In this competitive world, chief executives are often under pressure to act only for the financial interests of the company. This often means neglecting the emotional and physical welfare of employees. Is this sacrifice necessary, or is there a win-win solution?
Nanfang Lee Kum Kee believes in the latter. They possess a unique corporate culture which, while gaining them consistent financial growth year after year, has resulted in a near zero staff turnover rate in 15 years.
'The corporate culture must have a soul. Many companies try to model themselves on successful companies, but unless the chief executive and management truly believe in the culture, it won't work,' said Raymond Lo Wai-man, vice-president of human resources and administration.
'The chief executive's personality and value system must be in alignment with the culture he is promoting. Corporate culture cannot just be talked about, it must be acted upon, so the leaders must train and lead the team accordingly,' said Mr Lo.
The company has something called the 'happiness index' (with zero being extremely upset, and 10 being ecstatic) by which it regularly assesses the happiness of its employees. To be happy, one must be respected, valued and allowed a good work-life balance.
Upholding the guidelines of their team communication model is a way of promoting respect. 'Criticise the incident, not the person' is one of their guidelines. It is also important to make staff feel they are valued. The chief executive involves the top management in developing an 'auto-pilot' leadership concept. Empowering staff and delegating appropriately are big factors in enabling leadership by 'auto-pilot'.
Every quarter, three days are spent on team-building activities to develop employees' potential. 'There is no budget on people development,' Mr Lo quoted Sammy Lee Wai-sum, chief executive of Nanfang Lee Kum Kee.