HR Magazine 2016 SPRING
2016 SPRING
PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST If it’s important to HR, it’s in HR Magazine.
18
COVER STORY HR’s role in fostering an innovative culture to build the workplace of the future
COMPETITION ORDINANCE 46 HK Why HR must tread carefully after recent changes to regulations on competition in Hong Kong
45 EMPLOYEES—GREATEST CYBER SECURITY RISK What HR can do to combat cyber-attacks
HR 4.0: blueprint for HR's future
Values
Culture
Diversity
Tech
People
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE
IN THE NEWS 2016 is here and the post-Chinese New Year job switching season is well underway. With an uncertain economic outlook, hiring is set to be more conservative with replacement hiring and growth in finance, IT and legal sectors driving key recruitment activity (page 9). It is also awards season with both Randstad (page 8) and Great Place to Work (page 10) revealing the best companies to work for.
COVER STORY Innovation has been very much a buzzword of the last quarter—but how exactly does HR get on board with bringing innovative methods to their firms? Our Cover Story delves into what the workplace of the future might and should look like with an innovative blueprint for HR about how to make that happen (page 18).
OTHER STUFF With the first anniversary of Hong Kong’s mandatory paternity leave in February, Community Business shares how successful the enhancements have actually been (page 24). Amazing workplaces are not just groovy, they emanate from employers that grab some of the best talent in the world. We explore exactly what the top firms are doing to attract and retain thriving talent in the IT sector (page 26). Employees may be our greatest asset— but at the same time, they sometimes present one of the greatest threats to cyber-security. We uncover the most effective methods to get the message of cyber-safety across (page 50). From everyone at the HR Magazine team, we wish you a happy and productive spring quarter!
Paul Arkwright, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, HR Magazine
HR MAGAZINE EDITORIAL Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Paul Arkwright
No part of this publication can be reproduced without consent from the Publisher. Copyright of all material is reserved throughout the publication. Contributions are welcome but copies of work should be kept, because HR Magazine takes no responsibility for lost submissions. The views, conclusions, findings and opinions published in this magazine belong to those expressing such, and do not necessarily represent those of the Publisher or editorial team.
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CONTENTS 2016 SPRING
HR NEWS 04 10 12 14 16 17
Hong Kong News APAC News International News HR Events HR in Numbers HR Moves
06
COVER STORY 18
Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund unveils HK Internship Programme
HR 4.0: blueprint for HR's future
HR FEATURES 22 23 24 26 28
Local payroll nuances that corporate HQs don't like to think about Incubating innovative ideas One year on: mandatory paternity leave disappointing Amazing workplaces The world beyond succession planning
HR COMMUNITY 30 36 38
HR Conference—Expert L&D Strategies AmCham Human Resources Conference 2015 Are shared services about to go extinct?
23
18 Incubating innovative ideas
24
HR TRAINING 42
44
Gearing up for the 2016 HKMA Award for Excellence in Training and Development Coaching: a leadership imperative
HR LEGAL 46 48
One year on: mandatory paternity leave disappointing
Shanghai Court upholds reinstatement of former senior manager despite removal by board resolution
HK Competition Ordinance Shanghai Court upholds reinstatement of former senior manager despite removal by board resolution
HR TECHNOLOGY
48
50 52 54 56
Employees—greatest cyber security risk Getting HR into the Fast Lane Recruitment goes mobile Innovation to navigate recruitment minefields
HR BOOKS 57
Why should anyone work here, Have a Nice Conflict, Becoming an Agile Leader
HR CLASSIFIEDS 58
HR Classifieds
HK NEWS Policy address drive talent demand across sectors and specialist IT sales managers will all be in high demand in the coming year. Already telecommunications firms expressed a 30% decrease in fresh IT graduates in 2015 compared to the year before—but the demand will not let up and firms should be prepared to match the going 10-20% pay rise rate to attract talent that is in short supply, according to Randstad.
Image courtesy of Information Services Department, Hong Kong The annual policy address made by Leung Chun-ying, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will drive demand for talent over the next year. It comes as Hong Kong’s export trading fell in 2015 as a result of a slowing Chinese economy and slow recovery in Europe which affected merchandising and retail. While acknowledging the external factors affecting Hong Kong, Leung insisted, “We must promote the restructuring and upgrading of traditional industries, strengthen emerging industries, and widen and deepen our external economic and trade relations.”
Innovation and technology formed one of the central pillars to Leung’s address, stating that this not only creates momentum for economic growth but also makes life more convenient, comfortable and secure. With the government investing HKD 2 billion in an Innovation and Technology Venture Fund, as well as initiatives such as the ‘Wifi City’ plan, Michael Smith, Managing Director, Randstad Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore predicted that the demand for talent in technology will be higher than ever. In his analysis, front- and back-end web developers, data scientists, coding specialists
The policy address also came with a commitment to build 97,100 public housing units over the next five years—an announcement that, Smith claimed, would drive demand for construction, property and engineering talent. This will increase the need for project and property managers with solid communication and technical skills. Not to mention with the extension of the Kwun Tong MTR line and construction of the South Island MTR Line (East), engineering graduates will be very much sought after. The ripest salary rises though come in the financial sector. With Leung vowing to strengthen Hong Kong’s financial centre and the first batch of funds under a Hong Kong-China Mutual Fund Recognition Scheme approved, demand for talent will be high and they can expect a salary increase of 20 – 25% compared to 2014. For job switchers in this sector, the policy address could see salary increases of over 30%.
Top Fortune 500 companies reveal gender data Ten of the world’s leading companies, including AccorHotels, Barclays, Twitter and PricewaterhouseCoopers, have released new workforce gender diversity figures— including details on leadership roles and board membership. The revelation was part of the United Nations (UN) Women’s inaugural HeForShe Parity Report, which is part of a HeForShe IMPACT 10X10X10 initiative launched at last year’s UN Women session at Davos. The 10 ‘Corporate Impact Champions’, who also included Koc Holding, McKinsey & Company, Schneider Electric, Tupperware Brands, Unilever and Vodafone, made an institutional priority to promote gender equality since signing up to the initiative. This was to help them measure commitments made and inspire other employers to take action.
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Among the findings, 40% of Tupperware’s Board and 61% of its new hires are women—making it one of the most successful firms. Rick Goings, CEO, Tupperware Brands said, “Some things just cannot wait. Men must stand up now for women's equality. Why am I a HeForShe Champion? Not just because I can't wait, but because I will not wait.” In general, across IMPACT champions, women held 28.6% of board seats—with AccorHotels joining Tupperware in achieving near parity at around 40-60% according to the findings. For new hires, women are thought to represent nearly 40% of all new hire across all the companies—with Barclays, PwC, Tupperware and Unilever showing parity in this regard.
Speaking about the initiative, Jes Staley, CEO, Barclays added, “As a leader, husband and father, I believe that enabling true gender equality is a responsibility we all share. At Barclays, our partnership with the UN and support for HeForShe are indicative of the strength of our commitment to ensuring women can contribute fully to society, to industry and global economies.”
HK NEWS
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HK NEWS Goldman Sachs HK Finalist for Secretary of State Award for making an important contribution to the growth and sustainable development of the local economies in which they work.
Image courtesy of US Department of State Goldman Sachs has been listed as a finalist for a Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence for its work on LGBT Diversity in Hong Kong. The award, which has been awarded
each year by the US Secretary of State since 1999, is given in recognition of American companies that are leaders in responsible business conduct worldwide. Each of the finalists are chosen
Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong has been selected for serving as a model for promoting inclusion and respect for diversity in workplace, particularly with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity. The company has partnered with firms to promote the development of large LGBTI professionals’ networks, and has sponsored numerous LGBTI-related awards and events, according to the US State Department. The company is also being recognised for its support of Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunities Commission’s efforts to review the anti-discrimination legislation in order to consider future reforms. The three winners will be announced on 1 March at the annual ceremony at the State Department for the award.
Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund unveils HK Internship Programme The Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund unveiled details of its Hong Kong Internship Programme, which offers qualified university students the opportunity to work for six months—which can be extended to 12 months— at Alibaba Group’s headquarters in Hangzhou or its office in Guangzhou. Interns are expected to learn skill sets, acquire knowledge in the e-commerce sector and gain first-hand working experience in the China market. Cindy Chow, Executive Director, Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund commented, “Through this internship programme, Hong Kong students will have the chance to learn the latest industrial
practices in e-commerce, mobile payment, cloud computing and cross-border logistics in China by working at Alibaba Group or companies in the Alibaba ecosystem. We hope this real-world exposure will inspire students to innovate and to expand their horizons by exploring entrepreneurial as well as working opportunities in China. The valuable internship experience in China should also help Hong Kong students enhance skills for their career development and help them achieve their dreams.” The internship programme offers positions in fields including engineering, website
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design, mobile app development, product development, operations, finance, human resources and copywriting. The programme is open for applications from full-time students currently studying Year Four and Year Five as well as masters degree at tertiary education institutions in Hong Kong. The first group of students is expected to begin their internship in early June. During their time at Alibaba, the Fund will provide interns with mentoring and hotline support, knowledge-sharing sessions and financial support including living and housing allowances.
HK NEWS Flexibility key to work-life balance
HK’s best companies revealed
Respondents show increasing demand for better work-life balance Cathay Pacific, Ocean Park and CLP are the most attractive employers to work for in Hong Kong according to recruitment firm, Randstad. This came as they released a list of the Top 75 companies in Hong Kong in the run up to the global annual Randstad Award in April.
80 70 60
70%
67% 61%
58%
61% 57%
53.1%
50
50% 55%
40
Vietnam
Thailand
South Korea
Singapore
Japan
Indonesia
Mainland China
10
Hong Kong
20
Global average
30
0 (Source: Regus)
61% of business professionals around the world report that the need to improve work-life balance is driving an increase in flexible working arrangements, states Regus, with two-thirds of Hong Kong respondents reporting pursuing such work lifestyles. These figures are much higher than those in other Asian countries including mainland China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
why the demand for work-life balance in Hong Kong is so high.
Such demands are timely as Regus also recently found that workers in Hong Kong are frequently overloaded. In its overtime work research, 14% of Hong Kong professionals put in an extra 15 hours overtime a week—this could perhaps explain
John Wright, Chief Executive Officer, Regus Asia-Pacific stated, “This research confirms that flexible working boosts efficiency and cuts costs. Businesses can reduce underused office space and operate in a more agile way, making decisions on a per-needs basis.”
Flexibility, though, is not just about reducing OT. Not only does it reduce the rising cost of commuting, which was the concern of 23% of Hong Kong people, but also tackles the inefficient costs associated with underused fixed office spaces—which concerned 22% of respondents.
The list was compiled after a survey of 5,400 employees and job seekers between the ages of 18 – 65 in Hong Kong. They were asked to identify companies they recognise and indicate if they would like to work for them. This was followed by an evaluation of the attractiveness factors, such as salary, benefits, work atmosphere and job content. Surveys similar to this were conducted around the world by Randstad and on 20 April, the Randstad Award will be presented to the most attractive employer in more than 20 countries across the world. Michael Smith, Managing Director, Randstad Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore noted, “The Randstad Award is a milestone event for us in Hong Kong and the region. The award, based off the biggest employer branding survey in the world, gives companies an unbiased and insightful look into public perception of top employers. With the growing importance of employer branding as a talent attraction and retention strategy, the Randstad Award continues to draw interest from the top employers in Hong Kong.”
Majority of graduates satisfied with first job 76% of fresh graduates in Hong Kong think that their first job was satisfactory, according to jobsDB’s latest student survey. While 52% of the respondents were able to achieve their ideal job type at the start of their career, 40% successfully stepped into the industry they most preferred—and quite refreshingly, 91% of the respondents were able to report landing their first job within three months after graduation. What’s more, 60% of graduates feel optimistic about their future because of developments in their industries as well as strong market demand—although with this in mind, HR should be aware that 52% intend on only staying in their jobs for between one to three years.
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Justin Yiu, General Manager, jobsDB Hong Kong commented, “We are glad to see that many fresh graduates have made a promising start to their career. It is also worth noticing that the blossoming of the media and Internet industries is motivating more and more graduates to join the ranks of these jobs. It is essential for employers in other industries to re-package their prospect, training and remuneration to attract and retain the best talent.”‘Career development and on-the-job training’ and ‘salary and benefits’ were the most prominent factors that gave employees satisfaction—but although the overall average graduating salary was HKD 13,413, for those who were ‘unsatisfied’ and ‘very unsatisfied’, their jobs got an average of HKD 11,273. This is an indication that salaries do reign supreme in the minds of candidates.
HK NEWS HK’s English not as high as expected is seemingly lagging behind in English— coming in 33rd place in Education First’s (EF) latest English Proficiency Index. Aside from having lower fluency than most European countries, Hong Kong also fell behind Asian rivals such as Singapore, Malaysia, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia.
Despite 150 years as a British colony and English continuing to play an important role in the territory as an official language and key subject within school curriculums, Hong Kong
Top 10 most misunderstood jobs by HK parents Careers as a UI designer, a lumberjack or a sports team manager may prove to be rewarding professions but according to social media giant, LinkedIn, they may be the most challenging jobs to discuss with parents in Hong Kong. It follows the success of the firm’s Bring in Your Parents Day which saw employees worldwide invite their parents into work to help them better understand the work that they do. Findings last year suggested that 50% of Hong Kong workers believe that their parents are not knowledgeable about their day-to-day role at the office. Amongst the jobs that caused most confusion were: UI designer
64%
Lumberjack
59%
Sports team manager
58%
Data scientist
58%
Radio producer
55%
Sociologist
55%
Sub editor
54%
Farmer
53%
Social media manager
53%
Veterinarian
51%
The EF English Proficiency Index 2015 is the world’s largest ranking of countries by English skills which identifies global and regional English language learning trends and analyses the relationship between the countries’ English proficiency and their economic competitiveness. In the 2015 survey, it reported the profiles of 70 ranked
countries using test data from 910,000 adult English language learners. It is a dramatic turn of events for Hong Kong which only in 2011 ranked 12th in the world in the same proficiency index. Compared to its closest comparable rival in economic terms, Singapore—which also has a shared history of colonisation and this year sits in 12th position—showed similar spending on education, 17.5% compared to Hong Kong’s 18.2% and almost the same mean years of schooling, 10.20 years compared to Hong Kong’s 10.00. At the top of the ranking sits Sweden and the Middle East had a woeful performance finishing at the bottom of the table.
Upskilling key focus for HK employers in 2016 Companies in Hong Kong will be more conservative about increasing headcount going into 2016 because of an uncertain economic outlook, according to Robert Walters. In their Global Salary Survey released at the end of January, the firm predicts that on average salary increments for job movers and non-movers will be 10 – 15% and 3 – 5% respectfully this year, and replacement hiring and growth in several sectors will be the key driver for recruitment activity. According to the report, 2015 was a positive year for the Hong Kong jobs market due to the economy growing in the first three quarters with the expectation that it expanded by 2.4% for the full year of 2015—this is despite signs of a softening global economy. The effect of this meant that there was a steady stream of newly-created and replacement openings but the accounting & finance, IT, and legal & compliance faced candidate shortages. Speaking about the outlook for 2016, Matthew Bennett, Managing Director—Greater China, Robert Walters remarked, “We believe employers in Hong Kong will adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ approach towards hiring at the beginning of the year due to an uncertain economic outlook. Recruitment processes might become elongated with limited new headcount additions until market confidence returns. We expect contract hires will become more active as companies facing headcount constraints turn to contractors to meet business needs.”
He added, “The recruitment market will remain candidate-driven, as organisations continue to upskill their teams by hiring individuals with stronger skill sets to stay competitive in the complex business environment. As Hong Kong remains a gateway for companies looking to expand in Asia, professionals with strong regional experience and commercial acumen will be the most sought after. Companies should act quickly during the interview process to avoid losing out on their preferred candidates while professionals should take the initiative to upskill themselves to increase their competitiveness in the job market.”
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APAC NEWS Top 27 companies to work for in Greater China 2015 Great Place to Work Institute held its annual conference and awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Hong Kong. This year, 27 different organisations from the region were represented on the list.
study. Participating companies who have reached a defined score on their Trust Index survey and Culture Audit are considered candidates to appear on the Best Companies to Work For list.”
Denzel Xin, List Manager, Great Place to Work Institute in Greater China commented, “Every year, companies from all industries from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan with more than 50 employees are invited to take part in the
Meltwater took second place in the prestigious awards. Ewan Ross, Area Director for Greater China, Meltwater stated, “We’re delighted to accept the award and really proud for all the staff who have worked hard to make Meltwater a great place to work.”
2015 Best Companies to Work For ® in Greater China Autodesk Software (China) Co., Ltd. Cadence Design Systems, Inc Cognolink DHL Express EMC China H&M China HDS China Herbalife (China) Health Products LTD. Hilton Worldwide Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Kantar Worldpanel Kiabi International Supply Services Ltd Mars Meltwater
marketing professionals to switch jobs in 2016 Employers beware: 74% of APAC marketing professionals are said to have re-evaluated their career plans over the Christmas period—an increase from 42% the year before—and come early 2016, there will be looking to leave their current job—these according to findings by Font Talent who surveyed professionals across Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. It comes as local talent say they desire better pay and benefits, 32%; more professional development opportunities, 23%; and fewer long working hours, 20%. Though interestingly while marketing online, particularly social media, is becoming the preferred channel of marketers to reach out to consumers, 66%, employers should not abandon ship with print media as marketing professionals state that it is their third most effective medium for seasonal campaigns, 47%.
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Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (China) Monsanto Company (China) NetApp Greater China NU SKIN PayPal Pirelli Tyre Co., Ltd Rackspace Roche Diagnositics (Shanghai) Limited SAP Labs China SapientNitro China National Instruments (China Hongkong Taiwan) UNIQLO CHINA W. L. Gore & Associates
Asia dominates best young universities rankings Hong Kong had a great showing in QS’s latest ranking Top 50 Under 50, which ranks the world’s top 50 universities under 50 years old. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) dominated the top of the rankings taking second, fourth and sixth places respectfully. It comes as young universities in Asia generally performed very well—Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Korea’s Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) grabbed the remaining top six, gaining first, third and fifth places. Bertil Andersson, President, NTU said, “Getting first place for the second year running is fantastic news not only for NTU, but also for Singapore which celebrates its Golden Jubilee this year. NTU’s good performance is a tribute to the quality of our faculty, staff and students and I hope a huge encouragement to other young universities in the world that being young should not stand in the way of making an impact on a global scale.”
IT hiring and pay to rise globally Despite a global economic slowdown, especially due to slower growth in emerging markets, the technology industry continues its rapid pace of innovation, disruption and creating new ventures, according to Aon Hewitt. In the next 12 months, technology companies globally are expected to increase the size of their workforce by 40%—internet, e-commerce and software sectors are to show the strongest hiring trends with 50% of companies expected to hire and half of those planning to increase headcount by more than 15%. The most aggressive hiring is expected to be in the US, China and India. 10% of companies plan aggressive hiring in China, while close to 20% of companies plan similar hiring in the US and India. Singapore on the other hand will only see a moderate 6% of companies aggressively hiring. Such strong hiring expectations also brings larger turnover rates. Voluntary employee turnover
is currently around 11% in the US and China, and in India, it stands at 14%. Singapore will see a slightly lower rate of 10%. Overall, salaries increases forecast for 2016 remain relatively consistent with 2015. In China, salaries are expected to rise between 8-9% in the technological sector while India will see between 10 – 11% and Singapore only 4 – 5%.
APAC NEWS HR getting back to basics A recent survey has revealed some surprising results for the HR community with a focus on a ‘back to basics approach’ for many HR functions. Talent management, 61%; employee engagement, 60%; and recruitment, 58%, were at the top of the agenda globally showing a significant shift in HR priorities. These findings were obtained in the sixth annual Harvey Nash HR Survey which garnered the views of over 1,250 HR leaders from more than 30 countries.
Corporations have been getting HR to focus more on recruitment and for leadership teams to manage their talent to ensure that the workforce is engaged, and therefore retained. Employee retention, training and motivation are all more important this year, demonstrating that companies are investing in and protecting their greatest asset—their people. These figures are, according to Tanya Lau, Director of the Consumer & Retail
Practice APAC, Harvey Nash Executive Search, causing HR to focus more on core functions. “Our survey results revealed that many CEOs are making important human capital decisions without the involvement of HR, because it is increasingly seen as an ‘engine room’ function.” With an uncertain economic outlook for 2016, the survey highlights that the focus for HR will be on talent management, recruitment and employee engagement.
WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO HR? DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS
BOARD PRIORITIES
22%
54%
ARE FEMALE
AGED 50+
MEMBERS OF OPERATIONAL BOARD
(up 3%)
(down 6%)
3
The only sectors where implementation exceeds satisfaction: Technology (+3%) Financial Services (+10%) Transport (+3%) Government (+8%)
(up 4%)
BOARD PRIORITIES: TOP THREE 1 talent management 2 recruitment
of HR professionals have implemented all or most of their diversity programme. However, 67% of them are happy with diversity progress.
