Employees are the most important factor in running operations and driving the organization growth. Since BPP has operated and expanded its businesses to many countries with differences in in both culture and labor law, the company has focused on conducting good labor practice standards according to the international principles. Moreover, it has committed to carrying out and improving the labor practices continuously in order to maintain its employees in all workplaces with best practice standards equally.
In addition to providing a safe working environment and allocating resources and welfare to facilitate employee’s operations appropriately and adequately, BPP has also paid great importance on promoting equality and non-discrimination. This starts from the recruitment process to measurement of employee’s performance and growth within the organization. It also includes creating employee’s participation and listening to their opinions in order to improve the labor practices on a regular basis. The aim is to be an organization with good labor practices, which is recognized internationally.
BPP has employed the employee relationship policy as a practice guideline for creating good relationships with its employees. The employee engagement is comprised of three principles as following:
To manage its human resources in all operating countries to be suitable for the new context efficiently, and to support the “One Banpu, One Goal” concept, turning it into tangible actions, BPP has taken following actions:
The Human Resources (HR) Department has employed a recruiting process, which has been designed and clearly identified the qualifications in the job requirement announcement. Both expertise and experiences of applicants will be assessed, including using the culture-fit assessment and behavioral-based interview in the recruiting process in order to know applicants’ working attitudes in accordance with the company’s corporate shared values.
BPP has internal job openings run through the Internal Job Posting process so as to give its employees the opportunity to apply for the interested jobs. By this mean, employees contact the HR Department and go through a fair selection process. In addition, the company has also provided employees the opportunities to learn and develop themselves through a direct work experience, such as a job rotation for temporary learning in the field close to his/her line of work, or joining projects with a cross-functional working nature (project assignment), or working in the company’s foreign affiliates, etc.
In order to obtain high potential employees to work with the organization and retain them with the company, BPP has deployed a compensation management system fair on both salary and welfare, and able to compete in the power business labor market. Meanwhile, the
compensation increasement will be based on the employee’s annual performance appraisal results. Moreover, the company has also conducted surveys to improve its compensation management on a regular basis in order to stay competitive in the labor market, covering wage rates in the same business, the consumer price index, and the economic impacts affecting the cost of living.
The Company has adhered to three principles of human resources management, consisting of the employee’s equality (Equitability), the performance-based management (Performance Base), and the competency management (Competency Base). We have long been supporting collaborative works under diversities of races, languages, cultures, ages, and countries in which the Company has operations in order to strengthen the collaborative works and drive the Company’s innovations towards the sustainable business growth.
Performance management is an important process driving the organization to achieve its established business goals. It is a linkage between the organizational requirements and each employee’s individual working target. It is also an administrative tool allowing superiors to know their subordinates’ performances and his/her competency in addition to promoting collaborations among them on setting goals and KPIs together. This has led to the partnership and good relationships between supervisors and subordinates, ultimately escorting to the organizational success.
Defining a clear and tangible performance appraisal system able to measure and evaluate the success of each person is therefore essential. Messages on performance management have been also communicated to all employees for acknowledgement and using it as a practice guideline as follows:
- Defining a fair key performance indicator (KPI) system in order to manage performance in the same direction/ in accordance with the Company’s targets. In addition, the Company has revised the KPI scoring criteria divided into two sets, consisting of work-related KPIs accountable for 70% of the overall performance, and corporate cultural behavior based KPIs representing the remaining 30%.
- Improving the performance appraisal standards as the single practice guidance across the organization. This guideline determined that each indicator must have at least one performance evaluation criteria from four criteria, including: 1. Quantity criteria 2. Progress and Time criteria 3. Budget Utilization criteria (Cost) 4. Accuracy and Quality criteria. The improved performance appraisal standards have been communicated to employees for their clear acknowledgement and understanding of the improvement of performance assessment.
- Identifying the key performance indicators beyond their own responsibilities, such as those relating to subordinate management skills. The Company has determined the leadership KPIs for department’s managers and up so that they are aware that in addition to managing his/her department’s works, paying high attention and caring for subordinates is also part of helping improve the department’s performance better.
