HRM 15.3

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ISSUE 15.3

Powering SMRT’s transformation:

Building a culture of service excellence PLUS: Price inc. GST $9.95

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LEADING FROM ASIA

EDITOR’S NOTE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sumathi V Selvaretnam ASSISTANT EDITOR Shalini Shukla-Pandey JOURNALIST Sham Majid SUB-EDITOR Paul Howell PUBLISHING ADMINISTRATOR Azimah Jasman SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amos Lee GRAPHIC DESIGNER John Paul Lozano SALES DIRECTOR Steve Lye ACCOUNT MANAGERS Edwin Lim Jolene Ong Ryan Kwa Shamaine Chua MARKETING MANAGER George Smith MARKETING EXECUTIVE Rafiq Jalil MANAGING DIRECTOR Kaveri Ayahsamy PHOTOGRAPHY BY Frank Pinckers (pinckers.com) PRINTED BY Times Printers Pte Ltd PUBLISHED BY

15.3

Dear HRM readers,

I

hope your Year of the Goat is off to a swell start!

This month’s cover story profiles Desmond Kuek, President and CEO of SMRT Corporation. A former military man, Quek firmly believes that rank and title should never stand in the way of good leadership.

He shares how fostering an environment that is constructive for feedback has led to higher levels of engagement at his organisaton.

In our March issue, we also turn our attention to Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country. Its rapidly growing economy is creating a greater demand for skilled professionals. On the flipside, this increased demand has turned the job market in favour of the job seeker and companies are finding it increasingly hard to retain good employees.

Staff retention is also a perennial concern for the highly competitive fashion and retail sector. Online fashion retailer Zalora Group tells us how clear career progression and employee empowerment are key to the long-term retention of Millenials and Gen Y. HR’s brightest stars will be awarded top accolades at our 12th annual HRM Awards on March 6. Our events team has been hard at work to create an evening to remember, and I look forward to warmly receiving you there.

Do look out for our winners and their success stories in our special HRM Awards supplement next month!

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HRM Asia Pte Ltd 121 Telok Ayer Street #02-01 Singapore 068590 Tel: +65 6423 4631 Fax: +65 6423-4632 Email: info@hrmasia.com.sg

Sumathi V Selvaretnam Editorial Director, HRM Asia

CONTACT US:

MICA (P) 163/07/2014 ISSN 0219-6883

Read something you like? Or something you don’t? Perhaps there’s some insight we haven’t considered?

Have your say on HRM’s news, features, and contributions by emailing: info@hrmasia.com.sg

ISSUE 15.3 HRMASIA.COM

1

CONTENTS 15.3 COVER STORY 10 Powering SMRT’s transformation: Building a culture of service excellence

Having held various leadership positions in both the public and private sectors, Desmond Kuek, President and Group CEO of SMRT Corporation shares his take on leadership and building a culture of service excellence within the public transport giant

10

FEATURES 16 Dawn of a new Indonesia

16

Indonesia, the world’s fourthmost populous country, has long been tipped to realise its potential as a global powerhouse.

However, its massive workforce has been plagued by a range of fundamental manpower issues.

Sham Majid investigates what lies ahead for the archipelago.

ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM

32 Hiring & working with PWDs

A change in leadership mindsets can elevate a good workplace to greatness, says author and Spire HR Summit 2015 speaker Jennifer Robin.

Finding meaningful employment is a goal for many people, including people with disabilities (PWDs).

They too can achieve self-reliance if they are given equal opportunities for employment and are welltrained in market relevant skills.

So how can employers enhance the employability of PWDs, and both hire and work with them?

28 Talent runway

36 The business of

Clear career progression and employee empowerment are essential for attracting talented

It is no secret that healthy employees are productive

22 The little things matter

2

millenials and Generation Y staff into the Zalora Group. HRM looks at how the once fledging business has grown in its bid to become Asia’s leading online fashion destination.

employee health screenings

28

22 employees. While organisations are whittling down costs in other areas, smart businesses are sticking with their investments in employee health coverage.

54 HR from the classroom

40 The Business Savvy HR

56 SingTel: Nurturing young

For the first time ever, HRM Asia will host a specialised, interactive workshop to help HR professionals master strategies to strengthen their business and financial acumen all the way in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The first diploma scholarship programme in support of SkillsFuture in the infocommunications sector, the SingTel Cadet Scholarship Programme provides a progressive career pathway to help fresh graduates from polytechnics upgrade and advance through training and placements in relevant job roles, making Singapore a hub for Talent in critical areas.

Leader Workshop

44 Soaring ahead Clear career paths and open communication help Hawksford Singapore engage and retain staff.

46 Managing training costs A wide range of government funding schemes and courses are designed to encourage small to medium enterprises to train and upgrade the skills of their Singaporean and Permanent Resident workers.

HRM shares the latest resources available.

56

Every month, HRM speaks to a young university talent hoping to carve out a career in HR upon graduation.

talents in ICT

60 Tech-powered meetings Event planners are constantly seeking new ways to create that “wow� factor during meetings and conferences. HRM looks at how transformative technologies will be shaping meeting experiences in 2015 and beyond

REGULARS 4 News 15 Leaders on Leadership 43 In Person 43 Resources 51 An HRD Speaks 53 Talent Ladder 59 Twenty-four Seven 65 HR Clinic ISSUE 15.3

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NEWS

ASIA

SINGAPORE

HONG KONG

THAIPUSAM WON’T BE A PUBLIC HOLIDAY

PRODUCTIVITY HEAVEN OR HELL?

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has issued a statement in response to calls to reinstate the Hindu festival of Thaipusam as a national public holiday.

Thaipusam was a public holiday until 1968. Faced with the British withdrawal and the need to compete in global markets, the Singapore government decided to reduce the total number of public holidays, among other things, MOM’s workplace safety and strategy division director Alvin Lim said.

The decision on which public holidays to give up was reached only after careful consultation with religious groups, he added. The muslim community chose to give up Prophet Muhamed’s Birthday as well as an extra day’s holiday for Hari Raya Puasa. Christians chose to give up the Saturday and Monday following Good Friday.

Hindus were asked to choose between Thaipusam and Deepavali, the latter becoming a national holiday.

Buddhists, who comprised the largest faith and had only one public holiday to begin with, Vesak Day, were not asked to give it up.

Some religious groups continued to celebrate their important occasions, such as Vesakhi for the Sikhs and Lao-Tzu’s Birthday for Taoists, without these being public holidays.

“The 11 public holidays that we now enjoy is neither high nor low when compared to other countries,” said Lim. “New Zealanders, Canadians and the French enjoy the same number. Malaysia and Indonesia enjoy more days, but we have a few more than developed countries like Holland, Britain and Germany.

“While we will ensure that all Singaporeans can practise their faiths freely, we cannot make all important festivals of all faiths public holidays,” said Lim. “But it must always be possible for Singaporeans to make arrangements to observe their respective religious festivals, and we encourage all employers to show understanding and flexibility in this regard.”

Hong Kong workers say external business centres are the safest havens for productivity when working outside the office.

According to a recent report by global workplace provider Regus, 53% of surveyed professionals believe well-equipped business centres – in hotels, airports, and conference venues – are incredibly useful for working on-the-go.

Like their counterparts around the world, Hong Kong respondents did not find working at home – even with a professional setting – was a good option. One of the main reasons may be the smaller size of apartments in Hong Kong.

Just 34% of respondents said working from home was good for productivity outside the office, although this rises to 63% for the

Most productive work environments: HK vs Global Business centre

HRMASIA.COM

63%

37% 34% 29% 34%

My home

Hong Kong

12% 12%

Cafe Public library

Global

9% 8%

Association/Professional group lounge

According to the latest annual Global Salary Survey from specialist professional recruitment firm Robert Walters, organisations in Thailand will need to look beyond remuneration in order to retain their best talent.

Figures from the survey suggested that candidates who switched jobs in 2014 could command an average salary

61%

50%

Collaborative workspace

RETENTION VIA CAREER DEVELOPMENT

ISSUE 15.3

53%

A professional setting within my home

THAILAND

4

lucky few who were able to invest in a professional home office.

Professional group or association lounges score surprisingly low at 11%, suggesting that these locations are better for networking than for getting work done.

Cafés, with their associated issues of lack of privacy, unreliable internet connections, and background noise, also scored low at just 12%.

“Having the option to work from different locations can be enormously beneficial for many workers, but the challenge is in finding the right environment outside of the office to allow people to remain just as, if not more productive” said Michael Ormiston, Country Manager, Regus Hong Kong.

8% 11% 7% 6%

Hotel bar/lounge 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

increment of 20-25%. This trend is likely to continue in 2015.

“Hiring managers in Thailand will continue to compete for business-savvy Thai professionals with bi-lingual abilities and international exposure,” said Gerrit Bouckaert, Country Manager of Robert Walters Thailand.

“With these professionals in limited supply, companies need to make swift decisions during the recruitment process and provide comprehensive career development, work-life balance as well as attractive compensation and benefits packages.”

ASIA

NEWS

INDIA

MALAYSIA

JOB HUNTING VIA RADIO

SKILLS SHORTAGE HINDERS GROWTH

Maveric Systems has launched an innovative recruitment drive, “Chasing Maverics”, in partnership with radio channel Chennai Live.

Spread over a period of twelve weeks, it says it is the first-ever job hunt in India taking place via the radio medium.

The chosen candidate will get an opportunity to work with Maveric Systems, a leading provider of IT Lifecycle Assurance with a strong focus on the telecommunications and banking and finance sectors, and also win prizes.

The competition started with twelve candidates who battled it out in sets of two, on-air during the Metro Mornings show every Wednesday.

The final 10 contestants will move on to the semi-final round and will be subject to some “crazy and whacky challenges during a live event at the Hard Rock Café, Chennai. The final round will have the final three contestants, who will be put through grilling questions and activity-based rounds by the Maveric and Chennai Live panellists. Finally “the one” successful candidate will be chosen.

“Chasing Maverics” will culminate in a career opportunity for the chosen candidate and an iPhone 6. The second best candidate will win an iPad Mini.

Almost one half (45%) of employers believe that the skills shortage has the potential to hamper the effective operation of their business or department, according to the 2015 Hays Asia Salary Guide.

The survey found that the most difficult professionals to recruit are senior management candidates in sales, accountancy and finance, engineering, marketing, operations, and HR. Finding entry-level to mid-management candidates in these functions is also challenging.

These shortages, according to employers, may hinder the effective operation of their departments or businesses.

In response, and despite the increasing trend to localise the workforce, 65% of employers said they were considering employing or sponsoring qualified overseas or expatriate candidates in skill-shortage areas.

“This particular finding demonstrates the extent of Asia’s talent mismatch and the severe shortage of suitably skilled local professionals in many industries and sectors,” says Christine Wright, Managing Director of Hays in Asia.

“It also highlights the need for employers to continue innovating to attract candidates in a tight labour market.”

COMPREHENSIVE • INTEGRATED • FLEXIBLE TM

DRIVE SUCCESS WITH HRiQ

A COMPLETE HR & TALENT SOLUTION HRM@IQdynamics.com

6594 4151 ISSUE 15.3

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NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

NORTH AMERICA

UK

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS PAY

DREAMING OF 9-TO-5 Professionals in the UK are being forced to stay back after their stipulated working hours.

According to research from relocation firm Regus, more than two thirds of UK professionals (69%) are required to work outside of their usual office hours, significantly more than were required five years ago.

A whopping seventy-two percent of employees claimed that fixed hours were no longer appropriate for their jobs.

“These findings clearly show that UK working practices are continuing to evolve,” Richard Morris, CEO of Regus UK, said.

“The fact that so many UK workers are finding that ‘regular’ hours no longer suit their roles, should prompt companies to embrace flexible working practices.”

“Many companies still make the mistake of associating flexible working solely with home working. However, dedicated workspaces offer the flexibility to work wherever and whenever it suits the employee.”

The survey quizzed more than 3,000 business people in the UK on their stances and approaches to work.

It appears that harnessing a positive relationship with their organisation pays dividends in terms of employees’ productivity at work.

According to a new survey, titled “Labor of Love: What Employees UK Love About Work and Ways to Keep the Spark Alive,” and released by Virgin Pulse, 60% of workers believe their relationship with their firm positively effects their What do you engage with during meetings focus and productivity at the when you are bored and listless? workplace. 44% of respondents If you’re like most of us, you check in also said good relationships with social media. meant reduced stress levels.

According to a survey by LondonOffices.

The survey deduced that 53% com, close to three quarters of social of workers claimed “interesting media users will look at news feeds on and challenging” work was the their smartphones during meetings. top reason to love their employer.

The survey revealed that 71% of Thirty-eight percent also said “the employees would sneakily look at Twitter, company’s mission” was a key Facebook and Instagram when they find driver for their own productivity. themselves losing focus during a meeting.

Close to 40% of Reasons cited for this included keeping up to date with breaking events, respondents listed wanting to check in location services, and for some, simply boredom. colleagues as the The poll showed that close to half of employees check their smartphones so chief reason behind as to view the day’s headlines before live events, with 47% citing they looked of the UK’s workforce say their love of their at their Facebook and Twitter platforms for details. they are closer to burning employer, while 66% Out of all the social media channels available, Twitter is the fancied app for out NOW than they were revealed these ties checking up on live events, with 28% of those surveyed scouring the event just five years ago. positively affected hashtags during meetings.

Source: Regus Report their focus at work.

But despite the prevalent use of social media for professional reasons, nine When it came to per cent conceded to “pointless” scrolling during dull phases of a meeting. how to make the company they “Social media is playing a bigger role in our lives, not just in our personal lives but at work for even better, workers work too,” a spokesperson for Londonoffices.com said. offered the following suggestions: “We have become accustomed to having live news updates at our fingertips so it’s only • Championing work-life balance natural we begin to feel ‘out of the loop’ much quicker than we used to.”

• Flexible work patterns “The rise in the numbers of smartphones has made our social media channels much more • Programmes and resources to accessible. We no longer need to sit in front of the computer to become updated. Now we support wellbeing have platforms such as Facebook and Twitter quite literally in the palm of our hands.”

The survey featured responses The poll by LondonOffices.com analysed the smartphone habits of 1,000 office from 1,000 participants in the US workers. Close to all (97%) brought their phones into meetings with them, with 95% and Canada. citing that they usually put their devices on silent mode.

CHECKING FOR BREAKING NEWS... DURING MEETINGS

48%

6

ISSUE 15.3

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INTERNATIONAL US

NEWS

VUCA is here to stay Embrace it

US

BENEFITS FOR ENGAGEMENT WORK PUTTING PAID TO Employee engagement is greater when NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

Dr Roland

workforces are content with the health and wellbeing benefits their organisation provides, new research has highlighted.

According to key findings from the research by Quantum Workplace, a workplace survey and employee feedback technology company and Limeade, a technology company that helps organisations create highperforming workforces: Having made ambitious health-related • Engagement decreases when workers New Year’s resolutions at the start of are less satisfied with their benefits.

2015, it may be common for people to Over three-quarters of “engaged” ease up on their goals once the year gets employees claim they are content into full swing. with the health and wellbeing benefits Now, a recent ComPsych Tell their firm offers, as opposed to It Now(SM) survey by ComPsych fewer than half of “hostile” (lowest Corporation has backed that theory up possible engagement score) workers. with research, deducing that 65% of • Workers who are uncertain of their employees believe their workplace is benefits are twice as likely to be causing them to give up on health goals disengaged as opposed to those who early in the year. comprehend the benefits given to them.

When quizzed on whether their work • Only 28% of organisations offer setting assisted or impeded their New stress-relief breaks such as meditation Year’s resolutions, employees claimed: or massages, yet more than 71% of • It has impeded, because work stress employees crave for such offerings. had caused them to eat poorly or • Over 73% of workers desire healthy exercise less – 37% cafeteria or vending options at work, but • It has impeded, because the social fewer than half of organisations offer it. environment induced them to eat • Regular exercise – three times a week poorly or exercise less – 28% or more – has little to no direct effect • Neither – 17% on employee engagement. Yet, half of • It had helped, because the workplace workers desire an onsite fitness centre encouraged health eating and and time for healthy activities at work. exercise – 10% • Workers aged 25 years • It had helped , because and younger are nearly work kept them busy, twice as likely to prefer active and “away from the financial planning services fridge” – 8% as opposed to employees “Work environment and IT employers in the US will aged 56 years and older. corporate culture clearly offer workers more flexible • Close to three-quarters have an impact on employee work arrangements this year of workers desire flexible health objectives,” said

B Smith

Vice President and Managing Director, Center for Creative Leadership (APAC)

V

UCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) is a term used by organisations to describe the business environment as they look to chart their path and grow.

Business skills and financial acumen are the price of admission. Leaders are not only required to possess personal attributes such as drive, empathy, innovation, talent, confidence and perseverance, they also need to span such leadership attributes and vision across geographical boundaries in an ever-global economy.

With these mounting requirements, leaders of corporations are beginning to realise the need to ensure talent sustainability by accelerating the leadership bench among the middle and upper-middle levels.

HR leaders can follow three key strategies to constantly uncover and nurture talent while building a sustainable talent system: • Relationship and Engagement – Companies need to strive to generate greater organisational commitment and employee engagement. HR leaders must organise employees within an effective feedback and communication system to achieve buy-in and commitment from all parties.

• Leveraging High Potential Employees – HR can identify high potential employees and have them, too, play a role in identifying and developing the organisation’s next cadre of future leaders, a crucial way of ensuring Talent Sustainability.

• Transparency Process – The degree of transparency when identifying high potential employees affects how employees view themselves and the organisation. This process of identifying top talent ought to be executed in a way that the talent themselves know that they are being developed as the organisation’s future leaders.

Three in five (60%)

Source: CareerBuilder’s work hours, and those Richard Chaifetz, Chairman New IT Forecast survey who do have access to and CEO of ComPsych. these are close to 20% “Increasingly, employers more engaged. However, fewer than half are seeking to positively influence of companies offer flexible work hours. employees’ at-work behaviour with health The report, Workplace Well-Being: and well-being programmes. Stress Provide Meaningful Benefits to Energise management, as well as the promotion of Employee Health, Engagement, and exercise and healthy eating while at work, Performance, analysed nearly 2,000 survey have become important components of responses from participants in Quantum wellness programmes, as organisations Workplace’s nationally-recognised Best seek to improve employee effectiveness Places to Work programme. while reducing health care costs.”

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

7

INF GRAPHIC

Feeling the pulse of employee intentions It is imperative for firms to keep tabs on employee trends relating to aspects such as job opportunities, benefits and engagement.

But what is dominating the minds of Singaporean employees? We share some insights from the 2015 Michael Page Singapore Employee Intentions Report.

