Finding HR Management Challenging

When public trust in the banking industry waned quite a few years ago banking practitioners took note. They realized that they had to act in a reliable and professional manner and stay away from practices that could further erode public trust.

Learning from this, the central bank (Bank Indonesia), introduced various measures to ensure that banks select people who were capable of maintaining public trust. To this end, BI requires banks to ensure that their managing executives meet certain requirements, such as the stipulation that bank executives must possess a risk management certificate, pass screening and have compliance and risk management clearance.

It is in this context that Heru Budiargo, executive director of compliance and human resources at PT Bank Niaga, considers the application of Good Corporate Governance (GCG) important in the banking industry. For its part, Bank Niaga has long applied this principle to ensure that the bank is well managed by its executives.

"GCG has been applied for a long time at Bank Niaga," he said.

Many banks collapsed when the economic crisis hit the banking sector in late 1997. Bank Niaga was one of the few banks free of moral hazards, such as exceeding the maximum ceiling on loans (BPMK), violating banking regulations, extending loans to affiliated businesses, etc.

"One can surmise that the aspects of prudence and professionalism have long been applied at Bank Niaga," he said.

Ultimately, however, Bank Niaga could not escape the problems facing the banking sector. This bitter reality happened because its business portfolio was focused on corporate loans, which indeed entail a high risk.

Sustainable application of GCG has produced a significant result. Owing to efforts by the management of the bank, which is deeply concerned with education and training, improvement in competence and professional expertise and the application of GCG in keeping with international standards, Bank Niaga has received a rating level of 6+ from independent rating institution Standard & Poor's.

In addition, Bank Niaga was also presented an award by the Institute for Corporate Governance Indonesia for its successful application of GCG. "This shows that there is no doubt about the application of GCG at Bank Niaga and also in connection with its human resources," said Heru, who was born in Tuban, East Java.

To ensure that the application of GCG is in accordance with what has been outlined, the first thing to do, he said, is to reach an agreement. "GCG is not inwardly oriented; it is outwardly oriented," he stressed. As a result, the goal of the application of GCG must refer to competition.

He added, "GCG does not mean conformity, but it is well-directed and systematic steps that have been taken to make Bank Niaga more competitive and more sustainable in the market," he said. Therefore, GCG, he said, is related to the scope of strategy, product management and services, human resources management, risk management and internal control.

After an agreement has been reached, it is time to build governance structure regarding the role and tasks of the supervisory board, the board of directors and executive commissioners. Transparency must also be fostered by regulating the mechanism on inter-institutional relationships internally and externally."

At the end of the day, there will emerge a necessity to have a culture related to transparency, independence and accountability, which will develop with the passage of time, in line with the dynamics of the market," he noted.

In the past, he said by way of an example, the risk of each product was never revealed. Today, however, following developments in the business world, the market wants every product to contain information on its risk so that investors can learn which products are relatively safe and will be profitable."

Obviously the banking industry is challenged to ensure that the quality of its GCG must always be improved," said Heru, who was formerly chairman of the Pension Fund of Bank Niaga.

It is not surprising that Heru is very knowledgeable about GCG and Bank Niaga. He is a professional who began from the very bottom of the career ladder. Heru, who has one teenage daughter, first joined Bank Niaga in 1977 as a graduate of the bank's Executive Training Program. He worked in the loan collection department at the bank office in Roa Malaka, Kota. At the time Bank Niaga was just a small bank with six branches and some 600 employees. From there he moved to other departments.

At the beginning of his career at Bank Niaga, Heru spent more time in the loan department and in the branch offices. Later he was promoted to become chief of corporate affairs, internal control and human resources divisions. But his most interesting experience in his almost 30 years at Bank Niaga has been as human resources manager, a position he has held for 10 years.

"I find managing people has been most challenging during my career," he said.

The challenge was especially big when Bank Niaga decided to transform its business portfolio from a bank originally concentrating on corporate clients to a bank increasingly focused on retail banking.

"It is not easy to transform the mind-set of employees from a corporate banking focus to retail banking," he noted.

Luckily, thanks to much training, education and other activities to improve the competence of personnel, the employees of Bank Niaga can now work anywhere they are stationed.

Heru is also thankful for being able to have a long career at Bank Niaga. While many people move to other companies for better positions, Heru prefers to stay put. The reason is very simple."I find the atmosphere at Bank Niaga agrees with me," he said.

As a result, he has worked under four different owners. When he first joined the bank, Bank Niaga was owned by Julius Tahija, who jointly owned the bank with fellow founders Soedarpo Sastrosatomo and Idham. Then the bank was bought by entrepreneur Hasyim Djojohadikusumo.

Later the ownership of the bank was handed over to the government, and in 2003 the bank was acquired by Bumiputera-Commerce Holdings Berhad (BCHB) of Malaysia, which controls 64.25 percent of the bank's shares. And Heru moved up the career ladder. All this has given him valuable experience and memories.

A lover of tennis and swimming, Heru has been active in student activities, especially hiking, since his student days at the University of Indonesia (UI). He was a member of UI's association of nature lovers Mapala UI. But these days he gets around on a large motorcycle.

