Super Team

It was a very quiet afternoon. We haven't made any booking for days. Only several customers came to pay their installment. At that time, our branch performance often became an issue with the Head Office management.

The day came.. That afternoon our Branch Manager called a meeting for all employees. He said that he will be transferred to another branch and his substitute will arrived in two days. I was quite shock to hear the news. I thought, "Maybe this is one of management's strategy to make this branch better and better." One thing for sure, I always believe my leader's decisions (in this case is the management) because we also wish this branch to get bigger.

Our Operational head told us, as an employee we have to trust our leader that they will bring us a better future as long as we have faith and work together to improve the branch. The meeting gave me a new positive attitude, that we must have faith on our leaders, not only to the Branch Manager & Operational head but also to Top Management that they would never neglect us. I was sure that our branch situation will get better.

Two weeks passed by so quickly. We said farewell to the former Branch Manager and in the beginning of the week on sunny Monday morning, the new Branch Manager started the day with a meeting with all employees. This is the same meeting like any other meeting (talking about marketing strategy, booking target, branch achievement in collection & marketing, etc) except there's one thing mentioned by our Operational Head that become our motto.

He said, "Let us together build this branch. Whoever the Branch Manager or Operational Head, it's all the same. We have to do our job wholeheartedly, not mediocrity.. And of course, there's no superman in this branch. The Branch Manager is not superman, The operational head is not superman and there might be some unit who think their unit is Superman unit. No, we all are SUPER TEAM.

Maybe the motto was planted in our hearts and our minds, helping reach our booking target of over 1 Billion. (maybe this amount is not so big for most of other branches but to our branch where the average booking is still under a Billion. This booking is something great and it gave our branch plenty to cheer about).

A “First Aid Kit” to Prevent Employee Hijack

One principle that I have always held while working at BFI is: To Trust and Respect For Each Other.
Without this value, I would feel as if I was working in a prison.

Based on my experience of working almost 3 years at BFI, I have superiors and also have those who work under my authority. The beauty of building relationships with colleagues is how we all realize that we need each other.
Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses.
Working as a team, these individual strengths and weaknesses compliment each other. Nobody's perfect.
It's no secret anymore that employee hijacking is a very common practice in our business world.

I had one such experience when I worked in one of our BFI branches. One of my staff was offered a job for Finance A (our competitor). I couldn't do anything about this. She was one of my best staff and I could always count on her. To my surprise and relief, she refused the offer even though they offered her a higher salary. I called her and asked her reason for refusing the offer.
Her answer was quite surprising. She said, "I've felt very comfortable working at BFI. We have good working relationships, even between the Boss and regular employees.
I have felt respected and trusted when you have given me important jobs to do. I've felt like this office has become my second home and family. If I moved to A Finance I might not be able to find another situation like in BFI.”

I'm very thankful that our BFI core values have proven to be a successful ‘first aid kit’ to prevent employee hijacking. I'm also sure that BFI's core values are deeply rooted in all our BFI employees.