Human Resources magazine Malaysia Q2 2014 by Human Resources Online

The smart HR professional’s blueprint for workforce strategy

humanresourcesonline.net

CONTRACT WORKERS ARE NOW SEEN AS A VALUABLE ASSET, BUT HOW CAN COMPANIES LEVERAGE ON THEM FOR THE LONG-TERM? PAGE 18

ROCHE’S NAVID NAZEMIAN FILLS YOU IN ON HR TRANSFORMATION 2.0 PAGE 12

RM12 / Q2 2014

WALKING THE WALK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BOSS SWAPS ROLES WITH STAFF? PAGE 42

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Q2 2014 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY 18 Here today, gone tomorrow? Sabrina Zolkifi speaks with organisations which have successfully tapped on a contract workforce to meet the changing needs of their industries.

Features 12 Q&A Navid Nazemian, global HR business partner for Roche, talks HR transformation, and what some of the challenges companies in Asia face when gunning for HR Transformation 2.0

24 The evolution of leadership What is leadership in an Asian context? Sabrina Zolkifi explores the changing role of leadership development in the region.

32 Getting the right people to the right places HR is often tested by the need to cater to different generations, especially when it comes to executive relocation. Akankasha Dewan finds out about the changing global mobility trends.

Opinion 40 Learning & Development As the business landscape shifts, coaching has to be more of a partnership than it currently is, says Andrew Ng, HR director for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, at Sanofi.

42 People Issues Have you ever really walked the walk with your team? Mark Fletcher, of the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, shares his experience of being a loss prevention officer for a day.

43 Unconventional Wisdom

A Mateen, vice-president of HR at DHL Express Southeast Asia, shares how the company has found the winning talent formula.

45 Upwardly Mobile Ngoh Siaw Ling, HR director at TNT, believes a variety of total rewards will help manage costs and keep staff satisfied. Any suggestions or tip-offs for Human Resources? Email rebeccal@humanresourcesonline.net

ARBOR

It’s all about PEOPLE

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Q1 2014 « HumanResources Malaysia «

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EDITOR’S NOTE

editor Rebecca Lewis deputy editor Sabrina Zolkifi journalist Akankasha Dewan contributors Mark Fletcher

Understanding the trinity of HR concerns

Ngoh Siaw Ling Andrew Ng regional art director Shahrom Kamarulzaman senior designer Fauzie Rasid regional marketing executive June Tan

senior event producer Ang Yoke Han head of event services Yeo Wei Qi senior executive – event services Renee Phua senior account manager Karen Boh account managers Ben DeRegt Dilip Rajandran audience managers Manuel Almira Yang Kai Lin

publisher Mike Parsons regional finance director Evelyn Wong group editorial director Tony Kelly group managing director Justin Randles

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Human Resources Malaysia is published quarterly by Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd. (KDN PP 17051/09/2012 (030949). Printed in Malaysia on CTP process by Atlas Cetak (M) Sdn Bhd No. 2 Persiaran Industri, Bandar Sri Damansara, 52200 Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-6273-3333. Subscription rates are available on request, contact the Circulation Manager by telephone: +603 2072 0355 or by email to: subscriptions@humanresourcesonline.net COPYRIGHTS AND REPRINTS. All material printed in Human Resources is protected under the copyright act. All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the prior written consent of the publisher and the copyright holder. Permission may be requested through the Singapore office. DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in Human Resources are not necessarily the views of the publisher. Singapore: Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd 100C Pasir Panjang Road, #05-01 See Hoy Chan Hub Singapore 118519 Tel: +65 6423 0329 Fax: +65 6423 0117 Hong Kong: Lighthouse Independent Media Ltd Unit A, 7/F, Wah Kit Commercial Centre, 302 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2861 1882 Fax: +852 2861 1336

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Recruitment continues to rank high on HR leaders’ list of concerns, and I doubt it’s something that will dip in significance anytime soon. And it’s no surprise – people remain one of a company’s biggest assets, regardless of industry or location. Technology may be aiding a business’s operation or even, in some cases, taking over someone’s job, but there’s no denying that bringing on quality talent will be a challenge leaders continue to grapple with for years to come. With rising costs to employ full-time people, one way companies are managing headcount woes is by turning to contract workers. This set of the workforce is more dynamic, adaptable and extremely helpful in helping organisations plug manpower gaps as and when needed. In our Recruitment Strategy feature on page 18, we speak to HR and business leaders about how they rely on contract staff to manage the ebb and flow of business, and the advice they would give peers considering this alternative to recruitment. But there’s no point to bringing on talent if they’re not given the right opportunities to develop and reach leadership aspirations. “Every year we will revise our KPIs, which will need to support the company goals, so we look at the training needs and gaps we need to fill up,” Shakimah Abdullah, head of group HR and admin at Maju Holdings, said in this issue’s Leadership Development feature. To find out how Abdullah and other regional leaders define leadership and align it with the business, read the full feature on page 24. Aside from recruitment and leadership, the other big HR topic that seems to constantly plague HR leaders in the region is executive relocation. Some companies approach it as an attraction and retention tool, while others leverage it as a leadership development opportunity. While it’s no secret there are major benefits to moving employees into bigger and more exciting roles globally, the onus falls back on HR to make sure those transitions are smooth and not

disruptive to the business. The list of factors HR teams have to stay on top of during a relocation exercise seem never ending, but understanding how the global working landscape has evolved – and will continue to evolve – over the years is a step in the right direction. As HR continues to become a more strategic partner and advisor to businesses, it is more important than ever to stay on top of these three topics. It’s not the be all and end all solution to your problems, and frankly, addressing these issues in depth may even raise more questions. But remember, staying stagnant will only result in your organisation getting left in the dust. And, in today’s day and age, no one can afford to get left behind. Enjoy the issue.

Photography: Stuart Jenner – stuartjennerphotography.com

A Mateen

Sabrina Zolkifi Deputy editor Q2 2014 « HumanResources Malaysia «

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News from humanresourcesonline.net

GOOD NEWS! MALAYSIANS ARE HIGHLY ENGAGED Malaysia’s employers should be credited for cultivating a corporate environment that encourages employees to remain dedicated and committed to their jobs. According to findings from the Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI), 68% of the 2,300 Malaysian respondents stated they were “totally committed” or “committed” to their jobs. This figure was found to be higher than engagement levels in Singapore (63%) and Thailand and Hong Kong (64%). The latest KGWI, called “Engaging Active and Passive Job Seekers” found less than a third of employees globally were “totally committed” to their current employer, and while this level has remained consistent since 2012, it represented a sharp decline from 43% in 2010. In addition, the report found better salaries and benefits were the main reason Malaysians moved jobs (71%), with the figure even higher among Gen Y workers (77%). Other factors were management issues (52%), career advancement opportunities (47%), and a better work-life balance (45%). It also found the type of environment employees wished to work in, with flexible working arrangements highly sought after (70%), as well as the chance to operate in a highly collaborative environment (63%) and work in a virtual team that uses technology or IT to cross time zones and geographies (59%).

WANT HAPPIER EMPLOYEES? FEED THEM Did you know keeping your employees well-fed can have a significant impact on recruitment and retention? Offering food-based perks to staff is a trend on the rise because companies realise snacks and meals help employees feel valued and cared for. According to the Food in the Workplace survey by Seamless Corporate Accounts and GrubHub, 57% of respondents said food-based benefits such as providing or reimbursing meals for employees who work late nights or weekends make them happier. In addition, half of the 1,225 full-time America American workers surveyed stated they believed sharing meals with colleagues helps foster f better working relationships. The survey also highlighted the direct dire impact of food-based perks on employee loyalty – four in 110 respondents indicated if their current employer were to provide meals, they would be less inclined to accept a job jo offer at a company that does not. However, only 9% of o respondents stated their bosses provided such perks, and the s report warned of o the immense need for companies compan to start leveraging on this t tool if they wished to improve their talent attrition and retention a rate.