"Well, I still have adventures in nature but using different facilities," he said. Once in a while he travels outside Jakarta with a small group of large motorcycle enthusiasts to enjoy the fresh air and take his mind off his daily routine. (Maulana Yudiman)

The Jakarta Post
August 23, 2006

Togetherness is The Key

The soft-spoken president director and CEO of Bank NISP, Pramukti Surjaudaja, gives the impression of being a very serious man. But as everyone knows, first impressions can be deceiving, and every now and then Pramukti cracks a joke to lighten the mood.

Pramukti comes across as a warm and modest person, especially when asked what formula he uses to ensure the success of Bank NISP. Thanks to him, the bank, originally just a minor bank in Bandung, has been transformed into a solid and well-reputed private bank.

NISP has won a number of awards nationally, regionally and internationally. It was named "Best Domestic Commercial Bank in Indonesia" by Hong Kong's Asiamoney magazine in 2002, named "Best Bank in Indonesia for 2003" by Euromoney Magazine and "Best Emerging Market Bank in Indonesia 2004" by Global Finance Magazine of New York.

Pramukti was awarded the Golden Trophy 2006 for "Excellent Performance for Five Consecutive Years" by InfoBank magazine.

It cannot be denied that NISP was able to win all these awards thanks to Pramukti's capable hands in developing the bank so that its assets, worth only Rp 1 trillion in 1996, have ballooned to Rp 22 trillion in 2006. However, Pramukti is modest about the achievements.

"All this is the fruit of the hard work of all NISP stakeholders. This is a joint success, I'm not the only one responsible for this success," said Pramukti, who was named Best CEO 2004 by SWA Magazine.

In his opinion, managing a company means maintaining togetherness, especially in corporate culture matters. Company management means making an effort so that all employees and all stakeholders of the company will enjoy various benefits."

The bank's management believes that if we can keep our staff happy in their jobs, it will result in business continuing to grow and our customers and investors will have peace of mind after depositing their funds at NISP," he stressed.

In realizing this goal, Pramukti deems it necessary to involve all these elements in the creation of corporate values. About 1,000 employees are involved in this value creation.

"The creation of corporate values cannot be undertaken unilaterally, for example only by the board of directors. It must involve all employees because they will put the values into practice and enjoy the benefits," he noted. As a result, following the creation of the bank's values by the management and employees, NISP's program to develop its business has run as expected. In its 61 years of existence -- the bank was established in 1941 in Bandung -- NISP has overcome various obstacles, survived crises and developed into a leading domestic bank.

If Pramukti gives the impression of being modest, it is due to his upbringing. Born in Bandung on July 1, 1962, his family prioritized harmony in all aspects of life. Despite the fact that they owned NISP, Pramukti did not immediately get a top position at the bank. However, his father, Karmaka Surjaudaya, now president commissioner of NISP, started introducing Pramukti to the family business as a teenager. While still at school, Pramukti learned the principles of accountancy, bank management, customer service and everything about the banking business.

After completing senior high school at St Aloysius, Bandung, he went to the United States to study finance and banking at the University of San Francisco, and earned an MBA degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He also took a special program on international relations at the International University of Japan in Niigata, Japan. He also took several executive programs at MIT, Stanford University and France's Insead.

Pramukti was keen on learning and now tries to inspire all his employees to be enthusiastic about learning.

When Pramukti joined NISP in 1987, he started in the marketing department and was appointed managing director in 1989. In April 1997 he was named president director and CEO of NISP, a position he still holds. He said there were a lot of joys and sorrows in running the bank, especially when his family decided to list the it on the capital market and thereby give up full ownership.

The family resorted to going public because it was one way to ensure the growth and development of the bank. Then NISP established a strategic alliance with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank, as IFC was interested in providing long-term financial support and being an NISP shareholder. An alliance was also forged with the Overseas Chinese Bank Corporation (OCBC) of Singapore, now the majority shareholder of NISP with a 72.29 percent stake.

Pramukti says the family made the right decision in giving up full ownership of the bank, saying that this way the public gets more benefits. Today, NISP has 225 branches throughout the country and its employees, only about 900 people in 1996, now number about 4,000 people.

Despite his tight schedule, Pramukti always finds time to tend to his aquarium fish, in which he finds pleasure. Once in a while, Pramukti, who has one daughter, goes to Bandung to visit his extended family. He also likes diving. "I feel totally different when I dive and enjoy the time away from routine activities," he said. He has visited most favorite diving sites, but has been unable to dive for a few years due to lack of time. (Maulana Yudiman)

The Jakarta Post
November 08, 2006

Creating Goliath ; Davids Helper

In the Bible, the story of David and Goliath tells of a fight between an ordinary human being and a giant. Although Goliath was far stronger than David, David won the duel due to his cleverness. In the hands of Yoris Sebastian Nisiho, however, Goliath has become a collaboration project that will help many Davids grow into hit-selling musicians.

With the Goliath Project he is now preparing, Yoris is making his way toward further success following his successful "I Like Monday", a program at Hard Rock Caf‚ that he initiated 10 years ago. In this current project, Yoris is planning to mix various activities such as collaboration involving various musicians, workshops, the making of albums and the making of a musical database that can help businessmen in the music area to develop their businesses.

