HRM 16.1

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BLOOMBERG: BRINGING CULTURE TO THE COMMUNITY CLIMB THE LADDER OR CROSS THE LATTICE? SEVEN DIMENSIONS OF AN AGILE LEADER

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ISSUE 16.1

What’s your New Year’s HR resolution?

Digital Savvy

Disruption Proof

Fu t u r e R e a d y

17 - 18 May 2016 | SUNTEC SINGAPORE CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE Featuring over 75 HR, Management & Business Gurus, including: Mark Leong Talent, Leadership & Management Development Lead, Talent & Development, APAC, UBS

Ellen Mai Senior HR Director (Greater China), LVMH Watches & Jewellry (CHN)

Arthur Fong Managing Director, 3M Singapore

Vandna Ramchandani Head of Recruitment, Philanthropy & Engagement, Asia Pacific, Bloomberg

Julian Birkinshaw Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship & Director of the Deloitte Institute at the London Business School

Jassy Tan Divisional Director - Human Resource, F J Benjamin (Singapore)

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith Thinkers50 Global Management ThoughtLeader, Best Selling Author and World-renowned Leadership Coach

Susan Chen Former Regional HR Director, US MNC and Chief HR officer, Viva Generik

JPS Choudhary Regional HR Head, Africa, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Vodafone

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Presenting Thought-Provoking & Impactful Topics: • Innovate from Within - Building an Agile and Adaptive Workforce • Re-Engineering Leadership for the Digital Industrial Age • Emerging and Progressing 2016 HR Trends – An HR Leader’s Viewpoint • Re-skilling Your HR Team - Transform to Become a True HR Business Partner • Maximising Your Social Media Visibility and Reach • Discover the New Strategic Framework for Ultimate Employee Engagement • The Twin Imperatives for Making Your Company Fit For The Future And many more…

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EDITOR’S NOTE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sumathi V Selvaretnam

Dear HRM readers,

ASSISTANT EDITOR Sham Majid

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16.1

s always, a brand new year is accompanied by new targets and ambitions.

It’s no different for HR professionals, who will be laying the foundations for the year ahead by crafting policies to ensure their organisations can push further towards their desired goals.

But, what specifically is on HR’s wishlist for 2016?

Our cover story tackles just that, as we speak to senior members of the HR industry to learn about their hopes and goals for the upcoming year.

For this month’s issue of HR Insider, we feature Bloomberg, the business data and media conglomerate.

Vandna Ramchandani, Bloomberg’s Head of Recruitment, Philanthropy and Engagement, in Asia-Pacific, offers a revealing insight of the Bloomberg culture and explains how it filters down to employees in terms of career ownership, accountability and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Elsewhere in this issue, we look at the widely-held belief that the only way to progress in a career is vertically. It’s a notion that many will want to revise.

Our feature story on career moves zooms in on a new kind of career trajectory: “latticing”.

This affords multiple pathways for career growth, including upward, lateral and even downward moves on some occasions.

This edition also features a special guest contribution from Kevin Mulcahy, a workplace futurist and HR Summit 2016 speaker.

Mulcahy elaborates on the coach-oriented approach to building next-generation agile leadership skills.

Also, how will your organisation be ushering in the Year of the Monkey this Chinese New Year?

We look at how some firms have been celebrating Lunar New Year on sea, via specialist cruise ship-based MICE offerings.

I wish you the very best in the New Year and look forward to your continued support.

Best Regards,

Sham Majid

Assistant Editor, HRM Asia CONTACT US:

MICA (P) 065/07/2015 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 16.1 HRMASIA.COM

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CONTENTS 16.1 COVER STORY 24 What’s your New

Year’s HR resolution?

With the new year now upon us, HR professionals are looking forward to playing an essential role in the growth of their organisations.

HRM reveals their plans for guiding their employees towards a better year

24 FEATURES

12

12 Growth engine

Responding to the needs of employees is critical during a period of organisational change, says Gery Messer, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific at CenturyLink. We find out how open communication helped the IT services company leap higher after a major acquisition.

18 Bringing culture to the community

With 25 years of making its mark in business and financial information, data and news in Singapore, HRM shares how Bloomberg has also been branding itself as an employer of choice over the years.

28 Climb the ladder or cross the lattice?

Is up the only way forward in the corporate world? Increasingly, the answer isn’t always yes. HRM finds out more.

2

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40

18

32 Seven dimensions of an agile leader

In the new and more disrupted future workplace, a new generation of leaders will need to lead differently. Guest contributor and HR Summit 2016 speaker Kevin Mulcahy captures the essence of the coach-oriented approach to building the agile leadership skills of the next generation.

36 ’Tis the season for performance appraisals. Or is it?

Is the annual performance review going the way of dial-up internet access? HRM finds out more about the shifting trend.

40 Tossing “Yusheng” at sea

Fancy holding your company’s annual Chinese New Year celebration away from the hustle and bustle of city life? Ushering in the Year of the Monkey on the high seas could be the perfect getaway for your staff to forge closer ties ahead of another busy year.

62

46 Ensuring workplace wellness

More organisations are sending their employees for health screenings as part of an effort to optimise wellbeing. HRM explores how HR can work with healthcare providers to plan and execute these screenings.

54 Aiming to tower above

From higher starting wages, extra paid maternity leave and job redesigns, there is no doubting that Tower Transit’s entrance into the public transport scene has been high-profile. HRM delves into some of the London-based operator’s proposed schemes for employees.

58 Putting the best policy forward

IT services business Anewtech Systems has adopted pro-National Service policies that have not only benefitted its staff, but the wider organisation as well.

62 HR Young Gun

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

REGULARS 4 News 16 Leaders on Leadership 50 HR Clinic 50 Twenty-four Seven 52 Talent Ladder 56 In Person 56 Resources 57 An HRD Speaks ISSUE 16.1

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NEWS

4

ASIA

HONG KONG

INDIA

RESULTS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FACE-TIME

END OF THE START-UP ALLURE?

A staggering four fifths (80%) of firms in Hong Kong are moving their productivity emphasis from counting how much time people spend in the workplace, to calculating their actual output.

The enhanced utilisation of such results-based, rather than location-based assessments, highlights that remote working is becoming almost a new normal.

The study, comprising of the opinions of more than 44,000 people from over 100 different countries, including 365 respondents in Hong Kong, found that globally, 61% of workers say their firms utilise flexible working as a mechanism for keeping and attracting top staff.

The results from Hong Kong respondents revealed an even more positive indication, with 66% of people confirming that flexible working had been beneficial in talent retention and recruitment.

With more organisations warming to flexible working, applying successful remote management processes is now topping management priorities.

Around 67% of respondents in Hong Kong (61% globally) cited that businesses like theirs were putting in place additional technology to help enhance productivity and manage remote workers.

Other key findings revealed that: • 67% of respondents globally confirm that senior management believe flexible working practices can be beneficial to productivity; • Globally, 46% of respondents were led by a remotelybased line manager at least some of the time. In Hong Kong, the proportion was steeper at 53% • 43% of companies around the world have acknowledged the value of mobile working and are crafting special training for management to operate remote workforces. The percentage is even larger in Hong Kong at 54%.

“The huge cultural shift in the workplace towards flexible working continues to grow,” said John Wright, CEO of Regus Asia-Pacific. “This latest research shows business people are embracing this change.

With improved productivity, better staff retention and lower operating costs at stake, implementing successful remote management processes can clearly bring businesses huge benefits.”

“One important caveat remains: while globally, workers managing a remote workforce or being managed remotely are increasing, too few firms are investing in specific training which could improve the transition from a fixed office workforce to a mobile workforce.”

It appears that start-ups are no longer as appealing to employees in India as they once were.

According to a recent JobBuzz survey of professionals employed in different start-ups, an overwhelming 88% were prepared to depart their current posts if offered the chance to work for bigger and more established firms.

Only 12% of respondents claimed they were satisfied in their present start-up work profiles.

When probed on why they were considering other opportunities: • 43% believed they would be able to command higher wages in established organisations; • 30% expected greater work-life balance outside of the start-up sector; and • 15% conceded that they wanted to change to an established firm to ensure better job security “Today’s talent is no longer lured by just fat paychecks. They are looking at long-term career growth and are careful when choosing

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their employers,” said Vivek Madhukar, Chief Operating Officer of TimesJobs.com , which manages the JobBuzz employee to employee networking platform in India. “The recent spate of retrenchments has deeply affected the very important and high-engagement sense of ownership and belonging that young professionals felt when they joined these start-ups.”

“Those joining start-ups must have that sense of passion and ownership to make the company grow. If they want to switch, as the survey shows, start-ups need to have a relook at their hiring strategy so they pick people who share the vision of the founders and feel themselves part of the company’s growth story.”

More than 750 professionals working in different new ventures across Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon, Delhi and Noida took part in the survey.

HONG KONG

BALANCED WAGE INCREMENTS FOR EMPLOYEES Companies in Hong Kong are preparing for salary increases in 2016, roughly in line with those awarded in previous years.

A survey of over 1,300 Hong Kong businesses has also found that managers customarily reward their best-performing employees with steeper wage increases, as they strive to keep skilled talents in a continuously restricted labour market.

The study, by the Voth Nixon Group, revealed that close to all respondents (96%) are in the midst of boosting wages this year. It forecasts an average wage increase of four percent in 2016 for non-executive employees, which is similar to the salary rises of last year and 2014.

Corporate executives and managers can also anticipate a raise in salaries for 2016, slightly higher at an average 4.2% increment.

“As the results of our study suggest, four per cent annual wage raises are now considered the norm among Hong Kong businesses and there haven’t been many variations from this level for quite some years,” said Carl Zayn, Senior Development and Strategy Manager of Voth Nixon Group.

“Even though most companies are finding the skilled professionals that they require at present wage levels, we are noticing more business leaders seeking efficient methods to manage their salary budget expenditures.”

ASIA

NEWS

CHINA

CIOS: FUTURE ROSY FOR TECH JOB MARKET Chief Information Officers (CIOs) across Greater China have highlighted their confidence in the technology job sector over the coming 12 months.

This was cited in the recent Michael Page Greater China CIO Viewpoint study for 2015.

According to the report, close to half (46%) of IT professionals think the technology industry in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, will improve over the coming year, with a further 35% forecasting that the industry will at least remain stable.

Over half of CIOs (53%) surveyed also anticipated their businesses would boost headcount in the next year, further enhancing job opportunities for IT professionals across the region.

Tellingly, 49% of technology professionals have cited that their hiring budgets rose during 2015.

The report also noted that 62% of CIOs had budgets the equivalent of between one and five per cent of their company’s annual revenue, while one out of four (26%) respondents enjoyed budgets of six percent or more.

“There is a clear mood of optimism among senior IT professionals across the region, but when it comes to increasing headcount we see market variation,” said Anthony Thompson, Regional Managing Director, Michael Page Greater China.

“In Mainland China, there is growing demand for data analysts; while in Hong Kong, developers and specialists in cyber security are highly sought after. In Taiwan, talent with both technical skills and business sensitivity are the focus of attention.”

At the same time, CIOs are turning their attention to enhancing processes and improving experiences for mobile and wireless devices.

In the next 12 months, mobility has been cited as the top area for new technology spending by CIOs in Mainland China and Hong Kong, while in Taiwan, where CIOs are much more engrossed in managing the drivers of business performance, cloud services are ranked as the top priority for 2016.

“We are seeing CIOs move from an operational focus to delivering optimal services to their customers,” explained Thompson.

“It is no coincidence that this comes at a time of increasing budgets and CIOs are now making more company-wide decisions than at any time in the past five years.”

“This points towards the growing importance of technology in supporting business growth and keeping up with the speed of change in areas such as mobile, cloud services and analytics.”

The Michael Page 2015 Greater China CIO Viewpoint was based on a qualitative survey of 116 CIOs working across a range of industry sectors in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

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HELP YOUR EMPLOYEES AND YOUR BUSINESS BOUNCE BACK

NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

CANADA

WINTER HITS THE WORKFORCE With the seasons changing following the New Year, Canadian workers are suffering from a variety of illnesses, ranging from the common winter cold to migraines.

A recent CareerBuilder Canada survey found that 66% of employees will still attend work despite feeling unwell, with work-related pressures pushing them on.

In fact, 48% of those polled revealed that their stress levels at work have increased over the last six months. Many feel obliged to work while sick to ease the workload.

The sources of their stress are an everfull inbox and a never-ending “to do” list, the research found.

Some 53% of workers said they were unable to take time off as they could not afford to miss out on their wages.

Sudden tragedies …

Workplace accidents …

Natural disasters …

These events can have a devastating effect on your employees – and your business. When they strike, people often need help to comprehend, cope, and continue forward.

That’s where we come in.

Workplace Options is a worldwide leader in employee well-being solutions. We provide a Rapid Response Critical Incident service to companies across Singapore and around the world that helps employees overcome traumatic events.

Ryan Lazar, Director of CareerBuilder Canada said, “Whether you are working in a high pressure environment or not, it’s important to take the correct amount of time to recover from an illness, rather than trying to work in the interim.”

“Employers have a duty of care to ensure that staff are fit enough to be in the workplace and this standard must be upheld.”

“Ultimately, if the Canadian workforce does not take the time to get back to good health, companies will face a drop in productivity levels and morale, and continue to see a stark increase in staff taking time off work over the long-term.”

UK

DATA LOSSES MAKE AN IMPACT A rising number of UK employees may not fully appreciate just how valuable the data they have access to actually is.

Research suggests they also underestimate the potential impact of data losses on their companies.

This is according to a new study

by Clearswift, which found that only 39% of employees recognise that intellectual property loss could damage their businesses.

The firm noted that this was particularly worrying as a surprisingly large number of people have access to

Whether you need counselors on-site or a dedicated hotline for round-the-clock assistance, our teams are always ready.

Don’t let an unexpected tragedy cripple your company. Get employees the support they need to reflect, heal, and get back on track.

high-value data in their jobs.

Some 44% of the survey’s respondents reported having access to sensitive intellectual property. Of this group, 35% have access to information that was seen to be “above their pay grade”.

“The value of a company’s intellectual property is frequently misunderstood,” said Heath Davies, CEO of Clearswift.

“This data is often a company’s most prized possession. If it were to fall into a competitor’s hands, or even just unauthorised hands, it could cause immense financial damage to a company.”

ARGENTINA

HIRING ACTIVITY ON THE RISE Hiring intentions among Argentinean employers have risen by two per cent for the first quarter of 2016.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey says this represents a five percent rise year-on-year from the same period in 2015.

Construction sector employers forecasted the strongest labour market, with a 22% rise in hiring expected.

Learn More at:

www.workplaceoptions.com Or call toll-free:

+65 (800) 130 1950

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The public administration and education sector, as well as the services sector are expected to see steady job growth of 12%.

The outlook for the wholesale and retail trade sectors stand at an eight percent growth, according to the Manpower research.

Meanwhile, payrolls are predicted to decline by three percent in both the agriculture and fishing sectors.

INTERNATIONAL

NEWS

US

WORK TAKING PRIORITY OVER FAMILY Thirty-three percent of US employees do not feel comfortable taking time off work, according to Deloitte’s Workplace Pulse Survey.

Some 32% of the survey’s respondents reported to have prioritised work commitments over family and personal time, while 48% said their organisation did value their work-life balance.

But, supervisors and managers are some of the worst offenders when it comes to overworking, and that is impacting on the habits of those below them on the corporate ladder.

More than a third of the respondents stated that if their direct managers and senior leaders prioritised personal commitments over work, they would feel more comfortable doing the same.

“Organisations are investing in more benefits and perks associated with wellbeing, like flexible work options and unlimited vacation days, aimed at winning the war for talent,” Mike Preston, Chief Talent Officer of Deloitte, said.

“But our survey shows businesses can do more to create a culture of wellbeing, which goes beyond offering generous programmes and focuses on everyday behaviours.

Wellbeing is not mutually exclusive to delivering value to clients; in fact it’s important in any high performance culture.”

GLOBAL

REVEALED: COUNTRIES WITH THE HAPPIEST EMPLOYEES Belgium has topped the list of countries researched in the Global Workforce Happiness index.

