HR Magazine | Autumn 2021

40 Hiring hi-tech talent Keren Halperin, VP People, Swimm with tips onboarding and retaining top techies.

42 Nurturing today’s leaders HR’s role in coaching leaders to adapt for success in a transforming workplace and world.

45 Breastfeeding at work New legislation helps stamp out discrimination, supporting breastfeeding in the workplace.

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AUTUMN 2021

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Publisher's Note Editorial Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

Well, we promised it, and we’re doing it … our

(p.5), being out may not be in (p.6), and Amazon

Paul Arkwright

last on-ground event was back in early December

attracts the most employee review enquiries (p.9).

2019, which seems like an epoch ago. Much water

Also, get the lowdown on the new breastfeeding

Sub-Editors

has passed under the bridge since then, and you

discrimination ordinance launched in Hong Kong on

Christy Chan, Ian Thomas

will have witnessed our uber-rapid shift to online

19 June 2021 (p. 51).

Livestreams—which turned out to be great fun Staff Writers

too—our ESS Livestreams attracting over 2K

Carefree career transitions

Grace Mak, Harrison Wou

views, and our HR Magazine Awards Livestream

HR is now staring down the barrel of a potential wave

over 5K views. But frankly, nothing beats face-to-

of resignations and requests for career shifts. Clement

face (or at least mask-to-mask) interaction with

Lo and Benjamin Brustis from the Gemini Group

Head of Design

the HR community and with all our staff and the

share practical advice on what HR can do to better

Russell Balad

entire team at the Regal Hotel fully vaccinated, HR

manage employee career transitions amid times of

Magazine is proud to relaunch our legendary on-

change both within and outside organisations.

Art & Graft

Designer

ground events. Among the first to read this issue

Heidi Chan

will be those attending our full-house socially-

HR Livestreams

distanced on-ground Tomorrowland Talent event

Condensed wisdom from our stellar speaker lineups

and HR Magazine Awards on 10 September 2021.

in our most recent livestreams: Nurturing today’s

Images

talent to win tomorrow (p. 42), Talent, technology &

Russell Balad, Freepik, Pexels, Unsplash

Editorial Enquiries

Our cover story, coaching, but not as we know it,

turbulence (p. 46) and From back office to steering

takes a deep dive into the world of coaching, how

the ship (p. 48).

Paul Arkwright

it’s evolved into group and team coaching (find out

Tel: (852) 2736 6318

the difference on page 16). We also look at what it

paul@excelmediagroup.org

takes to become a certified coach, in-house vs out-

Advertising & Sponsorship

of-house coaching, and how to measure the ROI of

Welcome back to reality.

Enjoy...

coaching interventions in your organisation.

Christy Chan Tel: (852) 2736 6339

What’s new?

christy@excelmediagroup.org

In the news, voice-activated employee stress tests

Love & hugs

(p. 4), 71% of employers want staff back in the office

From Paul & the team at HR Magazine

Aamir Khan Tel: (852) 2736 6339 aamir@excelmediagroup.org

Subscriptions Jane Cheung Tel: (852) 2736 6375

Fax: (852) 2736 6369

subs@excelmediagroup.org

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1

CONTENTS 2021 Autumn HR News

HR Features

HR Legal

04

Hong Kong News

24

Carefree career transitions

51

07

APAC News

28

Sabre at the cutting edge of HR

08

International News

30

Thoughts on purpose

10

HR Events

32

Why post-pandemic, post-Brexit Britain

12

HR Moves

14

HR in Numbers

Cover Story 16

needs women in STEM 34

Mentoring a two-way street

38

Employees expect more from employers

Breastfeeding discrimination and supporting new mothers in the workplace

HR Books 52

Excellence in People Analytics

HR Technology

Classifieds

40

53

Coaching, but not as we know it Coaching evolution empowering

Hiring top hi-tech talent

Classifieds

leaders to thrive amid VUCA

HR Community 42

Nurturing today's leaders to win tomorrow

46

Talent, technology and turbulence

48

From back office to steering the ship

24

38 2 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

46

42

32 3

HR NEWS HONG KONG NEWS

Hong Kong News Voice-activated employee stress test

years of research and is based on training a dataset

semantic (word choice and syntax) patterns. Users

Free AI tool aims to avert global mental health pandemic

of over 15,000 adults aged from 18 – 80+ to ensure

are invited to answer open-ended, low-stigma

the algorithms are robust enough to cater for

questions for 90 seconds and are then provided

July 2021 saw the launch of the StressWaves

different populations with varying accents and

with a visualisation of their stress. The Test will

Test, a free online tool that analyses acoustic and

levels of English-speaking ability. It is HIPAA and

not retain the voice recordings once they have been

semantic voice patterns to evaluate stress levels.

GDPR compliant.

used to produce the stress measurements.

Ellipsis Health, a medical technology developer and

In addition to design considerations for age, sex,

On the importance of this partnership, Dr Michael

leader in AI health and vocal biomarkers. The Test

and education level, the free online Test is also

Aratow, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer,

will reveal employees’ stress levels, ranging from

interoperable with various systems and on any

Ellipsis Health, added, “The best medicine is

‘Extremely Stressed’ to ‘No Stress’, along with a

electronic device, as long as there is a microphone

prevention…the Test can help individuals around

portrait that visualises the effect of stress on the

and internet connection. StressWaves Test is

the world address their stress as early as possible

user’s body and mind.

currently the only tool that analyses stress through

to prevent it from progressing into more serious

acoustic (sounds such as tone, pitch and pause) and

mental health issues.” n

The Test was created by Cigna in partnership with

Mental health the next global health pandemic In 2018, it was predicted that the cost of mental health problems to the global economy could amount to US$16 trillion by 2030. In addition, the recent Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey, published in June 2021, highlighted the growing importance of mental health as part of overall health and wellbeing. The research also found that 83% of people reported being stressed, with 13% experiencing unmanageable stress.

Dr Peter Mills, Associate Medical Director, Cigna in Europe, said, “Stress and mental health issues have been pushed up the agenda in recent years. While this increased awareness is a positive change, the pandemic has created many new pressures in our lives. If stress goes unchecked, we may see dramatic consequences, and that’s why innovative health tools like the Cigna StressWaves Test are so important. By providing simple solutions at scale that are easy to use and accessible when the people need them most, we can encourage people to learn more about stress and seek professional help as appropriate.”

90-second stress test The Test aims to offer HR and employees the chance to assess stress through voice detection.

The decision-support tool builds upon over 20

4 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HONG KONG NEWS HR NEWS

37,000 employees get extra paid day off For the second year in a row, Manulife gave its entire global workforce, including 19,000 employees in Asia, a “Thank You Day” off on 18 June 2021. This is on top of the five extra personal days Manulife has already given its employees this year to support their wellbeing.

Anil Wadhwani, President and CEO, Manulife Asia, said, “We are deeply appreciative of the extraordinary efforts and sacrifices of our colleagues over the past year. It’s especially important that we help them take time to unplug and re-energise as well as look after both their physical and mental health.”

The Group also dedicated an entire afternoon for 71% of employers want staff to return to workplace

policies more regularly to their workers to make

all employees to learn more about diversity, equity,

Despite

safety

them feel more engaged and assured about their

and inclusion (DEI), in a first-ever Global Afternoon

implications, 71% of respondents in Hong Kong

job security. Employers should also learn to trust

of Reflection and Learning. The afternoon featured

said that their employers wanted them to work

their employees to take accountability for their

a range of learning activities globally and across

from the office. This according to research from

own work, be it remotely or at the office. Workers

Asia, including on Allyship and how to become

Randstad in their 2021 Workmonitor survey in

should build trust with their employers as well.

better advocates for change. Sessions include

Hong Kong, which highlights the latest sentiments

Employees can learn how to take initiative to speak

keynote speeches, fireside chats, and webinars

and perceptions of the local job market.

with their managers about the challenges they face

hosted by leaders and various Employee Resource

or the new learning opportunities they want to

Groups (ERGs). In Asia, these include a Pride and

explore at work.”

Prejudice research presentation by The Economist;

the

potential

health

and

Once it is possible, 85% of respondents said

a DEI panel of senior Manulife leaders on how to

they would head back to their workplace. This sentiment is even more apparent in respondents

One in two local respondents said they would feel

have uncomfortable conversations; and various

aged between 55 and 67, with 92% of them saying

unsafe in their workplace until others around them

events run by ERGs on women’s empowerment,

that they would like to return to the office. The

are inoculated against COVID-19. This view is more

racial equality, and LGBTQ+2 inclusion.

respondents’ inclination to return to the workplace

pronounced among men. 55% of male respondents

could be attributed to their fear of job loss during a

have echoed this statement as opposed to 46% of

Wadhwani added, “This dedicated afternoon is part

period when the job market is sluggish. Some 12%

female respondents.

of our significant investments in DEI initiatives.

It’s important to be listening and learning from our

of Hongkongers are extremely afraid about their job security, with 9% of respondents in mainland

Furthermore, 48% of respondents said they

employees to help us become a better employer

China having the same fears.

wanted to continue working from home until the

and to play our part in building a more inclusive

COVID-19 vaccine has been widely distributed to

and equitable world.” n

Natellie Sun, Managing Director, Search &

the population.

Selection at Randstad Greater China said, “It is a catch-22 situation for Hongkongers. Although

Sun added, “Employers need to acknowledge their

they do not feel safe in the office when herd

employees’ safety concerns and take into account

immunity is not met yet, there exists a sticky issue

operational and health risks when planning for

of presenteeism. Afraid of losing their jobs amid

their safe return. For a start, firms could drive

the pandemic, employees may feel that physically

internal engagement to raise awareness and

working from the office could more explicitly show

incentivise their staff to receive the vaccine.

their hard work and dedication to the company.

Employers could also revise their employees’

However, such unhealthy work habits could lead to

insurance plans to include COVID-19 and

serious health and safety issues as well as impact

vaccine care. Companies that operate in a high-

overall workplace productivity.”

risk environment such as retail, hospitality or commercial aviation should also arrange frequent

In terms of advice for HR, Sun shared, “Companies

swab tests for their employees so that everyone

should communicate their business updates and

can feel safer at work.” n

5

HR NEWS HONG KONG NEWS

Hong Kong News Employee credit checks surge 8% in HK The number of employee reference enquiries

Irene

TransUnion, said, “Credit checks are becoming a

Foo,

Director,

Consumer

Interactive,

In Hong Kong, almost a third (31%) feel that

requested by employers during the recruitment

reliable reference source for employers evaluating a

identifying themselves as LGBTQ+ could harm

process in Q1 2021 saw an 8.1% year-on-year increase,

potential candidate, serving as an indicator of their

their development and career prospects. This

indicating potential signs of a recovery from the

trustworthiness. The risks are perhaps becoming too

according to a recent survey by Axa Asia covering

negative impact of COVID-19 on the job market.

big for recruiters to ignore.”

employees in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan

Being out may not be in

and Thailand. The survey found that Hong Kong

This according to research just released from TransUnion, which examined trends of Hong Kong

While credit checks are more common in senior-

companies rated poorly in advancing education on

employers using financial probity checks during their

level recruitment, the same check is increasingly

LGBTQ+ diversity, equality and inclusion issues

recruitment and compliance process.

being conducted for front-line positions such as bank

compared to efforts in gender and race topics.

tellers, traders, relationship managers and mortgage As a part of background checks on potential

brokers. In recent years, roles with access to sensitive,

Only 16% of respondents admitted to coming out

employees, employers may examine the financial

proprietary, and financial information, or even those

to their colleagues. By contrast, nearly two-thirds

background of a potential candidate, including their

holding some form of monetary responsibility such as

of employees surveyed in the Philippines had come

payment, debt and bankruptcy records. In certain

IT, HR, accounting, and secretarial, are now likely to

out to colleagues, and felt that their openness

highly regulated industries such as financial services,

require a credit check.

had helped their progress and improved their

banking and insurance, conducting these checks is

relationships with colleagues.

often a compliance issue for employers to assess

Elizabeth Fitzell, Managing Director APAC, Sterling

whether the preferred candidate meets the regulatory

RISQ, said, “Having a good credit score is extremely

Gordon Watson, CEO, Axa Asia said, "Companies

requirements for working in their industry. The

important, especially for those taking up financially

in Asia seeking to thrive in a post-pandemic world

check can take place at the point of hire as well as

related roles. It provides employers with the assurance

must enable staff to bring their whole selves to

throughout the entire employee lifecycle through the

that the candidate is financially healthy and able to

work if they are to attract, nurture and retain the

process of rescreening.

protect the integrity of their position. It also creates

best talent in times of change." n

a safe working environment for the workforce and In Hong Kong, around 80% of employee reference

minimises the risk of internal fraud, which costs

requests include credit checks, according to Sterling

companies billions annually.” She added, “In most

RISQ. Credit checks are increasingly embedded in

locations in APAC, including Hong Kong, companies

the talent recruitment and acquisition process across

will consider withdrawing a job offer based on a

multiple industry sectors, regardless of seniority

negative financial probity check.” n

and salary. Though it is primarily mandatory in the financial services industry, more employers across markets, industries and management levels have introduced these checks in the last decade.

6 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

APAC NEWS HR NEWS

APAC News Cybersecurity top ICT priority for APAC businesses

immediately. 95% of businesses in Hong Kong agreed

The telecommunications and technology company

that the move to remote working fundamentally

Telstra recently published, Navigating disruption: The

changed their business. Though hybrid work models

future of agile business success to gauge how ICT and

are not as popular in Hong Kong, with only 59%

business decision-makers across APAC, including

expecting hybrid work would be the norm in the next

over 100 in Hong Kong, have adapted during the

year, compared to the north Asia average of 67%.

pandemic and how they see their future IT strategy

However, having a modern workplace remains a key

amid rapid digital transformation.

priority with 69% of Hong Kong businesses citing

Businesses have risen to the challenge of adapting

collaboration and communication solutions as key to

to the reality of remote working by rapidly putting

their future success in the new working environment.

policies in place which will let employees easily stay

The Report highlighted that digital transformation

connected and work from home with ease. However,

needs were already high, but priorities have since changed. As businesses across APAC began WFH and

Paul Abfalter, Head of North Asia and Global

there is still work to do, as businesses need a holistic

moving services online, the demands on networks,

Wholesale, Telstra, noted, “Doing business in 2021 is

digital transformation plan which brings together

IT systems, and transformation projects grew

not easy—it requires resilience, foresight, and nerve.

connectivity, cloud, collaboration, and security.” n

7

HR NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS

International News Inflexibility deal-breaker for half of employees

can accurately measure their productivity regardless

More than half of the global workforce say they are

of whether they work in the office or from home.

prepared to leave a job that is lacking in flexibility

As teams start to gain experience and confidence

and remote working options. This is according to

in working and communicating off-site, around

the EY 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey, which

41% of employees surveyed by McKinsey said they

revealed that 90% of office workers want more

were now actually more productive when working

flexibility in where and when they do their job, with

remotely than in the office.

over half of them willing to leave if they do not get it. Moreover, the Survey indicated that millennials

The growing demand for flexibility at work is

are twice as likely to quit as baby boomers over

reflected in the high number of jobs with remote

inflexible working arrangements.

offerings now becoming available. For example, in the past month alone, Glassdoor has posted over

As lockdown measures begin to ease, more

80,000 jobs advertised as ‘remote’ and 490,000

businesses require that their WFH employees return

advertised as ‘flexible’. Meanwhile, only 10% of

to the office for at least part of the working week.

employers expect their employees to revert to pre-

On average, employees expect to be allowed to work

pandemic working arrangements with a full return

remotely for two to three days after the pandemic.

to the office. Most of these are companies operating

As of 2021, 67% of workers say that their employers

in the services sector. n

Tips for improving work flexibility

To help businesses create a thriving, sustainable

and

flexible

workplace,

Instant Offices provided a few HR kickstarter tips: •

Research a variety of flexible work

plans from other companies and think about what would work best for

your teams. An official flex-working

policy is more likely to work than an informal ad-hoc system.

•

Start with a trial period—a pilot programme to see what works and what does not. After the trial

run, gather feedback and see what needs to be changed or refined.

•

Put training in place to get everyone

up to speed on the new flex policy and how you plan to implement it.

•

Ensure

that

all

employees

are

using the correct tools to promote productivity when working remotely.

•

Emphasise

the

importance

of

communication. Ensure that all employees effectively

can

from

communicate

their

remote

or home office locations. Keep

communication channels open, so you can catch any potential issues before they become a problem.

8 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

INTERNATIONAL NEWS HR NEWS

Jobseekers most curious about

from interested applications to

Amazon employee reviews

assess how former and existing

Before the internet, it was hard

employees feel about working at

to grasp what a given company’s

the consulting giant based on their

culture and working environments

personal experience.

were like. Online portals have now

Company reviews that jobseekers are most curious about Rank

Company

Average global monthly online searches for company employee reviews

1

Amazon

7,500

2

Accenture

5,100

3

Deloitte

3,700

opened that window to prospective

Interestingly Elon Musk’s Tesla

jobseekers. MoneyTransfers utilised

features in the fifth position, with

4

Capgemini

2,600

the online analytics tool, Ahrefs,

an average of 2,300 global monthly

5

Tesla

2,300

to discover which companies’

online searches from individuals

employee

potential

keen to find out what it is like to

jobseekers are checking most

work for the electric vehicle and

frequently on Glassdoor.

clean energy innovator.

