Becoming a People-Focused Organisation

We at Fiducia have embarked on a transformation based on what we perceive as the most significant generational and  technological changes in our market – a new reality that we call “China 2.0”. Managing Director Stefan Kracht explains why and how he is planning to turn our 36-year old business into a truly people-focused organisation.

Stefan Kracht (right) with Fiducia’s fastest hikers at the 26km Charity Cross-Country Marathon organised by Sowers Action HK.

What prompted you to consider an HR transformation? 

We’re reacting to external and internal changes. Millennials want to work for organisations with ambitious propositions and meaningful work, so portraying ourselves as a family business committed to long-term careers isn’t an effective way of attracting recruits anymore.

We realised that among new generations, our corporate social responsibility programme “Fidu-Share” has become a key reason why they choose us over other employers. But this alone is not enough to bring our turnover rates down. We need to strengthen our employer branding, talent acquisition, and onboarding processes to give candidates the best experience from their very first touchpoint with us.

What will a “people-focused” Fiducia look like?

We want to create an environment where everyone feels valuable and cared for, what we call a “people-focused” approach. This means establishing a feedback culture that encourages employees to voice their suggestions and frustrations  comfortably.

We also seek to evolve our leadership style from task-oriented and financial-driven, to relationship and value-based, with managers putting a greater focus on motivating and empowering their team members.

How are you planning to get there?

We recognise this is not something we can change overnight, but we’re happy to have kickstarted the process – which is often the trickiest part. As a first step, I took the top 10 managers on an offsite meeting to discuss our HR pain points and suggestions. With the help of an external people-management expert, we dedicated our activities to building trust, transparency, and alignment. We finally drew up a transformation roadmap through tough conversations, fruitful workshops, and a “laughter yoga” session.

We then did a roadshow to explain our plans to all team members for their understanding and feedback. Everyone could feel that they’re part of the change from the outset.

Can you share some of the changes you have in mind?

Recently, we launched our first company wide employee engagement survey which will help us take a deep look inwards. Based on the feedback, we will prioritise areas of improvement and narrow down the actions, but broadly speaking we intend to offer more freedom and wellness initiatives, more defined career development paths, and better coaching and training opportunities.

What do you hope to achieve?

We believe that driving HR and cultural transformation will, in itself, send a positive signal to our team members and  clients: we’re a team that is willing to self-reflect, gather feedback, transform itself, and finally move from good to great. Becoming a people-focused organisation will not only make us a better employer, but also a better service provider and corporate citizen.