HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development by HR Magazine

Foreword | Evolution of staff learning & development Poorly implemented staff learning and development programmes are often a more expensive alternative to doing nothing at all. And more often than not the results are the same. Recently, HR leaders have been faced with an enormous amount on their plates—a pile of responsibilities that continues to grow. One of the most important of those duties for leaders in HR and T&D roles is the design, implementation and assessment of staff training programmes. Staff form the backbone of any organisation, and their effective training and development is crucial to not only ensure they have the skills sets to perform their duties, but so that they feel valued and can develop themselves within the organisation. This helps foster a happier, more fulfilled and engaged workforce, which then translates into enhanced creativity, a more applied workforce, better customer service and ultimately improves the bottom line. A major challenge for HR is how to demonstrate this ROI to the board. And that’s what this guide is aimed at—everything HR wants to know about staff learning and development programmes, but are too afraid to ask. Learn... • The evolution of T&D into L&D: share corporate perspectives from some of the biggest players—and some not so big, but just as clever— on what makes an effective L&D programme. • The ethos of T&D programmes in the Government, and gain an insight with our exclusive interview with the top level management in the Hong Kong Police Training College. • How to handle training at all levels within organisations: from the challenges of training Gen-Y to selecting the best executive development programmes. • Techniques in training to help develop a sustainable talent pipeline. • Tips from in-house trainers and world-renowned independent trainers. • How to enhance the effectiveness of your training programmes. • How to conduct assessments and benchmark your staff. • The importance of providing training recognition. • How to demonstrate the ROI of your training programmes. • Who and where you can outsource L&D programmes to, with our overview of training providers and venues throughout the region. So read on and learn…

Paul Arkwright Publisher HR Magazine

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Paul Arkwright Copy Editor

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In order of inclusion in the guide: Cliftons, Robert Half International, Tamty McGill, Center for Creative Leadership, Brenda Wilson—Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Audrey Low—Adecco Hong Kong, Jane Sadler & Yvonne Hau—Duncan Sadler Ltd., Alan Sieler—Newsfield Institute (Australia), Petra Loho—Active Communication (Hong Kong), Eileen Dowse—Evans & Peck Organisational Development (Hong Kong), Dr Justin Grayer—Think Talk Psychology, Annie Yap—GMP Search International, Zakeera Vidler—Connected Group

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A huge thank you to all those who, in interviews and/or at our conferences, took time to share their ideas that helped to make this guide possible. They include—in order of inclusion in the guide: Andrew Cameron, Jacqueline Moyse, Greg Basham, Ronald Lai, Graham Barkhus, NiQ Lai, Stephen Borne, Richie Bent, Yeung Lok Ki, Man Tat Kau, Chenelle Vorster, Dorette Booyens, Ken Morrison, Karen Zong, Debbie Cheung, Damia Yang, Caroline Li, Iva Au, Jim Lygopolous, Andy Tsang Wai-hung, Andy Yip, Kevin Woods, Gavin Brown, Vincent Yeung Fu-yiu, Oscar Kwok Yam-shu, Samson Cho, Steven Tait, Eric Chan, Susie Lum, Chris Wong, Eugene Liu, Lloyd Neal, Glenn Laurence, Philip Sham, Sandy Fok, Sureish Nathan, Arthur Francis, Gayle Hardie, Malcolm Lazenby, John Nesheim, David Rossiter, Pete Pande, Erik Duerring, Cherry Tsang, Etta Wong, Tony Tyler, Clare Allum, Sam Lau, Michael Fraccaro, Margaret Chiu, John Allison, Rosemary Leung, Dr Rita Wan, Claire Goodchild, Alice Ma, Kim Mak, Dr Ardershir Geranpayeh, Prof. W B Lee, Philippe Tang, Sunny Lee, Stephen Lau, Dr C K Wong, Rita Wan, Kenneth Wai, May Kwok, Alvin Miyasato, Mark Knight, and Prof. Florence Ho, among many others… Advertising & Sales

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Table of contents | Evolution of training

6 7 9 11 14 18 20

Corporate perspectives

22 23 25 27 30 33 37 40 43 46 48 50

Learning vs training Succession management Global L&D trends The changing face of staff T&D Traditional L&D values Optimisation from inside out

Cathay Pacific—CX management development programme CityTelecom—building bridges to L&D success Cambridge University Press—global staff development Jardines—making a successful T&D roadmap Mazars—sending staff to Africa Microsoft—developing leaders Ogilvy—cultivating company creativity P&G—training tomorrow’s talent at P&G University Robert Half—how to keep staff ahead Tao Heung Group—recipe for training success Disney—staff training at the Disney University

Government perspectives

Hong Kong Police Force—e-learning and Knowledge Cafe drive innovative L&D strategies Hospital Authority—talent management strategies

Training Gen-Y

Gearing up Gen-Y for careers with Jaguar Land Rover Getting your head around Gen-Y Hong Kong Police Force—training Gen-Y Nurturing Gen-Y RSM university cadet programmes

Executive development

Training leaders Senior execs—MBAs, might, morals, minds and more Global leadership foundation Leadership development—is it working? Management 101—Hospital Authority style Six Sigma leadership

56 57 65 68 69 73 75 77 78 80 81 84 86 88 91 92

Creating talent pipelines

94 95 100 103

L&D techniques

106 107 111 113 114 116 120 122 125 128 130 135 137 139 142 148

Developing your next generation of leaders Filling the gap in the leadership pipeline China chases dream of leadership pipeline

Reshaping organisational culture by learning from the mistakes L&D to drive business performance Building an L&D framework Training and mentoring An introduction to ontological coaching Effective brainstorming Facilitating egos Keeping learners interested Lights, camera, action! Managing stress in the workplace Motivating staff for better performance—manager shortcomings One-on-one Six Sigma black belts HR Magazine Conference—staff development and training Musician not MBAs—unleashing the entrepreneur

Enhancing L&D effectiveness

Diversifying training methods to enhance L&D effectiveness Racing ahead with L&D Morgan Stanley’s take on T&D Blended approach enhances L&D at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Maximising L&D effectiveness at Fuji Xerox

Assessment and benchmarking Measuring training results Brains over brawn Assessing talent Setting the benchmark Benchmarking IT staff Certification for staff The right way to employ psychometric assessments

152 153 155 157 159 161 163 164 167 170 172 174 176 178

Recognition and awards

Importance of awards for recognising L&D excellence

181 182

Demonstrating ROI of training

185 186 188 190 192

Training provider overview

193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209

Selecting training venues

210 211 213

Training venue overview

218 219 220 221 222 223

Metrics to measure L&D success Measuring T&D effectiveness in the Hong Kong Police Force Linking staff development & ROI Benchmarking abilities

ACME Business Consulting Adecco Group Dale Carnegie Training速 DSL/Evans & Peck (Hong Kong) Limited Excel Education Limited Executive Communications Education Centre Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership Performia Hong Kong PsyAsia International Results Coaching Systems RDI Limited reallyenglish.com SGS Hong Kong Limited SilkRoad technology the alphaeight institute Tricor Human Capital Limited

Training venue technology Choosing a suitable training venue

Bridges Business and Conference Centre Cliftons The Executive Centre Regus Welkin Systems Limited

Evolution of training

Learning vs training|

The battle is on. If you don’t read anything else, read this... I was originally intending to name this HR Guide ‘Training and Development’ (T&D), but decided ‘Learning and Development’ (L&D) was a better fit. Why? In HR circles, at least, the meaning of ‘training’ has rapidly drifted away from its original intended definition. In the olden days, aka: not that many years ago, the word ‘training’ used to embody everything that was good about HR. It would frequently involve SWOT analysis which—the first time I heard of it—I had, rather excitedly, expected SAS style HR leaders to be dropping in on ropes through the windows of the training room. To my disappointment, this wasn’t the

case and it actually involved looking at the needs of staff and the company as a whole, analysing strengths and weaknesses that existed within the company and then rolling out carefully designed training programmes to help bridge the gaps that existed. And all the time the answer was staring me right in the face: training tended to be about catering to the needs of the organisation and plugging the gaps therein, rather than those of the individual. As a trainer, I frequently had discussions with HR revolving around HR managers starting the conversation with, “So, if we have this many staff being trained this topic,

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Evolution of training

“

The first time I heard of it I had, rather excitedly, expected SAS style HR leaders to be dropping in on ropes through the windows of the training room.

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the bottom line is...how much will it cost per head?” That was normal—and in the majority of cases it still is. Under this regime, training was often viewed by staff as something that ‘had to be done’, rather than something to look forward to. Scenes from the British TV comedy, The Office, spring to mind with staff half, or in some cases totally, asleep and feeling completely disenfranchised in T&D sessions with an overly enthusiastic external trainer who knew little, if anything, about the corporate culture and politics surrounding them. That said, just because HR has labelled staff development programmes as ‘T&D’ does not mean that they are exclusively led by trainers and course-orientated. In reality, many include tailor-made solutions delivered via various learning methods, substantial ‘friendly advice’ and as such are extremely effective. E-learning; coaching; experiential and action learning techniques; are all commonly deployed in T&D programmes. Courses still remain one of the more popular group based methods of delivery. Although the term ‘L&D’ has recently come into vogue—it is more than just another ‘new label’ for stuff we’ve been doing in HR all along. The concept, rather than the name, of ‘L&D’ embodies the positive shift in HR towards a much stronger emphasis on learning— which the learner does, as opposed to training—which the trainer does. Learning, in contrast to training, focuses HR’s attention back on each individual staff member. Focus is put on their skills as a person—both in and out of the workplace—instead of training them up as part of a team within the organisation. When learning is ‘done’ in the right way, staff will respond not because they have to but because they want to. This is

the key to successful staff development programmes, and it doesn’t really matter if you label them T&D, L&D or any other buzzword of the day. What matters is that as a HR leader you design development programmes so that they benefit staff in helping them unearth, develop and realise their natural abilities and potentials. A lot of time staff can, and will, do this themselves—sometimes in their own time and at their own expense. If you get it right, you’ll not only garner staff who can achieve more, but also facilitate them thinking for themselves much more. Staff will also be more engaged as they see the relevance of skills they are developing and feel valued for what they can achieve with their own, very individual, skill sets. In short, rightly or wrongly, the term ‘training’ is now frequently viewed as an increasingly antiquated ‘injection’ of ideas by trainers in the workplace. ‘Learning’ is something that staff can pursue by choice, and happens both inside and outside the office. Progressive HR leaders should be doing all they can to help facilitate this. The HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development is written by them and for them.

Evolution of training

Succession management|

Training as a change agent

Developing talent pipelines to support global growth

In a recent HR conference, Jacqueline Moyse, Head of Organisational Development, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG) discussed developing a talent pipeline to support global growth. She advised, “Align what you’re doing in HR with the business and particularly the senior management. Goals should be linked into the vision of the organisation and the business strategy.” Her first task was to resource global growth. She said, “To achieve this we need the right people in the right jobs, with the right skills, at the right time.”

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Evolution of training

This is done in six steps:

1. All colleagues design their success profiles. This helps get buy-in of colleagues and understanding of competencies.

2. Training materials are customised with industry-relevant manuals, videos, reference guides and an online test site. Hyperlinks are built into the system, which takes employees to training materials.

Training as a change agent

According to Moyse, MOHG approached the project as change agents and marketers rather than just trainers. She believes that there is so much to be learned from marketing and the way that it approaches consumers, PR, and branding. The programme is heavily branded, with a new name, logo and advertising collateral that is distributed among employees. Stakeholders must be involved throughout the process and it is helpful to identify difficult general managers and pockets of resistance. Moyse pointed out that it is important to communicate throughout to ensure everyone knows what’s happening and has input.

Succession management 3. Regional coaches are trained in performance management and the new online system.

4. Every senior manager attends a two-day training programme on managing people development and performance. This programme concentrates on soft skills and how to coach people and give feedback and provided lots of opportunities to practice techniques and conversations.

5. Train the trainer for learning and development and performance.

6. Process is cascaded throughout the organisation.

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At MOHG they have created a sustainable talent pipeline and are able to pull relevant information from the dashboard, such as who has completed their review. The organisation is also launching an innovative e-learning module on how succession management can be done better. Moyse recommended keeping a record of competencies for every employee. Through Profile—the hotel group’s online employee database—managers look at different colleagues and gauge their competency rating. If they have a vacancy they can look at core competencies and pull up the data to see who fits the criteria. Moyse advised that it is important to get competencies right in the first place because they will feed into other things such as development plans and personal profiles. If you want to develop people and their careers, don’t start from a rocky foundation. The number of transfers between hotels has gone up significantly. MOHG transferred 29 senior managers from other properties around the world to the newly opened hotel in Macau. If that trend continues they will save a huge amount in head hunting fees, observed Moyse.

Evolution of training

Global L&D trends|

Andrew Cameron, Managing Director, Cliftons on global L&D trends and advice on making communication with staff more interactive & effective.

Changes in training behaviour

Over the last five years, Cameron has seen several changes in the training landscape, most notably in the increased use of technology in L&D programmes. He notes that the move into e-learning or CBT platforms took shape in early 2000, but has not really progressed at the speed that people were predicting it would at that stage. Cameron observes, “I still see a growth in the traditional training market which is the fastest part of our business in terms of growth: 100% per annum.” He adds that much of the training has been with existing clients for global-affiliate training, and that during the global financial crisis, there was a dip in demand for training, but more recently demand has started to increase again. As a result of the rise in e-learning and blended learning platforms, Cameron has seen a significant decline in the demand for traditional face-to-face classroom instruction over the last decade. “The drop in demand was very noticeable in 2000. We had a major UK client in that year, and tried to get them to sign a six-year contract, and they refused saying there would be no such thing as instructor lead

training after two years.” The client, like many others at that time, was investing their entire training budget on computer-based training. Cameron explains that Cliftons then went to great lengths to research where the training market was, and where it was likely to go in the future. The net result of all of this research was to identify one-on-one communication as the most important aspect in training. Cameron believes, “As long as humans are humans and value face-to-face interactions, we are still going to see instructor-led courses. I think we will see more convergence with technology like the new electronic voting systems, and I see technology getting easier to use and more complementary with the training courses.”

Gen-Y and L&D

The first Gen-Y instructors will soon come into the L&D arena, and Cameron believes this will make quite a bit of a difference with them ‘owning’ this sort of environment in the future. As 50% of his company’s business is computer-based, Cameron predicts that training programmes will see fewer desktops being deployed in future, in favour of

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Evolution of training

‘blade’ or rack unit (RU) related products. The convergence of all of these different technologies will save training costs in the long run.

Variations in L&D needs around the world

L&D requirements are very similar around the world, in terms of computerisation platforms and room set-ups. The demand varies slightly from country to country, and Cameron confessed, “This is a sad indictment upon my country of origin, but it’s very difficult to get an Australian to come to an afterhours course, whereas in Asia we are actually busier in the after-hours section. Training is highly valued in Asia and people will come to classes.” In contrast, in New Zealand, he reported that companies tend to have a ‘do-it-yourself’ mentality, and would tend to favour setting up the boardroom as a training venue, before considering outsourcing—efficient and more homely, but not as professional.

Effectiveness of different communication methods

A research project run by the Australian Graduate School of Management looked at the cost and value of a whole matrix of different communication and training styles. One-on-one communications were found to be the most effective method and moderately capital intensive, while items such as general e-mails were the least expensive method, but were also the least effective. Taking HR Magazine’s one-on-one interview with him as an example to illustrate the point, Cameron noted, “This would be very expensive. There are only two of us using 100% of both of our time, there’s travel time involved, we’re taking up the conference room etc. All of these sorts of things add up—but this method is the highest value in terms of communication effectiveness. You’ve cut through all the nonsense, you’ve got to me directly, we’re talking, good eye contact, and 55% of the non-verbal communication isn’t being lost down the phone line.” This concept is taught to staff at in-house workshops, where staff are encouraged to discuss different types of communication and fit them into a matrix to demonstrate which methods bring the greatest communication value.

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“

You’ve cut through all the nonsense, you’ve got to me directly, we’re talking, good eye contact, and 55% of the nonverbal communication isn’t being lost down the phone line.

”

Making training more interactive

Cameron states that his organisation is investing heavily in the use of technology at his training venues, which feature a ‘solution room’ that showcases current technologies and the latest tech gadgets that trainers can deploy to help make their L&D session more interactive. One such tech gadget at trainers’ disposal is Qwizdom. This enables them to go through a series of questions within a PowerPoint Presentation and let all the members of the audience answer questions posed simply by pressing the relevant buttons on a hand-held unit. This not only makes the whole presentation more interactive, but also increases the comprehension level of the audience with immediate feedback rather than just leaving interaction to the usual end-ofpresentation Q&A session. At conferences, the system also allows for instant retrieval of survey results, which can be collected anonymously, and viewed in real-time by the audience as the figures come in. Cameron advises trainers that if they are thinking about being more proactive and moving to things like voting systems, then it is also essential to give clear instructions of how these devices work to the audience. Cameron also advises using the right technology to meet the requirements of the course. “We’ve all seen instructors fumbling through things at the start of a training course because they haven’t properly thought out what they are going to do—and that goes for instructors from big organisations as well as the smaller ones.” In terms of technology,

Evolution of training

Cameron explains that it is often the simple things that instructors forget, related to the effective delivery of their course, such as whiteboards and projectors. He adds, “Preparing professionally makes big differences to courses.” Cameron is also a keen proponent of controlling the use of people’s mobile phones during training courses, which at the end of the day, is down to each instructor and how strongly they are at leading the group. He shares the story of an American instructor who made everyone put their phones in a bucket that he carried around the training room.

Out-of-office training formats

Getting staff offsite and into a new environment is a very effective way of injecting life into L&D programmes. And at Cliftons every year they get staff together globally by flying them to one of their venues around the world. Even when the event is held in Hong Kong Cameron explains that staff are still sent offsite. A couple of years ago staff were sent to Lantau Island and engaged in a three-day training exercise comprising two days of formal education and one day of adventure bonding exercises. Outdoor adventures have ranged from quad bike riding and bungee jumping in New Zealand, to canyoning in Hong Kong. For those who haven’t been on an Outward Bound style adventure, canyoning involves a combination of walking/jumping/scrambling up and down boulders, climbing up and abseiling down steep rock faces, and sometimes a bit of wading/swimming thrown in for good measure. Cameron explains, “We also do tamer things too—like visiting the Night Zoo in Singapore.”

Benefits to staff of external training

Cameron explains that staff not only get ‘training’ by attending external courses, but that they also get kudos and the opportunity to forge new contacts as they develop and network. With Gen-Y coming through, he anticipates their demands of training will be higher than in any other generation. He feels that they still value the traditional classroom and facilitator-led training programme. But they love their technology and are more comfortable with their toys than Gen-X.

L&D at Cliftons

Cliftons operates training centres in ten countries globally—and Cameron foresees the next main expansion in North Asia. In 2010 the company won the Learnx Award for best training venue, and it’s easy to see why—when the management is so committed to providing quality training opportunities in the latest training environs for its own staff. In terms of in-house T&D programmes, as Cameron puts it, “I think we really live it—from my point of view we can’t afford not to.” The organisation runs two major conferences a year in January and July for the operations and sales leads in different Cliftons’ venues around the world. The company also runs annual training events for both technical, and operations and sales staff. On top of this there is also ad hoc sales training, with the Hong Kong and Singapore venues recently sending staff on consultative sales selling methodology training programmes, which Cameron is quick to point out has a very clear ROI. In Cameron’s view the main purpose of training is to help facilitate better staff retention and development. During the financial downturn he witnessed a general dip in training being carried out at his venues, with many companies of the mentality that if you don’t need to retain people—because you are either shedding or there’s a very valuable, highly skilled market pool out there—then you don’t need to train. Following that dip, he now observes that training programmes are coming back with a vengeance and Cliftons is actually building more facilities as their existing ones reach capacity. The organisation also runs a ‘levy scheme’ where they allocate around HK$10,000 per staff member and say to them, “That’s yours to spend on a course which you feel will benefit us and you.” The course selected does not have to be purely vocational, and could, for example, be a work-life balance type study. Most staff select courses such as: finance for non-financial managers, sales management, and technical programmes. Cameron points out that sales management is one of the most popular courses as it provides a stepping-stone from a sales position to a sales manager position.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Evolution of training

The changing face of staff T&D| Blended learning solutions that can be customised to suit HR requirements

(Left) Cherry Tsang, Project Manager–Training & Development Division, Adecco (Right) Etta Wong, Director, Greater China for Lee Hecht Harrison

As the concept of traditional staff ‘training’ has morphed into ‘learning and development,’ HR Magazine was eager to find out what this transition actually means in practical terms for those in HR responsible for rolling out such programmes. We spoke with Cherry Tsang, Project Manager,

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Training & Development Division and Etta Wong, Director, Greater China for Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH), the global talent management company from the Adecco Group to get their take on the rapidly changing landscape of staff learning and development.

Evolution of training

Changing face of T&D

With over 31,000 employees in 60 countries around the world, Tsang and Wong have had ringside seats within the Adecco Group in witnessing the changing face of T&D in HR over the last decade. Wong pointed out that HR now tends to focus more on behavioural change training, rather than traditional skills training It is important to allow staff time for self-reflection so that they can be more aware of their own style and individual strengths. The next step is to help them master key job skills, which often include things such as presentation skills. This skills mastery is a long-term process and Wong suggests deploying coaches to help effect these changes within staff–transforming these key ‘skills’ into ‘habits.’ Wong noted, “This is a similar process to sports coaching, and we are, in fact, seeing an increasing number of ex-sports coaches become business coaches, as the same fundamental concepts apply. In both roles they must identify strategic skills; and determine how energized, how good at, and how often the candidates are currently using such skills.” Coaches can then highlight candidates’ unrealised strengths and help them to ‘exercise’ those skills to maximise them in order to reach their full potential. Tsang highlighted a key difference between training and development, “Training tends to operate on a more short-term basis, for example, running workshops to improve leadership, negotiation, communication and team skills. Development is a much longer-term process, for example, after rolling out T&D skills workshops, companies may provide onthe-job coaches to help further develop these skills.” This process will involve initial identification of staff limitations–information may be gleaned from capability assessments, interviews and surveys. Based on these results, suitable training programmes can then be recommended to help support staff and enhance their skill sets.

development on three areas: Coaching, Change Management and Career Planning. The content of the e-Portal is a supplementary tool of LHH blended learning with classroom training. DevelopMe is delivered through interactive online tools so staff can access training as, and when, they are free. Under the coaching portal, for example, users follow four key learning stages:

1. Understand–introduction to the concept of coaching

2. Prepare–how to prepare for coaching sessions

3. Coach–coaching skills and best practices

4. Sustain–sustaining behavioural change

Integrated talent development programme To meet these needs, LHH has developed a revolutionary integrated talent development programme: DevelopMe. The programme is a blended learning solution for talent and leadership

Screenshot from landing page of LHH’s Coaching Conversations Portal

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Evolution of training

for managers through learning experiences and customised development plans. Through the platform HR managers can help staff:

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Conduct results-driven conversations on career and leadership development

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Enhance mentoring and coaching skills

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Deliver consistent messages that are aligned with the business strategy and objectives

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Hold challenging conversations constructively

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Navigate and lead individuals and teams through change

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Develop stronger, more effective and productive leaders

Etta Wong (Left) and Cherry Tsang (Right) run through coaching materials from the integrated talent development programme: DevelopMe.

A library of configurable learning modules has been developed to help maximise HR managers’ time by blending live instructor-led training with an assortment of interactive technology tools. Peter Alcide, Global President, LHH explained that the portal had been developed in response to a reenergized demand for staff development programmes in the growing economy. He said, “As the economy continues to improve, employers are taking a renewed focus on career and leadership development not only to engage and retain their high potentials, but also to develop managers, one of their most critical talent segments.”

Programme aims

Ensuring effective coaching

The platform is aimed at achieving a wide range of leadership development learning objectives

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It is vital for HR to get business results linked to training objectives.

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One of the key criteria of a successful coaching process is that LHH would draw up a ‘Coaching Agreement’ with every coachee prior to any coaching programme to give them the opportunity to think about their expectations of the programme and what they and the stakeholders want to achieve. In addition, LHH also offers coaching workshops to build up coaching capabilities for in-house HR and business managers. The workshop would adopt six key LHH coaching practices.

Evolution of training

The six key LHH coaching practices 1. Ask, Don't Tell™ 2. Reframe from Picture™ 3. Truth Talk™ 4. In-the-Moment Feedback™ 5. Explore Possibilities™ 6. Create Partnerships™

Key T&D design issues for HR

It is becoming increasingly important for HR to demonstrate the ROI on training programmes that they roll out. In this regard, Wong said, “It is vital for HR to get business results linked to training objectives.” In order to ensure training programmes are effective, post-training feedback on staff engagement and satisfaction via surveys is an essential part of any programme. Tsang explained, “We will follow up three to six months after conducting training programmes to gauge both staff and managements’ perception of the degree of cultural change that has been possible since the training.” She added, “It’s also just as important that participants are willing to commit to a training programme. So HR should encourage participants to set goals and achieve these.” Tsang emphasised that HR must be careful not to oversimplify the rationale behind rolling out new T&D programmes. For example, if a company is experiencing high turnover, this may not simply be due to a lack of leadership, but may be due to other core issues at play such as company culture or interpersonal relationships. In such cases, training programmes alone may not be enough to resolve the skills gap. To help get to the root of such problems Tsang advised,

“First, investigate exactly where the problem is arising within the organisation; look at all possible methods you can use to solve it, and finally if staff are leaving–conduct exit interviews to gain an insight into the reasons behind such moves.” She also pointed out that exit interviews are best conducted by an independent third party, rather than the HR managers or direct line managers, to provide a more neutral environment which would be more conducive for exiting staff to share the real reasons for their move. The role of HR managers and heads of T&D continues to increase in complexity, but if time is spent prior to training on identifying the exact nature of skills gaps, and ensuring staff are committed to the selected training programmes, staff engagement can be significantly enhanced.

The learning platform also offers interactive coaching scenarios and assessments which allow learners to practice the coaching skills through practical scenarios and cases. If HR managers combine this ethos with the use of more interactive and customisable training programmes, the effectiveness of future T&D programmes can be dramatically improved.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Evolution of training

Traditional L&D values| Get to know staff before training them. “If training and people are a cost—you’ll get to the wrong place.” These were Greg Basham’s opening words in a HR conference which examined the challenges faced by companies within a Chinese culture. Basham, CEO of eeVoices highlighted the importance of staff learning and development within such organisations to allow talent to learn and grow using traditional values while still being able to think imaginatively. In today’s workplace it is essential that HR shift ingrained culture, attitudes and perceptions and attempt to move the whole organisation over to one that is based on learning, growing and renewing itself. Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline describes a learning organisation as one where people are continually rediscovering and focuses on five areas:

1. Systems thinking —understanding the change process 2. Personal mastery —giving people the skills 3. Mental models 4. Building a shared vision 5. Team learning

However, the function of HR in the modern workplace is not just to try and push corporate values onto staff, but rather to first take a step back and look at what each individual staff member is about. Find out what makes them tick, what drives them and what learning methods best suit them. Steven Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People also highlights the importance of this mentality—so important to HR leaders. In the book Covey advises, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood. If your company sets up a ‘habits steering committee’ this will create productive and

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happy workers, however, if you don’t do it yourself, stakeholders will do it for you.” Basham strongly believes in the strength of storytelling to build a company. If the story is true and trusted it will carry you to the next level, however you must define where you are going and your steps to get there and communicate this to your employees. When people feel a lack of control, they try to fill in the blanks by looking at patterns and this is where conspiracy theories set in. You either create the story or become a victim of it. He also notes that often companies do not know their talent. Surprisingly, only 16% of CEO’s asked in a McKinsey & Co. survey knew who their top performers were and an even smaller percentage knew their development plans for top performers.

Change of attitude

Dr Joe Leung, Founder, Organisational Learning Consultancy Ltd, has also stressed the importance of HR’s role building a strategic learning organisation. Keen to overthrow the perception that Chinese companies are hard on employees and do not provide learning environments, Leung believes plenty of organsations both local and international have made great inroads in staff learning and development programmes over the past decade. To be successful

Evolution of training

HR must ensure that L&D strategies are broad visions so that they can be adapted to a changing environment and expand to create a future. HR should also avoid making things too complicated and ensure they stop and think for themselves, as objectively as possible, before making any strategic

“

The difference between success and failure is flexibility, drive and targets.

”

decisions relating to L&D. It is human nature to show some resistance to change, but change is essential to creating new learning experiences for staff. On this, Leung stresses the importance of HR leaders in fostering collaboration within their workplace to raise awareness of change and its benefits and provide staff with the courage to embrace and capitalise upon such change. Leung calls for an integrated educational strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values and structure of organisations so they can better adapt to external challenges. Likewise, companies must sustain such practices from generation to generation. According to Leung, “The difference between success and failure is flexibility, drive and targets.” In order to move forward, staff must be encouraged to learn from their mistakes. Learning is difficult when sharing and communication are not a part of organisational culture within and outside of the company. We should all learn from others’ mistakes, however, Leung admitted that this is not easy because media often displays mistakes as signs of weakness and criteria by which companies should be judged—this hurts management. HR should encourage staff to put themselves in situations where they can make interesting mistakes, but should also foster an environment where they have the self-confidence to admit to them and then all staff can learn from them. Mistakes are not the problem—it is how you react to them. HR must encourage all staff to accept ownership of their mistakes and, rather than hiding them away, embrace them, share them with

others and use them to help make different decisions on future work projects.

Evolution of learning

Dr John Mok, Chairman, Automatic Mfy Ltd has experienced building a learning organisation from inside out. He stresses the need for companies to fully commit to the deployment and evolution of learning, removing barriers within the organisation and sharing this vision with all staff. He advises HR to modify what they learn themselves and use this for the good of the company as a whole. Key success factors in helping HR turn individual learning into team learning and crossdepartmental sharing rest on effective coaching of staff and modifying versions for planning, reporting and benchmarking. Mok advised HR to take several steps in order to speed up organisational learning through coaching as follows:

1. Find an opportunity for development 2. Conceive the “pseudo-solution” 3. Demonstrate to user to provoke customisation 4. Analyse and justify the return on development 5. Develop and coach the customised template 6. Monitor and support users during the initial deployment 7. After deployment has commenced, audit and benchmark

Other key factors in effective learning are encouraging staff to innovate, be open, use a global—not local—mindset, and above all have confidence in their own ability and drive. HR should select team members who either have skills specific to their roles, or who have a range of skills—and in both cases encourage the sharing of ideas inside the team and outside it. Good HR managers will steer organisational culture by sharing ideas, encouraging innovation, providing goal clarity, support, openness and clear leadership.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Evolution of training

Optimisation from inside out|

Mr Ronald Lai, Chief Executive Officer, Aon Hong Kong

Training and development philosophy

In 2010, Aon won a HKMA Award for Excellence in Training & Development. Ronald Lai, Chief Executive Officer of Aon Hong Kong believes different companies and individuals have different perceptions regarding training and development. He believes that training is viewed from the external and it provides skills and knowledge to employees, while development is from the inside of the individual. Aon provides the forum for the individual to bring out his/her desire for self-improvement. “Our philosophy is that the company will provide facilitation and resources to develop and train our people, but we expect our people to have passion and willingness to self-develop.”

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Senior management engagement

As a client-focused consultancy corporation, Aon has a strong belief in the strengths of its talents as the driving force of the company. Lai stated, “There is no question that talent is the greatest asset of our company.” He believes that a key element of the T&D programme is the involvement and commitment of senior staff. In the “Optimization from Inside-Out – Aon Talent-leadership Development Program 2009”, senior management had been directly involved for over 290 working hours. This commitment continued through the provision of coaching, mentoring and the active participation in projects. Talents went through different classroom trainings, workshops, coaching and sharing sessions, as well as real life

Evolution of training

business projects during the program, which aimed at transforming them into Aon’s Industry Re-engineering Champions.

Programme highlights

Aon notes the importance of providing training that focuses on understanding the self. For this reason, training is tailor made not only to meet leadership development criteria of the Aon Leadership Management (ALM) Model, but also to consider talents’ inner motives. Enneagram was used as one of the psychometric tools to enable talents to gain in-depth understanding about their personality and discover their own strengths and areas for further development. Identification of talent is made through senior management’s initial nomination of talent, followed by a stringent application, interview, and presentation process. The programme focuses on continuing the development of the identified talents by requiring them to manage real business projects and develop their persistence in carrying out the follow-up activities needed. Lai sums up, “There are three levels of optimisation in the programme: selfunderstanding, self-development, and team development.” Adopting the Confucius Philosophy which emphasises on the three core leadership essences of Ren (仁), Zhi (智) and Yong (勇), the programme is fully aligned and integrated with the Aon Leadership Model (ALM) to develop talents from inside-out. Lai believes the programme has achieved a tremendous result and concludes that, “The commitment of senior management and the special features of project delivery make it a winwin situation.”

Positive outcomes

At Aon, innovation stems from linking the training programmes with real business cases. Lai believes this is a win-win situation for the company by integrating training with real-life business projects and delivering ROI for the company. To date there have been three projects, all with positive outcomes. The continuation of the program is establishing a Shadow Company

structure, assigning the talents as managing directors, sales directors and consultants of the Shadow Company. They are expected to drive the business—by looking at the business plan, considering their investments and potential return, and achieve results. The Shadow Company directors interact with the Aon managing directors and Lai, in his role as CEO. He explained, “The way we see training is to facilitate learning, and development is to see their desire to take the opportunity to develop themselves from the inside out.”

Committed to people development

Aon has recognised that organisations need to do more to attract talents. Lai explained that the company is aiming to strengthen the reputation as an employer of choice, as well as providing fair compensation to attract talents. Senior management members are active in the local industry and are seen as role models within the territory. Additionally, the company hires management associates each year, showing a longterm commitment to people development and builds a strong culture within the company. Lai believes that, “Aon is a very people orientated company and this type of culture helps us to retain talents.” This is evident in their turnover rate being lower than the industry average. “Our philosophy is to understand the needs of the client and provide solutions, instead of selling pre-designed products. For high-end markets we don’t have standard products to sell, we only have good people to provide suitable solutions.”

The HKMA Awards

From the HKMA Awards, Lai has learnt that companies really need to have commitment when developing people. Programmes are not short-lived. Rather, they last for as long as 12 months and there are heavy pressures on time commitments. The company needs to provide good support and guidance for development and embrace the communication process. He concluded, “Continued dialogue helps build relationships between senior management and talent.”

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Cathay Pacific: CX management development programme| HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

HR Magazine spoke to Graham Barkus, Head of Organisation Development and Learning, Cathay Pacific Airways, and member of the Human Resources Development Management Committee for the HKMA Awards, about the importance of staff development programmes. Barkus firmly believes, “In an environment characterised by uncertainty and rapid pace of change, supporting people in their efforts to expand and develop their capacity and capabilities is critical not only to success, but to survival itself.” Barkus went on to explain that every business is in business today because it has been successful to date. Unfortunately that is no guarantee that the ‘formula’ of previous, and even current success, will be enough to secure future success. Equally, competitive advantage has never been as fleeting as it is today; developing new capability and competency is the core of the capacity to innovate and deal with new challenges. This concept is fundamental to sustaining a competitive edge. Cathay Pacific views staff development as significantly contributing to business success and all staff development programmes start from a business need and focus on leadership capabilities to enhance team performance—critical to success in a service industry. Development is key to growing a winning team and enabling managers and supervisors at all levels and in all areas of the company to achieve and sustain team effectiveness, according to Barkus.

Development approaches emphasise developing strategic agility and the capacity to adapt quickly to new situations and challenges, and respond effectively. The CX Management Development Programme at Cathay Pacific requires participants to bring a ‘live’ business challenge into the programme, and their managers must agree that it is a business challenge worth tackling. As they develop their own competencies and effectiveness, these are applied directly to solving the real business issue, or leveraging a business opportunity they bring into the programme. The coaching and action learning components of the programme help support the participants in making whatever behavioural changes are needed to drive the business improvement. Barkus went on to explain that the best development programmes recognise three realities:

1. That human beings are all unique, with different backgrounds, experiences and capabilities.

2. That technical and factual knowledge on more topics is more readily available now, more than at any time in human history.

3. That the day-to-day experience of work is the most significant driver of how people in organisations learn and develop.

In recognising these realities, successful development programmes are customised and tailored, rather than ‘generic’ theory and ‘hard’ business skills, they focus on the interpersonal skills to put technical knowledge into action in the service of the business; and they link learning with real business needs of the participants’ organisation.

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Corporate perspectives

City Telecom:

building bridges to L&D success|

Leveraging staff strengths…and getting the wrong talent off the bus NiQ Lai, Head of Staff Engagement, City Telecom (CTI) highlights the importance of leveraging staff strengths, and while many talk about retaining staff, he shares how HR should also be ruthless sometimes about getting ‘the wrong talent off the bus’ in order to help promote business success.

Spend the most on people

CTI spends most of its money on people—notably the amount spent on talent is more than capital expenditure and marketing combined. Lai explains, “We are a people company, that’s our primary asset. When we say talent is our key asset, it’s more than just a cliché, it’s in our numbers.”

Vertical model

Many companies are run from the viewpoint of

efficiency. Lai argues that this doesn’t work and in his organisation they have taken a different approach—using a vertical model, aimed at improving customer intimacy. In Hong Kong they have five distinct regions, each with its own CEO who is responsible for the entire value chain of the customer experience. Lai believes through this system what they lose in scale they gain in intimacy. Such a system takes smart people and management talent and is therefore very challenging. All CEOs come from different disciplines and bring different skill sets, but must develop fully as executives, to run an integrated operation. Each of the 40 mini CEOs is responsible for P&L and Balance Sheets. They have a lot of autonomy and can spend the allocated budget how they want, but there are downsides if they don’t meet their budgets.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Injecting power bars

Lai notes that looking at a standard career growth chart for the first ten years in most organisations one can see steady growth, then employees make Senior Manager, Vice President or Director level, then it starts to flat line with only 3-5% productivity growth for the next 20 years. CTI tries to give such staff a career jolt, injecting a ‘power bar’ into their career development. Anyone who has worked for the same boss, in the same job nature for five years is required to move to another department— severing any connection with their old department. Lai cited the Head of Talent Management at CTI as an example who, with many years experience in HR, is now spending three months in marketing. Lai explains that if they find they like marketing and can secure a position at their current pay scale; then they can remain in that post. Alternatively, if they return to HR, then this is also good as it will be with more passion and awareness of the company. Teammates also get the opportunity to show they are capable of future leadership. “It’s clearly a winwin situation but you have to be committed. This is not an opportunity—this is a requirement. One talent left the company because they did not want to change their role,” explained Lai.

Talent infinitive programme

In 2010, 70% of the top 33 talents had, or were in the process of gaining a post-graduate degree. Lai calls this the ‘Talent Infinitive Programme’, which CTI has invested over HK$3 million in. The organisation sponsors employees through the Chinese University MBA programme to the tune of around HK$190,000 per person. Lai admits that this seems like a big expense, but by the same token notes that those talents generate around HK$200 million in revenue—so even if they only emerge 1% better at what they do—that would deliver HK$2 million dollars of benefit. It is a possibility that an employee will complete the MBA, improve their CV and then leave. However, Lai believes that if you have good people there will always be a market value for them, and you can’t retain them by restricting their growth. Talent development is not only found at the high end but is instigated throughout the whole hierarchy. They

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have put people who did not finish a University degree, through a three or four year programme to achieve a certificate, diploma, higher diploma, then a full degree.

BMW policy

Lai also has a vision that he has named his ‘BMW policy’ involving his wish to fill the company car park with BMWs because that shows a high level of success. The organisations also adopts a ‘grow the pie benchmark’ rather than internal competition, with the five district heads being encouraged to constantly benchmark against each other. The aim being to encourage healthy competition while still stimulating innovation and giving people enough autonomy to grow. Nothing beats direct engagement and although they have websites and monthly video meetings, Lai also ensures that they have at least two town hall meetings a year. Every year, irrespective of good or bad economic times, the organisation also hosts an offsite trip. In previous years staff have gone to Japan where they worked hard, had a good time and learned how to ski. HK$2 million was spent on the trip, but Lai points out that, within months, the cost savings and innovations easily covered the expenses incurred.

Getting the wrong talent off the bus

Lai also highlights the importance of HR being able to get the wrong people off the bus. Every year CTI terminates 5% of their salary base. Not talent, but salary base, meaning they can’t simply terminate the most junior people. Lai admitted this is contentious, but the alternative is to do nothing and focus resources on coaching the bottom 5%—when it is much better to focus resources on the top 95%. CTI intentionally builds an intense culture— having no inflation factor in the company, so that employees do not get automatic salary reviews. They only offer productivity gain sharing, so the bottom 20% will have no increment, while the top 20% will have 20% increment. Lai said there is intentionally a wide divergence and if an employee is an under-performer, they will find CTI an extremely unpleasant environment. Conversely, Lai believes if you’re passionate it’s a great place to be.

Corporate perspectives

Cambridge University Press: global staff development| HR Magazine interviewed Stephen Bourne, University Printer and Chief Executive of Cambridge University Press to get his take on staff development within the global publishing giant.

Stephen Bourne, University Printer and Chief Executive, Cambridge University Press

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

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I spend about a third of the year in overseas offices—but the payback is fantastic, in terms of the responsiveness of our people, but also in terms of my personal understanding of the dynamics of our business around the world.

”

Cambridge University Press has approximately 2,000 staff working in 53 offices in 37 countries worldwide. Almost half are stationed in Europe, a sizeable chunk in the Americas and the remainder span the globe covering Asia, India, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, Iberia, the Middle East and North Africa. With over 36,000 book authors in 120 countries, the Press currently boasts 34,000 in-print titles, growing at a rate of 2,800 new ISBNs per year. As the Press publishes in new media formats and establishes a presence in emerging educational markets, the future looks set for further growth and diversity. HR Magazine grabbed a chance to interview Stephen Bourne, University Printer and Chief Executive of Cambridge University Press to get his take on staff management within the global publishing giant.

Ensuring diversity and inclusion

How do see your role in managing and motivating these staff? How do you ensure diversity and inclusion in your offices globally? The geographical dispersion of our staff is something that provides the Press with great resilience on the one hand, but also presents many challenges. As someone who has spent so long working abroad, including eleven years in Hong Kong, I fully understand that colleagues in far-flung offices could

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easily feel that they are not adequately recognised as members of the Cambridge family, and that they receive little direct inspiration from the centre. In my view, it’s a large part of my responsibilities to get out there into the field and spend time with my people in as many offices as I can, partly so that we get more than a few occasional minutes together, and partly so that we may focus on their particular markets and engage with them and their customers first hand. This involves a considerable time commitment—I spend about a third of the year in overseas offices—but the payback is fantastic, in terms of the responsiveness of our people, but also in terms of my personal understanding of the dynamics of our business around the world. At the management level, we have made a point of developing a team of directors in all of our major locations who come together as a group twice a year, in Cambridge or somewhere else, and who consequently feel part of a single management team and who gain valuable ideas from each other.

Corporate perspectives

What key challenges have you encountered from a cross-cultural perspective—with staff from so many different countries? Interestingly, the Press has had very few difficulties in terms of cross-cultural understanding. That is probably because, with the overseas background that I and some of my other senior colleagues have enjoyed, we have a broad understanding of the different ways in which people work and view things in different countries. As a consequence, we have not made the mistake of trying to impose a single operational culture on offices that would have difficulty with aspects of the British way of doing things. Conversely, we have also found that the desire of our staff to be associated with the University of Cambridge means that there is a tremendous willingness in our offices all around the world to behave in ways that are entirely compatible with the ethos and culture of our University, and that is an extremely helpful dynamic.

new faces have joined the Press at senior levels, bringing experience from other publishers but also from other industries, and this has been invaluable in creating our present growth rate, which leads the whole of our competitor group.

Talent management

Many organisations use a ‘build from within’ strategy that pipelines talent directly from the University and develops it within the organisation. With such strong ties to academia, in your opinion, how does this strategy compare with attracting academic fresh blood to the organisation? The Cambridge University Press of today is an interesting blend of academics, educationalists and business people. It’s probably true to say that the emphasis recently has been on the last of these categories, as it has become increasingly important that we have the right kind of people to compete with other publishers whose whole ethos is about making money. We therefore find that we can recruit from three rather different pools of people, which gives us a certain strength, particularly at times when there are people around the world who are looking for durable positions with great organisations. While it is true to say that we hope to build a large part of our future talent from within the organisation, we are not going to make the mistake of limiting the Press’ vision by excluding external talent. In recent years, a number of

Leadership development

What would you say are the essential qualities of a leader? I would say that key qualities of a leader include: a broad command of all aspects of the business; the ability to articulate the business’ special culture; a tangible desire to make a difference; a spirit of personal sacrifice, rather than greed; empathy with one’s staff; and above all, the ability to provide a vision and to inspire people. Without the ability to inspire your team, you will fail. What steps are involved in developing leaders within your organisation? I think that management can be learnt, but leadership requires certain innate qualities, all of which are things that employees look for: a sense of authority; vision; personal presence; inspiration; the willingness to accept risk and share responsibility while remaining supportive.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Jardines: making a successful T&D roadmap| Ritchie Bent, Group Head of Human Resources, Jardines explains how the group has achieved buy-in from the top, and developed their HR roadmap for successful T&D. What makes corporate learning successful? What would you say makes a successful staff training programme or a successful learning experience? I have to talk about the managerial level because that’s what we tend to deal with here. What we deal with is leadership development. What makes effective leadership development in an organisation is firstly, it has to have buy-in from the very top. And what gets buy-in from the top, is that those at the top clearly see what is being done is linked to what they want to achieve in terms of their business goals. So for example, it may be that you provide customer service training, but in actual fact on a managerial level that’s not what’s needed because it may be that at the moment it’s about building relationships with joint venture partners, etc. So you may be giving one thing, but what’s actually needed is something completely different. Strategically you may be very much going on a growth trajectory; and that might be growth organically or through acquisitions and joint ventures and so on and so forth, therefore, the skills that managers need may not be related to customers, but actually developing and strengthening partnerships with people of different cultures and different industries.

