Pawan Rochwani: Hello, everyone. Welcome to new episode of people led show by inFeedo. My name is Pawan Rochwani and in this series, I'm interviewing people leaders and CHROs from Southeast Asia region. And today, I have the privilege of hosting Luz Mercurio, who's the chief people and culture officer at Mondini Sun Corporation. The interesting thing about this entire episode is she also brings in a lot of her founder perspective because she has been a founder herself, and she understands the business aspect how to build a team, and all the things that goes out in building an organization.

Pawan Rochwani: And she has over 2 decades of experience across various industries in Asia Pacific region. So somebody who perfectly fits for this show and for this series, and I'm glad that we were able to have a conversation with her. Please feel free to drop any suggestions or recommendations that you might have on whom we should host next or anything that you liked from this episode or something that you did not like. Please feel free to drop that in the comments, and I hope you enjoy this conversation. This was prerecorded in the month of January.

Pawan Rochwani: So if if you're watching this sometime later in the year certain context about the topics might be different. So please feel free to note that, and I hope you enjoy this. 

Pawan Rochwani: Super. Thank you so much, Louis, for taking out the time to be on our show and be a part of this conversation. We are very, very thrilled to have you on the show today. 

Monde Nissin: Yeah. It's an honor to be here, Pawan.

Monde Nissin: Good afternoon. 

Pawan Rochwani: Thank you so much, Lewis. I I wanna start this on a light note and, you know before we get into all technology, HR function, and so many other things I wanna know what do you do outside of work? What are you doing when you are not working? Are you still thinking about work, or what is it that you do on the weekends?

Monde Nissin: Okay. During weekends, I usually go out with the family. We eat out. Simple restaurants or new areas that we can have picnic together. We'd like to bond as a family, so I enjoyed that most.

Monde Nissin: Apart from that, for my me time, I I developed this interest in painting. I used to do photography, and then I transitioned to painting. 

Pawan Rochwani: Wow. That's that's so cool. And what is, like, 1 thing that other organization should learn from Mondini san's people culture?

Pawan Rochwani: What do you think is something unique about the people culture that you are building that other organizations can learn about? 

Monde Nissin: Mm-mm. For Mondinesin as an organization, I think what sets it apart from other companies would be its its culture on on linking its culture to the aspiration. We really take into heart what we aspire for, you know, to take care of the people and the planet and to provide sustainable solutions for food security. So we, in, for example, HR, will be very particular in setting up programs, initiatives so that we make sure that the well-being of our employees and even our customers are being looked after very well.

Monde Nissin: And then we also have our commitments just like any other company. They have their corporate values. We call them commitments. And we've been having all these commitments since 19 79 when Montanism was established in the Philippines. So the first is continuous learning with growth mindset.

Monde Nissin: We would like to say that our company is really a learning organization. We we would like our people to be more open, be more curious, and be more innovative when it comes to expanding and acquiring new things, no, for personal and professional growth. Next is care with action. Care with action in our language would be called Malasakit. So it's an extra effort in taking care of others.

Monde Nissin: And then collaboration with empathy is third. We make sure that we are working well with people not just within our team, but outside our team and very sensitive to how they feel and how they think and how we can work synergistically. 

Pawan Rochwani: Got it. I I absolutely love this. I think 1 of our mission also aligns with this collaboration with empathy and also action with care.

Pawan Rochwani: I think that's that's truly, like, inspiring and unique, I I would say. And what are, let's say, 2 challenges or 2 priority problems that that you kind of, like, face as the chief people and culture officer at at the organization? 

Monde Nissin: I think what we are facing now in our company is something similar to what other companies are already experiencing, specifically because of of the pandemic experience. And now we're trying to go back to what we used to have. No?

Monde Nissin: But the it's it's really now a challenge to attract and retain talents. And, of course, since it's a competitive market, it's hard to even retain top talents. And we really need types of people so that it can propel our business to expansion and more growth. Yeah. Number 2, based on our corporate survey, work life balance is an issue because of the challenges being faced by our employees when it count comes to taking care of their family and and striving hard, you know, to be more more productive in the organization.

