Connecting dispersed teams using digital: Aesop

Organisations grappling with dispersed teams have leant heavily on digital tools throughout the pandemic.

Aesop’s global head of HR Optimisation, Kent Cabrera told Digital Nation Australia the organisation’s investment in Workday prior to Covid, was critical in connecting its company which is spread across 23 countries.

“Thankfully Aesop had already implemented [Workday] before the pandemic and that gave us the ability to scale and connect with our people across the globe,” said Cabrera.

“We've had everything from learning, talent, performance, compensation, recruitment, all housed in one place. It's given us that visibility that we wouldn't have had prior knowing where all our people are, who they are, what sort of talent we've got, who we can reach out to, what the structures are like.”

Varied rules around vaccine mandates around the world is one clear example where Aesop is utilising the tool to track the employees that are or are not vaccinated or those that intend to. Cabrera said it has also been useful in identifying language proficiencies to determine the employees that can assist with translation work.

Accuracy in the recommendations relies on the data, he said.

“One of the decisions that I made very early was to make sure that, data was at its core. So it means that we can bust myths, validate assumptions, focus on the root cause.”

While organisations often credit their own agility to the deployment of digital tools, according to Cabrera, the world agile has been used too liberally in the last two years.

“The word agility has been thrown around a bit too much, it's almost an excuse to do things quickly by taking shortcuts.”

While taking risks can be beneficial, Cabrera cautions against moving too fast.

“Agility could be, in my opinion, something that where you're a bit more agile with your planning and having a bit more foresight. What's probable and I guess what baseline you need to establish,” he said.

“Just because you work at a pace during the pandemic doesn't mean that that pace is sustainable moving forward.”