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Corporate perspectives

A practical example I can give you is that one of the programmes we run, the Director Development Initiative, was a response to the board asking: what development do we have for people now that have gone beyond business school and who are now Chief Executives? What can we do to develop them? We already knew they had been to business school and there was only limited value in sending them back there. So we looked at this particular case and asked: what can these people benefit from? These are people who have run successful businesses and they are therefore quite steadfast in their ways about what makes an effective business, they have developed these habits. They are either MDs of small companies (<3,000 staff) or directors of medium sized (3,000-15,000 staff) to larger companies (>15,000 staff). So we had this group of people who are already very comfortable in running effective businesses, and we knew they weren’t likely to listen to consultants or business school professionals. So whom would they listen to? We decided they would listen to other successful Chief Executives from elsewhere who were effective in what they do. So that created an initiative where, every year, we take a group of ten directors all over the world to meet business heads in non-Jardine companies and the overriding theme for this project is leadership and change. Then through the interview process of the ten candidates, we tease out what the subtheme to this initiative should be. For example, one we did recently was ‘Leadership and Change’ and another was ‘Building Businesses in Emerging Economics.’ So we might say, we are great at taking a business that’s already big and growing it and making it better, but we are not so good at developing businesses, grass rooting them in emerging economies and growing them from nothing. Then we created a simulator, which in this case was done in Switzerland, where we went to look at big multinationals and what they were doing. This simulator was a good model for Hong Kong, because Switzerland is similar in terms of the size of its economy and the fact that it attracts multinationals. We went to these multinationals and

asked questions to find out what they were doing that made them effective in building businesses in emerging economies. Then we went to emerging economies, such as the Czech Republic and Poland, we saw the bosses of companies there and asked them what they had done to make themselves effective as a business in an emerging economy.

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Smaller companies really ought to tune into this because this is stuff that is given away, that consultants would charge like wounded bulls to tell you...whereas these companies are companies that have actually done this and have had to live with the consequences.

”

We would listen to their advice and then ask, “What does the Head Office do that helps, and also hinders you in being effective and growing your business in an emerging economy?” That roughly outlines a simple business model. The year before that, we looked at rejuvenating mature brands and mature markets. We went to see big names such as Christie Hefner and Hank Paulson, who are like the David Beckhams of the business world. The question to Christie Hefner, then Chairman & CEO of Playboy Enterprises Inc. was, “What have you done to the Playboy

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Enterprise to rejuvenate the brand?” She then shared all that she had done from online gambling to streamed videos to apparel that they sell. We went to Chicago and New York and other parts of the US. There Goldman Sachs was in a different situation because they were going from a small company to a much bigger one, and we learned how they kept that small company intimacy while growing into a big multinational— and it was a form of rejuvenation. We looked at big businesses in Sweden, met people like the Wallenberg family and also went to look at the IKEA Head Office. Each of the companies we visited were all having certain problems with their brands; in some cases they were fantastic brands that continued to grow, in other cases they were fading brands or brands that had got into a bit of trouble. What the trip highlighted was that you’ve got to get buy-in from the top, and what gets you buy-in is them clearly seeing that this is going to have an impact on their business. That’s what a good HR person does, he or she is able to sell their idea to the top, then it becomes not a HR driven initiative, but a business driven initiative and that’s absolutely critical for it to succeed—it has to be business driven not HR driven.

Getting buy-in from the board?

Do you find people in HR are good at getting buy-in and making the link between HR-driven initiatives and business-driven initiatives? Yes I do, it’s a growing process and they’re getting better in Asia generally. I’m not talking about the big multinationals here; I’m talking about middle-sized companies and smaller ones, where they have had to grow their own processes and practices within Asia. Big multinationals, whether it’s Jardines or other MNCs, have these practices being developed in their own countries and then they import them into Asia. So the job then is to convert them, so they fit into the Asian context and, of course, support the business goals - which is the primary focus of everything that should be done. So it’s easier for them. But when you’re a smaller company that has just started here - it’s tougher for them.

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It’s harder for them because they don’t have the tried and tested expertise and they haven’t had the cultural overlay of a big American or European company already in place that’s already receptive to the way they do things in the West and will be adapted to the East.

Advice for SMEs

What advice would you give to help SMEs transition from an SME into a larger organisation? Firstly, they [smaller companies] should seek opportunities such as those provided by organisations like the HKMA to tease best practices out of big companies like HSBC, Cathay and so on. They [large companies] basically tell people what they have done, smaller companies really ought to tune into this because this is stuff that is given away, that consultants would charge like wounded bulls to tell you, and often not know because in many cases consultants are more advisory than implementers, whereas these companies are companies that have actually done this and have had to live with the consequences. So smaller companies should firstly, seek advice from organisations such as the HKMA and similar public organisations. Secondly, I think they ought to show more willingness to look for and copy best practices locally because there’s a lot of SMEs, but there are only small segments of them that compete with each other. Each of them in their own way is doing great stuff, but they’re little bits and pieces all over, so get to know what other SMEs are doing. This is where something like the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) is a fantastic meeting point to meet up with other people and discuss best practices and so on, more so than the Britcham or the Amcham or anything else, because the HKGCC is the representative body for SMEs in Hong Kong in my view. The HKGCC continuously organises events that bring people together, and I think if people have the objective of understanding best practices in HR training and development at SME level – then that’s exactly where they are going to find it.

Corporate perspectives

Mazars: sending staff to Africa Experiential learning and CSR|

Yeung Lok Ki, learning and developing from his South African secondment

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I was in the middle of an audit for an important international client when one of the Partners asked me to come to his office and promptly announced: We’re sending you to Africa!

”

Recently, two young Hong Kong accountants, focused on their career at international accounting firm Mazars, received some news that initially left them somewhat worried. For Assistant Manager Yeung Lok Ki, it came as something of a shock. “I was in the middle of an audit for an important international client when one of the Partners asked me to come to his office and promptly announced: We’re sending you to Africa!” “I wasn’t sure if this was good news at first, and when I told my family, they were also concerned. But I knew the company was giving me a chance to prove myself in an unusual environment. It’s the kind of

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

challenge everyone imagines they may face at some time in their career, a chance to experience a different culture, and perhaps a different way of working.” Mazars, a fully integrated worldwide partnership, are no strangers to transferring staff to distant lands, in what are popularly known as ‘secondments.’ Something more and more Hong Kong businesses are doing to keep key professionals progressing, as well as to build their experience and perspective on professional markets around the world. The Mazars Group has seen quick growth both organically and through integrating new firms, however, according to Ken Morrison, Managing Director, Hong Kong, it has not been as big a challenge as anticipated and they

Ken Morrison, MD, Mazars, Hong Kong

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continue to centre their organisational culture around a sense of unity among a diversity of nationalities.

Selecting talent

Employees are selected from a wide range of nationalities and cultures but Morrison believes that their core values are ultimately the same and that potential employees will be drawn to the company by these shared values of integrity, professionalism and independence. Additionally, as an international group it is important that their talent pool matches the diverse client base. With many clients from international businesses, it is important that staff also have an understanding of working practices globally. This broadens horizons, and the more well versed they are in international business and social issues, the better it is, both for staff personally and for their clients. Morrison advocates that travel broadens the mind and for Yeung Lok Ki and his colleague Man Tat Kau, this was an opportunity to see the world and how it works. Morrison explained, “It is a character building as well as career building move that benefits all parties.” While such secondments hone staff members’ technical skills they also generate greater commitment, loyalty and enthusiasm. Additionally, Morrison believes that this enthusiasm will ripple through to all staff. Between two and four staff members are selected for secondments each year. As an exchange process the candidates that are sent are broadly speaking the same grade as the people that they receive. The company selects staff members who show a lot of promise and potential and who would benefit from overseas experience. The secondment is viewed as a reward, while also developing the employee, enabling them to experience more of the Mazars organisation and giving them a wider understanding of it. Stronger staff are chosen because, according to Morrison, they will serve as a good advert for the Hong Kong office—creating incentives for staff from abroad to come to Hong Kong. Additionally if the staff member is not very good it creates difficulties and requires more effort when teaching them how to do a job. For stronger staff this is not a problem as the methodologies and technical experiences are similar.

Corporate perspectives

Buddy system

Morrison also shared that he sees a buddy system as essential, as it can be very daunting arriving in a foreign country, completely different to your own and where you do not know anyone. He sees that when secondees feel that they have someone looking after them, this helps cut through any fears and doubts that may arise.

Key benefits of secondments to staff

Man Tat Kau and Yeung Lok Ki at the South Africa office

The process of selecting staff members begins with the Heads of Departments who are asked to select potential secondees and ultimately they reach a consensus over who is selected.

Why South Africa?

When asked why they chose South Africa, Morrison explained that secondees are sent to many different countries. They have secondments to Mainland China, although this is not considered as much of an ‘adventure’, especially as there is more integration of HR in Hong Kong and mainland China offices. Language is also an important consideration on secondments—as it creates a potential challenge. Morrison advises HR to ask whether the language used during secondments will be an issue or a challenge. “While two of our Managers spent three months in our Cape Town office, we took two of theirs to help fill in here, giving them an insight into life and work in Hong Kong. All are in their mid twenties.” Morrison shared with us that South Africa’s ‘busy period’ is at a different time to Hong Kong’s and therefore it makes sense to take staff during the busy periods.

Man says he gained a tangible advantage as well as an insight into how others work. “It was interesting to learn the various audit systems they use in South Africa, which were different in subtle ways to ours in Hong Kong: same objective, different process. Plus I had to speak English every day, whereas in the office I won’t only use English, so that was a good test for me.” Yeung gained a wider perspective of his employer. Yeung explained, “I can see just how multinational our company is now. Daily life may be different, but we have the same name on the wall, which is kind of reassuring. You feel part of a much bigger team.” Yeung added, “I also came to appreciate Hong Kong’s own nuances while I was away. Where fast and efficient is our home-grown motto, in South Africa more time is spent understanding statistics for transaction testing, for example. In Hong Kong we will also need to analyse statistics to seek, for example, expenditure patterns—but we do it in a different way and at a different time in the audit. It’s interesting to see the pros and cons of different systems in practice.” Socially there is a lot to be gained from an international secondment. Both Hong Kong participants were taken with Cape Town’s geography and its people and agreed everyone was very welcoming and warm. The city is still changing since apartheid was eliminated, but it is already very international. Mazars Cape Town has staff from UK, USA, India and Taiwan, creating a dynamic office environment. The experience of different working methods and living conditions has had a lasting impression on the secondees. The trip has also helped them appreciate Hong Kong, and understand better that every city has advantages and disadvantages.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Hong Kong secondments

While the Hong Kong office sent two of its top staff to South Africa, they reciprocated and hosted Chenelle Vorster, Audit Supervisor and Dorette Booyens, Assistant Manager from the Cape Town office. As natives of Cape Town they both experienced the culture shock that working in Hong Kong can present. Booyens reflected, “On a personal level I got to experience a city I would probably never have seen. I also grew as a person since I learned how to cope in new and different situations. Professionally I got to experience and appreciate how business works in a different area of the world and I can see exactly how our profession is adaptable to any country.” Vorster added, “In terms of the technical standards, there aren’t many differences since accounting and auditing standards are international and both Hong Kong and South Africa have adopted these standards, so it was fairly easy to cope in terms of the work.” “We use a slightly different software system to Hong Kong but I would say the main differences are in the way we approach work. In South Africa we like to start work earlier, but would tend to work less overtime. There are probably a lot of factors that influence this, such as distance from home to place of work, so I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a difference in culture.” Booyens and Vorster both cited as highlights the ‘Symphony of Lights’ across Victoria Harbour and the views from the Peak at night and their smiles broadened at the mention of shopping. But they were also full of compliments for Hong Kong’s people. Vorster summed up “This entire trip has been one of the most important and special things in my life, so it is very difficult to pinpoint one highlight. Hong Kong is a beautiful city and I feel privileged to have seen it. I will never forget this time and I am going to miss all the fantastic people I met who went to a lot of trouble to make this experience as memorable as possible.” Staff are de-briefed and interviewed upon returning to their home country. Exchange programmes happen every few months somewhere within the organisation, with New York, Paris,

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Chenelle Vorster and Dorette Booyens from Cape Town enjoying secondment in Hong Kong

London, South Africa, Tokyo and Hong Kong all participating. Morrison sees it as part of the future for Hong Kong companies, giving suitably qualified staff a chance to work and live in a way they otherwise might not experience.

Secondments—how long?

The Hong Kong office is sending a staff member to New York for three years. Morrison was quick to point out that three years is a long time. To deal with such a prolonged secondment the participant was reassured that at the end of this period, after making a life for themselves in New York, they are not contracted to return to Hong Kong—but can do so if they wish. When asked what he considers a good length of time for a secondment, Morrison pointed out that if the timeframe is too short then employees will not ‘soak up’ the environment of the company enough, so he recommends a period of at least three months, but longer may be appropriate. Morrison believes, “These exchanges open the eyes of participants and remind us that in building relationships, we all run on the same fuel, but the end benefit is, staff return richer for the experience, personally and professionally.”

Corporate perspectives

Microsoft: developing leaders| Karen Zong, Director for People and Organisational Capability, Greater China Region for Microsoft spoke frankly to HR Magazine about the challenges facing HR in Microsoft and how she is championing team development to overcome them. Karen Zong, Microsoft’s Director for People and Organisation Capability, Greater China Region, opened one of HR Magazine’s HR conferences with a frank account of Microsoft’s outlook in the current economic situation. “We are in a very challenging time…and like others, we have real P&L and headcount pressures,” she said. This sentiment was echoed by many nodding heads among the audience of HR Directors. The reaction from the leadership team at Microsoft in the midst of the economic downturn was to develop a strategy of change both internally and externally. This was in order to help the way that the organisation works with its customers and partners, to move forward and prepare for the future. In an earlier interview with HR Magazine, Zong explained that at the end of the day leadership within an organisation is key and is the ‘silver bullet’ that can make or break organisations. The kind of culture leaders build within an organisation is also critical — to enable changes, transformations and alignment. Zong pointed out that, “Talents right now have a different psychological contract with organisations than their parents did.” Nowadays, new staff are more proactive in driving their own career development, including taking the driving seat in terms of what they want as the next career steps and specific development experiences.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

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Development interventions

Karen Zong, Microsoft’s Director for People and Organisation Capability, Greater China Region

However, key talents are the future leaders of the organisations, so they must be understood and nurtured in order to ensure sustained company success in the long term. The new Gen-Y joining organisations now require more involvement in problem solving and decisionmaking, and managers need to adopt a more motivating style in providing performance feedback than with Gen-X. Zong also points out that good managers and leaders must be good at conflict resolution and facilitate team collaborations, as these are essential to team engagement, especially critical during these challenging times. A great believer in the application of positive psychology in the workplace, Zong then explained how exploring different ways of implementing positive interventions in the organisation can have a dramatic effect on helping both yourself and your staff become more fulfilled and motivated in their roles.

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Talking about specific development interventions that have been very helpful in fostering positive individuals and positive institution, Zong went on to cite two examples. The first exercise staff can engage in is reflecting on one experience that they were at their best and felt very proud of, and then sharing the experience and its impact on them with others in the group. This exercise helps people appreciate each other at a different level, clarify and reinforce personal values, and foster alignment and teamwork. A second training intervention that Zong found successful was the practice of positive imagery added into presentation skill training. Usual presentation courses teach staff how to prepare the slides, basic presentation skills, how to handle questions and so on. But when staff were asked to learn to use positive visualization to prepare for a five-minute presentation, specifically to close their eyes and visualize themselves overcoming the personal challenge identified earlier, and presenting with confidence and success, their progress accelerated quickly and steadily. Zong recounts that when staff engaged in this kind of positive visualisation exercise, they found it really helped them to be more confident and effective when it came to giving their actual presentation.

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We are in a very challenging time... and like others, we have real P&L and headcount pressures.

The changing role of HR

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Finding the right balance of disciplined cost cutting and focused capability development is the right way to go. Zong talked about the importance of building a strong and cohesive leadership team and the efforts that Microsoft has taken towards this. “A strong

Corporate perspectives

team at the top helps to create lateral connections to connect knowledge, build synergy and reduce the costs of coordination.” Also, a sense of ‘one team’ enables the development of the capabilities to rapidly share knowledge across the company, about opportunities, challenges, innovations, and best approaches.

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We need to prepare ourselves with the understanding of organisational challenges and needs at different levels, to partner with business leaders in developing tailored approaches to address challenges through team approaches.

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These are HR’s new opportunities, Zong explained, to facilitate the enhancement of how the top leadership team works together, as well as to develop processes and platforms that support the cross-team collaborations and communications.

Leadership team development

Zong shared the research done by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, which was the foundation of the leadership team development framework in Microsoft. She highlighted the importance of business leaders making a clear differentiation between team performance and working group performance. Working group performance is a function of what individuals do, whereas team performance is a function of both individual performance and collective work product (i.e. what two or more team members do jointly, and reflects the joint team contribution).

Team is a word and concept so familiar to everyone. But people use the word ‘team’ so loosely that it gets in the way of learning and applying the discipline that leads to good performance. Zong said, “Therefore we have made intentional efforts to bring the senior leadership team together to build trust and understanding, to identify and focus on key priorities, and to align plans and activities.” For HR professionals, this represents unique opportunities to partner with business clients and make real organisational impact. “Therefore we need to prepare ourselves with the understanding of organisational challenges and needs at different levels, to partner with business leaders in developing tailored approaches to address challenges through team approaches. It is one thing to develop team approaches in tackling the unprecedented challenges, it is another to keep teams on the right track.” Zong cited the need to facilitate follow up meetings and put in place necessary measurement to provide feedback and execute new changes. “HR has a strategic role to play in supporting the organisation, its people and strategy, and leadership development in this economy. We need to equip ourselves with the necessary mindset, skill set, tool kits, and resources to make things happen.” HR Magazine provides regular forums for HR practitioners from respected companies to share ideas on talent acquisition, retention and leadership development within Hong Kong companies. Never has it been more important for industry leaders to look inwards within their organisations, and start leveraging the talent that already exists there.

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Talents right now have a different psychological contract with organisations than their parents did.

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HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Ogilvy: cultivating company creativity Enhancing HR practice through PR, Ogilvy style|

Debby Cheung, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide China

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The HR professional is often the ‘middle man’ between senior management and employees. Given the challenges that the HR professional is presented with on a day-to-day basis, a little skill in public relations (PR) can go a long way. “Public relations, for the HR professional is much more than newsletters, or in this day and time, intranet or internet bulletins and the like”, says Debby Cheung, Public Relations Worldwide China, Ogilvy. Whereas many companies offer tangible products and services, Ogilvy’s clients approach them for creative solutions to communication problems. Speaking at one of A-Performers’ HR Summitts, Cheung explained, “It’s important for our staff to embrace creativity...we celebrate creativity.” Heeding two quotes made by the company’s founder, David Ogilvy, “To be most valued by those who value brands” and “We sell or else”, Ogilvy strives to create a differentiated corporate brand. Creating a corporate brand, one that is different from the rest is a positive step forward towards becoming an employer of choice that people want to work for. In order to achieve this, Ogilvy is not a sideline commentator, practicing what they preach, they apply their own philosophy to their own organisation. The company uses a three-ringed approach to talent management: attracting people, growing people and keeping people.

Corporate perspectives

Attracting people, from their perspective starts with having a good reputation. In part, this stems from creating that differentiated corporate brand. They strive for the reputation as a place that delivers creative excellence. In order to build such a reputation, there is a team of five full-time staff called ‘Heroes’ within the China Group, exclusively working on the public relations for the firm itself. The second tier of the talent management model is growing people. Bruce Lee once said that running water never grows stale. And the same is also true in the context of talent management. If employees are stuck in a rut with no opportunity for personal development within their role, motivation dies a slow death. A high performance organisation is an evolving organisation, and an organisation is really a collection of people working together towards a common goal. Providing sufficient training and learning opportunities and exposure to different new ideas, methodologies, etc. ultimately helps grow people. Engaging in such a process ultimately also aids the final tier in talent management model: keeping people. At Ogilvy, recognition is also a key factor when it comes to keeping people in the organisation. People enjoy being recognised for the hard work they put in, so it stands to reason that it should play a key role in the retention of staff. Recognition of contributions made and the celebration of an employee’s success which can include the likes of promotions, etc. are all means toward the ‘end’ objective of keeping your key talent. Creativity drives the talent management model. Nurturing a creative culture within the organisation enhances organisational reputation, puts employees in an environment that nurtures their personal creativity and helps them to grow as people and in their careers, and therefore aids in the third tier, retention, because employees feel it is a place for them to grow and unleash their creativity. It is imperative then that creativity is fostered right throughout the organisation. In order to achieve that, the first crucial step, which should not be foreign to modern HR professionals, is to be able to identify the right people with the right

attitude and put them in the right position so they are able to thrive. When searching for the right person, Ogilvy propagates six attributes throughout the organisation as a set of virtues to live by and in order to narrow their search down: curiosity, agility, passion, bravery, accountability and collaboration. When one is nosy, flexible, bold, responsible and a team player, they are surely on the right path. The second ingredient in fostering creativity throughout the organisation is an inspiring office space. With art pieces on display in the foyer of the Shanghai office on loan from art galleries, an incompany bar, an oval-shaped library and personalised workspaces, the company certainly offers something to think about in terms of environment.

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Creativity is our lifeblood.

The third ingredient in cultivating a creative spirit is to demonstrate creativity in company initiatives. Any organisational cultural shift requires a top-down approach whereby senior management actually champion the behaviour they want to elicit from their staff throughout the entire organisation. One key challenge in terms of training identified, is how can staff be motivated towards training? And recognising that training is something that can excite them. The initiative that was born out of this paradigm is Red Kitchen, reflecting founder David Ogilvy’s background as a chef, Ogilvy’s corporate colour and the seasoned culinary aptitude of the Chinese. In Red Kitchen, a variety of training courses are packaged in a physical menu format where employees are allowed to pick and choose via an online training registration database and also by supervisor nomination. Such courses include anything from negotiation skills and holding effective meetings, brand analysis to external training courses on “six star” service, for example, conducted by the general manager for the Ritz-Carlton Shanghai. Recognising that nothing stays new and to keep employees excited, they constantly reinvent the

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

promotion of their training activities. Such initiatives have included:

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A campaign featuring pigs which was premised on the slogan “we pursue knowledge the way a pig pursues truffles”. A collection of lifesized pig images were thus placed around the office.

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An animated Halloween based campaign, Trick or Teach was sent out to all staff as a seasonal motivator to join training programmes.

David Ogilvy’s legend is celebrated on the founder’s birthday, 23 June, every year only in China due to the reverence the Chinese have for their leaders. David Ogilvy Day is celebrated in different ways each year, such as an art jam where employees were divided into teams to create art pieces for half a day. The De-mentor Programme is the mirror image of a

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standard mentoring programme in which the more experienced staff member mentors a younger one. In the de-mentor programme, the reverse is true and what this does is help the older generation understand the younger generation. Radical Practical awards were initiated to encourage staff innovation the only criteria for this programme were that ideas had to be not only radical, but practical as the name suggests. The programme, launched in May and ongoing monthly, awarded a prize of RMB10,000 to the winner. Cheung quotes Ogilvy’s founder, “Men never died of hard work - they died of boredom” in pointing out that people lose passion because of boredom and therefore the firm makes sure that they have fun in what they do, which in turn can help to ignite creativity. Cheung cites examples of costume parties and cheerleading contests as cases in point. Cheung concluded by coming back to the quote posed at the beginning “to be most valued by those who value brands”, emphasising that a brand is something that is intangible, something that is about values, feelings and emotional bonds. In striving to be a corporate brand, Ogilvy consults RICK: Respect Individuals, Creativity, Knowledge.

Corporate perspectives

P&G: training tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talent at P&G University| HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

In 1837, a candlemaker met a soap maker, and William Procter and James Gamble set in motion a chain of events that was ultimately to touch over 300 million lives, everyday, in over 160 countries. The firm of Procter and Gamble was born. Now known simply as P&G, the essence of the company‘s philosophy can be summed up as a culture of winning and one that embodies five core values: integrity, trust, ownership, leadership and

Damia Yang, Senior Manager of Human Resources, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Ltd.

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a passion for winning. This philosophy permeated throughout 135,000 employees in over 80 countries worldwide and has resulted in P&G becoming a giant amongst its competitors and a source of aspiration for university students globally seeking to kick-start their careers.

Build from within

Recognising that staff are their most important asset, P&G offers global training and development programmes designed to maximise the potential of each and every person that attends, rewarding them solely on the basis of performance. This philosophy is the cornerstone of the P&G ‘Build from Within’ policy: a system designed to nurture employees from “seedling to full-fledged tree”. The idea is to grow, develop and promote the best people, whenever possible, from within the organisation. To steer such a programme, P&G requires individuals who can leverage on the collective strengths developed by such a value-driven and principle-based system, while remaining sensitive to the needs of individual team members. Damia Yang, Senior Manager of Human Resources, P&G is exactly this kind of person, with over eight years experience of successful coaching, development and partnering with staff. As such, she is able to create and sustain competitive advantage within the people, the systems and the culture of the company. After graduating, Yang was originally ‘borrowed’ from the P&G Greater China operation and posted to Hong Kong. After demonstrating her potential within the HR field, she was then permanently transferred here. Such first-hand experience of change management has equipped Yang with a unique sensitivity to issues raised by employees who express a desire to experience the power of globalisation through P&G’s ‘Build from Within’ policy. In relation to the delicate balancing act required to match company business needs with staffs’ long-term career and aspirational goals, Yang oversees two key processes: the Internal Career Assignment Planning System and the Internal Open Job Posting System.

Corporate perspectives

Internal career assignment planning

Yang drives career planning via line managers, who take the initiative to plan staff careers. Built on a foundation of one-to-one meetings, managers gain an understanding of the needs of staff, and Work & Development Plans (W&DPs) evolve from this. The process involves mapping out milestones by which individual progress can be monitored and designed to capture whatever is in the individual’s best career interests. W&DPs not only track progress within an individual’s current and next assignment, but also aim to establish destination jobs. They provide a structured career path and a programme flexible enough to take account of an individual’s requests and present staff with longterm goals. Line managers and leadership teams then use W&DPs as a tool for succession planning, accelerating growth and motivating candidates to excel outside their normal comfort zones.

Internal open job postings

The second system is more traditional and driven by employee initiative, involves posting internal vacancies on a bulletin board where interested parties can browse them. Yang asserts that practical measures have to be in place to instill corporate values within individuals and highlights two crucial qualities that are key to achieving this: leadership and a passion for winning. Primarily, once overall objectives have been agreed, projects can proceed to execution. Organisational objectives are set, which staff members are made aware of, and line managers get 360-degree feedback on leadership performance and innovative solution thinking. Formal W&DP reviews take place annually, although managers are free to initiate them at any time. Yang also stresses the importance of goal setting, a crucial part of this strategy. If the company, as a whole, has a revenue target, then every subsidiary within the group will break the target down into specific action plans. A Hong Kong and Greater China Action Plan will thus be broken down further to help individual staff members achieve their own action plans. So every year both company’s and the individuals’ action plans are deployed, with

written timelines giving clear levels of expectation. Employees exceeding those expectations are awarded Grade 1, those achieving it - Grade 2 and those missing it - Grade 3. Yang knows that good line managers give constant feedback to their team and so, when someone fails to achieve a level of expectation it should rarely come as a surprise. At that stage it is then important to find out how they are going to fix it, discuss what needs to be done, and put an appropriate improvement plan into place in order to facilitate performance turnarounds.

P&G University

Within P&G there is a saying, “People join the company, but leave the boss.” As a seasoned HR professional, Yang highlights the fact that unless individuals have a clear expectation of line managers and properly interact with them, staff members may simply walk away. In both Hong Kong and mainland China, P&G is kicking off “Model Boss” - a project providing the fundamentals of how to be a ‘model’ line manager and an overview of key technical skills such as coaching, compensating staff, management, performance rating and W&DP. The project also provides guidance on important soft skills such as being more sensitive to different people and their cultures, especially in the light of more Gen-Y people joining the company. Yang is an enthusiastic advocate of online tools to help make processes more efficient and transparent: deploying in-house software to review W&DPs, performance assessments and leadership assessments. Online questionnaires are sent to internal customers for performance reviews and feedback is sent directly to line managers for discussion with the individuals concerned. Talent management extends beyond the employee adds Yang. Embracing family members within the P&G culture helps individuals maintain their work-life balance, something that becomes increasingly more important as peoples’ value sets change. Having a family tends to shift the focus away from work, and so Yang ensures that P&G supplies a range of more unconventional benefits ranging from holiday bungalows to massage sessions, in order to help staff maintain both their own and P&G’s well-being. In short: attract, train and retain.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Robert Half: how to keep staff ahead| No matter what role staff play within an organisation, getting ahead—and increasing your marketability—requires staying up to date with professional trends. In the quickly evolving fields of accounting and finance, this can seem like a tall order. Recruitment firm Robert Half International gives advice on climbing the ladder. Many of the changes for financial professionals stem from corporate governance regulations implemented in the early part of the decade. These have expanded the roles and stature of the profession in a business environment increasingly focused on ethics. Today, the renewed interest in bringing accuracy and transparency back to financial reporting has fueled demand for these practitioners and spurred interest in accounting as a career. But to succeed, accounting and finance professionals must effectively address complexity in their fields and the need to stay up to date with emerging trends. In addition to complying with changing regulations, this new environment requires financial professionals to develop their expertise in the following areas: Communication skills: As companies increase their use of cross-functional teams to manage

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special projects, they expect accounting staff to collaborate with individuals from other departments such as information technology, purchasing and marketing. As professionals forge these new relationships, strong communication and interpersonal skills are essential, including the ability to convey complex financial information to non-financial audiences. Technology expertise: It’s critical to stay up to date on the latest technological innovations in accounting and finance. In addition to learning about new software applications, it’s valuable to develop expertise in such areas as financial system conversions, and the design and implementation of custom accounting software. You also should make an effort to learn all you can about your company’s financial systems—being able to maximise the use of new technology not only makes your job easier but also increases your value to your employer. If you need to learn how to make best use of a new application, consider taking a computer or software class through a college or university programme (either online or in person), or participate in a local software user group for

Corporate perspectives

the product you would like to learn more about. You also may want to investigate programmes offered through professional associations, including seminars and publications focused on technology issues. Consider obtaining a technology-related certification such as the certified information systems auditor (CISA) or the certified information technology professional (CITP) to differentiate you as a technology specialist within finance and accounting. Global perspective: There’s a strong demand for accountants with international business skills. Indeed, organisations are seeking professionals who are not only familiar with global trends, but possess an understanding of accounting principles in other countries. For example, while many large companies outside of the US have already adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), many USbased firms have not yet begun the initiative and require those with expertise in implementation. Similarly, individuals who are fluent in multiple languages have an advantage when pursuing positions at organisations with international operations or overseas clients.

Never stop learning: Continuing to build your professional skills and knowledge is a key way to increase your marketability. How? Businesses actively recruit accountants who’ve taken the initiative to further their education, from obtaining a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) to pursuing a relevant regional certification programme. Furthermore, research from Robert Half shows that a graduate degree or professional certification can increase the starting salary in a new job by up to 10%. A final piece of advice: You’ll have a hard time achieving your full potential unless others are aware of your expertise and accomplishments. Pursuing new challenges, such as volunteering to participate on special project teams, will help you steadily build awareness and better position you for future advancement opportunities. By taking proactive steps to develop a broad skill set, financial professionals will be well positioned for a successful future. Working hard will always be critical to your success, but accountants with strong communication abilities, technology expertise, a global perspective and a lifelong commitment to learning place themselves on the fast track to career advancement.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

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Tao Heung Group: recipe for training success|

The Tao Heung Group, 2009 winner of HKMA Award for Excellence in Training reveals its recipes for success that ensure staff at all levels feel valued within the group. Ms Caroline Li, Deputy Director Human Resources and Ms Iva Au, General Manager Training & Development for the group, share their secrets on the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative training and development programme, which has allowed it to raise the bar of professionalism within the food & beverage sector.

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What do you think are the key successes to your training and development philosophy? We believe that there is not just the training department, we believe that first of all the CEO and the Chairman are the drivers and then the training is like a project leader to coordinate and communicate with the various departments. We communicate with the Executive Chef and all the heads of productions to define the training programs and training content. We used a corporate

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What ingredients do you need to make a good training programme? If we are talking about chef training, we think that communication beforehand is very important because there was no systematic training for the kitchen staff in the old days. During the training, method is important because as we mentioned some staff are not comfortable writing, and also they don’t like to sit still for a long time. So the workshop lessons are around one hour, and tell them the key points of the coaching skills. For the written quiz we just use around ten simple questions and they just write the main points. The exam and assessment are in the kitchen, where all the kitchen staff are scored by the Executive Chef. The training methods have to suit the staff’s learning style; if you make them sit still in the training room then it might be a bit too boring. The trainer is also important. The trainer for the kitchen staff is the Executive Chef and he is their ‘big brother’, he can speak their language and they can really understand him and his opinion carries some weight. Our strategy is also a key part of the success, we start with the Executive Chef, who joined the preparation of this programme, and then we go to the Head Chef. Every level in the kitchen has to go through this programme.

(Left to right) Ms Caroline Li, Deputy Director, Human Resources, Tao Heung Group; Ms Iva Au, General Manager, Training & Development, Tao Heung Group

video to advertise, and to tell all the staff that we were rolling out this kind of training. The staff need to know that this is a new trend, and is not like the old traditional ways of apprenticeships. Will all the staff go through this process no matter what level they are in the organisation? Yes, apart from the CEO because he’s the driver and also the CEO, on that day, is the Chairman. He was a chef in the past so he really knows the weaknesses and needs of kitchen staff, and he suggests new training methods or coaching skills that need to be delivered to the kitchen staff.

What do you think has been the most successful piece of training you have ever done? I guess it was the video that we played in the lesson, because the video demonstrates various kinds of coaching skills needed for the exam. So in the lesson they see what they have to do in the examination. This has a big impact, because in the video the actor is the Executive Chef. Also, the practical aspects impress them. When they actually do the exam or practise they will be nervous because they have to measure everything next to the Executive Chef. The dishes are already really familiar, but the exam makes them nervous, as the Executive Chef scores them on his checklist. This video shows the chef how to coach their subordinates. Li concluded, “The point is not to teach them how to cook the dishes, it’s the process of how to coach your staff to make the dishes - this is the main point. After they finish the dishes they need to have a tasting, and give feedback on how to improve.”

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

Disney: staff training at the Disney University| Jim Lygopoulos, Vice President—Human Resources, Asia Pacific for The Walt Disney Company sees creativity and innovation as the growth pillars and heart and soul of Walt Disney’s international expansion. He believes what is important with respect to international expansion is that it remains relevant, that the brand resonates with local cultures, climates and new technologies. Key to this success has been the organisation’s focus on staff learning and development programmes. Self sufficiency

Lygopolous explains that an overarching objective for HR is to build a self-sufficient organisation—and for this well trained employees are essential. A key aspect of HR at Walt Disney to help ensure this has been the Disney University—the in-house learning institute, which he believes has been a central element in achieving their business objectives, and facilitates relatively low-cost, high impact strategies. He added that the reason they are low-cost is because HR has done the majority of the work inhouse. Lygopolous commented on how they have communicated the schemes, adding that alerting all employees to such initiatives is often where HR does not do so well. Disney University is essentially their corporate, inhouse education institute and is first and foremost to help them attain their aggressive growth plans by accelerating the skills and development of employees. Everything

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they do that’s learning and development related is branded Disney University and it facilitates local, unique, tailored development, whilst leveraging Disney’s global resources and tools.

Attract & retain talent

Lygopolous stresses the importance for HR to attract and retain appropriately skilled candidates in an ever-changing market. The concept of Disney University is critical to global employment, because people want to know they’re going to join an organisation where they can grow, develop a career and work within a learning culture that will be continual and global. Disney’s heritage of connecting with ‘cast members’, as Disney calls its employees, is considered by Lygopolous as important as looking at the future, and that heritage is important in terms of talent attraction and organisational culture.

Corporate perspectives

The Disney University run a programme entitled Branch Stewardship, which is compulsory for all new employees and is completed early within their training. It is a half-day programme that focuses on brand promises, values, trust and optimism—what they mean and how they can be developed. This is important because once employees have finished the programmes; they become brand ambassadors. Disney University is central to communicating an employee’s overall position and possibilities available to them. Because Disney has a large number of different divisions they concentrate on, teaching new employees about each of these is vital.

Employee training comprises: 10-20% - Education. Classroom, instructor led and e-learning 10-20% Exposure. Being coached on the job, mentoring or secondment 60-70% Experience. ‘Learning by Doing’, working on new projects, with ongoing teaching and real-time feedback

Coffee time with leaders

Under the Disney University brand, Lygopolous explained the launch of ‘coffee time with leaders’, a very simple, low cost, concept that is highly impacting. In an intimate setting a leader is asked questions, which commonly morphs into leaders sharing their personal journey—how they got to where they are now and lessons learned along the way. Coffee time runs once or twice a month with invites usually snapped up in 10-15 minutes. Lygopolous shared that Disney has also made more substantial investments, such as the latest streaming technology. This allows them to keep global communication levels high. For example if one of their leaders runs a town hall meeting, that meeting can be seen within 24-48 hours by all cast members around the world. Disney also have an e-learning platform where people may complete development programmes in their own time and receive an

At Disney, all employees are referred to as cast members.

electronic newsletter that is sent out to cast members every quarter. This ensures continual development and communication.

Leaders as teachers

Disney also runs a ‘Leaders as Teachers’ programme, which gets executives to run development seminars. For example, a television business executive who executes complex, multimillion-dollar TV deal would be asked to run a 3-hour negotiation skills workshop. These seminars usually compliment a day of training. In terms of measuring the success of HR programmes, Lygopolous points out Disney has a sophisticated approach and a more informal approach—running focus groups and also getting continual anecdotal feedback. Additionally they have an HRIS system which tracks development a little bit more formally, sending a follow-up to a leader six months down the line asking if they have seen a change in an employee since their attendance at a training programme.

Heathy Pursuits

Lygopolous also notes that to make staff development more effective, organisations should do more to ensure the physical and mental health of the workforce as well. One such strategy on wellness, adopted by Disney, saw the launch of their brand ‘Healthy Pursuits’ which aims to support cast members by achieving the following objective: Disney’s approach to wellness programmes is as follows:

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

•

Help manage company and Cast Members’ health costs Reinforce Disney employment brand— this is a great place to work Improve productivity Have Cast Members assume more responsibility for their own health and enact behaviour change Get ‘in the game’ of executing a comprehensive health strategy

• • •

•

senior and middle management levels to change the culture and the organisation.” When they were visiting other companies to find out what they were doing, they would take management figures with them. Lygopolous identified four quadrants of the community: • • • •

This programme is complimented by their self-review process. Within this, in order to fully understand the issue they do the following:

• • • • •

Hold focus groups Conduct interviews and surveys Take note of anecdotal feedback Speak to other organisations Look across divisions internally

The pilot was launched in Hong Kong and included several initiatives;

• •

• Different staff members want different things from work-life balance. Some employees love doing volunteer work during office hours, which is supported. Others want flexibility to support their families. Thus HR is better off adopting a broader approach to this topic. Lygopolous explains the importance of the holistic approach adopted at Disney, “Securing commitment and support at

“

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• •

•

To maintain a healthy, engaged, and productive workforce by building awareness and enabling employees to make informed decisions.

”

The Job (stress and working hours) Lifestyle and Support (benefits) Health and Family (offering the chance to take families to screenings) The Office (volunteer opportunities during office hours)

•

Wellness Library (low-cost and achieved the goal of education) Wellness Newsletter (engaged an external company to produce a simple one-page publication) Healthy Pursuits Seminars (including: fitness and nutrition, stress management, Chinese medicine and parenting) Online Access to Disney Parenting Portfolio Expansion of Cast Members Assistance Programme—to include legal financial consultation services Annual Voluntary Influenza Vaccination Programme New and improved leave policy

Disney has also built very specific metrics for short and long-term programme delivery and awareness of satisfaction and specific impact and outcomes, and in doing so have been able to identify areas for improvement such as paternity leave. Lygopolous states, “With a comprehensive health and wellness strategy in place this improves productivity, profitability and attractiveness.”

Corporate perspectives

HR Magazine also interviewed Jim Lygopoulos, VPâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Human Resources, Asia Pacific for The Walt Disney Company to discover what they do to keep all cast on the same page of the HR storybook.

Jim, Lygopoulos, VP-Human Resources, Asia Pacific, The Walt Disney Company

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Corporate perspectives

How would you describe Disney’s organisational culture? The Walt Disney Company has had a rich heritage steeped in creativity, innovation, trust, decency, optimism and quality. Our organisational culture reflects this—we live it, breathe it and it is fundamental in all aspects of our cast members’ working lives. Every aspect of our culture resonates with our core values. While we emphasise our strong links with our heritage, we also acknowledge that as a family entertainment company, our organisation is constantly evolving. Our diversified business allows for numerous opportunities, which champion innovation and push the boundaries of technology and industry firsts. These inherent cultural values permeate right though our high quality leadership and management

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and are strongly reinforced through our communications to our wider cast members. What approach do you take to tackle the challenge of communicating with such a large and diverse workforce? Communication is a priority and a key strategy for us at Disney. We do manage a large international business and our success in driving effective communication is done on a number of different levels. Some examples of this include directly through global bi-weekly newsletters, email updates, town hall meetings and executive updates. The key to our success in wide scale and effective communications is that we heavily empower our leadership at all levels to collaborate and share—we encourage our leadership at all levels to communicate to their

teams and cast members consistently and in a transparent manner. We have implemented several tools through various technology platforms to help us manage effective and fast communications such as video conferencing, instant messaging and international online share point hubs which are online tools for cast members who can quickly and effectively share information.

“

Try to build a clearer line of sight between HR and the end customer.

”

Does Disney apply a different approach in managing its staff in Asia, Europe and the US? Not in terms of our core values and overall approach, although our business structures and operating environments vary and may be locally and culturally unique. We have some web-based tools providing leaders who manage remote or global teams with learning opportunities and access to extensive knowledge on how to conduct business and manage people effectively from countries around the world.

Did you adopt any different strategies to manage talent during the economic contraction? Our businesses aren’t immune and like every company we have had to make some tough decisions in order to ensure the long-term health of our business. However, the strength of our assets, brands, and teams position us well for the longterm. Our long-term wider view is that our focus continues to be on building strong engagement levels and career development opportunities for our cast members as well as consistent communication. Are CEOs putting greater importance on HR in the wake of the global financial crisis? At Disney, I can say that HR principles are instilled in all our leadership. Talent and engagement are words for all our leaders—not just confined to HR. Across the industry, especially in the last ten years, I think there has been a longer-term trend towards HR becoming more actively involved in key organisational decisions and senior leadership, placing a greater emphasis on HR strategies. What advice would you most like to share with Human Resource directors to help them successfully manage their staff? Try to give your HR teams exposure to multiple markets and a cross-cultural understanding, which will continue to become increasingly critical in our globalised world.

What should HR focus on to be a more effective business partner? From my personal point of view, I would say the top three key points would be: Try to build a clearer line of sight between HR and the end customer or consumer. Tie everything that you do in HR to the question, “Why are we doing this and what value will it deliver to the company, our people and our customers and/or consumers?” Build a very strong understanding of the commercial aspects of the organisation. Get out of your office and spend as much time as possible talking to staff, hearing their challenges and seeing the operations first hand.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Government perspectives

Hong Kong Police Force:

e-learning and Knowledge CafĂŠ drive innovative L&D strategies|

From left to right: Robert McBroom, Staff Writer, HR Magazine; Steven Tait, Superintendent of Police, Professional Development Learning Centre, Management Learning Division; Gavin Brown, Chief Superintendent of Police, Deputy Director of Police College; Paul Arkwright, Publisher, HR Magazine; Kevin Woods, PMSM, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Director, Police College; Philip Sham, Chief Superintendent of Police, Deputy Director (1), Police College; Samson Cho, Senior Superintendent of Police, Head, Professional Development Learning Centre; May Kwok, Superintendent of Police (Force Training Officer), Learning Development Support Centre, Consultancy and Curriculum Design Division; Andy Yip, Superintendent of Police (Force Training Officer), Learning Development Support Centre, Training Project Division.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Government perspectives

From left to right: May Kwok, Superintendent, Gavin Brown, Chief Superintendent & Kevin Woods, Assistant Commissioner

As newly appointed Police Commissioner, Andy Tsang Wai-hung takes over from former Police Chief, Tang King-shing, the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is set to further enhance its training and developing of staff at all levels within the organisation. With over 27,000 disciplined officers and nearly 5,000 civilian officers in the Force, it is vital to have a robust and effective training and development programme. HR Magazine sat down with a distinguished panel from the Hong Kong Police Training College (HKPTC) to discuss what was in store for future staff training and development programmes. The panel provides a unique glimpse into Force training and development strategies that can be embraced by any organisation.

The two sides of the e-learning coin

As L&D progresses, e-learning and the use of technology have become commonplace in both public and private sectors. The baby boomers have begun to retire, and will continue to do so in ever increasing numbers over the next five to ten years. The generation to replace them is the muchdiscussed ‘Gen-Y’. With this new generation, there is a demand and an inherent need for organisations to ‘get with the times’ and become more technologically advanced, and most organisations are beginning to comply. The HKPF is no exception and have

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implemented a comprehensive e-learning system accessible by all members of the Force. When asked about the general view of both trainers and the HKPF in general, Andy Yip, Superintendent of Police (Force Training Officer) said, “Our aim is to not replace face-to-face learning, but rather create a blended learning style—one that maintains and enhances knowledge and skills.” While it is true that the HKPF does not have a fully integrated e-learning system, in that a large amount of training is still done face-to-face, Yip was quick to point out, “We are becoming more and more receptive to e-learning, and are starting to use it more…seeing the positive advantages e-learning can bring to the members of the force.” Being a police officer means that a lot of frontline officers’ time is spent in the environs of Hong Kong, rather than behind a desk. In view of this, officers of all grades face many unique challenges not normally faced by people in other lines of work. They are expected to always be outstanding ‘pillars of society’, and may not necessarily be able to learn the best ways to act in all situations from lessons in traditional classroom settings. With this in mind, most officers learn through command courses or face-to-face instruction, as it has been proven that in this line of work—this is what works best.

