Minor Food’s Chief People Officer on Adaptable HR

In nature, resilience and adaptability are key traits for survival. Indeed, when Charles Darwin said "survival of the fittest", he did not mean the quickest, the strongest or the smartest life-forms; rather, he was referring to those that were most capable of adapting to their environmental conditions.

That principle is also true in business: the most resilient and adaptable teams succeed more often than those that are rigid and unwilling to change, even if the more rigid group boasts better talent. A recent research by Alight Solutions and People Matters - The State of HR Transformation 2020: Adaptable by Design illustrates that very idea.

The State of HR Transformation study in 2020 has shown that now is the time for HR Operating Models to be revisited. HR teams who leverage digital tools with disciplined governance will be successful in driving maximum success. An organisation that has taken the progressive step to undergo an intense transformation in future-proofing its human capital is Minor Foods. In this episode of the video series, Adaptable HR - The Future Is Now, Panuwat Benrohman, Chief People Officer at Minor Food talks about Minor Food’s HR transformation journey amid the lockdown and the pandemic. 

Chapter-1: Adaptability in HR: A brief overview

In this rapidly evolving business ecosystem, adaptability plays a central role in helping organisations navigate the uncertain and ambiguous future. The third-edition of Asia-Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation, recently launched by Alight Solutions in partnership with People Matters, focuses on the theme Adaptable HR. As businesses, talent and the HR community at large, face unprecedented situations triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, the study shows how being adaptable is no longer a choice; it is an imperative, it is inevitable. 

Everything at the workplace is undergoing a dramatic transformation and interestingly, what could have been a reality of the future, has now become the present. Kickstart your journey of Adaptable HR, in this first chapter of the episode, with Shaswat Kumar, Vice President & Asia Head - Payroll, Advisory, and Cloud Solutions, Alight Solutions as he decodes what Adaptable HR means and why it is the next curve for your business impact.

Further, Shaswat also answers the following key questions that might puzzle you when you activate your Adaptable journey:

• What does adaptability look like?
• What are the signs of adaptability?
• What are the kind of outcomes one should expect from their adaptable HR journey?

Chapter-2: CHRO’s take on adaptability in HR

Reflecting on the enablers of successful transformation from Asia-Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation, it was found that most of the success comes through when HR is willing to change itself. In fact, resistance to change from HR is the biggest barrier in realising transformation. In the second chapter of the episode, Panuwat Benrohman, Chief People Officer at Minor Food shares how the organisation is approaching a logical, disciplined, and impactful strategy towards the art of becoming adaptable.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Q1. What does adaptability mean to you in today’s context?

In order to adapt, a company must have its antennae tuned to signals of change from the external environment, decode them, and quickly act to refine or reinvent its business model and even reshape the information landscape of its industry.

With COVID-19 impacting almost all dimensions of work and business, at Minor Food, we realized it pretty early that adaptability would be the key to manage the storm posed by the pandemic. We swiftly and seamlessly shifted our ways to work from home, connecting and collaborating with the stakeholders for deliveries of food to houses and hospitals. 

I would also like to highlight an important aspect of adaptability – while adaptability can bring a lot of benefits to business in terms of resilience, profitability, and customer experience, one of the key benefits of adaptability is happiness and employee engagement. Studies have shown that we have a tendency to adapt to major changes in our lives, whether positive or negative. This is what’s referred to as The Adaptation Effect. Hence, the cycle of anticipation, acknowledgement, and adaptability and hence, the success will give people a sense of purpose and satisfaction.

Q2. Going through the State of HR Transformation Study 2020, what are some of the trends you relate with the most? 

I resonate completely with all the insights shared by the State of HR Transformation Study by Alight Solutions and People Matters. Creating value for the organization will always remain the key focus and hence, it would be necessary for HR to align people and HR transformation with the business transformation. Under this, equipping ourselves and leveraging technologies like analytics, AI & ML will prove to be a great value addition to make the right decisions, create more efficiency and productivity and offer a great experience to our people and customers. 

Q3.  How are you looking at accelerating your HR function to make it more adaptable?

I joined Minor Food when the pandemic hit the world. I actually met my HR team on a virtual platform. When I reflect back on the overall journey from shifting to work from home, and changing the way business is done virtually, I realize digital is an imperative. We need technologies that help us to connect and collaborate with our employees to create high-impact output, and reflect how we can offer an experience to both our people and customers that keep them engaged. Last but not the least, I want to highlight the fact that more digital does not mean less human; however, we need the right mix of digital and human to accelerate the transformation. 

To download your copy of Asia Pacific’s largest study on the State of HR Transformation 2020, click on this link.