Rethinking Employee Recognition in the Hybrid Work Culture

Conceptualized around the theme ‘Adaptation to Innovation’, The ETHRWorld NexTech Southeast Asia HR Summit 2022 acknowledged the impact of emergent technologies on how we work, live and interact.

This one-day power-packed physical conference, being hosted in Malaysia, witnessed some of the top global influencers, HR leaders, business leaders and HR & Tech analysts from varied industries coming together to share their perspectives on the need to move from adaptation to innovation through keynote masterclasses, panel discussions and more.

Shazli Ghani , Human Resources Director at 欧莱雅 Malaysia & Singapore, Malini Vijaya Rajah , Group Chief People Officer at Censof Holdings Berhad , Sumesh Rahavendra Group Chief Transformation & Digital Officer at Pos Malaysia Berhad ?were among the dignitaries.

Datuk Vinod Sekhar, Chairman & Chief Executive,? The PETRA Group commenced with a stellar opening keynote session on, “The Big Picture of the Evolution of Technology in the New World of Work” that was focused on the CEO’s role in the company’s strategic priorities along with ways to successfully approach modernising a company’s function.

“HRs bring clarity and grounding to the vision of the CEO. The need to expand and grow to a point where they feel the success lies”, Sekhar added.

Sekhar further underlined the importance of engaging employees in the organization and how it impacts in their overall mindset. “People will just jump to another job whenever a better opportunity comes. Since they are not interacting in person, they don’t have a connection with either person in the organization”, he added.

Similarly, AdvantageClub.ai Co-founder & COO Smiti Bhatt Deorah highly believes in empowering, recognizing and engaging employees. ?

Addressing the Summit, Deorah highlighted on ‘Designing Recognition Programs for an Engaged Hybrid Workforce’.

“Hybrid working could result in a divided workforce, potentially diluting core values and company culture. Hence, we need a different approach”, Deorah added.

Deorah also stressed on the factors that lead to disengagement and how it is affecting bottom lines.

“Around 90% of businesses indicate that they recognize their employees. In reality, only 40% of employees feel they have been adequately recognized by their supervisor. Undoubtedly, the hybrid work and remote work culture has made employee engagement and culture building harder”, Deorah stated.

Likewise, Girish Bindal Chief Marketing Officer, AdvantageClub.ai touched upon the need for relooking at the employee value proposition for an exceptional EVP that motivates & engages employees.

Addressing the panel discussion, Bindal spoke about designing and delivering an EVP that helps you engage, retain and attract employees.

“The basic tenet of an employee value proposition rests on an ecosystem of support, recognition, and values. Organisations should devise their EVP keeping in mind the new work paradigm. Employees no longer work for only compensation they have a strong desire to work with brands that align to their purpose and are known for their culture of appreciation and recognition”, Bindal added.

Moving on, there were multiple other sessions on employee engagement which made it evident that leaders today are indeed serious about recognizing employees and retaining them later on.

It was followed by the mega panel by top leading CEOs, titled ‘Building Sustainable & Purpose-Driven Organisations’. Dato' Shahrul Nizam bin Abdul Aziz, Group CEO at Tanah Makmur Berhad , Loo Leap Han, Ph.D. ,Group Head of Human Resources at Biomed Global , Dennis Chuah Co-Founder at Eclimo Motors were among the panelists.

Norlida (Oli) Azmi Group Chief People Officer at Axiata spoke on Designing a Culture of Innovation.

“The key to productivity, growth and success for any organisation is ability to adapt to changes and innovate. In this session, a leader from one of the most innovative companies will join us to share the key pillars of designing a culture of innovation”, Azmi stated.

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It was a delight to have thousands of HR professionals and industry stalwarts gather together in-person for HRs’ BIG reunion at ETHRWorld NexTech Southeast Asia HR Summit 2022.