foodpanda Malaysia wins Employee Engagement and Team of the Year for Technology Services

Their series of interactive and creative activities were instrumental in building and shaping a strong work culture despite being in the virtual environment.

foodpanda Malaysia has bagged both the Employee Engagement of the Year Award and Team of the Year Award in the Technology services category of the SBR Malaysia Management Excellence Awards 2021 for its employee engagement initiatives and staying steadfast and resilient amidst growing uncertainty brought upon by the pandemic. 

In its inaugural year, the SBR Malaysia Management Excellence Awards 2021 honours the country’s most outstanding business leaders, including trailblazing teams and individuals whose initiatives have resulted in substantial business gains for their company’s operations. 

As the company played a role as front liners during the pandemic, the foodpanda corporate team grew exponentially to support the needs of the people. From 250 employees before the lockdown, it currently stands at over 550 employees today. The People team itself has grown from five people in March 2020 to currently more than 15 people. 

To promote the culture of teamwork and friendly competition and cross departmental collaborations, foodpanda Malaysia created an employee engagement program dubbed as “MCOlympic 1.0 and 2.0” (Movement Control Olympics) to build togetherness in the virtual world through a series of games.

Launched at the start of the pandemic, it introduced a series of fun quizzes, trivias, and challenges in different departments as they went head-to-head by taking part in point-based games. The outcome of MCOlympic 1.0 was highly favourable as teams strengthened ties with an increasing level of team loyalty, team pride, and motivation. Over time, the activity expanded and has snowballed into a permanent initiative within the company. 

Incorporating the competitive culture in continuous improvement & growth, foodpanda Malaysia also launched “MYPandaGotTalent”, a virtual talent show for the employees to shine by showcasing their talents to others. 

The company also introduced an e-learning platform to enable their employees to look out for training topics of their interest from a diverse range of online learning modules. They are given the flexibility to select, enrol, and complete these training sessions at their own pace. 

foodpanda Malaysia also proved they have always been willing to go the extra mile for its employees. They regularly send care packages to its employees that are carefully curated from local businesses and procured according to specific themes and festivals such as Ramadan, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year, Christmas and Deepavali to remind them to take a break from work and unwind with their loved ones. Other than festive packages, foodpanda Malaysia sent out care packages on special days such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, International Women’s Day and in August in conjunction with Merdeka Day. 

Further, the company has its ever-popular Monday morning quiz where employees have a chance to add more ringgits to their yearly leisure allowance as well as collect points for their team on a weekly basis. One of their best practices also includes offering assistance by helping their employees set up a conducive home-work space with their leisure allowance with hopes that their employees remain motivated to work from home. 

Working from home for such a long time can definitely take a toll on one’s physical and mental wellbeing. foodpanda took an initiative to also promote fitness and wellness extensively through a variety of fitness classes, wherein they have periodic virtual sessions to check in their team members individually to ensure they are doing well physically, emotionally, and mentally while still continuing to prosper and grow as a vital part of the organisation. 

Using data as a difference maker is the cornerstone of foodpanda Malaysia’s business. To emulate the vibrant office environment despite working from home, the company also leveraged technology to assist its employees. They regularly conduct surveys to know the needs of their employees by asking them directly and by engaging in two-way conversations. In gauging employee satisfaction, they run eNPS surveys by Delivery Hero, foodpanda’s parent company based in Berlin, and local 360° surveys. 

An organisation that is driven by both employee engagement and employee satisfaction, they also conduct upward feedback where employees can review and provide feedback on their line managers. Feedback will be received verbatim and presented to all line managers. 

Because of all these initiatives, the employees have all managed to achieve a greater level of work-life balance by being able to synergise their work schedules with the company’s domestic affairs since the start of virtual activities. 

This year, foodpanda Malaysia was awarded not just one, but two accolades for its best-in-class employee management.