Government perspectives

When asked to define what e-learning means to the HKPF, Kevin Woods, Assistant Commissioner commented, “To us e-learning is knowledge building; we use it in the prep phase of learning. It provides the building blocks to future learning.” Woods went on to say, “With the style of learning the HKPF employs, we use e-learning as a construction tool, it gives the information you need before you get together. That way, instructors don’t have to waste time with the basics, they can maximise the important time together to address the more important ideas and learning points.” Stressing that while e-learning is being adapted and used by the police, Woods conceded that it can only go so far within organisations like the police, due to the need to properly deal with incredibly sensitive data and thereby maintain public confidence. He noted, it can be hard to offer highly specialised training to officers through e-learning, as there are still security concerns. Data security and maintaining public confidence is obviously paramount in the Force and it is now actively exploring systems that allow for safer, more secure e-learning via the Force’s own intranet. Until such time as data security can be guaranteed to avoid any leaks of sensitive information, the Force will keep e-learning in the prep phase where data is shared via the Force intranet, rather than being accessed through the World-Wide-Web.

Trends in e-learning

The HKPF is rightly cautious before adopting a full e-learning system, and Gavin Brown, Chief Superintendent and Deputy Director of the Police College pointed out some key trends concerning e-learning in the civil service. He said, “One main trend in the civil service is that through e-learning, a standardised learning system and knowledge set can be developed and taught. This can lead to a workforce with the same level of basic knowledge. E-learning also makes it easier to pass on messages and updates. Trainers can update their information, and have the new information reach a large number of people very quickly.” Woods also highlighted an emerging trend, “With the advances in technology, we should in the future

be able to break full courses into smaller chunks, and deliver them to learners in their own time to access on their mobile phones or personal computers but only once all security issues are resolved. I think we will start to see more and more courses done this way, especially with the wide availability of smartphones.” However, there has to be a balance between having access to unlimited information, and the issue of data security. Woods added, “One challenge for the Force is that learners want this information on the phones, but if we sanitise the sensitive data into plain, all encompassing ideas, it then loses a lot of its importance, and could in fact decrease the effectiveness of learning.” E-learning should not replace face-to-face interaction and the social side of learning. Woods advised, “Organisations should maximise online delivery, but there is still always a need to come together to reinforce and highlight key points— because there are many things that can’t be taught online. Also, organisations need to make sure their data is safe and secure, and no important data is lost or leaked.”

Utilising technology in T&D

Technology adopted by the Force has created numerous opportunities within T&D. The Police College, responsible for the vast majority of training undertaken in the force, encourages twoway communication between trainees and staff, to promote the development of knowledge and skills. This is supported by training materials and manuals available online via the police intranet (POINT), which are automatically updated by the issuing authority whenever new legislation or policies are introduced. Technology is also being used to develop and assess practical skills through e-learning packages, interactive computer-based exercises and complex training scenarios, often created in specialised facilities such as the Scenario-based Interactive Multi-player Simulations (SIMS). SIMS is a learning technology system developed in-house by the Police College. It optimises network and web technology to simulate a real-life situation and to facilitate scenario-based training for multiple players at different locations. SIMS provides opportunities

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Government perspectives

for staff to repeatedly access various incidents in realistic simulated environments and practice responding to them, both as individuals and as part of a team. Such technology for training won the Force recognition as ‘the Recruit Most Innovative Award’ at the 2009 HKMA Training Awards. The training now provided to police officers has evolved to reflect the rapid changes that have taken place during the last generation, and the development of the organisational philosophy, in that the Force now ‘shares’ the responsibility of learning—with individuals becoming active partners in the process. But while significant changes have taken place in the Force, the bedrock of its success rests in the fact that it retains the best of the past, while continually evolving and adopting more good practices and new technology to endure the challenges of the future. Acknowledging that people are the greatest asset, the Force develops its officers throughout their career. This strategy involves providing formal training to officers at three hierarchical levels: 1. Vocational Training (e.g. recruit training, detective training, traffic & driver training) 2. Professional Training (e.g. supervisory, management & leadership skills, including overseas secondments and training exercises) 3. Executive Development (e.g. strategic planning, best practise, and leadership and policy analysis). At this level a global perspective is imperative, and the Force regularly sends officers to courses in overseas venues such as Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley and the Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK to help further broaden their perspectives.

More corporate approach

Increasing prosperity, enhanced education and rising community expectations in Hong Kong, have meant the Force has needed to evolve from its former

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paramilitary-police model to a much more customeroriented service function. This evolution in turn has necessitated a process of cultural change and a much more corporate approach within the organisation. This has entailed several key improvements to foster a continuous training culture within the Force.

Clear communicated mission

The first step was the publication of the Force Vision and Statement of Common Purpose and Values in late 1995, which had a profound impact on the training at vocational and professional development levels. This corporate charter set out standards of ethical behaviour that all officers should follow and includes: integrity, honesty, respect, and a dedication to quality service and continuous improvement. Prior to publication, training had previously focused on practical work-related skills, whereas now attention is also given to inculcating the vision, mission and values into the minds of officers.

Strategic action plans & lifelong learning

Strategic action plans (see box, bottom right) are also now drawn up to help identify future needs for the Force and decide how best to train up officers to meet the needs of the Force itself and the community it serves. The Force has made full use of technology to develop an intranet system for the dissemination of such information. This is also supported by resource centres that have been set up in all police stations to allow all officers access to wide-ranging information including on-line notice boards, latest guidelines, e-learning packages and direct access to other government sites. Perhaps the flagship of the Force’s commitment to creating a knowledge-based organisation and promoting lifelong-learning is the Police College, which officially opened in January 2006 as a centre of excellence in police training. As part of longterm planning the Force has had a major review of foundation training provided to new recruit PCs and Inspectors which, as previously detailed, now includes the greater use of scenario and problembased activities. The Force has also accredited a wide range of its courses with local universities. Moreover,

Government perspectives

officers are provided with financial assistance to help reimburse course fees for officers wishing to pursue relevant private study programmes. Shortly after its establishment, HR Magazine interviewed senior officers involved in the training and development of Force members at the Aberdeen campus. The Aberdeen campus is one of three campuses used by the Force.

Force campuses:

1. The campus at the Police Headquarters in Wanchai delivers management development courses. 2. The campus in Fanling is responsible for traffic and driving training programmes. 3. The Aberdeen Campus handles foundation training for recruit Police Constables and Inspectors, as well as in-service training for both junior police officers (Police Constables, Sergeants and Station Sergeants) and Inspectors.

Strategic action plans:

1. Strategic training and development plans (reviewed regularly to ensure it remains relevant and meets the needs of individual and organisation). 2. Long-term strategy to develop staff through all stages of their career (covering vocational, professional and executive training, as appropriate). 3. Training focused on promoting the mission and values of the organisation. 4. An environment of lifelong learning & selfdevelopment. 5. Systems in place to facilitate efficient transfer of knowledge. 6. Encourage staff to share knowledge and views with others. 7. Organisation should be outward looking and prepare to share knowledge and skills with relevant stakeholders to maximise benefits of such synergies.

Active involvement by senior staff

When asked if senior officers are actively involved in the learning process and the running of the college, Brown gave an emphatic reply, “Absolutely… the director and deputy directors are all very involved in the learning process. We consider ourselves to be a learning organisation and are very committed to that. Knowledge management is another big aspect of what the Police College does.”

Specialist trainers

As part of its evolving L&D culture, the Force has also recruited civilian training experts as specialist police officers, to provide training knowledge and skills to the police officers who are actually delivering training programmes themselves. One such training specialist, Vincent Yeung Fu-yiu, was Head of the Learning Development Support Centre (LDSC) and recently left the Force to take up a more senior position in the Vocational Training Council (VTC). Yeung explained his team’s function, “Some of them are training specialists and assist the training staff on training design, training analysis, how to better deliver training programmes, e-learning, evaluations, quality assurance and accreditation of certain courses with University programmes.” In this way staff are also able to assist instructors in producing training materials including e-learning materials, training videos and exam materials. Aside from bringing in a fresh perspective on T&D functions, the Police Force also uses civilian specialists in other areas. The Force has always had specialist training officers, but in the past a lot of them were police officers who had chosen to specialise in training and the structure allowed for them to transfer into a post which still carried a police rank, but as a specialist. Brown went on to put things in context, “The big change came over a decade ago when the organisation first saw a need to make changes to how police officers are trained, in line with international trends in police training. There was a greater emphasis on lifelong learning and professional knowledge, and so senior management at that time saw a real need to bring in training professionals from the academic world, to help improve our training methods.”

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Government perspectives

a certain way and what is the best way to deal with them, rather than there just being one way to deal with them e.g. ‘You’re under arrest’.”

Knowledge management

Knowledge Management is split into four different sections, or champions, with many different options for officers to not only learn, but also share their experiences. May Kwok, Superintendent of Police— Force Training Officer, Hong Kong Police Force, extolled, “Our Knowledge Management program is done through a ‘Learning Portal’ and in a classroom setting.” Aside from the standard classroom lectures and classes, Kwok highlighted a number of extra things the HKPF offers officers. “With the learning portal we have a good knowledge management platform that provides many useful documents. We also offer a ‘knowledge café’ which has proven to be very successful.”

Knowledge Café

Gavin Brown, Chief Superintendent, Deputy Director, Police College

New era of training

New inspectorate recruits generally come into the Force in their twenties and the basic training for them is quite a lengthy process, lasting around 36 weeks. In respect of training up new recruits an important focus is the emphasis, from the beginning, to think a lot about their own motivations. Brown explains, “You could say police training was vocational skills of how to do the task, but not necessarily concentrating on putting that task into the context of: why is this happening? What are the circumstances and social factors in this community of people I’m dealing with? Who are they and what’s their background? I think this is really a big change, because we now expect our staff to have a deeper appreciation of who people are, why they behave in

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Apart from formal training, a number of innovations have been introduced to help promote more informal interactions and idea sharing within the Force. These include: a mentorship programme for junior officers; a peer advisor scheme in areas such as public order policing and technology crime, and a Force research awards scheme. The Knowledge Café is another such scheme open to junior staff through senior staff and all volunteers. The café sessions are topical, held once every month, and subject matter experts are invited to share their experience. Kwok pointed out, “These sessions are informal, with the goal of expanding officers’ knowledge on issues they may encounter in their jobs. Since the sessions started, this has become one of the most popular, and highly attended session. They provide officers with a large amount of experience, and because it comes from their colleagues, they feel more involved with this, and can feel empathy with the speaker, and therefore learn in a more natural way.” Brown pointed out, “The advantage of the café is that it is all volunteers, it happens after working hours, it is a venue for staff to come in and listen to things they are personally interested in, not courses they are directed to go take.”

Government perspectives

Brown highlighted, “The main goal of knowledge management is to provide a tacit knowledge to all levels that is in line with the values of the organisation, and encourages people to learn.” Brown also talked about a new knowledge management area that is being developed: storytelling. Storytelling allows experienced officers to tell the stories behind the work that they have done, and provide greater tacit knowledge that isn’t always reported in any formal or systematic way. Brown explained, “These (sessions) allow them (the storyteller) a way to provide the anecdotal story behind the reports that usually can not go into the reports filed due to the structure.” The sessions are filmed and put onto the police intranet for anyone with access to view. This provides future users with background information, or extra information that otherwise would be lost. Kevin Woods, Assistant Commissioner of Police, HKPF, reinforced, “I think one of the most powerful learning issues I’ve ever been involved in, was to listen to somebody else talking about his experience, and then the empathy that it generated within me, made me take on board exactly what has been said. This storytelling is not new, but through electronic means, we can reach a wider audience. You expect

that with the individuals listening you’ll get: empathy and learning through context based issues. We see this as a very powerful means to improve learning, and be able to do more.”

Command training

Command and management training plays a pivotal role in both developing police leaders and executives, as well as motivating them to continue learning through careers. According to Steven Tait, Superintendent of Police, HKPF, “Officers can take their listening and learning through empathy, and apply it to their jobs.” When asked what created such a motivated police force, and positive learning environment Tait extolled, “Most people view a career with the police as a lifelong career, they join the police because they want to be a police officer. Most officers are already motivated and assertive, so as long as they feel they can be open about anything, they will be. Thus the police force views itself as a very open environment.”

Developing and maintaining international relations As with any organisation, there are some international relationships that have been fostered

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Government perspectives

HR Magazine interviews senior members of the Hong Kong Police Training College to get their take on L&D strategies

between the HKPF and other organisations worldwide. Samson Cho, Senior Superintendent of Police said, “We are very keen to establish and maintain relations with overseas and national police forces, and we have a number of programmes that allow officers to gain international experience, through training courses.” Officers that attend training courses overseas typically staying for an attachment to an overseas police organisation to experience how other police forces operate. Officers will typically spend three weeks on a training placement, followed by an optional oneweek attachment. When they return to Hong Kong, they will file a report about best practices and their experiences with the detachments. Cho said, “These training programmes are serve to increase international exposure and offers officers the chance to network, and learn about best practices from around the world.” Phillip Sham, Chief Superintendent of Police, Hong Kong Police Force, added, “These posts serve to develop officers and the department and give them/us an inkling of best practices and how we can

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implement and use them.” With around 130 officers going overseas, in the 2010-2011 calendar year, an increase of about 10% year-on-year from 2009, the HKPF is increasingly becoming recognised as one of the best trained and knowledgeable police forces in the world. Learning opportunities outside Hong Kong have also included increasing collaboration with China, with around 220 officers attending training programmes in mainland China in 2010/2011. Woods concluded, “A coming trend for HKPF is that we will maximise online delivery, because it means people don’t need to remove themselves from frontline duties to come together for training as much. But there will always be a need for people to come together, to make sure that what they build is the right model. We will be working towards finding a means to offer more and more electronically, as that is what people expect nowadays. We need to find a way to do this safely, so that there are no losses of personal data. The Force is taking large steps, and setting the precedent for learning within the Force, and no matter what happens, they will strive to educate and train their officers to the highest quality.”

Government perspectives

Hospital Authority: talent management strategies| The recent departure of David Rossiter, the former Head of HR for the HA, is perhaps indicative of some the immense challenges currently facing the organisation. At the time of going to press, Dr Derrick Au Kit-sing, Deputising Head of HR, was filling his shoes in heading up HR. We spoke with Dr Eric Chan, Principal Nursing Officer and Dr Susie Lum, Chief Manager (Nursing) at the Hospital Authority (HA), who share their extensive experience from managing hospital staff in Australia, Hong Kong and China.

Resources strained

The economy is having a big impact on HA staff as they move health services closer to those of the private sector. The HA has 55,000 staff, around 90% of the market share. Three or four years ago the private sector share was around 5%, and has since doubled, a dynamic which has had a profound effect on the HA’s workforce. With over 2 million clients coming through the HA’s emergency room doors every year, they have their work cut out. Chan also explained that a further drain on resources was the shift of services to deal with an influx of patients coming from the mainland who require help.

Dealing with staff shortages

Each year the HA recruits 600 - 700 nurses, but there is a critical supply shortage. Chan commented that the HA is not training enough new nurses, although their services are expanding rapidly. To help counter this, the HA is trying to offer more part time options for employees, therefore giving them the flexibility they may prefer if they are raising a family. Chan is quick to point out that this option

might also help the HA tap into the market of the 20,000 registered nurses in Hong Kong who are not currently working. Another challenge related to shortage is the problem of production. In the US they receive 3,000 applications from would-be students each year, but this is still not enough. They don’t have enough teachers and this presents many problems. Chan explained the serious problem facing the HA, as this year the number of nurses leaving has risen from 400 to over 800. In order to combat the shortage, the HA is opening a new nursing school to train student nurses and help bring ‘fresh blood’ into the system.

L&D critical

The economy is having a big impact on HA staff as they move health services closer to those of the private sector. Dr Susie Lum, Chief Manager (Nursing) for the HA shares her insights and visions on HR management and importance of learning and development within the organisation. Dr Lum is an empassioned motivator who strives to develop leadership through mentoring and is acutely aware that this is something that could not be achieved and maintained without the unflagging dedication of the nurses. She explained that in terms of L&D strategies, “We are now a global village...a family of nurses that share a vision”. Dr Lum explains the importance of HR acting as an ambassador for staff: constantly monitoring feedback from the frontline and refining what is already a successful strategy to attract and retain qualified staff. This strategy has helped the HA retain staff with very few being lost to the private sector—where although the financial rewards can be a little greater the job satisfaction

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Government perspectives

is often found wanting—as the most complicated medical emergencies are usually dealt with in the public hospitals. This allows public-sector nurses to gain an extremely wide range of experience within a world-class environment.

Public-private partnerships

Dr Lum has also introduced the concept of PublicPrivate Partnerships and, through a Nurse Leaders Committee, she invited representatives from all the public hospitals to share their experiences of difficulties in management of the nursing workforce. It has also proven to be an opportunity to jointly organise activities such as the International Nurses Day Celebrations. Such partnerships allow the respective organisations to explore their commonalities such as quality, standards and accreditation of staff as well as the career structures that are defined within them. Nurses are offered preceptorship within the first two years whilst preparing for specialising and the opportunity to attend the Institute of Advanced Nursing Studies, which currently offers over fifteen postgraduate programmes. Conversely, differences between the sectors also become apparent, whereas the public sector encourages nurses to specialise—which helps breed innovation. There are now over forty such specialist nurse clinics in existence in the private sector. However, it is doctors who tend to do so, with the nurses taking on a more general role. Patient self–empowerment is something that comes from this, from an HR management point of view. Dr Lum feels that a clear vision and a defined strategy is important. She disseminates ideas to the relevant parties and then refines them, incorporating feedback and, ultimately, has produced a core of five major strategies aimed at Senior RNs, whom Dr Lum sees as the key to the future of successful nursing:

Developing staff potential

Dr Lum is also keen to develop the full potential of staff and from June, two training programmes will take place every month for senior RNs, under the title of Leadership at the Point of Care. Not only do staff have to make critical decisions in front of the patient, but they have to face complaints and

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handle night wards. “They are Care Managers and they need to be assured that they have the potential within themselves to face these problems”, she says. This caring concept replaces the commercial profit motive. Mentors will monitor their effectiveness and Dr Lum sees mentors as executive partners who will be able to convey the message of “I value your contribution” back to the RNs, creating a classic win-win situation as the staff feel valued and the Authority retains staff as a direct result.

1. Community outreach Strengthen Community Service And Collaboration Between Hospitals And The Community Partners. 2. Developing leaders Target Leadership Development, Communications and Caring Programmes For Nurses. 3. Encouraging specialisation Enhancing and Facilitating Specialisation Development of Nurses. 4. Empowering patients Developing Patient Empowerment Programmes. Where chronically ill patients look after themselves within a framework of community centres and nurses. “This is not to be confused with the Out-Patient Clinics” she says, “where different strategies apply. It is driven by the medical profession.” 5. Tailored IT dashboards Nursing Informatics And Streamlining Of Care Practices —a computer based dashboard for care management including hand-held PDAs containing data on care plans which can be uploaded back to a central computer and used as a platform to enhance care planning.

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Training Gen-Y

Gearing up Gen-Y for careers with Jaguar Land Rover|

Jaguar Land Rover is a business built around two great British car brands that are designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK. Both groups are now part of Tata Motors, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest automobile company. The organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission since it was founded by William Lyons in 1922 has been a commitment to create and build beautiful cars. They are also committed to building the careers of hundreds of apprentices engaged on four-year programmes across their four main sites in the West Midlands in the UK.

Diversity inclusion critical

Jaguar Land Rover employs around 15,000 people in Britain and the organisation feels a strong responsibility to employ individuals irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation or belief. They have taken on fifty-three apprentices this year, who will spend the majority of their first year at City College Coventry, learning amongst other things; basic engineering, health & safety and employment rights and responsibilities.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Training Gen-Y

Apprentice programme

apprenticeships are the main route into a career with us is because of its long and proud history of this kind of training programme. We almost have an ‘Apprenticeship Club.’ We have found that by involving young people at an early stage of their careers we have been able to shape them to become valued employees. They learn the processes and culture of the organisation and grow with it. They develop an ingrained passion for it.” Because so many of the senior managers have been apprentices themselves, new apprentices are welcomed with open arms. Managers find it easier to relate to what apprentices are working on and the issues that may arise, as they have been in their shoes some years before and can offer some sound advice and mentoring. So outstanding is the work of the company with its apprentices, that they have recently been privileged to two VIP visits from former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling who were fascinated by their training programmes and quizzed apprentices about why they had chosen the apprenticeship path and what was involved with the work based learning approach. Neal adds, “These were brilliant opportunities for the apprentices to tell the former Prime Minister about what they had been working on and why they had chosen the apprenticeship route. I think both the students and the ministers got a lot out of the meetings. The students were a credit to the organisation. One student thanked me for the opportunity to be part of one of the sessions, as he felt without being an apprentice, it would have been something he would never have experienced.”

Fostering ties between industry and education

Getting into the Gen-Y mindset

Apprentices sign up to a 42-month programme which will teach them essential technical skills, give them experience of the business and the diverse career paths that are available within the company. Following their first year they are placed in a ‘home area’ and allocated a line manager in one of four sections; maintenance, product development, manufacturing engineering and paint shop. They then attend college on a ‘day release’ basis once a week. As apprentices move into their third and fourth years, if they have done particularly well they have the opportunity of studying towards a Foundation Degree in Engineering in conjunction with City College Coventry and Coventry University. The company has forged close links with City College Coventry, having worked with them for over ten years to deliver apprenticeship programmes. Currently, the college enjoys an exclusive relationship with the company as the sole supplier of apprenticeship programmes to the organisation. Lloyd Neal, Apprentice Team Leader, Jaguar Land Rover, an ex-apprentice himself, is the main liaison between the company and City College Coventry. He explains a few more details concerning the ins and outs of the apprenticeship programme: “The apprenticeship programme in conjunction with the college is purely set up for Jaguar Land Rover. We have a formal structured review every two weeks and I visit the college once a week to carry out one-to-one meetings with students, visit the workshops and to pick up on any issues.” Gearing up quality careers with the company, City College Coventry also provides apprenticeship training and has done for over a decade.

Neal also highlights the importance of building ties between the educational sector and industry, “I have good relationships with both the Head of School for Engineering, Glenn Laurence, and the Work Based Learning Manager, Diane Grover who is outstanding. The systems and procedures we have in place ensure that things run smoothly and a good relationship is fostered.” Neal adds, “The reason why

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As we head forward, and prepare for large numbers of Gen-Y entering the workforce it is more important than ever for HR managers to get in touch with what goes on in the minds of school leavers. James Lambert, 18 and Danielle Holmes,19 are both first year apprentices and feel very proud to be part of the apprenticeship programme, having been one of only 53 students to be recruited out of over eight hundred applications.

Training Gen-Y

James said, “We had to do a maths test and undergo an assessment day. The day included an interview, team exercise, mechanical and logic tests. It was really involved and I was so pleased to get through.” Holmes had been interested in an apprenticeship in vehicle engineering since she was at school, having been placed at an engineering firm during some work experience. She commented, “I really enjoyed it and knew this was what I wanted to do. It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to work for Jaguar

Gordon Brown, former British PM, quizzes apprentices about working at Jaguar Landrover

Land Rover. Doing an apprenticeship means that I can study and get paid to work as well, which gives me the best of both worlds. They treat you like adults here which makes you feel more respected and a real change from school.”

Corporate social responsibility

Many apprentices getting towards the end of their training are embracing the concept of corporate social responsibility and are starting to get involved in spreading the positive message of apprenticeships into local schools, in the hope that it will encourage others to follow in their footsteps. The apprentices are talking to groups of children about what is involved with an apprenticeship

programme and giving tips on how to prepare for applications and interviews should they wish to follow the same path. To find out more about what drives the success of the programme, HR Magazine interviewed Glenn Laurence, Head of School of Engineering & Vehicle Technologies at Coventry College in the UK. How did you get involved with Coventry College and the Apprenticeship Programme? I’ve been in education for about 28 years now. I went to college via the apprenticeship route in the motor vehicle field…I was in the industry for quite a few years. Then at the age of 26, I came into teaching as a lecturer with Coventry College. Since then I’ve worked up through the system until I became Head of School for Engineering and Vehicle Technologies, which is quite a big school now. The areas of work that we cover are light vehicle mechanical work, light vehicle body work, PSV industry (bus and coach repair), maintenance and on the engineering front we cover electronics, engineering, basic engineering, foundation degree, and we’ve got a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover. How did the Apprenticeship Programme evolve between Coventry College and Jaguar Land Rover? We’ve been running training programmes for many years, and over the past few years, we’ve been working quite closely together with Jaguar Land Rover, helping with enrolment of their first year apprentices, and also the design and content of the foundation degree which we run for them. We tend to get involved at the application stage, so we help with recruitment of students with a maths test among other things. We run the first year block-training full time at college here, then in the second year they go into Jaguar Land Rover on a day-release basis. We support them by offering outward-bound courses in addition to various seminars within the college and within the company. The system has continually improved as the years have gone on, because we’ve involved the company in writing units for the foundation degree which reflects what really goes on within the company, so it’s tying in what goes on in education with what goes

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Training Gen-Y

on within the company as well. So it’s very much an active partnership, with both ends contributing. How many applicants does the programme attract each year? Jaguar Land Rover this year had something in the region of 650 applicants for the first year apprenticeship programme, of which they took only about 52 apprentices on. Most of them are male, it’s always difficult to get females to come into engineering in general, but there is an active policy there to have diversity across the spectrum. What key qualities are Jaguar Land Rover looking for in potential apprentices? They insist on 4 GCSE grade Cs or above as a starting point. Then they’re called in for a short test in college with an additional maths test, and then they have oneto-one interviews with Jaguar Land Rover managers. Then applicants progress on to team-building exercises and various other disciplines within the process to try and identify various aspects of students’ characters: team builders, team players, ability to interact with people, ability to communicate clearly. In fact, there’s quite a series of things that Jaguar Land Rover look for to ensure that candidates are the right fit for their corporate culture. When they’re in college, they all wear the corporate overalls and work-wear, which is green with Jaguar Land Rover on. It is reinforced that whether they are at college or out of college, they are always representing Jaguar Land Rover. So whatever they do, it will reflect upon the organisation—the culture is set in very early on. What are the major benefits for companies getting involved in similar types of apprentice programmes? Well the time and effort that they put into the selection process does reflect in the calibre of the candidates as they come out and start their apprenticeships. The students themselves are fully aware of where they’re going, what is expected of them, and what they can get out of the company if they put the effort into it. There is clear progression within the company.

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What are the greatest challenges in training students for today’s workforce? Technology: the advance in technology. It’s about keeping up with the technology, which is coming into the engineering environment and the motor vehicle environment and other sectors. It’s definitely keeping up with technology, which is advancing so quickly that it’s hard to train students. We train them in a lot of the basic skills which obviously they still need to have. As technology is advancing at an amazing pace now, it’s about keeping up to date and it’s about having students who are willing to keep up to date as well. It’s a continuous process of development. Having companies like Jaguar Land Rover really helps because they bring cutting edge industry knowledge into the classroom and they also provide us with key pieces of equipment that we actually need for the programme. Do you see a growing trend for companies working together with colleges and universities and setting up apprentice programmes? Yes I do. It is the way forward, we have to work very closely with companies and where possible meet the needs of the industry for specific companies.

Training Gen-Y

Getting your head around Gen-Y| Increasingly, employers are developing strategies and tactics to work effectively with Generation Y to best leverage their talents for future business development. But, all too often HR departments lack staff from younger generations. In a recent survey only 20% of HR respondents were Gen-Y themselves. This leaves many HR managers pondering how they can get their heads around what Gen-Y really want. Tamty McGill recently conducted a survey of 45 employers, from nine different business sectors, on the characteristics and preferences of Gen-Y in the workplace. The survey included employees who had recently graduated providing HR with some insight on exactly what makes Gen-Y tick.

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A directive mentor who provides all instructions and rules

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A supportive mentor who offers help when needed, according to the situation

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A collaborative mentor who allows more freedom

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An achievement-oriented mentor who provides ongoing feedback

Flexible timeframes not important to Gen-Y

‘Monetary compensation and benefits’ and ‘interest and fun’ were ranked by Gen-Y employees as the two most important attributes which would attract them to work in a particular company. This view is also shared by their employers. However, employers thought that providing a ‘flexible timetable’ was more important in attracting Gen-Y than ‘professional advancement’ and ‘job security’. This differs significantly from what Gen-Y respondents said, where both working and non-working respondents thought provision of a ‘flexible timetable’ was the least important factor in attracting them to a particular company. The table overleaf shows a comparison of how employers, working members of Gen-Y and non-working members of Gen-Y ranked various employment attributes in terms of importance.

Supportive mentoring favoured

The study also analysed four different styles of mentoring namely:

It was found that 55% of employers thought the collaborative mentor approach would be preferred by Gen-Y. However, according to Gen-Y respondents only around half of this figure agreed, the majority actually preferred the supportive mentor approach, 52% of working Gen-Y and 43% of non-working Gen-Y. It was found that many employers do not appreciate that Gen-Y employees treat a clear career pathway as something very important, and that as they are at the start of their career, they also desire more support and guidance from their employers.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Training Gen-Y

Ranking

Employer

Working Gen-Y

Non-working Gen-Y

1st

Monetary compensation and benefits

Interests and fun

2nd

Interests and fun

Clear and achievable career pathway

Monetary compensation and benefits

3rd

Clear and achievable career pathway

Interests and fun

Clear and achievable career pathway

4th

Flexible timetable

Professional advancement

5th

Professional advancement

Job security

6th

Job security

Flexible timetable

Moreover, Gen-Y respondents indicated that they would like to take greater ownership of their job remit and be more involved in the decision making process to enhance engagement. The results of the survey also indicated that money and title recognition were the most important motivators for Gen-Y, with 41% of employers and working Gen-Y respondents citing this as the most important factor. Both working, 31%, and non-working, 44%, Gen-Y respondents indicated that satisfactory performance in their job was a key motivator; in contrast only 11% of employers thought that this would be important to Gen-Y. About a quarter of employers surveyed believed that giving Gen-Y freedom to execute work duties could motivate them to perform well, in fact only 2% of working Gen-Y and 7% of non-working Gen-Y considered this a key motivator.

Advice for working effectively with Gen-Y With clear differences in employers perception of Gen-Y and what Gen-Y themselves are actually driven by, HR managers are often left scratching their heads about exactly how they can work effectively with Gen-Y. Virginia Choi, Managing Consultant and Country Manager from Tamty McGill Consultants International shares advice with HR practitioners on what they can do to work more effectively with Gen-Y in the workplace. 1. Active listening Apart from everyday conversations, hold luncheons, short meetings and informal gatherings to listen to Gen-Y employees’ opinions. 2. Informal communication As Gen-Y tend to thrive in a fun, democratic

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environment, HR should try to limit ‘parental style’ speeches. Rules and instructions have to be communicated seriously, but casual chats and a more jovial approach is usually more appropriate when communicating with Gen-Y. Develop career goals As working members of Gen-Y are at the start of their careers, employers should help them better define their career goals. This process of goal setting is something that both employers and Gen-Y employees can benefit from. Enhance exposure and experience Training and worldwide exposure to various kinds of duties can attract Gen-Y job seekers and help retain existing Gen-Y employees. Facilitate mentoring Since Gen-Y employees have limited working experience, HR should provide more help and guidance to them. Continuous feedback is important and can be made via regular meetings with the staff. Give immediate positive reinforcement When Gen-Y employees perform well, employers should try and provide immediate positive reinforcement. Verbal encouragement may be all that is required—a simple ‘well done’ or ‘good job’ can be very encouraging to Gen-Y employees. Avoid stereotyping Perhaps most importantly, employers should realise that the above tips are in fact good advice for enhancing relations with many staff members, not just those in Gen-Y. Likewise, HR should take care not to label all members of Gen-Y as exactly the same, as there are different characteristics and preferences within all generational groups.

Training Gen-Y

Hong Kong Police Force: training Gen-Y|

Kevin Woods, Assistant Commissioner of Police

The Hong Kong Police Force employs a multigenerational work force, with new generations representing somewhat of a departure from old learning styles and values. This has been recognised by the Force, who have sought to accommodate the web savvy Gen-X and Gen-Y. As we progress further into the decade, more and more baby boomers will begin to retire from the Force, creating a large number of senior positions that need to be filled. Many of the people filling these positions will be from Gen-Y. As at November 2010, about 6,300 or 22% of staff in the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) belong to Gen-Y and it is forecast that within five years, they will make up 41% of the Force. Kevin Woods, Assistant Commissioner of Police commented, “We are going to be losing a lot of people over the next few years, and we are having to replenish. We are finding that the cohort at the moment is much bigger, so training demand has gone up dramatically. One of the major problems we face is training extraction, which involves front line units releasing staff to attend in-service training.” He went on to say, “We have had to change the way we deliver our content. We are currently exploring ways to deliver the building blocks, as mentioned with e-learning. We are looking for a way to either get more into courses, or shorten the courses, leading to the ability to train higher amounts of officers, while still keeping to the main values.” Phillip Sham, Chief Superintendent of Police, highlighted a number of changes the Force has implemented in order to update and appeal to the younger generations, “We have changed content, adopted new methods and teaching. We support

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Training Gen-Y

Samson Cho, Senior Superintendent of Police

self-learning and collaborations, and lastly, we enhanced the data security and awareness.” Sham went on to point out that when they took their training programme to INTERPOL, other police departments were quite amazed at what the HKPF has been able to do with this challenge. The new generation of employees wants ongoing learning and the engagement of management. Capitalising on Generation X and Y’s interest in technology, the Police College switched to blended learning in 2000, with e-learning packages, game based e-quizzes and interactive simulations proving extremely popular. In order to enhance the training content offered, the HKPF now also partners with one of the local universities to offer police psychology and social studies classes. Sham quipped that Gen-Y was so named because they always ask ‘why, why, why?’ He explained, “We want to offer them more on: why, instead of the past when it was more on: how.” There is also a new offering in officers’ training, psychological competency. Gavin Brown, Chief Superintendent of Police explained, “It gives people the skills to emphasise and appreciate how policing effects other people; soft skills in other words. It’s appreciating that you may have to deal with a situation from a police perspective, but you have got

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to appreciate how the recipient of the interaction is finding the interaction. If we can’t put ourselves in the person’s shoes; it makes things difficult for us, them and everyone else around. We have to be aware of how people will react and perceive what we do.” Woods pointed out that this was not introduced just because of Gen-Y, as all officers receive the training. Another aspect of psychological competency training is that it teaches trainees how to manage their life style, and builds up an officer’s resilience and ability to perform their duty and achieve understanding. This program is quite effective and goes a long way to provide officers with a way to achieve work-life-balance. As noted above, the baby boomers will start to retire in larger numbers in the coming years and this will create a large number of positions that will need to be filled. The HKPF faces the same problems as other organisations: do we hire internally or externally? Woods pointed out that the HKPF looks for a blended intake of recruits for training as inspectorate rank offices—both internal recruits from within the Force and direct entry recruits from outside the Force. Following selection, both undergo an extensive nine-month training course that aims to give them the skills necessary to do their jobs.

Training Gen-Y

Nurturing Gen-Y | Sandy Fok, General Manager of Staff Development at John Swire & Sons Ltd, gives her viewpoint on the role of Gen-Y in the workplace and tips for older generations on how to handle this asset effectively in terms of nurturing them in L&D programmes and on a day-to-day basis. Breakdown of the four generations working currently:

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Traditionalists: born before 1946

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Boomers: born between 1946 and 1964

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Gen-X: born between 1965 and 1976

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Gen-Y: born between 1977 and 2000

Fok notes that given the slowing birth rate, retaining and attracting talent is becoming increasingly difficult—and this alone is reason enough for HR to pay particular attention to the needs of staff in Gen-Y in terms of L&D. She notes that management styles which may have worked in the past may not always work anymore. She also notes that most traditionalists have retired already and that boomers will begin to retire soon, meaning it is these very members of Gen-Y who will, all to soon, become their successors. When HR considers training programmes for Gen-Y, Fok reminded HR that because this group

tends to come from nurturing family backgrounds, they have high expectations from parents and seek reassurance. This continues over into the workplace where there can be friction between Gen-X and Gen-Y because of Gen-X managers’ more dismissive, more resilient attitude. Fok cited the example of a Gen-Y intern submitting a report, and being upset when a Gen-X boss accepted it without immediate feedback, with Fok saying that the newer generation often needs a pat on the back. “I’m not saying that companies need to restructure…but need a little bit more structure to give them a sense of security and balance,” she said highlighting that companies need to work on being more nurturing. Gen-Y are often thought to be more free and easy, even more so than the preceding Gen-X, but Fok said that they tend to get married younger than Gen-X, often around the age of 25. As an aside, Fok warned that this could give employees issues with reduced mobility at an earlier age. Fok highlighted the tendency for Gen-Y to be socially conscious. Not just in terms of the environment, but in terms of equality within the company, the ‘I have rights’ attitude. This means that companies need to be more transparent about, for example how bonuses are calculated. Alongside this, they need to strengthen sustainable business practices, because their future employees will see this as important. Gen-Y often have higher expectations bestowed on them by their parent’s—the ‘go on you can do it attitude’. Gen-Y are keen to learn and eager to grow, with a strong ability to multi-task. She said that harnessing the generation’s “I can do anything spirit” is valuable for companies and should be channelled for the good of the business.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Training Gen-Y

RSM university cadet programmes| How a ‘family feel’, practical training and university cadet programmes help RSM achieve 100% staff retention over staffs’ first three years. HR Magazine sat down with two partners from RSM Nelson Wheeler (RSM) to get a glimpse into the company’s learning and development programmes and how they help retain staff in the accounting firm. RSM, one of Hong Kong’s leading accounting firms, employs around 300 staff and 25 partners. The company is part of the global RSM network—the sixth largest accounting firm in the world.

Family feel

Being part of the sixth biggest accounting firm in the world poses some interesting challenges to not only training and development, but also HR in general. While RSM Nelson Wheeler is a large company, there is a feeling that everyone is part of a large family. This feeling of family is very different from the ‘Big Four’, which tend to be viewed as rather corporate. When asked to comment on what elements set the company apart from others in terms of training and development, Chris Wong, Partner at RSM commented, “We create and foster a family and team spirit. This leads to staff who are willing and ready to share their experience.” He went on to highlight that there is a feeling of harmony and happiness, leading to a better work-life-balance than at the ‘Big Four’.

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Staff development programmes

As with most companies, RSM recognises that training and development is one of the most important tools for HR managers to use to ensure their employees stay with the company and are happy. Wong gave a brief overview, “We have staff development programmes, recruit from universities into our training programme, and ensure our staff is technologically equipped and develop abilities needed for their career.” Staff complete 30 to 40 hours a year of training and knowledge enhancement, which is above industry standard. Eugene Liu, Partner at RSM said, “We follow a top down approach at the company. Staff are constantly encouraged to learn, in fact they learn every day, in every job they do. The hours spent on learning and development are viewed as a way to enhance the day-to-day learning.” When asked what the company does to put itself ahead of its competitors in L&D, Wong highlighted the world-wide-training sessions done via webcam. Each session is run by either experts within the company or by experts brought in by the company. The sessions are done in real time, with the expert being in the UK or the US, and the participants being in Hong Kong. Each session is recorded podcast style, with participants being able to ask questions in real time. After the

Training Gen-Y

session is finished, it is placed onto the company’s server for download. Wong highlighted, “This system is good in that it is interactive, and gets current accounting standards and other related information out to a wide audience.” Wong pointed out that each session is done after hours, or close to the end of the day, and in the office, with the majority of training programmes being conducted from September to December.

Cadet programme

The company also conducts a cadet programme for university students, who work with the company full time for three months over the summer, in regular junior positions. This programme serves to provide students close to graduating accounting experience, and possibly a job after they graduate. Wong said, “Our conversion rate is about 50% of graduates come work for us after the programme. Of those that come, 100% stay at least two to three years. This is because we offer a good working environment that is family oriented with no politics.”

Mentor programme

When new staff join the company, they are assigned a mentor. Every staff member at managerial or higher level is a mentor to at least one staff member. This system serves to increase the family mentality

and learning environment within the company. The mentor can also help an employee increase their regional knowledge and experience, as RSM does work closely with its partner organisation, RSM China. Quite a few members of the company do go on audits to China. With the mentor programme, Wong noted, “There is a ‘train the trainer programme’ for the senior positions of the company. The programme is normally done internally, and by invitation only. These two day sessions serve to improve the mentors’ abilities and gives them a way to share their knowledge with colleagues at the same level.”

China secondments

Wong advises companies based in Hong Kong, who have staff that are required to work in China, to take care with taxation issues. He points out, “Companies, and HR managers in particular, should be careful with the amount of time their employees spend in China, for tax purposes. If the employee spends more than 183 days a year in China, the Chinese government are entitled to tax them on what they earn there. So, it is best to keep very close track of hours spent in China, as well as keep up-to-date with the ever changing taxation rules of both Hong Kong and China. It would be wise for companies to hire tax experts to avoid any potential costly problems.”

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Executive development

Training leaders| HR Magazine spoke with Sureish Nathan, Vice President of the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in Singapore to get his take on leadership development.

Sureish Nathan, Vice President, Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)

What is the importance of leadership training in uncertainty? Periods of uncertainty impact an organisation from several angles. Retrenchment, salary cuts and budget cuts, lack of resources, employee morale, etc, are some internal effects. Externally, organisations encounter a strong competitive and complex business environment. With such pressures, leaders play a critical role as they are expected to do more with less, and require leadership skills to keep their teams fully engaged. The investment in leadership development is a long-term endeavour and it becomes an especially crucial lever in uncertain times. Companies who do not develop their leadership talent will find it more challenging to implement their strategies, foster innovation and drive growth. Independent studies published by Harvard Business Review, US consulting firm Bersin & Associates and other sources also show that investments in leadership development bring four key benefits.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Executive development

Four key benefits of investment in leadership development: •

Improve bottom-line financial performance

•

Attract and retain talent

•

Drive a performance culture

•

Increase organisational agility

How have changes in the exogenous and endogenous corporate environment influenced leadership training and development? There’s a casual relationship between the exogenous and endogenous corporate environment. The complexity of the external environment requires that leadership take a more collaborative approach to business strategy and execution. The advent of technology, the ubiquitous availability of information, the changing demands of customers and the rapid rate of change would be just some of the critical factors that have led to this increased complexity. A customer issue no longer just rests in ‘customer service’, it will most likely involve a product or service group, operations and in severe cases public relations. Customer issues may also sometimes have vital legal and financial ramifications. The situation with Toyota today would be one clear example. Leaders in such organisations have to work in highly collaborative teams. Information and power is shared and therefore requires a different mindset and behaviour than working in silos for instance. Consequently, this affects the endogenous context of how the development of talent is managed. Within the ‘war for talent’ there is now an essential subset of leadership talent that needs

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to be developed to meet these complex challenges and drive the business strategy of a company. How do you think culture, motivation and leadership contribute to the success of an organisation? CCL’s research illustrates that an organisation’s overall culture is clearly impacted by its leadership culture, which determines the beliefs and fundamental values that guide day-to-day work. There is a direct correlation between leadership and motivation and there are specific types of leadership that provide the required level of motivation, given the context in which that organisation operates. Organisations involved in research for instance would require a more open and collaborative style of leadership that fosters innovation and creativity. Security organisations on the other hand are process and protocol oriented with command and control leadership. Therefore, the leadership of an organisation shapes the culture of that organisation, which in turn impacts motivation and engagement. What do you feel are the major challenges in building a balanced senior management team?

Executive development

To measure the impact, it is critical that HR directors identify the outcomes they expect from leadership development and design both the programmes and a comprehensive evaluation to address those outcomes. Outcomes will vary according to the reasons organisations are using leadership development as a strategic tool. If they want, for example, to create a more performance-oriented culture, evaluations should measure outcomes that indicate changes to the culture and related performance outcomes. There are several practical ways to measure this. Research has shown that effective leadership impacts employee engagement positively and this can be measured in tangible ways. For instance, there is a positive correlation between employee engagement and customer satisfaction levels–the more engaged employees are, the better they are able to serve their customers. Effective leadership also affects the ability to collaborate across functions. Therefore, organisations who depend heavily on crossfunctional collaboration can also measure how efficiently these teams are working–leaders who are able to collaborate more effectively are more likely to be able to develop a new product and go to market in a faster time frame. What advice would you give to companies wanting to invest in L&D to develop staff leadership skills? Ensure that your leadership development strategy is linked to your business strategy. This takes a future orientation as to the skills and abilities that are required in leaders to drive the business strategy of the company. The leadership development strategy should then aim to nurture the development and close any gaps in the skills and abilities that have been identified. Providing this context to leadership development is critical as it then lends the organisational support to sustain the learning and development journey of key talent. This synergy is vital to ensure that development is not being done just for the sake of it but that it is anchored in the leadership abilities that are being valued by the company to drive its strategy.

What do you feel are the major challenges in building a balanced senior management team? It is imperative for a balanced senior management team to possess a variety of experience, abilities and personalities. Given today’s complex business environment, it’s crucial to have a variety of cultural perspectives, career experiences and skill sets, including innovation and design thinking, to create a fully balanced and high-functioning senior team. The natural temptation is to pick people exactly like ourselves–similar demographics, educational and career backgrounds, as well as like-minded attitudes and perspectives. The challenge therefore is to be able to step of out the comfort zone of ‘familiarity’ and build a senior management team whose capabilities not only complement each other, but also offers multiple viewpoints and perspectives that enhance strategic decision-making.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Executive development

Senior execs: MBAs might, morals, minds and more

Choosing the right business school for leadership development programmes| HR Magazine interviewed Professor Arthur Francis, Dean of Bradford University School of Management to find out what HR should look for when recommending business schools for staff development programmes.

