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Winning Secrets: How Lenovo Indonesia achieved 'outstanding' employee engagement before and during times of crisis

Winning Secrets: How Lenovo Indonesia achieved 'outstanding' employee engagement before and during times of crisis

 

Arief Rahman, Country HR Head Indonesia, Lenovo Indonesia, shares how open communication, a 'people first' approach, and more earned the team a winning corporate wellness strategy.

The team at Lenovo Indonesia holds high regard for its employees' health and wellbeing, as can be seen in its efforts to provide a supportive environment that prioritises employee wellbeing, ensures safety and inclusivity, as well as provides competitive compensation, employee benefits, training and career development. And these efforts bore fruit when the team clinched the Gold award for Excellence in Corporate Wellness, at the HR Excellence Awards 2020, Indonesia.

Arief Rahman, Country HR Head Indonesia, Lenovo Indonesia, shares more on the company's winning corporate wellness strategy.

Q How would you describe your overall HR strategy, and what are some key milestones you’ve accomplished thus far?

We endeavour to become the strong backbone of the organisation which internally supports the business. We do this by providing high-quality advice and services for any activities related to HR, including operations and development (of the organisation and performance), as well as building strong engagement with our employees through our People First programme.

Our employees are our most valuable strategic resource. We provide them with a supportive environment that prioritises employee wellbeing, ensuring safety and inclusivity, as well as competitive compensation, employee benefits, training and career development.

We have reached a number of key milestones thus far. Firstly, we have accelerated the business performance of the Indonesian market through people and organisation development and operational excellence. We also improved productivity, fostered strong employee engagement, and maintained a low attrition rate. We succeeded in supporting the company to maintain solid performance and productivity throughout the year from before and during a critical time in the current pandemic.

We were also recognised for outstanding employee engagement achievement, which was a key finding in our employee engagement index survey.

Q What role has your leadership team played in supporting your HR priorities? How does your HR team collaborate closely with senior management to achieve business goals?

Lenovo Indonesia HR’s priorities are to grow the organisation by strengthening employee engagement without compromising on productivity. The leadership team supports these priorities by delivering valuable insights that help align various priorities with business goals. They also help drive participation rate and encourage contribution to HR or company programmes. The HR team then manages the support needed by the senior management team through quick response and close monitoring of the on-going HR services and solutions to avoid disruptions that might hinder the completion of business goals.

The HR team actively fosters open communication among and between employees, managers, and senior executives. Through the 'All Hands' meetings, we enable employees to ask questions, interact with each other and senior leaders, and receive the latest company updates. We also hold our 'Lenovo Listens' employee engagement survey annually to gain insight on how employees view their job duties, teams, rewards, the management and the company as a whole. This enables our business to run smoothly and achieve targets.

Q The pandemic has caused many business plans to be upended. What was the greatest challenge you faced this year and how did you manage to pivot your HR model/framework?

The pandemic has significantly impacted our business for about one year now, which has led to some changes in our overall direction, our business model as well as operational excellence that were all defined before the pandemic. When the pandemic first started, we had to risk safety, productivity and engagement to have employees work at the office.

Then when the WFH model was applied, we took the initiative to adjust all the employee programmes and policies to keep the business moving and allow virtual collaboration in the form of e-learning, virtual town halls and events, as well as wellness programmes. We helped employees manage the change by providing support such as the Employee Assistant Programme counselling services for employees to confide in personal issues or challenges.

During the course of the year, one learning which stands out to us is that organisations need to remain agile to manage the disruption of the pandemic. It is essential to include HR when coming up with business plans as the pandemic impacts all functions of the organisation.

Q What was your game plan for measuring ROI in corporate wellness? What are some proud achievements you can share with us on this front?

We measure our corporate wellness through reported work-related injuries, of which we’ve able to achieve our target of zero. We’ve even reported a lower number of days to absenteeism due to sickness. Employee health and wellbeing was maintained by the company supported by wellness facilities, benefits, and the wellness engagement programme. Extended attention was provided to employee’s family members during the pandemic situation through safety tools for precautions and benefit coverage including multivitamin, fruit, and healthy food.

In response to COVID-19, all Lenovo permanent employees received one-time financial support (allowance) to help defray or reimburse the cost of setting up a convenient workplace at home and avoid the risk of being exposed to the virus by working outside.

Q What are the three key messages that your corporate wellness initiate/strategy communicates to the workforce?

Our three key messages that were communicated to employees pertaining to corporate wellness:

  • Lenovo Indonesia will consistently drive employee engagement under our People First programme which covers wellness, celebration and giving back (CSR). Wellness is the strongest programme in Indonesia with a mix of initiated programmes such as Monday Fruit Day, Thursday Milk & Yoghurt Day, Friday Healthy Breakfast Day, Yoga, Zumba, and other sports activities.
  • Employees to stay safe and take part in all precautions to risk being exposed to Covid-19. Lenovo also launched a new global wellbeing page that includes tips and resources meant to inspire and motivate staff and their families.
  • Maintain good health through discipline with a healthy lifestyle and mindset which will help employees face any challenges in their best condition.

Photo / Provided

Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets' section!


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