How employees in Best Workplaces across ASEAN experience their company’s values

Based on the information shared in Culture Audit™ submissions which provides details about each company’s unique programs and practices, we found that Best Workplaces train and equip leaders at every level to role model the company’s core values. They consciously provide resources to support them as they live out these values through the decisions they make, their daily actions and behaviors, and importantly, how they interact with their people on a day-to-day basis.

Synchrony Global Services Philippines (SYF) prides itself on its values of being Honest, Passionate, Caring, Responsible, Bold, and Driven. In the words of an employee, “Our Values were created not for compliance or billboards purposes. You can see that people here walk the talk. We practice the values and show it to everyone. That is consistent coming [from] our leaders down to our associates.”

During the pandemic, working parents have been in the spotlight given their challenge of juggling work with parenthood. Employees who worked from home while overseeing the online classes of their children and, for some, providing care for an ill family member at home, called out for support from their managers and teams and received them. In 2020, SYF launched it Synchrony Parents Community designed to promote the value of Caring, by supporting working parents, and found an alternative to “summer camps” for their children when most summer camps closed. Subsequently, SYF modified Synchrony Parents into Synchrony Caregivers, extending the program to provide care for aging parents, relatives, pets, and even plants, at home. In 2021, the Synchrony Caregivers named the program “Build Your Own Adventure, Inclusive of All”.

SYF management demonstrates the values of being Honest and Responsible by reaching out to listen to employees through meaningful communication channels. These include checking in with employees and seeking their input on how the company can work with them to address challenges at work (either from home or on-site) that impact their wellness and family. From these conversations, leaders commit to agreed actions and involve employees in the execution of possible solutions. SYF employees have seen that their managements’ actions match their words, even when leaders are faced with tough decisions that potentially may impact employee productivity and business outcomes.

Hilton believes that the best hospitality makes people feel at home. It extends that same hospitality to all its employees, for whom it promises to create the best, most inclusive home away from home. This is the intention behind its employee value proposition “Thrive at Hilton”. The values of Hospitality, Integrity, Leadership, Teamwork, Ownership, and Now (a sense of urgency) are demonstrated daily and consistently integrated into the design of its programs and policies, from creating the best and most inclusive environment for all employees to developing programs with a sense of urgency based on real-time team member needs.

Their values guide how the company interacts at every step of the employee life cycle. Authentic stories of hospitality and leadership are used to bring the values and culture to life when attracting new talent and followed through with comprehensive onboarding to ensure warmth and care is felt from the outset. They also guide the company’s approach to developing employees to become next generation leaders, right through to recognizing and rewarding them for extraordinary work.

The values are practiced every day by employees, spreading hospitality to each other, guests, and beyond the walls of the hotels into their communities – from stepping up in response to unexpected and urgent Covid quarantine needs, to providing a beach wheelchair for a guest in need, to partnering with local NGOs to offer educational support, to combat climate change and drive environmental stewardship.

Values-based decisions are also demonstrated in times of challenges when difficult decisions need to be made, such as Hilton’s leadership taking immediate action to protect their employees by closing the Moscow office indefinitely, at the first sign of unrest in Russia and Ukraine. To alleviate the added pressure of job uncertainty in such times of distress, the leadership team ensured a job at any Hilton location for employees who evacuated, or to retain the role at their home location to return to when it is safe.

At Best Workplaces, employees experience the company’s values demonstrated consistently through the organizational policies, practices and their leader’s day-to-day actions and behaviors, as well as during critical decisions and moments. Employees know that leaders mean what they say, and keep their promises. This is another key element in the Great Place To Work For All model, that builds and reinforces a high-trust culture. Click here to download the full ASEAN Insights Report 2022.