Purposeful leadership, the key to business growth

At the Employee Experience conference held on August 22, Vicente Wong, along with prominent leaders from various companies in Ecuador, addressed a range of topics related to the pillars that drive organizational growth, such as leadership, human talent well-being, and corporate values.

For our executive, the role of leaders is to inspire employees to commit to a greater purpose that excites and motivates them on a daily basis. Precisely, one of the main incentives for a work team is to grow, achieve new personal goals, or goals for the organization. “Therefore, companies must work on a talent development scheme that allows their employees to have those opportunities,” he said.

To that end, the Reybanpac Center of Excellence was created, where we train our staff in specialized agricultural and administrative programs with the aim of enhancing their skills and promoting their growth within the organization.

For Vicente Wong, employees must be happy in order to be productive and efficient, which is also part of Reybanpac's commitment to cultivating well-being among its people and the community. "That is why we have medical clinics near our farms to provide our agricultural employees and their families with free, quality, and compassionate healthcare; the opportunity to become members of the El Porvenir Savings and Credit Cooperative, which offers its members a range of benefits such as life insurance and affordable loans, among others; as well as Child Development Centers, thanks to a partnership between our Wong Foundation and the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, to ensure the proper care of our employees' children so that they can work with peace of mind," he explained.

On the other hand, Wong said that being a leader means constantly facing obstacles and trials: pandemics, energy crises, insecurity, wars, and so on. In these circumstances, a true leader must never lose clarity and courage. “Values are the compass that guides decisions in the most difficult moments.” He gave the COVID-19 pandemic as an example:

"In the early months of the pandemic, we didn't know what would come next. However, we decided to act on two certainties: to protect our people and to fulfill our commitments to those who trusted us. We didn't have all the answers, but we did have the conviction to care and support. That collective courage allowed us to weather the storm, maintain jobs and relationships, and emerge stronger than before. In uncertain times, courage and clarity of values are worth more than any perfect plan," he said.

Another example of leadership in difficult times was the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine on the business, as Russia was the main destination for Ecuadorian bananas. “The key there was agility in response and the ability to adapt to place the fruit in other markets and focus on sustainable solutions,” he revealed.

Finally, Wong highlighted the importance of having multigenerational teams in the company, as more experienced leaders can pass on accumulated knowledge to younger ones. Meanwhile, younger people can introduce new tools, trends, and technological approaches.