HR Magazine Summer 2016

HR Magazine 2016 SUMMER

2016 SUMMER

PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST If it’s important to HR, it’s in HR Magazine.

16

COVER STORY HR superheroes promoting cutting-edge employer brands & creating heroic EVPs

42 NURTURING TALENT

AIA’s new Leadership Centre to set the pace for developing tomorrow’s leaders

HR vs. PR Why HR superheroes hold hands with PR & marketing and Disney’s VPs will be robots in 10 years

SUPPLEMENT 52 MPF Change is on the horizon for MPF— implications for employers and employees

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

HIRING ROBUST AS PROFESSIONALS SEEK NEW ROLES Hiring growth in APAC looks robust, despite the Q1 market jitters. According to Morgan McKinley, the number of professional positions available across the APAC region has increased by 14% since Q4 2015 and the amount of professionals actively seeking new roles has increased by 24% in the last quarter.

EVP PARAMOUNT With the lifeblood of recruitment running so fast, a key topic on HR minds has been EVP— and leveraging it to attract and retain quality talent. In our cover story, we explore what it means to have an outstanding employer brand and how HR can best get their message out to talent. In particular, we analyse the PR and marketing role that HR now has to take on to ensure strategic success (page 16). We also share a collection of exceptional EVP case-studies from our own HR Conference in April (page 28).

FOSTERING AN EXCEPTIONAL ENVIRONMENT Getting a return on your EVP is as much about building the right environment and culture for talent as it is offering them the right total rewards package. We explore the paramount importance of promoting a diverse environment for women (page 20), ethnic minorities (page 22) and LGBT talent (page 36). What’s more, an EVP wouldn’t be complete without attractive development opportunities—and we look at how companies like AIA (page 42) are setting the benchmark in leadership development to ensure a sustainable talent pipeline.

Enjoy...

Paul Arkwright, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, HR Magazine

HR MAGAZINE EDITORIAL Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Paul Arkwright Editor Ryan Mellor Staff Writers Carlos Bruinsma Rachel Forrest 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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2016 SUMMER

08 HR vs. PR

16 20 HR NEWS

HR FEATURES

04 08 10 12 14 15

20 22 24

Hong Kong News APAC News International News HR Events HR in Numbers HR Moves

Women aboard Race for opportunity: Diversity List 2016 Corporate branding, attracting talent and challenges of modern-day workplaces

COVER STORY

HR COMMUNITY

16

28 34 35 36

HR vs. PR Why HR superheroes hold hands with their PR & marketing teams and Disney’s VPs will be robots in 10 years

HR Conference—Max out your EVP HRTechTank Construction Technology Expo 2016 The Economist: Pride and Prejudice

38

58

24 HR TRAINING

HR BOOKS

38 Fresh approach to team building...change management 40 Most respected agency 42 Nurturing talent

51

HR LEGAL

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

46 Hong Kong proposes changes to law on employee reinstatement claims

52

HR TECHNOLOGY

HR CLASSIFIEDS

48 Local HR tech start-ups disrupting HK’s talent acquisition market 50 HR Cloud—opportunity or risk?

62

New Deal of Employee Engagement, Armstrong's Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management, The Energy Bus

MPF special supplement

HR Classifieds

HK NEWS Hiring plans steady in HK Net percentage of employers' hiring intentions in Hong Kong for Q2

The 2016 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey has found that Hong Kong’s employment outlook for Q2 stands at +15%.

17% of 780 surveyed employers forecast an increase in staffing levels in 2016 Q2 while only 3% expected a decrease, and 78% anticipated no change to their current employment rosters.

Finance, insurance & real estate

SERVICES

Manufacturing Mining & construction Services Transportation & utilities Wholesale & retail trade 0

5

10

15

20

25

NET PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYERS

Net employment outlook

Seasonally adjusted outlook Source: 2016 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey

HK entrepreneurs value ‘office look’ over creativity In a global survey, Regus, a workplace provider, has revealed that 60% of business people say that having an office that looks the part is a top quality that is required—with 66% of respondents in Hong Kong saying the same thing. The general sentiment behind it is that a ‘professional looking office’ can help a firm punch above its weight and help them look like a bigger company. Value for money, 46%; and close to potential clients, 41% were ranked second and third biggest priorities in Hong Kong respectfully.

Such considerations go way beyond the belief that an office should facilitate creativity, with 45% of respondents globally seeing it as important. This was ranked as the third highest priority—but in Hong Kong, respondents rated it a distant fourth with only 35% of business people seeing it as crucial. What is more surprising is that Hong Kong entrepreneurs are less likely to build an office that appeals to millennial workers, with only 7% of local respondents rating it as important, whereas the global average was 13%.

In Japan, that number is 30%.

Top 10 HK social recruiters Recruiting through social media is becoming ever more popular as it proves a more convenient way for both potential employees and employers to connect. Using their Recruiter Index, LinkedIn has announced their top 10 social recruiters in Hong Kong, representing a diverse set of industries.

The names are: First name

Organisation

Jimmy Lee

Accenture

Carmen Man

Goldman Sachs

Bonnie Ip

Li & Fung Limited

Roderick Chow

HSBC

Charles Cheung

Colema Research

Peggy Li

Gap Inc.

Rishi Dadlani

GTA

Ellena Luong McFee

Asia Miles

Christina Rui Zhu

Facebook

Lillian Cheung

Adidas Group

4 | HR MAGAZINE

The recruiters were chosen on their ability to establish a professional presence on LinkedIn; efficiently identify quality candidates; engage candidates; and collaborate and organise work to maximise team effectiveness and efficiency.

Eric Yee, Head of Talent Solutions—North Asia, LinkedIn stated, “Our Recruitment Trends 2016 Survey reveals that 41% of global talent leaders consider social networks an important source for quality hires. The top recruiters are real examples of how this approach helps them provide valuable insights to their overall business. We expect to see this continue to develop into an established trend.”

As for payroll, employers have forecasted gains in six industries, the strongest hiring intent being in the services sector, where net employment outlook is +24%. Mining and Construction, and Finance, Insurance and Real Estate are also upbeat with an outlook of +20% and +18% respectfully.

Domestic bliss: Hongkongers prefer to work at home The Randstad Q1 Workmonitor has revealed that Hong Kong employees are satisfied working domestically, with only 78% of them seeing travelling for work as an added value to their job. This is a remarkable finding as workers in an international hub like Hong Kong are generally expected to be highly mobile.

This contradicts findings about employees in China who strongly value travelling for work, 98%; followed by India, 98%; Malaysia, 97%; Australia, 84%; New Zealand, 79%; and Singapore, 79%. The research also found that Hong Kong employees are not as keen to work with colleagues from different nationalities and cultures, compared to their Asian counterparts— lagging behind India, 93%; Singapore, 88%; and New Zealand, 85%. Only 83% of Hong Kong employees indicated interest.

Michael Smith, Director, Randstad Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore said that as Asia’s world city, Hong Kong employees need to ambitiously eye the global market and look to gain worldly exposure to remain competitive internationally.

He commented, “One in five Hong Kong employees do not appreciate the value of expanding their professional footprint beyond domestic boundaries. One of the reasons is that over half of them, 54%, think travelling for work is a burden on their personal life. Employees’ increasing desire for work-life balance may also play a role, because juggling ongoing tasks and overseas meetings as well as overcoming time differences can be draining.”

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HK NEWS Modest salary increases for Hong Kong professionals

Rising demand for talent in financial services industry

Expected salary increase ranges % salary increase

Total

Finance and accounting

Banking and financial services

Technology

0 – 5%

83%

83%

86%

79%

6 – 9%

16%

15%

14%

21%

10%+

1%

2%

0%

0%

Source: Robert Half 2016 Salary Guide

While hiring activity remains strong in Hong Kong, the majority of professionals in accounting, finance, banking and technology should expect only modest salary rises in 2016, according to the latest Salary Guide released by recruitment firm Robert Half.

83% of employees can expect their wages to stay the same or to increase between 1% and 5%, and only 16% of jobs will command an increase of between 6% and 9%, while less than one in a hundred, 0.6% of roles will enjoy salary increases of 10% or more.

Adam Johnston, Managing Director for Hong Kong and Japan, Robert Half said that there were plenty of opportunities for professionals seeking to move to a new company or to seek

advancement within their existing company.

He remarked, “Nine in 10 CFOs and CIOs we surveyed plan to make new hires in the first half of 2016, either to add to their headcount or to replace existing employees that have left.”

He added, “The smaller salary rises reflect a change in the way employers are viewing the local labour market. In previous years business leaders have typically cited the lack of supply of candidates as the chief factor making it difficult to get professional talent.

This year employers are struggling to find candidates with the right skills. So it’s not a lack of supply that is the problem, it’s a lack of skills. This focus by employers on skills mean they are only prepared to pay top dollar for exceptional candidates.”

Lack of company inclusion biggest challenge for contractors Company inclusion is proving to be the biggest challenge for contractors in Hong Kong, according to the latest Hong Kong Contracting Survey from Robert Walters. 35% of respondents cited the lack of company inclusion as their key challenge at work while 78% of contract professionals felt that they were not being treated in the same way as permanent employees, and 8% left a contract early as they were unable to integrate with the wider team. As organisations are looking towards hiring contractors to supplement their permanent workforce, there is a need for companies to improve contractor engagement to better leverage the contingent workforce.

According to Matthew Bennett, Managing Director Greater China, Robert Walters, there is a ‘shifting perception’ towards contracting. He noted, “Instead of treating contract jobs as a quick way to get back into the market or earn a higher salary, professionals increasingly see contracting as a viable career option and a good opportunity to gain new experience. When contractors are treated differently from permanent staff, this often leads to low morale and higher attrition rates.” Bennett said that companies need to make contractors feel that they are also part of the company and offer better benefits—especially now with an increase in contract job openings.

Key findings from contractors

35%

78

%

believed a lack of company inclusion to be their biggest challenge

33 33%

felt that they were treated differently to permanent employees

contracting % thought offered no job security

37

%

said exposure to new skills was a benefit of contracting

81

%

6 | HR MAGAZINE

82

%

LinkedIn found that the increases were due to more than 4,000 recent university graduates joining the field, primarily from The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Many fresh graduates are highly qualified, with 18.9% holding a postgraduate degree. The industry is also swelling due to professionals switching to financial services from the banking, investment banking, information technology and services, investment management and insurance industries.

Strategies to attract in-demand talent for financial services companies •

preferred longer contracts of six months or more

•

16

•

%

said they were offered a permanent position with another company

The Report on Manpower Projection to 2022, released by the Labour and Welfare Bureau, projects that the fastest growing economic sector in terms of manpower requirements from 2012 to 2022 will be financial services.

LinkedIn’s Talent Report also revealed that the number of professionals in the financial services industry grew by 4.1%, more than anywhere else in North Asia, over the last year.

left for a more lucrative contract elsewhere during a contract

of contractors thought it was important for the contract to be converted from a temporary to a permanent position Source: Robert Walters Contracting Survey 2016

•

Reach out to students with on-campus recruiting and cultivate a strong employer brand Empower employees to be brand ambassadors and refer their contacts Share relevant content on the topics financial services professionals care about most, including investment banking, finance, and venture capital to capture their interest in your industry Networking on the industry’s most popular LinkedIn groups Source: LinkedIn

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APAC NEWS Indonesia's best companies to work for

Executive job outlook­ —mixed feelings

HR Asia Awards Indonesia Winners Group photograph. Source: Business Media International Covering 12 markets across Asia — including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia —HR Asia has announced twenty companies in Indonesia as the best to work for. Winners of the award are selected from 138 nominees among 20 industries, based on a proprietary survey that assesses the company working environments, HR practices, employee engagement and the resulting job satisfaction.

Some of the best companies to work for in Asia include PT. Blue Bird Group Holding, PT. British School Jakarta, PT. Fitness First Indonesia, PT. Bank Maybank Indonesia TBK, PT. 3M Indonesia, PT. Kompas Gramedia, and PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia.

An important factor is that these employees have fostered a sense of ownership within the companies that they work for. Employees are motivated and empowered to do their best, because they realise that there will be recognition and reward for their efforts." Many companies know that in today's challenging talent market, having a good working environment is not enough. She added, “Employee engagement is crucial in both attracting good talents and retaining them.”

TOP 3 •

According to Caroline Ang, General Manager, Business Media International, many employees in the winning companies enjoy high job satisfaction. She commented, “They believe that they are providing value to their companies and are appreciated for their contributions.

PT 3m Indonesia (Technology and Innovation) PT AIA Financial (Insurance) PT Anugerah Pharmindo Lestari (Healthcare)

• •

8 | HR MAGAZINE

Karen Greenbaum, CEO, AESC commented, “Asia Pacific continues to be an important growth region with global focus. Although some markets have begun to cool, there is still strong demand for executive talent in this part of the world. Many executives working in the region understand the value of building their professional brand and many are investing in their careers over the long-term through executive coaching, by strengthening their digital expertise and raising their own visibility through speaking engagements, publications and effective utilisation of social media.”

Glenda K. Brown, Managing Director, AESC & BlueSteps added, “The survey data indicates that today’s executives must not only be agile leaders, they must also embrace agility in their career management.”

Chinese workers told to take Friday afternoon off

Global benefit strategies keep increasing More than 34% of Asia Pacific multinationals are in the later stages of developing their global benefit strategies, an increase from 24% two years ago, according to research by leading global professional services company Willis Towers Watson. Findings from the company’s latest Current and Emerging Global Benefit Themes research also show 79% of global or regional reward managers of Asia-headquartered multinationals claim they are under pressure to do more with less, and half think that cost pressures will be worse in 2016 than in 2015. This lack of resources is leading to frustration among managers as almost 57% feel that a need to focus on day-to-day activity is hampering the strategic effort they could be making to help drive value from their company’s employee benefits and other reward programmes around the world.

Seven in 10 Asian multinationals claim that involvement of global or regional headquarters in employee benefits is increasing, while 48% believe there is now a meaningful link between the role of employee benefits, and the company’s employee value proposition and values.

Global executive optimism about the job market hangs in the balance as close to 40% of executives in APAC have stated they are positive about it while a similar amount of executives expressed their doubts. This comes in the latest report from the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), who surveyed 837 management professionals—director-level through to C-Suite—as part of their 2016 BlueSteps Job Outlook Report.

Key findings from Global Benefit Managers of their time is spent on business% as-usual activities

27

25%

of their time is spent on projects that offer opportunities to add value

of managers agree that they are inefficient and not strategic in the four foundational areas of focus (managing financial risks, optimising insurable benefits, driving value from corporate transactions and delivering sustained value to % regional/global HQ)

17

believe there is a link between employee benefits, and the company’s % employee value proposition and values

48

feel that a need to focus on day-to-day activity is hampering % strategic effort

57

The top markets of focus for Asian multinationals are:

China, Taiwan, and the U.S. Source: Willis Towers Watson

In two small cities in China, government employees have been told to take two Friday afternoons off each month. The arrangement started in April and will apply only to government employees in Jinzhong, Shanxi province, and Jian, Jiangxi province.

The mandatory holiday comes as part of a government scheme to boost local tourism and spending through holidays.

Amidst this good news though comes claims that workers will have to make up the time elsewhere or have it deducted from their annual leave. There has also been confusion regarding conflicting statements from government departments on just how this time off will affect workers.

Speaking to The South China Morning Post, Guan Feng, Owner, Migu Coffee, which has seven branches in Shanxi, said he did not expect many new visitors because the rules did not apply to private enterprises.

APAC NEWS Honesty and communication skills critical for leaders Honesty and ability to communicate with others are the must-have traits in APAC for successful senior executives. In research, that surveyed 40,000 business people worldwide, Regus found that, as well as a strong moral fibre, business leaders need to be naturally confident and able to motivate people.

However, having the gift of the gab is not enough—successful bosses also need to show commitment and not shy away from hard graft. Interestingly, ambition,

financial competence and technical product knowledge ranked much lower on the list.

Natina Wong, Country Manager, Regus Hong Kong stated, “Being a good leader is something that most workers aspire to, whether they are dealing with a small team and making their way up the ladder one rung at a time, or they are visionary entrepreneurs hoping to make it big. Global business people report that the most successful leaders have a number of strings to their bow and are very well rounded.�

Top 5 leadership skills professionals globally and in Asia-Pacific region deem important: Which of the following traits do you think make a successful business leader?

