Human Resources Online Q2 2021

SINGAPORE

The smart HR professional’s blueprint for workforce strategy

April-June 2021

Upskilling

101

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Future Skills special

Pages 8-18

Kevin McGuigan 3M Celestina Lee Starbucks Coffee Singapore Georgina Chung EZ-Link Lai Tak Ming UOB Malaysia Ilham Maulana Procter & Gamble Indonesia Anders Sjøløkken TechnipFMC Stavia Dexterina Nokia Joy Xu Manulife Agustina Samara DANA

This is where learning and development data and analytics comes in. There are a number of different technologies available today that enable you to collect data which provides you with insights on what your people know and do today. Some of these technologies enable you to determine the degree to which learning and knowledge can be attributed to business performance.

It is also possible to predict what your business’s future performance might be based on what your people know today.

At Capability Group, we introduce advanced and breakthrough solutions and technologies that enable you to lift capability, agility & performance.

Operating at the intersection of behaviour psychology, learning design & learning technology, we empower HR & L&D leaders to reimagine the way they design and deliver learning with measurable impact.

Our solutions

Preparing teams for the future with impactful learning experiences

Captivating learners with innovative learning experiences

Learning technology platforms

Digital content using 2D/3D animations & VR/AR/MR

Digital learning strategies

Blended learning experiences

Leadership programmes

Talent development

Shifting to more digitally enabled ways of working to support hybrid and remote work environments is forcing organisations to rethink how they design and deliver learning with impact.

The success of most businesses is entirely reliant on individual employees, teams and people leaders knowing and doing the right things. The problem is we are often unsure of exactly what our people know and do.

For more information, contact us at: contact@capabilitygroup.co / www.capabilitygroup.co

regional group commercial director Naomi Cranswick

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editor-in-chief Aditi Sharma Kalra journalists Priya Sunil Lester Tan sub editor James Foster art director Mohd Ashraf content marketing manager Jerene Ang circulation manager Deborah Quek regional director Carine Chang

head, project management Renamel Torres delegate sales Ryan Ciceron Seraphine Neoh Reggie Ola Adrian Ray Hemalatha Siranjeevi regional head of event services Yeo Wei Qi managing director Evelyn Wong

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DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in Human Resources are not necessarily the views of the publisher.

UPSKILLING Feature communication. A growth 101: HOW NINE Empathic mindset. Problem-solving skills.

LEADERS ARE Data literacy. If you’re as serious CHANGING about your employees’ growth as THE GAME IN our interviewees, chances are you’re building these skills into WORKPLACE currently your workforce. Priya Sunil reports.

LEARNING

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Opinion In this interview with Aditi Sharma Kalra, PLG’s General Manager, Amber Tan, sheds light on the gender inequality challenges and stereotypes the sector faces, and how the organisation is setting the path straight on combating them.

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HRO Hotspot:

HOW PLG IS WORKING HARD TO ELIMINATE GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE LOGISTICS SECTOR

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WHAT SEVEN HR LEADERS WISH FOR IN THE COMING YEARS People Issues To subscribe call: (65) 6423 0329 or email: subscriptions@humanresourcesonline.net

April-June 2021

We’ve put together this special feature to celebrate HR and all the work you do for the workforce – we hope to see your wishes become a reality!

Video interviews with expert industry practitioners Here at HRO, we’re constantly thinking of new ideas for you, our readers, and it gives us great pleasure to bring to you our new series, HRO Hotspot.

Regulars 2 Ed’s Note 4 Suite Talk 25 TAFEP Talks 28 Last Word

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Images / 123RF.com and Provided

regional sales manager Justin Ong

CONTENTS

EDITOR’S NOTE

A MAGIC WAND FOR A FUTURE-FIT WORKFORCE Empathic communication. A growth mindset.

Problem-solving skills. Data literacy.

If you’re as serious about your employees’ growth as our interviewees on the cover, chances are you’re currently (or are planning on) building any or all of these skills in your workforce.

With massive shifts in workforce priorities in 2020 bringing about many changes in just a snap, skills that were once in demand are now making way for more pressing and future-fit skills. As a result, L&D leaders, CHROs and even MDs have had to completely re-haul their organisation’s learning strategies.

While some have bid a complete goodbye to classroom/in-person trainings to welcome virtual trainings, others are looking to focus first on virtual courses, and eventually take on a hybrid approach.

In this quarter’s special cover story, Priya Sunil scoured views from leaders all across Asia – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and more – on their journey. In a series titled Upskilling 101, she brings you insights on how learning strategies are evolving and the hottest skills that every employer is striving to build. Flip straight to page eight to tuck into our cover story.

And we’ve got a lot more exclusive content lined up for you. As you know, we’re constantly thinking of new ideas, and it gives us great pleasure to bring to you our new series, HRO Hotspot.

For us, a ‘hotspot’ signifies instant accessibility, digital outreach and a meeting point for networking and brainstorming. This is our vision for HRO Hotspot, a series of video interviews with expert industry practitioners in and around Asia from fields, including and beyond, HR. Head over to page six to watch the four interviews we’ve put together on topics such as talent challenges, payroll efficiencies, and more.

Talking about meeting points, August brings our Total Rewards Asia Summit to your screens – two days of a virtual conference, followed by a day of Masterclass in Malaysia, and an in-person conference session in Singapore, where you can look forward to focused group discussions. At this annual C&B summit, you can enjoy conversations

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Human Resources Online April-June 2021

With massive shifts in workforce priorities in 2020 bringing about many changes in just a snap, skills that were once in demand are now making way for more pressing and future-fit skills.

on all things rewards, with more than 15 researchbased sessions at each event, and live Q&As answered. We hope to see you there!

To end this note, allow me to tell you what 3M’s Regional MD, Kevin McGuigan, shared with us, when we asked: “If you were given a magic wand to build a future-fit workforce, what action would you take?” His response seems apt for the current times, as he wished for “completely flexible work arrangements”, that give employees autonomy to customise when and where they work best, empowering them to work in ways that offer flexibility and balance.

Given that most of you, and your staff, would have been spending long hours behind the computer screen — whether you’re working from home, the office or both — we remind you to take a mindful pause, and find the balance that works best for you in order to stay productive, healthy and future-fit!

Enjoy the issue.

Aditi Sharma Kalra Editor-in-Chief

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF EMPLOYERS CAN IMPLEMENT?

If you are an employer who seeks to implement Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) for business sustainability, you have to consider the types of FWAs that best meet your business and employees' needs.

Though there are many FWAs available, you may begin by considering these few:

Telecommuting What is it?

• A flexi-place arrangement where employees can perform their jobs at a location other than the workplace • Uses information and communication technologies to enable employees to connect with clients remotely

Part-Time Work Benefits • Reduces commute time which can be spent more effectively at work • Helps business reduce operating costs

What is it?

Benefits • An arrangement that allows • Allows employers to provide employees to work reduced coverage of duties during hours on a regular basis peak periods or when work needs to be done only at • Employees work less than particular times 35 hours in a week, including those who work less than a • Access to wider talent pool full day all week or only some such as: back-to-work days per week individuals

Job-Sharing

Staggered Time

What is it?

Benefits • An arrangement that allows two • Helps companies attract or more part-time employees to and retain employees share the responsibilities of a who need reduced work single workload hours • Employees usually work at • Enables exchange of different times during the day skills and knowledge or week, or on alternate weeks between job sharers

What is it?

• An arrangement that allows employees to vary their daily start and end times to suit their personal commitments • Flexible time bands are created to let employees choose their preferred start and end times

8:00 AM

5:30 PM

9:00 AM

6:30 PM

Benefits • Helps employees avoid peak-hour travelling • Helps the business extend operating hours at no extra labour costs

SUSTAIN YOUR BUSINESS WITH FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS DISCOVER THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FWAs AT

WORK LIFE Leadership

Damian Kim, Managing Director, Facebook Singapore

Facebook’s Singapore MD emphasises work ethic and drive every single day of the week Time and again, Damian Kim has seen that it is the hardest working individual, and the hardest working team, that will accomplish the most with the greatest level of consistency, as he shares in this interview with Priya Sunil.

With a career spanning stints in the US, Latin America and Asia Pacific, Facebook’s Damian Kim has always loved the constant variety of business challenges and diversity of the people he has met across each country he has lived in – be it a work dinner at a parrilla in San Telmo, Buenos Aires, or jumping on a motorbike taxi with a colleague to rush to a meeting in Bangkok. “These are the moments and the relationships that I will always treasure,” Kim said.

In this interview, he shares some more of his passions with us. Excerpts below: In your role, how closely do you work with your HR Director to drive your overall employee strategies?