MALAYSIA’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DIPS According to the Malaysian Labour Force Statistics, the unemployment rate in the country dropped to 3% for the month of March, down 0.2% from the previous month. The report also revealed there was a slight 0.5% decrease in labour force participation, from 67.4% in February to 66.9% in March, even though a year-on-year comparison showed a 1.4% increase from 65.5% in March 2013. Via Twitter, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak thanked “all sectors for working hard to maintain our job market’s stability”. As of March 2014, Malaysia’s total labour force stands at 13,843,500, consisting of 13,427,800 employed and 415,700 unemployed people.

APR-JUN THE TRUTH ABOUT BOUT DEPRESSION IN N THE WORKPLACE ACE An extremely high number of workers are struggling with depression in the workplace, two separately commissioned missioned studies have discovered. In Europe, up to 55% of employees mployees diagnosed with depression takee time offf work because of the illness – which is th the he equivalent of about 38 million people – according to the report, Depression ssion in thee Workplace in Europe: new insights ghts from business leaders. “Depression costs European employers an employe ers r an estimated GBP77 billion [S$162 $162 billion] n]] a year, yet despite this many workplaces orkplaces underestimate its impact,” Tim Munden, VP off HR, HR, R Unilever UK and Target Depression sion in the Workplace Workplaacee Advisory Group member wrote in the report. A separate study released in conjunction with Depression Awareness Week eek also found one in three people struggle to copee at work because of depression or stress. The research, search, published by the Depression Alliance, found 83% of those affected dealt with isolation or loneliness as a result. Only half of those feeling like this had confided in a colleague, despite 71% admitting that discussing their condition with friends in the workplace helped them feel better.

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EMPLOYEES ONLY USE HALF THEIR VACATION TIME Staff who have built up their annual leave allowance might need a reminder from HR to actually take it, after a new survey revealed 75% of staff aren’t using all their holiday time. In fact, the average US employee only takes half (51%) of their eligible time off – and even when they do, 61% admit to still doing work while they’re on holiday. The Glassdoor Employment Confidence Survey also found that of staff who do receive vacation time (unlike many other countries, the US does not currently st require employers to grant paid time off) 85% said they had taken at least y , while 15% didn’t take any at all. One in four some time off over the past year, ss of their time off, and only 25% said they took all of employees took 25% or less their holiday leave. ho Of those employees who also work while they’re on holiday, the majority (33%) say they feel the need to do so because “no one else at my company can do the work”. This most common reason is followed wed by a fear of getting behind while ile on leave (28%). oyees Additionally, 11% of employees admit they use their paid vacation ion time to search for another job.

RN FIRST-BORN FEMALES ELY MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED ED t-born in their family, and Those who are the first-born are also female, are thee most likely to succeed in life. This is according too ground-breaking research Feifei Bu at the Institute by Fe itute for Social and Economic Resea rsity of Essex, which found Research at the University first-born rst-bo girls were statistically atistically more qualified and ambitio ounger brothers ambitious than their younger or siste sisters. First-born boys are Fir re next in line for success, rst-born girls remain but first ain 13% more ambitious than the them. The study also found parents wanting children who are successful essful should leave a gap of at least leas four years between etween each child, as this gap gives a greater wider ga ater chance of allowing them to bbecome high achievers. “There “The are several al possible explanations higher attainment for the hig ent and ambition of the eldest,” Bu el B told The Observer. bserver.r “It could be the parents simply sim devote more time and energy to them – it could be they hey are actually more intelligent. For me, I tend nd to lean towards the theory that parental investment vestment is possibly at work here.”

MALAYSIANS WANT LEADERS WHO CONNECT AND COMMUNICATE

TOP CHALLENGES FOR HR IN 2014 Sourcing for high-potential employees in a competitive landscape and the rising cost of replacing talent has made the attraction and retention of talent one of HR’s biggest challenges this year. According to a recent report by Ortus, 48% of HR leaders in Singapore find attracting talent to be their biggest concern. Nearly three out of 10 HR managers (31%) also stated the retention of employees was a fundamental worry for them. Driving employee engagement came in third with 29% of HR concerned about it, followed by managing cost constraints (26%), aligning with business strategy (26%), change management (20%) and identifying and developing high-potential employees (19%). In accordance with the challenges, the report included the hottest skills for HR to have in 2014 were those to do with talent management (55%). An aptitude for HR business partnering and compensation and benefits followed at 54% and 35%, respectively. Those with skills in organisational design and learning and development were also found to be in demand.

Leaders in Malaysia should develop emotional and sincere connections with their staff if they want to genuinely improve the impact they have on their employees and the organisation. According to the Asian leadership Index 2014 by The Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre, employees in Malaysia feel their leaders do not value the instincts, contributions and judgments of other members of their workforce, and do not help them improve in their regular duties. Out of the 18 countries polled in the survey, 24% of Malaysian employees said leaders needed to do a better job of including them in real conversations about the work they were doing. In addition, 23% of staff stated their bosses were “emotionally unaware” and cited it as a crucial leadership development gap. Other sought-after attributes included the ability to foster development, employee empowerment through delegation, and technical competence.

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WORK LIFE » People GET INTO THE BOSS’S HEAD

Andrew Thomas President Southeast Asia and India Ogilvy PR How have you gotten to where you are now at Ogilvy? Very much if you look in business, it is about the ability to be able to bring teams of people who have the right knowledge together in a collaborative way. In my role now, I look at the successes in this business, and it’s always been about running the business units. It hasn’t been so much about attempting to know that I know everything – it’s knowing I can provide value, and where I can go to bring other people in to put that team together. That’s an enlightened view of leadership. How would you describe your leadership style? It depends how stressed I am! One of the things that just amazes me, and it is a frustration of people who will struggle in silence versus knowing when they need to reach out. It’s a real strength to reach out and bring the right people in. For me, it is all about staying focused on what I want us to achieve and what the company needs to achieve, and then going out and discovering the path of least resistance to that. As a boss, what has been the most difficult decision you’ve had to make in your time at Ogilvy? The toughest decisions are when you need to close a business unit down or let people go. For most leaders in most businesses, that’s always a tough decision. What advice would you give someone who may be struggling with that? Remove the emotional side of it, and make a clear business decision on what needs to be done. And then bring the individual element back to it, making sure you are respecting the individual who might have to be leaving the company. It is very important for a leader to remain focused on the overall sustainability of the business. Sometimes there are difficult decisions about individuals which have to be taken for the wellbeing of the business. Once you’ve made that decision, stay single-minded on it and make a very quick and decisive decision. 6

Over the years, I’ve tried to accommodate people, I’ve compromised on what I know is right for the business, thinking things might get better, but it just puts off the inevitable. You may end up destroying the team spirit or undermining the credibility of what other people are doing by being indecisive around making a decision. And when your employees or team members are going through a rough patch, how do you inspire them to keep carrying on? There are a couple of things, and I think the most important is to change the environment or situation for them. There has to be some sort of action around it. What doesn’t work is just having heartfelt conversations that momentarily make the individual feel better, but don’t actually address the real problem. Rather than just saying the right things, I think it’s important for leaders to have the right actions around that as well. Generally speaking in business these days, there are a lot of people who have learnt to say the right things and we’ve forgotten about the fact that it’s a value proposition, so there are always actions to go with it as well. Do HR leaders here have what it takes to be a CEO? I can’t speak for the industry, but I know there are a lot of very smart, committed people who have chosen to be in HR because they very much believe in the importance of what they do, and in bringing together the talent in the organisation. There are definitely the right people to be able to do that. I think it’s going to be interesting because HR certainly needs to rethink what HR is, and that needs people who can do that, who may sometimes be very difficult. I think few people in HR would disagree that a decade from now, the function will be fundamentally different.

shock me to the core, other times things I would find absolutely hilarious. For example? The old man in Telok Ayer Street who used to change the tyres of the vans that would come down. Talk about plumber’s crack! His big baggy jeans would be … let’s just say the moon would be setting many times a day. And he would be completely oblivious to it. It was so funny, and he was such a lovely chap and wonderful character. Or the karang guni man who would collect cardboard boxes and they would literally be one of the pyramids of Cairo balanced on his bicycle. And walking around Cecil Street, where there was an open drain back then, and seeing a myriad of brilliantly coloured salt water fish darting up and down the storm drains. But now, because of where Singapore is at, I get a lot of those same delights and sights as I travel through the region. The need and opportunity to understand those differences is absolutely wonderful. And what are you most excited about to be working on at the moment? What’s always very interesting is how we are able to work – we’re thinking about ways to work that go beyond geography. We’re looking at bringing the smartest people together in the most efficient way, and recognising those people will work together as a team.

