Haier Europe: Elevating its People Practices with the Top Employers Programme



About Haier Europe

Haier Europe is a global leader in home appliances and consumer electronics, recognised for 15 consecutive years as the world’s No.1 brand globally in major appliances, selling under the Candy, Hoover and Haier brands. The organisation comprises of 750 colleagues in the UK&I and 100,000 globally.

Haier Europe’s Top Employers Journey

Haier Europe had been on an improvement journey, investing heavily in people systems, processes and benefits and whilst colleagues inside the business would have seen the transformation, they wanted to receive external recognition in order to attract great talent, and give candidates the confidence to know that they had been certified by an external, independent validation process. They therefore joined the Top Employers Certification Programme, and following completion of the HR Best Practices Survey and Validation Process, were certified as a UK Top Employer 2023.

Elevating its People Practices

“We have definitely seen the profile of our employer brand increase, we see our candidate numbers are very strong and our retention figures are improving in key areas, but the most important outcome from joining the Top Employers Programme is that it has really made Haier Europe a better workplace for our colleagues because it has given us the impetus and direction to keep improving.” Matthew Given, Group HR Director UK & Ireland, Haier Europe

Having achieved Top Employer Certification in year one, the Haier Europe team immediately started work on its action plan to further improve its HR, using the Top Employers Results Dashboard. They did this by:

• Having a dedicated team of specialists within the HR team working on the Top Employers Certification project.
• Aligning the Top Employers HR Best Practices Survey topics and results with the action plans and choosing focus areas which would add most value to the business.
• Regularly reviewing with the team each quarter to ensure that improvements were being made within these focus areas.

Impressive results

In year two, following on from the action planning, Haier Europe increased their score on the Top Employers Best Practices Survey by 20% points.

They had prioritised Employee Listening, wellbeing and DEI, with the new colleague listening strategy bringing great insights and making sure that they really understood how colleagues felt about the business and its programmes. They also mapped, explored and improved many more colleague and candidate journeys.

The leadership team has also taken notice of the tremendous progress and are now championing many new initiatives across engagement, wellbeing and DEI.

Whitepaper | A Step-by-Step Process to Driving ROI and Growth through Effective Wellbeing Practices

Employee wellbeing is not just a trendy buzzword but a critical factor that directly impacts organisational success.

Employee wellbeing is not just a trendy buzzword but a critical factor that directly impacts organisational success. Over 95% of Certified Top Employers understand wellbeing’s importance as a strategic priority.

While many organisations are working to embrace effective wellbeing practices, they are still weighing up the return-on-investment on these initiatives.

In our latest whitepaper, A Step-by-Step Process to Driving ROI and Growth through Effective Wellbeing Practices, we are diving into the data around wellbeing with practical actions that businesses can put into practice to get the best out of their people.

Download the whitepaper for free to discover:

• How employee wellbeing is critical for the success of an organisation.
• A data-driven approach to making wellbeing decisions that involves three pillars: a holistic strategy that covers the health of body, mind, and spirit; predefined metrics to measure and track wellbeing trends; and regular evaluation of the utilization and satisfaction of wellbeing programs.
• How to effectively evaluate wellbeing programs with information about how organisations should define objectives, identify root causes of problems and challenges.

Global Work from Home Day 2024

It is safe to say that the way we work has changed fundamentally. Today’s workforce has expanded through digital connectivity and remote collaboration.

As organisations all over the world adapt to new work models, we celebrate Global Work from Home Day as the vehicle through which employees and employers celebrate the flexibility and productivity obtained through remote work.

What are some of the key benefits of working from home? 

When allowing the flexibility to work from home, organisations are creating a positive work environment for all kinds of living situations, life phases, and personal preferences, this takes out of the equation the exclusion that happens when you dictate how people should relate themselves to work. 

Inclusivity brings multiple advantages to adopting a work from home model because it benefits both the employee and the employer.

Employers see a bigger pool of people who can be successful at the organisation. For professionals, an enhanced opportunity to choose how they work is offered. The added autonomy of working at home, office, or shared workspace increases their wellbeing. Moreover it conveys a employee-centric approach, which can boost engagement and therefore improve overall company performance.