Arthur Francis, Dean of Bradford University School of Management

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How should HR managers choose a suitable business school? Financial Times rankings are crucial because they know people do MBAs in order to enhance their earning power. Therefore the FT ranking is based three years after people have earned their degree. These rankings must still be treated with caution, as salary increases may be distorted by the kind of students you have. For example, if students tend to go into the financial services sector then they are going to enhance their salaries much more quickly than students that go into say engineering or consultancy roles. The three major international accrediting bodies are also helpful. Accreditations to look out for include:

Executive development

• •

•

The European Improvement System (EQUIS) The Accreditation Association of MBAs Accreditation (AMBA) The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

Any schools accredited by these bodies are worth seriously considering.

Has the recent rethinking of economic theory had any impact on the curriculum? Anyone who has done an MBA ought to be aware of the three ‘M’s: might, morals and minds. It is important, post credit crunch, that managers are mindful of all three. Regarding might—what have we learned about regulators not being powerful enough? Regarding morals—to what extent were people behaving immorally? Regarding minds—to what extent do we simply still not know enough about how markets work, how bubbles are created, and how to control these bubbles? It is also necessary to improve moral education. When students are studying economics, and to a lesser extent those studying business, it can wash the morality out of them. To help address this, business schools around the world are re-examining their syllabuses to ensure they effectively cover sustainability and CSR. Has globalisation and the rise of economies like China and India changed the focus of MBA programmes? Yes. We’ve always been a pretty globalised business school with lots of International students. We have also tried to recruit faculty on a more international basis so we now have several staff from China and India—creating a nicely diverse community. Likewise, we also make every effort to ensure syllabuses are genuinely multi-national and diverse. For example, 12 years ago the strategic management module—taught largely by case studies—had every single case study from UK

businesses. Now the situation is very different, and case studies include companies around the world including Japan, China and so on. The liberation of Chinese and Indian economies was due to the application of liberal market economic principals. This has had a profound effect on their economic growth and despite the last couple of years those economies are still growing rapidly. What we now know about how to manage companies, as a lot of Chinese and Indian companies are being run on modern management principles that have been taught in America for the last hundred years. So we do not have to re-learn things, but rather it is a question of incremental improvements in our understanding. What does your school do in terms of focus on Human Resources Management? Firstly, for quite some time we have taken the view that the modern manager needs to develop their soft skills and people skills as much as their hard management skills. In our MBA programme everyone has to compile a personal development portfolio, working with a tutor to identify gaps and weaknesses in their personal development. For example, if you are not a team worker—how can you improve or develop your skills in that area. These skills are just as important as analytical skills. Secondly, everyone on the MBA and MSc programmes must take a compulsory HR element. There is also a good range of HR electives such as reorganisation, leadership and advanced HRM, so if students want to go deeper into these areas they can do. Thirdly, there is a strong HR research unit focusing particularly on leadership. So for those in HR it is essential to make an effort to keep in touch with local business schools—and see what they have to offer your staff. But also talk to managers that you have sent on programmes and get direct feedback from them. This will not only provide you with some measure of the programmes effectiveness, but their experience can also be shared with other staff and built upon to help improve management practices on a broader scale.

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Executive development

Global leadership foundation

Developing leaders| Background

The Global Leadership Foundation (GLF) was created in response to our desire to make a difference to the development of leaders at a local, national and global level. We wanted to encourage and engage leaders in, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stepping outside the four walls of their organisation and really consider the significant and positive impact they could have on their own and other communities.â&#x20AC;? HR Magazine interviewed Gayle Hardie and Malcolm Lazenby, co-founders of the NGO to get their advice on how leadership development programmes can help HR promote good governance, democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law within their organisations.

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Cross-cultural caution

What are the cross-cultural considerations that need to be taken into consideration before embarking on a leadership development programme? We have had the very special opportunity to train alongside others from across Asia: Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia. Our sensitivity to the needs of individuals has always been presentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;what we really began to appreciate was the impact of their various cultures on what is seen to be effective in terms of leadership. There is also a note of caution here in relation to cross-cultural considerations. As global access

Executive development

to leadership development increases exponentially through technology and multinational organisations we are all exposed to an amazing array of leaders— the blurring of cultural borders is rapidly occurring

Engaging talent

What key strategies should HR Managers use in order to fully engage their talent pool and help them to grow along with the organisation? We spend a lot of time talking about passion—in other words, intense interest and enthusiasm. What are we passionate about? How can we use this passion in the workplace—just imagine what the world would look like if everyone was really engaged in the work that they were doing! What are HR managers doing to keep the passion alive in potential leaders?

Leadership qualities—and what companies are missing

What are the essential attributes of an effective, successful leader? We spend a lot of time talking about passion—in leadership it takes many forms in many organisations. An effective, successful leader is one who is able to work with, relate to and engage with a very wide range of people. Their ‘emotional health’ is such that they are able to instinctively understand what drives and motivates others and choose a way of relating to them that is both respectful and relevant. We believe that the more you understand yourself and what drives and motivates you, the more compassion and understanding you have of others. With that comes genuine levels of respect for and from those you lead. What effective leadership attributes do organisations most often lack? We believe that in almost every case, people are genuinely trying to do their best in the way they lead and work with others. The real dilemma is when leaders put their own interests first e.g. climbing the career ladder, making sure their name is on the top of the project list; without considering others. In some cases, their levels of self-awareness are not high and they don’t actually see the impact this

kind of behaviour has on others. What we often see as a result is that they lose really talented people, who were very willing to support them and make the project a success. All those people needed was genuine recognition—unfortunately the leader’s ego got in the way.

Mindful transformation

Why do you think ‘mind transformation’ is so important in expanding executives’ values and practices? When we are able to integrate what we think, how we feel and how we react, we are truly able to understand what drives and motivates us and how this impacts others. We are able to provide the most appropriate leadership in all situations, be genuinely respectful and compassionate yet remain true to what we will not compromise—for ourselves, our businesses nor our communities. ‘Shifting the mindset’ is a critical aspect of unleashing our inner potential. As this occurs, we are more able to explore what is possible, what others can contribute and create an environment where all this is achievable. We also find that leaders begin to consider the role they have as leaders within the broader community, both local and global. We work with leaders to help them realise their own potential, rather than spend time focusing on what a good leader looks like. By exploring a leader’s own passions—understanding their thoughts, feelings and reactions to a variety of situations—we find they not only see what they are capable of but also see the potential rather than the problems in others. We also notice that they are able to challenge the assumptions they have made about themselves and others, and often quite quickly. They are more able to be objective and open to the situations they find themselves in and can accept and work with ‘what is’ rather than what they want. They also come to understand that the impact they have as a leader is far-reaching and when they decide to make a difference in the world of leadership, it is felt far beyond their own working world.

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Executive development

Leadership development: is it working?|

The leadership vacuum

John Nesheim, 3M’s former Director of Human Resources for the Asia Pacific Area was once asked what the number one HR problem was in Hong Kong. Without hesitation he answered: leadership. Nesheim suggested that there is a leadership vacuum in much of the Asian region today and that vacuum is responsible for many of the other HR problems that are occurring. He asserted that if HR can master the creation and propagation of good leadership, then other issues such as recruitment, retention, staff-turnover, talent management and

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skills shortages take care of themselves. Developing or obtaining good leaders is the single most important factor in HR. While that might make very good sense, how to obtain and develop good leaders is the great challenge. Karen Zong, Microsoft’s Director of People and Organisation Capability for the Greater China Region, noted that it is possible to buy, borrow or build leaders in an organisation. Buying current or potential leaders from other organisations is rarely a long-term solution because there is no guarantee that they will ‘fit’ with the organisation or have a long-term commitment

Executive development

to the company. Borrowing established leaders from other sectors of the same organisation can be a good option for larger companies and multinationals. With tremendous shortages of leaders in areas of mainland China, for example, borrowing leaders who have demonstrated their skills working for your company in other regions can be a good stop-gap. However, the long-term goal of most companies is to build leaders from within their organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that means development programmes.

Assessing development

Hernez-Broome and Hughes argue that one of the great trends of the last twenty years in terms of leadership development is the proliferation of different leadership development programmes. Unfortunately, there has not been a concurrent boom in the assessment of the success of those methods. Most companies recognise the need to have leadership development programmes and have made movements towards implementing such programmes. However, few companies do any level of assessment after the programme has begun to determine the efficacy of the programme. Many companies are happy to assume that since the latest HR study supports a particular programme it is likely to work in their company too. Little assessment is done post hoc to see whether the research findings have materialised in their organisation. Perhaps the major problem is that few programmes begin with clearly stated conceptualised and operationalised definitions of what would be considered success for the programme. Is the goal of the programme to develop leadership skills, to reduce turnover, to increase employee engagement, to boost morale, to improve succession management, to increase productivity? The answer to that question is not right or wrong and will be different for each organisation, but the answer is important because the goal of the programme dictates what will be considered a successful programme. For example, there are a number of tests of leadership skills available. Using one of those tests to measure whether the leadership skills of participants have improved after or part way through a leadership programme might seem to be a sensible measure of

programme success. However, what if your primary aim in conducting the programme was to reduce turnover among high-potential staff? An improvement in leadership skills would be nice but it would not be a successful programme if turnover remains high amongst your high-potentials. Be honest with yourself about why you are conducting a programme. For example, if the programme is more about keeping staff happy than actually boosting skills, so be itâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if honest, many employers would admit that the perception of commitment to staff development is sometimes as important as the staff development itself. But if employee contentment is your goal, make that your measure of success. That way, you have assessed whether your real goal has been achieved. Another major trend that has taken place in leadership development has been a gradual movement away from formal training towards on-the-job training. At first, that movement was from classroom style training to mentoring but now on the job training is favoured as the primary location for training to take place. Formal training sessions and mentoring have increasingly become supporting methods to on the job training rather than the primary sources of leadership skill development. Of course the great challenge with on the job training is to constantly develop and allocate on the job tasks that provide interesting and challenging development opportunities that fit into an overall structure of leadership development. The challenge of measuring the success of these programmes is that measurement is likely to be more complex than when assessing a classroom based learning programme.

Assessing leadership development: how to do it

Programme assessment is an enormous area and if you have a genuine interest in the topic it may be worthwhile to grab one of the plethora of books available on the topic. However, even those who are terrified by statistics or matrices can gain greater insight into the success of a leadership programme or can be more likely to design a successful programme by following a few simple steps:

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Executive development

1. Identify the objective(s) of your programme These goals will often begin as something general such as those described above. It is good to begin with general goals, such as developing entry-level staff into potential future leaders. However, general goals can be ambiguous and difficult to assess. In addition to your overall objective, it is crucial that your terms are defined. For example, what is meant by â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;potential future leadersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. You then need to conceptualise and operationalise your terms such that they are observable and measurable. For example, a goal might be that within five years, you would like more than 50% of your management positions to be filled by candidates that started in entry-level positions. That goal relates to your initial goal, but it is now more specific and more easily assessable.

2. Develop your research design

This involves determining the theoretical framework â&#x20AC;&#x201D;what research currently exists that can guide your programme objectives or design. Is there a theoretical model that can be applied to the situation in your work place? The second step here is to determine your methodological approach. For example, do you want statistical data to support your findings? This is typically required in many workplaces. If you do, then you need to aim for quantitative methods of data collection and analysis. However, in some situations such as exit interviews where the goal is to understand the personal decisions and feelings of employees, it may be better to employ quantitative methods. The choice will depend on what you are hoping to measure and how you wish to report the findings

3. Collecting and presenting data

The best way to collect and present data will really be determined by your approach to 1 and 2 above. Quantitative data collection will typically involve psychometric testing, surveys, structured interviews or analysis of secondary sources of data (such as HR data). Quantitative methods will usually involve semi-structured or unstructured interviews. The presentation of data should be reader friendly and accurate. Remember, it is rarely sufficient to simply

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present means or other raw data. Consider utilising a programme such as SPSS for more detailed inferential statistics.

4. Drawing conclusions

Perhaps the greatest and most common error in assessment and evaluation is drawing inaccurate, false or misleading conclusions. It is a harsh reality that some programmes are unsuccessful as well as being expensive or time consuming. No one wants to report that the data does not support the success of the programme. However, it would be far worse to continue with a programme that is not working. If your results indicate that your programme has not achieved its aim, try to identify possible causes and refine the programme. Also be careful to account for any confounding variables. If you implement a leadership programme and find that turnover among high-potentials has fallen by 15%, the programme must be working right? But what if those staff members were also given significant pay rises and bonuses since the programme was implemented. Was it the programme or the money that reduced turnover? It is important to acknowledge other potential explanations for the findings you report.

Executive development

Management 101 Hospital Authority style| David Rossiter, former Head of Human Resources at the Hospital Authority, (HA) shares his experiences of innovations in leadership development during his time with the organisation. His observation upon joining HA was that leaders are not created, they are found. He was also alerted to the importance of having leaders in the pipeline after the CEO decided not to renew his contract in 2002, following SARS. The board’s executive committee concluded that it needed to take a long hard look at succession planning. Rossiter quickly realised there was no clear definition of a leader because of conflicting ideas. In order to identify leaders in the organisation, HA developed a set of 12 core competencies. When conducting peer reviews of leaders they found these competencies to be lacking. Rossiter noted that in order to identify potential leaders, you need leaders who can find them, who must be excellent leaders themselves. Rossiter warned, “When hiring, don’t rely on management intuition.” It should be a discussion between cluster general managers, human resources and the CEO.

Management 101

Rossiter said when developing leaders it is essential to ensure you provide the environment and opportunities for them to develop and these must be shown clearly and succinctly. Management 101 has achieved this for HA. It is a simple programme focusing on the fundamentals of management such as effective writing and performance reviews and will soon be mandatory for new managers. The next step is Management 202, which

concentrates on technical management skills. At the highest level HA has The Executive Leadership Programme, which includes coaching, overseas attachments and structured executive education. To be accepted, candidates must attend interviews with the CEO and two board managers and complete psychometric testing. HA has the added difficulty of being subject to public scrutiny and are often criticised for fat-top, thin-bottom spending. They must therefore, be careful how they spend taxpayers’ money. A recent investment is development centres where employees complete training and emerge with individualised and group development plans.

Seven-year rotations

Rossiter quipped that some people are literally born in the hospital and then work there for their whole life—creating a challenge to broaden their thinking. To this end HA is developing people outside Hong Kong and provide overseas attachments. However, many senior executives have children and therefore cannot consider this, which may adversely affect their career prospects. Development posts and job rotations create a challenge because turnover at the Authority is very low. While the job rotation programme has met with some resistance, they are compulsory if an individual has been with HA for more than seven years. To make these postings more palatable, jobs are listed that employees could apply for. Six out of seven HA staffers have made significant changes in their own career and the organisation, following a job rotation.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Executive development

Six Sigma leadership| Pete Pande has been in the field of organisational improvement and change leadership for about 20 years. Beginning his career in broadcast journalism and then marketing, and he got into the consulting field rather by chance. The focus of Pande’s work throughout has been on helping leaders, managers and professionals tackle complex, and even simple, business problems more effectively. Pivotal Resources was founded in 1993 to further that goal, but also to raise the level of benefit by broadening the approaches to change and improvement beyond a fairly narrow and more technical set of “tools.” HR caught up with Pande to talk about leadership development, the Six Sigma way. What is Six Sigma and how has it evolved since inception? There is not really one definition of Six Sigma; nor is it precisely the same in any two companies. But you can usually boil it down to three things:

1. a way of measuring and targeting the performance of a business or process that focused on gauging how well it’s meeting customer expectations; 2. a set of tools and analytical methods that support more effective problem solving, process design, customer focus and business productivity; and 3. a system or organisational programme to apply these tools, integrate them into the skill set of the organisation, and achieve meaningful results through improvements and changes.

Those definitions actually parallel the evolution of Six Sigma. Motorola began using the Six Sigma measure in 1987 and the label ended up being applied to its overall continuous improvement programme. Many individuals and companies introduced tools that are now considered “part of Six Sigma,” even

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though many existed long before there was Six Sigma. And companies like GE, Honeywell and dozens of others have contributed to making it a more all-encompassing organisational initiative. Mr Pete Pande, President & Today, as I mentioned CEO, Pivotal Resources, Inc. there are many varied approaches to how Six Sigma is applied, some more like what Motorola did years ago, and some even more all-encompassing than what GE launched. I use the analogy of operating systems: Windows is pretty much a fixed system that you buy “whole” from Microsoft. Linux is an open system that businesses can adapt, improve, share and tailor to their own needs. Six Sigma is like Linux: an open architecture business change system that continues to evolve. By the way, the term “Six Sigma” comes from a goal of reducing the variation or unpredictability of a process so it is almost defect-free. It has a statistical origin, but I’d say in the most effective uses of Six Sigma, statistics is a relatively small component. How can Six Sigma enhance talent management when ROI is oftentimes indirect? Six Sigma helped GE Capital save over US$2 billion—an event that Pivotal Resources played quite a pivotal role in through reengineering their business processes. Being a structured, measured way to improve the efficiency of business processes, this illustrates the point about how Six Sigma is flexible, because obviously you can’t use Six Sigma on ‘talent management’ the same as you would on ‘making shoes’ or ‘handling consumer loans’. The first step, as it is in most cases, would be to determine how clearly the goals or outcome of the talent management process are defined—often it’s pretty unclear - and whether there are any key gaps or issues in how those goals are

Executive development

achieved. You may not do that ‘statistically’, but you still may be able to count, for example, number of positions with a solid success plan in place, or length of time to move a candidate from one level to another. Then you have to look at the reasons behind the ‘gaps’. Are there external forces making it hard to retain people? Is the development process ineffective or not interesting/engaging for top people? Is the approach to gauging and developing talent really effective, or is the whole system outmoded? Quantifying ROI will be much more vague than tracking the cost by gram or raw materials—but once the goals are clear you can evaluate how well it’s being done and assess the relative value to doing better talent management. You have to adjust your approach, but it still works! How would you persuade SME directors with low budgets that Six Sigma could help them with talent development? I would not want to persuade anyone to do this if their heart and head are not in it. So our approach would be to explore the key issues in the business, the talent needs of the company, and then how a Six Sigma-type approach would help them. It’s not necessary to call it Six Sigma—and often better not to. At a more talent-specific level, though, the capabilities that leaders develop through Six Sigma and the broader Change Leadership processes are really essential to the demands of business in the twenty-first century. So an equally important question to examine is: is it appropriate to use Six Sigma on talent development, to integrate Six Sigma methods into the talent development ‘skill set’, or both? This is what we’d call Six Sigma Leadership. How does Six Sigma address staff motivation and engagement with regard to staff turnover? Six Sigma thinking can provide some helpful guidance and avoid the common response to spend money on motivation programmes or blame managers for not engaging their people. Turnover—high turnover or the wrong people leaving the business—is a problem that actually can be very easily measured. Motivation and engagement are among the possible causes of turnover that we’d

investigate, even though they are harder to observe or measure. But with a Six Sigma mindset, you’d be wary of jumping to conclusions that, say ‘poor motivation’ is the main cause of turnover. You’d take a closer look at, for example, what the patterns and trends in turnover are to see if there are clues to more specific and actionable causes. It’s kind of quasi-scientific, but fundamentally it’s common sense— which some say is the least common of the senses. What are the core essences of leadership transformation? For a leader or executive to really effectively apply Six Sigma, or be a strong change leader, they have to have the right mindset, self-awareness, balance of confidence and humility, and a willingness to share. Leadership transformation addresses those core elements of selfknowledge, connection to a higher purpose, openness and flexibility that complement and enable Six Sigma. What are the ingredients of a successful training programme? I’m not sure the term ‘recipe’ works, it’s not one dish, but really a buffet with various types of cuisine that create a leadership transformation development process. It’s an iterative process of exploring your personal goals, current strengths and areas for improvement, goals and motivation. So it’s like a nourishment process where you sample and enjoy and learn from various dishes and then come back to sample them again once you’ve gained more knowledge of other aspects of your own leadership ability. Finally, the training needs to connect the eating and learning to the cooking—that is, learners have to turn knowledge into practice.

“

When they have the mindset to embrace change and to really look for ways to create a dynamic organisation, and do the hard work to make that happen and sustain it, it can work anywhere.

”

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Creating talent pipelines

Developing your next generation of leaders The fundamentals of building a leadership pipeline| By Brenda Wilson, Head of Human Capital Advisory Services, Hong Kong and Workforce Strategies leader, Greater China, Mercer Human Resource Consulting

Asian business leaders are faced with a fast-growing business landscape—one in which commercial opportunities seem limitless, but where demands are immense. In this environment, successful companies must establish a solid infrastructure to accommodate growth, anticipate and react to global competitive forces, and stay flexible to take advantage of emerging opportunities. Companies understand that business success depends on their ability to develop a workforce that is capable of taking advantage of these opportunities. This requires a workforce which is committed to achieving company goals, who strive for and can sustain profitable growth, and most importantly, who have the skills and knowledge to deliver results. For this to occur, however, businesses must consider what needs to be done to develop leaders at all levels who can not only manage the business, but who have the capability to build a sustainable operation through developing people. Multinationals managed by expatriates have the added challenge of ‘localising’ their management teams and building future leaders from within the home country. The leadership pipeline, or the lack thereof, is one of the single most talked about human resource issues since the ‘war for talent’ in the West in the late ‘90s. In China, specifically, the issue is the primary

topic of many conversations from the boardroom to the manufacturing floor. This comes as no surprise given that the staggering increase in demand for labour has outstripped supply.

The leadership imperative

In a recent global survey of 223 senior executives from large multinational organisations conducted by MercerDelta Consulting and the Economist Intelligence Unit, findings conclude that while the leadership shortage is a significant issue in China, it is an important issue shared throughout the world. The study found that a majority of business executives believe their companies face leadership shortages to meet the future global business risks that are threatening their corporate performance. More than 75% say these business risks uncover weaknesses in their organisation’s leadership pipeline. Approximately 30% acknowledge they do not have a good understanding of the leadership capabilities required to meet their strategic business challenges, and have not developed leadership methods to ensure their executives can meet their most pressing business issues. 72% say their companies are planning to take action to close these leadership gaps, yet only half of the companies have made sufficient investments to do so.

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Creating talent pipelines

Of those organisations that report having successfully groomed capable leaders, business results were stronger than those who where less successful. Organisations with effective processes for assessing individual leadership development needs were significantly more likely to have recorded an increase in sales and net income between 2003 and 2004. The study also revealed that organisations which have effective processes for aligning leadership development with business challenges typically realise stronger performance than those that do not have such processes.

1. Aligning and defining your leadership strategy: Determine the roadmap

Organisations should start with defining and clarifying their leadership strategy. This will be drawn from the business requirements and future direction of the organisation. Aligning the leadership strategy to the business strategy will help ensure that efforts are both congruent and future focused. A leadership strategy should include the organisation’s philosophy and tactics around the definition of required leadership competencies, the process for identifying future leaders, assessment methods, and development strategies. Among many questions businesses need to answer the following fundamental questions in the process of building a leadership development strategy:

•

Building a leadership pipeline: where to start

As organisations begin to consider their leadership development needs, there are five fundamental steps that will help build a leadership pipeline.

•

• 1. Aligning and defining your leadership strategy. 2. Defining your unique leadership success profile. 3. Assessing the current and future pipeline leadership talent. 4. Building and implementing a systematic development process. 5. Measuring progress along the way.

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•

What capabilities, behaviours and attitudes does the business need from its leaders to be successful in the future? What’s the appropriate balance between ‘building’ our own versus ‘buying’ leadership capability from the market? If we buy, what is the availability in the market? Can we attract and retain leaders from the labour market? Is our business strategy such that ‘home-grown’ leaders will provide a competitive advantage? What are the key activities and positions which provide the type of experiences our leaders will need to acquire the desired skills and knowledge? What processes and systems need to be implemented to support the development of leaders? What are the key measures of success and what is our time horizon?

Creating talent pipelines

2. Defining your unique leadership success profile: Determine what you need

Understanding and forecasting the necessary leadership requirements to deliver against the business strategy is a key step. In developing a success profile, consider what unique leadership attributes are compulsory within the context of the vision and strategic plan. To ensure it meets the business needs in the future, the profile should balance both aspiration and current behavioural and knowledge requirements.

Defining leadership requirements: Three common traps Success in defining leadership requirements should not prove difficult for the committed organisation. Nevertheless, some organisations fall into three common traps: too much design, not enough implementation; ‘borrowing’ other organisations’ profile of leadership (if it is good enough for Microsoft, it must be good enough for us!); or not bothering to define their leadership requirements at all basing assessment and development on unclear and inconsistently defined and applied criteria. Successful organisations balance the need for speed with the requirement to articulate their own unique profile of leadership. Defining leadership requirements (capabilities, behaviours, attitudes, and values) is the cornerstone to ensuring that the other elements of a leadership strategy are aligned to and can deliver business outcomes. Adding the desired knowledge and metrics of success will also help clarify what is expected of leaders.

Competency indicators: •

•

Knows the business: experience, understanding, and comfort with our business and general industry in particular; familiarity with the technical, financial, manufacturing, and management aspects of the industry. Executive level impact and presence: demonstrates credible impact and influence; represents the organisation in community and business activities; can tell our “story” to the financial community and general public; dynamic in front of a group. Intellectual agility balanced by common sense: has the analytical and conceptual ability to deal with complex problems; learns rapidly; demonstrates flexibility when working on several issues simultaneously; strives for practical and workable solutions. Interpersonal skills: sincerely interested in people; respects and values others; communicates and listens well; demonstrates concern for others; interacts effectively with all stakeholders; gets along with people; can either work through others or work on own. Insight into self and others: understands own strengths and weaknesses; open to others’ ideas and opinions; understands the differences between people and how to work effectively with them; takes action to improve self and others. Emotional stability: emotionally solid and stable; resilient under pressure; even-keeled temperament which doesn’t over react and under react; self-confident; doesn’t take things personally; energetic.

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Creating talent pipelines

3. Assessing the current and future pipeline: Determine what you’ve got

Using the leadership success profile as a foundation, identifying and conducting multi-source leadership assessments is the next step in executing against the leadership strategy. Because assessment is a judgment of a leader’s capability and/or potential, a formal, structured, and data-based approach is the best method. Multiple and/or combined approaches provide better quality of information for decision making and customising the assessment approach to an organisation’s unique context yields the highest precision and quality of information. If not thoughtfully undertaken, leadership assessment can deliver unintended results. Identifying and planning for these potential issues helps to increase success and reduce the likelihood of problems that may arise. Issues can include:

•

• • • •

Not grounding assessment in the business and social context of your organisation. Not defining the leadership success criteria. Using unqualified assessors or assessment instruments. Not providing timely feedback to participants. Not anticipating the significant questions raised by leadership assessment: ▪▪

Why are we doing this?

▪▪

How will this affect me?

▪▪

If I don’t do well, will I lose my job?

▪▪

Who has access to and controls the data? What information is confidential and what is not?

▪▪

Will I receive feedback? By whom? How will feedback be delivered?

Leadership assessment is a major organisation ‘change’ intervention and needs to be managed as such. This includes appropriate communication, control of the process and the data, and providing training to those

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who are involved in giving and receiving feedback. Tying assessment results to development planning is also a key step in the change process.

4. Building and implementing a systematic development process: Determine how to close the gap

If rigorous assessment does not occur for every leader, have current and future leaders undertake a self-assessment against the new leadership profile to help determine where the gaps in capability may exist. Creating an individual development plan underpins an effective leadership development process. In their article entitled, The Power of a Development Plan, authors Drs Cheloha and Stringer, conclude that, “To be powerful, [development plans have] to be built around a development model grounded in real-world experience. It has to be carefully crafted to fit the needs of the person being developed. It has to include job assignments that build leadership skills. And it has to be supported by the organisation and integrated into a development philosophy that views planning documents as the beginning of the development journey, not the end.” The authors go on to say that development is focused on not only skills (I want to change and grow), but also focuses on awareness (knowing self) and having the motivation to persevere (I care about my development). Research shows that a combination of learning experiences with a predominant focus on “on-the-job” learning is the most effective method for developing current and future leaders. Creating an individualised leadership development plan for each current and future leader will act as a learning roadmap. In a recent study conducted by Mercer HR Consulting of talent management practices at eleven leading multinationals in China, findings indicate that only half the organisations create individual development plans for high potential employees. In addition, while all organisations undertake some form of assessment, only six of the eleven organisations linked results to development planning. The implication is that necessary skills gaps are not being proactively addressed and that development planning is not

Creating talent pipelines

consistently applied—even for the highest potential staff. Key activities for organisations to execute on a systematic development approach include:

•

identifying and providing challenging development opportunities providing “break through coaching” delivering action learning programmes defining career paths and ensuring rotational experiences delivering classroom experiences

• • • •

the same way, skipping a passage or not developing fully at one level hinders success at the next. The result is a leadership pipeline that becomes clogged, and the flow of talent becomes blocked. To help organisations in Asia build their capability at each turn in the pipeline, Mercer Human Resource Consulting has launched a new leadership development programme to help build and nurture an organisation’s next generation of leaders on an intensive four-day classroom programme.

5. Measuring progress along the way: Create alignment and owners

Providing continuous feedback to current and future leaders on progress also helps to reduce potential “derailment”.

“

A leadership strategy should include the organisation’s philosophy and tactics around the definition of required leadership competencies...

”

Building leadership capability one passage at a time

The Leadership Pipeline (Charan, Drotter and Noel, 2001) describes six major transitions individuals face during their careers as leaders. Rather than being seen as a vertical ladder, this pipeline is bent in six places. Each ‘bend’ or ‘passage’ represents a significant change in job requirements and complexity. At each point, a turn is made demanding new capabilities, new time perspectives, and new values about what is important. Successful development at one passage increases the probability of success at the next. In

Experience shows that leadership development programmes are most successful when they have complete CEO and ‘C-Suite’ sponsorship. Business leaders need to jointly own and drive the process for growing bench strength if the organisation is serious about closing the leadership gap Identifying key metrics for measuring progress and widely communicating effectiveness along the way will help keep leadership development on the business agenda.

Conclusion

If organisations are going to achieve long-term sustainability, staffed with the right workforce who are committed to the organisation, focusing on managers and leaders who can help deliver these results is a necessary place to start. Building your next generation of leaders starts with defining and executing against the fundamentals: aligning and defining your leadership strategy; defining your unique leadership success profile; undertaking rigorous assessment and providing feedback; and delivering an action-oriented development process that supplements “on-thejob” learning with other results-oriented activities. And throughout all of this, ask how success will be measured, develop appropriate metrics and milestones, and actively measure and discuss results with top management on a frequent basis. Building a leadership pipeline is a competitive necessity for all organisations. Executed successfully, it will create competitive advantage.

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

Creating talent pipelines

Filling the gap in the leadership pipeline Training junior and middle management| Training budgets are often allocated to entrylevel employees and senior executives but an area that is often overlooked is junior and middle management. HR Magazine recently sat down with Audrey Low, Country Manager for Adecco Hong Kong. Low stated, “HR may have a training budget for their entry level staff and C-level staff, but not enough for junior to middle management.” Leaving this vital category of employees, often largely comprising Gen-Y staff, can pose serious challenges to organisations. Learning, collaboration and a sense of community are all essential to retaining Gen-Y employees remarked Gen-Y expert, Amy Lynch at the recent

HR Summit in Hong Kong. Lynch pointed out that the average length of time a Gen-Y employee stays with a company is one and a half years. One of the reasons for this short tenure is no clear career path. Low stated, “Junior Level employees are very fluid, they come to your organisation and six months after they arrive they say ‘Look there is no promotion I am going’.”

Unfortunately, this low retention rate may be why many companies are reluctant to invest significantly on junior and middle management employees, which in turn helps perpetuate this cycle. Employees who don’t receive training and perceive their employer

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Creating talent pipelines

implement effective training and development programmes along with performance management tools to enable them to improve skills and enhance performance.” Internal training and development is essential for this group of employees. According to Australian training and learning blogger Dereck Stockley, in recent years there has been a trend for companies to recruit people who already have the skills you are looking for. Stockley stated, “This is a short sighted approach, as it assumes that other companies are training your employees. If all companies rely on this method the whole system breaks down.” The current time offers a unique opportunity to develop talent from within. Stockley pointed out that most employers recognise that the majority of skills can be taught and expertise can be developed on the job. He added, “These employers focus more on selecting staff with the right attitudes and basic competencies like commitment and communication skills. The technical competencies are built over a period of time.” as uninterested in their career development are quick to look elsewhere. Employers fear expending precious training resources on employees who may leave after a year and join a competitor after developing their skills, thus footing their competitors’ training costs. The cost to business of untrained junior and middle management staff is significant. A 2007 study in the UK: Corporate Soufflé—is the middle giving way, authored by consultant Giles Walker, found that 38% of directors believe that their organisation is ‘paralysed’ by ineffective middle management. The study also revealed that 40% of directors identified the same paralysis as the single greatest barrier to achieving company objectives. Walker stated, “Our research reveals an alarming gap at middle management level. Business leaders are struggling to compete in a challenging economy because middle management lacks the skills to make business strategy happen.” According to Walker, training to equip middle managers with skills is the solution. He added, “Rather than expressing frustration over middle management capabilities, business leaders must

Developing programmes for junior and middle management staff

Adecco is most known for its temporary job, contract and permanent placement services. In the past ten years, through a series of acquisitions and new business lines, the organisation has come to be able to provide employee training and development

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programmes for HR. Low has worked for Adecco for the past 19 years in the APAC region and commented on the company’s evolution, “Nineteen years ago our business model was very different, we did a lot of temporary and permanent work placements between the client and the candidate. Today we have shifted from a placement company where ‘you want someone and we find someone’ to one of the leading human resource solutions companies.” Reflective of this increased capability, Adecco has launched some advanced-level training programmes to help strengthen some of the deficiencies resulting from market challenges. Few professions have changed as much as HR in the past 20 years with globalisation and an increasingly knowledge-based economy placing heavier demands on HR to find, retain and engage top talent. Low pointed out that Adecco has evolved as a partner in the transformation of HR from primarily being an administrative to a strategic business

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partner. Low explained, “This is giving training, assessment and helping HR to demonstrate the metrics to senior management.”

Adecco training for junior staff

Seeing the gap in the market Adecco is set to launch ‘Adecco Training’ which will be focused on helping HR to train its junior and middle management staff. Low stated, “If you want your Gen-Y staff to work happily, it is all about communication. This population is very used to speed.” Adecco training will be based on speed and flexibility. The programmes will be tailor-made for, on average, 12 months and will also be available online. The goal is to show young people a route that will help them develop their careers. Low stated, “If you know you have a very good career path in an organisation, you will probably think twice before you leave. Training is important but so is communication.”

Creating talent pipelines

China chases dream of leadership pipeline China wants better leaders at the top|

Leadership development in China has never been at a more critical stage as China advances further ahead in the world economy. Development Dimensions International (DDI) implemented a global leadership forecast survey worldwide which asked HR professionals and senior executives what were the most important business priorities for their particular organisation. The worldwide survey is conducted on

a biennial basis and more recently has also been conducted for Chinese organisations in Mainland China. Interestingly, the results from the China survey produced similarities in comparison to the global survey. The China Leadership Forecast study was based on survey responses from more than 1,000 HR professionals and leaders based in Mainland China. Leaders and executives were interviewed

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from State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), MNCs and Chinese corporations. The size of the organisations surveyed were smaller in size than global corporations surveyed around the world. The Global Leadership Forecast surveyed more than 12,200 HR professionals and leaders in nearly 1,500 organisations from around the globe. Erik Duerring, Director of Consulting for DDI Asia said, “Senior executives worldwide, especially in China, now say their top business priority is improving or leveraging talent with their own company—finding the high-potentials”.

Need to leverage talent

The top priority for Chinese executives is improving and leveraging talent, therefore reflecting a great need for leaders and managers in China’s rapidly growing economy. Chinese organisations were not looking for new markets, managing new acquisitions or international presence, but they need to have better leaders ‘at the top’.

Need to identify HiPos

In the survey, Chinese respondents rated 21 percent of their leaders’ performance as ‘poor’, therefore further revealing a need to identify high-potentials in Chinese organisations at an early stage, so as to groom them to become capable leaders.

Need for leadership programmes

The survey further revealed that only 28 percent of Human Resources professionals in China

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thought their company had adequate leadership development programs. Many of the respondents felt that more leadership development programs were needed and that many of the current leaders were using more passive methods versus the active methods in their management styles. However, they found ’on-thejob’ methods to be more effective for leaders to learn to be better bosses as opposed to passive methods such as reading a management book. Chinese organisations were also not as likely to align their development programmes with business priorities to the performance management system. However, they were much better at holding their leaders and managers accountable for leadership development—half of the organisations surveyed held senior management accountable. Chinese organisations were also more likely to formally measure the results of leadership development as compared to their global counterparts.

Need for more multinational leadership

Failure to develop multinational leaders appears to be a universal problem. Nearly half of the Chinese multinational leaders described their preparation for assignments as being fine to poor. There is a shortage of Chinese leaders who can work with virtual teams around the world as multinational leaders—i.e., working with different cultures and countries. This might point out the lack of experience that Chinese leaders have in dealing with crosscultural companies.

Training techniques

L&D techniques

Reshaping organisational culture by learning from mistakes How NASA turned the tables on its multi-billion dollar mistakes to reshape organisational culture and decision making processes| By Jane Sadler and Yvonne Hau, Duncan Sadler Ltd

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HR & Physics: 4-D team building strategies from NASA high performing teams attract and retain top talent. They consistently solve problems efficiently and creatively, meet their project milestones and deadlines, and develop an environment of mutual respect. Unfortunately many technical people, particularly those without leadership or management training, do not appreciate that team building is a skill and essential to their success. They regard team building as being something that is either too touchy feely or soft. NASA’s 4-D team building system has created a process, supported by hard evidence, which proves that unless teams address these softer issues they can fail. Across every sector, including the government, technical teams strive to improve their ability to work together and with contractors and various stakeholders. The key to high performing teams is not just the sum total of project management tools and technical know-how, it is the operation of the team itself which ultimately determines success.

What is the 4-D team building system?

The story of the NASA 4-D Team Building System creation and development goes back to a series of very dramatic and costly mistakes at NASA. It started with the failure of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded and killed all seven crew members in 1986. This was followed in 1990 by the optical flaw that rendered useless the US$1.7 billion Hubble Telescope. The programme to correct that error cost a further US$60 million. In both cases the official investigation reports identified NASA’s organisational culture and decision-making processes as being a key factor contributing to the failures. The investigators found that there had been clear indications of inconsistencies much earlier in the projects—but why did the project teams fail to rigorously pursue these indicators? What NASA discovered to their cost was that social context will drive the ultimate result, i.e. how we engage within a culture and how we react to the

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Figure 1| Four dimensions of the 4-D system

different influences and pressures imposed by that culture. The cornerstone is that individuals behave differently in different situations and under different pressures i.e. in different social contexts. Learning from these grave mistakes Dr Charles Pellerin, the then Director of Astrophysics at NASA, highlighted the fact that many of the problems were the result of the poor communication with contractors and stakeholders and a lack of transparency in how decisions are made. He used his background in physics and his success in leading technical teams to develop the 4-D team building process. Most other team building programmes focus primarily on the personalities of the individual team members but ignore the context within which the team works. Only by addressing the social context as an integral part of the team building process can any team really understand how to improve its performance. Dr Pellerin realised that teams are often so focused on their task that they fail to notice, much less manage, their team’s social context. The 4-D Team Building process teaches teams how to recognise and manage context, and provides a common

L&D techniques

language to communicate the challenges that arise within that context. The 4-D system uses an online assessment tool to analyse team and individual performance in four ‘dimensions’ (see Figure 1). These insights enable teams to see how each member contributes to their team’s behavioural norms, appreciate the individual styles of the team members and ultimately create high performing teams. The 4-D online assessments make a team’s social context not just visible, but directly manageable. The 4-D system uses periodic re-assessments to track and benchmark:

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the performance of the team;

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changes in individuals’ job performance; and

•

changes in business impact.

How does it work?

To address the social context and the oftencompeting influences teams face, the system has been developed as an integrated approach. The 4-D online assessments and re-assessments, coordinated workshops, and coaching sessions are all carefully designed to stimulate open discussion in order to address potentially negative behaviours and move the team towards the positive behaviours that create high-performing teams. The starting point is the 4-D assessment tool. Informed by these assessments the team participates in one-on-one coaching and workshops where they are led through an exploration of the assessment results. Trainers work with the team, through action learning techniques, to address specific team challenges and demonstrate how the team can shift the context, realign their actions and behaviours, and re-apply the results back at work.

The re-assessments enable the improvement in a team’s performance to be quantified over time and allow clear measurement of the ROI. The knowledge that there will be ongoing re-assessments also helps to develop a much higher level of motivation and engagement within the team. Einstein inspired my development of the 4-D tool with his famous quote, “You cannot solve a problem with the level of thinking that created it.” But I say that:

“

You cannot solve a problem in the context that created it.

Charles Pellerin

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HR management might feel that many team building training models and workshops use similar tools but once the team goes back to the real world they fail to achieve long term results and ongoing improvements. The NASA 4-D system is different in that the structured elements of the 4-D process

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are all supported by and underpinned with ongoing re-assessments and coaching, which provide powerful motivation for teams to maintain their new behaviours. This creates a true learning environment for practical application. Key features of the NASA 4-D Team Building System:

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Creates and sustains high performing teams Focuses on preventing failures/ addressing challenges Addresses the influence of the organisational culture on the team Tracks and benchmarks teams, divisions, and organisations Provides an Integrated approach— assessments, workshops, coaching and reassessments Bases process on evidence from 30 years of NASA analysis and tracking on 200 NASA projects

• • • •

•

How do you know it works?

At the start of 4-D process each team’s effectiveness is quantified into quintiles based on the 4-D assessments. These assessments have been used to track the performance of about 200 NASA projects over several years. The project, engineering and management teams and their performance have

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...the official investigation reports identified NASA’s organisational culture and decision making processes as being a key factor contributing to the failures.

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Figure 2| 198 NASA Teams with Multiple Assessments

been systematically measured, benchmarked and tracked over the course of over 2,000 workshops using a structured measurement system. One of the central factors with the 4-D system is the ongoing improvement teams demonstrate. Most teams will choose to undertake multiple assessments as they strive for improvement over time. As can be seen from the figure above, of the NASA teams analysed, they all demonstrated continuous improvement. The grey diamond shape indicates the teams’ performance or efficiency level measured during their first assessment. Those teams in the top quintile started at an 84% level of efficiency while those in the bottom quintile were only 53% efficient. The black triangles mark the results of the subsequent reassessments. As can be seen no matter where the teams were performing when they under took their first assessment every team demonstrated significant improvement with each reassessment. The most noticeable impact has been the increase in level of performance for the teams that started in the lowest quintile. Using the 4-D process they show an average increase in performance from 53% to 75%. The 4-D system also improved the bestperforming teams. Those teams that started as top performers further increased their performance— achieving 90% efficiency over time.

L&D techniques

L&D to drive business performance| Insights from a host of speakers at AmCham’s Human Resource Conference 2010, which focused on HR’s role in helping to drive business performance. Organisations as organisms

Tony Tyler, Chief Executive, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., gave an insightful opening keynote on high performance in a people business. He spoke about overcoming the unique challenges that the aviation industry presents. He said, “Its natural condition is crisis.” It is very competitive, heavily operational and governed by tight legislation. Furthermore, they are faced with growing expectations of customers and shareholders and an ever-growing and divergent workforce incorporating three generations with different aspirations and expectations and then of course volcanic eruptions—most notably the disruptions earlier in the year to European air traffic caused by the Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajökull. Tyler views Cathay as, “An organism—a series of complex relationships among human beings.” For this organism to survive and grow there must be interaction and solid relationships. He pointed out that as human beings we are not purely rational, but we are rational and emotional, and stress increases the influence of emotion and the likelihood of non-rational behaviour. It also decreases discretionary effort and often affects employees’ other roles as husband or wife, parent, child or friend. Aviation requires creative problem solving, innovation and responsiveness—not stress. Tyler noted that sometimes problems appear to come out of the blue, quoting Gary Hamel of Fortune

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Magazine, who said: “Every business is successful until it’s not.” Effective people management is vital; therefore Cathay invests heavily in growing their team internally—especially for top management. As part of their development managers move departments, exposing them to a wide spectrum of responsibilities and job functions. Exchanges with other organisations to gain insight and perspective enable fresh thinking and encourage people to challenge the status quo.

Through this process they were able to consolidate and assimilate HR functions. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch were two different organisations with different populations—Bank of America was predominantly retail, while Merrill Lynch was wealth management and investment. The two organisations still remain and Dickson said, “Fundamentally it worked because the leadership made it work and there was a shared determination to ensure both companies survive.”

Bank on it

Action learning

Moira Dickson, Senior Vice President, HR—Head of HR risk, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Asia Pacific offers insight to working in a people business, the risks involved and the lessons learned in the past, most notably during the merger of The Bank of America and Merrill Lynch which she described as very much ‘a live experience’. Dickson explains that during the merger a ‘back to basics’ approach was adopted. Every HR executive worked with the head of business to establish key requirements and needs of both banks and conduct cultural assessment and foster strong relations. Business objectives were consolidated to one sheet and were targeted, specific and consolidated and therefore measurable. It required a huge integrated effort over six weeks. The first quarterly review was conducted with all business leaders and regional HR leadership.

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The conference was rounded off by Alvin Miyasato, Regional Programme Manager—Leadership Development for Asia Finance, Intel Asia. According to Miyasato, people learn more effectively on the job, therefore Intel Asia has initiated action learning, which he described as, “The combining of learning with work and work with learning for the benefit of the enterprise.” Combining action learning and business objectives created an infusion of new ideas. Furthermore, Intel was able to build and test the talent pipeline. Through its leadership action learning programme, Intel found that HR facilitation is impacted by a lack of business acumen so HR personnel are now given a crash course in topics they will be working on. The feedback has been very positive and helped with strategic road mapping for the future.

