
Raymund Chua of Heraeus Asia Pacific Holding Pte Ltd bags Executive of the Year-Manufacturing at the SBR Management Excellence Awards 2018
The Managing Director slowly revolutionised Heraeus' culture by removing fear from the company.
A globally leading technology group, Heraeus combines businesses in the environmental, energy, electronics, health, mobility and industrial applications sectors. In December 2015, Heraeus established a regional centre in Singapore with the entity registered as Heraeus Asia Pacific Holding Pte Ltd (HSL). The company has four manufacturing facilities located in Tuas, Serangoon North, Pioneer Crescent, and Ang Mo Kio. All 4 factories are registered under Heraeus Materials Singapore Pte Ltd (HMSL).
In 2016 Raymund Chua who is the Head of HR Asia Pacific, was appointed as the Managing Director for Heraeus Materials Singapore Pte Ltd as well as Regional Center Head (RCH) for Singapore, effectively combining three roles into one. Under his helm, Chua changed the Heraeus culture in Singapore by taking on the role of “telling it as it is” by not hesitating to point out opportunities when he sees one, and at the same time being generous with his praises. For encouraging a culture of courage and openness, Chua won Executive of the Year-Manufacturing at the SBR Management Excellence Awards 2018.
Chua's mantra is “I will deliver the cake and don’t expect me to put icing on it.” This slowly revolutionised Heraeus' culture by dissolving "artificial harmony." It is not uncommon to find Chua on few occasions telling everyone in the room that he is “clueless” and wants direction from the team. He is perfectly comfortable in showing that he does have weaknesses because he knows that he had deep mastery in other areas. Chua believes that creativity and innovation will only happen if the company removes fear from the organisation. And these fears are typically created by leaders. That being the case, Chua spent a lot of time with his leaders and supervisors to remind them of the enormous responsibility that is on their shoulders because they are the ones who will ultimately shape the culture of the organisation.
Using his background in human resource management, Chua initiated practices including writing two letters to the leaders and the community monthly. He also shared two to three hours of leadership, managerial, and supervisor best practices with his leadership team. Ultimately, Chua's vision for Heraeus is not just to be an “employer of choice” or to be the “supplier of choice’ but ultimately to “sustain a community in business”.
The Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards was held on November 22, 2018 at the Conrad Centennial Singapore. The award honours the country's most outstanding business leaders, including trailblazing individuals and teams whose initiatives have brought tangible business gains for their company's operations.
The 2018 nominees were judged by a panel consisting of Henry Tan, Managing Director at NEXIA TS; David Chew, Executive Director, Risk Advisory Deloitte Southeast Asia, Lim Wei Wei, Partner, Practice Leader, Governance, and Risk at Baker Tilly TFW; Pardeep Singh Khosa, Director of Dispute Resolution at Drew & Napier; and Yang Eu Jin, Partner and Co Head of Capital Markets Practice at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP.
If you would like to join the 2019 awards and be awarded as one of the most outstanding management executives of Singapore, please email [email protected].