Thailands Best Workplaces Honoured Amidst Pandemic

HR Asia Best Companies to Work For in Asia Awards celebrates caring side of Thai employers

THAILAND – Media OutReach – 28 October 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, and Thailand is no exception. Economic activity has been disrupted, but employers across Asia are persevering amidst the crisis, and looking out for their employees during these uncertain times.

To celebrate this spirit, the HR Asia Best Companies to Work For in Asia Awards honours those employers who not only show good employee engagement and best practices, but also the deeper, intangible characters of strength, resilience, empathy, and care.

William Ng, group publisher and editor-in-chief of HR Asia said, “Ten years from now, we will all look back at today’s pandemic and appreciate the value of genuine care and perseverance in overcoming one of our generation’s darkest moments. But for today, let us rejoice in the belief that when employers and employees are united, even the impossible can be made possible.”

Good Employers Score Higher
The Total Engagement Assessment Model (TEAM) survey is specially designed to measure the employee engagement level of a company, thus aiding in the selection of the award winners. There are three parts to the survey which are the Core, Self and Group. These three main points are crucial as they provide an insight about how the employees feel about the company and how the company treats them. Companies that truly places their employees at heart are the ones that deserves to win this award.

Celebrating Empathy and Care
In addition to the Awards, HR Asia also launched a new program called the WeCare™ Certification 2020. This program is to recognize companies that have not only demonstrated workplace excellence, but also empathy and care as part of their DNA.

From 138 nominations, 38 companies emerged as winners and received their awards during the gala dinner held at the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park Bangkok.

First time winners include AXA Insurance Public Company Limited, B. Braun (Thailand) Ltd., Baxter Healthcare (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Chubb Samaggi Insurance PCL., HÄFELE (Thailand) Limited, Kasikorn-Business Technology Group (KBTG), Krungsi Group, Krungthai AXA Life Insurance PCL., Lazada Limited, Maersk Thailand, Novartis (Thailand) Limited, Pyathai & Paolo Hospital Group, Sanofi, SAP Systems, Applications and Products In Data Processing (Thailand) Ltd., Takeda (Thailand), Ltd., True Corporation Public Company Limited, URC (Thailand) Co. Ltd. and many more.

Ten companies proved to be the best of the best by winning the award for two years in a row. They are Advanced Info Services Plc., AIA Company Limited, Kasikornbank PCL., Kerry Ingredients (Thailand) Ltd., Microsoft (Thailand) Ltd., Nestle Indochina — Nestle (Thai) Limited, Philip Morris Trading (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Provincial Electricity Authority, Thai Beverage Public Company Limited and Unilever Thai Trading Limited.

The WeCare™ certification winners are AXA Insurance Public Company Limited, Cigna Insurance Public Company Limited, Kasikornbank PCL., Sanofi and Thai Beverage Public Company Limited.

WORDS OF WISDOM
Recipients of this year’s awards have these to say:

“We are honoured to be recognized by two prestigious awards for creating a workplace excellence. This represents an important milestone in the transformation journey towards our Ambition to become a company of choice for our customers and employees. We will continue this journey conscious of our strengths and of our capacity to produce a positive impact on economies and societies. Acting for human progress by protecting what matters.” – Claude Seigne, Chief Executive Officer, AXA General Insurance Thailand.

“This award reaffirms our continued commitment towards our human capital but also of our vision: ‘We protect and improve the health of people around the world’ as employee engagement is essential in moving our lives, our health and our world forward. With a history of more than 180 years globally and over 30 years in Thailand, B. Braun strongly believes in our employees’ capabilities. We will continue to ensure the development of a highly talented, professional, diverse and inclusive workforce.” – Mr. Sayan Roy, Managing Director of B. Braun Thailand.

“This recognition cannot make us prouder and is testimony of combined efforts of every Baxter Thailand staff in what they do every day in our mission to save and sustain lives. The award is even more meaningful as this year’s external environment has presented us with many more challenges than one could ever expect. With this accolade, we join our colleagues in Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and we appreciate the acknowledgement from the HR Asia Award Committee.” – Nara Decharin, General Manager, Baxter Healthcare (Thailand) Co., Ltd .

“We strongly believe if our employees are happy, they will make our customers happy. We definitely valued our employees’ feedback and listened to all our employees’ suggested solutions to make our company a better place to work. We will definitely continue to engage our employees, there is always rooms for improvements and we will always stick with the mindset and keep improving our company to move from “Better Place to Work” to be “Best Place to Work” – Pakorn Pituvong, Head of Human Resources, Chubb Samaggi Insurance PCL.

