Q&A with NXP Semiconductors

All in this together

Vital stats: Peggy Tang, HR director for global procurement and Singapore site; Paul Sexton, VP of HR for global sales and marketing and Renee van der Burg, VP of HR for global operations, are core HR team members within NXP Semiconductors. Responsible for the HR function across the three different parts of the organisation, the trio are all based in Singapore.

Singapore is NXP’s official second headquarters. How does that help business operations? 

Paul Sexton (PS): Singapore is the company’s second official headquarters, and that’s why we have the worldwide head of sales, operations, procurement and many more global roles based here. We also have worldwide leaders based in the US, and in Europe, so we’re a company that doesn’t have a singular central power and decision-making base. As a result, we’re able to make decisions that are relevant to the markets and customers we serve versus being restricted to one view based on one location.

I don’t think a lot of other companies have managed to successfully operate with such a well-organised, decentralised manner.

PS: We’ve been able to keep pace with the fastest markets because we have decision makers in those markets, but because we’re not just working out of one location, we also get a balanced perspective when it comes to decision-making. We get the benefit of working in mature markets where we’ve seen fast growth in the past, and we leverage that experience, plus the knowledge of the talent in all markets, to harness the different experiences to be agile and flexible. Because we have key decision-makers living and working in many global markets, we increase our decision-making quality and execution speed.

Collaboration requires significant effort so we leverage technology to have most conversations “face to face” and support people travelling to optimise the discussions, decisions and learnings that are critical to maintain the pace our customers require of us to enable their businesses. While the travel costs are substantial they are seen as an investment and there is an overt expectation that plans are executed and the ROI is obvious.

Renee van der Burg (RvdB): It’s interesting when we look at other companies to see how diverse our teams are, specifically in nationalities. It really adds a powerful dimension to our teamwork because by definition, we’re more aware and sensitive about differences, and what works or what doesn’t. We still make mistakes, but we’re a lot more aware of these differences so we can correct them quickly.

Peggy Tang (PT): We have more than 20 nationalities in Singapore alone. When you look at the employee education profile, at least 80% are graduates and above, and because we have an R&D operation in Singapore, we have quite a number of PhDs as well. We’ve really got a good and diverse talent pool in Singapore. We feel very proud of the highly skilled and motivated NXP population we have based in Singapore. They are making a significant impact on our global operations and doing a great job!

Paul Sexton, VP of HR for global sales and marketing, NXP Semiconductors

What is the secret to this strong relationship the three of you share?

PS: As individuals, we respect each other, and we use that as a starting point. As we work together, we’ve encountered different things and come at problems from different angles, but by hearing each other out and being open to the ideas of a respected colleague we are able to strengthen the solutions.

PT: All of us have different backgrounds, but HR is the core. I’m very vocal – if I see something that isn’t right and it’s something we can improve on, I will say it, and they know it. They know how I work and I know how they work. It really is about mutual respect.

As HR, we always stand together so that when we reach out, we are one voice.

It also seems as though the team knows how to have fun.

PS: When you work this hard you need to enjoy it and find ways to have fun. You know everyone’s sprinting, you know everyone wants you to be successful so taking the time to make each other smile and see the lighter side of things sometimes is extremely helpful.

PS: There’s no tension between us. We all have a genuine desire to make an impact and to make NXP successful – and that makes the job easy. And Robert [Rigby-Hall, CHRO at NXP] sets a tone with his leadership that’s so nice to work with.

PT: We were also very fortunate because he was in Singapore, so I had the chance to work closely with and get to know him.

How does that close relationship with Robert Rigby-Hall help with your everyday responsibilities?

RvdB: Whenever I have a question or an issue, or maybe if there’s a programme we want to roll out, but have to tweak a bit for Asia or manufacturing, it’s convenient for me to communicate with him. That understanding, trust and empowerment that he gives us is a huge responsibility so we want to do the right thing by him.

PS: We all work hard; NXP is a hard-working company because the opportunity that we have as a company is huge. There are growing pains, but everyone is really going for it. Rick and his leadership team want you to take charge of your responsibilities.

I have to ask about what happens if the three of you do face a conflict. How do you resolve it?

PS: None of us need to be right all the time, and we don’t need to get our way all the time. Ultimately, if it’s something that is one person’s absolute responsibility we let them have the final say. If it’s Peggy’s project, I may give her my opinion and if she doesn’t take my opinion, that’s fine, and I’ll support her decision. We stand united as an HR team. Our teams are so different, we don’t come at things the same way.

We’ve had many occasions where we fundamentally disagree on the approach, but because we know who needs to make that final decision, we’re not trying to grab power or get our own way.

RvdB: The important thing is to avoid internal battles or burning internal energy because we need to fight the competition. It’s talking about things straight forward, understanding where everyone comes from, and the one who has a personal responsibility in the situation calls the shots.

PS: If there’s an executive decision that needs to be made, we make it and the rest of the team line up behind it. And because we do that, we align and execute quicker.

For companies that may still be struggling to work in a globalised manner, what advice would you give them?

PT: We’re not there yet – maybe we’re 70% there, but we’re not there yet. It’s a lot to do with cultural sensitivity. There are times where decisions were made in Europe, but Asia was subconsciously forgotten. That’s OK, but we then need to ask them about Asia, and they’ll redo the programme. It’s not yet second nature for everyone, but we have made great progress. Constant awareness helps.

PS: A simple example of putting the awareness into practice are the sales leadership team’s calls. We rotate the calls, so every quarter, someone takes a turn to suffer and take the call around midnight. But everyone does it willingly because they know it is shared and fair.

What about making sure there’s diversity in decision-making?

RvdB: If we have a project team, we always put people from different regions in it. The other thing that works well is to invite people here to visit the region. Many times, I’ve invited my colleagues over for one or two weeks to visit the factories and design centres. It’s not the same as being here all the time, but at least it gives them an appreciation of what we do here and facilitates relationship-building.