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Anna Ho, CHRO, shares: "When employees began echoing our values in their own words, we knew we have found the right path. That was our moment of truth — when unity wasn’t instructed, it was inspired."
As Vena Group entered its next phase of accelerated growth, one defining question surfaced: how do we maintain a single, unified heartbeat across 11 markets and 41 nationalities? It was a question not of scale, but of soul — how to ensure that as the organisation expanded, its people stayed connected to a shared purpose, identity, and community.
The answer became the Group’s award-winning HR communication strategy, which earned a gold win at HR Excellence Awards 2025, Singapore: Powering purpose and people, built on the ABC mantra — Activate, Believe, Co-create. This simple yet powerful framework became the connective tissue that united employees globally.
How the ABC mantra defined Vena Group’s HR strategy
The journey began with Activate — an intentional effort to spark alignment by making communication simple, visual, and human. Global CEO-led town halls brought transparency and direction to a fast-growing workforce. Brand workshops helped teams in different countries anchor their work in Vena Group’s purpose of engineering a greener future and long-term vision of a world with no compromises.
Campaigns like Green Actions and purpose-driven storytelling created moments of collective pride. One of the most transformative element was the amplification of employee voices through #BehindTheVEsion, featuring heartfelt stories from colleagues all over the globe. These narratives shifted the cultural centre of gravity — from corporate messages to personal meaning.
As CHRO Anna Ho reflects, “Communication has to be inside-out. When employees began echoing our values in their own words, we knew we had found the right path.” That was the moment unity stopped being instructed and started being inspired.
With growth came an even greater opportunity: embracing the extraordinary diversity that defines Vena Group. Operating across Asia-Pacific meant engaging with one of the most culturally vibrant regions in the world — home to more than 2,300 languages, hundreds of ethnic groups, and some of the richest traditions and communication styles anywhere. Speaking one common language across markets as distinct as Japan, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia — and ensuring it resonated meaningfully in all — required intention and creativity.
With 41 nationalities represented within the organisation, Vena Group became a living mosaic of perspectives and lived experiences. This called for more than translation; it invited cultural resonance. A message that felt natural in Singapore might evoke a different emotional response in Japan; what energized teams in Australia could feel more understated in Indonesia or the Philippines. Early on, we saw that messages landing clearly in one market felt distant or less relatable in another — not as a barrier, but as a signal to adapt, enrich, and localise our approach.
ABC in action: Building one language through clarity, inclusivity and engagement
The ABC mantra is our compass. Under Activate, communication was redesigned to be visual-first, simple, and multilingual, ensuring that every message is clear, accessible, and understood by all employees. CEO-led Brand workshops where the Purpose, Mission, and Vision were unpacked and brought to life, foster a shared understanding across the organisation. Thought-leadership panels and staff-led sharing sessions further reinforced these principles, enabling employees to "walk the talk" and become advocates of our brand values.
To deepen engagement, we also rolled out communications toolkits and templates, refreshed our brand guidelines, and introduced on-the-ground activation activities such as the Green Actions Campaign, Celebrating Mother Earth, and the Wave Walk, which encouraged teams to experience the brand in action. These efforts helped create a consistent and inspiring narrative—one that every employee can internalise, embody, and champion.
Under Believe, the strategy turned diversity into a source of pride by elevating peer-to-peer recognition. Vena Stars, the organisation’s signature appreciation program, highlighted everyday heroes whose actions embodied Vena Group’s values. Women Empowerment workshops created safe spaces for dialogue, mentorship, and allyship across borders. Colleagues began seeing themselves — and one another — in the brand.
Co-create emerged as the principle that most profoundly reshaped Vena Group’s culture. Feedback stopped being an afterthought and became the engine of progress. "Ask the CEO" forums allowed employees’ questions and concerns to be addressed directly and openly. Pulse surveys informed strategic shifts. Employee-led committees — such as the Women Empowerment Committee and the Recreational and Fun-ergy Club — created spaces where staff didn’t just participate, but pioneered.
This shift from broadcasting to listening was the turning point. “When we stopped broadcasting and started listening, engagement skyrocketed,” one team member reflects. What once felt like distance became dialogue — and dialogue became the DNA of connection.
The impact was unmistakable. Across the organisation, communication evolved from function to community. Under Activate, employees gained clarity about purpose and direction — no matter their role or location. Under Believe, pride deepened as colleagues felt seen, valued, and heard. Under Co-create, innovation flourished, with staff spearheading initiatives such as VENnovation, Fun-ergy programs, and Women Empowerment workshops.
The most profound change wasn’t in metrics — though engagement and alignment rose significantly — but in behaviour. Engineers led wellness drives. Finance teams organised charity events. Employees helped shape benefit enhancements, including fertility support.
The shift was organic, authentic, and deeply human: Vena Group’s people became its culture-carriers, storytellers, and brand ambassadors.
Looking back, one value anchored the entire journey: Respect. It guided every message, every discussion, every shared win. As Anna Ho expressed, "When respect becomes action, communication becomes transformation." It was this belief that sustained the team — not applause or recognition, but the quiet pride of watching employees step forward to lead the conversations once driven by HR.
In meetings, workshops, and communities across the region, employees weren’t simply repeating corporate values; they were interpreting them, applying them, and enriching them with their lived experiences. What began as an HR communications strategy became a cultural movement shaped and sustained by the people themselves.
The Vena Group story carries an important message for the wider HR community: HR and Communications are not departments — they are the drumbeat of culture. When people feel ownership, not instruction; when they help shape the message, not just receive it; when stories come from the heart instead of the handbook — that is when an organisation becomes united in purpose.
If there is one golden nugget to carry forward from Vena Group’s journey, it is this: Don’t just communicate — co-create.
Activate with clarity.
Believe with candour.
Co-create with courage.
Because true excellence isn’t measured in polished slides or corporate slogans, but in the shared stories that bind people together — stories that turn communication into inspiration, and organisations into communities.
When your people become your Brand Ambassadors, culture becomes your strength.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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