Download - Siemens Pakistan

Full text of speech of MD at Annual Conference
Dear Colleagues
It is a historic moment as I stand before
you today. What was just a dream when
we had our first annual conference is
now a reality and we have surpassed
our best expectations. It was William
Arthur Ward who said "If you can
imagine it, you can achieve it. If you
can dream it, you can become it." We
dreamt it and now we have achieved
it making this the best ever year in the
history of Siemens for which the entire
team deserves applause.
If you can
imagine it, you
can achieve it. If
you can dream it,
you can become
it.
While this is indeed a moment of
rejoicing it is also a moment of
reflection. Winston Churchill said “The
farther back you can look, the farther
forward you are likely to see." This is
why today you can see our history
through all the logos that represent
our thought process over the years and
guides us to our future actions that
must lead us to greater heights so that
one day we can look back at today and
find satisfaction in the fact that we did
not stop at the first peek but marched
on to conquer other distant peeks
leaving our footprints for others to
follow behind us. This is what
leadership is all about. You see the
picture outside my office with the
geese flying in formation. Only one
leads the way. In our areas of
operation we are the leader but as in
the case of the geese if the leader
falls back others take its place we
must not take it easy but continue to
lead and that can only come about if
we use our values to sustain our
success.
I am sure you must all be wondering
about the values. Let me talk about
these values one by one. As our CEO
Peter Loscher puts it excellence is
“Attracting the best people: those who
are passionate, disciplined and
motivated.” As you can see there are
more values within this one value and
the most important I think is discipline.
It was Jim Rohn who said “We must all
suffer from one of two pains: the pain
of discipline or the pain of regret. The
difference is discipline weighs ounces
while regret weighs tons.“It is a
common belief that you can gauge the
character of a nation by the discipline
on its roads. It is also true for
companies. Without discipline
companies no matter how successful
are destined to fail. We must instill
discipline in our lives and that means
following the rules and respecting
procedures. The rules and regulations
that are made are not because we had
nothing better to do so we said let us
make some rules. Every rule and every
procedure is the result of a well
thought out exercise where value
addition and maximizing of processes
is intended and those that do not follow
rules and discard procedure are
undermining the very foundations of
our success. This brings me to the issue
of compliance which is the core of our
efforts and the foundation of another
value responsibility. Only by following
the law and conducting our business
on ethical lines can we hope to sustain
success otherwise it will flounder on
our misdeeds. I know that we need to
grow and sustain this success but we
need to do it on healthy foundations
not on foundations infected with the
termite of unethical behavior. This is
Without discipline
companies no
matter how
successful are
destined to fail.
We must instill
discipline in our
lives and that
means following
the rules and
respecting
procedures.
totally unacceptable not only in
Pakistan but globally in the entire
Siemens world.
So how do we sustain our success
without resorting to any short cuts?
Let me quote from that great lady
Helen Keller who said "Character
cannot be developed in ease and quiet.
Only through experience of trial and
suffering can the soul be strengthened,
ambition inspired, and success
cuts to sustainable success. It is a path
littered with challenges and only by
facing these challenges squarely and
thrashing the daylights out of
problems that you can hope to
maintain your present success on
permanent footing.
As a Siemens employee you have many
things going in your favor. You are a
company that is backed by a global
network of innovation and that is the
You are so
fortunate to
belong to a
company where
the solutions you
offer are limited
only by your
imagination.
third value that drives our sustainable
success. With the vast range of
innovative products and latest
technology to help you the ball is
squarely in your court. You can mix,
match and offer innovative solutions
to customers. You are so fortunate to
belong to a company where the
solutions you offer are limited only by
your imagination. Siemens is not just
a company it is practically a universe
in itself and if you really look at it
closely you will find that it is a
company that is mankind’s partner
from the cradle to the grave and even
before that. I say this because a child
will in most probability on an ultra
sound machine before it is born and
again on a Siemens machine that will
diagnose illness in the closing years
of life and in between this person will
be traveling in planes trains and cars
that have Siemens parts, using
Siemens home appliances and
dependent on Siemens system for
water, power and security. No other
company in the world has such impact
on mankind and you are part of that
company which should not only make
you proud and I know that you are
because in the recent Employee
feedback survey the highest rating
recorded was pride in the company.
This is a very good sign because unless
you take pride in your work and your
company you cannot succeed.
Talking of this feedback survey the
aggregate satisfaction index was
recorded at 63%. Some areas that need
to be addressed have also been
identified and a detailed study is being
conducted based on which appropriate
action will be taken and the
implementation status of
recommendations will be reviewed
next year. I want to thank all of you
for participating in this survey which
was for your benefit and for you to
give your opinion so that you feel the
ownership of this company that takes
your opinion very seriously but Let me
draw your attention to the concept of
cross selling which is a vital tool for
our sustainable success. I know that
some of you think it is a waste of time
to help some other business unit but
if everyone thinks on the same lines
how we will sustain our success. There
is an African proverb that says “When
spider webs unite they can tie up a
lion.” This is so true for our business.
All the business units have their
strengths but once we discover our
synergies and pool in our efforts no
company can match our resources and
capabilities. There is so much business
out there for all of us and if we only
keep our eyes and ears open we can
surpass our targets many times over.
There is another thing that is vitally
important to sustaining success. In a
recent article in Fortune Magazine in
an article on leadership the writer
correctly remarks that most companies
maintain their office copiers better
than they build the capabilities of their
people especially the ones who are
supposed to be future leaders. You
cannot sustain success if you do not
build people. How do you build people
you might ask? By investing in their
training, pinpointing their capabilities
and than giving them tasks equal to
their capabilities. If you mismatch
capabilities with work you will not only
ruin your business but also the future
of those working under you. You must
remember that you will not always be
around but the business will be and
success should not be limited to your
own tenure but should sustain well
beyond that. This is how Siemens has
sustained its success for the last 160
years and that is how it will attain
success in the next 160 years.
There is something about which I have
to say something every time. This is
customer focus and the fact that our
salaries and our success depends upon
the satisfaction of our customers. We
are in the kind of business in which
consumer advertising carries very little
value for us. We have no advantage in
telling the common people about our
capabilities except to enhance our
brand image. Our focus is that special
group which in a large part is already
our customer and it is their word of
mouth, their experience with us and
their impression not only of our
products but our services and our
attitude that will sustain our success
in the long term. If a customer buys a
transformer and is delighted with our
after sale service he will not think
twice before also buying a DG set or a
motor or switch gear from us. Our
service and attention to customers not
only increases our own sale but also
gives a big boost to cross selling efforts
as satisfied customers go looking for
Siemens products in every area of their
business. Another reason for customer
satisfaction is the high quality of our
products that makes investment in
Siemens products and services
profitable in the long run. Everyone
should pursue the ideal of quality and
ensure that all processes are diligently
followed to result in the best quality
for our customers.
I would like to state here that the 3i
If you mismatch
capabilities with
work you will not
only ruin your
business but also
the future of
those working
under you.
concept has been redefined and details
about this will soon be placed on the
Intranet. We will soon be empowering
General Managers and above to reward
employees whose ideas benefit the
company. This is very important
because ideas are not the exclusive
property of any individual and anyone
can have a brainwave.
In the end I would like to once again
congratulate you on your efforts that
have resulted in such historic results
but would also like to end with the
quote “We live in a moment of history
where change is so speeded up that
we begin to see the present only when
it is already disappearing." I wish you
the same success each year which is
what sustainable success is all about.
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