CONTENTS

On The Cover

8 FOSTERING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: REFLECTING ESG VALUES IN THE WORKPLACE

Ng Ying Yuan, Chief Operating Office for Group Human Resources, DBS; and Erwin Chong, Group Head of Corporate Real Estate and Administration, DBS, share the Singapore bank’s commitment to sustainability and how this has won buy-in from employees.

Features

10

Building Resilience For Uncertain Times

Rob Squires, VP of Sales for Asia Pacific and Japan, Ceridian, explains why organisations need a culture of change-readiness that is flexible enough to handle a variety of disruptions.

12 Creating A Winning Ex Formula To Retain Your Best Talent

Gavin Morse, Senior People Scientist, Culture Amp, shares how organisations can elevate employee experience to retain their best talent.

14 Get Ready To Navigate The New Paradigm Of People And Work

Taking place from 10-11 May, HR Tech Festival Asia 2023 will shine a spotlight on the most pertinent workplace issues faced by organisations in Asia.

17 NEXT- GENERATIONAL MOBILITY FOR THE MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKPLACE IN A POST- PANDEMIC WORLD

Rachele Focardi, Founder of XYZ@Work, shares how organisations can build the workforce of the future through Next Generation Mobility.

18 SERENITY IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY

Creating security is the first principle of creating an environment where people really want to engage and thrive, writes Martin Laschkolnig, Founder and CEO of the Institute for the Development of Potential.

20 IS THE METAVERSE OUR NEXT REALITY OR IS THE HYPE JUST VIRTUAL INSANITY?

Amer Iqbal, Founder and CEO of 5 Ways To Innovate, examines if the metaverse can be the next revolution that will transform the workplace.

22 PEOPLE EXPERIENCE AT THE HEART OF THE SONY EMPLOYEE JOURNEY

One of the best ways to retain talent is to align DE&I with employee experience, says Wendy Weehuizhen, VP, People Experience, Asia and Middle East, Sony Music Entertainment.

24 BUILDING A SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE WORKPLACE THROUGH EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT

Dr Virgel C. Binghay, Co-Founding Member of the ASEAN Human Development Organisation (AHDO) Philippines, highlights how human development can be improved across organisations.

26

FUTURE-PROOFING THE WORKFORCE CAN START FROM WITHIN

Taking a skills-based approach to investing in the future of employees is the best enabler to future-proof an organisation, says Anne Fulton, Founder and CEO of Fuel50.

Australia

Australia Aims To Create Diverse Female Leadership In The Workplace

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT is empowering more women of colour to reach their leadership ambitions with the launch of the Women of Colour Executive Leadership Programme.

The programme is designed to assist 20 diverse women, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, to upskill and overcome the challenges they face in advancing their careers. Over the course of seven months, participants will engage in workshops, mentoring, and coaching to reach their goals.

Additionally, they will complete a strategic challenge project and improve their board capabilities.

South Korea Investment In Esg Management Grows In South Korea

TO REDUCE AIR POLLUTION AND PROMOTE workplace safety, the top 100 companies in South Korea invested 5.44 trillion won (US$4.41 billion) in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management in 2022 This is an increase of 87.6% from the previous year, according to a Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) report.

The investments from large companies came at a time when their greenhouse gas emissions increased nearly 5% from a year earlier. Last year, these companies combined emitted 267.3 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 4.7% increase over the year before.

INCREASE IN OFF-HOURS WORK AMONG EMPLOYEES IN TAIWAN

TAIWAN OVER ONE-QUARTER OF EMPLOYEES in Taiwan are averaging 4.7 additional hours each month engaging in business-related activities outside regular working hours, according to an annual survey by the Ministry of Labour of Taiwan.

The survey, conducted from June 2021 to May last year, found that 25.2% of respondents had to engage in off-the-clock activities, an increase of one percentage point from the previous survey. These activities include receiving messages from employers via electronic communications methods such as phones, mobile phone apps, and social media.

More Employees In Singapore Working Beyond Retirement Age

IN 2022, A TOTAL OF 207,300 Singapore residents aged 65 and above were employed, which translates to an employment rate of 31%. Of these, 81,900 (57.5%) were taking on full-time roles while a third were working part-time.

