High PMA

The reasons for coming to Delhi were many:

First of all, the challenging project that is ongoing! A few years ago I said to some colleagues that it would be fun and interesting to work at in airport in another country, and in another environment. They asked where – and I immediately answered in India. My father was from India and my mother is from Sweden, and the same year as I was born my Father died in a car accident in Sweden. My mother was hospitalized for almost half a year, and after that she wanted to go to Yumas father to spend time with his big family. After a few years we returned home to Sweden with very strong ties to the 9 brothers and sisters of Yuma.

Secondly, there are only two things you can give your children, and that is their roots and their wings. I saw this great opportunity to come and work in a country like India, contributing in creating an airport to make the Indian people proud of, at the same time as enriching the roots of my wonderful kids, and provide spare parts to their wings.

Delhi offers laughter, tears, frustration, despair and happiness for all family members, but is also very rewarding as you push yourself over certain thresholds. I am educated within the Equestrian field (horse riding instructor), Hotel Management and General Management, and the adventure here could be compared with a show jumping course. You have your set number of fences in various shapes and you know that you have to get over them somehow. Your partner may not be a horse, but certainly your team/customer/friend or similar. Now it is a matter of how you are approaching each and every jump; short strides, long strides or simply even strides? Well, that will be determined by if the fence is wide, high or maybe even double… and also by the distance in between the jumps. Let’s make sure we get to the “jump-off” – so that we can show how agile we are to tactically manage time and faults. This would in operational terms be expressed as time/cost/specification (quality)

Husband and Children like it here – however Charlies comment is unforgettable:

“Mom, Delhi is OK, but next time we go somewhere, do you think we could find a cleaner country where there are waste paper baskets that people actually use?”

Our children (8 and 10 years old) are devoted football players as well as ice hockey players, and my husband is a devoted coach, so we started to look for possibilities as we came here. We tried with Delhi International Football League, where all the “expat kids” are playing, but they were “full”. At first we felt really disappointed, but I believe there is a meaning behind everything. Shortly after this experience we found this fantastic football club “Simla Youngs” and felt very welcome here. It differs from Europe as the coaches are employed in contrast to in Europe where most of the coaches are the fathers of kids. They play 5 times a week and both Charlie and Alexander have been selected to defend the Indian colours in Wales this summer, which they are very proud of. Approximately 20 teams from Europe, Asia and the US will meet in Wales for this traditional football cup, and Simla Youngs aim high – to make it to the semi finals and become one of the top ten teams in the tournament!

My husband is fortunate enough to be able to spend unlimited time with our boys, which is unusual for a father with kids in this age. Since the schools are quite tough here, including the language aspect, this time is spent a lot on homework support. Håkan has also become an active blogger and gotten some time to reflect. He is the CFO of the house, and since it sometimes feels that we have moved 20 years back in time when it comes to administration, his role is critical to the family.

Spoiled in a way!!

Our fantastic Mary – what would we do without her? She irons our clothes, looks after our house, and she cooks the best Indian food! You can hear how the kids teach Mary English and she teaches them Hindi, and the laughter could be heard from far away as I come home from work. “I don’t know how we would manage without Mary – she loves our kids and she takes pride in being part of our family”

Our driver, Sanjay knows no English at all, so he contributes to our frustration. However, he is the best driver and he would do anything for Charlie and Alexander if needed. We don’t have the heart to not keep him. The kids love him, and he needs a job to go to as he has a one-year-old daughter to provide for.

At work I would sort the challenges in three categories: The cultural aspect, the efficiency aspect and the achievement factor

The cultural aspect

The striking nature of Indian culture, and also GMR’s, is the inherent spirit that pushes the aspirations way up above reality. The same phenomena can be noted in SImpla Youngs, the football club in which our kids play. They are determined to develop football players matching their goals for the World Championship 2014. Indira Gandi International Airport is determined to become one of the 10 best airports in the world by 2011! And that is coming from the number 1-5 position from the end (!) in many categories in the worldwide ASQ ratings. Sometimes I think that this mentality probably save a lot of companies from a total disaster. It is just that the perception of what it takes to excel is so different here compared to the European way of looking at it. The brand “Incredible India” has a true meaning – everything that would be regarded as impossible elsewhere is possible in India!

In India you very seldom say that you do not know, and you very seldom keep your promises (at least not on time). To admit that you do not know would be regarded as a weakness, especially if you are in a managerial position. Here the managers are expected to have knowledge on quite a detailed level, which show that delegating full responsibility is quite rare. This makes it difficult for us Europeans that always strive towards the total efficiency in the perfect world. We very seldom ask, “How is your family”, whereas the Indians always take time for this particular question as a foundation for the conversation.

