Sandi Ardianto, the entrepreneur behind the Dane and Dine shoes, who uses the KoinWorks application to get a capital loan to develop his startup business.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The presence of the millennial generation in the business sector has changed companies’ communication, work and performance. The biggest change is in digital innovation, because the millennial generation, who were born from 1980-1999, are superior in this area.
The company executives and government officials Kompas interviewed within the last week through Monday (23/10) mentioned several changes made by the millennial generation.
State-owned PT Wijaya Karya (Wika) human capital and system development director Novel Arsyad said the company’s young employees had produced creative and innovative work. The many innovations they had created made achieving project development targets faster, better and more efficient.
“An example of one innovation is the Semanggi flyover project. The project is being managed by young employees who have the capability to use the latest technology so that the project was finished faster and more efficiently,” said Novel.
He mentioned a young employee named Dwi Angga Aditya who made an export-import information system for many to use. With this system, all sides could obtain the latest information about export-imports. Previously, the export-import process was very difficult because no one had the complete information. As a result, goods often became stalled at ports and affected the project’s development. In fact, Wika almost had its license revoked because of the lack of a good system.
In another example, Wika entrusted a young female employee, Farida Maharani, to lead the development of underground canals as part of the Ciliwung River revitalization project. The project was finished on time and become the first underground canal in Indonesia.
State-owned PT Kereta Api Indonesia vice president for public relations Agus Komaruddin said the young employees at PT KAI were involved in innovating to develop the company. He said through digital services such as Social Journey and Memorable Experience in the 121 Contact Center unit, consumers could report their experiences to the company. “The service placed the company closer to consumers,” he said.
In the banking sector, young employees are involved not only in policy implementation, but they also contribute ideas and affect the bank’s business decisions. PT Bank CIMB Niaga, for example, involves young people with digital capability and expertise. They are placed in a particular area and are given the opportunity to express their ideas.
“They are given direct access to the board of directors,” said CIMB Niaga president director Tigor Siahaan in Jakarta.
KoinWorks CEO and co-founder Benedicto Haryono said young people had a role to provide input for business development.
Minister concurs
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the role of young people in development was real. He mentioned the financing of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) in Greater Jakarta as an example. “The development of the LRT in Greater Jakarta is very costly, but we found a formula to make it affordable. Who found it? The young people working there,” said Luhut.
With the new financing scheme, the LRT development did not need state budget funding. “Under the scheme, they proposed inviting investors and, in fact, many investors were interested. CIMB Niaga has committed to disbursing Rp 4 trillion,” Luhut said.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said to boost its performance, the ministry had offered early retirement for 1,000 civil servants over 50 years old. This way, the ministry could recruit 300 best graduates from different universities.