L&D techniques

Building an L&D framework| Clare Allum, Asia-Pacific Leader, Tax, Ernst & Young, talks about designing a framework for learning and development, the challenges it presents and her L&D successes in a diverse business environment. ‘Ernst & Young and You’ (EYU) is how Allum’s company develops its people—a framework that extends beyond learning and development and formal learning. It is implemented through stakeholder engagement, learning, experiences and coaching. Allum said that their innovation is encouraging people to learn more effectively from on-the-job experiences. She explained that Ernst & Young is a very rankbased organisation. People join as graduates, spending a couple of years at staff level and work their way up, ultimately being promoted to executive director or partner. From a learning and development perspective they have a big chunk of intelligent and bright people they need to keep entertained. The business is quite diverse with a lot of different skill sets to deal with different clients. This requires specialised learning alongside a common curriculum.

Implementation: building stakeholder engagement Allum advised, “You must build engagement with stakeholders and you need to act as marketers.” She added that it is important to spend time talking to people and showing them why things need to be done. Get people to focus on what they want to achieve from a business perspective and how that can be done. In order for Ernst & Young to be a leading tax practice, it is necessary to build and drive specialisation, deepen skills, increase productivity and retain and develop the best people. This can be done by providing development and a clear career path within the organisation.

Delivering the right experience

To ensure people get learning experience on the job it is down to resource managers and the tools for resource management. In the tax industry, the typical situation is that someone becomes a specialist at an early stage, which gives a very narrow skill set. This leads to boredom, especially with Gen-Y, therefore it is crucial to offer employees a wide range of experiences. They’ve tried to get people to think about delivering experiences more systematically and implemented tools for managing people, such as Retain–a people management tool.

Experience maps and rotations

Experience maps are similar to learning maps and competency frameworks, but they detail not only the skills, but also the work and the technical learning needed to become a rounded professional. Experience maps are increasingly consistent and regulated and are embedded into performance management. Technical experience is also defined and employees may have to proactively demand some of these experiences. Regarding job rotations Ernst & Young faces similar challenges to other companies. They have rejigged the model so rotations for Greater China will be far more systematic so people know they will move around the department. The downside is making people do something outside their comfort zone. On the upside, for young people it will set up stepping stones for progression and change.

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Training & mentoring| Statistics have shown that despite increasing wages, employees are still on the lookout for that better offer and would sooner leave you than love you.

In the war for talent, organisations need to carefully analyse not only why their staff turnover may be so high, but also what effective retention strategies they are using are and how they can be enhanced. One avenue that often plays a critical role in aiding staff retention is training and development. And at the end of the day, personnel development is really all about personal development. In today’s competitive employment market, pay and conditions are only part of the challenge of attracting and retaining the right staff. Many top candidates pick and choose between several employers and the most forward thinking among today’s up-andcomers are looking beyond the current job offer. In such an environment, opportunities for personal development are an increasingly attractive part of any employment package. Potential employees want to know that they will continue to develop skills and knowledge in their new occupation. As such, savvy employers are ensuring that personal development is a selling point of their strategy to attract and retain staff. This is particularly the case at more senior levels. Many companies provide training programmes for new employees but neglect the ongoing needs of executives and junior executives. The two obvious methods of staff development are training and mentoring programmes. The differences

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between training and mentoring were once fairly clear. Training involved specific, task focused interventions relating to the acquisition of particular skills and lasted for a predetermined time frame. Training also tended to be group focused. By contrast, mentoring was an ongoing, fairly informal and unstructured process in which an experienced mentor would provide friendly advice and support rather than actual teaching to their mentee or protégé. However, with the advent of individual coaching as a training mechanism and the development of more structured mentoring, the line between training and mentoring has become increasingly blurred. Whether your company decides to describe a relationship as training, coaching or mentoring, the principles for determining the need, type and provider of development for your staff will be similar.

Training needs analysis

Conducting a detailed analysis of the type of training your company needs would appear to be an absolute must. However it is a step that is neglected surprisingly often. HR consultant Sam Lau explains, “Training Needs Analysis (TNA) should be a no-brainer but many companies overlook it entirely. They know that they should be doing some kind of training and

L&D techniques

they have often booked the sessions with a trainer or coach, often without considering what is most needed in their company, or what exactly they are hoping to get out of the programme.” A training needs analysis is a systematic way to investigate your business training needs and to obtain all the information you require to make informed decisions about the most appropriate and most cost effective training programmes. A good training programme needs analysis will involve a number of stages:

1. Assessment

Before you begin training your staff, you should assess the skills and knowledge that your staff currently holds. This will enable you to assess areas of weakness, but also reveal potential sources of knowledge transfer within your company. In the rage for outsourcing that has occurred in recent years, many companies have neglected potential sources of knowledge within their own company. This is particularly relevant when it comes to coaching and mentoring. Arguably the perfect mentor for any junior executive in your company is a more senior executive in the same company.

2. Analysis

After the assessment phase, it is important to analyse the differential between the skills currently held by your company and the skills needed to move your company forward. In terms of staff retention, this will involve not only analysing the skills most needed by your company, but also a consultation of key staff about their learning needs and wants. Naturally the focus of most HR departments is how a training programme will directly benefit the company’s bottom line. In some cases this is easy to quantify. For example, if your company is hoping to expand the business it does with the Mainland but your staff members lack the necessary linguistic skills, then the benefits of Putonghua lessons are obvious. However, in the case of an up-and-coming executive who is struggling with the stress levels of their new job, the benefits of mentoring from a senior member of the firm are less tangible but will usually be demonstrated in the long-term retention and development of that staff member. Thus, a sensible HR department will not

lose sight of the ameliorating effect training, coaching and mentoring can have on morale and staff retention.

3. Plan appropriate training

Your assessment and analysis should guide your decisions about not only your company’s training needs, but also your decisions about how best to meet those needs. Once the type of training needed has been identified, the next step will be to obtain a training provider, either from within the company or externally. As has been mentioned, many companies overlook talent within their own firm. Whether it is more cost effective to conduct internal training or to outsource training will vary depending on the exact needs identified at the analysis stage. However, in the case of mentoring or coaching it is advisable to consult both the mentor and mentee in the process. Student Advisor at City University, Andrew Phung, says that many companies are, “Strangely heavy handed when it comes to pairing mentors and mentees. The company goes to great trouble to identify potential coaches or mentors and then assigns them without adequately considering the views of the other half of the equation.” Phung contends that a successful coaching or mentor/ mentee relationship is about chemistry and that means that both parties have to view the relationship as productive and helpful. Thus, greater consultation must be given to the mentee.

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TNA (training needs analysis) should be a nobrainer but many companies overlook it entirely.

Conclusion

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Training and development is but one aspect of an effective strategy to reduce staff turnover and in turn improve retention. Furthermore, due to the personal attention inherent in the mentoring process as part of a T&D campaign, the probability that staff will stay onboard is multiplied 100-fold.

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An introduction to ontological coaching To learn to lead for change| By Alan Sieler, Newsfield Institute (Australia) & Petra Loho, Active Communication (Hong Kong)

In a global economy, a company’s people are their greatest asset and taking the time to focus on employee motivation and employee development will reap great benefits. To achieve this it must start with better people management at its very core, i.e. every individual, every manager! Coaching contributes to this by offering an opportunity to improve the skills of self-awareness, managing employees and enhancing their performance. Coaching can deliver this by:

• •

•

Providing deeper self awareness of “what” and “how” you react and communicate Engaging employees’ with their work, making them feel valued and fostering commitment to the organisation Promoting self-responsibility and initiative, and facilitating adaptation to new challenges and change Accommodating and supporting employees’ obligations to their home lives so that they are productive and effective while they are at work.

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By improving the performance of individuals, coaching enables the organisation to achieve superior performance in terms of labour productivity, cost-effective investment in HR, quality and innovation and customer satisfaction.

What is coaching in an executive context? Coaching is a collaborative solution-focused, resultsorientated and systematic process in which the coach facilitates the enhancement of work performance, life experience, self-directed learning and personal growth of the coachee.

Professional coaching is a partnership between a coach and an individual that supports the achievement of results, based on goals set by the individual. Through the process of coaching, individuals focus on the skills and actions needed to successfully produce their personally relevant results. In essence, coaching has two primary facets. First, it is behaviour and performance focused, which means it is concerned with helping individuals perform tasks to the best of their ability. Second, it is person-centred, which means that the individuals being coached are seen to have the important insights.

L&D techniques

A powerful, professional discipline in coaching

“Ontology” is the study of being and Ontological Coaching is about coaching a way of being, as a means of producing major shifts in perception and behaviour throughout all aspects of an individual’s communication. An individual’s way of being can be thought of as the internal reality they live in, which especially includes the relationship they have with themselves. It is from this internal reality that we form a reality about the external world and how we participate in it. Way of being is a dynamic interplay between three spheres of human existence – language, emotions and physiology (body posture). An individual’s performance and effectiveness is shaped by their way of being.

facilitate new ideas and change, as well as enhance performance and productivity?”

Speaking

Of course, speaking is also a key business process. The methodology contains six precise linguistic tools (called basic linguistic acts) that humans use in everyday conversations to create reality and get things done. Typically, people are not aware of how they use, and misuse, these linguistic tools. Awareness of how to intentionally use them produces more effective ways of conversing, relating and performing in workplace settings.

Language

The methodology is based on a new understanding of language and communication developed in the latter part of the twentieth century. The essence of this new understanding is that language consists of listening and speaking and that language is fundamental in creating reality. Language is used to produce outcomes and generate realities. People act from what comprises reality for them. Effective leadership, management, coaching, and team behaviour depends heavily on how people use language. What is done, and how well it is done, is shaped by how people do and do not use language.

Listening

Included in the methodology is a new interpretation and detailed model of the process of listening. Listening is an ever-present part of human interaction in the workplace. The model provides a deeper and more effective way of listening that enhances communication and relationships. Listening is regarded as the crucial factor in communication and is essential for establishing trust and rapport. Listening is a core business process. Research has shown that senior organisational personnel spend much of their time engaged in listening. One important question to be considered is: “Does the listening of organisational personnel

The power of stories and narratives

Stories and narratives are often silent, invisible and in the background of everyday conversations. They reflect the deep culture of organisations and can be major barriers to change. They provide powerful contexts of meaning, shaping what people see as possible and not possible for individual, team and organisational improvement. An essential aspect of using this tool is how to uncover narratives that are destructive and in their place develop powerful and empowering narratives.

Moods and emotions

People are always in some mood or emotion. Moods and emotions permeate everything people do, and constitute a core business process. The methodology contains tools for recognising, managing and shifting moods and emotions. The

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power of moods and emotions is that they always predispose people towards certain behaviours and not others. Speaking and listening, and engaging in conversations, are indispensable forms of human behaviour. How effectively people speak and listen cannot be separated from moods and emotions. Unfortunately, moods and emotions have not been seen as a crucial area of learning for performance improvement. They are an integral part of the effective use of language for effective communication in leadership, management, coaching and team building. In short, they form a crucial dimension of morale and organisational performance. Precise distinctions and tools in the methodology include:

• •

•

Distinguishing between moods and emotions. Recognising and utilising SIX basic moods of life as a deeper level of emotional intelligence, and how they impact on morale and performance. Shifting from negative to positive moods. Using moods and emotions to have more effective and influential communication that builds relationships and long-term collaboration. Engaging in constructive emotional leadership.

Physiology and body posture

This would seem to be an unlikely area of attention in the context of organisational performance and improvement. Like moods and emotions, the body has largely been ignored as a key area of learning that impacts on individual and organisational performance. The importance of the body can be expressed in the following way: our way of being is embodied. The body is always present in how people listen to each other and speak with each other. Speaking is not limited to the vocal chords - it occurs from the body. (This is well known for actors and singers.) An individual’s posture consists of the subtle configurations of muscles and skeleton that

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have been learned throughout life. In many subtle and powerful ways, posture can keep people trapped in negative moods, and negatively impact listening and speaking. Specific tools that are part of this aspect of the methodology are:

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How to use the body to get into more constructive and productive moods. How small shifts in body posture can generate a more positive outlook and produce more effective communication.

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Benefits of ontological coaching

Organisations and individuals who engage in a coaching relationship can expect to experience fresh perspectives on personal challenges and opportunities, enhanced thinking and decisionmaking skills, improved interpersonal effectiveness, and increased confidence in carrying out their chosen work or life roles.

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Traditional corporations have ignored human emotion. They have tried to pretend it didn’t exist or, worse, tried to suppress it. The renewed focus on humanity in organisations requires an understanding of human emotions. To energise employees is to harness emotion. Bad emotions have a bad effect on profit; good emotions are fuel that drives productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction. James Martin, Cybercorp

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L&D techniques

Effective brainstorming

Facilitating employees to think outside the box| A well led brainstorm is an excellent way to quickly draw ideas from a group and develop them collectively. It can be applied to provide solutions to problems, or to generate new strategies and ideas. In stark contrast, a badly facilitated brainstorm can be a time-wasting exercise, which hits efficiency and morale. HR can have an important role to play by identifying effective facilitators and supporting the quality of sessions through training and development. There are a number of ways in which facilitators can more effectively leverage the strengths of groups and create positive environments for creativity. This includes adhering to a number of important ground rules and managing the sessions in a skilled and organised manner.

7 steps toward successful brainstorming

where people with different ideas can share, blend and expand their diverse knowledge. If the main goal of a session is only to collect the creative ideas that are out there, group brainstorms are unnecessary. A web-based system or even an old-fashioned employee suggestion box can perform this limited task. Choosing the right facilitator to head a brainstorming session is of course paramount to ensuring its success. The role should not be given by default to the most senior person; it requires the right kind of personality and a specific set of skills, which must be honed over months or years. HR must identify a group of employees who show a natural ability to facilitate these sessions and seek to utilise and develop their talent. So what must a facilitator be able to do in a session?

The brainstorming process should follow a coherent structure and adhere to certain rules: • • • • • • • •

Define and agree on the objective. Brainstorm ideas and suggestions after having agreed a time limit. Categorise/condense/combine/refine. Assess/analyse effects or results. Prioritise options/rank list as appropriate. Agree action and timescale. Control and monitor follow-up.

• • • • •

The role of facilitators

Breakthroughs occur when people find ways to build on existing ideas, an argument promoted by creativity theorist Andrew Hargadon. This underlines that the facilitator must seek to combine and extend ideas, not just harvest them. The power of group brainstorming comes from creating a safe place

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•

Stand in front of groups and communicate in a clear and interesting manner. Spot opportunities that come up and are not picked up or developed by group. Keep the group’s energy high and raise it if it fades. Control dominating participants and encourage shy members to join in. Keep the group on track and focussed on productive objectives. Use different techniques to draw ideas from the group. Keep the meeting on schedule.

Before a brainstorming session, you should circulate a memo detailing the subject and desired outcomes. Any deadlines and special tasks for participants should be outlined, alongside background

L&D techniques

information and an explanation of the rules. “Creativity comes from a blend of the individual and the collective” as Alex F. Osborn, who popularised brainstorming, has rightly asserted. This means it is important to plan a period of individual brainstorming before the group session takes place. Neglecting individual brainstorming can cut off possible alternatives, as ideas noted on the board/flip-chart can lead or steer participants in a particular direction. Once the group session begins, the atmosphere must be free of judgement, ridicule or negativity. All ideas are welcome and none are belittled or dismissed. By keeping a high tempo to generate ideas, you can keep the internal judge at bay. Everyone should feel like part of the group, as collaborators working towards a common goal. The worst thing a facilitator can do is set up a session where ideas are explicitly rated, ranked and rewarded. Underpinning the desired atmosphere is the need to record every suggestion during the initial phase. Then, at the end of the time limit or when ideas have been exhausted, different coloured pens can be used to categorise, group and connect the random ideas. They can be refined by making new headings or lists, and weaker

ideas can be diplomatically included within other themes to avoid dismissing contributions. This is done in recognition that brainstorming is also an opportunity to build teams and increase morale. Working together, the group must evaluate and analyse the validity of the ideas on the list. Then move the process onto developing and prioritising the ideas into a more finished list or set of actions.

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Facilitating a brainstorm requires the right kind of personality and a specific set of skills, which must be honed over months or years.

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Sessions can typically last for three hours, or one hour for smaller projects. So what can you do in your role as facilitator if the meeting gets mired and sleepy? Take a few minutes to get everyone to stretch and move around, and supply some refreshments to keep blood sugar levels stable. Various techniques are at your disposal to jump-start tiring minds; these include creativity games, showing an amusing video or using humour. As the brainstorm session draws to a close, summarise what has been covered and where you are in the process. Seek feedback from the participants and allocate tasks from the list of ideas, which have been harvested and developed during the session. It is important to implement the actions or ideas agreed upon during the meeting. A timetable must be agreed, and responsibility allocated. After the session, circulate notes, monitor and give feedback. Primarily you are seeking to develop a clear and positive outcome so that people feel their effort and contribution was worthwhile. When people see that their efforts have resulted in action and change, they will be motivated to contribute in future. Brainstorming sessions can be used for more than just generating ideas. They can support your company’s culture and work practices through becoming places to listen, learn and educate. By bringing together staff members with different skill sets and knowledge, new approaches are spread within the company. The explicit goal of a group brainstorm is to generate ideas, but it also acts to enhance team spirit and promote collaborative approaches to work problems. Brainstorming sessions are generally enjoyed by participants and therefore can have a positive impact in terms of the morale within your company.

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Facilitating egos| By Eileen Dowse, Organisational Psychologist & Certified Master Facilitator, Evans & Peck Organisational Development (Hong Kong)

topic of themselves. Ego grows increasingly hungry whenever the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention shifts away from him or her. Therefore, he or she will often provoke conflict to reestablish him or herself as the main subject at hand. Ego is one of the fiercest of all the opponents and the ego will fight to the death when attacked. Egos come in different types as a facilitator and HR managers, you are likely to encounter three types of egos in your meetings.

Taught ego

This is a set of feelings, thoughts and behaviours that we all have learned and copied from our families and significant others. Individuals with taught egos have developed these communication styles and behaviours over time and they know which approach is best in what situation (given their frame of reference). The person using this ego type might be strict, judgmental or quick to form opinions because of the beliefs and morals they have learned and have now come to value. Somewhere in their head, they have a manual on how life should run and they are in place to carry the torch for the cause. In short, they are like a tape recorder replaying and using what they already know and strongly believe. How do you work effectively with people with large egos in a group, so that the situation doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t become unhealthy? Those whose egos have a huge appetite often find it difficult when the discussion strays from the

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Logical ego

Here the ego deals and responds to the here and now. Individuals with logical egos take the best from the past and use it appropriately in the present. This ego type sees people as they are, rather than which

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values and beliefs the person wants to project onto them. The person with this ego type has learned the value of being sensible, logical, detached and calm. They search for factual information on which to make decisions and formulate actions. The person using this ego type might listen patiently and gather data to create a rational decision on the data they have collected. In short they are like a human computer, referencing data and experiences to make decisions in the current reality and move forward.

Instinctive ego

This is a set of feelings, thoughts and behaviours that are more uninhibited, inquisitive, creative and curious. You might experience people with instinctive egos being playful, having tantrums, sulking and becoming impulsive or emotional. The person using this ego type might explore options and in turn make sure the group is having fun during the process. In short they are like Play Dough, molding and creating as they go. Each of these ego types are designed to protect an individual’s psyche from harm and make the person feel more comfortable. They’re neither right nor wrong, it’s simply a matter of taste. For a facilitator the task is to manage these ego types and direct how they might impact the group dynamics. At a recent meeting, I was facilitating a group of highly controlling, competitive executives. It was a group filled with all the ingredients of ‘taught’, ‘logical’ and ‘instinctive’ egos. One gentleman sat at the far end of U-shaped seating formation. He was a peer to the rest of the people in the room. He was a strongly opinionated traditional person and instantly presented himself as a ‘taught ego’. He was not happy that the group was agreeing to take a specific direction in the strategic plan, which was different from the one he had suggested. We had addressed the issues, (economics, personal impact, personnel impact, etc.) and surfaced all relevant information as determined by the group. Everyone in the group verbally agreed to move forward to the next agenda item. This gentleman’s ego began to defend itself because clearly it was feeling vulnerable. On several occasions he attempted sarcastic humor but to no avail. The group would

call him on the ground rules when his behaviour was disruptive and then he ‘backed off’ for a bit. Finally out of frustration (and individual need) he pulled out his laptop and proceeded to type the information being collected from the conversation at the meeting and a side conversation he had started. People were interested in what he was doing and began gathering around him. Some commented on the quality of the information he possessed. It was clear he was hungry for power and control. When I asked if he was willing to share with the whole group what he had captured, he said, “Nah, never mind”, closed his laptop, crossed his arms and lifted his feet onto the table so that the soles of his shoes faced the front of the room. His ‘instinctive ego’ was sulking and having a tantrum. Other egos in the room began to respond. Some ‘taught egos’ voiced their dislike for his actions and commented on how they couldn’t believe how a person could behave in such a manner, “It just wasn’t right...Look how he’s wanting it his way...Who made him the Colonel?”. Some of the ‘logical egos’ asked, “What is really bothering you?” and “Explain why you really thought the idea seems like a better approach?” Other ‘instinctive egos’ in the room began cracking jokes and asked, “Have you taken your Prozac?” or “Is it that time of the month?” Some even offered completely new ideas in hopes of making him happy. It was a regular smorgasbord of egos, a feeding feast for all. Egos, if left unattended in the wrong conditions, can create an unhealthy situation for everyone. It’s a tough call as a facilitator to determine when is the right time and what is the right process for intervening and helping an ego resolve its own discomfort. When dealing with egos in a meeting, there are some dynamics to consider before you intervene and facilitate the situation.

1. Relationship you have with the person Are they a peer, subordinate, client? Are they the same or opposite gender to you? Do they come from a different culture to you? When there are differences in people there are corresponding differences in values, beliefs, how we communicate and how we are expected to communicate.

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clear understanding of whether this is a meeting for the purpose of reaching agreement with all the players—as equals in the room—or are people’s input being considered in the context of roles or positions represented in the room.

4. Mental health of the person

Consider making it clear to any individual or group you are working with, what your role is and what you understand their role to be. Presenting this information up front can help you position your intention when you decide to intervene and facilitate moving more quickly toward a joint resolution.

2. Role the person plays in the group

Some groups have accepted and depend on certain egos that individuals bring to the group. Healthy or not, their ego is a known quantity and something they can depend on for instigating action. Sometimes people are happy and relieved that another’s ego can address a topic they don’t want to address. They have come to depend on this ego or tolerate it because the results are, to them, worth the effort. Consider checking with the group to determine if the behaviour is acceptable. Recognise that people are motivated both by fear and need. If you can determine what a person’s fears are, or what they need, you are well on your way to understanding and addressing their behaviour.

3. Role the person plays in the organisation Some individuals are in higher positions because their ego, behaviour, actions, intelligence and political savvy have in the past served them well. They have achieved their current level in the organisation and know how to behave in order to stay at this level. They have no interest in changing their behaviour. Consider addressing the topic of ‘position’ at the beginning of the meeting. Have a

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I once had an employee who was released from prison after serving a murder sentence. He was considered mentally ill at the time of the murder due to a chemical imbalance. Now that he was taking his medication, he could function normally again in society. Before our group meetings, I would check in with him and see how his day was going—in essence I wanted to know if he was mentally well at that moment. I have clients that I refuse to coach because they are not taking their bipolar meds and if there is a chemical imbalance there is not much you can do until their mental health is treated. Consider checking with others in the group to see if this is usual and acceptable behaviour for this person. If the person is not mentally stable, it will be important to not antagonise or challenge the person’s sense of reality. For them their behaviour makes perfect sense. At this point, you will have to do your best to keep the dialogue flowing smoothly and address the issue off-line. A person’s behaviour can make perfect sense to them. After all, their ego is naturally protecting other issues present unconsciously. Egos are part of the dynamics within a group and need to be managed. The results of the facilitation are affected by your preparation. Setting the tone, purpose, parameters and ground rules before you start a meeting is often key as a proactive measure in working with egos which may surface during a meeting. Facilitation is an experience that involves all your senses. The environment you create (the colours, the sounds, the shared laughter, and taste left in people’s mouths) all impact the experience. Being open to understanding people’s fears and needs and trying to address the real issue causing the behaviour will be necessary for dealing with the issues that surface. The facilitation process as a ritual needs to have a strong beginning and close. It requires an opportunity for the group to celebrate its success.

L&D techniques

Keeping learners interested

Advice on conducting L&D programmes| Michael Fraccaro, Head of Learning, Talent, Resourcing & Organisation Development, Asia Pacific, HSBC; Margaret Chiu, Senior VP, Group HR, AIA and John Allison, VP HR, APAC, FedEx Express share advice on L&D strategies.

Sustainable L&D solutions

Often the focus on training is programme specific, such as a training programme on customer service skills. Fraccaro shared his experiences from HSBC, explaining that when looking at development HSBC looks at the longer term benefits for the organisation and for the individual. From a customer service perspective, he explained this would mean training programmes would be linked into the business strategy perspective, as customer service is extremely important in terms of repeat business and maintaining the brand in the marketplace. He added, “The development aspect is also aiming towards looking for ways of making sure the solution you’re designing is sustainable.” Chiu also highlighted the fact that by encouraging, nurturing and developing the knowledge, commitment and professionalism of staff, AIA had been able to cater to and anticipate the needs of customers—internal, external and stakeholders. Chiu added, “We trace our roots in Asia Pacific back more than 90 years and we take best practices from all these markets to create a solid and robust training and development platform. This provides a wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry and markets in which we operate. It’s a huge advantage operating across the different markets because it affords a better understanding of customers and their expectations.”

Relevance to today’s marketplace

Fraccaro explained the importance that organisations look for training that is relevant to today’s environments. He advised HR to ensure programmes are relevant for both the time when they are rolled out and the businesses they are aimed at. Moreover, they must demonstrate impact to the business objectives of the organisation. He added, “Flexibility and relevance are the key factors in the training design.” In January 2010, HSBC launched the HSBC global induction or discovery programme, which is a globally consistent programme for on boarding new staff. The programme covers individuals, even before they start at the organisation, on what they do on day one, buddy and mentor systems, and a checklist of what managers need to do on day one through to the first three months of their employment. Also included within the induction is a half-day discovery programme, which focuses less on organisational structures and more on culture and values that exist within the organisation. Fraccaro explained that in this way, “The experience of an employee in Hong Kong and the experience of a new joiner in Brazil will be consistently the same. What will be different is that every country will have a slightly different, countryspecific induction for the individuals, but the general concepts will be exactly the same for each person.”

Diversity in L&D programmes

Another important point raised by Chiu was that of diversity and its importance to the success of AIA. She went on to explain, “We recruit from a cross-section of industries. Similarly, our geographic

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(Left to Right) Michael Fraccaro, Head of Learning, Talent, Resourcing and Organisation Development, Asia Pacific, HSBC and Joseph Chan, Assistant Manager, Operation and Process Management Training, HSBC

footprint across 15 markets in Asia provides ample opportunities for our people to get on-the-job training in a cross-cultural environment to expand their exposure and perspective. Depth and breadth of experience ensures our training and development platform evolves in tandem with changing economic landscape as well as changing needs of our customers.” Chiu concluded, “Companies should take a long-term view when formulating their training and development strategy while ensuring that it aligns closely with the vision and overall business strategy of the company. Develop an approach that leverages the strengths of your existing platform and infrastructure that is also dynamic enough to meet new needs.”

Keeping learners interested

To keep programmes interesting and relevant, Fraccaro explained, “We try to use a variety of integrated learning experiences, such as InstructorLed Training and e-learning to complement and reinforce key objectives. Depending upon job roles some training is mandatory particularly in sales roles. But staff can also build their skills through a variety of programmes they can elect to attend. There is a balance between what the organisation expects and what an individual can choose to do.”

Training approach during lean times

John Allison, Vice President of HR in the Asia Pacific Division of FedEx Express pointed out that it hadn’t just been in the last year that thinking had

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Margaret Chiu, Senior VP, Group HR, AIA

changed, but rather there had been a gradual shift over a period of time. He said, “We’ve seen more programmes that lean towards development. During the economic downturn companies were not adding or replacing staff—so focus on training slowed down. On the other hand it was an opportunity to focus on development programmes—taking existing staff to a next level.” At HSBC the approach to training during the financial crisis was to ensure programmes were:

• • • •

strategic in how they developed solutions; relevant to the business, and the individual; leading—by looking at best practices; and efficient not duplicating effort—achieved through the one HSBC concept.

Fraccaro went on to explain how customers’ expectations of staff in banks and financial institutions had changed—so training for employees in customer-facing roles was focused on how they can deal with issues customers are asking. The major changes have been increases in government and regulatory intervention, particularly with the selling process. Fraccaro explained, “We’ve had to adapt and refine our training to ensure we capture these differences in the regulatory environment. Licensing for employees selling products is more

L&D techniques

rigid; therefore before an employee sells something they must complete the training and development and then demonstrate their knowledge.” Chiu pointed out the importance of acquiring new skill sets and knowledge base from external sources to allow organisations to quickly build their own inhouse capabilities during times of change. She cited the examples of AIA, who last year launched an extensive re-branding campaign in the region. Chiu pointed out, “This provides an excellent opportunity to maximise synergies across the 15 markets in all areas, including consolidating our training and development efforts under one single platform.” She added, “The Strategic Initiative Office is critical to ensuring all people have strong project management skills and all changes whether macro or micro must be beneficial to the company.” In particular during the economic crisis, AIA remained committed to help develop the next generation of executives and leaders for the benefit of the industry as a whole. Therefore during the summer of 2009, AIA offered internships to 30 students from local universities to give them a better understanding of the insurance industry and core skills for the various functions.

John Allison, Vice President of HR, Asia Pacific Division of FedEx Express

Attributes of a good trainer Fraccaro detailed three key attributes of a good trainer: 1. An understanding of people and business. 2. An ability to connect with people—building rapport and credibility is essential. 3. A commercial mindset —there are budget, resource, staff and time limitations. The reason for attending training must be clear and have an impact. Joseph Chan, Assistant Manager, Operation and Process Management Training, HSBC— who won a Distinguished Trainer Award last year—also shared his views on what it takes to be a good trainer. Chan explained, “To be a good trainer you need to know the subject or product well in order to communicate it to your learners. Good design of your training programme is vital, from understanding employee needs to developing the training experience and then delivering it in a meaningful way.” He added, “Equally important is a sense of humour because everyone wants a fun learning experience.” Chan also highlighted the importance of passion both for the job and for people development. He stated, “I want to help people to learn and I love interacting with people. Connectivity is important, particularly to understand their needs. Trainers are a medium, connecting the subject with the individual. I hope that I develop people as individuals and by doing so contribute to the company.” Fraccaro concluded by saying that the key is passion. “The training profession is a job that requires a lot of energy. You have to have a global mindset and a passion around connecting with people—that is a key differentiator of a good trainer from a great trainer.”

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Lights, camera, action!

Action learning solves any problem...and quickly|

Action learning is a process used to solve complex problems, develop leaders, build teams and expand corporate capability. It has become the method of choice for organisations such as Samsung, Nokia, GE and Boeing in order to enhance quality, cut costs, create new products and services, and instigate organisational cultural change. In an action learning programme, there are six core components and two

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ground rules. To get the most benefit out of action learning, all of these components and ground rules should be engaged..

Component 1: a problem

For learning to take place, there first needs to be a problem, something to work out. This can be in the form of a project, challenge, opportunity or task,

L&D techniques

but it needs to be urgent, significant and the team’s responsibility to resolve. If we look at Dr Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the items or tasks that should be prioritised first are the items that are both important and urgent.

Component 2: an action learning team

Ideally, there should be four to eight people in an action learning team in order for the process to be effective. Beyond eight people means the number of potential interactions expand greatly thereby increasing the complexity and therefore compromises urgency, i.e. the ability of the group solve the problem in the time frame allowed.

Component 3: reflective questioning & listening

Asking questions is the order of the day in an action learning session. Questions are asked to clarify what exactly the problem is so that concrete platforms exist for group members to reflect on and pose possible solutions before taking any action.

Component 4: action strategies

For the fruits of labour to be at all meaningful and for practical learning to take place, there needs to be action taken and reflected on. Unless the group is able to go beyond proposing recommendations and take action on the problem identified, then it may lose its energy, creativity and commitment to the problem.

Component 5: learning commitment

While solving immediate company problems are obviously beneficial to the company in the shortterm, the greater long-term benefits lie in the wisdom that is gained by each member in the group and the group as a whole. Furthermore, if such wisdom can be applied organisation wide—so much the better.

Component 6: action learning coach

The role of the action learning coach is to encourage reflection on what the group is learning and how they are solving problems.

The Action Leaning coach helps the team achieve their challenges, processes and strategies as well as the implications of these processes.

Ground rule 1: response only

For effective action learning to take place, as we have noted, questions are asked to clarify the problem. Thus, nobody in an action learning group is allowed to make a direct statement; any statement must be in response to a question. The action learning coach also ensures that this rule is obeyed.

Ground rule 2: coach intervention

The action learning coach is allowed to intervene whenever they identify that a learning experience has taken pace in order for the whole group to be able to reflect on that leaning experience. The action learning coach may also ‘intervene’ at the end of an action learning session. Action learning is a win-win process. It benefits the whole organisation as well as individuals and teams. HR managers will find this a useful tool in all aspects of talent management from succession planning and leadership development to enhancing inter-staff relations and developing competencies. It is a universal tool that can be applied to any problem in any context: organisational or familial.

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Managing stress in the workplace| By Dr Justin Grayer, Clinical Psychologist, Think Talk Psychology.

Dr Justin Grayer, Clinical Psychologist shares his advice on how stress in the workplace arises, and what both individuals and organisations can do to help reduce occupational stress.

What is stress?

In general, stress occurs when a person believes that the demands made on them are greater than their ability to cope. In any given situation, for example, losing an important client, a person makes an appraisal of the potential consequences—such as losing their job—and whether these are dangerous. Subsequent thoughts assess their capacity to cope with the potential negative effects, for example, ‘My home and family are safe’ vs ‘I will lose everything’. Their assessment of how well they will cope with the situation is what leads to the amount of stress that they will experience. A cognitive-behavioural approach to occupational stress places central emphasis on a person’s thought processes: it is the person’s perception of the event, the consequences and their ability to cope that mediates their stress response. This is not to say that actual events are not stressful, but that there is an interaction between the environment and the individual. This explains why different people find different situations stressful.

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Stress is a normal human emotion and it is not possible, nor would it be helpful, to eliminate it. A lack of stress can lead to people feeling bored and frustrated at work. However, too much stress can lead to people feeling irritable, overloaded and exhausted. Short bursts of stress can be unpleasant; nevertheless, they are not harmful. Conversely, when stress continues for a long time and people do not have time to recuperate it can become a problem. Stress manifests in a person’s thoughts such as ‘I won’t get this project finished on time’ or ‘It’s not fair that I have to deal with this’, emotions like anger, anxiety, sadness, guilt, shame; and behaviours such as drinking or smoking more, changes in eating patterns, putting off doing things, shouting, passive behaviour, withdrawal, taking on too much, lower work standards. Stress also effects the body because when danger is perceived the brain sends a signal to the sympathetic nervous system to prepare the body to defend itself, either to fight or to runaway—the fight or flight response. Physical changes people may notice are: a rise in heart rate and blood pressure, faster breathing and more muscle tension, sweat to cool down the body, sharper vision, a dry mouth and slower digestion. Thus, stress affects the individual, their ability to do their job and to manage relationships.

L&D techniques

Individual approaches to managing stress

A sensible place to start is at the beginning. It can be helpful for people to identify which situations they find stressful so that they can prepare for them both practically and emotionally. Further, by becoming aware of their own ‘stress signature’ people will recognise when they are stressed earlier on, which increases their chances of successfully managing it. People can find these two tasks difficult, so it can be helpful to talk to trusted family, friends or colleagues as they may be well placed to share their observations. Given that a person’s view of the world is central to the way they perceive work related situations, it can be helpful for staff to become more familiar with their thinking styles. Thinking styles can prevent someone from looking at a situation objectively or assessing all of the available information. The following questions can help people to evaluate their thinking:

• •

What is the evidence for/against the thought? What is the worst/best/most realistic outcome that can happen and can I cope with it? What would I say to a friend in a similar situation? What has happened in the past?

Unfortunately, sometimes a person’s most dire work related predictions are realistic, so challenging their thoughts may be unhelpful. If the predicament cannot be changed it may be appropriate to temporarily distract themselves from thinking about the difficulty, or conversely, to accept their thoughts about the situation. Compounding a person’s sense of stress is their belief that they should be able to control the excessive demands made on them. This is not possible and becoming more comfortable with uncertainty and a lack of control is essential in stress management. Hence, the aim is not to get rid of stress, but to learn to manage it better.

A person’s behaviour can contribute to the maintenance or resolution of a stressful experience. If a problem, such as double booking of meeting rooms, can be solved then it makes sense to look for solutions rather than to avoid the problem or only to manage the emotions that arise from the difficulty. However, if the problem cannot be changed then trying to change it may be a frustrating and futile experience. In these circumstances it is important to manage the emotions which arise from the situation. Behaviour outside of work contributes to a person’s ability to cope at work. It is important to have a good work-life balance, to have opportunities for enjoyment and achievement, like hobbies, and to take annual leave. Research has found that people who leave work for a stimulating and supportive environment experience have lower levels of after-hours stress than colleagues who do not return to a similar environment. This is because people who engage in activities outside of work spend less of their leisure time thinking about work. This is important to note, as 60% of Hong Kong employees recently indicated that they had a poor work life balance and 49% reported that they had no time for their partner and family (Source: Community Business, State of WorkLife Balance in Hong Kong Survey 2008). In 2006, a Hong Kong government survey found exercise was reported to be the most frequently utilised stress coping method. Other ways to manage the physical component of stress are relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation or visualisation, controlled breathing, meditation and yoga. Directly changing emotions can be difficult as they are ethereal, however, a person who explores their thoughts, adapts their behaviour and manages their bodily feelings will notice changes to their emotions. Additionally, people can talk to others who make them feel better. Unfortunately, there are times when people cannot turn to someone they know for support. In these situations, it may be helpful to call a helpline such as the Samaritans or to seek professional help. In summary, finding ways to manage stress is like developing a really good tool kit: the more tools a person has, the more likely one of them is going to work in any given situation. Initially, it may be a process of trial and

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error; however, as a person explores and practises different approaches they increase the utility of their tool kit and are likely to have the tools to do the job. Thinking styles which contribute to stress:

1. All or nothing If I don’t get everything right all of the time then I am a failure

2. Catastrophising If I don’t meet this deadline I will get sacked

3. Focusing on the negatives and ignoring the positives Nothing has gone right today

4. Mind reading I can tell from looking at my boss that they think I am incompetent

5. I-can’t-stand-it-itis If I have to work with this colleague again I won’t be able to bear it

6. Should-itis I should be able to do this, there is no excuse

Why should organisations manage occupational stress?

The current economic situation is creating levels of stress and anxiety within organisations, which have not been seen in decades, if ever. This climate increases the likelihood that staff will see the work demands made on them as

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greater than their ability to cope, which in turn raises the stress barometer; thus, a negative cycle of overwhelming stress and reduced occupational performance develops. When the workforce perceives work pressure as too high this can lead to an organisation being overloaded and exhausted; paradoxically, when perceived pressure is too low staff can be frustrated or bored, thus under perform. Optimal organisational performance occurs when a company is able to manage the workload so that the workforce perceives some stress–not too little, not too much.

Organisational approaches to managing stress

Managing occupational stress is a challenge for organisations as different employees respond in their own way to different situations. It is not possible for organisations to develop a panacea approach to occupational stress, as one size does not fit all. Therefore, organisations need to tackle occupational stress on a number of different fronts:

Primary interventions Aimed at ameliorating conditions that generate stress in the workforce such as role clarity. Secondary interventions Designed to help staff moderate their stress response such as identifying helpful and unhelpful beliefs, and to manage daily occupational tasks like time management. Tertiary interventions Psychological support for individuals who have become stressed to the point of distress or where stress is impairing a person’s ability to work.

Primary interventions

A good first step is to carry out a stress audit, a staff survey aimed at eliciting aspects of the organisation’s culture and tasks which employees

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find particularly stressful. This highlights difficulties related to particular teams, tasks, ‘level’ of employee or to general organisational culture, such as management style and reward systems. However, a stress audit is only helpful if management proactively respond to the findings; to not respond may elicit staff apathy. Research has identified a number of organisational factors that contribute to occupational stress. These include firstly, excessive job demands such as work overload and difficult work shifts/patterns. Secondly, a lack of job control and autonomy regarding the speed or nature of decisions. Thirdly, low social support either emotional support such as trust and social cohesion, or instrumental support such as resource and assistance. Hence, an organisation that sets realistic goals, encourages people to become engaged in managing their workload and facilitates a supportive culture will experience lower levels of staff distress. In today’s economic climate many employees are concerned about job security. Change needs to be managed and communicated clearly to people. When companies do start recruiting, as many already have, they need to consider whether potential employees will be both role competent and culture competent: i.e. do the person’s goals and behaviour fit with the organisation’s culture? Employees who are both role and culture competent will experience a more satisfactory work life. Despite financial and political constraints on employee remuneration, companies can demonstrate their commitment to the workforce by actively engaging them in conversations about career pathways and training. Although this takes time out of an already busy day, it is time well invested when the result is a workforce that is more enthused and dedicated to the company’s aims and objectives, thus increasing productivity and reducing absenteeism. Conversely, people who are genuinely unwell—physically or emotionally— should be encouraged to take off the necessary time to recuperate. There is a cost attached to the burgeoning culture of ‘presenteeism’. Flexible work arrangements and equal opportunity policies such as sexual orientation, race and disability

also demonstrate to staff that they are valued. However, policies must be clearly demonstrable both internally and externally to increase staff commitment and brand loyalty respectively.

Secondary interventions

In addition to developing the right culture organisations need to ensure their workforce has the occupational and psycho-social skills to preempt and manage stress as it arises. ‘Secondary interventions’ include the promotion of healthier lifestyles; guidance in managing the emotional, behavioural, physiological and mental aspects of stress, and skills in managing occupational tasks and the working environment. Cognitive-behavioural coaching, either as individuals or in small groups, can help people to understand the role of their thoughts in the stress

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process. For example, commonly held unhelpful thought patterns that contribute to stress include ‘expecting the worst to happen’ and ‘mind reading’ others instead of directly communicating with them. Naturally, these thoughts influence a person’s emotions, behaviour and how their body feels. Training staff to become aware of their own thought biases and to evaluate their thinking provides them with a tool to moderate their stress response. To manage the physical component of stress, people can engage in activities or coping behaviours such as relaxation using, for example, progressive muscle relaxation or visualisation; controlled breathing exercises; meditation; yoga and general exercise. In 2006, a Hong Kong government survey found exercise was reported to be the most frequently utilised stress coping method. Companies can provide information on the benefits

of, and how to access, these activities. Initiatives aimed at promoting exercise, stopping smoking and moderate drinking can improve the overall wellbeing of a workforce. Information is key and face-to-face workshops or online updates on daily occupational processes such as time management, assertiveness training, social skills and problem solving will enable employees to work more effectively. For example, research has found that approximately five minutes of planning at the start of the day can save about one hour in a seven hour day. Staff members who have good communication skills create a more comfortable working environment and increase productivity as clearly explained tasks reduce error time. Additionally, people who are assertive and stand up for their own rights in such a way that they do not violate the rights of another person are better able to regulate their workload which means that they are less likely to be under or overloaded. Problem solving is an important occupational skill, however, people vary as to how good they are at it. Training in problem solving and goal setting can create a workforce that is able to think about solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. This skill means that people are more likely to believe that they can cope with their work demands and are consequently less likely to experience overwhelming stress.

Tertiary interventions

Regardless of the efforts of the most conscientious organisation there will be people who become distressed within the work environment and need additional support. It is unusual that an organisation is able to directly provide psychological care. However, organisations can develop relationships with external bodies that are able to provide psychological care for their workforce. At the very least companies should make information available to their employees via their intranet on appropriately trained local psychologists. However, organisations should be aiming higher, either by providing comprehensive medical insurance that covers the provision of psychotherapy, as most policies do not cover psychotherapy, or by providing employee assistance programmes.

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Motivating staff for better performance: manager shortcomings| Employees need to be motivated to do the work set for them and a recent study shows that the level of motivational skills in some managers is not as high as could be expected. According to a recent European study, employers need to be more hands-on when aiding their managersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; motivation of poorer performing staff. The study shows that whilst top-performing staff members are fairly easy to manage, managers are not so skilled in handling those who do not perform well. As a result, companies are missing out on opportunities for greater organisational performance. The study covered 175 businesses across Europe, receiving opinions from 5,500 employees. It was

shown that 66% of top performers agreed that their immediate managers fared well in relating organisational and performance management issues to staff, whilst the figure was decidedly lower among poorer performing employers. It was found that less than 30% of those interviewed thought their manager performed well in rewarding employees for performance or indeed linking personal performance to rewards. It seems that to encourage a greater standard of performance, managers need to be better at determining their objectives and attaining the right communication links with their staff, particularly with those employees who are underachieving.

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Employees will generally perform at a higher level if they are fully aware of the objectives that are set out for them. Another recent survey, which was carried out amongst 1,500 employees from small to large organisations around the UK, stated that UK managersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; inability to give employees a clear indication of what is required of them, as well as an impaired ability to motivate staff and deal with those who under-perform, is having a detrimental effect on company performance. The survey found that 77% of employees interviewed were concerned that their manager did not show interest in them, 90% claimed their manager did little or nothing about employees who underachieved, 79% stated that their manager did not pinpoint clear goals and 89% stated that their manager did not consider different approaches and ideas. Further research found that in the UK alone, over HKD 450 million each year was being wasted on poor performing members of staff. Two thirds of those interviewed as part of the survey blamed line managers for their lack of enthusiasm in motivational matters So, how do organisations deal with this problem? Good managers may motivate their staff using several methods:

Regular feedback

To begin with, give regular and ongoing feedback, making sure that time is spent covering the positive aspects of each of your employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work roles. Yes, employees need to be made aware of their failings, but there are ways and means of doing this. Using a positive spin to show an employee how to improve in a certain area, for example, helps without the employee feeling they have been given a dressing down that reduces their morale.

Personalised reward schemes

You could use reward schemes, but should you really have to bribe your employees to do the work they have been set? No, but rewarding them for working harder than expected and achieving set targets and time-related objectives is a good way to motivate your staff to go above and beyond the call of duty as

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and when necessary. You can reward your staff with gifts rather than money, but ensure it is something the staff member would want or actually use.