At Facebook, the partnership between business leadership and HR is extremely close – largely driven by the deep care and focus we have on the employee experience. I don’t know of any organisation that has a greater people-centric focus than Facebook. Now, my HR business partner and I speak weekly to stay closely in sync and keep a regular pulse on team health – be it personal support for a team member’s COVID-related family situation in India, leadership

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Human Resources Online April-June 2021

development and talent planning, or overall team sentiment and energy levels after a hectic quarter.

There is a combination of mechanisms that we employ – from one-on-ones, office hours and AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions to regular workplace and employee experience surveys – that are focused on maintaining connectivity and measuring experiences across the organisation, identifying key areas of focus, and then monitoring the effectiveness of action plans that we put in place.

Ultimately, it is important that people feel heard and understood, then see a meaningful level of responsiveness from the company around the things that matter most.

What are the top three skills that are highly in demand in the tech space today?

First, on a more technical front, proficiency around data is critically important. Being very comfortable working with large volumes of data and, more importantly, being able to distill meaningful insights is really important. As we say at Facebook, “data wins arguments”.

Next, communication will always be core and learning to communicate clearly, credibly, and compassionately is a skill that requires constant investment. In an industry where there is no shortage of complexity, the ability to communicate is fundamental.

Last, and this is a strong personal belief, I would emphasise work ethic. I have seen time and time again that it is the hardest working individual, the hardest working team, that will accomplish the most with the greatest level of consistency. I can appreciate intellectual aptitude but I’ll choose work ethic and drive every single day of the week.

Please click here to read the full interview with Damian Kim and find out Facebook’s secrets to creating, and sustaining, a culture of innovation among its workforce.

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POWERING ORGANISATIONAL GROWTH WITH Broadening the rewards horizon beyond 2021, Human Resources Online is bringing to you the seventh edition of Total Rewards Asia Summit. This three-day hybrid conference will push you to as an employer.

Together with our expert speaker panel, we want you to consider the optics of providing larger-than-usual rewards by bringing together your teams and supporting them with flexible, integrated technology to create a future-focused talent experience.

Are you ready to pack a punch in your total rewards strategy the way you envision to?

BOOK NOW AT THE BEST PRICE conferences.humanresourcesonline.net/total-rewards-asia-sg

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VIDEOS HRO Hotspot

HRO HOTSPOT Richard McLean, Co-founder, KeyPay, tells us how digital payroll doesn’t just take the pain out of compliance processes, but also helps improve employee productivity.

McLean is someone who’s passionate about keeping business processes simple, and removing unnecessary stressors in both payroll and the workforce. Such is his passion, that after working in IT for more than 20 years, he and his three co-founders took the leap and founded KeyPay, a cloud-based payroll and workforce management tool.

He shares why it is so important for businesses to digitalise their payroll processes, citing three main points: • Recognising payroll’s value in a business, and its impact on achieving business goals; • How it takes away the “onerous” parts of compliance; and • Its relation to employee productivity.

You can also look forward to learning: • The key features of a dynamic payroll software that can enable businesses to manage regulations smoothly.

• The clear benefits and ROI in how technology can add value to the business.

Watch the interview here.

Find out the secret recipe for a creative and immersive digital learning experience in this video interview with Drew McGuire, CEO and Co-Owner, Capability Group.

Capability Group is an organisational development consultancy with offices in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

McGuire and his team have been working hard to develop leading-edge blended learning solutions with a specific focus on learning tech and digital content.

McGuire finds himself drawn to the intersection of design, leadership development, change management and, driving mindset shift and behaviour change – which benefits us as he’s our interviewee for this edition.

Here’s what you can look forward to learning: • The secret recipe for a creative and immersive digital learning experience.

• Tips and tricks to driving behaviour change and a mindset shift at scale.

• Why ‘the ripple effect’ should be an important consideration for L&D heads.

Join the conversation here.

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Human Resources Online April-June 2021

HRO Hotspot VIDEOS

VIDEO INTERVIEWS WITH EXPERT INDUSTRY PRACTITIONERS Here at HRO, we’re constantly thinking of new ideas for you, our readers, and it gives us great pleasure to bring to you our new series, HRO Hotspot.

In this video interview, we hear from Degreed’s Sarah Danzl on how you as an employer or L&D head can support your employees as they upskill to stay relevant for the future.

Danzl is the Head of Global Communications at Degreed, an enterprise learning specialist, where she leads the PR, communications and client advocacy teams.

Having spent more than 12 years in L&D content, she has seen the space evolve – with skills that were once in-demand, now losing steam and giving way to more urgent skills. Against this backdrop, she shares with us some ideas on how you can support your employees on this journey.

Here’s what you can look forward to in this video: • How employers are continuing to upskill their workforce even on a leaner L&D budget.

• The most in-demand skills that businesses are going to need (and have to develop rather quickly) over the next few years.

• Tips for L&D leaders on creating upskilling opportunities that (a) deliver greater returns, and (b) make the most of every dollar.

Press play and tune in here.

We’ve had the pleasure to catch up with Donn Koh, Co-founder, STUCK Design, as well as a Senior Lecturer at NUS, and most recently, the honoured awardee of the SkillsFuture Fellowships 2020.

As the highest skills award for individuals in Singapore, the Fellowships honour individuals as masters of skills and mentors of future talent. Given out by the President of the Republic of Singapore, recipients benefit from a monetary award of S$10,000 to continue their pursuit of skills mastery.

For Koh, this award is a recognition of his passionate take on all things design, to his experimentation with the latest tools and industry knowledge. He is a firm believer in teaching others to design – be it through one-on-one mentoring or his pioneering Grow-And-Show initiative which encourages staff to take a sabbatical to focus on their creative pursuits.

Here, he shares with us: • What is his biggest driver behind design that delights people and propels businesses?

• The most rewarding thing about mentoring others, which stems from appreciating each person’s unique strengths and weaknesses.

• Why business owners find it useful to grow their skills into other areas such as marketing or digital scaling up.

Full interview here.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online

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FEATURE Upskilling 101 special

Upskilling

101

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How nine leaders are changing the game in workplace learning

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Human Resources Online April-JuneApril-June 2021 2021

Upskilling 101 special FEATURE

In this special cover story, see how 3M, UOB, P&G, and more, are taking workplace learning to a whole new level – by embracing fun, building empathy, and looking beyond just technical skills. Priya Sunil interviews a range of HR leaders across Asia to distil the most exciting trends in upskilling.

Empathic communication. A growth mindset. Problem-solving skills.

Data literacy. If you’re as serious about your employees’ growth as our interviewees, chances are you’re currently (or are planning on) building any or all of these skills into your workforce.

With massive shifts in workforce priorities in 2020 bringing about many changes in just a snap, skills that were once in demand are now making way for more pressing and future-fit skills.

As a result, L&D leaders, CHROs, and even MDs have had to completely re-haul their organisation’s learning strategies. While some bid a complete goodbye to classroom/in-person trainings to welcome virtual trainings, others are looking to focus first on virtual courses, and eventually take on a hybrid approach.

In this special cover story, Priya Sunil hears from leaders at 3M, UOB Malaysia, P&G Indonesia, Manulife, and more, about their journeys.

Click here to read the full interviews online.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online

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FEATURE Upskilling 101 special

3M’S REGIONAL MD URGES LEADERS TO EMBRACE FUN IN THE WORKPLACE Work becomes work when it’s no longer fun – agree? Well, so does Kevin McGuigan, Managing Director, SEA Region and Country Leader, Singapore at 3M. He tells us why this is a vital mindset shift that will never fail you in and outside of the workplace.

There are two ways multinational conglomerate 3M has adapted its learning strategy since last year – what and how the company trains. First, the team focused its training areas to the ones that would better help employees overcome COVID-related challenges. These included areas of growth mindset, change, agility, remote supervision, inter-cultural collaboration, and virtual collaboration, among others.

In particular, the team focused on a growth mindset philosophy and principles to help employees during this challenging time. “We started the training with our leadership team, and then a multi-month campaign to help our employees cultivate new learning habits in this area,” McGuigan says.

Next, 3M expanded its learning and training platforms online and sought employee feedback to improve upon them. “Not only does our bespoke learning portal Develop U now offer thousands of resources ranging from e-modules, to book extracts and video training, we also sought employee feedback on how we can improve these tools.”

What are the hottest, function-agnostic skills in your industry today?

3M is all about scientific exploration to solve problems in fun and meaningful ways. Having spent over 18 years here, I recommend two skills – scientific thinking and simply embracing fun.

