Brandix has grown to become one of the leading Apparel manufacturers in the South Asian region. Over the past 50 years, Brandix has been providing Inspired Solutions to renowned brands across the world, bolstered by a vertically integrated supply chain and global network of manufacturing and operating locations (Brandix 2021).
At Brandix, people management ethos stems from the desire to create “Inspired People” empowered by the organization RITE (Respect-Integrity-Teamwork-Excellence) values and deliver Inspired Solutions. Premised on this, Brandix has adopted a strategic approach to continuously realign its talent attraction, talent management, talent engagement and talent development frameworks with the needs of the business. Also Brandix want to be seen as the trusted partner that backs its employees throughout their growth journey both professionally and personally (Brandix 2021).
Brandix understand the critical role learning and development (L&D) plays in the lives of their ‘Inspired People’ and have continued to invest in career development through a range of opportunities for all employees. A cross functional team was appointed to focus on behavioural training, employee motivation and promote greater employee engagement (Brandix 2021).
Training programmes at Brandix:
Brandix “Shilpa” - one of two flagship skills development initiatives designed to attract and develop talent at Brandix, whilst providing Associates the opportunity to develop skills and enhance employability by obtaining a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level Certification. One of the key strategies of this is to sustain the collaborative partnership with VTA (Vocational Training Authority) in creating opportunities for youth qualified in NVQ through on-the-job training and employability at Brandix.
P.A.C.E. - the Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (PACE) programme initiated by GAP Inc. is the other flagship skills development programme. Specifically aimed at female Associates in the Apparel industry, P.A.C.E, empowers them through an opportunity to improve their personal and professional skills through 8 specifically designed modules.
Brandix Academy - to ensure L&D delivers the required impact through an effective process, the teams internally developed a screening methodology for recruitment, and standardised the compensation & benefits mechanism and L&D framework. This is then used as a base to develop and implement an appropriate training curriculum and eventually standardise job roles by mapping the competencies required.
Mechanics Training - recognizing that the mechanic teams play a critical role within the facilities, Brandix continues to implement comprehensive L&D programmes to provide them with the requisite skills and knowledge, enable them to conduct their duties in the most effective manner and enhance their career development.
Excalibur Project - the Excalibur project provided an opportunity for team leaders and subject matter experts identified through the 9-box process to become trainers and/or contribute towards the development of learning content. Excalibur was designed to build internal knowledge and experience sharing capacities and widen employee cohorts.
Executive Development Programme (EDP) - this is a key pipeline development programme for Executive-level employees continued to be applied across Brandix.This initiated and implemented with the intent of preparing local talent to take on the necessary job roles and create a sustainable model for succession.
Motivation methods at Brandix:
Talent Engagement - together with the Corporate Communications team, the organization leveraged on utilising their internal tools such Brandix FM, the PA system, Brandnet, emails and Viyaman, and their external social media platforms to consistently engage with and inspire the employees as they navigated a continuously evolving pandemic.
Employee Councils - EC is a legal body in line with the relevant national regulatory frameworks in the countries they operate in, promotes the rights of employees and their participation in decision making on matters that impact them, inclusive of labour management. With a cordial relationship between the Management teams and workforce.
Better Conversations Every Day (BCE) - Brandix partnered with CCL to rollout Better Conversations Everyday (BCE), a programme to scale coaching skills and create a feedback culture and was offered to all employees at leadership levels to support the transition in the organisational culture.
Empower Me - as COVID-19 continued to impact the employees on multiple levels, the organization realized the need to support employees around emerging themes such as parenting, stress management, financial management and mental wellbeing. As such, ‘Empower Me’ was a series of programmes designed around such focus areas and proved to be popular among the employees.
The “Brandix Safety Pledge” - the leadership teams and employees were encouraged to make a personal safety pledge reinforcing willingness to take responsibility for the safety of their work environment, colleagues and community (My Actions = Our Safety) “Inguru Tea” - a radio segment launched on Brandix FM, tackling current issues with regular contributions from members of the leadership and management teams. The “Real Talk Show” was implemented for Executive-level employees as a platform for open dialogue with key external and internal stakeholders and this helped to keep the employees motivated and inspired.
Employee Welfare “Chairman’s Fund” - non-executive employees are entitled to receive up to LKR 300,000, 1Mn as a non-recoverable financial support for their critical medical requirements. This scheme extends to employee’s spouses, children, siblings under the guardianship of the employee and parents of unmarried employees. over 175 employees have benefitted.
Randaru Scholarships - the children of the employees are also entitled to receive a scholarship from Brandix for excellence at the Grade 5 Scholarship, Ordinary Level examination and University education. Recipients benefitting under the latter will continue to receive the scholarship throughout their university education.
Counselling & Mental Wellbeing - as the pandemic continued to evolve, it brought additional stressors related to mental and psychological wellbeing to the forefront and as such, supporting the employee’s mental wellbeing was a key focus area. The Counselling team developed and mobilised a crisis contact mechanism, with Counsellors assigned to be on call 24/7 along with other wellbeing activities for employees.
