Boss of delivery giant DHL Express finds a song can help motivate his finely tuned workforce

German companies usually conjure up a serious, no-nonsense image when it comes to management style.

But Ken Allen, CEO of DHL Express, can often be heard belting out a song at work.

Staff frequently hear him singing I Wanna Be a Billionaire, a popular song within DHL Express, to encourage employees to aim high in their life goals.

Ken Allen, chief executive officer of DHL Express, says the company sees many opportunities in the Chinese market. Bloomberg

Ain't No Mountain High Enough - the theme song for the company's promotion campaign - is another favorite for stimulating creative ideas and hard work.

Allen, in charge of the world's biggest international express delivery service by market share, says his company has been focusing on "time-definite" international services, while ensuring growth and quality.

Dedicated to time-critical business, DHL mainly serves customers who prioritize safety, timeliness and reliability, delivering high-end goods between China and the rest of world. These include electronic devices, precise manufactured parts and healthcare products.

Not long after it was established 47 years ago, DHL pioneered international express delivery in the Asia-Pacific region and in 1986 became the first such service provider to enter the Chinese market.

"The scale of this business will continue to surge in the long run," says Allen, a Briton who has been working for parent company Deutsche Post AG, the world's biggest logistics group by sales revenue, for more than three decades.

DHL-Sinotrans International Air Courier Ltd, a joint venture in charge of DHL Express's business in China, has the largest geographical coverage in the country, covering 390 cities through its network of 209 facilities. China this year became a stand-alone region for the company.

Allen recently spoke with China Daily about the company's strategy and his management style:

How do you promote your business in China?

We are always investing in China. Whatever we do in the rest of the world helps China. So, for example, if we put on a plane to go from New York to Hong Kong, that could be carrying packages for (other) Chinese customers. In all our training, every IT system that we have developed globally will help China, because it all links into the Chinese market.

For example, at the moment, because of the large number of B2C customers, we have invested a lot in IT systems. When a shipment arrives you get an SMS message on where you'd like your shipment delivered.

In China, since we have such big coverage, we constantly buy new vehicles and facilities, as well as setting up service centers. Every single year we are spending millions on investment in China.

What's the secret of DHL Express' success in China?

I think the relationship between DPDHL and the DHL-Sinotrans has almost mirrored what has happened in China. We formed a joint venture and provided the best for each other. Sinotrans gave us a complete view of the Chinese market and how to operate here.

The growth of our company reflects the growth of the economy. I think for many reasons, the Chinese government is very focused on developing the economy and improving people's lives. We are trying to do the same thing. We want everybody who works for DHL to feel they have a great future. We give them great training and we want them to grow with our customers here in China.

How do you assess business prospects in China over the next decade? Are there any new market growth points that you can see?

We are very opportunistic. On the one hand, China is moving its focus more to domestic consumption. What's happened over time is that within China you have this very vibrant middle class, which has immense purchasing power, which is buying more and more things outside and bringing them into China.

Europe and the US are selling a lot of things to China. In the beginning, China made everything for the world and it was all outbound, but now we see the biggest trade coming out of, say, Spain, Italy and the UK and coming to China. That's because China's middle class is buying goods everywhere.

The economy is still very vibrant. A lot of people are saying that China is only growing at 6 percent but most of the rest of the world would die to grow at 6 percent.

How do you ensure the continuity of your culture and service across 220 countries and regions?

The good thing for us is that we invented this business back in 1969. The international express business was invented by DHL. Over that period of time we have built up global standard operating procedures. We call our business this "big yellow machine".

It's very important to have the processes and the IT system but the thing that makes it all happen, the most important thing, is the people. You need to make sure your people are exceptionally well-trained - not just well-trained in what they do, but that they understand how the whole network works.

What is your biggest achievement as CEO of DHL Express?

We want to be the employer of choice, the provider of choice and the investment of choice. When you have those three things in balance, that's a great achievement. I think the real heroes are the ones growing the business every year by 5 percent to 10 percent revenue, keeping the bottom line moving up as well, being consistent over a long period of time.

How do you handle the hardships or setbacks at work?

I have a great team. When you are doing a job like mine, it's all about the bottom line and the balance. I think the secret is balance. We want to be the employer of choice. We want the people that work for us to be motivated, well-paid and happy. I'm very lucky that my wife changed countries with me four times and she's always been supportive of me. If you don't have a very happy, settled private life, you can't do these jobs, or you put your family life at risk. Secondly, I'm lucky to be with a team that has been at the company for almost as long as I have.

How do you encourage your employees?

Let's just talk about the singing for a minute. Our song for motivating people is an old advertising campaign jingle called Ain't No Mountain High Enough. It reflects what DHL wants to do.

When we were losing money and we wanted to make a billion, we came up with the song I Wanna Be a Billionaire. It's all about talking to people.

When we first train our people, we give them a DHL "passport". Every time they do a training course they get a stamp, and people like it. It's a bit of a gimmick in a way but it shows that they are part of the DHL family, and over a period of time when you pass or do a course you get the stamp.

What are the differences between Chinese customers and those from Europe and the US, in their preferences and habits in choosing a service?

I don't think there are differences, because most of our customers are buying relatively expensive items. They are middle class and above consumers who want something very quickly and they are prepared to pay a premium for that.

How can digital technologies improve your company's business?

The interesting point is that it's a mixture. There's the big-data element - to process all this data to improve our quality - and then there's digital marketing to talk to all of our customers.

Like most companies, we understand the power of digital marketing. We understand that's the way the world is going, but what do you actually do? It's all about trying to get the attention of millions of people through our social media channels. In China maybe it is about Weibo, WeChat or any other new digital means, and we keep investing in new digital technologies.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 11/04/2016 page31)