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The company believes creating EX does not solely depend on the HR department. Rather, it involves a whole-of-organisation approach to achieving excellent results — particularly key stakeholders at the management team, as Hemmawan Poonphol, First EVP, HR, Big C Supercenter shares.
Big C Supercenter is a retail shopping center brand headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, offering customers an omni-channel shopping experience.
With a nationwide portfolio ranging from hypermarket, supermarket, and convenience stores to online platforms, Big C Supercenter guarantees that their customers will be able to enjoy shopping good quality products at an affordable price and experience excellent customer service.
Big C Supercenter took home the following awards during the Employee Experience Awards 2024, Thailand:
Gold:
- Best In-House Candidate Experience
- Best Employer Branding
- Best Campus Recruitment Strategy
Silver:
- Best Executive Coaching Programme
- Best First-Time Manager Programme
- Best Career Development Programme
- Best Onboarding Experience
Bronze:
- Best Recruitment Referral System
- Best Soft Skills Training Programme
In lieu of these wins, Hemmawan Poonphol, First Executive Vice President, Human Resource, Big C Supercenter shares how Big C Supercenter thrives on the belief of "bring up [a] better life for all" to ensure the employee experience remains consistent and beautiful.
Q. How would you describe the pillars of your employee experience strategy, and what are the principles you have taken into account to develop this?
This is the roadmap of our employee experience strategy, which begins with an upstream focus on building a strong employer brand from the outset to attract top talent into our talent pipeline, and continues by prioritising the delivery of a positive employee experience throughout their tenure with us, whether they leave due to resignation or retirement.
Each pillar has a specific key focus as outlined below:
- Attract: build strong employer brand
- Recruit: develop talent pipeline
- Onboard: warm welcome experience for newcomers
- Engage: bring up better life for all
- Develop: enhance people capabilities
- Perform: initiate performance-based organisation
- Reward: establish rewards & recognition programme
Q. In a world propelled by rapid change, what measures do you have in place to maintain a people-centric, human approach to your EX as it evolves?
Big C currently places significant emphasis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to foster a positive employee experience within the organisation. Therefore, we apply principles of understanding and attention to diversity in various aspects, whether its recruitment focused on abilities rather than individual backgrounds or the development of comprehensive welfare programs that cater to all genders and age groups. We also emphasise inclusivity by encouraging participation from everyone, such as promoting activities that respect all religions.
Most importantly, we cultivate a corporate culture that emphasises acceptance of everyone, ensuring that all individuals within the organisation feel they have the space to make their voices heard and establish their identity.
We believe that in the long term, this approach will contribute to creating a positive and sustainable employee experience.
Q. What initiatives do you undertake such that the delivery of employee experience is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders in the organisation?
We believe that creating an employee experience does not solely depend on the Human Resources department. Rather, it involves everyone in the organisation contributing to achieving excellent results, particularly key stakeholders at the management team who play a crucial role in driving continuous improvement. To facilitate this,
- Implementing a new change policy directly focused on employees. The management team will act as co-communicators to raise awareness among employees.
- Enhance people KPIs for all of the management team to foster collective commitment towards employee wellbeing.
- Continuously convey the feedback from employee engagement surveys to the management team in order to develop employee retention plans and adapt to the trend.
- Encourage cross-functional collaboration to design and implement employee-centric policies and programmes. Break down silos to ensure a holistic approach to improving employee experience.
Q. Do you have words of wisdom to share with others in the industry on the best ways to keep your employee experience consistent and beautiful?
Certainly, we believe in “Bring up [a] better life for all.” These messages identify Big C professionals' characteristics:
1. Be active and take action = Great opportunities and unleash your potential
2. Be better and beyond = Exploring experience and open to new ideas & solutions
3. Together we can succeed we share = Collaborative community and win-win cooperation mindset
4. Maximise outcome = Legacy & pride and go to extra mile
5. Great responsibility = Challenge for success & society and the best for all
Q. Finally, what is the positive impact of employee experience that you’ve seen on the business as well as the workforce?
Big C has significantly expanded its business both domestically and internationally, resulting in several positive impacts:
- Creating a talent pipeline: This supports business expansion by ensuring a sufficient workforce to serve the business needs within a short period of time.
- Developing employee skill sets: This includes preparing employees to take on new roles or rotation into new areas of the business.
- Career development: A great opportunity for highly talented employees to advance in their careers, offering them opportunities to contribute to productivity and drive the development of new business initiatives for swift profitability.
- Enhanced wellbeing: Organisations that prioritise employee experience often offer wellness programmes and support initiatives that enhance employees' physical, mental, and emotional well-being, leading to a significant impact on productivity and fostering high performance within the organisation.
- Higher engagement: Employees are more likely to be satisfied and stay with an organisation when their needs are met, leading to higher morale and overall happiness at work. This results in a decrease in turnover among talented employees, preventing financial losses associated with recruitment, time spent on finding replacements, and missed business opportunities.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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