Wendy Weehuizen, Vice President of People Experience at Sony Music Entertainment in Asia and the Middle East, says her career in people management has stemmed from a passion for systems thinking and belief in building connections to spark “innate joy”. Working with senior stakeholders and diverse teams toward common goals “energises” her, she tells Chief of Staff Asia.
Weehuizen first explored her people management career with the government sector, before later working in financial services, transport and logistics, and data consulting. These paths led her ultimately to the heart of the vibrant music and entertainment industry.
“I’ve worked in global HR roles and across matrix businesses in Asia-Pacific for top-tier multinational companies in my 20 years as a People Manager and HR Business Partner,” she says. “I’m motivated to build people’s capability, reach their fullest potential, and lead change. PX can influence positive change.”
Her love for working with people, and helping them be their best, remains. She sees every person as unique, with a different story to tell. She treats each conversation with an employee as a “moment that matters”.
However, Weehuizen admits that she finds it challenging to look for ways to connect and forge links between people and across systems to shape a high-performance culture. “I can’t create fellowships by myself,” she says. “It’s crucial in today’s matrix workplace. We can all help to drive our agenda forward to enable our career sustainability, engage others, and enhance our impact and influence”
Sony Music Entertainment’s benefits portfolio supports the wellbeing needs of its employees and their families: in each of physical, financial, emotional, and social aspects.
Weehuizen highlights SME’s hyper-localised approach to engaging people at high global standards. “As an example, we recently enhanced our bereavement leave policy by broadening the definition of what constitutes a covered family member (to ‘loved one’) and increasing the number of days covered under the policy to 15 for everyone, globally,” she says.
Additionally, Sony has an Employee Assistance Program that all staff have access to. All employees and their dependents can access quality resources in times of need.
“We are also committed to pay equity. With regular surveys and internal evaluations to pursue that goal, we assess systemic differences in employee pay by gender and race to ensure fair pay across the business.”
As for industry-specific perks, “Can anything get better than legitimately listening to music during team meetings?” asks Weehuizen.