First, the skill of scientific thinking. Knowledge-seeking, logical reasoning, and critical thinking processes – these benefit any organisation, whether in the field of science or outside of it.

Second, embrace fun in the workplace. More a mindset shift than a skill, I’m a firm believer of having fun. Work becomes work when it’s no longer fun.

In my opinion, they are two vital skills that will never fail you. At 3M, we are always learning, discovering, exploring and innovating together. Scientific thinking, coupled with a fun outlook, breeds productivity, innovation and keeps our employees excited for work every day.

How are you building these skills in your workforce?

We’ve taken a bidirectional approach in helping employees accelerate their learning.

First, we are constantly building scientific skills and thinking through our ‘Develop U’ learning platform, which I mentioned earlier, which offers over 10,000 courses in areas such as data science and digitalisation.

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Not only does our bespoke learning portal Develop U now offer thousands of resources ranging from e-modules, to book extracts and video training, we also sought employee feedback on how we can improve these tools.

Second, we build these skills through diversity and inclusion. New and diverse perspectives increase innovation, collaboration, building upon scientific exploration, curiosity, and simply having fun. We support employee communities that champion inclusion, and work across the company to engage and empower our people and enrich our culture.

Third, to facilitate an open and fruitful interaction, we’ve provided communication tools and guidelines to encourage open collaboration and communication. These include regular planning meetings and monthly one-on-one meetings that help employees share updates or concerns they may have regarding projects they are working on. We also adopt virtual means to strengthen team bonds.

Full interview here.

Upskilling 101 special FEATURE

EZ-LINK EMPOWERS EMPLYOEES TO OWN THEIR CAREER AND PERSONAL GROWTH “The pandemic has only reinforced our approach, as we had to adapt quickly to ensure that employees have the skills needed to thrive in the new future of work,” shares Georgina Chung, EZ-Link’s Head of HR.

Contactless payment provider EZ-Link’s learning strategy has always been underscored by the need for the company to evolve alongside an everchanging business landscape, says Chung. “Transformation in the digital payments industry has accelerated rapidly over the past two decades, and we have been intentional in cultivating a culture where our people stay curious and have the skills to remain competitive in the workforce.”

A key tenet has also been in empowering the team to take ownership of their growth and allow them to chart their own development trajectory – thus allowing the team to provide the resources and support that best cater to their development goals.

“The pandemic has only reinforced our approach, as we had to adapt quickly to ensure that employees have the skills needed to thrive in the new future of work. We have also pivoted to digital tools to facilitate remote learning to ensure that our team can keep learning anytime, anywhere.”

What are the hottest, function-agnostic skills in your industry today?

No matter the industry or job function, we must all participate actively in the digital economy to succeed in the long run. Skills in emerging technologies such as data analytics, cybersecurity, and robotic process automation will soon become a must-have, and not just a good-to-have.

However, tech skills in isolation are not enough. The workforce of tomorrow must also invest in cultivating soft skills such as inspirational leadership, communication and resilience to ensure that they can effectively lead and inspire others around them.

At EZ-Link, we value strengthening these leadership qualities on top of technical abilities so that the organisation can grow and progress holistically.

The pandemic has only reinforced our approach, as we had to adapt quickly to ensure that employees have the skills needed to thrive in the new future of work. We have also pivoted to digital tools to facilitate remote learning to ensure that our team can keep learning anytime, anywhere.

How are you building these skills in your workforce?

We have curated specific learning paths tailored to the differentiated needs of our people to ensure they can learn at their own pace. This year, we launched Own My Growth, our flagship programme to accelerate their learning in line with their career growth while empowering them to take charge of their own development and learning progress.

We also introduced a Skill Enhance and Empower Development programme to support colleagues seeking a career switch within the organisation by offering resources for them to accelerate their learning and assimilation into their new role.

Full interview here.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online 11

FEATURE Upskilling 101 special

STARBUCKS SINGAPORE’S PARTNER RESOURCE DIRECTOR BELIEVES PLANS SHOULD HAVE ‘WHITE SPACE’ It gives room to better manage the unexpected, or use that space to better the physical and mental wellbeing of the company’s employees through engaging activities, says Celestina Lee, Partner Resource Director, Starbucks Coffee Singapore.

Fortunately for Starbucks, the coffeehouse had already been six months into its digital transformation road map when the pandemic struck, Lee says. This accelerated its digital transformation further, as the team brought forward the launch of its e-learning platform – just in time as it suspended large physical group training sessions as part of safety measures.

Starbucks’ partners (its employees) stepped up to the training with open minds and adapted as the new format allowed it to build new and interactive training methods; and they were able to experience the training in the comfort of their stores.

“We seized the opportunity to enrol ourselves for training programmes focusing on leadership and change management – skill sets that are critical as we continue to evolve our way of work amid the pandemic,” Lee shares.

“The past year has also shown us the resilience of our partners and how we can overcome challenges and uncertainties with a strong, bonded community.”

What are the top three critical skills for HR to have in and beyond 2021?

Business acumen, planning and organisation, and collaborative skills. The business environment is constantly changing, hence, having business acumen will enable us to adapt our people and plan as fast as we can read what is going on in the business.

In HR, one of the most important skill sets would be the ability to connect the dots between business numbers and people needs. Planning and organisation skills form the foundation for those in an HR role as there is a wide range of responsibilities and duties that we carry out.

Collaborative skills are equally important because we work with crossfunctional teams all the time. As an HR specialist, it is imperative that we can connect people and constantly find innovative ways for teams to work together to unlock further potential.

White space – personally, I would like to encourage HR leaders to create more white space in their plans to give us room to better manage the unexpected, or use that space to better the physical and mental wellbeing of the company’s employees through engaging activities.

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We seized the opportunity to enrol ourselves for training programmes focusing on leadership and change management – skill sets that are critical as we continue to evolve our way of work amid the pandemic.

The past year has also shown us the resilience of our partners and how we can overcome challenges and uncertainties with a strong, bonded community.

If there was a magic wand and you could do anything within your power to build a futurefit workforce, what action would you take?

I wish I could implant a funny bone in every Singaporean. You can have all the hot skills and new skills, but it’s what is in your backbone that keeps you moving! When we have humour, positivity and fun with our community at work, we can be ready for whatever the future brings.

Full interview here.

Upskilling 101 special FEATURE

HOW MANULIFE IS MAKING LEARNING FRESH AND FUN WITH AI Through a suite of digital and AI-driven programmes – both ongoing and upcoming – Joy Xu, Manulife’s CHRO, Asia and Head of Global Learning, believes a balanced, blended learning approach is needed for employees to upskill at speed and scale.

At Manulife, learning lies at the core of future-proofing the organisation, through upskilling and reskilling. This includes investing in the team to help it grow its skills and capabilities to adapt to a changing environment, something that matters to employees based on the most recent engagement survey results, Xu shares.

“We are focused on listening and getting to know our staff better. It means acquiring a much deeper understanding of them – looking at their skills and experience, suitability for the role, and their career potential and aspirations. It helps us get the right people in the right roles and tailor their training accordingly.”

For that, Manulife is launching an AI-powered one-stop-shop Learning Experience Platform later this year, while ensuring its learning content is fresh and relevant and, importantly, deployed at speed and scale. This thus empowers employees with purpose-led learning, guided by an integrated learning curriculum and road map, she adds.

What are the hottest, function-agnostic skills in your industry today?

When talking about the hottest skills, it’s easy to think about highly technical niche skills where there’s a shortage and high demand. But the more transferable, function-agnostic skills vital in every business are people skills, leadership skills and mindset. These skills will never fail you; Empathetic leadership skills, storytelling, growth mindset, and more - are all areas we focus on.

Manulife provides seminars, e-resources and toolkits for these different areas and, in response to the pandemic, we have additional ones on wellness, leading online teams and working virtually. These are important for team building and corporate culture, particularly with new employees that have yet to meet their colleagues in person.

As we’ve seen over the past year, agility is also very important – being able to act decisively, creatively and quickly when confronted with new challenges.

The way we train and nurture employees aims to make agility come seamlessly into the work process.

How are you keeping your role fresh? In the same vein, what are three critical skills for HR in and beyond 2021?

I joined Manulife in November 2019 and I continue to be excited every day as I learn about the dynamics of the region and local nuances to get the best outcomes. Most of my work , my interactions and my learning, in an unprecedented 2020, was done virtually. As things gradually re-open, there will hopefully be more opportunities for face-to-face interactions, which is important for building a strong culture.

As we’ve seen over the past year, agility is also very important – being able to act decisively, creatively and quickly when confronted with new challenges.