Non-monetary incentives

Other types of benefits that could be used as motivational incentives include longer lunch hours and later start times. Flexibility is appreciated by all staff, and this in turn would encourage them to achieve their objectives.

Listen

A good manager will listen and take onboard any problems that their members of staff might have, whether work-related or otherwise. So, a manager also needs to act as a part-time therapist, again stressing the importance of having good social and people skills. Employees want and need someone who is trustworthy, and can guide them in their work. If this basic function is not in practise, then the employees will not respond well.

Making it happen

The points outlined above may appear to be just common sense, but HR managers should ensure that organisations make all managers aware of what is required of them in terms of motivating their team and providing help to keep this ongoing. Organisations, as a whole, need to take more time determining whether or not the managers they have selected are keeping their staff motivated and happy.

Training up managers

Employers should also aid their management staff to motivate poorer performing staff members through providing adequate training. There are a plethora of companies offering such training courses for managers. When selecting an appropriate one it is desirable that managers learn to get the best out of their employees by understanding exactly what powers staff performance. Training can also include help with understanding reward schemes, personal motivation, renegotiating job descriptions to suit individual motivational possibilities, applying correct targets, dealing with employees who under-perform and effective disciplinary procedures.

L&D techniques

One-on-one

Why mentorship can be an ace card for HR| By Annie Yap, CEO, GMP Search International (GSI)

There is a well-known adage which says that experience is the best teacher. However, pure experience alone is an untamed fire – many a time one would get burnt trying to harness its power. So the best way is to learn from someone else who has mastered the fire. Having someone there to guide your directions and decisions clears away the ‘trial-and-error’ nature of experience. This is the basis of mentorship. In reality, the relationship between mentor and protégé may not be as archetypical as it is between

Socrates and Plato or Yoda and Luke Skywalker. But amongst the many modes of learning that people can engage in, mentorship is the most effective avenue to impart skills. Mentoring is a focused transference of skills from a senior to a junior through real-time guidance and application. In the corporate world, mentorship as a formally structured arrangement with clearly defined objectives is recognised for effectiveness, but not widely implemented, even though it has proven to

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be the best modus operandi or solution to some pressing workplace issues like induction-training, career development and succession-planning. When utilised successfully, an organisation can ultimately kindle the best performance out of their employees, both mentor and mentee, by connecting the new and old.

Is the collaborative nature between mentor and mentee that makes the relationship dynamic and beneficial to all. Mentorship breaks barriers within an organisation by fostering both upward and downward respect amongst colleagues.

The protégé

Mentoring programmes can be instrumental in making the best out of an organisation’s talent force. Human resources is very much a transient process, where positions are periodically refreshed as employees constantly look to higher planes in their careers. Increased mobility of talent in a globalised world makes it even more pertinent for organisations to develop talent in a bid to retain and excel their best. Also, it makes economical sense to nurture talent from within to succeed key management positions. An employee who undergoes a mentorship programme is not only able to foresee his career progression more tangibly, he or she would have a more intimate understanding of the clockwork and long-term goals of a company. Higher management would also be able to recognise how best to capitalise and deploy the talent’s strengths. Compared to an externally headhunted hire, an identified high-flier, born and bred from within, will ultimately be more in tune with the organisation’s rhythm.

The mentee, or protégé, is at the heart of mentorship. Whether mentorship is used for fresh hires to be inducted faster and more efficiently, or prodigious talent earmarked for privileged succession into a higher specific position, programmes can be developed and flexible to meet a company’s growth needs. The benefits are innumerable. For example, mentorship is a powerful career-boosting tool. A mentee is in a more safe and secure environment for views and raw solutions to be subject to positive criticism with less at stake and more to learn from. Apart from gaining straight access to valuable skills for the job under the exclusive tutelage of a senior, a mentee is given the chance to be exposed to networks and contacts much faster and in better limelight. Also, an employee undergoing a mentorship programme experiences what is termed as psychosocial functions. Mentorship boosts selfesteem and belief in one’s own ability, promoting a mentee’s sense of clearness in his or her role.

The mentor

Contrary to the apparent, mentorship is not a one-way learning process in which the junior takes all. A mentor does not just take away a sense of satisfaction that comes with imparting acquired knowledge. A mentor’s role includes that of an astute listener. And in that position facilitated by the honesty of candour, a mentor gains invaluable insight into perceptions and ideas from a younger compatriot’s mind. In a global marketplace that is complexly driven from all sectors of society, it pays to accord airtime to every level. And mentorship functions like a communication channel and bridge between the experienced and the fresh.

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Maximising an organisation’s human resources

Everybody wins

So mentorship is not just about a unilateral inheritance of experiences or a promising candidate on a fast track into a brighter career. The only important ingredient for mentorship to work is the amount of commitment that is required from the parties involved. Both the mentor and the mentee need to have absolute commitment in such a special relationship because it demands more effort at work than is usually needed. The extra effort is worth it. Mentor and mentee grow in their own ways, and companies enjoy greater control and higher effectiveness in the development of human resources. If a solid culture of mentoring can be developed, everybody wins.

L&D techniques

Six Sigma black belts|

Six Sigma, in a nutshell, is three things: a management philosophy, a statistic, and a process. It is a customer-based approach that recognises that ‘defects’ are expensive. Defects, in the Six Sigma lexicon, evolved from Six Sigma’s root in the manufacturing field. Its application, however, goes far beyond manufacturing to include any aspect of business, including human resources. Defects are defined by Six Sigma experts as anything outside of customer specifications. And the fewer defects there are translates into lower costs and improved customer loyalty. At the end of the day, the lowest cost and highest-value producer is the

most competitive provider of goods and services in the market place. Ultimately, Six Sigma is a way to achieve strategic business results. Leading the way for Six Sigma in Hong Kong is Dr Rita Wan, Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Principal Consultant for AC&A Consultancy & Training Company Ltd. Dr Wan took some time out of her busy schedule to speak to HR about Six Sigma, what it is, what makes it unique and how HR managers, or indeed, managers in any capacity, can utilise Six Sigma to enhance their talent management process or systematically solve any problem that they might encounter.

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What’s with the belts?

Six Sigma borrows common martial arts ranking terminology to define a hierarchy and career path that cuts across all business functions as well as a path for promotion to the top of the organisational pyramid. There are no bricks to break nor are there sparring sessions required for promotion. However, the different ranks simply refer to different roles required for the successful implementation of any Six Sigma project. Yellow Belts, for example, are employees who have been exposed to Six Sigma in the wider scheme of things and participate in Six Sigma projects, but have not necessarily completed a project. Green Belts are employees who are responsible for the implementation process of a Six Sigma project under the guidance of the Black Belts. Black Belts devote all their time to Six Sigma and are the ones responsible for the execution of the Six Sigma methodology in specific projects. Beyond Black Belt is the Master Black Belt ranking. Master Black Belts assist Green Belts and Black Belts and focus on the integrated deployment of Six Sigma across functions and departments.

“

Six Sigma focuses on eliminating nonvalue added activities, shortening turnaround time, reducing variations, enhancing quality...and all at a lower cost.

What exactly is Six Sigma?

”

According to Wan, among the fundamental aspects of Six Sigma is that it focuses on eliminating nonvalue added activities, shortening turnaround time, reducing variation of service deliveries, enhancing quality, and doing all of that at a lower cost. This is a

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“lean” process, and Lean Six Sigma takes Six Sigma to the next level by further “trimming the fat”. A lean process is defined as one that uses the absolute minimum of resources to add value to a service or product. “In a lean process”, states Wan, “no people, equipment, or space are dedicated to rework, lead times are minimal, and everybody involved in the processes performs only value-added tasks”. GE, for example, saved over US$2 billion using Six Sigma principles in 1999 alone. The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement based strategy that focuses not only on process improvement, but also variation reduction. There are two primary tools that Six Sigma utilises in order to achieve this: DMAIC and DMADV. The Six Sigma DMAIC process (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) is an improvement system for existing processes that show a gap between specification and reality and provides an incremental way to close that gap. The DMADV process (Define, Measure, Analyse, Design, Verify) is an improvement system used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be applied if a project requires more than incremental improvements. Both of these tools are used by Green Belts and Black Belts in the deployment of Six Sigma throughout a project and are overseen by Master Black Belts. Six Sigma differs to other approaches to management through the very structured approach it takes to achieve results. According to Wan, Six Sigma focuses on changing the DNA of the organisation as opposed to focusing on individuals— therein lies the inherent difference between Six Sigma and other approaches to management.

Black Belt selection & retention

Many factors contribute to the success of any major organisational initiative and Six Sigma is no exception. Having the right people in the right role is critical to how engaged that person is and this in turn translates into some manifestation of success. Having the right people in the Black Belt role is just one key area that HR will contribute to the success of a Six Sigma project. Black Belts are the “face”

L&D techniques

of Six Sigma, and the organisations willingness to embrace Six Sigma will largely be dependent on HR’s ability to shape the organisation’s impression of it. To make your job a bit easier, your potential Black Belts are probably your already identified HiPos. There are many potential contributions that HR can make towards the success of a Six Sigma initiative One of the most important is to help find the right people for Black Belt roles and ensure that they remain in those positions for at least the duration of the initiative. Examples could include developing: a set of competencies to help identify candidates with the right blend of technical, team and leadership qualities; and comprehensive, clear job descriptions so that candidates completely understand the position and what’s required of them in that role.

Six Sigma & rewards systems

Because Black Belts are more than likely joining a Six Sigma initiative from departments and roles in the organisation with different compensation levels, compensation for Six Sigma teams is rather complex. Furthermore, because Six Sigma is dedicated to achieving savings for the company in the hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, an obvious disparity between savings and rewards compensation could create an avenue for resentment, loss of morale and a reluctance to work—all working antagonistically to the goal of effective talent management and the Six Sigma process. HR managers know that although money talks, it isn’t everything when it comes to engaging and retaining their key staff. HR managers are in the most effective position to overcome any apparent dissent regarding compensation by being able to:

• •

•

analyse existing compensation plans; create a strategic compensation plan that supports the Six Sigma initiative; and offer non-monetary rewards and recognition.

Change management

When asked whether introducing Six Sigma into an organisation might clash with the existing organisational culture, Wan relates that Six Sigma is a process that successful managers go through without even necessarily knowing what Six Sigma is. Six Sigma is simply a way to structure successful management practices. Often, however, because that process resides only within that manager, there is a gap between manager and organisation. Introducing Six Sigma into an organisation can therefore be a major change that can have a huge impact on a broad range of key stakeholders. In order to minimise any negative impact brought about by change, HR managers are in a unique position to help by:

•

• •

implementing an effective communications and changemanagement plan; explaining the reasons for and benefits of Six Sigma for employees and the organisation; explaining how Six Sigma is aligned with existing company initiatives; and providing training for Six Sigma leaders as to how they can help the organisation embrace Six Sigma.

In a nutshell

Six Sigma is a structured way to improve business processes in a measured way. HR plays a very significant role with respect to having the right people in the right role, rewarding them appropriately and providing open and clear communication so as to minimise the negative impact that any organisational change can potentially create. By aligning people’s mindsets with the objective of the initiative, a synergy is created which serves to fuels the success of the initiative.

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HR Magazine Conference:

staff training and development|

October 2010 saw over 200 HR directors and HR managers in attendance at the latest of HR Magazine’s renowned HR conferences. The event, held at Cliftons in Quarry Bay, looked in detail at staff training and development, and we bring you distilled highlights from each of the keynotes on the day. Rita Agnes Wong Operational Effectiveness Director, Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited

Topic: Training and development strategies in the Pfizer corporation Wong from Pfizer was the first of the keynote speakers, and began by highlighting key success factors of her organisation’s Training and Development Programme. Sharing insights from her organisation she explained, “Our vision is to become the centre of talent, to do this we engage colleagues and managers.

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This is one of our key success factors.” In order to engage colleagues and managers, Pfizer has integrated a creative learning platform with more than 90 e-learning programmes. These courses are tied into the training and development processes of all employees. Working with employees, managers highlight strengths and weaknesses, and give suggestions for suitable programmes they can enrol on. Wong said, “We call in a subject manager expert, or SME, to provide training in areas of their expertise.”

L&D techniques

She added that when new colleagues enter the company, they start with a training programme called the Asia Talent Incubator.Wong commented, “When colleagues first come onboard we try get them to share with us what’s happening in other countries in regards to healthcare and what the healthcare system is like as well as some of the practices they have learnt and can share with us. We also encourage them to share their other strengths that might benefit the organisation.” Regarding creativity, Wong extolled, “Innovation is very important and we try to tie it in to our core values. We have a weekly announcement that we call ‘innosharing’. Colleagues will take turns in making announcements about some unique things they can share or some of the concepts they are using in the workplace.”

Lawrence Lee Director of Corporate Learning and Development, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts Topic: Innovations in learning and development at the Shangri-La Academy Lee shared his insights on innovations in learning and development at Shangri-La Academy in Zhuhai, China. Lee quipped, “Nearly 60% of all learners attending the Academy are Gen-Y, while 93% of learners are under the age of 40. The world is getting younger, though we may not feel it.” Lee also pointed out, “97% of our colleagues in corporate training are Gen-Y, our managers are getting younger and younger, and this is affecting the way we train.” During his presentation, Lee suggested a number of things Gen-Y want from companies and their work. Lee said, “They want a meaningful and challenging career, with 72% expecting a promotion within two years. They also want to contribute to their learning, with 90% of Gen-Y colleagues willing to participate in cross training. Of those colleagues involved in cross training, 60% are willing to do it on their own time.” This shows that Gen-Y, while wanting a lot, are also willing to put in the hours to earn better positions, and higher pay. Lee then presented nine practical tips to help keep Gen-Y staff involved and engaged when conducting training and development programmes. He advised HR to:

1. Share the vision with your employees 2. Customise presentations for your audience 3. Make your introduction interesting and engaging, while keeping it short and simple 4. Provide and use technology so staff can be more involved with their progress 5. Don’t get offended by your staff, “Many of your staff will be looking at their phones while you are talking—they are still listening—they are just multitasking.” 6. Let them work in teams or small groups 7. Be open to their feedback and questions 8. Take frequent breaks (every 45 mins if possible) 9. Give your staff recognition

Chris Yap Regional Director, Client Solutions, Cenre for Creative Leadership, APAC

Topic: Fostering collaborative creativity to develop future leaders Yap spoke on collaborative creativity and creating an environment that spans leadership boundaries to go beyond traditional individual boundaries. Yap pointed out that learning opportunities are presented whenever talent with defined boundaries are asked to start in another department and therefore move outside of their normal comfort zones. When this happens, they need to start depending on others within the organisation to reach their targets. Yap warned that businesses can sometimes neglect to recognise these boundaries and it is the duty of HR to remind them of this, avoiding potential losses at both individual and organisational level if the talent returns to their comfort zone. In a survey of 100 executives, cited by Yap, 86% said that working across boundaries was crucial but only 7% said they were effective at it. To help close this gap, Yap’s organisation has developed practices that provide direction on bridging these boundaries to align with an organisation’s goals. He encouraged

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greater self-awareness to work out the organisation’s strengths and where the gaps exist, starting with two key questions:

• •

How important is it for the leaders of the organisation to work across boundaries? How effective is the organisation at working across boundaries?

After identifying the gaps, Yap advised HR to look at developmental experience, skills and practices and described six boundary-spanning practices.

Six boundary-spanning practices

1. Monitoring and protecting the flow of information across groups to define boundaries. 2. Reflecting and representing different perspectives to encourage knowledge sharing. 3. Connecting people and building bridges to foster trust. 4. Mobilising common purposes to build a sense of identity and boost levels of ownership, belonging and accountability. 5. ‘Weaving’ to help combine group differences. 6. Transforming groups to create alternative futures and possibilities.

Yap concluded, that leadership often stops where boundaries are identified therefore, organisations need to identify a boundary-less leadership strategy to build a strong team.

Eddie Wong Human Resources Director, Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance plc, HK Topic: Innovations in training and development with the RSA Group Wong highlighted the innovations made in training and development after re-branding the 300-year-old

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Group. He introduced his Group’s two philosophies for strategic learning and development: ‘knowledge, skills and attitude’ (KSA) and ‘technical training’. In relation to the first of the philosophy, KSA, Wong stated, “The challenge facing the organisation culture was that bosses would never talk about career options, meaning staff were unsure of promotion and growth opportunities.” The culture now is that career development is in the hands of the staff. The leaders act as facilitators in the process, staff members need to state where they want to go. He summed up, “It’s like being in your car, you [staff] drive your car and we [HR] provide you with energy.” The decision was made to start with programmes for graduates through executive directors. As Hong Kong is in an emerging market, the request of the Group’s CEO was to do more to relate to people’s requests. Wong stated that a range of information was used to quantify employee engagement, including benchmarking against the world’s top 100 companies and performance management surveys covering developmental planning. The second philosophy of the Group includes having the technical staff share their knowledge and experience to promote development and technical mastery. To achieve this the Group established a technical academy in 2006 and identified 100 ‘masters’ dedicated to sustainable leadership. Training is 50% web–based, 20% face-to-face and 30% workshops and forums. All training being aimed at building a robust and diverse communication network. The results of these two philosophies have been manifest in terms of increased engagement, productivity and profitability over the last three years— employee retention has also improved and currently stands at 85%. Wong added that the Group has also seen that people are happier and now share their ideas.

Yvonne Yam Learning and Organisational Development Manager, RS Components

Topic: Career management—getting staff to take ownership of their own career development Yam, a change facilitator, shared her insight with a view to getting HR to go beyond the traditional L&D, coaching and facilitation focus. With around 1,000 employees

L&D techniques

(Top Left) Rita Agnes Wong, Operational Effectiveness Director, Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Ltd. (Top Middle) Lawrence Lee Director of Corporate Leaning and Development, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts (Top Right) Chris Yap, Regional Director, Client Solutions, Centre for Creative Leadership, APAC (Bottom Left) Eddie Wong, Human Resources Director, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc, HK (Bottom Middle) Yvonne Yam, Learning & Organisational Development Manager, RS Components (Bottom Right) Christy Wang, Asst. Learning & Development Manager, City Telecom

across the Asia Pacific, Yam’s organisation provides physical and on-line catalogues for engineers globally. For this reason, there were two focuses of the change journey: innovation and customers. She stated, “To us, customers and employees are considered on the same level—employees are vital as they deliver the service.” The change journey began with the four subregions becoming regionalised with an Asia-Pacific approach. Yam stated that there was a firm belief in organisational development and integration, but that the question was how to integrate them as each had its own beauty. Speaking candidly, she said “We looked at the process, and the bottom line was: how are we going to engage people and have it show? And how do we make the vision on the wall align with our own aspirations so that we are motivated?” Yam explained, there were certainly challenges along the way. Having the four sub-regions, each with its own

GM, meant that there were some inconsistent practices in performance management, training and service standards. The initiation for change had to come from the employees, ensuring that the culture would be more collaborative, include greater participation, synergy and diversification. She said that ultimately they hoped for efficient, consistent standards and practices that were also sustainable. Yam explained that focus was put on teaching skills and behaviour as well as developing and equipping leaders with the confidence and competence to coach. This included career development accompanied with performance management and cultural awareness training for leaders in new environments. As for the results, L&D programmes are consistently rated 4 out of 5; the company has seen increases in engagement and are now above industry benchmarks for performance management.

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Christy Wang Assistant Learning and Development Manager, City Telecom

Topic: Innovation in driving a learning culture Wang presented on innovation in driving a learning culture. She noted that within her organisation investing in people was the greatest driver. This is reflected in some of the company’s expenditures, around HK$500 million, being spent on talent—in comparison to HK$150 million on marketing. With such significant investment in talent, City Telecom wants to ensure that they retain top talent. She added that almost all of their initiatives are project-based and designed in-house. One of the initiatives: ‘Next Station University’ is a four-year bachelor’s programme, at a cost of just under HK$100,000 per-person. Wang stated that while the company understands that it may lose some of the 50 talents that are currently in the programme, they hope that the programme inspires the rest of the talent for decades to come. Wang said, “We want to leave a legacy, not only changing the lives of our talent, but also their families.” Management reading days are another initiative, which comprise 2 two-hour sessions for general staff and managers. Books are distributed a month prior to the meetings which are creative sessions involving group discussion and sharing. She added that each group provides a recent example of leadership, and a key for development in greater China. Managing expectations are important, Wang highlighted, “Staff are told: do not expect to learn a lot in the two hours; it is what you do before and after that counts.”

Finally, ‘ME Friday’ provides an opportunity for all staff, including managers to practice Mandarin and English. Throughout the day, ambassadors initiate conversations; there are videos and informal lunch table conversations with prizes for achievements. She added language skills are important for the company and managers need to attain IELTS 6.5 as an official step for promotion.

Mike Ramsay Chief Executive, Alliance Group

Topic: Strategic staff learning and development techniques to achieve employee benefit objectives Ramsay presented strategic staff learning and development techniques to achieve employee benefit objectives. He stated that by strategically implementing employee benefits, amazing results could be achieved, primarily through increasing employee satisfaction and integrating their work and personal life. With this in mind, he cautioned HR about resting on their laurels when it came to looking at employee benefit packages. There are few, if any, in HR who fail to realise the importance of competitive packages. Ramsay noted that, despite this, 96% of life insurance premiums, for example, were simply renewed without negotiating a better package or reduced premium. Ramsay stated that it is worth focusing on the core employee benefits—physical and financial protection. He highlighted, “We all spend an incredible amount of money on employee benefits and a portion of this

(Left) Mike Ramsay, Chief Executive, Alliance Group (Right) Sylvain Friedman, Partner, Former Far East Area Learning & Development Leader, Ernst & Young

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is on benefits that employees don’t even know are there.” He then suggested a strategic approach to benefits, taking into account research, development, implementation, support and review. An important element for employees is their financial security. Current options include MPF, group pensions and vesting. Ramsay stated that if staff members feel their financial well-being is looked after and invested in for the future, they are much less likely to leave an organisation. He pointed out that in companies where there is training, support and financial choices, the reduction in staff turnover could be significant. Ramsay suggested a few questions that HR should ask themselves with regard to employee benefits:

Questions for HR on benefits • •

•

Do you know what benefits your competitors provide to their employees? Do you know how satisfied your employees are with their benefits when compared to your competitors? Do you know which employee benefits packages are available and which are the best? Do your employees know what benefits are available in their package?

Ramsay concluded, “If you have invested an incredible amount of money in development of a programme, there is no use if the employees don’t know about it.” With the right package, and training to help ensure all staff know about it companies can expect a reduction in both costs and turnover, together with increases in productivity and employee satisfaction.

Sylvain Friedman Partner, Former Far East Area Learning and Development Leader, Ernst & Young Topic: Managing career development through coaching at Ernst & Young Friedman shared ideas on managing career development through coaching. He noted that Ernst

& Young’s career development framework, first implemented in China, later throughout Asia, and now globally—included coaching to ensure that the organisation retained talent. He added, “At Ernst & Young, we want to grow and develop people, even if we lose some of them.” After reviewing the development framework, he said a decision was made to integrate the way the organisation did business. This included integrating learning, coaching and on-the-job experience, similar to traditional training models, but with a greater emphasis on coaching. He explained that the organisation looks at competencies to see skills that are required, then provides coaching and learning opportunities to enable talent to do their jobs. Coaching is extremely rewarding in Asia when included in an integrated framework. Friedman believes, “We are changing behaviour, the staff are happier, stay longer, build longer-term relationships and ask the right questions, which in turn attracts more clients. This also assists with branding to attract talent from university.“ Friedman shared four key drivers to help implement coaching:

Four key drivers in coaching ▪▪Building skills via training events & coaching workshops from the top down. ▪▪Changing processes such as those for reviewing performance as well as identifying potential. ▪▪Encouraging communication through newsletters, counsellors and surveys. ▪▪Developing internal resources e.g. a pool of champions & certified coaches.

He summed up, “Coaching should be available for everyone and be used on a day-to-day basis. Everyday seek out opportunities to coach people and give specific positive feedback. Every week create a safe environment and feedback zone and then each month have catch ups between the counsellors and counsellees. As issues arise, immediately address any toxic behaviour and problems.”

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Musicians

not MBAs| unleashing the entrepreneur

“You are an adult, act like one.” This advice to HR leaders was among the opening words of wisdom from Andrew J. Filipowski (Flip) the keynote speaker at HR Magazine’s engaging breakfast roundtable in early November 2010. The event took place in the colonial surrounds of Hullett House, Tsim Sha Tsui and was attended by a select group of senior members of the Hong Kong HR community. Filipowski, founder and CEO of Platinum Technology Inc. grew the company from start up into the eighth largest software company in the world—with over 15,000 employees globally—before selling it for a staggering US$4 billion. Today, he is founder & CEO of SilkRoad Technology and as such presented his thoughts and ideas on employee retention, engagement and

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empowerment in an entrepreneurial setting. Filipowski commented on prominent issues faced not only by the IT sector, but by companies in all sectors. A key issue highlighted was that of employee engagement and empowerment. He advised that in order for companies to be successful, they not only need to be the best, but they also need to offer the best to their employees, and those employees need to be empowered to be effective. He stressed the importance of HR in any business, and the fact that it should be a large, if not the biggest, part of any business, and be fully integrated with all levels of management in order to be fully effective. Many successful companies in the modern world follow the ‘upside-down-pyramid approach’ to

L&D techniques

From left to right: Eric Choi, James Hewitt, Peter Earnshaw and Andrew J. Filipowski from SilkRoad Technology; Paul Arkwright, Publisher, HR Magazine

employee management, which Filipowski explained helps HR place more value on the employee than ever before. He advised that in order to be successful with employee engagement, HR managers must place emphasis on four major aspects.

Aspects of employee engagement 1. 2. 3. 4.

Corporate culture Brand recognition Reputation Engagement from all levels of management

He added, “Without all these aspects in a business, there can be no success.” He conceded that achieving this was no mean feat, and pointed out several problems HR faces relating to staff engagement and empowerment in the workplace. He intimated that one of the biggest challenges to HR was that, “…without proper leadership and an established culture, HR just becomes a bureaucratic

process where corporate culture is not built and maintained…or there may be no clearly defined corporate culture at all.” He cautioned companies that still maintained this style of HR management would not be successful in the long run. Another problem he highlighted was that many companies with an established culture are not doing enough to keep employees engaged throughout their lifecycle with the company and beyond. Filipowski then offered a number of practical suggestions, on ways to both engage staff, and enable them with the tools they need to succeed themselves, and help the business succeed. “Once employees have been enabled and are happy, there is a high chance companies will see an increase in profit and customers—both return and new”, said Filipowski. He then laid out some basic advice for companies to help them achieve this. Multilevel management involvement—all levels of management must be involved and engaged with the HR department, and must recognise that human capital management is the most defining part of any company. Brand recognition—after managers have been engaged, companies need to build, engage and

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develop brand recognition, while also having a defined culture and reputation. Once this has happened, companies will begin to see that people desire to work for that company, and will covet the opportunity to head over to that company. Providing staff with the freedom to experiment with ideas, and nurturing a culture of ‘not

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being afraid to take risks’ is also critical according to Filipowski, who encouraged HR to say to staff, “You are an adult, act like one.” Musicians not MBAs—after companies have established themselves as a leading employer, and attract the best quality employees, they also need to ensure that those employees fit in well with the organisation.

L&D techniques

So, in order to hire the best, companies need to look at how they are hiring and adopt good hiring processes. HR should not just look at resumes, but instead at the process of how to identify who is the best. According to Filipowski often psychometric tests and CVs are not always the best ways of determining if someone is the right fit for a particular job function. Instead he advised HR to look at key attributes of successful members of the incumbent team as a cue for skills to look for in new recruits. By way of example he pointed out that many in the IT sector also had excellent musical talents. Filipowski argued that looking for traits such as musical ability—beyond the usual workspace—may also significantly help in the selection process. The lifecycle of the employee begins before they have joined the organisation and Filipowski was insistent that, “…employees must be onboarded and ready to go from day one…a 100% ready employee will be more likely to stay with the organisation.” After employees have joined the company and have settled down, Filipowski pointed out that it is HR’s responsibility to keep constant communication, contact, and conduct proper performance reviews and learning follow-ups throughout the employee’s lifecycle. He then highlighted a couple of common problems in HR. Firstly, many organisations have good performance reviews, but lack proper follow up, and this frequently leads to lower employee satisfaction, and a feeling of less empowerment Secondly, in modern HR, most professionals concentrate on people who are within the organisation and tend to forget about the people who have left—the alumni. Using the accounting sector as an example, Filipowski remarked, “Accountants are brought in young, worked hard, and very few will survive the first two years. Most are let go. Those that are become the CFOs of your competitors, or even your partners.” He also quipped, “Sometimes with ageing corporate systems, your alumni can often be the only

ones who know how to use them.” Filipowski summed up, “Take care of your employees, enable your employees, and they will take care of your company.”

About Flip Flip was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA

Key accomplishments ▪▪Founder and CEO of Platinum Technology Inc. which he grew into the eighth largest software company in the world with over 15,000 employees. The US$4 billion sale of the organisation is still the largest single cash transaction for a software company. ▪▪Named one of the 100 most influential people in the information technology sector. ▪▪Awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ from both Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch.

Key postings ▪▪Executive Vice President and COO, Cullinet Software, Inc ▪▪Founder of Platinum Wildlife Foundation ▪▪Founder of the Filipowski Foundation ▪▪Currently Executive Chairman and CEO of SilkRoad Technology

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Diversifying training methods to enhance L&D effectiveness| Kenneth Wai, Area Director of Human Resources, Shangri-La Hotel explains why diversity of training methods is so important.

Kenneth Wai, Area Director of Human Resources, Shangri-La Hotel

Diversify training methods

To provide structured training and ensure consistent quality of ideas, the Shangri-La makes use of onboarding videos in addition to conducting on the spot 30-minute training sessions. Both methods help reinforce skills and help staff respond to

common guest requests. Wai added, many multinational companies already conduct a lot of classroom training, but could benefit from more operational, on-the-job coaching. Wai believes it is important to invest in more dynamic training. E-learning is being introduced in his organisation, which is especially good if employees do not have much time in their schedules to undertake traditional training. The Shangri-La Academy at the Sun Yat-Sen University campus in Zhuhai, China offers certificate and diploma programmes, workshops, seminars and short courses for hospitality professionals in areas such as hotel operations, management and English among others. It also acts as a source for best practice, and promotes teamwork and camaraderie among staff. Wai noted that it was important to look at different types of training to motivate staff because traditional lectures may not work. One solution, provided by the Shangri-La, is their self-paced leadership programme. The programme allows staff to develop themselves and widen their knowledge of different departmentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;particularly important for future directors. Staff must schedule these studies themselves, which also gives them an opportunity to demonstrate good time management, determination and organisational skills. Shangri-La places a huge emphasis on development because they have new hotels opening every year. Employees need to be well-trained

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and mobility is encouraged. Secondments provide a mutually beneficial means of training and ideas exchange. Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong has two guest relations officers from China, which is an advantage for Hong Kong colleagues because they are native Putonghua speakers. They also benefit because they have more training and exposure to the industry while in the SAR.

On-going process

Wai asserted that training was often neglected during the recession, however as the economy and companies grow, there has been a growing realization that training and developing employees save the company money. The HKMA Award encourages SMEs to implement training programmes and identify the needs of the company and individuals.

Key criteria for effective training

The Awards also provide very structured judging criteria, and this is a great tool for companies to use to help benchmark how they are doing with their staff development programmes. Key issues judged include:

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Identifying training needs

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Having support from top management

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Having an effective programme design

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Delivering and implementing effectiveness evaluations

These guidelines or criteria are advisable for any training programme. Participants learn what is necessary for a good programme, therefore helping them to assess their programmes objectively and evaluate their effectiveness. In the interest of fairness when judging, the whole committee sits down to discuss issues if there is any variation in their opinions to ensure that all the judging criteria are being met by all the entrants. The Awards panel

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also reviews written submissions for evidence and on some occasions may vote. As much as possible they try to put people through to the second round to see if they can provide further evidence to substantiate their training and development programmes.

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Training does not need to be expensive, but effective.

Top management buy-in

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Wai highlighted the importance of getting support from top management, as they know about the company’s strategic direction, and can therefore assess if the training is in line with these objectives and ensure that the right employees attend. He added, “Training and development is critically important, and luckily we always have support from top management which means the training has very clear objectives and the training budget doesn’t get cut.” Huge financial investment not required. Wai urged employers to invest more in training and ensure that top management identifies the company directives, goals and objectives. Plans must address cost, design, and engagement of staff and evaluation to ensure it is effective. Wai pointed out, “For both large companies and SMEs, training does not need to be expensive, but effective.” He added, “Training programmes do not have to be outrageous, but the key is adapting and making use of all opportunities.” Wai concluded, “Training is a solution. If you, your department or company has difficulties, training can put it in a positive light, solve the problem and help to realise the company goals. There will always be challenges such as fitting training into the schedule, but if we want people to be flexible, we need to be flexible as well.”

Enhancing L&D effectiveness

Racing ahead with L&D

Making L&D programmes engaging to enhance effectiveness| of collaboration.” Through the programme’s three phases—Ignite, Excite and Experience—Club staff are encouraged to enhance their knowledge of horse racing and develop a passion for the sport. The wide range of learning sessions and tools includes practical sessions, online simulations of race meetings and an online racing game. The e-learning opportunities enable Club staff to learn anytime and anywhere.

LEAP and learn Kim Mak, Executive Director of Corporate Affairs, The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Far from being merely a training programme, The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s programme “Racing Ahead— Powered by YOU” reflects the Club’s determination to create a new culture and an environment of racing passion throughout its 26,000 full-time and part-time staff. Having already won accolades for its success in bringing about a far-reaching impact on the Club’s business and fostering a “customer-centric” approach, the programme has now earned them the Bronze prize in the HKMA Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2010. Kim Mak, the Club’s Executive Director of Corporate Affairs said, “We are proud that this programme was developed entirely by in-house professionals, pooling the expertise of our Racing, Betting, IT and Human Resources teams.” He added, “We also take pride in the fact that we have trained a team of staff members to become trainers themselves, possessing specialised knowledge of the racing industry. This joint effort is a good example of how we are trying to cultivate a cross-divisional culture

This innovative programme was introduced in 2007 and has since then been extended to all Club staff under a “LEAP” learning approach:

Learning Staff are encouraged to learn anytime, anywhere under an individual learning schedule. Experience Staff can practise and strengthen the knowledge they have acquired through various experiential and simulation learning tools. Achievement Individual staff are given awards for outstanding performances in the simulation exercises and online racing game, encouraging their further participation. Performance The concept of driving the Club’s performance is injected into every stage of the programme.

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Sporting knowledge

As a result of the programme’s extensive training opportunities, there has been a significant enhancement in staff knowledge of the sport and enthusiasm for it. A record high 31,000 training days have been notched up by the Club’s 26,000 staff, creating a number of significant impacts on business:

1. The programme has inspired other business units within the Club to initiate racing-related activities proactively. One such activity was launched by the Broadcasting Services Department which published a ‘Trendy Idiom Card Set’ to stimulate and sustain its staff’s learning interest. Likewise, the Cashbet Department has also established a dedicated team at the racecourses for sharing racing knowledge with customers. 2. With their enhanced racing knowledge the Club’s non-racing staff have become ‘Racing Ambassadors’. To illustrate this, front-line catering staff can now share their knowledge with customers at the racecourse dining outlets and better understand the customers’ needs. This has had a measurable impact on ROI and surveys have shown that Club members are now more satisfied with the racecourse services and more willing to revisit the racecourse, resulting in a 17% increase in their racing attendance. 3. With their enriched knowledge of racing, Club staff are now more capable of developing innovative racing and betting products. New bet types such as the ‘Jockey Challenge’, which was launched in 2008 are good examples of such innovation and have successfully boosted the Club’s business.

Horses for courses

Targeted at all staff from part-time front-line operators to full-time senior executives, the training

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programme is designed to accommodate the varying needs of the whole workforce and different levels of understanding of the sport. To tackle this complex task, the Club carefully studied different staff working patterns, interests, levels of knowledge and business needs by conducting interviews with both racing and non-racing staff. As a result, training materials have been compiled with navigation tools that are simple, succinct and relevant to all parties. This has earned it high praise from the staff, who have given it a satisfaction rating in excess of 4.5 on a 5-point scale. “In today’s highly-competitive business environment, investment in staff training and development is indispensable for sustaining business growth, uplifting staff quality and retaining their competitiveness,” commented Mak.

Club staff attend pratical sessions at Sha Tin stables to enhance their knowledge of horse racing.

“The Hong Kong Jockey Club is dedicated to producing innovative and functional training programmes with an emphasis on creativity, sincerity and effectiveness. We hope more companies will join us in provide training opportunities for their staff, which can help enhance the quality of Hong Kong’s workforce as a whole.”

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Investment in staff training and development is indispensable for sustaining business growth, uplifting staff quality and retaining their competitiveness.

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Enhancing L&D effectiveness

Morgan Stanley’s take on T&D | Morgan Stanley, a leading global financial services firm employing more than 62,000 people globally, is a pioneer of the global expansion of the financial markets. In Hong Kong the Firm has over 1,800 employees, including 140 staff in Institutional Operations, which is one of the largest business units and provides support to the front office business units. Claire Goodchild, Vice President, Learning and Development, Morgan Stanley, shares how she ensures staff development goes beyond training.

Training and development

Goodchild believes, “Training is important to help people acquire skills, but it needs to be supplemented with on-the-job experience, coaching and ensuring that the environment is conducive to learning.” At Morgan Stanley the development of Operations staff is based on the 70-20-10 rule of learning, where 70% of learning is experiential, 20% is from coaches and mentors with the remaining 10% from formal learning. She added, “Training is all very well, but is only 10% of the story and then you need to use other methods to ensure that those skills are developed.”

Becoming a learning organisation

Claire Goodchild, Vice President, Learning and Development, Morgan Stanley

For Morgan Stanley Operations to achieve the goal of becoming a learning organisation, Goodchild stated, “We need to have the right people, with the right skills and training, in the right place.” To do this, Operations has partnered with Learning and

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Development, to define a structure and process for recruitment, training and career planning. “Whether employees follow a technical career path or managerial career path, there are defined training modules that help them to develop skills appropriate to their roles.”

types of methods to use to ensure the skills are developed and can be used on a day to day basis by new hires.” To ensure the quality of the programme, teams need to be certain of their own processes. Goodchild explained, “We have made sure that the teams have very clearly defined business processes before we begin talking about training documentation. It ensures quality in, leads to quality out.” She also highlighted the importance of making the programme sustainable and cost effective, so that when processes changed, training could be updated.

Blended training solutions

Innovation through on-the-job training

Morgan Stanley overcame cultural barriers in developing a style of training different to the traditional investment bank style. Innovation has been made through On-the Job Training, or OJT. According to Goodchild it is about, “Creating a structured and comprehensive approach to knowledge transfer.” Using the OJT methodology, teams can identify the key skills and knowledge required to perform their processes. They are then able to create comprehensive training materials and performance tests for more experienced team members to deliver. Goodchild continued that, “Part of what we are teaching people is how to use different types of training skills to make OJT more effective. A key part of the process is to train the trainers and teach core delivery skills.” She added “The trainers have a clearly defined outcome they are looking for in training and are very clear on the

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The blended training approach is a combination of classroom teaching, use of online resources and coaching. Goodchild believes that this approach, “Prepares teams to create, maintain and deliver consistently high-quality training to their new team members.” Learning is initially through a series of workshops and coaching reinforces what was learned. Online resources are also made available. She added, “Classroom training is an effective and often used method of learning new skills, but it is only through continued application and practice that the skills can be perfected and ultimately deliver business results.” Goodchild continued, “In terms of benefits, we have seen that time to proficiency has reduced from six to three months through having structured OJT...Managing risk is a key driver for Operations and having structured OJT and making sure people have a thorough understanding of processes helps to manage down risk.”

First-class business

Morgan Stanley focuses on being in touch with their employees from the beginning, providing a platform for personal growth and career success. ‘First-class business in a first-class way’ has been created through an environment of open communication and a culture of respect and excellence. Goodchild added that in 2010, “There is a lot of effort going in to embrace the last 75 years of the culture. It is reinforced through our onboarding programs to ensure a thorough understanding and expectation of our culture.”

Enhancing L&D effectiveness

Blended approach enhances L&D at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group | The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, employs around 1,700 staff in Hong Kong and has a global workforce of over 10,000. Jacqueline Moyse, Head of Organisational Development shares what the Group does to enhance the effectiveness of its L&D programmes. Learning and development

Mandarin Oriental views training as a subset of development. Its training regime incorporates skills from the internet, mentors and coaches and cross exposure within and outside of the hotel industry. A blended learning approach makes use of reference guides and videos to enhance the training experience.

Top down approach

A key component driving the hotel groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success in T&D is that those at the very top of

the organisation enthusiastically support T&D and take a hands-on approach to ensure that training is conducted at a high level. It is not a blinkered approach to T&D and is not seen as just a learning activity but also as a business activity. Although the group is global, with over 30 hotels and offices, T&D is rolled out consistently across all jurisdictions.

Key competencies

As part of its focus on performance management and succession planning, key competencies for each team member are established through the use of competency cards, colleagues match the cards to headings to determine which competencies are most important to their jobs. The online component of the training is then introduced during the latter part of the programme once soft skills have been focused on.

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Effective training

Mandarin Oriental takes an innovative approach to training. When training programmes are rolled out, there’s invariably a big launch and regular updates via newsletters. The same communication principles that the group has so successfully applied to customers are also applied to colleagues. Training is often reinforced using online systems, reference guides, videos and coaching which are embedded as part of overall training programmes. While the strength of Mandarin Oriental’s training programmes is consistency, there is a certain degree of customisation required depending on the size of training groups, anything

between 12–45, and the level of individuals being trained. Another variable in the training process are the cultural differences that exist between different groups. For example, a group being trained in New York will expect a very high level of energy—with a high level of participation and questions addressed to the trainer. A group being trained in Hong Kong will likely be more engaged by theoretical aspects of the training and a greater focus on depth of knowledge. A slightly different approach is taken in each instance to get the best outcome from the training process with different groups of colleagues.

Talent—key focus

Mandarin Oriental recognises that, to be considered as the best luxury hotel group, it needs to have the best talent. The organisation has a clear strategy to address this, focusing on four key areas: talent acquisition, talent development, talent retention and talent deployment. Talent acquisition is very much about identifying core competencies in suitable individuals and finding the best fit for these individuals within the organisation. Talent development focuses on training and development, feedback and coaching. Talent retention goes back to the core of why people love working for Mandarin Oriental, a caring, energetic, passionate organisation that applies these principles to guests and colleagues alike.

Moving forward

Jacqueline Moyse, Head of Organisational Development, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

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The final component of the talent strategy is talent deployment, moving individuals within the organisation; the group has had great success in recent times with this. The recently opened Mandarin Oriental, Macau had an unprecedented 29 transfers of management colleagues from within the organisation to this new property. Prior to this, the recently opened Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas attracted 19 colleague transfers. While this presents exciting new career opportunities for Mandarin Oriental colleagues, such transitions are complex, so the hotel group ensures a smooth transfer of colleagues by employing well thought out relocation and succession planning strategies.

Enhancing L&D effectiveness

Alice Ma, Manager, Learning & Development, Human Resources, Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) Limited

Maximising L&D effectiveness at Fuji Xerox| HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

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Fuji Xerox Hong Kong, a leading provider in document management solutions and services, has a workforce of over 800 employees. In 2010, their innovations in T&D earned them an excellence award at the HKMA Training & Development Awards.

Innovative training

Alice Ma, Manager of Learning & Development at Fuji Xerox Hong Kong pointed out that training effectiveness can only be maximized if staff takes ownership of their learning and development. “We design our training programmes based on real-life scenarios as much as possible to facilitate effective transfer of learning,” explained Ma, adding that this is one of the ways to help employees walk out from their comfort zone in testing out what they have learnt. “For example, when we have a training programme to impart IT knowledge on individuals, and they have gained sufficient knowledge we turn the tables and get them to conduct the training themselves—to train their colleagues.” Another way that Fuji Xerox makes training a vivid experience for individuals is to conduct videotaped role plays. “This is a fun learning experience. Particularly when they can see their colleagues in the video,” said Ma. “It helps to break down barriers and help achieve a more open and honest discussion. Individuals can also learn by seeing their own behaviour and body language on the playback of the role play.”

Effective learning

Fuji Xerox believes that customised learning is essential to make the most of learning. Ma explained that the approach taken with management level training is quite different from more junior employees. “In management training, managers are encouraged to participate in discussions and the trainer is there to facilitate discussion. This allows the trainer to challenge their viewpoints to nurture their critical thinking mindset. Whereas, for skills training involved with products, we introduce “demorama” which is a competition in demonstrating or introducing a product. All salespeople participate in various kinds of

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demorama to display how much they’ve learnt about the product. Their presentation skills and confidence are also boosted. Demorama has become part of their regular duties,” explained Ma.

Document Solutions Pioneer Programme

The training programme Fuji Xerox Hong Kong chose to enter the 2010 HKMA Training & Development Awards was entitled: the Document Solutions Pioneer Programme. This programme was launched in mid 2008, with an objective to accelerate the solution application selling via a group of solution pioneers to support our business transformation. “It was developed using the ‘Document Life Cycle’ as the backbone with related software offerings,” commented Ma. “Participants acquire not just product knowledge and technical knowhow; they also practise their soft skills such as probing skills to define client’s needs to blend both aspects of learning.”

Points of difference

Ma pointed out that a number of different training components were also put into the programme to promote learning effectiveness, participant engagement and fun at learning, including lecture, case sharing, participant’s teaching back, demorama and guest speakers’ talk on IT trends and practices.

Impact on business

According to Ma, the programme created a very positive impact on business, contributing to the double-digit business growth while ensuring customer’s confidence in taking Fuji Xerox Hong Kong as their trusted partners. She further commented that participants not only experienced the fun and skills acquired, but also were further motivated by increased businesses, and eventually help them get closer to their career goals, resulting in more employee satisfaction and company loyalty. Ma was proud to find that the programme proved to be the right ‘solution’ to sustain the transformation of the business model into a solution-centric company.