Amazon is in the number one spot,

Often associated with long working

with an average of 7,500 global

hours and intensive workloads, it is

online searches per month from

perhaps no surprise that banking

individuals

employee

6

Microsoft

2,200

6

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

2,200

7

Cognizant

2,100

7

Facebook

2,100

7

Salesforce

2,100

8

Vmware

2,000

and finance titans such as Deloitte,

9

Revature

1,900

reviews to discover what it is really

Goldman Sachs and KPMG all rank

9

Goldman Sachs

1,900

like to work at the e-commerce

in the top 10, with prospective

9

Infosys

1,900

juggernaut. Accenture is in second

applicants are eager to check the

place, as there is an average of 5,100

first-hand working experience of

10

KPMG

1,800

worldwide online searches a month

former and existing employees. n

10

Oracle

1,800

reviews

checking

9

HR NEWS HR EVENTS

HR Events SEPTEMBER 10

20 – 21

|

HR Magazine Conferences: Tomorrowland Talent

Digital Innovation in HR & Workplace Management

Organised by HR Magazine

Organised by HR Terrapinn

Time

8:30pm - 2:00pm (UTC+8)

Venue

Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore

Location

88 Yee Wo St, Causeway Bay, HK

Website

https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/hr-learning-show-asia

Tel

HK (852) 2736 6339

Venue

Regal Hongkong Hotel

Email

aamir@excelmediagroup.org

https://hrmagazine.com.hk/event/hr-magazineconference-tomorrowland-talent

Location

1 Raffles Blvd, Singapore 039593

21 – 23 HR Tech Festival Asia Online 2021 Organised by HRM Asia Venue

Website

Online https://hrtechfestivalasia.com

23 Digital Innovation in HR & Workplace Management Organised by Terrapinn Venue

Website

Online https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/hr-learning-show-asia

14 – 16 HR Exchange Live: Corporate Learning

28 – 29

Organised by HR Exchange Network Future of Work APAC Time

11:00am - 2.30pm (EST)

Website

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/events-corporate-learning

Venue

Organised by M Media Events

Online

10 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

Venue

Website

Online https://futureworkseries.com/apac

HR EVENTS HR NEWS

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

18 – 21

23

Innovation@Work Asia

HR Exchange Live: Corporate Learning APAC

Organised by The Economist

Organised by HR Exchange Network

Venue

Time

9:00am - 1:45pm (EST)

Website

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/events-corporate-learning

Website

Online https://events.economist.com/innovation-at-work-asia

19 – 20

Venue

Online

DECEMBER

HR Exchange Live: Employee Engagement and Experience APAC Organised by HR Exchange Network Venue

Website

7–9

Online https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/events-employee-

HR Exchange Live: Talent Exchange Live

engagement-and-experience-apac

Organised by HR Exchange Network Venue

20 – 21 SHRM NxT APAC 21: Unleashing Potential

Online

Website

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/events-talent-management

Organised by SHRM

10

Venue

Online

HR Magazine Conference: Recruiting & retaining the best

https://www.shrmconference.org/nxtapac21

Organised by HR Magazine

Website

25 – 27 World HR Congress 2021 Organised by The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Venue

Website

|

Time

8:30pm - 4:30pm (UTC+8)

Location

88 Yee Wo St, Causeway Bay, HK

Tel

HK (852) 2736 6339

Venue

Regal Hongkong Hotel

Email

aamir@excelmediagroup.org

Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) https://wfpmacongress.com/world-hr-congress-2021

11

HR NEWS HR MOVES

HR Moves Anthony Chow

Yuki Ha

Winnie Lam

Chief Supply Chain Officer, Director of Finance & HR

Assistant Manager, Talent Acquisition

Payroll Integration Specialist

Bond Apparel International

West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

Hilti Group

An experienced operator, performance improvement

Yuki brings over 17 years’ experience in Human

Winnie has been with the Hilti Group for over

and turnaround specialist with a demonstrated

Resources to the West Kowloon Cultural District

five years in Hong Kong before taking up the role

history of working in the apparel and fashion industry,

Authority in her move there in July 2021. With a

of Payroll Integration Specialist in Manchester,

Anthony has just taken up a new role with an HR focus

demonstrated history of HR working in the technical,

England. In a parting message to her Hong Kong

in Bond Apparel International. He brings strong skills

electrical and electronic manufacturing sectors, she

teammates, Lam shared, “For people-related and

in operations management, strategic supply chain

has a strong HR background in Compensation &

-development topics, leaders truly walk the talk

planning, international business and HR. Among his

Benefits, Sourcing, HR Consulting and Recruiting.

in demonstrating the ‘Care and Perform’ culture.

numerous directorate roles, Anthony worked for over

I would like to thank you all for the mentoring

five years as Director, Human Resources (Overseas

and support given me during my time here.”

Operations) for Esquel Group.

Prior to this, she worked in HR roles for Daikin and Belle Worldwide. She graduated with a BBA in Human Resources Management from the City University of Hong Kong.

12 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR MOVES HR NEWS

Rita Lee

Wendy Mak

Masako Taguchi

Director Human Resources

Manager, Human Resources

Head of HR

adidas

adidas

Kyndryl Japan Group

Rita now is the Strategic Business Partner and

Wendy joins the adidas team as Manager, Human

Masako recently took up the Head of Human

Coach to the organisation on all relevant people and

Resources (Global Functions Asia), where she

Resources role at Kyndryl Japan Group, the spin-off

organisational topics. In addition, she leads the local

works as an HR Business Partner to the Global

from IBM. She brings over nine years’ experience in

HR team, ensuring that adidas continues to build

Functions in the Sourcing Office. Before that, she

HR from IBM, where she was previously HR Director,

and execute the best HR strategies and services to

worked as Human Resources Manager Greater

Global Technology Services. At IBM, Masako was

attract, develop, motivate and retain the best people

China (HR Business Partner to global functions)

responsible for end-to-end HR, from HR strategy to

for today and tomorrow.

for Swarovski, where she also worked in a BP role

HR lifecycle management and execution for Global

overseeing global talent functions including global

Technology Services—the biggest business unit with

Before this, Rita was HRBP at Aesop for over two

marketing, sourcing, supply chain management,

over 6,000 employees in IBM. In addition, she has

years, where she provided strategic, commercial and

quality

&

performed various roles in HR, both HR consultant

operational HR advice to support country managers

communication, and IT. She was also the Change

for external clients and HR professionals within

in organisational design, workforce planning, talent

Management Lead in Hong Kong. Mak graduated

IBM, and in other business units within IBM across

development and retention, inclusive and engaging

with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree

multiple economies, including Japan, the USA,

culture cultivation, reward and risk management

in Management and HR Management.

Australia and Singapore.

management,

corporate

branding

across HK, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Prior to that, she spent three years as HRBP with PUMA Group, which saw her support the sourcing business with global workforce planning, talent acquisition, mapping, retention, development, international mobility and change management across APAC, EMEA and Germany.

13

HR NEWS HR IN NUMBERS

HR in Numbers

5 extra personal days that Manulife is

49% increase in revenue and

3.89 billion women worldwide who experience

giving to staff on its Fuel Up Fridays

other income Q1 2021 (YoY)

menopause at an average age of 51

Manulife, 2021

HKEX

EMAS Charter on first-ever World

for trading in Hong Kong

Menopause & Work Day

49% businesses that consider WFH during lockdown adversely affected cybersecurity

Verizon Mobile Security Index, May 2021

14 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

70% impact a manager or team lead alone

95% PR professionals with no OT

has on team engagement

compensation despite longer weekly

Workplace Insights, Gallup

2020 HKPR & Comms Industry Salary &

hours than HK average

Benefit Survey, HKPRU

HR IN NUMBERS HR NEWS

45.9%

71%

3

people in Hong Kong who were fully

employees have employers wanting

number of seconds pause before speaking

vaccinated as at 1 September 2021

them to work from the office

that can make candidate C&B package negotiations more successful

Our World in Data

2021 Workmonitor Survey, Randstad

83%

13%

30,000

MIT Sloan School of Management, 2021

being stressed

unmanageable stress

people experiencing

searches per month in the US for the

Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey, 2021

Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey, 2021

MiQ Digital

people reporting

top 30 technology paranoias

15

COVER STORY

Evolution of coaching Both Richarde and Calluori were early adopters of coaching and have witnessed its evolution over time. Calluori noted, “Coaching is now much more mainstream than it was in the early 90s. Today, in the world of coaching, organisations are very thoughtful, considered, and intentional when it comes to integrating coaching in their environments and do so in a much better way than they used to.” She added, “Another big shift has been the evolution of professional standards over time, to such an extent that now when organisations are making coaching decisions, they look for credentialed professional coaches.” Well-trained coaches who are experienced and can bring this professional credibility with them are now much sought after by HR. In addition to traditional one-on-one coaching sessions, today’s coaching is also being delivered in various ways, including group coaching and

Coaching has the power to create and integrate sustainable change

team

coaching.

Richarde

explained,

“Group

coaching is great where a collection of talents is

through people growth and development, and in doing so, make a huge

working on a common theme, working with the coach to explore their individual conversations

difference to both individuals and organisations. HR Magazine spoke with

and ideas collectively. In contrast, team coaching is where there is a very specific initiative in

Pamela Richarde, MA, MCC, Senior VP; Cynthia Calluori, PCC, Senior

the organisation, which often an entire team is responsible for. Here team coaching helps

VP; and Michelle Leung, MBA, PCC, of Coach U, Inc. to determine how

facilitate movement, productivity, communication and ensuring timelines are taken care of.”

coaching has evolved to become more accessible and to better address On team coaching, Calluori said, “When we engage

talent needs in today’s best organisations.

in team coaching, we support the team to engage around a shared purpose, with full a 360° view of stakeholders. So it’s a group of people but is still very much aligned to a corporate initiative, mandate or

Today’s talents want their manager to be much more a coach instead of just

change strategy. So there’s a shared purpose, and a key function of team coaching is to support the team in

a traditional ‘boss’—giving them more support with their development

aligning around that purpose.” Richarde highlighted the popularity of team coaching, “Team coaching has

and increased focus on their individual strengths. Gallup’s most recent

now become so mainstream for organisations that the International Coaching Federation (ICF) has

Workplace Insights on drivers of employee engagement highlights that

now created core competencies for this.”

the manager or team lead alone accounts for 70% of the variance in team engagement. This is one of many reasons why equipping leaders with coaching skills and developing a coaching culture is currently so high on the agenda for agile organisations.

17

COVER STORY

Coach certification There are three levels of certification credentials laid out by the ICF: 1.

Associate Certified Coach (ACC)

3.

Master Certified Coach (MCC)

2.

Professional Certified Coach (PCC)

To earn one of these credentials, coaches have to undergo a rigorous training programme that involves: •

Completing coach-specific training that meets

•

Achieving a designated number of coaching

• •

ICF’s standards to maximise effectiveness. experience and training hours that varies depending on which credential is pursued.

Partnering with a Mentor Coach.

Demonstrating appropriate understanding

In-house or external coaches

with their internal organisational culture.

The decision for HR to go with in-house or

They also want to empower them so they

external coaches depends on the initiatives

can align the systems and processes, and

in their own organisation, what their goals

values of the organisation in such a way

are, and what they are looking to achieve.

that it argues for coaching to be successful.

Calluori explained, “Each level of this credentialing

Richarde noted, “Often organisations use

It’s not good enough just to train leaders or

has a set of criteria associated with it—

both methods. They’ll start with a two-day

just to bring in external coaches; HR has to

predominantly set around the number of specific

Leader-as-Coach programme led by external

really look at their organisation, how they

coach training hours a coach completes in an

coaches, where managers and leaders get a

structure the initiative overall, and how

accredited programme, the number of mentor

sense of what a coaching approach is. This

they align systems and processes in such

coaching hours they received, and the number of

is often a lightbulb moment for them, and

a way that they support an ever-evolving

practical coaching hours that they have logged

then they want to take more training to

coaching culture.”

and accumulated. This is different for each level;

become internal coaches. Later as they learn

even at the ACC level, coaches require a minimum

the efficacy of coaching concerning work

Richarde echoed these sentiments and

of 60+ hours of training, 10 hours of mentoring,

and the metrics around its measurement,

added, “This kind of method creates the

and 100 practical coaching hours.”

organisations often then bring in external

sustainability of the change internally in

coaches again to coach senior executives. It’s

an organisation, and enough so that great

There are a number of accredited coach training

good to coach top-tier executives externally,

coaches can coach themselves out of a job.”

modalities, so the time span for the coach

and mastery of ICF’s definition of coaching, Code of Ethics and Core Competencies.

schools, each offering coach training in different

as they can be completely transparent, with a sense of trust and safety, that they might

With everything going on globally right

training element can vary significantly. In many

not get with an internal coach.”

now,

study path and intensity of training. Calluori noted,

programmes, learners get to design their own

effective

change

management

and sustainable change have become Calluori said, “Often coaches find themselves

essential parts of the HR arsenal. Calluori

“In Coach U, learners can choose to do their initial

putting on a consultant hat from the

explained, “As we’ve gone through so

training in a live intensive workshop and get the

perspective of supporting organisations to

much change recently, some of that

bulk of the training done within six days, or they

develop a coaching culture, helping them

change is going to stay. Subsequently,

can choose to do the same training in a self-paced

to link their initiatives. This might manifest

there’s careful management required

programme that might run for up to 15 months.

as

leaders,

around that change as companies return

And that would be for the first-level 60+ training

creating internal competencies, leveraging

to whatever’s ‘normal’ along with ongoing

hours for the ACC competency; they then have

external coaches, or shifting systems and

change management. So there’s a very

to accumulate their mentor coaching time and

processes in the organisation.” She added,

real role for coaches in this entire change

practical coaching hours. So the timespan varies

“One of a coach’s key goals is to support

management process because it supports

a lot, and it’s not just a weekend thing to become a

HR and L&D in-house professionals to

engagement, employee engagement and

certified coach.”

become self-sufficient and strongly aligned

what has to happen next.”

18 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

coaching

and

developing

COVER STORY

There’s a very real role for coaches in this entire change management process Measuring coaching effectiveness

by Dianna Anderson and Merrill Anderson, the

puts forth a robust model to help HR measure

effectiveness of coaching interventions has

the ROI of leadership coaching sessions. The

not escaped HR, with CFOs often demanding

second is Measuring the Success of Coaching

hard evidence of the ROI of L&D and coaching

A Step to Step Guide for Measuring Impact and

initiatives to justify the budget spend

Calculating ROI by Patricia Pulliam Phillips,

required. Calluori advised, “HR should try

Jack Phillips, and Lisa Ann Edwards.

The

importance

of

quantifying

and assess coaching ROI on two main levels:

because it supports engagement, employee engagement and what has to happen next.

one-on-one effectiveness, where a coach

This requires coaches and HR to identify high-

and coachee come together to gauge what’s

leverage points in the organisation, which will

working in the coaching, but also in terms

bring maximum return for minimum effort.

of organisational return on investment for

Calluori illustrated, “If you’ve identified a part

Cynthia Calluori

each coaching initiative. At the coach/coachee

of the organisation that could shift towards

PCC, Senior VP

level in a leadership coaching context, our

a new way of working and could be up and

Coach U, Inc

model has us establish measurable goals and

running more effectively tomorrow, then

objectives at the beginning of the coaching

that’s an example of a high leverage point. If

assignment. To do so, we support the coachee

they have a leadership team open to coaching,

to identify what the objectives of the coaching

then it’s relatively easy to implement coaching

are and how they can measure whether the

and get the ball rolling. This can become a

coaching goals were accomplished or not.”

pivotal element in effecting organisational change.” She added, “It’s not a prescriptive

On a broader scale, there are several ways to

process; coaches are rather going to support

measure the ROI for coaching, and Calluori

organisations by asking the right questions

explained the process, “Firstly we support the

and shining the light for them to uncover

company in identifying key business goals that

what’s their best path and might also share

the coaching initiative is intended to impact,

useful resources.”

then look at how the company knows that they have been impacted and how they will measure

Richarde affirmed, “What’s important is

that impact. Then we analyse how much

getting the right kind of information from the

revenue or financial impact is generated from

organisation to see what that high leverage

the initiative and the cost of the initiative.” She

place will be for them in the long run. Coaches

also referenced two books; the first, Coaching

don’t have a silver bullet, but they do have the

that Counts: Harnessing the Power of Leadership

tools and skills to help organisations figure out

Coaching to Deliver Strategic Value, authored

what’s going to support them best.”

19

COVER STORY

Coaching brings multiple ROIs The 2019 Building Strong Coaching Cultures for the Future, published by The Human Capital Institute (HCI) and the International Coaching Federation (ICF), highlights the multiple benefits that coaching brings organisations even within a relatively short period (see right).

Michelle Leung, MBA, PCC, of Coach U, Inc. recalled her previous work with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), “I have personally witnessed coaching development

and

penetration

into

the

organisation globally. During my time as a brand marketer for GSK, they provided executive coaching and bite-sized coaching training for me. Then they started to develop their in-house coach programme to provide more accessible coaching to employees with many of the inhouse coaches obtaining ICF credentials through an accredited coaching training programme.”