TOP 5 CHANNELS

Most likely to be used for a job search

TOP 5 MAIN REASONS Jobseekers are looking for a new role

80%

Recruitment Consultants

25%

Scope for career progression

73%

Job Boards

23%

Increase in salary

44%

Social Media

13%

More senior role/promotion

44%

Word of Mouth

9%

Learning and development

14%

Local Newspapers Industry

8%

Workplace flexibility

TOP 5 COUNTRIES

within Asia where jobseekers will look for work

TOP 5 REASONS

For considering opportunities abroad

18% Chinna

47%

Broaden experience/ opportunity to learn

18% Hong Kong

15%

Achieve better work/life balance

14% Malaysia

11%

Improve salary

14% Thailand

10%

More job opportunities

7%

10%

More senior role/ promotion

Vietnam

Sources: • 2015 Michael Page Singapore Employee Intentions Report • Some icon graphics are by freepik.com 8

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DID YOU KNOW The majority of surveyed professionals have been in their current role for less than one year (34%) or between one and three years (33%), yet

67% 55%

are likely to leave their current role in the coming year

of survey respondents revealed they intend to ask for higher compensation within the next 12 months

PREFERRED SOCIAL * MEDIA PLATFORM

80% NONE 12% FACEBOOK 11% YAHOO 9% GOOGLE+ 9% TWITTER 2% LINKEDIN

*

More than one option could be selected

HR MARKET ROUNDUP

NEWS

Do You Know the True Cost of a Bad Hire?

ASCOTT MAKES ITS MARK IN TURKEY CapitaLand’s wholly-owned serviced residence business unit Ascott has embarked on its maiden venture into Turkey by securing a contract to manage a serviced residence called Somerset Maslak Istanbul.

Scheduled to open in 2016, the 159-unit Somerset Maslak Istanbul has a prime location in one of Istanbul’s main business and leisure districts.

It will be part of an integrated development, Maslak 1453, which features a 1,453-metre long shopping promenade and 24 towers of commercial, residential, dining and recreational facilities.

Ascott’s entry to Turkey will extend the scope of the world’s largest international serviced residence owneroperator to 90 cities across 25 countries.

The company was awarded the management contract for Somerset Maslak Istanbul by real estate developer Maslak Konaklama, an affiliate of the Saudi-based Abduljawad Group of Companies.

“Ascott is delighted to partner with Abduljawad Group, one of the largest

LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

Matthew Glasner

conglomerates in Turkey with an extensive portfolio of properties in various parts of the world,” said Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s CEO. “Through this partnership, we will bring our award-winning Somerset brand of serviced residences to Turkey. We expect strong demand from expatriates and business travellers and will continue to bring Ascott’s signature hospitality to more places around the world.”

Ehsan Abduljawad, Chairman of Abduljawad Group, said his organisation was delighted to embark on a management agreement with Ascott, a brand that was internationally distinguished for its brands, management and service excellence.

“We are confident that Somerset Maslak Istanbul’s balanced living concept, with its spacious, expertly furnished apartments and personalised services will meet the demand for high quality serviced apartments in Istanbul,” he said.

Managing Director, South Asia Pacific, First Advantage

W

ith the increase in employee attrition in the job markets across Asia Pacific, recruiters are spending long hours to identify the most suitable candidates for the company.

USD$ 830,000 – The Cost of a Bad Hire 1

According to Recruiter.com, the true cost comes out at a staggering USD$830,000, based on someone earning USD$70,000 and whose employment is terminated after two and a half years. The extent of expenditure on a bad hire depends on the position, training cost, and the tenure for which an unsuitable employee is associated with the organisation.

Reasons for a Bad Hire • Uncertainty of the requirements for a particular position • Urgency to fill the vacancy • Insufficient talent intelligence • Inefficiently done research on the candidate • Lack of referral checks

ELLIOTT SCOTT LAUNCHES MOBILITY ARM Elliott Scott HR has increased its service offering with the development of Elliott Scott Mobility. It calls it the first truly international global mobility and expatriate management recruitment business.

Elliott Scott Mobility consists of a team of experienced recruiters who have accrued specialised knowledge and networks, providing local know-how within a global infrastructure.

It is being led by Terry Page, who joined the Elliott Scott brand last year.

“As a niche HR business we are always looking at ways to specialise further and identify with our clients,” said Stuart Elliott, CEO and Owner.

“Terry and I originally got together to look at how we could utilise the Elliott Scott global network while also

The Importance and Benefits of Conducting Background Screenings

leveraging the global contacts and expertise that Terry has built up over the years within the mobility practice.”

“As a result of that TERRY PAGE meeting, we now possess mobility expertise across all of our global offices, something that no other HR vendor has even attempted to do.

It’s truly exciting and I can’t wait to see how this works in 2015.”

Elliott Scott Mobility has already successfully filled positions across the US, London and Asia, and will continue to offer a tailor-made operational model.

Prior to joining Elliot Scott, Page spent eight years covering global recruitment and specialising within the global mobility and expat management sector.

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Background screenings helps in weeding out individuals with fake credentials and also widens the scope of opportunities for deserving candidates. According to First Advantage Q1 2014 Asia Pacific Background screening report, 2 criminal history and financial-related discrepancies can pose greater legal, compliance, reputational and security risks than other types of discrepancies.

In order to ensure a reliable and compliant screening programme, companies can leverage from an alliance with a background screening partner experienced in the dynamic regulatory environment.

A company’s success completely depends on its employees. Hence, it is crucial for every company to have a talented team. https://www.technicallycompatible.com/blog/the-shocking-cost-ofa-bad-hire.

2 http://www.fadv.com/our-company/news-events/news/articletype/ articleview/articleid/111/five-things-employers-should-know-aboutbackground-screening-in-apac.aspx.

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SMRT

Powering SMRT’s transformation:

Building a culture of service excellence Q

Tell me about yourself and your leadership style.

Having held various leadership positions in both the public and private sectors, Desmond Kuek, President and Group CEO of SMRT Corporation shares his take on leadership and building a culture of service excellence within the public transport giant

them well to accomplish the common goal.

Q

I am currently President Describe the biggest and Group CEO of SMRT Corporation, accomplishment of your career Singapore’s largest multi-modal public to date as a business leader transport provider with business lines Leading well and engaging people to drive to in mass rapid transit operations, rail higher commitments and excellence have Shalini Shukla-Pandey engineering and asset management, always been close to my heart – helming shalini@hrmasia.com.sg public and private bus operations, large organisations in the military, public taxi services, automotive workshops, service, and now in the private sector. retail property management, media and advertising, as well as During my previous tenure as Chief of Army and Chief of international consultancy and training services.

Defence Force in the SAF, I drove the transformation of the Prior to joining the private sector, I was the Chief of Defence HR organisation into a joint manpower set-up, where the Force, serving 28 years in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) HR departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force became before retiring in 2010. I went on to take up the appointment of “hubbed” together through co-location and HR process Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Water integration. At the time, I also steered the SAF on its e-HR Resources from 2010 to 2012. enterprise system transformation.

In each of these organisations, I have had the privilege of In driving the transformation to this Third Generation working with and leading large groups of people dedicated to SAF, I worked towards a synergistic network of Army, Navy service. No matter how high we have climbed, I believe that and Air Force capabilities to achieve not just a “joint” but a rank and title should never stand in the way of good leadership. fully integrated defence force in a new information-network My leadership mantra is “you either lead, follow, or get out enabled environment. We successfully built ONE SAF on the of the way – but you never stand still”. Standing still when the tenets of “Operationalising” the Third Generation SAF, and world around us is changing rapidly is to risk being left behind, “Nurturing” and “Engaging our people”. made irrelevant, or rendered ineffective. I enjoy the challenge In recognition of prevailing manpower challenges and future of leading change efforts, empowering high performance, and opportunities, I established a new and innovative scheme of building cohesive and inspired teams everywhere. service, called the Military Domain Experts Scheme, alongside To this end, I would define my leadership style simply as the officer and specialist corps, to strengthen the development mission-focused, values-based, and people-centred. of military professional expertise in the SAF and enhance the We must all be clear about and focused on our “mission”, and the career schemes for all our servicemen and women. intent and purpose of it. Our “values” define who we are and what As Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and we stand for – and they must be shared and upheld by all. Lastly, Water Resources, I fostered an improved culture based on better I believe we must put “people” first – in developing and leading collaboration, continual learning, critical thinking, effective

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SMRT

BIO BRIEF Desmond Kuek joined SMRT Corporation in October 2012 as President and CEO. Prior to SMRT, Kuek served in the Singapore Armed Forces from 1982 to 2010, rising steadily through the ranks to the pinnacle leadership positions of Chief of Army in 2003 and Chief of Defence Force in 2007. From 2010 to 2012, Kuek held the appointment of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.

He also previously served on the boards of Singapore Technologies Engineering and its subsidiaries, the Defence Science and Technology Agency, the Housing and Development Board, Jurong Town Corporation, and International Enterprise Singapore.

Kuek holds a Master of Arts (Engineering Science) from Oxford University and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University. He is currently a member of the Civil Service College Board and chairs its Audit Committee. Kuek is a member of the International Advisory Panel for the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

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SMRT communication and customer-centricity. stakeholders: the public, commuters, I also led a whole-of-government project regulatory authorities, shareholders, commissioned by the Head of the Civil and more than 8000 employees.

Service to usher in a new wave of public A key priority effort that has been service value through stronger people initiated as a vehicle to power this engagement within the service and with transformation is the focus on building and the citizenry. inspiring “a new level of service excellence”.

At SMRT, my emphasis on nurturing We started from the top, and expanded and engaging people continues to the effort organisation-wide to train feature strongly. While the past up every single one of our staff few years have been nothing in service excellence, regardless SMRT was a short of dramatic, under my of whether they are external finalist in leadership the management customer-facing or internal staff. team is committed to learning “A new level of service categories at from these experiences and excellence” involves leadership HRM Awards 2015 continually improving and at all levels to set the stage and excelling in order to stay ready demonstrate by personal example and resilient against the rapid changes the kind of positive culture and experience taking place around us. we want for our people and customers.

We have gained considerable momentum We agreed on our common purpose in across the company with many important service excellence right from the onset. initiatives to bring about improvements in Every word was carefully deliberated and structures, processes and culture. I believe chosen: “We build trust and bring on my role as CEO is to continue to set the smiles, every day and in everyone who pace and direction of these efforts and journeys with us.” create the climate, culture and context It is a very high order to deliver this for embracing and effecting change that level daily, consistently, with everyone will lead to attaining and upholding our who comes our way. So to support and vision, mission and core values. build this culture, we focused on: • Fostering shared values in our people; What are the key • Professionalising our workforce

9

Q

organisational changes that you are driving in SMRT?

The key challenge, not unlike many other organisations but most pertinent to SMRT at this juncture in its history, is building trust and confidence with all

Me Myself I I love: The feeling of running in the rain.

I dislike: Pretentiousness.

My inspiration: Is my family.

My biggest weakness is: Laksa.

In five years’ time I’d like to: Have visited Antarctica.

Favourite quote: The mark of a great leader is not what he does in adversity, it is what he does in power.

12 ISSUE 15.3

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through effective training; • Recognising our people for their performances; and • Engaging our people.

In professionalising our human capital, we developed meaningful career paths and equipped our people with new competencies. For example, the newlylaunched Trains and Bus competencybased career schemes provide structured development plans and career advancements for our employees. Each year, we invest significantly in the vocational and soft skills training of our employees – an equivalent of two to three per cent of total payroll.

In tandem with the professional training and education, we put in place a leadership competency framework for personal development, as well as a Service Excellence training programme jointly developed with NTUC Learning

SMRT Hub and Disney Institute.

This training and culture change programme involved all SMRT employees (from the CEO to front line staff) and will mostly be completed by mid-2015. It has enabled us to discuss and tackle topics such as collaboration, trust, leadership, communication, recognition, and process excellence.

In 2015, we plan to roll out various leadership development programmes for senior to middle management.

These will enhance our core leadership strengths, ensuring managers walk the ground and engage our staff as well.

Q

What have you done to engage employees and maintain high morale amidst challenges faced by SMRT in the last two years?

It was a rather dramatic time when I joined SMRT as CEO in October 2012. Not everything that happened was positive but it all created an important lesson that we must continually improve and excel. However, the company had very strong foundations and a workforce that was proud, competent and committed.

So amidst change, we looked for order and amidst the order that we had grown accustomed to over our long and proud history, we identified areas to change.

On my first day at work, instead of heading to the office to meet with my C-level colleagues, I touched base with ground staff by taking a circuitous route to work by train. This way, I was able to reach out to all levels of the hierarchy at SMRT from the beginning.

One of the first things that I did when I took office was to send an email to all employees, asking for their feedback on how to make the company better.

Hundreds of employees came forward to share their ideas with me, and I felt a strong sense of shared ownership among them. My management team and I continually spend time to understand employees’ challenges, and to help them deliver service excellence to all our customers, both internal and external.

In the past year, I have held quarterly

CEO town hall sessions, attended internal “Lunch & Learn” and thought leadership talks, and met employees from across the company at over 30 dialogue sessions and workplace visits. We set up an Industrial Relations and Employee Engagement department in HR to promote extensive engagement between management, union and staff. By putting in place multiple channels of communication for staff engagement, my management team and I have fostered an environment that is conducive to constructive feedback, continual learning and effective collaboration across organisational lines.

Today, the engagement levels of our employees are high – nine in 10 of our staff say they are proud to be in SMRT, and 82% are sustainablyengaged, based on our recent employee satisfaction survey. These results exceed industry benchmarks and those of global companies similarly undergoing significant change.

Our voluntary attrition also dropped significantly to six per cent last year, from 10% in 2012.

Our customer service levels and network reliability improved (see: boxout), and our compliments-tocomplaints ratio from customers improved by 25% over the past year.

I continue to engage staff at all levels, in big and small groups, and make regular but unannounced trips on our public transport system to see first-hand what is going on.

Q

The rail network in Singapore will double by year 2030. How will SMRT grow its engineering talent pipeline to meet these requirements?

Over the last five years, SMRT has progressively developed strong academiaindustry partnerships to grow and sustain the rail engineering talent pipeline.

Today, SMRT has memorandums of understanding (MOUs) established with various academic institutes, including the Institute of Technical Education, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, and the Singapore Institute of Technology.

These MOUs feature co-design

The people manager Desmond Kuek Bak Chye, President and Group CEO of SMRT Corporation, strongly believes in leading and nurturing his people well.

He chairs HR meetings on talent development and deployment, and involves key management leaders in discussions on talent management, performance management and succession planning.

For new hires, Kuek is personally involved in the interview and selection of candidates who would join the C-suite and the level below. As part of talent management and retention, Kuek also conducts one-on-one sessions with the C-suite and the level below throughout the year to discuss career aspirations and performance feedback.

Kuek involves himself in the “Engineering and Management Associates-Senior Management Luncheon” and “Tea/Lunch with CEO” sessions, which serve as platforms for open sharing and engagement with upcoming talents.

of course curriculum, exchange of instructional services, and industrial attachment opportunities. We also collaborate with Singapore University of Technology and Design and the University of Singapore Institute of Management on research projects.

Such academia-industry partnerships will prepare and groom future engineers for SMRT and the public transport industry in Singapore.

In mid-2015, we plan to launch the SMRT Engineer Professional Roadmap, which will be supported by two programmes, namely STEP-IN (for fresh graduates and young engineers) and STEP-UP (for existing engineers with longer length of service). We envisage that these programmes will form the key building blocks in the professionalisation of our Engineer corps, and lead to professional accreditation with internationally recognised Engineering bodies. With that, we hope to build up Rail Engineering as a premier engineering career path - that our people will be among the best in the world and have a career they will be proud of.

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LEADERS ON LEADERSHIP

Should leaders alter their leadership style or stick to their personal leadership principles no matter what the situation entails?

I

find that my own leadership style is rooted in both my years of experience and the wisdom of previous superiors, who I have gained the greatest respect for in the network business.

As the years go by, I have naturally evolved in my leadership approach as it applies to managing teams and the business. I have learned as much from my success as I have through failures, which are often the most memorable events.

My own principles include always putting the needs of the customer and channel partner first, and then letting decisions be arrived at with that goal in mind.

Of course there can be many differing, and sometimes even extreme situations in business – be it with employees with legal issues, or business conflicts – and this

calls for a certain amount of flexibility.

While a certain degree of flexibility has its place, I offer that staying true to one’s own management style and beliefs is a cornerstone quality found in a leader.

When challenges come to the forefront, a leader should demonstrate the ability to be creative and solve the problem. I feel that staying true to one’s leadership style is crucial in business because when times get tough and leadership is needed the most, customers, partners and employees are looking for consistency and a genuine approach.

This is the moment when you are judged. The goal should be to emerge with a winning solution to go forward with.

I look forward to applying this principle as I meet the challenges here in my new role at Extreme Networks.

A

KEVIN O’HEARN Vice President, South Pacific, FedEx Express

t FedEx, leadership roles are inclusive and collaborative. We foster an open culture that encourages leaders to engage employees and listen to their feedback. Employees are invited to participate in annual surveys and team meetings with managers where they develop a plan of action based on the collected input.

More specifically, we have a commitment to what we call the PeopleService-Profit (PSP) philosophy. We believe that by establishing a culture that is respectful and rewarding for employees, all team members would in turn deliver exceptional service to our customers.

This philosophy sits at the core of everything we do as an organisation.

As a leader, I must embody this approach and serve as an example to others. As a guiding principle for our business, it is essential that my leadership style reflects the PSP approach, which means I must

BOB GAULT

Vice President of Worldwide Channels and Partners, Extreme Networks

demonstrate flexibility and collaboration in the face of any possible scenario.

However, while my leadership approach may be flexible, I also remain grounded in the belief of letting my teams take charge of their individual responsibilities and trusting them to get the job done.

We take the career growth of our employees very seriously at FedEx. Globally, over 50% of our management team has risen through the ranks of the company.

Throughout their growth, dedicated pre-management training is made available to all employees, providing them with the opportunity to advance into leadership roles.

This means that by the time individuals assume leadership roles, they are extremely well-prepared and fully invested in our PSP philosophy to become effective mentors who will guide the company and our employees successfully in the future.

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HR COUNTRY REPORT

INDONESIA

Dawn of a new

INDONESIA

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INDONESIA

HR COUNTRY REPORT

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, has long been tipped to realise its potential as a global powerhouse. However, its massive workforce has been plagued by a range of fundamental manpower issues. Sham Majid investigates what lies ahead for the archipelago

Sham Majid sham@hrmasia.com.sg

D

uring his inaugural address to Parliament in October last year, new Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged his compatriots “to move together, and to work, work, and work.”

With the December 2014 issue of the World Bank’s Indonesia Economic Quarterly citing that Indonesia’s economy is forecast to grow by 5.2% in 2015, Widodo’s sense of urgency in rejuvenating the Indonesian workforce is well-founded.