Pawan Rochwani: Yeah. Yeah. And and rightly said, actually, I I feel the FNB industry is, like, highly dynamic. And, of course, you know, retaining top talent is, like, a priority. So how do you do your human capital management in a very dynamic industry and environment like this?

Pawan Rochwani: Is there any recruiting metric that you follow or a a particular, let's say, retention metric that is, like, really, really important for you? 

Monde Nissin: Mm-mm. For the food and beverage industry, I think we will be very much particular in how we retain our talents. So voluntary turnover rate is a vital metric that we follow. But apart from that, we go granular.

Monde Nissin: No? So we look at attrition rate per department, per position, per age bracket so that we know how to design engagement programs for specific segments of the organization. Yeah. We also are looking at the engagement level of our people or again, per department, per position, per each bracket because we want them to have meaningful work. We want them to feel that they are part of a great organization, and they are well taken care of.

Pawan Rochwani: Mhmm. Mhmm. Correct. And I've observed this that succession planning has become a long term strategic investment for businesses against any future uncertainties. Why is it crucial for the for the people and also for organizational success?

Pawan Rochwani: What do you think about that? 

Monde Nissin: Succession planning is crucial, no, for people and organizational success because it's in it really ensures business continuity, and it provides leadership transition. So, like recently, no, we have discovered that our employees, especially the young ones, no, in Gen z Mhmm. They're very particular with career project career progression. No?

Monde Nissin: They they want the the company to show its commitment to their development, and that's what we are really doing when it comes to succession planning. It's tough, and it's long term. 

Pawan Rochwani: Yeah. Got it. Got it.

Pawan Rochwani: And, also, like, talking about the Gen z, I think diversity becomes, like, really, really this generational diversity, in fact wherein an organization you have somebody who's, let's say, from the eighties, nineties, 2 thousands, and also now the gen z's. How do you support this diversity in the organization? Are you training your managers or your leaders for this generational diversity specifically? 

Monde Nissin: Yeah. For generation diversity, we we prepare our leaders to create an environment where different generations thrive.

Monde Nissin: And based on our survey, we've seen that almost half of our company, our organization they belong to Gen z and Gen y. So the things that will matter to the earlier generation may not be attractive to our our younger generation. And, of course, we have to strategize well the total total reward system. Yeah. And, of course training and development.

Monde Nissin: The way we we let them learn and grow might be different, especially with the technology we have now. Social media in and digital the digital world is really something that we breathe every day. Yeah. Yeah. 

Pawan Rochwani: And, also, when when there is this diversity and also the industry is very dynamic.

Pawan Rochwani: Right? So I think creating the psychological safety within the workplace, within the organization, and for the people also, like, becomes very important because I have I have worked in dynamic organizations and industries, and sometimes picturing yourself as a clear path becomes really difficult. So how can the people function and as a CPO, what do you think? How can we build that psychological safety for our workforce? 

Monde Nissin: Mm-mm.

Monde Nissin: For for psychological safety, we will really have to look at the uniqueness, no, of individuals and be able to create an environment where where they cannot just thrive, but also succeed and find meaning in their world. And let me go back to neurodiversity. We used to see diversity and inclusion in the lens of having embracing, for example, diversity, supporting different generations, ethnicity, and it also encompasses the the religion is part of that, gender. We have what we call recently, no, we have neurodiversity. Actually, it's not not as recent.

Monde Nissin: No? But it has gained the interest in different companies already. Like last year, no, I attended a regional conference in Sydney, and they were talking about neurodiversity in roundtable discussion. And when we talk about neurodiversity, it's the it's the natural variation of how the brain works. No?

Monde Nissin: Yeah. There are different perception of the world and different responses to environment. And when we say neurodiversity, it encompasses a range of neurological differences. Like, it's beyond autism. It includes ADHD, dyslexia, dispraction, or the motor skills development.

Monde Nissin: No? And in in our company or in other companies as well, the more progressive ones, continuous learning is very important. No? As Carol Oduwek mentioned. No?

Monde Nissin: In her book. No? We have to look at individuals as developing their abilities, accepting with all humility that can they can be better. No? They can develop some more.