GSK’s coaching initiative has global presence throughout the organisation, being available to all employees at every level. Since its initial implementation in 2010, coaching has gained strong support from leadership, including GSK’s senior executive team and has facilitated USD 66 million ROI. In recognition of GSK’s robust global coaching initiative, the ICF awarded them the 2016 ICF International Prism Award. This Award bears testament to the highest standard of excellence in GSK’s coaching programmes that yielded discernible, measurable positive impacts, addressed critical strategic goals and helped shape the organisational culture as a whole.

Richarde noted, “Coaching is all about creating measurables from the very beginning, and the impact on the business results is very tangible.

In

addition,

multiple and

effective

coaching

benefits—enhancing

effectiveness,

employee

can

yield

performance engagement,

communication skills, wellness, retention and succession planning.”

Source: 2019 Building Strong Coaching Cultures for the Future, HCI

20 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

COVER STORY

Coaching is absolutely a two-way street … there’s significant personal growth and evolution that enables the coach to be really ‘present’ to another person and focus on their priorities, rather than what Source: 2019 Building Strong Coaching Cultures for the Future, HCI

you think they should do.

Two-way street

organisations surveyed expecting to leverage

It is not just coaches who get a lot out of

managers to help drive a coaching culture in

great coaching; the coaches themselves also

the next five years (see above).

gain a lot from the process. Richarde noted,

Pamela Richarde MA, MCC, Senior VP

“Coaching is absolutely a two-way street,

Future of coaching

and is so in various ways. Firstly, all coaches

Not prescriptive and multifaceted, with

must learn exactly what ‘coaching’ means.

elements of both group and team coaching

As a part of that process, if you’re on a really

complementing one-on-one interventions,

good coach training programme, there’s

coaching has already significantly evolved

significant personal growth and evolution

since the 90s. Richarde summarised the

that enables the coach to be really ‘present’

future of coaching, “I believe that coaching

to another person and focus on their

will continue to expand in supporting

priorities, rather than what you think they

organisational development and enhancing

should do. You effectively get yourself ‘out of

leadership development. This means coaching

the way’ to help someone else. So on multiple

can change the world, one organisation at a

levels, coaching helps both the coach and the

time. We want leaders to thrive in a VUCA

coachee by working in partnership.”

world, and so coaching is becoming the

Coach U, Inc

culture of the world. It’s already been doing The 2019 Building Strong Coaching Cultures

so—and will continue to do so—helping

for the Future, highlights the importance

organisations to integrate better and create

of managers and leaders in the success

safe, sustainable change that contributes to

of coaching programmes, with 83% of

the wellbeing of the planet.” n

21

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HR FEATURES

Carefree career transitions Clement Lo, Managing Director, Gemini Personnel Limited and Benjamin Brustis, Head of HR Projects, Gemini Development, share practical advice on what HR can do to better manage employee career transitions amid times of change both within and outside organisations.

Facilitating change

Explaining why

In these times of change, when many companies

During offboarding exercises, it is vital for HR to

are having to restructure and adjust headcount,

effectively communicate to employees exactly why

this will inevitably leave affected staff feeling

this is happening. Lo explained, “There must be a

somewhat anxious and often pessimistic about

clear reason for that departure. So first of all, HR must

the prospect of career transitions. Clement Lo,

justify the specific reason and explain that it’s nothing

Managing Director, Gemini Personnel Limited,

personal, but a business decision.” Brustis added,

noted, “First and foremost, the one thing that HR

“The announcement of the separation meeting is

can do to help maximise the value of their change

extremely important, and the messaging has to be clear to ensure every affected employee knows it’s

management programme is to really embrace it and also embrace the future.”

From the employee perspective, Lo noted, “It’s

Benjamin Brustis

nothing personal, as many will be asking questions.

Head of HR Projects

Why have I been chosen? Why am I being laid off?

Gemini Development

Why don’t you lay off other employees?”

important for those involved in the change to keep an open mind as to what’s going to happen

Brustis highlighted the importance of tactfully

over the next few months within their career to

handling offboarding meetings from a corporate

help facilitate that change smoothly. Keeping a positive attitude and embracing the future is a must.” A personal brand is also a priority for anyone embarking on a career change. Benjamin Brustis, Head of HR Projects, Gemini Development, said, “People embarking on change need to consider their image; their personal brand image is very important as to how they present themselves—both on their CV and also on social media, especially on LinkedIn. Many people forget about their social media presence, and that’s often the first thing that employers look at—so it really matters.”

For senior executives, who have been in

People embarking on change need to consider their image; their personal brand image is very important.

branding perspective. He noted, “A key benefit if you carry out this type of exercise properly is that people will move on to their next job and still say good things about the organisation.” Lo added, “Employee engagement is one of the most important aspects of HR nowadays because of talent shortage. HR doesn’t want to lose its best talent within the organisation.

So, it’s more important than ever to take care of talent—not just those staying in the organisation but also those who have to leave. It’s not just a PR show; it’s a tangible demonstration that HR really does care about all of its talents.”

Public, private or third-part announcement?

their field for several decades, their ego can

Every company is unique, and every offboarding is

sometimes get in the way of such transitions, so

unique, making it extremely challenging for HR to

we need to be aware of this and help them put

choose the best way to inform staff of impending

their egos to one side when thinking about what

change. In terms of making this public or private and

help they might need in finding a new position.

being done by in-house HR or neutral third parties,

Brustis advised, “Often they don’t see how

Lo advised, “There are times when it is better to use

outsiders can help them, so we need to tell them

a third-party consultant to conduct the delivery of

that they may be an expert in their field, but we

such messages. Firstly, HR may not have experience

are here to help them in other aspects.”

handling such situations before and can leverage the

24 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR FEATURES

Before the rumour mill sets in motion, it is crucial to have clear and open communication with employees about what the future holds.

consultant’s ‘feel and required tact’ for the situation.

Secondly, HR may have concerns over things getting out of control; with emotions running high, it’s good to have a neutral party on board at that time who can help ensure things feel less about personal bias and more about being a required business decision.” Brustis echoed this and said, “Many HR and administrative staff don’t have the experience of actually conducting separation meetings, which can be very stressful, so having a third party there to help guide them through the process can be a huge relief.”

Lo noted, “There are two things that we help HR with to prepare for separation meetings. Firstly, we organise training for the line managers, who will also be present in those meetings to help them prepare for the difficult conversations that may arise. Secondly, we can be on site during the announcement day, so while in-house HR actually delivers the message to employees, we provide support in an adjoining room, just in case some employees show signs of extreme stress, mental breakdown, or even aggression. It’s like a safety net for HR and provides them with greater assurance in the office” He added, “We, as a neutral party, can help shift employee focus away from the separation and towards future opportunities.”

Before the rumour mill sets in motion, it is crucial to have clear and open communication with employees about what the future holds. Lo advised, “In the first place, HR must ensure that there is appropriate and professional communication of messages in front of all employees in a Town Hall to lay the cards on the table about what is being planned. This key message can then be trickled down through line managers to help further reinforce it.” Brustis also noted the importance of getting these core messages out on the same day, “As the messaging will affect multiple stakeholders, it’s critical to get it out to all parties as expediently as possible, reduce any rumours being Clement Lo, Managing Director, Gemini Personnel Limited

spread, and keep stress to a minimum.”

25

HR FEATURES

Fostering employee courage & agility Another important HR consideration comes with internal career mobility, and how to smooth such transitions for staff. Sometimes internal career transitions, from the talent's perspective, can be a major event. Lo advised, “HR should encourage talent to have the courage to take a big step forward or a lateral leap. When talent has the courage to change, they will worry a lot less about fitting into a new position or organisation.” Brustis added, “Employees have to feel supported, and HR can achieve this by providing training, upskilling and reskilling programmes. HR can empower employees with a well-communicated succession plan and transition programme. You can’t just drop them into a new setting with no preparation.”

Lo echoed these sentiments and added, “This plan also needs to be communicated very clearly, in terms of what HR expects from this person in three to six months, and how they expect them to develop within a year. This helps employees ascertain whether this is achievable and that they feel capable of doing it.”

He added, “With HR support and backup from the company, employees will feel much more comfortable in taking their next step.” HR plays a vital role in this process, and in helping talent focus on things that they, themselves, can control and what they can do moving forward to positively impact whatever is next for them in their career journey.

On helping staff be more agile, Brustis noted Gemini’s newly launched Thrive and Fuel50 platforms that could help HR in this regard. He explained, “Thrive is the new model for delivering our outplacement, upskilling and reskilling programmes. The way it works, contrary to traditional outplacement programme offerings that can be pretty rigid, with Thrive, the employer determines the overall budget they would like to invest in the programme. This is then converted into tokens for self-service use by outgoing employees. Assigned staff can then access all the services on the platform and self-select whichever services they feel best fit their needs, their career stage and their life plans.” He added, “Fuel50, on the other hand, is an AI-powered talent, opportunity and growth marketplace for internal workforce mobility that focuses on future-proofing the organisation and talent retention.”

The flexibility of the Thrive platform means staff can choose to spend some or all of their allocated tokens on a wide variety of services, including one-to-one coaching sessions, LinkedIn Learning

26 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR FEATURES

programmes to get certified in a particular skill, a professional photo shoot to get a better photo for their CV, and professional counselling services to help maintain good mental health.

Brustis summarised, “It’s a highly flexible, selfservice platform for employees, and this flexibility is key to ensure that each employee, with their widely differing career needs and priorities, really gets the most out of the service. Moreover, from the employer perspective, it’s also the most costeffective way of investing money in assisting staff with career transitions because it ensures that the services paid for are actually used by those who most want and need them.”

Internal and external transitions On getting staff ready for internal transitions, Brustis noted, “Organisations can start easing staff

He added, “It’s also important to guide talent as

into new internal positions by arranging a split of

to what type of jobs are most suitable for them.

their time. For example, they still do their regular

Sometimes candidates are just shooting in the

job for four days a week, while one day per week

dark, applying to hundreds of jobs and hoping that

they start working in a different department or

something will stick. In such cases, it’s important to

experiencing a different role. So after, say, four to six

help them focus and think about what they do and

months, they’re better prepared and ready to make

do not like, what they’re good and not good at. HR

the transition.” This process can be augmented

can help by conducting various assessments to help better identify candidates work-style preferences.”

with a mentoring programme, with staff assigned a mentor from the new department to help work with the transitioning employee and support them.

Clement Lo Managing Director Gemini Personnel Limited

International transitions An increasing amount of career transitions are

In terms of helping prepare talent for external

catalysing talent to move outside Hong Kong. Lo

transitions, Lo advised HR to seek professional help

noted, “Lately we have seen a significant number

from consultants who, neutrally, can help affected

of cases of candidates considering relocating to the

employees better leverage their move to a new organisation. This help could include helping talent work on their LinkedIn profile, prepare a professional CV, land an interview, prepare for the interview, hone their elevator pitch, introduce themselves, impress people within the first 30 seconds of the interview, answer challenging questions during the interview and leave a positive image with interviewers.

Brustis also noted the importance of helping talent know how to ‘sell themselves’ by focusing on situations when they had to deal with challenges and what specific actions they took to bring about positive outcomes. Lo added, “One of the things that

It’s more important than ever to take care of talent—not just those staying in the organisation but also those who have to leave.

UK or the US, after losing their job in Hong Kong.

As a member of Career Star Group, the biggest outplacement provider globally in terms of size and reach, we can provide important help for candidates wanting to start a new life in another country."

Brustis added, “Our outplacement programmes can help candidates with interview preparation, work and cultural differences in their prospective new home; they can be started in Hong Kong, before staff move overseas, then once the person moves to their new locale, the programme can be transferred and finished over there if needed."

With a little bit of planning, a lot of communication

many candidates struggle with is finding a unique

and the right tools and support in place, career

selling point as to why are they worthy of the job

transactions can not only be made relatively pain

on offer. This is something an external consultant

free but also be leveraged as a positive opportunity

can help talent with, in terms of identifying their

on both sides of the fence. Effective offboarding

strengths and positioning them to market and brand

can help reinforce a positive employer brand while

them in the right way, so that they can select a

enhancing the agility and skills sets of the talents

suitable next job as early as possible.”

making career transitions. n

27

HR FEATURES

Sabre at the cutting edge of HR

We can either

HR Magazine caught up with Shawn Williams, Chief People Officer, Sabre in the

fight this or we can

midst of the pandemic to find out how he was helping nearly 8,000 colleagues across six continents navigate the process of leaving their offices and working from home. Most travellers taking an airline flight will have benefitted from Sabre, the data processing company that creates and manages airline seat reservations.

A key service the company provides is matching passengers with seats, enabling airlines and customers to operate and travel efficiently. As with all players in the travel industry during the pandemic, Sabre has faced significant challenges.

Williams also shared new opportunities that the pandemic had created for the company to examine and further improve staff working conditions.

empower people.

Employees are encouraged to take their ideas and run with them.

Shawn Williams Chief People Officer Sabre

Crises bring HR opportunities

per week in the office, 30% preferred working

Shawn Williams, Chief People Officer, Sabre,

remotely or from home and 45% preferred the

described how his responsibilities had changed

space sharing system of hoteling—whereby they

in the time of Covid. He explained that pre-

are able to reserve desks on given days or times

pandemic, 96% of employees worked in offices;

rather than having traditional permanent seating

in the pandemic, 100% of them carried out

in the office. This led to Williams instituting

their responsibilities away from the company’s

Sabre’s Working from Anywhere programme,

premises. Instead of hunkering down and waiting

which has enabled the company substantially

for the storm to pass, Williams and his team took

to reduce its real estate footprint. As Williams

the opportunity to analyse how the company was

revealed, “In Dallas, we had two buildings that

operating, what models the staff wanted to adopt

we owned, and two that we leased. We sold the

and how to change expectations and existing

owned offices and leased one back for 10 years,

patterns. He said, “We had fortunately just finished

which we still occupy on every floor."

migrating the company to Microsoft Teams. This is a great platform and enabled us to conduct

Sabre met the resulting challenge of transferring

a complete employee survey.” It was especially

work environments by giving staff an allowance

useful for a company headquartered in Texas, but

to set up home offices. Employees could also

with three-quarters of the staff outside the USA.

take home any equipment they liked for this purpose. This led to some surprises, as Williams

The survey revealed that, of three options, 25% of

disclosed, “One colleague took out an ironing

respondents wanted to work at least three days

board, saying that it made a perfect desk and

28 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR FEATURES

could be put away at the end of her working

parents. Williams acknowledged, “Our leadership

day.” Management instituted a transparent

now knows more about our people than ever. We

communications framework based on flexible

must emphasise transparency, and each manager

guidelines rather than on imposing policy.

has to ask, am I removing the roadblocks?”

diversity is local.

of the travel industry as being on the leading

To help staff cope with the new pressures of

Shawn Williams

edge but that Sabre had to become a technology

isolated working, Williams has set up a wellness

Chief People Officer, Sabre

company. He revealed his advice to his CEO that,

programme, the Sabre Wellness Advisory Group

“We either can fight this, or we can empower

(SWAG). The Group has introduced staff to the

Inclusion is global;

Williams observed that people did not think

people. Employees are encouraged to take their

Headspace app, which advises them on such

ideas and run with them.”

subjects as sleep, exercise and meditation.

Leadership at the heart of HR change

Successive traditional physical meetings at least

in the make-up of the company, not nominal

Williams considered that looking at Sabre’s offices

allow breaks as participants move from room to

policies imposed as a bolt-on. Williams approves

worldwide as either ‘spokes’ or ‘hubs’ is out of date;

room; however, online meetings tend to merge

of the saying of a friend that, “The Chief

he wants leadership to place greater emphasis on

into one exhausting whole. On what he has learned

Diversity Officer is everybody.” Sabre has shown

local empowerment.

from the new reality, Williams revealed, “Half-hour

its commitment to this by recently appointing

online meetings are now 25 minutes, and hour-

two women to replace retiring board members

He acknowledged that management has a

long sessions have been cut to 50 minutes to allow

and establishing a Women in Technology group

substantial part to play in changing attitudes,

talent time to recover.”

to further promote gender equality.

However, he reminds himself that, “Inclusion is global; diversity is local.” Attitudes must be

“We were too comfortable with accidental Diversity integral to HR change

HR eyes on the stars

Managers need to be more human.” With staff

As a member of the Cherokee indigenous nation,

Out of chaos comes progress. Out of challenge

allowing managers into their homes through

Williams is well aware of the need for companies

comes success. HR is at the forefront of getting

regular online communications, those managers

to reflect the communities in which they live

companies to look up at the stars, not down at

now know much more about their staff, such as

and to be inclusive. As a result, he has set up a

their feet. In the case of Sabre, that is literally

whether they have children or are looking after

diversity council at a global level.

true as the world starts its return to the skies. n

management

and

battlefield

promotions.

29

HR FEATURES

Thoughts on purpose It wasn’t difficult for our employees to see the impact they were having.

For our people, this

How the pandemic brought the best out of DHL Express For many years now, DHL has invested in defining and communicating their ‘purpose’ as a company. Some 10 years ago, they coined their mantra, ‘Connecting people, improving lives’. It is simple, upbeat and underscores their collective belief that logistics and global trade improve the prosperity of nations and the lives of blue-collar workers in those countries. John Pearson, Global CEO, DHL Express Hong Kong, explains in his own words what purpose means to him, DHL and every member of the team globally.

was a source of tremendous pride and meaning.