The HR strategy within DIAL includes very much the empowerment of staff, but “walking the talk” is difficult here in India as you have a strict hierarchy, where I as a GM for example cannot print in colour without a separate mail from my boss, etc… There is also a policy on who gets an office and who gets a cubicle, and that has nothing to do with the tasks that need to be performed. This structure also complicates the reporting structure, so that management have a lot of direct reports. In turn this leads to micromanagement, as so many papers need to be signed, and so many evaluations needs to be made.

The efficiency aspect/Change aspect

Delhi airport is going through a transformation from basic manual systems into automated solutions, where for example access control is going to be introduced, an AOCC is being built up, 46 Aerobridges are being installed (in comparison to the 9 at the present terminal), CCTV is installed which will potentially reduces the use of CISF guards (Central Industrial Security Force). The concept of a Common User terminal will be new in the sense of that the airport is now going to run the CUTE club and allocate resources such as check-in desks, reclaim baggage belts, aircraft stands etc… Air India, as one of the home carrier alongside with Jetairways is at the same time going through a change process to keep up with competition, but also to keep up with the airport development. The airport was run by the state until 2006, and there has been a phasing out of the state employed staff at the airport, who had the choice of either continue as employees of the State of India, or apply for a job within IGIA who is now run by the consortium (including Fraport 10%). During the transition period the motivation has sometimes been very low amongst the state employed staff.

Achievements

“I am thrown in the trunk of a car, trying to climb over to the back seat although in the darkness. Next step is to make room for myself in the back seat so that I can get to this middle space, which will enable me to climb over to the co-driving position. From there I know I have to get to the Driver’s seat, but I am not sure who I am competing with to put myself into the Driver’s seat. I just know that I have to get there”

I started to work in December 2008, and many things surprised me, as I became a “Member of the project”. To be honest I thought that my position as a GM would enable me to be the Driver from the start, but that is not really how it works here. I found that the knowledge about the project rested on two hands; the Project Coordinator from PB World and the Planning Manager who serves as the bridge between Operations and the Project. This is of course a very vulnerable situation, but not only that; how functionality is ensured, was for me a riddle, as I came to realize that the airlines have not really been involved, and definitely not the so called “Home Carriers”. Management from the present Terminals (domestic and international terminals) have also not been involved. This means that Airport Planning, Commercials and Project Management mainly drive the project. Operations have played a back seat role in this project. Within the project there is lots of expertise, and it is an honour for me to get the opportunity to work with this knowledgeable people from all over the world. The trick in this case is for Top Management to handle the mix of experts to align the strategy, because the Indian conditions of how to run an airport is not like in any other country!

IT consultants with experience from Malaysia, Singapore and Beijing, Indians with experience from Hyderabad and Bangalore, Architects from Changi… it is fascinating in many ways. However, we are at present in a situation where we have airline offices that cannot be accessed by public access, we have airline ticket desks that cannot be reached from the inside of the terminal, and this is due to lack of communication with airlines and lack of knowledge about how Indian regulations are functioning. Also, it shows how Operations have played a minor role in comparison the Airport Planning Team. Having this many nationalities represented in a project of this size must add value to the project itself – no doubt – but this also put some extra pressure on management to lead these experts clearly towards the aim of being one of the Top-ten airports in the world!

My plan was now to get into the different parts in the project and also involve and inform the airlines to be able to cross check that the terminal design will function for the operational core processes. This was and still is a huge challenge since no resources was available to be dedicated to me. Simultaneously I had to work with coordination between commercials and operations, as well as getting into the design of all the different type of desks, signage etc… Now since I am more of a generalist than a specialist I tend to see the big picture, and could not proceed without involving the airlines and handling agents in this project, and of course this also requires some resources but is a necessity at an airport.

Thank God for the ORAT team, whose mission is to ensure the Operational Readiness of this terminal. They are experienced and have a clear methodology of how to do this, which is very encouraging for me as I do not have my own dedicated resources in this project (yet).

I am also very privileged to work with the most well spoken COO I have ever experienced.
He has the ability to “handle” and convince the Indian community – from ground level, to airline level all the way to Ministry level, in a way I have never seen before.

“I am determined to make the airport operations to one of the best, and one of the most precious tools will be the build-up of a true airport community. After all it is the airlines and handling agents who are deliver a big portion of the customer promises within this terminal, and we as an airport are facilitating and coordinating this platform. This concept of co creation of a passenger terminal will take us to the position amongst the top ten airports in the world!”

7 Advice to people moving to work abroad

- Learn and engage in the culture, and try to see the big picture

- Find a good mentor who knows the environment

- High PMA (High Positive Mental Attitude)

- Never, ever give up!

- When it seems impossible – seek alternative contacts and ways

- Ensure true family support, and install a “family advisory board”

- When you think you have reached the limit of what you can do – that is where it begins