53%
65%
employee engagement
RECRUITMENT
Total number of respondents:
BOARD PRIORITIES: FASTEST GROWING 1 recruitment (up 7%) 2 retention (up 5%) 3 training (up 4%)
1,250+
HR REPORTING & PERFORMANCE
6%
Only believe management information systems are not important to improving the perception of HR
BOARD PRIORITIES: FASTEST FALLING 1 change management (down 8%) 2 leadership development (down 5%) 3 management development (down 4%)
85%
49% use a corporate website (down 5%) 44% use external recruiters (up 5%) 43% use LinkedIn (up 6%)
KEY HR CHALLENGES 58%
think HR should do more for the
think CEO undervalues the top HR leader...but 65% are happy with the perception of HR in the wider business
47%
recruitment challenges in local economic region
42%
(up 3% on last year)
PERCEPTION OF HR 66%
49% use online job boards (up 7%)
of HR professionals are now directly engaged in the recruitment process
business...while 53% think the business should do more HR itself
44%
(down 8%)
tight labour supply and skill shortages generally (up 1%)
demographic shift/ageing workforce
33%
growing demand by employees for flexible work options (unchanged)
Survey figures compare 2016 outlook data with previous year's findings
Beijing smog driving away expat talent Beijing Shenyang Guangzhou
500
400
300
Level considered ‘Hazardous’ by WTO
200
Time :00 23
12
:00
100 0:0 0
The government has tried to grapple with the problem. Back in July, China submitted its national climate plan to the UN which promised RMB 41 trillion (HKD 49 trillion) on climate change solutions, its economic policy has incentivised investment in clean technology companies and companies that violate environmental laws are facing big fines. However, all this, claims Pedersen & Partners, is too late. In northern cities like Beijing and Shenyang, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is frequently above 300 on an average day—a figure the WHO deems ‘hazardous’ for human health.
Air Quality in China 22 December 2015
600
Air Quality Index
As smog in Beijing exceeded to 22 times higher than the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s limit in December, the pollution is leading to more than just an array of health problems—it is making it harder for the Chinese capital to attract and retain foreign talent, according to Pedersen & Partners.
Source: United States Consultates—Beijing, Shenyang and Guangzhou
Despite many generous hardship packages by companies, it is still difficult to attract and retain foreign managers in the city. One such case study revealed a German expatriate, who works for a leading car manufacturer, saying
he will move after four and a half years in the city because of the pollution levels. He is not alone—in 2014, twice as many people moved out of China than into the country in 2014 according to a study by UniGroup Relocation.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS Average top executive salary increases again
Employee engagement is ‘abused’ says KPMG KPMG has announced that it is going to scrap the annual engagement survey. According to Robert Bolton, Lead Partner— Global HR transformation centre of excellence, KPMG, the decision to get rid of the survey was part of a strategy to focus on more robust diagnosis that produce ‘something truly worth measuring’. Bolton claims the problem with the status quo is that it is rooted in the idea that engagement drives performance—an idea he says is misunderstood and not evidence-based. He explained, “There is a massive industry behind the belief that if a company drives up engagement, productivity will increase.”
The average annual gross compensation for top executives in the world’s largest companies increased in 2015 by 3.8% to EUR 1.45 million (HKD 12.22 million), according to executive search firm Pederson and Partners. The survey covered 1,800 top executives in 340 large companies in 18 countries. Unsurprisingly the biggest rises were seen in the larger corporations with annual compensation of top executives increasing by EUR 650,000 (HKD 5.45 million) for every 50,000 employees. There was further evidence that profits affect earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) as those earnings that were lower than previous years saw their corresponding bonuses drop by nearly 33%, and rise by 34% if earnings increased by more than 20%.
While salary increases in the USA raced past those in Western Europe, there are signs that Chinese executives are catching up too. Gautier Vasseur, Partner and Head of Greater China, Russia and CIS, Pedersen and Partners explained, “Multinationals in Greater China are localising their top management. Chinese executives are now receiving compensation packages that are similar to their counterparts in the West in terms of both base salary and short-term bonuses.” He added, “Chinese executives can earn even more from long-term retention incentives. On average, the total cash compensation of top executives in first-tier cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing is between EUR 1.4 – 1.5 million (HKD 11.7 – 12.6 million) per year.
He went onto say, “In reality, engagement is an ill-defined term. And measuring it once or twice a year with some static survey is not very scientific, no matter how much it's dressed up to appear so.” Bolton claimed that HR is entering ‘an era of evidence-based people management’. He explained, “HR has sought a place at the leadership table for the past 20 years. But until it brings evidence, it's never going to win that place.” KPMG’s UK office will be the first to pioneer a new diagnostic tool which will look more specifically at the nature of the deal between employers and the employee.
More soft skills are needed in business schools lead to great corporate results. Strategies are implemented by motivated people, and to get that right, leaders must learn how to capture the hearts and minds of those they lead.”
Just over half of international executives believe that, in general, business school graduates are not fully equipped to meet real world corporate expectations, according to recruitment firm Borderless. Its research found that while ‘strong knowledge of all functions’, ‘understanding of the bigger picture’ and ‘cross-functional
12 | HR MAGAZINE
thinking’ are skills valued most by companies, business schools are not doing enough to enhance these important ‘people skills’. Andrew Kris, Founding Partner, Borderless explained to a conference in Barcelona, “Developing great strategies doesn’t necessarily
With structures in companies becoming more increasingly centralised and costs being cut, the firm called on business schools to take a more balanced approach towards hard and soft skills. As Kris elaborated, “Behaviour development needs to be integrated and practised as part of the programme and not relegated to a one-semester course on ‘Interpersonal skills’.” One way would be for business school academics to spend time working in these companies, but Borderless also called on firms to do more to develop general managers.
HR EVENTS
HR Events March
April
3/03/2016
14/04/2016
Pride and Prejudice: The Business and Economic Case for LGBT Diversity and Inclusion Organised by
The Economist
Location: Hotel ICON, 17 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2585 3312 Email: asiaevents@economist.com Website: http://www.economist.com/events-conferences/asia/ pride-prejudice
3/03/2016 Understanding High Potentials, Highly Effective Leaders and Leaders who Derail Organised by
American Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai
Location: The Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu, Shanghai Tel: (86 21) 6279 7119 ext. 4580 Email: kelly.deng@amcham-shanghai.org Website: http://www.amcham-shanghai.org/AmChamPortal/Event
7/03/2016 – 9/03/2016 Global Learning Summit Organised by
Salvo
Location: Raffles City Convention & Exhibition Centre, Fairmount Singapore Tel: (65) 6678 6888 Email: Gale@SalvoGlobal.com Website: http://salvoglobal.com/global-learning-summit-2016/ engage2015
Max out your EVP successful total reward & retention strategies • • • • • • • •
Creating an amazing EVP Leveraging total rewards: attract, engage & retain Successful payroll strategies Maximising security & minimising fraud Cost of fraud & bad hires on employee retention Tips for pre-screening applicants Ensuring compliance HR legal update
Location: Cliftons, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2736 6399 Email: sydnie@excelmediagroup.org Website: http://hrmagazine.com.hk Fee: FREE ENTRY for HR Magazine subscribers, non-subscribers HKD 1,200
18/04/2016 – 20/04/2016 MIHRM International Congress & Exhibition Organised by
Malaysia Institute of Human Resource Management
Location: Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: (603) 7662 6888 Email: mihrm@kwconfex.com Website: http://www.mihrmcongress.com/register-pay.html
May 17/05/2016 2016 Hong Kong LGBT Inclusion Awards
15/03/2016 Designing Successful On Boarding Programmes
The British Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai Organised by
Tel: (86 21) 6218 5022 ext. 24 Email: rococo.wang@britishchambershanghai.org Website: http://www.britishchambershanghai.org/en/eventschamber
21/03/2016 – 23/03/2016 HR Summit Organised by
Marcus Evans
Location: RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, Australia Tel: (603) 2723 6748 Email: sitiK@marcusevanskl.com
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Organised by
Community Business
Location: Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2152 1889 Email: ivy.wong@communitybusiness.org Website: http://www.communitybusiness.org/hklgbtindex/2016_ Awards/2016_Hong_Kong_LGBT_Inclusion_Awards.html
June 14/06/2016 Seminar on ‘Benchmark Your Training and Development Practices With Some Of The Excellent Organizations‘ Organised by
HKMA
Location: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2826 0532 / 2826 0535 Email: ellisyeung@hkma.org.hk / elsiechan@hkma.org.hk
HR IN NUMBERS
HR in Numbers
4 The number of hours each day that workers in China and Hong Kong are engaged in what they consider to be productive work. Source: EY’s China Productivity Pulse Survey
1/3
The fraction of patients with Metastatic Cancer who continue to work.
USD
930m
The amount per billion dollars lost over five years if firms don't innovate. Source: CEB
31% 96% The amount of millennials as a percentage of the Chinese population. Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
The percentage of Asia’s business leaders who read newspapers or magazines in print. Source: Ipsos Connect’s 2015 Business Elite Asia Study
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison
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The number in millions of people living in Beijing and the number of times higher its smog pollution is than the World Health Organisation’s limit.
50%
Source: Pedersen & Partners
The average number of days it took to fill open positions in large organisations. Source: Ongig
The percentage of business and IT security executives who say employees (current and former) are the greatest cyber security risk. Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers’s The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2015
HR MOVES
HR Moves Samrina Cheung now Director of Human Capital at Hotel ICON Hotel ICON, which is a fully integrated commercial, teaching and research hotel owned by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has appointed Samrina Cheung as Director of Human Capital. She will manage all aspects of human capital as well as overseeing the hotel’s top-rank internship programme for PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM). Prior to her role, she held various key human resources management positions in luxury hotels and retail companies including the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong and Louis Vuitton where she rolled out their new in-store client experience training and reorganisation programme.
Shanthi Flynn appointed CHRO of Adecco Group Shanthi Flynn was appointed as the new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and member of the Executive Committee of the Adecco Group in Zurich, Switzerland on 1 March, 2016. Flynn has almost 30 years’ experience of leading human resource functions and building talented teams up to regional level across multiple countries in Europe and Asia. In her most recent position, Flynn was Senior Vice President Human Resources of Walmart Asia, based in Hong Kong. In this role, she led the HR team for Walmart’s retail businesses, which employs close to 150,000 people in more than 800 stores in the region.
Christophe des Arcis becomes HR Director for Euronews With the Euronews SA group seeking to reinvent itself to meet the demands of the market, Christophe des Arcis has been appointed as the group’s HR Director. He will be playing a key role in the group’s redesign of its organisation and workflows as part of the ‘Euronews NEXT’ project. Des Arcis began his career in the construction division of Bouygues group in 1986 before moving into media in 1995 as HR Director of LCI in the TF1 group, and then spending 10 years at Eurosport. His latest role was Director of HR Development at TF1 group during its overhaul between 2008 and 2015. He has also been HRD of TMC, TV Breizh and Historie as well as France 24 during his career.
Eurofragrance hires Marta Moseguí as new global CHRO Eurofragrance has appointed Marta Moseguí as the new global Chief Human Resources Officer. It is part of the firm’s strategy to achieve strong growth in the international market which it plans to do by promoting its values among the workforce and drive employee development. Most recently, she was a collaborator and product manager at the start-up firm FlyHighMe and spent a considerable amount of her career at SONY where she was the Human Resources Strategic Business Partner for the European Region for Professional Solutions and Semiconductors and Electronic Solutions divisions. She also spent time as HR Director for Iberia at SONY as well as working for Accenture and Banco Popular.
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COVER STORY
Values
Culture
Diversity
What if you woke up tomorrow and you could not make any money like you do today? What would happen? How would you stay in business? What would you do? 10 years ago, these questions would have been unthinkable. At that time, banks were ‘too big to fail’, established companies reigned supreme, and the Internet and technolog y as we currently know it was only in its infancy. Now it seems that we ask these questions all too frequently as overnight profits can turn to dust and unexpected players who utilise technolog y and innovation challenge established business practices from all angles. What are the tools for the success for the future? The answers are numerous, and it does depend on various factors as to what will work and what will not—but many are pinning success as being rooted in an innovative company culture.
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Tech
People
There is no set blueprint for implementing an innovative culture—neither is it something you can just download and bolt onto your company. What is known is that it is uniquely weaved into the fabric of a company—and in the coming years, particularly as millennials come to dominate the global workforce and technolog y develops further, knowing how to build a successful culture into an organisation will be crucial for business success. As the entity that specialises in the workforce, HR will come to play an integral role—and this is how. What is culture? To be sure, every company does have a culture in some form or another. According to Howard Schwarz and Stanley M. Davis writing in their article Matching Corporate Culture and Business Strategy culture…is, “A pattern of...organisation.” Such beliefs and
expectations can come in different forms, and they can be positive or negative. Schwarz and Davis make clear that successful companies place a lot of emphasis on good values, and give time and attention to shaping those values. They are not imposed overnight but emerge from long-term processes that require commitment and energy—and which certainly should go beyond traditional notions of profit-making. As Annemie Ress, former Global HR Director, eBay and Skype stated, “Success in the future requires us to make more of the human side of the business. Businesses need to encourage their people to develop mindsets geared towards connection, conversation and experimentation.” As such, the values and the culture of the future have to evolve around encouraging participation in innovation—but if this is the goal, how is it achieved?
COVER STORY
Incorporating millennials Creating the culture of the future requires HR to understand the workforce of the future too. According to EY’s Global Banking Outlook 2016, 72% of the global workforce will be made up by millennials in 2025, and their expectations of work often vastly differ from older generations.
With HR responsible for training and also under pressure to produce a high-performing workforce, building programmes that give millennials multiple experiences or give them the ability to provide input into the business is one way of helping marry all these demands.
HR 4.0
For one, millennials tend to want more opportunities and experiences, and want them immediately. This breaks the traditional mould of business because in previous years, going further up the career ladder was considered a reward for tenure of service rather than a work right. This, however, is not what millennials want as many of them see roadblocks put in front of them and are therefore focused on building a portfolio experience. Such is this desire that the London Business School discovered that 90% of millennials did not plan to stay with an employer for more than five years, with 37% saying they aimed for staying less than two years.
As an example, EY has initiated numerous activities to engage younger generations in the workplace. Speaking to HR Magazine, Michael Wong, Partner and Greater China Talent Leader, EY explained, “Hong Kong Cross Generation Network kicked off a campaign early last summer with a three-month team-building competition called Mission 2020 that aimed to narrow the generation gap, strengthen the understanding among generations and build good relationships across different service lines.” This comes in addition to their EY Visionaries programme, where people from senior management level help staff members understand how they can
support EY’s Vision 2020 in their roles, and an EY Academy for university students. However, millennials tend to want more than just experience—they also highly value work-life balance. According to PwC’s NextGen survey, 71% of millennials say that work demands interfere with their personal lives—compared to 63% of non-millennial employees. What’s more, if given the chance to make their work more flexible, 64% of millennials would like to occasionally work from home and 66% would like to be able to shift their working hours. From a HR perspective, implementing flex-time can be challenging, and it is often the case that certain employees are needed—and without them, business productivity can suffer. It is however not impossible—many professions have found the capacity to provide flexible hours at least for certain job functions.
Fostering a culture of engagement According to a recent Gallup poll, only 13% of the world’s workforce is ‘highly engaged’— and this has a negative knock-on effect with research from Bersin by Deloitte finding that up to half of workforces would not recommend their employer to their peers. If organisations need more engagement, how can they successfully achieve that? In many respects, it comes down to empathy and a willingness to act upon what is heard from within the organisation. As an example, looking towards Generation X—who were born between the 1960s and 1980s—many worry about the prospects of retirement as pensions get changed and cut back. Understanding that this is different from the deal they were originally offered when they started work can often help HR get to the root cause of low engagement and unproductive work in the office that sometimes exists amongst this generation.
With this in mind, engagement involves more listening and working with employees to figure out solutions to the challenges that they face. This is a start but employees also need to be able to have the trust in HR to deliver. As Tim Sackett, President, HRU Technical Resources, a talent solutions provider, explained, “The one true fact in all workplaces is your people want to be in the know, they want to be in the circle of trust. HR and leadership, in general, don’t do a good job at this, and it has a huge impact to engagement. Find ways to make this happen and let your people know that it’s ‘inside’ information. Trusting your employees can handle it raises engagement.” By being engaging, firms can differentiate themselves in the market as well as enhance performance. As an example, EY, as part of its Vision 2020 strategy to become a corporate leader, have developed a diversity and inclusiveness (D&I) strategy to help itself differentiate from others. Michael Wong, Partner and Greater China
Talent Leader, EY elaborated, “At EY, there are D&I internal networks, including Professional Women’s Network (PWN), Working Parents’ Network (WPN) and Cross Generation Network (CGN). PWN helps to build broader social network for female professionals and promote their career development. WPN is to enhance communications among working parents and share their experience on work-life balance, child care or education. CGN facilitates the understanding and communication among the different generations.” The point of having an innovative culture in this respect is coming up with the ideas of how to engage and then having the innovative capacity to know how to deal with these problems. Developing this capacity is crucial if companies want to have a more satisfied workforce and to really bring out those ideas that will make the organisation much more successful and productive.
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COVER STORY
Incubating innovation
With all the major pillars in place to create an innovative environment, what does innovation itself actually look like? When you have got the workforce of the future onboard, and engaged with everyone in the workforce, it is then a question of allowing space for people to innovate. The kinds of innovations that emerge differ, and the path to get there is varied depending on individual companies, but what innovative firms all have in common is the time given to innovate. Looking to Google as an example, not only are its offices and benefit packages the envy of many employers, but the time they dedicate to innovation is notable. In particular, it is famous for its ‘20% time’ which allows employees to spend 20% of their working time to explore ideas that could drive the business forward. This time has led to some of Google’s most valued products, such as Google Drive, Maps and Gmail to be developed and brought to the market. For Google to go from 20% time to Google Drive did require process. As Matt Collier, Lead Instructor, LUMA explained, such innovative processes start with the empathetic questions: ‘what experience do you want to
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deliver?’, ‘what services will enable you to deliver those experiences?’ and ‘what products will drive the services and technologies needed to build those products?’. These initial questions are about putting a firm in the client’s shoes and help it to understand its differentiation and core strengths. Then it is a case of conceptualising the proposed solutions and giving employees the time to question and discover ideas that improve upon what has already been made. This process can be long drawn out and will involve iterative testing throughout and constant collaboration but the end result is a product, service or solution that satisfies. In the long run, such processes do save money. The risk of not being innovative is greater than most firms could imagine. According to CEB, for every billion dollars an organisation makes in revenue, a company could potentially forgo USD 930 million accumulatively over five years if they fall behind on innovation. As such, innovation is not about lazing around on comfy chairs with headphones while employees come up with unrealistic ideas, it is about financial security too.
With innovation there should always be awards for success. EY has a global recognition programme called ‘Better Begins with You’ in which ‘pursuing innovation’ is one of the award categories. To win, employees have to have shown to drive continuous improvement, develop new services and solutions and build new approaches to drive efficiencies. But of course, not all projects are successful. At Tata Group, in its annual employee awards, it has included a category called ‘Dare to Try.’ The essence of this award is to reward a person or group of people who has tried to initiate a new idea which ultimately failed. The winner is the group who is best able to explain why their project failed and the lessons learnt from it. In this respect, when HR is developing training and also seeking to reward its employees, it should have these aspects in mind and encourage employees to go out and innovate beyond their traditional duties. Although it has been seen as a ‘want to have’ by many, the financial implications of not doing so are considerable which is the business case that HR can now take to the CFO.
Understanding
COVER STORY
purpose When a firm is innovating, they should always keep in mind their organisation's purpose. Tony O’Driscoll, Regional Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education speaking at AmCham’s Human Resources Conference in December explained, “People don’t buy what you do but why you do it. It’s about emotional resonance with the aspiration of the organisation that people—employees, customers and partners—can connect to. If you don’t have a why, you only have a what.”
Embracing the Glassdoor era
From the perspective of the employee, to be able to get an organisation to innovate, the employee has to believe that the company builds this into its purpose. This is crucial for retention because according to EY’s The Business Case for Purpose 2014, 89% of respondents believe ‘purpose-driven’ organisations have higher levels of employee satisfaction—and this is particularly true in the case of millennials.
Everyone knows the power of technology and how it is shaping organisations worldwide. It has thrown up new challenges that 10 years ago would have been unimaginable. Organisations are harnessing its power and potential—but firms are also learning how destructive it can be.
Community Business, feeling that work-life balance has significantly deteriorated in the city over the last 10 years, it is easy to see how websites like Glassdoor can become a forum for venting anger and disappointment, which in turn can damage a firm’s reputation.
For one, companies have to come to terms with the transparency that it opens up. According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2015 report, ‘today’s organisations live in the Glassdoor era. HR is already familiar with what this means for wild employees who post inappropriate photos on Facebook—but companies themselves are falling into the same trap. Organisations worldwide can be subjected to the same treatment through the website, Glassdoor—which works similar to Tripadvisor in the sense that employees can rate and leave comments about any firm online for everyone to see.
