Vincent Poo remembers his foray into the family business well. It was 9 years ago and his father (current Group Chairman, Mr Poo Kow Peok) was at the helm of WIS Holdings Private Limited, an integrated services provider based in Singapore. Vincent, having just graduated with a business degree, found himself starting at the bottom of the ladder as an Assistant Resident Manager.
However, he soon realised that it was an ideal opportunity to learn the ropes at the company. “I spent my first 2 years managing cleaning operations at Singapore Changi Airport,” he recalls. “After gaining sufficient experience in the cleaning sector, I was transferred to the oil and gas business unit, where I had to start again from the ground up in that sector. It was tough, but looking back, I think it was critical that I went through this baptism of fire.”
It took Vincent 2 more years before he assumed a position as Director at one of the subsidiaries of WIS Holdings. It was only in 2014 that he was finally established as CEO of the entire Group.
A leader in the industry
Today, WIS Holdings owns and manages a portfolio of companies that specialises in providing integrated services to clients from all sectors including commercial, hospitality, healthcare and oil and gas, among others. With more than 20 companies operating in 12 cities globally, the Group has grown rapidly to become a major player in the facilities, industrial, technology, environmental and property sectors.
A leader in the industry, WIS Holdings is known to deliver high-performance solutions in response to the diverse needs of its clients across Asia and beyond. Further to this, as part of the Group’s regional growth strategy, WIS Holdings has also invested extensively in complementary high-growth ventures such as information technology, robotics and marine services.
As WIS Holdings prepares to celebrate its fortieth birthday next year, Vincent reflects back on how it all began. “In 1978, Dad started out by providing cleaning services for the clubhouse of Shell Refinery in Pulau Bukom,” he says with pride. “Back then, he only had a crew of 5 cleaners, but today our cleaning business unit can be considered as one of the largest in Singapore.”
Harnessing the IoT
The Group currently boasts a staff headcount of 15,000 across Asia: Singapore, China and Malaysia. Vincent is excited about the future of the company. “When I first joined WIS Holdings, I was mainly interested in short-term revenue and profit generators,” he admits.
“However, it was only when I became the CEO that I appreciated the importance of strategic planning and longer-term goals.” One of Vincent’s first tasks in 2014 as Group CEO was to draw up a 5-year strategic roadmap for the diverse group of companies. It was then that Vincent believed that being an early adopter of technologies such as robotics and the IoT (Internet of Things) would not only ensure the long-term sustainability of the company, but would also convert the same risk of technology disruption into revenue-generating opportunities.
Working closely together with technology partners, the Group creates value for clients by leveraging on a robotic workforce and the IoT. This strategy has an additional benefit of mitigating manpower constraints and increasing demand for quality services.
“The IoT is one of the hottest trends in the world right now. Some might call it an industry wave. Love it or hate it, it’s the future,” Vincent muses. “The question is: how do we harness its massive potential to create real value for our business?”
The value of TRUST
Having the right people in the organisation is the other key to delivering WIS’ forward-looking roadmap. With this in mind, Vincent restructured several core functions of the organisation, starting with the set-up of WIS Holdings’ first ever Group Marketing department. “Restructuring and consolidating core functions across multiple entities and geographies is definitely not easy. But this alignment is critical for us to work in unity and maintain our leadership in the industry.”
The IoT is one of the hottest trends in the world right now. Some might call it an industry wave. Love it or hate it, it’s the future.
On the talent management front, Vincent leads by example and encourages a positive workplace culture based on trust. “I had been thinking about our core values for some time,” Vincent says. “So my team and I came up with TRUST: True, Resolute, United, Stewardship and Thoughtful. We felt that these values serve as important foundations for our company vision: To be a leading provider of integrated services in Asia, committed
to enriching lives and the community.”
This vision guides WIS Holdings in all that it does, but Vincent admits that it is still a work in progress. And he summarises this well, “There are so many services that can be integrated within the 5 key pillars of our business (facilities, industrial, technology, environmental and property). Multiply this with the number of cities that we can operate in, and we have a virtually endless market. But what is more important is ensuring that we create value for our colleagues, our clients and our business partners.”