August 2014 Q&A: NXP

Peggy Tang, Paul Sexton & Renee van der BurgNXP

All in it together

Vital stats: Peggy Tang, HR director at NXP Semiconductors; Paul Sexton, VP of HR for global sales and marketing at NXP Semiconductors, and Renee van der Burg, VP of HR for NXP Operations, make up the core HR team within the organisation. Responsible for the HR function across the three different business units, the trio are all based in Singapore.

Singapore is NXP's second headquarters. How does that help business operations? 

Paul Sexton (PS): Singapore is the company’s second official headquarters, and that’s why we have the worldwide head of sales, worldwide head of operations and worldwide head of procurement and many more based here. We also have worldwide leaders based in the US, and in Europe, so we’re a company that doesn’t have a centralised power, and as a result, we’re able to make decisions that are relevant to the markets and customers we serve versus being restricted to one view based on one location.

I don’t think a lot of other companies have managed to successfully operate with such an unstructured manner.

PS: We’ve been able to keep pace with the fastest markets because we have decision makers in those markets, but because we’re not just working out of one location, we also get a balanced perspective when it comes to decision making. We get the benefit of working in mature markets where we’ve seen growth in the past, but also have a different experience in fast growth markets where there needs to be more agility and flexibility.

Because we have key decision makers living and working in those markets, we’re always getting the best possible results. It means we have to put in more effort to collaborate and we’re all frequently travelling, but that seems like a good investment. We know we have to be connected with each other to move the business forward globally.

Renee van der Burg (RvdB): It’s interesting when we look at other companies to see how diverse our teams are, specifically in nationalities. That really adds a new dimension to your team work because by definition, you’re more aware and sensitive about differences, and what works or what doesn’t. We still make mistakes, but we’re a lot more aware of these differences.

Peggy Tang (PT): We have more than 20 nationalities in Singapore alone. When you look at the employee education profile, at least 80% are graduates and above, and because we have an R&D set up in Singapore, we have quite a number of PhDs as well. We’ve really got a good and diverse talent pool in Singapore.

Is that why the decision was made to base the second headquarters in Singapore?

RvdB: Our decision to move to Asia was a conscious one. For us, it was a combination of competence level, a big labour market, and also the dynamics of the markets. Later on, we started discussing making Singapore our second headquarters and we are still constantly building the functions here.

PS: We’ve got a great team dynamic, we’ve got serious roles, and about 60% of the revenue and workforce for the company stems from Asia.

We’re a company that has great technology, is in the right market space, at the right time, so it is the perfect package. Everyday, you want to bring your best, and be better than you were yesterday. It’s not perfect, but we’re moving in the right direction.

Many companies struggle to make sure global strategies fit local nuances but it seems at NXP, that’s second nature.

PS: It’s because we don’t do things top down. There is a top down direction and Rick [Clemmer, president and CEO of NXP] and his leadership team do an amazing job in the way NXP’s transformed over the years. But they then hand those decisions over and say, “work it out, make it work and make it relevant to each of your markets”. And that doesn’t mean that everyone gets everything that they want, but there’s enough consistency to be able to do something. There’s always high engagement, lots of discussion, and the need to step forward and speak your mind. If you do that, you have the impact and influence most people won’t.

Are there still challenges in terms of global communication?

PS: The leadership team gets together quarterly and the different cultures engage with the conversations differently. Some are more direct than others, some do it during breaks, but we all walk out of it with clear decisions. Everyone’s been heard, everyone’s been respected and it’s been efficient.

RvdB: We’re in the third year of having face-to-face HR meetings. The first meeting, I had to put everything together like the agenda. But now, there’s team collaboration, and there’s input from the rest of the team.

PS: We do a lot of video calls, so it’s still face-to-face even though you’re not actually there. That’s our normal. We hardly use the phone. It helps to connect with people.

Paul, you spoke earlier about have decision makers in every market. How does NXP empower its people?

PS: Because we’re a company that’s not fully structured, we’re still building it as it goes. Everyone’s empowered to make change. If you’ve got an idea for improvement, come forward and do it. There isn’t a framework you’re given to work within – it’s really a case of saying, “All right, we’ve got work to do so let’s get on with it”.

RvdB: Sometimes for people, it’s not always easy to come into NXP. There isn’t a boxed-in job description. You have to be very creative and dynamic, be able to improvise and find the information you need when you need it.

Peggy, what was your reaction when you joined this culture two years ago?

PT: I came from a very structured company, where we started on a journey 10 years ahead. Things were always in place. When I came to here, NXP in Singapore was going through a transition. Renee was also new to Singapore, and she was also trying to adjust to the way of doing things here.

It wasn’t easy but what was good with this company is if you dare to do it, and you dare to do it right, they’ll leave you alone. So I think that’s how I adopted to the style of working. In Singapore there are two teams – one is senior in terms of how long they’ve been with the company, and the other team was very new to NXP. That was a challenge because I had to figure out how to put them together.

The physical office move to Fusionopolis would have come with its own set of challenges as well.

PT: Actually, that helped because it gave the company a new branding and identity.

After 13 months, we know who we are, but we’re not fully there yet. As far as HR is concerned, this year, we’re doing a lot of things such as a globalised system for our way of working. We’re also doing an annual Gallup survey because we want to hear what the employees have to say.

Are there any philosophies with NXP everyone works by?

PS: There are two major phrases we use internally. They are “absolute personal responsibility” and “fierce resolve”. In other words, if you’re going to do something, you have to own it, and you don’t give up. You keep going until it’s done. And we obviously make sure we do it the right way.

Renee, you are responsible for the biggest workforce out of the three. How have you managed to align that with the business culture?