The index ranked local companies based on employee satisfaction, employee’s willingness to recommend them, and their likelihood of switching jobs in the near future.

Other countries that had a large number of satisfied employees included Norway, Costa Rica, Denmark, South Africa, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, the Czech Republic and Russia.

When ranked by industry, the happiest professionals were those in legal services, followed by aerospace and defence, educational and scientific institutions, insurance, and then, technology, hardware and equipment firms.

The least happy industries were healthcare services, followed by media and advertising, tourism, engineering and manufacturing, and also, retail.

“Use (the measurement) to drill down and understand the variables that cause your employees to feel differently from their peers inside other organisations and what your company can do to close that gap,” the report, by Universum, stated.

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INF GRAPHIC

Is your workforce prepared for 2016?

Following the new year, the overall job outlook is set to positively impact both jobseekers and employees locally. Various industries are predicted to see a significant increase in their headcounts. HRM shares some insights from Adecco’s 2016 Singapore State of Labour report on what HR professionals can expect within their workforce in 2016

DID YOU KNOW

Industries with the most job vacancies 13.3%

Manufacturing

Services

Construction

14% 12.4% 9.1%

MANUFACTURING

20.9%

12.4%

Administrative and support services

9.1%

Information & Communications

3.1%

Real Estate Services

3.7%

Transportation & Storage

5.9%

Financial & Insurance

4.8%

Property

5.7%

OTHERS

7.1%

Industries with the most growth Supply Chain, Procurement & Logistics Advanced Manufacturing

Sources: • Adecco’s 2016 Singapore State of Labour report • Some icon graphics are by Freepik.com and VectorOpen-Stock.com 8

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14%

Accommodation and food services

CONSTRUCTION

7.1%

Life Sciences

13.3%

SERVICES

Wholesale and retail trade

5.7%

Banking & Finance

2 in 3 employers face

Community, social and personal services 20.9%

3.1% 3.7% 5.9% 4.8%

Others

IT, Supply Chain, Oil & Gas, Healthcare & Pharma, Electronics

talent shortages Online & social channels

are the popular mediums for brand promotion

Social networks

will shape the future of recruitment

Talent attraction rankings Singapore

2 ND

Japan

19 TH

Hong Kong

20 TH

South Korea

21 ST

NEWS

HR MARKET ROUNDUP

E2I LAUNCHES FESTIVAL OF LEARNING Aimed to equip Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) with future skills and knowledge of different learning platforms, the National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) launched its “Festival of Learning” on December 5.

The event highlighted the importance of essential future skills for the local workforce, and also paved the way for self-development and career progression.

Held at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability, participants were able to access profiling and skills assessment tests to better understand their core competencies and potential development areas.

They were also treated to a SkillsFuture Credit Workshop, which taught participants how to access courses to enhance and deepen their skills.

Each of the five workshops highlighted one particular skill.

“Businesses in today’s globalised work is highly-connected and tightlyintegrated,” Gilbert Tan, CEO of e2i, said.

“Business models will not be the same as in the past, but will incorporate disruptive thinking and strategies to take quantum leaps ahead.”

He also stressed on the importance of employees’ skills and mindset advancement to keep up with the ever-changing workforce.

“We need to constantly develop and deepen our core competencies, and to acquire the passion and know-how to pick up new updated skill sets to help us perform better in our jobs,” Tan added.

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GLOBAL MOBILITY PROGRAMMES ON THE RISE A sizeable 56% of multinational companies expect to increase the number of short-term assignments in 2016, according to Mercer’s International Assignment Policies and Practices report.

Over the past two years, 51% of firms increased their use of shortterm assignments while another 50% witnessed a rise in permanent international assignments.

Globally, 85% of companies have a policy in place for international assignments, up from 81% in 2012.

The report also recorded an increase in the number of companies with multiple policies.

The top five drivers behind international assignments were found to be: the need for specific technical skills not available locally (47%); ensuring “know-how transfer” (43%); providing specific managerial skills (41%); facilitating career management and leadership development (41%); and fulfilling specific project needs (40%).

In the future, 57% of companies expect the number of key or strategic

assignments to increase.

Companies that reported the highest expected increase in assignments involved deployments to the US, China, UK, Singapore, and Brazil.

“With the increased use of alternative assignment types, such as commuter projects and short-term assignments, companies are bypassing some of the major obstacles to mobility,” said Anne Rossier-Renaud, Principal in Mercer’s global mobility business.

“Employees on these assignments are less likely to bring their families along, allowing the spouse to continue working in the home country and saving the company the cost of relocation.”

“However, these assignment types can come with significant compliance challenges, and it is imperative that companies monitor these assignees carefully for tax, social security and immigration purposes. Failure to do so can expose both the company and employee to serious legal and financial penalties.”

POSITIVE JOB OUTLOOK FOR 2016 The job market in Singapore will continue to grow in 2016.

Yet, according to Jaya Dass, Country Manager of Randstad Singapore, companies in Singapore and the region are also being more conservative with their hiring forecasts.

She said this comes after slower economic conditions in markets like China, and expected interest rate hikes in the US. At present, most firms are adopting a “wait-and-see” approach in forecasting their talent requirements for the coming year.

Dass forecasted a continuing strong demand for particular jobs in every sector, including new growth areas.

For example, the biopharmaceutical sector, which has contributed up to five percent of Singapore’s economy, will be looking specifically for skilled talent with laboratory, regulatory and

technical sales expertise.

Meanwhile, in the finance sector, accountants and compliance managers continue to be in demand, especially with the increase in regulation.

Dass stressed that risk and compliance specialists are expected to witness an upsurge in their average salaries, compared to their general banking colleagues. This will be the result of big banks pulling out all the stops in a bid to retain and attract them.

“Continue to understand how your industry or area of expertise is functioning,” she advised. “The focus should be on staying relevant and learning new things, rather than on salary and job title.”

“Look at what will grow your skills and exposure in this market rather than just seeking out monetary gain. This makes a candidate more attractive to employers,” said Dass.

LEADERS TALK HR

GROWTH ENGINE Q

What were your key people management priorities when you became the managing director at CenturyLink in late 2013? How have things progressed since?

Responding to the needs of employees is critical during a period of organisational change, says Gery Messer, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific at CenturyLink. We find out how open communication helped the IT services company leap higher after a major acquisition

attract top talent. People are aware of the growth potential and want to be a part of us.

Our employee referral rate also went up significantly, and this shows that our people appreciate where In Asia-Pacific, our overall they are. management strategy covers five key We conduct panel interviews, pillars (the 5 Ps: People, Pipeline, which provide a great opportunity Sumathi V Selvaretnam sumathi@hrmasia.com.sg Partners, Platform, and Positioning). for people to get to know the people People are definitely a top that they are working with. People management priority for the region. who interview with me can see the I believe in making things happen through our people, passion and excitement. I don’t want to be anywhere else and I focus on finding the best talent for specific roles. I right now. am very proud of our team. Every position is filled with You can have the right solutions but it is the right people the right person in the right role. We have a very diverse who make it happen. team of over 10 different nationalities. Thirty percent are female.

CenturyLink acquired web hoster Savvis in 2011.

Q

CenturyLink isn’t as well-known as some of the other players in the IT services industry. How is this shaping the company’s employer branding and recruitment efforts?

Following the rebranding from Savvis to CenturyLink in 2014, I’d have to admit that people were hardly aware of us. We then decided to embark on an aggressive public relations campaign in 2015.

Since then, we’ve been featured in the news regularly.

This made all the difference because, from an HR perspective, the publicity has made it easier for us to

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Q

Could you tell us more about the HR transformation in your company post-acquisition? How did you integrate employees from both companies?

In September 2014, the company restructured from a business unit model to a functional model, which allowed greater focus on growth strategies and the Asia-Pacific region. Alliance partnerships are key to this growth outside of the US. You must communicate to overcome barriers, and ensure that everyone speaks the same language. The global leadership team held townhall phone calls in different time zones to explain the new structure. We also communicated

LEADERS TALK HR

BIO BRIEF Gery Messer

Managing Director, Asia Pacific, CenturyLink Gery Messer has over 28 years of international experience in High Technology and Consulting organisations, building and directing businesses for global companies across Europe and Asia-Pacific.

He has held numerous P&L and high impact revenue driving leadership positions with industry leaders such as NGA, Red Hat, EMC, Deloitte, SAP and IBM. Prior to joining CenturyLink, Messer was spearheading NGA’s growth in the region with responsibility for all aspects of the company’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa operations including sales, marketing, R&D and customer service.

Messer also led the growth of Red Hat’s Asia Pacific region and the transformation of the EMC Services business across Asia-Pacific and Japan. He led the Southeast Asia and Technology Practice at Deloitte Consulting and had a successful career with SAP, including the founding and launch of SAP Korea. He began his IT career in Switzerland, working at IBM. Messer is well-recognised within the region as an executive with broad sales and operations abilities. He is a hands-on leader with deep software, services, solutions and systems integration experience across industries from Financial Services, Telco and Manufacturing to Government services. He is very experienced in leading groups across a wide geography and prides himself on building strong teams.

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LEADERS TALK HR five to six key initiatives, and what we needed to do to be successful.

Internally, we believe that a diverse workforce founded on a culture of mutual respect and collaboration is important to us. We have built an attractive and collaborative work environment.

It is our goal for all employees to feel appreciated, respected and part of the CenturyLink family.

Q

How do you engage and retain talent?

We have good retention rates as a growth company would expect to have, with many staff developing their careers over the last 12 years.

To engage and retain talent, it was important that we created a learning culture that would stay with employees

throughout their tenure. Everyone owns their own career.

We provide the environment where you can perform at your best.

CenturyLink University (see boxout) was launched two years ago to help sales staff gain a deeper knowledge of their products.

Q

How do you manage employee performance? What systems do you have in place to track it?

We have a robust system in place to track progress, including timely employee reviews and performance recognition.

CenturyLink has a performance management system, called MyLink. It is based on SAP SuccessFactors software.

Managers and their direct reports use this tool to input performance goals and update their progress.

We focus on the relationship between manager and employee, and believe that coaching and regular feedback are vital. There shouldn’t be any surprises during a review.

The manager sets milestones to discuss results throughout the year, and evaluates the employee’s annual results against the goals set. The manager also reviews the employee’s results and behaviour in order to determine their potential.

Q

What leadership opportunities do you offer?

Leadership is being cultivated with centralised efforts involving top executives.

In the future, employee resource groups will play an important role in advancing employees’ career development: training them to lead teams, as well as engaging with other employees.

Getting certified The CenturyLink Sales University is an enablement programme, which includes training, study groups, and certification.

All sales professionals in the company need to be certified by the sales university under the year-long programme. It allows teams to collaborate, focus and reinforce skills sets and activities.

The programme focuses on four disciplines aligned to the business: cloud, network, managed services, and co-location. It involves a mix of self-paced e-learning modules and manager-led group study sessions.

The main goal and outcome of the programme is to enable sales professionals to better engage customers, and to also help them navigate the fast-changing technological landscape.

Individual employees work closely with their sales managers to develop their competencies and meet learning objectives. Sales managers lead study groups and have access to guides that serve as coaching aids to help individual team members.

Upon completion of the programme, all sales professionals receive a digital “certification badge” displayed on their Salesforce profile – which is also shareable via their personal LinkedIn pages.

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LEADERS TALK HR Training and mentorship CenturyLink executives and leaders get to touch base with other leaders in the business to provide IT consultation and strategy. This helps other leaders as well as themselves to grow in their roles.

The Executive Business Strategy sessions are partmentoring session where senior management engage in open discussion with senior IT executives to help them as they speak with customers, allowing them to grow within their own specialisations.

That is something that we’re aiming to push out once details have been finalised.

Currently, we have a suite of developmental opportunities for leaders, from those contemplating a future in management to those already at a senior executive level.

These programmes are shaped by our global HR leadership, in conjunction with (Global CEO) Glen Post and his direct executive leadership.

Q

Q

Do you believe in work-life balance? How do you achieve that on a personal level?

Q

Could you tell us more about CenturyLink’s family-first culture?

I believe in “work-life fit” more than worklife balance. The truth is there is no magical 50-50 split between your life on and off the job.

CenturyLink believes that as an employer, we have a role to play in fostering a community of strong and happy families. As a company, we take pride in honouring our employees’ families as well.

With technology, you can’t really switch off. However, I don’t send emails over the weekend; otherwise, people feel obliged to reply.

On the other hand, when there is an emergency, I know I will have a response in minutes.

What are the biggest leadership lessons that you’ve learnt over the course of your career?

• Be an effective communicator and know your workers • Listen, learn and act • Get buy-in from your management team as well as from your staff • “Speed of Trust”: When you work in a trusted environment, you will make faster and better decisions.

ME MYSELF I I love: Building and shaping the business and cultivating diverse teams in Asia-Pacific I dislike: People who miss committed deadlines My inspiration: To see people achieving extraordinary things in a trusted and collaborative environment My biggest weakness is: Not taking ‘no’ for an answer In five years’ time, I’d like to: To have the same passion and integrity in whatever I am doing, both professionally and personally.

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LEADERS ON LEADERSHIP

How can leaders effectively overcome workplace conflicts?

C

apstrat is a communications agency that works with clients at critical moments when the stakes are high. Thanks to digital communications and a 24/7 news cycle, things tend to move fast. Everyone in our agency wants the work to be as good as it can be to help our clients succeed. In a highstakes and fast-paced environment, conflicts will typically occur. Here are three rules of engagement we follow: • Resolve it directly. When a co-worker comes to me about a conflict with someone else in the office, I’ll listen to the situation, but almost always, my answer is for them to take it up directly with the individual. If someone resolves your conflicts for you, you’ll never get to the underlying problem.

• Seek first to understand. Many conflicts are a result of simple misunderstandings. Get all of the facts out on the table before rushing to

resolution. Think about the situation from the other person’s perspective. When you do, chances are you’ll find a common ground or at least, an appreciation for the other person’s perspective. If you’re able to communicate in a way that shows your understanding of their point-of-view, you’ll be able to overcome barriers.

• Take it offline. At the first hint of a problem, pick up the phone or see the person and have a conversation. Emails might be the worst thing that ever happened to workplace communication.

How often have you gotten pulled in to a situation and read a long email chain, only to realise if someone had had a conversation early on, the whole conflict could have been avoided?

• Workplace conflicts will occur.

Handling them with respect and forthrightness makes for strong workplace relationships and culture.

C

SCOTT PETTET Senior Vice President, Asia-Pacific, Lewis PR

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onflict could be considered a simple difference of opinion or a clash of working styles or personalities. Others might define workplace conflict as a serious disagreement or argument, which usually lasts a period of time, as opposed to being a one-off. My view is more of the latter than the former.

They are based on resolving serious, and protracted disagreements.

The first step in resolving conflicts is to have a culture where people feel empowered to raise their concerns with management.

This must be tempered, however, with the promotion of personal accountability.

If someone brings a conflict issue to my attention, the first thing I typically want to know is what the person has done to try and resolve the matter directly with their protagonist. If nothing has been done, then I encourage the person to

KAREN ALBRITTON President, Capstrat

think about how they might be able to resolve it through direct action.

For example, they could approach the person they are having a conflict with rationally and calmly try to discuss their differences. Perhaps, do this outside of the office environment or where the conflict typically occurs. Try to understand the other person’s point of view and develop a compromise, or work-around.

In many cases, this direct approach works effectively. There will always be cases, however, where it does not.

And in these cases, it’s the duty of senior management or HR to step in and mediate the situation. Get the protagonists together and give each of them the opportunity to calmly state their case. Importantly, this is not a process of understanding who is right and who is wrong. It’s about understanding the underlying issues of the conflict and finding solutions – often creatively – and fixing them.

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HR INSIDER

AT A GLANCE

Total number of employees at Bloomberg (Singapore): 550 Size of the HR Team (Singapore): 20 Key HR Focus Areas: - Business Partnering - Talent Management - Commercialising HR

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HR INSIDER

BRINGING CULTURE TO THE COMMUNITY I

t was an idea that was pretty “out there”, perhaps even a little farfetched.