Global average

Hong Kong

Singapore

India

Mainland China

Japan

South Korea

(A) Honesty

2.63

2.49

2.60

2.60

2.30

2.33

2.51

(B) Confidence

2.59

2.52

2.58

2.69

2.23

2.08

2.57

(C) Good communications

2.63

2.59

2.66

2.64

2.30

2.33

2.65

(D) The ability to motivate people

2.51

2.49

2.60

2.57

2.05

2.25

2.48

(E) Commitment

2.59

2.56

2.70

2.69

2.36

2.14

2.15

|9

INTERNATIONAL NEWS Lamborghini Italy’s top employer

Stephan Winkelmann President and CEO, Automobili Lamborghini For the third year in a row, Automobili Lamborghini has obtained the prestigious Top Employer Italy 2015 certification from the Top Employers Institute. Lamborghini currently has 1,300 employees at its historic factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, which hired 150 highly-qualified technicians and specialists in 2015. The company is driven by its ethical responsibility—which it describes as a virtuous circle of people management which aims for continuous improvement.

The certification is given to companies with excellent workplace environments and advanced policies in HR management. The certification programme lasts around one year and focuses on key criteria including: salary policies; working conditions; benefits; training; professional growth; career opportunities and corporate culture. Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO, Automobili Lamborghini commented, “The Top Employer certification endorses our investment and belief in Human Resources, which is a cornerstone to facing challenges in the immediate future, such as the introduction of the third model and the doubling of the Sant’Agata Bolognese factory.”

Umberto Tossini, HR and Organisation Manager, Automobili Lamborghini added, “Motivation and attractiveness are different sides of the same coin. They are the starting point of many initiatives concerning the care of our people—ensuring personal well-being—and important collaborations with universities and schools, to make work and academic life meet.”

Innovative health centre for SEAT employees

The cornerstone has been laid for an innovative health centre for 14,000 SEAT employees. At the same event, the company has also received the Healthy Workplace certification given by AENOR, the first company in the automotive sector in Spain to receive this distinction.

car maker in Spain to feature this kind of in-company medical test.

The new Health Care and Rehabilitation Centre (CARS) will have an extension of 1,300 square metres, requiring an investment of EUR 3 million and will feature three areas of activity—healthcare, preventive medicine and rehabilitation. The centre will have a team of 25 professionals specialising in traumatology, radiology and cardiology, among others.

Ros commented, “With the future SEAT Health Care and Rehabilitation Centre, and thanks to the Healthy Workplace certification, we’re one step closer to our goal of looking after our workers in a comprehensive manner, ensuring their physical and mental health and encouraging them to lead a healthy lifestyle.”

One highlight is that the centre will provide more than 3,000 female employees with annual screenings for the early detection of breast and cervical cancer, becoming the only

10 | HR MAGAZINE

The ceremony was headed by Jordi Baiget, Minister of Business and Knowledge of the Catalan Government, and Xavier Ros, Vice-president for Human Resources, SEAT.

The Catalan Government’s Minister of Business Jordi Baiget pointed out, “Companies consist of business owners and workers as an inseparable whole. Shared social responsibility should be an asset rather than expenditure.”

Sit-stand desks no healthier than normal work desks Sitting slumped at your desk combined with high levels of physical inactivity causes many health-related problems, mainly obesity and a higher risk of heart disease. Many office workers have opted for alternative approaches such as the sit-stand alternatives based on the belief that they are healthier. This may not be the case according to a recent Cochrane review which found that the benefits of a variety of interventions intended to reduce sitting at work are very uncertain.

Researchers from Cochrane who reviewed three random studies found that people who used them only reduced their overall sitting time between 30 minutes and two hours on average compared to sitting at a conventional desk. Other interventions aimed at reducing inactivity such as taking a walk during breaks at work did not change the length of sitting time at work.

Co-author Jos Verbeek, from the Cochrane Work Review Group, Kuopio, Finland, explained, “It is important that workers who sit at a desk all day take an interest in maintaining and improving their well-being both at work and at home. However, at present, there is not enough high quality evidence available to determine whether spending more time standing at work can repair the harms of a sedentary lifestyle. Standing instead of sitting hardly increases energy expenditure, so we should not expect a sit-stand desk to help in losing weight. It’s important that workers and employers are aware of this, so that they can make more informed decisions.”

HR EVENTS

HR EVENTS June 2016

Organised by

Key Media

HR Excel 2016

Organised by

Location: Novotel Singapore Clark Quay, 177A River Valley Road, Singapore 179031 Website: http://excel.hrdmag.com.sg/ Tel: (65) 3163 2059 (Janina Sarmiento) Email: janina.sarmiento@keymedia.com

1–2

13 Organised by

Hong Kong Management Association

Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2016 seminar Location: Room N101, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Website: www.hkma.org.hk/trainingaward Tel: (852) 2826 0532 (Ellis Yeung) / (852) 2826 0535 (Elsie Chan) Email: ellisyeung@hkma.org.hk / elsiechan@hkma.org.hk

14

American Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong

Lunch & Learn Workshop: Creating a Culture that Engages and Retains Millennials Location: 1904 Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong Website: http://www.amcham.org.hk/events/ Tel: (852) 2530 6900 Email: amcham@amcham.org.hk Organised by

Human Resources Magazine

Training & Development Asia 2016 Location: The Mira, Hong Kong Website: http://www.humanresourcesonline.net/trainingdevelopment/2016/

Organised by

JobsDB

JobsDB HR Day Magnetic HR: attracting talent today, tomorrow and beyond Organised by

American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai

Negotiation Skills for HR (Chinese Session) Location: AmCham Shanghai Conference Center Suite 568, Shanghai Centre, 1376 Nanjing Road West, Shanghai Website: http://www.amcham-shanghai.org/ AmChamPortal/Event/ Tel: (86 21) 6219 7119 (ext. 4580) Email: kelly.deng@amcham-shanghai.org

Organised by

American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai

20 21

Organised by

American Chamber of Commerce China

AmCham China 17th Annual HR Conference Location: Grand Ballroom, China World Hotel, No.1 Jianguomen Outer Street, Beijing Website: http://amcham.eventbank.cn Tel: (86) 8519 0864 Email: dlv@amchamchina.org

12 | HR MAGAZINE

Organised by

HRM Asia

10 Annual Employment Law Asia Congress th

21 – 22

2016 AmCham Shanghai Corporate Social Responsibility Conference and Fair Location: The Peninsula Shanghai No 32 The Bund, Zhongshan Dong Yi Road, Shanghai Website: http://www.amcham-shanghai.org/ AmChamPortal/Event/ Tel: (86 21) 6279 7119 (ext. 5658) Email: edith.zhang@amcham-shanghai.org.

Location: Level 2, 5221 – 223, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Website: http://hk.jobsdb.com/en-hk/pages/edm/jobsdb-hrday-on-20-jun-2016 Email: event@jobsDB.com

Location: Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel Website: http://www.hrmcongress.com/ Tel: (65) 6423 4631 (Azrielle Looi) Email: info@hrmasia.com.sg

22 Organised by

Global Learn Tech Awards 2016

23 – 24

28

Location: Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India Website: www.worldeducationcongress.com Tel: (91 22) 2661 6602 Email: secretariat@worldeducationcongress.com

Learn Tech

HR EVENTS

HR EVENTS July 2016 Organised by

American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai Predictive HR What to measure & how to plan future HR strategies

Personal Branding in the Digital and Social Age Location: AmCham Shanghai Conference Center Suite 568, Shanghai Centre, 1376 Nanjing Road West, Shanghai Website: http://www.amcham-shanghai.org/ AmChamPortal/Event/ Email: committees@amcham-shanghai.org

• • • •

1

• • • •

14 Organised by

Change Enablement (HK) Limited

Prosci Change Management Certification Program Location: Auberge, Discovery Bay Website: www.changeenablement.hk/prosci/booking/ Email: info@ChangeEnablement.hk

Organised by

Leveraging HR metrics & data analysis Predictive HR—leading the way ahead with analytics Latest trends in HR data analysis Talent mobility—why HR needs to rethink its future mobility strategies Big data and HR HR technology & workforce analytics Using metrics to help identify staff development needs HR legal update

Location: Cliftons, Central, Hong Kong Website: http://www.hrmagazine.com.hk Tel: (852) 2736 6339 Email: sydnie@excelmediagroup.org

18 – 21

Fee: FREE ENTRY for HR Magazine subscribers, non-subscribers HKD 1,200

HRM Asia

Organization Development and Design Congress 2016

20 – 21

Location: Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel Website: http://www.hrmcongress.com/ Tel: (65) 6423 4631 (Azrielle Looi) Email: info@hrmasia.com.sg

Organised by

Change Enablement (HK) Limited

Executive Breakfast Briefing on ‘Building Enterprise Change Capabilities’ Organised by

SMR Group

22

Location: Hong Kong Website: www.ChangeEnablement.hk/hkma Email: info@ChangeEnablement.hk

Asia HRD Summit Location: Kuala Lumpur Website: http://hrdcongress.com/ Tel: (603) 2279 9199 Email: info@smrhrgroup.com

26 – 27

August 2016 Organised by

Organised by

American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai

Future Leaders of the Year Awards

World HRD Congress

Asia HR Tech Excellence Awards

2

Location: Pan Pacific, Marina Square, Singapore Website: www.employerbrandingawards.com Tel: (91 22) 2660 1203 Email: secretariat1@employerbrandingawards.com

4

Location: Shanghai Website: http://www.amcham-shanghai.org/ AmChamPortal/Event/ Email: sara.harari@amcham-shanghai.org

Organised by

Organised by

World HRD Congress

Asia's Training & Development Excellence Awards 2016 Location: Pan Pacific, Marina Square, Singapore Website: www.employerbrandingawards.com Tel: (91 22) 2660 1203 Email: secretariat1@employerbrandingawards.com

World HRD Congress

Asia Best Employer Brand Awards 2016

5

Location: Pan Pacific, Marina Square, Singapore Website: www.employerbrandingawards.com Tel: (91 22) 2660 1203 Email: secretariat1@employerbrandingawards.com

| 13

HR in NUMBERS

59%

3

/4

Organisations in APAC who uncovered discrepancies during employee screening process

Source: HireRight APAC Employment Screening Benchmark Report, 2016

Professionals who changed jobs using LinkedIn

Source: Where Talent-Strapped Financial Services Industry Can Find Top Talent in Hong Kong, LinkedIn, March 2016

8

44%

Millennials who will leave their current job in two years

hours and

9

minutes

63% Data breaches resulting from weak or stolen passwords

Source: Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 2016 14 | HR MAGAZINE

Source: Deloitte 2016 Millennial Survey

Time employed women spend doing paid and unpaid work

Source: Women at Work: Trends 2016, International Labor Organization (ILO)

1in10 Women who believe their international mobility opportunities with their employer are equal to men Source: Modern Mobility: Moving Women with Purpose 2016, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

HR MOVES Béatrice Lazat becomes Kering's HR Director Béatrice Lazat has taken up the role as HR Director at luxury, sport and lifestyle brand giant, Kering.

Originally from France, Lazat has had over 20 years of experience. She started her career in the luxury sector in France at Cartier and Christofle before starting her international career at L’Óreal. She has worked in the UK, Hong Kong, Australia and most recently in Shanghai, China as L’Óreal’s Asia-Pacific HR Director.

Her mission at Kering will be to adapt Kering’s HR policy towards the Group’s new strategic issues, in order to further enhance its attractiveness and overall performance. Her experience in marketing and in different cultural environments is seen as beneficial to her new role.

Hayden Majajas appointed Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Asia-Pacific, Bloomberg Hayden Majajas has made the move to Bloomberg as Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Asia-Pacific. A graduate of the Chuo University Graduate School of Law in Tokyo, Japan, Majajas has 12 years of experience managing diversity and inclusion from both the legal and financial services sectors. He previously led the diversity and inclusion teams at Lehman Brothers, Nomura and UBS, and served as the Diversity and Inclusion Director at energy giant, BP. Majajas’ work has been recognised by the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore and the International Alliance for Women, which presented him with a World Difference Award in 2015.

Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer announced, “We’re focused on attracting, retaining and developing the best people globally to ensure that we outperform in all we do. We are very excited by the addition of Majajas to our global diversity and inclusion team.”

Valerie Hayden takes on new role as HR Director, Asia, Industrial, Coats Valerie Hayden has been appointed as the HR Director for Coats industrial division in Asia. Having been in Asia for almost 20 years, Hayden brings with her over 25 years of HR experience across a range of industries, including manufacturing as well as hotels and hospitality. Hayden was formerly the Regional Head of HR, Asia-Pacific at Dentsu Aegis Network. She has also held the role of Senior HR Business Partner, Asia with Swiss Re where she oversaw high growth development leadership programmes, succession planning, and Asia HR strategy and implementation. Speaking about her appointment, Andy Speak, Chief HR Officer of Coats said, “Valerie’s broad range of experience and base in Singapore ideally position her to provide HR leadership to the Asia management team, and to lead and mentor the Asia HR team.”

Edie Xie now Head of Talent at MediaCom China Edie Xie has been appointed as Head of Talent, MediaCom China. With over 10 years of industry experience, Xie has previously worked for Mondelez and Unilever China. Based in Shanghai, she will work with the local management team to identify emerging talent, and to develop attraction and retention plans in China. Her key responsibilities will be to develop and drive innovative initiatives and solutions through areas of talent attraction, development and engagement. She will also help boost learning and development programmes focusing on leadership to improve the career progression of MediaCom’s talent.

Xie said, “Being part of the MediaCom family is such an amazing opportunity. My passion is people, and in MediaCom, I have found my counterpart.”

| 15

COVER STORY

HR vs. PR

Why HR superheroes hold hands with their PR & marketing teams and Disney’s VPs will be robots in 10 years

Many in HR have been left scratching their heads about how exactly they can continue to attract and retain the most exceptional talent, given the intense competition in today’s job market. Having a great Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is an essential place to start, but it is not the be-all and end-all. To build a robust employer brand together with a meaningful and honest EVP it is essential for HR to join hands with its PR and marketing teams.

In the new world of work, the career ladder is all but gone. By 2025, Generation Y will make up 75% of the workforce, and with the cutbacks in retirement funds, it appears Generation X will stay in employment for a bit longer too. Both will be looking for lateral opportunities—but both have vastly different expectations and priorities when it comes to their career. The workplace of the future is succumbing to further digitalisation as well—according to EY, 47% of occupations in advanced economies are at ‘high risk’ of being automated in the next 20 years.

Giovanni Angelini, Chairman, Angelini Hospitality at the recent HR Forum in the Hotel Icon, Hong Kong frankly told Peter Lowe, Vice President Operations, the Hong Kong Disneyland that his position would most likely be replaced by a robot within ten years.

Get in bed with PR, Marketing & the CIO HR worries are not just limited to staff—or themselves—being replaced by robots.

Recruiting tech-savvy staff and upskilling existing talent is more critical than ever.

Organisations are being hindered by the greatest technology skills shortage since the global financial crisis almost a decade ago. According to the world’s largest global IT leadership survey: The 2016 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, over two-thirds of CIOs—69% in APAC, 65% globally—say they believe a lack of talent will prevent their organisation from keeping up with the pace of change.

So when it comes to talent attraction and retention, HR has its work cut out. Salary and company kudos are no longer go-to strategies for recruitment and retention success—HR must leverage tech innovation

Giovanni Angelini, Chairman, Angelini Hospitality tells Peter Lowe, VP Operations, The Hong Kong Disneyland that he will most likely be replaced by a robot within ten years.

16 | HR MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

and motivate key leaders from PR, marketing and the CIO within its organisation to help drive change. Working with these leaders, HR should be the catalyst for positive change and should get to grips with creating a meaningful, realistic and honest EVP to captivate and motivate the best talent.

Worldwide, there are already many HR departments leading the way and doing some great work to develop highly attractive EVPs—but accurately mirroring that in their employer brand can sometimes be challenging. There is a growing recognition that HR superheroes need to be engaged in both creating and proactively managing the employer brand. To achieve this and create a winning EVP it is essential HR joins hands with the PR and marketing team because this message has to be consistent throughout the organisation. This helps ensure buy-in both from incumbent talent and from external potential talent—as it translates into a positive and honest candidate experience right from the get-go when they first research a company, apply for a job, attend an interview and progress to on-boarding and their career. Employer branding cannot just be a glitzy corporate facade, it has to be a culture that runs through every artery and vein of the organisation.

HR love triangle Another important consideration for HR is the rapid digitalisation of the workforce and the effect this has on change at every level.

HR also needs to reach out to their CIOs for help on driving through positive change in this regard. CIOs, just like HROs, have to keep pace with rapid tech innovation, which necessitates them picking up the leadership baton to champion change throughout the organisation. True HR superheroes not only go to bed with the PR and marketing team, they should invite the CIO along too. This HR love triangle with tech-savvy HR departments helps drive engagement, retention and productivity of talent at all levels. More importantly, it also paves the way for leveraging digital recruitment strategies

that are far more appealing to younger generations—who already form the majority of today’s workforce.