Yoris, who represented Indonesia, presented his Goliath Project before the panel of judges at The International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year (IYMEY 2006), organized by the British Council in London between late June and early July. "The preparation was short. The idea came up just before I had to leave for London," he said.

Although he went to London in an individual capacity, Yoris said he was quite proud because he represented Indonesia and had to compete against music practitioners from 10 countries with their respective superiority and uniqueness. Yoris devised the Goliath Project as a vehicle through which music can be developed on the basis of investment support from Goliaths.

The Goliaths in Yoris' vision are rich young men aged a maximum of 35 years, those who have a lot of spare money who can use it helping Davids, who can be just about anyone in the music business, such as solo singers or local bands with great potential for future development. However, this investment must yield a profit for these Goliaths. "Besides reaping a profit, they can help new talents emerge in the music arena," he said.

Since his participation in IYMEY 2006, Yoris has become even more convinced that music is a highly promising business. He also believes that the creative industry, which includes the music industry, may contribute significantly to the state's coffers if it is run properly. In England, he said, the music industry is ranked second after the financial services industry in terms of contribution to the country's revenue.

What about Indonesia? There is still quite a long way to go before the music industry becomes a prime business sector here. Still, Yoris will consistently strive to build this industry in Indonesia. His interest in music can be summed up in just one word: passion. He has made up his mind to totally immerse himself in building a career for himself in the entertainment business. To focus on the entertainment business, he gave up his studies at the accounting department of Atma Jaya University in Jakarta

When he was a senior high school student, he joined a teenage magazine in Jakarta as a freelance worker in order to start developing his professional skills. He also initiated the organization of Pangudi Luhur Fair, a high school art festival capable of drawing in sponsorships worth up to hundreds of millions of rupiah. When he later decided to give up his university studies, he spent his time selling various things, ranging from advertisements on the launch of albums of new artists to consumer goods and sports products.

In 1993, he was offered the position of assistant advertising and promotions manager at Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) in Jakarta. He then devised a program to feature local bans in this cafe. Called "Local Sunday Band", this program presented, among others, Java Jive, Kahitna, Porotonema and rif.

When he was entertainment manager of HRC, he made a new program called "Save Ragunan Zoo". He collaborated with Air Supply to collect funds for the renovation of Ragunan Zoo. Yoris, who was born in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Aug. 5, 1972, is also very interested in technological development and has come up with an initiative for a video request program, which is relatively new in Indonesia.

For this program, he has adopted VDS (Video Distribution Center) technology, which will make it possible for the promotions of albums held at HRC in Jakarta and Bali to be screened at HRC in several other countries. The head office of HRC in the United States has given him the go-ahead for this program and Dewa will be the first Indonesian music group whose album promotion will be distributed through VDS.

"Hopefully, this effort will make our local artists known in the countries where HRC is found," he said.

Of all the programs that he has devised, the one Yoris is most proud of is "I Like Monday", a program featuring local bands and singers that has been held every Monday since 1996.

Yoris, then advertising and promotions manager at HRC, wanted to introduce a breakthrough for his cafe every Monday, which is generally considered a slow business day because it is perceived that people are reluctant to go to cafes on the first day of the business week.

Many artists that Yoris invited to perform in this Monday program have been happy to perform at HRC and HRC has made a good profit because the number of visitors on Mondays has become as big as, or sometimes even bigger than, on weekends.

Although HRC is a franchised cafe with its own standards and management procedures, innovations and local touches are still needed to ensure that HRC is a big name in the entertainment business. In this respect, Yoris has successfully made HRC one of the most famous cafes in Indonesia.

Thanks to this success, on April 1, 1999, he was made general manager of HRC and, upon assuming this position, became the youngest general manager in HRC's Asia chain and the first local national to be appointed general manager.

At the same time, he was also the second youngest general manager in HRC worldwide. Generally, the post of general manager goes to an expatriate, be he a U.S. or Singaporean national. As GM, Yoris has paved the way for Indonesian artists to perform at HRC in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Owing to his talented marketing skills, Yoris has been able to introduce a number of marketing breakthroughs, which is why he was presented the Young Marketer Award by IMA-Mars in 2003.

He learned everything about marketing through self-study, said Yoris, who likes to read in his spare time.

One of his popular marketing and business concepts is "coopertition", a combination of cooperation and competition. While other people view cooperation and competition as two different things, Yoris believes that competition can be used as a means for cooperation so that something can be done for the benefit of all parties.

Under Yoris' leadership, HRC has also been named the Most Admired Company in Indonesia. This award shows Yoris' great capability in leading and managing HRC. While noted marketing expert Hermawan Kartajaya has popularized the principle of Marketing in Venus in terms of leadership, Yoris chooses to lead in the style of Management in Venus or, in his own words, a good-natured management style.

The days when a boss could use force to command respect from employees are gone, he said. In his view it is not enough for a leader to merely demonstrate good and correct leadership because a good leader must also be wise and inspire his employees. "He must be firm, not stern," Yoris said. (Maulana Yudiman)

The Jakarta Post
August 16, 2006