It came with its own set of challenges and brought on some unexpected anxiety, as Vandna Ramchandani, Head of Recruitment, Philanthropy and Engagement, Bloomberg Asia-Pacific, recalls. But the company was determined to bring a food truck to university campuses across Singapore.

This is no ordinary food truck.

Fondly known as the Bloomberg Career Express, the specially-outfitted vehicle replicates signature elements of Bloomberg’s culture, and showcases some of the latest technology used by the company.

Designed specifically to educate and inspire students about Bloomberg careers in business and finance, the bus visited ten campuses across

With 25 years of making its mark in business and financial information, data and news in Singapore, HRM shares how Bloomberg has also been branding itself as an employer of choice over the years

Muneerah Bee

Singapore as part of a month-long mobile recruitment outreach last year.

“I felt that the way to attract talent was to bring our culture to campuses because this is who we are.

We are very creative, technologysavvy, and we have a great culture,” Ramchandani explains.

To create the Bloomberg atmosphere within the truck, it was fitted with glass walls. A news ticker was installed and a typical Bloomberg pantry, which is the company’s hallmark point of internal collaboration, was stocked inside. There were also Bloomberg terminals as an emblem of the real timeliness of the business that the company drives.

Besides allowing students to get a taste of the inner workings of Bloomberg, the truck also offered a place to directly interact with the company’s business leaders. “I think about 30% of the office was with us at different times at the campuses,” Ramchandani says. “Bringing in talent is so important to any company that it cannot just be the responsibility of HR. It is our responsibility as an organisation to have a culture of recruiting and our business leaders

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HR INSIDER need to drive that top down.”

The campaign was a success along with the three graduate roles posted which attracted about 1,200 applicants before it was closed. For each role, Bloomberg were hiring up to 10-12 candidates.

Sense of ownership The one-of-a kind recruitment drive was part of Bloomberg’s anniversary celebrations as it commemorated its 25th year in Singapore in 2015.

When Bloomberg opened its office in Singapore in 1990, it had just two local employees. It has since grown into the company’s hub for South Asia and Southeast Asia, with over 550 employees from 25 countries.

Bloomberg’s corporate culture of innovation, creativity, diversity, and customer service threads through its offices globally, including in Singapore.

“This is the pervasive culture no matter where we are,” Ramchandani explains. “It’s a very bold and dynamic culture. We encourage employees to take ownership, not only in terms of driving the business globally and locally, but also of taking charge of their own careers.”

She says Bloomberg’s typical career trajectory involves staff taking ownership and additional responsibilities, which comes with a lot of accountability. In turn, the flat structure, coupled with diversity and creativity, creates a very entrepreneurial spirit. “We expect our people to be entrepreneurs, and to come to the table with solutions rather than to just talk about the problems.

So, every time you go to the table for a conversation, you should have thought through about the issue as if it was your own business and your own ability to make impact and come up with solutions. I think that really creates quite a unique environment,” she adds.

Whole new realm Coming from the sales and global

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Engaging through philanthropy Philanthropy and the arts are a big focus for Bloomberg. Last year, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed over $460 million to five key areas: public health, environment, education, government innovation and the arts.

Through its “Best of Bloomberg” initiative, employees can sign up and get involved with the community through partnerships with various parties such as Habitat for Humanity, Beyond Social Services and Junior Achievement Singapore.

Bloomberg also partners the Singapore Repertory Theatre to fund front-row tickets for every show for youths between the ages of 15 and 25, and sponsors playwright training programmes for emerging talent.

“We want to bring the arts to the students, because this is the future of the country, not only for ourselves but for Singapore,” Vandna Ramchandani, Head of Recruitment, Philanthropy & Engagement, Bloomberg Asia-Pacific, explains.

data departments prior to heading recruitment, Ramchandani is able to bring a different perspective to the local HR team. “I think what’s been unique is that because I understand the business, there’s a lot of credibility that comes with it. Once you have been in the shoes of the business leader, you can understand the needs of the business – not just theoretically, but on a day-to-day basis,” she explains.

For example, she says she is able to better understand succession planning and how it impacts employee movements. “Bloomberg is very supportive of mobility and there are a lot of opportunities but you can only take those if you are thoughtful in the way you develop your people and get your people ready,” she says.

Coming from the business side,

she is also able to build a tighter and more executional framework. “We have a very good HR department, but sometimes, you can link the dots better and create a more effective culture of execution when there is a team of HR professionals with market and business experience,” explains Ramchandani. “When the business needs to execute quickly, support functions like HR will require a robust framework that can support our people and the overall business. It is imperative to balance fast execution with the proper implementation of best practices and policies, at the right pace and over time, while thinking ahead of what’s next for the business.”

Ultimately, Ramchandani sees HR as a direct as well as indirect contributor to the company’s bottom line.

More than a support function, she believes HR is an important partner that can influence decisions. “I may not influence the exact business but I influence the business through the people. For us at Bloomberg, our people are our biggest assets; so, influencing the growth, development and the talent that we bring in is a direct contribution to the bottom line,” she says.

The course of a career As exemplified by her own career path, Ramchandani says every Bloomberg employee’s journey is unique. With a lot of support from the company, employees are expected to take ownership of their own pathways.

For example, Bloomberg’s in-house intranet has a function that allows staff to search for vacant positions within the organisation – anywhere in the world. They can also connect with colleagues to network and to exchange their experiences, based on their individual background and career path.

This creates opportunities for staff to expand the scope of their jobs, Ramchandani says. “While people are always looking for the next

HR INSIDER opportunity, sometimes they are also just looking for the next challenge, and the next challenge doesn’t have to mean a new role. It could very well be within the current role.” For instance, employees could take additional responsibility, or get involved in regional or global projects.

Ramchandani likens career paths at Bloomberg to a jungle gym, instead of a ladder. Even though employees are encouraged to take additional responsibilities and grow within their roles, they also get the support needed to explore other lateral areas to move to.

“Somebody from data can move to sales. Somebody from sales can move to corporate communications. Or somebody from data can move to news.

We have had all these examples within the organisation,” Ramchandani reveals.

She adds there are employees who went through a “traditional” career path where they became team leaders and managers and specialists in their areas, and career progression also comes in the form of opportunities to work in different Bloomberg offices around the world.

Bloomberg also engages its employees in various ways, including throwing its famous summer parties for staff and their families, and opening

the doors for employees’ children to have a taste of a day in the office.

The company also introduced a Jump Start series in Singapore, part of its 25th anniversary campaign. This involves business leaders in different fields, such as in technology, finance and the arts, being invited to tell their personal leadership stories to the local team.

Employees get the rare opportunity to have a heart-to-heart talk with the newsmakers and leaders in the field through this series.

“We want our employees to gain from different experiences. Sometimes they will go outside to get those and sometimes, you have to bring them in. This was one of the ways to bring the experiences in for them to get exposure to different leadership styles,” Ramchandani explains.

Continued growth With 25 years of strong growth, Ramchandani reckons the Singapore office will continue to develop. “We’ve seen 10% employee growth year-onyear and I don’t foresee any change in the next couple of years,” she says.

“It’s definitely still going to be a growth story.”

Moving forward, she foresees that Bloomberg’s policies in Singapore will evolve based on the needs of the

region and of the changing world.

For example, the company recently made progressive adjustments to the number of parental leave days for both primary and secondary caregivers.

Ramchandani says this is not only the right thing to do, it is also important in order to keep the best employees.

Bloomberg also wants to make sure that it is hiring more graduates from within the local countries in the region, including Singapore. “We are very focused on local leadership, and these graduates are going to be the leaders of tomorrow,” Ramchandani explains.

So, can we expect the Bloomberg Career Express to make its rounds again in 2016?

“We plan it to be a yearly event for the next couple of years. By the time it’s becoming expected, we will switch it around and do something different.

That’s who we are; we like to keep things moving, so nothing should become status quo,” she shares.

However, Ramchandani already has something in mind to make it a different experience for the next round. “I want the Bloomberg Career Express to have a fish tank because it is a unique feature in Bloomberg offices around the world,” she adds.

That’s definitely something to look forward to.

WHO’S WHO IN HR

VANDNA RAMCHANDANI

Asia-Pacific Head of Recruitment, Philanthropy and Engagement

TEHANI PERERA Asia-Pacific Head of Campus Recruitment

BERTRAND BAILLY Asia-Pacific Senior Recruiter

EELEEN HENG

Asia-Pacific HR Business Partner, Global Data and the COO

ALLEN WU

Asia-Pacific Global Benefits

WINCY LEUNG

Employee Services, Singapore Region

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HR’S NEW YEAR WISHLIST

What’s your New Year’s HR resolution?

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HR’S NEW YEAR WISHLIST

With the new year now upon us, HR professionals are looking forward to playing an essential role in the growth of their organisations. HRM reveals their plans for guiding their employees towards a better year Naadiah Badib

naadiah.b@hrmasia.com.sg

E

mployees in the UK are looking forward to having better control over their workloads and to become less stressed at work in 2016.

This was a key finding from a study by Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow, which also indicated that 94% of its respondents were stressed out due to their work.

Half of this group reported having “too much to do” and having “not enough time” to complete the tasks at hand. Another 43% of them blamed poor management while a quarter attributed stress to long working hours.

Closer to home, Ilja Rijnen, Regional HR Director for The Edrington Group in Asia-Pacific, is looking forward to further professionalising the HR function.

“HR needs to reinvent itself to become a true performance partner,” he shares.

“It also needs to ensure that the business is being given the right insights, thinking from a long term business strategy perspective, and is able to translate that into a multiyear strategic approach that at the same time has enough flexibility to advise at the moment on tactical decisions.”

Rijnen says HR still has room for

improvements in this region and beyond.

“I think at the moment, HR at best, does try its hand at business partnering, but often with outdated or static numbers,” Rijnen says.

“Technology, when rolled out in companies, is often not delivering (yet) on its promise.”

In 2015, technology played a pivotal role in enabling HR organisations to move from personnel management functions to true business execution.

What are your employees hoping for?

The HR department is not the only team crafting a wishlist for the new year.

According to The Hiring Report: The State of Hiring in Singapore 2015, employees are looking forward to better workforce environments, specifically in terms of: • Higher salary: 75% • Benefits and career progression: 67% • Work-life balance: 64% • Cultural fit: 59%

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HR’S NEW YEAR WISHLIST

culture, heritage and value.

“The culture of Edrington could be described as consensus-driven, and as a result, pretty conservative in nature around change, with a long-term focus on the business and employees,” he explains.

“This means that things take time Ilja Rijnen, Regional HR Director, The Edrington Group, Asia Pacific to embed and are always done with a longer-term view of what’s good for the business and its people.” says. This goes a long way in building Since the expansion of Edrington HR leaders have used a range of HR a stronger employer brand. across Asia-Pacific, the company is technology options, including cloudconstantly revisiting functions to turn based solutions to manage better Paying attention to detail them into performance partners. workflows within their organisations.

Deloitte’s 2015 Human Capital Trends Rijnen shares that the company has According to the 2014 HR Technology report stated that while CEOs and been integrating HR agendas of local survey by the Human Capital Media top business leaders rate talent as operating companies regionally into Advisory Group, almost half of a key priority, only five percent of one combined plan. Following this, respondents polled reported they respondents view their organisation’s he plays a role in ensuring that the were likely to replace, upgrade or HR performance as “excellent”. plans are working locally to meet the re-implement their core HR platform Thus, there is a need to align HR demands of the workforce. over the following three years. with business, Das says.

“For us, that means being very A sizeable 59% of respondents also He says HR departments need to joined up in our approach and stated they were satisfied with their move up the value chain, procedures, and upscaling company’s HR technology at the time, from being a business our HR capabilities where while 28% were dissatisfied. partner to being a business possible,” he adds.

Amit Das, Director – HR, Bennett enabler. This would in For Das, a lot of these Coleman, observed a rise in the turn, allow them to become are a result of wanting emergence of technology enablers in of HR professionals felt active players in the a lean, fit-for-purpose, 2015, all aimed at better managing employee retention and enterprise value creation collaborative, and businessprocesses with enhanced speed and scale. turnover formed a key process. centric team in 2015.

“This necessitated the adoption of workplace challenge.

“The capability of HR “The key business integrated talent management solutions Source: The 2015 Globoforce Employee departments also needs to imperatives triggered in organisations,” he explains.

Recognition survey be built around relevant co-creation of the aligned “This also facilitated a seamless future competencies, HR strategic focus areas, flow of interlinked HR modules like which would equip them to where we prioritised on talent acquisition, performance be paradox navigators for effectively attracting and retaining the right management, learning and managing the inherent business talent, fostering innovation and a development, rewards management, tensions and diffuse the noise within performance driven culture, creating and succession management for the organisation,” explains Das. a leadership pipeline and driving consistent and reliable support At present, Edrington has a organisational effectiveness,” he on end-to-end employee lifecycle forward-looking global business shares. management.” strategy in place.

He also shares that HR analytics The general context of this Global Getting on par and predictive tools play a critical role Business Strategy 2020 is to move To achieve this, Rijnen shares that in helping employers engage their as a team from maintenance to Edrington is looking at a range of workforce effectively. pro-actively driving change and methods to further align processes An example Das cites is the link continuity, Rijnen says. This will and procedures towards global between career management and be achieved by partnering with the principles and standards, which is learning portals. The two work in business to embrace the new while done while acknowledging their Asiatandem to help empower employees remembering the group’s existing Pacific context. to take ownership of their careers, he

“HR needs to reinvent itself to become a true performance partner”

40%

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HR’S NEW YEAR WISHLIST

“Our processes will help our organisation to be focused for success and to fit our future growth plans,” he says.

“It will ensure HR is a partner that can give the right insights and challenges to support organisation growth for now and in the coming years.”

The 2015 Globoforce Employee Recognition survey revealed that 40% of HR professionals felt that employee retention and turnover formed a key workplace challenge.

This was followed by employee engagement (39%), loss of personnel (40%), talent replacement (29%) and culture management (24%).

In the report, Eric Mosley, CEO of Globoforce said, “Now more than ever, companies are focusing on culture as a competitive differentiator.”

“They’re realising that a best-in-class culture is dependent upon employees feeling engaged and nurtured, and that this type of human workplace starts and ends with recognition.”

Still, with HR being in an uncertain business environment, Das says competitors can readily match access to capital, strategic intent and operational excellence.

“Hence, businesses can win in the market only by differentiating themselves through organisation and people,” he shares.

“The improvements in HR competencies to enable the business, will have a substantial impact on the organisation outcome.”

Paving the way In an effort to guide employees to work towards improved workflows, Das says that innovative performance management models provide an essential tool.

HR can also look at redefining the drive of goal alignment and performance evaluation. This will help to focus more on coaching and feedback, especially in building managerial capability to have difficult performance conversations.

“We also need to move away from a once-a-year review process, to a model of continuous feedback-based sessions.

These will provide opportunities for course corrections and to bridge capability gaps during the performance period,” Das explains.

In order to ensure business continuity and to mange future business growth, Das stresses the importance of having a pipeline of highly-competent leaders who can take up critical roles.

“There is a compelling need for

robustness in our leadership talent pipeline and succession plan,” he shares.

“HR can facilitate this through the management of career aspirations of our top talent and making the organisation’s leadership take collective ownership of the top talent pool.”

There are also several initiatives being rolled out as part of Edrington’s overall strategy.

The company has a strong focus on hiring the right talent pool and its onboarding process, which includes a review of recruitment, aligned bonus structures, regional inductions, and the upscaling of capability regionally.

Among the approaches is a performance and talent initiative.

This aims to ensure every employee understands and is able to articulate contributions to the business and their own performance ambition.

“Everyone also identifies their critical gap to delivery and articulates this into a clear development objective and plan,” Rijnen shares.

“Both performance objectives and development plans are recorded electronically.”

Rijnen also adds that the firm conducts bi-monthly follow ups on both individual and team performances.

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JOB ROTATION

CLIMB THE LADDER OR

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JOB ROTATION

CROSS THE LATTICE? Is up the only way forward in the corporate world? Increasingly, the answer isn’t always yes. HRM finds out more

W

elcome 2016!

