Lenovo employees get racy with F1

Singapore - For a relatively young start-up in the technology business, inviting an F1 racer to the company is a good way to boost Lenovo's employer branding and staff morale.

The company recently sponsored a F1 Driver Day, held on Wednesday, which gave its employees a chance to hobnob with AT&T Williams' team driver, Nico Rosberg. In charge of organising the event, procurement executive Violet Ong, who is also president of Lenovo Club, says social activities help employees to de-stress. "We organised a lot of events for the employees to help boost their morale, get them out of their work for some time and have some enjoyment. It makes a better place to work in, rather than just coming to work and going back home."

Jessie Lim, executive director of human resources for Lenovo Asia Pacific, feels employee engagement programmes are important to the young company as it ultimately fulfils its ambition of "growing the business in different key markets" in the region. "One important recipe to grow the business is growing our people as well. We need to keep people engaged in the job and in the [work] environment."

Regardless of the company's financial performance, Lim says taking a long-term focus helps talent retention.

While it is hard to quantify how employee perks affect the bottom line, Lim says there are always two sides to a coin. "If you look at it on a longer-term basis, we are trying to grow the brand. While you may not see the short-term results, it does help us to reap the fruits."

Lim adds the activities are definitely effective "because people are engaged to give us good ideas and we reciprocate by giving them some recognition".

"Make them feel like ‘Wow, this is a company that cares about me, that does things for me, that engages me with the things that we do'."