Developing Strong Relations

People are the human element of an organization. They are the ones who transform informational and physical resources into services that customers value. People can generate ideas, solve problems, make decisions, and generate learning that improves the organization. They provide the hands that do the organization's work, lead and manage the organization.

Vivienne Tan, Regional Director for MDE in Asia Pacific, recognizes and strongly believes people are the most critical part of an organization and a crucial resource in all businesses.

Human assets, not fixed or tangible assets, differentiate an organization from its competitors. A well-defined strategy is undoubtedly needed to support the business. However, it is the people that bring about success, they are the most essential contributors toward profits and shareholder value. No matter how impressive the business strategy is, if it is not implemented by the right people, motivated, engaged, and happy people, it will never work.

Vivienne`s potential to draw and hold talents has been one of the most crucial success elements for the company’s rapid boom in the APAC region, the pioneering leader is entirely devoted, and result driven with excellent leadership capabilities. She possesses a unique “can do” attitude and takes over demanding situations positively.

Her extraordinary interpersonal and communication abilities have allowed her to increase sturdy relationships with personnel, customers, and providers. Vivienne is a pioneering role model with excessive integrity, professionalism, and impeccable work ethic.

She possesses a leadership style that puts the needs of her team as one of the key priorities, empowering them and guiding them to be a decision maker in dealing with the day-to-day operational matters and leads "from the front" and acts more like a coach than a dictator. Because of how she leads, she can better understand her team, be involved when necessary, and still think strategically and see the big picture in crafting the presence of MDE in new locations in the APAC region. She has successfully built a high-performance culture where employees are given independence and responsibility while assembling a diverse and cross-cultural team. Everyone is treated fairly and given equal opportunity, which has produced a work climate that is very productive and fosters healthy competition.

As a leader, Vivienne has, over the years of experience, learned some valuable wisdom which she now passes on to potential young leaders who is seeking knowledge about leading their teams successfully. She says, “leadership needs to connect with others, before being able to lead – as a female leader I find that I need to know how my team can fit into the business as a seamless entity, and ways I might support them as a strategic leader rather than purely acting as an overall controller and driver of a vessel without understand its parts.” Adding, “leadership is also understanding what the company really stands for and aligning what matters to an organization with what matters to the employee – sound easy at times but very often it involves balancing values vs profit vs growth development of the organization and people.”

With this great mindset, Vivienne is leading the company to heights. MDE Group of entities are experts in the global recruitment of highly skilled professionals. Their key strength is delivering proactive recruitment services and identifying well-regarded professionals with the right personal and technical skills. “We are expanding as a Group and as well as individual entities. Quoting the message from our Group CEO, the management team in MDE consists of a wide spectrum of talents with diverse backgrounds, skills, and cultures,” explains Vivienne. “How can we chase excellence and work closer as One Team is what MDE Group has on the plate to make “the whole greater than the sum of its parts.” and we are working on designing workspaces to spur more collaboration among all entities.”

One of the company's most significant achievements has been expanding its footprint in APAC within the same year. In 2019, it set up entity in China (with five branch offices in various cities, including Taiwan), and Malaysia. The company also collaborated with partners in Thailand, the Philippines, etc. In less than six months after the setup, MDE was already working on tenders and won its first win project in China and contracts in Malaysia (dealing with the uncertainty of restriction and lockdown during the pandemic years), yet MDE executed and delivered its services smoothly with excellent results. “We’ve built a very strong yet lean operational team in locations where we are operating, with set guidelines, and successfully deliver our services and built our MDE reputation within APAC region for prestigious petroleum refining company clients,” adds Vivienne.