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Pernod Ricard’s Head of HR for the Philippines & Indonesia Cluster explains how skills development, career opportunities, and talent readiness can help businesses build a more agile, future-ready workforce.
Seeing a workplace filled with laughter, collaboration, and ideas turning into action is what a great day at work looks like for Lovelle Macatangay (pictured above), Head of HR for the Philippines & Indonesia Cluster at Pernod Ricard. With cross-industry experience spanning wines and spirits, beauty, retail, academe, power distribution, and government, she sees HR as a function that builds trust and connection, helping people grow while enabling the business to thrive.
This people-focused approach also shapes her view of employee engagement and talent development. She believes employees are more committed when they can see a future for themselves in the organisation and understand how their skills contribute to business goals.
In this interview with Mary Ann Bundukin, ahead of her session at Transform Talent Philippines 2026, the leader shares why internal mobility and transferable skills are important to workforce agility. She calls on HR professionals to make skills a business priority, creating opportunities for talent to move across roles and enabling organisations to adapt to change while building a sustainable competitive advantage.
Read the full interview below.
Q What does a great day at work look like for you, and how does it remind you why you love HR?
A great day at work is one where I hear laughter across the hallways as people collaborate, co-create, and turn ideas into action. It reminds me why I love HR: we build the trust and connection that help people grow and enable the business to thrive.
Q What's one strategy you've found most effective in keeping employees engaged and committed?
Make growth visible and meaningful.
Engagement starts when people can see a future for themselves and understand how their skills contribute to the business. Honest feedback, meaningful experiences, and regular career conversations make growth tangible. Employees own their development, leaders create opportunities, and HR connects both to the capabilities the business needs.
Q In three words, how would you describe your leadership philosophy?
Curious. Driven. Intentional.
I stay curious about how the business works and where people can make the greatest difference. I am driven to turn insight into results and intentional about creating the trust, clarity, and opportunities people need to grow. That is how I co-create change and connect people decisions to business value.
Q Could you tell us one thing about you that people might be surprised to know?
People may be surprised that I see myself as a business leader first and an HR leader second. I am energised by understanding how businesses create value and how disruption is redefining the way they compete.
That perspective helps me connect business strategy with people strategy. My role is to ensure that we are building the skills, leadership, and culture that keep the organisation fit for the future.
The more capable and agile our people are, the more adaptable and successful the business becomes.
Q As a speaker at #TransformTalentPH, what is the #1 call to action you hope for attendees to take away from your session?
Make skills a business priority.
Skills are the currency of the future, but culture determines whether they create value.
A fit-for-the-future organisation invests in transferable capabilities, enables internal mobility, and creates opportunities for people to grow beyond their current roles.
When talent can flow to where it is needed most, the organisation becomes more agile, resilient, and ready for whatever comes next. That is how businesses build a sustainable competitive advantage through people. When people can grow and flow across roles, the business can adapt and thrive.
I want to attend the conference: If you're keen to attend this closed-door conference, kindly register your interest here. For speaking opportunities, please write in to Mary Ann Bundukin. We look forward to welcoming you!
I want to sponsor: Engage in meaningful dialogue through dedicated speaking slots, roundtable discussions, and at your booths! If your organisation provides any talent solutions and products that you'd like to showcase, you’ll fit right into this event. To learn how you can sponsor, please reach out to a member of our team now!
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