The imperative therefore to implement engagement, instil purpose, have work-life balance and initiate innovation has become greater than ever. One way to get the ball rolling in implementing this culture is to harness the power of the internet to turn it into a promotional opportunity. If HR can show that it has brought about the aforementioned aspects together to build an innovative culture into the fabric of an organisation, the word will spread. According to LinkedIn’s Global Recruitment Trends 2016 report, 47% employees worldwide share or contribute to employer branding with marketing—this could reach a huge potential talent pool. DBS in Hong Kong is a good example of an employer who uses the likes of LinkedIn to show the world what its employees are doing.
The effects of this of course could pose a challenge to some firms. With nearly 62% of Hong Kong employees, according to
In discovering its purpose, in 2003 IBM used engagement and combined that with harvesting its employees innovation to do a revaluation of their basic values. In a 72-hour online discussion on its global intranet, they came up with a set of core values which they claim shape ‘everything we do and every choice we make on behalf of the company.’ They called this a ‘ValuesJam’. Sam Palmisano, former Chairman and CEO, IBM stated, “You have to empower people while ensuring that they're making the right calls the right way. And by 'right,' I'm not talking about ethics and legal compliance alone; those are table stakes. I'm talking about decisions that support and give life to IBM's strategy and brand, decisions that shape a culture. That's why values, for us, aren't soft. They're the basis of what we do, our mission as a company...You've got to create a management system that empowers people and provides a basis for decision making that is consistent with who we are at IBM.”
Developing an innovative culture is by no means an easy task. The amount of planning it will take and the number of people involved in the process will be substantial, and will need patience. But on many fronts, developing a culture which engages employees of all ages, develops purpose, allows space for innovation and turns the creeping threat of transparency into a positive marketing tool will overall enhance the working productivity and long-term profitability of an organisation. Large established organisations are increasingly finding themselves up against smaller, more versatile firms that innovate and take advantage of the new resources around them to develop alternative services. The former firms may feel like big aircraft carriers that are hard to turn around but it is imperative to do so. As the human entity of an organisation, HR has a real opportunity to play a strategic role in a company’s lifespan and profitability long into the 21st century by encouraging a culture of innovation.
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HR FEATURES
LOCAL PAYROLL NUANCES
THAT CORPORATE HQs DON’T LIKE TO THINK ABOUT By Deborah Williams, Head of Global Business Services, TMF Group
Think a global banking relationship can be used for global payroll? Think again. Local payroll needs will not always align with corporate HQ’s wishes, says Deborah Williams, Head of Global Business Services, TMF Group.
Problems with foreign exchange Paying from a foreign account exposes a company's payroll to risk—foreign exchange is not an immovable object, and it can make it tricky when consolidating, forecasting and executing payroll. It is a risk worth considering when thinking about paying salaries. At TMF Group, most clients prefer to pay locally,
We recently had a client who dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t’ and is a global player—the company was moving to Italy and we were helping to get them set up. They had global processes and directives that HQ insisted on—including the bank used for accounting and payroll. But therein lay a problem: Italy only allows third-party legislated payments from a specified list of local Italian banks. Unfortunately, the client’s bank, the one they had negotiated a global relationship with, was not on that list. Local knowledge Fortunately, TMF Group’s local knowledge in Italy really helped the client navigate various minefields in that delicate situation. A solution was negotiated involving payment coming through a trust account set up by TMF. The scary thing is that it is not an uncommon situation, nor is it the only foreign money-related issue that international companies can face when placing staff in a new country. When paying salaries to staff overseas, it is prudent to monitor several issues, including: • Reliability of money transfers; • Exposure to currency risk for both the company and employees; • Country-specific legal, banking and compliance issues; and • Consolidation and cost of accounts, reporting and related admin.
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to be invoiced in the local currency, and to deal with local payroll as part of a global provider relationship—something which TMF can facilitate thanks to our global reach. This process also brings more certainty when dealing with often-volatile foreign exchange markets. International bank transfers have their own risks, too. If money is being transferred from a foreign account into local office accounts, payroll professionals need to not only factor in foreign exchange concerns but also speed of payment. Many banks have reciprocal relationships to help smooth transfers, known as bank-to-bank partnership agreements, or they could make
payments via a globally-accepted standard platform such as SWIFT or Bacs. But wire services, while often essential, can be expensive and drawn out. Payments can take a number of days because they are often batched together, and horror stories can emerge when employee payments arrive late. To add to this, many countries require taxes and even salaries to be paid from a local country account. In Greece, for example, employees need to bank at the same institution as their employer. Sometimes global banks who say they can process payments everywhere—which often mean that they do this using their own specific file format, and this may not match the file format that local payroll systems produce. Some countries also have controls on the amount of money transferred into the country in a single transaction because of money laundering concerns— that alone could be the final nail in the payroll coffin for HR. From a commercial perspective, when receiving income in the local currency, salaries should be paid from this income first—but this is not always possible and it pays to have a back-up plan. An integrated global payroll system can help to better respond to currency fluctuations and employee needs through better analysis and forecasting, and therefore allowing better responses to market volatility. Then there is the all-important local compliance factor to consider. If a firm is operating a global payroll system from Geneva, who is going to ensure a handful of employees in Venezuela physically sign their pay cheques as required by local law? To find out more on how to come up with a solution, visit TMF Group’s website: https://www.tmf-group.com/en
HR FEATURES
Incubating innovative ideas A glimpse into the world of the Hong Kong Science Park With innovation now high on the HR agenda, having venues which also promote the spirit of new ideas and contemporary collaboration is crucial. Boasting an ideal environment for developing ‘revolutionary technological ideas’, the Hong Kong Science Park is helping facilitate a more innovative culture within HR. Situated in Sha Tin, adjacent to the magnificent Tolo Harbour waterfront, Hong Kong Science Park has been the breeding ground of numerous innovations over the last decade— and the newly opened Phase 3 will further cement the stellar reputation of the park. The Charles K. Kao Auditorium, also known as the ‘Golden Egg’ of the Science Park, which sits in the centre of the development, serves as a landmark and, fittingly, as a symbol of the Park’s mission to incubate innovative ideas and turn them into golden opportunities. In particular, the Park promotes the development of five key areas: Electronics, Information Communications Technology (ICT), Green Technology, Biomedical Technology, and Material and Precision Engineering.
outdoor areas of 2,000 square metres which has played host to events such as the APAC Innovation Summit, the Asian Business Angel Forum and InnoCarnival! A well-known banking institution recently used the exceptional training facilities by hosting their Talent Conference at the Park. They were able to take advantage of the catering services as well as the complimentary coach transfer to the venue. The fact that the facilities had a main conference room and a few break-out rooms also allowed greater flexibility for their event requirements. A prime example of the facilities at the Park is the Grand Hall, a newly commissioned venue in Phase 3 which provides a highly
flexible space, equipped with state-of-the-art technology. As well as being aptly suited as a display venue for major shows and conferences, the venue can also be easily turned into an interactive training facility to get the teams’ creative juices flowing. The same can be said for the Charles K. Kao Auditorium which can also be used for prestigious ceremonies. With training and development becoming more strategic for company performance, and a greater demand for venue space, the Hong Kong Science and Technolog y Parks Corporation has positioned itself as a company offering a wide range of adaptable and state-of-the-art venues to meet this growing HR need.
This cutting-edge venue for innovative corporate meetings, MICE events and training helps attendees conceive brilliant new ideas in an inspirational environment. In total, the Park boasts 48 indoor and outdoor venues, 7,000 square metres of venue space, 14 large halls, 27 meeting rooms and three
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HR FEATURES
One year on: mandatory paternity leave
DISAPPOINTING
On the first anniversary of the introduction of statutory paternity leave in Hong Kong we look at the merits of the scheme. After years of debate, a mandatory minimum three-day paternity leave on 80% pay was finally passed by Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and came into effect on 27 February 2015. Although many welcome the long-awaited law, others, such as Community Business, are disappointed by the focus on operational cost which has led to this ‘baby step‘ for Hong Kong.
Commenting on the amendment to the Employment Ordinance, Fern Ngai, CEO, Community Business, said, “Although we recognise the potential operational cost of offering paternity leave, there is a strong business case for a family-friendly workplace, and we believe that the benefits far outweigh the costs.” She added, “Flexibility is core to the spirit of Hong Kong and a key success factor of many Hong Kong companies. We call on companies, including small and medium sized enterprises, to consider the tremendous benefits of offering paternity leave, to be flexible and to consider going beyond this new law, to offer fully paid paternity leave, at a minimum of five days. This is a tangible way to demonstrate that your company is a caring, family-friendly employer.” Benefits outweigh costs Many studies have indicated that a supportive and family-friendly working environment plays an important role in staff engagement and the attraction and retention of talent, with direct and positive effects on performance and productivity. In Community Business’s State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey 2013, 69% of carers said that a family-friendly work environment is a top consideration when they choose to join, stay with or leave a company. More than half of respondents reported that they are willing to leave their job to devote more time to their family.
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Joint research by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business showed that across industries and job types, happy, satisfied and engaged employees have 16% better overall performance, experience 12% less burnout than peers and are 32% more committed to the organisation. They indicate 46% more satisfaction with their jobs, miss much less work and report significantly fewer doctor visits. Unfortunately, considerations of the new bill— which were said to be reached by the Labour Advisory Board after rounds of deliberations, detailed discussions and rigorous lobbying with employees and employers—not only undervalued the high administrative and time cost on filling job vacancies but also overlooked the loss of knowledge, expertise, relationships and networks when staff leave that are crucial factors for running successful businesses. HK lags behind Asian countries Hong Kong’s slow progress on paternity leave does not reflect its leading position among the four Asian Dragons. South Korea has provided five-day paternity leave since 2011 while Taiwan just extended its full-pay paternity leave from three days to five days in October this year. As for Singapore, the market which is always seen as a close competitor to Hong Kong, it implemented its mandatory seven-day paternity leave in May 2013 at full pay. Employers in as near as mainland China
are also required by law to provide three days of full-paid paternity leave. According to Community Business’ Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia 2014 study, 93.3% of responding multinational companies already offer on average a five-day paternity leave to their fathers in Hong Kong prior to a statutory requirement. One leading company doubles the length of time if the father is the primary caregiver. Hong Kong is lagging far behind on this front in Asia, not to mention other markets outside of Asia which enjoy substantially greater parental benefits. Without a healthy, productive and engaged work force, Hong Kong runs the risk of losing competitive advantage in the region. Lead by example Ngai commented, “We commended the Hong Kong SAR Government for the introduction of five-day paternity leave in the civil service in 2012. However, we see the failure of the Government to convince the Labour Advisory Board of the same or a longer period of parental leave as a setback in its efforts in promoting family-friendly employment practices, eliminating discrimination on the ground of family status, encouraging a higher birth rate in Hong Kong, and as fundamental as safeguarding the general principle of equality. We call for the government to continue to lead by example and take a holistic review on the overall objective of its policies.”
HR FEATURES
Amazing workplaces Tech sector benefits that attract & retain premium talent
The traditional workplace is often dull and perhaps a bit uninspiring to most workforces—the rows of desks, the white walls, a little corner desk to call your own. In some cases, there might be the luxury of a water fountain, a plant in the corner or a reasonably well-equipped pantry. This is not even mentioning the compensation and benefit packages you may get in addition! Not enough holidays? Bonuses are hard to achieve? Salaries are not high enough? No rewards for the overtime put in? This is all except perhaps if you are a member of one of the world’s top tech firms or even some of the bustling new start-ups that are springing up all around. They are the companies that HR professionals hear about all the time— and are more than likely familiar with some of the stories of their human resource success. But what is it actually like to work at these firms? What do they look like and what do they actually offer? HR Magazine finds out…
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Creator of the PDF viewer on your computer, and the web and print applications in your office, Adobe is a company bursting at the seams when it comes to compensation and benefits. The tech firm’s three year old Utah campus in the United States not only has huge open, modern and bright, naturally-lit spaces to work, but it furnishes the workplace with sofas, diner-style booths and even a basketball court. Benefit packages are also very generous. Focusing on wellbeing, Adobe is very keen to boast about its medical plans for families, which also include dental plans and eyesight options. Holidays are also greatly valued at the firm as employees are entitled to 12 paid holidays per year, and have two paid company breaks during the week of 4 July and between Christmas and New Year. Retirement planning is nothing to laugh at either—a flexible Retirement Savings Plan also includes Adobe matching 50% of the first 6% of eligible compensation that employees contribute.
HR FEATURES Spotify is the music streaming service that has exploded onto the world stage in recent years. With over 75 million active users and 30 million songs available in its database, it is a huge platform to be managed. However, very much in the spirit of a start-up, it attracts talent with the comforts of its workplaces and, more importantly, a culture that is deeply infused with an obsessive focus on music. Workers get employee concert lunches, where artists such as Joss Stone and Lily Allen perform plus free concert tickets, office ping-pong tables and video games. Though, interestingly, it is not uncommon to hear employees going into the office auditorium and jamming out a few songs at 2pm! This is not even to mention the recent announcement in November of enhanced parental benefits offering six months leave with 100% pay for full-time staff, the flexibility of leave and a ‘Welcome Back!’ programme to ease them back into work.
What is an article about amazing workplaces without talking about Google? Celebrating 18 years since its launch, the business has expanded expotentially and it is one of the huge tech firms that has retained a start-up culture. Its global headquarters in California, Google Mountain View—also known as the Googleplex—is where all the Google products you have come to know were first conceptualised and developed. Unique spaces are scattered around the Googleplex with creative environments like the Garage, a flexible workspace, allowing Googlers to get out from behind their desks to discover new innovations. Of course, food is everywhere at Google—and it is a rule that no worker can be too far from it! Gourmet cafés can be found scattered throughout the complex balanced with onsite gyms and gFit physical fitness programmes. This only scratches the surface— on-site doctors, wellness services like massage and chiropractic treatments, and laundry and dry cleaning are included! A great example of integrating work and life!
Looking at these kinds of workplaces, it is common for bosses of firms with a traditional mindset to jump to the conclusion that such spaces are a ‘want to have’ rather than a ‘need to have’. As amazing as these workplaces are, these are the competition that traditional firms face—and they are the kinds of environments that attract the millennial generation who are taking up more accomplished roles in companies. This generation
For those who were starting to think all this would not be possible in a city like Hong Kong—think again. LinkedIn’s Hong Kong office, which is only a few years old, has a generous 10,000 square feet of office in Causeway Bay, and the way they use this space is amazing. Like other companies, they offer a vast amount of open space but they allow the light to stream in creating a beautiful, bright environment. That is not to mention that they have found space for a pool table and table tennis table, and strikingly, they have named the meeting rooms—which also have huge windows— after different MTR stations (depending on which direction the meeting rooms face) that are all colour-coded. The perks are also quite unique. Employees can enjoy ‘InDays’ once a month which they can use to explore their interests; they also have six employee resource groups that focus on the inclusion of employees of different backgrounds; and also bring in speakers to share ideas.
appreciates the flexibility of their workplace to suit their needs—and with 78% of the workforce made up of millennials in 2025, it is imperative to adopt workplaces that will attract them. Brands and reputations only get a company so far—but if millennials enjoy working in the space a firm provides, it will make a world of difference in unleashing the potential and productivity they have inside.
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HR FEATURES
The world beyond succession planning By Murad Salman Mirza, Board Member, Global Diversity and Inclusion Foundation
Succession planning is generally seen as a proactive measure that marginalises replacement planning and hedges against the risk of a leadership vacuum to ensure organisations maintain a steady talent pipeline to enable them to achieve strategic objectives. However, it is often tempered by a focus on itself while relying on the efficacy of the following aligned functional processes: • Performance management • Reward and recognition • Training and development This frequently alienates other functional processes necessary for the robustness of talent pipelines that are the backbone of a productive talent management system—for example, hiring and orientation; career guidance and progression; employee relations and engagement; and employee exit management. Hiring & orientation This is the key entry point into an organisation and has a ripple effect for the other functional processes in terms of adjusting to the quality of the inducted talent. Organisations frequently focus on the fulfilment of the available vacancy
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by emphasising direct requirements. However, this rather myopic view often overlooks the prospect of employing potential successors who have the basic ingredients that can be nurtured into the desired leadership traits— in the words of Stephen Covey it is best to, “Begin with the end in mind.” Employee exit management One of the most overlooked functional processes within the realm of talent management is the way in which an employee departure is handled by an organisation and how it impacts the potential successors. For example, high potential peers of an employee who was recently dismissed might feel increasingly insecure since the rationale behind the termination of contract may not register with them as a serious transgression. Such misgivings need to be handled very delicately since psychological bruises are rarely highlighted in any formal forum and tend to linger in whispers between the corridors of power. In the words of Peter Drucker, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.”
The aforementioned examples reflect tantalising challenges for HR that can derail even the best intentioned succession planning initiatives. Therefore, it is prudent to conduct periodic quality assurance of the succession planning process and take necessary corrective and/or preventive actions in a timely manner followed by an impartial and honest review to curtail any derailment from strategic imperatives. A more comprehensive strategy also includes embracing and incorporating systems, and thinking in terms of upgrading and synchronising all the interrelated functional processes. In this way, firms can move away from succession planning—process focused, and towards succession management—more system orientated. The efficiency and effectiveness of the functional processes involved at both the aforementioned stages can be refined by utilising the continuous quality improvement model comprising a logical sequence of four repetitive steps for continuous improvement and learning: Plan, Do, Study (Check) and Act.
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The Deming / PDCA/ PDSA Cycle Moving towards succession management can be achieved by planting the roots of succession within the corporate values espoused by the organisation. It is also important for organisations to try and convert any associated risks with having competent leaders into competitive advantages. For example, if there is no shortage of skilled successors within the ranks, then talent poaching can be embraced as providing an opportunity for a healthy movement of talent and their ideas within the organisation, instead of being feared. Consequently, organisations should strive to achieve the position of succession leadership that goes beyond mere succession management. In doing so, organisations can become role models, not only within their own industry, but also in the wider corporate world as an enviable focus for benchmarking.
What to do? How to do it?
CHECK
DO
Did things happen according to plan?
Do what was planned
Healthy presence of competent leaders
Ensures the robustness of talent pipelines
TALENT MAGNET CYCLE
Rei n the forces a of o chiev e r str ganis ment ate a gic tiona goa l ls
PLAN
How to improve next time?
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Evolution is a natural phenomenon and organisations that are prepared to synchronise their development in a timely fashion, in line with the changing needs of the market and their talent, are the ones with the best probability of assuring continued prosperity. While others anguish over the question of survival, progressive organisations, driven by enlightened leaders, continue to redefine the boundaries of success with the help of capable potential successors. As Tom Peters once said, ”Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”
s ise ocus v i t tf en Inc isten ip s sh con ader t le en on lopm e dev
ACT
Cream of fresh talent attracted and inducted
Generates the need for new top talent
St r or eng ga th n en br isat s t an ion he d al
Invites talent poaching of capable leaders Creates upward movement of quality successors | 29
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EXPERT L&D STRATEGIES
JUSTIN BRIDGE Head of Executive Development Group Human Resources Jardine Matheson Limited
Kicking off the new year with Learning and Development, our speakers shared wide-ranging insight and advice into this important area—one that is rated as a hot priority. It was a fun day enjoyed by around 250 HR professionals from across Hong Kong, packed full of fresh case studies, strong wisdom and solutions to important questions that face this strategic HR profession—key amongst them was the overarching idea that HR should no longer be just training employees how to do their job better but also how to lead. ANDREW J WARNECK Managing Principal Korn Ferry Hay Group
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Key leadership capabilities essential to develop leadership for today and the future Admitting to ourselves and others that we ‘don’t know’ can be challenging, but Justin Bridge, Head of Executive Development, Jardine Matheson explained that we need to embrace the concept of ‘not knowing’ as a source of potential value.
they didn’t know and he understood that ‘not knowing the answer’ was a source of opportunity rather than a weakness.”
Bridge pointed out that periods of uncertainty are often accompanied by great innovation. “If we go back to the turn of the twentieth century we find a period of turbulent change equal to anything we’re experiencing today. This gave rise to some of the most important innovations in human history. Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers—all made their discoveries within a five-year period. People challenged what was ‘known’ and sought to do things that had never been done before.”
How does this apply in the world of today? Bridge explained that it is a significant mind-set shift to embrace the concept of not knowing. “We tend to defer to the experts, but doing so inhibits innovation and fresh thinking. So how do we make it okay for managers to embrace ‘not knowing’ as a source of potential value?” Bridge admitted that is the big question. “We need to help our organisations see the potential in ‘not knowing’ and the value that can be derived from making mistakes. We all know we learn from our mistakes yet we spend a lot of time trying to avoid making them.”
It is this notion of ‘not knowing’, which was behind one of the greatest success stories of the previous century—Henry Ford. According to Bridge, “Henry Ford introduced to the world mass production. He saw the future— he was the Elon Musk of the day. He knew that to do something that was never done before, the last thing he needed was so-called ‘experts’ who believed they knew what could and could not be done. Ford realised he needed people who were excited by what
Bridge believed what can help organisations tap into the value of ‘not knowing’ is great questioning and listening techniques. “Coaching is about exploring parts of your thinking you have never explored before. It is a way to encourage and enable people to think differently—I think this is a fundamental leadership skill in times of change. We also need to develop the ability to look ahead and anticipate change and its potential impact—practise going into the unknown before we actually get there.”
