Rehan Anthonis of Sysco LABS speaks at SHRM Annual Conference – India 2023
Rehan Anthonis, Director of People Operations at Sysco LABS, the Global In-House Centre for Sysco, the world’s largest foodservice company, was invited to share his insights at the prestigious Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) India’s Annual Conference & Expo 2023.
The SHRM India Annual Conference & Expo, a premier global event for HR professionals, gathered over 2,000 attendees and featured several expert panels discussing contemporary topics of interest in the people and culture space. Rehan Anthonis was invited to be a part of the panel discussion which explored the theme of ‘Driving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Data.’ and was one of only two Sri Lankan representatives chosen to speak at this event.
With over 18 years of experience in the Human Resources and people management space, including talent management, organizational development, and business partnering, Rehan shared his expertise on modern workforce demands and how technology can enable it.
Speaking to attendees about the importance of investing time in understanding their employees, their motivations, and drivers, Rehan said, “Initially, we must acknowledge that in certain areas of HR practice, empathy takes precedence over data. DEI is one such area where we may face data limitations due to the sensitive nature of these issues: employees may not readily share their experiences. In such cases, organizations should invest time in truly understanding their people—delving into their backgrounds, behaviours, and motivations. Open conversations are key to gaining valuable insights. These learnings together with complementary data can guide stronger strategic decision-making. At Sysco LABS, we encourage candid conversations and urge our colleagues to share feedback. Our aim is to make the workplace a safe space where colleagues can be themselves.”
About Sysco LABS:
Sysco LABS is the Global In-House Center of Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY), the world’s largest foodservice company. Sysco is a Fortune 500 company and the global leader in the trillion-dollar foodservice industry.
Sysco has 72,000 colleagues, 334+ smart distribution facilities worldwide and over 14,000 IoT-enabled trucks serving over 725,000 customer locations. For fiscal year 2023 that ended July 1, 2023, the company generated sales of more than $76 billion.
Sysco LABS delivers the technology that enables Sysco’s end-to-end operation. With engineering teams based out of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Hyderabad, India, Costa Rica, and Austin and Houston, TX, it powers Sysco’s ecosystem with enterprise-grade technology that’s revolutionizing the industry.
Sysco LABS technology is present in the end-to-end foodservice journey, enabling the sourcing of food products, merchandising, storage and warehouse operations, order placement and pricing algorithms, the delivery of food and supplies to Sysco’s global network, the in-restaurant dining experience of the end-customer and much more.