“They say, ‘No plan survives contact with

we’re all on the frontline, and we never missed

the enemy’. Our plan and our purpose met a

a moment when we weren’t fully connected to

formidable challenge with the arrival of the

our customers, in fact, more connected than

pandemic. On paper, we faced a serious threat

ever before.

to our business and our ability to serve our customers. Global supply chains were interrupted,

At one moment, we were delivering PPE to

air traffic came to a standstill in many countries,

China from the world, and then within a matter

border controls sprang up worldwide, lockdowns

of weeks, the direction shifted, and it was to

John Pearson

confined people to their homes. No one knew

move PPE from China to the world. We helped

Global CEO

what was around each corner.

to safeguard the existence of brands that had to suddenly close their physical stores and move

DHL Express Hong Kong I have often gone by the principle that a quick

their business online. How tough would life have

decision is often a bad decision and must not be

been if people had stopped receiving packages?

pressured by fictional deadlines. This situation

There would have been no DIY, no gardening, no

was different, and from talking and thinking as

books, no sports gear, not to mention vaccines,

a team, it quickly became apparent that it was

medical supplies or spare parts for vehicles.

necessary to change work routines and processes almost overnight. Communication became critical,

Within weeks, it became apparent that our

and we had to tailor and translate messages to our

business remained very strong, and our customers

employees in 220 countries and territories. We

needed us more than ever. We found we were able

had to ensure protection from the virus and deal

to fulfil those needs because our employees were

with the prospect of downsizing. We resolved to

willing to adapt in a crisis. Connecting people,

introduce a radically changed environment.

improving lives—never before had this been more relevant than during the pandemic: never

Somehow, we squeezed four years of technological

before has it been more recognised internally

advancement into four months. Previously

and externally. This simple, memorable idea, cut

departments such as HR and IT had often been

through and it became a much more known and

known as ‘support’ functions. We had to move

widely used part of our own lexicon.

9,000 laptops into homes as employees made

30 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

the transition to their new place of work. Under

Our strategy was able to evolve with the changing

these circumstances, it confirmed my suspicion

circumstances as we’d come up with a way to

that there is no such thing as support functions:

think about the company and a way to talk about

HR FEATURES

But our purpose is not just a feature of work life.

We want our employees to be active citizens in helping the towns, villages and communities where they live. Our ‘Go’ programmes support the efforts of our employees to contribute to wider society.

Whether it’s making it easier to trade across borders (GoTrade), giving young people the opportunity to learn new skills (GoTeach), preparing for the logistical challenges of natural disasters (GoHelp) or ensuring business success is compatible with environmental protection (GoGreen), we have initiatives to get employees involved in causes that drive them. Also, we’ve launched DHL’s Got Heart—a way that colleagues can draw attention to the charities they support or set up ways to back good causes through their own initiative.

International collaboration can counter the forces of nationalism and protectionism, which threaten the flow of trade. Alibaba’s Jack Ma puts it succinctly, ‘If trade stops, war starts’. Corporate

DHL has distributed more than 200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to 120 countries and territories.

work cultures can offer a model for societies, showing how commerce can transcend religious and cultural differences and be inclusive of many nationalities and languages.

We know that trade can soothe the tensions between nations and create bonds of fellowship.

the company that our teams could apply to make

was a source of tremendous pride and meaning.

If companies like ours succeed in engaging and

their own decisions. During the darkest days, our

This was reflected in our annual Employee Opinion

empowering our employees, that will provide a

investment in communicating and clarifying our

Survey, conducted among all employees. It shows

template for governments and wider society.

purpose over many years paid off. Thankfully, we

that employee engagement jumped from 77% in

were not an executive board of ten advocating

2019 to 82% in 2020.

Sometimes it’s hard to find the words to say what we mean when we talk about purpose. But I found you

what to do; we had 110,000 advocates for what we needed to do. Our purpose gave us the momentum

The benefits of maintaining global connections

don’t always need to. Remember the song Bridge

we needed to adapt. The concept of “influence a

have become even more tangible than before.

Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel?

thousand” came to mind.

Vaccine development itself is a great example of globalisation at its best. It wouldn’t have been

During the pandemic, we used this song and the

The pandemic proved our resilience. We operate

possible without the global division of labour and

lyrics to complement some of our communications.

in 220 countries and territories. With operations

the global exchange of knowledge.

It was memorable. It caught the mood. And it conveyed a message. It said everything we needed

on a global scale, natural or political disruption of some kind will be going on somewhere every

Now that vaccine production is ramping up, the

to say about how we needed to maximise our

week. We’ve got to deal with it. As a company,

distribution of vaccines depends crucially on global

collective effort to overcome setbacks during those

we have to be optimistic about a swift recovery

logistics. To date, we have distributed more than

difficult days. We’re proud that we did what we

from the pandemic – in the same way as we got

200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to 120 countries

could to calm troubled waters.

through the Icelandic ash cloud of 2010 and the

and territories. This is an excellent example of our

great recession of 2008. In the same way, this

purpose (and globalisation) in action.

The purpose of any company and organisation should be aligned with what it is they do, where

would pass.

The distribution of vaccines is not just essential for

they operate, what industry they are in, what assets

Like so many other front line and essential services,

our customers and the world. It’s also motivating

they have and where their employees live. What

we helped secure livelihoods; we delivered health

for our employees: they feel part of something,

matters is how you ‘connect’ locally. At the end

and joy, enabled growth and kept supply chains

their families show their pride in them, and they

of the day, your own example is the best example.

running. It wasn’t difficult for our employees to see

are thrilled when they see our planes arrive and the

Your employees will be proud, and justifiably so, as

the impact they were having. For our people, this

distribution process start.

it is they who carry the torch.” n

31

HR FEATURES

Why post-pandemic, post-Brexit Britain needs women in STEM A

ccording to recent figures from the UK Government, there is now just a shade over a

million women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workforce. This translates to a 24% increase of women entering these work areas—over a third of a million more year on year. However, while this may be encouraging to hear, there is still a long way to go for gender equality in these male-dominated industries.

Highlighting the long journey ahead in achieving gender equality, Dr Angharad Watson, Research Network Manager and Cell Biologist, Cardiff University recently tweeted, “My husband has just had a pay rise, which is lovely, but I can't help notice that in the last 10 years, his salary has increased 87%, while mine has increased by 18%. I've spent most of that time working on curing cancer. He's been calculating your car insurance.”

While 2020’s UK women in STEM target was hit, 2030’s target of 1.5 million women in STEM occupations would see 30% of this workforce filled by women. According to the Harvard University Institute of Politics, 30% is the ‘critical mass’ level where a minority group of women would have the ability to influence real change. In a post-pandemic, post-Brexit world, women in STEM have become more critical than ever.

32 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR FEATURES

My husband has just had a pay rise, which is lovely, but I can't help notice that in the last 10 years, his salary has increased 87%, while mine has increased by 18%. I've spent most of that time

Exasperated inequality

The pandemic taught us that empathetic, reactive,

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the world in

and agile leadership is essential to help curb the

many different ways—one being unravelling the

spread of the virus. Legislation brought in by the

limited progress we had made towards gender

female prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda

equality over the last couple of decades. The study,

Ardern, helped stamp out the virus across the entire

Gender Differences in Patients With COVID-19: Focus

country. The World Economic Forum reported that

on Severity and Mortality, published in Public Health,

female leaders had handled the pandemic crisis well.

reported that while men are more susceptible to severe effects of COVID-19, the financial and social

Now more than ever, it is vital to have a female point

toll is paid more by women. For example, women in

of view in the workplace, not just in politics and

insecure, informal, and lower-paid jobs experienced

running countries, but in industries where women

more loss of employment. Furthermore, Black,

are underrepresented. Women can bring diverse and

Asian and ethnic minority women were hit hardest

fresh perspectives to male-dominated fields, creating

by job cuts.

a better platform for innovation, creativity, and decision-making.

working on curing cancer.

He's been calculating your car insurance.

Talent working in STEM are likely to have a relatively high-paid job. There is significant growth in these

Embracing and encouraging women in STEM

jobs as well as high employment rates for graduates

Glass ceilings are one of the primary reasons women

and technological evolution. However, women are

shy away from degrees and occupations in STEM.

disadvantaged by being underrepresented in some

Heriot-Watt University in the UK argues that girls

of the most lucrative and secure industries.

are systematically drawn away from science and math courses throughout their education, which

According to the UN’s report, Policy Brief: The Impact

discourages them from pursuing opportunities and

of COVID-19 on Women, “Across the globe, women

training to enter these fields professionally. HR can

earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs, are more

encourage women to pursue STEM by:

Dr Angharad Watson

likely to be employed in the informal sector. In

Research Network Manager

addition, they have less access to social protection

and Cell Biologist

and are the majority of single-parent households.

female role models in these industries at a

Cardiff University

Their capacity to absorb economic shocks is,

young age;

1.

exposing girls to STEM material and introduce

therefore, less than that of men.”

2.

encouraging participation in STEM programmes through funding and ambassadors; and

Diverse perspectives Melinda Gates, renowned philanthropist and former General Manager at Microsoft, said, “Innovation happens when we approach urgent challenges

3.

helping break down stereotypes around male and female careers.

from every different point of view. Bringing women and underrepresented minorities into the field

In this way, HR can help open more doors for women

guarantees that we see the full range of solutions to

into STEM to benefit the industry and create better

the real problems that people face in the world.”

opportunities for women globally. n

33

HR FEATURES

Mentoring a two-way street Five key benefits of being a great mentor We spoke to Piotr Pawlowski, Head of Supply Chain & Logistics, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Siemens. He gives his take on why organisations that actively promote mentoring tend to perform so well, why leaders who have mentors and mentees are more successful than others, and what makes a great company stand out from the rest.

What is mentoring?

with was from another company. Despite this, the

Pawlowski, who has been both mentor and

entire mentoring process was very effective and

mentee, explained, “Mentoring is a relationship

open. I did not know the work environment of

that enhances the personal and professional

my mentee, and hence I was less biased and could

development of the mentee thanks to the support

make assessments more pragmatically.”

of the mentor. This help can involve teaching, advising, and supervising. The mentor uses their

Why is mentoring beneficial for leaders?

knowledge and experience to help the mentee

Mentoring and coaching are highly effective at helping talent grow and keeping employees

find the right path and pursue it. Mentoring also offers many growth benefits for mentors outside of simply feeling good about helping others.”

A classic mentor-mentee relationship goes through

Piotr Pawlowski

engaged and developing personally. According

Head of Supply Chain & Logistics,

to a study by the Corporate Leadership Council,

Middle East & Asia Pacific

employees who are most committed at work

Siemens

perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave

various stages depending on the nature of the

the organisation. In addition, Sun Microsystems

relationship and its form. This usually comprises

compared the career progress of 1,000 of its

matching

employees over five years and found that those

(self

contracting,

or

enabling

facilitated), growth,

preparation, and

closure.

There are also different types of mentoring to be considered, such as one-on-one, peer, group or reverse mentoring, depending on the needs.

For Pawlowski, the most important elements to enable successful mentoring are a confidentiality agreement, mutual trust, open feedback, being yourself, and respect. Moreover, the mentee is the one who is in charge to keep the focus on their

For me, being a mentor is certainly one of the most gratifying

goals and implement what is agreed upon.

professional roles

Pawlowski noted, “My most recent experience

that one can have.

who received mentoring were promoted five times more frequently than people who did not have such a relationship. Their study also indicated that mentors and mentees were 20% more likely to get a pay raise than others.

Mentoring is not just about the numbers though, and Pawlowski highlighted some of the other less tangible benefits that mentoring also brings, “For me, being a mentor is certainly one of the most gratifying professional roles that one can have. It is not only about the sense of pride and

as a mentor comes from a programme hosted by

satisfaction that comes from having a positive

AIESEC Poland between November 2020 and

influence on the mentee’s life, but it also helps the

June 2021, where I had the pleasure of mentoring

mentor grow as a leader, improve communication

a younger colleague, also a former AIESEC-er.

skills, and gain new perspectives.” Pawlowski then

We had our sessions only online; in fact, we’ve

highlighted the five key benefits that he had been

never met in real life, and the person I worked

able to realise through mentoring.

34 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR FEATURES

Key benefits of mentoring 1

Leadership In a world where employees demand more autonomy and accountability, mentoring can help to practise a more affiliative leadership style which, on many occasions, turns out to be most effective for mature and experienced teams and employees.

Additionally, leaders who are mentors are perceived by their employees as trustworthy, authentic, and caring. Their palette of leadership skills expands as they work with people from various environments and cultures. Pawlowski uses these skills regularly when leading teams and notes that employees really appreciate it as it gives them greater empowerment for their decisions.

2

Communications skills Nowadays these skills are more important

3

than ever—managing meetings, improving presentation

skills

and

communicating

more effectively. Mentoring helps enhance the way people exchange information. This skill is amplified in group mentoring, where one mentor oversees multiple mentees.

Additionally, it is not only about speaking but

New perspectives and reverse mentoring, including self-reflection

also listening—another essential competency

36 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

in mentoring. Active listening results in

This is a perfect platform to be more

more effective communication between the

inclusive, understanding, and patient in

leader and the team members. Pawlowski

relation to others. HR will often mentor

has experienced this himself and noted

someone from another generation,

that in a healthy mentoring relationship, a

with a different degree of seniority,

mentor speaks less, trying only to draft some

perhaps gender or background, who has

directions which the mentee can explore or

different attitudes and experiences. This

not. He often had a strong desire to tell his

provides an excellent opportunity to

mentee precisely what to do but refrained

learn from them too. The mentee might

from doing so, biting his tongue on such

have a much better understanding

occasions as the responsibility for target

of the current business, social and

achievement in mentoring lies firmly with

technological trends, which can result

the mentee.

in reverse mentoring.

HR FEATURES

4

Learning about yourself Pawlowski believes that dedicating time to provide feedback to each other during or after a mentoring programme is a valuable experience. Building an atmosphere of trust and support allows HR and mentors to increase their self-awareness and learn about their own strengths and weaknesses. Nobody is perfect and asking for feedback as a mentor is strongly recommended. Similarly, managers sometimes struggle with delivering feedback honestly and effectively—mentoring gives the opportunity to practice this important skill. Pawlowski recounted his last feedback session with a mentee which was surprisingly candid, and a perfect opportunity to learn something new about himself.

5

Networking You can expand your network and community by meeting new people—especially other mentors and mentees. Since many mentees are very ambitious people, who

For those in HR hesitating as to whether to

knows, they might one day be your

dedicate time to being a mentor, Pawlowski

future business partners, customers

pulled no punches in his advice and fully

or even colleagues. Meeting other

recommended it. He summarised, “Mentoring

mentors

valuable

fosters your personal and career development,

connections can also foster the

and there is nothing more validating of a

career development of a mentor.

mentor or leader than a mentee taking actions

and

making

and succeeding on their journey. Mentors also experience an increase in self-confidence, as their mentee’s success reaffirms their abilities, resulting in stronger confidence.” He reminded HR to find a mentor for themselves too and echoed the advice of Stan Toler, who wrote, “Every leader should be a mentor. But more importantly, every leader should have a mentor.” n

37

HR FEATURES

Employees expect more from employers Urgent workforce strategy reviews required

38 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

•

Employees expect more from employers:

•

Virtual mental health consultations increased

•

Higher COVID-19 vaccination rates linked to

•

Mental health most important influence on

mental health support & workplace flexibility

89% since beginning of pandemic

better well-being outlook

personal health and well-being

HR FEATURES

The impact COVID-19 has had on virtual health, whole-

offers an opportunity to help people access the care

person health, resilience and remote work was highlighted

they need when they need it. Globally, the use of

in the seventh annual 360 Well-Being Survey conducted

virtual consultations to access mental health therapy

by Cigna International. The Survey, which covered over

and counselling services has increased 89% since the

18,000 adults across 21 markets globally, confirmed

beginning of the pandemic. This echoes data from

that global pandemic recovery would require successful

the United States in Cigna’s One-Year Impact of

vaccination programmes and a holistic view of supporting

COVID-19 report, which showed nearly two-thirds of

mental health by both employers and governments.

behavioural care was performed virtually.

COVID-19 vaccination uptake enhances well-being outlook

Financial well-being concerns prevalent

Findings confirm the connection between greater

Only 28% of respondents are confident in their ability

vaccine uptake and access to successful vaccination

to maintain their current standard of living, and 19% of

programmes, with more positive perceptions of health

respondents say they feel very good or excellent when

and well-being first shown in Cigna’s 2021 COVID-19

asked if they have sufficient money for retirement.

Vaccine Perception Survey. Among the markets with

The outlook was poorest in women, with significant

high vaccination rates, the United States, United Arab

concerns regarding long-term saving specifically

Emirates, Spain and Saudi Arabia all report well-being

reported in the 18 – 24 age group and retirement

scores exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

planning among those aged 50 to 64.

Health benefits and better work-life balance are key areas where employers fall short of employee expectations.

Globally, the use of virtual consultations to access mental health therapy and counselling services has increased 89% since the beginning of the pandemic.