Monde Nissin: And actually, it's it's very interesting. Like SAP, no, in 20 13, they've been very deliberate for the hiring, no, these types of people. It's a more inclusive hiring practice that they're implementing. So I'm interested with that. No?

Monde Nissin: I I'd like that to to happen on not just in our company, but in the Philippines as well to make people more aware, no, and preparing managers to understand how to support neurodivergent conditions. And then since we support we we support individual uniqueness, we have to celebrate the unique talents and strengths of diver neurodivergent influence. So there's this research, Pawan, about neurodivergent individuals. And it was it was found out that they are capable, no, as capable as neurotypical individuals and we encourage that. So we we look forward to putting up policies that we is more inclusive, more accessible to neurodiverse employees.

Monde Nissin: It's good now that we have flexible work arrangement, and we have assistive technology and a technology that are more sensitive now when it comes to sensory management. We have developed workspaces to accommodate neurodivergent individuals. So I've just read that the the companies at the forefront of neurodiversity movement will globally know our Google, Microsoft because they have discovered that the neurodivergent people, they have better pattern recognition. So this is good in data analyst data analytics, and they're good in problem solving. So for example, for marketing, no, they are more creative, more innovative.

Monde Nissin: So let's take good advantage of the unique perspective, no, that they bring in when it comes to these specific areas. 

Pawan Rochwani: Got it. And talking about technology problem solving and recognizing patterns, the recent trend has been about AI. Right? And everybody in every department, not just, let's say, the engineering team or the HR team.

Pawan Rochwani: In general, every every department and function is trying to adopt to certain automation technologies or AI. What is your view on this, and have you also started implementing any new technologies? Mm-mm. So AI is is machine learning. No?

Monde Nissin: And apart apart from that is generative AI, and it's a form of artificial intelligence that can create content. No? And when you say you create content, it can be the capacity to create the new text, no, images, even cloning voices. No? And this is being done for, you know, when when you create websites these days.

Monde Nissin: No? Marketing campaigns, even for data analysis, and even summarize reports. And I've been experiencing, like, summarizing the meetings now that we we hold. It can be of help now, like take away the repetitive task of the employee employees. In call center centers, for example, we we have voice assistance.

Monde Nissin: No? You automatic email responses. Yeah. And then, of course, the multilanguage support that we experience when we want to translate the ideas and concepts. In Mondonesian, we have employed already facial recognition.

Monde Nissin: Language modeling also will encompass the the survey we hold for leadership programs. Mhmm. So that's it. No? It it can it can boost productivity.

Monde Nissin: K? Yeah. It's it's been there. It's just like 20 23 has been a great year for people to to not just discover. It's really rediscovering how helpful AI can be.

Pawan Rochwani: Yeah. Yeah. And rightly, sir, I think how it would you know, save some time for us, remove the mundane and repetitive tasks. Probably, if somebody has been writing hundred emails in a day using chat, GPT, or other AI tools, it can become very easy for them, and they can save a lot of time and effort into it. So that early adoption is definitely, like, happening across the world.

Pawan Rochwani: Are there anything should should organizations prepare themselves in any way for for adopting these technologies? Because I'm sure every time you have to implement a new tool also in the organization, it's it's a time taking process. Right? You you cannot just purchase a tool and, like, implement it. The integration, the onboarding, people getting used to it.

Pawan Rochwani: How can we swiftly adopt to these new new technologies is what I would want to understand from you. 

Monde Nissin: I think the first thing that we have to do in strategizing to swiftly help people adapt to the dynamic landscape would be change leadership. No? That's that's not just making the leaders recognize change, manage change, but really lead lead change. You know?

Monde Nissin: Look at the future. What can what can they do to help transform the the people? Mhmm. And, of course, aside from that mindset. No?

Monde Nissin: Sorry. Okay. So change leadership, number 1. Training and involvement of people will be very important. And nowadays, it's not just the leaders owning, no, the ideas and the solving the problems.

Monde Nissin: They really have to be very sensitive and listen to the ideas of people because they're very much informed already because of this the of social media, the access to knowledge. And I think the third 1 is important. Also, change leadership, training, and and involvement of people. The last 1 is interesting. It has to be fun.