How do you unwind or relax after a particularly tough day at work? I go running. Well, I say I go running, but really I puff and pant my way about five kilometres. I try to run at least three times a week, and I just find the problems of the day evaporate completely. I feel so much better for doing it. What’s your favourite part about this new role? The thing that fascinated me when I came to Asia was because on every corner you turned, there would be something that would just take my breath away. I would see something that would just amaze me, sometimes things that would

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People WORK LIFE

SpacialAwareness COLOURING THE CORPORATE WORLD Staying true to its mission of “adding colour to people’s lives”, AkzoNobel’s office in Singapore is vibrant, colourful and full of energy. As the producer of Dulux paint, the company believes its creative, colourful and conducive offices and meeting rooms help inspire staff, clients and customers. “We believe that colours play a very important role in everybody’s lives. Colours are everywhere and they influence the way we feel and behave,” says Jeremy Rowe, managing director for AkzoNobel Decorative Paints in Southeast Asia Pacific, India and South Asia. “The appropriate use of colour schemes can not only create an ambience that may maximise productivity levels and minimise fatigue, but it can also stimulate collaboration, creativity and co-operation.” Rowe says determining the function of each workspace is important when deciding on the colour scheme for that area. “Although it can’t be proven scientifically, colour consultants say some hues work better than others at encouraging certain activities.” He says warm hues such as reds, oranges and yellows bring energy into a room and make it feel brighter and cheerier, while cool tones such as blues and purples offer a sense of calm and serenity, as well as elegance and grandeur. “Thoughtful use of colours in the workplace can make a cramped hallway or office seem larger, a darkly lit area lighter, a cool room feel warmer and a warm area seem cooler,” he says.

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WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

Bosses keep workers engaged Malaysia’s employers should be credited for cultivating an environment which keeps employees dedicated. According to the Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI), 68% of Malaysians polled said they were “totally committed” to the job – higher than Singapore and Hong Kong. While the number was high, the study found staff would still end up leaving their job for more money and perks, particularly among Generation Y employees. “It’s clear that more needs to be done by employers to provide an environment that will help to retain staff in the long-term,” said Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services Malaysia and India.

68%

of Malaysian staff said they were “totally committed” to their jobs.

63% 71%

of Singaporeans said the same thing.

70%

also said a flexible workplace was an attractive factor to moving jobs.

said if they did switch jobs, it would be for more money. Source: Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI)

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People WORK LIFE

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

Alvin Yeoh

Country HR director Motorola Solutions Malaysia HOW DID YOU GET INTO HR? I didn’t start off my career with HR. I spent a good 15 years working in various business functions before landing a job in business HR. When you have the chance to experience different roles it makes you think about what you are truly passionate about and how you can leverage your strengths. Prior to switching careers, I was involved in OD activities and conducted a lot of training programmes. I realised how much I enjoyed it and the best place to broaden this competency was in HR. I made the right choice! HOW DO YOU THINK THE HR FUNCTION WILL EVOLVE? Over the years, I have seen HR transforme from “generalist” functions to a more “specialised” scope. A lot of HR organisations have moved into the business HR concept where they can add more value upstream. HR operations are being outsourced under a shared service centre concept and that allows business HR partners to focus on macro-level business interventions. Over time, that “specialised” role will be enhanced into a “consultant” function. I see BHR going into consulting mode. As we speak, it’s already happening. WHO DO YOU GO TO WHEN YOU NEED ADVICE FOR WORK? I have one or two mentors with whom I connect in the HR community, but generally I look to my HR peers in the Penang free trade zones. We have a good network here and I have learned a lot from them. CAN YOU DESCRIBE A REGULAR WORKDAY? In business HR, you need to connect regularly with business partners/ stakeholders. I get myself busy engaging with the business leaders on the HR solutions we are working on and get myself involved in the conversation. Working in a big manufacturing and R&D facility, you are bound to come across one or two employee relation issues. They are never dull and always challenging. I do try to keep some free time to chat with my team members, generally in a one-to-one conversation. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? Solving problems through the right HR intervention, be it at a macro or micro level. Coming up with a solution gives me the same sheer satisfaction as solving an employee relation issue. WHAT CAN HR DO BETTER TO PLAY A BIGGER ROLE? HR needs to transition from “supporting” to “partnering”. As a business partner, we want to ensure we add value and we strive for win-win solutions. I don’t view HR as just executing the demands of the business, but proactively engaging stakeholders in driving the right interventions to solves problems. That is the bigger role HR needs to play. I CAN’T WORK WITHOUT … connecting to the social media. There’s a lot of good information out there, if you know how to filter it.

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WHITE PAPER » Leadership

THE BIGGEST RECRUITMENT PRIORITIES FOR 2014

Singapore – Employers in Singapore will be paying attention to improving the quality of candidates as well as cost savings in hiring this year, according to Resource Solutions’ Recruitment Outsourcing Insights. The report, which polled respondents from the UK, Europe and Asia, found services provided by hiring managers, the candidate experience and market intelligence rounded up the top five recruitment priorities for Singaporean professionals. “Cost savings as a recruitment priority has become significantly more important and was ranked as the number two priority for companies across the Asian region in 2013, compared with a number five ranking in 2012,” the report stated. It also found Malaysia and Hong Kong identified quality of candidates as their top priority.

Singapore’s top recruitment priorities 1. Quality of candidate 2. Cost savings 3. Hiring managers services 4. Candidate experience 5. Market intelligence 6. Time to hire 7. Global processes 8. Diversity 9. Temp risk Source: Recruitment Outsourcing Insights, Resource Solutions

However, Malaysia’s second biggest priority was the service provided by hiring managers, while Hong Kong was focused on the candidate’s experience.

Diversity was ranked as the second lowest priority for Asian recruiters. While it is evident from the findings that quality is a critical aspect of the recruitment process, the report found clients were “missing opportunities by not seeking the feedback they could from managers, candidates or suppliers”. Two thirds of respondents don’t measure the performance of their recruitment agencies or regularly survey both successful and unsuccessful applicants for feedback on their experience. More than half (56%) also admitted to not regularly surveying managers to measure their own satisfaction with the recruitment process or practices. In addition, the report highlighted the adoption of recruitment technology had accelerated across the region, having increased by 10% in permanent recruitment between 2012 and 2013 and by 22% in temporary recruitment.

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Leadership « WHITE PAPER

MALAYSIANS WANT LEADERS WHO CAN CONNECT AND COMMUNICATE about the work they were doing, higher than the regional average of 20%. Also, 23% said bosses were “emotionally unaware” and cited it as a crucial leadership development gap. Other sought-after attributes included the ability to foster development, employee empowerment through delegation, and technical competence.