“Employees in Indonesia believe that after the presidential election, the country’s economy will grow in the next two According to the Best Employers Indonesia years,” says Budy study conducted by Aon Hewitt, the most Purnawanto, HR favoured employers in Indonesia not only Director at Tigaraksa enjoy significantly higher engagement Satria, one of the scores from their employees (89%) than the largest distribution Indonesia market average (71%), they also companies in scored an average of 23 percentage points Indonesia. higher than the market averages for four “It is quite similar drivers in which Indonesia employees were to what has been “least satisfied.” predicted by many Best Employers in Indonesia attained economists: that four percent higher growth and four percent Indonesia’s economic lower employee attrition levels than other growth will be higher study participants. They also filled 20% than the average more job openings internally. global growth.”

According to Purnawanto however, while economic growth will increase the economic scale of companies, attract new firms to invest, and provide more work opportunities in Indonesia, when the demand for workforce is higher than supply, the ability to retain staff will fall.

Best Employers, Best Practices

Rob Bryson, Country Manager of Robert Walters Indonesia, says it is a question of supply and demand.

“The Indonesian economy is growing fast and the demand for skilled professionals is very high,” he explains.

“So the job opportunities people have to move and the salary increase opportunities people have are probably greater here than they are in most countries, which is creating that increase (in departures).”

With Widodo and his cabinet vowing to tackle Indonesia’s complex and diverse workforce issues, 2015 promises to be a watershed year for the workforce landscape of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

Tackling retention woes According to the Towers Watson 2014 Global Workforce Study, 66% of employees in Indonesia expect to depart from their companies within the next two years, as opposed to the global average of 54%.

Only 34% of the survey’s Indonesian respondents intended to remain with their current organisation, similarly lower than the global rate of 46%.

“The high level of Indonesians responding that they are considering leaving their current employers is certainly a worrying trend for companies in Indonesia,” says Johannes Eckold, senior consultant for Organisational Surveys and Insights at Towers Watson.

Awaldi, Director of Talent and Rewards with Towers Watson Indonesia, says there is a mismatch between what employers believe to be important to their employees, and what does actually matter to them.

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INDONESIA to work were among the top drivers of employee sustainable engagement, attraction and retention in Indonesia,” says Awaldi.

“On the other hand, the Towers Watson 2014 Talent Management and Rewards Study – showed that career advancement and short term incentives were among the top drivers of employee sustainable engagement, attraction and retention in Indonesia.”

Stephanus Titus Widjaja, Founder & Business Development Director, Business Indonesia-Singapore Association (BISA) and BISA strategic business partner Philip Setiadi, say Indonesia has been growing steadily and for many career positions, there are ample of opportunities to change company for better pay and job conditions.

“Indonesians are not afraid to change jobs, especially those who have specific and critical professional skills such as IT and leadership skills,” explain Widjaja and Setiadi.

Bryson says that it all ultimately boils down to money.

“If you stay in your current company on a yearly basis, you are probably going to expect a salary increase of about 10%,” he says.

“If you move jobs, you can expect a salary increase of 25-30%, or 40%. Other factors are arguably not as important here when compared with financial incentives.”

He says it’s a difficult task for HR professionals in Indonesia to balance the financial and softer demands of candidates.

“So basically it is pretty simple, the pay pressure here is so high because there’s a shortage of good candidates versus demand. Unless you can provide high-level salary increases on a yearon-year basis, you are going to have staff turnover,” says Bryson.

Awaldi says career advancement is one of the few non-monetary drivers for employees in Indonesia.

“Employees believe that to advance their careers, they have to look outside their organisations,” he explains.

“They are unhappy about their employers continuously hiring senior positions externally. Subsequently, employees do not

Indonesian employee engagement drivers Specific drivers of attraction in Indonesia can be very different to those in the rest of the world. Among these are healthcare and wellness benefits, retirement benefits, as well as the organisation’s mission, vision and values.

Workers in Indonesia view their immediate supervisors, as compared to their business’s leadership, as the top driver of sustainable engagement.

Treating workers with respect, giving them projects that cater to their individual skills, and encouraging new ideas are some of the key engagement factors for employees.

Sources: The Towers Watson 2014 Global Workforce Study & The Towers Watson 2014 Talent Management and Rewards Study

believe they have a chance to get promoted and progress through the ranks if they decide to stay with their current employer.”

In order to enhance retention rates, Purnawanto, advises companies in Indonesia to pay more attention to three elements: financial links (basic remuneration); social links (interpersonal relationships and work-life balance); and “fit links” (ensuring matches of employees to organisational values).

Riding the engagement wave One area of pride for Indonesia’s workforce is its employee engagement spectrum.

According to The Best Employers Indonesia

HR COUNTRY REPORT

study conducted by Aon Hewitt, Indonesia has seen steady improvement in these scores over the last six years. It has moved from 64% of employees engaged to 71%, the highest score recorded among the 12 survey markets in Asia-Pacific.

The survey found that 75% of Indonesian employees speak positively about the firms they work for, and want to put in extra effort for the company.

Indonesia also had the smallest proportion of actively disengaged employees among the surveyed markets.

Bryson says the HR departments in Indonesia have improved significantly over the last six years.

“The quality of HR, in terms of engagement with their own staff, training and development, rolling out personal development plans, and looking into the longer-term prospects of employees have all improved,” he says.

Purnawanto concurs with Bryson’s sentiments, noting that over the last decade, many companies in Indonesia have successfully implemented “good HR practices”.

“Employees are likely going to stay longer in a company with good HR practices,” says Purnawanto.

“The implementation of these practices are also why companies are able to produce more qualified individuals.”

Regarding talent engagement, Purnawanto says companies in Indonesia need to focus on leadership development programmes, people mapping, career development, and remuneration strategies.

“Senior management involvement on talent management should also be imposed,” he says.

According to Widjaja and Setiadi, many companies in Indonesia are now realising that engaging the employee is more important than continuously hiring and losing their talent.

“Developing internal talent and engaging them seems to be the preferred way to deal with talent, and it seems that many employees agree and appreciate that move,” they say.

From Bryson’s perspective, key aspects for talent engagement in Indonesia ISSUE 15.3

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INDONESIA over the coming years will include: communication with staff, keeping staff appraised of where and what is going on in the organisation, personal development, personal skill development, opportunity development, and salaries.

“It’s a little bit difficult in Indonesia because the labour laws here are so complex (and the Ministry of Manpower is so demanding) that performance management doesn’t really play the same part in Indonesia as it does elsewhere in the world,” he points out.

Technology adoption and the ways technology can deliver programmes, especially in customer-oriented HR organisations, should be pondered by HR directors and managers in 2015, says Awaldi.

“HR professionals need to rethink their HR practices and provide managers with the tools to support this engagement, but without the administrative burden,” he elaborates.

“Most employers in Indonesia tend to have HR policies that are applicable to all the employees across the organisation.

Organisations need to segment their employees, understand them better, and create a solution unique to each group.”

Compensation patterns Bryson says there has been a move towards the consolidation of salary packages for professionals in Indonesia.

“Traditionally, Indonesian salary packages are fairly complex,” he says.

“There are large numbers of additional benefits that come into play. For example, sometimes, things like food allowances exist in Indonesian salaries.”

However, he states there is now a move towards a standard packages of base salary, and a car or transport allowance.

According to Olly Riches, President Director of Michael Page in Indonesia, strategies rarely seen outside of Indonesia include the Car Ownership Programme, House Ownership Programme and Stock Ownership programme.

Riches explains that these policies garner a degree of commitment from workers, hoping to avoid the noticeable financial loss when individuals leave the firm.

HR COUNTRY REPORT

“Organisations need to segment their employees, understand them better, and create a solution unique to each group” Awaldi, Director of Talent and Rewards with Towers Watson Indonesia

Widjaja and Setiadi disclose that companies in Indonesia are starting to appreciate really good talent and are willing to pay top dollars to attract those with the necessary skills and experience to lead functions and organisations to the next level.

“Many Indonesian companies are able to compete for talent in the global market or at least with neighbouring countries like Singapore and Malaysia to offer good positions with the same level of compensation,” they say.

“In general, this is a good move to really propel the growth of the company and the economy to the regional and global level.”

Awaldi says extra performance bonuses are likely to enter the pay mix in 2015, along with a rising prevalence of longterm incentives for senior executives.

“These ensure high performers will continuously provide positive and significant contributions to the growth of their organisations, and that it is in line with retention efforts to retain key and senior positions,” he says.

Recruitment hot spots Purnawanto says the new president has already identified priority sectors for the Indonesian economy: infrastructure, agriculture and fisheries, and creative industries.

“It’s predicted that there will be higher demand for civil engineers; jobs related to airplane, rail, and ship operations; logistics practitioners; agriculture experts; food

technologists; and any occupations related to the creative economy,” he explains.

Demand for “critically-skilled” employees is higher than supply at present, Purnawanto adds.

“Since this scarcity leads to a war for talent, companies in Indonesia need to secure the supply of qualified people from internal sources.

“Personal development and career development programmes should be imposed, as well as the need to change from a ‘buy’ to ‘build’ approach.”

According to Widjaja and Setiadi, it is critical that HR in Indonesia has the ability to partner the business effectively in 2015.

“The growth of the economy offers some challenges facing businesses and HR has to offer great business insight in relation to talent engagement and effective performance management,” they elaborate.

They add the IT sector, especially with the continued growth of e-commerce and start-up firms, will see a great demand for IT technical professionals.

“The mining sector may see some decrease due to the lower industry growth,” they say.

Awaldi says HR should be concentrating on creating formal architecture around each job, including competencies and evaluation processes. They should also be working to understand the key motivation drivers of their employees and developing HR programmes that address them specifically.

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JENNIFER ROBIN

The little things

MATTER A change in leadership mindsets can elevate a good workplace to greatness, says author and Spire HR Summit 2015 speaker Jennifer Robin

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A

great workplace is one where people trust those they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with. In 2011, in conjunction with the Great Place to Work® institute, Michael Burchell and I released a book describing that workplace, called The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why it Matters. In the book, we describe employee experiences, but also the actions that great leaders take in order to create the experience of trust, pride and camaraderie.

While I’ve visited many good workplaces, few rise to the level of a great workplace. The reasons may surprise you. It’s not that managers in good workplaces have too few resources or too large of a workload. It’s not that they lack the appropriate level of authority and autonomy. And, rarely do their work processes need a complete overhaul. Rather, leaders in good workplaces can change one thing – their

own minds – in order to elevate their workplace from “good” to “great”.

Most “good workplace” managers are likely to think of the creation of a great workplace as an initiative, a project, or a grand gesture… much like many of the deliverables for which they have responsibility. They have a harder time wrapping their mind around the fact that a great workplace is the product of the resolve to change the “how” the organisation does what it does in ways that build trust, pride and camaraderie. Often, the “what” stays the same – people still communicate, hold meetings, and ask for suggestions.

The “how” often shows up in teeny-tiny details that happen along the way rather than in a big reveal for a final product.

Tips for improvement Sometimes it’s easier to “act” your way into a new way of thinking, than to “think” your way into a new way of acting. So, if the focus on the “how”

JENNIFER ROBIN

ABOUT THE SPEAKER A management faculty member in the Foster College of Business at Bradley University, Jennifer Robin teaches in undergraduate, MBA, and executive programmes in the areas of leadership, organisational culture, and strategic human resources management. She has co-authored three books – No Excuses: How You Can Turn Any Workplace into a Great One (2013), The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters (2011) and A Life in Balance: Finding Meaning in a Chaotic World (2006).

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JENNIFER ROBIN

“Sometimes it’s easier to “act” your way into a new way of thinking, than to “think” your way into a new way of acting”

is still elusive, try these little things that can bring more trust, pride, and camaraderie to your day-to-day responsibilities.

For instance, after meetings with your peers, distill the information discussed into one or two relevant bullet points and report back to your people. They’ll appreciate knowing what’s on the minds of their leaders, not to mention getting information on what the day-to-day in the next level of their own career development looks like. Build even more trust by infusing your message with opinions and feelings, in addition to merely the facts.

As another example, make a habit of tying your actions back to strategic imperatives or organisational values.

Though you may understand the reasons behind your actions, others may need a bit more information in order to see your line of thinking. This becomes more and more true for leaders as they move up the organisational hierarchy.

With each promotion, you are privy to more information; you are practically immersed in cues about strategic direction and rationale for decisions. It is easy to lose sight of the quality and quantity of information received at lower levels in the organisation. Making those connections for employees builds 24 ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM

your credibility, and enhances the overall experience of trust.

To develop employees with a minimal investment of time, ask your people to shadow you when you are working on things for which they may only see the outcome. When employees watch the process you go through, they can better understand not only the parameters within which you make a decision but also gain important decision making skills of their own through watching yours. Again, you don’t change what you do; rather, you change how you do it by inviting employees to observe the process.

When you say thank you, add a line about what it is you are particularly thankful for, perhaps one of the employee’s strengths or something unique they bring to the table. For example, “Thanks for your help on this project. You have great systemsthinking skills and I like your ideas about presentation.” Notice how the gold is in the second line when it comes to building respect in your workplace.

In good workplaces, appreciation is not uncommon, but in great workplaces, people have a keen understanding of what they are being appreciated for.

Job titles, either formal or informal, may also suggest an environment of

trust. To use a personal example, I asked our Administrative Assistant what her job title would be if she could capture the value she really brings to our department. She determined that “Coordinator of Chaos” was appropriate (while also being irreverent and humorous). While “Coordinator of Chaos” will never appear on a business card or on a nameplate, informally shifting her title to be one that was more descriptive, and involving her in the process, shows that we see her as an important part of our team.

The “how” also shows up when you use language from your mission, vision, and values to connect people to their work. “How did you change the world this week?” better connects people to the larger purpose of the organisation than “What were you working on in the conference room?” even though the answer to the question may be exactly the same. Connecting people to the mission of the organisation can build pride by reminding people the good they do in the world by working for your organization.

Last but not least, your traditions in welcoming employees to your workplace may also be a place to infuse even more camaraderie. In most workplaces, new employees are on-boarded with formalised training and introductions.

But, in great workplaces, employees know that they’ve arrived in an organisation that is thrilled to have them, and they are given a healthy dose of pride in what the organisation is all about. Most of us remember our first day on the job, whether it was a good one or a great one. Few of us remember our 250th day on the job. Make sure that every bit of your new employee’s first day leaves behind a positive memory.

If great workplace leaders have one thing in common, it’s their mindset.

They know that what they do matters, but how they do it matters more.

Shifting your focus to the “how” will undoubtedly set you on a path to creating a great workplace, or making your great workplace even better.

JENNIFER ROBIN

Catch Jennifer Robin live at the Spire HR Summit 2015

No excuses:

How you can turn any workplace into a great one Change is exhilarating, renewing, and developmental. Why, then, when we are faced with the opportunity to lead a positive change, the first inclination is often to slow down, focus on obstacles, and make excuses? Leaders aiming to make their ‘good’ workplaces into ‘great’ ones will often talk first about the lack of commitment and resources, the limitations of their industry or functional area, organisational complexity or other legacy issues, and even the employees themselves as difficulties and obstacles.

While excuse making is human, the ability to turn excuses into fuel is a fundamental leadership skill. Join this exciting session with Jennifer Robin to find out more about practices from managers and leaders who have done just that – adopted higher mindsets and overcome challenges to sustaining their great workplaces.

You’ll leave this session with a renewed commitment to moving from a good place to work to a great one, along with some helpful tips to get you (re)started on the journey.

A management faculty member in the Foster College of Business at Bradley University, Jennifer Robin teaches in undergraduate, MBA, and executive programmes in the areas of leadership, organisational culture, and strategic human resources management. She has co-authored three books – No Excuses: How You Can Turn Any Workplace into a Great One (2013), The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters (2011) and A Life in Balance: Finding Meaning in a Chaotic World (2006).

TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS from Jennifer Robin’s Spire HR Summit session

• Find out how successful leaders and managers overcame challenges to create great workplaces • How to always tie your actions to strategic imperatives or organisational values • Tips to get you started on your journey

Jennifer Robin

Author & International Speaker

For more information, please visit

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Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter Hazel Jackson Expert Strategist, Entrepreneur and International Speaker

Developing Global Talent to Keep Up with APAC Growth Talent Swapping and Cross Border Development Achal Agarwal President - Asia Pacific, Kimberly-Clark International

Leading Transformational Changes at Microsoft Jessica Tan Soon Neo Managing Director, Microsoft Singapore, Member of Parliament East Coast Group Representative Constituency (GRC)

Develop Exponential Power - Stop Chasing It and Let It Chase You Bjorn Martinoff Author & International Speaker

Trailblazers: How Top Business Leaders are Using Diversity and Inclusion to Accelerate Results Lenora Billings-Harris Diversity Strategist, Author & International Speaker

No Excuses: How you Can Turn Any Workplace Into a Great One Jennifer Robin Author & International Speaker

Surfing the Demographic Tsunami - Strategic Workforce Planning Challenges in Singapore Gerard Koh Keng Swee Vice President HR, SMRT Corporation Ltd

Developing Next-Gen Leaders @ Citi Evangeline Chua Head of HR, Citi Singapore

HR 5.0 - Math or Reality?

Vineet Gambhir Vice President & Head of Talent APAC, Yahoo

Power Ahead by Turning HR Upside Down - Atlassian’s ‘Secret Sauce’ Kellie Egan HR Director Australia & APAC, Atlassian

Boosting Your HR Department’s Visibility and Value in Your Organisation David Avrin Visibility Expert, International Speaker & Author

HR Evolution - Building Your HR Teams’ Core Competencies for the 21st Century Eugene Lam HR Leader, Asia Pacific, Juniper Networks

Master Your World: 10 Executive Leadership Strategies to Improve Productivity, Profits and Communication Mary Kelly Leadership & Productivity Expert and International Speaker

Challenge Your Traditional Office Culture to Retain Young Talent Jonathan Allen Yabut Winner, The Apprentice Asia and Chief of Staff, AirAsia

The Need for Design Thinking and Innovation in Strategic HR Management Dr. Y.H Wei Senior HR Manager - Asia, New Balance

Make Talent Your Business - How Exceptional Managers Develop People Every Day While Getting Results Dr. Wendy Axelrod Talent Management Expert & Author

Initiating and Developing an Organisational Culture Change Project From Inception to Implementation - SUTD Case study Jaclyn Lee Senior Director HR and Organisational Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)

Design and Implement Employee Recognition Programs That Work!