During the past months, and as Head of Global Learning, I’ve been partnering with a large number of global C-suite leaders, whom I met virtually, to create our new learning strategies.

We are also building a global learning team to operationalise and implement the large portfolio of global training programmes and systems, of which some are in the process of rolling out, or will be later in the year.

A critical objective for me will be to ensure their smooth execution and the efficacy of them, which means getting proper buy-in across all our markets.

It also means getting as much meaningful feedback and measure system/ROI tracking as possible in order to improve.

Over the past 26 years in HR, I have come to realise there are so many critical skills which require continuous learning in order to excel. They include: transformative change management, digital and data analytics, and talent and employee experience development. These all underscore the importance of soft people skills, which are foundational collaboration, coaching and relationship building.

Full interview here.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online 13

FEATURE Upskilling 101 special

EMPATHIC COMMUNICATION IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT FOR LEADERS TODAY, SAYS UOB MALAYSIA’S HR HEAD In the new normal, EQ trumps IQ. It is no longer about the brilliance of a lone leader’s plan, but how a leader is able to draw out the best of the team and harness that into a collective goal, says Lai Tak Ming, Executive Director and Country Head of Human Resources, UOB Malaysia.

When UOB Malaysia first moved classroom training virtual, although many of the competencies the team wanted to develop remained largely the same, some competencies had become more critical and prominent.

“A lot more had to be done in the space of leadership development and communication as our employees worked from home, and became increasingly isolated from the team,” Lai shares.

But today, as internal and external training teams become more adept at conducting training virtually, and employees become equally comfortable with working from home, the team at Asian bank UOB Malaysia has been able to move most, if not all its training, online. The firm has also been able to collaborate with global education providers to deliver the courses.

The team has adapted and migrated from in-person training to conducting virtual instructor-led training, giving employees access to curated videos and online training materials which enables them to learn as and when they can. “We aim to introduce some form of hybrid training (both in-person and virtual) in the near future. While the medium and channel of delivery has evolved, the principles of adult learning remain unchanged with a focus to be more participant-centric.”

What are the hottest, function-agnostic skills in your industry today?

I would say one of the most critical skills to have right now is strong empathic communication capabilities to keep the team engaged and productive.

In normal times, emotional intelligence is key to effective collaboration. All the more, during a crisis, and in the new normal, EQ trumps IQ. How can a leader continue to drive business while caring for the personal needs of the team members? How can a leader be a better role model for the team to remain resilient and focused in times of turbulence? It is no longer about the brilliance of a lone leader’s plan, but how a leader is able to draw out the best of the team and harness that into a collective goal.

Leaders today are being challenged to provide more support and development to their team than ever before because personal/career growth is the ‘hottest’ thing today, especially in a VUCA world that we now live in.

Strategic capability is also at the heart of leadership. Being responsive to constant changes and adopting an agile way of working is an imperative.

Today, more than ever, leaders need to engage and listen to all inputs to enable better decision making and strategy formulation. There is a need to

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We aim to introduce some form of hybrid training (both in-person and virtual) in the near future. While the medium and channel of delivery has evolved, the principles of adult learning remain unchanged with a focus to be more participant-centric.

build trust, empower people and let go of some traditional management practices.

Fundamental future skills such as having a growth mindset, human-centred design, complex problem solving, digital innovation, and data story telling are also function-agnostic as these are skill sets that can be employed in any role. And at UOB Malaysia, we are providing this to all our colleagues through our online holistic learning and development programme, titled ‘Better U’.

Full interview here.

Upskilling 101 special FEATURE

THE TOP THREE SKILLS HR NEEDS IN 2021, AS SHARED BY DANA INDONESIA’S CPO Agustina Samara, DANA’s Chief People and Corporate Strategy Officer, says that HR leaders need to be data literate in making decisions, as this can help predict future trends and behaviour, as well as identify new avenues for business improvement.

“The pandemic has shifted our priority in terms of learning strategy and people development. We have been trying to come up with ideas to focus the learning strategy not only on the quality of the knowledge, but also on the effectiveness of the process during this hard period. Promoting a deeper learning culture in DANA, especially for independent learning and beyond the classroom, has been encouraged,” Samara says.

The learning process can occur through independent learning such as having a reward mechanism for staff with the highest learning hours, encouraging them to join more online trainings or webinars, and converting monetary rewards into learning rewards.

Learning beyond the classroom is another way staff at DANA, a software firm, can learn, not only by joining the many trainings or webinars, but through the direct practice of BicaraDANA (DANA’s public speaking engagement programme), internal talent mobility, and becoming the lead in battle projects.

What are the hottest, function-agnostic skills in your industry today?

Interesting term, function-agnostic skills. The need to be more empathetic, yet result-driven, has been strong in this new normal. Talent that has the combination of people focus and driving results is the one that should be able to consistently perform. While the pandemic is tearing us apart, those points could be part of the solution to keep good collaboration between members, care for the team’s wellbeing, help each other to rise up and be motivated, and reach beyond their perceived potential even in these tough times.

On the HR front – what are the top three critical skills for HR to have in and beyond 2021?

For HR in 2021, and beyond, the challenge would be to rethink the HR role in a new-norm environment, with the aim of performing personalised as well as seamless HR operations.

The key capabilities of HR in 2021, and beyond, would be: 1. Data driven and data literate, by looking at insights from data and analytics for making decisions. This could predict future trends and behaviour, and identify new avenues for business improvement.

2. Good business acumen, the ability to correlate the business and people strategy to achieve mutual benefit and make people the heart of business growth.

Learning beyond the classroom is another way staff at DANA, a software firm, can learn, not only by joining the many trainings or webinars, but through the direct practice of BicaraDANA (DANA’s public speaking engagement programme), internal talent mobility, and becoming the lead in battle projects.

3.

Use of technology and a digital mindset for the automation of HR processes.

People in this era should be able to incorporate technology into their daily roles. In today’s business environment, technological infrastructure could affect the efficiency of a business as it is designed for operational tasks to be automated and secured. People should be capable of utilising technology to optimise management and operations.

Full interview here.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online 15

FEATURE Upskilling 101 special

THREE THINGS P&G INDONESIA’S HR DIRECTOR LEARNT FROM EVOLVING THE FIRM’S LEARNING STRATEGY When the pandemic hit and his team had to re-look at P&G’s learning strategy, one thing that helped maintain what was being learnt was to ‘make it alive’ by relying on role-play and practice, shares Ilham Maulana, HR Director, Procter & Gamble Indonesia.

By the start of 2020, the team at P&G Indonesia, a consumer goods company, had been keeping its focus on delivering holistic learning across the organisation with the 70-20-10 concept.

“In the past one year, we have evolved on ‘how’ we learn while keeping ‘what’ we learn. We moved 100% of the classroom training to virtual training.

This brought about the challenge on how we can ensure that learning can be well received by the organisation, and not move to one-way learning,” Ilham says.

He notes a few learnings that he and the team found successful: Make it alive by relying heavily on role-play and practice; follow up with mentoring during and post-training; to guide learning; and create competition on actionable steps post-learning.

On the HR front – what are the top three critical skills for HR to have in and beyond 2021?

Organisational sensing: Staying in touch with the organisation during this tough time is a must-have requirement to ensure you can understand the magnitude of how this pandemic is impacting your organisation.

Influencing: As HR, we need to help our leaders and our organisation understand the organisation’s situation, and make the right decisions that balances both business and organisational priorities.

Business acumen: HR needs to be able to speak the business language, hence, with the fast-changing situation outside, it’s natural for us to continue building our skills and knowledge about the business so we can better drive change for our organisation.

If there was a magic wand and you could do anything within your power to build a future-fit workforce, what action would you take?

I would love to have artificial intelligence involved in employees’ learning plans, starting from identifying capability gaps, designing learning plans, including lists of trainings to complete, qualification of skills, up to predicting future skills needed.

Full interview here.

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In the past one year, we have evolved on ‘how’ we learn while keeping ‘what’ we learn. We moved 100% of the classroom training to virtual training.

This brought about the challenge on how we can ensure that learning can be well received by the organisation, and not move to one-way learning.

Upskilling 101 special FEATURE

TECHNIPFMC’S VP OF LEARNING ON WHY ‘PROBLEM-SOLVING’ IS THE ONE SKILL THAT WILL NEVER FAIL US It’s right up there with the basics that you need for a job, and it starts with asking the right questions, says Anders Sjøløkken, Vice President, Learning & Knowledge Management, TechnipFMC.

