Last Day at Work

Here I am, sitting in the office for the last day of the week and the last day of the internship.

How am I feeling right now? Sad...

Time flies and the next thing i know, it's the last day of my internship and soon I'll return to Malaysia after three months of being away... :)

This morning I submitted the report to my manager after my supervisor approved it and around 10 AM i joined the conference call meeting with the staffs in Jakarta and Jayapura. They do it weekly to update all the issues that pop out through out the week.

For lunch, my manager held a farewell lunch for me at the Chinese Restaurant nearby. It was fun and out of 16 people in the office, only two can't make it because one is on leave and the other have another meeting with the local GOI Members.The new Gen.Supt who just moved from Jakarta to Kuala Kencana asked me what I have learned through out this two months and at the end, he shared me the foundation of what is actually GovRel is doing.

It is actually true. It is our duty to inform the GOI Members what we are, what are we doing, how do we do it and so on. To let them know the truth about the company so at least they know it straight away from us. What actually happened outside, people loves to accuse the company for all sort of stuff. The reason it took place is simply because they have no idea what are we doing apart from what people tell them. The worst part is when they have no idea what so ever about the company. This is where GovRel needs to do its job to be transparent with the GOI on what the mining company is doing. We do hope that at the end of the day, they will have a good impression on us. Apart from that, if they choose not to have their own opinion regarding the company, it's alright. If they choose to say bad stuff about the company, as long as they know what we are doing and not what people thought we are doing.

The challenge comes along. To realize that the demographic of the populations here is not as advanced as other places in Indonesia, that's then as a PR Practitioner, GovRel's staff need to find a way to engage the information correctly in an acceptable form to GOI. They basically need to learn the characteristics of the GOI Members before making any move. The results of this will be intangible. If they have the attitude that showing that they dislike the company, in the future it may cause a problem and could be fatal.This is why we as the PR Pracs for the GOI Members need to be aware and keep on finding a new way to engaged with the GOI Members and improving the current relationship.

This is where I understand totally what my Manager said. As PR Prac here, what one really really need is the ability think critically on how to make things work yet understanding how the society. We may follow the format on our reports and all, but when we meeting up with the key public, we really really need to invent our own formula to makes it work. To understand the educational background and their cultural background is the vital keys to achiever our goals.

So yea, it's not how well we know how to make them happy, but also on how well we adapting with to the location we are working with and to understand what and how our key public is.

With that, I am signing off. :)

Have a great day, all!! God blesss!

Gabriela Teguh
LUCT

Appreciation

One of the things that I have learnt while I am here is appreciation. How important it is as a team to appreciate one another. On my first week at work, my manager called us in for a short meeting in his room. As far as I remember they will have to accompany the VVIP Guest the day after so I thought we will discuss about the preparation for that.

 

I went in just to found out there were three gold coin medals on the table and his camera. After everyone went in, he announced that he would like to pass on the gift from the company for those who have work for 5, 10, and 15 years. For that day, he will pass on the gold coin medals for two of my colleague who have worked for five and 15 years. Took a picture for documentation when he wants to pin the medal to my colleagues and pass on the certificate of appreciation from the Management. The small ‘ceremony’ was filled up with laughter and lots of teasing. The bond in this department is quite tight and the atmosphere in the room feels more like group of friends hang out rather than ‘This is your boss’ room’.

 

Looking back, I realize that he can call my colleague to his office and just give it to them there and then. No one needs to realize that he gives them the gift from the Management. It’s not even from him. But he made the choice to honor his staff and give it in front of everyone of us. His act inspires me a lot and it is actually the high light of appreciation. He, as a leader, set a good example.

 

Often people forget that everyone deserves appreciation. It’s not that they want to get the attention, but we have to admit that once in a while, an appreciation could mean a lot to us. Like this case, I take it as a motivation booster. Having a manager that care for you will boost your motivation to work better. The ambience of the working place no longer is this serious and scary and stressful place. But as a place where we work seriously but at the same time friendship grows and yes, we can have some fun.

 

A small act of appreciation brings a huge impact for the whole department. Not only tighten the bond they have as the member of the department, but also giving them a sense of appreciation to their clients outside of the office as well. I am blessed to be in a team where they appreciate one another. Works become fun. J

 

Just a small act of appreciation could touch someone’s heart. Could encourage someone and boost their confidence. To put it in the relevance in Public Relation, appreciation towards our team member, colleague, those who work with us and even our client will make a difference. Everyone will try to do their best because they know they can through our appreciation.

 

I am trying to put it not only in my working life in general, but also in my daily life. Appreciating people, respect. Encourage them when they need one, and not putting them down just because we think they are not as superior as what we think we are. Not looking down at your classmates just because you think they are not as bright and as hardworking as you. When a leader sets a good example, people will follow. When you set a good example, one or two who are close with you will follow. So why don’t we start to appreciate everyone now? J

 

Gaby, LUCT

 

First Week at Work - Trip to Grasberg

The first day finally arrived. On Monday, December 7th 2009 I officially begin my internship. Due to the sole purpose of this remote area is to work, so the office hours here are 7-5 with one and a half hours lunch break. I arrived around 7 am and waited at the lobby for around 10 minutes before someone open their part of the office.

