Press Release

Singapore

Olam International has been named by Kincentric as Regional Best Employer Asia Pacific in 2020 for the first time for upholding a strong workplace culture and deep employee engagement amid the challenges of COVID-19. The company is consistently seen as an employer of choice in regions it operates in.

This year, Olam Vietnam and Olam China were named by Kincentric as the best employers in their respective markets – which contributed to the APAC award accolade. Earlier in July 2020, for the second consecutive year, Olam Brazil was recognised by Great Place to Work (GPTW) as one of Brazil’s best employers, ranking fifth among all large agribusinesses in the country.

Joydeep Bose, Managing Director and Global Head, Human Resources, Olam International Limited, said,

“Our biggest challenge this year has clearly been to support our colleagues globally through COVID-19, even as we keep agri-food supplies arriving at tables globally while executing on our ambitious re-organisation. I am grateful that our fellow “Olamites” – the architects of our continued success and resilience – have remain engaged and united behind our purpose to re-imagine global agriculture and food systems.”

Kincentric assessed four key areas for the regional award – employee engagement, organisation agility, leadership engagement and talent focus. Olam especially excelled in its employee engagement scores, largely due to staff-centric initiatives, such as:

• Talent Engagement and Development where employee engagement programs and interventions have been implemented consistently across the region. There has been a sharper focus on developing talent leveraging platforms like online learning, Exec Online, Domain Capability Building programs.
• Integrated Talent Management approach where HR is a seamless continuum of key processes. It consolidates key people processes on onboarding, learning and development, and performance management for more effective talent grooming.
• Extensive internal communication leveraging Workplace Communication platform where Olam regularly provides employees with updates on the pandemic situation and government actions as well as the promotion of preventive measures.
• Driving Positive mindset and mental health by conducting webinars and talent shows to encourage a positive mindset and mental health amongst employees especially during the COVID scenario.
• Re-imagineers programme which provides a platform of idea generation empowering employees to be the change catalysts they want to see at Olam.

Naveen Chhabra, Regional Head of Human Resources, Southeast Asia & China, Olam International Limited, said,

“The APAC region was the first to be hit by the pandemic and it was imperative on us to re-imagine how we could equip our employees with the resources, services and tools to support their work and development, but most importantly to secure their safety and mental wellbeing. We will continue to prioritise our people ensuring our focus on building a highly inspired organisation as we deliver on our strategy.”

Previously known as the Aon Best Employers global certification, Kincentric’s programme recognises companies that strive to continuously inspire their people, spark change and accelerate business success.