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Teamwork key to success during downturn

Convoy offers an excellent role model for those studying business practices and other financial companies, according to Professor Steven Dekrey, senior associate dean and founding director of the Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA programme.

Last year, he headed the panel of judges for the Hewitt SCMP awards who voted Convoy as Hong Kong's Best Employer in 2009. The judges were impressed by how the company handled the financial downturn.

'For a financial institution to maintain their staffing levels and have as positive an atmosphere and culture was pretty amazing,' Dekrey says. 'That's what made them number one. They handled the downturn, keeping morale up and not slashing any staff.'

He attributes this success during the crisis to the 'incredible teamwork' shown by Convoy's leadership and their willingness to put the company first in the decisions they made.

Dekrey was so impressed by the leadership he saw during the judging that he decided to make Convoy a case study for teaching on the Executive MBA programme he heads.

This closer examination of the company showed him that the teamwork was not limited to the financial crisis, but had been present at Convoy since its foundation and had helped it grow fast. 'The three principles speak about what is best for the company, not what is best for them individually,' he says.

He feels Convoy offers an 'interesting snapshot' of a company as it is expanding, one which can offer the EMBA programme's participants a range of different insights about how a company might be run and employees prioritised. 'It shows the importance of people in a service business and how to treat them properly,' he says. 'That's a good lesson.'

For Dekrey, the team mentality at Convoy - its willingness to put employees first - is one of the key reasons the company has been so successful.

'They are building a company not their individual careers,' he says. 'It's that orientation that has propelled them so quickly into prominence ... I expect them to zoom along.'

(Advertorial)

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