Malaysia – Leaders should develop emotional and sincere connections with staff if they want to genuinely improve the impact they have on their employees and the organisation. According to the Asian Leadership Index 2014 by The Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre, employees in Malaysia feel their leaders do not value the instincts, contributions and judgments of other members of their workforce, and do not help them improve in their regular duties. Out of the 18 countries polled, 24% of Malaysians stated leaders need to do a better job of including them in real conversations

Nearly 40% of Malaysian staff also said they want a visionary leader. “Most Asians value vision, but not all do,” the report stated. “Asian leaders moving across borders need to consider they may have a fundamentally different orientation based on ideals.”

What do I most want in an ideal leader? (By country) Country

Attribute

Defined as …

Score

Australia

Communicative

Genuinely encourages me and others to discuss and debate ideas and approaches

46%

China

Technically competent/ Trustworthy

Has a very high degree of knowledge and skill/ Puts the interest of others ahead of his/her own

34% and 32%

India

Visionary

Has a dream for our company/group that I believe in

54%

Malaysia

Visionary

Sees opportunities early

36%

Philippines Performance-driven

Outcome-oriented

42%

Singapore

Has a dream for our company/group that I believe in

35%

Visionary

Source: The Asian Leadership Index 2014, The Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre

Insights from Executive Roundtable Forum by CnetG Asia WINNING THE RACE FOR TALENTS The race for talents is getting more challenging, and perhaps with a moving The race for talents is getting more challenging, and perhaps with a moving finishing line. The timeless principles of attracting, nurturing and retaining highly talented managers are constantly being reviewed and strengthened and we are seeing companies beef up their talent management team to manage the constant demand for people. The truth is, if you have a superstar employee in your organisation, there is always a high risk of them being picked up by other companies. There has to be an equal focus in acquisition, nurturing and retaining people. Technology facilitates business growth, but it can also kill human interaction. Your top talent needs to know the different career progression options available to them, how performance is measured and mapped and who the key people are who will measure their performance. The ‘humanisation’ of the process is crucial and there need to be constant conversations around the topic of talent management with employees. Simplification of the model is also essential to avoid job descriptions, performance appraisals and interview processes from becoming too generic. Hiring managers need to be realistic about their expectations of candidates and this is where HR professionals as strategic business partners can play a role in facilitating the process. Additionally, localisation of the model is essential. Most companies use models cascaded from headquarters but some aspects have to be applied differently, based on the countries, cultures and different business environments. For instance, the Employee Value Proposition of a company has to be unique

to the business and the country it operates in. It’s about story-telling – to paint a clear picture of the organisation’s brand, leadership team and culture. SO, WHAT DO HR PROFESSIONALS THINK? The Executive Roundtable Forum held on the 25th April at Carcosa Seri Negara discussed this concept and collectively, the key HR practitioners present agreed that while the talent management concepts are routinely strengthened, it is all about making it real. Param Moorthi, Director of Talent Management (East Asia, Japan & Pacific) at Schneider, says candidates today are as much interviewing the interviewer, as the other way around. Personal satisfaction has also replaced loyalty. Deepa George, HR Director of Roche, said candidates today are practical and cautious and like to keep their options open – they don’t stress on longevity. Grace Munsayac, the HR Director SEA of Mondelez, feels today’s talent are individualised – that there needs to be “employeeship” (ownership + engagement + high performance) rather than just leadership. This means employees can take ownership of their own career growth. The notion that its best to pinch from your competitors is also changing. Companies have to be creative and look at candidate’s capabilities and culturefit. Yap Hsu Yi, the HR Manager of PepsiCo, said “We hire from competitors but sometimes they thrive and sometimes they don’t.” Lim Chee Gay, HR Director of Samsung Electronics, further adds that he’s had great success hiring from companies with similar cultures and environments, but not just competitors, allowing him to hire almost 200 highly-driven employees. Mike Selva, the Talent Acquisition Manager, SEA if Schlumberger also added that companies need to recognize their internal talent that want to grow and diversify. Allan Khong, the GM and Consumer Practice Leader of CnetG, adds people will leave if they do not know of “plans” the company has for them. If the company does not invest efforts to articulate or facilitate their career, the candidates will do it on their own. The Executive Roundtable Forum is an invitation only event amongst leading HR practitioners to share and discuss thought provoking concerns.

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PROFILE » Navid Nazemian

Navid Nazemian Global HR business partner Roche HR Transformation 2.0 By REBECCA LEWIS

Art direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography & Digital Imaging: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com

Q It’s fair to say HR has already done its fair share of transforming. What have been the biggest transformations? It’s hard to find a lot of evidence and examples of successful HR transformations. There is data talking about business transformation that shows one out of four business transformations are successful in the sense that it was able to produce a greater return on investment. One study found that about 22% of HR transformations have been successful. It is hard to find many examples partly because findings are often kept confidential. But I think in the past the typical HR transformation efforts were in essence trying to take cost out of the HR function by looking at the processes that can be either transformed internally or outsourced externally, and partly also looking at enhanced capabilities.

Q What does HR transformation? There are so many definitions out there, but one of the best is from [Dave] Ulrich, which is that HR transformation is an integrated, aligned, innovative and business-focused approach to redefine how HR work is done within an organisation, with the ultimate aim that the business keeps its promises to the customers.

Q Do HR leaders really understand what it means? A lot of organisations have a lot of history and legacy and culture attached to them, so when you transform HR you have to take that context into account. There are

some organisations out there that have been successful with HR transformation, and others that have tried to do things without actually knowing where they want to get to, so you will find a whole spectrum of different understandings. For some, HR transformation isn’t on their radar because they don’t see the real necessity for it.

Q Why not? It goes back to many different things. I have worked for a number of different multinational companies across many industries, and depending on how successful the business is, you may or may not have a burning platform to transform or feel the pressure to transform. And yet I’d argue that just because the business is successful, it doesn’t mean HR is as successful as it could be. So the question here is, how much more successful could your business be if HR was fully aligned and set up for success?

Q You’ve spoken a lot about HR Transformation 2.0. What exactly does this mean? I often refer to Transformation 1.0 as a “failure” in my presentations, and so when I talk about Transformation 2.0, I title that “reloaded”; taking something that may or may not have worked, redoing it, and putting it out there. I could spend hours talking about this topic, but I think the best way to explain it is through five characteristics that truly stand out.

Q What are those five characteristics? HR Transformation 2.0 uses a proven framework, so it really works alongside a

VITAL STATS Navid Nazemian is the global HR business partner for Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland. He has been with Roche since 2012 and has 18 years of experience at operational and strategic levels. As a global leader, his client groups are scattered across 160 countries. He is also known for co-writing a number of books and articles with professor Dave Ulrich. Before working in HR, Nazemian worked in sales and commercial roles for about six years, helping him to truly understand HR “from the outside in”.

plan. With that, you also need to look at typical failures in the past. A successful HR transformation looks at what the typical de-railers and success enablers are. Secondly, instead of purely looking at the administrative piece and how to downsize/outsource it, it looks at what HR solutions and products we want to offer, then at what HR capabilities are required to deliver those. Only then does it look at the right HR infrastructure required to deliver those.

Q Is this why HR Transformation 1.0 was a failure? Yes, it often started looking at things like which vendor is the best to use for outsource, which geography to set up shared service centres and which technology to use, which typically don’t work because you start at the wrong end. These questions you probably need to answer towards the end of your transformation planning journey.