How do employees relate themselves to work? 

We see high engagement at Top Employers, even with people working from home, but we know the key is to make sure we maintain this level of engagement. We must continually gather information to develop ways to stay connected as the organisation grows. That is why we focus on the importance of creating a programme that is intentional by design.  

To create an intentional programme, we must first know the relationship between employees and their work.  This is possible, through hr analytics and employee insights.In organisations with a human-centric approach, there is the employee, then the team, then the company, and this needs to be well defined.

At Top Employers Institute, we continue to develop the process of defining how the employee relates to the team and the company to offer them a journey that is aligned throughout the world.

This explains how we look at variables like work location and decide what needs to be in place no matter where you work to keep high levels of engagement. 

Download Now: Navigating a Dynamic Workforce 

How do we stay connected working from home? 

Intentional connection is the key. By making connectivity a goal, we see how working from home fits into the bigger picture of how professionals work and how this shapes the employee-employer relationship.

Connection can’t be left up to chance. It must be worked into an organisation’s goals, and these goals should answer questions like what the relationship between the employees and the employer should look like. How do the employees relate to the work at hand and to the overall goals of the organisation? 

Working from home should not equal working in isolation. There should always be opportunities for employees to learn from each other and model behaviours that create the corporate culture, not in a forced way, but because they like it.  

Practical examples include: 

• Creating an environment that promotes the exchange of information. 
• Fostering efficient processes that support an employee’s best performance. 
• Encouraging a sense of belonging through shared rituals like traditions or team events that improve the employee experience. 
• Providing opportunities for employees to contribute to the company’s narrative and identity. 
• Understanding that this is a work in progress and that growth and change are vital to creating a good programme for the employees. 

What are some things to be aware of when working from home? 

Employees must have what they need to perform their role. This is not just in physical items like computers and desks but also in processes that allow for connection with colleagues and managers, including periodic connections to evaluate performance and ensure goals are being met.  

Keeping a work-life balance can sometimes be harder. One surprising fact is that many people tend to work more when working from home because they’re relaxed and forget the time.

Finding the balance when working from home is an important part of why this arrangement must be intentionally planned as it is important to the employee’s wellbeing. 

How can an employee advocate for remote work accommodations? 

An employee’s work environment needs to match their own beliefs and vision to bring about the best work. It’s a very personal decision, and it won’t look the same for all employees. Our belief at Top Employers Institute is that everyone we hire is a professional and is motivated.

The organisation and the employee should work as a team to make sure the employee has what they need to be successful because the motivation is already there. It’s hard to believe that providing employees with what they need to fulfil their duties doesn’t link to better financial results for the company because people are happier, and happier people perform better.  

When advocating for this type of work arrangement, the organisation must be able to see how this is of mutual advantage. The culture in the organisation must be the type that believes that giving people autonomy will produce better employees, so making a business case for this type of work set-up must show how it will improve productivity. 

What advice do you have for companies deciding on their policy for a work from home programme? 

For us, the priority is getting the right person for the job rather than the right person, in the right place, in the right time zone, and in the right phase of their lives for the job. The model is simple, but the effect is huge. There are a lot of systems to hold up this style of working but having a productive workforce should be the goal. 

Organisations are hiring professionals, and the expectation is that they should know what they need to be successful. This can only happen once the definition of success inside the organisation has been explained. A certain balance in autonomy, sense of belonging, and a clear picture of what is expected of the professional is the key to developing a great work from home programme.  

Part of it is, of course, where the employee is physically doing the work. The other part is how they are staying engaged. Are they collaborating? Do they feel connected? Many elements that can be used to create the right work from home environment, and this is where we should focus on the philosophy or point of view and not where a person is physically working.  

The role of the organisation is in coordinating the matrix that facilitates the connections to happen between employees. Reinforcing the culture, common language style, ad hoc encounters, and building relationships are some of the tools an organisation can use to facilitate connections between employees.  