In summary, the organization listen and engage with employees through Routine Engagement Mechanism, by conducting Great Place to Work survey, Employee satisfaction surveys, Performance reviews, skip level meetings and skip level meetings happen throughout the year, T&D activities, open door policy at all management levels, Employee Council meetings, Intranet communications through Brandnet, Success Factors, email communications and Social Media. Also matters such as Remuneration & benefits, Career development, Training & Development, Engagement opportunities, Safety & Wellbeing, Diversity & Inclusion, Recognition & Rewards, Long-term job stability are key priorities followed by HRM and this leads to employee job satisfaction and motivation (Brandix 2021).
According to Raharjo et al., (2014) said
that training has a close relationship with motivation. The provision of
training affects employee motivation, because after participating in the
training, employees have skills and are skilled in doing tasks given by the organization
with a heavier task weight, so that employee attitudes are better at accepting tasks
and are enthusiastic in doing tasks. Cheema, Shujaat and Alam (2014) states
that training can motivate workers to commitment and that motivation will lead
to higher retention (Darmawan et al., 2017).
Reference List:
Brandix Lanka Limited Sustainability Report 2020-2021.[Online]. Available at:.https://brandix.com/images/brandix-sustainability-report-2020-21.pdf [Accessed on 27 November 2022].
Darmawan, Y. Y., Supartha, W. G., & Rahyuda, A. G. (2017). Pengaruh Pelatihan terhadap Motivasi Kerja dan Kinerja di Prama Sanur Beach-Bali. 6(3), 1265–1290.
Raharjo, R. P., Hamid, D., & Prasetya. (2014). Pengaruh Pelatihan terhadap Motivasi Kerja dan Kinerja Pegawai (Studi Pada Pegawai Balai Besar Pelatihan Pertanian (BBPP) Ketindan Lawang). Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis S1 Universitas Brawijaya, 15(2), 84788.
Hi Nilusha, A very interesting article. It's so great to see how you have brought in an Organizational example to describe the Training and Motivation in practices. It's very clear why Brandix is a very successful company, becoz without a doubt of their understanding the importance of Training & Motivation. Because this very aspects bring in Organizational Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Vidura, I agree with you, employee training and motivation is a key HRM Piler at Brandix , human resources need to be managed professionally to create a balance between the needs of employees, the demands and capabilities of the company’s organization, and the importance of quality human resources for the progress of the company (Mappamiring et al., 2020).
DeleteThe key aspect of Training and Development department is to make sure the availability of a skilled and positive workforce to an organization. Training and development is a continuous process as the skills, knowledge and quality of work needs constant improvement. Since businesses are changing rapidly, it is critical that companies focus on training their employees after constantly monitoring them & developing their overall personality (Steven and David, 2012)
ReplyDeleteAgreed with your comment Iyngararaj. Furthermore, in the workplace, the various types of on the job and off the job training programs are planned and implemented by employers to enhance employees’ knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs) and positive attitude in order to support the organizational goals, expectations and needs (Vodde, 2012).
DeleteHi Nilusha. Through an example of Brandix you have conveyed very clearly how much importance to be given gor the training of an employee. Obviously Brandix is a very successful company and the reason for the success is structural training platform which company offers to employees which is resulting a huge confidence in the employees
ReplyDeleteThanks Uday for your comment. Training is important because it provides employees with the chance to learn what they need to perform their jobs well (Matthews et al., 2004). Hereafter, Tai (2006) explained that if employees had the appropriate skills and they have well trained, they would gain the excellent power to perform in their jobs.
DeleteVery interesting article Nilisha, Most firms now have various programs in place for the training and development of their workers. Typically, firms give tuition reimbursement packages to their employees in order for them to further their knowledge and education. The Corporate University discovered that about 10% of employees are eligible for this perk (Rosenwald 2000). Furthermore, only senior management and top-level personnel are eligible for tuition reimbursement (Rosenwald 2000). As a result, many firms perform more productive and cost-effective in-house training programs for their personnel.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment Christeena, said that, According to (Ibrahim et al., 2017), there are several training models in identifying learning needs, including the inductive model. Deductive model, namely the identification of training carried out in general with broad targets. The advantage is that the identification results can be obtained from a broad target so that the cost is cheap and relatively efficient compared to the inductive type. The classic model is intended to adapt the learning materials that have been defined in the curriculum and learning programs. An important phenomenon that needs to be considered in realizing employee performance is the competency factor. Competence concerns the authority of each individual to carry out tasks or make decisions according to their role in the organization that is relevant to their expertise, knowledge, and abilities (Zhou et al., 2018).
DeleteAmazing. It is great to hear that brndix holding great programs train the employees. I think the organization clearly identified the value of the trainings. Thus organizations need to invest in continuous employee
ReplyDeletedevelopment in order to maintain employees as well as the organization success (Khawaja & Nadeem 2013).