Cindy Ventrice Employee Recognition Specialist & Author

Delivering HR Value in a Growing Company Foo Chek Wee Group HR Director, Zalora SEA

Adapting to the Shifting Talent Pool William Chin APAC Staffing Director, Qualcomm

LOW PECK KEM

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES� SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

Miss Jaclyn Lee is currently the Senior Director, Human Resources and Organisational Development, for The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). She handles the full spectrum of HR for the university and is one of the pioneer team members charged with starting up the new university from scratch. She has helped to facilitate key strategic workshops to drive the vision and mission, and is also responsible for helping the top management team develop work plans and goals to drive the mission. Her other key roles includes developing the Total Compensation Structure, Performance Management System, spearheading new HR policies and processes, recruiting key leaders, senior academics and faculty, as well as driving the organizational development of the university through change management and the organizational cultural assessment instrument.

® Become a Consultative Partner in Your Organisation Through HR Measurements and Analytics Oberdan Marianetti Empowering Context Intelligence Global Head of Learning Corporate & Institutional Clients and Corporate Finance, Standard Chartered Bank

Employing and Recognising Non-Degree Holders - Paper Qualifications Vs. Skills Low Peck Kem Chief Human Resources Officer & Senior Director (Business Partnerships), Singapore Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office

Jaclyn was previously Senior Vice President, Group Human Resources, responsible for managing the full spectrum of human resources for Certis CISCO Security Pte Ltd, a security services company comprising of about 8,000 employees in Singapore and 25,000 in the region. Her role there included strategic HR planning for Singapore and the region, compensation and benefits, performance management and scorecard measurement, employee engagement, human capital development, employer branding, resourcing and

For more info, visit us at www.hrsummit.com.sg or call us at +65 6423 4631 Ms Low Peck Kem Chief Human Resources Officer & Senior Director (Business Partnerships) Singapore Public Service Division Prime Minister’s Office

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As the Chief HR Officer and Senior Director (Business Partnerships) for the Public Service Division (PSD), Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore, Peck Kem is responsible for professionalizing HR in the public sector of 16 Ministries and 65 Statutory Boards. The CHRO oversees the development of public sector HR capability and provides professional leadership to the HR community across public agencies and the Senior Director (Partnerships) works with public agencies and PSD clusters to develop client-centered solutions for the agencies.

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Peck Kem has the unique combination of experiences ranging from a Quality Engineer to Manufacturing Manager to VP Human Resources in the private sector (Tandon, Western Digital, Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies & Avago Technologies), a Divisional Director, National HR Division to Chief HR Officer in the Singapore Public Sector

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Jack Canfield America’s #1 Success Coach, Peak Performance Strategist & Co-Founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul

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Naomi Simson Founding Director RedBalloon

Derrick McManus Author, Performance Coach & International Speaker

Redmart Case Study: Retaining, Developing and Motivating a Multicultural, Varying Socio-Economic and Skilled Workforce Shaun McEwan Fulfilment Centre and Training Manager, RedMart

Team Building vs. Team Bonding - The Vital Differences & Effective Implementation to Make Your Team a Winner Gary Lee Head Learning & Development, Soo Kee Group

Leveraging on Your Brand - Creative Strategies to Recruit and Bring Top Talent on Board Dirk-Jan Pieter Rijks Vice President Global Human Resources Development, Service & Attitude, Global Marketing Accor Luxury and Upscale Brands, Accor Hospitality

Creative Leadership in an Age of Complexity BH Tan is one of Asia’s leading executive coaches, leadership BH Tan consultants and educators Leadership Expert &leadership Speaker specializing in

Employing and Recognising Non-Degree Holders - Paper Qualifications Skills Phan Yoke Fei Group Head, Human Resources, Auric Pacific Group of Companies

development in a culturally– diverse environment. He is the president of Lead Associates based in Singapore.

Vs. The Building Blocks of Employee Engagement He is the author of The First‐Time D N Prasad Manager in Asia: Maximizing your Success by Blending East and West Best Practices Director, Google People Services - APAC, Google published by Marshall Cavendish. His second book Leading with New Eyes was published

by McGraw Hill in Jan 2014.

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Engagement Redefined: Does Flexi-Work Really Work?

Che Yaneza VP - Human Resources Department, Primer Group of Companies

Employing and Recognising Non-Degree Holders - Paper Qualifications Vs. Skills Lynn Gan Chief HR Officer, Alexandra Health, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital

Engagement Redefined: Does Flexi-Work Really Work?

Cara Reil VP - Talent Management and Development, Human Resource, Singtel

Recruiting and Building a Team of Superstars Victor Cui Chief Executive Officer, ONE Fighting Championship

Getting the Best Out of Every Generation at Work Lynn Leahy International Speaker, Mentor & Coach

Engagement Redefined: Does Flexi-Work Really Work?

Annella Heytens Vice President, Human Resources APJC, Cisco Systems

Leveraging on Your Brand - Creative Strategies to Recruit and Bring Top Talent on Board Michael Vaz Director Global Human Resources Development, Service & Attitude, Accor Luxury & Upscale Brands, Accor Hospitality

Leveraging on Internal Talent Mobility to Boost Your Bench Strength Yeo Eng Sheng HR Director, Gemalto

Engagement Redefined: Does Flexi-Work Really Work?

Ong Seok Bin Director (Human Resource Division), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

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HR INSIDER

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HR INSIDER

TALENT

RUNWAY Clear career progression and employee empowerment are essential for attracting talented millenials and Generation Y staff into the Zalora Group. HRM looks at how the once fledging business has grown in its bid to become Asia’s leading online fashion destination Sumathi V Selvaretnam sumathi@hrmasia.com.sg

A

young company driven by young people, the Zalora Group has been making waves in the online retail scene since its inception in 2012.

From hiring just 20 employees in its early days, the company has grown by leaps and bounds over a few short years and currently boasts a workforce of 2,000.

To support this rapid growth and expansion of its operations across different markets, the company needed to hire more specialists, shares Vinod Dontimalla, Country Manager, Zalora Southeast Asia. “Through the years we’ve expanded our teams in finance,

AT A GLANCE

Name of organisation: Zalora Group includes Zalora (Southeast Asia) and The Iconic (in Australia and New Zealand)

Total number of employees: 500 in Singapore headquarters and 2,000 across the entire group Key HR Focus areas: Recruitment, employee engagement, and employee development

marketing, logistics, HR, IT, legal and buying, and since we now have our own private label – we now also have inhouse designers.

“It’s always a challenge to find the right candidate but we are willing to spend time and effort to have people with the right skills and the right attitudes on board,” he adds.

The Zalora Group is also gradually building its employer brand. “As a three-year old company, we are still in our building phase,” Dontimalla says.

“Though we enjoyed steady growth through the years and we are fortunate to have positioned ourselves as the region’s online fashion destination of choice, we are still fortifying our brand as an employer of choice.”

Talent search As an employer, Zalora offers career options that go beyond the fashion industry itself.

“We are not just a fashion company;

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HR INSIDER we are an internet retailer that provides a wide scope of services across different markets,” Dontimalla says. “A bulk of the people working in Zalora are trained specialists in logistics, IT, online marketing, data analysis, finance, HR and even the law.”

However, recruitment in a highly competitive marketplace is not without its challenges. To overcome these, Zalora recruits across multiple channels.

“Given that we’re digital at the core, we look for digital innovations in the way we do things,” says Dontimalla. For example, the company drives talent acquisition through its own LinkedIn page.

Zalora also trusts its own employees to bring like-minded and competent individuals into its fold through recommendations and referrals. Employees are rewarded for successful referrals.

“We also launch multiple campus engagement activities to get fresh talent and help them develop their full potential. All three (strategies) are proven to be effective,” Dontimalla says.

However, building a company at this scale and speed is not for everyone.

WHO’S WHO

VINOD DONTIMALLA

Country Manager, Southeast Asia

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“Employees that thrive in a start-up model are people who are as ambitious as the brand – they have fire in their bellies, are hungry for growth, and focused on building a brand,” Dontimalla says.

As no two days are the same, staff also need to be comfortable with a fast-paced working environment where tasks are varied and projects are delivered back to back.

“People must enjoy multitasking and find excitement in things that are new. Most importantly they should be people who like to think out of the box and are willing to push boundaries – we are an exciting young brand that seeks to be a trailblazer in the online fashion industry,” Dontimalla says.

Employee engagement Zalora is a youthful company where the average age of staff is 28 years old. Dontimalla says millennials and Generation Y employees are generally looking for a workplace where they can grow. “That means you need to offer them a clear path for career progression, offer them work flexibility; and provide them opportunities to learn. By giving them the chance to be creative and lead projects you empower them to make decisions and get them invested on the project.”

REENA MELANIE MOHAN

Senior HR Executive - Talent Acquisition

According to Dontimalla, work-life balance is one of the most significant drivers of employee retention among millennials. “This tech-savvy generation is essentially able to work anytime from anywhere with an internet connection.

Seemingly arbitrary work hours or having to sit at a desk all day is less appealing to them. So provide them flexible work options and a certain degree of autonomy.”

Opportunities for growth One of the great advantages of startups is that they often give important roles and responsibilities to young and promising talents.

“This helps them grow and learn faster – by giving them a chance to manage amazing projects you challenge them to push harder and become better with every project completion,” Dontimalla says.

Employees at Zalora get to have insights on how to run a company of Zalora’s scale from a very young age. “For example we have people in their mid-20s joining our directors in investor meetings or regional event planning,” Dontimalla says.

Dione Song is a prime example. She came onboard as a marketing manager in late 2012 and is now a managing director, who

JIN HUI WANG Payroll Specialist

HR INSIDER spearheaded the region’s first “click and mortar” store. “She also launched a Zalora campaign in support of local artistes and led a team across various facets of marketing such as campaign creation, design, customer relationship management and search engine optimization,” Dontimalla says.

Zalora launched its Management Trainee programme last year. The 16 months rotation programme offers comprehensive, cross-functional experiences in different business areas across three Asian countries.

“This programme is only for top graduates that have shown time and time again the ability and the willingness to excel in every endeavor,” Dontimalla says.

“This is an important step for us to continuously find the right talent with the right attitude and hire someone who can hit the ground running once offered a position,” he adds.

“Employees that thrive in a startup model are people who are as ambitious as the brand – they have fire in their bellies, are hungry for growth, and focused on building a brand” Vinod Dontimalla, Country Manager, Zalora Southeast Asia

Zalora’s work culture is reflective of the brand’s cool, fun and young image.

“If you step into a Zalora office there’s an agency or start-up feel to it – it’s very relaxed but very driven. It’s a mix of fashion enthusiasts, analytics experts and tech geniuses guided by top-notch

consultants,” Dontimalla says.

The company is also highly collaborative, recognising that shared expertise can help propel the brand even further. It is quite easy for younger employees to approach managers and directors and discuss their ideas. “We foster a very flat organisational structure – a structure built around tasks and specialisations rather than hierarchy,” Dontimalla says.

Cross-department brainstorming is also common. On one occasion,

members of Zalora’s design team proposed possible app developments with its in-house IT experts. “We don’t have people inside offices – our senior managers and directors sit side by side with their teams for easy coordination and communication,” Dontimalla says. “Our projects are team-driven and because everyone is a specialist in their respective fields, they will all have contributions to the ongoing discussions and planning.”

KOUSHIKEE DUTTA

SASHIKALA SUBRAMANIAM

VANESSA TANG

Work culture

HR Executive

HR Executive

HR Executive

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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Hiring with and working

PWDs Finding meaningful employment is a goal for many people, including people with disabilities (PWDs). They too can achieve self-reliance if they are given equal opportunities for employment and are well-trained in market relevant skills. So how can employers enhance the employability of PWDs, and both hire and work with them?

Shalini Shukla-Pandey shalini@hrmasia.com.sg

W

ork is a vital form of selfreliance in any society. This holds true for people with disabilities (PWDs) as well. Making up about five per cent of the Singapore population, many have difficulties finding jobs.

PWDs today do not have access to employment on an equal basis with others in Singapore. “Although there are successful professionals with disabilities, they are the exception rather than the norm,” says Nicholas Aw, President of the Disabled People’s Association (DPA).

Still, the situation regarding equal opportunities for PWDs in Singapore is slowly but surely improving, says Benny Ng, General Manager of ABR Holdings.

“Singapore is one of the leading countries in Asia creating awareness and channels in helping PWDs at the national level,” he explains. “Various special needs schools and organisations have helped increase the awareness and understanding of PWDs, which in turn has given employers a better assurance that PWDs can add value to their organisation.”

While there are no employment statistics on the disability population

available to compare the rates of PWD employment in Singapore and other Asian countries, government initiatives and funding to in Singapore has certainly been noticeable.

“Singapore has a comprehensive programme, the Open Door Programme, which does in some ways compare to other developed nations in Asia,” says Aw. In Japan, vocational training centres help with the employability of PWDs and there are government subsidies to support employers in hiring PWDs – much like is available in Singapore. However, Japan also has a quota system that legally mandates that companies’ workforce comprises of at least 1.6% PWDs. Failure to comply results in a financial penalty.

“Such legislation is needed to ensure that all companies make the effort to have inclusive hiring practices,” says Aw. “No such quota system or any other anti-discriminations legislation exists in Singapore.”

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DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

MYTHS OF WORKING WITH PWDS People with disabilities (PWDs) are often misunderstood at work. Nicholas Aw, President, Disabled People’s Association, shares some myths and facts:

MYTH:

PWDs are given special treatment or privileges at work.

FACT:

It may be the case that a PWD is qualified and capable to doing a particular job, but needs some accommodations either in the office workplace or in their job design in order to do their work. For example, an employee who is hearing impaired may need to communicate with his clients over e-mail and via text messages, but is otherwise able to fulfil his job deliverables.

This is a case of reasonable accommodation, and not special treatment.

PWDs should not be given an unfair advantage over colleagues or have performance expectations lowered for them. Instead accommodations should be made to remove the barriers that inhibit or make it difficult for that PWD to do their job.

MYTH:

PWDs cost a company more to hire than persons without disabilities.

FACT:

The Open Door Programme offers up to 90% subsidies for a number of workplace accommodations including the purchase of assistive technology, sensitivity training and renovations to make sure the environment is accessible. The Singapore Government also offers tax incentives for those companies who hire PWDs. Taken together, these schemes compensate for the costs that are incurred in readying a workplace for a PWD. Sometimes there are very little modifications needed to hire a PWD and thus there is hardly any cost, if any, associated with having an employee with a disability.

MYTH:

PWDs should be paid less than other employees because they cannot do as much as their non-disabled colleagues.

FACT:

PWDs should be paid for fulfilling the functions that are essential to do their job and not paid less because they need some accommodations in order to do that job.

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their employment is also valued.

“Potential employers of PWDs can offer more internships, apprenticeships or training schemes to PWDs to help them adjust to and, if offered a permanent role, flourish in the workplace,” says Aw. “Such training schemes are a great levelling tool between those that have had mainstream education and those that have been through Special Education Schools.

“Once employers have hired PWDs, they should then ensure that they are offered on-going skills development and training,” he adds. “This will not only allow PWDs to keep abreast of new developments in their field, but also allow them to keep adding value to the company.”

According to a survey by the Singapore HR Institute (SHRI), of the 20 employers who have had experience employing PWDs, 95% said that those employees satisfied or exceeded their performance expectations.

The DPA’s own experience tallies with those survey findings. “Given the opportunity, PWDs can show themselves to be just as capable as any other employee,” says Aw. “Moreover, due to the fact that many PWDs have had to learn to adapt to and overcome obstacles in their everyday lives, they can often show themselves to be dedicated and resourceful employees.”

Ng agrees. “Based on the experiences we had with the Association for Persons with Special Needs, we are satisfied with their contributions,” he says.

“In fact, most of their work performances exceeded our expectations.”

ABR Holdings – which manages a number of food and beverage brands in Singapore, recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Metta School, extending its existing partnership by another two years.

In 2013, the school started with four students placed in Swensen’s for the School-To-Work Programme.

The following year, another seven

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION students were seconded on various work attachment programmes.

“Skills such as hospitality, food preparation and workplace literacy have been taught,” says Ng. “It is a great opportunity to be able to work with Metta School,” he adds. “We not only provide them with a platform encompassing real work experiences, it also allows us to learn from them and be part of the ‘Care for Community’ journey.”

Ng says employers should keep an open mind and heart when looking to hire and work with PWDs. “Give these individuals a chance and in turn, we ourselves can better understand and learn from them too.”

Other than company internships, apprenticeships or training, PWDs can also access vocational training available from SG Enable and voluntary welfare organisations.

Championing PWDs Working with PWDs involves integrating them with other staff members within the organisation. “There are many companies with inclusive practices who share their HR policies on their websites, and a few examples include sensitivity training for staff members and having social events that are inclusive to give an opportunity for employees with and without disabilities to mingle and get to know each other better,” says Aw. For more advice, DPA encourages companies to engage with voluntary welfare organisations and SG Enable.

DPA recently collaborated with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAPFEP) to publish Exceptional Journeys, a book that highlights the employment stories of ten PWDs and their organisations. It can be downloaded from TAFEP’s website free of charge.

“Two companies from that book that I’d like to highlight are Absolute Kinetics Consultancy and Man Diesel and Turbo Singapore,” says Aw. Although Absolute Kinetics Consultancy only has one employee with a disability, it plans to increase its workplace diversity by employing more PWDs and also

starting to hire ex-offenders.

Man Diesel and Turbo Singapore is a good example of a company that adapted its workplace for an employee who acquired a disability. The company also re-designed the job to suit his abilities and needs.

SG Enable is more than willing to help in all aspects of hiring a PWD, including sourcing for candidates, auditing the workplace, and assisting with funding applications, says Aw. The organisation also provides support to both employee and employer for at least six months.

“Hiring a PWD is a great thing for a company to do because a diverse workplace contributes to the level of innovation and new ideas in the workforce,” he explains. “It may also help a company broaden its customer base to include disabled clients because there is no better way to show that a company caters to their needs than having the company be comprised of PWDs.”

10 tips to a more inclusive workplace for PWDs • Enlist Senior Management’s commitment.

• Sensitise the workforce to enhance acceptance and productivity.

• Ensure job requirements are relevant and non-discriminatory.

• Encourage persons with disabilities to apply in job advertisements.

• Focus on relevant professional knowledge and skills during interviews.

• Do not stereotype or make assumptions.

• Make reasonable accommodation to enable better performance.

• Involve co-workers for greater support.

• Communicate expectations and review coaching and appraisal process where appropriate.

• Treat workers fairly and with respect.

Source: TAFEP – Enabling Employers Awards 2014

Enabling Employers Awards 2014 Leading Employer Award: Han’s

Han’s Managing Director Han Choon Fook, believes that the ideal work environment for employees with disabilities comes about by providing a backbone of technology and training and, at its heart, a warm and communicative culture.

Technology and training, he says, form the ‘hardware’ backbone, allowing Han’s 54 special needs employees across its 26 restaurants to perform tasks better and serve customers well.

“We upgrade our technology and train this group of employees to handle these technology tools,” said Han. For instance, pictures of food menu items are included in the Han’s point-of-sales system to make it easier for employees with disabilities to recognise the items. Large fonts on its handheld wireless ordering tablets are also more user-friendly for their employees with disabilities.

