A Culture of Growth & Development at Pactics
Vannoeun “Wave” Naing (left), Factory Manager & Piet Holten (right), Founder
Fibers of Pactics is a 4-part capsule series, produced by Population, in which employees and management at Pactics share their invaluable perspectives on the manufacturing industry in Cambodia.
Previous parts of this series have touched on some of the benefits of working at Pactics. On the third part of Fibers of Pactics, Kelsey Tsuchiyama and Dorian van der Mullen expand on this with Sreyem Lay, Pactics’ Group Treasurer, and Chanreaksmey Thim (also known as Reaksmey), Pactics’ Compliance Officer. Both Sreyem and Reaksmey have experienced the highs and lows with Pactics and explain why they have stayed for nearly 10 years.
Sreyem started with Pactics as a member of the operations staff while she was a student at university so she could financially support her studies. Only a few months after starting, she got the opportunity to apply for warehouse administrator, which she accepted. In the following years, she filled various roles in the finance team, working from cashier to her current role as Group Treasurer. Sreyem has always welcomed these changes as opportunities for something new and challenging, especially in occupying her current role.
Reaksmey’s first job after finishing university was as a hotel receptionist and she continued to work in the hospitality industry, the most popular industry in Siem Reap, for several years. She briefly moved to Phnom Penh but moved back to Siem Reap when she was pregnant. Reaksmey found that it was difficult to find a job after having a baby. When her friend informed her that Pactics was hiring, she didn’t care about the position, she just needed a job. She began her time at Pactics as a production employee packing clothes before eventually getting the opportunity to apply for Compliance Officer. She attributes a large part of her hiring and success in the role to her commitment to resisting corruption when dealing with the Ministry.
Opportunities to learn
It was clear from when both Sreyem and Reaksmey first started that Pactics cares about and invests in the growth of their employees. After just one year with Pactics, Reaksmey felt that she was able to improve herself greatly with the various trainings she received. Compared to Reaksmey’s experiences working at hotels, she emphasized Pactics’ dedication to compliance with labor laws and health and safety.
Pactics provides trainings on SA8000 (the world’s leading social compliance standard), health and safety, time management, team building, and additional role-specific skills. Reaksmey and Sreyem found the most important trainings, SA8000 and internal audit, respectively, to be the ones that were necessary for their responsibilities. As Compliance Officer, Reaksmey supports the twice-yearly audits to maintain Pactics’ SA8000 certification. She also recognizes the importance of SA8000 audits for all employees; this standard ensures that Pactics is properly caring for their employees.
Resilience during tough times
Despite COVID’s devastating impact on Cambodia, the manufacturing industry, and the world, Pactics stayed open. So unlike many of Sreyem and Reaksmey's friends in Siem Reap, the two of them were able to keep their jobs. However, it wasn’t without challenges. They both recount a time in which all 650 employees were forced to stay overnight in the factory under the government’s orders in attempting to stop the spread after an exposure was traced to a Pactics staff member.
Both Sreyem and Reaksmey remember how hard the HR team and top management, especially the previous factory manager, worked during this time. The night before the lockdown, all Reaksmey knew was people were coming to test employees after a positive exposure. No one brought extra food or clothes because they did not know they would have to stay overnight. The HR team had to find food and mosquito nets and spray and organize everything from sleeping arrangements to special accommodations for the pregnant staff members.
The stress didn’t end when everyone was free to go home the next day. Everyone was required to quarantine for fourteen days, and HR had to call all employees every day to check whether they were experiencing COVID symptoms. Pactics was allowed to resume operations after this but was still faced with more frequent lockdowns. Yet even though this time was difficult, both Sreyem and Reaksmey remember the resilience of Pactics and its employees, supporting each other and getting through it together.
To learn more about Sreyem and Reaksmey’s experiences at Pactics, the challenges they’ve faced, and the evolution of their roles, tune in to the third part of Fibers of Pactics.