Organisations that keep a human-centric approach must continually ask if policies are still working for the wellbeing of the employees and for reaching the organisation’s goals. We need to make sure we take care of each other; if one sees the other is not doing well in our definition of success, it’s my responsibility to help you out.

Your success is my success. The human-centric approach towards working from home is just one element of a whole approach to a person-centric work culture and it’s what we believe is the right thing to do for a successful company. 

During Top Employers Inspire 2023, we got an insider’s view of how Top Employers Institute is becoming a human-centric organisation. Paola Bottaro, People Director at Top Employers Institute, talked to Wouter van Ewijk about how the business has adapted to support its employees better while learning to be mindful, empathetic, and purposeful. You can watch that session here. 

Final thoughts: the shift to remote work has significantly enhanced the digital employee experience

As technology becomes the primary means of communication, collaboration, and productivity, working from home has increased reliance on digital tools, like video conferencing, project management software, and virtual collaboration platforms.

This shapes the way employees interact with colleagues and complete their tasks.

This digital transformation has not only made work more flexible but also redefined workplace culture, as organizations invest in fostering engagement, well-being, and professional development through digital channels.

As remote work continues to evolve, the digital employee experience will likely play an even more central role in shaping organizational success and employee satisfaction.

Best Practice | Virtusa’s Talent Digital Transformation



Certified Top Employer, Virtusa, committed to an 18-month-long HR digital transformation to dramatically change the digital experience for their employees, covering everything from recruiting and onboarding to learning and development, inclusion, and rewards. The organisation did not simply make small incremental changes; they reimagined all their processes and radically transformed them into a single, fully integrated, hyper-personalised employee platform. 

This is just a snapshot of Virtusa’s innovative best practice. You can find the entire practice in our HR Best Practices database, which is exclusively available to Top Employers. Get inspiration and insight into the approach, challenges and learnings experienced by certified Top Employers. Access it now via the Top Employers Programme if you are certified or learn more about it here! 

Why the practice was needed:  

Although technology is at the core of their business, Virtusa struggled to make technology work correctly for their employees. They had too many disjointed systems that were not creating a seamless employee experience. The systems were not driving engagement or speaking to one another. Eranga Pathirage, VP & Head of HR for the UK, Europe, and the Middle East + the Global Head of HR Tech Transformation, helped the organisation dramatically improve its talent understanding and engagement through a digital HR transformation. 

Pathirage recalls that they already had all this valuable data about their 35 000 employees across 25 countries. As a provider of technical services, they respected and knew the power of technology. They saw a solution in centring the relationship between technology and their employees to drive adoption and employee loyalty. 

Read More: Best Practice | Momentum Metropolitan’s Offboarding Practice 

How they implemented the practice:  

Pathirage recalls that the most challenging part of their HR digital transformation was the beginning, as he and his team wanted to be bold and did not know exactly how to start; they wanted to involve everyone in the business and obtain their buy-ins as well.  Pathirage and his team took on the enormous task of reviewing all their processes to truly reimagine a digital solution offering their people an optimal employee experience. As he explained, they were not making incremental changes to some of their HR systems but instead re-hauling the entire process. In thinking through the right solution then, they followed some important grounding principles: 

• There would be one single source of truth. 
• Their HR digital solution would be fully integrated within Virtusa’s IT system.  
• The technology they picked would also give the company the ability to evolve. The technology selected and implemented should allow Virtusa to stay agile and guide the business accordingly. 
• As a technology services organisation, Virtusa also wanted to put technology first.

With these grounding principles, the organisation set out to pick a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for each element of the employee experience. The solution as a whole was born in the cloud. 

Download Now: World of Work Trends 2024 

The results of implementing the practice 

The results of this HR digital transformation can already be seen. The company now has an AI chatbot to assist in a personalised candidate experience, providing a consistent company story for prospective employees. SkillPrism, powered by AI, can create an employee profile from multiple data points to fully understand competencies within the business. The company can now also offer a personalised learning journey for their employees and, through Edge, can offer their own internal “LinkedIn,” giving each employee one to three personalised job openings across customers, domains, and countries. 