Q So what are the other 2.0 characteristics? The third characteristic is that it focuses on improved relationships within the HR function. Typically, the function is made up of HR business partners, centres of excellence and shared services centre operations. Now, frankly speaking, a line manager couldn’t care less why something isn’t working within HR, or which of the individual parts of the HR function failed to deliver a message or got it wrong. Line managers consider HR as one. So, the HR function can only be successful if the

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PROFILE » Navid Nazemian relationships within it are fully optimised. Characteristic number four is the suggestion that HR Transformation 2.0 uses business-oriented metrics. If, for example, one of the strategic business objectives is to grow the business, you can take that and translate it into HR metrics. If we want to help the business grow, then we can look at things like improving the quality of hires because the talent is going to grow the business. The fifth characteristic is the fact it’s guided by generational needs. If you take the current set up of the workforce - a mixture of Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y - and you take one HR process, such as performance management, it’s clear this varies across the different generations. For a Traditionalist or a Baby Boomer, feedback once a year might suffice, but Gen Y wants constant feedback. And yet we often find “one size fits all” solutions to performance management. HR Transformation 2.0 is specific in that it looks at what is needed for each generation and adjusts HR processes according to those needs.

Q When’s the right time for HR to start thinking about a transformation? I don’t want to contradict myself, but I believe there is no right or wrong time to consider an HR transformation. If HR is truly appreciated and truly committed as a well-accepted business partner and has a lot of commercial knowledge and knows what the organisation needs, then there might not be any desire to transform HR.

Q How do you conduct that analysis? It can be quite a simple analysis with your business and HR leaders, after which you’ll likely know whether you are where you think you are. If you’re in a good place, then there’s probably no need for transforming HR. But if you have strong feedback suggesting the way you are organised is not optimal, then it is the right time for you to start thinking about transforming.

Q What should HR ask itself before beginning a transformation journey? HR transformation can be one of the trickiest and most complex journeys. And with difficult journeys you often need a framework with key pillars against which you can benchmark. There are many tools and frameworks out there, but one of my favourites is a simple four step approach

that Dave Ulrich has identified: 1. Business context: Why do we need to transform HR? 2. Outcomes: What should change? 3. HR redesign: How are we going to change? 4. HR accountability: Who will be part of the HR transformation journey? If you have a business case that justifies transforming HR, then it’s the right time to crack on.

Q Let’s talk about HR transformation in Asia. What are your views? Generally speaking, I have found more developing HR environment in parts of Asia or Latin America are actually more open to change than some of the more established markets. In developing regions people are used to change because they see it as a constant. When you look at a country like Singapore or Brazil 30 years ago at their growth rate, the transformation they have gone through is phenomenal. That kind of mindset translates into transforming at a

faster pace, perhaps than more traditional, more mature markets.

Q What are some of the bigger HR challenges in Asia? How to keep up with the business growth. How can you as an HR practitioner and an organisation keep up with that growth rate and environment, while at the same time ensuring you don’t burn out and allow your organisation to “breathe”? All this, while at the same time, keeping the topics that matter most to you, such as attracting, developing and retaining top talent, high up on the agenda.

Q How does big data and analytics fit into this? An Accenture study noted what they titled as “integrated HR information systems” as a key cornerstone to a successful HR transformation. The ability of customers to access the same data and have a shared

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Navid Nazemian « PROFILE rationale”. This is when something hasn’t really been thought through for what the business actually needs. The second de-railer is what we call “HR in isolation”, where there is a need for the HR function to strategise the way forward and the rest of the organisation hasn’t bought into that way of transforming the function. The third de-railer is “HR in increments”. Some organisations start with ambitious transformation efforts, but end up doing small incremental efforts because of the resistance they face. De-railer number four is “HR by individual fiat”, which is transforming based on an individual leader’s desire or influence, which may not necessarily be transformational. De-railer number five is about “placing HR strategy before business strategy”. In a successful growing business the HR structure needs to be adaptable and scalable. If the structure is all about growth, then you need to make sure your HR organisation can deliver towards that. And lastly, it’s “efficiency equals transformation”. There’s no point in looking at how HR can be more efficient until you realise efficiency by itself does not necessarily facilitate transformation.

Q What are the enablers, then?

view of HR interactions is vital. Another HR transformation study, conducted by the Shared Services and Business Process Outsourcing Association in association with EDS, found that only 31% of respondents said that a “solid technology platform” was very important. That’s not really a big number, if you ask me. Though there is a lot of buzz around it, big data and analytics have been around for a long time. While analysing massive amounts of data was previously not accessible to all, the difference now is that big data is much more accessible to regular users and applicable to the business at the same time. My view as to why this is gaining a lot of traction is because the more people understand the real value from data.

Q What are the biggest reasons HR transformations fail? One of the main findings is “action before

I have to go back to some research that Prof. Dave Ulrich and I conducted, where we looked at a whole host of research to come up with the key enablers of HR transformation. Firstly, it’s about senior management leadership and sponsorship. When saying senior management, we mean not just the HR leadership, but the entire business leadership. Secondly, we found that internal capability and core skill sets are crucial. It’s the difference between being able to map out how your HR transformation will look like and having the capability that is needed in order to deliver. Thirdly, it’s about appropriate funding and strong project leadership. There’s no point in trying to set yourself up for success in an area such as talent management if you don’t have sufficient funds. And if you can’t track your progress according to what you’ve set up to achieve then you’re likely to fail, too.

Q How regularly should you be reviewing your framework and plans you have in place? Progress should be measured by the

intended outcome, and it’s crucial to make sure such business cases are presented by an implementation taskforce as well. This should include the full senior management working with a very clear idea and articulation of what the HR transformation success is going to look like. And it needs to be communicated widely as people need to understand what is changing and why. At the same time it would be wrong to be too rigid about it. Set out your mindset and if your business realities start to shift, then it is fair to look at shifting the HR transformation journey alongside it.

“There’s no point in looking at how the HR function can be more efficient until you realise that efficiency by itself does not necessarily facilitate transformation.” Q Why do you think HR is still being asked to prove its worth? When I look back at when I worked in commercial roles, I cannot recall a single time when this was even a topic. To be brutally honest, I am personally tired of hearing about this topic. My humble opinion is that once we start adding value to our organisations that is recognised, we will stop questioning our own value and whether or not we deserve a seat at the table.

Q That’s an excellent point. And it’s really important to highlight what that value is - what is conceived by the customer and not what we in HR think value is about.

Q Any advice for those wanting to take on a transformation? Find and establish a framework. Truly gather your HR people behind this, once the business has bought into the change journey. Have have a lot of dialogue with other leaders who have done it well. You shouldn’t be repeating other HR organisations’ mistakes. Also, have fun, too. It’s going to be a difficult journey, but it can also be a worthwhile and exciting one. I think the ultimate measure of success is when the CHRO and HR leadership team look back and say, “That was really difficult, but it was the right thing to do and well worth the effort”. Q2 2014 « HumanResources Malaysia « 15

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SPONSORED ADVICE THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PEMBANGUNAN SUMBER MANUSIA BERHAD

UPSKILLING THE NATION When it comes to people management, constructive moves must be made to push local Malaysian organisations forward to maintain the nation’s objectives of obtaining the status of a developed country by the year 2020. For this to happen, many companies may need a revamp, which must start at a human resources management level first, before gradually moving towards other elements of the business operations. The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) is administered by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB), an agency under the Ministry of Human Resources, via the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad Act, 2001, for this purpose. The HRDF was established in 1993 with the aim of developing quality human capital and a world-class workforce in order to achieve a high income economy based on knowledge and innovation.

The HRDF spearheads the upskilling of the Malaysian workforce by providing an opportunity to employees with no formal education, but have obtained the relevant knowledge, experience and expertise in the workplace to be certified based on their competency levels under the Recognition of Prior Learning Scheme.

What is our vision and mission? The aim is to be the driving force for Malaysia’s workforce training and development, enhancing knowledge, skills and capabilities through effective management of its fund. The objective is to encourage employers covered under the Act to retrain and upgrade the skills of their employees, apprentices and trainees in line with their business needs and the development strategy of the country.

