share on
Ute Driyono Tanusaputra, Head of Human Capital at BFI Finance Indonesia, tells Umairah Nasir how the organisation is navigating rapid transformation by strengthening leadership, cultivating learning agility, and adapting to the rise of Gen Z in the workforce.
HRO’s Umairah Nasir recently sat down with Ute Driyono Tanusaputra (pictured above), Head of Human Capital, at BFI’s Jakarta office, where she spoke with renewed energy after a short post-birthday holiday. Calm and thoughtful in her delivery, she reflected on the organisation’s evolving people journey and the shifts shaping the workforce today.
As the discussion unfolds, she offers a clear and grounded view of the realities facing HR in an industry that continues to transform.
Strengthening talent for BFI’s next phase
Ute begins by outlining the biggest talent challenges shaping the industry today. She shares that people and organisation is a strategic priority at BFI Finance Indonesia, built around three pillars: leadership excellence, total talent management, and developing a high performing and capable organisation. As a 43-year-old company, BFI is moving into what she describes as its "second marathon", where the pace of change is faster, and the business is growing ahead of its people.
A key challenge lies in ensuring that long-tenured employees stay ahead with evolving demands. While tools such as the nine-box metrics remain useful, Ute notes that the organisation now needs people who are ready to adapt, learn continuously, and shift their mindset. Transformation, she emphasises, does not begin at the organisational level but it starts with individuals. It is a cycle of learning, adapting, and growing, and this forms the foundation of BFI’s current talent priorities.
To support this shift, BFI introduced learning labs or life labs. These involve small-scale strategic projects driven by selected high performers, with sponsorship from the senior leadership team. The aim is to embed learning through experimentation instead of traditional formats.
The accelerated development initiative was also formalised. Through a partnership with prominent business schools this collaboration centres on a specially designed MiniMBA programme aimed at ensuring BFI leaders sustain their growth and adaptability in a dynamic market. The programme's core objective is to strengthen key competencies essential for modern leadership. Beyond individual skill enhancement, the programme is a vehicle for organisational synergy and network capitalisation.
By deliberately fostering cohorts across diverse functional and seniority levels, BFI is cultivating a robust internal network. This cross-functional engagement is instrumental in building the social capital necessary to streamline future collaboration and expedite the achievement of collective organisation objectives.
When asked about the most sought-after skills in the industry, Ute highlights learning agility as the most critical. As she explains, employees must be willing to unlearn old practices and adapt quickly to unfamiliar situations. Curiosity and problem solving are also identified as essential. Instead of relying on traditional benchmarking, organisations now need "emerging practices" that fit their unique context. “Emerging practice in one company cannot be replicated to other companies,” she notes.
Navigating AI adoption while keeping morale high
As the conversation shifts to AI adoption and how BFI’s journey has been, Ute acknowledges that FSI companies like BFI typically adopt technology later than banks, placing the organisation in the early stage of its AI journey. A top-down strategy is in development, while a bottom-up approach is simultaneously encouraged through established tools such as Google Workspace and experimentation with practical AI applications, including chatbot deployment, anti-fraud detection systems, and advanced logic query capabilities. Leaders also participate in regular knowledge sharing sessions with external peers, allowing them to understand practical applications.
Through it all, maintaining morale amid differing levels of tech readiness remains a work in progress. While industry news about job losses can be worrying, Ute stresses the importance of supporting employees to remain literate and adaptable.
"AI will not replace humans as long as we are literate."
The discussion then turns to attracting and retaining Gen Z talent. Within four years, BFI’s Gen Z population has grown from about 20% to 40%, especially in frontline roles. To appeal to this generation, BFI has made it a point to shift away from traditional job descriptions, now using storytelling to highlight purpose and growth. With this process in place, candidates have the opportunity to hear directly from successful frontline employees who share about their career journeys and the impact of their work on the wider society.
Keeping culture strong and preparing for what comes next
As employees settle in, sustaining a strong culture in a hybrid environment becomes the next challenge. Ute explains that while BFI initially offers two work-from-home days per week, the organisation gradually encourages more in-person interaction. As a people-driven business, the team finds that collaboration, connection and performance improve with physical presence, although remote work remains available when necessary.
Looking ahead, the leader believes personalised employee experiences will define the next phase of HR. Different generations have different needs, and organisations will have to prioritise which touchpoints to elevate. For BFI, recruitment and development are the immediate focus in order to retain talent. She also expects human and AI collaboration to grow, with AI positioned as a partner rather than a threat.
As a final thought, Ute talks about the workplace trend she hopes will return: presence and active listening. She recounts a recent senior leaders-level workshop on talent management, where deep discussions about individual employees required far more time than expected. Most importantly, the session reminded leaders of the immense value derived from listening deeply to one another, allowing for the genuine exchange and understanding of differing perspectives, priorities, and values across various senior roles.
While the session successfully achieved its goal of determining development actions for key talents, it also served as a profound reminder for leaders of the immense value derived from actively listening to one another. This facilitated a genuine exchange and a clearer understanding of the diverse perspectives, priorities, and values inherent across various senior role.
That experience left her with many learnings to take forth in her leadership journey, one of which she leaves us with:
"Tools cannot listen deeply or celebrate progress the way humans can."
Lead image / Provided
share on