Once this digital solution was offered, Virtusa employees adopted it quickly, with an 85% adoption rate in the first two weeks.  

Learn more about the Top Employers Certification here.

Navigating a Dynamic Workforce

Paradigm Shifts: Agile HR Practices and Skills-Based Organisations

To close the 2023 Top Employers Inspire event, I sat down with my colleague Quinton van Es, Director of Research & Insights for Top Employers Institute, to discuss two closely linked topics –the funadamental shifts in HR practices and the rise in skills-based organisations.

These ideas are reaching a tipping point in business practices and creating paradigm shifts.

At Top Employers Institute, we certify organisations based on best practices, which requires us to look ahead at developing industry trends and consider those that are proven successful.

Agile HR practices and skills-based organisations are becoming more mainstream when there are many disruptions and uncertainties. From a business perspective, now more than ever, organisations need to be resilient, adaptive, and human-centric.

We discussed how these two practices are enabling organisations to do just that.

From the basic tenets of each to the more significant industry implications to our personal employee experiences with each principle, our discussion covered a lot of ground.

In this article, I’ll summarise the highlights of our conversation. You can watch our discussion in full at the end of the article.

What Are Agile HR Practices?

Working agile has long been established as a best practice for IT where rapid innovation was a necessity. Gradually, the ability to quickly adapt has become a strategic imperative for organisations, causing agile practices to spill over into other areas and functions.

In HR, operations are moving away from a rules- and planning-based approach toward a simpler model based on feedback.

Organisations can struggle with agile HR operations because many things, like payroll, feel fixed–there is no trial and error. However, the application is more of a big-picture consideration. Quinton explained, “When it comes to working agile, we are used to seeing these principles applied to projects.

In the context of operating models, a lot of organisations are more agile than they realise because they already have a continuous feedback loop in place.”

The essence of this approach is about regularly receiving and responding to feedback rather than specific tasks.

There are considerable variations in how organisations apply agile principles to their HR operations. Quinton gave examples, “some organisations focus on the mindset and values.

Other organisations are taking a more methodological approach and just implement scrum.” Each approach has its pros and cons. There is no one solution, which is part of what makes this paradigm shift so interesting.

Skills-based Organisations

Historically, jobs were the dominating structure for work. Job descriptions and titles defined who did what and how their work was managed and evaluated.

This approach is falling out of favour because it hinders many organisational objectives, including growth, innovation, agility, and the ability to offer employees a positive work culture.

“A job-based approach is very linear and predictive but it’s also a reductive view of work and the individual. In contrast, skills-based organisations zoom in on specific skills and the whole person to consider how an employee’s talents may best be applied. It’s a more employee-centric approach,” Quinton said to highlight why this paradigm shift is happening. Another reason it’s gaining popularity is that it offers a great deal of flexibility and adaptability.

As jobs shift from being the primary construct for work to being one of many factors, organisations must adapt their HR practices. HR writes job descriptions, sets compensation, and manages performance reviews–all tasks based on defined jobs.

Skills-based organisations thoroughly shake up this model, reimagining employee management, which is partly why agile HR practices and skills-based organisations are often closely linked.

Benefits of Shifting

Working agile means iterations happen quickly–things are done slightly better each time. Employees do not have to wait long to see their feedback in action. Additionally, employees get used to adapting and a certain level of ambiguity.

This model fosters a culture of continuous improvement and creates better employee engagement.

A human-centric skills-based approach supports employee well-being. It considers the whole individual, not just their education and experience. As a result, organisations can tap into larger talent pools, and current employees have a greater sense of mobility. “A famous example here is Google,” explained Quinton, “They acknowledged that they made a mistake by just relying on credentials because performance dropped. They figured out that they needed to consider motivation and individual skills more than specific credentials.”

Advice for Getting Starting  

Starting small always helps ease the transition–it creates less of a shock to the system. “Why not put someone from IT that’s used to working agile on the HR project team and see what comes from that,” Quinton suggested.