For many, the new year is a time to reassess the skills they have today, what they’d like to learn, and also, what type of job they’d like to do in the coming months and years.

There are a couple of directions employees can aim to move towards their ultimate goal. They can either climb the corporate ladder in the traditional sense or, alternatively, “lattice” their way to their desired job.

Latticing is a more flexible type of trajectory that offers multiple pathways for career growth, including upward, lateral and even downward moves – and it is becoming more common in the working world today. Cathy Benko, Vice Chairman of Deloitte, writes in The Corporate Lattice that the world is currently “at an inflection point”.

“The hierarchical corporate ladder is giving way to a multidimensional corporate lattice,” she says.

Companies are also looking more towards job rotations laterally across their organisations as a means to develop talent. Strategies include bigger scale, bigger scope, line-to-staff or staff-to-line switches, cross-moves (handling a very different set of activities across divisions, functions, or industries), internal startups, change management initiatives, and international assignments.

Changes in level, organisational unit, location, industry, and circumstances all help talent grow, says Boris Groysberg, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

“Ideally, job assignments will involve novelty and the need to adapt.

The greater the change in scope and responsibility, the greater the learning,” he adds. “There is, however, a fine line between a challenging assignment and an overwhelming one.”

Assessing whether one wants to make a ladder or lattice move can be done systematically. “You would know if you are ready for a ladder move when you’re capably performing your current role, are happy with your current company, and are ready to step up to more responsibility and leadership,” Jo Miller, founding editor of Be Leaderly and CEO of Women’s Leadership Coaching, explains.

“But a lattice move might be worth considering if you want to network, gain skills, alter your long-term trajectory, or if you’re bored and ready for a new intellectual challenge.”

Working the corporate lattice Lattice moves, or job rotations, can be great motivators and firms often use this strategy to develop high potentials.

“Job rotations help the organisation to stretch talent and provide them opportunities outside their comfort zone,” says Gaurav Sharma, HR Director of Coca Cola Singapore. “This provides all-round exposure to various functions of the business, apart from also

To move or not to move?

According to Jo Miller, founding editor of Be Leaderly and CEO of Women’s Leadership Coaching, staff might want to consider a lattice move if: • They love their work, but don’t love their boss.

“If the boss is putting a lid on your career development, don’t stay too long. You’ll do much better with a boss that’s supportive. The same goes for working in a toxic team culture or for a company that doesn’t value its employees.”

• Their life outside work takes precedence.

“If you’re in a phase where family, balance or other needs are simply more important than your career, a lattice move can help you manoeuver into a role that better supports your current situation.”

• Their job leads into a career dead-end.

“If you’re on a path with limited opportunities to grow, consider a sideways move into an area with more potential for future advancement.

• They aspire to become a general business leader, not a subject-matter specialist.

“Moving laterally can broaden your exposure to different functional areas or business divisions, furnishing your résumé for future business leadership positions.”

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JOB ROTATION

“Job rotations need to be seen separately from short-term assignments, which are normally provided to professionals who have acquired expertise in their function and whereby this expertise is to be deployed in a different working geography” Gaurav Sharma, HR Director of Coca Cola Singapore

broadening repository of much needed skills-sets for the organisation.”

Coca Cola provides job-rotations for its management associates, improving cross-functional collaboration and helping these talents gain a deeper and faster understanding of how the organisation operates.

“The associates are provided with a specific project in each of the functional rotations wherein they are mentored by the functional leaders and senior managers,” Sharma explains. “Towards the end of the one-year programme, we allocate them to their respective functions

Keeping it fresh At Coca Cola, talents spend a minimum of 18 months in their original positions before making a change laterally.

“Other job opportunities are opened up through a process wherein we open vacancies internally for employees from other teams to apply for job roles they want to move towards,” says Gaurav Sharma, HR Director, Coca Cola Singapore.

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armed with the skills-sets and exposure they have acquired through working with different functions and teams.”

Job rotation at Fuji Xerox Singapore is a feature of the two-year commercial associate programme, targeted at highpotential graduates with less than two years’ work experience.

“The programme is designed to nurture these individuals to excel in their performance and fast-track their development through a combination of classroom training, on-the-job training, special projects and stretched assignments,” says Pauline Chua, general manager of human capital and corporate social responsibility.

“It provides them with opportunities to not just develop their leadership and interpersonal skills but also their business acumen and technical expertise,” she explains. “We’ve had five batches of commercial associates since 2008, where their exposure to different job roles have positioned them well for progression within Fuji Xerox.”

Pitfalls of the lattice Ultimately, if employers need staff

to have multiple job skills, using job rotations as a reward for good performance can result in a more productive and happier workplace.

Yet, job rotations are costly, and timeconsuming, so they should be chosen with care.

Also, the potential downfalls of moving laterally across an organisation include the risk that the process can become an unintentional “cure” for job burnout, or other outside issues.

“Job rotations need to be seen separately from short-term assignments, which are normally provided to professionals who have acquired expertise in their function and whereby this expertise is to be deployed in a different working geography,” says Sharma.

“You do need strong mentoring and guidance from respective functional leaders as employees go through their learning phases and learn the new job role basics before they start contributing.”

“Finally, the job rotation needs to be decided in sync with the individual employee’s aspirations.”

Chua believes that job rotation can provide a new career path and encourage the development of new skills and capabilities for individual employees. “This is a good thing, and helps to develop and retain talent in the organisation,” she says. “It promotes learning agility and may even give employees a new lease of life.”

At Fuji Xerox, an employee who is rotated to a new area of work is considered similar to a new joiner to the organisation. “They would need to be inducted into the new role and its related work processes,” she explains. “Thus, to ensure the rotated employee successfully transits into the new role, line managers need to ensure that they get access to essential resources such as information, technology and training.”

“In addition, rotations that are aligned to both the career aspirations of the individual employees and the business needs of the organisation not only save time but also costs in the long run.”

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

SEVEN DIMENSIONS of an agile leader

In the new and more disrupted future workplace, a new generation of leaders will need to lead differently.

Guest contributor and HR Summit 2016 speaker Kevin Mulcahy captures the essence of the coach-oriented approach to building the agile leadership skills of the next generation

I

t’s 3:30 pm, and Emma has just exited the first in a series of check-ins that she will have with her leadership coach Sasha.

At her company, each new leader is paired with a coach who helps them continuously learn about their field and their leadership role, and guides them in incorporating these learnings into their team-building and management strategies.

Currently, Emma is grappling with her training on how to become an “agile” leader, a leader who can provide strong direction yet pivot as needed in order to boost results and maintain deep connections with her employees and peers.

Sasha enumerated the seven traits of an agile leader in their most recent lesson: Agile leaders are transparent, inclusive, accountable, facilitate teaching 32 ISSUE 16.1

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and learning, “intrapreneurial”, collaborative, and future-focused.

Although it sounds like a lot of traits to balance at one time, Emma is beginning to see how they are inter-related. She is actively working to mould a personal vision of these traits that will work for her authentically and consistently, as per Sasha’s advice.

Below, she shares her thoughts with Bo, a fellow new leader who has yet to attend training with his peer coach.

1

Be transparent

My coach emphasised how transparency is a key attribute of leadership training. She reminded me how first and foremost, it is important to be able to relate to the people I work with and manage.

This is a multistep process, requiring me to bring my “authentic self” to work, to model honesty and trust in my interactions, and to use emotional intelligence to understand the needs and concerns of my fellow employees and myself.

Personal transparency is the foundation of one of the most important retention tools of all: trust. When employees trust their leaders, they are more likely to be loyal to the company at large. More transparency leads to a much higher level of trust and engagement within companies.

To be a transparent leader however, I must go further than just presenting myself as I am. I must become more sensitive and attuned to how my employees are experiencing my leadership and, more importantly, to what I am

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

feeling and broadcasting to my team.

To be a transparent leader, I must complete self-assessments for personal reflection, and do them often.

2

Be collaborative

My peer coach emphasised that management was particularly impressed with how I treat team members as active decision makers rather than just involving them in my decisions. She highlighted how comfortable I am with letting those closer to the situation make more decisions.

So many people talk about being collaborative, but before today, I had no idea what that actually meant. I thought that collaborating simply meant working jointly with my team to get more varied

skills on a project. But that is just one minor aspect of collaboration.

At its heart, collaboration is about innovating more quickly; about driving change at an organisational level. Collaboration is about trust and transparency; making and executing decisions clearly as a team to accomplish our team goals.

Collaborative leaders must take the initiative and create forums that encourage open discussion, even in casual formats, to ensure that employees are comfortable and ready to work together when things get tense and draining.

As traditional office hierarchies begin to break down, my company will stay current by ensuring that employees have a more personal connection with leaders

and with each other. When employees become more familiar with one another, they also become more empathetic, open, and flexible. This in turn enables them to become better collaborators.

My responsibility as a leader then shifts from teaching and encouraging collaboration to rewarding employees for their positive collaboration.

3

Be accountable

Results matter and so does behaviour. To succeed, I am expected to be a role model for the key values of the company, to help my team live up to those values, and to never set those values aside purely for the sake of results.

Ultimately, my role is to ensure that we both get results and that we live up to our ISSUE 16.1

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR values. My company’s dedication to its core values is a big part of why I opted to join it in the first place; so, I’m glad to be responsible both for helping others adopt these values and for holding myself accountable to them.

My first step towards being a leader who fosters a culture of accountability is to give people clear goals for their results. The backbone of our collaborative workplace is our culture of accountability and transparency. But my coach says that setting goals for results is not enough. As a leader, I must create a fair and accurate process for tracking everyone’s contributions to a project.

I must communicate clearly to my employees what they are accountable for. If employees have an understanding of what they are in charge of, they will be better able to match their goals with the projects of other employees. It will also help my employees understand what they are collaborating on and what they are collectively responsible for.

4

Be inclusive

Managing diversity runs to the very core of our company’s business success and must be how we seek to lead accountability for results. In my three years here, I see how diverse perspectives and backgrounds lead to better solutions.

At the same time, I see that leading a diverse team requires a new and innovative set of skills and mental frameworks to realise the team’s full potential.

My team is based in seven countries and is made up of five generations. Here, inclusivity begins during the hiring and team-building process. We subscribe to the mantra that “a group of ordinary people who are diverse can defeat a group of like-minded experts”.

Inclusion in the twenty-first century is not solely about recognising and accommodating external signs of diversity. Inclusion is also about cognitive diversity, or sweeping differences in thought. It is proven that thought diversity is at least partially linked to the

© 2015 Future Workplace 34 ISSUE 16.1

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typical HR indicators of diversity (like race, gender, sexuality, and age).

However, my coach emphasised that it is crucial to screen and recruit for cognitive diversity and not to shy away from hiring people with ideas that challenge the norm and who show the courage to defend their independent thoughts. Intentional inclusivity is best achieved by comprehensively measuring potential employees and team members for divergence in how they see, interpret, and analyse problems, as well as how they create solutions.

5

Be “intrapreneurial”

6

Be a teacher and a learner

I learned that when employees are given the tools and the freedom to experiment with their big ideas within our workplace, our workplace is fostering “intrapreneurial” thinking. Being intrapreneurial, my coach explained, means being entrepreneurial within the organisation and that proactive experiential actions matter. We all need to be willing to take on big challenges and to try new strategies; some of which are even designed to fail, but in contained ways and free from organisational blame.

I learned that I need to look around and see the company as a set of practices, in which every practice must evolve to become better than it was in the past. I should strive to understand how to take big, important and complicated problems apart and test a variety of solutions.

I should find comfort in my discomfort, and be centered by my firm sense of purpose for our company. Finally, I need to continually remind myself that failure is part of any experimental process.

Therefore, I must be prepared to deal with the failures of my own intrapreneurial actions and those of my team, and be ready to support them through the tough learning and maturation that comes from that reflective process.

My coach highlighted that it is no longer enough to be a learner only.

Emerging leaders now need to be the type of people that others want to learn from, and demonstrate what we are teaching and coaching others to learn and do.

Who is responsible for my learning at work and who is responsible for the

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR learning of my reporting staff? How am I responsible for their learning? How are they responsible for their learning?

Sasha lets me know that the ways we think about “learning” in the workplace are shifting dramatically.

Emphasis is now on balancing the process of learning with the process of teaching. Non-hierarchical, peer-topeer teaching and training programmes are becoming recognised as the top strategy for building smarter, and more knowledgeable employees.

This surprised me. How could I teach my employees better than an expert who teaches a particular subject?

Furthermore, how could my employees teach each other better than that expert?

Learning is a one-way receiving process.

It can often be very passive. Teaching, on the other hand, requires learning, and then actively applying the learning to interpret it for others. Sasha stressed that that we remember more when we teach than when we simply learn. This is because the need to teach material forces us to master content so thoroughly that we can help others access it.

It is not only important that I as leader grow accustomed to teaching my employees; they must also grow

accustomed to teaching each other.

Teaching and learning from one another will give my employees opportunities to broadcast their interests, strengths, and skills. They will learn about what is important to each other and practice working in collaborative environments outside the confines of typical work assignments.

I look forward to implementing new collaborative learning structures for my team in the coming months.

7

Be future-focused

Being future-focused is both straightforward and critical.

As a leader, I need to keep revisiting the mission of our company’s future and of our department’s contribution to that future. I must stay abreast of the current trends and the moving pieces in our business environment so we can educate and align ourselves around making informed speculations about where we should focus our efforts.

Actually, maybe it’s not so straightforward. I learned that it is important for me to develop my own personally-tailored foresight system – one that works best for me, and which I

can actually apply, stick to, and explain clearly to my team to motivate them behind our mission.

My coach ran down a list of suggestions, including using a system for charting the steps my team has already taken in its work, noting any patterns that emerge, considering whether the patterned behaviour has been useful, and if not, being intrepraneurial about new approaches.

I closely track my team’s speculation about future events. Together with my team, we document our assumptions for each new initiative. This approach helps me gain insight into my team’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to how we inform our decision-making process to navigate the increasingly turbulent business environment we operate within.

Conclusion As Emma thanked Bo for helping her reflect and articulate what she had learned about the seven dimensions of an agile leader, she experienced a surge of appreciation for the impact her coaching sessions had on her development. She could also see just how excited Bo was to begin his coaching sessions to join her in the emerging leader ranks of the organisation.

Catch Kevin Mulcahy ‘LIVE’ at HR Summit 2016

3

TOP

TAKEAWAYS

In his HR Summit 2016 presentations, Kevin Mulcahy will discuss: • The key drivers and implications that different megatrends will have on the future of your organisation • How leading organisations are preparing to address these disruptions • New capabilities required for you to thrive as a leader

17-18 May 2016 • Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre Kevin Mulcahy will be presenting twice at HR Summit 2016:

C-Suite Symposium Session CxOs – Future Proof Your Organisation Today, For The World of Tomorrow

Evolutions in technologies and business practices will cause a host of new disruptions to your organisation. The role of the CxO consequently needs to evolve to adapt to these disruptive workplace megatrends. Prepare now for the workforce of the future, and uncover the new capabilities required for you to thrive as a leader to your workforce.

Strategy Session Preparing For The 2020 Workplace Take a deep dive into the future of work with US based Workplace Futurist, Kevin Mulcahy, as he discusses the impact upcoming megatrends will have on the future of your organisation and what skillsets you and your workforce will need to survive in the world of tomorrow.

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PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

’Tis the season for

performance appraisals.

Or is it?

Is the annual performance review going the way of dial-up internet access?

HRM finds out more about the shifting trend

R

esearch by The Corporate Executive Board (CEB) has found that 95% of managers are dissatisfied with the way their companies conduct performance reviews, and nearly 90% of HR leaders say the process doesn’t even yield accurate information.

“Employees that do best in performance management systems tend to be the employees that are the most narcissistic and self-promoting,” said Brian Kropp, the HR practice leader for CEB. “Those aren’t necessarily the employees you need to be the best organisation going forward.”

Sarah Dunn, Head - People Resources (Asia-Pacific), Adobe, agrees, saying, it’s beneficial for organisations to conduct a thorough reality check on their performance review process from time to time.

