Day 14:His Last day in Micromart "I have gathered you all here today..."

Have you seen Semarang's light-up mobils? Little bicycle-cars that put a whole flat of "lampu klap-klip" to shame in the Hari Raya season. It gave me quite a shock when I looked out of the window of the car to see that they actually shared the road as they pedalled gleefully around Simpang Lima, seemingly unaware of the fact that you could barely see them if not for the lights. It may seem unremarkable, but those light mobils gave a whole new life to Semarang's night scene as they toured past stalls selling street food (sausages everywhere). Before pasar malams went out of fashion, I'm quite certain this might have been what it felt like as people line the streets eating food prepared on portable stoves. That's why I love Southeast Asia. There's a charm to the culture unique to them that's hard to find elsewhere.

At 3p.m. earlier in the afternoon today Cik Farid said "come, let's go". Turning around from my computer I got a shock to see that the room was pretty much empty except for myself and Cik Farid. Apparently they have gathered downstairs, awaiting what Cik Farid refers to as his "Town Hall Talk". This talk is held quarterly and is carried out with the aim of motivating staff, establishing company direction and upcoming events together and highlighting areas for improvement. There was a particularly unique mood to this town hall talk. Everyone was listening, and actually internalizing what he was saying. There is certainly a difference between people who listen to be polite, and people who listen because they want to, and the aura here was certainly of the latter. It intrigued me. From upper management to even the cleaner, everyone's eyes was on him, with anticipation in their eyes and a satisfied smile on their lips. They seemed ready to run a thousand miles if asked - why was that? I wanted to think it was because they just received their bonus and a holiday was around the corner but even so, that can't be all there was to it.

So I turned to the only guy who was speaking, Cik Farid. I tried to figure out what he was doing right, and this was what I observed: His motivation was sincere. He revealed that staff that performed well was given due recognition. He also got his key management to present themselves and he bluntly put forward that if he was at it alone without their help, Micromart wouldn't be where it is today. This recognition and worth was even provided to support staff like the cleaner who ensured that the office was free of even a speck of dust at any point in time. In establishing the company direction, he also made sure that they felt a sense of belonging and stake in the direction the company was going. It was as much their company as it was his. I believe that's pretty smart. Sense of loyalty and belonging to companies are getting less and less common in this time and age where company loyalty may potentially result in stagnancy.

The last part was interesting, how he actually highlighted areas of improvement in front of everyone. Some of his examples include his awareness of moonlighting activity, friction as a result of communication break downs and he even narrated stories of former employees he asked to resign from the company. These problems can clear become a liability to operations, but Cik Farid actually made sure that the point of his message was not finger pointing. Names weren't mentioned and it was clear that was not the focus, but instead directed the focus of his employees into what he wants them to take away from the feedback he was providing. There was no criticism, or even snide remarks out to shame. It was just him appealing to his staff to also share his concern and refrain from performing such issues.

Following the talk his staff actually arranged a dinner to break fast together. Apparently Cik Farid had no hand in the organizing of this activity, but he looked pleased that his staff were making an effort to spend time together outside working hours and enjoy themselves. He didn't even step into the limelight, observing them from the side as he enjoyed his own meal and snapped pictures discreetly. I think it was fascinating when you're actually looking at the manifestation of the company culture that he has strived to cultivate amongst his staff.

In my conversation with Cik Farid today as well he talked about the importance of having EQ to be a leader that can move people. Several times we tend to use the phrase "No EQ" as a means of labelling someone without empathy. However, he narrated that EQ does not have to be something you're born with. He told me that when he was younger he was not the same man he is today, and that along the way he learnt to develop empathy, to be sincere and think for others. Experience goes a long way in developing a person, and it's not so much about age rather than what you have been through. With an awareness of your own strengths, your experiences and tempering it with empathy - your leadership capacity will certainly be built up.

At night after working hours we continued some rounds around a few outlets for spot checks. Reaching the office at 7am he is the first to be in the office, and he's also one of the last. I wondered why he wouldn't leave checks for tomorrow rather than frighten cashiers with a spot check right before closing. However, he told me what he was really doing as well was to follow up with what his employees said they have done. This is one of the ways by which he ascertains that work is done thoroughly. As he says "when I check myself, there's no way they can bullshit me. Their credibility is at stake". I asked him about times when he had to make hard decisions and he said that he has to do it. You can't be liked by everybody. I suppose in the world of business you have to remember what is best for everyone. If people become a liability it would not only be unfair for yourself, but everyone else involved as well who will take two steps back from achieving their vision.