TechnipFMC combined learning and knowledge management into a single organisation in early 2020 to drive business value from an overall learning ecosystem. “This strategy leverages content curation as well as crowdsourced contributions from the field, and ensures that all sources of learning are available to the employee: what they need, when they need it, whether it is a wiki page, a network, an e-learning course, or on-demand OJT (on-the-job training),” Sjøløkken notes.

As the firm had already focused on increasing digital delivery when the pandemic began, it simply accelerated the schedule and rapidly delivered more virtualised solutions, with a laser focus on growing the firm’s core competencies of project management, technical skills and leadership development. Another key objective has been eliminating duplications while consolidating and globalising content, so that the organisation could truly act as one across the world.

“Establishing these priorities for the new team early in 2020 enabled us to thrive and be agile while withstanding the external factors 2020 brought to bear.”

What are the hottest, function-agnostic skills in your industry today?

One thing that will never fail us is problem-solving capabilities! Problem-solving is right up there with the basics that you need for the job – science, mathematics, etc, for engineers, for instance – and it starts with asking the right questions.

Collaboration is also critically important. It is something that’s often celebrated when it happens within organisations, but we need to get to the point where collaboration is considered a capability as basic as reading. It should be fundamental. Collaboration enables social learning, innovation and better business outcomes, and we are really invested in supporting ‘enterprise dialogue’.

Connecting people across the organisation really can ‘level up’ our knowledge as a business, and platforms and systems that connect people will continue to increase value. Anything that can foster dialogue better, I would bet on, and that’s why knowledge management is a key element in our learning strategy. We utilise knowledge management and social learning tools and techniques to underpin learning programmes and fuel collaboration, both cross-functionally and within communities of practice.

On the HR front – what are the top three critical skills for HR to have in and beyond 2021?

It has been said many times, but I fundamentally believe that to be a great HR business partner we need to be more strategic business partners. To do that, HR professionals need to embrace the skills and characteristics that you’d

Collaboration enables social learning, innovation and better business outcomes, and we are really invested in supporting ‘enterprise dialogue’.

look for in a real business partner: from general business acumen to the issues business leaders have to deal with: what can be automated or outsourced? How can we be more lean?

We need to have a real and authentic interest into diving into the world of whatever it is our business is doing … in our company, engineering, for example. In addition, to keep up with today’s world and provide an equitable while at the same time more innovative culture, HR professionals must strive to live and breathe inclusion and diversity (I&D). We need to put the whole I&D value system in a mental and executable playlist that we can deploy at every stage of the employee life cycle. We have to not only implement, but to fully embrace structures and processes to make it easier to inject inclusion and diversity into the organisation to change behaviours.

Problem-solving skills, collaboration and overall leadership skills are as important for HR professionals as anyone, and an HR team that embodies these skills, as well as inclusion and diversity, can have a profound impact on the overall effectiveness of an organisation.

Full interview here.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online 17

FEATURE Upskilling 101 special

HOW NOKIA INDONESIA’S AGGRESSIVE PUSH ON DIGITAL LEARNING IS HELPING BUILD A GROWTH MINDSET Nokia offers a whole host of platforms for employees to learn – including access to e-books, audio books, and even a platform for employees to speak up about their passions and share their knowledge.

Stavia Dexterina (Dexter), Country HR Lead Indonesia, shares more.

Before the pandemic, Nokia had already built a great digital learning platform, accessible to all employees, and has since become more aggressive about promoting the platform because it understands that employees have bigger needs in developing themselves during and after the pandemic.

“In fact, based on the Nokia HRBI report, the trend during 2020 pointed to a significant increase in learning compared to the previous year. So we offered more platforms to employees, as well as continued engagement with LinkedIn Learning as one of the learning platforms in Nokia. We also engaged with SkillPort to have access to e-books and audio books to help employee development,” Dexter tells us.

How are you building a growth mindset in your workforce?

A growth mindset is something we always embed in everything we do, every day. We have proper courses accessible to all employees, and we always embrace this in every interaction.

As reflected in our development review, managers have open communication to discuss employee performance and their aspirations, and write out their performance development plan, which is reviewed regularly (every 90 days). Even in difficult conversations, we keep emotions aside and we try to structure the communication from the perspective of having a growth mindset in order to motivate the employee, and benefit the company.

In Nokia, integrity is fundamental for all employees, whereby we have an annual refreshment training on this topic for everyone.

We also have the infrastructure for employees to report any violation anytime, even anonymously. This platform is accessible on Android/Apple apps, and is not limited only to internal stakeholders – even external parties can report on potential cases related to employees.

As a result of our work with integrity, Nokia has been awarded as among “The World’s Most Ethical Companies” for four consecutive years.

Personally speaking, how are you as a leader upskilling yourself for your role, as well as your HR team?

I have always had a mentor to help me learn how to speed up my career, and guide me to greater heights. I am also always ready to become a mentor for others who have needs.

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Even in difficult conversations, we keep emotions aside and we try to structure the communication from the perspective of having a growth mindset in order to motivate the employee, and benefit the company.

I personally believe that having a proper mentor enriches us through their knowledge, experience and views on seeing things differently.

Harvard research says people with mentors perform better, advance in their careers faster and even experience more work-life satisfaction.

Another thing that is important to me is to always set goals for my own development. I put in place details around timelines, how to achieve these goals, and who are the stakeholders that can help me to reach my dream. I consciously make an effort (thanks to calendar reminders on a monthly basis) to revisit my goals and revise accordingly.

I personally believe if you make an effort on your development, everything is possible. The limit of your career is only yourself. Do not complain, and keep moving forward.

Full interview here.

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THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY AIA SINGAPORE

HR'S GUIDE: HOW TO DEVELOP A PANDEMIC-PROOF EMPLOYEE WELLBEING STRATEGY

It’s not difficult – have a look at what HSBC Singapore, Singtel, and UTAC Headquarters are doing.

Search for ‘employee wellbeing’ on Google, and you will find several reports that only point to one key takeaway: mental health has gained more prominence than ever before.

Since COVID-19, stress levels of employees have shot up, thanks to long hours of social isolation, job uncertainty, and anxiety associated with ever-changing safe distancing rules.

Whilst many employers put great effort into the physical wellbeing of their employees, they struggle to prioritise their mental wellbeing. Employees cite mental health stigma as a top concern and are uncomfortable to discuss it with their superiors.

With most of us working remotely and cooped up behind computer screens, what is needed are high-impact digital engagement and wellbeing solutions for employers and people managers that can be rolled out conveniently and easily.

And these are exactly what the following leaders are championing: Brandon Coate, Head of HR, HSBC Singapore; Aileen Tan, Group CHRO, Singtel, and Alexander Yap, Head of Total Rewards (APAC & USA), UTAC Headquarters. Let us find out what they are doing so well.

The trio’s digital engagement and wellbeing strategies are performing far better for their employees than what studies suggest. Let us deep dive into what they are getting right. #Tip 1: Create a wellbeing framework to define your actions HSBC Singapore has created a framework that focuses on four wellbeing pillars: mental health, physical health, financial health, and work-life balance. Coate says: “We support our colleagues by regularly promoting the wellbeing resources offered and advocating through wellbeing-dedicated communications and events.”

Examples would be HSBC Singapore’s reimbursement allowance to set up an ergonomic home office, as well as a virtual wellness campaign to keep everyone healthy while working remotely.

“We also collaborated with our insurance provider, AIA, to offer all colleagues telemedicine by Whitecoat so that they can seek medical help from the comfort of their home,” shares Coate.

Similarly, UTAC Group’s wellbeing framework is underpinned by its core values of unity, trust, accountability, and communication, to guide all employee-related decisions. “Consistent with these values, we believe in having a positive environment in our workplaces and lending support for employees’ physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing,” Yap explains. #Tip 2: Listen and adapt to your employees’ needs constantly Besides traditional medical and insurance offerings, Singtel is giving employees what

they really need in the midst of a pandemic, i.e. a proactive stance on preventive and early intervention measures. This includes a confidential, 24/7 professional counselling service, as well as coaching and mindfulness sessions on developing a resilient mindset.

Tan firmly believes: “When people are in a state of wellbeing at work, they are inspired to stay healthy, happy and positive,” adding this also enables them to develop their fullest potential, be creative, stay productive, and build positive relationships with others.

One of the best ways to understand what employees want, is simply, to ask them.

At UTAC Group, employees feel heard and engaged through engagement surveys (called U-Pulse), while at HSBC, focus groups are another valuable tool to gather feedback and help shape new policies. #Tip 3: Partner your insurer for maximum wellbeing impact Across the organisations we spoke to, the support of a reliable partner, AIA, has been crucial in delivering the message on employee wellbeing, anchored in its signature programme, AIA Vitality, which supports over 100,000 customers towards healthier, longer, better lives.