Assessment and benchmarking

Measuring training results

Ensuring training budgets remain healthy by demonstrating tangible results| By Alistair Lamont, Senior Consultant, the alphaeight institute, www.alphaeight.com

Some training departments make, and are seen to make, valuable contributions to their organisations. Others are seen as, or depicted by others, in a rather different light. Many view T&D departments as ones:

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that consume profits without adding to the bottom line;

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where all the ‘happy clappy’ stuff happens;

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that are ‘nice’ but really not vital to success;

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that are difficult to measure.

The recent economic turmoil has given these views even more of a spotlight as every department argues for its budgets. Often these accusations are easy to make because it is more difficult for training departments to show a direct effect on the bottom line in the same way that a sales department can. This means that training, and thus HR budgets are often the first to be cut when company belttightening exercises are launched.

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Assessment and benchmarking

HR as a boutique training consultancy

To negotiate at a board level in difficult times, HR needs to be able to present an effective argument based on the measurable value you add to the organisation. For those brave enough to try, I would suggest a radical approach that begins with a new premise that you are not a training department, instead you are a boutique training consultancy with just one client—who can dictate your survival. In this new world the following questions should start to appear for you:

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What are my client’s needs? What key learning and development initiatives will increase profitability and cut costs both in the short and long term? How do I develop great relationships so I can understand opportunities and get effective feedback on our services? How can I show my clients tangible and measurable results so they continue to make budget provision for my services?

Measuring effectively

Unfortunately, for many companies and training providers, measuring results means a feedback form or tick sheet which is generally given after the training session and is often more concerned with the facilities and how good the food was than the actual relevance and effectiveness of the training programme. In our new world of being a boutique training consultancy this is not going to cut it anymore—and may well lead to the loss of your only client. I have been a trainer, coach and facilitator for many companies across the world for over 15 years and when working with clients there are a number of key elements I would advise you to put in place to ensure training results are measured effectively.

1. Measure before, during and after • • • •

Make sure that any measurement that you do: starts with a benchmark; measures again following the training; and measures again a few months after the training.

2. Get all stakeholders involved

To measure effectively you need to get all the stakeholders involved in the process. This is the element that is the most challenging and time consuming, and therefore often not done, because you need to collect data from a variety of stakeholders:

• •

•

the first and most important stakeholders are the participants themselves the second stakeholders are the functional heads or the department heads, who have nominated the participants for learning the skills the third stakeholders are the internal or external customers, who will expect better performance from the participants of the training

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3. Ensure that measurement guarantees anonymity for everyone involved If you want to get accurate data – especially as a benchmark, you need to make sure that the participants understand that there is no individual judgment being made on their answers (otherwise they may paint a slightly rosier picture in the initial benchmark that will distort your data). The best way to do this is to ensure contact is through an external partner.

4. Keep it simple and specific

If you give people highly complex and time consuming forms they may not give the questions the attention you require. Keep it simple by using a 1-5 scale that can be ticked and try not to give any more than eight questions. Finally make sure all the questions are very specific to the skills and behaviours, if it’s mainly general questions participants will not take it seriously.

5. If you lack internal resources, outsource it If you don’t have the resources to do the

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measurement for internal training (you can make sure that external trainers follow your measurement procedure), then outsource it to a training provider or a specialist such as SHL that can create and run individual and team 360° assessments for you—these are especially useful if you are looking at a longer term leadership or management development programme.

6. Create case studies

Once you have successfully measured your training, create case studies. They are the best way to internally communicate the success of your training activity. A great case study should include:

• • •

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the situation before the training outlined by all the stakeholders; the training solution; the result utilising data from the surveys that show improvements and areas for further development; and comments captured from attendees.

Assessment and benchmarking

Brains over brawn

Assessing staff and moving HR from managing people to managing intellectual capital| Professor W B Lee, Director of the Knowledge Management Research Centre at Hong Kong Polytechnic University has spoken extensively on how HR’s role is moving away from managing people and towards managing ‘knowledge workers’ and intellectual capital.

Knowledge-based economy

In the traditional sense of the word, ‘capital’ is a reference to physical and tangible assets, which include, for example, inventory and cash on-hand. In the information age, we have been heading more and more towards a knowledge-based economy where intangible, intellectual capital accounts for the majority of overall corporate value. If the Pareto principle (i.e. 80/20 rule) is anything to go by, then it stands to reason that it is much more important that this intellectual capital is not only managed, but managed well. While the term ‘intellectual capital’ is now in vogue, the concept is not new. The term ‘knowledge worker’ has been around since 1959, when Peter Drucker coined it to describe one who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace, as opposed to physical power or work.

Brains vs brawn

Profiling a knowledge worker is not a simple matter of identifying the location of work. Generalising, for example, that builders working outside on building

sites are in ‘brawn’ roles and administrative staff are in ‘brains’ roles is a huge misrepresentation of the skill sets and knowledge that workers in both arenas may possess. Who is to say, for example, that a person in a ‘brawn’ role doesn’t also have specialised knowledge, and vice versa. According to Professor Lee, there are several characteristics displayed by knowledge workers who:

• • • •

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primarily identify themselves with their profession rather than their workplace; are highly mobile and are quick to change jobs are driven primarily by the pride and sense of accomplishment have a strong desire for persistent learning and respond much better to being pulled than being pushed; and constantly look for organisations that provide learning opportunities, informal networking with peers inside and outside their own company.

Knowledge worker roles

Quoting Nigel Bristow of Targeted Learning, Professor Lee states that there are five distinct, but interdependent roles that are typically performed by knowledge workers:

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Role 1—Acquiring: learn how to access and use the existing knowledge of the organisation Role 2—Applying: use existing knowledge to complete their tasks Role 3—Creating: create new products, processes and tools, etc. Role 4—Sharing: help others to acquire and use knowledge to solve problems Role 5—Leveraging: create the cultural and strategic context to transfer organisational knowledge in people’s heads into expert systems, structures, processes, policies and norms

Knowledge audits

Auditors have been around for a long time to make sure we are doing such things as reporting our tax and insurance claims legitimately. The general populace has therefore loved auditors about as much as lawyers. And now there are even knowledge audits. You can relax though, because the purpose of the knowledge audit is not to check what you know against what you say you know on your CV. The primary objective of the knowledge audit is to guide companies towards an informed view of knowledge and intellectual capital management. Within any organisation, the knowledge audit is designed to determine:

• • • •

What knowledge is needed Where that knowledge is available and where it is missing Who needs the knowledge How the knowledge will be applied

There is no reason that an inventory of your organisation’s intellectual assets cannot be managed in much the same way that your warehouse stock is. Without knowing what stock you need, as well as what you do and don’t have on-hand, you will not know what stock you need to purchase in order for the company reach its production (or strategic) goals more efficiently.

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For HR managers, this is a crucial aspect of the talent management process. Pre-requisite to being able to put the right people in the right roles, within your organisation, is knowing your organisation’s strategic objectives. Knowing and understanding those objectives, allows HR managers to strategically place the right human assets in positions that will drive the company forward towards its objectives and beyond. Of course, HR managers also need to make sure that there is sufficient incentive (both extrinsic and intrinsic) for such key talent to stay onboard in order to ensure this happens. This is a much broader perspective of the importance of the HR manager’s role beyond “paper-pushing.”

Assets or liabilities?

Professor Lee states that many organisations treat people as their biggest expense. This is certainly valid if you were to take a look at the company’s finances: when you add up all the salaries, benefits and training expenses, it would come to quite a lot of money. However, many organisations also claim that their people are their greatest assets. The inherent problem with managing intellectual capital is that unlike warehouse stock, the company does not own these assets. As a result, their Intellectual Capital (IC) balance sheet is, more often than not, in the red.

IC components & attributes

Intellectual Capital is actually made up three subsets of capital.

Human Capital refers to the knowledge residing in the heads of employees that is relevant to the purpose of the organisation. Relational Capital refers to the value of a company’s ongoing relationships with the people or organisations to which it sells. Structural Capital refers to knowledge assets that “don’t go home at night.”

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The European Commission MERITUM Project (2002) provides an extensive list of attributes that make up each aspect of Intellectual Capital. Firstly, Human Capital includes attributes of innovation capacity, creativity, know-how, previous experience, teamwork capacity, employee flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity, motivation, satisfaction, learning capacity, loyalty, formal training and education. Secondly, example manifestations of Relational Capital include brands, customer loyalty, company names, backlog orders and distribution channels, as well as licensing and franchising agreements. Thirdly, Structural Capital is the result of effective intellectual capital management because the capital stays within the organisation, even if key staff leave. Examples of Structural Capital include patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, corporate culture and management processes as well as information systems.

Drawing up an IC balance sheet

Traditional statements of a company’s financial position in terms of assets and liabilities would normally read something like: Owner’s equity = total assets - total liabilities Such financial statements, however, do not show the loss of IC and the subsequent impact on the company should key talent leave. In the case of an IC balance sheet, the owner’s equity is the intellectual capital that is retained by the company. An IC balance sheet might thus read: IC = Intellectual Assets - Intellectual Liabilities Raising the value of your organisation’s intellectual capital then lies in reducing intellectual liabilities and raising intellectual assets. To do that, HR managers need to be able to extract essential information from the heads of key personnel and convert it into a tangible asset that will continue to benefit the organisation even after staff have moved on.

IC in the red

So what is the cost of poorly managed IC? According to research conducted by KPMG, after losing key employees: 43 percent of organisations experienced damage to primary customer relationships 50 percent of organisations had lost knowledge of best practice information10 percent had lost significant income (Warren, 1999)

Back to basics

HR managers can contribute to increasing the value of their organisation’s IC by going back to, and constantly reviewing the basic elements of good human resource management. What this means in practical terms is setting the wheels in motion for the conversion of implicit knowledge to a more explicit form. Extracting information out of people’s heads and into the form of documents, processes and databases for example. Professor Lee states that this is like, “Decanting the human capital into the structural capital of the organisation.” HR managers should also encourage more and better quality human interaction such that tacit knowledge flow is enhanced. Such knowledge then becomes diffused around the organisation and not stuck in the heads of a few.

“

The inherent problem with managing intellectual capital is... the company does not own these assets.

”

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Assessing talent| Philippe Tang, Senior Consultant, Hong Kong Productivity Council, shares some of his strategies for assessing staff to facilitate more ‘productive’ HR. Paul J. Meyer said, “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” In this vein, Philippe Tang, Senior Consultant, Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) shared the Council’s take on achieving a more productive HR. Tang believes the essence of effective talent management lies in HR growing their talent pool in alignment with company growth targets so that it takes the company towards those goals.

Identifying talents

In the classic Chinese book on military strategy, Sun Tzu proclaimed a key strategy was to know your enemy. Indeed, if ever a military analogy were useful, it would be when discussing the ‘war for talent.’ While knowing your competition is an advantage, knowing your own corporate army helps you to keep them on your side to drive your organisation forward towards winning an even bigger war—the fight for marketplace dominance. The first step towards knowing your corporate army or key talent is being able to identify them, and then assess them. Identifying your key talent requires management commitment. Without management’s support and understanding of what a talent management process requires, then pulling off any initiative is extremely difficult. It is HR’s job to ‘sell’ the initiative to senior management and help them to see why it is important to the success of the organisation. Some questions to ask yourself when planning such a pitch could include:

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• • • • •

What are the current challenges or problems for HR? (turnover, etc.) How do you currently address those challenges or problems? How could you fix those problems? Who will be involved? How much time and actual support can you provide to attract and retain new talent and potential staff?

The talent that you identify also needs to be aligned with the company direction. Thus, HR managers also need to be aware of what the company’s direction is and be able to tie talent to that direction. HR managers then need to analyse the needs of these key talents as well as the organisation in the present and in the future. Having identified the needs from these perspectives, key talent is in a position to drive the company forward. Next, HR managers need to look at talent coverage, i.e. where the talent is, and where it is needed. Frequently, middle management shows some of the highest turnover rates within organisations and in terms of talent development, Tang says that this segment usually forms the focus. The fourth and final step in the identification process (prior to the assessment process) is to identify future competency requirements for any specific position. This is achieved using a ‘nomination/criteria form’ that indicates a list of competencies that will be required and a score given from one to ten against the listed competencies for an individual.

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Talent management process

Philippe Tang, Senior Consultant, Hong Kong Productivity Council

Assessing talents

In assessing a prospect, each competency is put through a rigorous testing process that includes:

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Competency based interview

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Psychometric assessment

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360-degree assessment (a multiperspective analysis of strengths and weaknesses

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An assessment of the candidate’s analytical and presentation skills

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Business-case group discussion in order to assess how a talent interacts with others

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An ‘in-tray’ exercise that simulates job-related tasks and assesses the candidates ability to perform them

The purpose of the assessment phase is to help talents identify their strengths and weaknesses through the application of the above tools. What this achieves is enhanced objectivity and accuracy of the assessment results. The purpose of the assessment phase is to help talents identify their strengths and weaknesses through the application of the above tools. What this achieves is enhanced objectivity and accuracy of the assessment results.

According to Tang, the talent management process can be divided up into development and succession. Talent development should include career planning activities, competency enhancement, as well as coaching an/or mentoring. Your succession plan comes about when you utilise the talent development process not just for one individual, but the entire talent pool, creating waves of talent. Competency enhancement, says Tang, consists of a training programme stressing the following aspects:

• • • • • • • • • • •

Building a proactive winning team Change management Coaching for enhance performance Interpersonal communication Managing diversity in a crosscultural context Managing stress and emotional intelligence (EQ) Motivation and conflict management Negotiation for best results Presenting with power & persuasion Risk and crisis management Problem solving and analysis approach

The promotability grade required to be determined for the succession planning process is the combination of the result of the assessment of current performance, and the assessment of the candidate’s potential performance. Moreover, comprehensive talent management processes bring a host of benefits to HR and the organisations as a whole including, but not limited to the following:

• • • • •

A road map for employee development Job content tied to business plan More opportunities for high potential Lower turnover and better morale More talent ready sooner

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Setting the benchmark Why fairness of benchmarking is crucial in an open and transparent workplace| HR Magazine talked to Dr Ardeshir Geranpayeh from the Department of Applied Linguistics at Cambridge ESOL, to discuss why assessment and benchmarking is essential in training and development programmes. Geranpayeh was keen to focus on the need for fairness in benchmarking, and that companies should not fall into the trap of using benchmarking as a means of introducing a hidden agenda into the workplace. One of Hong Kong’s biggest employers—who will remain nameless—recently used English-language benchmarking as a tool to sack a significant number of its staff. Geranpayeh pointed out that this type of activity should definitely not be the function of benchmarking. Dr Ardeshir Geranpayeh has been engaged in language assessment for over 23 years. He was first introduced to benchmarking of language proficiency in a workplace context in Hong Kong back in 2000, when working as a language testing specialist consultant at Polytechnic University. At that time the Education and Manpower Bureau and Standing Committee on Language Education and Research jointly set aside $50 million from the Government’s Language Fund, in order to finance the Workplace English Campaign. BULATS was used as the benchmarking tool for this campaign. Geranpayeh has since joined Cambridge ESOL and has been involved in the design, development, validation and revision of several internationally recognised language proficiency tests.

Assessments on a limited budget

What advice would you give to HR managers who have limited budgets available but would still like to conduct assessment and benchmarking exercises?

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The key here is effective planning to avoid what we call a ‘false economy.’ Successful benchmarking can benefit the individual and the company as a whole, but it’s essential that the right things are tested, and for the right reasons. It can seem like a good idea to save money by developing your own tests or running your own benchmarking service, but it takes far more time than anyone expects, and you end up taking a huge risk by possibly appointing the wrong people or turning down first class applicants. This is hugely expensive. It is much better to use an effective service, which has been properly researched and refined using data from millions of test takers. My advice would be that HR managers on limited budgets work with an expert in language assessment to understand where there is most need for language assessment and benchmarking. The benchmarking toolkit developed by the University of Cambridge ESOL examinations is an excellent tool as it provides options for a company to use the tool flexibly depending on budgets and resources available.

Keeping assessments fair

What legal and ethical considerations do you think are important for HR to bear in mind when assessing and benchmarking staff? I would say that transparency is an important issue to follow up in any benchmarking of staff. The participants in such a process need to be convinced that benchmarking is not a tool for implementing a hidden agenda for change in the workplace. There has to be a clear statement of the purpose of the exercise and what is going to be measured and how. Obviously fairness is extremely important, not just ethically, but because it helps you to make sure you

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are making the right decisions. Again, an objective, internationally recognised test doesn’t just help you to be fair; it enables you to prove that your criteria are fair and objective.

Keeping assessments simple & flexible

What are the main challenges that can arise when establishing and implementing assessment and benchmarking frameworks? How can metrics be kept as simple as possible? Benchmarking frameworks have to be structured and highly organised to be effective. However, it is essential that HR managers are mindful of the risk of implementing a system that becomes too complicated. The best way to reduce the amount of data is to use a service that produces a clear, easily understood report, which gives an objective picture of what the person can actually do and reports ability in terms of an internationally understood system like the CEFR. What can HR do to make the process of assessment and benchmarking more flexible? The best piece of advice I would give is to be aware of their employee’s needs, and then develop an appropriate process of assessment. Again, an off-theshelf system that can be applied where and when it’s needed, with specialist input, so that you’re not dependent on having an in-house specialist available whenever you need one. For example, from our own experience, we know that some students taking an English exam now prefer to do this on a computer, whereas others prefer the traditional pen and paper method—therefore you need to choose a solution that offers both.

Frequency of assessments

Which do you consider the most potentially damaging for businesses—too much assessment or too little? Of course it’s important to strike a balance, but it’s not necessarily a case of too much or too little assessment, but rather of appropriate assessment that gives you, as HR managers, the right information, and being seen by employees to be using that information in the right way. Employees will be less likely to feel burdened by assessment, if

Dr Ardeshir Geranpayeh, Department of Applied Linguistics, Cambridge ESOL

it is perceived to be testing skills, which are relevant, and if it is being used to help staff develop.

Linking assessments to L&D

How can HR effectively link assessment & benchmarking with future training and development programmes for staff? The clearer the picture you have of current levels of ability, the more easily you can plan your training. So when putting a training package together I’d suggest talking to line managers and feed this into the plan. A key part of benchmarking is identifying the gaps between the skills that employees and their line managers perceive to be needed in particular roles and the skills which they already possess. It also involves making realistic judgements about the training that will be necessary to narrow those gaps, and how it should be prioritised. Otherwise you run the risk of wasting time and money and teaching people skills they already have, or trying to teach things that are, as yet, too difficult for them, or even not yet necessary.

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Benchmarking IT staff Certification scheme provides much needed help for HR managers in benchmarking IT Staff| Let’s face it, HR needs all the help it can get when it comes to benchmarking any staff in terms of ability and qualifications. Such metrics can help allocate appropriate tasks to existing staff, in particular to those who may be transferred to new departments and/or promoted to roles with different job natures. Moreover, a quantitative system of grading staff abilities and qualifications is also critical when recruiting new hires, in order to compare between candidates and the selection of the candidate with the most appropriate skill set. Benchmarking anyone’s ability and skill sets is a relatively complex task, and trying to do so with staff in the IT sector can be a serious headache for experts in the sector, let alone HR Managers. Fortunately, help is on hand. The Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) and the Hong Kong Institute for Information Technology Professional Certification (HKITPC) recently announced the latest progression to their existing Certified Professional of Information Technology (CPIT) Scheme, bringing much needed help to HR managers wishing to benchmark the skill sets of staff working in IT roles.

Background

The Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) is a well-established non-profit organisation founded in 1970. The vision that lead to its establishment was to provide vital new insights and advice into the ways in which information technology is shaping and

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changing our lives. The society continues to provide this vision to the Hong Kong business sector and general public through its dedication to promote the highest professional standards for the industry. With support from the IT community and a number of influential endorsing corporations, the decision to join forces with the Hong Kong Institute for IT Professional Certification (HKITPC) last year has further re-enforced this standpoint. Assisting with an initial investment of HK$1 million, the HKCS provided the sustainable capital to logistically put the development wheels into motion and enable the launch of new offerings. Mr Sunny Lee, President of HKCS and Executive Director of IT at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, one of the scheme’s endorsing companies, confirmed that for the development of the three new professional titles, the HKCS will work closely with the HKITPC to ensure their relevance and quality. Stressing the importance of future input from the private sector, he went on to add, “While the HKCS provides a significant level of seed funding for the HKITPC, we look forward to further sponsorship from, and partnership with, other learned organisations involved in IT and business corporations in support of HKITPC which benefit the entire IT and user community as a whole.” The Hong Kong Institute for IT Professional Certification (HKITPC), founded in 2007 is the first independent, non-profit institute pioneering the

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IT certification scheme in Hong Kong. Its aim is to aid in the development of the IT industry in Hong Kong through a series of quality IT certificates that are recognised by both local and international communities of the IT industry. The schemes cover a variety of disciplines, which are all designed to expand the career development prospects for IT professionals and to help corporations ensure the success of critical IT projects, optimise costs and enhance productivity.

Benefits to HR

Mr Stephen Lau, Chairperson of the HKIPC Board of Governance feels this step is critical to help enhance the competitiveness of the Hong Kong IT Professionals and as such the scheme also paves the way to benchmark candidates in Hong Kong, Mainland China and internationally. When asked why staff would be better certified under the CPIT scheme rather that using other International Certificates, Dr C K Wong, HKCS Chairperson explained, “Every location should have their own branding to typify their strengths.” Wong went on to emphasise that qualifications such as this should target the legal and cultural uniqueness in the local environment, and this was exactly what the CPIT had achieved within Hong Kong. Another obvious advantage of the scheme for both candidates themselves and employers is that continuous learning, especially in the IT

industry is paramount, because without consistent development these skills become obsolete. The Certified Professional of Information Technology certificates CPIT provides a road map for development for future needs. When asked how the scheme would benefit HR managers in terms of staff T&D, Mr Sunny Lee, President of HKCS explained, “What we’re doing here is doing their [HR Manager’s] job for them and providing a road-map for future development…as a business motivator there is a need for professional certification, with good foresight we understand the benefits of devoting time to life long learning, and as such should focus energy on supporting and encouraging personal and career development.”

The way forward

The CPIT now exists as a career development certificate, and with the development of new certifications and re-certification programmes the foundation of the accredited training programmes will progress even further into the IT business community. The existing CPIT can be sustained through community-wide support and representation. Reaching out to employers and HR Managers in particular. Lau concluded, “We strongly emphasise industry involvement in this; IT professional development is essential and must be sustained.”

From left to right: Stephen Lau, Chairperson, KIPC Board of Governance; Mr. Sunny Lee, President, HKCS; Dr. C.K. Wong, HKCS Chairperson

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Certification for staff

Getting staff certified is an important element of L&D programmes|

Dr Rita Wan, Chairperson of ISSC

The International Six Sigma Council (ISSC) is a non-profit organisation providing examination and registration of Six Sigma professionals. We spoke with Dr Rita Wan the organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chairperson to find out more about the work of ISSC and the importance of Six Sigma certification. Six Sigma philosophy

Six Sigma is a management philosophy, which trains managers to equip them with the skills to manage a team and provides them with certification.

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With it managers are better able to deal with the multifarious challenges that they are faced with everyday including staff retention, boosting sales, and ensuring a fully functioning, efficient and effective team.

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The role of ISSC

ISSC is non-profit making and aims to promote best practices in the Six Sigma field through examination and registration of Six Sigma Quality professionals. Around 300 members have joined ISSC since its founding in 2006, and Dr Co Chan, Vice President of the Examination Board at the Council, pointed out that in a recent survey they conducted the organisation was ranked as the most trustworthy certifying agent among the 50 companies that implement Six Sigma. Dr Wan offered an explanation for the success of the ISSC, “This is probably due to the fact that ISSC are an independent certifying agent that don’t offer training—so avoiding any conflict of interest.”

What can HR get out of Six Sigma?

On the subject of how Six Sigma could help HR functions, Dr Wan replied that the key function of HR is organisational development and developing staff members, and Six Sigma training provides this training and development. She added, “It is necessary that HR managers themselves be trained, especially if the company wishes to develop their own in-house trainers. Six Sigma helps test management trainees and personnel to see whether they have these capabilities and Six Sigma sets the standard.” The Six Sigma qualification can be used to ‘prove’ that managers have achieved a certain level because, as part of their assessment, they have to run and complete a real project and then present it to the satisfaction of the examination board in front of two Master Black Belts. ISSC guarantees Continued Professional Development (CPD) because every year Six Sigma professionals have to be re-certified. Re-certification is a metric, to measure how effective the Six Sigma training was, and if candidates do not complete this they lose their certification.

Who is Six Sigma aimed at?

Dr Wan believes that Six Sigma is relevant to all grades of professionals; however senior managers and supervisors make up the majority of candidates. She divided the function of managers into three broad categories: people, sales and

team, and then explained, “The difference between team and people is people are the individuals within a company while the team is the processes. An efficient and effective team will carry out the processes well.” Dr Wan then elaborated on processes such as IT, HR and operations pointing out that they ‘combine with people’ so that managers have a huge range of duties under their remit from managing sales and staff, to ensuring processes are stable and efficient. Six Sigma trains people how to handle such processes, and Dr Wan stated that people with qualifications tend to handle processes better.

Setting standards

Stressing the importance of setting standards, Dr Wan highlighted that managers operate on different levels from handling small processes, to dealing with numerous tasks at the same time, to managing entire organisations. The different levels of Six Sigma qualifications mirror these different levels. There are six levels of certification issued by the ISSC from Yellow Belts, who may not lead projects on their own, but participate as a core team member or subject matter expert on projects, to Six Sigma Champions who are able to identify potential projects and select the best ones, foresee potential obstacles, and set realistic expectations that ultimately drive financial results.

Demonstrating ROI

Six Sigma training not only helps engage staff and increase loyalty, but also helps organisations improve processes, productivity and reduces wastage of time and resources. Dr Wan explained the focus on, “Eliminating non-valuable activities, shortening turnaround and achieving near-perfect quality, all at a lower cost.” HR can measure the effectiveness of Six Sigma training by quantifying the savings it brings. For example, Master Black Belt candidates need to save their company up to HK$1 million before they can qualify—and candidates must show how they achieved it using Six Sigma methodologies. Dr Wan concluded, “Many companies in the Fortune 500 send staff for Six Sigma training because they can see the metrics of how much they save each year.”

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The right way to employ psychometric assessments| By Zakeera Vidler, Director of HR Consulting at Hong Kong-based executive recruitment firm ConnectedGroup

The global job market has been tight for several years now and despite emerging from the current economic downturn, employers in many sectors are still operating in a candidate-short market. In these circumstances it is vital for employers not only to recruit the right candidates, but also to retain them by providing effective career development over the long term. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no surprise, then, that

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psychometric assessment has become widely recognised as a valuable tool for recruiters and HR managers. Around the world, it is used by 80% of Fortune 500 companies and is now growing fast in Asia and the Middle East. Here we look at the use and misuse of psychometric assessment and identify how both candidates and employers can use it better.

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What’s in a name?

Even as psychometric assessment grows in popularity as an HR tool, there are still misconceptions about what it is and what it can achieve. Even the name can cause confusion. Many people refer to ‘psychometric testing’ as though it’s another hurdle for a candidate to clear on the path to a new job. The broader term ‘psychometric assessment’ is much more applicable since we are not simply testing a candidate’s skills in specific areas, but enabling that candidate to provide a self-profile that illuminates a wide range of aptitudes, thought processes and, most importantly, preferences. Psychometric assessments are designed to measure a person’s psychological abilities—and this means gauging personality traits rather than the narrow knowledge base required for a particular job. Looking at psychometrics this way helps to clear up some very common misconceptions, including the belief that it’s a tool used only during the recruitment process and that it provides results to be used exclusively by employers.

Recruitment tool or HR tool?

Psychometric assessment is an invaluable recruitment tool—though it is not a means to an end in itself. Decisions about whether or not to select a candidate should never be made solely on this basis. Assessments are particularly helpful for confirming impressions gained in interviews and for clarifying areas of doubt. Many organisations include behavioural interviewing in the selection process once a candidate has reached the final interview stage. But assessment is equally useful for ongoing career management and staff retention—from the viewpoint of both employer and employee. Excessive staff turnover is a major issue for many organisations: when a company loses employees it is also losing a significant investment and substantial intellectual property. This is where psychometric assessment often proves its worth. It is a good way of highlighting an individual’s strengths in a neutral context, regardless of the job that individual is currently doing. A genuine understanding of an employee’s aptitudes and preferences can enable HR professionals to

recognise previously unexplored potential and create an appropriate long-term development plan.

Brain trust

So what should a company look for when contemplating the use of psychometric assessment? Both methodology and professional support is key. Possible tools range from the complete SHL offerings, a series of verbal and numeric reasoning tests; inductive reasoning tests, personality questionnaires, motivation questionnaires, speed and accuracy tests, as well as HBDI and DISC assessment tools. HBDI is based on whole brain technology; an attempt to understand how individuals think. It provides a basis for measuring different thinking preferences by determining the degree of dominance that has developed among four thinking styles. At the core of whole brain technology is the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument or HBDI, the worldwide standard for measuring thinking preferences and brain dominance. Whole brain technology is scientifically designed to help people think better, and therefore vastly improve communication across multicultural teams. The HBDI identifies and measures the strength of preference for each of the four distinct thinking styles. These correspond to the cerebral hemispheres and the limbic system of the brain. The two left side structures combine to represent what is popularly called leftbrain thinking. The two right side structures combine to represent right brain thinking. Left-brain functions include: logic, facts, rules, words and language, maths and science, reality-based forms, strategies, practical and safety. Right brain functions include: feeling, bigpicture orientation, imagination rules, philosophy and religion, appreciation, impetuous reactions and risktaking behaviour. The two cerebral structures combine to represent cerebral thinking and the two limbic structures combine to represent limbic thinking. The HBDI, through its series of 120 questions, is capable of measuring the degree of preference between each of the four individual thinking structures (quadrants) and each of the four-paired structures (modes). This results in a four-quadrant profile, which displays the degree of preference for each of the four quadrants—your HBDI Profile.

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likely reactions to others. It also helps to predict how someone is likely to behave in situations. Whatever the methodology used, it is important that a provider of psychometric assessments has the experience and expertise to tailor the service to each client’s specific needs.

When to use psychometric assessments

Scoring results are free of value judgment and cultural bias. Because it is a self-analysis, most people immediately recognise their results as accurate. The profiles produced by the HBDI model provide a graphic representation of thinking preferences, which helps individuals—and their managers—to understand their approach to their work environment, the people in it and their way of undertaking specific tasks. A secondary assessment technique known as DISC profiling can also provide a practical assessment of an individual’s behaviour according to four factors– dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance. This information is used to create a picture of the individual’s motivations, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses and

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Psychometric assessments add value for employers in all business sectors, but not every company has the same requirements and a bespoke service is essential. It is often the case that an organisation develops a preference for a certain type of testing/ assessment that is particularly relevant to its own employment requirements. For example, assessment is especially useful when an employer is undertaking large scale hiring, perhaps for graduate recruitment or for large numbers of similar positions in, say, the hospitality industry. It’s also very effective for team building exercises, as the preferences revealed in assessments are a good way of identifying complementary strengths between team members and learning how people will work together. The approach to assessment is as important as the methodology employed. Feedback to the individuals who are being assessed is as important as it is to their employers. Psychometric assessment is designed to explore peoples’ preferences rather than their suitability only for one specific role; this means that assessment can provide far more than a test of a candidate’s fitness for a particular job. Effective assessment provides an in-depth understanding of a candidate’s preferences, making for the best possible use of all available talent over the longer term.

Use don’t abuse

Assessment tools have a valid and effective role to play within an organisation, but each company should look carefully at how they are employing the tools before rolling them out. Far more than just a recruitment tool, when used properly psychometric testing is a valuable human resources tool that can be implemented across the organisation, not just outside of it.

Recognition and awards

Importance of awards for recognising L&D excellence| Awards play an important role in helping to promote excellence in staff L&D. Not only do they provide an opportunity to showcase HR best practices, but they also give much needed recognition to those who dedicate their careers to help others make the most of theirs.

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Recognition and awards

Evolution of L&D recognition

John Allison, Vice President of HR in the Asia Pacific Division of FedEx Express and Chairman of the Organising Committee for the HKMA Awards for Excellence in Training & Development firmly believes in the importance of embracing ‘staff development’ as well as the more traditional ‘staff training’ aspect of T&D programmes. In line with this, in 2010 the HKMA’s Annual Award for Excellence in Training was renamed the Award for Excellence in Training and Development—a move reflecting the evolution of the training industry itself. The progression now means the awards recognise outstanding development, as well as training programmes and distinguished trainers in Hong Kong. To gauge the significance of the awards for HR and T&D managers in the region, HR Magazine recently interviewed Michael Fraccaro, Head of Learning, Talent, Resourcing and Organisation Development, Asia Pacific, HSBC and Margaret Chiu, Senior VP, Group HR, AIA. Both HSBC and AIA, along with twelve other companies, have representatives on the organising committee for the awards. Fraccaro cited three factors that made the awards significant. “Firstly, we believe in the importance and quality of the awards and what it does for the training profession throughout Hong Kong. Secondly, it provides trainers with recognition for the work that they are doing within their profession. Thirdly, HKMA and the awards are closely aligned with the values of HSBC, especially regarding the importance placed on training and development.” Chiu explained the objective of the awards was to put focus on the development of people on a continuous basis. She added, “By encouraging, nurturing and developing the knowledge, experience and wisdom of our staff, we are able to cater to and anticipate the needs of our customers. As such, we place a great emphasis on not only the recruitment and retention of talents, but also their training and development on an ongoing basis.” Fraccaro added that by participating as an examiner, he was also able to learn about other industries and to appreciate best practices and alternative ways of designing and delivering training beyond the banking and finance sector.

While there may be different organisational contexts, many of the issues that companies are facing such as: employee engagement, engaging different generations and issues around bottom-line performance tend to be common to all organisations across all industries. The difference, Fraccaro explained, lies in how organisations approach these and what their solutions are.

Judging criteria

On the subject of what makes an award-winning T&D programme, Allison pointed out that one of the areas the judges look at is programme design. He said, “We’re looking for a robust programme—be it training or development. We’re also looking for engagement of stakeholders in the programmes.” Allison also pointed out the importance of originations tying T&D programmes to business results, “We’re looking for outcomes that are measurable. We’re looking for innovation and creativity…Putting on a training or development programme that doesn’t tie to the business is not going to be award winning. We’re looking for a direct tie to business results.”

Benefits of T&D recognition

Allison points out that the benefits of running a race come from competing. He explains, “If you’re

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Recognition and awards

competing for one of these awards—you’re looking at yourself and challenging yourself and presenting yourself for public scrutiny.” By competing, this helps companies look more objectively at their T&D programmes and how they might improve them. Recognition at the awards certainly allows staff to increase their professional standards and become role models for other training professionals, sharing best practices with their colleagues. On this point Fraccaro said, “For the individual themselves it also gives them motivation to continue to further their career, good recognition, and we are just very proud of anyone who puts the effort in because the whole selection process actually requires a lot of time from the individual.” Fraccaro added, “It is important because it continues to look at and question how we can raise the bar in the professionalism of training and development. It is about best practice and sharing of best practice between industries, and I think it’s very dangerous for any industry to just look within itself, it’s important to start looking beyond and at how other organisations approach different aspects.”

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He added, “…it [also] provides individuals within the training profession motivation because they have an opportunity to showcase their particular programme, what they have done; and it gives them an inspiration on how to better themselves in the training profession.” These sentiments were echoed by Chiu who said, “We strongly believe that people who performed well deserve proper recognition. In this regard, the awards provide an ideal platform to recognise those who are very good at what they do and have made valuable contributions to training and development. This helps underscore the importance of creating a ‘learning’ organisation.” A further benefit is that the recognition really helps with employer branding. Fraccaro pointed out that it demonstrates, “We as an organisation do invest in our people, and when I talk about brand, it’s equally important to promote our brand externally to potential candidates that want to work for HSBC and also for our internal staff, that we are really investing in our people.”

Demonstrating ROI of training

Metrics to measure L&D success| Demonstrating return on investment (ROI) is notoriously challenging—here’s how Industry insights

Margaret Chiu, Senior VP, Group HR, AIA, points out that despite the difficulties in measuring training success, traditionally there are four basic criteria that HR can utilise to help them measure the effectiveness of their learning and development programmes:

1. Reaction—whether the participants are happy or not 2. Learning—the learning of knowledge or skills 3. Application—how people can apply the knowledge or skills learnt to their work 4. Results

AIA focuses on the ‘learning’ and ‘application’ aspects when measuring training effectiveness. The HR team at AIA frequently check to see if employees have learned the required knowledge or skills to conduct specific tasks, and if they have they applied these to their work. To achieve this they conduct post-training assessment one, three and six months after the training, to follow-up the relationship between ‘learning’ and ‘application’ and monitoring results with a view to continually improving and enriching our training curriculum. AIA has also recently applied the ‘net promoter score’ to help gauge training effectiveness, and participants are now asked if they would recommend the training to others—which provides a useful indication as to how participants view the quality and effectiveness of the training. In terms of metrics that companies might adopt to help measure the success and sustainability

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of training programmes adopted, Michael Fraccaro, Head of Learning, Talent, Resourcing and Organisation Development, Asia Pacific, HSBC suggests three key strategies that he utilises. Firstly, and most obviously, analysis of the training event itself in terms of the level of satisfaction and how individuals feel as the result of attending a particular programme. Secondly, analysis of the impact a training and development solution has on the businesses bottom line; and whether the training solution actually met the original design objectives— both learning and business objectives. Thirdly, by conducting an annual employer attitude survey that measures the extent to which staff feel training provided by the organisation is effective in helping them do their jobs.

Academic insights

From an academic perspective, Dr Ardeshir Geranpayeh from the Department of Applied Linguistics at Cambridge ESOL, also admits it is very difficult to relate the success of training to a percentage increase in profits, but himghlights that successful benchmarking can help HR save money in the long run by enabling their companies to target training where it will be most effective—ultimately making the organisation more competitive. If you can show objectively, using an independent system, that you’re getting staff with the right skills, and that your training programme is improving those skills—measured against internationally recognised benchmarks—then you are demonstrating a clear return on investment. In this very challenging economic climate the challenge for all managers is to demonstrate that budget is well spent to ensure that no further cuts are actioned. HR managers have

Demonstrating ROI of training

a particularly difficult task as cuts to training budgets imply that accountability has increased even more for training spend. However, at Cambridge ESOL we have found that assessment requirements within global organisations continues to increase. Organisations have recognised that it is important to ensure that employees have the language competency to compete efficiently in the global market especially during challenging economic times and using a tool that is well researched can provide them with the confidence to make effective decisions for recruitment, promotion, placement and employee development needs. Benchmarking can ensure that organisations make the right decision about language levels required for particular jobs and do not place employees on training programmes that are not needed or train employees in skills not required for the job they are doing. The approach Cambridge ESOL has adopted enables you to identify the correct level needed for a job, assess employees and then place them on appropriate courses. It is a well-researched tool that enables HR managers to measure the effectiveness of decisions being made. This is also complemented by learning packages and the BULATS assessments that are cost effective, and meet global standards enabling HR managers to make accurate decisions for training and development programmes. Trusting professional systems is key—in the same way as companies use HR specialists to help them handle complex specialised HR issues, HR professionals can also make their lives much easier by working with experts in language to develop a solution that meets their needs quickly, economically and reliably. Dr Chris Chan, Associate Professor in Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Business & Economics and Assistant Dean & Director of MBA Programs, The University of Hong Kong points out that training and development are highly visible costs and ROI can be very difficult to measure. However he stresses that, “Human capital should be seen as a strategic asset, rather than cost centre.” He added, “This can be done through the HR scorecard that helps policy implementation and enables a shift from cost to value.” He divided the HR scorecard into strategy,

operations, internal processes and customers and finance. He recommended the identification of HR deliverables so that managers understand and are therefore willing to pay.

To measure or not to measure…

Tom Armstrong, Head of Human Resources, Asia/ Japan, Aon Corporation reminded HR at AmCham’s Human Resource Conference 2010 that anything can be measured, but what is important is whether or not it is of value. When measuring human capital firstly you must decide how to measure. HR strategy and metrics must be linked to the business strategy and have input from stakeholders—find out how they want it published and keep it simple and transparent. He stressed the importance of what he described as being, “Joined at the hip with the CEO.” HR Directors must speak the language of business and understand what a CEO needs from HR, for example if they are fire, you should be water. HR must resolve people issues, sensitively and completely so they do not reoccur and channel corporate HR and to keep those pressures away from the CEO.

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Demonstrating ROI of training

Measuring T&D effectiveness in the Hong Kong Police Force| Table 1 | Overview of Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training evaluation Level

Evaluation type (what is actually measured)

Reaction

Learning

Behaviour

Results

Gauging how the delegates feel about the training or learning experience.

Measuring the increase in knowledge: before and after training.

Extent of applied learning back on the job i.e. implementation of ideas gained

Effect on the organisation or environment by the trainee.

• • • • •

‘Happy sheets’ Feedback forms Verbal feedback Post-training surveys Questionnaires

• Assessments/ interviews/ observations before and after the training

• Observation and interview over time • Assessment of change • Determining relevance & sustainability of change

• Measures should already be in place via normal management and reporting systems • Main challenge is to relate effectively to the trainees

• • • •

Quick Easy to obtain Inexpensive to gather Easy to analyse

• Simple to set up • Clear-cut for quantifiable skills • More difficult for complex learning

• Requires cooperation and experience of line-managers

• Individually not difficult • For the whole organisation more challenging • Process must attribute clear accountabilities

Evaluation description

Examples of evaluation tools and methods

Relevance and practicability

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Demonstrating ROI of training

On the backend of any training programme, organisations need to track its effectiveness. May Kwok, Superintendent of Police—Force Training Officer explains how the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) achieves this. Kwok states, “In general, we use public opinion, customer and staff surveys and take the results and look at how to improve. We then take the information, apply it to the programmes and provide the learning needed.” For more specific courses, the Force conducts a pre-course analysis and a post-course analysis. An example of this is the Force command training, where officers are tested when they come in, and again after the training. For an evaluation of the system, Kirkpatrick’s model is being used. The four levels of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model essentially measure:

1. reaction of students—what they think and feel about the training

2. learning—the resulting increase in knowledge or capability

3. behaviour—the extent of behaviour and capability improvement, implementation and application of ideas

4. results—the effects on the organisation or environment resulting from the trainee’s performance

Kirkpatrick recommends all these measures are measured to obtain a full and meaningful evaluation of learning in organisations. Their application

generally increases in both complexity and cost through the levels 1-4. Kwok points out that the HKPF is currently working on level three of the evaluation framework. The HKPF also employs ISO 9000 standards. Kwok notes, “This system gives us an advantage in that it is dynamic, forces us to seek to improve, and continuously review our processes.” From this, the force has adapted a quality assurance mechanism, or QM framework. This QM framework has four aspects:

1. Training

2. Programme design

3. Evaluation

4. Implementation

Though Kwok acknowledged that there is no set accreditation system like ISO 9000 for police forces, but pointed out that public, customer, and employee satisfaction is more important to the Force—and, as such, these are the drivers of any changes made. Kevin Woods, Assistant Commissioner pointed out if you compare the number of training hours per staff in the Force with other industries—the number of hours of training for members of the HKPF is among the highest in any industry—with around 250 hours per man, per year. He added, “This goes to show our mindset of continuous development and improvement for all levels. How do we assess our training courses? Actually our officers face one of the best tests every day—the public and its opinion.”

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Demonstrating ROI of training

Linking staff development & ROI| Ritchie Bent, Group Head of Human Resources for Jardines gives his take on succession planning and demonstrating the ROI of staff development programmes. How do staff development and succession planning fit into the career planning process for staff at Jardines? Succession planning is also a form of development and is for the benefit of the shareholder, while career planning is for the benefit of the individual. So the two should really integrate with each other. Succession planning is an important part of the career planning process in order to develop each staff member. Firstly, you have to know that person extremely well and what’s missing from that person in terms of their capabilities for what they are going to require for the future. Secondly, knowledge of these people and what they can do cannot be out sourced, as that’s really a process of people having actually seen it. You can get them evaluated on a one-off basis, and there are a lot of companies that will do senior executive evaluations to determine if

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a staff member is capable of doing a particular job. However, that should only be used as part of the decision making process, as there are many other considerations including input from people already at that level and input from people above that level, whether it fits strategically with what the company wants to do and whether it fits with that person’s career plan. In view of all the different inputs that are required, I don’t think you can outsource such high-level succession planning, and I include in that high-level executive recruiting. Search firms have to be used to find you ‘the bodies’ but their job should end with getting you, say five names. So agencies can be part of the decision, but the ultimate decision must be made by the company. How would you advise HR to attract and retain better quality talent in their organisation? I would say number one is there must be a clear career path for people. You must make provision for staff members’ career development and personal development. Secondly, remuneration levels are key and you’d better pay slightly over the odds

Demonstrating ROI of training

rather than slightly under the odds if you can. But you can also compensate for this by ensuring people feel that they are growing professionally in the roll they’re in. Thirdly, by giving lots of personal attention it means HR directors getting out there. And what I say to my guys here is that 80% of their time should be out of the office, because your job is to be out there amongst the people. Then

in here you are doing the bits and pieces, and then again you are out, and in this day and age it should be more anyway because you can take your office with you in the form of a Blackberry. HR is all about trust, and so the most important competency about an HR Director is that people trust you. If

they don’t trust you they are not going to tell you anything, and if they don’t tell you anything, things are going to happen that you are not going to be able to predict and therefore are not going to be able to control. What advice can you give to HR to help link staff development to ROI? This is the most difficult thing to do of all, and we have been doing executive development for many years and I’ve not yet come up with the perfect solution. A lot of training development is an act of faith and as such is difficult to be measured. However, there are certain examples of things that we’ve done that have definitely had an impact on the business and can be readily measured in terms of ROI. Often projects that come out of training and development initiatives that are to do with improving the business or growing the business are often a very, very good way of demonstrating how there is a return of investment on this. A second way of measuring the effectiveness of it, is people who were going to leave the company, and then suddenly went on a training programme that really turned them on, and then suddenly said, “I’m going to stay.” So it’s actually saving somebody who would have gone - you can do an ROI on that because there is a metric that says, for highly-rated mid-level executives it costs you 2.3 times the annual package to replace them, and that’s a conservative estimate. So in that way, by keeping people and stopping them leaving for at least a couple more years and by giving attention to their development, you can actually show the ROI. That can filter down to reducing turnover, by bringing the issue to even non-executive people; that just by training them they suddenly think “I’m important and so I won’t jump ship.’’ You can measure the ROI in terms of costs saving by not having to replace people. I think the third method of measuring ROI is to monitor how prepared the Chief Executives are to continue to put their people on the same programmes year-in-year-out. The return on investment is the buy-in at the Chief Executive level, so the return is not financial but more psychological.