It is also helpful to identify your value proposition. A clear understanding of your business case for making these changes will justify the required resources. A valuable next step could be a readiness assessment. This process will let you see if your organisation is ready to move into that domain and identify potential challenges.

From my experience during transitions, the art of letting go is essential for leadership. As you guide your organisation through significant operational changes, accepting uncertainty is a requirement. If you don’t, progress is seriously inhibited.

I invite you to watch our complete discussion to hear more examples of how organisations that are Certified Top Employers put these principles into action. The applications are quite varied and continuously evolving, making agile HR operations and a skills-based approach to work exciting trends to follow.

Key Takeaways | World of Work Trends 2024



Top Employers Institute’s World of Work Trends 2024 analyses the latest trends in people strategies and practices from leading organisations globally. The report, which came out recently, is available to download now. The report showed the five most significant global workplace trends in 2024. Those trends are:

1. Empower through AI  
2. The Future Defined with Purpose  
3. Dialogue for Transformation  
4. Evolution of Wellbeing Effectiveness  
5. Broaden the Horizon of DEI  

The release of our annual World of Work Trends 2024 was followed by an online live briefing on the 7th of December 2023, with Quinten van Es and Emily Cook delving deeper into the trends. In their discussion, they touched on real-life examples of the trends and broke down the tactics organisations will need to take in 2024 to succeed.

If you missed out on the session, you can watch it now by filling in the form on the side of the page.

Make sure to unlock the core HR trends affecting organisations across the globe. Watch the session now.

World of Work Trends 2024 – Report

How Generative AI is Impacting Personalised Learning and Development

Over the past few years, Human Resources professionals have begun to embrace several technological tools to assist in both short and long-term objectives at work. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has yet to be integrated into many HR plans, this has been the year for HR professionals to learn more about generative AI’s capabilities and the effects it could have in the near future.

As seen already at the end of 2023, the integration of generative artificial intelligence could begin to reshape HR learning programmes by offering a dynamic and personalised approach to employee development.

In this article, we will be looking at what effects AI may have on HR, with a particular focus on how it may affect learning and development programmes.

Additionally, we will explore the potential benefits and challenges for HR professionals seeking to create a future-ready workforce.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a subset of artificial intelligence that, unlike other AI systems, can autonomously create content, including texts, audio, code, images, text, simulations, and video.

In Human Resources, generative AI revolutionises processes by offering personalised solutions, streamlining tasks, and enhancing the overall employee experience.

We explored some ways that AI is changing HR and talent acquisition in a previous article that you can read now for more general context on the new relationship between AI and HR.

Personalised Learning and Development in 2024

In the annual World of Work Trends Report 2024, one of the significant trends we identified was that there would be a shift in how HR professionals understood learning and career development programmes.

That change would be a move towards a more personalised approach that would give employees more of an active and empowered role in advancing their careers, often through the use of digital and personal resources so that they can develop the competencies and skills needed for the future.

To make employee attain new skills more individualised, many organisations are developing digital employee experiences, with easily accessible and on-demand micro-learning tools to allow employees the opportunity to learn ‘just in time’ when needed.

Generative AI could empower HR learning programs to move closer to the personalised learning approaches we noted in the World of Work Trends Report.

This tailored approach ensures that employees receive the most relevant and effective training, enhancing their skill development and overall job performance.

How Generative AI Tools Could Impact Learning and Development Programmes

• Improving Personalised Learning Paths:

  AI in talent acquistion can be impressively useful,Generative AI algorithms can analyse individual employee insights, including learning preferences, strengths, and areas for improvement, to generate personalised learning paths. That work empowers HR learning programmes to move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches and move closer to the more individual training programmes that HR leaders hope to get.

• AI-Powered Virtual Mentors and Coaches:

  Generative AI is already giving rise to virtual mentors and coaches that could provide real-time guidance and support to employees. These AI-driven mentors can answer questions, offer insights, and provide personalised feedback, creating a virtual learning environment that complements traditional mentoring programs. This approach ensures that employees have access to guidance whenever needed, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• Improving Adaptive Learning Modules:

  Traditional training modules often follow a fixed structure, regardless of an individual employee’s learning speed and style. Generative AI can introduce adaptive learning modules that evolve based on an employee’s progress. By continuously assessing a learner’s comprehension and adjusting the difficulty level accordingly, HR professionals can optimise the learning experience and improve knowledge retention.

