For our first meet the team feature, it’s only fitting to start with the newest member of the Parkside family – Paul Vaughan, our new General Manager of operations in Asia. Paul joins the team after over 25 years spent working across the print and packaging sector, specialising in reprographics. His skills and experience will be a huge asset to our business across the world.
Read on to learn a little more about Paul and his new role in the team.
How long have you been working at Parkside?
I’ve been here since December 2023.
What is a General Manager at Parkside?
My main responsibility is to ensure that all our staff are working in a safe, productive environment here at our Kuala Lumpur site. I’m also responsible for the overall profit and loss of the facility and will liaise with all other departments to ensure we are operating optimally while also seeking out new business development opportunities, too.
Describe your job in three words
Challenging – it’s always a challenge to ensure we’re delivering the best possible service and innovations to the fast-moving APAC market.
Interesting – seeing the similarities and differences in the Asian market vs the European market is definitely interesting.
Enjoyable – while it is challenging, rising to it and driving standards higher across the business is incredibly rewarding.
What does a typical day look like?
As I am at the start of my Parkside journey, the main activities of a typical day involve fact-finding and understanding how the business works. As it is a well-established business, most practices and procedures are embedded and working well, therefore most of the discoveries so far have been positive.
To start the day, I usually accompany our production team on a health and safety walkabout to understand how we care for our staff and ensure their wellbeing in the workplace. After that, we have a 10am meeting with the senior leadership team to discuss tactics for the coming days, as well as any issues and opportunities we might want to raise.
I’ve also been meeting each key member of staff individually, which I am keen to complete, to understand what makes the team at Parkside Asia tick.
The rest of the day will be taken up with staff meetings and fact-finding about the business and looking at opportunities for growth. This can be focused on growing the team, finding ways to help staff meet their personal and professional growth goals, and maximising engagement with staff, as well as supporting the sales team to achieve a greater share of the Asian market.
As time moves on, I will look to widen the focus of these meetings to include suppliers and customers to see where we can achieve better value from the supply chain and deliver added value to our customers.
What’s the best part about your job?
The people I have met so far. I’m lucky to be working with a great bunch of people both here in Malaysia and in the UK.
What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now?
Short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals for the business and our people – we’re setting out our vision of the future, which is exciting.
What’s your most used productivity hack?
I am a born procrastinator, so I draw up a list of goals which will constantly be revisited and revised. It helps me keep the pressure on to achieve.
Best thing about being part of the Parkside team?
The level of support I’ve been shown to help me settle in has been amazing.
Main achievement /accomplishments (outside of work)
My three children. I enjoy their company and am proud of the way they’ve grown up.
Interests
I love motorsports and enjoy riding motorcycles in my spare time.
What was your first job?
It was on a building site with my father. Life on a site was very different then and there are some compelling reasons why I am not a builder! My first paid job was as a Kleeneze salesperson going door to door.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
Be consistent in all walks of life and treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.