As companies update employment policies

In contrast, markets where vaccination rates are

Family time boosts resilience—rethink required on

lower such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan,

workforce strategies

had lower well-being scores, despite not yet

This Survey found that globally, working parents with

experiencing surges in cases and still maintaining

younger children (aged under 18) reported the highest

a relatively lower number of deaths related to

well-being score of 66.2 and are the most optimistic

COVID-19 at the time of the Survey. This negative

group across almost all elements of the five indices. The

outlook may be linked to the struggle to reach

research found that 83% of respondents in this group

herd immunity in those markets, a milestone that

are confident in their ability to support their children’s

experts widely agree is the long-term solution to

education, and 84% are positive about their ability to

beating COVID-19.

take care of their children’s health and well-being.

Jason Sadler, President, Cigna International, said,

Respondents reported an increased desire to work

“Even as we begin to see reasons for optimism,

from home, with 26% citing the greater connection

we are reminded that overcoming the pandemic

with family as one of the key benefits of remote

Michelle Leung

and its impact on health and well-being requires

working. Employers should take note of this trend as

Human Resources Officer

a comprehensive global vaccination program

employees now expect flexibility and better support

Cigna International

and uptake. Our Survey shows the pandemic has

in terms of access to health and well-being services,

had a particularly negative impact on certain

with mental health and stress management seen as

demographics and groups and understanding this

critical elements, as well as financial advice.

post-pandemic, they will need to address these concerns to retain and attract the best talent.

will be vital for businesses and policymakers alike.”

Michelle Leung, Human Resources Officer, Cigna Mental & physical health key to whole-person health

International, concluded, “Health benefits and better

72% of respondents rank mental health as the most

work-life balance are key areas where employers

important influence on personal health and well-

fall short of employee expectations. As companies

being, followed by physical health at 70%. Although

update employment policies post-pandemic, they

some stigma around mental health persists, the rise

will need to address these concerns to retain and

in adoption and availability of virtual health tools

attract the best talent.” n

39

HR TECHNOLOGY

Hiring top hi-tech talent Tips to onboarding and keeping the best techies Keren Halperin, VP People, Swimm, shares her take on hiring hi-tech talent, building a solid onboarding process and enhancing the overall employee experience. Halperin previously worked at the startup Namogoo in the Israeli tech space, doubling the team size to 150 employees and reducing attrition by 50%.

Key challenges to growing hi-tech teams There are many challenges relevant to the companies’ life cycles, the most significant being during growth stages.

One example is when people move from being an individual contributor to becoming a Team Leader or assuming a management role; in these cases, a common challenge is to change the old perception they have of their role, from being the best professional performer to a manager.

Likewise, the transition from being someone’s colleague to now becoming their mentor, guide or having to provide feedback can be a considerable challenge for some, and it is often common for people to struggle with these tensions involved with becoming part of the management team.

The most critical stage in the growth of a team is when a startup scales from the initial few founders and pioneers to a larger group. Managers who were initially doing everything end-to-end are suddenly in the position of leaders, having to build their own teams and finding the best people to fulfil the tasks they were doing previously.

These managers can sometimes struggle to delegate and let their team make their own decisions. In addition, as more people join their team, managers are suddenly facing new restrictions, like not being able to make decisions on the fly, as more people are involved and being influenced by their decisions. From that point forward, each change they want to make requires synchronisation and communication.

Halperin noted, “This is such a critical stage similar to ‘sliding doors’ if the manager successfully transitions and embraces the coach role: delegating tasks, communicating well and giving feedback, they will eventually overcome the transition. These managers will contribute to the creation of an environment that is powerful and can attract strong talent. However, if they are not empowering and keep most decisions in their hands, they will struggle to hire strong talent or retain them. Additionally, they will become a bottleneck and eventually will halt progress.”

40 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR TECHNOLOGY

Why sourcing hi-tech talent is so difficult For several years now, the primary challenge for managers has been talent shortage. Halperin said, “In the Israeli tech ecosystem, for example, we already have 60 unicorns

Creating a positive work culture Halperin identified four practices to create a positive culture at work:

stretched across a small talent pool. To top that, during June this year, the number of capital investments

Leadership

surpassed the entire amount invested during all of 2020.

Organisations should have a well-

This means that there is a lot of money, but the talent pool

defined purpose and brand—why it

is not growing at the same speed. This is an inherent issue

exists and how it wants to be known.

of ‘demand and supply’. In addition, with the gig economy,

Leaders should map out a course for

people can earn money in different ways, so people today

improvement. Identifying where the

have more options, and they are not afraid to take risks.”

company is today and where they want it to be in the future, and more importantly, taking action.

HR’s role in finding the right IT talent In Halepring’s opinion, to find the right IT talent, HR must first build a strong pipe by identifying the audience’s behaviour: including where they look for content, what content they are consuming, how they deliver messages.

Managers that embrace the ‘coach’

She noted, “Once you place the channels and what

style and not the ‘boss’ style

the audience is curious about, you can start to deliver

The best organisations have leaders

messages. Next is building a solid funnel with well-defined

who encourage their teams to solve

selection criteria and excellent candidate experience.

problems locally rather than using

Most people want to feel respected. Last but not least, is

top-down

moving fast, as strong talent won’t stay available for long

should focus their training and

in a competitive market.”

development programmes on building

commands.

Managers

local managers and teams’ capabilities Reducing attrition

to solve issues on their own. Managers

The top reason that employees change jobs is to pursue

should also learn how to identify the

career growth. Therefore, you need to start by building

team members’ strengths and produce

an environment where people experience growth and

better outcomes.

development, are fulfilled and know that their daily job contributes to the customers. In addition, assuming 17% of new hires leave during their first six months, you

Company-wide communication

need to create a great onboarding process where people

The best organisations build systems

feel welcomed, know what to expect, and understand the

that teach managers how to align

company’s vision and mission. Halperin advised, “During

with their innate characters.

the selection process, a positive attitude should be more important than strictly the performance. Strong performances with poor interpersonal skills eventually

Accountability

prevent success and inhibit creating a good culture in

Tolerance of mediocrity does not

the company.”

exist in the best organisations. These organisations define and strive for high team performance, and it is clear

Attracting and retaining tech talent According

to

Halperin,

the

biggest

challenge

is

that a manager’s job is to engage their

professionalism and the ‘know-how’ of talent acquisition.

teams. The best organisations believe

She added, “It often happens that startups seek and hire

that, and they create high-value career

people to fill junior positions, many times bringing in people

paths for individual contributor roles.

with insufficient experience, and they don’t understand

No one in the organisation should

why it’s not working. In today’s competitive environment,

feel that their progress depends on

where hiring is the first challenge, you must know ‘how to

being promoted to manager. The

play’. You need to embrace marketing practices to identify

best organisations know there is

unique channels, to build a story, to create awareness and

no meaningful mission or purpose

ultimately to stand out. Running the funnel is also essential,

without clear expectations, ongoing

but without Recruitment Marketing, it won’t work.”

conversations, and accountability.

41

HR COMMUNITY

Nurturing today's leaders to win tomorrow HR’s vital role in coaching leaders to adapt for success in a transforming world

Mukta Arya Regional Head of HR Société Générale

Shawna Corden Executive Coach Coach U

HR Magazine’s Livestream on 25 June 2021 tapped into the experience of HR professionals Shawna Corden, Faculty Member and Executive Coach, Coach U; Ricky Cheung, Director, Talent and Culture, Rosewood

Ricky Cheung Corporate Director Talent & Culture

Hotel Group; Lucy Li, Head of Executive Recruiting, SAP Greater China;

Rosewood Hotel Group

Mukta Arya, Regional Head of HR, Asia Pacific, Société Générale APAC, and Matthew Durham, Registered Foreign Lawyer, Gall Solicitors.

Panellists revealed how HR is changing recruitment and coaching to

Matthew Durham Foreign Registered Lawyer — Employment

prepare today’s leaders for tomorrow’s changing environments.

Gall Solicitors

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42 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN SUMMER 2021

Lucy Li Head of Executive Recruiting SAP Greater China

HR COMMUNITY

43

HR COMMUNITY

HR encourages management style changes

enables themselves, rather than the coach enabling them.” She explained the three core elements of

HR has long been aware that the traditional command-driven, top-down model in many

Lucy Li

coaching, “It’s all about the client, not the coach;

organisations is inefficient. Shawna Corden,

Head of Executive Recruiting

the coach has to know the client and know what

Faculty Member and Executive Coach, Coach

SAP Greater China

they are doing. If you’re dealing with a lion, you

U, commented, “We promoted the best among

need to behave like a lion. If you’re dealing with

equals. Among a group of engineers, the top

a rabbit, you behave like a rabbit. It’s essential to

engineer got promoted to manager, but they

know what your client is about.”

may not have been prepared to be the best manager. No one person can get a whole job

Coaching facilitates

interdependence, where small groups or teams or networks get work done.”

She

cautioned

against

forgetting

the

background of older leaders, “They’ve been

done anymore. We need to create a culture of

the process of people

through a difficult time along their career path to achieve their present positions. Sometimes, they may be slightly set in their ways and

More reluctant leaders should question their beliefs; Corden explained, “The easiest method

achieving success; a

going to be for all leaders. Everybody wants

coach is there just to

leaders define the vision and invite employees

Real changes in culture Difficult times now require HR departments

to be asked their opinion; everybody wants to contribute their ideas of how things get done. If

Leaders must be curious and receptive to new information and experiences.”

is just to start asking versus telling. The more they get curious versus directing, the easier it’s

resist the change being urged upon them.

assist them.

to show greater degrees of creativity and innovation. Ricky Cheung, Director, Talent

to contribute to how it can best get done, then

and Culture, Rosewood Hotel Group, recalled

we’re really on track.”

a recent virtual intern event. Applicants were placed in teams and asked to decide upon

Lucy Li, Head of Executive Recruiting, SAP Greater

the location and rollout of a new hotel. The

China analysed what coaching means, “Coaching

Group then hired the best performers in the

facilitates the process of people achieving success;

team exercise to help in the realisation of the

a coach is there just to assist them. The coachee

winning proposal.

44 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR COMMUNITY

ownership of the people in the organisation.

Cheung highlighted a new coaching programme that the hotel had rolled out, “As a major

Matthew Durham

It’s not just the responsibility of HR. The

initiative, we rolled out a new global culture

Foreign Registered Lawyer

mindset has changed; our strategy for mental

framework: The Calling. We have the notion that

Gall Solicitors

health and well-being, for example, is now right at the front of leaders’ minds.”

we are ‘called’ to be working in the hospitality industry, we are called to inspire the imagination

Matthew Durham, Foreign Registered Lawyer,

of one another, and we follow a code to enrich the lives of our guests and our community. Since the launch of the coaching programme, we have

It is very important

cultural code.”

complex. He said, “Maybe you arrange simple things, such as sending pizzas to members of

seen a real cultural shift in terms of everyone speaking the same language and having the same

Gall Solicitors, said that changes need not be

to keep engagement

the team. They then just chat online over pizza.

With working from home, it is very important to keep engagement going and think of ways that

Li noted that SAP sponsors 1,500 coaches and offers free coaching to all employees.

going and think of

the ability to adapt because the world is

ways that leaders can

changing so quickly, business models change.

Nowadays, you have to be highly adaptable to be successful.”

people’s performance, they can keep in touch, ask if their reports are okay and provide contact

She also described changes to the assessment of leadership qualities, “We have added

leaders can help people. Along with managing

points for those with issues.”

The future

help people.

HR

is

optimistic

about

the

ability

of

organisations to cope with whatever is the new normal. This involves looking after present

Mukta Arya, Regional Head of HR, Asia

and future leaders and giving them the means

Pacific, Société Générale APAC, shared the

to take their organisations forward. Leaders

changes she had seen, “Leaders spend more

themselves must also adapt and ensure they

time on people-related topics now because

remain ever curious, more self-aware and foster

it is becoming essential that leaders take

transparency across their organisations. n

Title Sponsor

Premium Sponsor

Supported by

45

HR COMMUNITY

Talent, technology and turbulence Keeping HR and talent teams on the same page amid change

Turbulence catalysing HR adaptation Amid the turbulence created by the ongoing pandemic, technology has quickly ramped up in almost every organisation and plays an essential role in helping HR with a wide variety of functions. Rowan Tonkin, Senior Director,

HR

Transformations,

APAC,

Oracle, explained, “Technology has played a huge role in reducing, rather than creating, frustration. One of the big experiments I’ve seen over the last 12 months is technology adoption, some of which has been out of

HR Magazine hosted a Livestream on 28 April, which saw a meeting of the minds of HR professionals Marcus Holman, Regional Vice President, Operations, Langham Hotels and Managing Director, the Langham in Hong Kong; David Lim, Senior Vice President, PVH Asia; James Hoal, Principal Workforce Management Solutions Consultant at Ramco Systems; Rowan Tonkin, Senior Director, HR Transformations, APAC, at Oracle. Speakers shared their insights on the impact the pandemic had on their workspaces and how they are leveraging technology and catalysing innovative adaptations to enhance inter-team communication and talent management across their organisations.

necessity, but it has just really surprised me how quickly and how big a step forward we’ve taken with our workforces to adopt and use available technology.”

Looking at the trend in human capital management (HCM), Tonkin added, “Many of our recent discussions with HR have centred on compensation, and it’s clear that transparency around C&B is critical both from the HR and employee perspectives.”

James Hoal, Principal Workforce Management Solutions Consultant at Ramco Systems, noted, “As far as employees are concerned, digital dexterity has gone through the roof in the last year. We’re seeing that, in terms of HRIS and payroll, a frictionless employee experience is an essential driver.”

In today’s workplaces, Hoal noted that there is less dependency on the people in the organisation to ensure that all the parts of the organisation work properly, with a significant shift towards greater dependency on HR systems and platforms. Hoal added, “In terms of clouding the employee experience, HR of today wants to have a single system that employees can effortlessly interact with—helping simplify and streamline their

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entire workday.”

the livestream on demand over at HR Magazine's YouTube channel. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe!

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Digital dexterity has gone through the roof in the last year.

James Hoal Principal Workforce Management Solutions Consultant, Ramco Systems

46 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR COMMUNITY

HR

is

increasingly

uncertainty

through

preparing business

for

future

continuity

planning (BCP). Hoal noted, “BCP allows the organisation to have parallel outputs that span

Technology has played a huge role in reducing, rather than creating, frustration.

multiple countries, multiple regions and multiple systems. However, HR should ensure that the

Rowan Tonkin

system deployed still allows each team member

Senior Director, HR Transformations, APAC, Oracle

to use a single pane dashboard to interact with the data and to draw relevant data from it.”

Keeping everyone in the loop One of HR’s greatest concerns, particularly when many colleagues are working remotely, is that security becomes lax. Hoal acknowledged this and observed, “Working towards one system and having this one dashboard enables HR to see exactly what is going on and to have much tighter security.”

David Lim, Senior Vice President, PVH Asia, oversees well-known global brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Van Heusen.

He noted the pandemic and the resulting social distancing posed challenges for staff in a retail environment, “Our employees are critical

Generational change

come up. We are keen that colleagues take as

to us, and so we do not call them employees,

Lim accepts that his customer-facing business

much opportunity as possible to move within

but associates. As we create the environment

has adapted to the attitudes and behaviour of

the organisation and to move upwards.”

with our associates, it is important for us to

new generations of associates. Being aware of

hear from them. Because we are a worldwide

these generational differences, he says that HR

Referring to all employees, Holman added,

organisation, we rely heavily on big data. We

has also adapted, “We have set up a programme

“We want a multitasking and multigenerational

also conduct regular pulse surveys to poll our

of job shadowing. We allow our associates

approach to operations. Lateral skills transfer is

associates on matters that concern them and

to

departments

vital and keeps our employees invested in the

us. We connect and share and aim to have

and teams. They learn how different groups

company. All these approaches help us to talent

borderless environments.”

operate. The great thing is that if an associate

spot to the best effect.”

move

between

different

does not like a particular department, they can Marcus Holman, Regional Vice President,

switch without having to leave the company or

The future

Operations, Langham Hotels and Managing

damaging their prospects.” Lim admits that the

Toulson summed up how HR can adapt to

Director, the Langham in Hong Kong, agreed,

Talent Broker Programme is a work in progress,

whatever is the new normal by saying of the

pointing out how much the hospitality industry

“We are at TBP 1.0, but we want it to become

technology approach, “We have to make the

is a people business, people serving people.

TBP 2.0.” HR will find challenges in meeting

software easy for staff to use. Look at and follow

Holman explained the problems of the F&B

this change.

the examples of Facebook, Google and Amazon.

sector and how he was meeting them, “The

Social media and online shopping networks

sector has seen a drop in revenues as people have

Holman similarly accepts that old HR practices

make your experience as painless as possible;

gone out less frequently. We met the challenge

no longer work, “What I have noticed is that

they suggest next steps that you may not have

by streamlining operations, asking staff to

as younger members of staff join us, they have

considered. We should copy this approach and

multitask and by merging positions. In addition,

different ways of working. They have a different

remove as much frustration of the working day

we use technology to increase our productivity.

way of looking at management.” Admitting that

from our staff as we can.”

