Routing talent

Equinix’s internet exchanges (IBXs) have been likened to “international airports where passengers from many different airlines make connections to get to their final destinations” by former CEO and current Executive Chairman Peter Van Camp. During an interview with The Wall Street Transcript, he explained that these internet exchanges route traffic between more than 600 telecommunications networks worldwide. Equinix IBXs alone route over 90% of the world’s internet traffic.

With the data centre services provider hosting so much information in its data centres, Equinix’s successful data management expertise naturally filters through to the way it manages staff – arguably the company’s most valuable ‘data’.

“Equinix is a very people-oriented company and we advocate teamwork in an open environment,” says Cecilia Chan, HR Director for Equinix Asia Pacific. “Unlike more traditional global companies, we believe in the importance of being a flat and transparent organisation without boundaries.

“As part of this belief, our management maintains open communications with employees. We also encourage a learning culture within the company, and continuously develop this.”

Training techies

As a company that is always dealing with new industry technologies, HR is constantly on the lookout for more training opportunities for staff, says Chan. “Much like our drive to be competitive in the business, we ensure that this mindset is translated to employees, who are equally driven and excited by new developments in the business.”

While HR usually manages initiatives for leadership training, learning and development at Equinix is a joint effort with other functions. “In order to drive constant education, HR works closely with managers to identify the areas for improvement and provide the training required,” explains Chan. This way, more specific training sessions are created, which are dependent on requirements from different company functions including operations, engineering and sales and marketing; this allows HR to better identify areas of focus that are best suited to employees.

Online training courses and materials on a wide range of topics including operations, health and safety, IT and HR, are available at the Equinix University, an e-learning platform for employees to develop specialised skills within the company. Employees can apply through a self-nomination arrangement or by assignment.

Learning and development at Equinix also plays a big part in the creation of new paths for employee career progression. “To keep up with the competitive pace in the data centre industry, we continue to create opportunities for employees to reinforce their areas of specialisation through training, seminars and workshops,” says Chan. “We do this while training staff to eventually move into leadership positions.”

HR speaks to employees about their career aspirations, goals and aims, evaluates their strengths and looks for opportunities to progress in new fields within the company. For example, an IBX field engineer may consider a move into sales with his knowledge of data centre operations, good customer interactions and outgoing personality.

Communicating data

Just as the company is responsible for the transmission of data between different enterprises, content companies, systems integrators and network service providers, Equinix also handles communication between HR and its employees in a similarly thorough manner.

Equinix conducts an employee survey biennially. Through this initiative, HR listens to employee feedback about the company and their role within the business. Regional quarterly all-hands meetings also play an integral role in contributing to employee relationships at all levels. As part of initiatives to build and sustain relationships between employees and management, country managers across Asia Pacific facilitate in-country functional meetings.

“This method of open communication helps HR and management to accurately set priorities and considerations in the workplace,” explains Chan.

Aside from listening to employees, Equinix is also aware of the call to action. By increasing the visibility of employee concerns, the company is armed with the right information to address employees’ feedback, contributing to overall employee satisfaction.

Employee engagement is further boosted through social teambuilding activities within each region. Some of these activities include family days, teambuilding sessions through sporting activities such as fun runs, community service and charity event participations and ‘happy hour’ sessions after hours. “In line with our aim to localise employee relations, many of these initiatives are localised and proposed by country managers within each region,” Chan adds.

Rewards & recognition

Recognition of sterling work and of proactive team members who take the lead in planning, organising and extending help outside of their scope of work is essential, according to Chan. By recognising positive contributions to the company through competitive remuneration and informal appreciation, Equinix has managed to further nurture and develop talents to ensure that the company employs the best-in-class in the data centre industry.

“Aside from the remunerations and incentives, we acknowledge our employees’ hard work through awards during our quarterly all-hands meetings,” says Chan. “We work with managers on nominees across the region and give out four to six awards during these events.”

Other forms of recognition include:

»        Employee of the month

»        Equinix President’s Club – A special ‘Club’ that recognises exceptional contributions across different functions in the company (for instance sales and marketing)

Troubleshooting

Even with checks and balances in place, Equinix has hit some firewalls along the way. One key challenge the company faces is talent attraction. “While hiring specialised talent within the industry with specific IT expertise may be slightly easier due to our strong industry reputation, it’s relatively difficult to hire for generic functions, such as finance or IT, due to our brand perhaps not being as well known outside of the industry,” says Chan. “This often results in possible candidates accepting offers from bigger names, such as banks or multinational corporations they are more familiar with.”

To address this challenge, Equinix has continued to communicate the company’s strengths in the industry. The company’s commitment, aggressive expansion plans and consistent performance are all strong tools and selling points to target candidates.

“Still, while Equinix is currently on an aggressive expansion strategy – having opened its third IBX data centre in Brazil – we want to ensure that new staff in each country can blend in well, feel welcome and create a positive contribution to the success story that we are creating,” Chan emphasised.

Another industry-specific challenge is recruiting experienced candidates as they are usually settled in their current jobs. “However, this gives us the opportunity to focus on entry-level candidates and our training program, which will allow us to nurture fresh talent and build a firm foundation for the company based on strong human resources,” says Chan.