Committed to change The key to future success is creating a highly competent, well-trained, knowledgeable and skilled workforce by equipping the current and future workforce with the latest and specific skills. We help do this by retraining, upskilling, reskilling and crossskilling employees with various programmes. This is the best way to increase Malaysia’s productivity and efficiency in strengthening the country’s competitiveness in the global market. Assessing and determining the types of training needs is a priority for HR departments all over the country, and the HRDF aims to help promote and stimulate this manpower growth by helping organisations determine the terms and conditions under which any financial assistance or other benefits are to be given. Additionally, the HRDF’s commitments wholly embrace enhancing the HR capabilities of Malaysia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – a huge source of talent with the potential to help the country meet its growth objectives and compete globally.

As an overview, the policy objectives of the HRDF include: • Upgrading the knowledge and skills of workers; • Equipping workers with the latest and specific skills; • Facilitating the transfer of technology; • Increasing productivity and value-added operations; • Preventing workers’ skills from becoming obsolete in an environment of technological change; • Producing multi-skilled workers for functional flexibility; and • Enhancing the training culture among employers.

National Human Resource Centre (NHRC) The National Human Resource Centre (NHRC) is a service provided by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB), Ministry of Human Resources, which helps to nourish the heart of every business in its one-stop centre for all human resource solutions. The aim of the NHRC is to guide (SMEs) by providing free resources on HR management, such as templates and samples of human resource documents, advisory and consultancy, seminars and more, to help SMEs give their HR function a makeover.

This article is contributed by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad.

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users with clarifications or problems, ensuring a smooth experience for everyone on the site. Jobtact is also working on other features to improve its service for employers and candidates, and will be launching more tools in the second half of the year.

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“Members can also choose to follow companies, and receive updates, including new job openings. This helps companies develop their employer branding by sharing information about their workplace, such as team-building photos or posts about their office culture.” Upon registration, users have to choose talent communities to join, ranging from groups within healthcare (food technology, personal care, diagnosis, etc) to business development and financial services. Once part of those communities, they are able to receive updates on new job postings, share or take part in relevant discussion topics, and engage with others in the community, including employers. Under a page called “What’s Hot”, members are also able to track the top employer discussions within the talent communities they are part of. These pages also give candidates another avenue to promote themselves and build their personal brand, which in turn helps employers identify suitable talent within the network. “Our services are free to candidates and employers. As long as they register with us, they will be able to post and search for jobs on the portal.” Ong says the company also has a team of customer service staff on hand to help employers and

As Malaysia’s 1st social recruiting network, Jobtact bridges employers and individuals through talent communities. Here, we provide a platform that gathers like-minded communities where individuals can get spotted by industry leaders. Jobtact also helps promote employer branding besides being just a recruiting platform. Employer branding is essential as a strong online presence with comprehensive content makes a company more appealing. On our dynamic branding page, employers can share interesting contents that highlight the culture and environment of the workplace. Our vision is to make Jobtact a place where individuals and employers attain better career opportunities and recruitment success.

For more information about Jobtact, please visit www.jobtact.com or reach us at 03 7981 6636 or info@jobtact.com

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FEATURE » Leadership Development

Leadership matters – that we can all agree on. But what exactly is leadership in an Asian context? Sabrina Zolkifi explores the changing role of leadership and the way HR uses it to define and sustain organisational culture and growth.

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Leadership Development « FEATURE s market boundaries blur and organisations try to cope with increasingly diverse workplaces, the question of leadership has to be raised. Questions such as, do our current senior leaders have what it takes to pave the way for your organisation’s successful future? What makes a truly exceptional leader? How can we find and groom the next generation of leaders? Regionally, the heightened competition for talent in Asia is also having a direct impact on leadership.

Talent churn can threaten a leadership pipeline in terms of both quality and quantity of emerging leaders, meaning human resources professionals have their work cut out for them when it comes to helping the organisation manage expectations surrounding leadership development. “Gone are the days when organisations can rely primarily on home-grown leaders,” says Gloria Chin, director of the human resources division at the National Environment Agency (NEA). “We thus have to take a more open approach towards the acquisition, development and retention of leaders, and this will have an impact on our organisational culture, as leadership shapes culture.” Similarly, advances in technology have had an impact on leadership in the sense that companies have the opportunity to try new things, build up a strong reliance on data and adapt faster to the changing environment. Rich Atkinson, an HR director in the e-commerce sector, says this pace of change has been “very, very dramatic”. “I often get teased by my business peers that HR still feels like it’s doing the same things it did in the ’90s, and in some instances it’s true,” he says, adding this means there’s a high need for adaptability and higher demands to keep up with an ever-evolving business. “It’s exciting from an HR perspective – it means we have to think two or three steps ahead - to predict.” But before looking ahead to developing future leaders, it’s necessary for HR professionals to understand where they’ve come from.

The different phases of leadership Leadership, at its very core, is about being able to understand. This includes understanding the business, the people you lead, and yourself. “It also requires the ability to learn, including about yourself, to balance long-term and shortterm goals and to create needed change in the organisation to achieve a vision through followership,” says Veronica Tan, the regional human resources director at Hill+Knowlton Strategies. “Leadership development programmes must provide the opportunity for leaders to talk about their own challenges and draw on the experiences of other leaders to meet them.” This is a sentiment Atkinson agrees with,

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FEATURE » Leadership Development and he believes the focus of leadership development has changed over the years – through four phases – to allow a fluid progression of leadership capabilities. “We started out content heavy,” he says. “It was a lot of classroom training and sometimes development centres, where we’d put people into different scenarios, rate them and give them feedback.” In the early 2000s, this shifted somewhat to include more reflection and self-awareness, where leaders realised they needed to understand themselves better before being capable to effectively lead others. “Coaching became a bit of a buzz, as did 360 feedback tools. Mentoring also took off, both long and short-term programmes,” he says. Then, the third phase Atkinson saw was the shift towards a 70-20-10, with on the job learning reflecting 70% of learning. Many organisations follow this today. It also saw the evolution of e-learning, with even Harvard Business School now adopting an online learning approach. And finally, leadership development is currently progressing to envelop higher purpose leadership philosophy and culture – reflecting the expectations and needs of Millennials. “There’s a more holistic view now – looking at the wellbeing of leaders, their ability not only to manage themselves in scenarios, but also manage their lives; not just training for content, but developing a focus around leadership cultures.” Companies today that are known for solid leadership strategies – and Atkinson gives examples of GE, Unilever, Google and LinkedIn – prove a strong leadership philosophy is fundamental to attracting the talent that’s coming through.

“It helps you adapt to a more complex and unpredictable environment, but it also helps you attract a far greater population of people.” While this changing face of leadership is noted by some, Chin says she thinks the definition has remained largely the same, but the importance on leadership development has grown and heavily impacted the HR function, in terms of the competencies needed. “Public agencies like NEA are subject to a much more rapid pace of change today,” she says. “HR as a strategic business partner must understand the challenges faced by leaders on the ground so as to better design HR policies and strategies to support this transformation.” Shakimah Abdullah, head of group HR and admin at Maju Holdings, says making sure a leadership plan is consistent across the company is imperative to producing solid, effective leaders at all levels.

Revising the KPIs “Every year we will revise our KPIs, which will need to support the company goals, so we look at the training needs and gaps we need to fill up,” Shakimah says. “Because of that we have to identify who are our second liners or high potentials who can be the next leaders.” This brings up one of the age-old questions surrounding leadership – whether the preference is around hiring for leadership potential or hiring for skills needed now. To build a leadership culture within your company, it is necessary to reflect the core identity of your business. Then, you can teach leaders a specific way of leading others within a common context. Many businesses find themselves promoting the best specialist to leadership positions, but in doing this you can sometimes run the risk of having someone in a leadership role who has the skills, but puts the fundamentals of leadership second. “I think if you’re hiring someone for their leadership potential, it doesn’t matter if you’re doing it at entry level or senior management,” he says. “I think we often fall into the trap of, ‘they’ve managed big teams before and they’re great specialists’, but we don’t always drive as hard on questioning their leadership skills.” Atkinson suggests looking closely at competencies when hiring for leadership potential, as well as their proven ability to adapt.