I went in and greeted by Mr. Nico Parinussa on behalf of Mr. Jonny Lingga, the manager. Mr. Parinussa explained what this department is doing. Oh boy, it is wider than my expectation. Not only is to keep the good relationship with the Government, but also managing every aspect that related with the Government from the company. It’s like the main gate between Government of Indonesia (GOI) and the company. From the shipping of the mine product right up to the existence of expatriate workers in job site including the Land and Forestry issue. This is bigger than what I have expected! The fact that the whole crew in jobsite is less than 15 people amazed me even more.

For the first week, my duty is to learn their job bit by bit. I need to read their reports and learn how they arranged things. I found out how useful the timeline for the report and work planning. The week is already filled with gazillions plan to do. I rarely see most of my colleague because they will be busy outside.

On my second day, I got my first hand experience in accompanying the special guests. I was pretty lucky when Mr. Lingga allows me to follow them to accompany the Members of House of Representatives Commission I (DPR RI Komisi I) – overseeing defense and foreign affairs. They came from Jakarta to jobsite to see what is happening here. Few accidents including a mysterious sniper that happened for the last four months and they want to find out what is really happening.

I left home around 5.35 am on Tuesday morning to go to the airport to wait for their arrival. After that we were supposed to take the bus and go straight to highland and later on visit the mining area. However, changes happened and we went to the hotel first where our VVIP guests could take their breakfast and freshen up a bit before the long journey begins.

We used three buses to go to the highland area. Passing through the spot where the accidents take place, we saw armies and police men fully geared and tanks guarding the road. We passed the check point safe and sound. We managed to do whatever things we need to do later on. The Director for the company and the spoke person for the company gave few presentations explaining what the company is about. This is to give the relevant information about the company. People tend to have negative perception about the company because they don’t know what is really happening here. That is why it is very crucial to explain about the company whenever guests come and visit the jobsite.

After done with lunch, presentations, and answering all the questions, everyone is getting ready to go to the Mine area. The guests need to do a bit of medical check up done by the SOS team to check their blood pressure to show whether they could follow up to the mine or not. The level of oxygen is very low up there that is why those who are not fit is not permitted to go there, to prevent accident takes place. We went up to the look out point and even though cloud is covering most of the mine surgace, but we can still see it at the area that is uncovered. The mine tour takes about one hour.

The journey went well and everyone is satisfied and tired. I came home around 9.30 pm. A Gift Kit contained jacket, small umbrella and a small brochure contains the information about the company was given inside the handmade bag. Partnering with other departments, we succeeded the event and with two days gap, another Commission who are in charge for Legal and Human Rights issue came and did the same tour.

This is just one of many more to comes I believe and from this experience, I realised that one cannot stand by itself in this company. Like take examples from this event, at least eight departments working hand in hand to make sure that everything goes well following the itinerary that GovRel made. It is vital to have a good internal communications in event like this.

Oh well, one lesson learnt this week, event management is not that easy and need a lot of communications to avoid miscommunications.
Have a fabulous day, guys!

Gaby, LUCT.

Hello from the Jungle - an introduction

Hey All, this is my first posting here.

I'm Gabriela Teguh, also known as Gaby from LUCT. I am doing my internship back in Indonesia at the moment. It is going to be my second week and slowly things getting better. :)

I am currently doing my internship in PT. Freeport Indonesia, a mining company that is located in a remote area in West Papua, Indonesia. The mining company itself has been around for nearly 40 years and it is actually an American company. I am placed in the Government Relations Department.

The sole reason why I applied for this position is because I want to learn how company manages the relationship with the Government. For an international company like this, keeping a good relationship with the local Government is one of the important things that need to be taken care of. I think it is pretty challenging when it comes to dealing with the Government.

I left Malaysia as soon as I received the news that I got a place here. It takes two different flights to reach home and the duration of each flight will be more than two hours with huge gap of the departure time. I reach my destination around 7 am the next day and by lunch time I received the itinerary of things that I need to do before start my work the next Monday.

One day after my arrival, I have to go through my medical check up. The last time I had my medical check up was five years ago, before I left this place for high school. I went through the normal procedures like what everyone else in this place have to go through, blood test, vision test, x-ray, lungs test, hearing test, urine test, and others to make sure that I am in a good health. Good news, I am in a good health.

The next two days, I have to attend the Safety Inductions. This training took up the whole day and basically it is to raise awareness towards safety at work. Especially for those who are going to work in the mining area. One can’t start their work without following this induction. This company takes a very serious care when it comes to safety issue. They are doing their best to push the number of fatal accident as low as possible.

During this safety induction, I learnt a lot apart from safety gears and their usage. I learnt from here that the company wants every employee could work with their maximum capacity and enjoy their fruit of the labor to the max as well. It is very inspiring for me.

After spending two days there, comes Sunday, and on Monday, I will officially start my internship….

Feeling? SUPER NERVOUS!!

Gaby, LUCT