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| Overhauling Kurnia’s image |
| Written by Aznita Ahmad Pharmy | |||
| Monday, 25 May 2009 00:00 | |||
 “When we can create the ‘wow’ effect, then you find that it gives confidence to people that we are doing the right thing,” Chia said in an interview in March. Chia believes that having talented people in the right places creates confidence. Just weeks after he took over as CEO of Kurnia Insurans Malaysia Bhd (KIMB) in July last year, Chia hired three new general managers: Loo Siew Tin (human resources and corporate services); T Sivapalan (non-motor products); and Pang Yoke Nam (agency distribution). “What I mean by the ‘wow’ effect is, when people look at Siew Tin, they would say, ‘How come she’s willing to join Kurnia?’ Or Sivapalan, he’s one of the best guys around to join the company,” Chia explains. “People will think that something must be happening in that company. If we talk about agency distribution, we all know that Pang Yoke Nam is one of the best guys around.” Pang, who has been in the industry for 24 years, has a strong track record in agency development having worked in local and international firms such as Hong Leong Assurance and CITIC Prudential Life Insurance in Guangzhou, China. Sivapalan, also a veteran in the insurance industry, began his career in risk management and then moved on to underwriting, reinsurance, marketing and senior management. Loo has more than 10 years in the human resources field. She previously worked with the Civil Service Institute in Singapore, Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong, and Hong Leong Bank. But while Kurnia recruited a few key employees from outside the company, most of the vacancies were filled internally, says Loo. “We look at how we can tap internal talent because we are very big and there’s a lot of hidden talent in the organisation. We have a workforce of 1,700, so it’s actually going through and understanding who our talent are and trying to match them to the job,” she says. Communication is crucial to make sure the right message is conveyed. Chia holds a “town hall” meeting every month to ensure everyone understands the company’s direction and the reasons for certain decisions. “We need to communicate to our staff the direction of the company, the ultimate goals of the company and we need to encourage the people to be with us for the long term,” he says. “An economic downturn is when we should be even more united. Last year, we didn’t have profits. People have to understand that when we lose money, we can’t afford to pay people more and we can’t pay bonuses. When we do well, as management, we have to make sure that we take care of people. I think it is only with this kind of trust between management and the people that the staff go a long way,” adds Chia. KIMB provides continuous staff training and is moving towards a culture that is more performance-driven than it used to be. “We have introduced a performance management system, where each and everyone has got KPIs. We focus a lot on the people issue for the transformation of the company. Unless we start with the people, there is no transformation,” says Chia of Kurnia’s “Transformation of Operations and Performance” programme which began in 2007. The internal revitalisation drive which aims to enhance productivity, profitability and organisational leadership includes a focus on growth in non-motor sectors. The company currently derives 83% to 85% of its gross premiums from motor insurance, according to Chia. A contact centre was set up seven months ago as a platform for Kurnia to sell non-motor products to its roughly three million policyholders. The centre at Menara Kurnia in Petaling Jaya began operations on April 1. “We believe that for a general insurance company, the right thing to do is to diversify into a multi-product line. It is never good to have a single product line,” says Chia. A more stable line of profit is needed for KIMB after its parent company, Kurnia Asia Bhd, posted a net loss of RM301.79 million for FY2008 ended June 30, compared with a net profit of RM2.53 million in the previous financial year. Since then, it has slowly been returning to the black and in the most recent quarter ended March 31, 2009, Kurnia Asia reported RM26.4 million in net profit and RM4.1 million in underwriting surplus. “We improved in many areas; we focus a lot on our service delivery and repair of cars. We started to have a dashboard for the workshop repairers so that you know they have to finish and repair the car within a certain time frame,” Chia says. He feels Kurnia Insurans needs to walk the talk to counter negative perceptions, especially after the huge loss for FY2008. There was even a rumour then about Bank Negara stepping in to take control of the insurer. “We can’t go out and ask people to believe us and say we are changing... What’s most important is at the end of the day, there are short-term deliveries and there are long-term deliveries. “Some short-term deliveries are immediate, it’s like repairing cars and the way we deal with customers. We focus quite a bit on that and hopefully, people will start to have a different view,” says Chia. This article appeared in Manager@work, the monthly management pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 756, May 25-31, 2009.
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