KUALA LUMPUR: Global enterprise solutions provider SAP has been repeatedly recognised as one of the best places to work, as well as being one of the best employers; something that SAP Malaysia managing director Duncan Williamson is proud of.
“It’s admirable that SAP is an organisation where people want to work,” said Duncan, reflecting on SAP Malaysia’s latest recognition which was the 'Best Employer Brand Award' by the Malaysian Institute of Human Resources Management for efforts to attract, retain and develop talent.
This achievement follows on from SAP having been named one of Asia’s Best Multinational Workplaces in 2018 by the Great Place to Work (GPTW) Institute.
When asked by NST Business what the company’s 'secret' was, he replied that 'succession planning' is key to creating a conducive work environment and toward being an 'employer of choice' within the local information, communications and technology (ICT) industry.
In his 19-odd years with SAP, Duncan has undertaken up to nine different roles.
“The same holds true for many in SAP, including the leaders. So how do we build a pipeline of people who maintain a consistent set of values, and can driving a consistent behaviour as leaders? That’s an area SAP has been hard at work with.”
As a leader, Duncan believes he sets the tone and environment for people to work in. If he does a good job, then people will want to perform; conversely, a non-conducive environment will negatively impact performance.
He highlights that good leaders should keep looking at people around the organisation and seeing whether they can grow, believe in the organisation’s values, have leadership characteristics, and can take the organisation forward.
“Part of it is a succession management process – looking at individual roles and finding the people ready to replace incumbents; who’s ready now, who will be ready in 6-12 months’ time, and who might be ready further out.”
Another issue is performance management. Duncan believes that organisations need to give people constant feedback 'on the go' and 'telling it like it is'.
“Within our various departments, our managers hold ‘SAP Talk’ with their people at least once every quarter. This is critical to help those who are underperforming understand what needs to change, and to let star performers know that they are being treated fairly and recognised for it.”
Bringing in the next generation of staff is also important.
“SAP is growing throughout Malaysia and Southeast Asia and hiring younger people. The business is focused on innovation, whether in terms of its products or customer interactions. That requires bringing in people with the right calibre and who fit the right age profile.”
Duncan reveals that SAP Malaysia looks at prospective employees holistically from multiple dimensions: human resources, recruitment and role-specific skillsets.
“For more senior roles, we put them through a series of assessments. But we also have to see whether they fit the organisation in terms of values, commitment and other leadership aspects,” he explained.
Diversity is another key area for SAP Malaysia. Duncan opines that the more opinions are brought into the room, the better the outcome is likely to be, because matters are looked at from every possible angle.
“For example, SAP is bringing in autistic people into the company. This is important because it helps open up people’s minds. But also, if people with mentally-challenged family members see SAP hiring those with mental challenges, it gives them hope.”
“At the end of the day, SAP’s purpose is to help the world run better and improve people’s lives,” he said.
Duncan noted that this is not limited to producing software, but to touch people beyond the working environment.
“SAP has initiated many programmes to fulfill responsibilities to employees and the community at large. Such initiatives include encouraging ride-sharing, monitoring the energy footprint, and especially the One Billion Lives (1B Lives) project, an Asia Pacific and Japan-wide initiative using SAP technology to deliver sustainable, commercially-viable social impact,” he said.
“1BLives exemplifies our role as an organisation to improve the lives of the people in the communities we operate in. It is a unique space where SAP employees can act as entrepreneurs and develop sustainable social impact at scale around a cause they are personally passionate about.
“We will support these teams with a robust framework, mentorship and technology as they engage with non-governmental organisations, partners and the broader ecosystem to validate and realise these ventures.”
Duncan also said that SAP provides flexible benefits to employees, giving individuals the right towards flexibility, and placing an emphasis on trust and respect.
“We believe individuals should be able to stretch themselves and continue to learn and grow,” he said.
“On top of that, we also go out of our way to extend employees individual customisation on wellness preference programmes,” he added.