By the time I reached my room it was coming to midnight. 

"This is life as an entrepreneur. Most importantly, you must have passion in what you do". "So what made you passionate about opening mama shops?".

"Oh I get to see cash everyday" he said, beaming and clutching the rupiahs in his hand from the cash register whose numbers he was tallying.

Apparently the simplest of responses can also be the most honest.

Day 1: Stepping into Micromart Durian

So begins my first day of understanding how a Micromart works. Given that my only prior work experience involved national service and social sectors, this was quite the refreshing experience. It kind of ticked off that childlike desire I used to have of running my own "mama shop".

So with the understanding that I was completely an empty vessel - I decided to learn everything from the ground up. So naturally, it starts with how to be a cashier. Operating a cash register, checking and arranging stock, receiving stock and sending out receipts to HQ. It may seem mundane, but that is the bread and butter (which was surprisingly refreshing). It absolutely amazed me the meticulousness involved in actually running the store. They accounted for everything and ensured that everything looked right. I realized that when you walk into a store - its pristine state has people like the kasirs I met behind it.

I must say that I am very familiar with convenience stores. My experiences with stores are vast and well travelled - to satiate my desire for sugary drinks which I absolutely adore. This gave me quite a perspective when I stepped into Micromart Durian - because I was frankly underwhelmed: I realized how unfamiliar I am with the brand. I decided to bear that in mind when I was to provide my thoughts on MM. 7-eleven, Lawson, Tesco Express - I know what to expect each time I walk in, and without looking at the brand name I know which store I am in with the environment at atmosphere. So that was the question I left with on my first day - What identifies with Micromart? Why would I prefer walking into Micromart compared to say, Alfamart or Indomarket?

Day 2: Balik Kerja

I woke in the morning quite worried. I believe that my weak Singaporean stomach could not handle the ice that was in my iced milk tea yesterday. No way I'm going out for 2 weeks over ice man. Thankfully my stomach problems only lasted a day.

I walked in MM Durian once again, and I wanted a perspective different from a kasir. So I decided to take a walk. Walking down the street I realized that there were about 4-5 "Kedai Runcit" or Provision stores in the same street as MM Durian. In Singapore, 7 eleven basically cannibalized every provision store they could find, even if it was at the cost of their own outlets. However, trying to buy out every provision store here is clearly not feasible. So it got me thinking again about yesterday's question. What would draw someone into MM Durian instead of these provision stores that actually had similar stock, albeit a smaller variety.

I walked back in the store, and decided to start thinking about why I love walking into convenience stores compared to the older mama shops. I believe it was because everything MN about it was pleasant. The displays looked pleasant. The cleanliness was pleasant. Air con temperature was pleasant. Lighting was pleasant. I had choice. Occasionally I had deals I could choose from. Oh the little joys of purchasing from stores. So if I were to turn MM Durian into my dream store, what would I do. I wanted information first.

So I spent the rest of the day poring through report logs on the system and sending it back to my computer to view it later at night. I wanted to know where the money was coming from as part of this quintessential process Cik Farid calls "cash flow". So of the hundred over products I see on the shelves, which were moving? Which were there? (It was quite surprising when some of the items on the shelves was actually dusty. It must have been there for ages).

I looked at profit margins, I looked at flows and understood how this reports can help - because it is a review of what we're trying out in terms of variety. I understood changes in the peak periods for MM Durian and understood what people want. (MM makes a killing off bottled water).

So for today, I learnt the relationship between the store and consumers. I understood the concept of demand and supply - seeing it before me as people bought snacks and other miscellaneous goods. Time to find out more, so that night I took to try researching how convenience stores are in hopes of understanding more to bring me to my hope to find out how sales can improve in MM Durian.

Day 3: What now

I returned on the 3rd day - wanting to have some concrete ideas on how MM Durian can be a better MM. My research yesterday night did leave me rather exhausted - but I had more knowledge on the issue. However, looking at the reports I realized that it was shallow of me to assume that one could try to adapt overseas convenience stores into Semarang's MM. Resources granted to these large MNCs are not as readily available to the smaller MM organization. Given that we were also dealing with franchisees and investors - care must be taken to decide what investments to improve a store could be worth it, and what were not. We had to be prudent with how we spend or I would fall behind in the core principle of cash flow "Always have cash on hand".

So things like, the shop must be decorated to have a clearer image branding, all lights switched on and colder air cons would only make it more expensive to run the store. Ideally I should be cutting costs, not adding to them.