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FEATURE » Leadership Development The other focus should be on experiences. What sort of leadership experiences has a potential hire had? How did each of those experiences go?

Building and managing expectations Whether you’re bringing in a new leader or developing a leadership talent from within, HR needs to make sure the channels of communication are left wide open to ensure both employees and the business knows what to expect right from the start. Employees want to be led by competent and inspiring leaders, says Chin, and often the importance of this can be highlighted by middle managers who are able to drive change with access to both the top management and their staff and peers. Chin says this development and support of middle managers can help bring new ideas to the surface, while any risk management can be left to

“If you say to leaders it’s non-negotiable to have one-on-ones with staff, why aren’t you telling your staff they should have the same expectation of their leader?” Rich Atkinson, HR director in the e-commerce sector

the top managers. “HR, hence, plays an important role in advising management on the right approach for strategies for talent management and succession planning,” she says. “Employees may have varied expectations, but most of them have a good level of realism.” HR can further facilitate this by making sure there is sufficient communication and engagement, so employees feel there are ample and fair opportunities to grow. “Employees also need to understand that leadership development is just one area of focus,” Chin says. “Development of technical expertise and operational excellence in NEA, for example, are other important areas of focus.” Getting the language right when communicating expectations is something Atkinson agrees with, adding these expectations should be coming from all angles of the organisation.

“If you say to leaders it’s non-negotiable to have one-on-ones with staff, why aren’t you telling staff they should have the same expectation of their leader?” He says this not only puts pressure on the organisation to live up to its own leadership promises, but it will also ensure you don’t end up contradicting the culture you’re trying to build. “It’s also a lot about dialogue. There’s a move away from a top-down approach towards a more networking style,” he says. This means building a “community” where feedback and communication goes both ways. “Leadership development is part of your employee value proposition. Just because an employee isn’t a leader today, doesn’t mean they don’t have aspirations to be a leader tomorrow, so it’s appealing to them to know there is support and organisational investment.”

The next generation We’ve looked back to where leadership development has come from and how it has adapted, to where it stands now and how HR can help the business engage employees in a leadership culture. But what about tomorrow’s leaders? “They need to know how to communicate and give clear directions,” Shakimah says. “They also need to be able to be coaches. We’re no longer just administrators – we need to be able to coach employees and that is why communication is important.” Similarly, Tan says H+K looks out for talent at all levels of the organisation who display leadership tendencies and then nurtures them. “Early on in their careers, individuals demonstrate nascent leadership skills by showing curiosity, initiative, passion and excellence. “Regular talent reviews enable us to nurture and build upon the work and contributions of our leaders, and in turn, this plays a central role in our succession planning.” Chin adds a structured leadership competency framework with clear definitions of leadership roles is fundamental to ensuring a solid future pipeline of leaders. The aim of this is essentially to bridge any leadership development gaps by ascertaining them at an operational level, as well as an individual level. “Finally, there must be some form of measurement to assess the outcomes of these leadership development programmes.”

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FEATURE » Leadership Development

CASE STUDY: NEA Gloria Chin, director of the human resources division at the National Environment Agency, talks to Sabrina Zolkifi about its restructuring journey, which had a renewed emphasis on leadership. In 2012, the HR division of the National Environment Agency (NEA) underwent a major restructuring. As part of this, an HR business partnership model was introduced to become a one-stop centre for its employees, to better serve the human resources needs of the line departments. Under this restructure, the strategic human capital development areas included rewards management, talent management and learning and development, and would fall under the HR strategy and policy department. Another department – the strategic workforce planning and employee engagement department – would drive longterm manpower planning, HR analytics, employee relations and employee health and wellness. Gloria Chin, director of the human resources division, said the new model was also implemented to ensure it could be more involved in forward planning and to play an advisory role on HR matters to the stakeholders. “The learning and development team was renamed the learning and leadership development (LLD) team to reflect the increased focus on the area,” Chin says. “The emphasis on leadership development was driven by the imperative to nurture our leaders and equip them with the leadership competencies to lead NEA in an increasingly complex, dynamic and demanding operating environment.” Under this restructure, leadership took a shining role, and the changes caught the attention of the company’s leaders. Namely, two new initiative were highlighted – the “senior management get together” (SMG2G) and the “SuperMan Forum”. The SMG2G, which was previously conducted twice annually, served as an engagement platform targeted at NEA’s senior management and HODs. HOD At these sessions, leaders could discuss development issues suc such as staff engagement, organisa organisation climate and change management. The SuperMan Forum, held every ev quarter, is targeted at mid middle management – about 400 leaders – and allows two division d directors to sha share their insights with th the SuperMan (NEA’s tterm for supervisors and managers). Soon after the launch of both

initiatives, the company reviewed NEA’s leadership competencies (LC), which have existed since NEA’s formation. “However, with the changing operating landscape and the development of the NEA 2020 strategic roadmap, it was timely to review the relevance of the LCs and to articulate them in a more practical format which our leaders could readily identify with,” Chin says. The review process was facilitated internally and was a top-down, bottom-up process, drawing input from all levels of leaders. The outcome was the identification of five leadership roles, 15 leadership competencies and 75 leadership behavioural indicators. With an extra emphasis on leadership development, there was a significant change in the LLD’s direction and responsibilities, and it was expected to play a more proactive role in building leadership capabilities. “First and foremost was the move to generate awareness and desire among our leaders for the need to develop in this area,” Chin says. “This was followed by plans to equip them with the requisite knowledge and skills, an enabling environment to employ what they had learned and to implement a system of reinforcement and recognition. “This was a considerable departure from the team’s previous role of a generic training administrator.” Chin says these changes were well-received and the LLD’s work was integrated with other talent management initiatives. This work is still in the initial stages, and metrics to evaluate leadership competencies and the readiness and availability of leaders for higher positions have also been established. A key lesson from this restructure was the need to build new competencies, mainly in the area of organisation development. “Internally, it was essential for the team to build networks with line departments," she says. “Externally, the team was expected to keep up with the developments and available resources in the leadership development arena.” Additionally, the company’s diversity profile was taken into higher account, and a second lesson learned was that a targeted communication plan was more effective in creating awareness. Chin says if given the opportunity to do things differently, she would suggest first planning for the development of the LLD staff and equipping them with the relevant skills.

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Leadership Development « FEATURE

