Leonard Cheong
MD ERNI Singapore
The first of the 10 Ps is still the Place – ERNI
I have earlier shared that ERNI uses its gtld.erni as its top level domain name. This gives ERNIans all the wonderful opportunity to use an email address using the company tagline @betterask.erni. Also the webpage has the URL www.betterask.erni.
ERNI, founded in 1994 in Switzerland is a private family-owned company- – https://www.25years.erni/. Today, ERNI has presence in 8 countries over 18 locations.
ERNI believes in the impact of Swiss software engineering to create customer value. Therefore, ERNI is building a global platform based on Swiss behaviors and adapted to the needs of local customers,
with a goal of 100 sites * >= 100 employees. ERNI’s primary focus is in 6 industry verticals.
By virtue that ERNI is a private family-owned company and the 6 industry verticals that we focus on deal with sensitive information, it is not surprising that many people in the market are not aware of ERNI.
ERNI is ISO certified for ISO 9001, ISO 27000 and interesting ISO 13 485. Though we are a Swiss software engineering company, we are ISO 13 485 certified for medical devices – a QMS requirements for regulatory purposes. Many companies in the healthcare services or medical devices production will go for such certification. ERNI has ISO 13 485 as MedTech is one of six ERNI’s strong focus domains.
“We are a business partner to countless persons who place their trust in us and who rely on us. In the context of everyday business, our managers and employees make decisions with a view to respecting and preserving these values”
Andreas Gisler, CEO ERNI Group.
I ensure that my own personal values of COIL (Commitment, Ownership, Integrity and Loyalty), matches ERNI’s four core value – TRIP (Trust, Responsibility, Independence & Passion). This is vital to the success of ERNI, the teams that I would be leading in Singapore and Philippines and myself.
Second, but most important, is People
At the moment, the most crucial and urgent task on my plate is getting to know the team. I conducted 1:1 catch ups with every team member to
- understand them as an individual (Education / Career / Hobbies / Languages / Family / Personal Values / Aspirations) so that I can better work with and help them develop in ERNI,
- ascertain their passions and motivations for ERNI (Appeals / Financial Health / Changes / People / Areas for Improvement), and
- determine their expectations of me as a leader.
This simple act had an amazing impact in helping improve my understanding of the team dynamics. Investing time with the team members, helping them visualize their career path and working towards growing with the company, has enabled us to build trust quickly.
Some voices from team as feedback received based on the exchanges: Mariefie: “We’re like a family, it feels like home even when we are working”
- Joanne: ”ERNI is a family business. Used to focus only on farming existing accounts but couple years ago, moved towards new business development strategy.”
- Renrose: “Open Communications Organization”
- Regina: “ERNI gives me the opportunity to meet people”