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Employee experience is never a finished project. Instead, Central Retail Corporation continuously listens, adapts, and empowers leaders to create a workplace where people feel heard, valued, and supported. We learn more in this interview with Panchalee Weeratammawat, Chief People Officer, Central Retail Corporation.
As employee expectations continue to evolve, organisations can no longer rely on one-off initiatives to create meaningful workplace experiences. For Central Retail Corporation, employee experience is built through continuous listening, shared ownership, and leadership that brings its people strategy to life every day.
Rather than treating employee experience as solely an HR responsibility, the organisation has embedded it across every level of leadership, Panchalee Weeratammawat, Chief People Officer, Central Retail Corporation, tells us.
The organisation's people-first approach earned it multiple accolades at the Employee Experience Awards 2026, Thailand:
- Gold for Best HR Communication Strategy
- Gold for Best Holistic Leadership Development Strategy
- Gold for Best Work-life Harmony Strategy
- Gold for Best Learning Technology Implementation
- Gold for Most Innovative Leadership Development Programme
- Gold for Best Learning and Development Programme
- Gold for Best Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
- Gold for Best Rewards and Recognition Programme
- Gold for Best Campus Recruitment Strategy
- Gold for Best Soft Skills Training Programme
- Gold for Best In-House Career Website
- Gold for Best Recruitment Marketing Campaign
- Gold for Most Inspiring Leader (Panchalee Weeratammawat).
- Silver for Best Capability Development Programme for the HR Team
- Silver for Best Transformative Learning Strategy
- Silver for Best Organisational Change Leadership
- Silver for Best In-House Recruitment Team
- Silver for Best Talent Assessment and Selection Process
- Bronze for Best Employer Branding and Best Succession Planning Strategy
- Overall Leadership Award
- Overall Learning Award
- Overall Talent Acquisition Award
All of which resulted in the Overall Employee Experience Champion of the Year achievement at the end of the night.
Following the awards, Human Resources Online speaks with Panchalee to learn why she believes employee experience is never "complete", how leaders across the organisation share responsibility for shaping it, and why the future of EX will depend on balancing technological innovation with genuine human connection.
Q Tell us about the biggest insight or lesson that influenced your EX approach this past year.
Employee experience has been at the heart of our people strategy for many years. One of the biggest lessons we've learned is that employee experience is never something you can simply 'complete.' As people's expectations evolve, we must continue to challenge ourselves to better understand what truly matters to them and what will make the greatest difference in their everyday work experience.
For an organisation as diverse as Central Retail, this means looking beyond broad engagement initiatives and continuously listening, learning, and refining our approach so that our people experiences remain meaningful, accessible, and relevant to employees across different businesses and functions. We believe meaningful employee experience is created when thoughtful strategy is combined with genuine care for people and consistent execution by leaders at every level. This ongoing commitment enables us to keep building 'A Winning Team' and strengthen Central Retail as “A Great Place to Work.”
Q How did you bring leaders, managers, and employees together to support the execution and success of the initiative?
Creating an exceptional employee experience requires shared ownership. From the beginning, HR's role was not simply to introduce people initiatives, but to help build a culture where everyone feels they are part of 'A Winning Team' and is inspired to ‘strive and excel’ together. While HR provides direction and people strategy, we empower leaders and managers to bring that culture to life through their everyday leadership. Rather than introducing standalone initiatives, we aligned our leadership expectations, business priorities, and people strategies around one common purpose: making Central Retail “A Great Place to Work.”
To make this culture meaningful rather than aspirational, we created opportunities for leaders and employees to engage in open dialogue and continuous listening. We actively gathered feedback across our diverse workforce and translated those insights into actions that reflected the real needs of our people. Leaders were expected not only to communicate our vision, but to demonstrate it through everyday decisions and behaviours, while managers played a critical role in creating an environment where people felt heard, valued, and empowered to contribute. By making employee experience a shared responsibility rather than an HR initiative, we strengthened trust across the organisation and embedded our people philosophy into the way we work every day.
Q What challenge behind the scenes tested your team the most, and what did it teach you about building stronger employee experience programmes?
One of the greatest tests of our employee experience philosophy came during the severe flooding in Hat Yai last year. More than 1,000 Central Retail employees and their families across different business units were affected. In moments like this, our only priority was to ensure our people were safe, supported, and cared for, regardless of which business unit they belonged to.
What left the greatest impression on us was the commitment shown by our people. Leaders, HR teams, and employees from across Central Retail worked tirelessly to reach those affected and provide immediate support. While their journey to help was far from easy — with disrupted transportation and challenging conditions — their determination never wavered. They remained committed to doing everything they could to stand beside their fellow colleagues throughout the crisis.
Looking back, what touched us most was not only what we did, but how our people felt. Through the many messages, conversations, and words of appreciation we received afterwards, employees shared that they genuinely felt cared for and knew they were not facing the crisis alone.
That experience reaffirmed our belief that employee experience is not defined by the programmes we create, but by how people feel when they need us most. For us, that is the true strength of 'A Winning Team.'
Q As you reflect on the journey, what does this recognition at the Employee Experience Awards 2026 mean to you and your team?
Receiving this recognition is a tremendous honour, but more importantly, it is a reflection of the collective effort behind our journey. It belongs not only to our HR team, but also to every business leader, manager, and employee who has embraced our shared belief that people are at the heart of sustainable business success.
For us, this recognition is not the finish line. It encourages us to continue raising the standard for how we support, develop, and inspire our people. It also reinforces that meaningful employee experience is built over time through trust, consistency, and genuine care, not through individual initiatives alone. We are proud of what we have achieved together, and even more excited about the opportunities ahead as we continue building a workplace where people and business grow stronger together.
Q Finally, as employee expectations continue to evolve, what is one area of EX you believe HR teams will need to rethink in the year ahead?
I believe HR will need to rethink employee experience through the lens of leadership. As technology continues to transform the workplace, organisations can provide faster services, better digital tools, and more personalised experiences. However, technology alone cannot create a sense of belonging, trust, or purpose.
Employees increasingly evaluate their experience through the quality of everyday leadership; how they are supported, recognised, developed, and empowered to contribute. This means investing not only in digital innovation, but also in building leaders who can lead with empathy, adaptability, and authenticity.
The future of employee experience will belong to organisations that successfully combine human connection with technological advancement, ensuring that innovation strengthens—not replaces—the relationships that enable people to thrive.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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