At UTAC, Yap relies on AIA’s quarterly and yearly reports for performance comparisons on factors such as real age versus company age, improvements in step count, number of employees actively doing their personal online health assessment, and more.

He shares: “We have seen an incremental increase in overall Vitality platform engagement scores from when we first started in 2017 at 47% to current scores at 62%.” He adds that improvements are also evident in the total number of steps being 3.38x, and member-level achievements (where nearly 40% are now gold-member level achievers).

In addition to better health, there are real cost savings involved. Singtel, for instance, reviewed the underlying drivers behind medical claims to identify areas for targeted intervention.

Tan shares: “Over a three-year period, the proportion of employees screened as overweight has come down by more than 15%. With better health practices, the average incidence of GP doctor visits up to pre-COVID had reduced by as much as 10%.

“The qualitative benefits are also notable, as employees have also been making more informed and better lifestyle choices, for example, in nutrition and exercise.”

We hope the practical sharing by Coate, Tan and Yap, provides you with renewed passion to pandemic proof your employee wellbeing programme and help your colleagues live better lives.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online 19

OPINION People issues

How social engagement can put a smile on the faces of those in need – and your employees Mary Grace, Total Rewards Director, Asia Pacific, Johnson & Johnson, shares about the company’s volunteer leave programme, that gives APAC employees two days of fully paid leave per year.

Walking through the Johnson &

Johnson office as a new hire 16 years ago, I was greeted by the signature J&J credo across our walls, showcasing values that underpin all decision-making at J&J. At the time, I didn’t realise how much weight those paragraphs would carry in the day-to-day life of every single J&J employee.

In our credo, one of our many responsibilities is to our community: “We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work and to the world community as well. We must be good citizens – support good works and charities, better health and education, and bear our fair share of taxes.”

Our credo is our moral compass to guide us in doing what is right for the people we serve – patients, doctors, consumers, customers and those in the community.

Since my early days in HR at J&J, a clear mandate had been impressed upon me – to bring the credo to life, engaging employees and encouraging them to find out what it could mean for them.

More than a decade ago, as part of my role as Head of HR for the Philippines, I have been lucky enough to spearhead multiple community efforts – driving the importance of social giving. One such initiative was the ‘Bridge to Employment’ programme where J&J sponsored the education costs for students looking to pursue a career in healthcare. It was immensely fulfilling to watch these young adults pursue their dreams of tertiary education.

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In my current role as Head of Total Rewards for Asia Pacific, the mandate to bring the credo to life continues. In January this year, we launched our volunteer leave programme, giving Asia Pacific employees two days of fully paid volunteer leave per year. With over 25,600 eligible employees, this amounts to more than 400,000 working hours annually.

This programme gives employees time off to support the causes that are important to them. This is especially critical now as we strengthen our social safety net and help those who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic rebuild their lives.

The social giving sector has been badly affected by the COVID-19 restrictions. Donations have decreased and charities have had to dip into their reserves to maintain operations. We launched the volunteer leave programme to support existing initiatives such as deploying J&J volunteers to support digital marketing efforts for volunteers at the Singapore Health Group.

Through our volunteer leave programme, we’re hoping to empower employees to continue engaging with communities in purposeful and meaningful ways that resonate with them.

While the volunteer leave initiative is still in its infancy, employees are excited to make an impact and support the community. As for me, I’m saving up my volunteer leave to support underprivileged children in the Philippines as soon as COVID-19 restrictions have been eased – I’m looking forward to putting smiles on those faces!

Upwardly mobile OPINION

PURE INTERNATIONAL SHARES HOW WORK-LIFE HARMONY IS CRITICAL IN THE NEW NORMAL A flexi-load arrangement to help reduce employees’ workload, and more; PURE International's Country Director Shaun Measday shares all in a conversation with TAFEP.

Launched on 26 April this year,

the Tripartite Standard on Work-Life Harmony (WLH) seeks to entrench and enhance good work-life harmony practices in the new normal and beyond.

WLH is achieved when an individual is able to effectively manage both work responsibilities and personal aspirations.

PURE International, which comprises eight brands, including PURE Yoga, PURE Fitness, and nood food, is an early adopter of the Tripartite Standard on WLH. With its work-life friendly practices, PURE continues to support its employees amid the COVID-19 situation in both their physical and mental wellbeing, and in managing both work with life.

For example, the company has an enhanced leave policy for employees to take up to three days of community leave to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

The company takes pride in its CSR initiatives, where beach cleaning is done annually and, during pre-pandemic times, employees were even allowed to take time off to go overseas to places such as Cambodia to help out at orphanages.

Further, employees who have caregiving responsibilities are provided suitable options to meet the needs of both the company as well as the employee. For example, to support an employee whose mother was diagnosed with cancer, the company allowed her to work from home so that she was able to care of her mother while managing her work commitments. Employees at PURE International are not merely looked upon as workers of the company, but rather, seen as part of a larger family.

Because having a range of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) is a prerequisite to adopting the Tripartite Standard on WLH, PURE International implements flexible work options such as flexi-load, flexi-time and flexi-place for its 350 employees

It’s important to recognise that now more than ever, the lines are blurred between home life and working life.

As we all adjust to life in the ‘new normal’, maintaining a healthy balance between the two has never been more critical.

in Singapore. With flexi-time, employees can choose when to start and end their workday. This allows them to settle family responsibilities such as sending children to school, or even attending the company’s yoga classes or gyms before they start work for the day depending on their schedules.

Non-office staff such as trainers and instructors, who are referred to as “club staff”, not only get to enjoy the fitness facilities at personal break times during working hours, but are also able to schedule personal engagements around their classes.

Apart from flexi-time, PURE International offers flexiload to its employees as well. As a company that values its employees, alternative work arrangements are made for those who need a reduction in workload. For example, an employee, who had been with the company for five years, was provided the option to convert from full-time to part-time work when she became pregnant and needed flexibility in her time.

Shaun Measday, Country Director for PURE International, says: “At PURE, we are passionate about helping people lead happier, healthier, and above all, balanced lives. It’s important to recognise that now more than ever, the lines are blurred between home life and working life. As we all adjust to life in the ‘new normal’, maintaining a healthy balance between the two has never been more critical.”

Beyond employees, Measday looks forward to providing PURE International’s cardholders with the ideal solution to help them balance the pressures of pandemic life. As such, PURE International has launched PURECAST, an online platform which allows customers to view live and ondemand yoga and fitness classes from the comfort of their own home or wherever they are.

Going forward, in a post-pandemic world, the company is looking to continue both physical and online classes to cater to the new normal of work, and while doing so, the adopter of the Tripartite Standards for both FWAs and WLH, remains committed to putting the wellbeing of its employees at the forefront of its value system.

Measday concludes: “In order for us to truly deliver on this however, we must walk the talk. We’re really proud of the work we’ve done thus far to bring a sense of harmony to the daily lives of our employees and we will continue to strive for more.”

To find out more and to adopt the Tripartite Standard on Work-Life Harmony, visit tafep.sg.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online 21

OPINION People issues

How Citi is driving pay equity, and pushing for women in leadership From being among the first institutions to disclose pay equity data, to driving a 40% female representation goal, Aditi Mahadevan Nair, Asia Pacific Head of Talent, Learning and Diversity, Citi, tells all in this exclusive with Priya Sunil.

We are at a time where women have greater

opportunities than ever before, which reinforces the importance of diversity and inclusion efforts, says Aditi Mahadevan Nair, Asia Pacific Head of Talent, Learning and Diversity, Citi. And Citi is no stranger to advocating these efforts – be it in gender and race diversity, pay equity, or pay transparency – building a diverse and inclusive culture has long been a business imperative at the bank.

Aditi shares: “At Citi, we actively seek out diverse perspectives at all levels of our organisation because we know that it will improve performance and boost innovation as well as engagement. Over the past few years, we have elevated the conversation around race, gender and equal pay for equal work as part of our broader diversity and inclusion focus.”

Pay equity, for one, is a “very important principle” at the firm. “Our ongoing focus in this area furthers our goal to be an employer of choice for candidates of diverse backgrounds, and it supports our efforts to attract and retain the best talent.”

Engagement with its people throughout their careers at Citi, along with a commitment to being a company with values that they can be proud of, is also essential to the bank’s success, she adds.

Overall, through its various programmes, the leadership team makes it a point to constantly innovate how it engages with, recruits, and develops talent, including female talent, at the bank.

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In 2018, Citi became one of the first institutions to disclose pay equity data in selected regions. The following year, this was announced globally. Talk us through this move.