We have also used technology much more to

he now finds himself a member of the older

communicate with our team members.” He went

generation, he continued, “Gen Y employees,

Moving forward, with prudent short-term

on, “We hold monthly afternoon tea meetings

for example, want to be more involved in

investment in productive, user-friendly technology;

for the staff, in which they can ask any question

their work and seek ways to learn about their

listening to and investing in its people, HR can

at all. And we encourage the staff not just to turn

particular work environments. We have, for

reap mid- to long-term benefits of winning

up but to participate fully in these sessions to

example, improved internal procedures and

the hearts of its talent teams and catalysing

ensure they feel part of the organisation.”

made it easier to apply when job opportunities

business success. n

47

HR COMMUNITY

From back office to steering the ship On Thursday 13 May, HR Magazine made its way to Taiwan (well, virtually at least), where we spoke with Norman Tao, Head of Solutions Advisory for Greater China, Ramco; Debbie Wong, Principal Sales Consultant for HCM, Oracle and Alfred Hsieh, AVP HR, Apacer to get their take on HR in the fast lane in Taiwan and the best strategies to bring HR out of the back office and into the wheelhouse steering the ship. HR Magazine’s first event run entirely in Chinese sparked a lively discussion that highlighted the need for HR to stop and think about where they are, where their talent is and where their organisation is right now. In our roundup, we share the speakers’ advice on priority actions for HR and tips on leveraging tech to help increase agility and champion successful business transformations.

New organisational ecosystems Amid all the change going on externally, a completely new HR ecosystem and employee ecosystem has evolved. Within this environment, it’s critical to ensure that organisation-wide systems meet the needs of both HR and employees, especially when we’re thinking about implementing a new HR system, such as an HRIS or payroll system.

Debbie Wong, Principal Sales Consultant for HCM, Oracle, noted, “We’ve seen a dramatic shift in HR from its traditionally administrative function to much more of a key support role in organisations. What’s more, the pandemic has exacerbated this and changed the whole dynamics of HR management, necessitating a much more proactive, hands-on approach.”

She added, “HR is now demanding much greater agility in their HR systems, and Oracle is leveraging AI in almost every aspect of its platforms, to provide this speed and flexibility that HR needs to adapt quickly to the everchanging external business environment.”

COVID has been a catalyst for this change, making recent HR transitions much faster than in previous years. This is beneficial from two perspectives: helping HR perform core tasks more quickly and helping employees enjoy a much better employee experience.

Norman Tao, Head of Solutions Advisory for Greater China, Ramco added, “HR is now able to leverage AI on payroll systems to help quickly root out any potential issues, determine the cause of them and how to resolve them. This helps ensure that salary and benefit related issues are quickly and accurately resolved for employees.”

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If HR does not have a complete HR and employee ecosystem in place, small problems can quickly escalate into larger ones.

Alfred Hsieh AVP HR, Apacer

48 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR COMMUNITY

Alfred Hsieh, AVP HR, Apacer stressed the

across multiple jurisdictions before upscaling

importance of establishing a robust HR

each according to specific market needs.

With work from home the new

HR and employee ecosystem in place, where

On the importance of getting different systems

normal, it’s also crucial that HR

different business units can easily communicate

to talk to each other, Hsieh said, “I spend a lot

with each other and share key data in real-time,

of my time ensuring that HR systems, ERP and

small problems can quickly escalate into larger

CRM systems integrate well with each other, to

ones. Everything must be carefully planned to

help achieve HR strategic goals and expedite

build in flexibility and ensure the seamless flow

company growth.”

ecosystem, “If HR does not have a complete

can process salary and benefits transactions online.

of information throughout the organisation.”

Referencing Taiwan in particular, Tao noted, “The

Norman Tao

Integration & communication key

complexities of different salary and benefit types in

Head of Solutions Advisory

Another key focus for HR is the need to

Taiwan often create headaches for HR, particularly

for Greater China , Ramco

think about integration. To achieve this,

if they are setting up a new office there. Salaries,

it is crucial to first think carefully about

taxation and insurance issues, coupled with

what the organisation actually needs. This

frequent regulatory changes, can make this quite

requires talking to key stakeholders first to

a challenging task for HR.” He added, “With work

system capable of drawing all data sources

explore exactly what they want. Then, before

from home the new normal, it’s also crucial that

together. This ranges from payroll systems to staff

implementing a new system, HR must ensure

HR can process salary and benefits transactions

appraisal system to performance management

it meets these specific user needs. Next,

online, and that employees working remotely have

systems and L&D systems. The idea being that

HR must think about the logistics and work

the use of an employee portal and a chatbot to

with a single source of truth available on one

out an implementation and rollout plan. In

help them get immediate answers to common HR

dashboard, HR is then empowered to analyse data

many cases, this means starting with it in one

queries, book annual leave, check salary payments

from every business stream and at every level

market as a pilot scheme, and then once any

and communicate with HR online.”

across the organisation. For example, this realtime big-data capability helps HR identify skills

teething problems have been ironed out, it can then be progressed to other jurisdictions.

When it comes to any new HR system, integration

gaps in the talent teams and link this to the L&D

Alternatively,

pilot

with existing legacy systems is one of the biggest

system so that talent can be trained up in the most

schemes can simultaneously be launched

headaches for HR. It is vital to look for an agile

suitable skillsets to help drive any required future

multiple

small-scale

49

HR COMMUNITY

Transparency is critical in any business expansion.

Debbie Wong Principal Sales Consultant for HCM , Oracle

and accessed by a flexible platform that helps aggregate, analyse, predict and present key HR metrics in real-time as a single source of truth on one dashboard. This also means making things easy for employees by having self-service HR systems available on mobile, so they can log in 24/7 with their smartphones and access self-service chatbots like Chia to get quick answers to HR and payroll queries round the clock. Employee self-service functions also help remove a huge chunk of transactional work away from HR, allowing them to focus on more strategic tasks.

Wong noted, “Transparency is critical in any business expansion, and HR must be given access to real-time key metrics from all business units to ensure they able to make the best strategic decisions for the organisation. For example, when employees are working from home, a cloud-based HR system facilitates business transformation. In turn, this helps drive

risk to an organisation because automation

better people management in terms of HR being

the entire business forward.

helps avoid manual mistakes, performs real-time

able to better monitor and communicate with

checks against recent regulatory changes, and

teams.” She added, “Employees also benefit

Hsieh acknowledged, “Leveraging an integrated

identifies potential issues that might otherwise

from cloud-based HR systems as they can

HR system provides transparency for HR and

have been overlooked.

access key employee information and resources immediately. Online helpdesks play a huge role

line managers so they can assess different talent profiles, identify their individual strengths and

Tao noted, “Manually trying to identify payroll

in facilitating this and smoothing the employee

weaknesses, and map out a career path for them.

discrepancies is often like looking for a needle

experience for those working from home.”

This helps enormously with building a sustainable

in a haystack. With a modern AI-empowered

talent pipeline and succession planning.”

payroll system in place, it’s much easier to

Tao summarised, “It’s important to have a

identify potential risks, which makes for a much

dashboard that provides a single source of

Communication throughout the organisation is

smoother HR transition as an organisation

truth for HR. A continually updated compliance

also critical. Wong stressed, “Especially when an

grows. And having a scalable system means it

system is also critical to ensure both HCM and

organisation is going through an M&A or even

can grow with the company over time as well.”

payroll systems are kept up to date and that

just a micro-scale transformation, if employees

He added, “When there are any regulatory

everybody is kept on the same page at all times.”

are working from home, it’s essential HR is still

changes, the payroll system is immediately

able to communicate with them and get key

updated to ensure compliance and can send

COVID has had an enormous impact on the way

messages out to them.”

advice to employees, so they are kept apprised

we work and changed how HR is doing things.

of any changes as and when they happen.”

HR now needs to be much more focused on

Ensuring compliance

agility and ensure that HR systems put in place

Compliance is always at the front of the mind for

Making things easy

are agile, able to leverage AI, user-friendly and

HR, and no more so than when handling complex

The final key to successful HR transformations

scalable, so they can grow with the organisation

payrolls across multiple jurisdictions. Adopting

is to make things easy. This means making

and accommodate compliance issues across

technology in this area helps significantly reduce

it easy for HR, with all critical data clouded

multiple jurisdictions. n

50 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR LEGAL

Accordingly, a person may not engage in unwelcome conduct that would be considered by a reasonable person, having regard to all circumstances, to offend, humiliate or intimidate a woman who is breastfeeding. This includes conduct (whether individually or as a group) that creates a hostile or intimidating environment, whether through speech, writing or actions. Thus, for example, making remarks about the appearance of a colleague who is breastfeeding or about her inability to attend a meeting due to a breastfeeding break would likely constitute harassment.

Stepping up as employers

Breastfeeding discrimination and

Breastfeeding is common and beneficial for the

supporting new mothers in the workplace

facilities with regard to breastfeeding both to

health of both mothers and babies. It is important for employers to consider their practices and comply with the new laws and to promote an inclusive and supportive workplace. Providing assistance to new mothers is likely to enhance

By Matthew Durham, Registered Foreign Lawyer, Gall

retention rates and reduce sick days. Clear policies

An amendment to the Sex Discrimination Ordinance

Indirect discrimination occurs when, without

and training for employees may also reduce the

(SDO) came into force on 19 June 2021, prohibiting

any justification, a requirement or condition is

risk of vicarious liability for companies through

both breastfeeding discrimination and breastfeeding

imposed on all employees, which it is not possible,

the acts of their employees.

harassment (Amendment). This development is seen

or more difficult, for a breastfeeding employee

as a welcome advance in inclusiveness in Hong Kong,

to comply with and would have a detrimental

Provision of facilities | While there is no statutory

which has been driven, at least in part, by a significant

effect on that employee. This would apply, for

obligation to provide specific facilities for

rise in the number of women who now choose to

example, if a company refused to pay a bonus to

breastfeeding, employers are strongly encouraged

breastfeed their babies.

a breastfeeding employee because she had worked

to consider the available facilities and make

fewer hours than other employees due to the need

adjustments to the extent possible. This could

to take breaks to express milk.

include designation of specific locations or the

Who is protected?

The protection under the Amendment applies to any woman who is:

provision of screens and supported chairs in Victimisation occurs when a person is treated

a multi-purpose room to facilitate privacy for

less favourably than others in comparable

lactation breaks.

•

breastfeeding a child;

circumstances for bringing or seeking to bring

•

expressing breast milk; or

a complaint or proceedings of discrimination

Lactation breaks | The EOC recommends allowing

•

feeding a child with her breast milk.

under the SDO or for giving evidence

employees to take two 30-minute breaks to express

or information in connection with such

milk during each working day as paid working

What constitutes discrimination?

proceedings. For example, it is likely to amount

hours. While this remains a recommendation in

It is now unlawful to discriminate in the context

to victimisation if a breastfeeding employee’s

Hong Kong, it is worth noting that it is a legal right

of breastfeeding through direct and indirect

employment is terminated because she has made

in mainland China.

discrimination,

victimisation,

discriminatory

a complaint against the employer to the Equal

practices

instructions

discriminate.

Opportunities Commission (“EOC”) regarding

Whistleblowing

alleged discrimination.

victimisation and prevent harassment, employers

and

to

Breastfeeding need not be the dominant reason for discrimination and only needs to be one of the reasons associated with less favourable treatment.

|

To guard against the risk of

should ensure that there are appropriate Employers should also note that discriminatory

mechanisms for employees to raise any concerns

practices or any pressure or instruction to

confidentially and without any threat.

Direct discrimination occurs when an employee

discriminate is also unlawful. Thus, they may have

who is breastfeeding is treated less favourably than

vicarious liability for the conduct of employees

Anti-harassment policies and training | Employment

another employee who is not breastfeeding in the

unless it can be shown that the employer took

policies should be reviewed and updated to ensure

same or similar circumstances. For example, if an

reasonably practicable steps to prevent such

that these adequately address breastfeeding

employee requests her employer to allow her to

conduct by its employees.

discrimination and harassment, as well as setting

use an unused room in the office for expressing

out preventive measures, reporting procedures

milk during the lunch break, but the employer

What is breastfeeding harassment?

and potential recourse (including disciplinary

refuses the request saying that the room can only

The provisions on breastfeeding harassment

actions) which apply. Employers should consider

be used for purposes other than breastfeeding, it

provide additional support and context to

providing training to their employees to emphasise

will amount to direct discrimination.

the discrimination part of the Amendment.

the required behaviour and standards. n

51

HR BOOKS

Excellence in People Analytics

by Jonathan Ferrar and David Green

Effectively and ethically leveraging people data to deliver real business value is what sets the best HR leaders and teams apart. Excellence in People Analytics provides business and human resources leaders with everything they need to know about creating value from people analytics.

W

ritten by two leading experts in the field, this practical guide outlines how to create

sustainable business value with people analytics and develop a data-driven culture in HR. Most importantly, it allows HR professionals and business executives to translate their data into tangible actions to improve business performance. while navigating the rapidly evolving world of work.

Full of practical tools and advice assembled around the Insight222 Nine Dimensions in People Analytics® model, this book demonstrates how to use people data to increase profits, improve staff retention and workplace productivity as well as develop individual employee experience. Featuring case studies from leading companies including Microsoft, HSBC, Syngenta, Capital One, Novartis, Bosch, Uber, Santander Brasil and American Eagle Outfitters®, Excellence in People Analytics is essential reading for all HR professionals needing to unlock the potential in their people data and gain competitive advantage. n

52 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR Classifieds Index Business Process Outsourcing 53 Co-working Spaces 54 Consumer Goods 54 Education / Corporate Training 54 — 56 Employee Well-being / Insurance 56 — 57 Financial Services 57 Gender Equity 57 HR Consulting 57 — 58 HR Technology Solutions 59 Leadership Development 60

Legal / Employment Law / Tax MICE Venues / Event Organisers Photography / Videography Recruitment / Executive Search / Staffing / Outsourcing Retail

Relocation / Logistics Serviced Apartments / Hotel Staff Benefits

60 61 61 61 62 62 63 64

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING BangMang Group was established in 2007 and provides Full-service HR solutions. As of 02.2019, 163 branches have been opened and cover over 300 cities in China. In the past 10 years, over 10,000 companies and 300,000 employees chose BangMang as their strategic HR partner. BangMang is dedicated to power business success with extraordinary HR.

Hong Kong BangMang Outsourcing Company Limited Unit 02, 11/F, Sunbeam Commerical Building, 469-471 Nathan Road, Hong Kong

Hong Kong BangMang Outsourcing Co., LTD established in 2015 provides outsourcing services includes Full-service HR solutions, Recruitment, Employee Leasing, and Employment Training. Our business partners cover Hong Kong, Mainland China, USA, and overseas regions. We are dedicated to provide the best HR services for your business goals.

Tel: (852) 2116 1600 Mr Law: (852) 6904 3721 adminhk@50bm.com 50bm.hk

TMF Group helps global companies expand and invest seamlessly across international borders. Its expert accountants and legal, HR and payroll professionals are located around the world, helping clients to operate their corporate structures, finance vehicles and investment funds in different geographic locations. With operations in more than 80 countries providing managed compliance services, TMF Group is the global expert that understands local needs.

TMF Hong Kong Limited 31/F, Tower Two Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Tricor Business Services draws on our diverse professional expertise, backed up by the latest technologies and systems, to provide a comprehensive range of services, including but not limited to: Business Advisory; Accounting & Financial Reporting; Treasury & Payment Administration; Human Resource & Payroll Administration; Tax Services; Trade Services; Trust Assets Administration; Fund Administration; Governance, Risk & Compliance; and Information Technology Solutions.

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

Our work processes and controls in the rendering of accounting and payroll services are externally audited by Ernst & Young Hong Kong and accredited each year in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3402.

Tel: (852) 3188 8333 Fax: (852) 3188 8222 info.apac@tmf-group.com www.tmf-group.com

Tel: (852) 2980 1888 Fax: (852) 2861 0285 info@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

53

HR CLASSIFIEDS

CO-WORKING SPACES

Commons Workshop is an event space located in core CBD, on 353 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai. Enjoying panoramic sea view of Victoria Harbour on high floor (28/F), it is a grade A event space with industrial design and decorated with green plants to provide a comfortable environment. With well-equipped and one stop related event service and arrangement, it is specially tailor-made for different types of events, whether you’re hosting corporate trainings, seminars, product launch, press conference, networking events, business meetings, photo shooting, advertisement filming, etc.

Commons Workshop 28/F Sunshine Plaza 353 Lockhart Road Wan Chai Hong Kong

Compass Offices is a leading flexible office space provider in Asia Pacific.

Founded in 2009, Compass Offices has grown to 9 cities, serving over 20,000 satisfied clients. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, growing start-ups, entrepreneurs, independent professionals and enterprise teams.

Compass Offices Level 12, 20, 29, 38, Infinitus Plaza, 199 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 3911 0600 Fax: (852) 3911 0601 Email: sales@commons.hk https://commons.hk/

Email: hksales@compassoffices.com https://www.compassoffices.com

cozy event space is your ideal venue for corporate and private events, ranging from training sessions, team building, seminars, meetings, conferences, workshops, parties… the possibilities are endless.

Our versatile multi-purpose space may accommodate up to 50 seats in a seminar setting, and the layout may be freely configured according to your requirements.

