Engineering firm and cybersecurity specialists Thales was able to offer its two shadows a comprehensive overview of this multi-faceted global business, which is partly owned by the French government and has operations in more than 50 countries.
Oliver Hui, vice-president, sales, e-security business, says explaining the forecasting process and how making one decision can have an impact on many others was a key point he wanted to get across. “This made the shadows see that it’s necessary for people to work together and communicate closely and that running a business in silos can be harmful,” he says.
Hui says his shadow, University of Hong Kong business administration student Peter Lau, was inquisitive, smart and asked good questions. “He did his best with the tasks assigned, and I’d consider him a solid candidate for any future vacancies.”
Lau, meanwhile, appreciated the chance to be one of the Thales team at the Asia Cloud Expo 2017. “I also appreciated gaining some hands-on experience with Thales’ Codebase system, which enabled me to better understand the company’s operations,” he says.
For anyone about to embark on a shadowing programme, Hui has this advice: “Talk to everyone, seek input from them, admit that there is much to learn and try to get the most out of every conversation.”
Thales sales and bids director for Hong Kong, Ludovic Lang, also took part in the programme. He was keen to demonstrate to his shadow, transportation system engineering student Tony Fu, the diversity of topics that any senior manager needs to address, from complex strategic business cases to HR-related problems. “By joining in on our weekly team meeting, I think Tony got to learn about the importance of regularly and transparently communicating to the team and performing collectively,” he says.
Lang advises shadows to consider opportunities out of their comfort zone. “I’d encourage them to move abroad and try to work in at least one other country. I’d also urge them to meet people doing something different to what they do; the world is becoming more and more complex and companies always require more multidisciplinary profiles.”
Lang’s shadow, Tony Fu, says he appreciated the chance to attend an executive meeting and see management in action. “Each director presented a monthly overview to the board and discussed how to cooperate to achieve the CEO’s goals,” he says.
He also had coffee and chatted with senior managers about the industry and addressed specifics including maintaining relationships with clients and how to promote products to corporate clients.
Fu admits that the most difficult part of the programme was preparing his presentation. “It wasn’t easy to prepare a slide showing off high-level management tips I’d learned, and I felt a bit nervous speaking in front of senior management.”
The most rewarding part was lunch with the CEO, he says. “It was my first time talking with senior management, and I got to know that, though they are busy, they still try to read books and keep up with what’s going on in the world – they keep learning, just like students do.”
