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As Chok Oi Sin, HR Director of Carro Group affirms, HR must view itself as a partner to the business, and endeavour to create value.
Entering the Thailand market, Carro Thailand knew it had a lot to prove as a new player in tackling the local market. In response, the group focused its strategy on finding the right people — after all, when you succeed in bringing in key talent, this would help expand the network naturally through recommendations to any former colleagues and acquaintances.
Not only has the team since managed to fill most of its pivotal roles, it has also walked away with Gold in Excellence in Recovery & Rebound Strategy at the HR Excellence Awards 2024 in Thailand.
Read on as Chok Oi Sin, HR Director of Carro Group shares how Carro Thailand's talent acquisition strategy focused on key positions in the used-car industry.
Q What was the motivation that sparked your passion & business case for pursuing your outstanding people strategy?
At Carro, we are a young company with big dreams. Founded in 2015, we have progressed to become one of Asia Pacific’s largest online used car marketplace with a strong presence in key markets across Asia Pacific, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, and recently, we have expanded our reach to Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. We are also ranked as one of the Top 500 companies in the FT High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2024.
In line with our 'CHARGE' core values, we have always aspired to find ways to deliver the best car buying and selling experience to our customers, and never settle for less. Entering the Thailand market, we had a lot to prove as a new player and in understanding the local market. Our strategy was also focused on finding the right people, who would share our core values and passion to revolutionise the used car marketplace.
Q Looking back, can you share a challenge that you overcame in your journey of HR excellence? How did you triumph?
We are still a relatively new face to many of the talents in the automotive industry in Thailand. Therefore, we had to focus our efforts on establishing our employer brand and communicating our employee value proposition.
We worked immediately in bringing in the right people and keeping them with us. Our targeted talent acquisition strategy focused on key positions in the used-car industry. And when we did succeed in bringing in such key personnel, they would naturally recommend their former colleagues and acquaintances for vacancies in Carro.
Within a short time, we managed to fill most of the pivotal roles with a 79% acceptance rate. In addition, we revamped our learning and development framework to equip employees with the resources to grow in their roles. This level of empowerment allowed employees to learn and excel in their jobs, leading to reduced turnover and an almost 80% increase in sales performance.
To build engagement and a sense of connection, our teams organised get-together events for employees such as our Songkran-themed Annual Dinner, and used Lark, our internal communications platform, to help management build rapport with the teams, share updates, fun moments and celebrate successes together, encouraging constant communication and higher engagement.
Q Beyond the recognition, what impact do you hope your feature in the HR Excellence Awards would have on the HR community and manpower landscape?
We always believed that people are the powerhouse behind our success at Carro, and investing in their growth and development and recognising their contribution has always been a part of our strategy in becoming both an employer of choice and a successful business.
We hope that by sharing our work and results, we can inspire other HR professionals to be bold in implementing people practices that are visionary, creative and innovative to offer solutions to business challenges.
Q Could you share some advice you would give to others aspiring to follow in your footsteps?
I believe every country has its unique landscape and challenges. The key lies in understanding the local culture and practices, and tactfully aligning it with our group vision and core values. HR must view itself as a partner to the business, and endeavour to create value, resolve pain points and advise business on HR best practices. Once our initiatives begin to deliver results, we will naturally gain the trust of the business, and this enables us to work better together on future initiatives and plans.
Q Let's talk inspiration! Who has been a driving force behind your success?
The global HR community! We are constantly challenging each other to excel in novel and surprising ways, and the many dedicated HR professionals that I have had the pleasure of knowing and learning from over the years have been instrumental in both my professional and personal growth.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
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