We continuously evaluate market conditions to inform pay, and we conduct rigorous reviews of pay recommendations across the company as part of our annual compensation process each year.

In 2018, we decided to expand on these efforts to assess pay between women and men, as well as US minorities and non-minorities. We wanted to use data to better understand gaps in the organisation and we became the first major US bank to publicly disclose pay equity data.

As a starting point, the pay equity review covered the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. To make comparisons meaningful, we accounted for various factors in our analysis, including job function, level, and geography.

We found then that women were paid on average 99% of what men were paid at Citi and we made appropriate adjustments. We also committed to doing a global pay equity review, and later in the year, we announced firm-wide diversity representation goals.

Among these goals, we committed to global female representation of at least 40% by the end of 2021, from the assistant vice-president level to the managing director level, up from 37% at the time.

People issues OPINION

At Citi, we actively seek out diverse perspectives at all levels of our organisation because we know that it will improve performance, and boost innovation as well as engagement.

Over the past few years, we have elevated the conversation around race, gender and equal pay for equal work as part of our broader diversity and inclusion focus.

In 2019, we shared results from our global pay equity review. We found that women globally were paid on average 99% of what men were paid at Citi.

However, we went one step further. We decided to be transparent about another metric – the unadjusted or raw pay gap. Based on this metric, the analysis showed that the median pay for women globally was 71% of the median pay for men.

As a measurement of the difference in median total compensation without adjusting for factors, including job function, level or geography, the raw pay gap gave us a clearer picture of what we needed to address to be able to achieve pay equity.

It also reinforced the importance of the representation goals we had committed to. With greater representation of women at the mid to senior level, we would be able to improve pay equity.

Citi publicly committed to 40% female representation globally from the AVP to MD levels by the end of 2021.

Are you on track to achieving this?

In Asia Pacific, we are making good progress to contribute to Citi’s global representation goals. We have in place key initiatives to help us hire, promote and retain more diverse talent across the organisation.

Critically, our campus hiring programmes have become the pipeline for assistant vice-president and above roles, and we see these programmes as an opportunity to help us identify, hire and mentor diverse talent for our summer analyst programme.

Globally, Citi’s 2020 summer intern class was the bank’s most diverse ever, both in terms of gender and ethnicity. Over the past three years, our cohort of summer analysts, as well as full-time campus hires in Asia Pacific, have been roughly evenly split between males and females.

Additionally, when we hire from assistant vice-president to managing director level, we remain focused on giving equal consideration to all groups for our open roles.

This means we strive to identify qualified, diverse candidates for interviews, as well as ensure the panel of interviewers is diverse. The key to success is ensuring we have executives lead on this from the top.

In developing and retaining female talent, our womenfocused development programmes help colleagues establish their executive presence, and encourage them to widen their perspective and explore opportunities across every level of the organisation.

In parallel, ongoing career conversations with highperforming female talent serve as invaluable feedback as we continue to improve the support they are given and widen the opportunities they have access to.

The 15 Women’s Networks in the region help to foster connectivity with active involvement from both male and female colleagues. These networks complement efforts to advance women in the workplace through various initiatives and opportunities.

As an example, last year, the Asia Pacific Citi Women’s Affinity led the launch of a Maternity Matters programme across the region, helping to retain first-time mothers.

The programme gives returning mothers access to maternity coaching and peer support, encouraging them to return to work at a time when many may reconsider doing so. Managers and expecting mothers are provided with comprehensive toolkits that help educate and sensitise them about the maternity experience.

When we promote talent, we look internally first, giving our diverse talent pool access to equally diverse opportunities.

Last year, like in 2019, around 30% of our managing director promotions in Asia Pacific were female candidates.

This was up from around 21% in 2018. We have also notably increased female representation across all levels, including at the senior vice-president and director levels.

What does it take for a banking major such as Citi to be serious about DEI, especially when many institutions in Asia say they are not ready for it?

With diversity and inclusion already being critical and important priorities for the company, we had to think about how to take this focus further and in a meaningful way.

To do that, we had to first assess where we were at to determine where we wanted to be. This led Citi to adopt a data-driven approach, relying on objective information and facts to determine our next course of action.

We made the decision to disclose relevant information, set global goals and publicly commit to them. We also made these goals a collective responsibility at Citi, driven by senior leadership across the firm.

Our hope is that by achieving these goals in the short term, we will build the foundation for a more inclusive Citi in the future.

When our global goals were first announced, we had the challenge of ensuring they were seamlessly cascaded across the organisation. If we were serious about achieving these goals, we needed to ensure they were understood and appreciated by all colleagues across the bank. This included communicating the importance of these goals to colleagues at different levels of the organisation, and creating a sense of ownership and accountability.

We also identified advocates and allies across our different businesses who continue to drive the diversity and inclusion agenda within their organisations.

While our engagement efforts are ongoing, we had the benefit of building on a solid foundation and we continue to work with our networks, allies, advocates and seniors in the bank to reinforce diversity and inclusion.

We are also committed to extending our efforts beyond our firm, using our financial resources, the time and talent of our people, and our corporate voice, to advance progress around issues of broader diversity and inclusion globally.

Read Aditi’s full sharing here to find out more on Citi’s journey to 40% female representation in leadership, what steps leaders can take to push for DEI, and more.

April-June 2021 Human Resources Online 23

OPINION People issues

How PLG is working hard to eliminate gender inequality in the logistics sector In this interview, PLG’s General Manager, Amber Tan, sheds light on the gender inequality challenges and stereotypes the sector faces, and how the organisation is setting the path straight on combating them.

Amber Tan joined Pacific Logistics Group (PLG) in June 2018 with more than 22 years of experience in international freight forwarding, supply chain and logistics. At PLG, she is responsible for the monitoring, implementation and formulation of standard operational procedures to increase productivity.

She pushes her staff to go above and beyond to achieve a high level of customer service satisfaction and return on profit.

“There were instances in the

past where male peers were favoured by management teams for promotion due to honing skill sets perceivably advantageous to men,” shared Amber Tan, PLG’s General Manager, in a candid interview with Aditi Sharma Kalra, speaking about her past experiences in the logistics sector.

Her experiences weren’t a lone case. In fact, Rebecca Lim, the wife of PLG’s Founder and currently the Business Development Director, also admits to having undergone moments where she felt undermined within this sector.

Both of their experiences haven’t been plucked from thin air – there’s evidence closer to home that gender inequality is still prevalent in the workplace today.

A 2020 Novosensus study revealed key findings that women within the logistics industry feel less recognised than their male counterparts in the workplace. So much so, women rated their self-confidence in the workplace to be about 15% lower than men; and felt 22% less optimistic at work with regard to their own abilities.

That’s not all, though. Only 13% of senior leadership positions within the logistics industry are held by women.

Evidently, the industry is still largely mired in conventional perceptions and biases related to gender representation.

With Tan’s – and her colleagues’ – persistence, however, PLG managed to be an exception to such challenges.

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To date, the organisation, one of the fastest growing logistics and freight forwarding companies in the region, has 61 female employees, 11 of which hold leadership positions within the organisation, while 22 women were newly employed over the past 10 months.

“Here at PLG,” Tan said, “individual promotions within practices and functions are based on merit”.

“Likewise, in the hiring process, the focus is on evaluating individuals – in their openness and attitude to the work, regardless of gender.”

Beyond acquiring talent, Tan also shared how PLG is focusing on pushing talent upwards. This is, more often than not, done through regular training sessions and mentorships. She finds these particularly helpful for women at PLG because through such means their individual strengths will be recognised, and put to great use to propel the organisation forward.

In this exclusive interview, Tan shares about the following: • How Singapore’s supply chain and logistics industry can improve in terms of gender diversity.

• Programmes that PLG has put in place to encourage more women leadership.

• Benefits PLG has reaped from encouraging a gender diverse environment.

Head to humanresourcesonline.net for the full interview.

WHAT COVID-19 HAS TAUGHT US ABOUT UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING Employers need to pursue a reskilling agenda that ensures their workforces are resilient to overcome challenges. Experts from Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) share three tips for employers to strengthen their workforce capabilities.

COVID-19 has forced organisations to rethink their business models and find innovative ways to engage customers. Organisations that have been actively building up digital competencies, even before COVID-19, have developed the agility required to adapt and bounce back more quickly during the pandemic, resulting in the emergence of new business possibilities such as traditional wet market stallholders leveraging technology to sell their goods via Facebook Live.

As the global economy evolves at an unprecedented pace, employers need to pursue a reskilling agenda that ensures their workforces are digitally competent and resilient to overcome the challenges that lie ahead.