HR does not just have to realise the importance of IT, it has to leverage its CIOs to help evangelise innovation and digitisation throughout the organisation.

Bob Hayward, Head, Asia Pacific CIO Advisory Centre of Excellence, KPMG in Singapore commented, “The role of the CIO in today’s business is truly focused on innovation. CIOs are no longer focused solely on delivering the right technology to enable the enterprise, rather they are now the key agent of change for moving enterprise strategy forward...more than ever before, IT leaders must be strategic partners with the CEO.”

essential that the EVP conveyed is tangible, feels ‘real’ and—as far as is practicable within operational, logistical and budget constraints—meets talent expectations.

In terms of organisational development an organisation’s EVP not only needs to be reflected in both the ‘employer’ and ‘corporate’ branding but also needs to be mirrored in process throughout the organisation. EVP should be reflected in recruitment messages and candidate communications, should influence every strategic HR priority and must support and drive the entire business strategy forwards.

With so much hinging on the EVP offered, HR must ensure that they not only get talent buy-in, but that the EVP is constantly massaged to ensure that talent continually believe in it too.

Creating authentic EVPs Before employer brand is considered, the company’s EVP has to be sound. The degree to which an EVP genuinely attracts, engages and retains key talent is directly dependant on its authenticity. Considering the changes to the workplace and the expectations of employees, companies with highly successful EVPs demonstrate a willingness to do what is feasible to help meet employee needs. Richard Veal, Head— Reward, Talent and Communication, Towers Watson UK explained, “What we found is that companies with low EVP-effectiveness discuss the deal in terms of the programmes they provide and how valuable they are. But the best companies go much further—they discuss how they meet their employees’ expectations and, in return, what behaviours they expect employees to exhibit to help them succeed.”

It is crucial that HR is open, honest and realistic when creating and/or modifying their organisation’s EVP. As the EVP will be the backdrop for all the other organisational processes that occur, it is

| 17

COVER STORY Process of EVP creation Insight gathering

Data from EOS or bespoke survey

Grounded research methodology

EVP creation

EVP implementation

Focus groups and surveys (internal & external)

Synthesis of insight

Strategic HR priorities

Design brief for online and paper collateral

Employee handbook Practitioner handbook

Data gathering and sorting

Qualitative data analysis

Create draft EVP

Test EVP

Create final EVP

Design work

Operationalise EVP

Employer brand

Source: talentsmoothie

HR owning the employer brand HR in its traditional recruitment capacity leveraged the power of the organisation’s EVP and may have frequently bypassed the PR and Marketing teams during this process. In today’s workplace, with the power of social media and the Internet it is essential that HR make sure PR and Marketing teams are on the same page— for both internal and external communication— when it comes to the recruitment process. In doing so, HR plays a crucial role in marrying together the candidate experience, the ideals of the EVP and the company culture together with strategic business goals.

According to LinkedIn’s Global Recruiting Trends 2016 survey, the percentage of talent acquisition teams that share or contribute to managing the employer brand has generally trended down from 50% in 2012 to 39% in 2015. Over the same period, there has been a general trend towards talent acquisition teams completely owning the employer brand. In 2015 32% of HR teams and talent acquisition teams surveyed ‘completely own’ their employer brand.

18 | HR MAGAZINE

Employer brand ownership 100%

50%

39% 32%

0% 2012

2013

2014

2015

Talent acquisition shares ownership of or contributes to managing the employer brand Talent acquisition completely owns the employer brand Source: LinkedIn Talent Solutions Global Recruiting Trends 2016

Estela Vazquez Perez Colombo, Employer Branding and Marketing Strategist, Scotiabank pointed out that HR and marketing have a lot more in common than was previously thought.

She said, “Both HR and marketing are focused

on influencing and motivating people. To do this, both disciplines need a good understanding of people and psychology. Despite commonalities, there are additional skills and capabilities that both can learn from each other.”

COVER STORY

What PR can learn from HR

What HR can learn from PR

1

Influencing business behaviour and strategy. In PR and marketing, there is often a tangible product and/or brand communication platform. By working alongside HR, PR and marketing teams have the opportunity to better understand employee engagement, behaviours, beliefs and challenges. This is because in HR the product is the organisation, the people and their values.

1

Talent segmentation. Customer segmentation is a common practice amongst PR and marketing professionals and while HR does segment candidates and employees, there is an opportunity for HR to do even better in this area. For example, developing targeted EVPs for candidate or employee segments, and tailoring the message to the audience is a critical employer branding strategy.

2

Putting people first. HR can help PR and marketing answer the following questions: Who are your employees?

What kind of organisation is this? What is the character or ethos of the organisation and its people? What is the organisation’s social and environmental purpose?

Together, they will uncover the answers to the above and deliver authentic ways to communicate the true value of the organisation. That purpose will spark innovation and will impact people, customers and stakeholders alike.

2

Embracing technology to engage with employees and prospects. Although there are many technically savvy HR professionals, PR and marketing professionals tend to know and have access to the latest technological trends to communicate and engage with their customers. How has PR and marketing utilised social media to attract, retain and engage with customers? How can these tools be applied to attracting, retaining and engaging talent?

Steps for an exciting HR-Marketing collaboration Acknowledge that HR and PR and marketing have the same purpose and social accountability. Organisations have great solutions or products to meet people’s needs. Strategic marketing, brand management and HR use this purpose as a feed and driver of all decision making. It needs to be leveraged as the most meaningful reason to exist in the organisation.

Collaborate to make it happen.

1

Clarify roles and responsibilities. People work better together when they know what their role is. Whatever strategy is decided upon, roles and responsibilities need to be clarified to ensure efficient and excellent execution.

2

Be authentic and do not be afraid of conflict. Conflict is inevitable whenever people work together on a common goal— so embrace it, learn to manage it and watch the creativity flow.

3

Source: Blu Ivy Group

Measure the impact. HR and marketing need to both consolidate dashboards or metrics to demonstrate ROI.

4

| 19

HR FE FEATURES

Women aboard

Embracing diversity is more than making up numbers With progress of female representation on boards stagnating in Hong Kong over the last year, pressure is on to boost diversity—but how is this best achieved? Speaking to HR Magazine, Karen Greenbaum, President and CEO, AESC believes that with all the challenges boards are now facing, building an inclusive culture and making the business case for diversity is critical to boost female representation.

When asked why he was passionate about a gender-balanced cabinet in November, Canada’s new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau simply—and now famously—stated, “Because it is 2015.” Comprised of 15 men and 15 women, Trudeau’s cabinet sets a high benchmark that even organisations in Canada’s own TSX 60 index are struggling to meet. Despite a fine balance in Canada’s gender population, the percentage of women on TSX 60 company boards is only 22.6% as of 2016.

In comparison, Hong Kong lags far behind.

According to Community Business’s Women on Boards Hong Kong 2016 report, the percentage of women who sit on the boards of the territory’s leading Hang Seng Index companies only stood at 11.1%—and this represents no change since 2015.

The global landscape is shifting fast and the board needs to be performing at its optimum.

The onset of the ‘Internet of things’ era, the slowdown of growth and the rise of a consumption-based economy in China, the cutting of bureaucratic red tape in India, and the lifting of sanctions on Iran as well as other developments are changing Asia’s socio-economic landscape. These changes

20 | HR MAGAZINE

highlight the importance of having a diversity of skills and backgrounds on boards.

Embracing diversity is more than making up numbers—it is a business imperative.

Lack of diversity ‘top priority’ Diversity remains a burning issue that organisations are still trying to grapple with.

According to research by the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), diversity is a business imperative with implications for organisational success.

When clients were asked about the top priorities when it comes to executive talent, lack of diversity came out on top. Having advised top global firms, AESC and their 300 members know first-hand the power of diverse corporate leadership.

Karen Greenbaum, President and CEO, AESC commented, “As the pressure for top talent continues, and succession becomes more of an issue—and you are trying to bring up the next generation of talent—diversity becomes more essential. It goes hand-in-hand with the second two priorities, lack of successors and competition for talent, because if you don’t embrace diversity, you’re going to be missing out on half the population when looking for talent.”

HR FEATURES

HR recipe for getting women on board Don’t be gender specific Looking at this in a practical sense, it raises the question of quotas. On the one hand, it does force organisations to consider women for the board level and boosts representation—but while Greenbaum believed it helps behaviour change, this does not tackle the real issue of diversity.

She explained, “I am not in favour of quotas.

I still hope that change is driven for the right reasons and quotas create a culture of tokenism. Organisations will get in the mindset of ‘We need three women. We don’t care where they are or what their background is, we need three.’ That, for me, is a problem.”

Instead, inclusion should not be about being gender specific—inclusion covers everything from building an environment of acceptance and innovation, to respecting and valuing different points of view. Greenbaum elaborated, “The first step to boosting female representation is to embrace diversity in its entirety. If you create a culture of inclusion where there are people of different age, gender, ethnicity and all kinds of other differences, you are more likely to build an innovative culture and bring people in from different backgrounds, including more women. In this environment, everyone is valued and thrives.”

Broadening the criteria HR and recruiters also need to open up a conversation with boards about what their goals are and what they need to achieve.

“

This creates a recruitment strategy based on a business strategy which indirectly has a better chance of boosting female representation on boards.

Greenbaum explained, “Boards will first tend to think of the circle of people they know—and this is likely to be very narrow. They also make the criteria so narrow that only a few people can meet it. In an extreme example, a board might want a sitting CEO to join the board— automatically, you have narrowed down how many women can join.”

This is not down to sexism. As Greenbaum added, “I don’t think the biggest problem today is someone saying ‘I don’t want to work with women.’ It is unconscious bias that could be slowing down progress.”

By starting with an inclusive culture, you ingrain the concept that everyone should be involved—and this then sets the foundation for getting the board to think more about its own composition and, equally importantly, C-Suite composition.

For instance, executive search consultants could help the Board Chair or its Nomination and Governance Committee to take a careful look at current board composition, and look to enhance the board with new skills and expertise. They could consider someone with, for example, direct experience in growth markets or even with digital marketing experience. Objective measures such as these could be defined internally,

by HR or other stakeholders, or externally through consultants who would help to identify bias that exists. By aligning board composition with business strategy and making biases explicit, boards begin to open up a fresh slate of diverse candidates.

Going hand-in-hand with business strategy This diversity of people and skills in turn goes hand-in-hand with business strateg y.

For example, an organisation could be trying to tap into a new market or a certain kind of customer.

To put this into perspective, Greenbaum described an example in Australia where the customer base was nearly 100% women but the board was 100% white male, “These kinds of boards do not reflect customer bases or growth—companies do need to take a hard look at their board composition and business strategies looking for obvious gaps.”

Businesses that take a hard look at their business strategies and their client bases will see the case for a more open mind towards candidates for the board and C-Suite. As Greenbaum concluded, “If there is an organisation that’s only promoting men verses one that includes everybody, who do you think will be more successful? The environment where everyone succeeds or where only half the population succeeds? At the end of the day, it is about business results. You’re not going to get results or innovate effectively by cutting out half the population.”

In essence, leadership comes down to the question of how do I best motivate and engage those who follow me?

”

– Karen Greenbaum, President and CEO, AESC

| 21

HR FEATURES

Race for opportunity: Diversity List 2016 Call for diversity and equality in government

16 talented members of the ethnic minority community were nominated for the Diversity List to be considered for government advisory boards.

The Zubin Foundation launched Race for Opportunity: Diversity List 2016, Hong Kong’s first list of ethnic minorities that are qualified and committed to serve on Hong Kong’s government committees, to level the playing field among a vastly dominant Chinese workforce. The list profiles 16 individuals across various professions who have been through a screening process with Spencer Stuart, a leading recruitment firm and partner on the project. All of these candidates have a wealth of experience, plenty of passion and are committed to represent their communities in government.

Equality for equals Carrie Lam, Chief Secretary for Administration, Hong Kong SAR Government recognised the importance racial diversity in Hong Kong, including in government, and emphasised the need for more equality among equals. She stated, “We have to build a society that embraces cultural diversity and racial harmony.”

According to a government poverty analysis, members of the South-East Asian community were at far greater risk of being below the poverty line, especially those in the younger generations. Government measures have been taken to address these issues faced by ethnic minorities, with initiatives directed at education, employment and community outreach. Lam commented, “These measures are not only for the younger generation and newcomers, but are designed to unleash the potential of all ethnic minorities to truly make Hong Kong an inclusive society for all.”

22 | HR MAGAZINE

Work and education opportunities A primary focus is the early adaptation system, which focuses on enhancing Chinese language skills to allow children of all backgrounds to enter the local education system—a system currently almost inaccessible to ethnic minorities due to the wide gap in language ability and cultural understanding. Free kindergarten and special aid for ethnic minorities are among the plans the government has in place to aid integration and bridge the language divide between ethnicities.

For older students, special vocational Chinese education programmes will be introduced as well.

In terms of employment, it was emphasised that the government has already amended Chinese requirements—among other initiatives—in order to facilitate ethnic minorities in government jobs. In the private sector, this requires all parties to recognise the scientifically proven value of diversity and embrace employees of all ethnicities.

Call for inclusion Lam went on to praise the Diversity List with many candidates from non-Chinese backgrounds who are both willing and qualified to serve on government bodies. She emphasised that positive discrimination was not the way forward, but providing equal opportunity had to be a top priority.

Shalini Mahtani, Founder, The Zubin Foundation commented,“ Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities—excluding Foreign Domestic Helpers—represent 3% of the population and is growing. The population of ethnic minorities is young in age and is an important talent pool at a time when Hong Kong has a rapidly ageing population. This population brings local knowledge, self-defines with a Hong Kong identity and is committed to staying in Hong Kong. This population should be included in advisory committees of our government and also on voluntary and corporate boards.”

Lam explained, “In terms of employment, we strive to ensure that people from different ethnic groups enjoy equal access to job opportunities as others, both in the public and private sectors.

I am delighted to see more and more ethnic minority faces in the civil service, particularly for some grades in the disciplinary forces.”

She added, “Of course, we need the support of all sectors of the community to complement the Government's efforts in helping ethnic minorities fully integrate into society. It is therefore encouraging to see think-tanks such as the Zubin Foundation propel studies and research on the situation of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong and make recommendations to government bodies.”

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam explored how racial equality could finally become reality in Hong Kong

HR FEATURES

EFFECTIVE EMPLOYER BRANDING

Attracting talent amidst modern-day workplace challenges A panel of prominent HR experts got together recently at Hotel Icon’s Human Resource Forum to discuss the latest trends and challenges for the HR industry. The panel was chaired by Paul Arkwright, Editor-in-Chief, HR Magazine and the panel participants included an impressive line-up—Niale McLoughlin, Executive Director Learning and Advancement, Wynn Macau; Ooi Lay Peng, Group Vice President of Human Resources Development, Rosewood Hotel Group; and Ivy Leung, Head of Human Resources and Administration, Octopus Holdings.

Employer and corporate brands An important area for HR is looking at the relationship between corporate and employer brands. Leung elaborated that at Octopus this was under ‘one umbrella’, and that by making a cashless society the vision, the mission and the core values were very simple.

“

She said, “During the interview or after the orientation, people remember the core values because they are so easy to apply. There’s a need to make core values easy to apply and to put ourselves in others’ shoes. When we deal with people the same logic applies. Having a good Human Resources team means that you attract people with similar thoughts and this is really powerful.”

Peng explained that for Rosewood, the brand is really about a sense of place and having a friendly perspective. She elaborated, “We have in our employer branding ‘imagine, discover and explore’. It is the same journey that a guest would go through—so they would experience an everyday living canvas. We allow individuals to imagine and discover just as a guest would.”

24 | HR MAGAZINE

By making the employee experience quite similar to the guest experience, McLoughlin said that the Wynn’s first value is to care about everyone and everything. She explained, “When people show up on day one for our two-day orientation programme, my job is to get them to relax.”

What you offer as the front of the house also reflects the heart of the house. In the hotel industry now, there are expectations that the experience at the heart of the house is equally as important.

”

— Ooi Lay Peng, Group Vice President of Human Resources Development Rosewood Hotel Group

HR FEATURES Leung said that for Octopus, it is about addressing the hierarchy of needs—starting from safety and going up to assertiveness. She added, “The world has changed and we have to address the hierarchy of needs from the top. What we have done for all applicants—whether they are successful or not— is give them Octopus cards as a gift. This is not only a gesture of appreciation but a journey from knowing the product, reading the advertisement and taking the phone call to seeing the applicant —this is where the journey starts.”