Where earning power is concerned, close to seven out of 10 elderly employees in Singapore earn less than $$2,500 (US$1,8885), according to figures provided by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). 68.7% earned a gross monthly income of less than $2,500, about 27,000 elderly employees earned between $2,500 and $3,000 (US$2,262) while 37,800 earned at least $4,000 (US$3,016).

JAPAN

Employees In Japan Allowed To Pursue Side Careers

JAPANESE TRADING COMPANY

MITSUI is accommodating younger employees’ demand for more flexible work arrangements by allowing them to pursue side careers such as coaching, working on a tech start-up, or being a YouTuber or an artist.

A spokesperson from Mitsui said that the organisation has implemented remote work and flexible work hours and believes now is the right time to take a step further for employees to pursue both career development and new working styles.

MALAYSIA

Malaysia Advocates For More Women In Leadership Roles

DATUK SERI NANCY SHUKRI, Malaysia’s Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, has called for an increase in women’s representation in corporate leadership. Through advocacy, the minister wants both governmentlinked organisations and the private sector to meet a common target, as she explained, “It is our job to continue advocating as we have been saying that 30% of [female representation] has yet to be achieved in the private sector. It is not within our control, but we will keep advocating.”

According to the minister, the public sector in Malaysia has already exceeded its goal of having 30% of high-ranking positions held by women.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) meanwhile, has offered its flight attendants the option of working only two days a week, giving them the opportunity to have a side career.

US NON-COMPETE AGREEMENTS CONTINUE TO BE DELIBERATED IN THE US

THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC) has entered into a lengthy rule-making process that will determine if employees should be allowed to leave to work for a competing organisation.

According to the FCC, non-compete clauses are “exploitative” and unfairly limit the opportunities of an estimated 30 million Americans. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the FCC’s proposal has been challenged by the business community, including the US Chamber of Commerce, who called the move to outlaw no-compete agreements as “blatantly unlawful.”

Uk

THINK-TANK CALLS FOR MORE EMPLOYEES IN THE UK TO BE INCLUDED IN PENSION SCHEME

THE SOCIAL MARKET FOUNDATION (SMF), an independent British public policy think-tank, has called for younger and lower-paid employees in the UK to be included in a scheme that sees people automatically enrolled into pension saving. Currently, all employers are required to offer a workplace pension to their staff, and automatically enrol those who fit certain criteria. They can include employees who are not already signed up to a workplace pension, earn at least £10,000 (US$12,020) annually, and are aged between 22 and 66. Employees can choose not to participate in the scheme.

Uk Four Out Of 10 Employees In Uk Want To Resign

DESPITE AN UNCERTAIN JOB MARKET, four out of 10 employees in the UK are considering leaving their current employers, a new Mercer study has found.

Driven primarily by a desire for greater work-life balance, employees are looking for new roles, with fully remote workers and those working in the retail and hospitality industries the most likely to consider leaving their current roles.

The report also found that insufficient pay, burnout due to demanding workload, and poor relationships with managers and colleagues as the other top reasons behind employee turnover.

Unemployment Rate In The Us Hits Record Low In January

DESPITE FEARS OF A POTENTIAL RECESSION, the US added 517,000 jobs in January 2023, pushing the unemployment rate down to 3.4%, which represents the lowest rate since 1969.

This is largely going against most expectations, with a recent survey by research company Morning Consult highlighting that the majority of the US public believing the economy has already fallen into recession.

The hiring in January was largely led by bars and restaurants, with the car manufacturing and tech industries among those to report job losses.

Portugal

90 COMPANIES IN PORTUGAL KEEN ON 4-DAY WORKWEEK

90 COMPANIES HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST in participating in Portugal’s 4-day workweek trial, which is slated to run from June to December 2023.

According to Ana Mendes Godinho, Portugal’s Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, the companies come from sectors such as industry, commerce, information, and communication.

Late last year, the minister explained that authorities reserve the right to extend daily working hours of employees in the public sector benefitting from a shorter workweek. “The number of hours of daily work may be different on certain days,” she said.

Europe Employees In Europe Spending Less Time Using Email

DRIVEN PARTIALLY BY THE INCREASED USE OF communication tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, employees in Europe are spending an average of 18.42 minutes per workday using email, which is 33% less than the 27.23 minutes employees in the US spend.

According to a study by productivity software DeskTime, the heaviest email users come from Malta, where employees spent 55.02 minutes on email daily. This is followed by 38.35 minutes daily for employees in Spain and 36.82 minutes for employees in Greece.