Here are three ways organisations can consider strengthening their workforce capabilities. #1 Align your people strategy with business outcomes Employers need to view the upskilling of their workforce as a long-term investment for the business. In the long run, reskilling existing employees to adapt and adjust with business

changes will be less costly and disruptive than retrenching, rehiring and retraining employees with economic and business fluctuations.

Aside from developing new business goals and a recovery model, employers should also consider the skills and aptitudes their workforce will require for the business to stay agile and competitive by paying close attention to the Industry Transformation Maps. #2 Analyse skills gaps and build critical skills Assess what skills each employee has and what gaps need to be filled. Use skills mapping, also known as competency mapping, to create a visual overview of the skills needed at the individual or team level to help your organisation reach current and future business goals.

For instance, employers could form a taskforce to evaluate the current skill levels of teams and address gaps, as well as identify ‘on-the-job’ opportunities to streamline work processes and redesign roles for improved employee performance.

All employees, regardless of age and

role, should be given a fair opportunity to be considered for training and development based on their strengths and needs to help them achieve their full potential. #3 Tap on existing schemes and funding Enhance your workforce capabilities by leveraging existing schemes and funding. For instance, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit grants a one-time S$10,000 credit to businesses that embark on enterprise and workforce transformation, while the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative helps accelerate professional development for fresh and mid-career professionals through on-the-job training that is aligned to the Skills Framework for the Infocomm and Communication Technology sector.

The pandemic has shown us that we will not always have the luxury of sticking to the traditional ways of operating. Organisations need to constantly evolve and build workforce capabilities in order to stay competitive, amid and beyond the pandemic.

Visit tafep.sg for more information.

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OPINION Unconventional wisdom

INTERNATIONAL HR DAY SPECIAL: WHAT HR LEADERS ACROSS THE WORLD WISH FOR IN THE COMING YEARS To commemorate International HR Day on 20 May 2021, Priya Sunil & Lester Tan reached out to several HR leaders across Asia Pacific to find out their No.1 wish for HR in the next two to three years. Check out the excerpts below.

Ashish Mittal, Head of People Function, Aviva India In the next two to three years, HR will be instrumental in aligning the organisational culture with flexibility, self-service, stability and sustainability using technology, and it will start a new culture conversation. Our actions will be more meaningful, transparent and data-driven, giving the way we run business a new avatar.

Pauline Loo, Senior Vice President Human Resources, Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation My number one wish would be that HR professionals rise above all odds and challenges to emerge stronger as valued business partners by the business leaders and managers.

HR professionals would be able to sustain the organisational capabilities to build a more flexible and agile workforce which is productive and can perform well in the face of constant change.

Raman Sidhu, Chief OD & Learning Officer, Global Commercial, Shell I wish for HR to take the lead in optimally harmonising the mix of talent, digitalisation, OD and learning to drive the organisational energy to achieve resilient, responsible and planet-friendly sustainable growth. We have all experienced significant business and social disruption in the past 18 months due to the pandemic, so HR must continue to work with senior leaders in providing the glue to demonstrate care, support and flexibility in helping its people cope and contribute in these unprecedented times.

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Unconventional wisdom OPINION

Fabi Carino, Country Head, Human Resources, Dentsu International – Philippines I consider HR professionals as the unsung heroes in every organisation, and my biggest wish in the next two to three years is for them to be highly equipped with competencies, resilience, technology, and agility to withstand the challenging and evolving needs of their leaders and employees. I also hope people in the workforce will realise and understand the value of HR’s work in every organisation, and that more of us will be given a seat as a business partner and not just a behind-the-scenes support role.

Fong Tuan Chen, Country HR & General Affairs Director, Samsung Electronics HR needs to strengthen our role as the conscience of the organisation as post-pandemic pressure begins to set in. In the face of businesses pushing for a revenue rebound, profit recovery, and market share recoup, HR must be steadfast in ensuring the moral true north of the organisation is not compromised. My wish is for HR to have the courage and gumption to stay the course, and hold the line, regardless of how much we are pushed to concede.

Ralston Vaz, Director Human Resources, Integral Ad Science, India & APAC Big data and analytics are ruling the roost across organisations and industries. A lot has been done to understand customers and the basis of their changing preferences, according to which marketers are serving personalised ads, using predictive sciences for inventory management, targeting investments in key areas, etc. HR needs to pivot in a similar manner and leverage employee experience data to personalise communication and policies for employee groups to create favourable employee experiences. I like to call it creating ‘employee experience intelligence’. CHROs in forward-looking organisations have moved away from reactive to more proactive ways of functioning, so instead of just focusing on why something has happened, we predict what could or would happen and figure out ways to make that outcome more favourable for all involved. In my opinion, HR needs to work to bring this to life in the next two to three years.

Noppadol Chaiwong, Human Resources Director, BevChain Logistics It is my wish that our joyful life is healthier. We do not count on the new normal and next normal, but we become strong and stronger by learning from the past and by understanding and adjusting ourselves for the future. We should believe in turning our reality into happiness. I would say that our foundation is ‘Your wish is our wish’.

Let’s keep smiling for better days ahead and for the future altogether.

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The role of people managers in ending the ‘always-on’ culture Do you find yourself replying to emails at odd hours, and then wonder why your team never turns off its work mode? Let’s pledge not to fall into the ‘just in case’ trap, urges Priya Sunil.

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“We need to do a better job of

These, he adds, are small steps that will go putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to-do’ list.” a long way.

This quote by the former First Lady of the Regular check-ins along the week can also United States, Michelle Obama, is something that ensure realistic conversations about employee I, and every other person in my life can relate to. workloads, and give a gauge to how invested they In today’s remote working era – where employees are in prioritising their personal time. work, sleep, play and live within the same space In my team, my manager is huge on both – it’s harder than ever to detach from work, long – setting clearer/realistic expectations, and after working hours. And this is ensuring we end work on time – how we forget to prioritise our which on most days works well. personal time and needs.

This phenomenon, cited Be the example in research as the “always-on” Whether it’s through work norms Frankly, it’s not effect, has fatigued employees or behaviours, people managers across the world. The jarring issue always easy are the example that employees is – why is this so, especially at follow. So if you’re emailing your to role-model a time where many companies staff after office hours, they will in today’s and leaders are finally pushing for feel obliged to respond to you in flexible working work-life harmony? the wee hours as well. If you’re environment, George Xavier, Head of HR, sending out emails and calendar Asia Region at FLSmidth, has the where employees invites during the weekend, answer: “I call it the ‘just in case’ are encouraged to they will feel the pressure to phenomenon; which makes us acknowledge or risk being labelled create a culture of responsiveness work ‘when’ and as ‘unresponsive’. ‘where’ they work that is beyond the definition of Frankly, it’s not always easy working hours or the Eisenhower best, for example, to role-model in today’s flexible Matrix. Some of the reasons may working environment, where after putting the seem very legit – ‘what if the employees are encouraged to kids to bed at client calls’, ‘in-case boss needs work ‘when’ and ‘where’ they night. Having something’, etc; and the problem work best, for example, after amplifies when we start expecting said that, perhaps putting the kids to bed at night. the same from each other.”

Having said that, perhaps the solution The good thing is that the solution doesn’t have to be doesn’t have to people managers can take consistently black-and-white. be consistently steps to help put an end to this As a role model, make it clear overwork syndrome that’s hitting what you and your team stand black-and-white. employees. Here are three things for – the norms that people are that I believe can help. expected to follow, but also the flexibility they’re provided within Set clearer/realistic plans the system. Remind employees and expectations to speak up and take charge of Better planning and expectation management can their schedules – if something is not working out, be very helpful, George points out. “While urgent encourage them to talk to you about it. matters are escalated and/or responded to, the classification of ‘urgency’ should be fine-tuned Oops, we’ve run out of space, but we do have continuously to ensure everyone understands it in more interesting inputs to share! Read the full the same way. This should be reiterated during team article online for more tips. meetings, even questioning weekend email traffic priyas@humanresourcesonline.net from anyone who could have waited for Monday.”

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2021

5 NOV 2021 / SINGAPORE

RAISING A TOAST TO YOUR HR SUCCESS STORY! The HR Excellence Awards – the region’s most sought-after and prestigious HR programme – is returning for its ninth edition!

As we all start to recover from the impact of COVID-19, it’s time to celebrate and honour the incredible work HR did to support their organisations, people and stakeholders during one of the most difficult periods in recent memory.

This year, the awards will be recognising teams and individuals who are resilient in pushing the boundaries of people strategy, and achieving new heights in employee engagement, performance management, and more.

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11 AUG 2021

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