Such efforts do not just begin at the workplace, but at the 13 Special Education schools and welfare associations it works with. Han’s provides training for their students, and offers voluntary consultancy services at one school, such as advising on the type of cafe which would be suitable at its premises, and how to prepare menus and set up the cafe. To enhance their training facilities, Han’s even provides its old point-of-sales systems and printers to a few schools. “This is to enable them to train their students, so they are able to adapt to our equipment faster when they start work,” said Han. At Han’s own training sessions, the training manuals also come in easy-to-read format with step by step instructions on how to prepare dishes.

Culture, however, is the key to integrating persons with disabilities into Han’s workplace.

“The mind-set is very important; we treat them as one of our family members, and send a very strong message to our outlet managers that regular communications with them is very important during day-to-day operations,” said Han. Source: SG Enable

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CORPORATE HEALTH

The business of EMPLOYEE HEALTH SCREENINGS

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CORPORATE HEALTH

It is no secret that healthy employees are productive employees. While organisations are whittling down costs in other areas, smart businesses are sticking with their investments in employee health coverage

T

he number of multinational businesses that take a global approach to health promotion among their workforces is increasing. According to the 2014 Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion, Workplace Wellness and Productivity Strategies Executive Summary report by Buck Consultants, 56% of participating multinationals had a global health promotion strategy in place, up from 34% when the same survey was taken in 2008.

The research also found that 29% of responding organisations have a fully implemented wellness strategy in place. According to the 2014 Employee Benefits report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), says just six per cent of organisations there plan to offer health screening programme benefits in the next 12 months.

Andrew Wai, Business Development Manager for corporate health consultancy DontiaCare, says before talking about the importance of health screenings, both employers and employees should understand the correlation between employee health and productivity, as well as global healthcare trends.

“As individuals, we know the importance of health screenings on our wellbeing: how it helps to prevent the onset of diseases and manage conditions at an early stage,” elaborates Wai. “However from a company standpoint, what does this mean to the employer?”

Finding the productivity link The Aon Hewitt 2014 Health Care Survey found that 88% of organisations focused on building health awareness among their workforces, through strategies

such as health risk questionnaires and body mass index (BMI) screenings.

Wai says that while health screenings help reduce direct medical and health insurance cost burdens, indirect costs of poor employee health (including absenteeism, disability and reduced work output) can have a far greater total budget impact.

“While employers understand that investing in human capital impacts on the top and bottom lines positively, they are now also starting to recognise the correlation between employee health and productivity,” explains Wai. “Workplace health promotion programmes that improve employee health can also lead to increases in productivity and cost savings (see: boxout).

“Healthcare and drug development

Scope of medical programmes uncovered The 2014 Health and Well-being Touchstone Survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that: • 53% of firms offered disease management programmes in 2014 (up from 49% in 2013) • The most frequent programmes were for diabetes (72%), asthma (57%), cardiac issues (56%), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (53%) • 87% of firms did not have enough data to calculate or did not assess their return on investment of their disease management programmes Source: 2014 Health and Well-being Touchstone Survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers

Sham Majid sham@hrmasia.com.sg

costs are escalating globally and the Singapore Government recognises this fact. (It) has embarked on initiatives through the Health Promotion Board and the provision of grants to improve workplace health and safety.”

For Yong Yih Ming, Deputy General Manager of Raffles Medical, “a healthy workforce is also a productive and contributing workforce”.

“Health screening is important for everyone across all age groups because it helps to detect debilitating conditions that may affect employees later on in life,” says Yong.

This can also include chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia.

“Early detection allows timely treatment of the conditions and lowers the risk of serious complications,” explains Yong.

He says the disease burden trend in Singapore in the past decade indicates an increase in incidences for obesity and diabetes, which can be attributed to lifestyle-related factors.

In addition, he explains the number one cancers in Singapore among males and females are colorectal and breast cancers respectively.

“These conditions can be detected through a broad range of health screenings like BMI measurements, blood tests, colonoscopies, and mammographies,” says Yong.

“Employers should adopt health screenings because understanding their companies’ disease and wellness trends can lead to more objective corporate strategies to better manage healthcare expenditure and the development of interventions.

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CORPORATE HEALTH “Treatment-related healthcare expenditure can then be reduced progressively.”

benefits of keeping employees healthy so they can contribute positively to the organisations they work in,” says Wai.

the client’s employees directly.”

Wai says apart from regular health screening packages that cater to both rank-and-file employees and C-suite Are you doing “well”?

A to Z medical coverage executives, DontiaCare is able to According to the 2014 Health and With organisations now having to craft customise solutions to fit its client’s Well-being Touchstone Survey by a niche and diverse array of medical needs and workforce profiles.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, 71% of coverage plans for employees, health “In addition, DontiaCare adds value by employers offered wellness programmes operators are being expected to follow providing the convenience of in-office in 2014, a rise from 68% in 2013. suit with tailor-made programmes. dental and medical screenings, while The most frequent wellness Yong says Raffles Medical Group can catering to the busy lifestyles of the programmes were Employee Assistance customise health screening packages working executives,” he adds. programmes (EAPs) (85%), followed by based on the client’s demographic “We also strongly believe in and biometric screenings (78%), health risk profiles and corporate needs. advocate the notion of providing questionnaires (76%), tobacco cessation The offering can range from basic BMI, patients a continuum spectrum of care progammes (63%), to achieve the best and physical activity healthcare outcomes. programmes (58%).

This comes through Yong says the takea closely knitted up rate for health network of qualified According to a study titled Investing in employees’ health leads to increased productivity screenings from dental professionals, in the October 2013 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, workplace Raffles’ corporate medical physicians, health promotion initiatives that enhance worker health can lead to noticeable increases in partners has increased and specialists.” productivity, along with associated cost savings. from around 20% in Yong adds many “Participating in health promotion programmes can help improve productivity levels the past to 50% in corporate partners among employees and save money for their employers,” the study by Rebecca J. Mitchell and recent times. that Raffles Medical colleagues found.

“This can be Group works with The researchers analysed the productivity effects of a programme in which wellness attributed to more now organise regular coaches provided telephone support to assist workers tackling health problems and risks. visible HR initiatives healthy lifestyle The study utilised measures of lost work time, including absenteeism, as well as to encourage healthy activities such as yoga, “presenteeism” – time spent at work with reduced productivity. lifestyles and educate Pilates, and Zumba, The programme resulted in noticeable reductions in total lost work time – equivalent to about health risks,” he within their premises. about 10.3 hours in additional productive time per year. explains.

“Some companies Savings averaged about US$350 per participating employee, as opposed to similar workers “More companies have worked with their who did not participate in the wellness programme. have also included canteen operators to The savings were much higher for workers who successfully enhanced their health or annual health introduce healthy food lowered their health risk in at least one area. screenings as part options and to educate The results “add to the growing body of evidence that investing in a healthy workforce can of their employees’ their employees on help to increase productivity levels of employees,” Mitchell and the co-authors concluded. benefits to make them food choices,” he says. more accessible for “Others send regular their employees.” health education Yong affirms there is definitely a fasting glucose, lipids and BP screenings advisories and organise health talks for shift in employers’ interest towards to identify the most common chronic their employees. These are all signs of preventive health activities. diseases to more elaborate screening increasing interests and awareness to “Most of the companies we partner packages that include colonoscopies, the importance of preventive health with have health screening benefits,” mammographies and ultrasounds. activities.” he says.

“Where there are occupationalWai concurs that there is an related needs, audiometry and Costs and benefits increasing awareness among employers spirometry tests can also be included to The Mercer’s National Survey of Employerthat corporate health is one of the key complement the screening needs of the Sponsored Health Plans highlighted that cogs to improving productivity and companies,” elaborates Yong. organisations are predicting that health promoting employee engagement.

“Where possible, our professional benefit costs per employee will rise by “Employers are starting to see the team can also go onsite to reach out to 3.9% on average in 2015.

Better health = enhanced productivity

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CORPORATE HEALTH

From a continent’s perspective

68%

Percentage of organisations offering health promotion to employees – by region

41% 23%

22%

Africa and the Middle East

Asia

Australia and New Zealand

42% 28%

Europe

Latin America

North America

Source: Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion, Workplace Wellness and Productivity Strategies Executive Summary 2014

Wai says costs do factor into decision-making processes when it comes to corporate health initiatives.

“Moreover, there may be a myriad of factors, other than cost, at play,” he says.

“While we at DontiaCare strongly believe that regular health screenings are important and employers should embrace them to improve employee’s health, not all companies put equal or enough emphasis due to a variety of reasons.

“To combat this, we are in constant engagement with our key stakeholders – HR practitioners and medical and dental practitioners alike – to educate and improve employees’ health.”

Yong meanwhile, says disease trends and healthcare expenditure are co-related.

With the introduction of health screenings, he says companies will be able to identify health issues and track health improvements over time, and also in relation to their healthcare expenditures.

“This will have direct benefits for a company’s corporate performance,” he says.

“The exercise classes and canteen initiatives are also visible activities that engage employees directly and in a mass participation manner. Over time, there should be more awareness on the importance of health screening among the employees when such activities are sustained.”

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HRMASIA.COM 39

HRM CONGRESS HIGHLIGHT

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY

THE BUSINESS SAVVY HR LEADER WORKSHOP

For the first time, HRM Asia will host a specialised, interactive workshop to help HR professionals master strategies that strengthen their business and financial acumen in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

“I

n my 20 years of dealing with Fortune Global 500 CEOS, CFOs, and COOs, the biggest frustration they have with their senior HR managers is that they don’t understand the BUSINESS well enough,” says Dirk Rossey, Former CHRO, Dubai Holding Divisions and Former Vice President, JP Morgan.

40 ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM

Addressing one of the hottest topics this year, The Business Savvy HR Leader Workshop is a highly interactive workshop designed to help HR professionals with three to 10 years of experience to master strategies to strengthen their business and financial acumen and develop project management skills

Shalini Shukla-Pandey shalini@hrmasia.com.sg

to support management-level needs, therefore becoming key contributors in the organisation.

Last year, HRM ASIA ran a pilot programme of the Business Savvy HR Leader. The feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive! Alcon said that the workshop

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY helped participants to challenge traditional HR mindset. Bloomberg was impressed with the engaging, generous and very ‘real’ sharing of experiences and perspectives. Maersk Drilling came to the session with many questions but realised after the course that he was asking all the wrong questions! Sentosa Development Corporation noted that HR tended to be blind to its own blind spots and lauded the practical tips given.

This year, we are bringing the workshop to Kuala Lumpur under the strong request from the HR community in Malaysia. At this hands-on workshop to be held at the Prince Hotel & Residence, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, participants will be encouraged to be aware of business information about their companies, such as annual reports, financial reports and industry analyst reports in order to identify and resolve real-life business issues.

Business skills for HR

On-site business clinic Look out for a unique opportunity to have a one-on-one consultation with one or all C-suite panel members to discuss your specific business challenges and opportunities: • CEO representative – David Heng, Managing Director & Head – Commerce Leadership Institute, CIMB Group • CFO representative – Mahendran Kapuppial, Finance Director, Kimberly-Clark • COO representative – Frank Trumpet, COO, Tune Hotels Group The interactive workshop will also feature a special C-suite panel that will share deep insights into what organisations really want from HR leaders.

Don’t miss the chance to ask burning questions face-to-face to one or all of the panellists at the on-site business clinic!

HR leaders often face the challenge of connecting their work to real business outcomes and gaining the attention of Solid understanding of finance business unit executives.

Most CEOs express how important it is “Lack of business acumen is a key for HR professionals to have a thorough roadblock to their greater strategic understanding of budgets, financial positioning,” says Rossey. “They are statements, profit and loss reports, and required to have an understanding of productivity metrics – these define the how a particular business health of an organisation. makes money, as well “If HR professionals as a grasp of the key want to move up the challenges and priorities ladder and assume a the business is facing.” senior management role, Speaking from 25 an understanding of the years of experience as numbers is essential to • Business acumen an international HR grasping the drivers of • Political savvy veteran and pioneer in financial success and how • Financial literacy organisational behaviour, HR can impact the bottom • Meaningful analytics change management, • Project management skills line,” says James Leong, process improvement and Founder and CEO, Visions. leadership development, One Consulting.

Rossey will help participants As a business leader with a specialty understand the language of business in HR, people managers need business so they can provide the “know-how” acumen to carry out their roles to support key business drivers and effectively to meet board expectations. align human capital to evolving “Knowing finance is ‘mission critical’ to business needs. making sound business decisions,” says

Five pillars of learning

HRM CONGRESS HIGHLIGHT

Leong. “The more an HR leader knows about how finance works, the more they can increase their strategic influence at the board level and the more they can help impact the organisation for success.”

This module will incorporate and stress the practical application of finance tools to real-life HR issues, without sacrificing the theoretical rigor that will enable participants to better apply what they learn in a variety of situations.

Leong will share with participants the seven key benefits of understanding finance, which form a useful acronym: Fearlessness; Influence; the ability to Nurture; ensuring Alignment; the ability to Negotiate; the ability to Challenge; and increased Esteem.

“It’s time to transform from being a HR leader doing business to being a business leader doing HR,” says Leong.

Understanding power play Political savvy is a critical leadership competency: always in demand, yet rarely taught inside organisations. As a trusted advisor and business partner, HR professionals recognise the value of building savvy skills, understanding power dynamics, influencing strategies, and forming internal coalitions.

Jane Horan, Founder, Horan Group will examine savvy through the lens of HR professionals to demonstrate the positive side of this critical skill, and how it impacts organisations, businesses and teams. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and define “savvy” from a personal perspective and through the prism of their organisation.

THE BUSINESS SAVVY HR LEADER WORKSHOP 5 – 6 May, 2015 Prince Hotel & Residence, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

For more information or advanced bookings, please contact Karen at karen@hrmasia.com.sg

ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM 41

Save US$600 Early Bird Special Only US$1,595 + GST*

Register before 14 April 2015

WORKSHOP

Back by Popular Demand

5 - 6 May 2015 | Prince Hotel & Residence, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The No.1 Hands-on Business Acumen Workshop That All HR Leaders Must Not Miss!

JOIN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SERIES EVER RUN BY HRM ASIA! Last year, HRM ASIA ran a pilot program of the Business Savvy HR Leader. The feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive!

“Informative sessions, especially on the C-suite expectation of HR Leaders!”

– Maybank

“The sessions were very informative. Facilitators shared their views and ideas on strategic HR!” – Westports Malaysia

“Challenge traditional HR mindset!”

– Alcon

Addressing one of the hottest topics this year, The Business Savvy HR Leader Workshop is a highly interactive workshop designed to help HR professionals with 3-10 years experience master strategies to strengthen their business and financial acumen and develop project management skills to support management-level needs, therefore becoming key contributors in the organisation.

As this is a hands-on workshop, participants will be encouraged to be aware of business information about their companies, such as annual reports, financial reports and industry analyst reports in order to identify and resolve real-life business issues.

Facilitators:

“In my 20 years of dealing with Fortune Global 500 CEOS, CFOs, and COOs, the biggest frustration they have with their senior HR managers is that they don’t understand the BUSINESS well enough!”

– Dirk Rossey, Former CHRO, Dubai Holding Divisions and Former Vice President, JP Morgan

C-Suite Panellists: CEO Representative:

Dirk Rossey Former CHRO, Dubai Holding Divisions and Former Vice President, JP Morgan

Jane Horan Founder, Horan Group

James Leong Founder and CEO, Visions.One Consulting Pte Ltd

CFO Representative:

David Heng Managing Director and Head, Commerce Leadership Institute CIMB Group

Contact Me to Register: Karen Soh | Tel: (65) 6423 4631 | Email: karen@hrmasia.com.sg

Mahendran Kapuppial Finance Director Kimberly-Clark

IN PERSON HUGO MARTINHO

HR Director for Asia Pacific, India & Middle East, Schindler Group How many years HR experience?

Seventeen rather intense years, either as HR Director or as Managing Director (I see the latter as an HR Director with Profit and Loss (P&L) responsibilities).

Why HR?

Initially by “accident”. I started my professional life as a lawyer, and one of my customers, with whom I worked on a Mergers & Acquisitions project, ended up inviting me to join him to lead the HR department of the new entity we had just “merged”. Then, I worked in HR by option.

People are at the genesis of everything and whoever manages people, manages the world.

Why Schindler?

Schindler gave me the opportunity to live and work in six countries, offering me a new challenge every three to four years, both in HR and in Operations. On top of that, they also paid me for that.

Biggest achievement?

Work-in-progress: the education of my daughter. I led the “recruitment”, along with my business partner (wife). We have been deeply involved in her “training & development” plan, and I don’t miss an opportunity to put in practice the defined “compensation & benefits” programme. Seeing her growing happily and confidently is the best R-O-I of all. On a professional basis, turning around, as Managing Director, the Operations in Singapore was indeed a very tiring yet rewarding experience. I had the chance to put into practice all the advice I had been given throughout the years as an HR director to my operational colleagues and proved that those were indeed adequate. Interestingly enough, all my intercalated operational stints have been around “Change Management” situations whereby the people factor was requiring an in-depth intervention.

After hours?

Enjoying time with my family, forcing myself to stay fit and long meals with friends.

Family?

The most important aspect in one’s life. Definitely in mine as well.

BOOK REVIEW Pump up your internal communication structure!

A

re you struggling to engage in robust and productive internal communications with your staff?

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If you do, you may want to take a leaf or two out of David Cowan’s new book titled Strategic Internal Communication.

This book personifies a complete guide to devising and executing a tactical approach to international communications in companies. It follows an A to Z approach to fostering engagement, performance and cultural incorporation in any firm.

The first chapter sees the author identifying several communications values to guide readers and attend to the corners of the triangle- internal communications, employee engagement and HR, before dealing with cultural incorporation.

In Chapter Two, Cowan analyses the third corner of the triangle and addresses the question of organisational culture in a distinct fashion, before introducing readers to the dialogue box.

The dialogue box is an approach designed by Cowan to assist firms to enhance their communication skills.

It helps organisations to investigate what kind of dialogue they need to engage with their workers to tackle internal and cultural obstacles.

Chapters Three to Six then sees Cowan elaborate on each zone of the dialogue box- intelligence, emotion, interpretation, and narrative.

He finally assimilates these aspects together to highlight the end zone of dialogue and how companies can utilise dialogue to nurture and develop robust internal communications and enhanced employee engagement.

Written in a methodical and structured manner, Strategic Internal Communication is an ideal read for those determined to rejig their company’s internal communications framework and foster a dialoguedriven philosophy.

Title: Strategic Internal Communication: How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance Author: David Cowan Publisher: Kogan Page Price: S$87.50 (before GST) The discount code is SICHRMASIA25.

