Orange Romania: an inclusive culture that encourages growth and development

Luiza Müller, HR Director at Orange Romania, talked to Business Review about the company’s HR strategy and the ways in which it helps Orange stand out on a very competitive market.

By Anda Sebesi

How would you describe your HR policy?

Our HR policy is part of the company strategy (#OrangeForward), with “People” being one of its core pillars. The End State that defines our People policy is: “Together we drive an inclusive culture that is based on trust and care and empowers people to maximise their potential.” We’ve built our HR policy on four key principles: cultural integration, people development, wellbeing & recognition, and new ways of working.

What were the main initiatives the company dedicated to its employees last year?

We are currently engaged in a complex process of aligning two large companies, Orange Romania and Orange Romania Communications, and our main focus in the last 18 months has been on bringing people and cultures together. In this respect, we have put a lot of effort into delivering alignment and development programmes. Last year alone, we delivered over 81,000 hours of training to our employees, of which 23,000 were led by our Learning & Development team. One of our major projects in 2022 was One Home, designed to bring together more than 3,100 employees from two office buildings in Bucharest: Tandem and Europe House. The project’s mission was to build around two dimensions—People & Space—, taking three perspectives into account: a joint cultural journey, a common, hybrid way of working, and a new working space as a platform for growth and development.

Both project design and project execution focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability principles; we had an identical and integrated approach for both Orange Romania and Orange Romania Communications employees, with all our colleagues benefitting from “a new beginning.” This year, we are committed to extending the project nationwide. Another high-impact initiative was related to Wellbeing & Recognition. Starting with a Recognition Gala in March, we have continued our initiatives through the Cheers from Peers concept, a public recognition module. We have provided the perfect place for our colleagues to express their thoughts of gratitude for other team members through a platform that allows them to send messages and badges of appreciation. Once a quarter, the list of winners from Cheers from Peers is made public, and they are invited to have a coffee and a chat with the HR Director.

The Wellbeing & Recognition @Orange programme received an award in the Health & Wellbeing category at last year’s HR Club Excellence Awards Gala. We have a well-defined approach to wellbeing as part of our People strategy, and all interventions are part of an ecosystem that provides 24/7 assistance with more than 300 specialists responding to our colleagues’ needs.

What is your strategy in terms of attracting and retaining talent in your company?

The Orange Educational Program is a 26-year-old programme that was developed in partnership with The Politehnica University of Bucharest, and it represents one of the main initiatives that allow Orange to attract talent. We offer scholarships to the best students and more than 30 percent of the graduates are hired by the company. Besides this, our company is involved in several educational programmes and initiatives, either directly or via the Orange Foundation. For our internal talent pool, we have dedicated programmes within the company and at the Group level.

3 HR challenges for the telecom sector in 2023

The lack of specialised human resources on the market;
The strong demand for engineering talent in areas like cloud-based infrastructure, data analytics, and digital;
Salary market movements in the high-tech industry.

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