Innovation is a buzzword in today’s fiercely competitive marketplace and one that is dominating many an HR conversation. In these uncertain economic times, with change afoot at every level, the need to be brave, to seek new ideas and to ‘think outside the box’ has been hailed as one of the keys to attracting, engaging and developing top talent and ensuring the future success of any organisation. But what makes a company innovative? When this question was recently put to 800 recruitment and talent managers spanning the globe*, the same answer came up in every country—its people.
In this month’s cover story, HR Magazine journeys into the wildest depths of South Africa with Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) to see how HR is putting its people at the heart of innovation whilst taking ‘thinking outside the box’ to a brave new level.
Stepping outside the box
‘Life is much more than work and much more than Hong Kong’. This may seem like a bold statement for any Hong Kong-based organisation to make, particularly given the city’s arduous working culture, which so often demands long hours spent behind the desk.
For local company HKBN, however, this is a sentiment that underlies its entire company culture. Recognising that its people, or rather its Talents, are critical to the organisation’s future growth and success, the company goes above and beyond to inspire, engage and develop its staff beyond the boundaries of their everyday lives.
Each year, HKBN invests over 
HKD 2 million to send its Talents on an experiential trip to the far reaches of the globe. This unique concept has run for over a decade and has seen Talents venture to such destinations as Thailand, Japan, Germany, Cambodia and most recently, the United States. This year’s trip involved jetting 83 managers and senior executives to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa to gain exposure into one of the most dynamic social enterprise ecosystems in the world.
Falling under the theme of ‘Better Life’, the eight-day expedition comprised a safari and team-building activities at Entabeni Game Reserve, a visit to Kliptown Youth Program with CNN Hero: Thulani Madondo, an exchange session with the Western Cape Government delegates and a visit to the world’s first Fair Trade Wine Farm, Thandi.
By widening staff exposure to social entrepreneurship through the lens of South Africa’s communities, people and government HKBN believes Talents would be inspired to take action to help make Hong Kong a better place to live, both inside and outside the office. Not only that, it would provide them with an opportunity for a level of cross-team bonding that could never be achieved within the confines of their office walls.
Fortune favours the brave
Setting aside additional expenditure on overseas staff trips may seem somewhat extravagant, particularly with budgets already stretched and so many pressing items topping the HR agenda. The organisation, however, strongly advocates that inspiring creativity, reinforcing teamwork and nurturing happiness among its people all bring about huge financial rewards back in the workplace.
NiQ Lai, Head of Talent Engagement, CFO & Co-Owner, HKBN explained, “In our company, we believe that investing in our Talents is the key to our future success. People are not assets, they are not machinery; we can’t just expect to oil them and make them work faster. Our Talents are people and we feel that by broadening their exposure to the world we can help them to become better people and therefore better leaders to drive our business forward.”
Lai explained that providing Talents with the opportunity to bond during the trips enables the organisation to strengthen teamwork and improve engagement levels, placing it in a far stronger position for future success. And with Hong Kong experiencing the highest drop in employee engagement levels within APAC, from 58% in 2011 to 50% in 2012**, it seems the company has the right idea. He stressed, “We spend the majority of our time at work with our colleagues and it’s important to make this time both enjoyable and productive. Our trips allow us to engage our people and bring them closer together as a team—and what better way to promote that message than by allowing them to see the world together?”
The fear factor
Like most HR professionals, Lai believes that in addition to keeping employees happy and engaged, innovation and change are essential components to attracting new talent, particularly in today’s competitive job market with its diminishing talent pools and ever-rising candidate expectations. Whilst as many as 74% of HR professionals globally admit that their organisation should be doing more to encourage innovation in their recruitment and talent management practices, a staggering 64% of employees who are happy in their current role would consider leaving if they were offered innovative benefits by another company***.
This is serious news for HR, yet despite the clear demand for organisations to do things differently and ‘think outside the box’, many are reluctant to do so. So what is preventing organisations from embracing change? According to Lai, the answer is fear. He explained, “I believe you have to give up the past in order to create the future, but many companies are afraid to do this because they are living on their past success. What they don’t realise, however, is that change is essential to the survival of any organisation and without it you cannot be competitive and you will die financially. Not only that, but by resisting change, companies could also be driving away existing and potential talent. We don’t like the status-quo, we won’t accept it and neither should others.”
The filter effect
Convincing organisations to say no to the status-quo can be a tall order for HR, particularly when faced with a lack of buy-in from the C-Suite. Ivy Lau, Director—Talent Engagement & Co-Owner, HKBN explained, “For innovation to really work within an organisation, it must filter from the top down. Those in senior management roles must be willing to embrace new methods to ensure employees are the very best they can be and can develop in line with expectations. This is something we are aspiring to achieve by embracing innovation at every level within our organisation, from the C-Suite down to junior executives. Our experiential trips are testament to our success in doing just that.”
Lau stressed the need for companies to be bold with innovation and to think like the Googles and the Apples of the world, which are as much admired for their continuous innovation to office environments as for their products and services. And it certainly seems that when it comes to embracing change, fear is not a word HKBN is familiar with.
Such initiatives as the annual experiential trip enable the company to ‘live and breathe’ the very essence of what many professionals define as innovation: ‘being brave enough to do things differently and continually improve’. And whilst the company is adamant not to promote the expeditions as reward trips, it is keen to promote them as part of its commitment to helping develop its people, allowing them to be the very best they can be, whilst kicking the status-quo firmly out the window.
Dream BIG
What some of HKBN’s top Talents had to say about their experience of seriously stepping outside the box on the company’s annual trips & what it has meant to them on both personal & professional levels.
Elinor Shiu, Associate Director— Marketing & Co-Owner
Shiu has worked at HKBN for almost 20 years and claims that it was the company’s unique and vibrant culture that first attracted her to become one of its Talents. She explained, “The culture of our organisation is very different to other companies where many layers prevent you from voicing your ideas and sharing your suggestions. At HKBN we can be very direct and offer our insight, which really makes the company stand out for me. The annual trips are an example of how our company encourages sharing, bonding and team building like no other. Not everyone gets the opportunity to experience such amazing parts of the world such as Cambodia, Germany and the Grand Canyon, so we feel very privileged to gain such an exceptional experience which brings us significant benefits in terms of learning about our colleagues. We get to know each other on a personal level in an environment outside of the office, where hectic daily schedules can prevent us from getting to know the real people behind our organisation.”
When we asked Shiu which has been her favourite trip she could not choose. She explained, “I could never pic k one as my highlight because every trip is different and offers us the opportunity to learn something completely new. That is what makes them so unique and extraordinary.”
Stephen Lui, Senior Manager —IT & Co-Owner
For Stephen, who has just completed his first year of employment with HKBN, the intimate level of interaction between all Talents within the organisaiton is what makes it special to him. He explained, “I had been working in other telecom companies before joining HKBN and I had never seen such a high level of interaction between employees at every level. I am really impressed with how the senior staff communicate and engage with Talents at every level within the organisation and this really stood out during the annual trip. Being able to express my ideas helps me to build confidence and really feel like I am part of the team, and that is often hard to find within a company. I actually suggested an idea for an enterprise social platform and the senior team took on board my vision and gave me the opportunity to trial it w ithin the company. For me, getting to build informal relat ionships with my colleagues outside of the workplace has been a real benefit.”
Lui found the visit to the Township a particularly moving experience which has inspired him to consider how to help make his own city a better place to live for all that inhabit it. He explained, “I hope I can learn something from the community and bring this model back to Hong Kong to help those less fortunate.”
Loretta Ko, Associate Direct or— Wi -Fi Business & Co-O wner
As a relative newcomer to t he organisation earlier this year, Ko found this year’s trip an inspiration on how to lead a better life. She explained, "I was very impressed by how the company calls its employees Talents because you seldom find that with organisations. To me, that shows they really care and value their people and are committed to developing them to be the best they can be. The ‘Better Life South Africa’ trip is an excellent example of that and I have enjoyed gaining exposure to another part of the world. I’ve never been to South Africa before and it’s very exciting to be able to open my eyes and see how other communities live. When we return to Hong Kong we will look back on this trip and be reminded that we are only a small island in relation to the rest of the world. Our problems and challenges are minor compared to those which others must face in less fortunate areas of the world and I feel very grateful for the opportunities I have been given in life.”
For Ko, the highlight of the trip was meeting the people and communities in South Africa and encountering an entirely new culture for the first time. She explained, “I have never known people from this area of the world and having first-hand experience to see how they live has been truly inspiring.”
Steven Yau, Associate Director—Network Operation & Co-owner
Steven has been with the organisation for fifteen years and believes that the annual trips are invaluable in building bridges between different departments within the organisation as well as cultures throughout the world. He explained, “The annual trips take us to places that we may never have imagined going with our family or friends. This encourages us to broaden our horizons and learn about life outside of Hong Kong. It provides a great opportunity for self-reflection and over the years I have been very moved with some of the experiences I have had. The trip to Cambodia is a good example of this, where we spent three days helping to paint a school for under-privileged children. Being able to see the change we could make to those children’s lives was extremely rewarding and touching. At the same time we have been able to bond with our colleagues and bridge the gap between different departments, which we had been unable to do within our busy daily lives at work.”
Yau had always wanted to go on a safari and was as inspired by the beauty of South Africa’s wildlife as he was by the work that is being done to improve the lives of the country’s people and communities. He added, “Although we never managed to track down the lion, the safari was an experience I will always remember.”
* The Innovation Imperative, Futurestep, June 2013
** 2013 Trends in Asia Pacific Employee Engagement Aon Hewitt
*** The Innovation Imperative, Futurestep, June 2013
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
