Winning Secrets: HEINEKEN Cambodia is brewing the joy of true togetherness for its people

Lymonypich Ly, People Organisation & Development Manager, sums up HEINEKEN Cambodia's talent management strategy: "We’re not just here for our people today, we’re here for the long term."

Formerly known as Cambodia Breweries Limited (CBL), HEINEKEN Cambodia is brewing Heineken^®, Tiger, ABC Extra Stout, Anchor, and Gold Crown, having had roots in the nation since 1994. 

At the 10^th annual edition of HR Excellence Awards, Singapore in 2022, HEINEKEN Cambodia won bronze for 'Excellence in Talent Management’.

In view of this achievement, we catch up with Lymonypich Ly, People Organisation & Development Manager, HEINEKEN Cambodia (pictured above) on the care for people philosophy that has helped retain employees even from the company's early days of operations.

Q Congratulations on the achievement! Could you take us through the highs-and-lows of your winning strategy?

HEINEKEN Cambodia has roots in Cambodia since 1994, and we’ve been a key economic contributor and employer ever since. Fast forward to today, so much has changed, we along with the market have expanded significantly; but one thing remains the same, which is our care for people. In fact, some of our employees from our early days are still with us today.

This sums up our winning talent management strategy. We’re not just here for our people today, we’re here for the long term. In a dynamic and fast-growing market like Cambodia, we aim to open up a world of opportunities and unlock the full potential of our people.

Besides basic knowledge and skills, what human resources in Cambodia needs is the space for upskilling and reskilling that will help them (HR professionals) future proof. As a company, we play an important role in shaping and fast-tracking our people development with critical skills that are needed to bring Cambodia’s talent force to the next level, in line with the government’s direction of sustainable development.

Q How did the HR team identify and align the business & employee needs, and craft out this perfect solution?

Our purpose at HEINEKEN is to brew the joy of 'True Togetherness' to inspire a better world. We believe we can only thrive if the people and communities around us thrive too. Our talent force is key to ensure we live up to our purpose, so together, we can 'Brew A Better Cambodia'. 

Therefore, we need to ensure that we create a space where our talents can grow in a way that supports their personal goals and aspirations.

Our 'BOOST strategy', which stands for ‘Build Our Own Sustainable Talent’, aims to attract, select, develop, and retain our talents with a more purpose-driven platform.

Q Could you share the results that BOOST strategy has delivered – be it on the business, HR, or people side?

We are super proud in witnessing the milestones and achievements we have had in the past years throughout our journey. It is noteworthy to mention the talents whom we have acquired with our local and regional talent attraction programmes, 'Women in Sales Empowerment' programmes, and many more. 

Collectively, these initiatives have resulted in a huge increase in our top talent ratios at different levels. We have also dramatically increased our talent retention ratio.

With varieties of developmental initiatives and programmes not limited to just formal training, coaching, mentoring, and stretch assignments both local and overseas, our talents enjoy great exposure to different areas of the business which strengthens our leadership team succession pipeline.

Q What is your message to all the stakeholders who have supported you in this journey?

Our journey and the positive impact we’ve made would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the tremendous support and collaborative amongst our leadership team, people managers, People (HR) team, and the talents themselves. 

First of all, we would like to recognise the effort, attention, and commitment that our leadership team has put in identifying, discussing, and taking action for our talent management agenda. We would also like to thank our people managers who have been championing talent development from day one and making sure that our talents across the company can thrive with opportunities to be themselves and unlock their full potential. Supporting and contributing to this success is our People (HR) team, the guardian of our company culture especially in coordinating our talent management looking out for more opportunities to develop and grow our people. 

Last but not least, we owe it all to our talents who continuously own their development and thrive to be a better version of themselves.

Together, let’s continue to unlock the full potential of our people so we can do more to brew the joy of true togetherness to inspire a better world.

Q What are you most excited about when you think about the future of HR?

As Fernando de Castro Pastor, our APAC Talent and Leadership Manager, once said, “We aim to bring our people into the heart of the company, through creating an environment where all our employees feel that they belong, know what is expected of them, and experience a workplace that is supportive, productive, and fun. True to our main belief, we know that if we manage to unlock the full potential of our people, we’ll deliver superior and balanced growth.”

We believe that HR or People function goes way beyond the traditional definition of HR roles like recruitment, payroll and administration. In any organisation, we are truly the guardian of our people and culture.

A big shoutout to all HR practitioners out there who work tirelessly to bring this meaning to life.

Images / HEINEKEN Cambodia

Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets' section!

Follow us on Telegram and on Instagram @humanresourcesonline for all the latest HR and manpower news from around the region!