So I turned my attention to the products available at the store. I realized that for a convenience store it would make sense to add products like shampoo and soap to those who might need it, however unlikely. However in truth, I was admittedly perplexed by the ratio of food and beverages to household necessities. In my personal opinion, for a store like MM Durian to be found along a road, we should certainly have a more exciting selection of food and beverage. At its current state, I felt like walking into MM Durian was that it was a shampoo and soap store. I didn't understand why I would need 40 varieties of each type of bathroom essentials. It is highly likely that I would be in for drinks and food rather than soap. If I wanted soap, I might have got it from a place that would be cheaper than MM Durian... like the kedai runcit opposite. The good stuff was hidden around the back of the store - like the great selection of instant noodles and drinks. However this was opinion I would keep to myself as apparently some people do buy soap and shampoo from here based on reports - but certainly few varieties rather than every item available. I strongly believed that we should change out the product selection of MM Durian.

Thinking again back to sales I thought that time sales would work. Fortunately, they were having a Ramadhan Bazaar that included flyers and some publicity. A team even came down to move promotional goods outside and play music to attract shoppers. Time for increased sales I thought. I was wrong. Dishearteningly, nobody came for the bazaar. The weather might have affected their mood. Or maybe it was because it was fasting month. Still, waiting for Ramadhan to finish wasn't a very good choice of action either. This threw economics out of the window. When price reduces, price elastic demand should technically increase and sales would increase. However there were certainly more factors that swayed this the wrong way.

At this point I also noted that MM Durian was well staffed... to the point of probably being overstaffed. There was a small problem of too many kasirs "waiting on" customers. This effects unnecessary pressure - but I appreciated that everybody was on the ball with their job. It was certainly better than receiving poor service.

So what did MM Durian lack that would attract more people? Would a banner pointing the way to MM Durian work? Do we need a caller outside the store? This were all efforts that would need either added costs or increased effort - what were the gains? That I could not have information - and kept that in mind. I'd probably ask Marketing with regards to how the relationship between promotions and sales. My customer expectations also exist as a Singaporean, and I was not of the culture so that I had to keep in mind.

Still, if all else fails, chairs and tables in the space outside MM Durian would definitely attract night crowds right? Even if sales only came in the form of cigarettes and drinks - that was still sales. MM could be a "tempat lepak" at night. From what I observed - that usually works.

Day 4: Different Toko

Woke up early on a Sunday for work - something that has not happened in quite some time. It was certainly interesting that Simpang Lima's roads were closed off. It would have been interesting if it were not for fasting month, for Pak Min told me that it was "rame" (lively) on Sunday mornings in the area due to the wide selection of food, the off day and the open roads. So he asked if I would like to experience a different store this time around, and I gladly took up the opportunity.

So we took a longer drive down to Manggun Sari MM. Walking in, it was more of the convenience store of my expectations. It was brighter, it was more pleasant on the eyes. Then again space had much to do with it. But I felt like I would be more ready to pick up more stuff here.

Wanting to see if my initial impressions were correct - I pulled up their records. Much to my surprise I realized that their sales were more or less about the same. Was I wrong? What kind of convenience store works in Semarang?

I thought hard about it, and could only come up with the conclusion that there was probably another competitor in a more accessible area. The same way how having two convenience stores in the same place splits customers available in that area. Not knowing the place too well however I did not venture too far out - but I did notice that there was quite a selection of food outlets where one could probably get their fix for food and drink as well.

So Manggun Sari ended up not being a feasible model I could use - but I certainly did have a better impression of their product organization. While they had more or less the same products as MM Durian - it seemed like it was more tailored to the consumer and expansive with the way the shelving and display was done. Then again, what if my expectations would only serve to intimidate the populace into thinking that this was a "more expensive" location and would prefer to head to the food stalls instead.

The staff, while also displaying the same MM hospitality - seemingly did not have such heavy taxation when it came to stock taking. I assumed that it meant that they were more efficient with stock taking - but I did not see the book that MM Durian used. I wondered if it was possible to increase efficiency in the method of stock taking. While tediousness creates a sense of being meticulous... I did believe that it was taking up too much time at MM Durian.

Farid MN

Day 5: "Boss dah Datang"

Today I reported to the office and met with my boss, Cik Farid. He began conducting his meetings with his staff and getting up to date with the happenings over the month. Surprisingly, his sessions were relatively short - a refreshing change from the nature of staff meetings that I have been attending. Objectives were clear, and straight to the point. With new staff, he did not spend too much time discussing irrelevant courtesies nor did he just give them a new project to take up and put them in a "swim or drown" situation that I was aware some bosses liked to do to evaluate the capacities of newer staff. I believed this was efficient. Efficient is good. There was no "Alamak boss nak ape skrg" attitude which I have seen in other places. New staff also can comfortably begin adapting to a new work environment.

