing of the road creates a very long traffic jam."
"So what?"
Silence.
No one said anything, neither out of fear nor a sign of agreement. Everyone understands David's character. Indisputable. Even though he is younger, he is highly respectful because of his track record of achievement.
He is the winner in Sales. The sales result always exceeds the target, double sales triple margin each year. In addition, his leadership skills are also extraordinary which makes everyone recognize that he deserves to occupy the position. General Manager Sales.
Not wanting to go into further detail on the reason for Michael's delay, David ended his comment in a small voice like he was talking to himself, but still at a high speed.
"Facts are facts. Nothing can escape the fact of life. We have to pass through it." He continued as if to calm himself down. A moment later the words scattered again like a series of bullets fired into the air.
"So once again, this meeting is not a place to vent. This last trimester we have to hurry. Tune in fast. We need speed, full speed. If the tune-in is slow, we crash. Once you are here, run fast. Check schedule weekly. Check targets. How to achieve. Failure is not accepted. Excuses do not exist. This year is year of performance. I don't care about people. I don't care about those who don't perform. If you don't want a challenge, you don't have to be in Sales. If you don't want to be chased by numbers, you don't have to be a Salesperson. No hopefully. It should be! If you haven't performed in a long period, don't ever expect to be fine."
All silent.
"We are paid by results. Not by activity. Result is result. The result is showing how you performed. Result is always the final judge. Above activity there is productivity. Am I doing the right thing? Situation is the boss. Our job is to win it. Focus on solutions."
There is no agree or disagree. Agree or agree.
Then the meeting continued until lunchtime. Lunch ordered from the restaurant was delivered to the room, and after the break lunch, the meeting continued until the afternoon, sometimes until midnight.
***
Flexible working hours or Flexi hours at the company are applied because they follow the headquarters working hours in Helsinki, Finland. Employees are not required to come in at 9 and leave at 5, they can come in a little bit later and leave late as needed. Overtime is only allowed a maximum of 3 hours according to Ministry of Manpower standards. Leave that is unable to be taken due to work overload will be compensated.
The factory, commonly called a PC (Product Company), is spreading in 6 countries, all located in Europe. Indonesia is one of its marketing offices or NC (Network Company). The Company has more than 70 Network Companies spread all over the world.
This company culture also follows the culture in Europe. Morning at 10 am a coffee break is provided in the canteen. Everything is self-service. Including Marc, the President Director, if want some coffee, make your own. No one serves. The office boy's job is only to keep the room clean and tidy and all the pantry needs are always available. Marc and all his employees eat in the same canteen, the same room, there is no gap. Even Marc's workspace is always wide open. Anyone who wants a discussion just taps on the glass window "May I..." immediately IN. No Secretary's permission is required. No bureaucracy. Not official. Not stiff.
Such a nice Company culture.
***
Luna just presented the number of offers or quotations made by her team this week. How many purchase orders were received, how many invoices have been sent, and the status of delivery of goods, critical issues or red flags for each customer from each area handled by each Sales Manager (SM). What is the total achievement this month compared to the target?
Monday is a meeting day. Only on Mondays, SM's are allowed to stay in the office, other days they have to go out, visit customers both inside and outside the city, from Sabang to Merauke*). The Company's customers consist of Government and Private Companies. Each region has its own Sales Manager.
The products are diesel engine spare parts or generators specifically for industry, for power generation, not generators for household purposes. Basically, SM's function is to build good relationships with customers, because maintenance or overhaul of the engine installed at the customer's site or plant, inevitably the spare parts must be ordered from this company.
There are periodic checks of 6 thousand hours, 12 thousand hours, 18 thousand hours, and so on. Especially this machine inspection is carried out by engineers who are the employees with the largest number. There are engineers on duty at the customer's site to keep the generator engine running and safe, there are also engineers in the workshop. So apart from selling spare parts, The Company also sells engineering services. They serve with high professionalism in accordance with the Company's values, Energy, Excellence, and Excitement, or Triple E, to make things happen. That's why this company is called The DOER Company.
***
After office hours have long passed but the Sales Meeting is still ongoing when an email arrives From Marc, President Director addressed to the entire Sales Team.
Luna traced the sentencesâŠ
⊠Since we require fresh input and ideas, we will keep these 2 sessions (2-night stay) in a fresh location at Puncak (Nola will give you more details today). There is no need to bring anything else other than your brains (I expect some storm to happen) and some warmer clothesâŠ
Two more night's meeting at Puncak**).
Brainstorming.
Instantly her mind drifted to a name
BRIGHT.
***
*)From Sabang to Merauke" is a broad description of Indonesia's territory that stretches from Sabang, a small island at the northern tip of Sumatra Island, to Merauke, a city on the east side of Papua Island.
**) Puncak is a mountainous tourist area that is included in the Bogor Regency and Cianjur Regency, West Java