Creating a truly safe space
(Last of two parts)
Beyond just family, Alice Liu, who succeeded her husband Bernie as CEO of fashion powerhouse Golden ABC at the start of this year, is also hands-on in building a company culture that attracts and retains great talent. One surprising and effective initiative? A book club where employees read books like “Hidden Potential” by Adam Grant, write reviews and share in discussion groups.
“We use the book reviews and discussions to align value systems,” says Alice. “What did you like most about the book? How did you find it relevant to what you do? What realizations did you have? You get a sense of how they think, and we can talk about the history of the company, our mission, what’s important to us.”
The book club also scaffolds employees’ professional growth. “Many young managers need to be taught how to be good managers, so many books are about leadership,” says Alice. “The club is not required, but we say, if you are looking to move into leadership, then part of your responsibility is continued learning. If you cannot continue to learn, in five years you will be outdated. So aspiring supervisors or officers know that reading these books shows initiative and willingness to learn, which is one way to get seen for promotion.”
The book club can also “retool” older employees with ways to connect with younger ones. “My industry friends talk about the challenges of working with the new generation—of getting them involved at work, and retaining them in the business. But to me, it is often the other way around. Managers say that their main difficulty is not so much working with Gen Z’s, but rather of managing employees who have been there for much longer.
“It is not always the younger generation that we have to fix. Connecting with the younger generation will always be a constant challenge, but the older leaders must also adapt. Through the book club, they learn communication tips, but share an activity to bond with the younger ones.
Teams are also given a budget to have coffee or dinner together to talk about their lives and interests. “These small ways humanize everyone. I tell people, at Golden ABC, everything is personal.”
I am gratified when Alice vindicates what my research shows. Unlike most Western family business manuals that require employees to separate work stuff from personal matters, I have long realized that this often does not work in our Philippine context.
“You cannot just compartmentalize,” Alice adds, “because the things that are personal, we also bring to work, and you have to recognize and embrace that.”
The stereotype of Filipino-Chinese families—and by extension, their family businesses—is that they are not used to communicating directly, rather through implications or hidden messages. Alice goes against this stereotype, describing herself and Bernie as “over-communicators.”
“Fortunately, the young ones like that, because they want to know what to achieve, what they need to do, where they stand. What’s important to Gen Zs is a safe space—to be able to speak what’s on their mind, and share openly. We remind them that yes, the weight of making a safe space is on us [management]—but to have courage to speak up is yours.
“Because of my leadership style, I encourage robust discussion in public. For younger employees who aren’t used to speaking up, or being in that kind of environment—they are afraid when we argue. I tell them, this is healthy! This is good! We want this!
“On the other hand, for those who are prone to speaking up, I remind them that a safe space doesn’t mean come as you are and say everything in your head—you have to be responsible and considerate of what you say, how it affects the community.”
Now executive chair, Bernie can finally spend more time with other family business concerns, which he is excited about. As Alice takes the helm, she says, “Nobody comes in as the perfect leader. We all have to grow into the role. When people congratulate me, I tell them, please pray for me—because I have big shoes to fill.”
Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the board of Directors of Ateneo’s Family Business Center. Get her print book “All in the Family Business” at Lazada or Shopee, or e-book at Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks. Contact the author at blessbook.chua@gmail.com.
