A people person: Kenny’s story
Kenny’s biggest takeaway from his time at bp is how working internationally helped hone his interpersonal skills. “I crossed paths with great colleagues from across the globe. Working across cultures really helped me develop my active listening, and my ability to work collaboratively,” he says.
People at the core of everything
Kenny Lee started his bp career as a facilities manager for bp’s Global Business Services Asia team (GBS) in July 2018, based out of Malaysia. He was charged with modernising the workplace and optimising the wider portfolio. He also worked on the integration of support services in the workplace and building strategic alliances with source partners to support that.
“I was exposed to so many different businesses, and needed to understand all of their objectives and priorities,” Kenny says. It was a role that he took to easily, and his remit was soon expanded to also cover Singapore.
His role continued to grow and diversify. Kenny was next asked to represent the Asia Pacific region in bp’s global team, focusing on sourcing integrated facilities management (IFM). He recounts it as the highlight of his career at the time, as he helped implement the workplace modernisation agenda across bp.
Diversity, feedback and innovation
Having overseen Malaysia and Singapore, and then serving as the group lead for the Asia Pacific region, Kenny loved the multicultural nature of his work. “We engaged with our Chinese partners in Mandarin and our local Indonesian team in Bahasa and I found those cross-cultural interactions fascinating,” he says.
In addition, a diverse workforce bolsters diversity of thought, an advantage Kenny was keen to leverage. “Before a rollout of a new workplace initiative, we would always run pilot tests to gauge the views of a cross-section of our employees, and then incorporate their feedback before the launch,” he recalls.
A career dedicated to people
Kenny’s biggest takeaway from his time at bp is how he refined his interpersonal skills. “I crossed paths with great colleagues from across the globe. Working across cultures really helped me develop my active listening, and my ability to work collaboratively,” he says.
Since leaving bp Kenny’s career has gone from strength to strength, and he now continues to dedicate himself to transforming the workplace, in a recently appointed role as Deputy Director for Facilities Management at the Central Bank of Malaysia.
“I’m really excited by my new role and galvanised by how organisations are increasingly thinking about the workplace experience and employees’ wellbeing,” he added.