“Before Adobe transformed its performance review process, we’d received feedback that our past appraisal format didn’t allow for sustained or ongoing feedback, and was instead ‘stack ranking’ individuals against each other, Dunn explains.

“This was not a desirable situation, and we felt that annual performance reviews limit strengths and areas of improvement to just once a year.”

“This was at odds with our belief that employees need ongoing feedback so they know where they stand, and so that they can make improvements and stay engaged throughout the year.”

“Additionally, performance reviews that stack rank employees create an environment of competition, not teamwork. They stifle innovation in an organisation 36 ISSUE 16.1

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PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

like Adobe, which needs and encourages individuals to be at their creative best.”

Adobe found that globally, its managers were collectively spending in excess of 80,000 hours on a review process that wasn’t yielding a good return. That was equivalent to hiring 43 full-time employees. “We asked ourselves whether the entire exercise was truly worth the effort – and it wasn’t, so we declared the end of performance reviews at Adobe in 2012,” says Dunn.

Appraisal transformation The performance appraisal system is increasingly being transformed. Companies including Accenture, Gap, Medtronic and Adobe have gotten rid of annual performance reviews and rankings and have adopted a more regular “pulse-check” approach to performance management.

Consulting and accounting giant Deloitte is piloting a new programme in which rankings will disappear and the evaluation process will instead unfold incrementally throughout the year. The new Deloitte framework is based around: check-ins periodically with each employee; a quarterly pulse survey of 10 questions that of Fortune 500 companies have gotten rid of rankings each manager sends out to their team to get Source: Management feedback; a performance snapshot every research firm CEB three months done by the manager via a four-question survey online (two of which simply require ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers) about each employee; and then, quarterly talent reviews.

“There’s no forms… but we’re running regular conversations between the manager and the employee,” Alec Bashinsky, head of people and performance at Deloitte in Australia, told Business Insider. “And we’ve found the more the check-ins, the greater the employee engagement.”

For Adobe, the results were immediate. Starting at the end of 2011, Adobe’s business was transforming to provide cutting-edge and real-time products, moving from a boxed software company to introducing a strong subscription service for its digital media business.

“We were moving towards a more agile and flexible cloud subscription model,” Dunn explains. “Although the organisation was going through an overhaul in its customer offerings, the changes in our business model were not reflected in our people practices; how we evaluated performance, supported employee growth, and cultivated a team environment.”

In particular, the ongoing bell curve appraisal system was found to be a “rear-view” process of looking back on how the year was. “We realised that we were not really helping

Six percent

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PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS people improve their performances, nor encouraging faster innovation,” Dunn shares. “Additionally, we wanted our systems and processes to help us retain our talent and to keep them engaged on an ongoing basis.”

In the summer of 2012, Adobe decided to abolish the usual bell curve appraisal in favour of a more lightweight, agile and productive “check-in” system, giving more ownership and control to the individuals for their growth in the organisation. The check-in is an informal system of ongoing, real-time conversations and feedback between an individual and their manager and works on three parameters of goal-setting, feedback, and growth.

“There are no stringent steps and no prescribed timing and no forms to fill out and submit to the HR team,” says Dunn. “Managers decide the frequency of meetings and in what format they want to set goals and give feedback.

“We also invested in training the managers and guided them to focus on goals, objectives, career development and strategies for an individual’s improvement, instead of dwelling on an individual’s shortcomings.

“There is no comparison of the individual to their peers,” she adds.

“All-in-all, the system is owned by the employee and supported by the manager, and encourages team work and collaboration.”

The benefits of the check-ins have been felt across the company’s global operations. In Asia-Pacific, its introduction resulted in a significant reduction in the number of working hours, based on the feedback from people managers across the region. Internal studies show employee engagement levels have also improved.

“Check-ins have clearly been a welcome move and it’s heartening to see the overwhelming response from the employees,” says Dunn. “Employees get a sense of ownership and control over their destiny and growth, and this is a clear testament to the success of the new system.”

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Towards reinvention In the globalised economy of today, the challenges to attract and retain top talent is greater than ever. There is also a change in the demographics of people being hired; a clear increase in the millennial workforce who enjoy

“We declared the end of performance reviews at Adobe in 2012” Sarah Dunn, Head - People Resources (Asia-Pacific), Adobe

more flexibility in the way they work.

These younger workers also seek instant recognition and faster growth, and demand absolute clarity in people practices.

This is also a generation that is social and mobile all the time; and therefore, needs to be engaged differently.

“In light of evolving HR trends and challenges, HR managers today need to take stock of their people processes, and their appraisal system,” says Dunn.

“Although the bell curve appraisals might still work in certain sectors (for example, in manufacturing), new generation technology products need to adopt a progressive mindset with regards to their appraisal system.”

Still, there is no strict rule or system to adopt. Dunn says HR managers need to devise the right appraisal system or mechanism based on the nature of work and the composition of the workforce.

“They should keep in mind various aspects,” she advises. “They should make sure that the appraisal system is transparent; helps align organisation goals to the individual’s career objectives; encourages fluid feedback and discussion on an ongoing basis; and avoids stack ranking.”

One size won’t fit all Despite all the talk of overhauling performance appraisal systems, not every company can just go ahead and dump the annual performance review process, says Foo Chek Wee, Group HR Director for Zalora in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. “Until you’re in a position to rethink your entire performance review process, you need to ask yourself what can you, as a people manager, do to achieve meaningful performance review sessions,” explains Foo. “As people managers, we do not have to wait for a sea of change to start having constructive feedback sessions with our own people,” he advises. “We can execute a continual stop-start feedback technique immediately and we’ll be amazed how such a simple approach can bring positive change.”

The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore | 4th March

Don’t Miss The HR Night Of The Year!

HRM Awards celebrates 13 years of recognising HR’s best and brightest people and practices in 2016. Book your tables now for the gala dinner and awards ceremony, featuring star-studded celebrity hosts, comedians and world-class entertainment!

Emcee - Irene Ang CEO & Founder of FLY Entertainment

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To book your tables now, please contact Cheryl at +65 6423 4631 or email cheryl@hrmasia.com.sg

CNY MICE

TOSSING “YUSHENG” AT SEA

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CNY MICE

Fancy holding your company’s annual Chinese New Year celebration away from the hustle and bustle of city life? Ushering in the Year of the Monkey on the high seas could be the perfect getaway for your staff to forge closer ties ahead of another busy year Sham Majid sham@hrmasia.com.sg

M

ichael Goh, Senior Vice President – Sales, Star Cruises, says corporate clients are increasingly opting for cruise-based rewards, particularly during Chinese New Year.

He says this extended break often provides the ideal time for staff, as well as for their extended families, to get together.

“As an Asian cruise line, we understand the Chinese culture and one of the key highlights of the Chinese New Year theme onboard is the significance of a group or family reunion meal,

CNY programmes onboard Michael Goh, Senior Vice President – Sales, Star Cruises, says some of the fun-filled Chinese New Year events his organisation has hosted over the years include: • Chinese New Year Countdown grand celebration parties • “God of Fortune” Parade of Prosperity • Chinese New Year fashion runway shows • Shanghai Nights and Oriental theme parties • Fengshui workshops • Palm reading sessions • Calligraphy writing classes • Chinese dance extravaganzas • Chinese karaoke competitions • Oriental arts and crafts creations • Chinese New Year trivia quiz contests • Chinese cuisine cooking demonstrations

which is an important part of Chinese tradition,” explains Goh. “Holidaymakers can also look forward to a special ‘Lo Hei’ (raw fish salad) festive menu, coupled with plenty of opportunities to participate in Chinese New Year themed activities onboard our cruise ships.”

Reunion at sea An example of Star Cruises’ corporatelevel retreats is its “MICE @ Seas” offering.

“MICE @ Seas events are gaining popularity among many organisations, including during the festive period, such as our Chinese New Year Reunion @ Sea Cruises,” says Goh. “Many in the corporate sector, especially those with high numbers of foreign staff from the construction, printing, interior design and home furnishing sectors, will opt to embark on a short festive celebratory cruise together during the holiday break.”

Goh says the Chinese New Year Reunion @ Sea Cruises offers an excellent opportunity for companies, their staff, and their extended families to reunite over a traditional sit-down “Loi Hei” meal and spend quality time bonding together.

Guests can indulge in spectacular entertainment, iconic festive activities, and various onboard theme parties.

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CNY MICE

“One of the key highlights of the Chinese New Year theme onboard is the group or family reunion meal” Michael Goh, Senior Vice President – Sales, Star Cruises “All this takes place while cruising to an exotic destination with Star Cruises,” he says.

Monkey business onboard With 2016 being the Year of the Monkey, Goh says Star Cruises is offering an all-encompassing cruise vacation on board the SuperStar Gemini cruise ship to exotic destinations during the festive season.

“Home-ported in Singapore, holidaymakers can opt for a threenight or two-night cruise vacation to popular destinations such as to Penang, Langkawi, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur (via Port Klang),” Goh explains.

“We have put together a special and sumptuous Chinese New Year Reunion lunch and dinner menu at the restaurants onboard SuperStar Gemini to cater to our cruise passengers’ needs.”

However, it’s not just about food and drinks.

Keeping up with the traditional vestiges of Chinese New Year, Goh says Star Cruises has also planned many exciting activities onboard.

These include learning different Chinese traditional dances, picking-up Chinese calligraphy writing, learning the Mandarin language, and having fun with various contests or even taking part in the ultimate Chinese Karaoke competition.

The popularity of MICE events held onboard Star Cruises has increased significantly in recent years, Goh says.

“The take-up rates have been both positive and encouraging,” he states.

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“At Star Cruises, we have observed double-digit growth as the Chinese New Year @ Sea Cruises continues to gain traction among the corporate sector.

“Whether it is for a festive celebration, team-building, or for a company-specific event, overall, the

CONFESSIONS OF AN EMPLOYEE Mike Pek, a project manager with Siang Sun Plumbing & Sanitary, participated in one of the MICE events on board the SuperStar Gemini cruise ship. He says the overall experience was “marvellous”.

“The ship crew are very friendly and provide heart-warming service,” he states.

Pek adds that he and his colleagues felt at “home away from home”.

MICE @ Sea events continue to provide great bonding opportunities.”

A win-win solution Goh says opting for a Chinese New Year @ Sea Cruises event during the festive season is a perfect alternative to landbased celebrations, as many companies have already come to discover.

“Unlike conventional MICE event venues, cruising offers an exceptional and unique experience,” he says.

“A cruise can be a source of motivation for employees and yet at the same time, offers a distractionfree environment that balances the seriousness of business with leisure pleasures.”

“The attendees will get to work, dine, play and spend quality time bonding together as a team.”

Moreover, Goh explains with Star Cruises, its Chinese New Year @ Sea Cruises offers a one-stop hassle-free experience for the organisers in its MICE events.

“Our well-trained and highly-proficient ship crew are able to meet the unique preferences and evolving expectations of our valued guests,” he adds.

“Our ships are also well-equipped with state-of-the-art MICE facilities to meet their business objectives, coupled with the flexibility to suit every budget and event requirement.”

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Fermin Diez, CCP, SPHR Fermin Diez more than 30 years Fermin CEO Diez has Deputy & Group Director which includes consulting, corporate National Council for in all continents.

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As a consultant he has advised majo panies and public sector organisation He has also managed the P&L in sev businesses.

As an HR leader, he has been Regio

Tan Chee Yeng Tara TanPacific and in Latin America. C in Asia Head, Group Learning & Regional Learning National Council for Social Service Development & Organizational YCH Group Development Manager, Fermin is an Adjunct Professor at both SMU and NTU. He co-au Greater Asia and Global Business Strategy’ along with Dean Howard Thomas International Flavors & Strategic Pl min has also previously taught Business Policy and Fragrances Inc. WorldatWork course for more than 10 years in the US, Puerto R India, Singapore and Hong Kong.

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uate degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan.

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Contact: Azrielle Looi Hui Yi | Tel: (65) 6423 4631 | Email: info@hrmasia.com.sg

HRM CONGRESSES’ POST EVENT REPORT

HRM CONGRESS HIGHLIGHT

Spotlight on talent, rewards, and data H

RM Asia hosted two inaugural events for Southeast Asia’s HR community in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in November.

The two-day Talent Congress in Singapore featured highly-relevant case study presentations, interactive panel discussions, an engaging roundtable, and a practical miniworkshop. Thought leaders from DBS, Johnson & Johnson, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, the Economic Development Board, Abbott Laboratories and Great Eastern Life participated in the high-level discussions, sharing experiences in tackling the most pressing talent issues across the region.

The sessions challenged traditional talent management practices and reassessed the competencies required to reskill the workforce in order to be future-ready.

At the end of November, HRM Asia also hosted the first ever two-inone Employee Rewards and Big Data Congress in Kuala Lumpur. This saw active participation from local conglomerates including Continental Tyre PJ, Gold Coin, HSBC Bank, Infineon Technologies, Intel , Kumpulan Wang

Delegates discuss experiences and best practices in compensation and benefits Simpanan Pekerja, Sime Darby, and Maxis.

Day One featured interactive peer-topeer roundtable discussions, looking at best practices and practical solutions to issues faced by compensation and benefits, rewards, and performance specialists in Malaysia and beyond.

On Day Two, the top subject matter experts in talent analytics from DiGi, Maybank, Intel, BASF Petronas and Dell walked participants through proven processes and actionable strategies to develop data-driven decision making skills.

A very special ‘Thank You’ to the speakers who took time out of their busy schedules to share their

experiences and thoughts. It is through the support of this amazing line-up of speakers that HRM Asia is able to continue to strengthen its programme.

UPCOMING CONGRESS Mark your calendars now with details of the following upcoming congresses: • Learning Innovations Congress 20 – 21 January 2016, Singapore • L&D Analytics for ROI Masterclass 26 – 27 January 2016, Singapore • Strategic Workforce Planning Congress & Workshop 17 – 18 February 2016, Singapore • Learning & Development Congress 23 – 24 February 2016, Kuala Lumpur • HR Business Partner Congress 24 – 25 February 2016, Singapore • New-Age Recruiting 2016 Congress 9 – 10 March 2016, Singapore

Case studies by top industry leaders ignite new ideas and solutions

• Asia-Pacific Staffing & Outsourcing Congress 22 – 23 March 2016, Singapore

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CORPORATE HEALTH

Ensuring

WORKPLACE WELLNESS More organisations are sending their employees for health screenings as part of an effort to optimise wellbeing. HRM explores how HR can work with healthcare providers to plan and execute these screenings Naadiah Badib

naadiah.b@hrmasia.com.sg

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CORPORATE HEALTH

C

ompanies’ investments in the health and wellbeing of employees are no longer just a company benefit. Rather, they are seen as an integral part in ensuring a smooth workflow within the organisation.

A recent survey from the Society of HR revealed that 33% of companies have used health benefits ranging from paid leave to wellness programmes, to keeping employees of all levels from leaving.

This is especially evident in local organisations that have been providing dedicated health screenings as part of their benefits.

“Regular health screenings can prevent debilitating diseases later on in life through early detection and treatment,” says Yong Yih Ming, Deputy General Manager of Raffles Medical Group (RMG).

“As the workforce ages, this becomes an even more important aspect. Screenings co-relate directly with a company’s productivity through the sustenance of a healthy and contributing workforce.”

Health screenings are also often the first opportunity for employees to discover if they are at risk of an illness.

These screenings can address staff on what lifestyle changes they can make to promote good health and to optimise their overall wellbeing, as Dr Kok Chuan, Deputy Medical Director, Parkway Shenton, suggests.

He says early detection and treatment of illnesses will lower healthcare costs in the long run, as health problems are arrested and resolved before they have a chance to fester.

“Having a proper workplace health screening service in place also improves perceptions of the company as being a caring and responsible

employer, and helps in promoting staff morale and loyalty,” he says.

Similarly, Derrick Ong, Head of Corporate Marketing, AsiaMedic, stresses that it is important for an employer to understand the value of early detection, as it can have a large impact on the overall performance of the organisation.

“Early detection allows prevention measures to be implemented early, preventing the onset of diseases and illnesses which will ultimately help to lower medical costs and prevent the loss of productivity,” he shares.