Employee representatives are eligible to negotiate with BPP about deals affecting employees by attending the welfare committee meeting with Banpu Group on a quarterly basis. In the past year, BPP made many improvements regarding welfare and regulations affecting employees, such as:
- Providing welfare beyond the basic one to take care of employees in a holistic manner, such as an annual influenza vaccination, providing mental health counseling (Relationflip Program), online doctor consultation (Health at Work), virtual one-on-one exercise, massage therapy for office syndrome symptoms, or consideration of special welfare program (Flexible Benefits) to be more diverse.
- Organizing workshops to improve working styles (Work anywhere) by brainstorming opinions from all department’s executives, and to promote teamwork for maximum efficiency.
- Managing communications on best labor practices, such as indicators for labor practices, human rights, human capital development, and talent attraction & retention.
Attracting potential people to join the company, and keeping employees with the organization is an important factor supporting BPP to pursue its growth strategies, and to achieve targets set in the short- and long- terms. The power and energy businesses, in particular, require manpower with specific qualifications and experiences, while these people are highly needed in the labor market. Hence, BPP has to have a process to attract and retain its employees continuously.
1) Strategic Workforce Planning
BPP has adopted its business strategies and personnel data analysis results in various fields to create strategic workforce planning in order to prepare manpower to support the operations in the future sufficiently, and efficiently.
One of the manpower strategic planning, enabling personnel to work quickly and agilely, is continuous development of successors for key positions (Succession Planning and High Potential Management). The succession plan committee will select, review, and follow up competency development of senior management successors continually, including recruiting new employees and executives to support corporate growths according to strategies set.
2) Employee’s Selection and Employment
The Human Resources (HR) Department has designed a recruitment process, starting from specifying clear qualifications once announcing job vacancies, to assessing expertise and experiences by using the “Culture-Fit Assessment and Behavioral-Based Interview” during a recruitment process in order to know applicants’ working attitudes in accordance with BPP’s corporate shared values.
BPP’s internal recruitment is operated through an “internal job posting” process in order to give its employees opportunities to apply for the positions they are interested, by contacting HR Department, and going through a fair selection process. In addition, BPP has also provided its employees the opportunities to learn and develop themselves via direct experiences, such as a job rotation for temporary learning in the field close to his/her line of work, or joining projects with a cross-functional working nature (project assignment), or working in BPP’s affiliates oversea, etc.
In order to draw high potential people to work with the organization, while retaining existing employees, BPP has deployed a fair compensation management system able to compete in the power industry’s labor market.
3) Employee Performance Appraisal
BPP has employed the performance management system to create fairness and manage performance and compensation aligned with corporate goals. The employee’s performance appraisal is carried out twice a year throughout the organization. The elements of employee performance evaluation are divided into two key parts:
Part 1: An assessment conducted based on work-related KPIs, focusing on key operations, representing 70%.
Part 2: Behavior-based KPIs, which apraise employee’s behaviors conducted according to a corporate cuture, focusing on cultivating behaviors supporting employees to work properly and efficiently. This part is accountable for 30%.
BPP has also established the leadership KPIs, attached in the work-related ones for middle-level management and above. The leadership KPIs include an assessment of leadership skills and his/her behaviors on taking care of subordinates in a responsible line of work. This KPI is assessed by subordinates one step down.
For the benefit of employees’ self-improvement, BPP has initiated a 360-degree assessment system by providing means asking for opinions on the employee’s performances and behaviors from supervisors, colleagues and subordinates. The information of employees and those providing comments or suggestions will be kept privately.
In addition to identifying the annual KPIs, BPP has set up long-term KPIs, which are applied to middle – level management and above to measure achievements of a 5-year strategic plan, consisting of indicators for achieving corporate strategies.
4) Remuneration, welfare, and benefits management
BPP has a policy on remuneration, welfare, and benefit management, which is based on its HR philosophy, focusing on using operating performances as a performance-based pay.
BPP has also strictly complied with labor laws in countries where it has invested for managing its employee’s welfares and benefits. In addition, some welfare and benefits are provided higher than those required by laws in order to create competitive advantages, and to retain existing employees to continuously work with the company.
