Herbert Vongpusanachai
Country manager
DHL Express Singapore
What business challenges will DHL face in the next 12 months?
To me, challenge creates opportunity. As the world’s leading express and logistics provider, DHL is mindful of the impact of the economy on businesses across industries and markets. While we’ve seen signs of stabilisation, no one knows when recovery will blossom. For us at DHL, we see this as an opportunity to increase our engagement with both customers and employees – staying close to help each other through tough times, and emerge fitter when the upturn arrives.
How are you helping your senior management team grow professionally during the downturn?
In addition to my regular counselling activities, which include monthly one-on-one sessions with all my direct reports and 360-degree appraisals, we also have mentoring programs for high-potential staff. I’m proud to say mentoring is an inherent part of our culture at DHL.
How do you think HR can further add value to the business?
HR adds tremendous value to our business at DHL, as our people are our business. Additionally, HR is much more than an administrative entity – DHL’s HR professionals are key strategic business partners: they lead the way in engaging with staff and motivating talent.
Through deep understanding of DHL’s business objectives our HR professionals are able to strategically coach and fulfil an advisory role for business leaders, particularly during times of change. In many ways, they act as ‘change agents,’ helping to shepherd the company through periods of transformation. On a programmatic level, HR manages our annual global employee opinion survey, providing us with measurable, actionable feedback, which we’ve found critical in driving our overarching employee engagement programs worldwide and in-market.
How would your employees describe your leadership style?
I’ve been told by staff that I’m approachable and diplomatic – maybe that’s because of my background growing up in Thailand! I don’t profess to know everything about business, but I do my best to listen to everyone because we are all always learning.
Describe your ideal employee.
In one word – passionate. In our business, this means being passionate about always looking for ways – whether you’re in the boardroom or on a bike – to improve the customer’s experience, and delight them.
How do you keep a lookout for employee disengagement?
I think we are in a new era – gone are the days of the ‘classic’, unapproachable manager sitting behind a closed door. Communication for me is now in-person, on the phone, via email, SMS or even through social networking sites – allowing me to get to know my team, share experiences and alleviate disengagement.