One way to do this is to pull a diverse group of people together to elicit their ideas. As Bridge explained, “We need to ask ourselves, ‘What do we really mean by diversity?’ Typically this means people of different gender or ethnicity. But what about people who think differently? They may not ‘fit’ our corporate culture, but do we only want people who fit? Or do we want people who create value in ways other people can’t?’ According to Bridge, all of this goes against the grain, but that is what leadership feels like. “We spend too much time talking about the inspirational parts of leadership, and not enough time talking about the ‘gritty’ parts that are about challenging the status quo and creating positive change.”
Real World Leadership—Priorities when developing your future leaders Finding out what both executives and HR practitioners want, as well as knowing what we should know about learning and development, is crucial to making it more meaningful in organisations. Speaking about the findings from recent Korn Ferry research, Andrew J Warneck, Managing Principal, Korn Ferry Hay Group stated that while the 7,000 CEOs and Executives surveyed were looking to increase market share, surprisingly one of the major priorities they had was innovation and wanting leaders who can drive strategic change. Amongst the big problems facing firms, firstly HR does struggle to get CEOs sponsoring development efforts and getting them onboard with training. Secondly, programmes are not being reviewed regularly enough—which is especially a problem with the millennial generation who are looking to build up their experience. What’s more, these programmes are not being aligned with strategic goals and unfortunately ROIs have proven not to be as high as firms wanted.
Looking to what we should know, the overarching theme is knowing how development happens. In this sense, knowing strategy is key but sometimes HR practitioners and CEOs are at odds. As Warneck said, “CEOs tend to talk about culture but practitioners talk about talent.” Firms need to ask themselves broadly if they are looking to keep customers, expand into markets, innovate or prepare for mergers and acquisitions. Different goals means a different L&D strategy is needed. Then firms need to apply a diagnostic mindset when thinking about the kind of talent needed. What talent do we need? What talent do we have? What can we do to close the gaps? —and in particular, the last part is where L&D will come in. L&D can be a source that fills those important gaps—using the example of CEO Jeffery Immelt of General Electric who sprang up the ranks within 20 years, Warneck stated that, “Your next CEOs are sitting in your organisations right now.” As such, making sure there are programmes which adequately evaluate, identify and train employees
on-the-go is critical to having future leaders. Such investment is risky—and sometimes five different job moves are required in those 20 years to make it right—but HR needs to manage the risk on high potential people early on. Of course companies need to get to the heart of what are the core competencies that they need right now. There are many but a sensible level is around eight to 12 in total. But firms also need to look towards the future to see where there current employees will go. Ways are evaluating this are fourfold. First, firms need to see if an employee is competent to undergo a programme. Second, if employees have potential, they are more likely to take time to develop and are at the beginning of the process. Third, readiness means that the amount of development needed will be less but firms should be thinking about time frame for taking up a new role. Lastly, if an employee is at the fit stage, leaders can be in a position to ask whether the roles available will be a good fit for them.
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KELVIN JU Principal Consultant Talent Development Solutions Gravel Limited
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Ten Training no-nos to avoid—getting L&D right Kelvin Ju, Principal Consultant, Talent Development Solutions, Graval Ltd opened by asking the audience why training is so necessary for an organisation. Answers included new ideas, meeting business needs and aligning goals with the strategy of the business, as well as succession planning. He explained that 84% of employees in ‘best performing organisations’ are receiving the training they need. Benefits of training include increased innovation and efficiency, as well as improved employee motivation. Ju quipped, “We know that training is necessary, but how many of you have had a simple time talking to senior management, and had them say; ‘Here’s 50 million dollars, train them until you die’?” He elaborated that there are a number of obstacles to providing effective training. Research quoted showed Hong Kong employees actually have some of the lowest engagement
with their jobs out of 20 countries surveyed, and only 37% of Hong Kong workers felt they were encouraged to innovate. Shockingly, more than a third said they could not name a point where they felt motivated at work in 2015. Ju commented that managers can be threatened by training that illuminates negative issues. “No one is comfortable admitting there is an issue. We need to design programmes that meet the business needs.” Of course, the main issue is budget constraints. Ju explained that training budgets are the first to be cut due to unclear understanding by senior management of the business value of training, especially when the training does not directly meet organisational needs. Ju said, “What we need to do as L&D experts, is to stop thinking training is a cost to be
minimised, and to start thinking it is an expense worth investing in,” He added, “Effective L&D starts with involving the right stakeholders, and it has to meet strategic business goals. If you get that right, you will find that your training solutions have a lot more value. Training for training’s sake is not a good use of resources.”
Accelerating your key talents using development solutions that work With over 8,000 staff and 49 offices in 22 countries, Ben Shao, Head of L&D, Wallem Group has a huge responsibility undertaking and setting up L&D programmes. In 2015, Shao ran 360 programmes for 800 employees, so it is fair to say that he knows what challenges L&D trainers are facing. One of the issues Shao wants to address is why do we do talent management? According to Shao, it is all about having the experience to lead. “In the old days, organisations would simply select the next most senior person to succeed without ever assessing their capabilities and aspiration to lead. Today we work in a more complex environment— we’re dealing with a lot of different challenges. In the more competitive market we’re in today, businesses are expected to grow faster. As such, talent management is now one of the key priorities on a CEOs' agenda and poor talent management is seen as one of the threats to business.” Organisations acknowledge that they need to develop talent but it is the very complexities involved in this undertaking that cause problems for L&D. As Shao explained, “We know it’s a must and we know that we have to do it
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but we don’t get it right.” The research on talent management backs this up—73% of HIPO programmes show no ROI, 64% of the HIPOs had a negative experience going through the training programmes and 94% of organisations said their HIPO programmes are ineffective. Shao clarified, “I think it’s lacking a central governance. Ownership does not rely on the HIPO’s manager but the whole firm. All the stakeholders must understand the organisation's vision and strategies on talent management and carry out their practices to contribute to the success of that vision. ”According to Shao it is his opinion that many organisations are relying on classroom training to create leaders, but this does not work—“There are just some things which you can’t learn in a classroom.” The Wallem strategy is to start with engagement before the programme begins. “We started with engagement a month before by getting the CEO involved. Throughout the programme we asked the C-suite to drop in and engage the trainees.” Shao points out that a lot of this engagement happened outside the classroom. With this strategy, there is sustained learning beyond the classroom which turns results into business
outcomes. “There are engagement programmes every month. At the end of the learning programme, we gave the trainees burning business issues within Wallem, identified by the C-suite and senior leaders, to tackle and resolve. Based on the deliverables the trainees bring to the table, we then measure the ROI.” He added, “One of the ways we use to accelerate the trainees' learning before and during a classroom training is to assign them eLearning as pre-course work. The benefits of this approach are that the trainees will be ready to go when they enter the classroom.” This, according to Shao, means that everyone is starting at the same benchmark. Most L&D trainers grapple with the conundrum of how to build motivation and that is also true with Wallem. Shao explains, “It’s about engagement and programme design. We want them to learn and to make a difference—not just for them but for our clients, our industry and the society.” Along with motivation, finding the most appropriate time to measure training is also important for L&D trainers. “It depends on the individual and their needs,” Shao pointed out.
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Coaching: a leadership imperative John Raymond, Head of Coaching, IECL started off with one of his favourite and at the same time frustrating quotes from Dan Pink: ’Business continues to ignore what science knows.’ When applying this within the context of L&D, he stated that if an embedding program is not included as part of your training then science tells us you can ‘kiss goodbye to 80% of your efforts’. In order to maximize the benefits of L&D and to embed the learning, coaching conversations need to be happening before, during and most critically after the training. JOHN RAYMOND Head of Coaching IECL
Raymond surprised the audience by stating, “Coaching has become too popular” and explained, “Coaching needs to sit in service of a business objective. It is an enabler, a means to an end which helps you to become successful whether it is to improve productivity, engagement, retention, embedding learning etc.” Despite coaching ‘becoming too popular‘, there is still a lot of confusion about what it actually is. For example, mentoring and coaching are often used interchangeably but this is not helping. Raymond highlighted that mentoring is different from coaching. Mentoring often involves imparting knowledge and advising whereas coaching revolves around asking questions in order to challenge employees to think more on their own and to breakthrough interferences that are limiting their potential.
BEN SHAO Head of L&D Wallem Group
coaching, is critical for an organisation to achieve its goals. If we define coaching as ’asking questions to get people to think differently and act on it in order to get a better result‘, it is easy to see how coaching can help leaders to become more communicative, visionary and emotionally aware—all skills identified as needing to be better developed or improved upon in The Asian Leadership Index 2014. Science tells us that coaching helps achieve a whole host of organisational outcomes including: embedding learning, improving staff engagement, developing capability and capacity, improving efficiency and productivity, strengthening relationships, improving communication and increasing wellbeing and resilience. So how can you start to develop leaders with coaching? Raymond concluded with 5 key take-away tips: first, ask more questions and dedicate more time for them. Second, do not be scared to ask difficult, challenging questions— they get employees to think outside the box. Third, slow down the conversation and allow for silence as this will allow employees to contribute more. Fourth, believe in the person’s potential to know the answer—sometimes it is just the case that they need more time to think. Finally, create high trust relationships.
The Asian Leadership index from 2014 has identified desirable leadership qualities across most Asian countries. To achieve nearly all of the top rating skills, coaching can help, and therefore
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SONIA CHENG Human Resources Director VF Asia Limited
HR COMMUNITY
VF Asia's roadmap to expert L&D— from ‘Growth Pyramid’ to ‘Own your Career’ Sonia Cheng, HRD, VF Asia Ltd started with short background about her company VF Asia, and explained that the VF Group is a collection of brands, such as The North Face, Timberland and Lee. The group oversees 560 million units of jeans, tents, backpacks, footwear, jeans etc being produced and sourced each year.
Career Development Guide, are provided to associates which demystifies 29 competencies and links them to real roles in the organisation. The second key area was about owning your own career. VF invested in middle managers to equip them with proper skills to develop their team— but also focused on empowering employees.
She shared the VF talent development journey by connecting back to the business situation four to five years ago. The management team wanted to rebuild its business model by reflecting on the past, reviewing the present and determining the future. With help of an artist, the VF story had been captured and visualised, and a Growth Pyramid was developed to support a new business focus. The first of the two key areas highlighted by Cheng was marketing.
“Here in Asia, the culture has resulted in a situation where associates are looking at their managers to determine their career development,” she explained. A greater focus on empowering employees to contribute to their own career trajectory can skyrocket motivation. The focus on people became the foundation for the organisation, one that organically improves the culture of L&D, and measures the results later.
“We do a lot of promotions internally, not only through e-mail, but we also do seminars,” Cheng stated. Printed materials, such as
iPyramid was launched as the platform to deliver this message, with ‘Own Your Career’ having a prominent place in the top-left corner of the
platform’s dashboard—and also encourages employees to ‘Go Outside for New Ideas’ rather than just learning from managers and peers. In terms of results, since the further emphasis on developing their people, VF Asia has seen a dramatic drop in staff turnover, while witnessing increases in employee engagement. Into the future, VF Asia is committed to improving itself based on its guiding principle—people.
Learning adding commercial business value With over 30 years of banking experience, Anthony Ward Rushton, Regional Head of Learning, Asia Pacific, Human Resources, HSBC has spent the last 15 years specialising in Learning and Development.
A unique aspect with their training programmes is using professional actors. Rushton explained, “We often use professional actors in role-plays to act as clients and this works fantastically well.”
Rushton has been responsible for designing a number flagship learning programmes which add commercial business value. Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation is often used— reaction, learning, behaviour and results—to accurately assess the effectiveness of the training programmes they design.
He elaborated, "The advantages of using actors are that they are professionally trained to play roles. We can brief them to make the role-play more difficult or easier. That means everybody is getting the correct stretch in terms of the learning experience. The other advantage of this is we can get feedback from the actor by asking, ‘How did you feel going through that interview process?’ This means that we get their perspective and what they experienced being the client.” From these programmes, there is an increase in learning in terms of both knowledge and skills.
Delegates are always requested to complete an evaluation form so the L&D team can, according to Rushton, “Get a very clear line of sight on how effective the programme is and secondly, how well the facilitator or trainer is.” This is especially useful when L&D are working with new trainers or new vendors on new programmes.
as to what kind of ROI is expected. Rushton added, “ You must obtain agreement with the business sponsors as well as the trainee. ROI can be costly to track. It is better to do it really well with one or two key programmes rather than to boil the ocean.” Rushton concluded, “It is more effective if the training programmes are business specific so that the delegates kind of get it and know that it relates to their job.”
When measuring level four, Results/ROI, L&D ensures that this is discussed in detail with the delegate at the beginning of the programme
ANTHONY WARD RUSHTON Regional Head of Learning, Asia Pacific, Human Resources, HSBC
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HR COMMUNITY
Moderator: Paul Arkwright, Editor-in-Chief, HR Magazine; The Panel from left to right: Judy Fung, Head of Organisational Development Department, Hong Kong Jockey Club; Karen YS Wong, Associate Director, Learning and Development—Greater China, Asia-Pacific, EY; Francis Lau, Director of Human Capital, Hotel ICON; Terence Chau, CEO & Programme Director, Asian Academy for Sports & Fitness Professionals; Anthony Ward Rushton, Regional Head of Learning and Development—Asia-Pacific, Human Resources, HSBC
Panel discussion With the term ‘change’ being thrown around a lot in L&D conversations, the panel discussion kicked off with defining the term ‘change’. For Karen YS Wong, Associate Director, Learning and Development—Greater China, Asia-Pacific, EY, ‘change’ could be captured in another word, ‘simulation’, which is an initiative that has just started at EY. With L&D previously being all about learning about theory, Wong explained that employees nowadays want ‘just-in-time’ learning with lots of online resources at their disposal in addition to the classroom activities. In their own right, the classroom has been transformed at EY by using technological simulations that give employees story lines that they need to respond to. Judy Feng, Head of Organisational Development, The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) viewed ‘change’ from another perspective. She said they started a new leadership development journey for hundreds of mid-managers, with the ultimate goal of supporting driving the success of the organisation. To achieve this, HKJC rolled out a systematic360 leadership survey as part of the leadership development. At first, there was some hesitation from the participants. The team delivered tailored workshops along with professional coaching to make the participants see the value of the survey and become more
open to this new change initiative. After one year, positive comments about the 360 leadership survey are often heard and a feedback culture has fostered at HKJC. Importantly in L&D is the need to find ‘skill gaps’, as Francis Lau, Head of Human Capital, Hotel ICON explained, “In order to know that, we should understand the primary purpose of the organisation and whether we have a mission we need to carry out. Based on that, we should find out what kind of characters we have in our organisations to fill the gaps.” Filling those gaps is precisely one of the reasons for L&D—but how can firms facilitate impactful and life-changing training programmes? Anthony Ward Rushton, Regional Head of Learning and Development—Asia Pacific, Human Resources, HSBC pointed to the ‘disruptive experience’ that HSBC has tried to implement in its training. Giving the example of employees working with blind and deaf children in Sri Lanka, not only does such training put employees out of their depth but, as Rushton explained, “It is memorable because they have not been through it and it will stick with them. It changes values.” For Feng, at HKJC, senior leaders form cross-functional teams and they take up strategic projects in developing
innovative solutions. They also visit other organisations for benchmarking and bringing back best practices to HKJC. But with the world of technology expanding, L&D is looking to utilise its power—but is it a help or a hindrance? Although he did not believe it was a hindrance, Terence Chau, CEO & Programme Director, Asian Academy for Sports & Fitness Professionals said that in the sporting industry, “We value the human interaction between people.” He added, “You can do a lot of fat-burning training as a result of YouTube but quite often, people still looking for trainers because they want a human touch.” Though for Wong, the answer very much lies in combining technology with people. She added, “Technology can facilitate a relaxed classroom that brings out ideas.” So then, what about the difference between mentors and coaches? Chau shared that this depends on the business goal, “For me, mentoring is a development thing and coaching is more task-orientated and focused on performance. If you want to fix something, coaching is better— but if you want leaders, this needs more structure and mentoring is more suitable.”
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AmCham Human Resources Conference 2015 THE INNOVATION IMPERATIVE According to Romy Serfaty, Regional Marketing Leader—Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Aon Hewitt, 78% of the best employers put ideas and innovation at the heart of their agenda. But what exactly is innovation? How do businesses go about being innovative? And more importantly, how can HR nurture and leverage innovation to enhance an organisation’s competitiveness? This was the backdrop to a day of thought-provoking sharing on innovation among delegates from the HR profession attending the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)’s Annual Human Resources Conference in December. Innovate or die The reality of today's workplace is that the challenges facing HR have become more multi-faceted than ever. Speaking to the conference, Allen Ma, CEO, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation shared that the average lifespan of an S&P 500 Index company had been shortened from 67 years in the 1920s to just 15 years by the 2010s—and that the process had continued to accelerate over time. Moreover, according to Shaurav Sen, Advisory Leader—Asia, CEB explained, “For every billion dollars in revenue, a company can potentially forgo 930 million dollars accumulatively over a five-year period if they fall behind on innovation.”
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Traditional business and HR models are increasingly being disrupted by innovation emerging from very ‘unusual suspects’. These industry disruptors from various sectors are often start-ups. It is no longer just budget or the size of an organisation, but increasingly the ability of HR to encourage and nurture innovation which dictates business success. Speaking from experience, Lisa Johnson, Global Practice Leader—Consulting Services, Crown World Mobility spelt out the challenges emerging from new kids on the block. She highlighted the importance of HR facilitating continuous innovation at Crown as a differentiator, to enhance EVP and to drive continued business growth. Johnson added, “This kind of disruptive innovation is really changing the way we think about our organisation and business model. A key question we ask is, What if we wake up tomorrow and we could not make any money like we do today? What would happen? How would we stay in business? What would we do?” Defining innovation Boiled down to its basics, innovation is the use of new ideas and methods—what constitutes it and how an organisation gets there is very varied—but one of the key takeaways from the conference is that it is best to think about this concept as a ‘culture’.
An overarching catalyst for this culture is empowerment of talent throughout the organisation. For Alison Eyring, CEO, Organisation Solutions, empowering employees is one of the key ‘Innovation Super Foods’ but this is not achieved just by being nice to an employee or giving them free time. She asserted, “You empower employees by giving them authority and power to do things that affect their job.” During his talk, Sen highlighted that innovation does need structure and it needs direction. He explained, “You, as HR, need to help guide innovation to ensure it is focused, otherwise you’ll have fragmented innovation.” This was an important point that Eyring also picked up on when she mentioned, “On average, companies have 50 different talent practices, many of them poorly executed and not using the best evidence. Focus your thinking on what your business really needs to grow.” Education and training A prelude to beginning an organisation's journey towards innovation usually requires employees and leaders alike to be educated about its merits. During his speech, Sean Ferguson, Associate Dean of Masters’ Programmes and Director of MBA Programmes, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Business School, as well as AmCham Governor explained the need to move beyond academic knowledge in education. He elaborated, “No one in recruitment ever says that we need more technical skills—it’s all about having soft skills and innovation skills.” To that end, the Business School has implemented ‘trend-orientated courses’ and experiential learning by getting students to go into not-for-profit organisations to apply their
HR COMMUNITY
skills in challenging, real-world situations. Paul Choi, Head, Goldman Sachs University Asia and Executive Director, Human Capital Management, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC mentioned a similar scheme at his firm where senior staff spend around 10 hours a month practically helping a non-profit cause. The aim, said Choi, was to allow their leaders to experience different leadership settings so as to bring innovative ideas back to their normal jobs. Applying innovative culture Education is relatively straightforward but implementing a consistent innovative culture is often significantly more challenging— but certainly pressing. Speaking about this challenge, Johnson contended that all too often many leaders are not willing to take risks. She said, “93% of leaders say they really value innovation but they still place constraints saying, ‘You can play and be creative—but not too creative.’ And there’s a lot of, ‘Oh that’ll never work’ and ‘That’s too different’ and ‘That wasn’t what I meant’.” The task of starting a more innovative culture does not have to be so taxing. From a HR standpoint in particular, Sen referred to three levers of innovation which HR does already have some control over and should leverage—namely, people, the structure of the organisation and processes involved. He explained, “HR needs to think about these levers, what they can do with them now and ask themselves what additional things can we do today that makes an impact?” Ritz Carlton came up with the concept of ‘line ups’ where staff on duty would line up and relay a recent case at work where they blew a customer away that day by going the extra
mile in terms of service provided—a costless exercise but one which is a starting point to help celebrate little successes, boost staff morale and ultimately further enhance staff performance and customer satisfaction. Innovative change To go further, firms do need to embrace innovation as a culture. Kate Bravery, Global Solutions Leader—Talent Business, Mercer explained that this could include setting up ‘innovation hubs’ to test new ideas in an organisation. Choi stressed the importance of HR encouraging younger generations to play a greater role. Here, such recommendations made to seniors may be 'questioned' and 'challenged', but wherever practicable should not be simply 'rejected' as they may previously have been in traditional top-down hierarchies. This a bold, and often contentious, move—but facilitating innovation requires a leap of faith in order to reap the rewards that positive change, no matter how radical, can bring. Once innovation has been initiated, it is then critical that HR push for investment in and adopt key ideas. In doing so new ideas and technology can bring significant benefits in terms of saving resources and driving the bottom line. Ma cited an example from the Hong Kong Airport Authority where investment in new technologies, as a result of collective innovation, has since shortened the Hong Kong Airport runway inspection time from four hours to less than two. Such directives should not result from command and control, but rather as Sen noted, “Innovation is a team sport and all innovation should be part of a collective process.”