To create competitive advantages with external markets, BPP has conducted a survey to compare its compensation and benefits with external companies in the same industry and leading companies in each country regularly. The survey results are used to improve compensation, welfare, and benefits for maximum benefit to employees and the company.
BPP’s compensation, welfare, and benefits are available on cash- and non-cash bases, which are appropriately provided based on employee’s job levels, and performance appraisal results, etc.
5) Cultivating “Banpu Heart” Corporate Culture
BPP focuses on creating a corporate culture in order to help executives and employees in all areas in working together seamlessly with the same common values, and combining employee differences into strengths, as well as working together efficiently and happily. This will finally increase employee engagement levels. The “Banpu Heart” corporate culture consists of three core values: Passionate, Innovative and Committed. Moreover, the creation of corporate culture also reflects corporate reputation through corporate shared values, and employees’ expressions to the public to attract potential people to join the organization.
6) Talents Development
Employees with outstanding performances and behaving according to the corporate shared values will be selected into the “Talent Pool”, and developed in various programs, such as attending training courses, being coached by top management, having opportunities for job rotations to gain a wide range of working experiences.
7) People Analytic System
BPP has collected employee’s data for analyzing in many dimensions, such as employee performance measurement, employee competency assessment and development to create a database system for potential employees or “Talent Pool”, including organizational engagement scores of employees in each area, and issues to be improved to retain employees. This information can be used to plan manpower to meet future needs.
8) Hearing for Employees’ Opinions for Improvement
BPP has regularly listened to its employee’s opinions for continuous improvement in order to become the organization employees want to work with in a long-term. It has provided various channels to receive employee’s opinions, including conducting an organizational engagement survey, arranging a focus group meeting to get in-depth opinions.
BPP has attracted and retained employees in various means, for example:
- Promoting a corporate reputation through a presentation of Banpu Heart’s corporate culture on various channels, such as Facebook fan page, so that stakeholders understand BPP’s working principles. It also attracts potential candidates to work with the company.
- Developing and implementing a “High Potential Development Program” (HiPo), for example, organizing training sessions on skills needed in the power business. The progress of organizing trainings for key positions is accontable for 70%.
- Continuously implementing the employee potential development project: To prepare employees for more challenging jobs in the future, the “Leadership Pipeline Development” program was initiated last year, with an aim to enhance capabilities of middle-level management and higher in working, and managing people, as well as being able to grow as the corporate future leaders. These talents were chosen through a systematic selection process, and assessed leadership capability and characteristics to gain awareness of their strengths, points to be developed, as well as to create individual development programs (IDP) to prepare the future leaders both in Thailand and abroad. Moreover, BPP has strengthened and developed these talents group to increase their leadership capabilities on businesses, critical thinking, and management through various development processes, such as cross-functional working, cross-country working, and job rotation, etc. The progress of their development plans is monitored on a quarterly basis.
In 2022, BPP used the results of employee engagement survey to analyze and find ways to create the tangible employee engagement. Employee management is divided into three dimensions, the scores of which have notably increased as following:
1. Talent and Staffing
One of the strategies for manpower planning and management, enabling them to work quickly and agilely, is a continued development of successors for key positions (Succession Planning and High Potential Management) to support BPP’s rapid growth. In 2022, BPP, in conjunction with the “Succession Plan Committee”, considered, selected, reviewed, and followed up on high-ranking successors development regularly, while preparing, monitoring, and assessing the individual development plan (IDP) of selected candidates on a monthly basis. This included a recruitment of new employees and executives to strengthen key positions in every operating country in order to keep the succession development plans in line with BPP’s strategies.
In 2022, BPP continued focusing on the “Leadership Pipeline Development” program to support business growth and expansion abroad through various initiatives. The aim was to enhance preparedness of middle-level management and above in managing people, work, and being able to grow as a corporate future leader.
Additionally, BPP also empowered leaders’ capabilities on business knowledge, analytical thinking and management skills for people with high potential. This was done through various development processes, such as cross-function working, enhancing overseas working experiences, and job rotation, etc. The progress of such development plans was monitored quarterly.