• Gamification for Enhanced Engagement:

  Gamification has proven an effective strategy for boosting employees’ engagement in learning programs. Generative AI can take gamification to the next level by creating personalised game scenarios based on individual employee profiles. By integrating elements of competition, rewards, and social interaction, AI-driven gamification makes learning more enjoyable and motivates employees to participate actively in their development.

Challenges with Implementing Generative AI in Learning and Development Programmes

Generative AI in HR learning programs holds immense promise, but HR professionals must navigate potential challenges and ethical considerations. These include:

• Ensuring data privacy.
• Addressing algorithmic biases in learning recommendations.
• Employee trust and adoption.
• And maintaining a balance between automation and the human touch in the learning experience.

Ensuring Data Privacy

One of the most challenging aspects of implementing generative AI tools into an organisation’s strategy is the aspect of data privacy, especially as organisations are still relatively early in their adoption of AI tools.

As AI programmes rely heavily on collecting and analysing vast amounts of employee data to personalise learning experiences, HR professionals must establish robust data protection measures. HR leaders should ensure that they comply with data protection regulations by obtaining informed consent and adopting encryption protocols.

These are essential steps to mitigate the risk of unauthorised access or misuse of sensitive employee and organisation information.

Mitigating Algorithmic Biases

It should be common knowledge that generative AI systems are not entirely unbiased. In fact, they are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. HR professionals need to be vigilant about potential algorithmic biases in learning recommendations.

If the training data used to develop AI models contains biases, the algorithms may perpetuate or even exacerbate existing inequalities. Regular audits of algorithms, diverse and representative training datasets, and continuous monitoring for bias are crucial to ensure fair and equitable learning opportunities for all employees.

Employee Trust and Adoption

Introducing generative AI into HR learning programs may raise employee concerns about job security, privacy, or the perceived objectivity of AI-driven decisions. HR professionals must proactively address these concerns through transparent communication and educational initiatives.

Building trust in AI technologies requires demonstrating their value, emphasising their role as tools for empowerment rather than surveillance, and involving employees in the process to alleviate apprehensions and foster a positive reception.

Balancing Automation and Human Interaction

While the automation capabilities of generative AI can significantly enhance the efficiency of HR learning programs, it is imperative to strike a balance with human interaction. Employees still value the human touch in learning experiences, and specific aspects of development, such as mentorship and interpersonal skills, may be better served through direct human engagement.

HR teams should carefully design AI-driven learning initiatives to complement, rather than replace, the essential human element in the learning journey.

Final Thoughts: Became an employer of choice to embrace HR AI trends before your competition

Generative AI in HR represents a significant leap forward in redefining the employee experience. Organisations can harness AI’s power to streamline processes, enhance employee engagement, and contribute to their overall success.

They must do this by being aware of the ethical practices and staying attuned to the evolving landscape.

Organisations can begin to navigate this transformative journey in the hopes of creating and maintaining workplaces that thrive in the digital age. By joining Top Employers Institute you will access a library of HR AI best practise and anticipate all its trends.

Get in touch today, become an employer of choice!

The Era of Personalisation: Customising the Employee Experience at SAP India

By Billy Elliot, Regional Director for APAC, Top Employers Institute

Today’s workplace culture is in the midst of an unparalleled era of personalised experiences. Employees, similar to customers, desire treatment that caters to their individual needs and preferences. This change has propelled employers to shift from a people-centric approach towards a more person-centric one. Undoubtedly, the pandemic profoundly impacted reshaping expectations, with many people reevaluating their priorities.

Data from the 2023 Top Employers Institute Certification Programme shows a striking trend among the over 2 000 certified companies across 121 countries. Remarkably, 74% have updated their employee journeys to accommodate remote work dynamics—a 6% increase from the previous year. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is the most advanced in this regard, with 66% of Certified Top Employers having successfully implemented formal remote work options.