Teaming up with HR The HR department is usually the coordinating unit for any corporate health schemes. Thus, it is essential for health providers to work with the inhouse team to strategise and customise health screening programmes that are relevant and effective for the particular employee demographic.

Yong says data analytics provide the key to achieving good outcomes from corporate health screenings.

For example, RMG seeks to understand the demographics of its client companies, and then work with the HR

team to customise relevant packages.

The process can include an employee health survey and basic health screening to establish the corporate healthcare trends against national benchmarks.

Thereafter, intervention programmes are developed and further customised to target the various health risks identified.

Some outcome indicators will be determined mutually with HR, serving as a joint objective for both HR and RMG in subsequent cycles of health screenings.

Communication between HR and health providers is also a vital part of any successful programme.

“It is extremely challenging to implement a suitable health screening package without first understanding the needs and demographics of a company, be it the age range, gender or scope of work done by employees,” Ong explains.

“Each factor plays a part in determining the most suitable health screening packages for employees.”

Talking from experience Implementing health screening benefits for the first time can seem like a daunting task, from planning to execution.

Health and productivity schemes are key Companies in the US are viewing health and productivity programmes as core components of their organisational health strategies.

According to the Staying@Work Report, released by Towers Watson, 49% of employers there believe it is “essential” to their overall health strategy and 42% reported that it plays at least a “moderate” role.

Additionally, 84% of companies plan to increase their health and productivity schemes over the next two years.

Currently, 50% of US employers don’t have a clear and articulated health strategy, but 59% plan to design a strategy that is differentiated from competitors over the next three years.

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CORPORATE HEALTH Is your workplace harmful?

About 35% of UK employees have reported that their workplace makes them feel unhealthy.

A recent YouGov survey found that 40% of workers believe they don’t get enough fresh air at work, and only half stated that they had access to sufficient natural light.

Kevin Chapman, head of office at Lend Lease, said, “It’s vital that employers consider the importance employees place on health and wellbeing and take steps to improve their workplaces – or risk losing top talent to rivals that do.”

In such instances, AsiaMedic is capable of sharing the experiences of other companies of similar size and demographics who have successfully incorporated health screenings.

“For example, if an organisation’s scope revolves around their employees working in noisy environments, we would advise them to include an audiometry test,” Ong shares.

“This way, the organisation will be able to track if their employees’ hearing has been deteriorating due to the working environment.”

RMG has been working with Far East Organisation for its corporate health screening programme. This involves onsite health screenings at the company’s many premises, as well as at designated medical centres.

In one particular year, RMG supported the company in its weight management initiative that complemented the Health Promotion Board’s “1 Million Kg Challenge”.

“This is a good example as it deviated from the traditional weight management programmes and added a competitive and fun element to arouse interests and participation,” Yong says.

Parkway Shenton also offers its clients’ employees screenings at both its workplace and at its clinics around Singapore. For companies looking for a more exclusive and comprehensive health screening solution for top-level 48 ISSUE 16.1

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executives, Parkway Shenton also offers executive health screening packages, which provides a one-stop centre with state-of-the-art medical technologies.

Emerging trends Increasingly, Dr Kok notices that employees appreciate the chance to customise health screenings to suit the individual’s health risk and family history.

“Discovering certain abnormalities allows for early intervention and treatment and the necessary follow-up to prevent further progression of the disease,” he shares.

One example will be the pre-diabetic state, where the patient is not diagnosed with diabetes itself, but has increased

risks in having it deteriorated to diabetes.

Dr Kok notes that identifying such individuals early allows for lifestyle interventions, which can improve the employee’s health and prevent later complications.

There has also been a rise in demand for screenings that are completed over a shorter time frame.

This is largely due to the fact that clients are seeing a greater percentage of their workforce actively participating in the screenings. Clients are also keen to avoid the year-end peak period, which ensures that their staff are able to have a more seamless experience from appointment bookings to waiting time.

Yong notes that companies will typically engage a medical provider to integrate and coordinate their health schemes, so as to offer their employees a holistic and consistent framework.

“The interests in health screenings can come from consistent messaging from HR, with the support of the medical provider,” Yong shares.

He adds that data relating to employees’ clinic visits, medical leave and treatment-related expenditure can be analysed together with health screening data to objectively gauge the success of the programme.

“HR needs adequate data and benchmarks to firmly establish if their employees are healthy and happy,” Yong concludes.

How much do you spend on health incentives?

Employers are expanding their corporate health improvement and wellness programmes to improve health among their employees and create a positive workplace culture.

A recent survey from Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health revealed that employers have spent an average of US$693 per employee on wellness-based incentives in 2015. This is an increase from US$594 in 2014.

Of the 79% of employers who offer health improvement programmes, larger companies with more than 20,000 employees, are spending the most on these programmes.

They currently spend an average of US$878, an increase from US$717 in 2014.

Yet, the average expenditure for companies with 5,000 to 20,000 employees stands at US$661, an increase from $493 in 2014.

Save $400

Early Bird Special Only S$1,295 + GST*

Register before 27 January 2016

Building Organisational Capabilities & Future-Ready Workforce to Execute Business Strategy

17-18 February 2016 | Hilton Singapore Companies today are grappling with an approaching retirement wave and accompanying loss of skills, current and projected labour shortages, globalisation, growing use of a contingent workforce, mergers and acquisitions, as well as evolution of technology and tools. Increasingly, many companies are turning to Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) to help tackle these challenges and effectively align their human capital to corporate goals. However, organisations in Asia are considered to have somehow lagged behind their peers in this area.

Early Bird Special Save Up to S$400 Day 1: S$795 + GST Day 2: S$895 + GST

Special Package Day 1 + Day 2 S$1295 + GST

“What is SWP? How is it different from our annual manpower budgeting?”

“Where do we start with our implementation and whom to engage?

“We are just started and we’re not there yet! Where do we get the required data to develop our plan?”

One of the hottest topics in 2016, the Strategic Workforce Planning & Analytics has been developed with the industry to address the above challenges and ensure your organisation has the right people in the right places at the right time and at the right price to execute your business strategy.

Day 1: CONGRESS

Day 2: WORKSHOP

This jam-packed one day congress is designed to guide you through the strategy development to enable the integration of workforce planning and analytics within business planning which aligns to business strategy in the context of everchanging workforce, technological and social change.

These 2 highly interactive, hands-on workshops is a how-toguide filled with practical and targeted case studies on the what, why and how of SWP & analytics and how you can efficiently apply them to your business.

Featured speakers:

Alexander Joramsa CFO, GEHC ASEAN GE HEALTHCARE

Sriram Iyer Director – Workforce Planning & Management, APAC & ME COGNIZANT

Narasimhan S L Director – Head of Talent Acquisition APAC & HR Head for SE Asia STATE STREET

Binayak Bagchi Director HR, Asia Pacific – Restorative Therapies Group MEDTRONIC

Ng Ying Yuan Director, Human

Ng g Ying Yua an Resources & Director Organisation

Development Ec conomic Developmen nt Board SINGAPORE

Aparna Kumar Regional Human Resource Lead – Asia Pacific MONSANTO

Neil Persaud Regional VP Human Resource & Business Excellence ARKADIN

iss the Direc Ying Yuan ctor of Hum man Resou rces and Organisatio O on Developpment at th he Singapo ore ECONOMIC Ec conomic Developme ent Board d. She o oversees EDB's le eadership developm ment, tale ent DEVELOPMENT ma anagemen nt, staff pla anning, compensatio on and ben nefits, emp ployer brannding and organisation BOARD de evelopment efforts.

Sh he has exp periences in leading the team to design EDB’s lea adership co competency y framewo ork, de eveloping a and executting EDB’s s employerr brand, de esigning an nd managiing EDB’s new missiion an nd vision p process, co onceptualis sing and m managing EDB’s org ganisation transforma ation journ ney an nd also wo orking in close c partn nership witth EDB’s top t leaderrship team m to ensure e robust and a de eliberate su uccession planning fo or the orga anisation.

Anuradha Purbey HR Director SINGAPORE AVIVA

Contact: Karen Soh | Tel: (65) 6423 4631 | Email: info@hrmasia.com.sg Prrior to this, Ying Yua an spent 8 years w with EDB's Biomedica al Sciencees Division n, where she s he eaded up tthe Pharmaceuticals and Biote echnology Group that was respponsible fo or developiing Singapore's pharmace euticals and biotechn nology indu ustry, one of the fasstest-growin ng sectors s in Singapore th hen. In he er capacity y, she led the team to secure more thann $800 milllion worth of fix xed asset in nvestments to Singapore, creatting more than t 700 skills s jobs.

Sarajit Poddar Regional Head of Workforce Planning & Analytics ERICSSON

HRCLINIC How can HR ensure that employees are ready for the smart workforce?

A

s age demographics become more diverse in the workforce, HR professionals can focus on five areas to better manage the different age groups and to be ready for the smart workforce.

Effective workforce planning: Map the age structures of teams and integrate the average age of new hires into a simulation to determine short-to-medium term workforce planning. This helps to identify potential skill deficits that guide sourcing and leverage on both the older and emerging workforce.

Flexible work arrangements: Offer and promote a variety of work arrangements to meet customer demands as well as to motivate and to retain employees.

These include part-time employment or telecommuting to allow employees to work effectively from home.

Rewards: Customise rewards as a strategic incentive to lure talent. Typically, reward packages are performance-oriented and age-independent.

SEVEN

Customising them to be relevant to various workforce ages will offer choice and will place responsibility on employees to choose the best plan to meet their needs.

Learning and development: Deliver training and development solutions to sustain corporate performance, productivity, and employee motivation.

Generations learn differently and companies should offer a range of solutions for learning preferences.

Corporate culture: Nurture a corporate culture that promotes diversity and knowledge management.

Successful integration of different age and social groups help combat age-specific prejudices across generations.

Dylan Choong

Director, HR, Asia-Pacific, Starwood Asia-Pacific Hotels & Resorts

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

7.00 AM

12.00 PM

Having hit the snooze button for the third time, I give in and immediately reach for my phone to check my emails.

A quick bite to eat, catch up with some emails and check the digital trade press to stay connected with our wider industry. The hours over lunch are also the perfect time to connect with previous, current or potential candidates over coffee.

8.00 AM

Silva Robertson Head of Hiring, Asia-Pacific, SapientNitro

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Time to make my way into the office with a cup of coffee in hand. Once there, I usually grab a healthy breakfast from the pantry, and then, respond to emails.

10.00 AM I jump on calls with members of my team regionally. We connect individually at least once a week, and also have team calls. This helps me to stay on top of the successes and of any concerns in the local offices, offering guidance and support where needed.

3.00 PM I regularly connect with our leadership team to discuss business strategies and advise on how to plan and build pipelines for any potential demand, in addition to maximising and growing our existing talent.

5.00 PM Now’s usually the time

someone realises they have an urgent matter that needs sorting. Failing that, I’ll finish updating the leadership team on all hiring-related activity, including candidates in the process, recruitment marketing, internships and training.

7.00 PM Time to head home, but as SapientNitro is a global business, I often have evening calls with the US or UK. This is a great opportunity to bounce ideas around with colleagues in other offices.

9.00 PM One last look at my emails before signing off.

TALENT

LADDER

Gaurav Hirey

Morizio Runtuwene

Micha Sussex

Millward Brown has recently announced the appointment of Gaurav Hirey as Chief HR Officer for its Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific region.

Prior to this, Hirey was an executive board member of Group M and Chief Talent Officer of its South Asia business.

He was also the Asia-Pacific regional Chief Talent Officer for affiliated media agency Maxus.

Apart from bringing over 20 years’ of HR leadership experience to his new role, Hirey has also been credited with establishing a value-added HR function at GroupM and has helped to drive talent initiatives.

He was also a part of the core team which created the Maxus “PACE” behaviours that have now been adopted globally.

Adrian Gonzalez, CEO of Millward Brown Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, said, “I am delighted to be working with Gaurav.

He has a superb talent leadership pedigree with (GroupM parent company) WPP and will add greatly to our development as we support our clients through a period of immense change.”

Hirey says he hopes to develop the publishing organisation even further in his new post.

“These are interesting transformational times for the brand and communications industry. I am honoured to join a hugely credible organisation with an equally inspiring and passionate leadership team,” he said.

“I look forward to working with Millward Brown to help add value to our clients and employees.”

Morizio Runtuwene has been appointed as Chief HR Officer at Vasham.

In his new position, he will be ensuring the profitability and growth of Vasham by ensuring the organisation hires “the right people at the right costs”.

Before this, he was the Head of Talent and Organisation Development at AirAsia, a position he held for two years.

While he enjoyed the work environment at the low-cost airline, Runtuwene says he wanted to grasp another opportunity to improve himself.

“My personal needs for achievement, improvement in roles, and hunger to exploit my talent motivated me to sacrifice that comfortable environment for a start-up organisation,” he said.

“Vasham offers me the opportunity to develop my ability in managing the full spectrum of HR and to build strong business acumen.”

Runtuwene has more than 12 years of experience in HR management from various industries including consultancies, airlines and now, a hybrid business model in agriculture financing.

He specialises in all areas of HR management but has recently polished his expertise in talent and organisational development.

“Accelerating profit and energising growth are my primary objectives,” he said.

“The secondary (objective) is to achieve it by creating an innovative and simplified HR management system, where everyone in my organisation can feel, ‘touch’ and contribute to HR management.”

Micha Sussex has taken on a new role as Cotton On Group’s HR Business Partner in Asia, where she will support and coach its six brands: Cotton On Adults, KIDS, BODY, Rubi, Typo and Factorie.

As part of an effort to unlock Cotton On’s full potential in the region, Sussex will also be supporting and driving team management, as well as helping managers understand the company’s policies, procedures and best practices.

Prior to her appointment, Sussex was an HR Business Partner at McDonald’s where she supported restaurants across 38 countries in Europe. Her responsibilities in this new role are similar to that position, but with the exception that she covered recruitment for the European hub at McDonald’s, not Asia.

Sussex brings with her five years’ of HR experience directly related to performance improvement, employee relations, benefits and compensation, recruitment, and succession planning.

In her new post, Sussex says she looks forward to playing a significant role in Cotton On’s business growth.

“With each brand expanding at such a fast pace, we will constantly be challenged to create and to implement new HR processes that are innovative and user-friendly for our managers on the ground,” she said.

“A growing team also brings more talented individuals who we can help develop to become our global leaders of the future. I am excited to grow with Cotton On and I know I will have the opportunity to contribute a lot in my time here.”

Chief HR Officer, Millward Brown

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Chief HR Officer, Vasham

HR Business Partner, Asia, Cotton On Group

IHRS Inter-Tertiary HR symposium

27 FEB 2016 (SAT) 10:00 - 16:30 Mochtar riady auditorium SMu Admin Building 81 victoria street (s188065)

An initiative by SMU OBHR Society & NTU HR Consulting Club Interact and connect with HR students from various local universities & polytechnics Attend plenary sessions led by our distinguished guests covering topics such as Talent Acquisition & Development, Performance Management & Total Rewards, as well as Strategic HR & Analytics If you are keen to partner with us or would like to be involved in this event, please drop us an email at: obhrsociety@sa.smu.edu.sg Official Media Partner:

HIGH

IMPACT HR

Aiming to

TOWER ABOVE From higher starting wages, extra paid maternity leave and job redesigns, there is no doubting that Tower Transit’s entrance into the public transport scene has been high-profile. HRM delves into some of the London-based operator’s proposed schemes for employees Sham Majid

sham@hrmasia.com.sg

E

yebrows were raised when Tower Transit became Singapore’s first foreign bus operator this year. Among the company’s mooted policies for its drivers was the provision of 26 weeks’ of paid maternity leave for female staff.

That offer gazumps the present 16-weeks government-paid maternity leave to most workers in the island state.

Nevertheless, Adam Leishman, Tower Transit Singapore CEO, is unfazed by the prospect of a budget blowout.

“We believe that our female employees deserve to have more time to bond with their newborns. This is perfectly in line with our family-friendly benefits,” says Leishman.