2. Career Development and Growth
In 2022, BPP focused on promoting employee competency development in order to make its personnel ready for coping with challenges and unceasing business transitions. As a result, the “Banpu Academy” was established at Bangkok Office, with a vision and goal to drive Banpu towards a lifelong learning organization. The aim was to prepare all employees with capabilities to learn and develop themselves in a comprehensive way, enabling BPP business to adapt and grow steadily amid any opportunity, and business challenge, as well as changing trends related to sustainability. The main missions of Banpu Academy are as follows:
- Developing modern and standardized training courses for employees at Banpu Group level, including special courses according to the specific expertise and context of each Business Flagship, and in each country where Banpu has operated business currently, and in the future.
- Creating a network and ecosystem to develop employees together with capacity building institutions and organizations from the private and international public sectors.
- Applying data analytics principles to plan the annual development program for employees, as well as designing learning experiences, responding to dynamic needs of personnel development in the entire business sector, and in each diverse workforce efficiently.
- Developing employees’ potential and capabilities ready to adapt themselves to the digital age and various transitions arising rapidly in the new normal era, including applying digital tools to work more efficiently. The development was focused on skills related to data analytics, human centric, and Banpu’s way of working, which was adopted from “Agile Methodology”, using the “Scrum” framework as a key driver. Meanwhile, the “Design Thinking” process was used for cross- working within functional lines, departments, and countries.
- Fostering an organizational culture of innovation, and unceasing creativity & development. An innovation community was established within the organization through various activities, such as “Banpu Hackathon”, “Unbox”, “Unleash Your Creativity”, and “Banpu Innovation Convention”. Moreover, Banpu Academy at Bangkok Office has joined hands with human capacity building agencies in each country to set up Banpu Academy – Country Campus, to link Banpu employee’s development in each country systematically. In 2022, Banpu Academy – Indonesia Campus, and Banpu Academy – Australia Campus have been established, with a plan to expand to Vietnam, China, Japan, the United States, expected to be completed in 2023.
- BPP continues preparing its middle-level management, and higher to be capable and ready for managing people and work, able to grow as a future corporate leader. In 2022, various projects were initiated, including:
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- Banpu International Business Leader Program (IBLP), an all-country leadership development program (the first generation), aims to develop and prepare readiness for leaders, focusing on action learning. A “Mentor System” from senior executives has been set up for all participants within the organization, to encourage them to be ready to grow in key positions.
- Banpu Business Leaders Development Program aims to enhance executives’ readiness in every country, in terms of people & work management, being a corporate future leader. Participating employees must go through a systematic selection process, including an assessment of leadership capability and characteristics in order to gain awareness of their strengths, and areas to be developed, as well as to arrange a personalized training program in preparation for being a leader in the future.
In addition to general basic development courses, BPP in collaboration with consulting firms and leading domestic and international executive development institutes, continue designing and developing training programs in a format of blended learning for management and employees at all levels.
Besides, personnel development programs have been adjusted, more in line with the “Flexible Workplace” policy, in which participating employees can reskill and upskill through online self-learning. Meanwhile, Banpu Academy together with HR Digital Team will provide a proper platform responding to self-development needed by diversified employees. So that they have impressive learning and working experiences. This will lead to further development, passing on skills, knowledge, and experiences from brothers to sisters, which will help BPP implement its strategies in a smart, sustainable, and stable way.
3. Work-Life Balance
BPP has put top priority on, and encouraged its employees to achieve work-life balance, or a balanced life in both work and healthy living. Various methodologies continued promoting from 2021 are as follows:
- Improving “Work Anywhere and Flexi time” policy.
- Initiating “Work Anywhere” workshop for senior vice president level and above.
- Providing consultations related to work and personal matters for employees through a “RelationFlip” project, served by external physiological consultants who keep employees’ personal information confidential.
- Arranging “Boost me up series”, an activity continuously caring for employee’s quality of life in all aspects, including mindfulness literacy, health literacy, and financial literacy to encourage employees to create positive power to surrounding society.
Moreover, BPP has placed great emphasis on “Banpu Heart” corporate culture to ensure a sustainable employee engagement.
