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The People team at HAVI Freight Management Asia aspires to bring more to the organisation and people, as a deep-rooted commitment.
HAVI Freight Management Asia is an organisation that believes in staying agile and embracing change. The People team is passionate about being aware that while stability and career growth continue to be important to many talented individuals, the ability to inspire and provide flexibility at work has become increasingly critical in attracting and retaining key talent.
With this philosophy that supports diversity as a driver, HAVI Freight Management Asia won the silver award for 'Excellence in Cross-Generational Workforce Engagement' at the HR Excellence Awards 2024, Singapore.
In this interview, HRO speaks with the People team at HAVI Freight Management Asia, to see how worked closely with the business to redefine priorities and adopt new behaviours at work.
Q What was the motivation that sparked your passion & business case for pursuing your outstanding people strategy?
The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for HAVI Freight Management, resulting in increased workloads and a pressing need to reenergise our teams. We knew the organisational landscape had changed and our People team needed to work even more closely with the business to redefine priorities and adopt new behaviours at work.
Though we see improvements in employee engagement through our efforts over the last three years, we knew we had other challenges, including managing a multi-generational workforce, and the need to get more creative in our engagement programmes; otherwise we would risk losing our competitiveness.
We approached these challenges proactively; every year, our People team reviews key engagement and performance initiatives for the next year to ensure we stay on track with our people strategy, and to bring more to the organisation and people. That’s our commitment.
Q Looking back, can you share a challenge that you overcame in your journey of HR excellence? How did you triumph?
Managing a multi-generational workforce presents unique challenges. With varying employee expectations, our people policies require a tailored approach to meet diverse needs effectively. Promoting organisation-wide psychological safety and embedding DE&I in our day-to-day operations were two key approaches we adopted in the last few years.
We learned that organisations who are behind in the DE&I curve will suffer as their workforce demographics span multiple generations. On the other hand, those who harness opportunity for collaboration, development and build bridges between generations will thrive. HFM is glad to have leveraged the strengths and value of the different generations of employees to co-create an inclusive, engaging and positive workplace early. That has helped shape positive employee experience within the organisation.
Q Beyond the recognition, what impact do you hope your feature in the HR Excellence Awards would have on the HR community and manpower landscape?
We are grateful to be recognised but more importantly, this award serves as an excellent motivation to the organisation to continue to stay agile and embrace change. As HR practitioners, we need to constantly remind ourselves that the workforce landscape has evolved. While stability and career growth continue to be important to many, the ability to inspire and provide flexibility at work has become increasingly critical in attracting and retaining key talent.
Q Could you share some advice you would give to others aspiring to follow in your footsteps?
As two of HAVI’s values say, 'Do what’s right' and 'Think big together'! This means, we take responsibility for everything we do, and we challenge, inspire, and collaborate with each other to shape the future.
At the leadership team level, we constantly challenge ourselves to do the best for the organisation and when we win, we strive to win together. As I often say, there is no HR goals, there is only organisation goals. What our People team delivers is an integral part of the overall value created to support organisational goals, ensuring alignment and driving success across the business.
Q Let's talk inspiration! Who has been a driving force behind your success?
I have to say that it’s both organisation and individual. As a Lead of our People team, I constantly push the team and myself to deliver what the organisation and people need. But none of this can be achieved without the support from my fellow leadership team and through a culture of openness.
The key is to create a common desire to build a better workplace by inspiring our people, creating positive employee experiences, and effectively communicating across all levels so that they understand their purpose in HAVI. This attitude constantly drives us to achieve more, and is definitely the kind of legacy I would like to leave behind.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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