From Great Eastern scholar to Manager in Finance Systems

After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Finance at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) under the Great Eastern Supremacy Scholarship, Winson Chu Wen Sen joined Great Eastern’s Finance department in 2016 as an Associate. Five years later, he leads a team of four associates as a Manager, Finance Systems. Here’s what he has to say about his career journey in Great Eastern.

What is your current role and responsibilities?

As a Manager in Finance Systems, and as the title suggests, I manage a number of internal finance systems, troubleshooting issues and problems that occur and making the necessary enhancements and changes to the system to accommodate regulatory requirements or new product launches. Once these changes are done, our team deploys it to production. I am also involved in several process improvement projects in the Finance department, where we look at transforming internal processes through automation and digitalisation.

When did you realise you wanted to pursue this professional path?

Honestly, when I first started my career, I was not sure if the role was the right fit for me because there was a gap between the role requirements and what I learned in university. Even so, I decided to give it a shot and I was determined to do my best and learn everything I could. I suppose that was when things started to change, and I still remember the day my supervisor talked to me about how important my role was and that completely changed how I felt about my career.

I started to gain a lot of interest in finance systems, and I realised that this is a role that will be highly significant and relevant in the future. We all know that with the advent of digital transformation, manual work will eventually be replaced by automation, and this affects accounting and finance as well. The tasks and reports that we used to manually generate will be automated, and so it is crucial for the individual that manages these systems to ensure they are in order and that everything runs smoothly.

Tell us about your accomplishments at Great Eastern.

I’ve been given a lot of opportunities to do different things throughout the years, and for the past five years of my journey in Great Eastern, I’d say one of my biggest accomplishments would be leading and implementing process improvement projects in the Finance department to allow greater efficiency in work processes. The pandemic has greatly accelerated this digital transformation and as a result, we enable greater flexibility and efficiency in the way we work and how things get done.

To add to this, my team and I also automated several internal processes using RPA (Robotics) so we could do away manual tasks that require human labour such as manual data entry and eyeball checking. To do this, I even took online courses to learn about RPA so that I’m equipped with the necessary technical knowledge to undertake these projects under my wing.

I hope to continue to be a part of these transformation projects as a means of leaving my mark at Great Eastern, because not only does it support the organisation’s strategic objectives, it creates and enables a future-ready work environment defined by flexibility, collaboration, and efficiency, which are the hallmarks of the post-pandemic workplace.

How do you stay motivated?

Opportunities given to me have helped me get to where I am today. Whenever I propose ideas for improvements, my supervisors allow me to test out these ideas, guiding me where necessary by sharing their experience and expertise. It is this culture of exploring possibilities and transparent communication that has created a conducive environment for me to continue thriving and try new things.

What advice would you give to those starting out in the corporate world?

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. If you want to progress in your career, you have to be willing to try new things, even if you make mistakes. Although we should take the necessary measures to minimise failure, it is important to be resilient to bounce back after failing. Dare to challenge yourself and grab the opportunities available. All you have to do is start!

Keen to discover opportunities at Great Eastern Malaysia? Check out their virtual booth at GRADUAN ASPIRE this 9 July to 12 July. For more details, go to graduan.com/aspire.