This gives 25% off Strategic Internal Communication when purchased via www.koganpage.com. Please enter the code when prompted at the checkout.

ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM 43

SME SPOTLIGHT

SOARING AHEAD

Clear career paths and open communication help Hawksford Singapore engage and retain staff

A Sumathi V Selvaretnam sumathi@hrmasia.com.sg

s a business that specialises in helping other organisations set up shop in Singapore, Hawksford Singapore knows a thing or two about employee engagement.

It’s 50-strong workforce in Singapore may be small, but the company prides itself on providing the sort of

inclusive working environment, and learning opportunities that even bigger organisations may not be able to provide, says Jacqueline Low, Chief Operating Officer, Hawksford Singapore.

In support of continuous learning among employees, Hawksford Singapore provides study and examination leave for staff who are pursuing courses relevant to their work. The company also sponsors staff training.

Hawksford Singapore also believes in stretching its employees so that they experience new challenges. Being assigned projects that might go beyond their current expertise allows them to learn new things, shares Low.

Clear career progression Companies that can offer employees greater clarity about their growth within the organisation often do a better job at retaining them.

At Hawksford Singapore, two of the biggest teams in the organisation have their own organisational charts that clearly show team members where they stand. For example, an accounts executive can be at level I or level II, 44 ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM

SME SPOTLIGHT

before being promoted to become a senior executive. “We have these team structures in place for them to see their progression, and aim for what they want to be within the organisation,” Low says.

can voice their thoughts and concerns.

Important company-related updates are also shared during these meetings.

Globally, Hawksford recently launched an intranet communication site where all employees can ask questions, provide feedback, and Constant communication propose ideas. “This will be a good HR experts often say that a new platform for all staff globally to connect hire’s first 90 days play a key role in with one another. We believe in ‘One determining the Team’ regardless of the person’s success with location,” Low says. the organisation.

“Every employee in our Hawksford Singapore organisation has an important understands this role and we believe that and conducts regular human capital is our key Hawksford Singapore organises reviews for new hires asset,” Low concludes. get-togethers, such as birthday to ensure that they are celebrations, outside of the fitting well into the office at least once a month for business. Some of the employees to mingle and get to questions asked during know each other better. such reviews include: • How are you doing?

• Are there any challenges or feedback?

• What are your feelings about your colleagues and working environment?

• Is this what you want to be doing?

During the review, the manager provides feedback on the employee’s progress. Hawksford Singapore also conducts annual appraisals to identify employees for progression.

Each month, employees at the company participate in team meetings where they

Celebrating together

ABOUT

Hawksford Singapore Hawksford Singapore was previously know as Janus Corporate Solutions, before it was acquired by the Hawksford Group in March last year. Established in 2009, Janus was a leading corporate services business, providing corporate secretarial, tax and accountancy, business support and immigration services.

ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM 45

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

MANAGING TRAINING COSTS

A wide range of government funding schemes and courses are designed to encourage small to medium enterprises to train and upgrade the skills of their Singaporean and Permanent Resident workers. HRM shares the latest resources available Shalini Shukla-Pandey shalini@hrmasia.com.sg

A

myriad of government training assistance schemes and funding are available to enterprises looking to train and upgrade the skills of their Singaporean and Permanent Resident workers in Singapore.

“To facilitate career enhancement and ensure the development of 46 ISSUE 15.3 HRMASIA.COM

HR professionals as well as people managers in any organisation, it is essential that companies send their staff for training so as to build staff capabilities and enable them to drive the performance of their organisation through great people management and development practices,” says

Kenneth Wong, Director of the Creative and Professional Services Division, Workforce Development Agency (WDA).

Resources aplenty One key source of assistance is through the WDA’s Skills Development Fund.

This offers both broad-based funding as well as higher funding rates for workforce skills qualification (WSQ) programmes.

Funding rates can be as high as 90% for WSQ Level One and Three programmes.

In addition, if an organisation taps on the Enterprise Training Scheme (ETS), its non-WSQ core training programmes may also be funded through the training grant component, subject to an organisation meeting the

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT Workforce Skills Qualification framework for HR HR practitioners and people managers can refer to courses under the HR Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework. These include: • Employees Relations and Communications; • Performance, Remuneration, and Benefits; • Resourcing; • Learning and Development; and • Talent Management To build “T-shaped” professionals, organisations can develop professionals, managers and executives (including HR practitioners) in horizontal skills development frameworks such as: • Business Management WSQ • Leadership and People Management WSQ • Employability Skills WSQ, especially Executive Development and Growth for Excellence criteria and terms and conditions set out. Under the ETS, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) can obtain funding of up to $15 per hour for both their rank and file and their professionals, managers and executive training.

“Organisations looking to send their staff for productivity-related courses can explore taping on the Employment & Employability Institute’s Professional Development fund,” says Charlene Ang, Vice President of the Service Quality Centre.

“Participants who are NTUC members can also enjoy 50% unfunded course fee support for up to $250 each year when they sign up for courses supported under the Union Training Assistance Programme,” she adds.

In addition, SMEs can also consider tapping on the Critical Infocomm Technology Resource Programme (CITREP), established by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore to fund the development of emerging, critical and specialised information and communication technology skills to meet Singapore’s

Singapore Workforce Development Agency funding The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) offers funding for employer-based training, where course fees and absentee payroll grants may be applicable to employers who send Singaporean or Permanent Resident staff for training.

Funding Support for WSQ Courses (including SMEs) Component

Funding for all WSQ Courses

Enhanced Training Support for SMEs*

Course fee subsidy

50% capped at $15/hr

90% capped at $30/hr

70% course fee subsidy for CET Centres’ and 90% course fee subsidy for CET Centres’ Programme Partners’ courses and Programme Partners’ courses

Absentee 80% of basic hourly salary, capped at payroll funding $4.50/hr

80% of basic hourly salary, capped at $7.50/hr

To search for funded training programmes, head to: www.skillsconnect.gov.sg/web/guest/advanceCourse

Other HR Capability Development Schemes HR In-House Adopter Programme Companies interested in improving internal HR capabilities can tap onto the HR in-house adaptor programme, through which WDA will provide a funding grant of up to $15,000. This is designed to allow organisations to support enhancements to HR, such as the development of job profiles, staff development, and recruitment tools.

Enterprise Training Support Enterprise Training Support is a company-wide intervention scheme that aims to raise employees’ skill levels through training and improvement in HR and Learning and Development systems and processes.

WorkPro WorkPro helps employers adopt progressive workplace age management practices, facilitate job redesigns, improve work-place practices, and encourage recruitment of back-to-work locals and mature workers. manpower needs in this area.

CITREP aims to equip participants with critical and specialised skills to gain recognition for their competencies. “The programme supports training courses and certifications and helps to increase an organisation’s competitive advantage and enhance the employability of its staff,” says Kwek Kok Kwong, CEO, NTUC LearningHub. In addition, under the National Infocomm Competency Framework, individuals and companies can enjoy up to 70% WDA funding on the course fees, while SMEs get an additional 20% funding when they claim under the SkillsConnect portal.

Other than the above, companies may also utilise other public assistance such

as the Absentee Payroll, Wage Credit, and Productivity and Innovation credit schemes, says Kwek.

“There are also some assistance schemes which are targeted at specific categories of workers,” he adds. “For example, Workfare Training Support helps companies offset training for low wage workers.”

Training without support In Singapore, many organisations leverage on the various funds available to ensure staff are trained in the latest skills. However, it is also important for companies not to be over-reliant on funding, says Ang. This is because funding rates may change depending on circumstances.

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT “Training should be viewed as an investment and not only as an expense,” she explains. “If the training is implemented well, there should be The SkillsFuture national movement in Singapore supports the country’s next phase of development a positive return of investment, thus to become an advanced economy and inclusive society, where all Singaporeans will have the justifying the initial training cost spent.” opportunities to advance in his and her career, regardless of their starting points, through skills. The Another option for organisations is Singapore Budget 2015 has revealed SkillsFuture measures specific to businesses: to invest in structured On-The-Job• SkillsFuture Credit (from 2016): Each eligible Singaporean will have an initial credit of Training (OJT). $500, which will be topped up at regular intervals and will not expire, but can only be used for In implementing OJT, organisations education and training courses supported by government agencies. can use provided blueprints as a means • Individual Learning Portfolio (from 2017): A one-stop education, training and career to train their staff in new skills, Ang guidance resource that will help Singaporeans to plan for their education and training needs explains. Experienced internal staff can starting from their time in secondary school. act as OJT coaches to train and mentor • SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme (from 2015): Fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates new staff in these new skills. will be placed in apprenticeships and receive a salary while undergoing structured on-the-job “If implemented well, OJT can be an training that leads to an industry-recognised qualification. Trainees will get a sign-on incentive of efficient and cost-effective method $5,000. Employers will also earn up to $15,000 from the Government for each trainee. to train staff,” she says. “It is also an • Enhanced subsidies for mid-career Singaporeans (from second half of 2015): Subsidies excellent platform to tap and leverage for all Singaporeans aged 40 years and above will be enhanced to a minimum of 90% of training on the experience and knowledge of costs for courses funded by Ministry of Education (MOE) and WDA. older staff, and foster teamwork and • SkillsFuture Study Awards (from 2015): To develop specialist skills required for future communication.” growth clusters, as well as to support those who wish to develop other competencies such as Kwek believes that even if funding business and cross-cultural skills. is not available, companies should put aside financial resources to train staff • SkillsFuture Fellowships (from 2016): To develop Singaporeans to achieve mastery in their regardless. This will result in those respective fields. staff producing better outcome for the • SkillsFuture Leadership Development Initiative: Collaborations with strategic companies company. “Also, there are other ways of will be stepped up to develop a pipeline of Singaporeans to take on corporate leadership roles learning from community and freeware and responsibilities. online, but one should be discerning in selecting which resources offer the right content.”

“SIM Professional Development Apart from training, HR staff can supports our clients in their people also attend HR conferences, events and development goals. With a team of account workshops to gain further knowledge managers who work closely with clients as they hear and interact with subject to understand their business challenges, matter experts, says Wong.

SIM Professional Development “Staff can also learn can design and contextualise The Workforce Development via mentors,” he adds.

Agency will be exhibiting at learning solutions.”

“Becoming a member of “Learning” must ultimately HR Summit 2015.

• Mastering Personal Effectiveness and Visit them at a professional body also move into “doing” and Emotional Competence provides a network of “performing”, she adds.

• Innovative Problem Solving and Decision for opportunities, where one can “This is to ensure that for more information.

Managers be exposed to best practices learning is transferred to the • The Job of a Manager – Essential Managerial and other platforms, such as workplace performance for Techniques sharing with other members.” optimal ROI to the business.”

• Leading Organisational Change One of the more cost-effective ways “Organisations that leverage well from • Leveraging the Team Potential for Results to roll out training is through intheir training investments have put in company training programmes, which place coaching, mentoring schemes and • Dynamic Planning and Execution for Managers also allows for customisation to the knowledge sharing workshops, ‘Lunch • High Potential Leadership Programme specific learning needs of the company and Learn’, and ‘Tea and Questions’ • The Job of the Chief Executive (70% for or industry, says Peggy Lee, Director of sessions as part of the learning qualified small to medium enterprises) SIM Professional Development. engagement platforms,” Lee concludes.

Developing future skills of Singaporeans

Governmentfunded courses at SIM Professional Development

Booth 57

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ADVERTORIAL

SNEF

Communicate, Educate, Combat Employers need to raise awareness of workplace infectious diseases and help employees take charge of their health

A

n ageing workforce poses many challenges to employers. The tasks begins at developing and formalising retirement and reemployment policies that attract and retain talent beyond the statuary retirement age of 62; Human resource is often tasked with the responsibility of organisational development to sustain productivity and business sustainability.

Employee health is also a crucial factor for employers to consider as part of this process.

Empowering employees to be take charge of their own health can be effectively achieved through internal professional development such as talks that create awareness on employee personal health and that of their loved ones.

As the saying goes “Health is wealth�.

Organisations can achieve healthy workforces through various programmes.

However, it is most important to regularly communicate with and educate employees on their personal health. This will equip employees with the skills that will empower them to identify signs 50 ISSUE 15.3

HRMASIA.COM

and symptoms and take necessary precautions to protect themselves and those around them form infection.

The gravity of many diseases is often undermined due to their incubation and gradual progression. HIV /AIDS, HFMD, Tuberculosis and Influenza are just some examples of such diseases. While these diseases may have less prevalence compared to other more commonly known infections, they are equally, if not more contagious. As such, it is important to take the necessary precautions to reduce the spread of these diseases. Both individual and collective benefits can be reaped through education and awareness on Communicable Diseases.

It also enhances corporate branding, projecting responsible employers who go the extra mile to ensure that their employees are healthy.

How can employers educate employees to take charge of their personal health?

Conducted by Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and Health Promotion Board

(HPB), the Workplace Infectious Diseases Education (WIDE) covers the signs and symptoms of HIV AIDS, Influenza and Tuberculosis (TB) and the precautions one can take.

This talk comes with complimentary WIDE orientation kits and interactive exhibits that will educate employees and equip HR professionals with the information to create awareness of workplace infectious diseases within the organisation.

Companies are encouraged to incorporate the information contained in WIDE orientation kits into employee orientation and internal professional development programs.

This is aimed at enhancing the detection, protection and prevention of communicable diseases.

Anonymous HIV testing and flu vaccines can be made available to companies.* These talks are conducted at no charge for a minimum of 25 -30 registered participants at workplaces and last for an hour to an hour and a half. Interested companies are invited to contact SNEF whp@snef.org.sg or 6827 6970 for more queries. * Anonymous HIV Testing and flu vaccines are chargeable

Interested companies are invited to contact SNEF whp@snef.org.sg or 6827 6970 for more queries.

AHRDSPEAKS AHRD SPEAKS Seeing the value in every colleague T

his year, we celebrate 50 years of nation building. Singapore has changed and evolved, and so has its workforce. Having been in the HR industry for 26 years, I have seen manpower trends come and go.

What I believe unwaveringly, despite the constants of change, is the importance of the multi-generational workforce, and the value it brings not just to organisations, but to Singapore as well.

Here at Raffles Singapore, we believe that every individual can contribute. Some may perceive different generations of colleagues coming together as an area for potential conflict. However, we

see this is as an opportunity to capitalise on the assets of each generation to achieve competitive advantage.

For example, mentorship opportunities allow the young and old to bond and learn from each other. Younger employees can tap into the wealth of experience that older employees possess, while simultaneously developing qualities of respect and patience for their seniors.

Raffles Singapore embraces diversity and inclusion and promotes integration at the workplace. This belief has been further affirmed through the accolades that we

have won. We were the first hotel to receive the TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award (2012).

HR is about people development – and to do that, organisations must see the value in every employee. HR professionals and managers need to modify and craft suitable workplace practices and policies to support bridge-building between generations.

As we enter the next phase of Singapore’s development, with its changing demographic and social trends, I believe that it is even more crucial for organisations to leverage knowledge, skills and abilities of all generations.

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Jennifer Tan Director – HR, Raffles Hotel Singapore

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TALENT A Mateen

Senior Vice President, HR, DHL Express Asia-Pacific

A Mateen was recently appointed as Senior Vice President, HR, DHL Express Asia-Pacific. Prior to his appointment he was the Vice President of HR for Singapore, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

In a career spanning 27 years, Mateen was a generalist for the first 14 years. He joined DHL in 2001 and took on specialist roles for the first five years, before going back to being a generalist for the delivery company.

“There are a number of key HR priorities that I have outlined, together with my team across Asia-Pacific in alignment with our business goals for 2015,” he says.

“The primary focus will be on talent management and enhancing employee experiences. In the area of talent, we will continue to focus on acquisition, development and retention through our core learning and leadership programmes; talent panels; development centres; and succession planning in building the first and second layers of the talent pipeline.

With his new role now covering the Asia-Pacific region, Mateen is looking forward to reaching out, understanding and supporting HR teams in countries outside his previous remit – China and India in particular.

“These two countries have similar challenges in talent and retention, but operate in different levels of complexities and growth from the rest of the countries in Asia-Pacific,” Mateen added.

“I am looking forward to raising the level of HR services delivery to the business, and addressing the key focus areas.”

LADDER

Faiez Awadh

Carol Yeo

Chief HR Officer, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily)

Faiez Awadh has been named Chief HR officer of Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), the leading telecom operator in Saudi Arabia.

Awadh brings to Mobily more than 20 years of experience in HR. He possesses a proven track record of effective leadership.

He led Etisalat’s HR department in the United Arab Emirates from 2009 to 2012 before joining the HR department of the wider Etisalat Group as Senior Vice President for HR Business Optimisation.

In this position, he directed and managed both local and virtual teams spanning across Etisalat Group operations.

His teams were charged with formulating and executing projects related to human capital strategy, cultural change, global values roll-out, employee engagement, employee relations, and international communications.

“Faiez Awadh has proven to be a valuable resource within the Etisalat Group, displaying great leadership skills and influencing our operations across the Middle East, Asia and Africa,” said Abdul Aziz Alsawaleh Alshehhi, the Chief HR Officer of the Etisalat Group. “(He) has demonstrated exceptional dedication and talent.”

“We are confident he will greatly add to the overall success of Mobily’s HR division.”

Assistant HR Manager, KU DE TA

Carol Yeo recently joined KU DE TA Singapore as Assistant HR Manager.

Prior to her new role, she was working at Spa Esprit Group.

A 20-year veteran in the HR scene, Yeo’s desire to continue in this field is primarily because HR Management is now being understood as a coherent strategy to manage the most valued assets of a company: its people.

With Yeo specialising in Compensation and Benefits, she says there is an immense opportunity for her to contribute positively towards building a rewarding and competitive salary and benefits framework.

“Employees’ compensation and benefits package can be the deciding factor for many potential employees,” says Yeo. “I hope to contribute positively towards the said project, as it would certainly prove to the masses that KU DE TA is an employer of choice.”

Yeo says her new role will also involve the daily operational issues encompassing regulations, employee salary issues, and strategic planning for the company.

“I find fulfillment in my daily tasks as it gives me an opportunity to clarify any doubts and queries that my team members may have on their salaries, welfare or benefits,” she adds.

“In addition, my tasks involve budget control for the company. My function requires industry knowledge and negotiation skills to curb excessive spending through developing methods for trimming workforce management costs.”

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HR YOUNG GUNS

HR FROM THE CLASSROOM Every month, HRM speaks to a young university talent hoping to carve out a career in HR upon graduation What attracted you to HR? Why are you studying it?

I am a polytechnic graduate in Hospitality and Tourism Management, and have always enjoyed interacting with people.

