Stephan Neumeier of Kaspersky Lab Singapore Pte Ltd wins Executive of the Year - IT Services at the SBR Management Excellence Awards 2018

The firm is on track to reach its targeted 22% growth in APAC by 2018 under Neumeier's transparent leadership.

In the region, the firm’s overall growth has risen 11% and is on track to reach its target of 22% by the end of 2018 through its focus on the enterprise segment, digital business and small to medium businesses (SMBs). Neumeier's achievements as Kaspersky Asia Pacific's chief has led to his recognition as Executive of the Year for IT Services at the SBR Management Excellence Awards 2018.

With his 18 years of experience in the international market scene and specialising in growing emerging markets, Neumeier has three fundamental principles that earn him a lot of respect amongst his senior management as well as his peers and subordinates. Neumeier's first principle is to always be transparent. From being transparent about his decisions and about sharing key information concerning the company, Neumeier strives to ensure that every employee in the region understands his strategies, overall business performance, and changes he has implemented. This method is also known as the total quality management, or TQM principle, where he has successfully placed people such as employees, customers and others first.

The second driving principle is to always be consistent. This means driving initiatives until they are fully executed and completed. For Neumeier, business meetings, ideas, and daily tasks are important, and so he takes the execution of tasks seriously. He notes action items in meetings and keeps track of them until they are executed and completed. This means that every discussion and meeting is conducted efficiently and effectively.

Lastly, Neumeier always ensures that his subordinates understand what is needed and why. Despite being a very busy senior leader, Neumeier always takes the time to ensure an employee understands the task they have been given. Neumeier has implemented an open door policy where everyone is able to walk in and ask any question that would help them better undertake a task they have been given. This empowers employees to become "self-driving engines" because they understand the task and know why it has to be executed in certain way.

Moreover, Neumeier has taken the initiative in understanding employees’ capabilities by introducing different positions and tasks to enable each employee to perform better, both for themselves as well as for the company. This shows that placing the right talents in the right positions ensures positive growth for the company. Neumeier is also not afraid to take calculated risks and implement huge changes, especially in a technology industry that grows rapidly and changes extensively by the minute.

Some innovations that Neumeier has implemented include the following: RFY (reach, frequency and yield) module to boost the SMB business, ‘All Hands’ regular monthly engagement call across APAC to boost employees motivation, drive, and understanding of the business, as well as an action items tracking system. The RFY module implemented by Neumeier measures channel success. This industry standard practice was then adjusted according to the cultural diversity of Asia, to ensure the company and its partners could grow the business internally. Under the ‘All Hands’ call, Neumeier keeps employees informed about the current business, which in turn enables them to ask questions, as well as share the success of others in order to build motivation and togetherness amongst employees. Lastly, by implementing the action item tracking system, business meetings, discussions, and ideas no longer go to waste or are neglected, as they are documented in a systematic way. Neumeier has proven the effectiveness of this method by resolving many items that were pending for years. This method is now also being adopted by many other departments within the company and is respected by many employees.

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].