Employees are looking for employers that will care for their overall well-being. Oftentimes, employees, especially millennials and Gen Zs are looking for companies where they can have balance between work and leisure time, financial security, and where career growth and personal development are possible.

Past negative experiences with bosses, overwork, lack of personal and social relationships, all while being underpaid has forced employees to leave their jobs even when they do not have another job lined up – which resulted in today's great resignation.

That is why an e-commerce company has taken into account the welfare of their employees and made sure that working with them is a fulfilling one. Here are the top 10 reasons why employees are choosing to stay in their company:

One of the "Best Companies to Work for in Asia"

For two years in a row, Lazada Philippines was recognized as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Asia – Philippines in 2020 and 2021 by HR Asia Awards (HRAA). According to HR Asia, the prestigious award looks into a company's culture and ethics, leadership and organization, active Initiatives, emotional engagement, intention and motivation, behavior and advocacy, collective consciousness, workplace sentiment, and team dynamics.

The company has created a workplace where employees are happy and motivated to do their best work comes from one of Lazada's core values, "Live Seriously, Work Happily."

It simply means that employees can enjoy work as much as they enjoy life and treat life as seriously as they would work.

At Lazada, the key to inspiring and fostering innovation is happiness at work. Likewise, Lazadians – employees at Lazada, are called to make the most of life's opportunities and live a meaningful life.

Recognizes employees collective effort

Lazada has been operating for 10 years now – and it has since then been shaping the e-commerce ecosystem in the Philippines. Through platform innovation, the company has been pioneering efforts of setting standards in the shopping experience and helping brands, manufacturers, traders, business owners, reach more customers. It has been pushing the possibilities of technology to build and scale online businesses in the Philippines.

The collective effort of every employee has contributed to digitizing both large and small businesses and uplifting lives especially in this recovery phase of the country after several lockdowns and health crises.

The company recognizes that it cannot innovate on its own, the success that they are experiencing is because every employee did their part to make it happen.

Provides opportunities for growth

Lazada invests in the professional and personal growth of its employees by making advanced learning courses available to every Lazadian. These include digital resources, including Lazada's Grow Online Learning platform, and in-person training such as executive coaching sessions from senior members of the team.

From specialized courses like data storytelling and critical thinking, to effective communication and negotiation skills, Lazada enables employees to progress in their chosen fields and interests and create a remarkable future for themselves.

Wellness breaks and checks

One of the ways the company helps employees maintain a healthy work-life balance is making sure that they get adequate time to rest and recharge.

Lazadians also enjoy Happy Hour Fridays – where meetings are discouraged beyond 4pm, so employees can unwind and jumpstart their weekends early.

Apart from these, Lazada also implements wellness checks for the team with online mental health and resilience talks and counseling. Employees can also join a yoga, zumba, or HIIT online session.

For Janet Siasoco of the Commercial Team, the different types of leaves and breaks available to Lazadians help employees to recharge and even attend to personal matters when needed.

"I feel like our leaders really understand when we file for time off. Getting some downtime or being able to block off my calendar to go on a trip, run errands, visit family, or for a mental health break really helps me to stay well-rested, focused, and motivated at work," shares Siasoco.

When the health crisis in the country began, Lazada Philippines also introduced initiatives to keep employees healthy and safe to further support them.

"Along with many other businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented health, safety, and social challenges to the company. We had to find ways to keep our employees and customers safe and safeguard our operations in a short period of time," says Johanna Jacob, Lazada Philippines' Chief People Officer.

Unlimited testing plus support for employees and their family

Additionally, Lazada Philippines provides free RT-PCR and antigen testing to employees and their households.

For sick employees, the company also covers hospitalization costs of affected Lazadians and their household members. Through Lazada Cares, employees are also given access to additional financial support in the form of loans in case further hospitalization assistance is needed.

Virtual team building activities and care packages

In the past, Lazada employees engaged in fun and recreational activities to strengthen team camaraderie. However, when the health crisis hit in 2020, face-to-face activities were converted to virtual events to help keep employees safe.