During my various hospitality internships and part time jobs, I was intrigued by how hotels manage their human capital and the challenges they face, such as manpower shortages and the engagement of their shift employees. Gossip and complaints aired during lunchtime led me to ponder what I would do if I were in the HR industry. So that ultimately led me to my decision to take up a degree at NUS Business School, specialising in Management.

After taking several modules and internships, I have found my calling in HR and this has to be one of the best decisions that I have made.

Since HR opens many doors in all industries in the corporate world, my choices are now unlimited.

What aspect of HR do you hope to specialise in upon graduation?

Upon graduation, I would like to take on the role of a generalist to experience the whole spectrum of HR functions and test my capabilities, even in areas that I have yet to explore. My HR internship stints at PSA Marine and Singapore Academy of Law have given me insights and hands-on experience in areas such as Recruitment and Selection, Employee Engagement, Training and Development, and Industrial Relations. Having said that, I am also interested in discovering more about Performance Management,

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Strategic HR Planning and Career and Succession Planning. Thus, I hope I will be given the opportunity to take on the role of a business partner upon graduation and perhaps in future, to specialise in an area I am most passionate about.

The top three things you want from your HR career • Embarking on a variety of projects and tasks that fulfill self-satisfaction and happiness • Learning opportunities for continuous self-development • Positive working relationship with co-workers and bosses

What challenges do you anticipate?

With globalisation and an ageing workforce, Singapore will continue to be reliant on foreign labour. It will be crucial for organisations to promote a positive and nondiscriminatory workplace in order to manage the expectations of both locals and foreigners. On the other hand, there is a need for organisations to redesign jobs and policies to cater to their mature employees, as the workforce ages.

This is a significant challenge, as organisations have to balance the amount of emphasis given to retaining their mature employees, while attracting the younger ones.

My HR career five years from now I would like to start my HR career as a business partner, and I see myself moving on to a supervisory or management role in three to five years. I enjoy the challenge of managing people and projects, and will consistently strive to set a good example for others.

Jasmine Loh Jia Min Year Three Management Student, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore

Hobbies/Inspiration I find joy in travelling and exploring new places, cultures and cuisines.

Last summer, I did an exchange at Korea University for seven weeks and it was absolutely wonderful. In a country where I am not proficient in its language, it was a thrill to order dishes without knowing what they were, hoping that they would turn out to be a pleasant surprise.

Recently, I have also been trying my hand in the kitchen on Chinese and Korean dishes, and I am often motivated by culinary shows, such as MasterChef and Disney’s Ratatouille.

How should Singapore companies leverage on internship programmes as an

effective sourcing strategy?

By Jasmine Loh Jia Min

I

nternship programmes, if utilised effectively, could be seen as a company’s pipeline for potential fulltime employees. Having ready access to candidates, who have proven their ability and cultural fit, would prevent recruiters from scrambling for last minute replacements.

In Singapore, the majority of the interns are students from local universities or polytechnics. Their internship stint could vary in length, depending on whether it is compulsory and graded for credits or not. However, there is a general consensus that students do desire to be offered jobs before graduation and internships are a great way of achieving that.

Before implementing the internship programme, the company should be clear that its main responsibility is to ensure that the internship offered is purposeful and would enhance the intern’s tertiary education and career development.

Of course, there are also several direct benefits of having interns onboard.

Companies can increase productivity by freeing up employees for more strategic and expertise required projects, enhance perspectives as the younger interns bring in fresh ideas and skill sets, reduce labour costs as their salaries are significantly lower and there is no obligation to hire interns on a full-time basis.

Setting up an internship programme requires the cooperation of not only the HR department, but the relevant departments too. Below are some key steps that would facilitate in establishing an internship programme: • Survey the company as to which departments are open to mentoring

•

•

•

•

and delegating purposeful tasks to interns, to prevent the allocation of interns to people who think of them as a nuisance.

Discuss between the departments and HR, regarding the job description.

The internship structure should be formalised with daily responsibilities, long and short-term projects, policies, feedback sessions and evaluation procedures listed out.

Research on various universities and polytechnics’ courses to find a fit in the type of interns needed for the task and for the department.

It is also important to find out the minimum and average internship allowance given by other companies to peg a competitive rate.

Find out if the intern requires credit units from the internship and the educational institution’s requirements of the employers. There could be three-party meet ups between the employer, intern and the educational institution representative, as well as evaluation forms to fill.

Delegate duties among the employees. There are two important employee roles in the internship programme and it is necessary to delegate these to employees who have the skills and are willing to mentor interns. The Internship Coordinator, who is usually from HR, acts as a liaison between the company and the educational institution, and is also responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the internship programme. The Department Supervisor on the other hand, directly supervises and interacts with the intern daily. They evaluate and are responsible for the

intern’s performance report to the internship coordinator.

• Selecting the right intern could ultimately be a process in hiring a permanent employee. Thus, in order for internships to be part of an effective strategy, companies should filter candidates for their potential and attitude, similar to the standards of hiring a permanent employee. That would require interviews, background checks, contacting references and an approval from the direct managers. Likewise, the attitudes of the recruiters should not be “I’m just hiring a intern”, but “I’m hiring an intern that has potential for permanent conversion”.

The current internship trend is moving towards flexibility of the internship programme. Instead of fitting interns into a 16-weeks summer internship programme that has fixed starting and ending dates, companies are making arrangements that cater to the intern’s availability, which enlarges the pool of interns. Besides the usual winter and summer internships, NUS business students are given the opportunity to join companies on a parttime basis, as well as taking a semester off school for a six-month internship.

With the introduction of virtual internships, it shows that there are few boundaries when it comes to utilising talents, and that a right fit may be more important as compared to their availability to be physically at work.

Being able to adapt and accommodate to these needs in an internship programme may be the defining factor that enables companies to leverage on its internship programme as an effective sourcing strategy.

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HIGH

IMPACT HR

Singtel:

Nurturing young ICT talents S

ingtel is the first organisation in Singapore to offer diploma scholarships in support of SkillsFuture, a national initiative that will help Singapore through its next phase of growth with an integrated system of education, training and career progression.

The leading communications group in Asia has recently partnered with Singapore Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic to nurture young talent through the first corporate programme of its kind, the Singtel Cadet Scholarship Programme.

The programme is fully aligned with SkillsFuture’s objectives, exemplifying the importance of having industry partners and employers on board.

Jointly developed with the two polytechnics, the Singtel Cadet Scholarship Programme focuses on nurturing young talent in the areas of engineering, cyber-security and customer experience. The scholarships, which begin this year, are worth over $2 million in total a year and provide students with industryrelevant training, as well as employment and progression opportunities.

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The first diploma scholarship programme in support of SkillsFuture in the info-communications sector, the Singtel Cadet Scholarship Programme provides a progressive career pathway to help fresh graduates upgrade and advance, making Singapore a hub for talent in critical areas Shalini Shukla-Pandey shalini@hrmasia.com.sg

relevant skills and develop them in critical roles within Singtel and across the broader industry,” says Bill Chang, Singtel’s Country Chief Officer for Singapore. “Our partnership with the educational institutions will help the nation build a strong talent pool in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and enhance customers’ experience.”

This is the first time that Singtel is offering scholarships, with a total of 90 available each year to top students across three programmes in the two polytechnics. Other Singtel scholarships are at the undergraduate level and include the Undergraduate Scholarship; the National Infocomm Scholarship with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore; Singtel Exchange Scholarship with Singapore University of Technology and Design; and the Media Education Scholarship with the Media Development Authority.

In addition, Singtel is working with Singapore Polytechnic to refine its Diploma in Computer Engineering programme by including industry best practices and knowledge. Any changes to the curriculum will take into account the needs of the info-communications and technology sector as a whole, and will thus benefit all students regardless of their involvement in Singtel’s internship model.

Investing in the young Singtel cadets will be offered exciting

career paths that include: • Scholarships and internships while undertaking their diploma course; • Secured technical or customer experience management roles and developmental opportunities upon graduation; • Overseas assignments, degree sponsorships in related fields and subsequent progression opportunities for high-performing cadets.

“Selection is based on a variety of factors and established academic achievement is an important criterion,” says Cara Reil, Vice President – Talent Management and Development, Singtel.

“The specified grade point averages represent the minimum requirement and we expect many of our top students to apply for the scholarships.

“We have a rigorous selection process which comprises individual presentations, interviews and group exercises,” she adds.

The cost of sponsoring a scholar will range between $20,000 and $25,000, depending on the course of study.

Scholars will serve a one-year bond with Singtel upon joining the company, where Singtel will further develop them.

All cadet scholars will receive work study opportunities that will enable them to gain additional certifications during that first year with the company.

“From their second year of their employment at Singtel, high performing scholars will also gain university scholarships in their chosen field of specialisation,” Reil adds.

Training upcoming and mature ICT professionals together Incumbent employees are not forgotten either. Singtel offers post-diploma learning opportunities that will enable them to progress to larger-scope roles and receive pay enhancements.

Singtel also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), with the intention to collaborate on building a pipeline of skilled professionals including ICT professionals and customer service professionals through its Place-and-Train programmes and On-the-Job Training programmes.

These target fresh graduates from

the polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).

With the collaboration, emphasis will be placed on three key areas: • Place and Train Programmes – These will help individuals to deepen their skills through structured learning and advance in their careers through placements in relevant job roles.

• Training of Employees – Under the MOU, WDA and Singtel will explore developing a holistic training plan for Singtel’s employees, equipping them with industry relevant competencies which are aligned to the workforce skills qualifications framework.

• Conversion Programmes – WDA and Singtel will also be exploring programmes to re-skill and convert mature ICT professionals by equipping

them with competencies to take on other job roles within Singtel.

“Singtel’s Cadet Programme is exemplary of an organisation that takes ownership of skills development, as well as promotes career progression based on skills and mastery,” says Ng Cher Pong, CEO of WDA. “Through this memorandum of understanding, WDA seeks to work closely with Singtel to develop Placeand-Train programmes to help fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates continue to deepen their skills through structured learning opportunities and to advance in their careers through placements into relevant job roles, which are aligned to the National Infocomm Competency Framework and consistent with SkillsFuture’s objectives.”

Singtel Cadet Scholarship Programme Engineering Cadet Programme

Cyber Security Cadet Programme

Customer Experience Cadet Programme

Faculty

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

School of Digital Media and School of Hospitality Infocomm Technology

Scholarships on offer

40

30

20

Certification

Diploma in Computer Engineering (DCPE)

Diploma in InfoComm Security Management (DISM)

Diploma in Customer Relationship and Service Management (DCRSM)

Profile of students

Current Year 1 DCPE students

Current Year 1 & 2 DISM students

Final Year DCRSM students

Scholarship Model

• Up to two years of Diploma studies sponsored • Bonded to SingTel for one year • Living allowances at $550 per month • One-time laptop allowance of $1,500 • Internships with SingTel • Place-and-Train and On-the-Job Training to achieve additional certifications • Option to take on part-time or full-time university scholarship once employed, subject to performance.

Singtel Business Units that will hire the graduates

• IP Engineering • Fixed Network Engineering • Mobile Core Engineering • IPTV Engineering • Next Generation Value Added Services • Security

• Product Management • Engineering and Innovation • Technology Services • Managed Security Services • Technical Pre-Sales • Professional Services

• Singapore Contact Centre • Field Delivery Operations • Support Services • Customer Support • Client Business • Customer Solutions • Customer Management

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HRM CUSTOMISED EVENTS Chicago Booth:

Personnel Economics 101 “I was very impressed with the list of registrants that HRM Asia was able to attract. It’s a true testament to

HRM Asia’s influence and reach into the HR community in Singapore” Arnold Longboy, Managing Director –Executive Education (EMEA & APAC), The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Well-known alumni of Chicago Booth include:

I

n the tranquil setting of a wealthy 19th-century Chinese merchant’s home, nearly a hundred HR professionals gathered to learn how to use workforce analytics to manage employees and design more effective HR policies.

HRM Asia worked with The University of Chicago Booth School of Business to put together this exclusive Chicago Booth Executive Education event where Professor Michael Gibbs, Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth, shared how companies could drive innovation and improve policies using data, experiments and analytics.

Professor Gibbs is a pioneer of the application of analytics and economics to talent management, being one of the first to collect personnel data and using these methods to study how firms manage their workforces 25 years ago. He is also the author of the leading textbook in his field, Personnel Economics in Practice.

In a lively one-hour discussion, Professor Gibbs shared real-life and relevant case studies of several companies, including an Asian company that uses employee suggestion system, new policy experiments and analytics with great success.

He explored these new techniques and the concept of personnel economics, explaining the implications

• Satya Nadella for motivating creativity refer to as the Chicago Approach,” CEO, Microsoft in the workplace and how said Arnold Longboy Managing mastering it impacted a Director – Executive Education • Wong Kim Yin company’s profitability.

CEO, Singapore Power (EMEA & APAC), The University of Such an event was wellChicago Booth School of Business. received by HR professionals, who took “Taking a look at HR practice in an time out of their busy schedules after analytical and different perspective is work hours to attend the talk. Many at the foundation of this approach and were vocal and asked very insightful which we believe arrives at insights and questions, keeping Professor Gibbs on new best practices for the field.” his toes!

“Hopefully those that attended left with To close the evening, delegates networked ideas that were new and more importantly with one another over a delicious spread of something that they will be able to local food and refreshing wines. experiment with at their companies,” “Executive development is a lot about Longboy added. “I hope we can hear the experience so we always want people back from some who will take the risk or and companies to see first-hand what we maybe we can provide further guidance.”

Upping the ante on executive education Chicago Booth will be moving its degree programmes to Hong Kong. However, Booth is committed to grow its Executive Education programmes in Singapore and across Asia.

“Given Singapore’s importance as a business hub, Booth still needs to have a presence here,” said Arnold Longboy, Managing Director – Executive Education (EMEA & APAC), The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. “Also after 15 years here we have built a thriving alumni community and relationships with many businesses.”

“By continuing to provide executive education programs like the Accelerated Development Programme, it will allow us to continue to have a voice and impact on leadership development and businesses growth in the region,” he added.

We want to work with you! Let us help you create an event to remember – please contact info@hrmasia.com.sg or 6423 4631 58 ISSUE 15.3

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SEVEN

9.00AM: I arrive at the office, coffee in hand, ready for another busy day. I begin with a quick catch up with my Singapore team and clear any overnight emails.

10.00AM

Alma Browne Head of HR APAC, Groupon

Weekly regional business review, during which country heads and functional leaders analyse how the business is performing, from standout deals to interesting or unexpected results.

11.00AM One of the best parts of my job is a weekly meeting with the ‘Culture Club’; an employee driven group dedicated to making this a great place to work. Today’s topic: our annual Summer

Outing. Someone has suggested a Great Gatsby theme. Could be interesting.

12.00PM Lunchtime. There are a lot of great options around our office at Harbourfront. Today is the monthly new hire lunch at an Italian restaurant – great team bonding time.

1.30PM I host a meeting for country HR leads to review the results of our annual employee survey, identify key focus areas for 2015 and nominate engagement champions from various departments.

3.00PM Candidate interview for a key position in one of our large

markets. This person came to us through our employee referral programme and looks strong.

4.00PM Groupon Office layout review, where I sit down with our local business leaders to make sure we have adequate space and people are situated where they should be in order to promote collaboration and productivity.

5.00PM Catch up with our Taiwan HR lead to go over performance review completion rates, and review and prioritise open positions.

6.00PM Clear anything outstanding in my email and it’s time for home.

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MICE

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MICE

TECH-POWERED MEETINGS

Event planners are constantly seeking new ways to create that “wow” factor during meetings and conferences. HRM looks at how transformative technologies will be shaping meeting experiences in 2015 and beyond

Sumathi V Selvaretnam sumathi@hrmasia.com.sg

E

vent planners in the digital age are looking beyond basic slide presentations to make lasting impressions on their audiences. Today, audience engagement at meetings and conferences is expected to be more interactive, immersive and on-demand.

Meeting and conference facilities are trying to up the ante by offering new and transformative technologies that will heighten those audience experiences.

Boosting connectivity It has become almost a given that meetings and conference venues should offer great Internet connectivity, as delegates like to stay connected to their wider business worlds at all times.

The 2015 Meetings Focus Trends Survey quizzed event planners on the importance of internet bandwidth in their choice of a facility. Some 15.3% of respondents stressed that it was

Better visualisation Event planners feel more assured when they are able to see the big picture prior to an event. Bearing this in mind, Suntec Singapore offers an online customer portal that provides a ‘live’ dashboard displaying the full details and schedules of bookings including meeting spaces, furniture, equipment, food and beverage items and digital signage allocation.

Organisers can view their event space with a two-dimensional floor plan, shift furniture and items around as they see fit, and render, in real-time, a three-dimensional model of their event space which they can rotate and view in 360 degrees. “This comprehensive, integrated and interactive overview in a single, easy to use, application is a first for a MICE venue,” says Arun Madhok, CEO, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre.

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MICE “critically important”, while 34.4% said that it was “very important”. Less than 10% said that it was not important at all.

Suntec Singapore understands this well. It provides free and easy access to robust, high-speed WiFi throughout its venue, so that both organisers and their guests can stay connected.

“Organisers take advantage of the network to introduce more interactive elements to their events, such as mobile apps, Twitterfalls, interactive app-based Q&As and feedback,” says Arun Madhok, CEO of Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Meetings go mobile Mobile applications are also becoming more mainstream during conferences and events. The on-the-go and real-time functionalities of such applications are making the meeting experience more interactive and engaging for delegates.

Whether it’s creating personalised schedules, finding directions to the next session, hearing last-minute announcements, or exchanging virtual business cards, delegates have come to expect information in real-time, says Alex Goldberg, Marketing Programs Manager at Guidebook, a company that helps users create mobile event apps for iPhone, Android, and the web.

Mobile applications are also boosting participation levels among conference attendees. “Instead of one-way (organiser to delegate) communication, interactive features such as surveys, photo albums, and social media give delegates a voice, says Goldberg. “Overall apps have made events a lot more efficient, both from environmental and economical points of view, taking away pain points such as figuring out where to go when, and allowing delegates to focus on the things they care about: education and networking,” he says.

The learning curve for creating such applications is also less steep today.

“We make publishing an app as easy as creating a Facebook profile, allowing

planners full control without involving IT departments. “Naturally, time spent within our content management system depends on the complexity of the event, but on average brand new users only need a few hours to create a custom mobile guide,” Goldberg says.

Mobile applications can also help organisers automate certain tasks for greater efficiency. Delegates who attend meetings at business venue Maxwell Chambers, for example, can use QR codes to place their lunch orders.

Greater efficiency is yet another benefit of mobile applications. The Ritz Carlton, Millenia Singapore is in the midst of rolling out an innovative meeting services application that places meetings management at the fingertips of planners. Called “((chime))”, it is part of a global initiative across all Ritz-Carlton properties.

The application allows meeting planners to connect in real-time with hotel staff at the touch of a button.

“It promises to enhance customer relationships and the meeting experience by providing an additional avenue for meeting planners to convey their requests to the hotel while on-the-go,

and without them having to leave the meeting room, or even be physically present in the hotel,” says Katherine Soh, Director of Conference Services, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.

When a request is sent through the app, hotel staff will receive it instantly via SMS text and an email broadcasts.

They are able to take action on the requests and respond to the meeting planner immediately. Available in 20 different language settings, “((chime))” allows both the meeting planners and staff to work in their preferred language.

“With this app, we will be able to remove time, language and space barriers, enhance the ease and speed of communication, and improve efficiency in attending to the needs of meeting planners,” Soh says.

To get all staff members acquainted with the new application, the hotel is electing a Meeting Services application leader within each property to conduct training sessions for all users. “After training is complete, simulation exercises will be carried out internally for users to familiarise themselves with the app prior to the launch,” Soh says.

More emerging trends • Mobile applications with analytic capabilities It often takes a long time for the results of a paper survey to be collated and evaluated. Mobile applications now allow meeting planners to crowd source real time feedback, and make corrections along the way, if necessary. They can, for example, help identify trending topics, and analyse crowd flow, as well as work out which exhibitors are getting the most traffic.

• Mobile applications with real-time voice translation These are particularly useful for conferences trying to attract an international mix of delegates.

• Aerial drone photography Remote controlled helicopters (or drones) affixed with high-definition cameras are increasingly being used to offer both organisers and delegates a different perspective of their events.

• Advanced display technologies Suntec Singapore boasts a 15m x 60m interactive digital wall (the largest high definition video wall in the world) that acts as a visually stunning backdrop at its entrance. High resolution glassless threedimensional imaging is also expected to become more prevalent in conference venues, increasing the “wow” factor at events.

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HRCLINIC What steps should be taken to transform a purely transactional HR organisation to that of a more HRBP type?

W

e must understand our role as a HR Business Partner (HRBP) in order for the transformation to take place. Having a good understanding of the business model and priorities is important as it is critical to implement and deliver HR advice and solutions to meet the evolving needs of the organisation. In recent years, HRBPs are directly involved in major business decisions of the organisation, including the formation of strategies, the design of the organisation as well as the execution. This however, is only possible if HR leaders think like a business manager.

In Citi, our efficient model is having a few Centres of Excellence, comprising of Shared Services and Support and Functional Specialists to support the HRBP and the business. The HR Shared Services could be embedded within a broader HR group, or function as an independent HR operation. With this segregation of function, it removes

the transactional operations from the HRBP, though not 100%. However at least the majority of the administrative work sits with the processing specialists, thereby ensuring that each function gets the right attention it truly deserves.

Regular and open communication between line managers and HR becomes increasingly important in order to develop innovative solutions that address the demands of a changing competitive landscape. At the same time, we must not forget that HR’s role is not only to support the objectives of the business; it is also to be the voice of the employees.

Evangeline Chua Head of HR, Citi Singapore

Ask our HR experts. Email your questions to sham@hrmasia.com.sg

In-house Recruitment Opportunities

Human Resources Director, Asia Pacific

Payroll Manager

› Diversified leading industry players › Highly hands-on and business partnering scope

› Healthcare and life science MNC › Strategic and operational focused

› US multinational company › Challenging and operational role

Representing multiple global organisations in the region, we seek dynamic and passionate specialist Recruiters to join them.

A respectable and growing organization, our client has an immediate need for a consummate and commercially-attuned HR Professional to lead its people agenda for Asia Pacific region.

A respectable organisation, our client seeks a highly experienced Payroll Manager to play a key role in their Singapore HR team.

As Recruitment Manager, you will conceptualize, implement and manage recruitment, sourcing and employer branding strategies.

You will build an effective talent strategy for the operation that aligns with business’ objectives and growth, establish and manage strong partnerships with internal and external sources, manage recruitment metrics and lead projects for new initiatives and continuous improvement.

As Recruiter, you will perform end-to-end recruitment process from partnering with stakeholder to qualify requisition to strategising sourcing strategies and employee on-boarding.

You will develop HR strategies and direction in line with regional and global HQ. You will implement HR strategies by establishing country and department accountabilities in areas of talent acquisition and management, succession planning, compensation & benefits, learning & development, employee relations and labour law compliance. Partnering closely with the leadership team and division heads, you will drive change and ensure strategic alignment of HR directives across the business.

You will provide direction in ensuring quality service delivery of the payroll function. You are responsible for service line portfolio, policies and processes, and will continuously seek opportunities to stream processes adhering to compliance guidelines. You will manage data quality, internal and external stakeholder management, lead payroll projects, and act as point of contact for global projects, strategic and tactical initiatives, lead, communicate and implement changes.

Ideally, you are degree qualified with at least 10 years of relevant work experience. Experience in payroll management and processing with large industrial organisation, operating in a HR shared service model is mandatory. Broad knowledge of labour laws and HR processes, and hands-on ability to work in a fast-paced, demanding and changing environment are essential. You possess excellent interpersonal and are able to communicate effectively with all levels of employees. Strong customer service-orientation, attention to details and professionalism, and ability to resolve conflicts are key success factors.

Reference number: MH/JD48563A Contact person: Maureen Ho (Reg. No. R1105976)

Reference number: MH/JD48563A Contact person: Maureen Ho (Reg. No. R1105976)

Reference number: MH/JD42246 Contact person: Maureen Ho (Reg. No. R1105976)

1143/02_15

For leadership role, you have 10 years relevant experience and for Recruiter, 5 years minimum. Those with hybrid in-house and agency experience with hands-on exposure to volume recruitment and executive search are preferred. Demonstrated ability in stakeholder management and dealing with ambiguity in a matrix working environment, with high level of initiatives, results-oriented, excellent interpersonal and communication skills are successful traits.

Degree qualified with postgraduate qualification, you have minimum 8 years relevant experience in HR leadership capacity in manufacturing MNC. Demonstrated ability in stakeholder management and dealing with ambiguity in a highly matrix work environment is mandatory. Those with change management, merger & acquisition HR related experience coupled with strong project management skills are preferred. You are a leader with coaching and mentoring skill, are hands-on and possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Your Human Resources recruitment specialists To apply, please go to talent2.com and search for respective reference number.

For a confidential discussion, you can contact Maureen Ho for the relevant position in our Singapore Office on +65 6511 8555  linkedin.com/company/talent2

Allegis Group Singapore Pte Ltd Company No. 200909448N EA Licence No. 10C4544

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GONG XI FA CAI From everyone here at Frazer Jones we wish you a Happy Chinese New Year and hope you have a prosperous Year of the Goat. Please see below a selection of our roles that we have been instructed on for 2015. If you are interested in recharging your career, please get in touch. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Senior Learning Consultant HR Leader

.

.

Banking & Financial Services

Engineering Consultancy

Regional HR Leader .

Engineering Consultancy

. Retail .

HR Business Partner Pharmaceutical Group HR Director . Private Investment Firm Leadership Development Manager . Consumer HR Analyst . International Bank Consultant . Professional Services Country HR Manager

Wishing you a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year from Frazer Jones

FN200341 FN200411 FN200501 FN200241 FN200331 FN198611 SS199421 SS199781 SS199651

Work for us Building on the success we’ve enjoyed in Asia in 2014, we are looking to make some additional hires to our team in Singapore.

We are currently seeking a senior HR recruiter to join the Singapore team. If you are interested in this opportunity please get in touch, we would welcome an initial discussion with you.

For more information, please contact Fiona Nesbitt at fionanesbitt@frazerjones.com or call Fiona on +65 6420 0515.

GLOBAL HR SEARCH & RECRUITMENT PART OF THE SR GROUP Brewer Morris | Carter Murray | Frazer Jones | SR Search | Taylor Root UK | EUROPE | MIDDLE EAST | Asia | AUSTRALIA | OFFSHORE frazerjones.com

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@FRAZERJONESHR

FRAZER-JONES

EA Licence No: 12C6222

MICHAEL PAGE Country HR Manager

Regional Training Director, APAC

HR Business Partner

› Leader in Industry › Strategic and decision making role

› Newly created position › Leadership role

› Strong impact on the business › Newly created role in a growing organisation

Our client is a market leading multinational providing business services globally. They are currently looking for a creative and passionate HR Manager to help further their businesses in Asia Pacific. Leading a team of three and reporting directly to the Regional HR Manager, you will be involved in the full spectrum of HR responsibilities. The successful applicant should possess at least 5 years of HR experience, with at least 2 years being a HR Manager. You should be degree qualified and have experience in dynamic organisations. This role will be ideal for candidates who are looking to challenge themselves to build up a strong HR team in Singapore and expand their own portfolios.

A rare opportunity to join a cosmopolitan, engaging professional services organisation as their APAC training director based in Singapore. Reporting to the global learning & development head, the primary function of the role is to oversee the delivery of a full suite of trainings to the entire Asia Pacific business working closely with senior leadership. The ideal candidate will have a breadth of experience managing a team in different locations supporting Asia Pacific and experience of remote execution of training critical. This role will be ideal for candidates who enjoy working in a fast-paced environment with a pivotal position within the management team.

Our client is a global organisation that has been shaping the internet and operations scene worldwide, with a significant presence in Asia. Based in Singapore, this is a full-spectrum position responsible for setting up the team and building HR processes in the region. It requires an entrepreneurial HR professional to set up HR strategy and operations from scratch, in tandem with a highly ambitious management team. The ideal candidate will come with solid project management skills, ideally with experience in setting up HR structures in fast-paced environments. This is a very unique opportunity to make a long lasting impact on the business.

Please contact Sheldon Toh (Reg. no: R1438671) quoting ref: H2638270 or visit our website.

Please contact Sean Tong (Reg. no: R1110029) quoting ref: H2642810 or visit our website.

Please contact Domi Di Marco (Reg. no: R1439720) quoting ref: H2643470 or visit our website.

To apply for any of the above positions, please go to www.michaelpage.com.sg and search for the reference number, or contact the relevant consultant on +65 6533 2777 for a confidential discussion.

Get Connected. Stay Ahead.

Specialists in human resources recruitment

Human Resources

#15349 | Michael Page International Pte. Ltd EA Licence No.: 98C5473 | Business Registration No. 199804751N

WORLDWIDE LEADERS IN SPECIALIST RECRUITMENT

www.michaelpage.com.sg

EMPOWERING YOUR CAREER Senior Manager – Human Resources

Payroll Manager

Team Lead opportunity Opportunity for travel Central location

Stable environment Team lead/supervisory responsibilities Attractive package

Our client is well established in their field and they are currently seeking to appoint a Senior Manager – Human Resources to support the Human Resource Director in a generalist function.

You will implement successful HR strategies and annual work plans, including strategic partnership with various Department Heads, recruitment and selection, employment equity, salary and benefits management, employee relations, talent retention, performance management, change management, diversity management, skills development, and policies & procedures.

To be successful, you should have a degree in related discipline with at least 8 to 10 years of work experience in a HR generalist role. You should be meticulous with good communication skills and team lead experience to oversee the team in the absence of the HR Director. You must be willing to travel up to 15% as required for this role.

Our client is well established in their field and they are currently seeking to appoint a Payroll Manager due to business needs.

Reporting to the Human Resource Director, you will be responsible for the payroll for rank-and-file employees with a large headcount of up to 4,000 staffs.

You will manage at least 8 direct reports.

To be successful, you should have a degree with minimum of 6 years of payroll experience. You should be well-equipped with good knowledge of the Employment Act and comfortable conducting training, as well as creating dashboards to track KPI. Proficiency of Paymaster is a plus.

If you meet the above criteria, please email your detailed CV in word format to maggie_ong@kellyservices.com.sg for a confidential discussion.

Maggie Ong Ai Leng EA Personnel Registration No. R1105973

If you meet the above criteria, please email your detailed CV in word format to maggie_ong@kellyservices.com.sg for a confidential discussion.

Maggie Ong Ai Leng EA Personnel Registration No. R1105973

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) is a leader in providing workforce solutions globally. For more than 35 years, Kelly in Singapore has been partnering the finest

local companies, key government agencies as well as some of the world’s most respected multinational companies to deliver the best talent in the market. Kelly’s centralised recruitment hub makes nearly 8,000 placements in Singapore last year. Complementing our general staffing capability, Kelly also offers great expertise in the sourcing of specialised professionals across technical disciplines such as Engineering, Technology and Science, as well as functional specialties for Finance, HR, Sales & Marketing, Procurement and Banking.

kellyservices.com.sg

Kelly Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd | EA License No. 01C4394 | RCB No. 200007268E

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Headquartered in Singapore since 2003, Kerry Consulting is Singapore’s leading Search & Selection firm.

Our consulting team is the most experienced, and amongst the largest, in the ASEAN region.

We offer positions in the following sectors: Banking & Financial Services Commerce Finance Engineering & Supply Chain Healthcare & Life Sciences Human Resources Legal Sales & Marketing Technology

Kerry Consulting celebrates 10 years in Singapore since 2003

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TO APPLY: Please submit your resume to the consultant email address listed, quoting the job title and reference number. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For further information on each job, visit the short URL

www.kerryconsulting.com | Returning the Human to Resourcing

Regional Talent Acquisition Manager (Real Estate)

Associate Director L&D APAC (Hospitality)

Digital Learning Programme Manager (Banking)

Real Estate Management SEA Coverage Salary Circa up to $120K

Newly Created Role Growing organisation with a strong branding Salary circa up to $120K

Leading Premier Bank AVP/VP Level Salary circa up to $150K

Our client is a leading global MNC and the world’s largest facilities management company. Innovative and exciting would best describe the business that they are in.

As a talent acquisition manager, you will report to the SEA HR Director and lead a team of recruiters. You will be responsible for the entire recruitment cycle from sourcing talents to smooth onboarding.

Our client is an established U.S. multinational within the service industry with strong growth in APAC. There is now an opportunity for a high calibre L&D Associate Director to join them in this newly created role. This position has Asia-Pacific coverage and will report directly to the Learning and Development Director, APAC, and manage a team of three. You will play a pivotal role in managing the entire process of partnering new/conversion developments in the key areas of brand service culture, culture building, and training systems.

Reporting directly to the Head of L&D, you will support the design and implementation of the Bank’s L&D programmes through digital training solutions. As a key driver, you will engage and consult with key business leaders and HR stakeholders to develop and deliver fit for purpose and cost-effective learning solutions. You will act as a consultant to engage with key stakeholders to identify learning needs and propose effective learning solutions, with a focus on using digital platforms to promote learning initiatives.

For more info: http://bit.ly/pc-7898

For more info: http://bit.ly/pc-7701

Ref No: PC7802\HRM pc@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104327

Ref No: PC7435\HRM pc@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104327

Senior Associate (AVP Equivalent) - Compensation & Benefits (Private Banking)

Regional Senior Manager - Total Rewards

For more info: http://bit.ly/pc-7932 Ref No: PC 7932\HRM pc@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104327

Area Head of HR (Based in Qingdao, Shandong, China) Leading Global Industrial Organization Strong Career Progression Potential Competitive Remuneration A leading industrial company with an established global footprint and a leading product pipeline is seeking an Area Head of HR to be based in Qingdao, Shandong, China, as it undergoes extensive organic growth and aggressively expands its APAC market presence. This role has wide exposure throughout the organization and will play a key role in supporting the Country MD’s commercial strategy. You will also actively participate in senior leadership decision-making, develop a robust learning and development agenda, lead change management initiatives, and create an innovative and commercially-focused HR team.

For more info: http://bit.ly/ft-7868 Ref No: FT7868\HRM ft@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104310

Premier private bank Newly created role Salary Circa up to $120k This is an international private bank with a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is now going through an expansionary phase and seeking a Senior Associate – Compensation & Benefits (C&B). This role reports to the Head of C&B and you will work closely with HRBPs, local and Group C&B teams on market competitiveness analysis, as well as provide expert advice on rewards-related issues. You will also work alongside third-party benefits vendors to support the day-to-day operations of the benefits portfolio.

For more info: http://bit.ly/ft-7334 Ref No: FT7334\HRM ft@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104310

Fortune 500 Organization Newly Created Role Salary circa up to $200K This successful and growing organization headquartered in Singapore has an exciting future ahead and is seeking a Regional Senior Manager – Total Rewards as a strategic hire to ensure the further success of the business through its people and partners. This role reports to the Global Total Rewards Leader and partners closely with senior executives. In this key Total Rewards lead role, you will oversee, manage and design the C&B policies and framework for the region.

For more info: http://bit.ly/ft-7686 Ref No: FT7399\HRM ft@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104310

Licence No: 03C4828

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Human resources professionals speak to tHe experts Hr Business partner partner with stakeholders across apac

compensation & Benefits specialist champion total rewards regionally

A fantastic opportunity exists with an MNC that has a global footprint and a presence across multiple geographies across APAC. This clientfacing role is entrusted with a regional portfolio of sophisticated clients.

Working closely with the bank’s centres of excellence, you will deliver HR generalist support and advise on matters ranging from talent acquisition, talent management and rewards. In addition to a generalist portfolio, you will also handle regional projects. A university degree in HR or a business related subject and additional diplomas in HR are highly desirable. You will need a minimum of five years of relevant generalist human resources experience, preferably in a multinational environment, and prior exposure to a fast-paced organisation and a matrix reporting structure.

An exciting opportunity exists with a financial firm known for its progressive employment practices and emphasis on total rewards.

Focusing on regional initiatives as well as harmonising policies for Singapore and APAC, you will be working with internal clients across various product areas. You should bring with you a minimum of six years of relevant experience in compensation and benefits with a multinational organisation. This role requires an individual who has technical skills covering salary benchmarking, trend analysis and structuring long-term and short term incentive schemes. You must have excellent analytical and communication skills and be able to think and work independently.

Deputy Director, compensation & Benefits architect remuneration strategies

Hr manager (education) spearhead key Hr frameworks and initiatives

In line with encouraging growth in the business, a rare opening of Deputy Director, Compensation & Benefits exists within a reputable MNC in the hospitality scene. Reporting direct to the Regional HR Director, you will oversee compensation and benefits strategies for the business’ commercial units in the region. You will be a Bachelor’s Degree graduate with eight years of relevant compensation and benefits HR experience.

An established manager, you have a proven track record in people management and business partnering with senior leaders.

A renowned educational institute is looking for a HR Manager to work closely with the management team in planning and developing key HR frameworks and initiatives pertaining to talent acquisition, talent management and learning and development to build people management and skill competencies. With more than ten years of hands-on HR operational experience, preferably within an educational setting, you will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills to liaise with key stakeholders at all levels.

please contact ash russell, tamara sigerhall, chris lui, keith lim or sean Wong at hr.singapore@hays.com.sg or +65 6303 0721.

hays.com.sg

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速

HR Management Solution (HRMS)

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