We are located in a brand new premium office building in Sheung Wan, and are the only tenant of the floor, which attributes are well appreciated by corporate clients that prefers a prestigious, modern and private venue.

cozy event space 17/F Skyway Centre 23 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan,Hong Kong Phone No.: +852 5741 6863 E-mail: cozy@werkspace.com.hk

To meet the flexibility required by many businesses, the space may also be rented in weeks or months for temporary office use for up to 20 staff members, with two rooms that may be used as meeting rooms or managers’ rooms.

Contact us today to schedule a site visit or to obtain a quotation!

CONSUMER GOODS

Clorox is a global company with leading brands that have become household names: our namesake bleach and cleaning products; Ayudín® and Poett® home care products; Pine-Sol® dilutable cleaner; Fresh Step® cat litter; Kingsford® charcoal; Hidden Valley® and K C Masterpiece® dressings and sauces; Brita® water filtration products; Glad® bags, wraps and containers; and Burt's Bees® natural personal care products. We manufacture products in more than two dozen countries and market them in more than 100 countries. Clorox trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CLX.

Clorox 21/F Greenwich Centre, 260 King’s Road, North Point, Hong Kong SAR Ivy Li Tel: (852) 2919 1166 Email: ivy.li@clorox.com https://www.cloroxhongkong.com https://www.thecloroxcompany.com

EDUCATION / CORPORATE TRAINING

54 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

ACT is a corporate L&D consulting and training company based in Hong Kong & Singapore with over 15 years’ experience in people training and development that partners with forward-thinking organizations and leaders who understand the importance of their greatest asset - their people.

Asia Corporate Training Ltd. 13B, Shun Pont Commercial Building, 5-11 Thomson Road, Wanchai, HONG KONG

The acronym for the company name, ACT, simply and powerfully represents the philosophy of taking ACTion: to understand how one’s belief will lead to specific behaviours which will result in specific outcomes. ACT believes that selfawareness of how we think and act is critical for personal growth, to translate into leadership effectiveness, contributing to greater corporate success as a result.

Tel: (852) 25756470 contact@act-asia.com.hk www.act-asia.com.hk

HR CLASSIFIEDS

As a trusted international organisation and a global leader in English training, the British Council has over 70 years’ experience in English assessment. We develop and deliver English language programmes for businesses in Hong Kong.

Aptis, British Council’s English testing tool, is a robust four skills test used by corporate businesses, government organisations and educational institutions.

It provides an accurate and affordable way to benchmark language levels of employees for recruitment or career advancement purposes. With results available in as little as 24 hours, Aptis assesses ability in the areas that HR want to focus on – in individual skills or combinations of speaking, writing, listing or reading.

British Council 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2913 5100 aptis@britishcouncil.org.hk www.britishcouncil.hk/en/ exam/aptis

BPP is a global leader in professional education and training, working with the world’s leading global organisations to reach new levels of productivity, value, and growth. We work with you to create educational programmes to upskill and cross skill your employees and build your workforce set for the future.

BPP Education Group 80 Robinson Road #02-00, Singapore, 068898

•

Chorev Consulting International Unit B, 3/F, Kin On Commercial Building, 49-51 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

• • •

Offer leadership development programmes and consulting services in the area of High EQ leadership, Change Management, Growth.

Mindset and Advanced communication with diverse stakeholders Programmes based on the latest scientific research & Asian organisation context to inspire behavioural change.

Provides services in the area of customised 360 rollout, LEA 360, MBTI, EQi-2.0 and Strategic Management.

Clients including John Lewis, Hang Lung Properties, Hong Kong Government, Jardine Matheson, Amadeus, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI), Citic Telecom CPC, Value Partners, YMCA, HKUST, Chinese University and City University of Hong Kong.

Tel: (65) 9338 7331 http://www.bpp.com/asia-pacific

Tel: (852) 3568 2747 Fax: (852) 3544 3300 http://www.chorevconsulting.com/

Dew-Point International Ltd. is a leading provider of training and management consulting services throughout Asia. We assess the specific needs of our clients and respond with customised, practical training programs and consulting services. Established in 1973, we combine in-depth knowledge with genuine enthusiasm and highly dynamic training techniques to create productive and effective learning experiences. DewPoint enhances organisational and individual effectiveness by building the capacity within organisations without the need of continued outside help. Through assessment, skills training, team facilitation and executive coaching, we have ensured the long-term success of countless clients.

Dew-Point International Ltd. 21/F., Ritz Plaza,122 Austin Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Growth Academy Asia reimagines the L&D landscape by providing HR with cutting-edge, tech-driven learning and development solutions. Founded in 2021, the Hong Kong-based learning company focuses on HR matters such as leadership development, onboarding and diversity and inclusion.

Its mission is to enable individuals and teams to reach their full potential through immersive training programmes backed up by science and tech.

Integrating technology, AI, and game theory into their products allows them to measure what matters and produce comprehensive personal and team action plans to enable participants to engage on their continued learning journey with confidence and measurable results.

Growth Academy Asia Unit B, 2/F, 708-710 Prince Edward Road East, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2730 1151 Fax: (852) 2730 0164 info@dew-point.com.hk www.dew-point.com.hk

Stuart Harris, Founder and Managing Director Tel: (852) 3002 2472 hello@growthacademyasia.com https://growthacademyasia.com

55

HR CLASSIFIEDS

The PTI Group is a consulting, training, and publishing group. In conjunction with the internationally-renowned professional association, International Professional Managers Association (IPMA) of UK, we offer online pure distance learning courses (PDLCs). IPMA’s website: http://www.ipma.co.uk/conferences.

The PTI Group 20/F. Wellable Commercial Building, 513 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Our “Financing & Capital Raising Professional™ (FCRP™)” and “Environmental, Social & Governance Expert™ (ESGE™)” programmes seek to enhance candidates’ practical & international knowledge in raising funding for companies (bank financing, IPO, private equity etc.) and ESG respectively. Upon qualification, candidates can use respective professional designation, awarded by IPMA.

Tel: (852) 3511 9288 info@the-pti.com www.the-pti.com

Raise your colleagues’ ability to add value through practical & international knowledge by enrolling in our PDLCs.

The Vocational Language Programme Office aims at offering quality vocational English, Chinese and Putonghua training for working adults to meet their language needs at work. We have run various courses for public organisations and private corporations before, such as HKSAR Water Supplies Department, Hospital Authority and Pizza Hut Hong Kong Management Limited.

With the support from the Language Fund, the QF-recognised Vocational English Enhancement Programme is on offer for enhancing the practical English skills of the Hong Kong workforce. Individual corporations can enjoy great flexibility by having the VEEP courses operated at their training venues and preferred schedule. On completion of the course, learners can receive 60% of the course fee reimbursement and obtain certificates issued by the Vocational Training Council and LCCI.

H.R. Solutions specialises in training in leadership, performance management, sales and general skills development including negotiating, project management, presentation skills and communication skills. We are official partners of Think on your Feet® and engage-universe, and accredited DISC and MBTI® facilitators.

Based in Hong Kong, we work regionally with local languages delivery as required.

Our workshops incorporate simple frameworks and processes to provide effective, structured learning, supported with tailored experiential exercises, cases and role-plays. Our long-term development programs combine classroom training with on-the-job learning, ongoing coaching and on-line resources as appropriate. We aim to ensure participants can apply the skills immediately in the workplace for better team performance and superior business results.

Vocational Language Programme Office Vocational Training Council Room 437, 4/F, Academic Block, 30 Shing Tai Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2595 8119 vlpo-veep@vtc.edu.hk www.vtc.edu.hk/vlpo

H.R. Solutions (Int’l) Ltd. Room 2802, Tower Two, Lippo Centre, 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2573 0501 abrophy@hrsolutions.com.hk www.hrsolutions.com.hk

EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING / INSURANCE

56 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

Holistic Wellness Hong Kong (HWHK) regularly organises different types of events, lectures and workshops, all of which have been carefully and scientifically designed to help participants manage their emotions, cope with stress and improve interpersonal relationships and work performance.

Holistic Wellness Hong Kong Unit C, 8/F, Hung To Center 94-96 How Ming Street Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

HWHK is committed to promoting the practice of Holistic Wellness to the general Hong Kong public in their daily life and work. They offer different kinds of personal and corporate training services.

Tel: (852) 9794 1363 (Raindy) Tel: (852) 9454 5687 (Vincent) contact@hwhk.org www.holisticwellnesshongkong.com

Hong Kong Adventist Hospital—Stubbs Road is one of the leaders in medical services, providing organisations with comprehensive health assessment packages to choose from. The hospital works closely with HR and Benefits specialists to design tailor-made programmes to satisfy your staff’s unique requirements. The checkups not only assess staff’s health status and identify the risk factors, it also provide preventive programmes to help clients fine-tune their lifestyles for healthy living. All the services are supported by experienced professional staff using advanced equipment in modern facilities.

Hong Kong Adventist Hospital­— Stubbs Road 40 Stubbs Road, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3651-8835 Fax: (852) 3651-8840 www.hkah.org.hk

HR CLASSIFIEDS

Major Compare is a leading international employee benefits consultancy, risk management advisory and business insurance brokerage firm. They work with companies of all sizes both in Hong Kong and around the world to advise and implement customised employee benefit plans with the goal of retaining and attracting employees. Through industry specific due diligence Major Compare also help reduce HR overheads with policy management and by ensuring your company is fully and properly insured with the guarantee of the lowest premium(s). All services provided by Major Compare are completely free to their clients.

Major Compare 1/A, 128 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3018 1353 www.majorcompare.com.hk

Pacific Prime Insurance Brokers is a leading international health insurance brokerage specialising in providing comprehensive coverage options to individuals, families, and companies throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Working with over 120,000 clients in 150 countries, Pacific Prime can deliver advice in more than 15 major languages. With offices strategically located in Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong, Pacific Prime is able to provide immediate advice and assistance to policyholders located around the world. Pacific Prime works with over 60 of the world’s leading health insurance providers, giving customers unprecedented access to the best medical insurance products currently on the market.

Pacific Prime Insurance Brokers Ltd. Unit 1 - 11, 35/F, One Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2586 0731 Fax: (852) 2915 7770 info@pacificprime.com marketing@pacificprime.com www.pacificprime.com

Total Loyalty Company is a leader provider in providing corporate wellness and staff engagement solutions in Hong Kong for companies of all sizes. We curate solutions based around wellness events and campaigns, staff discounts, regular communications, all provided through a program website and app, branded as your internal program.

Total Loyalty Company Unit 2106, Westlands Centre, 20 Westlands Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2536 9010 Fax: (852) 2536 9008 www.totalloyalty.asia

Underpinning our wellness programs is our unique TLC Wellbeing Survey, allowing each employee to develop an instant set of metrics of their total wellbeing and create an individualise wellbeing plan. As well a company-wide summary (anonymous data) can enable TLC to help each client develop a meaningful and targeted wellbeing campaign for staff.

More than just yoga classes and steps challenge, the TLC Corporate Wellness programs provide practical and impactful programs that make a positive difference.

FINANCIAL SERVICES Societe Generale is one of the leading European financial services groups.

Based on a diversified and integrated banking model, the Group combines financial strength and proven expertise in innovation with a strategy of sustainable growth, aiming to be the trusted partner for its clients, committed to the positive transformations of society and the economy.

Societe Generale Level 34, Three Pacific Place 1 Queen’s Road East Hong Kong (regional Head Office)

FLEXImums stands for mums & women who want to work! FLEXImums was established with the vision to empower and connect working mothers and mothers returning to work with full-time and part-time jobs. FLEXImums’ portfolio of clients extends across all sectors, from public to private and SMEs to large multinationals.

FLEXImums info@fleximums.com (852) 6540 0526 www.fleximums.com www.genderequityconference.com

atrain is a premium consultancy in leadership assessment, talent management and organisation development. Headquartered in Germany, we have offices in Europe, United States, South America and Asia.

atrain Limited Unit 1201-3, 135 Bonham Strand Trade Centre, 135 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan

Tel: (852) 2166 5388 https://www.societegenerale.asia

GENDER EQUITY

HR CONSULTING

90% of our consultants are business psychologists; we bring together the best of business strategies and the psychological approach to develop solutions tailor-made to your requirements. We explore and research on innovative concepts, and help you to cultivate the company culture you envisage.

Our international presence and culturally diverse teams enable partnerships with multi-national corporate clients for their business growth and success.

Tel: (852) 2522 9018 info@atrain-apac.com www.atrain-apac.com

Put us to the challenge—you will not be disappointed.

57

HR CLASSIFIEDS

Atrium HR Consulting is a joint venture between Alliance Group International and RamsaySmith, bringing together extensive experience and a wealth of specialist knowledge. Atrium’s aim is to help businesses achieve the highest possible level of performance by maximising efficiency, cost savings and results.

Atrium’s services are used and trusted by more than 25% of the Fortune Global 500. Building upon their current client base, resources and an established global infrastructure they work to deliver a professional customer-focused service around the world.

Atrium HR Consulting.

22/F OVEST, 77 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Contact person: Pauline Williams Tel: 852 2891 8915 info@atriumhr.com www.atriumhr.com

Today Atrium supports clients across 180 countries with their recruitment, training, employee benefits and wellness programmes.

Flex Human Resources strives to provide small and medium-sized Hong Kong businesses with comprehensive, reliable and cost-effective HR outsourcing and consulting services.

Our services include recruitment and selection, headhunting, payroll processing, benefit administrations, performance management, training and development, employee surveys, HR analytics and projects, etc.

With strong talent databases, we also provide staff leasing and outsourcing for companies in Hong Kong, China and overseas.

Tel: (852) 3466 5279 info@hroutsourcing.hk www.HRoutsourcing.hk

The Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA) was established in 1960. The HKMA is a non-profit making organisation which aims at advancing management excellence in Hong Kong and the Region, with a commitment to nurturing human capital through management education and training at all levels, the HKMA offers over 2,000 training and education programmes covering a wide range of management disciplines for approximately 48,000 participants every year.

Hong Kong Management Association 14th Floor, Fairmont House, 8 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, Hong Kong

Korn Ferry is the pre-eminent global people and organizational advisory firm.

We help leaders, organizations and societies succeed by releasing the full power and potential of people. Our nearly 7,000 colleagues deliver services through Korn Ferry and our Hay Group and Futurestep divisions. At Korn Ferry, we design, build, attract and ignite talent. Since our inception, clients have trusted us to help recruit world-class leadership. Today, we are a single source for leadership and talent consulting services to empower businesses and leaders to reach their goals.

Korn Ferry International (H.K.) Limited 15/F, St. George’s Building, 2 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2971 2700 Fax: (852) 2810 1632

Through our vision, research and tools across 80 offices and 3,400 employees, we convert potential into greatness. Our solutions range from executive recruitment and leadership development programs, to enterprise learning, succession planning, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).

Organisations around the world trust Korn Ferry to manage their talent—a responsibility we meet every day with passion, expertise, integrity and results.

Tricor Consulting Limited is a member of Tricor Group dedicated to creating value for clients and strengthening their organization capabilities through: Strategic Management—Shaping your future and making it happen Organization Structuring—Aligning organization structure with strategies HR Consulting—Maximizing performance and return on investment of human assets Talent Management—Cultivating talents to create competitive advantage Director Remuneration and Board Evaluation—Ensuring appropriate remuneration of senior executives and building an effective board Training Resources Consulting—Maximizing business impact of training with ondemand scalable resources. Change Management—Partnering with clients to drive and enable organization transformation

58 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

FLEX Human Resources Unit 705, 7/F, Tamson Plaza, 161 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2526 6516 Tel: (852) 2774 8500 Fax: (852) 2365 1000 hkma@hkma.org.hk www.hkma.org.hk

General inquiry: kornferry.hongkong@kornferry.com Leadership and Talent Consulting: ltc. hongkong@kornferry.com www.kornferry.com

Tricor Consulting Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2980 1027 Fax: (852) 2262 7596 john.kf.ng@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

At BIPO, we help businesses transform and digitalise, enabling them to thrive and realise their growth ambitions. Around the world, we support over 1,600 clients across 87 countries and regions with a new generation of HR solutions. Our comprehensive suite of service products from our award-winning cloud and mobile-based HR Management System (HRMS), multi-country payroll calculation, overseas landing services, Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) to attendance automation provide clients with a multi-regional, integrated and seamless user experience.

BIPO C1, 22F TML Tower, No. 3 Hoi Shing Road, Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong Florence Mok: Tel: (852) 3643 0295 Email: florence.mok@biposervice.com https://www.biposervice.com

COL Consulting Limited (COL) is leading by dedicated and enthusiastic ICT professionals and is at the forefront of an array of HRMS providers to attain Excellent HR Information System Provider at HR Excellence Awards 2014 by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM).

COL Consulting Limited (COL) Unit 2502, 25/F, 9 Chong Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

With domain expertise in business applications, our certified team of professionals deliver the best practice Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions ranging from the award-winning HR Pro, the web-based and mobile compatible employee self-service portal to Talent Management system for MNCs, enterprises and SMEs.

Tel: (852) 2118 3999 Fax: (852) 2112 0121 colmarketing@colconsulting.com.hk www.colconsulting.com.hk

COL is Oracle and Cornerstone OnDemand certified partner. COL has cultivated comprehensive professional services capabilities with the CMMI Level 3 qualification to cope with the proliferated demand for digital transformation.

