TelEm: Digging itself out of a hole: Staff and Staff Morale

By Fabian Badejo

(𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘌𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘳. 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘏𝘢𝘵𝘰, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳, 𝘊𝘍𝘖 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳, 𝘊𝘌𝘖. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘳. 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘔𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘫𝘰𝘫𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘫𝘰, 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯d Culture 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘳. 𝘈𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.)

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞

Lingering uncertainty, especially against the backdrop of two lay-offs at the company, the last in 2024 when more than half of the full-time workers were made redundant, is one of the reasons why morale among the staff at TelEm is reportedly dwindling. It did not come as a surprise when I raised the issue. Ms. Michelle Djojodimedjo, TelEm’s “Director of People and Culture,” was the first to answer.

“Regarding staff morale, basically what we’re trying to do.., we introduced new core values: T for Team work, E for Empowerment; L for Leadership, E for Excellence and M for Mutual respect. That is what we want to be the foundation of our corporate culture.

Ms. Djojodimedjo continued: “We are having some challenges with everything that has been going on. And we’re working on improving that within the company. We do different kinds of events, initiatives to include the employees and to create more engagement. We also want to make sure that the culture is also fit for the future so that we can all get to our collective goal as we do have to achieve the strategic plan. It is a bit challenging but we are doing the best we can at the moment.

According to her, training the staff is a priority the company is also working on. “We’ve already provided a leadership program for our department heads but we’re also working on one for the rest of the staff.”

Similarly, the company also has a new performance system, she revealed. It is called “Engage Me” and within that system, the staff would be able to see what their career path is towards climbing the proverbial corporate ladder.

“It’s a whole project and it’s not going to be an overnight thing that we can just implement,” she warned. “However, we’re working hard to put everything in place so that the staff can know what the opportunities are for them to progress within the company.”

TelEm is also implementing a “catch ‘em young” strategy. Ms. Djojodimedjo said students can always apply for internship.

“We also participate in the BOP program: we did it last year and this year as well. We have a few student interns that have joined us in Marketing. We also have elementary and high schools that tour the company. We want to start from young, so that they can become familiar with what TelEm does, the products and services that we provide and also the different positions we have within the company. We try to work in a strategic way, so that they can get an idea from young what TelEm is all about and what kind of positions we have.”

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐈’𝐦 𝐘𝐮 𝐝𝐢 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐮"

The company has also come in for much criticism about its top management being from Curacao rather than employing St. Martiners.

“I understand the sentiments. We take it seriously,” acknowledged Mr. Hato, the current CFO and acting CEO. “I dare say for the first time in TelEm’s history, we are investing in our staff. For example, we have a budget of US$250,000 that we will use to train our engineers to understand the system so that when it is fully implemented, they can maintain it themselves. That is being worked on.

“We have things programmed for other staff,” he added. “I have identified some talents and I specifically tell them what kind of courses to follow so that the next time when the position of the CEO/CFO becomes available, they can stand a better chance.” Moreover, he said, all recruitment is done “in a very transparent manner.”

“We first publicize it internally to give our people the first opportunity to apply. But you know, TelEm is in a competitive situation, so you need people who can hit the ground running.”

“They say I’m Yu di Korsou,” Hato said, as if he had become accustomed to it. “You know, I was born in Curacao, so I’m a Yu di Korsou, there’s nothing I can do about that. But the funny thing is that a lot of the people that are saying that were not born in St. Martin, either. My response to them is that I’m a son of the soil in the making because I’ve been here for two years, next year will make it three years, and eventually I will become a son of the soil, too. But I will still be a Yu di Korsou, just like some of them will still be from Dominica, from Aruba or wherever. But, you know, I don’t take it personally.”

However, in terms of making sure that St. Martiners get a good shot at the top jobs at TelEm, Hato revealed that in the Finance Department, for example, “we’re investing in two prospects that I think have the capacity and then when my time is up, I will encourage them to apply. But the decision is not mine. I will make sure that they are prepared to take up the challenge.”

He added that right now, most of the department heads are from St. Martin. “We’re investing in them and I think that in due time Adrian (Lista) should be able to apply to be the Commercial Director. That is the kind of investment that we are doing and plan to continue to do.”

TelEm, he remarked, “is in a very competitive environment.” Therefore, whenever it has to fill a vacancy now, “you want to bring somebody that has the experience and that can hit the ground running, otherwise, you will be falling behind because our competitor is getting talent from abroad to come here.”

“You know, they just announced the first female head of FLOW and if I remember correctly, she’s not a St. Martiner. I respect that; I don’t take it personally. I know the sentiment. And we’re definitely taking it into account, that’s why we do invest in our people. Most of the yiu Korsou people here are temporary. They’re here to guide, and to help the staff.

“Indeed, it is about knowing who your talents are within the company to make sure that you can guide them and help them to get to the position they want to get into,” Ms. Djojodimedjo joined in.

“We’re doing that internally by making sure that all the right steps are being taken, but also if someone from outside does get a position within the company, we try during the recruitment process to know what kind of individual the person is. Is it an individual that just wants to come, do their job and go or is it an individual that can really guide our people and mentor them to make sure that they acquire the knowledge?

She emphasized that TelEm “looks for people who can also teach others and connect with the individuals as well.”

“Our process now is slightly different from how we used to do it before,” she explained, “just to make sure that they can connect with the people already in the company and that the knowledge transfer is being done correctly. And that they get the right guidance. We really try on all different fronts to tackle all the obstacles there might be in the way of St. Martiners getting access to leadership positions in the company.”

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲

As the interview came to an end, Adrian Lista summarized the last one and a half years at TelEm as follows:

“We’re a proud local company and we’re a strategic asset to St. Martin and to the people of St. Martin. In the past 18 months, we have not been focusing on the quick fixes, on the easy road. We’ve been focusing on fundamentals and laying a strong foundation and I think from there you build up. Foundations around the ISP Core, the mobile Core, our billing systems. We’ve even found a way to wrap a new image around the company, a fresh new brand that highlights that transformation that puts us in a modern fresh look. We can say the best is yet to come.”

In closing, Mr. Randell Hato reiterated that customers must have noticed the “significant improvement” in TelEm’s service.

“First of all, I would like to thank them for their patience and for being TelEm customers,” he said. “TelEm is truly local. I think the customers must have already experienced a significant improvement in our service and there is more to come. I think it’s now time for us to go out there and tell our story.

“To be sure,” he added, “TelEm is here to stay. We take our social responsibility seriously, as you can see what we do for Carnival and other things we do for the people of St. Martin. We’re here for St. Martiners and TelEm is going to be here long after all of us are no longer here.”

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