He then explained to me some essentials of running a business - like maintaining cashflow and the three stages of execution: 1) Objective 2) People 3) Operation. The first two I managed to see from both his meetings and the kind of people he employed. However the 3rd I got a chance to see with Cik Farid coming down on site. He was visibly annoyed with a discrepancy between an inventory order and what was actually already available. Understandably, the problem as told by him was a lack of effort in checking the warehouse - which could have cost quite a considerable amount in terms of redundant indents.

Actually, my initial impression was that a call to the warehouse or an email could have resolved the matter without needing to leave the office. However I actually learnt something from doing it the hard way. It sends a stronger message and gives you greater credibility in highlighting the problem that exists. There's no way anybody can try to pull a fast one when you're there on site - and it also sets an example on doing that little bit of extra to ensure that work gets done in the best way possible. Follow up and follow through can apply even when it is just a process of finding the necessary inventory required to set up a new MM.

Admittedly I was rather fearful of what would happen to the poor staff who would be on the receiving end of his... discovery. However it was kept very professional, and the worker did not look discouraged. Acknowledging her mistake, she took responsibility for it and would then follow up with it. In some office environments there can be some stale air following being told off - or an overtly defensive employee. However there was none of that in MM's work environment. This was also the same in the office where there was no clear hierarchical relationship between staff. While the departments were sectioned, it was a good office environment where the positive energy and dynamics could be felt. They looked happy with the work they were doing, and supporting each other in their own little way.

My biggest lesson after that came following the end of the day where Cik Farid asked me several questions about what I thought of himself or people. Initially I was uncomfortable airing honest views as I may not necessarily have the right impression and experiences in life shape me differently. I also tend to be more forgiving than I should be. However it brought him to tell me about "Character Analysis". It does not necessarily have to be judgment on the person - but it makes a difference in how you can adapt or react to people and situations. I should always be trying to analyse people he says. I'll bear that in mind, but what do I do if I possess a wrong impression I wonder? Would that not open up problems?

Day 6: “Gudang (Garam)”

Today’s morning started particularly early, at 6am. Taking a pretty long drive for about an hour into an area I understand to be the outskirts of Semarang – we were greeted by an admittedly surprising sight. At 7am in the morning, the Micromart was closed! It was… puzzling to say the least with the cashier nowhere to be found. Well, at least I was puzzled – Cik Farid was probably furious beyond belief. 

After waiting for about 15min, we decided to make our way back to the office.

This was the first time I'm actually witnessing a challenge that can actually be quite damaging to the brand name. Back in SG, if a place says it opens at a certain time - you are more or less certain that it will be open at that time. It is predictability. It is trust between the consumer and the brand. Usually the only times you face this problem would be at hawker centre when your favourite Soto stall might decide to sleep in or not open at all. Cik Farid explained that even in Indonesia you can be presented with such operational challenges.

So I decided to observe how he tried to overcome this problem. Sitting most uncomfortably in that meeting he gave his staff a piece of his mind on the issue. Whether they understood or not is still unknown - I suppose it links back to follow up and follow through.

Then I was posted to the warehouse to observe operations. Oh that was quite fun there are little thrills in being in a room that is full of sugary drinks. The warehouse and the tokos form the front end of Micromart's operations and it was apparent to see that even with 30 tokos in operation things have to run like clockwork. This amazed me with the team that was in the warehouse. During their inventory checks I saw everybody helping out where they can - and they finished the job rather quickly. This was followed by several packing and delivery jobs for the various orders of the toko. The warehouse group idled and laughed together when there was nothing to do, but when it was time to work they did it with clear teamwork and efficiency. Although with the same level of noise. They were a lively crew - it was a different lively from the office staff - but you could tell that they cooperated with each other. Certainly there are times when they could have done things more effectively (human chain is quite an outdated method with the invention of wheels) but you would not hear a single complaint despite the weather. It was quite an interesting experience seeing them work together - and some of them also used to be kasirs.

Back at the office Mr Farid asked on the impressions of front end which I have just described above - but then I asked whether he can retain the same level of efficiency when his company scales up. 30 tokos is one thing, how about 100? or 200? He then explained that work culture matters. It is the team that can get their respective duties done that determines the success of operations. Most importantly, give credit where credit is due. By Ismail Zainal