“In Hafele (Thailand), we do believe in family. We create caring and robust connections between everyone and their work, create the space for everyone inspired, feel safe wherever they are, and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do to become greatest selves and say… “I love my job”.” – Volker Hellstern, Managing Director, HÄFELE (Thailand) Limited.

“‘Future of Banking and Beyond Ordinary’. Other than managing IT infrastructure and building a strong fortress for KBank, KBTG is determined to develop advanced innovation that will revolutionize our customers’ financial experience suitable to their digital lifestyle. KBank always says that KBTG is a game changer for them. Now, it is proven that not only are we the technology company innovating for the bank, but we’re also changing and evolving ourselves constantly for our people with One KBTG Culture in mind.” – Ruangroj Poonpol, Chairman, Kasikorn-Business Technology Group (KBTG).

“Because employee is a key success factor of organization, we create possibilities to help employee succeed in his/her goal. KBank will keep focusing on achieving greater efficiency in our human resource management operations, creating a positive experience for career seekers interested in working with KBank, creating a positive employee experience and engagement, leading KBank in becoming a data-driven organization, and making KBank a digital workplace, in addition to improvements in other facets of human resource management operations and promoting KBank’s positive image and sustainable growth in the long run.” – Ms. Sansana Sukhanunth, Executive Vice President, Kasik ornbank PCL.

“At Kerry, We drive our Purpose, Our Vision, Our Mission, strongly guided, enabled by our People and Our Values. With people at the core, Kerry Thailand and our teams continue to drive with Purpose “Inspire Food. Nourish Life” with strong values of, Courage, Enterprising spirit, Inclusiveness, Open mindedness, and Ownership. This enables a clear focus for our customers, consumers and markets we work with and communities we live in. It is an honour to be recognized as “Best companies to work for in Asia’ and makes us proud for the continued dedication, hard work and contributions made by everyone at Kerry.” – Ketan Trivedi, General Manager, Kerry Thailand.

“Krungsri values our people and they are always our priority. We base all our people strategy and actions on our key three guiding principles; people equality, diversity & inclusion and good corporate citizenship. Stepping into Krungsri family already means we have a mutual commitment to succeed together along with our growing, international and sustainable organization.” – Dr. Vasin Udomratchatavanich, Head of Human Resources Group, Krungsri Group.

“This is an amazing achievement and we are beyond proud to be named the ‘Best Company to work for in Thailand”. At KTAXA, we invest significantly our employees as they are our most valuable asset, and we believe that happy employees lead to having happy clients. We will remain committed to providing our employees with a great place to work, where they can be themselves, become great leaders and provide an amazing service for our customers and community.” – Sally O’Hara, Chief Executive Officer, Krungthai AXA Life Insurance PCL.

“Thank you, HR Asia Magazine, for recognizing Lazada Thailand as one of the best places to work in the country. We are grateful for the support from all Lazadians. Our employees are our greatest assets. It’s an honor to receive such a prestigious award! I would like to thank all Lazadians for making this possible with your passion and dedication. This is a testament to the commitment by the human resource and management teams to create a working environment that fosters learning, professionalism, innovation and well-being. At Lazada, we work seriously and live happily.” – Jack Zhang, CEO of Lazada Thailand.

“By developing capable and engaged employees, who have a One Team mindset and demonstrate our Winning Behaviours, we believe that we will achieve our future goals of delivering seamless end-to-end services for our customers. It isn’t our physical assets that make Maersk successful in terms of serving our customers, facilitating global trade and helping societies create jobs and prosperity. It’s us – all people of A.P. Moller-Maersk working together as one diverse, engaged and global team.” – Jez McQueen, Area Head of Sales, Maersk Thailand.

“I am very proud of Microsoft for winning this award two years in a row. When it comes to our people, we believe that every person and every thought matter. We learn from each other with our growth mindset. We treat each other with respect, act with integrity, and are accountable to one another for our words and actions. These are our enduring values, and they sustain our culture under a shared commitment from everyone. On behalf of the Leadership Team in Thailand, I thank everyone for living up to this commitment and promise that we will move forward to grow our organization sustainably under these principles.” – Mr. Dhanawat Suthumpun, Managing Director, Microsoft (Thailand) Ltd.

