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The CONNEXT philosophy, as Saranya Kitamura, PX Consultant, shares, blends “CON” for continuous communication with “NEXT” for moving forward. Together, they shape a culture where constant dialogue fuels shared momentum, ensuring every employee moves forward in unison toward common goals.
At Arise by INFINITAS, building a culture that thrives on agility, connection, and shared purpose has always been a top priority. As a young company driven by new-generation talent, the team recognised early on the need to strengthen cross-functional collaboration and break down silos across a hybrid workplace.
This commitment gave rise to Arise CONNEXT, a monthly engagement initiative designed to elevate the People Experience (PX) by transforming individual expertise into collective organisational growth. With consistently high participation and a growing pool of eager internal employees wanting to be speakers, Arise CONNEXT reflects the organisation’s belief that when people communicate openly and move forward together, they accelerate meaningful growth.
This drive to building a culture of shared direction and expertise is also what propelled the team toward the following accolades at the HR Excellence Awards 2025, Thailand:
- Gold for 'Most People-Focused CEO'
- Silver for:
- 'Excellence in Diversity',
- 'Equity and Inclusion', and
- 'Excellence in AI-Powered HR Solutions'
- Bronze for 'Excellence in Learning and Development'
Following the team's wins, Saranya Kitamura, PX Consultant, Arise by INFINITAS shares with HRO how Arise CONNEXT became to be the physical and cultural anchor of the company's hybrid workplace, and eventually became its most anticipated monthly event and a core part of the team's culture.
Q Tell us about your inspiring HR initiative – what sparked the idea, and how did you know it was the right path to take?
As a new company powered by new-generation talent, our critical challenge was fostering an agile, cross-functional culture and breaking down silos in a hybrid workplace. This sparked Arise CONNEXT, our monthly engagement initiative focused on enhancing the People Experience (PX) by transforming individual expertise into collective organisational growth.
We knew this was the right path almost immediately. The success of the initiative was confirmed by two key metrics: we consistently achieve over 80% employee participation every month, and we see a strong, continuous flow of applications from internal employees wanting to be speakers.
The name "Arise CONNEXT" truly captures this philosophy. It’s built on two elements:
- CON for continuous communication, creating a culture of constant dialogue.
- NEXT for moving forward, ensuring we all advance together toward our goals.
Arise CONNEXT is the living proof that when we move together, we leap forward.
Q Every journey has its ups and downs – can you share a challenge your team faced and how you worked through it together?
As Arise grew rapidly, the increasing number of employees made hosting our signature Arise CONNEXT event significantly more challenging. Our core problem was scalability: how could we adjust the venue, seating, and activities to accommodate all participants while maintaining the high quality of the experience?
Our solution was built on cross-functional collaboration and agility. Instead of handling the challenge within the engagement team alone, we immediately involved all relevant teams to brainstorm and adapt. We experimented with flexible seating, streamlined logistics, and introduced digital elements to manage capacity.
This collective problem-solving was the key to our success. The proof is in the data: even while scaling, we maintained our key success metric —increased satisfaction scores month after month, ensuring Arise CONNEXT remains a high-impact, unifying experience for our growing workforce.
Q What impact has this initiative had on your organisation so far, and what do you hope it inspires in the wider HR community?
Arise CONNEXT has become the physical and cultural anchor of our hybrid workplace, successfully merging engagement with internal communication. It has transcended ordinary gatherings to become our most anticipated monthly event and a core part of our established the company culture.
The success of this initiative is driven directly by our employees, proving they are the most critical force in shaping our culture. The people experience (PX) team's role is not to own the culture, but to drive the momentum. This philosophy is reflected in our intentionally diverse Arise Connext event staff, where any employee can volunteer as event staff and contributor. We actively leverage internal digital tokens to boost this employee-led participation.
"We hope Arise CONNEXT inspires the wider HR community to recognise that true people experience team success and cultural transformation are achieved when employees are empowered as the primary drivers."
The most impactful strategy is not to own the change, but to facilitate a genuinely cross-functional, employee-built culture.
Q Looking back, is there a moment, person, or value that kept you and your team motivated throughout the journey?
Looking back, the single most important factor that drove and motivated our team was the visionary leadership of our CEO, Jakkrit Klinsmith.
As a spearhead, the most people-first CEO, he instilled a mission that goes beyond business: to transform Thailand’s technologist workforce into a regional tech talent hub. Driven by a belief in lifelong learning and future skills, he committed Arise to integrating national-scale digital solutions alongside Krungthai and INFINITAS.
His guiding philosophy — empowering our people is the key to driving innovation — has been our unwavering North Star. Over the last three years, he has led Arise's journey with a clear purpose: 'Making Digital Life Possible for All,' consistently validating our focus on people skills development, continuous learning and combined with global-standard technology.
Q If you could offer one golden nugget of wisdom to HR professionals aiming for excellence, what would it be?
The single most valuable piece of advice for HR professionals aiming for excellence is this: Be a brilliant listener. Excellence today isn't defined by perfect processes or rigid policies; it’s about mastering the employee experience (EX). Stop relying only on annual surveys. Instead, embed systems for continuous, authentic feedback across the employee journey that you can genuinely listen to, and immediately act upon.
The 'moments that matter'— like onboarding, manager transitions, and career growth — will organically build the engagement and trust necessary for long-term organisational success. This proactive approach builds the trust and engagement necessary for success, transforming HR from a support function into a true catalyst for cultural and business growth.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
Photos: Provided
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