"Culture Is The Human Glue That Makes Organisations Unique": Binu Philip

In an insightful conversation with BW People, Binu Philip, chief human resources officer (CHRO) for the Greater India Zone at Schneider Electric, discusses the evolving dynamics of organisational culture and employee engagement. Philip sheds light on how adapting company values to align with societal changes and technological advancements can significantly influence employee performance and drive organisational success.

Excerpts: 

In what ways do you believe evolving values impact the overall organisational culture and how does this influence employee engagement and performance?

Culture matters. It is the human glue that makes our organisations unique. While research has shown us consistently that great cultures yield a stronger business performance and create a more engaged workforce, it is equally important that we evolve our values framework from time to time – they form the engine of culture. This evolution needs to be closely tied with our customer preferences, changing employee expectations, stakeholder demands, market reality and emerging tech trends. We face innumerable trends and disruptions, from the new energy landscape to digital and AI innovations, from geopolitical dynamics to an always-on flexible workforce – and an evolving values framework needs to take all of that into account. Clearly articulated values form clear drivers of what an organisation stands for and that is what truly enhances our brand and credibility in the market. 

We have recently launched our newly evolved employee value proposition – ‘Impact Starts With Us.’ The word ‘impact’ represents the outcomes that realise our meaningful purpose and is also a simple & sticky acronym for our new values framework –6 letters representing our 6 values – Inclusion, Mastery, Purpose, Action, Curiosity & Teamwork. The EVP also reinforces the accountability on each of us to live these values as we represent the organisation. 

We recognise that without the right culture and the right people, no strategy can succeed. Therefore, our focus on being 'Culture-Led' and 'Skills-First', reinforces the significance of people, culture and skills in driving organisational success. We have also created interesting bridges between our 6 values – e.g. Inclusion and Teamwork come together to signify Belonging.

Can you share specific examples of how the refreshed company values will have a direct contribution to driving positive change within the organisation? 

Our new EVP and values framework is the result of an extensive project undertaken globally to ensure the inclusion of multiple stakeholder voices. As part of the primary research, we collected feedback from employees across multiple geographies via leadership interviews, focus groups and a global survey. Our secondary research combined data from various internal and external sources, including customer insights, a market scan of the industry landscape and benchmarking with the best employer brands worldwide. And from this analysis, two main themes emerged – Firstly, our colleagues bring amazing energy and passion to work with a strong commitment to our company’s purpose and mission and secondly, they are proud to work at Schneider Electric. 

To drive positive change, it is essential that the values are deeply baked into each one of our people processes. Step Up, our internal recognition platform is now sharply tied to our new values. Schneider Electric’s performance management system has evolved to adapt to our new IMPACT values – wherein our employees will now be assessed on how they exhibit these values. This also encourages regular dialogues between our managers and their teams and role-modelling of what we call #ValuesInAction – essentially the behaviors & actions linked to each of the 6 values. With actions like these, we expect our values framework to become more deeply embedded into our culture.

To share an example, our values of ‘Curiosity’ & ‘Mastery’ (creating the bridge for Innovation) are strongly linked to our intention of investing in a future ready organisation. This is reflected in our robust learning culture and the wide array of upskilling opportunities offered to our employees. We have various digital and AI academies supporting the GenAI wave of transformation and free access to Coursera, an ed-tech platform. Our value of ‘Inclusion’ reflects our ambition to co-create a workplace where everyone belongs. We have clear ambitions and leadership commitment to building an organisation which is equitable for genders & generations with a sharp focus on pay equity.

How do you perceive the relationship between evolving societal values and the need for companies to adapt their policies and ethos accordingly? 

Our society is definitely evolving. Whether we talk about a multi-generational workforce, measures to integrate diversity and inclusion into our workplace or cater to the various life stages of our employees, our values of ‘Purpose’ and ‘Action’ are reflected in our future forward employee policies. 

At Schneider Electric, we offer comprehensive programmes to support our employees’ health and wellbeing. Our policies are inclusive and flexible, catering to a multi-generational workforce, allowing employees to choose from a range of programmes that best suit their lifestyle requirements. Our ‘Digital Employee Benefits Wallet’ is one such example, that enables our employees to choose benefits from a basket of programmes, ranging across health check-ups, gym membership, vaccinations and out-patient consultations. Our gender-neutral parental leave programme offers 26 weeks of leave for all primary caregivers, regardless of whether the child is born biologically, adopted or born through surrogacy. 

To support our commitment to bring more women in India into the corporate workforce, we have strong capability programmes like ‘URJA’ and ‘Women as Allies.’ We extend these initiatives to the external market as well with programmes like Her Second Innings, Women in Sales campaigns and more. We have customised leadership programmes for all our employees spanning across the life-cycle – with strong partnerships with institutes like ISB, BITS Pilani, Manipal Institute and more which support the upskilling of our multi-generational workforce. 

In your opinion, what role do employee values play in shaping company culture and driving organisational change? Have you witnessed any instances where employee values have influenced policy revisions or organisational decisions? 

To me, any company policy or practice before implementation must first go through the lens as to whether it is aligned to the values, not the other way around. Also, on a regular basis employees should have the freedom to highlight any misalignment of our employee policies or customer practices with our values framework. At Schneider Electric, we have a strong 'Speak Up’ culture which provides every employee the opportunity to report or challenge anything in the organisation which does not align with our values and trust charter. This can be done through a meaningful conversation or with the use of multiple digital channels. This has often led to many policies being revamped based on feedback from employees. 

The success of our new values framework will be real when we all use the language, behaviours and mindsets in the way we work every day. This is what will make our culture a reality. Values will not come to life through one deployment. Our employees’ role in shaping our culture is vital. 

What strategies or mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the evolving values are effectively communicated, understood and embraced across all levels of the organisation, and how do these efforts translate into tangible outcomes? 

To deeply embed the values in the organisation it is critical that every employee understands the behaviours and actions which requires focussed communication and reinforcement. Schneider Electric's deployment of IMPACT values is a perfect blend of global and local deployment. A robust global campaign has ensured widespread employee engagement that has reached out to our employees, our customers, channel partners and stakeholders. With a ‘glocal’ approach, each country and zone have been provided with very relevant, practical material that has further helped us with our local deployment.

We have a dedicated team that is taking care of translating the global deployment plan into a campaign that reaches every employee on the ground. One of the most interesting features of our local campaign is a community of #ImpactInfluencers – a force of 200+ business employees who are ‘Influencers’ and brand ambassadors of the values campaign. 

For strong internalisation of our values, there is a need to use the culture of recognition. And we have already experienced a few tangible results. In April, we ran an IMPACT recognition month that encouraged employees to recognise their colleagues for demonstrating behaviours linked to any of the 6 values. Our initiative, ‘One Person = One Recognition’, generated a lot of positive energy with close to 80 per cent of our employees being recognised on IMPACT values. This helped us achieve the intent of our employees becoming more familiar with the behaviours linked to the values.