“It’s a huge honor to win this award for two consecutive years. I’d like to dedicate it to the employees of Nestlé Thailand, for their contributions to this success and for their wok in nourishing Thailand and its people. As a people-centric company, we believe in inspiring lives and increasing well-being of our employees. Our purpose, We unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come, is the basis for all that we do.” — Victor Seah, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé (Thai) Ltd.

“At Novartis, we seek to unleash the power of our people and reimagine medicine. Our strong sense of purpose at Novartis to improve and extend people’s lives has always inspired our people and driven our innovation. Our biggest asset is our people and we want to create a culture that inspires them to do meaningful work, and in which they can be curious, take smart risks and see failure as an opportunity to learn.” – Sumalee Kristarnin, Country President, Novartis (Thailand) Limited.

“Organization enthusiastically driven by the people. Hence, Phyathai-Paolo Hospital group focus on People Management which entails both physical health and mental health. We consistently believe that ‘caring’, ‘empathy’ and ‘attentiveness’ are the common accountabilities of our employees. We continuously instill and mutually share these within the organization resulting to unconditionally commiserate for our customers and people around us,” says Att Thongtang, CEO of Phyathai-Paolo Hospital Group.

“With variety ideas of where organization currently stands, get employee voice and opportunity to share their concerns and suggestions, makes employees realize that they have a stake in the organization and their opinions are valued, you can do so by collecting employees’ feedback from experienced specialist. This project allows identifying areas of best practice and tool for monitor organization’s performance which become valuable input factors for further steps of business management along together with the vital resource of organization, Human Resource.” – Narawadee Sirisamastakarn, Deputy Governor, Provincial Electricity Authority.

“We are highly honored and grateful to receive these prestigious awards. This splendid achievement confirms that all of us at Sanofi are constantly growing and empowered to shape our own career with the freedom to make it happen. Our flexible working environment builds a respectful, trustworthy, and inclusive workplace that embraces diversity and rewards high performance. This enables us to engage in our purpose of empowering life as a health journey partner, so people can live life to its full potential.” – Marine Queniart-Stojanovic, GM General Medicines, Thailand, Malaysia & Singapore, Sanofi.

“SAP is proud to be awarded as Best Companies to Work for in Thailand by HR Asia. This recognition is a testament to our culture of collaboration, innovation and inclusion at SAP. SAP remains focused on our enduring purpose to help the world run better and improve people’s lives. In service to our purpose, we will run at our best for our colleagues, customers, partners and communities.” – Verena Siow, Managing Director, SAP Systems, Applications and Products In Data Processing (Thailand) Ltd.

“It is truly an honor to receive this award and my thanks go out the entire Takeda Thailand team and especially my HR colleagues who are putting their passion for people to work every day! We believe that the key to achieve great things is to have empowered colleagues who share our values and our dedication to the patients we serve. Providing an outstanding employee experience is critical to attract and retain top talents. The feedback we received from our colleagues and from working with HR Asia is invaluable to continuously improve employee engagement.” – Peter Streibl, GM, Takeda (Thailand), Ltd.

“As part of our journey to become the stable and sustainable ASEAN leader in beverage and food business, receiving HR Asia Best Companies to Work for in Asia 2020 award is very rewarding. It is a reflection of our hard work in creating and sharing the value of growth to our stakeholders especially our people. We are very proud to be among only five companies in Thailand to also win the WeCare Award. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we are committed to cultivating Limitless Opportunities for our people wherever we go.” – Dr. Agapol Na Songkhla, Chief People Officer, Thai Beverage Public Company Limited.

“It’s our pride to bring this award to our True employees to show them that we put all efforts to excel because our employees as the most valuable assets and they deserve the best company to work for. ‘One-day Satisfaction’ is our group’s philosophy. Our next step of HR transformation is to be digital and innovative HR with analytics-led best-in-class people solutions what holistically enable our employees to grow their capability, engage to feel more and do more, inspire to transform along the company’s transformation journey.” – Sarinra Wongsuppaluk, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, True Corporation Public Company Limited.

“Receiving this award brings us great joy and pride. We are a company that’s committed to deliver delicious, high quality products with value-for-money, making a positive impact to our consumers, our community and our people. We make every moment fun through programs that promote work-life balance; through sustainable manufacturing practices; and through staying true to our Core Values. With this award, we will be driven to bring even more joy to everyone. We are URC. We Make Life Fun.” – Tanant Suwanraks, General Manager, URC Thailand.