Allen Ma, CEO Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
To that end, another thing business should allow for is the ‘conceptualisation phase’ to be extended with all employees inside and consumers outside being involved when developing or improving a product. As Matt Collier, Lead Instructor, LUMA explained, “It is better to leverage human capital to discover and question ideas. When you are good at questioning and problem-framing, you can better understand the problem and explore solutions.” Allocating more time to this allows for more ideas to emerge which can later be merged together into a new innovative solution. Changing mindset Most importantly, as Tony O’Driscoll, Regional Managing Director, Duke Corporate Education stated, “It is cool to fail.” Not all innovations will work out at first and it is a powerful tool for companies to see that this idea is not the right path and we should not pursue it. Quoting the Silicon Valley logic, O’Driscoll claimed that it can take six pivots before landing on the thing that works and Eyring claimed that only 50% of innovative ideas succeed. Failure should not just happen but it should also be understood. Tata, for example, introduced an award called ‘Dare to Try’ which rewards a project which failed and showed the most valuable lessons learnt. It ensures that innovation is not just a hit-and-miss sport but that there is some understandable value from the process.
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HR COMMUNITY
Are shared services about to go extinct? HR is certainly no stranger to the shared service model as a means of rationalising, centralising and standardising business processes. Establishing shared service centres can help streamline the utilisation of talent, free up more time for strategic roles and boost the bottom line. However, with recent advances in technology and robotics, has this sounded the death knell of the shared service model?
HR Magazine media partnered IQPC’s 18th Annual Shared Services & Outsourcing Week held at the end of last year in Singapore, which explored the future of shared services and HR’s role within it. We share some key take-homes from the event. Evolution of shared services Rodney Olsen, CFO, Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific and Alexander Joramsa, CFO, GE Healthcare Private Limited shared insights on driving business value through shared services and outsourcing (SSO). Olsen explained how in the 1990s, Kimberly-Clark set up their first shared service centre in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA and right from the word ‘go’ their services delivery strategy was closely linked to the business strategy. This was soon followed by centres established in Brighton, UK; San Jose, US and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He said, “We are now moving from a regional service model towards to a global business service model—including finance, procurement, HR and other areas. “There is potential to use shared services to improve control environments and also important is the integrity of data that we use. At Kimberly-Clark we are still doing most of business analytics within the business—but it is likely that much more of this will be moved to shared services in the future.” Joramsa shared GE’s journey in consolidating its various business units into one shared service model. He explained, “Integrating all these businesses and acquisitions required a lot of effort. About four years ago we looked at duplication of processes across different businesses and identified what areas were best shared. Since then, the shift has been quite tremendous, and we can now much more clearly identify which people in which roles are really supporting the
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HR COMMUNITY
business.” Joramsa also noted the increasing use of digital analytics in order for organisations to better understand their customer needs. Demonstrating value A fundamental question from an HR perspective is how to define the value of shared services—particularly from the point of view of the board of directors. On this, Olsen shared that Kimberly-Clark has taken to using a Global Management Reporting system to ensure that all stakeholders have ‘one version of the truth’. He noted, “Benchmarking analytics is very important across different industries and ensuring everyone is looking at the same financial data—no matter whether in Dallas HQ, Singapore or elsewhere.” Keys to shared-service-model success, Joramsa highlighted, is the importance of accurate costing in aligning the strategic direction of shared services, but noted flexibility was also critical. He said, “Outsourcing allows companies to shift certain work to lower cost centres and run more global services through those centres. Through this model, in the last 18 months at GE we have driven productivity up by 30% and we still have the same level of work and quality. Digitisation has helped us a lot.” Both throughout the transition to, and within, a shared service model HR must ensure a sufficient pipeline of suitably-skilled talent who are willing to take up work in the shared service centres. Another key challenge for HR in the journey towards a shared-service model
is ‘baselining’ in to ensure consistency across processes and across different business units. Shared service model extinction With the advancement of robotics, has this sounded the death knell of the shared service model? The short answer—no. Olsen elaborated, “Organisations are using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) a lot more nowadays, which has taken out a lot of the human element required for checking documents and data extraction. However, when you drive standard processes you will always still need a human element to deal with the exceptions. So you can drive up volumes with robotics, but it won’t do away with the need for shared service centres and the expertise they bring in managing processes.” Olsen added, “Nowadays, we use shared service centres as Centres of Excellence to manage an entire raft of process, and only outsource certain functions that are more region-specific such as tax reporting and compliance. We also use our global service centres to help provide analytics into regional markets.” On that note Joramsa cautioned HR, “You need to appoint a lead controller who will oversee the various businesses and provide insight. But to make sure this works properly they also need to be supported by a general ledger group—as it is too difficult for one central centre to handle all of this. “Now we have an initial audit from a compliance perspective. We are also dealing
a lot with dealers and partners and to look into process which we can consolidate and integrate, e.g. financial health assessment of dealers. So a hybrid model has been developed and we have seen good traction with this.” HR out of comfort zone Maite Cunanan Palmer, Finance Shared Services Director in the Philippines for Coca-Cola Bottlers Business Services Inc. picked up on the important topic of HR reporting and the importance of building better business partnerships to deliver greater business value. Palmer stressed the importance of moving away from the traditional model of simply ‘reporting’ and towards providing financial ‘insights’. Palmer said, “This means HR and the CFO are often moving out of their comfort zones. They need to stop being focused on minute details and not be afraid to provide indicators to help grow the business. Partnering in this way may require a different set of skills, but understanding the pains and risks of the customers, establishing credibility and building trust are all key to driving strategies higher up the hierarchy.” Analytics to pull HR into the Board Eric Riego De Dios, Human Resources Director, Baker & McKenzie, Global Services in Manila spoke on the importance of ensuring strong project management skills in HR. He explained, “To help with relabelling employees and redeploying them into the most suitable roles organisations need to see HR move into a much more strategic arena in terms of political and legal agenda, aside from the usual transactional functions.” Sharing from
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HR COMMUNITY
his former role as HR Leader, IBM Solutions Delivery, he added, “IBM, when looking at attrition, introduced a statistical and analytical model that could analyse different trends across multiple regions—allowing modelling of the best possible interventions. In this way, the company was able to drive global attrition down from 30% to just 10%.” The key to success in achieving such results is to be outward looking and develop market awareness so that HR can be the marketer for their organisation. Taking on this role also helps pull HR into the board instead of having to push themselves. HR as translator David Chin, CHRO, Biosensors International Group reiterated the need for HR strategy to be linked to the business strategy, but candidly admitted that in reality it is often very difficult to achieve this—especially where a company’s business strategy is sometimes unclear. He noted, “Part of HR’s role is translation: taking the business plan, looking for the key themes and distilling this down and translating it into workable people strategies. You need to look at what your cost structure looks like and use big data to model what best practices and possible restructuring ae required in order to bring cost savings.” Chin also stressed the need for HR strategies to be standardised and integrated, to build well-rounded HR professionals and avoid keeping them in ‘silo-ed’ roles. Pratap Gopal Krishnan, Senior Director HR, Maersk Global Services Centre examined how HR can help their organisation transform by moving up the value chain. To facilitate this
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transformation, Krishnam highlighted three key missions for HR, “Firstly, training is critical in order to help build HR skills in advanced HR analytics. Secondly, HR must create diverse leadership to champion core strategies. Thirdly, HR must establish a clear career framework for staff. And in the longer term, HR must look at finance as a function in the future.”
The cloud, viewed by some as ‘a storm’ driving disruption and change, in Chin’s opinion is actually a source of power—a power which can help HR make a difference. He went on to detail four key advantages that HR can leverage through adoption of cloud technology: 1.
He also stressed the importance of HR seeing eye-to-eye with all stakeholders and proactively getting business partners to share how they think the organisation could best fix issues upstream and not being afraid to challenge the existing way of thinking internally. He added, “HR is a business, not a business partner—if you can’t challenge the business leaders then you won’t be taken seriously.” HR holy grail David Chin, CHRO, Biosensors International Group gave insight on technology mega trends and the future of HR services. He noted that within the continually evolving world in which HR works, the only thing that was constant—was change. He said, “The HR Holy Grail is to become a trusted advisor and partner—technology is the key which allows transaction stuff to put in a bucket that can be handled by someone else, freeing up HR to then focus on the more strategic and value-adding services.” Looking at this workplace technolog y, Chin outlined the three most significant HR technolog y trends as being the cloud, mobile devices and the ability to integrate modules into systems.
2.
3. 4.
Greater flexibility—in terms of global reach and rapid deployment, giving HR instant real-time access to a raft of data such as global headcounts, grades and reporting relations. HR then needs to filter out just the critical data required to avoid analysis paralysis. Data accuracy—but in driving data accuracy, the data must be made manageable for HR, so they can focus just on what is really needed. Cost reduction—with reduced administrative costs and time savings. Standardisation—as on the Cloud all stakeholders can be tied to and kept up-to-speed with what everyone else is doing. Chin noted, “Adopting a globally standardised model is often a good idea because the trade off in terms of slight loss of functionality is usually far outweighed by the benefits of having everyone on the same platform.”
The continued evolution of HR technology can be a little intimidating at first, and certainly requires periods of training, adoption and careful transition. It does, however, currently seem to be empowering HR and helping facilitate shared service models rather than threatening their extinction.
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HR TRAINING
Gearing up for the 2016 HKMA Award for Excellence in Training and Development Learning and Development is becoming more strategic than ever before—and thus innovation, creativity and passion needed for training is crucial. Recognising excellence in this respect spreads good practice and this is what the HKMA 2016 Award for Excellence in Training and Development tries to achieve. Anthony Ward Rushton, Chairman of the Organising Committee shared his thoughts and expectations for this year’s awards.
As one of the major events in the L&D calendar, the Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA)’s Award for Excellence in Training and Development sets out to recognise the great work done by those in the profession in respect to skills training and development. Anthony Ward Rushton, Regional Head of Learning— Asia Pacific, Human Resources, HSBC—and the awards’ Organising Committee Chairman—is under no doubt about the value of these prestigious awards. He stated, “The Awards are about giving recognition to trainers for their hard work and passion towards training and development. To get that external recognition is really valuable and demonstrates how professional the training industry actually is. Getting recognition is a big thing—it’s not just your own organisation saying ‘well done and thank you very much—that was a great training intervention’, it’s also externally recognised that it was creative and innovative.”
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L&D developments and challenges With rough economic seas over the past decade, the training industry—like any other—has faced significant challenges. Demands for programmes which are more relevant and cost effective are issues that are difficult to balance with quality. Though, according to Rushton, companies have not been deterred. He said, “What I have noticed over the last few years is that training intervention has actually been shorter, sharper, more impactful and more creative. More thought is going into what can be done before the programme to make it crisper and cleaner, and then follow-up to make sure training is embedded through ongoing activities.” In addition to this, L&D professionals have responded to calls for more relevant training. In this respect, Rushton added, programmes have become more business-focused by concentrating on live business issues through case studies that mimic real life.
HR TRAINING
What does it take to win? Now heading into his third year as Chairman, with all the developments in the L&D sphere, Rushton recognises that the award is certainly not short of potential winners. He commented, “When you look at a trainer’s profile, you can see their passion in the industry. They want to do the best possible job whether it is designing a programme, the prep work, the dialogue they have with the business or the delivery, 100% of those people doing those roles are passionate and want to create impactful training interventions.”
He added, “To win the award, companies who are invited to present their programme need to think really carefully about the audience listening to their presentation. Being successful requires you to know the programme inside out—the audience are most likely hearing it for the first time. They need to ask themselves: does my presentation make logical sense? They need to approach it from an ‘outside looking in’ perspective—and it is useful to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, not to a mirror on the wall, but to people hearing it for the first time.”
If those competitors want to win though, Rushton highlighted one trait that, above all, he and the panel are looking for: passion. He explained, “When contenders are presenting in the preliminary rounds, you can see the ones who are truly passionate about their training interventions. This is done in a professional way of course but we look for the genuine desire to do a really good and successful training programme. They should also show that they have kept in mind what is driving this training initiative, what the business impact is and how they have kept that at the forefront at all stages of the training programme.”
What to expect this year With the awards being so prestigious and authoritative, one might expect only the biggest companies with the best resources to be decorated with all the prizes. However, Rushton said to expect the unexpected, “What really gets me motivated when doing these awards are those unexpected winners—those from fairly small organisations who are up against the big players—those are the ones that stick out for me. I was so pleased that Help the Aged won the Gold Award last year because it’s really nice that it is not just the big firms being recognised.”
He added, “So this year, encouraging small to medium organisations—those with 500 employees or less—is a big focus. We are hoping we’ll again see a further improvement in the wide variety of organisations taking part. The trend has been positive these last several years, in terms of more small to medium organisations but we want that trend to continue and we want that to be even more prominent.”
Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2016 Seminar on “Benchmark Your Training and Development Practices With Some Of The Excellent Organizations” Tuesday, 14 June 2016 8.30 am – 5.45 pm Room N101 (Keynote Speech and Seminar) Bauhinia Room (Lunch) Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre 1 Expo Drive (New Wing) Wanchai, Hong Kong Contact: Ms Ellis Yeung 2826 0532 / ellisyeung@hkma.org.hk Ms Elsie Chan 2826 0535 / elsiechan@hkma.org.hk Date: Time: Venue:
The awards are about giving recognition to trainers for their hard work and passion towards training and development. To get that external recognition is really valuable and demonstrates how professional the training industry actually is. Anthony Ward Rushton
Regional Head of Learning—Asia Pacific, Human Resources, HSBC
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HR TRAINING
Companies need to reinvent themselves in the midst of a changing workforce and global economy—but how to unlock the innovation and motivation within the workforce that will drive companies towards a brighter future? HR Magazine spoke to John Raymond, Head of Coaching, IECL about why coaching should be a crucial tool in ever yone’s toolbox.
Restructuring is one way that organisations around the world can adapt to a changing business landscape, and in many ways it is a very sensible thing to do given that we know that the right structure is key for a high performing organisation. We also know that restructuring is expensive both in monetary terms and for human capital. Whilst leaders in HR and business are often at odds about the best way to manage this often challenging process, John Raymond, Head of Coaching, IECL suggested that the conversations that are being had are not helping in the way they should—or could. He made the argument that asking higher quality questions would deliver better business outcomes for both HR and leaders alike. He stated, “Obviously, performance is always an ongoing challenge for leaders—how do I get people to be more productive with often less resources? While at the same time encouraging agility and innovation? How do I retain good talent? How do I engage my staff? How do I develop them? How do I promote the wellbeing of my people?” Coaching has become too popular These are questions that HR is all too familiar with—but while one might expect Raymond to talk about how coaching solves all these problems, his thoughts on the subject were remarkably surprising. He stated, “Coaching has become too popular. I think coaching
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needs to sit in service of a business imperative rather than be the business imperative— coaching is a means not an end. And therefore I believe it's dangerous talking about things like a ‘coaching culture’ or even labelling appointments or roles as coaching as it can lead to thinking that coaching is separate to or not aligned with the broader business needs.” He added, “To me, the label can get in the way of the work that coaching can do and undermine its proven powerful impact. I would much rather see these labels reflecting business outcomes. Call the coaching conversation an innovation chat, or a productivity dialogue or almost anything others than a coaching session!” In fact, Raymond insisted, coaching can play a much more sophisticated role within the business. He compared it to having a Ferrari but not really knowing how to drive it. Coaching has so much potential yet most organisations never get out of first gear. So what is coaching? There is still much confusion over what coaching is—and of course what it is not. Raymond explained, “This is one of the primary reasons why coaching still has so much potential to realise.” Too often coaching is confused with mentoring—or even fused together with it. He elaborated, “If I go to a mentor, I expect them to have some experience that I want to draw down on and often I am looking for advice and guidance. If I go to a coach, I would be expecting them to ask me questions and challenge my thinking to get me to draw on my own knowledge and experiences.” Most organisational conversations sit down the ‘telling’ end of the continuum—feedback, expectation setting, managing, training, mentoring. Coaching,on the other hand,is very much on the ‘asking’ end of the continuum— and it focuses on getting the employee to do the thinking for themselves. For organisations to be innovative, agile; an engaging place to work in or become a learning organisation, activating employees’ thinking is a key task. Bringing a coaching approach to your conversations facilitates this outcome.
For example, to get more value from your training efforts, adding coaching will increase the embedding of the learning by around 80%. Creating a culture where leaders ask their team members simple questions around workshops they attend such as ‘what did you learn?’, ‘how can you utilise that?’, ‘how can you make sure that you remember it in two weeks’ time?’, and ‘what support do you need from me?’ will make a huge impact to integrating the learning back into the real world. It is through questions like these that employees and business leaders can hope to unlock the potential required to take the organisation into the future. The Asian Challenge Though when it comes to one of the world’s fastest growing regions, critical thinking is understandably a challenge—especially in places like China where saving face and even respecting hierarchy and seniors is so prevalent. Raymond commented, “While working in China—although not so much in Hong Kong—I have noticed that quite a lot of people don’t even know what critical thinking is and when I talk about it, they think it is about ‘how can I be critical of you?’ rather than, ‘how can I think critically about this situation?’” He added, “It’s a major challenge but quite often when you ask a coaching-style question, it’s not that they don’t know the answer, it’s just that they don’t know how to think to get to the answer. Critical thinking as a skill is quite young and in some cases absent. But, if businesses are asking the question of how we can continue to drive growth through change and innovation, you won’t be able to do that unless you can add some critical thinking to it. So asking questions is one of the ways that you can develop that critical thinking capability.” Embedding coaching into culture Changing organisational coaching is not an easy task so the question arises: how can coaching be embedded into the culture? One powerful contributor to successful culture change is the role modelling that occurs at the senior and executive levels. So in this respect, Asian companies can utilise their strong hierarchical nature to introduce a coaching approach to leadership.
HR TRAINING
a leadership imperative Why coaching is an essential tool in HR’s toolbox Speaking about a large Australian organisation, Raymond explained, “In terms of a world-class example of the coaching imperative being role-modeled is when the CEO coached an executive, live, on stage, impromptu in front of the company’s top 200 leaders— he asked some simple questions that challenged their thinking and got them to thinking more thoroughly through the results of their business unit for the past quarter.” The idea of the CEO modelling coaching as a leadership competency in this way means that the practice is taken seriously by leaders and will most likely permeate down through the organisation. Even with the greatest of intentions and powerful role modelling to embed such practice, it is hard for some managers to get over the mindset that coaching is ‘nice to have’ but not a ‘need to have’ or ‘I don’t have time to do something else’. Quite often it is the case that the pressures leaders are under to meet their performance metrics reduce their capacity to develop such skills significantly. Though, as Raymond explained, the trick is to change the way you conduct the conversations you are already having rather than thinking about ‘adding’ another conversation to the mix and there are some relatively simple ways to put it into practice. He explained, “For example, you could take a more coaching approach in your morning meeting for sales by asking a few more deliberate questions—and not collapsing and giving the answers away! Managers could ask questions like, ‘what are your two priorities this week?’, ‘how are you going to ask for support to ensure you achieve them?’, ‘what might get in the way?’, ‘what impact will this have on the customer?’, ‘how will you measure you progress?’, ‘how will you measure the effectiveness of your actions?’”
to bring about more innovation into work practices, a question that should be asked is ‘how does the physical environment of the office support coaching-style conversations to be had to unleash innovative thinking?’ Raymond remarked, “In terms of office layout, you see that agile working or activity-based working is starting to play a role in driving human performance. What that does is give people the freedom to work in the way that is best for them. People have different preferences of working and different tasks are done better in specific environments. So as organisations strive to unlock higher productivity and more innovation, providing physical environments that enable these conversations does makes sense. As such, it might be beneficial for businesses to seek to provide more variety to their spaces which allow for coaching conversations to take place—such as little pods for example that have a table and soundproof furniture—informal yet confidential. Reforming human performance Having culture enforced through environment and from the initiative of CEO is key from implementation but what does coaching look like in practice? In essence, it is about asking questions that really challenge thinking— questions that often do not get asked.
HR
Citing the problem of current business performance measurements, Raymond explained how asking a different question can lead to improved performance, “the question many L&D professionals are asked around their performance is ‘how many initiatives have been run this year?’Where I think a more effective question is: ‘what was the impact of the initiatives you ran this year?’Two very similar questions with very different answers and the first is much easier to answer than the latter. The latter would challenge people’s thinking and lead to a rich discussion about embedding and integrating learning to impact the business. What of the future? As for the future of coaching, Raymond explained that, despite its ups and downs, coaching has become a respected and established practice. The real question therefore is how to build on this solid foundation. Raymond said, “The future of coaching, in organisations at least, is more about leaders having coaching skills rather than people like myself—as an external coach—coming in and providing coaching. How do we create the psychological safety for people not to know, for people to think differently, to take a risk, to challenge their thinking to step outside the box? It’s what people are asking of their businesses to do and that’s where I think coaching needs to play a key role.”
