“Open a market stall.”
That is what the Indonesian word bukalapak directly translates to. And that is exactly what Indonesia’s start-up and now central e-commerce platform, Bukalapak, has done since opening up 13 years ago.
Fast forward to today, and Bukalapak has opened stores and many doors of opportunities to its employees and customers alike. As the nation’s first unicorn that has since publicly been listed, it opened BukaPengadaan (a business-to-government solution for SMEs participating in large tenders). It created Buka Investasi Bersama (a retail financial solutions provider), began a Mitra programme that helps offline merchants sell goods to their communities, and initiated other diversified online products and services.
Chief of Staff Asia went to the core of this fast growth, looking deeply into the insights gained and the best lessons Suryo Sasono, Bukalapak’s Senior Vice-President of Talent, has learned so far in managing the workforce of a major tech company and national icon.
Creating a high “talent-density” organisation
Sasono visualises people management as “no one-size-fits-all.” He cites that even for Bukalapak, people practices evolve as the company and the entire business environment shift.
“When Bukalapak was in a hyper-growth mode in 2018, HR recruited people fast as a practice to enable fast growth,” he recalls. “Now, as the company focuses more on profitability, a fast recruitment process may not be the answer to enable that.”
Speaking of growth and profitability, the company celebrated its 13th year in January. We ask him where he sees Bukalapak in the next decade and what HR innovations will be at the forefront.
He does a little flashback: “When I joined Bukalapak two years ago, I couldn’t foresee Bukalapak’s shape today. It has become such a different company in just a couple of years.
“One thing is certain, though: HR’s main purpose remains – to enable business success through people. Whatever innovations we create will be tailored to ensure Bukalapak sustains and thrive in the future environment that we will have,” the Senior Vice-President assures.
Sasono points out the best thing going for Bukalapak is its workforce.
“Bukalapak is a mission-driven organisation,” he notes. “The majority of our new hires joined Bukalapak because of our goal of enabling a fair economy for all by helping micro, small, and medium enterprises in Indonesia and uplifting their economic means.
“Our current employees have witnessed their impact on small business owners across the country.”
For Sasono, leading such a mission-driven workforce gives so much meaning to his efforts, establishing a direct connection between the day-to-day HR activities, where he helps people, who, in turn, help the vast populations of previously underserved consumers in Indonesia.
Having achieved all these, does Sasono want Bukalapak’s employees to reach further milestones ahead? Absolutely.
“My mission in Bukalapak is to create a high talent-density organisation,” he says. “This means that, on average, people in Bukalapak should be top performers in the industry.
“It requires recruiting the best possible global talent, upskilling the existing talent pool, and engaging and exciting them to perform to their full potential. Most, if not all, of our programmes are structured around those pillars,” Sasono enumerates.
According to Sasono, it is not sustainable to only recruit experienced elite talent into the company. More tech companies emerge and will inevitably search for the same. He cited the research of Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry, which states that if the status quo growth and training rates continue, by 2030, there could be a shortage of nine million digitally-skilled talent across the country.
Sasono highlights Bukalapak’s “BUKA Acceleration Programme” specifically, as it is the company’s commitment to pushing one of its pillars by hiring and building upon the best digital talents globally.
“BUKA Acceleration programme is a way to build talent early on by recruiting top fresh graduates instead of buying talent from the market. We create a one-year structured programme to accelerate their knowledge and experience of the industry.
“Through the BUKA Acceleration programme, we can get early access to the best talents with high potential and quickly convert that talent into a strong mid-level technology professional that can fill the gap in the industry,” Sasono explains.
This feature was extracted from Chief of Staff Asia’s exclusive interview with Suryo Sasono, Bukalapak’s Senior Vice-President of Talent. For further coverage please see the below link:
