KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 18): His arrival at Pos Malaysia Bhd raised eyebrows as he is the first non-Malaysian CEO of the national postal service company. And there are high expectations for him to execute a transformation of the postal service.
Some point out that the appointment of Englishman Charles Brewer at the helm of Pos Malaysia could mean a thorough change in the ways the group had been run all these years. Others opine that Brewer was brought in to do what Malaysian CEOs could not — cull the postal service company’s large workforce.
While change, especially at a group that has been suffering years of financial losses, could be good, it is also human nature to be averse to change. Pos Malaysia’s strong workers' unions could be a big challenge for Brewer as he implements his turnaround plan.
However, the biggest challenge could be to change the culture of having thick layers of bureaucracy and chains of command at Pos Malaysia. At the same time, Brewer may face pushback from the employees, especially at the head office, as he embarks on a rightsizing exercise.
In this exclusive interview with The Edge, Brewer admits that any transformation plan is as good as its execution, and therein lies the challenges and opportunities for him in his effort to turn around Pos Malaysia.
Brewer says his transformation plan is focused on execution, rather than just the plan itself.
“So for the most part of businesses, as in sports, as in life, success is a function of how well you execute, and for us, I think a big difference if I may, in our plan, vis-à-vis what I've seen previously, is 80% of the focus is on how we execute,” says Brewer.
How will Brewer turn around and transform Pos Malaysia? Will he be able to get the buy-in of the powerful workers' unions of Pos Malaysia, as well as its largest shareholder DRB-Hicom Bhd?
Find out in this issue of The Edge Malaysia weekly.
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