JOHN RAYMOND Head of Coaching IECL
Office environments Often when developing soft skills with your leaders, the focus is on training. Rarely is attention placed on the role the physical layout of the office plays in enabling quality conversations. So with businesses striving
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HR LEGAL
HK COMPETITION ORDINANCE Why HR needs to tread more carefully in 2016 The Hong Kong Competition Ordinance (Cap. 619) (Ordinance) came into effect on 14 December 2015. Anti-trust laws have been long-established in the US, Europe and Australia—they make for good business practice. In Hong Kong, the Competition Commission has stated that it is ready to be ‘an effective enforcer of the competition law which will support Hong Kong's open economy by ensuring fair and free markets for all’. But what exactly has this got to do with HR— and what action does HR need to take to make sure it doesn’t fall foul of the Law? We spoke to Fiona Loughrey, Partner, Simmons & Simmons to get her take on what the Ordinance actually means and its implications for human resources directors. The Commission The Ordinance, which was first enacted almost four years ago, in June 2012, among other things aims to prohibit conduct that prevents, restricts or manipulates competition in Hong Kong. It is enforced by the Competition Commission and Competition Tribunal. The Commission is chaired by Ms Anna Wu Hung Yuk—appointed by the CE in May 2013, along with 13 other members representing various sectors. No enforcement action has been announced by the Commission since the Ordinance came into effect, but the Commission will publish registers of decisions, infringement and warning notices, and block exemption applications and orders, on its website—at the time of going to print, one block exemption order application had been received. The Ordinance The Ordinance contains three competition rules: 1. First Conduct Rule—prohibits anti-competitive conduct involving more than one party; 2. Second Conduct Rule—prohibits a party with substantial market power abusing its position; and 3. Merger Rule—prohibits anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions by telecoms carrier licensees. The Government has published a series of Guidelines for all businesses to help them understand the scope and implication of the Ordinance together with an SME Toolkit focused on compliance with the First Conduct Rule—being the rule most relevant to SMEs. Details are on the Commission’s website: www.compcomm.hk.
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Key Prohibitions First Conduct Rule The First Conduct Rule prohibits anti-competitive conduct involving more than one party that has the intention, or effect, of restricting competition in the market. This means that agreements and even ‘cooperative arrangements’ between parties which restrict competition in Hong Kong became illegal. The First Conduct Rule does not apply to arrangements between businesses where their combined turnover is less than HKD 200 million so long as that arrangement is not serious anti-competitive conduct, i.e. cartels engaging in: • Price fixing—where multiple organisations collaboratively set prices or elements relating to prices such as discounts and price ranges; • Market sharing—where parties collude to allocate different segments of the market amongst themselves e.g. by territory or customer type. An example of this is collusive poaching—where HR and/or senior management in several organisations work together to poach key talent from a competitor in order to bring about a disadvantage to that competitor. • Bid rigging—during a tender process agreeing with competitors what bid they should make in order to ‘rig’ the tender exercise in favour of one organisation; and • Output restrictions—where competitors agree to limit their production/ sales outputs to help drive up prices and maximise their market positions. The Commission is expected to deal with infringements of this nature most seriously. For other lesser infringements—unless repeated incidents occur—it will first issue a warning.
Second Conduct Rule The Second Conduct Rule prohibits a single business that has significant market power from abusing that position through anti-competitive conduct. The Second Conduct Rule does not apply to a business with a turnover of less than HKD 40 million per annum.
Merger Rule The Ordinance also prohibits mergers or acquisitions which will, or are likely to, substantially reduce competition in Hong Kong—and is currently limited to telecoms carrier licensees.
Penalties Businesses found to have infringed a Conduct Rule can, amongst other sanctions, be fined up to 10% of their Hong Kong turnover, and possible sanctions against individuals include relevant Directors being disqualified and criminal sanctions for obstructing an investigation by the competition authorities.
!
HR BEWARE! Beware of information sharing— sharing information is part and parcel of legitimate commercial behaviour. However, sharing competitively-sensitive commercial secrets with a competitor such as salaries and benefit packages—even informally over drinks after work—is likely to constitute anti-competitive behaviour. Beware of collusive poaching— HR must not work with other organisations to formulate hiring strategies that target poaching staff from competitor organisations. Beware of recruitment agreements— HR must not discuss salary levels and trends with other organisations in order to try and agree upon a fixed salary range for recruitment. Non-compete clauses in employment contracts are unlikely to be affected—as they are just set between the employee and the employer and do not involve collusion with any third parties.
HR LEGAL
What can HR do to mitigate risks? There are several approaches that HR can take in order to help ensure compliance with the Ordinance. 5. 1.
Eliminate cartel risk—if HR perceives any engagement in cartel activity they should keep a log of the cartel risks identified and how they have been dealt with, and then consider seeking legal advice, remembering that the competition authorities offer leniency to the first business that reports the cartel.
2.
Modify business practices: HR can work with senior executives to help modify existing business practices in order to achieve a similar outcome in a manner which is not anti-competitive. Loughrey cautioned, “Those in HR must be careful when obtaining market information—for example, about salary ranges. If they obtain such information by directly or indirectly contacting competitors to ascertain what their ranges are—this would likely be considered anti-competitive. They should, rather, obtain such information from generic open sources such as salary surveys and the media.”
3.
Appoint a compliance officer: HR should appoint a person to be responsible for the compliance strategy.
4.
Develop a competition compliance policy: HR should work with their legal and/or compliance team to develop a workable compliance policy. Competition compliance is the responsibility of all employees and HR together with the CEO, senior management and the board should lead by example and should prepare a written statement setting out their personal commitment to competition compliance.
6.
Provide training to staff: HR has a responsibility to communicate and explain their compliance strategy to staff for implementation. Organise simple workshops to ensure staff—especially those coming into contact with competitors, suppliers or customers—have a basic understanding of the Ordinance and the key DOs and DON’Ts. HR should deliver a strong message that compliance with the Ordinance is everyone’s responsibility. Keep a record of employees who attend training. Loughrey confirmed, “Education is a really important function for HR, to ensure that staff members understand the DOs and DON’Ts when it comes to compliance.” Implement extra measures for higher risk staff: HR should consider targeting training for ‘higher risk’ staff members e.g. frontline sales staff and staff participating in ‘higher risk events’ such as annual industry conferences where competitors will be present. Loughrey added, “HR should work closely with the compliance team to ensure that higher-risk staff such as salespersons and senior representatives are given clear examples of what they can and cannot do.” She noted, “It’s important for HR to ensure staff understand they need to be careful with sensitive information—not just in the office, but even in social situations. Suggestions, by a person associated with the Commission in November 2015, to the effect that individuals, not just their corporate employers, could be fined, has caused concern and this needs to be clarified. The Commission has to date not given any real guidance on this, and has indicated that it considers the matter to be a question it will leave the Competition Tribunal to decide.”
7.
Circulate guidelines and protocols: HR should circulate the Commission’s SME Brochure to all staff and ensure they read it and understand the key concepts therein. Where needed HR can also prepare additional guidelines and protocols to help staff manage risks, e.g. guidelines for staff attending trade association or industry meetings, guidelines on how to handle competitively-sensitive information and guidelines on how to deal with competition law complaints—both internal and external.
8.
Encourage compliance: In businesses with a higher risk profile, HR should consider introducing additional measures to encourage staff to comply with the Ordinance. For example, developing appropriate protection for whistleblowers or imposing sanctions for staff who engage in competition law breaches.
Don’t worry, you’re not on your own: trade associations can usually provide help with competition compliance issues—but bear in mind they too will be under the Commission’s spotlight in relation to information sharing; and if you get really stuck, seek legal advice.
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HR LEGAL
Contributors: Julia Gorham, Head of Employment—Asia; Johnny Choi, Of Counsel—Beijing; Alan Wang, Associate—Shanghai; and Vivienne Jin, Associate, Beijing, DLA Piper
In September 2015, the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai made a decision to uphold a former senior manager’s claim for reinstatement, which has drawn a lot of attention. It is widely believed, at least in Shanghai, that a court will not order reinstatement of a former senior manager if the company’s board of directors passes a resolution supporting the dismissal. The latest decision overthrows this idea and is bad news for employers who may need to dismiss senior managers. However, in a slight twist which is helpful for employers, the court did not reinstate the former senior manager into the original position which has already been taken up by a successor appointed by the company. It ordered the company to resume employing the former senior manager—but in an unspecified role and pay him average wages
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of the company. Going forward, employers in Shanghai who intend to replace their senior managers will need to assess the risk of a successful reinstatement claim in its separation negotiation and defence strategies. The Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai (Intermediate Court) is normally the court of final appeal for labour dispute cases in Shanghai. Chinese courts are not bound by the doctrine of precedent, though reviewing recent decisions are helpful to understand potential outcomes and navigate the risks. This article will discuss the recent decision of September 2015 as well as other relevant decisions. Case summary The case reported in the introduction is between Shanghai Jahwa Co Ltd (Jahwa) and its former General Manager, Mr Wang. Wang worked
at Jahwa between 1991 and 1997, and later between 2004 and 2014, he was appointed General Manager in 2012. In 2013, there was a finance audit on Jahwa, which resulted in Jahwa paying substantial fines to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Following an internal review of the incident, Jahwa's board of directors removed Wang as the General Manager on 12 May 2014 and a notice was sent to him the next day to terminate his employment with immediate effect. Wang claimed wrongful termination and requested reinstatement. The Second Intermediate Court decided that Jahwa’s decision to terminate Wang’s employment was erroneous. The issue identified by the CSRC had existed since 2008 but Wang only became the General Manager at the end of 2012 so he could not be held primarily responsible. More importantly, the court held that:
HR LEGAL The Second Intermediate Court ordered Jahwa to resume employment with Wang and pay Wang the average wage of the company but not his full wage from his previous role. Comparison with other decisions The decision in Jahwa is consistent with some of the recent decisions by the Intermediate Courts in Shanghai but not others. In the case Qian Weisheng vs Shanghai Jiajie Environmental Protection Engineering Co Ltd, the Second Intermediate Court took a similar view that a board resolution to remove a senior manager may result in an adjustment to the senior manager’s position. Its judgement dated January 2014 states, “The removal of Qian Weisheng’s role as General Manager pursuant to the board resolution is compliant with company law and the articles of association of Jiajie Co. Accordingly, it is not possible to perform the employment contract signed by both parties, so it is appropriate for Jiajie Co to arrange for Qian Weisheng to work as a technical lead at the technical department and determine the salary based on the new role.” In contrast, in the case Fulvge Paint Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd vs Miao Jun, the First Intermediate Court took a more employer-friendly approach by rejecting any form of reinstatement outright. It held in May 2015 that the company’s termination decision is erroneous as there is lack of evidence of the misconduct.
1.
2.
Removal of a senior manager by board resolution does not automatically lead to termination of employment. The court stated, “The board’s right to appoint or remove senior managers is a right granted by company law… For those senior managers who are employees of the company, removal of their roles through board resolution must be regarded a position adjustment, but that does not automatically lead to termination of their employment." Wang could be reinstated despite the board resolution removing him and appointing a replacement. The court took the view that even if the role of General Manager is no longer available because the board of directors removed Wang from the role and appointed a replacement, Wang indicated that he is willing to be placed in another position and he has taken various positions at Jahwa before. Therefore, Jahwa can arrange an appropriate role for Wang in accordance with his ability and knowledge and the company’s operational needs.
However, the board of directors has passed a resolution removing the plaintiff from her role and “The position of deputy general manager of Fulvge Shanghai Co has been taken up by another person, therefore, the court rejects Miao Jun's request for resumption of the employment relationship.”
The employer-friendly decision in Fulvge echoes the view expressed by the Second Intermediate Court in January 2011 in the case of Ruan Xusheng vs Xunda (China) Escalators Co Ltd. The court said, “Since the General Manager has a direct impact on the stability of the company’s production and operations, whether such contracts can resume needs to be considered more carefully…Xunda Co has appointed Mr Fang as General Manager of its Shanghai branch, the role is replaced by another person… therefore, the resumption of the contract in dispute is not necessary and not possible.” Conclusion The decisions summarised above reflect an approach taken by the Shanghai courts which recognise that it is impossible to reinstate a former senior manager into his/her original position if the board of directors has passed a resolution removing him/her from the position and appointed a replacement. However, the approach taken in Jahwa and similar cases is that although reinstatement into the original position is impossible, the employer is still required to resume the employment relationship. This approach is not taken by the Shanghai courts in all cases and will add more uncertainty to employers seeking to remove senior executives in Shanghai. Going forward, employers in Shanghai who intend to replace their senior managers will need to assess the risk of a successful reinstatement claim in its separation negotiation and defence strategies. The risk assessment will need to take into account both the risk of a full reinstatement of the employee into the original position and the risk of a partial reinstatement of the employee into a different position.
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HR TECHNOLOGY
Employees—greatest cyber security risk Employees are the lifeblood of an organisation, technology helps facilitate ways in which they can work at their optimum. But is this always the case? According to 56% of nearly 2,000 information security experts worldwide in EY’s latest Global Information Security Survey 2015, employees are considered to be the most likely source of cyber attacks within organisations. What’s more, in Hong Kong and China, current and
former employees make up 50% of the main cited source of security incidents, according to PwC’s The Global State of Information Security ® Survey 2015. While it may not be of comfort for HR to learn that employees are regarded as one of the highest sources of risk, the solutions are not as complex or technical as they may first seem— but they do require a strong HR input.
Who or what do you consider to be the most likely source of cyber attack? Criminal syndicate Employee Hacktivists Lone Wolf hacker On-site external contracter State-sponsored attacker Supplier Other business partner Customer Others
59% 56% 54% 43% 36% 35% 14% 13% 12% 3% 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Source: EY’s Global Information Security Survey 2015
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Breaking down the Hollywood stereotype While most would associate cyber-attacks with dramatic malfunctions or a rogue employee conducting a spectacular theft of valuable assets seen in Hollywood crime thrillers, the reality is actually more subtle and low-key. When defining cyber-attacks exclusively to HR Magazine, Ken Allan, Global Cybersecurity Leader, EY explained, “A cyber attack is any malicious activity that relates to an organisation’s systems, data, business processes—and I say malicious but actually we include in the category ‘stupidity’ because it is possible for people to make mistakes and create vulnerabilities and risks that then relate to cyber-related losses.” Such mistakes are humble and seem harmless in the beginning. Allan elaborated, “The best example of that is receiving an email that says ‘go click on this link’ and that link will download a piece of malware that then starts to listen to your key strokes—and we call that phishing.” This is only one type of attack—such actions may lead to lots of interconnected, seemingly harmless attacks which are in fact diverting security officers’
HR TECHNOLOGY attention away from another major attack. In other cases, malware may find its way into a system and lie dormant until triggered by another event. There are numerous possibilities and the attacks are becoming more sophisticated. Cost of security breaches For their part, the boards largely get it. In Hong Kong and China, the issue has certainly been taken seriously with budgets for cyber-security averaging around USD 7.9 million in 2015 compared with USD 5.1 million globally, according to PwC. However, despite this, security incidents in Hong Kong and China saw a rapid increase in 2015 by 417% and the average total financial loss because of that was USD 2.63 million—higher than the global average. It is an incentive to get more strategic—as Allan added, “My encouragement is for boardrooms to be bolder in allocating resources, including human resources, to get ahead of the problem.”
game called Game of Threats. Megan Haas, Forensic Services Partner, PwC China explained, “It lets executives experience the pressures of decision making, as well as the consequences that stem from cyber-attacks. The software gives a hands-on demonstration of the value of adequate cyber-security controls and strategies.” Playing the game as one of the many types of hacker, whether it be a lone wolf or a nation state, players are tasked with the job of hacking a fictional computer system with the resources they are given. Dealt with a few cards, the players are rewarded for making good moves or penalised for making bad decisions. All of this can be done with the touch of an iPad and is a highly interactive activity that can be done in groups.
Inculcating common sense It is in this respect that Human Resources can thrive in its element. As the entity that ensures employee performance and training, HR needs to be on the frontline of ensuring common-sense practice against cyber-attacks. Attacks are becoming more sophisticated by the day and so HR needs to firstly raise awareness. Allan suggested, “Organisations need an awareness programme, an education programme and they need people to be vigilant. Employees need to understand what these attacks look like so then they can help to defend the organisation.” One innovative cyber-security training solution for employees that have recently been launched by PwC in Hong Kong in December is a new digital
Spotting the obvious While cyber attacks do come from innocent mistakes—firms also need to be vigilant about malicious intent. On the subject of identifying malicious and anomalous behaviour, Allan insists, is not about spotting colleagues who are indulging in drugs and alcohol at lunchtime, but it is more to do with looking at anomalous behaviour in large data sets. HR contributes by providing input into what the norms and behaviours are that can then be modelled using data science and analytics to spot anomalies. He explained, “HR professionals, by implication, are people who understand human behaviour. So, if you can capture that understanding and knowledge and model it in terms of what good behaviour looks like, then you can use the technology to help understand something that does not look the same as the good norm.”
To some extent this is already happening. According to business and IT security executives in Hong Kong and China who PwC surveyed, 95% of them adopted information security frameworks, 81% collaborate with others to improve information security and 72% employed a Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) or similar. Security sophistication is one solution but if boardrooms are to be bolder, they need to tackle the real elephant in the room—the cause of the attack. According to information security experts who spoke to EY, 44% of them ranked careless or unaware employees as one of the vulnerabilities which has increased their risk exposure over the last year. Allan commented, “You need an aware group of employees that know what the vulnerabilities, the risks and attacks look like—a lot of it is common sense.”
This does not just require technical skills but it requires people with a combination of creative and analytical skills to come up with solutions for the future. Whereas EY once only recruited computer science or software engineering people, they are now open—and insist their clients also need to be open—to hiring people that have a much broader and more diverse set of skills. HR on this issue needs to avoid narrowing the selection of people to deal with this.
Future proofing HR though should be mindful of the future. With technology advancing at such a fast pace year-on-year, in its recruitment and allocation capacity, HR should be getting certain employees to be developing solutions for the future. Taking the example of the mobile phone, Allan said, “Mobile phones had been around a long time and smartphones for several years before we got round to understanding the security implications as they connected to our corporate systems. Only then did we apply people to solve those problems whereas we could have anticipated, or we should have anticipated, the security implications of connecting smartphones to our corporate systems and designed the security controls at the time instead of after the event. So we need people thinking about which technologies are coming next and how to secure them?”
Building up a big data set on this is something IT and HR should not be afraid of. Allan elaborated, “There are physical limitations to how much data you can store—but technology is solving that problem. It doesn’t matter if it cybersecurity or customer analytics or anything that requires a big data set—the larger the data set and more powerful the analytics that sit on top of the data set, the more chance you have of understanding those data flaws and anomalies.” Cyber-attacks may be sophisticated but the origins are often not—and HR professionals should be at the frontline of providing solutions that could save millions of dollars each year.
KEN ALLAN Global Cybersecurity Leader, EY
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HR TECHNOLOGY
Getting HR into the fast lane Cutting down time-consuming processes to help HR deliver accurate results quickly HR knows all too well that managing headcount is time-consuming and, at worst, convoluted and complex—especially in larger organisations. Pressure is on HR to become more strategic but balancing this with cumbersome operational roadblocks is a major challenge. HR Magazine recently met with Ashley Clarke, COO, FlexSystem—where they have innovated to help HR with these issues. The beginning of a new year is always a time of reflection. Companies will be asking themselves what has been achieved or lost, and want to bring those experiences to the new budget year. For HR at this moment in particular, the questions that are being asked vary depending on company size but it may typically include working out total headcount expenditure, on-costs for pensions, travel, training and timing for changes throughout the year. This year the outlook for Hong Kong and the region is not looking bright and recruitment is slowing down, especially in some sectors like retail and tourism, indicative that the monthly budget and forecast cycles will be more intense. Ashley Clarke, COO, FlexSystem commented, “Organisations are aware of this turmoil and at this moment, are trying to work out the resources with senior management that are required for various scenarios to sustain operations and compete over the next financial year, with a particular focus on where they are going to expand and cutback.” The start of any new financial year is also the optimal time
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to streamline software processes to support strategies that help organisations develop a more intelligent and agile workforce. 80% on process, 20% on results Market conditions are going to be tougher and HR needs to make decisions with senior management about headcount and compensation, but to do this they need to understand where they are today. This can be challenging because of the effort required to get a complete view of the current situation, not to mention the impact on budgets of unforeseen staff changes, delayed or unauthorised hires, and outside influences such as FX rates, that might affect the business results as a whole. As Clarke explained, “If you just think about compensation calculations for budgets and forecasts for different industries, it’s a highly repetitive and integrated process. There are many interdependencies across many functions for everyone in the organisation, and any payroll output must comply with the relevant country Employment Ordinances, such as minimum wage. Calculations can also be tough for things like commission because there may be points of sale for varying products with different profit margins and possibly tiered commission payments making the process of working these out extremely difficult. Due to time constraints, and despite best intentions to do so, ranking and comparisons are not frequently done, adhoc spreadsheets are used to solve problems which then may get lost or are incomprehensible when an employee leaves
and, in more complex cases, best estimates may be used for variable pay calculations.” Fortunately, the latest software offerings aim to put HR in the driving seat by allowing them to leverage existing business systems and start to get more proactive, with systems working for them and not the other way around. With advanced technologies, HR can significantly reduce effort by deploying highly secure, user-specific software processes end-to-end, by leveraging systems already in place. Software can help with data collection and all process flows, from complex commission calculations to reporting. It also provides solid and reliable contextual insights for decisions, not only in the office where they are located, but across all entities under its remit, to gain much needed transparency. Process with zero footprint Speeding-up operational processes, and perhaps eliminating them, is no longer a ‘want’ but is a ‘need’ for HR and this is where FlexSystem’s advanced technologies and know-how comes into play. For the first time, Clarke claimed, the software enables complex processes and tasks to be undertaken and deployed by end users with few barriers. He added, “When you remove process steps, you remove friction and when those steps become repeatable, you suddenly have a lot more to gain because you are retaining that information and not having to design it all over again, even when staff move on unexpectedly.”
