Fuji Xerox: Enabling and empowering people

Today, much is required from teams to deliver results for customers and the organisation. As such, nurturing and keeping a ‘future ready’ team that is passionate about transformation, has been an important priority for Fuji Xerox.

To that end, I strongly believe in the principle of “Enable and Empower” as Fuji Xerox Singapore promotes the mission – where it not only enables enterprises but also empowers our people as we embrace Industry 4.0.

There are infinite possibilities in this sector and we equip our people to succeed by nurturing qualities such as the ability to think outside the box, problem-solving, integrity, self-awareness and emotional intelligence. As the CEO of Fuji Xerox Singapore, I’d like to share some of the approaches we’ve adopted to develop this culture.

1. Embrace the change, do things differently
Fuji Xerox is at the forefront of a conversion of forces. We are proud that Fuji Xerox has been a market leader for over 30 years with a history built on a device-centric business and a strong customer base.

Now we’re redefining ourselves in the areas of machine, digital and human intelligence. To implement these new business models, infrastructure and processes, we placed a lot of emphasis on change management through collaborative cross-functional processes and connecting people.

Our change management programme includes a multi-layered formal and informal grid with the goal not just to effect change swiftly but also to reach as many people as possible.

2. Articulate the vision
I strongly believe that leaders are there to provide clarity to the organisation, create energy, and deliver results. Getting the message out clearly throughout the organisation starts at the top, and to do this, I hold weekly meetings with the senior leaders to align our objectives and actions. Once there’s clarity at the top, I believe that new policies, directions, approaches are more clearly communicated.

3. Close the gaps with mentorship
The most powerful way to accelerate leadership skills is through the mentorship programme. We hold one-to-one mentorship sessions with the senior managers to hear their views, and discuss personal and business goals. With this open approach, we not only “hear” each other, but also “share”.

4. Identify the informal influencers
We adopt a ‘guerilla’ approach for the rest of the organisation. With a group coaching format, people are identified and handpicked as potential change agents. Interestingly enough, they’re not necessarily just the managers, but can be persons at any level of the hierarchy. The difference is that these “high influence” team members become the best catalysts to influence and accelerate change throughout the company.

5. Engage through surveys
The annual employee survey is very important for us. In the year before our last one, after the organisation went through a period of over 75% top-level changes, we expected employee engagement levels to fall significantly. To our surprise, the results dropped by only two percentage points which demonstrated that most employees supported the change. This was gratifying.

6. Move People by Sharing
I also write letters to the entire employee base through the in-house newsletter. Through this means of communication, I make it a point to share personal experiences on leadership, tips on best practices and plans moving forward. I believe that it’s not what we say but what we do that moves people.

7. Start small, but start immediately
Having the right people with the right mindset is essential. We believe in prioritising the human element as it is the people who are drivers in any organisation, and when they do it with passion, creativity and are given room for growth, we believe that the framework for empowering high-performance teams is in place.

About the author

Sara Cheng, is the CEO of Fuji Xerox in Singapore. She is responsible for the company’s overall strategic growth and further strengthening its customer commitment, digital transformation, and employee engagement.