Sysco LABS is the captive technology arm for Sysco, one of the world’s largest food service companies. With over 71,000 associates, it operates 333 distribution facilities worldwide and serves some 700,000 customer locations. Sysco LABS’ technology enables the sourcing of food products, merchandising, storage and warehouse operations, order placement and pricing algorithms, delivery of food and supplies to Sysco’s global network, ‘in restaurant’ dining experience of end customers and much more. Sysco LABS is pioneering Sysco’s digital transformation from Sri Lanka, employing some of the country’s best tech talent.

Q: How has your organisation evolved to gain respect over the years?​

A: Since 2007, Sysco LABS has progressively evolved from early origins as a tech incubator through the stages of consultancy services and software product development. After being acquired by Sysco in 2017, we served as Sysco’s in-house captive innovation centre.

Sysco’s currently ranked 56th on the Fortune 500 list and is a global leader in the trillion dollar food service industry. Its investment is one of the largest by an American company in a Sri Lankan venture.

Our achievement in attracting a company of Sysco’s magnitude and the integral role we play in its global operations warrants respect.

Q: What are the key attributes of your organisation commanding respect?​

A: Honesty, dynamism and corporate culture. ‘Rooted in Integrity’ is one of Sysco’s key values. We are strongly bound by Sysco’s code of conduct, policies and values, which are cascaded through the management to all employees, leaving no scope for malpractice.

We displayed dynamism in the last three years, growing exponentially and doubling our year on year headcount despite challenges.

Our success has also been rooted in people and culture, which has five pillars: care, passion, openness, growth and purpose. We prioritise the employee experience, career progression and continuous advancement of our industry. Our purpose of ‘Connecting the world to share food and care for one another’ drives everything we do.

Q: What is the importance of continuous innovation as a means of garnering respect?

A: Digital transformation at Sysco’s scale is a challenging task. Post-pandemic, Sysco launched a global strategy to drive innovation and grow one and a half times faster than the market by the end of fiscal year 2024.

Sysco LABS is a key player in this process, and helped accelerate the transformation of Sysco’s operations and business while expediting competitive advantage on a global scale. It exemplified the use of disruptive innovation to fuel success and surpass competition.

Q: How does respect in workplaces help garner admiration for organisations to be employers of choice?

A: A measure of success for any organisation is its ability to transition employees into brand advocates. We have created a ‘sanctuary’ where our people are cared for, have the peace of mind to do their best work and achieve maximal productivity.

The benefits programme ‘Sysco LABS Elite’ focuses on enhancing the employee experience while an employee driven social platform ‘The Ministry of Fun’ enables employees to pursue their passions and other extracurriculars.

Our employees support sustainability initiatives, volunteering for and donating to our flagship community programme ‘Share a Meal. Share a Moment’, which has provided cooked meals and rations to over 40,000 people in underprivileged communities across Sri Lanka.

Q: How should a corporate secure respect across multiple stakeholder groups?

A: Corporates should aim to gain respect by delivering excellence. We assess everything we do across the pillars of quality, reliability, timeliness and budget. And we also look at each stakeholder group’s specific needs and aim to add value incrementally. We are also a key influence across universities, the wider technology community and the corporate arena.

We have dedicated programmes across 20 Sri Lankan universities for mentoring and coaching university students, influencing syllabi and functioning as a catalyst for entrepreneurship. And we also host knowledge sharing events, partnering with others to develop the country’s software and quality engineering capabilities.​

Driving innovation, delivering excellence and a sharp focus on employees’ wellbeing has been crucial to growing Sysco LABS’ business and gaining respect. With the world focusing more on environmental, social and governance (ESG), it’s important to align organisational needs with customers, employees, communities and the planet.

QUICK-FIRE ROUND

Three priorities for Sri Lankan corporates today
Adopt a holistic approach to employee experience
Cultivate a global mindset to compete beyond Sri Lanka
Function like tech companies to drive innovation

Three most vital professional values for business leaders
Pursuing excellence
Prioritising emotional intelligence
Developing resilience

Telephone: 2024500 | Email: careers@syscolabs.com | Website: www.syscolabs.lk