“

We have a way of getting people to tell stories about each other—telling stories about their colleagues living the values for real inside and outside the organisation, and we share these stories. These stories leak into the world and they attract people to us.

Peng also stressed that with the globalisation of the workplace, there are also more expectations, especially among the younger generation. She went on to explain, “There is a global mindset but local execution.

Employees want more global exposure, so by incorporating that into the EVP, you would definitely have an attractive proposition.”

McLoughlin disclosed that it is actually getting easier and that Wynn has not changed their value proposition. She noted, “Two years ago, employee turnover was 11%, and in 2015, it was 8% —so we keep refining what we’re doing. The core of who we are doesn’t change, but it’s increasingly easy for us to attract people because people work with us and they spread the word.”

Peng highlighted that different people want appreciation differently, and knowing that and training the leadership on that is easy to do. Peng said that another way that really helps is the ‘one-on-one’—basically involving having that meeting where the person tells you what he or she is up to. She added, “It’s an opportunity for you to clearly spend the quality time to know more about what’s going on, what that person’s thinking and also what that person needs. So you can use that time to listen and pay attention to that person alone.

That person grows from your questions and your feedback, and also the person gets your time too. I think that doesn’t cost money.”

” “

— Niale McLoughlin, Executive Director Learning and Advancement, Wynn Macau EVP in the modern workplace The more transient nature of employees attracted to the hospitality sector is a challenge to the hotel industry. To deal with this, organisations are finding that they need to adjust their EVP. According to Peng, when the EVP is more aligned to the business proposition, your employees become aligned too. She explained, “What you offer as the front of the house also reflects the heart of the house. In the hotel industry now, there are expectations that the experience at the heart of the house is equally important.”

She explained, “We created a gratitude zone and we have cards that come through my team. Let’s say someone has been appreciated by somebody, we can send them an SMS. It’s very cheap and simple but it’s effective.

Gratitude is not all about being nice to people, it has a practical purpose. I get to see where the conversation is coming from and I measure it whether it is from gaming, hotel, food and beverage or other. I get to see what’s happening, so it’s a beautiful finger on the pulse on what’s going on in the organisation.”

Attracting talent Having a successful policy to attract talent is high on HR’s agenda and the panel was able to offer their insight and experience in this area. McLoughlin said that it was easy and shared her experience with Wynn stories. She described, “We have a way of having people tell stories about each other— telling stories about their colleagues living the values for real inside and outside the organisation, and we share these stories.

These stories leak into the world and they attract people to us. It’s a channel for people to recognise each other, appreciate each other and honour each other.”

At Rosewood, a different approach is taken because they are a growing company. Peng elaborated, “What attracts employees is the possibility of growing with the company. You have the probability of going out and being somebody in a new property—so that is very good for retention and attracting talent.”

Cheaper initiatives Not every company has a big budget to attract and retain talent. The panel offered some alternatives for those organisations which may have a tighter budget. McLoughlin said that HR realised that Wynn stories are a big thing but not everybody has got a story —so they prepared for this by getting creative.

For Leung at Octopus, being truthful is what is more important. She explained, “To be honest is very important. For example during the interview, we explain to the applicants that we are a very small company and we don’t inflate titles. We must be prompt in getting back to people and not let them wait—keep them in the loop.”

New products means we have to invest more and we must make a promise to our stakeholders about managing the growth of the cost according to the expansion. HR needs to know the KPIs of other departments and how it’s calculated. Without knowing this, how can you manage the cost?

”

— Ivy Leung, Head of Human Resources and Administration at Octopus Holdings | 25

HR FEATURES

Operating expenses vs. revenue Operating expenses are growing faster than revenue—and this is an area where HR can help focus their talents. Leung explained that it depended on the product lifecycle, “New products means we have to invest more and we must make a promise to our stakeholders about managing the growth of the cost according to the expansion. HR needs to know the KPIs of other departments and how it’s calculated. Without knowing this, how can you manage the cost?”

according to revenue. She commented, “We would provide them with a system and then they would take a look at the forecast for the business. Labour costs are the most expensive and these costs are escalating, as well as related costs. HR learns to help management to manage the costs—you learn to schedule people off if they have outstanding annual leave for example. So you are actually creating a system and training for people to consciously take a look at scheduling and get into the mindset of managing costs.”

At the Wynn, McLoughlin stressed that they do not mess with the brand and continue to do everything they were doing in terms of giving attention to team members. She elaborated, “We don’t cut training and development and we don’t buy any training—it’s all homemade.”

HR competencies in future hires For these three organisations, there are various HR competencies that they look for in their future hires. In Peng’s words, it’s simple, “The number one element is communication as you have to be communicating at all levels—that’s one competency. The other competency is how they relate to other people in terms of relationships. Also business acumen is the other aspect of that—how aware are they in terms of

Peng said that the HR role is to provide a system where people can have a discussion before a meeting to manage the business

26 | HR MAGAZINE

the industry and also in terms of what’s going on around them, and the application to HR?” For Wynn, it is all about branding.

McLoughlin highlighted that the question HR asks is whether they—future hires— are aligned with the Wynn brand. She explained, “Do they genuinely care about everyone and everything? Are they striving to be better? Are they taking personal responsibility? We ask them tell us a story about a time when they cared for someone and if they can’t tell us any stories—we aren’t interested.”

Leung said that Octopus is looking for people who are able to learn well. She noted, “Sometimes people are very articulate but their critical reasoning is sometimes a little bit weak. So I think the person who is responsible for recruitment in the company must be very clear about hiring people who are agile learners.”

HR FEATURES

AWARD FOR

EXCELLENCE IN

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT 2016

SEMINAR ON “BENCHMARK YOUR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES WITH SOME OF THE EXCELLENT ORGANIZATIONS”

The Most PresƟgious & AuthoritaƟve Training and Development Award INTRODUCTION

The Award for Excellence in Training and Development has been organized by the Human Resources Development Management CommiƩee of The Hong Kong Management AssociaƟon since 1990. It is the only award of its kind in Hong Kong that gives public recogniƟon of achievements in training and development to individuals as well as organizaƟons, whether large or small and whatever the nature of their businesses or services.

WHAT IS THE SEMINAR ABOUT?

Finalists of Skills Training Category and Development Category of the Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2016 will present at the Final Judging which will be held at the Seminar on “Benchmark Your Training and Development PracƟces with Some of the Excellent OrganizaƟons”. They will share with you the secret of success of their training and development programmes. ParƟcipants of the seminar will vote for the Best PresentaƟon Award.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Mr Paul Poon Managing Director CLP Power Hong Kong Limited

FINALISTS Skills Training Category

“Building a New Business with the Line” Cordis, Hong Kong “i-PRO Development Programme” Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) Limited “V Care Programme 2015” The Great Eagle ProperƟes Management Company Limited - Langham Place “Y-Power Talent Development Scheme” Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited “From Medals to Business - Life Skills Training Programme for ReƟred Athletes” MTR CorporaƟon Limited & Sports FederaƟon & Olympic CommiƩee of Hong Kong, China “FuncƟonal Skilled Knowledge Training Programme” TAL Apparel

Development Category

“OperaƟonal Excellence Academy” Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited “You Can Code” Esquel Group “Leadership as a Profession” Manulife (InternaƟonal) Limited “Run to MDRT 2015” PrudenƟal Hong Kong Limited “Wallem Academy - Management FoundaƟon Programme” Wallem Group “Zurich Oxygen” Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong)

TIME

8:30 am (RegistraƟon) Morning Session 9:00 am - 1:00 pm (Keynote Speech and Skills Training Category Final Judging) Lunch 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (Lunch) AŌernoon Session 2:00 pm - 5:45 pm (Development Category Final Judging)

FEE

Whole-day Seminar with lunch HKMA Members: HK$2,900 / person Non-members: HK$3,200 / person without lunch HKMA Members: HK$2,500 / person Non-members: HK$2,800 / person

LEAD SPONSOR

Half-day Seminar (AM or PM Session Only) with lunch HKMA Members: HK$1,900 / person Non-members: HK$2,200 / person without lunch HKMA Members: HK$1,500 / person Non-members: HK$1,800 / person

DATE

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

VENUE

Room N101 (Keynote Speech and Seminar) Bauhinia Room (Lunch) Hong Kong ConvenƟon and ExhibiƟon Centre 1 Expo Drive (New Wing) Wanchai HONG KONG

ENQUIRY

Ms Ellis Yeung Tel: 2826 0532 Ms Elsie Chan Tel: 2826 0535

WEBSITE

www.hkma.org.hk/trainingaward

MAIN SPONSORS

SPONSORS

MEDIA SPONSORS

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HR COMMUNITY

MAX OUT YOUR EVP successful total reward & retention strategies What does it take to be an exceptional employer? With the war for talent in Hong Kong and Asia being so fierce, organisations are adopting new and exciting employer brand strategies to attract the best people in the market.

As HR Magazine found out at its conference in April, this is not just about generous remuneration—effective Employer Value Propositions (EVPs) embody an organisational culture. The 250+ delegates who got to attend the conference heard lots of great success stories and solutions of how to win the hearts and minds of the current and future workforce.

Jebsen’s journey in creating sustainable EVP across multiple businesses in the Group

BIANCA WONG Group Human Resources & Corporate Communications Director, Jebsen & Co. Ltd

Jebsen & Co. Ltd is the distributor behind the brands they represent, and as such employs a wide range of people across several sectors, including consumer products, beverages, industrial products, motors, logistics and automotive products. With such variety, Bianca Wong, Group Human Resources & Corporate Communications Director, Jebsen & Co. Ltd stated, “From the beginning we were clear we wanted one single EVP, but this was a major challenge. We wanted to define who we are as an employer to create a unique preposition.”

To make an EVP successful, Wong compared it to marriage. She noted, “This is because it must be a promise, and we have to commit as an organisation. It should not be a slogan or spiel. By committing to what we say, people have an assumption of who we are, and we save millions in getting the right people to work for us.”

28 | HR MAGAZINE

Developing the EVP involved engagement internally and externally. This involved asking their own employees who Jebsen were as a company, and finding out what leaders’ ideals were. This involved visualising activities, and asking employees how they felt about these. This provided input into the employer brand of ‘success breeds success’.

This not only boosts morale but attracts the right talent to the organisation.

The deliverables cannot be ‘fluffy’, Wong commented. As such, throughout the employment life cycle, employees are encouraged to reflect on ‘success breeds success’—Jebsen, for example, encouraged employees to share stories that go on the career website and even compare themselves and their aspirations to superheroes.

Continuous reinforcement keeps the EVP thriving, and HR at Jebsen is an ambassador, advocate, activist and partner for it.

HR COMMUNITY

Building a highly motivated and engaged workforce at Pfizer “Who here likes fishing?” Stephen Leung, Country Manager, Pfizer Hong Kong asked.

After a show of hands, he fired another question at us. “And what do you like eating?

Chips, chocolate?” Murmurs of agreement and consent spread through the room.

“So do you attract your fish with chocolate?” he rhetorically asked the audience. This was one of many analogies that Leung used to colourfully demonstrate the importance of communication and knowing what people want in building an engaged team and getting staff to work together.

He asked members of the audience what engages them. Answers included team success, individual development, and focusing on the outcome. Leung himself identified three things, summarised in home-made acronym ‘SOP’, as crucial elements in building an engaged team.

“First is ‘S’, the best dress you can wear—your smile. When you smile, people will smile back and feel better. In a team, you also have to

be open-minded towards other people and ideas, which brings us to ‘O’.” The third and final letter in the SOP of success, according to Leung, is P for participation.

He noted, “It’s so easy, to feel part of a team.

You need to get people to participate—talk. And don’t just do the talking, you need to listen.”

STEPHEN LEUNG Country Manager, Pfizer Hong Kong

Leung explained that Pfizer has an open communication café, where meetings can be held and management can truly listen to employees, in order to facilitate communication, among a number of other initiatives.

He added, “If you want to engage people, you have to know what they want. And they need to tell you what they want.”

“We need to allow, empower and encourage people to exercise what they’re good at. You have to understand someone’s strengths and use them. Sometimes, as a leader, the best thing to do is to shut up and step back.”

| 29

HR COMMUNITY Facilitating successful payroll strategies among diverse global workforces KAREN ERRINGTON GBS Management Change and Business Support Director, TMF Group

With over 6,000 staff globally, TMF Group is a professional services organisation geared for capital markets and global business services.

Karen Errington, GBS Management Change and Business Support Director, TMF Group has worked for the company for the past four years in a global role. Having over 600 global clients and 38,000 client entities, TMF Group has in-depth knowledge of what companies are asking— compliance. Errington explained that companies are looking to reduce risk by ensuring adherence to the ever-changing tax and compliance laws, and this where TMF Group shines in organising and managing successful strategies among global workforces.

TMF Group operates across the globe and offers services in outsourcing HR and Payroll, Accounting and Reporting and Legal Administrative Services as well as Trust and Corporate Services. According to TMF’s research, the top five sectors which are outsourced are payroll, compliance, strategic activities, pension and benefits, and training.

Errington explained, “In the APAC market,

especially Hong Kong, the main area clients are focusing on is benefits, in particular medical benefits with the ageing workforce. This is followed by external training for the younger Gen-Y employees along with compliance concerns driven by the 2008 financial crisis and having a resource pool of, for example, staff who are available on demand,” said Errington.

The global perspective is also affecting how companies do their payroll with industries such as finance, manufacturing and consumer services being the largest purchase of payroll— with multi-country payrolls being the top driver of the large multinational corporation market.

Corporations are customising pay delivery which works well for a remote workforce. She added, “By consolidating your payroll, organisations can save 30-50% of costs.” With globalisation affecting payroll strategies, companies need to be equipped with people and processes. This is where TMF Group can offer advantages, elaborated Errington, “As TMF is the only vendor that certifies payroll in every office—this makes it unique among vendors.”

Rizwan shares advice on creating compelling total reward packages RIZWAN MASOOD Head of HR—Retail Banking Greater China and North Asia, Standard Chartered Bank

Times are changing rapidly and people think differently—the real question for HR therefore, claims Rizwan Masood, Head of HR—Retail Banking Greater China and North Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, is how to conquer this.

The basic objective for organisations today is to attract, engage and retain the best talent in the organisation, but Masood added, “Extrinsic incentives, particularly those monetary rewards, will not work alone.

This needs to be balanced with intrinsic incentives, involving employee experience, development and recognition.”

He added, “You could develop a competitive package of monetary benefits but people might not buy into it. The trick is to pay employees fairly and then provide an attractive package that makes employees forget about money.

For example, we have maternity leave for three months—and one employee came back

30 | HR MAGAZINE

after her leave and wanted flexitime, so she could spend some time looking after her child.

Her line manager was accommodative and provided it. Culture and employee experience matter—and with Gen Y becoming more prominent in the workforce, quality of work, autonomy, mastery, purpose and impact must feature in a strong EVP.” The challenge as well for big organisations is how you tailor set rewards for different groups of people in the organisation. Masood noted that it is important to look at rewards for different people differently. Using the example of sales versus operations, he spelt out that while the latter may look for a stable, more structured career path, sales, however, rely a lot on commission and a competitive environment.

The expectations will be different. A winning reward strategy is the one which customises rewards to different talent groups. The bottom line is to find out what the driving motivational factors for different skill sets are.

HR COMMUNITY

Leveraging flexible benefits as a key differentiator to drive employee engagement Alex Yeung, Director—Human Resources Shared Services, Avery Dennison opened by giving a brief background of Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 company that specialises in labelling and packaging materials.

Due to Avery Dennison’s highly diversified workforce, a one-size-fits-all approach was not seen as the best option to cater to their needs.

Instead, the company decided to focus on offering flexible benefits with options offered to employees to select from. A programme was launched in 2011 with a set of objectives, such as the alignment of employee benefits across companies and provision of flexibility to the employees in terms of options and benefits that fit their individual needs.

A total of eight plans were made available to employees, which allowed them to choose which medical, risk and supplementary plans they want. In terms of enrolment, the web-based system is opened once a year, during

which time you can spend your ‘flex-dollars’.

Additionally, opting out of certain plans, such as dependency plans, creates a larger amount of flex dollars, which can be spent on other items, such as day care, medical plans or even gym membership or fitness equipment.

ALEX YEUNG Director, Human Resources Shared Services, Asia Pacific Avery Dennison

Yeung commented, “Last cycle, we achieved a pretty amazing score in our metrics—85% login rate and 95% satisfaction,” indicating a high level of employees’ involvement in making their choices via the flexible benefit list of options.