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Demonstrating ROI of training

Benchmarking abilities Benchmarking to help demonstrate ROI from L&D programmes| Before demonstrating ROI in any training programmes, it is important to assess and benchmark staff abilities—to provide points of reference to help objectively gauge improvement. A recent HR Magazine HR conference asked panel members about this issue. Participating in this panel debate was Alvin Miyasato, Regional Programme Manager—Leadership Development for Asia Finance, Intel; Professor Ardeshir Geranpayeh, Department of Applied Linguistics at Cambridge ESOL; Mark Knight, Regional Manager—Asia for Cambridge ESOL and Professor Florence Ho, Senior Lecturer, School of Professional Education & Executive Development, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Miyasato asserted that benchmarking was vital to organisations—both internally and externally to see any patterns of capability and different levels across emerging markets. He added that aside from helping to assess language capabilities, HR should also be looking at the acumen related to their industry and what other companies are doing to develop their own acumen and how it spreads throughout the pipeline. To guarantee that staff assessment, benchmarking and training programmes are fair, HR can take a

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number of steps. Ho explained, “When we talk about doing tests, these are only useful up to a point. Within an organisation there are also technical and operational needs and a general test may only serve a generic purpose—the context in which benchmarking is undertaken is also a key factor.” Knight gave a candid assessment of how ‘fairness in assessments’ often plays out in the real world, “This issue of fairness is an important one. For example, if a HR manager thinks a test is fair, that does not mean that the staff agree and the perception of the staff can make or break a benchmarking project.” He recounted that it is common that when HR announces to an employee that they will be given an English assessment, their response is ‘Why?’ They may be suspicious and even fearful of losing their job. In light of these very genuine concerns of staff, it is important for HR to confidentially research interviews with staff and find out what’s going on prior to setting any benchmarking tests. When performing benchmarking exercises, HR must be mindful of the methodology adopted as the mechanism and context in which they are delivered, as this is essential to achieving a fair outcome.

Training provider overview

ACME Business Consulting Company Information

Company Profile

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ACME Business Consulting (ACME) is dedicated to developing and offering innovative and unique performance-based solutions that help corporations in the Greater China Region significantly enhance their business performance. With proven successes in helping business executives and managers to further differentiate themselves in the hyper-competitive market place, ACME is the premier resource for business strategy, innovation, sales and service, talent development, e-business and quality assurance solutions. Through collaboration with strategic partners, ACME integrates researchbased solutions to bring about business impacts for its clients.

Website Email

Sanita Fung (852) 2150 2808 (852) 2110 0855 2307-10, Dah Sing Financial Centre, 108 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong www.acmegroup.hk info@acmegroup.hk

Background ACME Business Consulting (ACME) was founded by Roy Fung, a legendary entrepreneur and business leader, who has track records of delivering more than 160 successful consulting projects for over 60 local large and multinational organisations in the Greater China Region. He has solid project experience, from strategy formulation to implementation, and created success stories in addressing people performance issues. We are headquartered in Hong Kong with an extensive business network in Greater China notably: Macau, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.

Key Training Features Overview ACME has a full spectrum of performance-based training and consulting solutions that can help our clients to develop a highly motivated and competent workforce for achieving their next business quantum-leap. We provide training programmes in Executive Development Series, Sales and Service Series and Human Resources Series for all business sectors.

Main Subjects ACME has three mainstreams of systems enhancement solutions: • Business Related - Sales performance and client relationship management systems • Quality Related – Quality assurance and Service re-engineering systems • HR Related – Talent Management and HRIS system

Hours of Training ACME’s consultants guide clients to set new performance targets, tailor training workshops and set up quality assurance systems which fits client’s requirement.

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Training provider overview

Adecco Group Company Information

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Adecco Hong Kong is a Fortune Global 500 company and the global leader in HR services. Adecco offers a comprehensive range of services that include HR Consulting, Recruitment and Staffing, Outsourcing, Executive Search, Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, Career Management, and Outplacement through a network of 10 specialist divisions.

Website Email

Audrey Low (852) 2895 2616 (852) 2895 3571 12/F, Fortis Tower, 77-79 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong www.adecco.com.hk hongkong@adecco.com

Background Lee Hecht Harrison is part of the Adecco Group. Lee Hecht Harrison offers talent development solutions throughout the employee lifecycle. We help organisations maximise their return on investment in developing people, while assisting individuals to achieve their full potential.

Key Training Features Overview Lee Hecht Harrison is the global talent development leader with focus on Leadership Consulting, Career Transitions and Workforce Solutions.

Main Subjects • Leadership • Mentoring & Coaching • Change Management • New Manager Skills • Team Building

Hours of Training Half-day to multiple-day programmes

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Training provider overview

Dale Carnegie Training® Company Information

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With 98 years of experience, Dale Carnegie partners with middle market and large corporations, as well as organisations, to produce measurable business results by improving the performance of employees. Dale Carnegie includes as its clients 400 of the Fortune 500 companies. Dale Carnegie Training emphasizes practical, time-tested principles and processes by designing programmes that offer people the knowledge, skills and practices they need to add value to the business. Connecting proven solutions with real-world challenges, Dale Carnegie Training is recognised internationally as the leader in bringing out the best in people.

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Mr Paul Chan (852) 2845 0218 (852) 2583 9629 Suite 1701, 17/F, East Exchange Tower, 38 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong www.dale-carnegie.com.hk info@dale-carnegie.com.hk

Background Founded in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training® has evolved from one man’s belief in the power of self-improvement to a performance-based training company with offices worldwide. We focus on giving people in business the opportunity to sharpen their skills and improve their performance in order to build positive, steady, and profitable results. Headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, Dale Carnegie Training® is represented in all 50 of the United States and over 80 countries. More than 2,700 instructors present Dale Carnegie Training® programmes in more than 25 languages. Approximately 8 million people have completed Dale Carnegie Training®.

Key Training Features Overview Dale Carnegie Training® corporate specialists work with individuals, groups and organisations to design solutions that unleash your employees’ potential, enabling your organisation to reach the next level of performance. Dale Carnegie Training offers public courses, seminars and workshops, as well as in-house customised training, corporate assessments, online reinforcement and one-onone executive coaching.

Main Subjects • Dale Carnegie Course® —Effective Communications and Human Relations • High Impact Presentations • Leadership Training for Managers • Sales Advantages • Corporate Solutions in the core competencies of: Team Member Engagement, Leadership Development, Sales Effectiveness, Customer Service, Presentation Effectiveness and Process

Hours of Training Monday – Friday: 9.00am – 10.00pm Saturdays: 9.00am – 6.00pm Sundays and Public Holidays: Closed

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Training provider overview

DSL/Evans & Peck (Hong Kong) Limited Company Information

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Evans & Peck, part of the WorleyParsons Group, is an international infrastructure-based advisory company supporting major projects and change programmes for private organisations and governments throughout Australia, Asia and the Middle East. With over 350 employees, we provide Business Advisory Services and Change Management across all sectors whilst retaining a strong foundation in engineering. In Hong Kong we employ business & management practitioners, organisational psychologists, economists, lawyers, accountants, as well as environmental scientists, construction, risk and safety professionals. Evans & Peck offer a full range of services to support the needs of any project or business.

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Jane Sadler (852) 3556 7354 (852) 2492 2127 Level 14, Sun House, 181 Des Veoux Road, Central, Hong Kong www.evanspeck.com jsadler@evanspeck.com

Background DSL/Evans & Peck provide Business Advisory services to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and financial performance of our clients’ core business and projects. Our services include: • Change Management • Agile Business Optimisation • Process Improvement • Leadership Development • Coaching skills for Managers • Building high performance teams using NASA 4-D • Reality team building • Facilitation training • Executive Coaching

Key Training Features Overview We work with clients to create tailored training programmes to meet specific needs. Our consultants are experts in their fields with proven experience as senior executives and advisors in a broad range of sectors. We deliver training and development using a range of techniques to ensure maximum benefit and impact. Experiential learning is central to our methodology to embed learning and create desired behavioural changes. This includes: action learning, case studies, role plays, etc.

Main Subjects • NASA 4-D Team Building • Agile Business Leader® • Coaching Skills • Leadership Development • Facilitation Skills • Project & Risk Management

Hours of Training Customised programmes.

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Training provider overview

Excel Education Limited Company Information

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Excel Education Limited (ED Licence No. 54737/540765) has been offering tailor-made corporate training programmes throughout Hong Kong, Macau and China since 1997. Excel has established a unique track record in both corporate and Government sectors. Our team of native English speaking trainers have:

Website Email

Ms Tracy Poon (852) 2736 6339 (852) 3764 3366 101 Fourseas Building, 208-212 Nathan Road, Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong www.excelhk.com admin@excelhk.com

1. Corporate training experience in Hong Kong, Macau and China including American Express, BMW, KCRC, IBM and United Airlines. 2. Civil Service training in Hong Kong since 1997 including the Hospital Authority, the Housing Department, HKSAR Agriculture & Fisheries Department (AFCD), HKSAR Civil Service Bureau (CSB), HKSAR Civil Service Training and Development Institute (CSTDI), HKSAR General Grades Office (GGO), HKSAR Judiciary, the Lands Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, Fire Services Department, Correctional Services Department, Customs & Excise and the Immigration Department.

Background Over 18 years of experience in the design, organisation and facilitation of tailor-made business English, cross-cultural, management and leadership training programmes throughout Hong Kong, Macau and China. Excel Education Limited is the ONLY course provider in Hong Kong that also researches and publishes HR Magazine; and runs regular HR Conferences. With our finger very much on the pulse of HR, we understand the bigger picture of how T&D programmes fit into the framework of staff management. Benefit from experience sharing of the top HR directors in the region during our free consultation with management to discuss training objectives.

Key Training Features Overview EXCEL’s aim is to provide quality tuition, tailored to suit the level and needs of the client, in a relaxing and stimulating environment.

Main Subjects EXCEL provides the following services: • Corporate training programmes • Private executive coaching • Training for civil servants • Preparation for promotional interviews • Translation services • Editing & proof-reading services • Copywriting services • Transcription services

Hours of Training Monday-Friday: 8.30 am – 9.30 pm Saturday: 9.00 am – 7.00 pm

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Training provider overview

Executive Communications Education Centre Company Information

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Our two adult divisions, Executive Mandarin and Executive English, have served more than 500 corporations in Hong Kong and worked extensively with HR & training professionals to develop a wide range of industry-specific, function-specific and objective-specific courses to suit their different training requirements. Whether your need is business, social or academic, we can organise courses focused on your training goals and outlook.

Website Email

Ms Winnie Ngai (852) 2537 0835 (852) 3106 8697 1/F & 5/F, Wilson House, 19-27 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong www.ecgroup.com.hk training@ecgroup.com.hk winnie@ecgroup.com.hk

Background The Executive Communications Education Centre (Education Bureau Registration No. 569682) was formed in 2001 and is comprised of three divisions— • Executive Mandarin: Mandarin & Chinese culture training for adults and corporations; • Executive English: English training for adults and corporations; • EC Juniors—English and Mandarin training for children.

Key Training Features Overview Our list of Mandarin and English courses can be worked as stand-alone courses, or combined to create more complex, textured language courses. If you cannot find what you are looking for from our website www.ecgroup.com.hk, please contact us, all of your suggestions are welcome and we will endeavor to meet all your needs.

Main Subjects Course Offerings: • Mandarin and English Training: • Speaking & Listening Specific • Writing Specific • Industry Specific • Function Specific • Learning Purpose Specific • Customised Programs: • Customised Corporate Training Program • Customised Language & Soft Skills Workshop • (1 day workshop / workshop series) • Chinese Culture Orientation Program

Hours of Training Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 9.30pm Saturdays: 9.30am – 5.30pm Sundays & Public Holidays: closed

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Training provider overview

Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership Company Information

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The Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership (IECL) was established in 1999 and now has offices in Hong Kong, China, Australia and India.. Our vision is to be the centre of excellence for Leadership Development and Executive Coaching in Asia and Australia. We achieve this through extensive experience and reflection on our practice as executive coaches, trainers and facilitators; rigorous training and accreditation programmes for individuals and organisations; and by conducting and supporting research for the practical development of leadership and the coaching profession as a whole. This enables the quality of our services and associated materials to set a standard within the industry.

Website Email

Carol Lin (852) 3656 5770 (852) 2530 9905 8/F Wilson House, 19-27 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong www.iecoaching.com CoachHK@iecoaching.com

Background The IECL partners with global organisations to grow exceptional leaders through customised coaching, mentoring and leadership development programmes. Since 1999, we have trained over 2,500 high calibre participants in the skills of executive coaching, and have facilitated leadership workshops for over 50 organisations across all industries. On average we conduct 1500 one-on-one coaching sessions each year. Our coaches and facilitators come from a variety of backgrounds and draw on a depth of experience in areas such as; private business operations, senior and executive management, business consulting, clinical and organisational psychology, and academia in the fields of business and psychology.

Key Training Features Overview In addition to our work with organisations, the IECL offers an ICF Accredited Coach Training Program for individuals who wish to become accredited coaches.

Main Subjects • Foundations of Management Practice • Effective Workplace Conversations • Coaching Skills for the Workplace • Leadership Retreat • One-on-one Executive Coaching • Mentoring Program • Executive Coach Training—Levels 1-3

Hours of Training Monday to Friday 9.00am – 6.00pm Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays: closed.

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Training provider overview

Performia Hong Kong Company Information

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Performia Hong Kong offers proprietary online candidate management solution and online recruitment systems including executive assessment tests in over twenty languages, training and service for the business owners, CEOs and HR managers of Hong Kong for effective hiring and people management. We also extend our expertise in providing executive search and recruitment services to help placing effective and productive executives to any company. If you want to add value to the greatest asset of human resources in your company by either employing our recruitment system in your company or using our executive search services, please visit our web site at http://www. performia.com.hk or send us an email for more information; and ask us how you can get a free personality executive test for your company.

Website Email

Phyllis Law (852) 2159 9191 (852) 2159 9688 20/F, Central Tower, 28, Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong www.performia.com.hk info@performia.com.hk

Background Performia is a Swedish based international human resources solutions provider for the hiring industry and has commenced its unique services since 2000. The company delivers its online hiring and evaluation services in over twenty countries due to the high workability and cost effectiveness of the system; which is based on the over two and half decades of accumulated expert experience across many countries and industries. The purpose of Performia Hong Kong is to facilitate in providing and extending our expertise to the business community of Hong Kong.

Key Training Features Overview Our training is for any executive who is involved in hiring decisions and people management with the desire to help and build the company, with productive and valuable staff for the growth and expansion of the company by getting the knowledge and skill on “knowing how to know people” with different tools and techniques including our Performia Online Assessment Tools. Emphasis is on application with successful results.

Main Subjects Our subjects include “Five Days Intensive Recruitment and Human evaluation Seminar”, “One Day Emotions in the workplace Workshop”, and tailor-made inhouse management, leadership and communication training courses.

Hours of Training Ranging from half-day training (four-hours) to five-day training (forty hours).

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Training provider overview

PsyAsia International Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Varies depending on client needs Telephone (852) 8200 6005 (852) 2293 2688 Fax Clients only Address Level 8, Two Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong Website www.psyasia.com www.psychometricassessment.com www.hrm.hk Email www.psyasia.com/email

PsyAsia International provides psychometric tests, employee screening and assessment services, personal development courses, human resource training and consultancy and business psychology consulting. Using highly qualified and experienced business psychologists, our solutions are WorldClass. Our focus on scientific, evidence-based solutions at the core of our Human Resource Training and Consulting activities separates us from those providing similar services in the HR field.

Background PsyAsia International was conceived by our award-winning principal director during his time in the United Arab Emirates as an HRM Consultant and University Lecturer for a top UK University. In Asia, our first major clients were government, including the Ministry of Defence in Singapore and HKIVE in Hong Kong. Over 9 years of serving Asia, PsyAsia International has become synonymous with world-class scientific solutions to HR needs, applied by registered business psychologists with local sensitivity. We now work with Government and MNCs all over Asia and beyond and were awarded an International Quality Award in March 2010. We have offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan and UK.

Key Training Features Overview PsyAsia International is passionate about providing tangible results from our training and other HR solutions. To this end, our team comprises registered business psychologists with years of international experience who are also passionate about their work and their client’s success. Registration means that we must also ensure we are current, undergo continuous professional development and are answerable in terms of our competence to regulatory bodies.

Main Subjects • Assessment & Development Centres • Behavioural Interviewing • HRM • Performance Appraisal • Psychometric Testing • Team-building

Hours of Training Flexible based on client needs.

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Training provider overview

Results Coaching Systems Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Garrett Weiner, Regional Manager Corporate Services (Asia) Telephone (65) 9273 0071 Fax N/A Address 13A Mackenzie Road, Singapore 228676 Website www.workplacecoaching.com Email garrettweiner@resultscoaches.com

Results Coaching Systems is a leading human performance organisation with operations in more than 15 countries. Our corporate arm is one of the leading international providers of wide-scale coaching projects. We specialise in building internal coaching capacity within medium to large corporations, with special expertise in international projects.

Background Thousands of executives from more than 100 firms and Fortune 500 companies have participated in programs to date, from industries including Financial Services, Professional Services, IT, Government, Pharmaceuticals and Manufacturing. We are experts in embedding internal coaching capacity within organisations to develop leaders, retain talent, improve performance and change culture.

Key Training Features Overview We have a unique way of developing coaching cultures, using a combination of original science, best practice research, process mapping, high impact training techniques, mentoring and intensive measurement. Our programmes effectively improve onboarding, support transitions, drive performance and develop senior leaders in our clients.

Main Subjects Our programmes are customised to meet the needs of our clients. We utilise four broad tools in the process, including designing and implementing a coaching culture, scaling internal coaching processes, embedding a managers-as-coaches approach to talent management, and providing external coaching to C-suite executives and CEOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Hours of Training Training hours and schedules are designed to meet clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; requirements and objectives to sustainably embed an effective coaching culture as well as certification and assessment services.

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Training provider overview

RDI Limited Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone Fax Address

Studying distance learning courses through RDI ML means your qualifications are identical to those studied on UK University campuses. On enrolment you become a student of the University with all the benefits associated with this status, and you are invited to the graduation ceremony and the certificate is identical. Annually, RDI recruits, manages and supports more than 3,000 new students each year across Asia, North America, Africa and Europe. We service our corporate clients with a range of interventions that improve the performance of their organisations by enhancing the performance, skills and attitudes of their staff.

Website Email

Ms Kerry Lee (852) 2992 0133 (852) 2992 0918 7/F South China Building, 1-3 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong www.rdihongkong.com info@rdihongkong.com

Background Being the World’s largest provider of UK qualifications: RDI HK is a fully-owned subsidiary of its UK parent company, Resource Development International Ltd. RDI HK was established in 1990, and we were one of the first private education providers to be awarded ISO 9001:2000 for our quality delivery. Our UK Higher Education Institutions are audited by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (the QAA) and we actively participate in the QAA Collaborative Audits of our partners. All of RDI ML’s programmes are registered with HKCAAVQ and most courses have modules approved for CEF financial assistance.

Key Training Features Overview • 42 courses from 9 UK Universities • From Certificate / Diploma to Bachelor, Master/MBA & DBA • Professional classroom facilities, computers and library access • Tutorial support by multinational tutors • Comprehensive online learning support

Main Subjects • Business & Management • HR Management • Law • Psychology • Finance & Accounting • Sales & Marketing • Tourism & Hospitality • Public Sector • Service Excellence • IT & Computing

Hours of Training Monday - Friday: 10.00am – 10.30pm Saturdays & Sundays: 10.00am – 8.00pm

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Training provider overview

reallyenglish.com Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone Fax Address

reallyenglish serves companies and organisations that are looking for costeffective online training that provides clear goals and demonstrable results. We offer a fast, flexible and effective way to learn English as it is really spoken and have a proven track record in teaching specifically for local markets, including China and Japan. reallyenglish has long recognised that for HR Managers, student support is almost as important as course content so has developed a comprehensive online coaching system that has led to over 85% of our students completing their courses.

Website Email

David Akast (852) 3602 3090 (852) 3602 3111 51/F Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong www.reallyenglish.com.cn contact-china@reallyenglish.com

Background reallyenglish, a British company, launched its first language training website in 2002 and offers online training solutions to corporations, educational establishments and individual students around the world. Courses are developed in partnership with international publishing partners, including Cambridge University Press, McGraw-Hill Education and Pearson Longman.

Key Training Features Overview We provide educational, fun and interactive programmes which are easy to use and hold learners’ interest. They are designed with clear structures to keep staff focused on their objectives. We provide weekly coaching while HR and Training Managers can also customise course completion requirements, check results, produce up-to-date reports and communicate directly with learners. The coaching, correction, support and reporting services are all hosted online and the service objective is simple – for learners to complete their courses and for us to show managers the results. All our energy is focused on these two objectives.

Main Subjects • E-learning solutions • Business WritingTM • Let’s Talk OnlineTM • Need to Read – Financial TimesTM • Practical EnglishTM • Online language level benchmarking • Online coaching and reporting • Online correction and feedback • Administrative tools for HR and Training Managers

Hours of Training Online training offers any time / anywhere study, 24/7. A typical programme runs for 6 months and provides 50 -70 hours of training.

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Training provider overview

SGS Hong Kong Limited Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone Fax Address

SGS, the global leader in Audit, Certification and Training Services helped over 100,000 customers improve their processes, systems and people through audits, certification against ISO, customer-specific or privatelydeveloped schemes. Our certification & training services includes ISO 9001 Quality Mgt System, ISO 14001 Environmental Mgt System, OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health & Safety Mgt System, ISO 10002 Complaint Handling, Good Training Practice 10015, Sustainability Reporting Assurance, Service Certification, Mystery Shopper Assessment and Lean Six Sigma etc.

Website Email

Ms Bonnie Chan (852) 3543 7997 (852) 3158 2622 Rm 2012 – 2018, 20/F, Metropole Square, 2 On Yiu St, Siu Lek Yuen, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong www.hk.sgs.com/training bonnie.chan@sgs.com hk.cdts@sgs.com

Background The SGS Group, founded in 1878, is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognised as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 55,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,000 offices and laboratories around the world. SGS Hong Kong was founded in 1959 with over 50 years local experience, SGS is now equipped with a strong team of around 1,200 committed professionals in multi-disciplines.

Key Training Features Overview SGS Training Services provides a wide range of public and custom-designed courses for corporate clients in order to maximise staff’s effectiveness and organisation’s performance from international quality and system standards, management development and professional business & interpersonal skill development training services.

Main Subjects • Certified ISO Auditor Training Courses • Lean Six Sigma • Mystery Shopper Program • Excellent Customer Service • Interpersonal Skill • Thinkertoys (Creativity & Innovation)

Hours of Training • Public Training • Customised In-house Training: SGS will base on client’s requirements to design training content • 1-day, 2-day, 5-day or tailor-made programmes

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Training provider overview

SilkRoad Technology Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone Fax Address

SilkRoad technology is a Talent Management software company providing solutions to enable companies to manage the entire career of your employees. We help you to bring in the best talent and keep it for the long term. From our offices in Hong Kong and throughout Asia-Pacific we focus on the people, not the numbers, and pride ourselves in being the only HR technology vendor to centre our efforts around helping our clients provide truly positive talent experiences. Spread the smiles with SilkRoad’s talent management software. Work Happy!

Website Email

Eric Choi (852) 9193 8573 N/A Tai Yip Building, Floor 10-05, 141 Thompson Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong www.silkroad.com asia@silkroad.com

Background Work Happy! SilkRoad’s solutions not only address the process of managing talent, they also help to strengthen and provide positive, long-lasting candidate and employee experiences. Our products aren’t just about the numbers; at SilkRoad we believe your company’s people, brand and culture matter most. These components make up the essence of your organisation...it’s who you are and what you stand for. At SilkRoad, we can provide you with the suite of tools you need to deliver a meaningful talent experience, as well as unique and innovative features to automate, streamline and grow every aspect of your core talent management. With ease and efficiency, SilkRoad has you covered.

Key Training Features Overview With the incredible flexibility of our solution, the learning process has never been easier! SilkRoad’s learning management system (LMS) enables you to create, capture, assemble, publish, deliver and store content, as well as share learning objects and manage learner performance data. Effectively manage the entire learning process for both online and offline training programs for a global workforce.

Main Subjects Centrally manage your entire learning management process with SilkRoad’s fullfeatured learning management and learning content management solution.

Hours of Training Not Applicable

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Training provider overview

the alphaeight institute Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Ms Stephanie Herd Marketing and Solutions, Manager Ms Jenny Chu Client Relations, Manager Telephone (852) 2302 0283 Fax (852) 2302 0006 Address 1906, 19/F, Miramar Tower, 132 Nathan Road, TST, Hong Kong Website www.alphaeight.com Email stephanie.herd@alphaeight.com jenny.chu@alphaeight.com

• We are an institute that specialises in behavioural science research and people development. • We use our research to create individual and team development solutions for leaders, managers and front line workers that are focused on business objectives. • It’s all about research and evidence—our solutions: • are built upon our leading edge research on how the human mind works • are scientifically proven, practical and easy to adopt • utilise exclusive tools and techniques developed by our research institute • It’s all about you—our solutions are tailored to: • Your people’s specific needs—easy to apply and adopt back in the workplace • Your business objectives—results that you want • It’s all about impact—we measure changes before, during and after, using interviews and surveys.

Background the alphaeight institute, located in Hong Kong, is a Training and Research Organisation, which was formed in 2006 by a group of educators, psychologists and management experts. Our dedicated, experienced and multi-language facilitators are backed up by our research and product development teams. Our methodology has been taught successfully to the staff of a number of leading companies from all industries and to MBA students in Hong Kong and the Greater China region.

Key Training Features Overview We offer our clients 4 key ways of developing their people: • Executive Coaching • Group Coaching • Workshops • Programmes

Main Subjects Our focus areas include: • Leadership Development • Management Development • Team Development • Team Building … and more. Our consultants are available to discuss all your specific needs.

Hours of Training Office Hours Monday – Friday: 9.30am – 6.30pm Training Programmes: conducted at a any time convenient for our clients.

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Training provider overview

Tricor Human Capital Limited Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone Fax Address

Tricor Human Capital, a member of Tricor and BEA Group, is a one-stop Human Resources (HR) and Talent Management solutions provider, assisting clients to optimise and strategise their businesses. Using globallyrecognised online psychometric instruments developed by our strategic partner, Cubiks—our HR experts work with clients to tailor competencydriven talent solutions. Our consulting experts, along with the full-range of services offered further stamp our capabilities in customising effective HR strategies for clients in Greater China to achieve sustainable business through ‘people’.

Website Email

Austin Tay (852) 2150 2810 (852) 2110 0855 2307-10, Dah Sing Financial Centre, 108 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong www.hk.tricorglobal.com austin.tay@hk.tricorglobal.com

Background Tricor, a member of The Bank of East Asia Group, is a global provider of integrated Business, Corporate and Investor Services. We are experts in corporate structuring and advisory functions. Working with our business partners, including international accounting and law firms, leading investment and private banks, and financial and tax advisers, we provide experienced consultancy and innovative business solutions. Our client portfolio includes the majority of companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, more than 580 companies listed in Singapore and Malaysia, over 35 percent of the Fortune 500 companies, as well as a significant share of multinationals and private enterprises operating across international markets.

Key Training Features Overview Tailoring comprehensive HR strategies, Tricor Human Capital facilitates companies to perfect their business functioning through optimising human capital value. We generate competency-driven talent solutions for managerial and leadership capabilities development using globally recognised psychometric tools.

Main Subjects Our Human Capital Consulting Services include: • Personality and Preference Inventory (PAPI) • 360o Feedback • Talent Index • E-trayTM • Assessment and Development Centres • Ability Tests • Competency Profiler

Hours of Training Our HR consultants will tailor training programmes that best meet the needs of our clients.

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Training venue technology|

Are your presentations tech-savvy yet? Interactive whiteboards as a training tool

Interactive whiteboards have been in use in the education sector for quite some time and their use in the business world is increasing. Sometimes referred to as smart boards, interactive whiteboards are rapidly becoming the replacements for more traditional whiteboards and flipcharts.

by participants unable to attend the main taring session, at a later date. This feature also serves as a source for revision for participants who did attend, but wish to review the materials presented again. Trainers can also edit their PowerPoints on the fly or demo the latest product or service to clients or prospects in a conference room or training course.

Multi-faceted presentations

Bite-sized follow-up training

They provide a means of showing trainees anything which can be presented via a regular computer including software applications, websites and of course PowerPoints. In addition, interactive whiteboards also allow trainers to record and save their instructions, and post material online for review

Trainers can develop ‘bite-sized instructional chunks’ of information that can be recorded for review by staff when they have the time. They will be able to see the exact presentation that occurred in the classroom, including the trainer’s audio input—a significant boost to learning and instruction.

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No more scribbling notes

Another compelling reason for the adoption of this new technology amongst organisations is that data can be saved straight onto the network and so eliminates the need for delegates to frantically jot down notes from presentations.

10 ways of better utilising interactive whiteboards and PowerPoints 1. Save bite-sized presentation chunks for later download.

Engaging local and remote participants

The evolution of virtual training begins when presenters can collaborate with local and remote participants as if they are in the same room. Participants can meet, share notes, review and edit documents in real time. Such advancements in technology have already started dramatically reducing the need to travel to attend training sessions. The reduction in air travel might also provide one solution to helping companies reduce their global carbon footprint.

Additional IT factors

It is also important for HR to look at other technical features and capabilities of the training venues they choose. Try to find a provider with tailor-made computer training rooms, if your training is likely to be IT intensive. One such provider is Cliftons who have custom-designed computer training facilities, capable of accommodating up to 135 people in individually climate controlled rooms. State-ofthe-art equipment at the Cliftons facilities includes computers with 12GB capacity able to support the most sophisticated applications. The rooms also feature patented, ergonomically designed student workstations and incorporate an additional central monitor which allows attendees to simultaneously view the instructorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s screen, as well as their own. HR should also consider what IT support is provided by the venue. It is prudent to select venues that offer dedicated on-site IT support, to help you install and test your software prior to the training programme. Also check if the venue can provide on-call IT assistance throughout your training programme. Check the computer network provided is secure and comes with a high-speed internet connectionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;important if you plan on showing multimedia clips during your presentation.

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2. Create video files to help teach software applications.

3. Re-present presentations already created by third party presenters.

4. Recording brainstorming sessions.

5. Taking notes directly into PowerPoint presentations.

6. Reinforcing skills by using on-line interactive websites.

7. Creating a project calendar.

8. Presenting complex annotated diagrams.

9. Walking staff through product features.

10. Encouraging staff to share one thing they learn each day on the board or shared PPT.

Selecting training venues

Choosing a suitable training venue|

Never has individual effectiveness been more important. Workers must do more with less; organisations are ‘flattening’ and virtual teams are now commonplace. In short, the nature of work has shifted. HR is laden with the responsibility of training—accepting that it is an integral part to the growth of a company and sustaining a high contribution level from their staff. When organisations do not have access to their own training facilities onsite, or for those that wish to take advantage of sending staff off-site to ‘give them

a break’ and encourage brainstorming—chances are a suitable training venue needs to be sourced. It’s no wonder HR heads and T&D managers feel quite lost nowadays in deciding how to choose the right training venue, especially when faced with a bewildering array of training facilities. Yes, they can read the glossy brochures and visit the websites— but all are generally offering something better than their competitors. To help, we’ve shortlisted some fundamental tips for HR when selecting a training venue.

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equipment that you will require such as interactive whiteboards, digital flip charts, LCD projectors, overhead projectors and a fast internet connection.

Catering provided

Many training programmes run for an entire day or two, so it is best to look at venues that offer food and refreshments onsite, with caterers that comply with food and safety regulations. Cliftons, a global training venue provider, has made a name for itself as a pioneer in this regard, and conducted a white paper research project with Nutrition Australia on provision of ‘Brain Food’ to help stimulate participants’ minds and help keep energy levels up during training programmes. Look for venues that are able to provide a range of healthy and nutritious menu items that are low GI within their catering, to help ensure delegates stay alert and engaged longer.

Critical factors

For HR to make the best decision, that will result in staff who are engaged in their L&D experiences and provide the greatest return on their investment a number of key factors must be addressed. These include, but are in no way limited to the items outloined on the facing page.

Identify and customise

It is vital to identify attendee demographics as well as the programme design or training formats in order to articulate how you wish to customise your needs for delivery of a successful training programme. Your choice of venue must offer flexibility, as not all training courses conducted are alike. Chose venues that offer spacious, ergonomically designed fittings to ensure delegates are comfortable and can operate at an optimum level.

Facilities offered

Most well-known training centres come fully equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. A good training room should have a series of reliable computers, connected through a secure network. The facility should also provide you with the basic

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Key venue selection criteria: •

• • • • •

• •

•

convenience of training location— proximity to an MTR station being a must for many Hong Kong employees cost of the venue on-site technology available administrative support available technical support available licensing of the venue—in terms of safety regulations and intellectual property concerns catering services available at the venue facilities provided at the venue—such as breakout areas, sufficient washrooms and refreshments flexibility of room sizes and layouts

Selecting training venues

Advice before venue selection

Not all venues are created equal, and it is often a case of ‘horses for courses’—what may be best for one type of company, may not necessarily be suitable for another one. Different companies have different budgets, and requirements in terms of training needs. HR needs to take a few steps to help them to find the best venue for their L&D programmes. Firstly, where budget permits, always choose to go offsite, as this provides a break from routine for staff, makes them feel more valued, encourages more open thought processes and generally enhances staffs’ receptiveness to new ideas. Secondly, try to locate a venue which has minimal distractions—a beautiful full habour view might be good for the annual dinner, but is it going to help focus staff attention on the PowerPoint on the other wall? Thirdly, make sure the venue you select is convenient for your employees to commute to. Fourthly, ensure that the training facility offers every amenity and service they claim to. A bit of homework first can save a lot of headaches later— ask around in the HR community to see if people you know have used this venue before, and do your own research before committing. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if at all possible take an hour out of your schedule to go to the venue personally and look around. We’ve all seen beautiful pictures on the menu before and then been sorely disappointed when the food actually arrives. The same is true for training venues— basing a decision solely on photos from the venue’s website may result in a misconstrued interpretation. Remember, it is not just about budget and booking— it is about creating the best learning environment for your staff, the people who will ultimately drive the boom line. Think about the ROI that the Board keep reminding HR about—avoid investing huge amounts on training programmes and then making them largely ineffective, or worse still a bad experience for staff, by running them in an unsuitable venue.

Advice after venue selection

After running any training programme at a new venue, ask employees for their feedback and suggestions on the venue. Knowing what worked well, and what didn’t work so well, in the past is one of the best ways of selecting future training venues, and can also give you your own ideas to add to our checklist overleaf—as to what to ask training venue providers prior to booking.

Questions to ask

Choosing the right venue will impact on the outcome of your conference, so having a checklist of what is important for your group will help you through the sales pitch at venues to ensure you get the best value for your organisation. To help you make sure your training venue checks all the right boxes, we’ve provided a rundown of important questions every HR manager should ask when selecting a training venue.

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Key questions to ask training venue operators 1. Does the facility offer adequate training resources and materials?

9. What types of services are available at the facility?

2. Will my employees be able to commute to this location fairly easily?

10. Does the facility have a training manager, or coordinator who will plan and implement all elements that are requested initially by the HR manager?

3. Will I need to provide transportation?

4. Will the venue provide for minimal distractions and interruptions during the training sessions?

5. Does the venue have adequate amenities and facilities?

6. Does the venue offer the most up-todate technological methods? (Wireless internet access, interactive white boards, computerised PowerPoint screens etc.)

7. Does the facility offer any catering services—for whole-day training sessions?

8. Where catering is provided—is the menu healthy and nutritious to help employees remain engaged and avoid the ‘afternoon slump’?

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11. Are the facilities conducive to a teambuilding atmosphere?

12. Is there enough individual space for each employee during the training sessions?

13. Are there amenities that allow for employees to take breaks?

14. Is there adequate space and/or breakout areas to allow trainees to make private telephone calls?

NEED TO ORGANISE A TRAINING OR SEMINAR EVENT? Cliftons is your one stop shop. We’ll organise everything for you– from multiple venue bookings, to printing of your manuals and participant feedback. • Ergonomic, custom designed facilities built specifically for corporate meetings and training ensures your attendees remain alert and attentive throughout the session • Benefit from online technologies to streamline registrations or post-event assessments

Contact Cliftons today to see how we can help on your next event.

Training venue overview

Bridges Business and Conference Centre Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone Fax Address

Inspiring, chic and premier, Bridges Business and Conference Centre provides corporations and individuals with high-grade training, interview, meeting, conference and HD video-conferencing rooms. Serviced offices, virtual offices and dedicated secretarial support. Whether for training sessions, seminars, business conferences, interviews, board meetings, product displays, press conferences or video-conferencing our luxurious venues deliver the perfect setting with superb value packages to you. From the time you find us, you can easily turn your scheduled training into an effective and efficient one.

Website Email

Ms Fion Sen (852) 2159 9666 (852) 2159 9688 20th Floor, Central Tower, 28 Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong 37th Floor, Tower II, Lippo Centre, 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong www.bridges.hk info@bridges.hk

Background Bridges Business and Conference Centre is an innovative business and conference centre situated in the heart of Hong Kong’s commercial district, right on top of Admiralty MTR station—providing a prestigious location to hold your event. Today, Bridges endeavours to create an even more sumptuous business environment equipped with cutting-edge conference facilities for corporations that are looking for a perfect training venue for their regular or ad hoc usage. Following the concept of EAST (Environment, Address, Services, Technology), Bridges is committed to delivering a pleasing experience to our international and local clients, by helping them to successfully upgrade their business image with complete professionalism.

Key Training Features Facilities • Cisco IP phone system providing high-end communication infrastructure • Contemporary training rooms available on an hourly basis • Double glazed training rooms for acoustic privacy • Central control system installed in training rooms • HD video conferencing by using ISDN or IP • Video shown on 65” dual screen LCD TV • Polycom audio conferencing equipment • Luxurious business lounge and Internet cafe • Broadband Internet access with Wi-Fi throughout the centre

Services • Training rooms suited for up to 16-people event • 24-hour video conferencing services (local and global venues) • Continuous serving of coffee, tea and water • Coffee break served with exquisite cookies • Business catering services • Receptionist services assist in greeting your guest • Comprehensive secretarial support

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Cliftons Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone Fax Address

Cliftons provides premium, purpose-built, training and event facilities and solutions, ensuring our clients’ programmes are delivered seamlessly and successfully around the globe. Cliftons’ venues are centrally located in key cities throughout Asia Pacific. These facilities have been designed and fitted-out specifically to create the optimal learning environment. Unique features to Cliftons’ venues include supplementary air-conditioning, upgraded lighting complemented by natural light in almost all rooms and custom designed student desks that feature a distinct cable-management system and patented ergonomic design. Uniquely in the training venue market, Cliftons enables clients to maximise their return on their investment in training by providing innovative, end to end event solutions which mirror their workflow to reduce the administrative and logistic burden, manage costs more efficiently and ensure maximum impact from their presentations.

Website Email

Mable Wong (852) 2159 9999 (852) 2159 9998 33/F, 9 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong www.cliftons.com enquiries@cliftons.com

Background The best training and seminar facilities available, backed up by the highest levels of technical and customer support—awarded the 2010 LearnX Asia Pacific Awards for Best Venue. 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 stateof-the-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. In the past 12 months, Cliftons’ venues hosted training programmes for over 1,000 companies and 250,000 attendees.

Key Training Features Total Event Solutions Cliftons provides: • Conference & seminar venues • Online solutions • Brain food catering • Training technology • Document solutions • Video conferencing venues

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Training venue overview

The Executive Centre Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone (852) 2293 2600 Fax (852) 2293 2655 Address Level 8 Cambridge House, Taikoo Place, Hong Kong 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Website www.executivecentre.com Email hongkong@executivecentre.com

The Executive Centre is Asia’s leading premium serviced office operator, providing on-demand office accommodation, virtual office representation services, meeting facilities, and a broad range of business support services. With over 32 locations throughout the Asia-Pacific Region, of which 19 are located in Greater China, The Executive Centre is at the cutting edge of the serviced office industry, operating a dynamic and rapidly expanding AsiaPacific network.

Background Asia-Pacific’s leading serviced office network. We opened our first business centre in 1994 and have now expanded to 28 centres across 15 cities—all focused on addressing global business demands for maximum office-space flexibility, cost effectiveness and productivity. The company now commands leading market shares in Hong Kong, Seoul, Macau, Taipei and Singapore.

Key Training Features • Spacious Office Environment in Prime Quality Office Tower • Direct access to Quarry Bay MTR • 2 Meeting rooms (largest capacity: 8 persons) • Conference and training facilities equipped with advanced presentation equipment • 1 cafe area • 1 breakout area • 24/7 security access • Modern modular work units including plentiful filing and storage • Cisco IP telephone system • Cat 5 and wireless Internet access • Hot-desks • High Flyers award for being an outstanding enterprise • Network Asia All Stars award for tailoring a secure CISCO IP infrastructure for the serviced office industry

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Training venue overview

Regus Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone (852) 2166 8000 Fax N/A Address Website www.regus.hk Email

Regus is the world’s largest provider of innovative workplace solutions, offering the widest range of products and services that allow individuals and companies to work however, wherever, and whenever they need to.

Background Regus operates over 1,100 business centres across 500 cities in 85 countries. Products and services include fully furnished, equipped and staffed offices, world-class business support services, meeting conference and training facilities and the largest network of public video-conference rooms all service over 200,000 clients daily.

Key Training Features • 4,000 meeting and training rooms are available. • Staff are trained to prepare meeting materials, provide technical support, arrange for proper audio visual requirements and, even, handle catering requests. • Clients can customise room configurations to best suit their needs. Standard amenities for all meeting rooms include: high-speed Internet access, complimentary domestic long distance calls, overhead projector, TV and VCR, as well as flipcharts and whiteboards.

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Training venue overview

Welkin Systems Limited Company Information

Company Profile

Contact person Telephone (852) 3605 3322 Fax (852) 3605 3399 Address 2/F, Chinachem Tower, 34-37 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong Website www.welkin.com.hk Email training@welkin.com.hk

Welkin’s vision is to become the most preferred and trusted IT partner of its customers and its mission is to provide outstanding services that constantly exceed customer expectation.

Background Established in 1990, Welkin Systems Limited is an IT training and systems consultancy offering services to governmental departments, corporations, IT and office professionals.

Key Training Features • • • • • • • •

Fully equipped computer training rooms Networked PCs with advanced configuration Broadband Internet access Multimedia LCD projector Hardware / software setup Rest lounge and refreshment during breaks Support personnel Locations close to MTR exits

HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

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Enquiries

Tel: (852) 2736 6339 kollin@excelmediagroup.org

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For more details please contact: Excel Media Group Limited 101 Fourseas Building, 208-212 Nathan Road Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong. www.excelmediagroup.org Email: info@hrmagazine.com.hk Tel (852) 2736 6339 Fax (852) 3764 3361

The smallest ideas often have the biggest impact on ROI

Innovative corporate training programmes from Excel, Tel: (852) 2736 6339, E-mail: corp@excelhk.com

HR Guides HR in a nutshell... Expert advice — expert research team have compiled data interviewing numerous industry experts

Targeted information — only publication of its kind specifically targeted to senior HR professionals

Objective perspective — independent and objective the guide brings a unique overview of current medical insurance plans available

Up-to-date information and analysis Reader friendly format — clear layout and plain language allows you to pick out the facts you need quickly and easily

HR Guide

to Corporate Medical Insurance In the guide train yourself on... What to look for in corporate medical plans.

HR Guide

to Staff Learning & Development

Maximising staff engagement via benefits programmes. Current medical insurance trends.

Also receive... A comprehensive listing of medical insurance providers across the region. T&D case studies from some of the top insurers in the region. Practical advice from award winning HR directors and compensation & benefit heads.

HR Guide

In the guide train yourself on...

to Recruitment

What to look for in effective training providers. How to maximise ROI from L&D programmes. Developing staff vs training staff.

In the guide train yourself on... How to recruit more effectively.

Also receive...

Global recruitment of local candidates.

A comprehensive listing of training providers across the region. T&D case studies from some of the top employers in the region. Practical advice from award winning trainers, HR directors and heads of L&D.

Becoming and remaining an employer of choice.

Also receive... A comprehensive listing of recruitment providers across the region. Recruitment case studies from some of the top employers in the region. Practical advice from award winning HR directors and recruitment heads.

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HR Magazine—Hewitt Associates HR Guide to Corporate Medical Insurance

HK$190

HR Magazine HR Guide to Staff Learning & Development

HK$190

HR Magazine HR Guide to Recruitment (pre-order, to be published in February 2011)

HK$190

All three guides (save 13%)

HK$500

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Payment Method Crossed cheques should be made payable to Excel Media Group Limited. Price includes delivery via mail within Hong Kong Bulk discounts available for more than 10 copies Enquiries Tel: (852) 2736 6339 paul@excelmediagroup.org For more details please contact: Excel Media Group Ltd 101 Fourseas Building, 208-212 Nathan Road Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong. www.excelmediagroup.org Email: info@hrmagazine.com.hk Tel (852) 2736 6339 Fax (852) 3764 3361

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