HRTrends
Having survived the dotcom bubble, website designing firm Intimex Business Solutions, winner of the small enterprise category of the HKIRHM/SCMP People Management Awards 2007, is still going strong. Why did Intimex succeed while others failed?
'When the nature of your business is so heavily project-based, losing one employee can result in huge financial losses if any project is incomplete,' said Daisy Chow Oi-yee, chief operating officer of Intimex.. 'Besides compensating the client, the company may have to start the project from scratch again.'
In 2003, the firm won a bid to serve the Trade Development Council, giving it more than 800 projects. From about 200 clients, its clientele grew to more than 1,000. Intimex needed to expand, and Ms Chow knew she needed to change her human resources management strategies if she wanted her staff to stay.
With its pledge, 'I will do your website well', all staff are united to fulfil this corporate mission. It has a successful completion rate of 97 per cent, according to Ms Chow.
Employees were motivated to help the company succeed because, Ms Chow said, 'I was fortunate to have a qualified professional experienced in corporate settings as my tutor, to monitor and fine-tune my progress. It was fun to implement what I was learning in my MBA courses directly into my business and watch my staff's enthusiasm grow.'