RvdB: What helps is that I have history with the company. Once I came to Singapore, I could quickly start work with my colleagues in the other countries. Of course, it’s a big group and it has its own characteristics as a manufacturing operation.

What were some of the issues you had to overcome in that aspect?

RvdB: When we roll out targets, we realise we may not be able to do it because they don’t have laptops or there’s a language gap. You have to get to know them a little bit, and it took me a few months to really evaluate the characteristics and move into organising the HR team across the countries. Then we started working together to figure out the top priorities in HR – when we did our first succession planning, it was clear engagement, succession planning, pipeline building and talent management were the key topics.

PT: There was a lot of evaluation of the right players, and a lot of shake ups. What I liked were the regular meetings we would have. It takes discipline, but it gives us a platform to share or air frustrations.

How often does this HR team meet up?

RvdB: We have a weekly call with each other, and face-to-face meetings with the wider HR team twice a year. With my own management team, we have three to four annual meetings, and that’s where we discuss foundations and programmes.

Are there a set of programmes that are mandatory for all employees?

RvdB: Every unit, regardless of whether it’s sales, operations or business units, has to go through the general NXP programmes such as the work day or the recruitment partnering, but then they will also have to install their own programmes which are necessary for the talent management.

Do you work together frequently when it comes to rolling out HR programmes?

PS: Because we’re a close and mutually respecting HR team, we always share what we’re doing, and at the point where another business unit is ready for that, or that becomes a priority for them, they can just pick it up without having to invent it themselves. The operations team did a business foundation programme, and then the global sales and marketing side wanted it. So we picked it up, tailored a bit of content, but we really didn’t have to change that much. It’s great to have something that’s already proven to work within the company.

How has that helped with delivering effective programmes to the employees?

PS: Because every business is so focused on that they need to do, the programmes get accelerated within the organisation. Renee does what she needs to, but she also makes it visible to us. I do what I need to do, and make it visible to them.

If I want to pick up and roll out something, Renee and Peggy would happily support in me doing that. That comes down to the positive dynamic we have in the HR team.

What is the secret to this strong relationship the three of you share?

PS: As individuals, we respect each other, and we use that as a starting point. As we work together, we’ve encountered different things and come at problems from different angles, but by hearing each other out and being open to the fact that someone else has more professional experience and they’re providing a different angle, you need to think about that.

PT: All of us have different backgrounds, but HR is the core. I’m very vocal – if I see something that isn’t right and it’s something we can improve on, I will say it, and they know it. They know how I work and I know how they work. It really is about mutual respect. As HR, we always stand together so that when we reach out, we are one voice.

It also seems as though the team knows how to have fun.

PS: It’s not all serious. Personally, I have fun working with both of them. You know everyone’s sprinting, you know everyone wants you to be successful; we’re not competing for each other’s job. I can tell you I don’t want Renee’s job.

RvdB: And I don’t want his job!

PS: There’s no tension between us. We all have a genuine desire to make an impact and to make NXP successful – and that makes the job easy. And Robert [Rigby-Hall, CHRO at NXP] sets a tone with his leadership that’s so nice to work with.

PT: We were also very fortunate because he was in Singapore, so I had the chance to know him.

How does that close relationship with Rigby-Hall help with your everyday responsibilities?

RvdB: Whenever I have a question or issue, or maybe if there’s a programme we want to roll out but have to tweak a bit for Asia or manufacturing, it’s convenient for me to communicate with him.

PS: We all work hard; NXP is a hard working company because the opportunities that we’ve had are huge. There are growing pains, but everyone is really going for it. Rick and his leadership team, and Robert, want you to take charge of your responsibilities.

I have to ask about what happens if the three of you do face a conflict. How do you resolve it?

PS: I don’t need to be right all the time, and I don’t need to get my way all the time. Ultimately, if it’s something that is my absolute responsibility, I would prefer to have the final say. If it’s Peggy’s project, I may give her my opinion and she if doesn’t take my opinion, that’s fine and I’ll support her decision. We have to stay united as an HR team.

Our teams are so different, so we don’t come at things the same way. We’ve had many occasions where we fundamentally disagree on the approach but because we know who needs to make that final decision, we’re not trying to grab power or get something done our way.

RvdB: The important thing is to avoid internal battles or burning internal energy because we need to fight the outside world. It’s talking about things straight forward, understanding where everyone comes from, and the one who has a personal interest in the situation calls the shots.

PS: If there’s an executive decision that needs to be made, we make it and the rest of them line up behind it. And because we do that, we can line up behind things quicker because we’re not wasting time, and it causes people to take decision making seriously.

For companies that may still be struggling to work in a globalised manner, what advice would you give them?

PT: We’re not there yet – maybe we’re 70% there but we’re not there yet. It’s a lot to do with cultural sensitivity. There are times where decisions were made in Europe but Asia was subconsciously forgotten. That’s okay, but we then need to ask them about Asia, and they’ll re-do the programme. It’s not yet second nature for some. It comes down to awareness. The next step is to put it in practice.

PS: A quick example of that would be the sales leadership team. We rotate the calls, so every quarter, someone takes a turn to suffer and take the call at night. But everyone does it willingly because they know everyone does the same thing. It’s not difficult once you’ve set up that routine. Unfortunately I’m travelling all the time, so I’m always in a bad time zone, but that’s my fault!

What about making sure there’s diversity in decision-making?

RvdB: If we have a project team, we always put people from different regions in it. The other thing that works well is to invite people here to visit the region. Many times, I’ve invited my colleagues over for one or two weeks to visit the factories and design centres. It’s not the same as being here but at least it gives them an appreciation of what we do here.