There are a few things to keep in mind when implementing such a benefits programme, Yeung advised, “You have to set up clear policies and processes and over-communicate for awareness and engagement. People need to be constantly be engaged and reminded about their options. A hybrid way of communication should be organised, including face-to-face sessions as well as email broadcasting.”

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HR COMMUNITY Building an EVP with an inside-out cultural transformation

FLORA CHAN Head of Human Resources, United Overseas Bank Hong Kong

United Overseas Bank (UOB) has 500 offices worldwide in 19 countries with a total staff of more than 25,000, and Flora Chan, Head of Human Resources, UOB Hong Kong believed that at the core of a successful employer brand is EVP. Chan said, “UOB is a regional bank with great employee diversity and that’s why we put so much effort into advocating our common set of values.”

To create a successful EVP, an organisation needs to start with strong values. Chan explained that at UOB, trust is a crucial outcome of our values and can be compared to a tree. She added, “Trees grow from roots which we define as character; strong roots produce prosperous leaves and fruits that are our capabilities. Both character and capabilities are needed to build trust.

Our founding principles have defined our presence across the region and our stable management team has helped to ensure consistent execution of strategies. We need to live our values—they must become habits

that all employees should possess and our values support UOB’s vision.”

UOB takes a leader-led cascade approach where they believe leaders are paramount in setting examples for staff to inspire trust. According to Chan, a successful EVP is reflected by employees’ energy and engagement level—driving change of behaviour and cultivating the right culture.

UOB aims to become an Employer of Choice.

A significant commitment to a compelling EVP is needed where the employee will believe that they work for a great organisation when they feel empowered, trusted, cared for and respected. When asked how UOB checks the success of their EVP, Chan elaborated, “UOB values are incorporated into our HR system to provide feedback on how every employee is living out the values with clear expected behaviours and actions that results in high performance and achievements.”

Drafting C&B policies and contracts— tips for ensuring compliance

JEANNETTE TAM Managing Associate—Hong Kong Employment Practice, Bird and Bird

Some rules can make employment law Hong Kong somewhat complex. Breaches of the Employment Ordinance (EO) are, in most cases, a criminal offence, with liability extending to managers and directors.

Jeannette Tam, Managing Associate—Hong Kong Employment Practice, Bird and Bird pointed out that statutory entitlements— annual leave, statutory holidays, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, and even payment in lieu of notice, severance and long service payments, have to be calculated based on Daily Average Wages (DAW). Wages are not just salary, but include allowances paid in cash, contractual commission and certain overtime payments.

Tam also reminded any ’13th month salary’ is not actually salary—it is an end of year payment governed by separate provisions under the EO. The EO has specific rules that prescribe the timing and payment of any end of year payment/contractual annual bonus. To get around that, the bonus can be clearly drafted as discretionary —although courts may still

32 | HR MAGAZINE

deem it a contractual bonus if in practice it is treated as so. Even if it is truly discretionary, the employer must still show it has not exercised the discretion irrationally or perversely.

Deduction from Wages is limited to nine circumstances under the EO, so employers that offer any one-off payments that are expected to be clawed back will have difficulties deducting from wages. Employers can consider drafting the payments to reflect a permitted deduction or provide for repayment.

Further, to avoid these one-off payments artificially inflating the DAW, the payment can be deemed to be a payment that accrues and vests over a period of time. Likewise in relation to allowances and reimbursements, it may be better for the employer to provide the benefits in kind.

In relation to annual leave, Tam stated that for those wanting to provide additional annual leave as a benefit, it must be distinguished from the statutory minimum to avoid it being restricted under the same rules.

HR COMMUNITY MUNITY

Moderator: Paul Arkwright, Editor-in-Chief, HR Magazine; The Panel from left to right: Alex Yeung, Director—Human Resources Shared Services, Asia Pacific, Avery Dennison; Bianca Wong, Group Human Resources & Corporate Communications Director, Jebsen & Co. Ltd; Rizwan Masood, Head of HR—Retail Banking Greater China and North Asia, Standard Chartered Bank; Charles Hughley, General Manager—Talent Management, Human Resources, Johnson Electric; Lien Chu, Area Director of Human Resources & Training, Hotel Jen; Flora Chan, Head of Human Resources, United Overseas Bank Hong Kong

Creating winning EVPs—Panel Discussion The panel started off by considering the issue of how EVP has changed over time. Flora Chan, Head of Human Resources, United Overseas Bank Hong Kong opened up by talking about how EVP and employer branding has become intricately linked. She shared, “When we first started, the talent we required was quite limited but as we have expanded, we need a diversity of talent, and those from the younger generations respond well to branding. This is particularly important for a less visible brand.”

Lien Chu, Area Director of Human Resources & Training, Hotel Jen explained how this change impacted its sister company, Shangri-La. She explained, “With the next generation of emerging young leaders and a highly saturated market in our industry, we had to ask ourselves what we needed to do in our employer branding to stand out from our competitors. From dialogues and research, we knew that graduates thrive off a sense of adventure and overseas exposure. They also appreciate hearing first-hand experiences from recent graduates.

So instead of doing campus presentations where senior management share their life stories, we arranged live simultaneous video

conversations with Management Trainees from around the world so that students could engage with them and hear about their personal journey within Shangri-La. This small step was a huge leap toward achieving higher conversion ratios.”

The challenge of the EVP is buy-in. Charles Hughley, General Manager—Talent Management, Human Resources, Johnson Electric commented, “EVP should be understood from an organisational standpoint.

It is critical that the EVP should be a message which communicates both who we are and who we aspire to be. For this, you need to communicate and engage with your senior leaders and employees. We found that when it comes to engaging with our employees, it’s a rich and meaningful dialogue. We view our EVP as a journey which evolves as we evolve but with our values at the core.”

Rizwan Masood, Head of HR—Retail Banking, Greater China and North Asia, Standard Chartered Bank added, “Trainees don’t want to undergo a three-year training programme. As such, we improvise and change programmes over time, and cater to their interests.”

Main sponsor

Then it is a case of selling EVP to the outside world. In this respect, there is a difference in how companies market themselves. Bianca Wong, Group Human Resources & Corporate Communications Director, Jebsen & Co Ltd stated, “We are the force behind several well-known brands. So, the kind of culture we want to promote is one that is experience-driven but sustainable and reliable for candidates.”

Meanwhile, Chu highlighted that the culture at Hotel Jen attracts their young client base.

She added, “The top drivers for employee engagement are based on the same eight brand promises we make to our guests. What we promise to our external guests, we also deliver to our internal guests— the staff love the culture, and they live and breathe it.”

Measuring success is quite important too. Alex Yeung, Director—Human Resources Shared Services, Asia Pacific, Avery Dennison said, “The way we do this is through an employee engagement survey. This helps us to cross-check from an employee perspective about how we do.

It gives us key indications about what we need to be focused on. This helps us to improve and exceed the expectations of our employees.”

Gold sponsors

Silver sponsors

Supporting sponsors

| 33

HR COMMUNITY

HRTechTank

Hong Kong HR Technology Demo Day HR Tech Financing History: Deals And Dollars 2011 – 2015

383

296

236

$2,461 132 $1,518

77

$305

$362

2011

2012

$659

2013

2014

Amount invested in HR Tech (USD)

Tech start-ups are flourishing globally, and their presence is also being felt in Hong Kong.

With the HR software market now worth USD 15 billion worldwide, with more potential to grow, the returns on investment in the expanding digital HR market are looking promising and are gaining more traction with investors. Kicking off its first event of 2016 in Hong Kong, HRTechTank brought together a number of vendors and innovators in the HR Management and Recruitment software sphere to share their products and thoughts about the HR tech market, especially for start-ups.

Taras Polischuk, Managing Partner, HRTechTank opened the session by talking about the growth in investment into HR tech start-ups. Since 2009, USD 5 billion has been invested into this space—a rapid rise in investment from USD 305 million in 2011 to USD 2.5 billion in 2015. Further to that, the amount of HR tech investment deals that have been made increased from 77 to 383 in the same period. Even on the scale of Software as a Service (SaaS), HR technology between 2011 – 2014 has attracted a significant number of deals, with the HR and Workforce Management software industry making it into the top five of all sub industries globally that attracted investment. This is set to grow as HR takes on a much more strategic role.

34 | HR MAGAZINE

“

In addition to the overall growth of the market, consolidation is also accelerating with some of the bigger legacy vendors actively looking to acquire smaller firms and point solutions.

LinkedIn has acquired Lynda, SuccessFactors was acquired by SAP, Taleo merged with Oracle.

Number of deals

When it comes to launching an HR tech business in Asia, there was a lot of key advice for starters. Importantly, noted Peter Earnshaw, Management Consultant—Cloud Technologies, Redshift Partners, there are seven key tips to launching an HR tech business in Asia:

TOP SEVEN

tips for launching a HR tech business in Asia

”

—Taras Polischuk, Managing Partner, HRTechTank

2015

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

With all this in mind, there is a lot on the horizon in terms of innovation in the HR technology space—and with investment looking to increase over the next few years, it will be a great opportunity for HR to look at how it can leverage such software to solve key strategic problems.

7

Pick a market—either one to six, but expand into markets slowly and not all at once.

Understand the price points and capital account convertibility of your market.

‘Buy a brand’—try and get some big names to use your software.

Invest USD 1 million per market—this is the price of the game.

‘Social selling’ is a must as reputation in the region counts.

Do not educate—sell to the status quo, even if it reduces the functionality of the product.

Beware of the impact of foreign users on your road map and service delivery.

HR COMMUNITY

Construction Technology Expo 2016

The Construction Technology Expo held its inaugural event on 7 April in Hong Kong to showcase the latest construction technologies available on the market. Featuring companies and vendors that provide laser screening, 3D printing, Virtual Reality (VR), Building Information Modelling (BIM) and other engineering technology, the event attracted well over 200 participants. Visitors were able to roll up their sleeves and get their hands on new technologies.

As an example, speaking about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)—i.e. drones—Freddie Ho, Senior Surveyor, Champion Surveying and Engineering Co., Limited noted, “Surveyors can now use UAVs or drones to capture photos and monitor Ground Control Points.

From this, a 3D model can be generated by post-processing software. In large-scale and inaccessible areas, aerial photogrammetry not only shortens working hours and improves efficiency, but also reduces production cost.”

Health and safety Although these developments are exciting, there are health and safety factors that need to be taken into consideration. The Hong Kong Government has not yet developed relevant legislation regarding UAVs, but the Civil Aviation Department has published guidelines which should be followed. With the technology developing rapidly, Ho advised that operators must have professional training or could face the risk of losing life or property.

Technology and talent As well as the interactive sessions that allowed participants to sample the technology, the event facilitated a very open exchange of ideas among industry professionals about how this technology will impact the way employees work at their firms, and the kind of training that will be required to adapt to a new way of working.

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HR COMMUNITY

THE ECONOMIST:

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

The Business and Economic Case for LGBT Diversity and Inclusion In its largest digital engagement campaign to date—reaching over 17 million people worldwide—The Economist’s Pride and Prejudice conference marked a huge milestone in bringing LGBT inclusion to the forefront of the conversation on diversity. Covering the political, business and economic cases for pro-LGBT policies, the highly interactive conference provided an incredibly stimulating forum that pointed the way forward for HR. Deafening business silence Kicking off with the state of LGBT rights in Asia, it was found that progress had been made in recent years but that there was significant disparity across the region. In the Philippines, despite 80% of Filipinos being Catholic and recent anti-gay remarks by world-champion boxer, Manny Pacquiao, there have been attempts to advance LGBT rights under a wider anti-discrimination bill. In Taiwan, the newly elected president Tsai Ing-wen has thrown her support behind marriage equality but significant opposition remains from certain groups throughout the island. Japan meanwhile is seeing a lot of changes on the ground, but as panel member Taiga Ishikawa, Assembly Member, Toshima ward in Tokyo said, “We are the most behind when it comes to LGBT equality.”

The greatest surprise came from Vietnam.

Panel member Thanh Tu Nguyen, Acting Director-general, Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice stated, “Policy in Vietnam has moved forward.

The new constitution includes provisions to protect human rights and LGBT people.

Family law has been changed to remove the ban on same-sex marriage. Further to that, the Civil Code has been changed to permit gender-reassignment—allowing citizens to change their name and gender.”

Despite the uneven progress across Asia, all the panel members agreed that in their respective countries, businesses have been keeping silent on the issue. As Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor, The Economist concluded in the first session, “The silence of business is deafening around the region.”

“

Asian values vs. LGBT rights Over the years, LGBT activists have been up against conservatism. However, the next panel found that values and attitudes in Asia are evolving for generational reasons—a lot of this is due to young people in Asia not being wedded to the traditional values of their elders. Ted Osius, Ambassador, United States Embassy Vietnam added, “Even in traditionally orientated societies, change can happen. Young people are ‘plugged in’ but divisions remain between the old and young generation.”

Power panel: Taiga Ishikawa, Assembly Member, Toshima Ward, Tokyo, Japan; Mei-Nu Yu, Legislator, Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan; Sol Aragones, Congresswomen, The Philippines; Thanh Tu Nguyen, Acting Director-General, Ministry of Justice of Vietnam; Moderator: Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor, The Economist

36 | HR MAGAZINE

The silence of business is deafening around the region.

”

As young people gain exposure to alternative views and lifestyles through social media, the trend is likely to continue in this direction.

In China for example, Kate Zhou, Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaii described the emergence of a ‘cultural elite’ which is injecting new cultural attitudes into the public sphere. Anyone not holding these views is considered by the younger generation as ‘not cool’, and Zhou expressed her hope that change will spread through Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat.

Cost of discrimination Lee Badgett, Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Public Policy and Administration, University of Massachusetts Amherst revealed that her research indicated that India lost up to 1.4% of its GDP by not treating LGBT people equally. With wages being a good sign of productivity around the world, she also said that there was a 10% drop in wages and productivity if LGBT employees were not able to perform to their full ability. Also on average, LGBT people earn 11% less than their heterosexual counterparts—this represents USD 500,000 lost for a family over a lifetime.

HR COMMUNITY

Panel discussion on the state of LGBT rights in Asia The upside of having an LGBT-inclusive culture, Badgett noted, was that LGBT employees are happier, healthier and more productive, and less likely to leave a company. For a business, it is also beneficial because it saves on recruitment and retention costs. Badgett predicted that with these statistics, “It’s going to be a race to the top. There are clear social movements building up pressure on governments to pass policy to support equality, and to talk with business and work with business to do that at the business level.” This momentum could be powerful, as she added that the value of one more right given to people could lead to as much as a 3% jump in GDP per capita over time.

Power of money If not for moral reasons, LGBT inclusion may come about as a result of business opportunity. Paul Thompson, Founder, LGBT Capital stated that the global LGBT market is estimated to be worth USD 3.7 trillion. He explained, “It’s the power of the money that you can make…that will support companies to say, ‘we should look at this market’, as well as doing the right thing.”

A case in point about the potential of the LGBT market came from Joel Simhkai,

Founder and CEO, Grindr, a gay social-dating app. Having been banned in mainland China for several years, today it has just been allowed to operate in the market which is thought to have 70-80 million members of the LGBT community—the same size as the total population of Germany. Such is the potential for revenue from advertising on the app, it has been able to sell a 60% stake in its business to Chinese firm Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. for USD 98.4 million.

From a retention perspective, diversity is also crucial. According to Laura Atherley, Global Head of Senior Relationship Management, Nomura, 26% of LGBT employees are more likely to feel sadness and feel the need to sacrifice personality compared to their heterosexual counterparts—and as such, she has pushed for a diverse board, devised a training programme for middle managers to nurture inclusiveness and constantly tracks LGBT statistics.

LGBT consumers and their supporters may also come to call the shots. By 2025, millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce and Amanda McCluskey, Head of Sustainable Investment, Stewart Investors stated that companies that are seen to have discriminatory policies will find it hurts their brand. LGBT consumers say they would rather spend their money with a company that embraces diversity.

Tone from the top critical To make change, senior corporate and HR leaders have to set the agenda and be more inclusive—right up to the board level. Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas explained to the audience that having a diverse pool of employees and senior management has helped Qantas reverse its AUD 2.8 billion loss in 2013/14 to having the best year in its 95 year history in terms of performance.

LGBT attraction and retention It makes sense to have inclusive recruitment policies to attract the best-skilled workers irrespective of their orientation. Martin Cubbon, Director of Finance and Corporate Development, Swire Pacific said, “The world is getting more meritocratic, and positions of privilege are being eroded. You need to obtain the best talent to survive and thrive.”