Monde Nissin: No? We do gamification, for example, in in installing a training program or providing orientation, whatever, because it will actually ignite the energy and interest of people to do things in a more innovative and creative manner. 

Pawan Rochwani: Mhmm. I I think rightly said it should also be fun. It it shouldn't just be you know, forced upon, like, a tool or a technology that you are forced to use, but it should be fun altogether.

Pawan Rochwani: Luz, I'm going to come to my last few, 2, 3 questions. And the first 1 out of these last set is, imagine if I have to you know, change my career path and be in the people function or in the HR, uh, leadership. What are some essential skills that a person needs today to be ready for the future HR leader that they want to become? Like, what what are those must have skills for anybody to be a great HR leader in future? 

Monde Nissin: Mhmm.

Monde Nissin: I think today and in any other period, when we talk about a good HR leader, it is actually a good combination of a leader understanding the business and understanding the people. It's it has to be like that. No? You have to make you have to translate business objectives, business imperatives to to a certain way that each person is is within line of sight and is is very clear on what he or she could contribute to the company. 

Pawan Rochwani: Mhmm.

Pawan Rochwani: Got it. Got it. And what what do you think, like, makes a great HR leader? Like, today should they also be technologically advanced? Of course, they should have the business skills also.

Pawan Rochwani: But what are something else that you think makes a great HR leader? I I would like to pick up with what you mentioned on technology. 

Pawan Rochwani: Mhmm. 

Monde Nissin: So we don't leave technology to the IT folks or the digital people or the marketing or salespeople. When we leverage technology, it has to happen also within the area of of of HR.

Monde Nissin: Because when we take advantage of technology and it it is being used wisely, we can make people more productive. It can make the company forge forward faster. So the HR leader and even the HR team should learn the language, no, of of what technology has been doing to different areas and translate it translate it to personal, professional productivity. 

Pawan Rochwani: Mhmm. Got it.

Pawan Rochwani: Okay. And my last set of like, my last question again, this is something to end on a live note. What is 1 thing that you believe in that most of the HR leaders, like, don't believe in? I'll give you an example. For me as a marketeer, I I believe that you should follow your intuition also a lot of times and not just data.

Pawan Rochwani: But a lot of my friends who are marketers, they just rely on data. So I think that's something that I believe in and they don't believe in. What is something that's with you that you believe and that other HR leaders probably don't believe in? 

Monde Nissin: Mhmm. I resonate with what you said.

Monde Nissin: No. It's not just leading with the head, not just the technical capability, but leading with the heart, No? Understanding the human, you know, the the humanness, no, in in each individual. Another 1 that I think I I strongly believe in is how we build on our strengths, no, In in talent management, it's more than talent manage management. It's talent development.

Monde Nissin: In most companies, we go for the performance management system. No. Pay for performance. So we recognize we reward people based on their individual performance, And it's gonna be a very competitive environment if we develop it that way because we will be aspiring to to develop people based on what they lack. And it takes time.

Monde Nissin: No? If if you are not wired, no, to be to develop certain competencies 

Pawan Rochwani: Yeah. 

Monde Nissin: It it'll take time. Now the more the more progressive 1, like positive psychology would tell us that if you build on strength, no, it will be faster, no, for the organization to to be better, no to be more competitive. So in our organization, we do not see performance management really working for us.

Monde Nissin: We see it as performance development. So we see each individual tapping on their strength and using that to contribute to the business growth. So that's that's that's, I think, how I I see myself different with other HR leaders. 

Pawan Rochwani: Yeah. Yeah.

Pawan Rochwani: Luz, I think I've I'm taking away a lot of insights from this conversation, and I'm I'm glad we did this today. And I'm sure everybody who's going to listen to this and read this is going to have similar experience of many, many insights. I and the 1 thing that I'm definitely going to take this to my leadership is also that whenever you are adopting new technology, it should be fun. It should not be something that you force upon. So I'm definitely going to message my CEO today and tell him let's make it fun and not something that's, like, forced upon.

Pawan Rochwani: But thank you so much once again for giving us your time, and I'm sure everybody who's going to watch this and listen to this will have a great time. 

Monde Nissin: It's a pleasure, Pawan. Nice talking to you.