In this exclusive discussion with global HR leaders in Jakarta, HRD dives into the challenges of change management
To truly drive customer delight, many innovative organisations are finding they must equally invest in not just the customer experience, but also their most important asset: their people.
Chandra Asri Petrochemical is the largest integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia that produces plastic raw materials to be processed into various daily products.
One of the main challenges Chandra Asri is facing is widespread transformation driven in part by rapid growth. Consequently, it is also experiencing a changing talent demography.
By 2024, the company is predicting around 72% of employees will consist of Millennial and Gen 2020 (otherwise known as Gen Z). At the same time, Gen X will be steadily decreased to around 27%.
At the Henshin Restaurant in Jakarta, Lenny Woen, HR practitioner at Chandra Asri, told attendees at the SAP SuccessFactors Executive Roundtable that the greatest HR challenge the company is facing is encouraging employees to “open their minds, accept change and encourage new ideas”.
The company concluded that they needed to implement and practice a motto in order to execute successful HR transformation. The company’s ‘I – CAP’ motto means being:
Insightful – Having or showing an accurate and deep understanding.
Communicative – Able to deliver messages effectively, both internally and externally.
Agile – Able to move and think quickly, actively and easily.
Positive and open-minded – Having no ego, open-minded and ready for change. Moreover, being willing to consider new ideas and being unprejudiced.
Woen also talked about the key enablers for HR systems, including HCM Cloud which is “no longer a matter of if, but when”.
It’s also important to have a single HR system for core HR and talent management. Further, mobility enables HR to reach employees on-the-go, and vice-versa.
Woen said another key enabler to consider are chatbots (eg. Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Process Automation) which help HR to automate many of the mundane tasks.
“We are well on the journey and there is still a way to go. But we have started with something that we are proud of.”
The moderator of the discussion was Wiwik Wahuni, HR Director at Home Credit, who could relate to the challenges Woen was facing.
Wahuni said the vast majority of her company’s employees are younger generations and when there is a change that it still “creating some anxiety”.
“When I joined the company, we identified that our exponential growth was resulting in a system and processes that were behind,” said Wahuni.
“Working with many more people meant we had to make a change.
“From my personal experience, I think employees - no matter what generation - enjoy being informed and able to understand the company’s decisions, so they don’t feel like they are victims.”
Among the speakers from SAP SuccessFactors were Julie Minamiura, Regional Sales Director, SEA and Catherine Png, Business Development Lead.
They spoke about the importance of a seamless employee experience to improve employee engagement, job satisfaction, and productivity. Moreover, they talked about this extending right through to the offboarding process and even when the employee leaves the company.
One example they talked about was the SAP Alumni network which is a community for former and current SAP employees.
The advantages of membership include networking opportunities with SAP Alumni and current SAP colleagues and leaders, earlier and better access to latest SAP news, access to exclusive offerings and premier events for business professionals, as well as attractive job openings.
“It is a very good way to make sure your past employees are connected to the company,” said Png.
“Often after only a few years employees will come back to SAP and they will come back with even better experience.”
“When they come back a second time they tend to stay a bit longer because they know what it’s like outside. At SAP, it’s very common to rehire.”
