Sustainability is the key to determining a company's success. And an engaged workforce leads to a higher chance of sustainable growth. Since last year, electronics giant Philips has been focusing on raising staff engagement levels by implementing the 'One Philips' concept in Hong Kong. 'The management staff started to think about how to get the best out of each employee and to motivate them to be more engaged,' said Florence Ng Sin-man, senior director of country HR and regional learning services, Asia. 'In the past, the company's management was just focusing on building our financial strength. Now we focus on our corporate values - delight customers, deliver on commitments, develop people and depend on each other.' The company realised rapid growth and success could only be achieved when employee strengths were fully utilised. 'Instead of controlling all the financial growth and strength, we now talk about how to grow our people and engage them,' Ms Ng said. To help managerial staff adjust to the growth culture and develop their leadership skills, Philips has launched master classes on engagement, building trust between leaders and employees, making staff feel proud to work for the company and how to maintain the corporate image - 'sense and simplicity'. 'We all know we cannot control people's attitudes. However, we try to influence them and make sure they have the right behaviour within our company,' said Ms Ng. Workshops were arranged for general staff to explain the growth culture, objectives, programmes their managers attended and how they could be more engaged to achieve a higher level of performance. Through an 'annual engagement survey', which invites all employees to provide feedback on management style and leadership, Philips makes adjustment to their management every year. After studying the results of the survey, action plans and targets are set for further improvement. Managers also receive their team results, followed by a discussion among the team, in order to come up with specific corrective actions for the next year. For instance, in the report from last year's survey, while the overall engagement index, which is a reflection of employee satisfaction, referral and loyalty, had improved from 59 per cent to 61 per cent, the management were able to see that they needed to focus on creating the right environment and conditions to bring out the best in their staff. Like other Philips branches in other regions, there are different product divisions in Philips Hong Kong, such as consumer electronics, domestic appliances and lighting, that used to work independently. Since Wiebo Vaartjes, chief executive of Philips Electronics Hong Kong, joined the company, he has been trying to bring the different divisions together, emphasising the 'One Philips' philosophy. 'It is a concept applied throughout the company,' said Mr Vaartjes. 'We recognised more and more of the products we are producing have a lot of similarities. Technologies and distribution are coming together. The way people perceive things are much more integrated.' For example, a clock radio, created and produced by the domestic appliances division, is also a wake-up light. 'All of a sudden, the lighting gets the characteristic of customer electronic activity, so how do we deal with the much faster cycles and much more aggressive pricing? In consumer electronics, we know all that,' said Mr Vaartjes. 'To avoid people involved with the lighting of the clock having to learn everything all over again, we switch people around and work together. 'One Philips' is not just a nice slogan, it is also a reaction and anticipation to developments in the world.' Ms Ng said since the concept had been applied in Philips Hong Kong, the sale of their products in key accounts such as Fortress and Broadway had noticeably increased and employees were also satisfied with the changes. 'Employees are very happy and energised because they can learn a lot by working together, sharing knowledge and learning from each other. This is how we create energy inside the company,' she said. Maximising staff strengths Rapid growth and success can only be achieved when staff work to their full potential Build trust between leaders and employees and make staff feel proud to work for the company Move people around and work together to avoid people learning everything all over again Staff can learn by working together and sharing knowledge