With strategic offices in Hong Kong, China, UK and US, DaXtra is a world leading specialist in high-accuracy multilingual CV parsing, semantic search, matching and process automation technologies. Our solutions are compatible with most leading recruitment ATS and CRM systems and are designed to bring efficiency and automation, while dramatically reducing the overall ‘cost of hire’. Over 1000 organisations globally use DaXtra products every day – from boutique recruitment firms to the World’s largest staffing companies, from corporate recruitment departments to job boards and software vendors.

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

Ramco Systems is a next-gen Enterprise software player disrupting the market with its multi-tenant cloud and mobile-based enterprise software in HR and Global Payroll. Part of the USD 1 billion Ramco Group, Ramco’s employees are spread across 24 offices globally and focus on Innovation and Employee Experience to differentiate itself in the marketplace. Infused with Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and with next-gen features such as Chatbots, Voice, and Facial recognition-based workforce management, Ramco Payroll (offered as platform & as managed services) manages 50+ country payroll covering Greater China, APAC, Middle-East & Africa on one single platform.

Ramco Systems #761, 7/F, 181 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong

SuccessFactors, an SAP company, is the leading provider of cloud-based Business Execution Software, which drives business alignment, optimises workforce performance, and accelerates business results. SuccessFactors customers include organisations of all sizes across more than 60 industries.

With approximately 15 million subscription seats globally, we strive to delight our customers by delivering innovative solutions, content and analytics, process expertise, and best practices insights. Today, we have more than 3,500 customers in more than 168 countries using our application suite in 35 languages.

SuccessFactors 35/F, Tower Two, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, HK

Tel: (852) 3695 5133 asia@daxtra.com www.daxtra.com

Rohan Raghunath Tel: +852 95166231 Email: rohan.raghuanth@ramco.com https://www.ramco.com

Tel: (852) 2539 1800 Fax: (852) 2539 1818 info.hongkong@sap.com www.successfactors.com

59

HR CLASSIFIEDS

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT For over 20 years MDS has been the market leader in talent development, leadership training, sales effectiveness and executive coaching, producing great results for global companies in the Greater China and APAC regions.

MDS is the certification centre and distributor of leading personality and leadership assessments for talent development programmes including the MBTI® and FIRO® , Leadership Effectiveness Analysis (LEA360™) and GMI® , Strong Interest Inventory ® for career planning, Sales Performance Assessment™ (SPA™) for sales development, and TKI® for negotiation skills.

From MDS offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei we manage an outstanding team of international trainers and executive coaches delivering a vast collection of leadership and sales programmes including the Miller Heiman products.

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

In 2016, MDS launched the Smith-MDS partnership with University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. The partnership draws on a world-class faculty, facilitators and executive coaches to deliver leading edge executive development solutions.

LEGAL / EMPLOYMENT LAW / TAX DLA Piper has been doing business in Hong Kong for 20 years. It has close links with our other offices in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US. Together, we provide clients with a seamless global capability to meet their business needs. Staffing the Hong Kong office is a vibrant team of over 130 locally and internationally-trained partners, lawyers, consultants and legal executives. Our lawyers regularly assist clients with their multi-jurisdictional cross-border activities throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Reflecting the international diversity of our clients, our people in Hong Kong all speak English, with individuals speaking Putonghua (Mandarin), and a wide range of Asian languages and dialects including Cantonese, Korean, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese as well as French, German, Italian, Punjabi and Spanish.

DLA Piper 25/F, Exchange Square Block 3, 8 Connaught Pl, Central Tel: (852) 2103 0808 http://www.dlapiper.com

At EY, our purpose is building a better working world. The insights and quality services we provide help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY 22/F CITIC Tower, 1 Time Mei Avenue, Central, Hong Kong

Hugill & Ip is a young independent law firm, but with decades of experience providing bespoke legal advice and exceptional client service to individuals, families, entrepreneurs and businesses, in Hong Kong and internationally. The firm’s core team comprises partners who are recognised as leaders in the areas of Dispute Resolution, Corporate & Commercial, Family, Probate & Trust and Employment.

Hugill & Ip Solicitors 2308, Two Lippo Centre 89 Queensway Hong Kong

Hugill & Ip’s Employment practice is constantly developing to keep pace with the law and has gained a respected position with employers, employees and among our peers as being at the forefront of providing practical and straightforward advice in a complex and fast-moving area of law.

Tel: 2846 9888 Tel: 2868 4432 https://www.ey.com

Tel: (852) 2861 1511 e​n quiry​@ hugillandip.com www.hugillandip.com

Whether advising individuals or companies, the firm provides advice that is results-driven. With extensive knowledge and experience of employment law in Hong Kong, Hugill & Ip is able to advise on all options but will also “come offthe-fence” and offer advice that achieves a practical solution

WTS is a tax and business consulting firm providing assistance in the strategic planning and management process of intercompany assignments’ cost and compliance.

Our Global Expatriate Service specialists advise on expatriate issues relating to corporate tax, personal tax, social security matters and process consulting across Asia. Our expertise therefore enables us to identify assignment related risks at an early stage and optimise tax and social security payments for companies and their employees while keeping the administrative burden to a minimum. In conjunction with our international network, we can assist you in almost 100 locations worldwide.

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WTS consulting (Hong Kong) Limited Unit 1004, 10/F, Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2528 1229 Fax: (852) 2541 1411 claus.schuermann@wts.com.hk www.wts.com.hk

HR CLASSIFIEDS

MICE VENUES / EVENT ORGANISERS

AsiaWorld-Expo is Hong Kong’s leading exhibitions, conventions, concerts and events venue, yet it is also an ideal venue for annual dinners, worldclass conferences, cocktail receptions, media luncheons and sumptuous banquets. With Hong Kong’s largest indoor convention and hospitality hall, AsiaWorld-Summit which seats up to 5,000 persons, together with a full range of meeting and conference facilities, award-winning chefs and attentive hospitality staff, AsiaWorld-Expo is definitely your choice for an unforgettable event.

AsiaWorld-Expo Management Limited AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, Hong Kong, China

Rockbird Media is an events management expert who aims to organize best-quality events that will bring impact to its clients’ business growth. We aim to spread this principle in Asia and the Pacific, and even globally. We don’t just organize events. We create the kind of experience that people talk about, the ones they cannot get enough of. It’s who we are.

Rockbird Media https://rockbirdmedia.com

I’m an independent videographer based in Hong Kong, specialising in event videos, interviews, brand videos and many more. My love of watching films and tv shows intrigued me to discover all the intricacies within film making.

I believe a good video requires a great team and careful attention to detail which leads to an effective video.

Paul Fukushima Tel: 6356-1700 Email: fukushimapaul@gmail.com https://fukushimapaul.wixsite. com/home

Tel: (852) 3606 8888 Fax: (852) 3606 8889 fnb@asiaworld-expo.com www.asiaworld-expo.com

PHOTOGRAPHY / VIDEOGRAPHY

RECRUITMENT / EXECUTIVE SEARCH / STAFFING OUTSOURCING

Headquartered in Switzerland, Adecco is a Fortune Global 500 company with around 5,000 offices in over 60 countries and territories around the world.

We possess the skills and global intelligence to develop human resource strategy for the highest levels, yet remain close to clients, local markets and needs. Adecco Hong Kong has over 30 years of experience in the region, with a comprehensive service offering that includes permanent placement, temporary & contract staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, HR consulting & assessment services, employment contract services, recruiting projects & overseas search, payroll outsourcing & administration services, and training.

Adecco Personnel Limited 12/F, Fortis Tower, 77-79 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Elabram Group is responsible for the global business of Elabram HR Solution, Elabram Telco, XRemo, and WMS, with a more than 20 years history and core competencies in human resources and telecommunication consultancy.

Elabram Group Level 23 Nu Tower 2, KL Sentral, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kuala Lumpur 50470, Malaysia.

The company has successfully placed more than 83.000 talents and served more than 118 clients worldwide. In its four business divisions, Elabram Group is continually expanding its capability and innovation to align customer needs.

Established in 1996, Frazer Jones is a Human Resources Recruitment Consultancy. Contact us to find out how we can assist you in your next Human Resources hire or if you are looking for a change in your HR career. As part of The SR Group, Frazer Jones has wholly owned offices in Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Dubai, London, Düsseldorf and Munich and has access to the best HR talent around the world.

Tel: (852) 2895 2616 Fax: 2895 3571 hongkong@adecco.com http://adecco.com.hk/

Mikel Yaw Tel: +60338317888 Email: enquiries@elabram.com https://elabram.com

Frazer Jones 1918 Hutchison House, 10 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2973 6737 info@frazerjones.com frazerjones.com

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

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

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

Tricor Executive Resources has for the past 28 years built an unrivalled reputation for integrity and professionalism in the executive search business.

Our team of specialist consultants and researchers provide a range of practical and innovative solutions to help you search for the right talent to meet your business needs. We utilize in-depth research, intense resourcing and a highly focused approach in the identification of qualified candidates in the appropriate industry sector. Our clients consists of multinationals, publicly listed and private companies as well as family-owned and start-up companies.

Tricor Executive Resources Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2980 1166 Fax: (852) 2869 4410

We also provide advice on HR best practices to enhance your human capital. Our HR Solutions can help drive your business performance through the effective use of talent. These include Compensation and Benefits Benchmarking; Soft Skills and Management Development Training; Performance Management Systems; Talent Assessment Centre; Human Resource Outsourcing; Career Counselling and Talent Transition Management and Employee Engagement Surveys.

Tel: (852) 2232 3408 www.randstad.com.hk

fiona.yung@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

RETAIL

KAS Group Asia (KGA) is the exclusive direct sourcing arm of Kmart Group that operates the iconic retail brands Kmart Australia, Target Australia and Catch.

KGA’s operations span the largest sourcing markets across Asia including China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam, supporting an annual sourcing capability of US $ 2.5 billion.

KAS Group Asia (KGA) 10/F, Trade Square, 681 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Asian Tigers, has provided international relocation and moving service to the Hong Kong market for more than 40 years. We move people internationally, regionally, and even within Hong Kong itself. Our experienced, multilingual staff enables Asian Tigers to deliver low-stress relocation services. Perhaps you are responsible for coordinating your office move and would like to know more about ‘low down-time’ office relocations. Whatever your needs, wherever you are headed, Asian Tigers can help facilitate and streamline your relocation. Give us a call and find out how we can assist you.

Asian Tigers Mobility 17/F, 3 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Crown Relocations, a worldwide leader of global mobility, domestic and international transportation of household goods, and departure and destination services, has over 180 offices in more than 50 countries. From preview trip and immigration assistance to home and school searches, orientation tours, intercultural training, partner career programme, and ongoing assignment support, Crown offers the best relocation solutions to corporate clients and transferees across the world.

Crown Relocations 9 - 11 Yuen On Street, Siu Lek Yuen, Sha Tin, New Territories

Lavina Mehta Tel: (852) 2732 3402 Fax: (852) 2730 1051 Email: lavina.mehta@tgasourcing.com http://www.kmart.com.au http://www.target.com.au

RELOCATION / LOGISTICS

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Tel: (852) 2528 1384 Fax: (852) 2529 7443 info@asiantigers-hongkong.com www.asiantigers-mobility.com

Tel: (852) 2636 8388 hongkong@crownrelo.com www.crownrelo.com

HR CLASSIFIEDS

SERVICED APARTMENTS / HOTELS

Four Seasons Place, the epitome of luxury and elegance, Four Seasons Place creates a relaxed and homely living environment amidst the surrounding opulence. With 519 serviced suites designed by internationally renowned designers, guests can choose from a range of stylish accommodations from studios and 1/2/3-bedroom suites to penthouses that open up to spectacular views of Victoria Harbour. It also features a rooftop heated pool & jacuzzi, sky lounge, gymnasium, sauna and multi-purpose function room to meet business and recreational needs. Heralding a comfortable, hassle-free living experience, all guests are pampered with personalised hotel services from VIP airport pick-up to 24-hour multi-lingual concierge services.

Four Seasons Place 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

GARDENEast is prestigiously located at the heart of Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, boasting 216 luxurious units in 28 storeys.

GARDENEast Serviced Apartments 222, Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Each of our luxurious units is subtly unique. Spacious studio, studio deluxe, deluxe 1-bedroom, executive suite and twin-beds in selected rooms, with their sizes ranging from 395 to 672 square feet, are comfortably-appointed with an all-encompassing range of fittings and furnishings. The landscaped gardens offer a relaxing lifestyle, peace and tranquillity of green living and a diverse choice of dining and entertainment is right on your doorstep.

Tel: (852) 3196 8228 Fax: (852) 3196 8628 enquiries@fsphk.com www.fsphk.com

Tel: (852) 3973 3388 Fax: (852) 2861 3020 enquiry@gardeneast.com.hk www.gardeneast.com.hk

The HarbourView Place is part of the Kowloon Station development, located at a key harbour crossing point. Located atop the MTR and Airport Express Link at Kowloon Station. The junction of major rail lines, three minutes to Central, 20 minutes to the Airport, a mere 30 minutes to Shenzhen and 60 minutes to Guangzhou. It is a place for the best view of Hong Kong and Kowloon and is an icon property at Harbour Gateway. Located next to International Commerce Centre, the fourth tallest building in the world, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong and W Hong Kong, guests can enjoy a premium luxury living with the large shopping mall Elements and Hong Kong’s highest indoor observation deck Sky100.

The HarbourView Place 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Conveniently nestled in the East of Hong Kong, Kornhill Apartments is one of the biggest apartment blocks in town, featuring a total of 450 units with a variety of unit configurations designed to suit every need imaginable.

Kornhill Apartments 2 Kornhill Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

Notable for cozy and contemporary décor, as well as superior amenities and services, the complex is located next door to Kornhill Plaza where you can relish a wide array of shops and entertainment choices.

Tel: (852) 2137 8101 Fax: (852) 2568 6256 kornhillapts@hanglung.com www.kornhillapartments.com

The apartments are an excellent choice for corporate clients who cater for visits by expatriate colleagues. Units include studio, one to two-bedroom suites and deluxe three-bedroom suites.

Regal Hotels International is one of the largest hotel operators in Hong Kong, currently owns and manages twenty-three hotels. Committed to exceeding the needs of each and every guest, all Regal Hotels provide first-class international guestrooms and facilities including state-of-the-art meeting and banquet rooms.

Tel: (852) 3718 8000 Fax: (852) 3718 8008 enquiries@harbourviewplace.com www.harbourviewplace.com

Regal Hotels International 11/F, 68 Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, CN https://www.regalhotel.com

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

Vega Suites, is the stylish suite hotel in Kowloon East. Located atop the MTR Tseung Kwan O Station, Island East and Kowloon East are only 3 MTR stops away. The integrated complex becomes a new landmark creating a comfortable, relaxing and home like living space for guests. The all-encompassing landmark development comprises two international hotels & luxury residence The Wings.

Situated directly above the trendy PopCorn mall, connected to one million square feet of shopping, dining, leisure and entertainment. There is a lustrous selection of units – ranging from Studio, 1-Bedroom, 2-Bedroom to 3-Bedroom with flexible staying terms.

Vega Suites Atop Tseung Kwan O Station 3 Tong Tak Street Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong

V is a collection of award-winning hotels, serviced apartments and private residences in Hong Kong.

V Hotels and Serviced Apartments Unit 5702, Cheung Kong Centre, 2 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3602 2388 Fax: (852) 2891 1418 reservations@thev.hk www.thev.hk

Bringing our philosophy of eat, shop, live easy, each V is nestled in a plethora of restaurants, amidst excellent shopping hubs and surrounded by an extensive transportation network. V Wanchai and V Wanchai2 are minutes walk from HKCEC, whilst the Lodge connects to 5 railway systems.

Each V is urban, contemporary, but calm and quiet. Our two Causeway Bay properties host penthouse and terraced apartments for families and elegance entertaining, whilst V Happy Valley features an outdoor water garden.

Tel: (852) 3963 7888 Fax: (852) 39637889 enquiries@vegasuites.com www.vegasuites.com.hk

Each V carries a different design motif, yet shares one critical ingredient – we deliver a high standard of comfort and good honest service.

STAFF BENEFITS Nespresso provides a range of machines dedicated to professional use that meet the different needs and expectations of our customers. Zenius is the one of the latest innovation in the professional machine range by Nespresso and comes at an affordable price. It is intuitive to use, reliable and integrates the latest technological advances by Nespresso. Zenius is the ideal machine for small and big companies looking for quality and simplicity. At Nespresso we want to make it possible for you to make the same full-bodied espresso offered by skilled baristas. Your business can benefit from years of Nespresso expertise in premium Grands Crus coffees, innovative machines and excellent customer support.

Nespresso, Division of Nestlé Hong Kong Ltd. Unit 505, Manhattan Place, 23 Wang Tai Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong

Philip Morris Asia Limited is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. PMI's smoke-free IQOS product portfolio includes heated tobacco and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of March 31, 2020, PMI estimates that approximately 10.6 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI’s heated tobacco product, which is currently available for sale in 53 markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand.

Philip Morris Asia Limited Suites 2402-2411 24/F Devon House, Taikoo Place 979 King’s Road Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

For more information, see our PMI (https://www.pmi.com/) and PMIScience (https://www.pmiscience.com/) websites.

Tel: 800 905 486 Fax: 800 968 822 CRC.HK@nespresso.com www.nespresso-pro.com

Tel: 28251600 https://www.pmi.com

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