For the second year in a row, DHL’s strategies on staff motivation and talent management have earned it the “Best Employer” award in Aon Best Employers Asia-Pacfic. The recognition underlines that its investment in staff training and an employee-friendly company culture are its formula for success.
DHL always gives top priority to employee engagement, because its strength and the quality of its network and services depend crucially on the contribution and success of staff. Donna Kong, Vice President, Human Resources, says, “We believe that every individual’s contribution counts and we are strongly committed to ensuring our employees realise their full potential. Motivated employees take a company to the top, which, in turn makes it an attractive employer to other motivated applicants. In fact, we motivate our people to go the extra miles. By delivering great service, we earn customer loyalty, which, in turn, translates into profitability. Our reputation as the Provider of Choice rests on a workforce that embraces our values and organisational culture, and is wholeheartedly committed to service excellence and customer satisfaction.”
“With the labour market now so very competitive and the unemployment rate at 3.1 per cent, being a good employer is even more crucial for us to engage and retain the talents who have brought about our success. Thus, versatile innovative practices were introduced to motivate employees. For instance, our Certified International Specialist (CIS) programme strengthens their knowledge of essential aspects, while there are specific programmes dedicated to job functions and areas of responsibility. All these also play a key role in shaping our fundamental culture. So far, all our 2,000 Hong Kong employees have finished the CIS foundation programme and are continuing with other modules. The Certified
International Manager (CIM) module, launched in 2012, strengthens the company’s leadership culture and equips managers with the essential skills to become successful leaders.”
Apart from the Long Service Award, Appreciation Week, Employee of the Month,
Employee of the Year and the Can-Do Award, frontline operation hi-po development programmes are created to identify, retain and grow high-potential staff, not just managers but also frontline leaders. They target employees who demonstrated high performance in their current role and potentials for next higher one, and who have the personal drive and competencies to deal with various challenges. “Recently we started two development programmes, one for managers and the other for front line team leaders,” Kong explains. “We run development centres where their strengths and weaknesses are identified. They will get formal training and on–the-job assignments so as to prepare them as future leaders. Besides training in technical skills, participants are also required to take part in job shadowing as well as courses on presentations and problem solving – skill sets that are equally important for them to take on a leadership role in the future.”
Logistics is a very labour-intensive industry, requiring round-the-clock operation and this explains why DHL employs sufficient manpower to staff its service centres and Central Asia Hub at Hong Kong International Airport. Extra efforts deployed to attract people to work there include perks like good packages with competitive salaries and sustainable benefits to attract not only frontline colleagues but also backend operation agents. Additionally, a number of training programmes are in place to help employees expand their capabilities and maximise productivity. According to Kong, it’s vital to engage younger generations with the industry’s unique appeal. “We launched a series of training and workshops under the initiative ‘Understanding and Leading Generation-Y’,” she says, “to ensure that our managers know how the younger generation thinks and acts, as well as coaching managers on what they should do to motivate this group of employees. This younger generation talks a lot about wellbeing and work-life balance, so we work on wellbeing programmes and coverage to ensure they feel the company cares about them and their families, e.g., medical, scholarships.” To engage the new generation, DHL has also launched an employee mobile APP to better connect with its people.
DHL organises an annual Employee Opinion Survey (EOS). Last year, it scored more than 90 per cent across all key aspects, outperforming the group’s overall results, especially in active leadership and showing that its efforts in actively communicating with its staff pays off. Kong adds, “The EOS provides foundational insights on creating a sustainable work environment for employees and, more importantly, it facilitates open dialogue with employees, enabling them to express their feelings across various areas such as job satisfaction, workplace climate, career development, and communications. We also regularly hold small group meetings with frontline colleagues, through which we gather feedback to introduce improvements that enhance employee wellbeing.”
The journey to becoming a Best Employer does not involve sheer luck. According to Kong, it’s the company’s seamless communications with its staff that maintains its high service standard, so it will continue to invest in its people to help outgrow the market and enhance DHL’s attractiveness as an Employer of Choice. “When we launched our paternity leave policy it was three years before the Government enacted the same as law,” she explains. “Furthermore, when we provided lactation rooms at our MegaBox office and Tsing Yi Service Centre, we were overwhelmed by the positive feedback from colleagues. It was most encouraging when the mothers-to-be and new mothers at the company said they truly appreciated these initiatives.”
As an international specialist in facilitating global business, DHL hopes to maintain its position as the “Provider of Choice”, giving customers peace of mind and enabling them to focus on business opportunities with its “Certified International Specialists”. This could not be achieved without its international service network and infrastructure covering more than 220 countries and territories. From within, DHL also wants to establish itself as the Employer of choice in Hong Kong. “As we continue to grow with businesses in Hong Kong,” says Kong, “we also want to grow the future generation of logistics industry talents through providing ample job opportunities, well-established training programmes and various platforms in sharing employee feedback.”
A motivated workforce
DHL offers respect and recognition for its 2,000 staff members, using various recognition programmes and awards to motivate them, including Employee of the Month, Can-Do awards, Employee of the Year and Sales Excellence.
Calvin Leung, Tracing Supervisor, Customer Service, was named Supervisor of the Year in 2016. He was thrilled to learn the company was chosen as a Best Employer. “I’m very happy and it definitely deserves this award,” he says. “Because DHL always gives priority to its employees and treats everyone with respect. To me, it always demonstrates best practices and provides all possible resources to back up employees.
“I really appreciate the way it engages and motivates its staff, providing great service, which is returned by customer loyalty, thus increasing profits to benefit the employee again. What sets DHL apart from other employers I have worked for is the annual Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) which organises to hear the views of employees. It then takes stock of the responses and uses them to be more receptive to employees’ needs, and provide continuous learning and development programmes for staff.”
Equally important, Leung believes workers also make a significant contribution to DHL’s winning stance. “We employees can share our views at small group meetings, with the
‘Performance Dialogue’ and ‘Employee Opinion Survey’,” he adds. This is why I think we also made good contributions to this Best Employer award win for the company.
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