Despite the remote setup, Lazada provided different avenues to continue engagement with their employees. These include online sale campaign salubongs and countdown parties, quiz nights between different business units, arts and crafts workshops, wine and chocolate tasting sessions, mixology classes, and interest-based work group chats like their fur parents' community.

"When I was still new at Lazada, these activities really helped me to get to know my fellow workmates. We are encouraged to meet and spend time with our coworkers and I think that is great because it somehow helps when employees feel like they also belong to a community," says Chloe Mabasa, member of the People Team.

Lazada values its people and makes it a point to be present in key moments. To further foster a sense of community, Lazada sends food vouchers for training, ayudas or care packages to its employees whenever there are company-led events, learning sessions, and celebrations.

Special employee assistance

Lazada Philippines also works to support its employees during times of crisis by providing immediate assistance to their homes and families and even local government units during typhoons and other calamities.

Hybrid workplace

Lazada is no stranger to remote work with a network of offices in its warehouses, delivery hubs, and other offices away from the office. Lazadians have the freedom and flexibility to work remotely and this year, Lazada announced its Flexible Work Arrangement Program for eligible employees, where Lazadians can work remotely up to three days per week.

According to Jacob, a lot of Filipinos are still adjusting to the challenges of today's economy. Minimizing the risk for sickness transmission and dealing with rising transportation costs are some of the things that prompted the company to institute hybrid work arrangements.

Lazada recognizes the unique needs of employees in managing their family responsibility to enable a better work-life balance.

"We empower employees with the flexibility to determine their ideal work setting and environment. This leads back to another core value at Lazada, 'Trust makes everything simple'. For hybrid work set-ups to be a success, we promote an organizational culture of trust which focuses on performance driven outcomes," shares Jacob.

LazadaforGood

Nowadays, jobseekers consider the values and social impact of the companies they work for, more than just the compensation and benefits.

Lazada is committed to being a force for good across the different communities and areas that the company operates in.

Beyond taking care of employees and their families, it extends support and opportunities to various causes and communities.

In 2019, Lazada Philippines launched LazadaforGood, a digital giving platform to enable customers on the platform to directly support various non-government organizations (NGOs) nationwide. LazadaforGood provides consumers a safe and secure way to directly donate to a database of over 25 NGOs and counting, with over 40M having been raised locally through the program.

"Giving back to local communities is something close to our heart at Lazada," shares Carlos Barrera, Lazada Philippines' CEO.

According to Barrera, during the difficult health situation in the country they have used their platform to raise direct donations for their advocacy partners.

Beyond being a digital giving platform, Lazada has also activated community support through LazadaforGood with activities such as partnering with the Philippine Red Cross and local government units to extend coverage of vaccination programs, and supporting LGUs with essentials for sickness response.

More broadly, the platform continues to strengthen its advocacy of helping small businesses to digitize, helping MSMEs, farmers associations, co-ops, and other agribusinesses have access to meaningful economic opportunities through Lazada's partnerships with industry groups and the national government including the Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Agriculture.

Socio-economic duty

Lazada also enables opportunity and access to education. Through Lazada Foundation, in partnership with For The Women (FTW), the company helps minority and marginalized groups to pursue advancement in their careers by providing scholarship programs.

FTW is a scholarship program exclusively offered to women who have plans of shifting to a career in tech.

"Having to overcome additional barriers to entering a career in technology, stemming from the lack of encouragement and support, women continue to be disadvantaged and under-represented in tech companies, even more so when it comes to leadership and management roles," shares Jacob.

According to Jacob, through FTW, Lazada aims to help women develop the skills necessary to excel in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers and bring more women to the table.

Employees who find a company that aligns with their values and supports them and their families, will most likely stay loyal and work effectively in the company.

If you are passionate about enabling Filipinos to shop and sell online, innovating where retail meets technology, and working with a growing and diverse team in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia, find your own start to a promising career in e-commerce by visiting their LinkedIn page and apply today.