He explained, “I put a lot of that down to our diversity and focus on diversity. The tone from the top is critical—it will be more and more important for business leaders who come from the LGBT community, or any leaders, whether it’s in defence, business or politics, to be open about their sexuality and open about why it’s such an important issue.”

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Fr te es am h a bu p p ild roa in c h g… t o

HR TRAINING

CHANGE MANAGEMENT David Simpson, Co-Founder and Director of Learning & Development, Team Building Asia kicked off a lively seminar at the recent HR Summit and Expo in Hong Kong with a hearty welcome to the audience. It was not long before he threw himself full force behind his conclusion that with a changing workplace—HR has to change too.

David Simpson, Co-Founder and Director of Learning & Development, Team Building Asia (TBASIA) started off by explaining, “We play a fear-based game in life and business.” He elaborated that everyone is interested in getting ahead of others, not only in business, but in life.

It has become a trend, with teams not being fully harmonious, and always looking to get ahead of others, with assessments made on personal effort rather than team achievement.

“

TBASIA has taken a fresh approach to team building. They do this through non-traditional methods to enliven L&D and bring something new to the table. Simpson explained, “The workplace is changing and with it so too must HR in the manner in which they approach employee experience. This does not mean it has to be all serious PowerPoint presentations and deep thinking strategic meetings. Nowadays it’s about gamification.”

38 | HR MAGAZINE

The workplace is changing and with it so too must HR in the manner in which they approach employee experience.

Simpson introduced his corporate training game, which is unlike traditional board games where players race to become the solo victor. Simpson argued that this traditional approach to games—and work and life—is holding people back from their full potential and is unnecessary.

Playing the game The rules of the game are a little complex— reflecting the complexities of business in the real world where you never know what curve ball might be thrown at you next. Simpson explained that the best way to get staff to prepare is to have a strong team ready to tackle the task and share the benefits. Playing the game itself includes features such as establishing businesses, buying/selling stocks, business opportunity cards and even gambling at the casino.

HR TRAINING Action cards reveal opportunities One key element in the TBASIA game comes from the deployment of Action Cards. These represent changes and opportunities that have not previously been thought possible, and require reassessment of the situation, and to look for ways how to best capitalise on it. The game rules clarify them as, “Your non-monetary currency in the game and life.

Everything you own or that you have access to can be an action card, if you know how to use it to win your game or help others win their game.” In this case, gambling all an investors’ money at the casino is not something to be recommended, but it works as a metaphor for taking a risk that was not taken previously. It is worth noting that once players got to grips with the rules—players quickly got excited­­­—chatting and cheering with people they previously had not met before, and many were soon laughing and making financial deals with co-players to ensure success further into the game.

End game The true goal of the TBASIA game is to have all four players reach an end point, named The Island. Getting there requires teamwork, sharing of knowledge and ideas and exploring previously unthought-of business strategies.

This, for example, might include the sharing of a roll of the dice allowing both players to establish their own business on two different vacant lots in the same turn. The concept of establishing two businesses simultaneously allows both parties to cut the time required to establish and start collecting revenues from their respective businesses.

Real world application in HR Metaphors for business are easy to talk about, but actually applying them in practice is often very challenging. Simpson proved just how this could work by demonstrating radical business models that people had not previously thought of, or thought were destined to fail—but in reality were huge successes. He reflected, “Take Airbnb for example, people said nobody wants to stay in other people’s houses. But in a sharing economy, with a totally innovative and different idea and with the right team working together the idea really took off. Airbnb revenue is now larger than that of two next major hotel groups combined.” One reason for this a good gelling of employees throughout the firm. AirBnB has a group called ‘Ground Control’ that deals with managing employees. Mark Levy, Global Head of Employee Experience, AirBnB said that “it's one of those things in which they were not ‘forcing fun’ but rather reinforcing and supporting how we bring the culture alive” with pop-up birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and events, and all manner of ways to get employees working together and caring about each other’s success, and not just their own.

Simpson takes his view on business and life to heart.

Why should there only be one success story when we could all have one?

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HR TRAINING

Most Respected Agency Sun Life’s strategy for high performance

Senior management of Sun Life at the opening ceremony of the MRA Academy In recent years the global financial market has become even more volatile—and clients have greater demands for sound and professional financial advice. Sun Life also faces the challenge of a highly competitive market and more stringent regulatory requirements springing up worldwide.

To set them apart in the market they have established the goal to be the ‘Most Respected Agency (MRA)’ within the industry and, most importantly, in the eyes of clients.

They decided to focus on four core values that they believe agents and agencies must have in order to earn respect:

ES

Serving clients by listening to and understanding both their needs and those of their families. Providing a tailored and comprehensive set of services that take care of them through their different stages of life.

NAL SIO

CAR ING

PR O

F Helping all agents to be the best, mapping out a career path and supporting their growth and development with on-going training and coaching, as well as having the systems and tools that will empower them to give clients high-quality and holistic advice. They also make sure they recruit the right agents and provide thorough on-boarding processes.

In its commitment to being the ’Most Respected Agency‘, Sun Life named 2016 as its ‘MRA Year’. It is a pledge that aims to position the company as one of the leading financial service providers in Hong Kong—under the slogan ‘We are Caring. We are Professional. We are Inspiring. We are Winning.’ In establishing the MRA Academy, they provide top-of-the-range training to advisors and managers.

In addition, Sun Life has differentiated itself by valuing continuous training as an important means to grow, develop and groom talent to become financial planning professionals. All training programmes and development support have undergone a full review and have been revamped this year to give Sun Life agents the right tools and develop in-depth product knowledge in order to excel in their careers as professional agents.

Sun Life’s Four Core Values for MRA Having pride in their brand and advocacy efforts—leading the industry on issues such as financial literacy and wellness advocacy. Creating an internal environment that is supportive and sees colleagues encouraging one another’s growth.

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Achieving targets, developing market leadership and gaining industry recognition and acclaim through enhanced agency performance and productivity.

G NIN IN

INSP IRI NG

W

MRA Experience Workshop encourages both agency members and company employees to learn MRA’s four core values through interactive development activities Succeeding in today’s market place requires more than just profit. As Sun Life demonstrates, inspiring your agents excels business performance and wins the respect of clients in a highly competitive market place.

HR TRAINING

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HR TRAINING

NURTURING

TALENT

AIA setting the pace for developing leaders of tomorrow

In March, HR Magazine attended the opening of the brand new AIA Leadership Centre in Bangkok. The insurance giant is once again leading the way through its commitment to enhancing the quality, effectiveness and professionalism of its people. We spoke with Shu Khoo, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, AIA Group and the Centre’s new Dean, Tan Kar Hor to find out more about AIA’s bold approach to building an enviable leadership pipeline.

Taking a practical approach to leadership development is a crucial element of any HR strategy and AIA has not only shown the willingness to invest in leadership development, but also has clearly demonstrated a critical business case for it. According to Shu Khoo, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, AIA Group, this approach must be aligned with the nature of the business. She explained, “The life insurance business is one that is very much about people—so we need to make sure that the people who work at AIA do so in a very conducive and nurturing environment. Only then can we deliver the best possible service to our customers.”

Clarity, courage, humanity Leadership, like any other quality, has its baselines: a leader must have a track record of delivery and high performance together with a demonstrable capability to lead.

At AIA, leadership goes way beyond this.

Khoo explained, “We don’t only focus on

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baseline leadership qualities at AIA—we also concentrate on three core leadership essentials: clarity, courage and humanity. Through embracing these three essential qualities, we believe that our leaders will be better equipped to empower and engage their teams.”

Humanity involves treating people as people and giving them respect. When leaders treat others with genuine respect and care, they create an environment of mutual trust in which others can thrive.

Clarity revolves around knowing who we are as a person and what we stand for as a leader. Being a leader means there is the team to consider too—so clarity also extends to communicating clearly to the team why we need to achieve, what needs to be done and how to get there.

Courage is being bold to do what is right and staying the course even if things get difficult—but at the same time showing the flexibility to make adjustments as and when the environment changes.

HR TRAINING

Putting these leadership ‘essentials’ into practice requires leaders to ask ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ in connection with their roles in the organisation. Khoo elaborated, “Our leaders must know why they work here. The ‘Why’ is not just about showing up at work—it’s about why they come to work every day and why do they really want to lead people? Then they must consider why their role is meaningful for them.

The ‘What’ relates to both our strategic focus and our business focus. The ‘How’ relates to the operating philosophy and methods with which they lead. Having a clear strategic framework, that all AIA leaders share and believe in, makes the ‘How’ even more compelling.”

Business imperative The challenge for many HR departments is how to get leadership initiatives off paper and

“

practically implemented. Additionally, significant investment in this area may be viewed by certain CFOs as a ‘want to have’ rather than a ‘need to have’. At AIA, things are different and the organisation is proactive in driving the practical implementation of leadership.

Khoo explained, “Our Vision is to be the pre-eminent life insurance provider in the Asia-Pacific region, and to realise our Vision, we need to develop our talent from within.

If I recruit from outside of the Company, the talent I’ll receive will be only as good as what is available in the market. If you really want to raise the bar of the Company, and the industry as a whole, you need to invest in people development. Our senior management team is absolutely convinced of this because one of our guiding principles is to lead the industry.”

This operating philosophy isn’t just morally important— it’s a business imperative and delivers business success.

The strategy also fits into AIA’s Operating Philosophy—to do the right thing, in the right way with the right people…and the results will come. Khoo added, “It’s not about just striving to meet this month’s target, or even this year’s target, we are talking about sustainable growth—to achieve that you need to do things with a long-term perspective. This operating philosophy isn’t just morally important—it’s a business imperative and delivers business success. Developing leaders internally is a key part of our long-term strategy for growth.”

Futuristic venue maximises inspiration The new AIA Leadership Centre in Bangkok is now at the forefront of enhancing the capabilities of AIA’s senior executives and distribution leaders across the Asia-Pacific region. The magnificent new two-floor complex is a vast open space with a futuristic design. In the spirit of a start-up, the idea of the space is to keep it adaptable. Classroom settings can be adapted to suit different training environments, even the walls can be moved to maximise flexibility. The breakout areas provide both collaborative and private spaces to suit employees’ needs. The sinuous lines, contemporary furnishings and an inspiration room with bean bags all encompass the desire of the firm to nurture its future leaders and best encourage them to explore new ideas and innovate.

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HR TRAINING From left to right: Shu Khoo, AIA Group Chief Human Resources Officer; Narongchai Akrasanee, AIA Group Independent Non-executive Director; Apisak Tantivorawong, Finance Minister of Thailand; Mark Tucker, AIA Group Chief Executive and President; Varawan Vechasut, Deputy Secretary-General for Supervision, Office of Insurance Commission; Kar-Hor Tan, Dean of AIA Leadership Centre

TAN KAR-HOR Dean, AIA Leadership Centre Tan Kar-Hor, Dean, AIA Leadership Centre explained, “When designing the Centre we have tried to be very unconventional.

Traditionally, most believe that L&D should be conducted in a classroom setting. Instead, we have created huge open spaces so that when people have classes they don’t just stay inside the classroom, but are encouraged to move around, create their own comfortable space, mingle and learn. This helps participants to be relaxed and open, and facilitates discussion and interaction.”

He added, “It is an era of e-learning with more people turning to the internet—but we also recognise that, especially when developing more senior-level talent, face-to-face interaction is still important. Our Leadership Centre facilitates spontaneous learning and inspiration, human touch and the opportunity to share. We want senior executives to find the Centre both stimulating and relaxing—to help maximise inspiration.”

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Putting talk into practice AIA’s investment in the Centre will bring far-reaching benefits. This year alone, the Centre already has eight programmes planned with a curriculum co-developed specifically for AIA with specialist L&D partners including INSEAD and LIMRA. One of the first programmes to be rolled out at the Centre is the Enterprise Leadership Programme which will help leaders to operate outside their usual functional silos and think more on an enterprise-wide basis.

The Centre can also be used on-demand by business units throughout the organisation for their own learning and development purposes—and it looks like it will be a popular choice with more than 50 requests already having been made to use the facilities since it opened.

Stretchy talent Beyond classroom-based development, AIA also places significant focus on providing its future leaders with business exposure, stretch assignments and project assignments. This occurs simultaneously with coaching and mentoring from senior leadership—to further assist with transitioning skill sets.

Khoo elaborated, “In terms of getting the development ball rolling, if we find an employee is doing their job very well, we look to give that person a stretch assignment. These are projects with different levels of complexity and potentially involve working with many different departments.

They stretch an employee’s capacity and expose them to different projects. Employees may also be seconded on overseas business assignments— where they take on entirely new roles.”

Recognising the need for effective leadership development, championing the business case for a leadership pipeline and having the determination to make it happen are core ingredients for a successful HR programme in this vital area. Khoo concluded, “Every leader is busy, this is a fact of life. However, if we are not disciplined in our approach to development, no matter what we create or invest, the outcomes will not be sustainable.

Aspiration and commitment both play a big role, and the AIA Leadership Centre represents a deep commitment of resources, money and time. When our leaders and future leaders come here, we encourage them to totally focus on the learning experience—we believe applying our capabilities in this disciplined manner will truly help differentiate us.”

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HR LEGAL

ng Ho l, — unse r e o n art f C er , P m, O A Pip m a a L L D rh Go nita e— ulia nd A ocat J By ng; a r Adv Ko licito ong So ng K Ho

Hong Kong proposes to amend the Employment Ordinance by removing the pre-requisite requirement for an employer to agree to an order reinstating or re-engaging an employee who has been dismissed without any valid reason in contravention of the law.

Current

legal position

(i) Dismissal without valid reason (Unreasonable Dismissal) An employee who is employed under a continuous contract for a period not less than 24 months may make a claim against an employer for unreasonable dismissal if he is dismissed other than for the following valid reasons: • •

Under the Hong Kong Employment Ordinance, employees can seek a court order for reinstatement of employment if they have been unreasonably dismissed by their employer. However, the reinstatement order will only be made by the court if the employer agrees to such an order.

Currently, the reinstatement order can be made in the following circumstances:

46 | HR MAGAZINE

• • •

the conduct of the employee; the capability or qualifications of the employee for performing his work; redundancy or other genuine operational requirements of the business; statutory requirements; or other substantial reasons.

If the court or Labour Tribunal finds that the employee has been unreasonably dismissed, the employee may be reinstated through mutual consent of both parties.

(ii) Dismissal without valid reason & in contravention of the law An employee who has been unreasonably dismissed without any valid reason and in contravention of the law in the following circumstances can also seek a reinstatement order: • dismissal during paid maternity leave; • dismissal during paid sick leave; • dismissal for giving evidence or information in proceedings or inquiry under the Employment Ordinance; • dismissal for giving evidence or information in proceedings or inquiry under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance; • dismissal due to involvement with trade union membership and activities; or • dismissal of injured employee in contravention of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.

HR LEGAL

Proposed

changes to the

Employment Ordinance

(i) Dismissal without valid reason & in contravention of the law Under the Bill, for dismissal without valid reason in contravention of the law, only the employee's consent to be reinstated is required for the court or Tribunal to be able to make an order. The position for dismissal without valid reason remains the same.

In determining whether it is reasonably practicable to make the reinstatement order, the court will take into account: • • • • •

the circumstances of both parties; the circumstances of the dismissal; any difficulty that the employer might face when complying with the order; the relationship between the employer and employee; and the relationship between the employee and other persons in relation to the employment.

Under the bill, the Employment Ordinance will also provide a mechanism for an employer to make an application for the reinstatement to apply to a successor or associated company. This will however require mutual consent by all parties. A successor can be under a change in ownership of the undertaking or part of the undertaking. (ii) New Penalties Under the Bill, there will be additional liability for the employer if it fails to comply with a reinstatement order made by the court or Tribunal.

Specifically, an employee who has been dismissed without a valid reason and in contravention of the law and is not reinstated by the employer will be entitled to additional compensation. The amount of additional compensation will be the lesser of HKD 50,000 or three times the employee's average monthly wages.

Implications

for employers

The proposed changes to the Employment Ordinance is arguably less relevant to senior employees as there are often circumstances where an employer can demonstrate it is not reasonably practicable to reinstate due to deterioration of working relations or loss of trust and confidence between both parties.

However, the changes will most likely affect more junior to middle level employees who may be advised to claim reinstatement for leverage to pressurise their employer to settle employment claims.

As an employer can make an application to transfer this obligation, this issue should be addressed in any sale of business agreements.

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HR TECHNOLOGY

Local HR Tech Start-ups disrupting HK’s talent acquisition market Who are they and how are they taking a lead?

Max Armbruster CEO, Talkpush

Start-ups have taken the corporate world by storm.

