Pros
At Huwaei Technologies - Pakistan, we never missed the opportunities of meeting commitments and celebrating the success stories: 1. A customer-centric company – this was the one of the most enjoyable part where we have to make sure that we are keeping the balance of what customers want and what our commitments are. 2. Working for an international company made individual accountability an important factor where we have to deal with diversified customers in different countries. Mandatory training and awareness program, such as, Cyber Security, protection of data, working in customer environments etc. were given to all employees. As a Project Manager, I was responsible for ensuring the team is aware and following-up to these rules. 3. Career build-up path for all employees, a unique competency program (categorized by professional areas) handled by a dedicated team to ensure all employees follow the plan. The expertise level was divided – each level represented the level of expertise (Solution Architecture, Business Analysis, Project Management, etc.). In order to qualify for the next level, examination, on-line test, and experience in subject matter areas were counted in addition to the final interview by the expert committee who then recommended whether a person remains at the same level or moves to the next level. 4. Team-building sessions where not only you have fun but also working relationships were enhanced. This was held in a big auditorium or a resort – usually an all day activity with lunch, snacks, rides, swimming - a fun day to be away from the normal routine. 5. Success stories – of course a major milestone or project closure stories including lessons learned were shared via email and web. This was always followed by a big dinner for the team. 6. A special happy birthday note sent via email and a cake celebration with a gift for that lucky person. 7. Recognition Award ceremony for outstanding effort and influence – an Outstanding Performer and Future Stars for individual and Outstanding performance for the team. The project manager and department manager were responsible for the selection based on the effort, contribution and feedback. 8. Bonus – this is a sweet word – bonuses were given on yearly basis and they were based on your utilization on the project, project success, and department contribution. Sometimes, the total amount of bonus was twice or thrice your monthly salary. 9. Outstanding Employees of the month – each functional department manager across the organization selected an employee of the month person and that person name/picture was published company-wide via the newsletter. 10. Occasionally the company announced special monetary awards for the money won via legal cases due to the internal or external cases. 11. Working with international teams gave us the opportunity to learn new cultures and adapt to new ways for working together. As a Project Manager, it was critical for me that as a team we worked cohesively. 12. The integrated delivery service for the project was the most challenging part as you have to communicate with several internal parties plus the customer to ensure the project delivery is a success. 13. All of the above points made Huawei Technologies Pakistan an exciting place to work where not only I enjoyed the work but at the same time I also had fun.
Cons
1. Lack of a good insurance as compared to other leading companies in Pakistan – the company provided only the employee insurance and it didn’t include the employee’s family. Huawei is one of the leading telecom solutions providers in Pakistan and despite of having several meetings with the management, there was no agreement. 2. Language barrier – in Pakistan the business language is English – it was difficult to talk directly to the Chinese staff at HQ (mostly speak Chinese) in China and always required some kind of intervention from the Chinese staff in Pakistan. 3. Mandatory E-Timecard was also a nuisance -- since the company is projectized, there was no need for a time card, and rather the completion of the project commitment should have been looked into. 4. Pre-sales over commitment with the customer always caused the project delivery a costly endeavor. We always found conflicting statements at the time of requirement gathering where customer interpretation was different than the Pre-sales staff commitment. 5. Although we had a centralized portfolio management, the project always found a mismanagement of resources causing delay and a lot of negotiations were negatively impacting the project. 6. Management over-commitment with the customer also caused delay and the project cost overrun. Specifically, the strategic projects always impacted the on-going projects because of the heavy resource manipulation. 7. The email publicized the name of the individual and the crime (taking bribe from customer, illegal use of company property etc.) the person committed to all worldwide employees. The name of the person should not be mentioned in the email. 8. Relocation also caused anguish among employees – turnover was high when relocation is considered by the company. 9. The diverse location (different countries) of the staff felt that the location where the staff management is located has the upper hand as compared to their location. 10. Per Diem to the staff that belonged to different countries felt the policy should be the same rather than depending on the economic conditions of the country. A team coming from different countries to project the country should receive the same compensation instead of it being based on the country where the staff is coming from.