| Nation First: Secret of Managing NSTDA?s talents |
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Right now, the challenge for a national-level organization like the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) is not just how to efficiently apply the nation’s advanced science and technology capabilities to the fields of industry, agriculture and medicine to propel Thai economy to the world arena. In addition, this organization needs to take care of the nation’s top brains and make sure they can all work together happily.
It is not easy to manage people who are among the nation’s leading minds. Thus, NSTDA has divided its duties into five major centers. First, there is BIOTEC, working in biotechnology developments. Next is MTEC in charge of materials technology. NECTEC is working on electronics and computer technology developments. The fourth center is NANOTEC, working in nanotechnology, and the fifth is TMC, in charge of helping researchers and companies apply research results for commercial projects. In order to make the work as efficient as possible, all the people at these five centers have to be prepared to work together and coordinate projects quickly.
At first, NSTDA chose “Fast Forward” as its theme to express the concept of the unified mission that all the agencies have to work towards together. The scientists and experts in all different fields are all working as part of NSTDA family.
Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, Deputy Director of NSTDA, talked about the organization’s great task. From now on, Thailand has to try to invent and create its own technology and adapt ideas from other places to make them even better. This will create lasting stability for the nation. The people at NSTDA need to know and understand the needs of the country in different situations so they can ask the right questions when doing research and get results that are really useful in meeting those needs.
“First, you have to look at the needs of the country, the needs of rural communities, the needs of the people, the people’s quality of life. When you’ve identified those needs, then you set them as the questions and see how NSTDA’s or other researches going on in the country can answer them and how it can strengthen the related industries.”
You have to admit that since there are over 2,000 very diverse and very capable people working at NSTDA, it is not easy to meld them together. They are all master’s degree or PhD holders. To guide them all to work in the same direction, NSTDA has set five core values as the common focal points.
Let’s look at the NSTDA’s five core values. The first one is “NATION FIRST.” That means people should work for the good of the nation rather than focusing on their own selves. They should work for the common good, with conscience and social responsibility. They should be willing to make sacrifices. This value of “NATION FIRST” is something very important to think about in every part of the work, from setting a budget to proceeding with a research project.
Next is the value of “SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXCELLENCE.” The researchers should strive for excellence in everything they do and do their jobs responsibly to find truly new discoveries. Dr. Narong said, “We always say, at NSTDA there is no such thing as ‘good enough’ or ‘the best we can do’ because we believe everything can be even better, even more accurate, even more useful, even more efficient. People at NSTDA have to constantly develop themselves to keep advancing and changing for the better.”
The third value is “TEAMWORK.” Teamwork requires many things, such as the willingness to listen, two-way communication, and daring to give constructive criticism. Teamwork is essential because the two main things required for science and technology research are money and people, and Thailand has only a limited amount of both. NSTDA researchers need to work together with other researchers at outside organizations and universities, with an eye to address the needs of the nation. Many of the successful projects NSTDA has completed, are the work of both NSTDA researchers and researchers from other agencies.
The fourth core value is “DELIVERABILITY.” NSTDA researchers have to be determined to deliver high quality work according to their promise. Everyone should be quick and flexible and should remain enthusiastic about the work. No matter if the research is a success or a failure, the results should be delivered on time. Sometimes the nation’s needs cannot wait.
The last core value is “ACCOUNTABILITY.” NSTDA puts great emphasis on ethics, morality, transparency and standing up for what is right. The researchers definitely need to have professional ethics and accountability.
Dr. Narong affirms that these five core values are his main strategy for making sure the capable people are moving forward in the same direction. The values make the organization strong. NSTDA always checks to make sure that all the personnel are following the organizational culture. Even if someone leaves the organization, if the organizational culture is deeply ingrained, then the new comer to take his place will soon be socialized to follow the same goals.
If you look at the human resources management of almost any organization in Thailand, you’ll see that they all try to keep their best people working there. However, at NSTDA it is quite the opposite because of its “NATION FIRST” policy. If someone whose work skills were developed at NSTDA moves on to do research for another government organization, a university, or the private sector, it will still be a good thing to help strengthen the nation. It seems funny to hear the NSTDA executives ask “Is our turnover rate too low?” You could say that developing personnel and sending them to work at other organizations is one of the missions of NSTDA.
NSTDA executives are aware that it is not easy to satisfy scientists and keep them working at one place for a long time. “Money may be one factor that attracts scientists to an organization, but even more important is the research environment; the work environment. These people have a unique way of life, their way of thinking and their creativity. NSTDA has to build up a good climate and provide frequent opportunities for free exchange of ideas. We have to give the scientists chances to discuss their work and present their results. They want to attend meetings and conferences to know what’s going on and keep abreast of new technology.”
NSTDA has invested a great deal in IT. The researchers can work 24 hours a day from any location—at home, at the office, or even overseas. They can access all the information they need.
NSTDA coordinates and collaborates with other research organizations in Thailand and other countries. It organizes a conference every year to present the research results of its scientists and to let them exchange ideas with people in different industries. NSTDA scientists frequently make overseas trips to learn about new research techniques.
Another important point is job security. They give all the personnel opportunities to grow both in research and administration.
Dr. Narong said, “Above all else, we have to understand the needs of our people and the needs of the market. We have to understand market competition and learn to adjust ourselves to match the situation.”
This is his strategy for taking care of the country’s top brains. Still, he says it is a continuous challenge for the NSTDA administrators to oversee all the researchers. Not only to they want to push them to use their talents and work as a team, they also want to make sure they put out their best work to answer the needs of the country. They have to try to come out with new innovations, and most importantly, they have to work to spread their knowledge and ideas out to the public. The trick is to keep the researchers working on track according to the organization’s goals while, at the same time, giving them the freedom to think of creative new answers.