I agree with your comment Visithag. Said that, Training is related to employees' skills and abilities to carry out current work. Training helps employees achieve specific skills and abilities to be more successful in carrying out their work (Oktaviani & Darmo, 2017).
DeleteI agreed Nilusha. Comprehensive training and development program aids in deliberating on the knowledge, skills and attitudes crucil to achieve organizational goals and objectives and also to sharp competitive advantage (Peteraf 1993). Furthermore, in the commencement of the twenty-first century Human Resource Managers have opined that one of the main challenges they are to confront had involved issues in regards to training and development (Stavrou, Brewster and Charalambous 2004). Moreover , by selecting the right type of training, employers ensure that their employees possess the right skills for the business, and the same need to be consistently updated in the follow up of new HR practices to face current and future business demands.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your content Thilini, further adding to your comment Khan et al. (2011) revealed that training design has a positive effect on organizational performance. On the other hand, Thang et al. (2008) revealed that training could lead to increase in sales. Furthermore, training helps to improve the productivity of a manufacturing company.
DeleteWell defined and well presented Nilusha. Having employee councils is so significant when it comes to employee motivation. Furthermore, The effect of works councils on organizational performance received in-depth attention in the industrial relations literature. As is clear from reviews such as those of Addison (2004) and Addison (2005), the evidence is mixed.
ReplyDeleteThanks Manodya for your comment. Furthermore adding to your comment, a good relationship between management and workforce is believed to enhance performance by means of boosting morale and motivation, which, in turn, stimulates higher productivity (Lazear, 1998). Also, a good relationship between management and works council is beneficial for organizational performance (van den Berg et al., 2008a, b).
DeleteWell explained Nilusha. Motivation improves performance. The results show that motivation plays a supporting role in both public and private companies, especially when it comes to improving performance. Empirical study indicates that one factor is the direct effect of motivation on performance. This is based on the relationship between performance and motivation. The findings of this study are in line with a number of other investigations that have previously demonstrated the significant influence that employee motivation has on performance in both direct and indirect ways. Elvina and Chao ( 2019 )
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment Manoj, furthermore, employee performance is actually influenced by motivation because if employees are motivated then they will do work with more effort and by which performance will ultimately improve (Azar and Shafighi, 2013).
DeleteGreat blog Nilusha,Lockley (2012), on the other hand, addresses the same issue focusing on cross-cultural differences between employees in particular. Namely, culture can be explained as knowledge, pattern of behaviour, values, norms and traditions shared by members of a specific group (Kreitner and Cassidy, 2012), and accordingly, cross-cultural differences is perceived to be a major obstruction in the way of successful employee motivation
ReplyDeleteNoted on your comment Isuri. Adding to what you say, According to Ricky (2007), culture is an important part of internal environment of an organization. Organizational culture is the set of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs, and attitudes that helps the members of the organization understand what it stands for, how it does things, and what it considers important. Furthermore, a strong organisational culture is a tool for management to motivate employees and enhance their performance and hence retention (Nakano et al., 2013; Owoyemi and Ekwoaba, 2014).
DeleteAgreed Nilusha and furthermore,An interesting viewpoint regarding the issue has been proposed by Wylie (2004), according to which members of management primarily should be able to maintain the level of their own motivation at high levels in order to engage in effective motivation of their subordinates. Accordingly, Wylie (2004) recommends managers to adopt a proactive approach in terms of engaging in self-motivation practices
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input on my blog post Nimesha. Furthermore Deci and Ryan (2000) holds that "everyone wants more motivation, but is not entirely sure what it is. Managers and leaders would say they wanted more motivated team of employees or groups, and employers want to hire motivated people. Moreover, the demands of employers are even higher - for example, the person they want to hire should be self-motivated.
DeleteHi Nilusha. Much better article . in addition to, The link between training and an organization’s performance is strongly supported by research. One survey by the American Management Association showed gains in productivity and larger operating profits as a by-product of effective training and development. Human capital investments such as training are associated with increased employee engagement, job satisfaction, and productivity of organizations’ employees. Plainly put, employers that invest in training and development of its staff will realize direct and indirect returns that affect business performance positively. Training investments create competitive advantages, which drive innovation and create opportunities to improve employee skills, knowledge, and firm performance. Additionally, research on training and organizational effectiveness has found that training is positively related to HR (employee) outcomes, performance outcomes as well as financial outcomes. “As organizations strive to compete in the global economy, differentiation based on the skills, knowledge, and motivation of their workforce takes on increasing importance.” (Aguinis and Kraiger)
ReplyDeleteNoted on your comment Rasika. Furthermore, Training effects on behavior of employees and their working skills which resulted in enhanced employee performance and further constructive changes (Satterfield and Hughes 2007) that serves as increase employee performance (Kraiger 2002). Offering employees training opportunities can be seen as a message that the organization cares for its employees (Aguinis 2009). An important challenge for the practice of training is to integrate the training function with employee selection, performance management, rewards, and other human resource management practices (Aguinis 2009, Aguinis & Pierce 2008, Cascio & Aguinis 2005).
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