“We also allow male employees to have up to two weeks of paid paternity leave.

Also, our staff are allowed to claim childcare fees from their annually-allocated flexible benefits.”

According to Leishman, offering enhanced maternity and paternity benefits allows Tower Transit to attract individuals who may have previously not considered joining the public transport industry.

So, what happens should a manpower crunch arise when female workers are away on maternity leave?

Leishman explains the company will cross-train its bus captains to be able to perform multiple routes as part of its business continuity planning.

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Chairman Neil Smith, Group CEO Adam Leishman, and Senior Minister of State Dr Amy Khor at the official opening of the Bulim Bus Depot “Even if we have female employees going on maternity leave, it should not have a negative impact on our operational needs,” he stresses.

Higher salaries, anyone?

Being the new kid on the block, Tower Transit has been awarded the contract to operate the new Bulim Bus Depot and 26 services from the Jurong East, Bukit Batok and Clementi Bus Interchanges beginning from the second quarter of this year.

It is fast becoming clear that talent attraction is one of the core priorities for the organisation since it has plans to hire 900 staff, including 750 bus captains by the time it kickstarts operations.

One way to recruit new talent is to offer a higher basic wage; something Tower Transit has already structured for its new employees.

The operator will offer a starting wage of $1,865 a month to Singaporean bus captains, 15% more than what SBS and SMRT bus captains currently receive.

80% of its 750 bus captain positions filled As of the middle of December 2015, more than 600 have signed-up as bus captains with Singapore’s third bus operator.

These include about 300 new bus captain recruits and over 320 bus captains currently plying the 26 routes that Tower Transit will take over by mid-2016.

All 300 new bus captain recruits are Singaporeans or Permanent Residents, including 66 who presently have only a Class 3 driving licence, and will undergo a fully sponsored training programme to upgrade them to the Class 4A licence required to drive a bus.

“Every single one of our new bus captain hires is a Singaporean or PR and over 85% are not currently working in the industry. That goes against what we’ve been seeing in Singapore’s bus industry where, traditionally, a key challenge has been attracting new, local talent,” Andrew Bujtor, Managing Director, Tower Transit Singapore, was quoted as saying in a media release.

As of the middle of December 2015, Bujtor said more than 70% of Tower Transit’s total workforce is Singaporean.

Tower Transit’s new recruits include over 40 new bus captain recruits that are younger than 35 years old while the youngest is 24 years old.

In addition, as of the middle of December 2015, nearly 70% of the 484 bus captains presently plying the 26 routes of the Bulim package had already signed up with Tower Transit before the 31 December 2015 final response date.

From Leishman’s perspective, a high basic salary allows Tower Transit to keep the wage model simple, and to attract existing and also, new talent into the industry.

“A high basic wage not only opens up the doors to attracting existing talent. It also helps to attract new talent who may not have otherwise considered a career as a bus captain,” he says.

“For instance, our first batch of 30 new bus captains joined us recently. They are new to the job and do not yet have the necessary licences to drive a bus. Tower Transit will be sponsoring their training.”

Measuring drivers’ “comfort score” A unique element of Tower Transit’s performance management is its telematics system.

Leishman says it is able to measure a “comfort” score for its bus captains.

“This score is tracked over a 10-hour driving period and at the end of each month, the system generates an average score,” he elaborates.

“This allows our bus captains to track their individual driving performance and identify areas for improvements.”

“Having a monthly average score of below 20 points will allow a bus captain to qualify for an incentive worth $130 every month.”

The jobs of bus drivers will also undergo a redesign, with drivers not

requiring to refuel, clean, or park buses at the end of each day.

A wholly different team will be tasked with handling these duties, enabling bus drivers to save as much as one-and-ahalf hours per day, the organisation says.

“We believe that the time saved will allow our bus captains to have more time for rest at the end of the day,” says Leishman.

“Having a well-rested workforce is vital for our operations, and our bus captains are the core of the business. We believe that if we take care of our bus captains, they will naturally take care of our operations.”

Aligning work with education Tower Transit’s career advancement will be based on skills development and performance, along with length of service, offering all workers the chance to upskill and rise through the ranks.

The company will also offer sponsorship for Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) courses and possibly up to diploma and degree courses.

“Having WSQ as our baseline for training allows our employees to have nationally-recognised and transferrable skills,” explains Leishman.

“We will have a strong culture of sourcing for our next generation of leaders from our rank and file pool.”

“Many of our operations and general managers in London and Australia were formerly our bus captains, cleaners and such. We intend to train suitable employees from our current bus captains into our next generation of managers.”

First-time bus captains will undergo a fully sponsored, six-week training programme which will include a Class 4A driving course, route familiarisation, and a WSQ certificate programme covering topics such as customer service, bus equipment mastery, safety and service delivery.

Moreover, affected bus captains who are already familiar with the routes will be given a two-day course covering essential topics in the WSQ certificate.

Tower Transit’s uniform colour is...

After an online poll for the public to vote on the design of Tower Transit’s bus captains’ uniforms, green and white uniforms were selected.

These were paraded at the recent official opening of the Bulim Bus Depot in Jurong.

The uniforms include the corporate colours of the Londonbased firm and were selected out of four designs, following the input of 3,605 bus captains and members of the public.

The bus captains of the 26 bus routes that Tower Transit will take charge of from the second quarter of this year were also invited to rank the designs, with their votes given a greater weighting to develop an early “sense of ownership”.

The four uniform choices included design features such as colour blocking, Peranakan styling, aviation-inspired elements and a more corporate and buttoned-up look, Tower Transit has revealed.

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IN PERSON ALVIN TAN

Junior HR Business Partner, Ubisoft Singapore

BOOK REVIEW Tackling the employee relations enigma

D

How many years’ of HR experience?

I have gathered over a year of working experience in HR, gaining exposure to a broad spectrum of functions including training, performance management, organisational development and recruitment.

Why HR?

I was curious if HR was anything beyond the stereotype of a department that only distributes payslips and implements unpopular policies. That led me to take on HR internships, which opened my horizons to the importance of HR within an organisation.

It also provided the opportunity for me to discover that what motivates me is being able to take up a role that can make a positive difference in someone’s career and life.

Why Ubisoft?

I am an avid gamer myself, and the brand of Ubisoft resonated with me strongly when I was fresh out of university. It is a fantastic opportunity to combine both my interest in the gaming industry and my passion for HR.

Biggest Achievement?

It would be to have the opportunity to bring what I have learnt through my education and my passion in HR together in my work.

After Hours?

In my spare time, I like to keep myself abreast of issues in the gaming industry. I am also passionate about cooking and reading.

Family?

Spending time with my family is a key consideration for me outside of work. I treasure the opportunity to connect with my family members – even if it is over a meal at home after work.

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o you face issues communicating effectively with employees?

Are you looking for ways to correct poor performances and employee misconduct?

If so, then Elizabeth Aylott’s Employee Relations is the definitive guide for your office bookshelf.

It provides a complete overview of the topic and illustrates how to align communication to organisational strategies and objectives.

This book is especially suitable for HR practitioners who are relatively new to the employee relations field, for those with an HR generalist remit, and also, for other readers who wish to understand the concept fully.

Comprising of six main chapters, Employee Relations provides illustrations, examples, questionnaires, and case studies to help HR professionals better understand the topic at hand.

The first few chapters touch on the importance of employee relations to both businesses and individuals and explain the link between business and HR strategy. They also identify how the different characteristics of employee relations work.

The remaining two chapters are practical-based.

They review the skills needed when implementing employee relations strategies, and explain how practitioners are able to effectively measure success.

Some of the key areas the book covers are: Conflict and dispute resolution, dismissal and redundancy, and ethics and employee rights.

Written in a clear and formal manner, readers will find it easy to digest details and will see quick results when aligning effective employee relations with their organisational objectives.

This book will also provide them with relevant knowledge and skills to plan, implement and to assess employee relations over the long-term.

Title: Employee Relations Author: Elizabeth Aylott Publisher: Kogan Page Price: S$62.50 (Before GST)

AHRDSPEAKS Psycho-dynamics of leadership W

hat do our business leaders need the most today?

Firstly, it is having a “helicopter view”; being able to see the forest from the trees and being able to look into the future.

Secondly, it requires out-of-thebox thinking by discovering what their competencies truly are and by enlisting the help of others where they are at their weakest.

Thirdly, it’s about execution by building people accountability.

Several other closely-associated elements contribute to effective leadership: • The ability to reframe thorny situations into more positive ways • The assertiveness to express

one’s beliefs and wishes clearly, but respectfully • The courage to hang in there when things get tough • The ability to build and function effectively in teams The key word for all of the above is “self-awareness”. If senior executives are unwilling to position themselves more vulnerably; if they are not prepared to reassess their actions, how can they expect others to act differently, as situations demand?

An individual’s development of self-awareness can happen by understanding the interconnection between a key triad of forces:

• Affects - Subconscious desires, wishes, fears, fantasies and traumas; • Cognition - Conscious understanding of the connectedness of the affects into behaviour; • Behaviour - Having understood one’s affects and how it leads to “Cognitive Distortion”, and building new capabilities around impulse control, metalising, and empathy.

Each aspects of this triad is a personalised response to an individual’s needs system, which is grounded in the Individual Unconscious (90%), on which Individual Conscious Behaviour (10%) is founded.

Binayak Bagchi Director HR – Asia Pacific, Restorative Therapies Group, at Medtronic

Learning & Development 2016 Evolving Roles, Enhancing Skills | 23-24 February 2016 | Malaysia

The L&D function has not traditionally been viewed as a business due to lack of buy-in from key stakeholders, inadequate business knowledge and limited analytical capability among L&D leaders. However, in an increasingly cost conscious business envronment, their knoweldge and skill base are under immense pressure to be constantly expanding and evolving.

Join our Learning & Development 2016 Congress, a jam-packed two-day event to explore the ever changing landscape of our current and future organizational learning landscapes in Malaysia and how you can align your L&D programmes to your business and employees’ needs. Learn from our top thought leaders from L&D space from across industries how they built their L&D capability, as well as innovatively structured their L&D activities and maintained connections across their organisations.

To register, please visit www.hrmcongress.com or email us at info@hrmasia.com.sg ISSUE 16.1

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SME SPOTLIGHT

Putting the best policy forward IT services business Anewtech Systems has adopted pro-National Service policies that have not only benefitted its staff, but the wider organisation as well

Naadiah Badib

naadiah.b@hrmasia.com.sg

W

ith no HR department in the small business, employees at Anewtech Systems have been more than willing to double up their positions.

Financial managers as well as directors at the IT company are also responsible for recruitment processes, drafting out roles and responsibilities, payrolls and other functions.

In fact, Anewtech’s Managing Director Terence Teo says the different departments work in tandem to boost the organisation’s HR processes.

An example is the teamwork displayed by the sales team and directors. In this case, sales employees are given the task to seek job advertising opportunities, while the directors conduct interviews.

As part of an effort to mould their employees, managers at Anewtech are also allowed to sit in for interviews conducted by directors. In turn, this helps them grasp a better understanding of the recruitment processes, which they will likely have a more formal role in later.

Duty calls When the company started in 1999, Teo was still undergoing National Service (NS) training. Along with a few other directors, he was often called up for reservist camps both in Singapore and overseas.

“I had to prioritise protecting the country when it comes to work,” Teo shares.

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Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Day This was one of a number of similar scenarios that Anewtech witnessed during its early days as a start-up, all of which had resulted in a temporary shortage of staff.

“We only had a few employees in the technical department and many of them were male graduates between the ages of 24 to 28,” Teo explains.

“Thus, our operations were easily affected when they were away for NS.” Apart from attending regular NS duties, some staff members have also

had to take further time away from work after failing the physical proficiency test.

“If they fail, they may have to attend remedial training in which they will spend even more time in camp,” Teo says.

“They would usually take up of about three weeks to a month.”

Total defence support With 11 NS participants making up Anewtech’s current headcount, Teo has found an increasing need to implement NS-friendly leave policies that

SME SPOTLIGHT benefit both the staff involved as well Anewtech as a whole.

To encourage employees who are serving the nation to keep fit, Anewtech offers rewards of $200 in incentives to those who pass the proficiency test.

Those who require more training are also eligible for subsidised gym memberships in community centres.

In addition, Teo shares that staff who receive awards for their NS training will have those merits considered during their annual appraisals.

“This is in recognition to encourage our staff to put in their best effort during the in-camp training,” he says.

“Employees are also given a day off if they are given a good performance award by their unit.”

Anewtech takes the work-life balance of all staff seriously. On occasions, outings and excursions are organised, as well as an annual bowling competition.

“As a small firm, it is critical to constantly find ways to motivate and engage staff in order to retain them,” Teo shares.

“It is important to take care of our employees who have a challenging time juggling both work and NS duties.”

“Our company supports NS men – not because we are obligated to, but because we believe deeply that it is the right thing to do.”

In fact, as a result of their customised policies and flexible work arrangements

Terence Teo, Managing Director, Anewtech Systems, receiving the Total Defence Awards in July 2015 towards NSmen, Anewtech was honoured the Total Defence Awards in 2015.

The national award recognised Anewtech along with other SMEs, large companies as well as community organisations which advocates National Service and supports fellow NSmen.

Enhanced skill sets Since recognising the importance of taking care of NS employees, Anewtech has seen a significant positive impact on the organisation.

Teo identifies a few particular employees who were previously regulars

in the Air Force and who had undergone a rigorous training schedule. He says there have been benefits for Anewtech as well as for the Defence Force.

“As a result of their training, these staff have become more careful and pay attention to details when it comes to work,” he explains.

“They are hence given heavier assignments that require a particular awareness on quality and these employees have been able to execute them very well.”

“It is times like these that show how well NS training has groomed them,” he concludes.

Backing one another

Company trip to Bangkok in 2014

As a 23-person company in Singapore, Anewtech Systems has to ensure that the operational readiness of the organisation is not affected every time an employee takes their leave.

To counter this threat, Terence Teo, Managing Director at Anewtech, says the workforce practices job rotations. This means that employees are encouraged to cover for their colleagues when one is away for National Service, maternity leave, or for any other reason.

“This practice will help us in the long run as it ensures that our employees are well-rounded and are prepared for any future circumstances,” Teo explains.

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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?

Purpose painted with a smile: Every morning while I was on the bus, I used to observe my fellow commuters. It saddened me to see how depressed the majority of them were. Singapore has been ranked as having the longest working hours in the world. It was unacceptable to me to see people so upset heading to the place where they spent most of their time. This sparked an interest in me to make a difference.

Combining my strengths with my purpose at 17 years of age, I deduced that HR was my perfect fit. I have not regretted that decision ever since.

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

I intend to kick off my career as a generalist. Once I can appreciate the roles that a HR practitioner can take on, I will probably specialise in recruitment and selection, followed by talent management. I want to inspire and assist clients to pursue meaningful jobs that are not solely defined by their academic results, but also by their characteristics and interests.

The top three things you want from HR career?

Firstly, I want to uncover passions within individuals. I want to help individuals find jobs that they can be passionate about, and for organisations to bask in the benefits of having passionate employees.

Secondly, being a mentor is important to me. I would like to be

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a mentor to aspiring individuals to pursue their passions while balancing them with their strengths.

Thirdly, self-fulfilment. People need to be driven by purpose and for me, it needs to be beyond monetary gains. I want to come to work because that is where I hope I can unleash my potential.

What challenges do you anticipate?

One is on career planning and talent management. Uncovering what employees want from their professional goals is a process which will require the employee to be honest with themselves. Being in a dynamic workplace and enveloped with exposure, the probability of that goal altering is increased. Having to convince them that they can meet their professional goals within the organisation will give them purpose and drive up productivity and commitment levels.

Another aspect will be aligning HR practices with organisational goals. Competitive advantage is achieved through the unison of activities across the organisation.

It is in the collaborative efforts and integrated systems that an organisation sustains its competitive advantage.

Finally, I expect a challenge in leveraging on an inter-generational workplace. During my internship, I was tasked with conducting focus group discussions. Having a room with a single generation was easy, as I could adjust the manner in which I facilitated the discussion. However, having a mix of generations was less straight forward.

