Celebrating what makes HPE a great place to work – our team members
Team Member Appreciation Day is one of many ways HPE recognizes team members and how they bring our culture to life
- Every year, HPE celebrates Team Member Appreciation Day as a way to recognize and thank our team for all of their contributions and accomplishments
- Team members are the heart of HPE – it’s the team and our culture that fuel the company’s innovation and make HPE a great place to work
- Members of the Executive Committee share their thoughts on the company’s culture and how team members shape it
At Hewlett Packard Enterprise, our team members give us so many reasons to celebrate. From creating meaningful experiences for our customers to accelerating innovation that advances the way people live and work, they bring our culture to life in everything they do.
Today is Team Member Appreciation Day at HPE. It’s a special moment to pause and recognize our teams’ incredible accomplishments and contributions.
HPE was recently ranked among the top 20 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For 2022 list. This recognition honors our team members for making HPE a great place to work, and for being the heart of our culture. And our leadership agrees. Read on to hear firsthand from three members of HPE’s executive committee about the importance of our culture and how team members make it a reality.
Jennifer Temple
Chief Communications Officer
What makes HPE team members unique?
Where to begin! Our team members are smart, passionate, creative, and collaborative. Together we can accomplish incredible feats – partnering, innovating and acting with uncompromising integrity to make the world better. I am extremely impressed with the way our team members have persevered through the last several years. My colleagues continually push for better, while making time to connect, celebrate and care for one another. Witnessing those qualities in person recently, as our offices have reopened and we have begun to travel again, has really energized me. I have missed seeing our team in action and experiencing big moments together.
At HPE, we believe in matching our team members with the work that excites, challenges and fulfills them
How does HPE recognize team members not just on Team Member Appreciation Day, but all year long?
We celebrate team members at HPE every day, but a few of my favorite ways are through ongoing career conversations, All Team Meetings and Wellness Fridays.
At HPE, we believe in matching our team members with the work that excites, challenges and fulfills them. Rather than having annual review cycles, our ongoing approach to career conversations allows team members and people leaders to discuss evolving goals, ambitions and interests, which helps both team members and leaders look for and create opportunities to learn new skills, expand internal and external networks, and thoughtfully develop career paths.
Our All Team Meetings are some of my most memorable moments. While they have been virtual for the last two years, we hosted our first in-person ATM Live! In Houston earlier this month to coincide with the grand opening of our new Houston headquarters, and you could feel the energy and optimism in the room. These meetings provide team members with an in-depth view of our most pressing opportunities and challenges and allow for honest engagement through an open Q&A segment. But they are also an opportunity to celebrate and have fun. And the best part of being in person again are the spontaneous encounters and conversations you get to have before and after these events. It’s great to just bump into people again.
HPE’s Wellness Fridays are symbolic of how we prioritize team member health. One Friday a month, we give team members time back to care for themselves, ensuring they can log off, spend time doing things that personally replenish them.
HPE was recently made the Fortune 2022 100 Best Places to Work list. What do you think contributed to this significant achievement?
Our team members have contributed to this significant recognition in numerous ways: fostering an equitable, inclusive and diverse workplace; constantly bringing our best selves to work; and creating a culture that is engaged and inquisitive. To put it plainly, HPE’s team members are the reason why we were named #19 on Fortune’s 2022 100 Best Places to Work list. My colleagues are the driving force behind our solutions, innovations and culture, and why HPE is an incredible place to work. I am proud to work with such incredible professionals who make HPE, HPE.
Pradeep Kumar
General Manager, HPE Pointnext Services
What makes you proud to work at HPE?
Although times have changed since the days of Bill and Dave, HPE reflects the culture they sought to instill, one of trust and respect, achievement and contribution, integrity, teamwork, and innovation. What an outsider might not see or understand is that HPE culture is a fabric of rules, experiences, traditions, stories (everyone has a story), and relationships, like any family. Our leadership team has a clear sense of direction and works to effectively communicate that direction to every level of the organization. Additionally, we put a great emphasis on diversity and inclusion, ensuring we provide opportunities for everyone to train, learn new skills, and technologies so they can pursue their particular interest. Building on interest, we have employee resource groups that empower employees to build communities and connections. What makes me proud to work at HPE is our people who create our unmatched culture and work together to win. We give people opportunity to do it their way and get out of their way.
How does culture influence how HPE team members show up to work every day?
Our team members truly enjoy coming to work because they are part of a family, a family that empowers them top to bottom. We live by our culture blueprint and take responsibility to own and drive our work, but represent ourselves as collective members of the HPE family where we put our customers first. We share ideas and work together to create the best outcome for our customers. When we delight our customers, we have fun.
Last year’s internal survey revealed HPE team members are more engaged with the company than ever before. What’s the secret sauce to driving these high engagement levels?
The not-so-well-kept secret to driving culture and engagement is actively engaging with our team members. We set, communicate, and socialize clear organizational goals; authentic and honest goals that each team member understands and to which they can link their individual vision and can appreciate how what they do contributes to the HPE story. Employees want to join companies with a strong purpose, where everyone's voice is appreciated and respected. At HPE we work together to provide all team members the opportunity to gain leadership experience, develop critical skills, strengthen networks, and, importantly, give back to the communities in which they live and work.
For all of us to unlock our full potential, we need to feel like we belong
Mark Bakker
General Manager, Global Operations
How do you foster HPE culture across your teams?
I try to model our culture beliefs in everything I do and say. Because a great culture does not happen by itself. It takes more than sharing a PowerPoint or putting up a poster. Culture is fostered when we truly live by the norms, values, and behaviors that make HPE a great place to work. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic selves so we can achieve great things both professionally and personally.
Why is it important for team members to believe and see themselves in HPE’s culture?
A strong culture can really make a difference in not only our success but also the success of our customers and partners. For all of us to unlock our full potential, we need to feel like we belong. We need to feel like we are an important part of the complete picture. We need to feel comfortable, safe, appreciated, respected, and recognized. And that’s where culture comes in. It guides what we’ll do to give our all and do our best every day, so we can advance the way we all live and work.
What is your favorite way to celebrate your team?
A great party is never a bad way to celebrate. But I try to recognize my team’s accomplishments—big and small—every day. For me, celebrating my team goes beyond acknowledging what they’ve done on a project or initiative. I enjoy helping my team succeed by getting to know them, understanding who they are, and knowing what goes on in their lives. In other words, I believe supporting them in everything they do and deal with in life allows me to celebrate them as people and contribute to their success.