Hotbeds of innovation created on a foundation of a flexible working structure, start-ups are challenging the traditional players in every field—think of the likes of Uber and Airbnb who are thriving in the transport and accommodation sectors. HR and recruitment is no exception to the rule— companies are engaging in a war for talent, and local HR Tech Start-ups in Hong Kong are providing enhanced platforms to help them do that. HR Magazine went to find out more.

What is Talkpush?

Talkpush is a recruitment software company focused on ‘volume hiring’—i.e. employers that have to process hundreds or thousands of job applicants on a monthly basis. Talkpush has automated the manual process of calling the candidates, and screening them over the phone, by pre-recording a series of job-specific questions for each role, recording the answers of the candidates and making them available for the recruiters to listen to and share with the hiring managers.

This service is currently used by employers around the globe, particularly for entry-level roles that require strong communication or language skills. The St. Regis Hotel, in anticipation of its 2016 Macau launch, powered a large scale recruitment campaign among local university graduates via Talkpush.

What is JOBDOH? Why did you start Talkpush?

JOBDOH is an award-winning smart-hiring “In my 10 years in Asia, I noticed that while small companies often struggle platform that connects employers with on-demand to attract talent, large companies have the opposite challenge. They receive and temporary workers quickly. They reduce the such high volumes of applications that they are often unable to process inefficiency of searching and matching candidates. Their them in a timely manner and to identify the best hires in their talent platform is 95 times faster than the market average in fulfilling pool. Talkpush is designed to cost effectively determine which jobs—setting a record from job posting to arrival to under 75 candidates should be invited for a face-to-face interview in minutes. While their proprietary algorithm enables clients to receive less time, while keeping the recruiters in charge of the the most suitable candidates, candidates benefit from an increased flexibility decision.”—Max Armbuster, CEO, Talkpush to earn extra income quickly as well as an improved upward mobility through the transparent record keeping system.

Whether in an international business on short assignments in Asia or already have an established business here, JOBDOH is the ideal optimal staffing solution.

Why did you start JOBDOH? “I created the company to transform the way people work and live. By using data to make the temporary staffing process more efficient and effective, both employers and candidates get faster, better results, and more flexible arrangements.”—Xania Wong, Xania Wong Co-founder and CEO, JOBDOH Co-founder and CEO, JOBDOH

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HR TECHNOLOGY

Richard Hanson CEO, Jobable

What is Jobable?

Jobable.com is a data-driven career platform.

Jobable uses a matching score to eliminate the noise in the hiring process and efficiently connect job seekers to the best opportunities and companies to the best talent.

Since launching in 2016, Jobable.com has helped companies across Hong Kong to fulfil their recruitment needs more effectively than ever before. Jobable raised a ‘pre-series A investment’ of USD 800,000 in September 2015 from Hong Kong and European-based Angel Investors, and the team is working hard to expand their product offering to job seekers and employers throughout Hong Kong and then the rest of Asia.

Why did you start Jobable?

“I started Jobable with my co-founder and long-time friend Luke Byrne because we saw several inefficiencies in the way that job seekers went about their searches largely due to having little data to provide direction. On the other hand, employers often receive many irrelevant applications and have to spend significant time screening them. The reality is that the longer it takes a company to find the right person for a job, the less productive that business is and for Hong Kong’s economy as a whole, this is not an optimal situation.”­— Richard Hanson, CEO, Jobable

How do they get off the ground?

Disrupting the market is no easy feat in a city like Hong Kong. As with many start-ups, these HR tech start-ups go through ‘incubators’ which provide spaces for these new companies to grow—such examples in the city include Cocoon in Causeway Bay, Paperclip in Sheung Wan and Cyberport.

What is Freshlinker?

FreshLinker bridges the gap between higher education and graduate recruitment by positioning itself as a centralised, informative one-stop platform for any young talents to create a virtual profile and apply for opportunities within seconds. It is not only young talents who can showcase their unique experiences on their platform, they can also ask questions on the Q&A platform, read up on industry-specific articles, expert tips and interviews. The platform’s user-friendly interface and job—matching algorithms create a young talents-centric ecosystem that strategically helps young talents with their career planning. This is good news for employers, as young talents are more informed as a result, leading to a lower turnover rate and better matches between candidates and employers.

Why did you start Freshlinker?

“The search cost of Generation-Y jobseekers learning about a particular industry/company/job was extremely high. We started FreshLinker to create a centralised, informative, young talents-centric platform that can tactically help young talents with their career planning, lowering their search costs as well as helping employers to recruit efficiently and cost–effectively.”—Andy Leung, Co-founder and CEO, FreshLinker

For Jobdoh, Jobable and Talkpush however, they used an innovative ‘accelerator’ co-working space called Blueprint, run by Swire Properties.

Don Taylor, Director—Office, Swire Properties explained, “This project is about injecting a burst of tech-focused creativity and innovation into the already thriving business community at TaiKoo Place. We’re excited to encourage the entrepreneurship culture here in Quarry Bay and to see these startups grow.”

Lasting six months, the accelerator programme at Blueprint aims to help start-ups achieve fast growth within a short period of time. It provides ten selected business-to-business tech start-ups with a shared workspace to encourage collaborations and accommodate events, provides mentorship and professional support to help them test product-market fit, acquire customers and attract investment—and it is unique in that it does not charge the start-ups to enter nor does it require equity in return.

Andy Leung Co-Founder and CEO, FreshLinker

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HR TECHNOLOGY

HR Cloud

—opportunity or risk?

The ‘Cloud’ is creating opportunities in all sectors.

With ease of set up and access, flexibility and lower costs, it could free up HR immensely to focus more on its increasingly strategic function. However, the risk could come from cyber-attacks and loss of very sensitive information. Should HR embrace the ‘Cloud’? Wilson Wong, General Manager—IT Industry Development, Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) thinks so but ultimately HR, and companies as a whole, should assess the risks as well.

For HR, this provides a lot of opportunity.

Wong noted, “In a lot of respects, HR can benefit from the same advantages as everyone else in terms of administration, storage, maintenance and costs. However, of particular interest to HR departments, are the e-learning and career development platforms, and talent management platforms among others which they can take advantage of.”

The trajectory of cloud computing, Wilson Wong, General Manager—IT Industry Development, Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) described, is exactly the same as how electricity was provided to homes over the last century. He explained, “In the past, you needed a power generator in every home if you wanted electricity—but today, electric companies provide this service on subscription. This is how we should think of the cloud. Firms do not need to own their own systems, they can simply subscribe, and the provider could be anywhere in the world.”

Data security The sticking point from HR’s perspective is storing sensitive data on the cloud. What should they do? Wong elaborated, “It is an issue of perception but I think there are two important things that all firms should take into account.

First, is the transaction of information secure?

Organisations have to be certain that the information is sufficiently encrypted during transfer. Second, should a firm decide to cancel a subscription, can they get the information back? Anyone looking at cloud computing needs to ensure there is a clause in the agreement regarding the safe return of data.”

Benefits of the cloud The benefits of cloud computing are numerous.

Firms no longer need to plan and pay the high cost of maintenance that in-house software and hardware costs. It is easier to plan for a new training initiative if you have the cloud.

Instead of spending time to look for the hardware, software, manpower and training to uphold the IT system, the cloud effectively outsources the time and cost spent. Further to that, firms do not need to worry about backing up or planning for disaster recovery, cloud providers do that for you.

With HR in particular being so conscious about data security, what questions should they be asking vendors about this? Wong stated, “At the end of the day, everyone needs to ask for a clear Service Level Agreement (SLA). This should lay out what encryption mechanism is in place and how secure it is. It should also have information about maintenance—companies need to ask in the event of a server going down, what will be the maximum down time? What will be the compensation? If the provider is in Europe or the US for example, organisations in Asia may need to consider that part of the server may be

50 | HR MAGAZINE

shut down in the evening for maintenance and also issues surrounding how much bandwidth will be needed.”

In recent years, cloud systems and security have become much more sophisticated, and there is less risk than before—but HR departments need to plan carefully before using the cloud. Wong said, “If possible, go for a well-known provider or seek the advice of a consultant, but my personal suggestion for HR is that the cloud can add a lot of value in respect to training and development, and talent management, but it is probably best not to put very sensitive data there.”

Value for SMEs Here, HKPC can be of particular help. Wong concluded, “The cloud can add a lot of value to SMEs, but of course migrating data and security can be a concern. Something that HKPC offers in this respect is help with our Cloud Feasibility Assessment and Planning package. This addresses all the difficulties that might occur when thinking about moving operations to the cloud. This involves readiness, security and risk assessments as well as cost and benefit analysis, and helping to pick a vendor. Such a package does help SMEs we work with to gain the maximum value from the cloud.”

HR BOOK REVIEW

New Deal of Employee Engagement

A Sustainable Body-and-Mind Engagement Model

By Bernard Coulaty In his ground-breaking new book, Bernard Coulaty, Vice President Human Resources for Asia, Pernod Ricard draws upon his experience to argue that the pure ‘carrots-and-incentive’ visions of engagement has failed in most contexts, and proposes a ‘whole self’ vision model. This is based on the view that people have potential for engagement based on the four dimensions of their ‘self’.

Brimming with practical tips and assessment tools, this book is a great read for professionals looking for fresh perspectives on how to engage key employees, retain talent and sustain that engagement.

Coulaty has 25 years of professional experience in Human Resources, 15 years of which have been spent with Pernod Ricard. A passionate HR leader, he has developed a thorough practice in employee engagement, talent management, leadership development and empowering HR communities in diverse cultural and geographical contexts. He is also currently President of the French Chamber HR Committee in Hong Kong.

Armstrong’s Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management

By Michael Armstrong Everybody knows that HR is becoming more strategic—but how do HR departments go about integrating human resources strategy with overall business strategy? It is a tricky question but in Michael Armstrong’s latest edition of his widely acclaimed Armstrong’s Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management, the author provides a bridge between theory and practice, providing a guide both to formulating human resource strategies and to implementing them.

Building upon its original content, the revised version offers brand new chapters on developing and delivering HR strategies, implementing individual performance strategies, and creating and executing a corporate social responsibility strategy, as well as discussions on international HRM strategies. Full of case studies, checklists and practical examples, it is a perfect resource for anyone trying to put complex strategy into practice.

Armstrong is a former Chief Examiner of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), joint managing partner of e-reward and an independent management consultant.

The Energy Bus

10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy

By Jon Gordon With employees looking to the leaders at the top to set the tone and initiate change within an organisation, Jon Gordon’s book The Energy Bus provides the perfect companion for any leader looking to turn negative energy into positive achievement.

Written as a fable, the book follows the story of George who faces a big new product launch in the coming two weeks while, at the same time, facing problems with his family and work team. Over the two weeks, he meets a unique bus driver and other interesting characters, and learns 10 secrets for approaching life and work with the kind of positive, progressive thinking that leads to true accomplishment.

Drawing upon his work and experience, Gordon infuses this engaging story with interesting insights, practical strategies and a big dose of positive, infectious energy which can prove indispensable for managers and team leaders.

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MPF special supplement

52 | HR MAGAZINE

MPF evolution Development of HK's Mandatory Pension Fund—where it's at & where it's going

In traditional Chinese society, retirement was expected to be financed by a combination of personal savings and support of the extended family. In an era where extended family was the norm and life expectancy low, this system—while lacking in a number of regards—was functional. But by the late 1990s, life expectancy had soared in Hong Kong, and the extended family had largely devolved to a nuclear family due to lower birth rates. This ageing population provided a demographic challenge of unprecedented proportion, and after 30 years of debate, MPF was launched in 2000 to guarantee the golden years remained golden.

Employee Choice Arrangement Initially, employers had full say over which MPF provider they used, with employees having no say in the matter. This was adjusted in 2012, when the Employee Choice Arrangement (ECA) was introduced. The ECA has given employees the right to transfer their MPF accrued benefits, i.e. the accumulated contributions and investment returns, derived from the employees’ mandatory MPF contributions in their MPF contribution account, into an MPF trustee and scheme of their choice. Such transfers can be made once every calendar year, between 1 January and 31 December, and the benefits must be transferred to their chosen scheme on a lump-sum basis.

ECA effectiveness The ECA has given much greater autonomy of choice to employees, allowing them to choose their own MPF trustee and scheme and has encouraged them to better manage their MPF investments—further enhancing market competition, but how successful has it actually been? Throughout the MPF’s history, and especially when promoting the ECA, the MPFA has always advised scheme members to think carefully before exercising their ECA rights. With this in mind, an assessment of the overall effectiveness of ECA cannot simply focus on the number of applications received. Instead, it is better to look in instances of ECA whether MPF benefits were transferred smoothly and efficiently, and whether the public are aware of ECA arrangements. According the MPFA, from the launch of ECA to 31 March 2016, MPF trustees received about 302,500 ECA transfer applications, all of which were effected smoothly and in a timely fashion. The whole benefits transfer process currently takes about two to three weeks— significantly shorter than the originally anticipated six to eight weeks. In terms of public awareness, according to surveys conducted by both the MPFA and the MPF industry, both employers and employees have been shown to be well aware of ECA. MPF—where it's going Since inception, the MPFA has been exploring ways to further refine and enhance the MPF system—two major new initiatives are in the pipeline. The first and foremost is the introduction of the Default Investment Strategy (DIS). Secondly, is concept of an ‘eMPF’ to facilitate full portability of funds.

DIS While some scheme members want more investment choices, there are also those who do not know how best to, or do not have time to, select MPF funds. To help these members, an amendment bill was introduced into the Legislative Council last year, which they are currently considering, to mandate a standardised DIS across all MPF schemes.

The DIS is designed to provide all scheme members with a simplified investment option—consistent with the overall objectives of retirement savings. The DIS is a globally diversified investment strategy that will de-risk as the age of a scheme member increases. In addition, funds invested in the DIS will be subject to a fee cap. The MPFA believes that the DIS will be appropriate for scheme members who find it challenging, either due to time constraints or lack of knowledge, to make investment choices.

eMPF According to the Consultancy Study on MPF Trustees’ Administration Costs released in 2012, commissioned by the MPFA, around 65% of the 30 million administration transactions processed in the system are paper based or executed via cheques. This amount of paperwork necessitates a high degree of manual intervention to process applications and transfers—bringing significant administration costs to organisations, in particular to the HR department.

To help alleviate this administrative burden, in parallel with the DIS, the MPFA has also embarked on another major initiative tentatively called ‘eMPF’. In this regard, the MPFA has already developed a preliminary conceptual model of the eMPF infrastructure and processes to standardise, streamline and automate MPF scheme administration in the long run.

The eMPF model would bring several key advantages. Firstly, if MPF scheme administration could become completely paperless, this would eliminate the need for manual input—thereby reducing human input errors and overall operating costs. Secondly, a paperless system also has a positive impact on the environment—with so many paper documents currently being handled by MPF providers every day. Thirdly, the system would also be great news for HR with reduced paperwork and more streamlined operations bringing the scheme in line with the trend towards digitisation in the majority of today’s HR processes.

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Stephen Fung, Chief Executive Officer, AIA MPF

Is MPF purely an

employee benefit?

AIA MPF has a different view

When talking about MPF, many employers think that it is just an employee benefit. However, this is only one side of the coin. MPF is not simply an employee benefit, but rather something that can be leveraged by HR to add significant value to their organisation. Stephen Fung, Chief Executive Officer, AIA MPF shares his views and advice to HR. MPF as a value driver for organisations Most organisations are currently facing challenges in how to increase staff engagement and retain key talent. Different methods are used, but few might have considered how to best leverage MPF to assist with staff retention.

Stephen Fung, Chief Executive Officer, AIA MPF commented, “Many employers are under the impression that MPF is simply a ‘mandatory’ obligation that they have to fulfil. In fact, MPF can be leveraged to help an organisation ’differentiate’ itself and retain top talent—bringing significant value to the company.”

54 | HR MAGAZINE

In Hong Kong, an increasing number of corporations provide more than the 5% mandatory contributions to their employees.

However, according to the MPFA’s statistics, these kinds of top-up contributions or Voluntary Contributions (VC) only accounted for around HK$2.3 billion, equivalent to just 13% of the total MPF contributions received in Q1 2016. In fact, in the eyes of employees, VC are seen as an additional benefit and provide a tangible way for employers to show their appreciation of their employees hard work. The AIA MPF Desired Retirement Survey, conducted in 2015, found that about 70% of employees believed their sense of belonging to their company would increase if their employer made VC into their MPF account— clearly demonstrating their support for VC. Fung pointed out, “Many HR may not truly recognise how to leverage the power of MPF. Providing good employee welfare in the form of VC can dramatically increase

employee engagement and loyalty. In turn, employee engagement also helps facilitate talent acquisition and retention. Enhancing employees’ benefits by offering them VC has proven a highly effective means for employers to win the hearts and minds of their employees.”

