As written in the previous blog entry, we participated in an expo in Beijing in May where we showcased our products and promote our brand to customers and potential partners.

Besides the traditional petrol and battery handheld products, this time we also displayed our Automower®, which is new to the China market. My job title was not a ‘Sales Representative’, but on that day I was selling the Automower® to foreign visitors from Brisbane and Amsterdam. They were very curious about the product and would like to put one in their own garden. I provided them with the address of dealer shops near their homes and hopefully they will pay a visit to our dealer shop when they return to their countries. I was nervous at first of being a sales person but later on I became more confident in answering visitors’ questions and explaining the values of what we could deliver to them. This was the first time I found myself having a strong interest in Sales and Marketing, which may lead me to my target position after the Trainee Program.

Visitors were interested in the demonstration of our Automower® in The 18th Hortiflorexpo IPM, Beijing.

Working beyond the job description may seems difficult at first but there are always some surprising outcome afterward. However, sometimes we are to focused on our own responsibilities, as written on the job contract, but forget about exploring more learning opportunities to challenge ourselves beyond our job.

When I was working in Factory quality, I spent a lot of time on process improvement with Lean methodology, as suggested in the assignment plan. But looking back, if I had the chance again, I would have spent more time on Product quality improvement, using the similar ways of problem solving. I would have gained more knowledge about our products.

Lois trying the battery trimmer which will be launch in China market in the near future.

Lucky enough I got another opportunity. I helped to interpret in the Small Off-Road Engine Evaporative Emissions Regulations Summit hosted by Husqvarna China Sales team while I was working in Factory Operations. It took me a lot of time to study the engineering details in Chinese and English. The learning process was tough but that knowledge helped me lay a great foundation on products for my future assignments.

In the Shanghai office I am also a part-time trainee for Business English. We had regular meetings of English Corner and formal English Email writing training. This is another way for me to contribute to the company beyond my responsibilities. Recently I was invited to Changzhou factory to deliver a training. I met a lot of new colleagues, most of them I had never worked with before. From these training experiences I have discovered my interests in public speaking and training, and I have also expanded my network outside of my usual workmates. This extended network has been a great help for work.

During the Business Email Writing training in Changzhou factory.

There is a famous quote from Steve Jobs, ‘You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Sometimes the task assigned may seem very unusual and out of your comfort zone, but it can always lead to something rewarding in the future. Next time when your supervisor asks you to work beyond your job description, take full advantage of the opportunity to learn and grow as much as possible. There is just too much to experience and I believe the experience now will reap rewards later.

Enjoy the challenge.

Lois Lau
Global Trainee