theceomagazine.com | 107While Simon is from Australia, he’s
now based in Thailand. He moved from
Marsh’s South Australian branch in
2015, having been with the company
since 1997. Initially, he was in Thailand
to serve as the region’s General
Manager, and the transition was not
without its challenges.
“The Adelaide branch of Marsh is
small, and based in a mature economy,”
he says, “so I’ve come from a very
low-growth environment in a familiar
culture. Moving to Asia to work in
Thailand was quite confronting in many
ways, not just from a work point of
view, but also in getting the family
settled and all those sorts of things.
“It involved getting used to a new
country, new clients, a new way of doing
business and moving from a slow economy
to a growth economy. It was a new market.
I didn’t know the people or personalities at
the insurance companies.”
Three years on, and having served as
CEO since March of this year, Simon
appreciates the opportunities Thailand has
afforded him and the company. “Thailand’s
in a lucky position,” he says. “We are a bit
of a regional hub. We’ve got an established
financial services sector and a hospital sector,
for example, that support neighbouring
countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and
Laos to some extent. It’s a more established
economy here, and that presents a lot of
opportunity for us.”
BIG PLANS
When Simon stepped into the role of CEO,
he instituted a 100-day strategy to ensure the
transition was seamless, for himself, and for
the company. The plan emphasised visibility,
and quickly establishing new, productive
relationships with staff. Most importantly, it
demonstrated that the company’s corporate
direction remained unchanged and focused.
“Whenever there’s a change, you have to
carefully manage it, as well as the perceptions
of clients and colleagues about the change,”
says Simon. “You need to make sure you
quickly establish rapport and trust in the new
role. That’s really been my objective for the
team. I had the 100-day plan of how I was
going to go about doing that, meeting with
people, talking with people, being very
visible, and I think it’s helped.”
Once the company has fully adjusted to
the changeover, Simon’s strategy involves
working on and improving the talent at
Marsh. The company wants to bring in lots
of experience, training and qualifications,
which it will be able to do thanks to Marsh’s
international network. The aim is to
strengthen the entire industry in Thailand,
by gradually improving the workforce.
“We’ll recruit young people,” Simon says.
“We’ll train them up and educate them. We’ll
give them experience, and then, as part of
the next stage in their career, they will go
off and work in the industry. That helps to
circulate well-trained people in the market.”
Of course, Marsh can’t do this all on
its own. Simon believes it needs to be an
industry-wide initiative, regulated by the
Thailand Insurance Brokers Association and
supported by international companies with
their considerable resources. He takes the
view that it’s not about competition, but
a collective effort to improve the Thai
insurance sector. “I think we can work as an
industry to share, train and contribute back
to the insurance community here,” he says.
In pursuing this initiative, Marsh’s own
status as a global company will certainly help
drive Simon’s ambitions. Across the entire
organisation, Marsh’s aim is to create a »“YOU NEED TO
MAKE SURE YOU
QUICKLY ESTABLISH
RAPPORT AND
TRUST IN THE
NEW ROLE.”
Interview | INNOVATE