KUALA LUMPUR: Top officials of Eversendai Corporation Bhd, Brickfields Asia College (BAC) and Feruni Ceramiche Sdn Bhd shared their challenges and successes in growing and managing their companies at the Star Media Group Bhd 's leadership session.More than 150 guests attended the sharing session “Engagement with CEOs -- Leadership: Innovate, Integrate, Motivate” which was held at The Vertical in Bangsar South.Eversendai was represented by its executive chairman and group managing director Tan Sri AK Nathan, BAC by its managing director Raja Singham and Feruni Ceramiche by its director Roger OngSpeaking on “Business innovation: Making inroads internationally”, Nathan spoke of the beginnings of the company – which is involved in structural steel projects and oil and gas -- and stressed on the importance of having strong fundamentals.“Eversendai adheres to the basic philosophies of keeping to our commitments, maintaining good relationships, having innovative construction methodologies, having consistent performance as well as having loyal and dedicated employees,” he said.However, the most difficult part in a business, Nathan said, was maintaining the growth trajectory and the standards.“This is when we go back to basics. Only when the basics are strengthened can they show us a better direction to move forward,” he explained.As for Raja Singham, he said companies’ need to move from a traditional hierarchy system to a system where people have more access to leaders on top.Speaking on “Innovative leadership: How to use innovation to lead effectively, work collaboratively and drive results’, he emphasised businesses need innovative leadership to survive in the unpredictable business environment.He added it was also important to keep ahead to find out what is new, better and upcoming.As for Ong, he emphasised the need for companies to put its people first when he spoke on “Inspiring employee motivation in the workplace”.Ong spoke of the importance of strong company culture to extract, nurture and maintain talent.“It has nothing to do with profits, but rather to have the feel good factor; our culture is our brand, and that is what represents us,” he said.The company, which is one of the leading brands in upmarket ceramic and porcelain tiles, also runs various leisure and staff engagement activities that goes beyond work relevance.The event is part of a series of activities leading up to The Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) 2016 to enlighten business owners of current issues and trends impacting small to medium enterprises and local companies.SOBA 2016 is currently open for submission.For the first time this year, the awards have been divided into two tiers: companies with turnover of up to RM25mil and companies with turnover above RM25mil. The deadline for entries is Oct 14.SOBA 2016 is organised by The Star with AmBank as the main sponsor. Event co-sponsors are BMW Malaysia, Credit Guarantee Corp and Matrade, while the official venue sponsor is Connexion Conference and Event Centre.The award is endorsed by the Secretariat for the Advancement of Malaysian Entrepreneurs, supported by Bursa Malaysia and audited by BDO while 98.8 and Suria FM are the official radio stations.For details, call The Star Events Business Unit at 03-7967 1388 ext 1240 (Melissa) or 1657 (Victor) or visit http://www.soba.com.my/

Source: The Star September 20, 2016 08:49 UTC