To retain talent, employers can further consider applying different contribution rates to different banding of staff. It is a common practice for organisations to offer higher contribution rates to staff members with longer tenure.

The HKSAR Government also encourages companies to make additional contributions on top of the mandatory 5% to their employees.

Both mandatory and VC made by an employer are tax deductible under Profits Tax to the extent that they do not exceed 15% of the employee's yearly emolument—one more incentive to help employers take the leap.

Keeping things simple MPF may involve complicated administrative procedures requiring tremendous time and effort from HR departments, however, there are many ways that MPF providers can help to lessen the burden of HR. Fung explained, “MPF providers should see HR as their partners, and should support them by offering a variety of convenient tools and a wide range of member services to lessen their administrative burden.”

Clear administrative guides help HR easily understand their MPF obligations.

Member Enrolment Guide To help you enrol new employee(s) in an AIA MPF scheme

WHEN should you enrol your employees?

You should enrol regular employees in an MPF scheme within the first 60 days of their employment. If the 60th day falls on a Saturday, public holiday or gale warning day, the enrolment deadline will be postponed to the next business day.

WHO should you enrol?

All regular employees who meet the following criteria: • Aged 18 to 64 • Working either full-time or part-time • Employed for a continuous period of 60 days or more

FEBRUARY

The following employees are exempted:

Taking AIA MPF as an example, the company has launched a newly-designed corporate website to help HR and employees retrieve important information easily—the site has an easy-to-navigate layout, comprising three different sections for employer, employee and self-employed clients to cater for their needs.

The new website is mobile responsive and uses clear and simple language so both HR and employees can access information easily round the clock in any location.

• Domestic employees • Employees covered by statutory pension and provident fund schemes, such as civil servants • Members of MPF Exempted ORSO Schemes • Expatriates working in Hong Kong for less than 13 months, or who are covered by overseas retirement schemes • Employees of the European Union Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong

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TIPS: ‘60-day’ Rule – it includes Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays (it is not the number of employee's actual working days).

WHEN should you make the first contribution for your regular employees?

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Employers who fail to enrol their employees in an MPF scheme by the deadline are liable to a maximum penalty of HK$350,000 and imprisonment for three years, and a daily penalty of HK$500 for continuing offences.

Moreover, to make things even easier for HR, AIA MPF has also started revamping its administrative forms to help streamline the whole operating procedure. User-friendly E-service platforms provide HR with easy access to submit MPF contribution data and e-statements—to keep track of their MPF accounts. Communication materials have also been simplified, helping employees better understand the MPF scheme and select MPF funds that best suit their investment needs. As employees enjoy an efficient and user-friendly experience, this leads to less enquiries through HR and so further reduces their administrative burden.

Employers can get important MPF and retirement information easily by visiting AIA MPF’s newly-designed corporate website.

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The Enjoylife mini-site presents retirement planning advice in a lively and interactive way.

User-friendly software eases HR burden One of the heaviest burdens to HR in many SMEs is handling the monthly payroll and MPF contributions for employees. To support them, AIA MPF has introduced proprietary HR Software: Payroll Easy, which allows HR to easily manage the company's payroll, MPF, taxation and employee records together in one place. The software can pre-fill necessary information to save HR's time, and also help HR to calculate contributions and track transactions.

To help employers fulfil their MPF obligations, AIA MPF also offers eight convenient ways for employers to settle MPF contributions including: autopay, cheque deposit machines, online banking, phone banking, 7-Eleven stores, PPS and ATMs.

Enhancing clarity via member education When employees are empowered with a greater knowledge of MPF investments, this immediately lessens the need for HR to handle numerous enquiries around the MPF. To help meet this goal, in 2015 AIA MPF introduced the Enjoylife mini-site to help educate the public about MPF and retirement planning by providing professional retirement planning advice in a lively and interactive way through the use of videos, comics and games. AIA MPF’s new corporate website also features a ‘Knowledge and Insight’ section providing tips on managing and investing in MPF funds for employee reference.

AIA MPF also supports HR by offering a wide range of member services and supplementary communication tools such as seminars and briefing sessions for members, as well as regular newsletters for both employers and employees.

Dedicated care team for special-needs clients Many companies in Hong Kong employ differently-abled staff—looking after their needs is also an important consideration for HR. Fung explained, “Members with special needs need special care, however, they are sometimes offered little support in managing their MPF. We believe everyone deserves a well-planned retirement regardless of their physical or mental ability. As a responsible MPF provider, we are committed to helping and supporting members with special needs in managing their MPF.”

AIA MPF is the first among top 5 MPF providers who has dedicated sign language proficient staff to serve hearing-impaired members.

56 | HR MAGAZINE

One example of putting this into practice has been AIA MPF’s decision to assign a dedicated team including a Customer Service Officer who is hearing impaired and sign language proficient, to help hearing-impaired

AIA MPF Payroll Easy Helping you to save time on HR administrative tasks

Value, Choice, Simplicity - Our Pledge to You mpf.aia.com.hk

User-friendly HR software helps employers manage their payroll and MPF contribution records easily.

customers manage their MPF. AIA MPF is the first among top 5 MPF providers who has dedicated sign language proficient staff to serve hearing-impaired members.

The organisation has also enhanced its website's accessibility to cater to visually impaired users. Its customer service centre is also equipped with special equipments including a text-to-speech screen reader for the visually-impaired—to help further cater for the needs of members with special needs.

Fung concluded, “Taking care of members with special needs provides further help to our corporate members in being socially responsible. This is also a way in which we can demonstrate our own care and support of people with special needs throughout society.”

Ka Shi Lau, Managing Director & CEO, BCT Group

BCT on MPF In the run up to the launch of the ECA, MPF providers put a lot of resources into systems, operation, sales, and marketing functions to help leverage this opportunity.

However, according to Ka Shi Lau, Managing Director & CEO, BCT Group the market uptake was lower than expected— in part due to low member engagement.

Despite this, as members now have greater discretionary power to choose their own MPF providers and asset mobility has increased, the service model has shifted from employer-based to member-based.

By the same token, more diversified sales channels emerged to reach and target members. Lau added, “We also observed

an increased level of activity for personal accounts in the market.�

Lau also stressed the importance of MPF providers communicating effectively with scheme members and employers to ensure they know what rights they have under ECA. In particular, it is essential that scheme members and employers know which types of accrued benefits are transferable. Investor education is equally important to help scheme members and employers make informed financial choices suited to their retirement objectives. Online tools can also help make this process simpler, as members are now able to manage more of their accrued benefits on their own.

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Manulife on MPF

Luzia Hung, Chief Executive Officer, Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited examines the greater control and choice that employees now have over their MPF. Effects of ECA on employers Before the implementation of the Employee Choice Arrangement (ECA), employees were enrolled in MPF schemes chosen by their employers, who have been the primary target audience of MPF service providers. From an employee’s perspective, the scheme choices available to them are often limited.

With the implementation of ECA, MPF service providers have expanded their promotion efforts to include the employees as ECA has given employees more control over their own MPF benefits by allowing them to transfer their own mandatory contributions to a scheme of their choice once every calendar year. It has allowed better working of market forces and thus enhanced market competition. MPF providers have to differentiate themselves with premium service, solid investment experience, wide fund choices and innovative programmes in order to stand out.

58 | HR MAGAZINE

MPF provider’s relationship with employer & employees For employers, ECA has no impact on the workflow process because they do not need to be involved in the transfer of accrued benefits and the MPF administrative arrangements handled by them remain unchanged.

For employees, after the implementation of ECA, they have greater autonomy in managing part of their MPF investments. They can now transfer their accrued benefits by contacting a new trustee of their choice directly.

With this autonomy, employees may have higher expectation in terms of the service quality provided by the existing MPF provider and scheme and fund choices available. Therefore, employers can regularly review the MPF service provider’s services and the scheme’s investment performance, and encourage employees to express their opinion on provider’s service and the scheme’s performance.

LUZIA HUNG Chief Executive Officer Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited

Ensuring the best outcome for employees and the company MPF accrued benefits will form part of employees’ personal asset and retirement reserve. Therefore, it is important for employees to know their MPF and manage it actively. Employers can play a key role in facilitating employees’ understanding of the details of their MPF schemes and fund choices available; and the flow of up-to-date market information for employees to make their investment decisions. MPF providers are able to help employers in these areas.

provider. Manulife provides employers with a sophisticated software system which can handle the administrative work of multiple schemes. Our system also gives electronic alerts to employers so they can avoid being penalised for late contribution.

MPF provider’s role in helping employers MPF providers can organise briefing sessions for employers and their employees to talk about scheme details and fund choices and the latest MPF initiatives and regulation such as phased withdrawal of MPF benefits, early withdrawal of MPF benefits on the ground of terminal illnesses etc. To facilitate the flow of up-to-date market information, MPF providers like Manulife arrange seminars for employers and their employees with investment experts to share the latest market insights and investment views so they can make informed choices.

Technology is making MPF management easier for members. With Manulife, the development of an electronic platform enables members to log on to their MPF accounts and gain access to a wealth of account information such as investment risk levels, asset allocation and a summary of MPF account movements.

They can also make same-day dealings.

Some employers may worry about the administrative workload when considering the introduction of a second MPF scheme/service

MPF provider’s role in helping employees MPF service providers can play an important role in enhancing the transparency of MPF information, such as the provision of monthly member benefit statements and fund performance factsheets.

Registered MPF intermediaries also play a key role in helping employees with their financial planning in order to achieve their retirement goals. Manulife has a strong team of more than 5,300 registered MPF intermediaries. They provide excellent customer service and administrative support to handle member enquiries efficiently.

Easing the process of selecting, updating & tracking Regular investment seminars can be arranged for employers and employees to gain access to up-to-date information on market and fund performance.

Manulife arranges regular meetings with HR leaders to understand their needs and receive feedback on service quality for improvement.

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60 | HR MAGAZINE

Principal Investment & Retirement Services Ltd. on MPF Carmen Lam, Managing Director, Principal Investment & Retirement Services Ltd. shares her views on Employee Choice Arrangement (ECA) and how MPF providers assist HR professionals in various MPF perspectives.

Impact of ECA ECA gives greater control to employees over the employee-contribution portion of their MPF account, allowing them to choose their own MPF trustees and schemes, thus encouraging them to better manage their MPF accounts.

Since the introduction of ECA Principal is now introducing more personalised services to members and increasing its marketing efforts to individual MPF members.

Greater interaction between MPF providers & employees As employees engage their new trustee directly if they wish to transfer their accrued benefits under ECA, there has not been any significant impact to employers. Thus, employees can now access a wide range of MPF service providers via a host of different communication channels, including mobile apps, websites, SMS and face-to-face.

Advice to employers ECA encourages employees to take a more active role in managing their MPF accounts. As such, if they are not ready to do so, HR should launch investor education programmes for their employees to help them better understand the current company’s MPF scheme and the funds under that scheme. MPF providers can then offer

regular MPF seminars to both employees and employers to keep them updated on MPF regulatory changes and fund performance details. For example, Principal’s customer opinion survey revealed that both employers and employees welcomed on-site seminars or briefing sessions to help them know more about their MPF schemes.

With employees having a greater involvement in their MPF accounts, employers should review their company MPF schemes frequently to ensure the current scheme is competitive in nature. HR can then help to select the most appropriate MPF providers and schemes for their staff.

Help from MPF providers Principal has a Relations Management Team which is a dedicated team for employers. The team regularly interacts with employers and employees to help them better managing their MPF scheme—evaluating and reviewing their risk tolerance level in order to help them to make more informed decisions. The team also organises seminars and arranges regular site visits to keep both employers and employees abreast with market information and latest MPF regulatory changes. The company also issues a variety of investment communications to its members on the latest economic and investment market developments.

Principal also offers customised payroll software, Principal HRMS, to help employers manage their payroll and MPF contributions effectively.

Selecting, updating & keeping track of funds Quarterly factsheets are issued to update HR and employees on the fund performance.

Principal’s investment experts can also provide support on fund performance analysis and evaluate the investment portfolio. In addition, the Principal Retirement Services Centre allows members to access account balances, check daily fund prices, review investment performance and switch funds anytime and anywhere online. The Principal Hotline provides a round-the-clock interactive voice response system enabling members to check daily fund prices and obtain regular fund fact sheets. Members can also use the Principal TeleTouch© to check account details and switch funds by phone. The company also organises regular investment seminars to provide clients with financial market updates, economic outlooks and professional advice on investment and retirement planning. Clients can also use the mobile app to perform fund switching, set fund price alerts, check MPF account balances—with personalised rates of return and retirement saving calculations.

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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

| 62 | 62 – 63 | 63 | 63 – 64 | 64 | 64 – 65 | 65

Management Consulting | 65 MICE Venues / Event Organisers | 66 Recruitment / Executive Search | 66 Relocation / Logistics | 67 Service Apartments / Hotels | 67 - 68 Staff Benefits | 68 Talent Management | 68

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

62 | HR MAGAZINE

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 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

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

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.

HRM Essentials is an energetic and innovative company that focuses on HR solutions. Our customers range from trading to financial institutes. We provide on-premises and cloud solutions. Users can access their systems anywhere at anytime.

• Unlike other solutions which are either too complicated or lack of focus. Our solutions are easy-to-use and powerful.

• We invite users to participate in our development process. Users are happy and excited to see every release with the new features they requested.

• We commit to provide excellent after-sales services.

• Our solutions are budget-friendly.

• Most importantly, we serve our customers by HEART.

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

HRM Essentials System Consulting Limited 23/F, Weswick Commercial Building 147 – 151 Queen’s Road East Wanchai, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2111 2980 Fax: (852) 8209 3800 info@hrmessentials.com www.hrmessentials.net

Still not sure? Call us now and let’s talk.

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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.

With strategic offices in Hong Kong, China, UK and US, DaXtra is a world leading specialist in high-accuracy multilingual CV parsing, semantic search, matching and process automation technologies. Our solutions are compatible with most leading recruitment ATS and CRM systems and are designed to bring efficiency and automation, while dramatically reducing the overall ‘cost of hire’.

Over 1000 organisations globally use DaXtra products every day – from boutique recruitment firms to the World's largest staffing companies, from corporate recruitment departments to job boards and software vendors.

Daxtra Technologies (Asia) Ltd. Unit 401, OfficePlus 93-103 Wing Lok Street Sheung Wan Hong Kong

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) 3695 5133 asia@daxtra.com www.daxtra.com

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 established 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

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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

HR CLASSIFIEDS

For 20 years MDS has led the field in leadership development, executive coaching and sales effectiveness training. We are also the certification centre and distributor for leading assessment instruments including the MBTI® and FIRO® for personality, LEA 360™ and GMI for leadership, SPA™ for sales performance and Strong Interest Inventory® for career planning. We have a large range of leadership and sales programmes including the leading edge Miller Heiman products. Our team of 25 leadership and sales trainers and 30 executive coaches deliver around the region in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Japanese. We have offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei.

Management Development Services Limited 1701 – 3 Kai Tak Commercial Building 317 – 319 Des Voeux Road Central Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2817 6807 Fax: (852) 2817 9159 mds@mdshongkong.com www.mdshongkong.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

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.

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

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Randstad is a Fortune Global 500 Company and the second largest recruitment & HR services provider globally, with operations spanning across 39 countries with over 29,700 corporate staff that help talented people develop their career potential and provide companies with the best people to reach their business goals. Founded in 1960 by Frits Goldschmeding, our Asia Pacific operations reaches across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. Randstad Hong Kong was established in 2009 and specialises in permanent and contract recruitment across specialized areas including Accounting & Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Construction, Property & Engineering, Information Technology & Telecommunications, Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain & Logistics.

Randstad 5/F, Agricultural Bank of China, 50 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong

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.

Tricor Executive Resources Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong

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) 2232 3408 www.randstad.com.hk

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 Mybenefits is the premier employee benefits specialist helping companies achieve their strategic employee benefits objectives.

As the most comprehensive and strategically focused employee benefits organization, Mybenefits provides international companies with a one-stop solution and has quickly become the preferred partner of human resources professionals in Asia.

By working with 98% of the local and international market, Mybenefits helps companies achieve an average of 25% savings on their group health and life insurance premiums. In addition, Mybenefits is able to complement existing programs with additional services and benefits such as employee engagement strategies, online benefit portals and wellness programs.

Mybenefits 22/F OVEST, 77 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Contact person: Pauline Williams Tel: (852) 2891 8915 info@welcometoalliance.com www.mybenefits.com.hk

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: 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

CONFIRMED by William