Mary Clare Abraham Final Year Business Administration Student, Majoring in HR Consultancy, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University

Hobbies or inspiration?

I love playing soccer. Being able to “dance� with the ball and having to think on my feet on what my next move is to get away from opponents sends an adrenaline rush down my spine.

My inspiration is in appreciating the success in failure. The most valuable lessons I have learnt are from my failures. In the presence of fear, having the courage and fortitude to emerge from a state of vulnerability unearths the most profound lessons.

A web of knowledge

By Mary Clare Abraham

L

earning involves integrating experiences with concepts, and linking observations to actions.

Between conceptual knowledge and experience, is there greater emphasis of one over the other?

“Conceptual knowledge” has a multitude of interpretations. According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Conceptual Knowledge is a connected web of knowledge; a network in which the linking relationships are as prominent as the discrete pieces of information. As for me, conceptual knowledge is the inter-relationship of concepts across multiple domains.

Complementing conceptual knowledge with experience Is theoretical foundation imperative before beginning a job? In class, we are given step-by-step guides on how we should resolve conflicts, or deal with other human relational issues. Models and theories have formed the basis of our knowledge. However, when the situation arises in the real world, we may fumble and these step-by-step guides turn into an elusive theory.

To equip ourselves with the ability to fine tune theories to meet and act accordingly to the real-life situation, we began to contextualise the concepts with experience. This allows us to put the theories into practical use.

However, does the reverse apply?

While being armoured with years of experience, are we able to conceptualise them? In particular, for those who have been in the industry for years, experiences have piloted decisions.

However, in a dynamic workplace, basing our decisions on long-term

stored memory that has been primarily acquired by associative learning will present its limitation in terms of relevance. The world is shifting rapidly and the pace of change is increasing; we need to look ahead. Thus, with the assistance of frameworks, we can harmonise experiences, and enable practitioners to better meet the needs of their organisations.

Case in point Till now, what I have shared may sound too idealistic, but is it practical? In December 2014, working with a retired childcare teacher and an art student, I started “Tweety Tots”.

It is a playgroup service for toddlers to develop a love for books and the passion for reading through storytelling and dramatisation.

Similar to a case report, we did the necessary research in the initial stages of our entrepreneurial journey and on paper, our idea seemed brilliant. Models were created, theories formulated and philosophies crafted. However, human relational matters were not all predictable. Stretching resources and maximising what we had required experience and resourcefulness.

Having had several years of teaching under her belt, the teacher’s ideas were based on past successes. However, having no prior experience, the art student and I had to come up with ideas based on what we had researched.

The best results were achieved when we integrated experience with fresh ideas to formulate the most beneficial programme for our toddlers.

How can it be achieved?

In knowing its importance, it is

insufficient to be just encouraged; but, to practice it till it is second nature.

Below states how we can develop these skills on an individual level and apply them at an organisational level.

Individual level The Experiential Learning Theory is an adult learning theory that highlights how experience and concepts may be integrated. This model consists of a four-stage learning cycle.

Firstly, Concrete Experience requires us to be open-minded as we go through experiences. Secondly, Reflective Observation focuses on thinking about the experience, and highlights the importance of reflection in learning.

Thirdly, Abstract Conceptualisation emphasises the importance of transforming our reflections into general theories. Lastly, Active Experimentation requires us to test our theories and to reaffirm or reject them.

Organisational level Managing diversity, particularly in an intergenerational workplace, is a common problem. By allowing the less experienced to present frameworks learnt in institutions and the more experienced to beef up these frameworks with experience, HR teams can create a platform for an integrative learning environment. This allows organisations to reap the benefits of integrating conceptual knowledge and experience.

Conceptual knowledge and experience should complement one another and not compete against each other. If learning is viewed as a continuous and holistic process, segregating these two components can result in missed opportunities.

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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 Energy & Commodities Engineering & Supply Chain Healthcare & Life Sciences Human Resources Legal Sales & Marketing Technology

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www.kerryconsulting.com | Returning the Human to Resourcing

Senior HR Specialist (2-Year Contract)

HR Business Partner, Manufacturing

Focus in C&B Headcount of 2000 Fast-paced and Dynamic Work Environment

US-headquartered Multinational Company Well-established in Singapore Excellent Career Prospects

Reporting to the Head of HR, you will be responsible for the full spectrum of human resource functions including talent acquisition, compensation & benefits, performance management, and employee relations. You will develop and manage recruitment activities, handle and assist the implementation of HR policies to support best practices, as well as ensure that all activities related to HR functions are in compliance with legal requirements and relevant labour law and employment act.

This is a US-headquartered multinational company with a strong manufacturing and MRO presence in Singapore. In a bid to strengthen the human resource function, it is now seeking talented HR Business Partners to align the HR function with the business.

You will be an experienced HR professional with at least 5 years of full spectrum HR experience and a strong C&B background, preferably in the Hospitality, F&B, or Retail industry. You will be familiar with Ministry of Manpower regulations and have the ability to work as a good team player. You will also have experience in liaising with senior stakeholders.

To apply, please submit your resume to Joy Seow at js@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number of 9426. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Reporting to the Senior HR Manager, you will fulfil the role of a full-fledged Human Resource Business Partner. You will support the business and line managers in the full spectrum of HR work, build strong relationships with business stakeholders, and provide advisory in strategic and operational work.

You will have at least 3 years of business partnering experience and a solid background in the full spectrum of HR work, such as recruitment, learning and development, compensation, and manpower planning.

You will be a strong communicator and an excellent team player with a passion in human resource.

To apply, please submit your resume to Junchen at jc@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title.

We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Reg No.: 03C4828

Reg No.: R1107886

Campus Recruiter, Banking Leading European Bank International Presence Fast-paced and Challenging Work Environment This well-regarded European bank has a strong international presence and established reputation in the market. To aid efforts in talent management, it is now seeking a graduate recruiter to support internship and graduate recruitment initiatives for the bank.

Reporting to the Recruitment and Talent Lead, you will be responsible for the full range of internship and graduate recruitment programmes. You will build and develop key stakeholder relationships and work closely with leading universities to build a graduate pipeline. You will also work with business and functional heads to understand business requirements and develop long-term strategies and plans to find the right talent. In addition, you will support talent management efforts and play a critical role in talent identification.

You will have at least 4 years of experience in graduate recruitment, preferably within the Banking industry.

You will also be an intelligent, passionate, and dynamic individual with solid experience in the full recruitment cycle and the ability to be comfortable with conducting interviews and engaging senior stakeholders.

Senior HR Manager (HRBP), SGX Listed Organisation SGX Listed Organisation Senior HR Leadership Role Highly Visible to Top Management This leading player (SGX Listed) in the property development industry is a well established and well regarded organisation with a strong SEA and ANZ presence. It has strong commitments in the region as it continues to expand in APAC. You will be involved in overseeing and driving HR best practices and a defined talent strategy across Asia. This highly visible role takes on a strategic yet hands-on mandate and sits within a matrix structure where it is fully responsible for all aspects of HR. The broad remit will require you to focus on building and developing a strong team and HR capability in a demanding and ever-changing environment.

You will be in a position to build on a solid foundation and work with high-calibre people to pursue great results, which makes this a highly attractive opportunity with significant potential for advancement.

You will be a results-oriented and high-calibre HR Leader with a successful track record in a senior regional capacity in Asia. You will be strategic in mindset and tactical in delivery. Critical success factors for this role include strong interpersonal and communication skills as well as a team mindset.

To apply, please submit your resume to Junchen at jc@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

To apply, please submit your resume to Finian Toh at finian@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number FT9341.

Reg No.: 03C4828

Reg No.: R1104310

HR Manager, FMCG Established Brand FMCG Industry HR Operations This large established MNC Company is seeking a dynamic HR Manager to join the team. You will be responsible for the end-to-end HR spectrum that supports retail operations. Working closely with the C&B team, you will analyse and propose new schemes and strategies to attract talents. You will also serve as the overall project manager and recommend improvements on talent management as well as compensation and benefits.

Ideally, you will have 6 to 8 years of relevant experience and have worked in a multiple-brand environment.

In addition, this role requires strong interpersonal skills.

To apply, please submit your resume to Joy Seow at js@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number of 9306. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Reg No.: R1107886

Learning & Development Manager – Southeast Asia Newly Created Role Excellent Career Opportunity Southeast Asia Focus This high-profile industry leader has significant a global footprint and is poised for continued growth in the region. In preparation for its growth plans, it is now seeking a dynamic recruitment professional to join the team.

Reporting to the SEA HR Director, you will focus on the development, implementation, and management of the Learning & Development strategy and its processes. You will create a learning environment that provides a platform for the overall development of employees and aligns with business performance.

You will also manage efforts in developing cost-effective L&D options to meet specific business needs of the organisation, which include providing training budget support and recommendations.

In addition, you will be involved in the hands-on execution of plans over a wider network through collaboration with the HR Team as well as business and function leaders across all levels.

You will be experienced in running a training or L&D function in a managerial capacity and be knowledgeable in various technology tools that are essential to delivering the L&D platform.

You will also possess demonstrated success in the development and implementation of learning and development strategies that are aligned to business strategy and organisational capability requirements.

It is important that you are comfortable with working in a client-focused and people-centric environment that requires you to strike a balance between interests of the client and the firm.

To apply, please submit your resume to Finian Toh at ft@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number FT9297.

Reg No.: R1104310

Licence No: 03C4828

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TALK TO THE EXPERTS IN HR TRANSFORM YOUR HR CAREER Regional Head of Payroll (Financial Services)

Assistant HR Manager (Commodities Trading)

Due to aggressive growth in the region, a Regional Head of Payroll is required to support this established financial services organisation across Asia Pacific. You’ll lead a team of payroll specialists in ensuring that all payroll processes are aligned to different service level agreements and legislations. Playing a key role in driving regional and global payroll projects, you’ll manage change and ensure operational excellence. With 10 years of experience managing regional payroll functions, you’ll have the personality to effectively influence stakeholders.

Contact Edwin Lee (Registration ID No. R1546591) at edwin.lee@hays.com.sg or call +65 6303 0721.

A newly created role for an Assistant HR Manager has opened up in a commodities trading organisation to support its business requirements and growth in the region. Partnering with the business, you’ll deliver the full employee lifecycle and HR regional reporting. You’ll also be exposed to HR generalist functions such as recruitment and onboarding, compensation and benefits, learning and development (training), as well as employee relations. Ideally, you should have 4 years of HR administration experience and be an excellent team player.

Contact Edwin Lee (Registration ID No. R1546591) at edwin.lee@hays.com.sg or call +65 6303 0721.

Regional HR Business Partner (Shipping/CBD)

1 Year Contract Recruiter (US MNC)

On the back of promising growth, an established shipping MNC with a global footprint is looking for a Regional HR Business Partner to take charge of organisational HR. You’ll partner with and advise line managers across the region on all people matters and strategies as well as the implementation of processes and policies. With 8 years of commercial HR experience, you’ll have regional stakeholder management experience and a good HR operations foundation.

Contact Sean Wong (Registration ID No. R1101782) at sean.wong@hays.com.sg or call +65 6303 0721.

A Regional Recruiter role exists in a leading technology firm. You’ll focus on CV screening, direct sourcing, market mapping and Asia Pacific recruitment projects for IT professionals and engineers. Your responsibilities will include talent identification and partnering with global peers and senior stakeholders to develop new candidate attraction strategies. You should have a Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of recruitment experience within the IT industry, be confident to work in a fast paced environment, and be an excellent team player.

Contact Keith Lim (Registration ID no. R1106673) at keith.lim@hays.com.sg or call +65 6303 0721.

hays.com.sg

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EA License Number: 07C3924

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Senior Manager, Rewards, Asia

Senior HR Business Partner

Regional Learning & Development Manager

› Industrial MNC › Highly hands-on and challenging role

› Healthcare and life science MNC › Strategic and operational focused

› Stand-up training delivery required › Challenging and hands-on regional role

A global industrial player, our client is seeking for an experienced Total Rewards subject matter expert to join and perform an integral role within its Centre of Excellence team.

A leading player in its fields, our client has an established presence in Singapore and globally. It now seeks a dynamic and consummate HR Business Partner to be part of their Singapore operation.

With global presence, our client has an immediate need for a dynamic and hands-on Learning & Development Manager to play a key role in their regional team.

Degree qualified with Compensation & Benefits professional certification, you have minimum 8 years of relevant experience including Asia region exposure with strong knowledge of China and India. Ideally you have experience integrating related programs and policies, and merger & acquisition related activities, and HRIS management. You are a hands-on team player with high influencing ability, have strong analytical, project management and presentation skills, and have worked in a highly matrix and fastpaced environment.

Reference number: MH/JD50964 Contact person: Maureen Ho (Reg. No. R1105976)

You will partner closely with Business Heads to ensure HR goals are aligned with the organisational plan for the assigned business units. You are responsible for the development and application of policies and programs in the area of recruitment, HR planning, compensation & benefits, talent development and management, performance management, employee and labour relations.

Degree qualified, the successful candidate should have at least 10 years experience as HR generalist including 5 years HR business partnering experience with MNCs known for HR best practices. Preference will be given those with experience as site HR in a manufacturing environment. You possess high adaptability, are hands-on and possess excellent interpersonal, communications and influencing skills and ability to work in a diverse culture environment.

Reference number: MH/JD51255 Contact person: Maureen Ho (Reg. No. R1105976)

You will design, implement capability development programmes for frontline sales and management teams, partner business leaders and internal customers in building capability by generating solutions, facilitate talent development through coaching, leadership programmes, psychometrics and assessments, etc.

You will also lead the performance management and employee development processes by formulating initiatives to build and sustain a performance-driven culture, and participate in rolling out employee engagement related activities.

Degree qualified with professional certifications in training, you have minimum 6 years of relevant work experience including 2 years in regional capacity in MNCs. You are highly energetic and hands-on, able to work independently in a fast-paced and lean environment.

You are a team player who is willing to share knowledge, develop others, and work in a cooperative and collaborative style to ensure delivery and quality of service. Excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills are key success factors.

Reference number: MH/JD47740B Contact person: Maureen Ho (Reg. No. R1105976)

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

EMPOWERING YOUR CAREER Human Resource Director

HR Manager (Generalist)

• Stable environment • Senior management role • Renowned retail setup

• Highly visible role in APAC • Leading retail MNC • Central location

Our client, a local public listed company is currently in search of a Human Resource Director. As a key member of the senior management team, you will be involved in the strategic planning, objective setting, resource implementation and change management.

Our client, a leading MNC is currently in search of a HR Manager (Generalist) for 6 months contract.

In this role, you will provide strategic and operational HR support to the business and set HR directions in line with business objectives. You will review and implement best practices in HR processes and operations. You will also lead and manage HR initiatives including recruitment strategies, retention programmes, compensation and benefits, performance evaluation, talent management, people development and succession planning.

To be successful, you should possess a Bachelor Degree in HR Management or equivalent with 8 to 10 years, ideally with some years in a retail industry. You should be people-oriented with good energy level and ability to drive initiatives.

In this role, you will be responsible for the daily HR functions of the Singapore office, business partnering with the Senior Managers and providing proactive HR support. This role is part of the APAC HR leadership team and will work in close partnership with the Regional HR Managers.

To be successful, you should possess 5 to 6 years of HR generalist experience and a relevant HR Degree/certification. You must have prior supervisory experience and strong communication skills. You should also have knowledge of expatriate management (both inbound and outbound expatriates, housing, education etc.). Relevant experience in the consumer goods industry as well as L&D and change management experience would be an advantage.

If you meet the above criteria, please email your detailed CV in WORD format to maggie_ong@kellyservices.com.sg.

We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

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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1143/05_15

You will be lead in the development and review rewards strategies, policies and programmes to ensure competitiveness. You will recommend and enhance related plans, programs and initiatives to contribute to the overall success of the business through its people agenda. You will participate and may lead region wide program and projects, and ensure compliance with local laws and governance processes.

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HELPING YOU GROW A STRONG PEOPLE TREE WITH OUR INTEGRATED HUMAN CAPITAL CONSULTING SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGIES

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