As part of the 2023 Top Employers Inspire event, I had the pleasure of hosting a presentation about this topic by Rashmi Raghuraja, Senior HRBP Consultant/PMO to the Head of HR at SAP Labs India. SAP India stands out as a leader in creating tailored employee experiences. Rashmi shared how the company addresses its workforce’s personal needs to enhance the end-to-end employee experience.

Read More: David Plink on Innovation & Leadership in a Rapidly Evolving World of Work

The People Experience 

SAP India’s People Experience Programme was created “so we have an inclusive environment where people can be who they are. They don’t have to pretend or leave parts of themselves at home,” Rashmi explained. The programme has five foundational pillars to support that mission:

1. Pride: Fostering a sense of pride among employees, both in their association with the company and in their contributions to its success, to boost employee engagement.
2. Purpose: Employees are encouraged to make connections between their daily tasks and the overarching company mission.
3. Innovation: Sustaining innovation through providing resources and platform tools employees can use to create and collaborate.
4. Appreciation: Each individual’s contributions are recognised as valuable to the company’s success.
5. Care: Genuine care and respect for employees is consistently demonstrated, bolstering a sense of belonging and support.

Read More: Case Study | JTI’s Candidate Survey

Pledge to Flex

Providing autonomy over individual work schedules and habits was a priority as the company assessed its employee journey. “We have a real commitment to offering a flexible and trust-based work schedule,” said Rashmi. Feedback indicates they have successfully done so.

The 2023 SAP Future of Work Trend report revealed a whopping 77% of SAP employees feel empowered to determine when and where they perform their tasks.

They achieved such a high level of success by forming a group of employees to facilitate the transition, the Change Ambassadors Community.

This group functioned as a guiding force, coaching managers and teams as they navigated the shift towards flexible work arrangements. Rashmi described the HR team’s thought process, “We realised early on that this is going to be a journey of not just a few weeks or months. It’s going to take years.

We wanted to bring our employees along on the journey and have a bottom-up approach.” Pilot programmes and continuous feedback loops kept stakeholders engaged and enabled adjustments.

People Unplugged 

Establishing a foundation of transparency and understanding within the company’s workforce was the motivation behind the People Unplugged Programme. Rashmi elaborated on this mission, “We wanted to have authentic conversations with leaders and offer a platform to debate, ideate, and collect feedback.” The first initiative was a six-part conversation series that engaged employees with company leaders.

All employees were invited to participate in these conversations featuring sensitive topics like performance management. Strikingly, 4,000 employees across India participated.

These sessions were an opportunity to engage in genuine discourse to shed light on why the organisation did certain things and potentially pave the way towards something new.

Ultimately, this series underscored SAP India’s commitment to creating a workplace culture that values open dialogue, mutual respect, and collective growth.

Download Now: Inspiring HR Practices from Asia-Pacific’s Top Employers

Career Canvas

In the wake of transitioning back to business as usual after the pandemic, the need to assist employees with the adjustment became evident. “One of the things we heard often was that people were feeling lost as they came back. They knew about different programmes, platforms, and tools but not how to find them,” Rashmi explained.

To address this concern, a series of brainstorming sessions were organised. These sessions included employees representing a variety of roles and career stages. The primary objective was to understand any gaps in support and identify what resources might be helpful.

Through this process, recurring themes were identified and served as focal points for taking action. As a result, two programmes were created:

1. The Inspire Talk Series is a forum for insightful discussions,
2. The Career Mentoring Programme supports individuals feeling indecisive about their career path.

To conclude the presentation, Rashmi emphasised that SAP India focuses on providing their employees with the best possible workplace. She quoted author Jacob Morgan’s book The Employee Experience Advantage to emphasise her point, “In a world where money is no longer the primary motivating factor for employees, focusing on the employee experience is the most promising competitive advantage that organisations can create.”

Check out Rashmi’s full presentation to hear more about SAP India’s innovative programmes and the organisation’s plans for new initiatives in the near future.