HR TECHNOLOGY
Moreover, because these pieces of software can be deployed over the internet with no software —i.e. creating zero footprints—the process comes with simplicity for the end user. Of course, that does not mean trading off functional capability, as processes can be very granular. Collaborative reviews can also be undertaken in training mode which allows HR to evaluate process steps, even for the most complex commission calculations, so that new staff can quickly understand what is being performed by the computer system. Proactive HR Clarke explained, “Not only is time freed up in processes but additional new technologies, such as continual monitoring and business simulations, can come into play on standard machines to drive HR forwards. Continual Monitoring, using Virtual Software Assistants, provides contextual alerts with relevant output. An example there might be consultants in the region who are fully utilised, but who have not yet taken any holiday and could be at risk of leaving. Another, from a recruitment perspective, might be receiving regular automatic aged unfilled key position listings from all operations. Processes can be based on simple or complex assessments and can be deployed with no software at each operation.” Business Simulations allow you to run scenarios to assess business impacts. An example might be the budget sensitivity of joining and ramp-up times based on past experiences. Another might be an assessment of required headcount
based on productivity levels achieved in recent years. These business simulations effectively allow organisations to take a snapshot and to experiment. Clarke added, “The key is driving value through shorter cycle times, better quality insights and lower costs of delivery of the planning process.” One key point here is that the process, reporting and visualisation is done in one go, even for compensation calculations, meaning that it is auditable, repeatable, fast and reconciles underlying payroll information at every stage. Cruising through the fast lane Despite the benefits, the idea of a major technological overhaul and replacement might sound like another headache in waiting but Clarke insists that such changes are not necessary as existing systems can be leveraged and solutions can be used to provide the glue between those different systems. Corporates can keep different systems in different places, but it does not mean they cannot reap the benefits that newer business systems can offer.
ASHLEY CLARKE COO, FlexSystem
Through such systems, and by reviewing the time taken on a process, HR does have the capacity to save time for the more strategic tasks that it is being asked to do. With companies now demanding their human resources departments take on more responsibilities, it could be of huge benefit to find ways to simplify and speed up all complex processes and complex tasks in favour of spending more time on the strategies that CEOs are eager to press ahead with.
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HR TECHNOLOGY
Recruitment goes mobile Insights into LinkedIn’s new mobile app The new app version of the popular professional networking site, LinkedIn, claims to make it easier to stay in touch with the people and information that help drive success. According to Ernst & Young (EY), millennials will constitute 72% of the global workforce— and their approach to career ladders is vastly different. Rather than wanting to go upwards, millennials think laterally about other opportunities at different firms—a seeming opportunity for recruitment. Yet as the world goes more mobile, traditional paper CVs seem to be a thing of the past. Millennials in particular are not as interested in spending the time to put together an application—quite often, it is said, they crave quicker and more seemless ways to connect. Migrating to mobile LinkedIn, in some respects, was a response to this problem. With more than 400 million
people worldwide now on its platform, it allows prospective employers and candidates to make contact more easily—and it even comes with an app. But even a great invention such as this needs a revamp for the new decade. Speaking to HR Magazine, Eric Yee, Head of Talent and Solutions—Hong Kong and Taiwan, LinkedIn explained, “The world has migrated to mobile—50% of LinkedIn’s users are already coming to the site through the mobile platform. The updated and improved new app connects you to all the benefits of LinkedIn, including your network, on a more accessible platform.” A multi-app strategy The results have been impressive. With the user interface designed to be more intuitive, the app is certainly stronger than before. Though with LinkedIn becoming so multi-faceted in its use, it is now living up to new realities. Yee explained, “The new
Your Feed (Home) provides relevant content from your network that will aid users during the work week. Yee elaborated, “Your Feed is content to help with your professional day, and we’ve based what you see on your industry, function and skills in addition to conversations and content you care about.”
Me represents the user’s professional brand. As Yee shared, “The Me page is your professional brand in a mobile snapshot. You can quickly check who’s viewed your profile, shared your posts or commented on them. An updated profile is essential to keeping your personal brand relevant.”
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Eric Yee
Head of Talent and Solutions— Hong Kong and Taiwan, LinkedIn
app brings more focus to the main, flagship app while realising our multi-app strategy. From the new app, it’s a seamless process to launch into other LinkedIn apps like Pulse, Groups and Job Search for a deeper, more dedicated experience.” So what has changed?
HR TECHNOLOGY
HIRING!
My Network, provides a daily briefing of what’s happening in your professional network. Yee said, “I love My Network for the daily briefing of my many connections it provides. I’ve also synced it with my calendar, so it updates me with the LinkedIn profile of the person I’m meeting with and our shared connections and interests.”
Messaging is a casual way to stay in touch, allowing you to initiate quicker conversations in a lighter-weight interface. The new service makes better use of the screen allowing users to see seven messages in preview on some devices, including the date, the first few words of the message and the sender’s name and profile photo.
Search is one of LinkedIn’s fastest and smartest search features to date. Yee explained, “People, jobs and groups are easier to find because Search is 300% faster and a lot smarter.”
Relevance for HR With the new app, it is true that all the benefits of LinkedIn are just a few taps away, whether users are looking for job opportunities or fresh talent, building networks or participating in groups. Though how does it fit into HR’s strategy? On this point, Yee commented, “For HR professionals and recruiters, LinkedIn offers Recruiter Mobile, an app specific to their needs. On the Recruiter app, you can respond instantly, with the ability to call, text, email
or InMail right from a candidate’s profile, a search feature and updates on candidate and team activity on your phone.” He added, “The new LinkedIn app’s improved accessibility is definitely an asset for HR professionals. You can be notified whenever a target talent in your network makes a change so you can make the most of any opportunity. The new, informalised Messaging function allows you to make a pitch without the feel of a hard sell.”
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HR TECHNOLOGY
Recruitment has long involved picking up the telephone, networking outside for candidates and screening the hundreds of CVs that pass recruiters’ desks every month. In recent years, tools such as LinkedIn have enhanced the ability of recruiters to accomplish such tasks— but the ground under their feet is fast-moving. Filtering out noise Simon Bradberry, Managing Director—Asia Pacific, Resource Solutions remarked at a recruitment outsourcing briefing in Hong Kong, “Recruitment is changing more now than at any point in the last 20 years.” The reasons why are nothing new. Technology is continually advancing towards an app-based world, Generation Y and Z are generally engaged with this a lot more than generations prior and the reality is that now they make up the vast majority of people firms want to hire. While many are still asking the question ‘why?’, the real question should be ‘how to deal with it’—and this can be a headache for recruiters. Oliver Harris, CEO, Resource Solutions stated, “People nowadays have a lot of expectations in terms of technology and we try to deliver that to clients. There is a minefield of systems and technologies out there—it is important to filter out what is relevant and will add value from the noise in the background.” Recruitment minefield Navigating the recruitment minefield is by no means an easy task—with hundreds of apps and pieces of software out there, it is hard to know where to start—but the process should start with understanding the candidate. Ian Blake, Business Systems Manager—APAC, Resource Solutions pointed out, “Like booking a taxi or if you are just looking for information on Facebook, it should be very easy for people to enter and complete and application process in seconds, on any device.” In this respect, recruiters should forgo the traditional CV. As Bradberry elaborated,
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Simon Bradberry and Ian Blake demonstrate talentsource candidate application module with ‘Apply with LinkedIn’ functionality. “People start their job searches on a mobile device—and they don’t have their CV there. But they still want to be able to tap, tap, tap and apply.” Application Program Interfaces (APIs) like ‘Apply with LinkedIn’ help as they take information from a candidate’s profile and use it to fill in application forms with ease and speed. Apps like Blippar go one stage further and bring augmented reality into the recruitment process. Here, scanning everyday objects by candidates then brings up interactive information about your company—a tool that is great for providing an extra ‘wow’ factor when trying to onboard applicants. Monkeys, games & videos It is important to use tools that also make life easier for the recruiter. When scouting for candidates, recruiters could use a simple platform like Network Monkey which searches multiple social media websites to come up with a list of likely candidates for a job, but one which also takes into account how likely the candidate is to move roles. This then means that the target list is already prioritised in the most appropriate order for the recruiter
thereby saving time and hopefully making the recruiter more productive. Further down the line, technology is useful for filtering candidates. Gamification technology in tools like Hacker Trail provides problemsolving challenges which is useful for knowing whether a candidate has the right skill-set. Equally, if recruiters are unsure about whether to bring in a candidate for an interview, video apps like Launchpad allow recruiters to see a short ‘video profile’ of a candidate to help effectively screen them. Relevance Talking about five applications alone is enough to blow some recruiters and clients away but the key to innovation in recruitment is firstly to understand your candidates and then your own needs. At the end of the day, it is important for recruiters to individually decide how to enhance their capabilities. Harris concluded, “It’s not technology for the sake of it, it’s about making it relevant. How does it enhance and improve? Once you have identified what you need, find your technologies and bring them together.”
HR BOOK REVIEW
Why should anyone work here?
What it takes to create an authentic organization By Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones Once upon a time, most high-flying companies had a strong culture in which employees fit in or did not—but today organisations don’t hold all the cards. With employee engagement levels low and falling, it is more important than ever for businesses to retain their best employees, but how? In Why should anyone work here? Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones from the London Business School identify key workplace characteristics that they believe engage individuals within their organisation and achieve their full potential. At the heart of their book is the idea that while companies once used to set the standard, today they need to adapt to the needs and desires of the people they would like to be part of their enterprise. Sustained high performance, it turns out, requires nothing less than a reinvention of the ordinary processes of an organisation. To resolve this, Goffee and Jones examines six key attributes—‘DREAMS’—that can help build and maintain authentic organisations.
Have a Nice Conflict
How to Find Success and Satisfaction in the Most Unlikely Places By Tim Scudder, Michael Patterson and Kent Mitchell Sales Manager John Doyle would consider his career a success—he’s the company’s top revenue driver and his ‘take-charge’ attitude gets the job done. However, when he is passed over for promotion— again—due to losing two direct reports which cite their reason for leaving as John's abrasive style, he is forced to reassess how he approaches his relationships. With the help of Mac, an expert in the art of Relationship Awareness Theory, John learns the three stages of conflict, and how he reacts in each. Written in the style of a story, the book navigates how John—and thus by-in-large other employees— can better navigate terse situations and express points in ways that resonate for other people, and thus prevent conflict. The book gives the reader insight into how conflict really works, the initial stages of conflict, how to navigate them to diffuse a situation and also includes guidance of moving beyond conflict to enhance relationships. Scudder, Patterson and Mitchell are the CEO, Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of Communications, Personal Strengths USA respectfully.
Becoming an Agile Leader
Know what to do…when you don’t know what to do By Victoria V. Swisher When was the last time you took on a job, assignment or project where the scope, expectations, and needed skills were crystal clear from the outset? In an increasingly complex world of work, it is unlikely that you can walk into any role knowing it all—and this is exactly the point that this book tries to hit on. In her lively and easy-to-read book, Victoria V. Swish delves into the increasingly likely situations where you will be faced with situations where there is more unknown than known. Exploring five key characteristics, or factors, of Learning Agility, the book is filled with more than 70 practical development tips, perfect for helping HR increase staff agility and ensure success in new assignments. By trade, Swisher is a Senior Intellectual Property Development Consultant for Korn Ferry who has extensive experience in HR development and overall talent management. She has written several articles and presented on Learning Agility and leadership development at major HR events.
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HR CLASSIFIEDS
HR Classifieds Index Business Process Outsourcing Education / Corporate Training Employee Wellbeing / Insurance HR Consulting HR Technology Solutions Leadership Development Legal / Employment Law / Tax
| 58 | 58 – 59 | 59 | 59 | 60 | 60 – 61 | 61
Management Consulting | 61 MICE Venues / Event Organisers | 62 Recruitment / Executive Search | 62 Relocation / Logistics | 63 Service Apartments / Hotels | 63 - 64 Staff Benefits | 64 Talent Management | 64
BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING Established in 1968, Boardroom has been listed on the Main Board of The Singapore Exchange since 2000. We are one of the leading business solution providers in Asia, specialising in Accounting & Finance, Corporate Secretarial, Payroll Administration, Share Registry and Tax Services.
Boardroom Corporate Services (HK) Limited 31/F, 148 Electric Road, North Point, Hong Kong
We currently have direct office presence in 13 cities across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Australia, serving a portfolio of over 5,500 publicly listed and privately owned companies across Asia Pacific and beyond. Our clients span a wide range of industries, including listed companies, Fortune 500 companies and major multinational corporations.
Tel: (852) 2598 5234 Fax: (852) 2598 7500 marketing.hk@boardroomlimited.com www.boardroomlimited.com
TMF Group helps global companies expand and invest seamlessly across international borders. Its expert accountants and legal, HR and payroll professionals are located around the world, helping clients to operate their corporate structures, finance vehicles and investment funds in different geographic locations. With operations in more than 80 countries providing managed compliance services, TMF Group is the global expert that understands local needs.
TMF Hong Kong Limited 36/F, Tower Two Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tricor Business Services partners with you to enhance your competitiveness and generate business value. Leveraging our suite of financial, accounting, human resource and advisory services, our professionals offer tailor-made solutions to meet your specific requirements.
Tricor Services Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong
Drawing on our comprehensive professional expertise backed up by the latest technologies and systems, we provide solutions in a wide range of different areas, including: Business Advisory; Accounting & Financial Reporting; Treasury & Payment Administration; Human Resource & Payroll Administration, Tax Services; Trade Services, Trust Assets Administration, Fund Administration, Governance, Risk & Compliance, and Information Technology Solutions.
Tel: (852) 2980 1888 Fax: (852) 2861 0285 info@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com
Tel: (852) 3589 8899 Fax: (852) 3589 8555 info.apac@tmf-group.com www.tmf-group.com
EDUCATION / CORPORATE TRAINING As a trusted international organisation and a global leader in English training, the British Council has over 70 years’ experience in English assessment. We develop and deliver English language programmes for businesses in Hong Kong. Aptis, British Council’s English testing tool, is a robust four skills test used by corporate businesses, government organisations and educational institutions. It provides an accurate and affordable way to benchmark language levels of employees for recruitment or career advancement purposes. With results available in as little as 24 hours, Aptis assesses ability in the areas that HR want to focus on – in individual skills or combinations of speaking, writing, listing or reading.
HKU SPACE is a leading local provider in the field of lifelong education. The School has provided a wide range of executive programmes to meet the growing lifelong learning demands for managers and business executives. The School also provides tailored in-house corporate training programmes in finance or business related disciplines for global corporations.
British Council 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2913 5100 aptis@britishcouncil.org.hk www.britishcouncil.hk/en/exam/aptis
HKU SPACE College of Business and Finance 34/F United Centre, 95 Queensway, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2867 8467 edseries@hkuspace.hku.hk www.hkuspace.hku.hk
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HR CLASSIFIEDS The Vocational Language Programme Office aims at offering quality vocational English, Chinese and Putonghua training for working adults to meet their language needs at work. We have run various courses for public organisations and private corporations before, such as HKSAR Water Supplies Department, Hospital Authority and Pizza Hut Hong Kong Management Limited. With the support from the Language Fund, the QF-recognised Vocational English Enhancement Programme is on offer for enhancing the practical English skills of the Hong Kong workforce. Individual corporations can enjoy great flexibility by having the VEEP courses operated at their training venues and preferred schedule. On completion of the course, learners can receive 60% of the course fee reimbursement and obtain certificates issued by the Vocational Training Council and LCCI. The Faculty of Business at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is a major business school in the Asia-Pacific region dedicated to advancing knowledge through research and transferring knowledge and technology through education and service. With over 200 academic staff and 5,000 students, the Faculty is one of the largest business schools in the region. The Faculty is dedicated to the pursuit of IDEAS (Innovation-driven Education and Scholarship) with a 3D focus on Discovery, Design and Delivery. The Faculty offers a comprehensive portfolio of academic programmes including BBA, MBA, DBA, specialized master’s degrees, and programmes leading to MPhil and PhD awards.
Vocational Language Programme Office, Vocational Training Council Room 437, 4/F, Academic Block, 30 Shing Tai Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2595 8119 vlpo-veep@vtc.edu.hk www.vtc.edu.hk/vlpo
The Faculty of Business at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom Tel: (852) 2766 5084 / 2766 5091 Fax: (852) 2362 5773 Email: fb.enquiry@polyu.edu.hk Website: http://www.fb.polyu.edu.hk/
EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING / INSURANCE
TOTAL LOYALTY COMPANY
Hong Kong Adventist Hospital — Stubbs Road is one of the leaders in medical services, providing organisations with comprehensive health assessment packages to choose from. The hospital works closely with HR and Benefits specialists to design tailor-made programmes to satisfy your staff’s unique requirements. The checkups not only assess staff’s health status and identify the risk factors, it also provide preventive programmes to help clients fine-tune their lifestyles for healthy living. All the services are supported by experienced professional staff using advanced equipment in modern facilities.
Hong Kong Adventist Hospital— Stubbs Road 40 Stubbs Road, Hong Kong
Pacific Prime Insurance Brokers is a leading international health insurance brokerage specialising in providing comprehensive coverage options to individuals, families, and companies throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Working with over 120,000 clients in 150 countries, Pacific Prime can deliver advice in more than 15 major languages. With offices strategically located in Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong, Pacific Prime is able to provide immediate advice and assistance to policyholders located around the world. Pacific Prime works with over 60 of the world’s leading health insurance providers, giving customers unprecedented access to the best medical insurance products currently on the market.
Pacific Prime Insurance Brokers Ltd. Unit 1 - 11, 35/F, One Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
Total Loyalty Company is a leading provider of staff engagement and corporate well-being programmes. We help clients develop year-round solutions for their staff based on our specially designed solutions including staff events, staff discounts, lifestyle services, onsite marketplace and online shopping; all delivered through a customised web portal and mobile app. We are a one-stop shop to help companies have highly useful staff engagement solutions without wasting valuable internal resources to run these programmes, all for a simple low monthly management fee.
Total Loyalty Company Suite 2202, 22/F, The L.Plaza 367-375 Queens Road Central Hong Kong
We help make your staff happier, healthier and more content with their workplace, bringing improved productivity for your company.
Tel: (852) 3651-8835 Fax: (852) 3651-8840 www.hkah.org.hk
Tel: (852) 2586 0731 Fax: (852) 2915 7770 info@pacificprime.com marketing@pacificprime.com www.pacificprime.com
Contact person: Sam Lau Tel: (852) 5131 6338 Sam@totalloyalty.hk www.totalloyalty.hk
HR CONSULTING
Based in Hong Kong and with overseas partners, we operate internationally. HRA provide human resource consultancy & recruitment support to construction, engineering, manufacturing and the oil & gas sectors. Our human resource consultancy services encompass the full range of HR functions including training, HR audits and outsourced HR support.
HRA Associates (HK) Limited 701, 7/F, Tower 2, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2735 9961 Fax: (852) 2735 9967 group@hrahk.com www.hrahk.com
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HR CLASSIFIEDS HR TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS COL, an IT services subsidiary of Wharf T&T, is a leading IT services company in Hong Kong with over 40 years of experience and was crowned Excellent HR Information System Provider of HR Excellence Awards 2014 by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management. COL offers a full range of IT infrastructure, application development and implementation services including Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). With domain expertise in business applications, we deliver best practice Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions ranging from award-winning HRMS, webbased employee self-service portal to outsourcing services for MNCs, enterprises and SMEs. ‘Doc:brary’ Document Management System is another key application in our HCM product portfolio to securely manage HR related documents including employees P-file, appraisal records, training materials, etc.
COL Limited Unit 825 - 876, 8/F, KITEC, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2118 3999 Fax: (852) 2112 0121 colmarketing@col.com.hk www.col.com.hk
COL is a Cisco Gold partner, an EMC Velocity Partner, a Juniper Networks Elite Partner, a Microsoft Certified Partner, an Oracle Gold and ISV Partner, a VMware Partner and CMMI Level 3 assessed.
FlexSystem is a recognised leader in enterprise management software industry in the Greater China region. Over the past 28 years, FlexSystem has been delivering high quality application software and services to maximise the client’s operational efficiency in the accounting, order processing, payroll and human resources, manufacturing, workflow and business management.
