| For a number
of years, SPK-Sentosa has gone unnoticed by the
investment community. But with a new substantial
shareholder at holding company Sharikat Permodalan
Kebangsaan Bhd, the company has plans to shed that
image and shift to higher gear. Managing Director
Saiful Aznir Shahabudin spoke to senior writer HASNI
MOHD NASIR on the company’s journey to success.
STARBIZ: What
were your areas of focus when you took over as
managing director two years ago?
Saiful: We
decided to focus on the company’s strength
to bring the best out of it. We took out the construction
assets of SPKB and put them under SPK-Sentosa.
Our objective is for SPK-Sentosa to get the direct
benefits from any construction and development
projects of SPKB.
StarBiz: After
the restructuring was completed. What’s
next?
Saiful: We
roped in the best people from each of the industries
to head the key positions in the company. These
people have proven track records, and they have
managed to repeat their success in our company.
For instance, our construction people have been
able to deliver their projects ahead of schedule
with excellent quality. This gives us the track
record to secure more projects in future.
StarBiz: What
sort of construction project is SPK-Sentosa concentrating
on?
Saiful: We
focus on large-scale building projects that require
a certain degree of expertise like hospitals.
The Temerloh hospital project we are doing now
is already 65% completed despite a 30-month accelerated
schedule from the normal 40 months. We have submitted
proposals for more hospital projects locally and
are preparing for similar proposals overseas.
StarBiz: How
do you motivate people to deliver in a short span
of time?
Saiful:We have
put into place world-class processes based on
established best practices to nurture growth into
the future. This includes the implementation of
a rigorous target setting and performance management
process based on the balanced scorecard methodology,
institutionalising a strategy review and business
planning process, enhancing management information
systems to track key performance indicators as
set out in the business plan and business scorecard.
And on top of that, we reward our people accordingly.
StarBiz:What
is your strategy for future growth?
Saiful: For
the construction division, the key guidepost will
be to diversify our order book to encompass Government,
private sector and international contracts while
taking advantage of the group’s landbank
and to undertake more of the construction activities
for the property development division, SPK Homes.
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