FlexSystem Limited Block A, 4/F., Eastern Sea Industrial Building, 29-39 Kwai Cheong Road, Kwai Chung, N.T, H.K
With its strong global network of regional offices and partners, FlexSystem serves thousands of customers in more than 36 countries, half of them are listed on 30 global stock exchanges, and 1 in 10 with presence on the Forbes 2000 list. Now and future, FlexSystem continues to keen on technology development and create a complete platform of new generation enterprise resources management solutions.
Tel: (852) 3529 4123 Fax: (852) 3007 1424 infodl@flexsystem.com www.flex.hk
SuccessFactors, an SAP company, is the leading provider of cloud-based Business Execution Software, which drives business alignment, optimises workforce performance, and accelearates business results. SuccessFactors customers include organisations of all sizes across more than 60 industries. With approximately 15 million subscription seats globally, we strive to delight our customers by delivering innovative solutions, content and analytics, process expertise, and best practices insights. Today, we have more than 3,500 customers in more than 168 countries using our application suite in 35 languages.
SuccessFactors 35/F, Tower Two, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2539 1800 Fax: (852) 2539 1818 info.hongkong@sap.com www.successfactors.com
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) is a top-ranked, global provider of executive education that unlocks individual and organisational potential through its exclusive focus on leadership development and research. Ranked among the world’s top providers of executive education by BusinessWeek and No. 3 in the 2010 Financial Times executive education survey, CCL serves corporate, government and non-governmental clients through an array of programmes, products and other services. CCL-APAC’s headquarters are based in Singapore. Other global locations include Brussels, Moscow and three campuses in the United States.
CCL® 89 Science Park Drive #03-07/08, The Rutherford Lobby B, Singapore 118261
IECL has been training professional coaches and inspiring leaders throughout Australasia since 1999. We have had a permanent presence in Hong Kong since 2009, Shanghai since 2011, and are setting our first footprint in Singapore in 2015.
Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership (IECL) Suite 901, Level 9,The Hong Kong Club Building, 3A Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong
Our vision is to develop the next generation of exceptional leaders. Everything we do focuses on people, development and measurable business results. IECL’s expert team are at the forefront of reshaping leadership development for the 21st century. We know leadership is no longer an individual activity—a leader’s success depends on others succeeding. This knowledge underpins IECL’s service to you: • Training and accrediting coaches • Enabling leaders through focused programmes • Providing expert coaches and facilitators
Calling all HR managers & directors: • Are you looking for structured programmes to develop your staff? • Sponsor or part sponsor your staff to achieve MBA, Masters, Bachelor, Diploma or Certificate courses • The spend is value for money • The return is measurable & tangible • Choose from 31 courses from nine UK Universities (Bradford, Sunderland, Wales, Birmingham etc.) • 16 years in HK *All courses are registered
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Tel: (65) 6854 6000 Fax: (65) 6854 6001 cclasia@ccl.org www.ccl.org/apac
Tel: (852) 3125 7572 coach@iecl.com www.iecl.com
RDI Management Learning Ltd. 7th Floor, South China Building, 1 - 3 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2992 0133 Fax: (852) 2992 0918 info@rdihongkong.com www.rdihongkong.com
HR CLASSIFIEDS
alphaeight specialises in behavioural-science research and people development. We utilise research to create individual and team development solutions— focused on business objectives—for leaders, managers and frontline workers. It’s all about research and evidence: solutions, built upon scientifically proven research on how the human mind works, are practical and easy to adopt and utilise exclusive tools and techniques developed by our research institute. It’s all about you: solutions tailored to your people’s specific needs and your business objectives—give you the results you want. It’s all about impact: measure changes before, during and after development.
the alphaeight institute 1906, 19/F, Miramar Tower, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong Mrs Stephanie Herd Tel: (852) 2302 0283 Fax: (852) 2302 0006 stephanie.herd@alphaeight.com www.alphaeight.com
LEGAL / EMPLOYMENT LAW / TAX
Excel Global Consulting is a leading business consultancy specialising in the enhancement of business performance through a unique approach to people management. Our goal is to deliver you the knowledge and resources to improve business productivity by creating better employee engagement within your organisation using customised human capital management solutions. With our support you’ll gain a committed, more innovative and highly motivated workforce primed to lead your business towards greater efficiency and productivity. With Excel Global your employees will gain greater job satisfaction in a solution-oriented work environment where engagement is productive, innovative and geared to better business performance.
Excel Global Company Information Level 8, Two Exchange Square, 2 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong
WTS is a tax and business consulting firm providing assistance in the strategic planning and management process of intercompany assignments’ cost and compliance.
wts consulting (Hong Kong) Limited Unit 1004, 10/F, Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Our Global Expatriate Service specialists advise on expatriate issues relating to corporate tax, personal tax, social security matters and process consulting across Asia. Our expertise therefore enables us to identify assignment related risks at an early stage and optimise tax and social security payments for companies and their employees while keeping the administrative burden to a minimum. In conjuction with our international network, we can assist you in almost 100 locations worldwide.
Tel: (852) 2846 1888 Fax: (852) 2297 2289 info@excelglobal.com www.excelglobal.com
Tel: (852) 2528 1229 Fax: (852) 2541 1411 claus.schuermann@wts.com.hk www.wts.com.hk
MANAGEMENT CONSULTING atrain is a premium consultancy in leadership assessment, talent management and organisation development. Headquartered in Germany, we have offices in Europe, United States, South America and Asia. 90% of our consultants are business psychologists; we bring together the best of business strategies and the psychological approach to develop solutions tailor-made to your requirements. We explore and research on innovative concepts, and help you to cultivate the company culture you envisage.
atrain Limited Unit 1201-3, 135 Bonham Strand Trade Centre, 135 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan Tel: (852) 2522 9018 info@atrain-apac.com www.atrain-apac.com
Our international presence and culturally diverse teams enable partnerships with multi-national corporate clients for their business growth and success. Put us to the challenge—you will not be disappointed.
The Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA) was established in 1960. The HKMA is a non-profit making organisation which aims at advancing management excellence in Hong Kong and the Region, with a commitment to nurturing human capital through management education and training at all levels, the HKMA offers over 2,000 training and education programmes covering a wide range of management disciplines for approximately 48,000 participants every year.
Hong Kong Management Association 14th Floor, Fairmont House, 8 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, Hong Kong
Tricor Consulting Limited is a member of Tricor Group and BEA Group dedicated to creating value for clients and strengthening their organization capabilities through:
Tricor Consulting Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong
• Strategic Management—Shaping your future and making it happen • Organization Structuring—Aligning organization structure with strategies • HR Consulting—Maximizing performance and return on investment of human assets • Talent Management—Cultivating talents to create competitive advantage • Director Remuneration and Board Evaluation—Ensuring appropriate remuneration of senior executives and building an effective board • Training Resources Consulting—Maximizing business impact of training with on-demand scalable resources • Change Management—Partnering with clients to drive and enable organization transformation
Tel: (852) 2526 6516 / 2774 8500 Fax: (852) 2365 1000 hkma@hkma.org.hk www.hkma.org.hk
Tel: (852) 2980 1027 Fax: (852) 2262 7596 john.kf.ng@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com
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HR CLASSIFIEDS MICE VENUES / EVENT ORGANISERS
AsiaWorld-Expo is Hong Kong’s leading exhibitions, conventions, concerts and events venue, yet it is also an ideal venue for annual dinners, world-class conferences, cocktail receptions, media luncheons and sumptuous banquets. With Hong Kong’s largest indoor convention and hospitality hall, AsiaWorldSummit which seats up to 5,000 persons, together with a full range of meeting and conference facilities, award-winning chefs and attentive hospitality staff, AsiaWorld-Expo is definitely your choice for an unforgettable event.
AsiaWorld-Expo Management Limited AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, Hong Kong, China
Cliftons provides premium, purpose-built, training and event facilities and solutions, ensuring our clients’ programmes are delivered seamlessly and successfully around the globe. Over the past 14 years, Cliftons has grown to provide clients with the largest network of dedicated computer and seminar training facilities across the Asia-Pacific region. Encompassing over 150 state-ofthe-art training and meeting rooms within 10 CBD locations in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, this footprint of proprietary venues is supplemented by a global affiliates network that allows clients to manage all of their training needs around the world with a single point of contact.
Cliftons Training Facility Level 5, Hutchison House, 10 Harcourt Road, Central, HK
Tel: (852) 3606 8888 Fax: (852) 3606 8889 fnb@asiaworld-expo.com www.asiaworld-expo.com
Tel: (852) 2159 9999 enquiries@cliftons.com www.cliftons.com
RECRUITMENT / EXECUTIVE SEARCH Headquartered in Switzerland, Adecco is a Fortune Global 500 company with around 5,000 offices in over 60 countries and territories around the world. We possess the skills and global intelligence to develop human resource strategy for the highest levels, yet remain close to clients, local markets and needs. Adecco Hong Kong has over 30 years of experience in the region, with a comprehensive service offering that includes permanent placement, temporary & contract staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, HR consulting & assessment services, employment contract services, recruiting projects & overseas search, payroll outsourcing & administration services, and training.
Adecco Personnel Limited 12/F, Fortis Tower, 77-79 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Argyll Scott delivers first-class recruitment results for our clients, our candidates and our people by being true specialists and building exclusive relationships. From offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Dubai, we source the very best talent for management positions across key business functions and sectors including; Accountancy & Finance, Business Transformation, Construction & Property, Financial Services, Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Strategy and Information Technology.
Argyll Scott 8th Floor, HK Diamond Exchange Building, 8-10 Duddell Street, Central, Hong Kong
More than 90% of our clients choose to work with us again. Why? Because they trust us. They know we will deliver the results they need, time after time.
Tel: (852) 3695 5180 hk@argyllscott.com www.argyllscott.hk
Established in 1996, Frazer Jones is a Human Resources Recruitment Consultancy. Contact us to find out how we can assist you in your next Human Resources hire or if you are looking for a change in your HR career. As part of The SR Group, Frazer Jones has wholly owned offices in Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Dubai, London, Düsseldorf and Munich and has access to the best HR talent around the world.
Frazer Jones 1918 Hutchison House, 10 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong
Established in Hong Kong in 1983, Gemini Personnel is one of the largest recruitment companies in Asia with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Bangkok and Singapore.
Gemini Personnel Limited 15/F, On Hing Building, 1 On Hing Terrace, Central, Hong Kong
We work with our clients across a range of industries to secure the top talent in Asia for Temporary, Permanent, Executive and Interim Management assignments. Outside of recruitment we also provide our clients with payroll management, outplacement, coaching and training support services.
Tricor Executive Resources has for the past 28 years built an unrivalled reputation for integrity and professionalism in the executive search business. Our team of specialist consultants and researchers provide a range of practical and innovative solutions to help you search for the right talent to meet your business needs. We utilize in-depth research, intense resourcing and a highly focused approach in the identification of qualified candidates in the appropriate industry sector. Our clients consists of multinationals, publicly listed and private companies as well as family-owned and start-up companies. We also provide advice on HR best practices to enhance your human capital. Our HR Solutions can help drive your business performance through the effective use of talent. These include Soft Skills Training and Development; Compensation and Benefits Benchmarking; Human Resources Advisory; Employee Engagement Surveys; Performance Management Systems; Career Counselling and Talent Transition Management; and Talent Assessment Centre.
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Tel: (852) 2895 2616 Fax: 2895 3571 hongkong@adecco.com http://adecco.com.hk/
Tel: (852) 2973 6737 shookliu@frazerjones.com frazerjones.com
Tel: (852) 3552 9100 Fax: (852) 2810 6467 gemhq@gemini.com.hk www.gemini.com.hk
Tricor Executive Resources Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2980 1166 Fax: (852) 2869 4410 fiona.yung@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com
HR CLASSIFIEDS RELOCATION / LOGISTICS Asian Tigers, has provided international relocation and moving service to the Hong Kong market for more than 40 years. We move people internationally, regionally, and even within Hong Kong itself. Our experienced, multilingual staff enables Asian Tigers to deliver low-stress relocation services. Perhaps you are responsible for coordinating your office move and would like to know more about ‘low down-time’ office relocations. Whatever your needs, wherever you are headed, Asian Tigers can help facilitate and streamline your relocation. Give us a call and find out how we can assist you.
Asian Tigers Mobility 17/F, 3 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Crown Relocations, a worldwide leader of global mobility, domestic and international transportation of household goods, and departure and destination services, has over 180 offices in more than 50 countries. From preview trip and immigration assistance to home and school searches, orientation tours, intercultural training, partner career programme, and ongoing assignment support, Crown offers the best relocation solutions to corporate clients and transferees across the world.
Crown Relocations 9 - 11Yuen On Street, Siu Lek Yuen, Sha Tin, New Territories
Tel: (852) 2528 1384 Fax: (852) 2529 7443 info@asiantigers-hongkong.com www.asiantigers-mobility.com
Tel: (852) 2636 8388 hongkong@crownrelo.com www.crownrelo.com
SERVICED APARTMENTS / HOTELS Four Seasons Place, the epitome of luxury and elegance, Four Seasons Place creates a relaxed and homely living environment amidst the surrounding opulence. With 519 serviced suites designed by internationally renowned designers, guests can choose from a range of stylish accommodations from studios and 1/2/3-bedroom suites to penthouses that open up to spectacular views of Victoria Harbour. It also features a rooftop heated pool & jacuzzi, sky lounge, gymnasium, sauna and multi-purpose function room to meet business and recreational needs. Heralding a comfortable, hassle-free living experience, all guests are pampered with personalised hotel services from VIP airport pickup to 24-hour multi-lingual concierge services.
Four Seasons Place 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong
GARDENEast is prestigiously located at the heart of Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, boasting 216 luxurious units in 28 storeys.
GARDENEast Serviced Apartments 222, Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Each of our luxurious units is subtly unique. Spacious studio, studio deluxe, deluxe 1-bedroom, executive suite and twin-beds in selected rooms, with their sizes ranging from 395 to 672 square feet, are comfortably-appointed with an all-encompassing range of fittings and furnishings. The landscaped gardens offer a relaxing lifestyle, peace and tranquility of green living and a diverse choice of dining and entertainment is right on your doorstep.
at the ICC megalopolis
Tel: (852) 3196 8228 Fax: (852) 3196 8628 enquiries@fsphk.com www.fsphk.com
Tel: (852) 3973 3388 Fax: (852) 2861 3020 enquiry@gardeneast.com.hk www.gardeneast.com.hk
The HarbourView Place is part of the Kowloon Station development, located at a key harbour crossing point. Located atop the MTR and Airport Express Link at Kowloon Station. The junction of major rail lines, three minutes to Central, 20 minutes to the Airport, a mere 30 minutes to Shenzhen and 60 minutes to Guangzhou. It is a place for the best view of Hong Kong and Kowloon and is an icon property at Harbour Gateway. Located next to International Commerce Centre, the fourth tallest building in the world, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong and W Hong Kong, guests can enjoy a premium luxury living with the large shopping mall Elements and Hong Kong’s highest indoor observation deck Sky100.
The HarbourView Place 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Conveniently nestled in the East of Hong Kong, Kornhill Apartments is one of the biggest apartment blocks in town, featuring a total of 450 units with a variety of unit configurations designed to suit every need imaginable.
Kornhill Apartments 2 Kornhill Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
Notable for cozy and contemporary décor, as well as superior amenities and services, the complex is located next door to Kornhill Plaza where you can relish a wide array of shops and entertainment choices.
Tel: (852) 2137 8101 Fax: (852) 2568 6256 kornhillapts@hanglung.com www.kornhillapartments.com
The apartments are an excellent choice for corporate clients who cater for visits by expatriate colleagues. Units include studio, one to two-bedroom suites and deluxe three-bedroom suites.
Vega Suites, is the stylish suite hotel in Kowloon East. Located atop the MTR Tseung Kwan O Station, Island East and Kowloon East are only 3 MTR stops away. The integrated complex becomes a new landmark creating a comfortable, relaxing and home like living space for guests. The allencompassing landmark development comprises two international hotels & luxury residence The Wings. Situated directly above the trendy PopCorn mall, connected to one million square feet of shopping, dining, leisure and entertainment. There is a lustrous selection of units – ranging from Studio, 1-Bedroom, 2-Bedroom to 3-Bedroom with flexible staying terms.
Tel: (852) 3718 8000 Fax: (852) 3718 8008 enquiries@harbourviewplace.com www.harbourviewplace.com
Vega Suites Atop Tseung Kwan O Station 3 Tong Tak Street, Tseung Kwan O Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3963 7888 Fax: (852) 39637889 enquiries@vegasuites.com www.vegasuites.com.hk
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HR CLASSIFIEDS V is a collection of award-winning hotels, serviced apartments and private residences in Hong Kong. Bringing our philosophy of eat, shop, live easy, each V is nestled in a plethora of restaurants, amidst excellent shopping hubs and surrounded by an extensive transportation network. V Wanchai and V Wanchai2 are minutes walk from HKCEC, whilst the Lodge connects to 5 railway systems. Each V is urban, contemporary, but calm and quiet. Our two Causeway Bay properties host penthouse and terraced apartments for families and elegance entertaining, whilst V Happy Valley features an outdoor water garden.
V Hotels and Serviced Apartments Unit 5702, Cheung Kong Centre 2 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3602 2388 Fax: (852) 2891 1418 reservations@thev.hk www.thev.hk
Each V carries a different design motif, yet shares one critical ingredient – we deliver a high standard of comfort and good honest service.
STAFF BENEFITS
Computershare Plan Managers is the globe’s leading provider in provision of Employee Share Incentive Plan management services. Our tailored approach ideally places us to meet the demands of administering your employee share plans. As a leader in equity compensation services for more than 35 years, we service over 3,000 plans with nearly 3.5 million employee participants worldwide. We have successfully built a leading position in the Employee Share Plan Management Industry in Hong Kong and China, with a solid local presence and unrivalled investment in technology. Our integrated Share Plan Management offering includes: Employee Communication/Education, Data Management, HK Trustee Services, Regulatory Reporting and a full suite of Brokerage Services.
Computershare Hong Kong Investor Services Limited Hopewell Centre, 46/F, 183 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Nespresso provides a range of machines dedicated to professional use that meet the different needs and expectations of our customers. Zenius is the one of the latest innovation in the professional machine range by Nespresso and comes at an affordable price. It is intuitive to use, reliable and integrates the latest technological advances by Nespresso. Zenius is the ideal machine for small and big companies looking for quality and simplicity. At Nespresso we want to make it possible for you to make the same full-bodied espresso offered by skilled baristas. Your business can benefit from years of Nespresso expertise in premium Grands Crus coffees, innovative machines and excellent customer support.
Nespresso, Division Of Nestlé Hong Kong Ltd. Unit 505, Manhanttan Place, 23 Wang Tai Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong
Ocean Park offers you a fun place for your next corporate teambuilding activity, encounter koalas, wallabies and kookaburras at the new Adventures in Australia. Travel from the seashore to the depths of the ocean at Aqua City. Watch Symbio, the 360-degree water screen show at the Lagoon! Take a Cable Car to Ocean Theatre and catch ‘Ocean Wonders’, featuring dolphins and sea lions! Meet the sharks and rays at Shark Mystique. Ride the Park’s wildest roller coaster—the Hair Raiser! Travel on the Arctic Blast at Polar Adventure where penguins and walruses wait beneath the auroras. Come join the fun!
Ocean Park Hong Kong 180 Wong Chuk Hang Road Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 3757 3542 planmanagers@computershare.com.hk www.computershare.com
Tel: 800 905 486 Fax: 800 968 822 CRC.HK@nespresso.com www.nespresso-pro.com
Tel: (852) 3923 2321 training@oceanpark.com.hk www.oceanpark.com.hk
TALENT MANAGEMENT
Lumesse provides Talent Solutions to more than 2,400 organisations in over 70 countries enabling them to engage and nurture the best talent in an everchanging and demanding global environment. With our unique and highly adaptable Talent Solutions our customers are well prepared to capitalise on the fast evolution of new technologies and disruptive business conditions, while meeting all business needs locally and globally.
Lumesse Suite 705, 625 King’s Road, North Point, Hong Kong
Korn Ferry is the preeminent global people and organizational advisory firm. We help leaders, organizations and societies succeed by releasing the full power and potential of people. Our nearly 7,000 colleagues deliver services through Korn Ferry and our Hay Group and Futurestep divisions. At Korn Ferry, we design, build, attract and ignite talent. Since our inception, clients have trusted us to help recruit world-class leadership. Today, we are a single source for leadership and talent consulting services to empower businesses and leaders to reach their goals.
Korn Ferry International (H.K.) Limited 15/F, St. George’s Building, 2 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong
Through our vision, research and tools across 80 offices and 3,400 employees, we convert potential into greatness. Our solutions range from executive recruitment and leadership development programs, to enterprise learning, succession planning, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). Organisations around the world trust Korn Ferry to manage their talent – a responsibility we meet every day with passion, expertise, integrity and results.
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Tel: (852) 2815 3456 Fax: (852) 2890 0399 apac@lumesse.com www.lumesse.com
Tel: (852) 2971 2700 Fax: (852) 2810 1632 General inquiry: kornferry.hongkong@kornferry.com Leadership and Talent Consulting: ltc.hongkong@kornferry.com www.kornferry.com