CASE STUDY: H+K The implementation of the H+K Leadership College is helping to build a strong community of leaders at Hill+Knowlton Strategies. Sabrina Zolkifi talks to Veronica Tan, its regional HR director. When it comes to looking ahead at what many companies absolutely need for future growth and success, leadership is something that ranks above almost everything else. This was definitely the case for Hill+Knowlton Strategies, which made the decision this year to launch the H+K Leadership College – a new programme aimed at supporting employees as they explore their personal leadership approach, learning how to help others succeed, fostering collaboration and becoming more strategic in their leadership. Regional human resources director Veronica Tan says the H+K Leadership College’s goal is to help the company’s most talented employees “examine the challenges of leadership” and explore a new leader profile, which is “a collaborative style of leadership critical to our business”. This year, the Leadership College was held in Los Angeles, California, and was attended by 30 participants from its offices worldwide, including five from the Asia Pacific region. The push behind the need for such a programme stemmed from the fact that existing programmes tended to focus on consulting leadership and client relationships. “We wanted to look at other dimensions of leadership and to create a strong community of leaders across the network,” Tan says. What helped, she adds, is the idea for the programme came from the global vice-chair for training, Tom Hoog, and was developed by a team of senior management over several months. Having the most senior leaders be strongly involved with the development of such programmes is important in ensuring all levels of leadership within the company are connected to the next to ensure collaborative learning. Additionally, they worked with a team of external leadership experts to create the week-long programme so it was tailored to H+K’s business and the needs of the leaders within the business. “It included highly interactive workshops that developed new insights for everyone and experiential sessions that worked on real business problems,” she says. “At the end of the programme, four teams were formed to work together on a leadership initiative they would develop for H+K around one of talent, network, industry or clients.” While other programmes within H+K have been met with positive feedback, Tan says this new and targeted

approach meant participants felt they received extra personal attention in regards to leadership development. “Participants were particularly impressed with the personal attention and support they received – that it really was focused on their potential and future with H+K. “We set out to help our leaders with skills that will help them realise their potential and we were pleased to see how much this meant to them.” If they were to go back and reignite the programme again – or if another organisation was looking to implement something similar – Tan suggested giving yourself plenty of time to plan ahead. “The opportunity to network with our colleagues from around the world is so important in a global organisation such as ours and we always strive to create more opportunities to advance this. Leaders appreciate the opportunity to work on “Leaders ersonal personal challenges with the support of their peers and hey are willing to be open with each other.” they

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation

Shifting dozens, hundreds or thousands of employees worldwide is challenging at the best of times, but HR is truly tested by the need to cater to different generational needs and desires. Akankasha Dewan speaks with leaders about overcoming these global mobility challenges.

erhaps the real test of outstanding talent management professionals should be planning a relocation programme for their business. Not only is corporate relocation in itself a difficult process given the amount of detail it involves, but catering to attitudes and priorities of different strata of talent in the organisation demands immense knowledge and understanding of the business and its workforce. And with the recent shifts and overlaps in the profile and demographic of the talent companies are relocating, this is a nightmare many companies are grappling with. According to the 2013 Trends in Global Relocation: Talent Management and the Changing Assignee Profile survey from Cartus Corporation, 62% of respondents felt younger employees showed the highest

interest in taking up international assignments, compared with only 12% who felt that older employees (Gen X and baby boomers) showed that same interest level. However, in 2014, another Cartus survey revealed the presence of a shift away from the younger generation to an assignee profile that was older and more experienced. In this report, 54% of relocated employees were over 40.

Taking a holistic view A probable reason for such wide-ranging interest in relocation programmes is the benefits they provide not only to the needs of the business, but also the personal development goals of the employee in question. “When planning a relocation programme, it is critical to take a holistic view and treat international mobility as part of an organisation’s

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation overall talent development strategy,” says Elsie Soo, head of compensation and benefits at Citi Singapore. “Therefore, while the key reason for overseas assignments is to attain global business goals, it is equally important that organisations do not neglect the long-term career prospects and personal development needs of the assignee. “This is especially important as assignment types have shifted from the traditional temporary global assignments (nine to 36 months) to the more permanent long-term transfers.” With relocation offering opportunities for growth on a corporate and personal level, it remains natural that more companies will be interested in sending their employees overseas for international projects and training.

“I believe Millennials are more willing to go overseas if the opportunity opens to more career options and exposure. The monetary aspect doesn’t seem to be the primary driver to such attachments.” Alan Lee, vice-president of quality assurance and HR, APAC, GreenWave Reality Inc.

In fact, according to Weichert Relocation Resources’ Employee Mobility Survey 2013, 93% of respondents expected the number of employee relocations within their organisations (both global and domestic) to either remain the same or increase in 2013. In addition, the survey highlighted that 36% of respondents expected the number of employee relocations to rise through 2014.

Ironing out the differences However, this increase in demand of relocation opportunities does not, in any way, negate the multiple challenges underlying planning relocation programmes for the diverse age groups within a particular company. “Typically, Gen Y is happy to go to Vietnam from Singapore, but not happy to go to Indonesia and stay there for two weeks or for a month even,” says Bitasta Roy Mehta, director of compensation and benefits for APMEA at Nielsen. “Clearly Jakarta is a very different place from Singapore, and we haven’t been able to do a lot of talent export from Singapore and Australia

to countries like Thailand and Indonesia, except for that of the top leaders. At the lower level, we find if it isn’t a short-term assignment or if it doesn’t provide a huge growth in the career of the talent, a lateral move usually isn’t very palatable.” The problems accompanying relocating older employees are no less, according to Soo. These include the careers of spouse/partner – because of the reluctance of a spouse to give up an established career back home and the uncertainty of obtaining a similar job at the new location – concerns about children’s education – the disruption of their curriculum and/or difficulty in getting their children enrolled in their preferred schools – and the difficulty of handling children with special needs, especially when there’s a lack of infrastructure and facilities in new countries, and the high cost of coping with elderly parents when living abroad. “Therefore, other than matching the right candidate to the right job, the role of the organisation is also to match the right candidate to the right location,” Soo says.

Adopting a two-fold perspective When attempting to plan relocation programmes and keeping such diverse preferences in mind, it’s important to adopt a two-fold perspective on relocation – the intent of the relocation opportunity and the support system which will enable it to come to fruition. Nielsen, for example, has specific reasons and criteria for providing relocation offers. to employees. “We initiate relocation for two reasons. One is purely when we conduct organised talent HR reviews twice a year. We want to give our associates a developmental opportunity, where their high potential and high performance is recognised, and for them to take on larger roles and bigger responsibilities, we give them more exposure,” Mehta says. Sending younger employees overseas to gain valuable skills and to fill critical skills gaps is also a popular reason for relocation. “We recognise, in Asia, that most of the senior positions aren’t locally in-bred talent, so there’s a lot of focus on building middle management so they can take up senior roles and there is a lot of focus on recognising local talent and helping them grow within the organisation,” she says. “The intent of the relocation has to be very clear, so as to drive functions in their core area.”

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Executive Relocation « FEATURE Having set goals for relocation helps make these offers more attractive across generations and seniority levels because they aid in choosing between the right geographical spheres and structuring the accompanying benefits packages according to the generation in question. “I believe Millennials are more willing to go overseas if the opportunity opens to more career options and exposure. The monetary aspect doesn’t seem to be the primary driver to such attachments,” says Alan Lee, vice-president of quality assurance and HR for APAC at GreenWave Reality Inc. Understanding where a generation is coming from will also enable the development of targeted recruitment and retention strategies, such as relocation, to maximise effectiveness and bring about organisational sustainability. “The Millennial generation is keen on work-life balance, work exposure and variety, etc. Also the destination country should help them achieve or experience certain lifestyles or experiences that is lacking working locally,” Lee says. “The strategy [if the destination country is less desirable and developed] is to develop a career plan that can be discussed as part

of this relocation. It can vary from a wider job scope, bigger responsibility to even a potential relocation option to their desired destination afterwards.”

Standardising practices However, all three leaders agree having a competitive salary and compensation package has generally been proven to be effective across the board when it comes to relocating employees, especially older leaders. “Companies can also look beyond the standard relocation benefits provided to the employee and his/her dependents,” Soo says. “As managing cost is of utmost importance to organisations, companies can look at engaging the assignee and his/her dependents through existing employee recreational programmes to help them with the acculturation process.” In addition, she says a fixed lump-sum payment programme or a managed lump-sum programme are other options to help control costs and reduce the administrative and management time needed to process payments for an employee’s relocation. Lee agrees, but warns of the importance

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation of knowing what the employees from the overseas location are earning before planning a compensation package for a potential assignee. “It is important to ensure the employee is on the same salary structure and package with the employees of the remote location. This enables internal equity within the organisation,” he says. While Mehta is also on board with providing an up front settlement account, she says there are times when exceptions have to be made in accordance to the levels of seniority of the relocated employee. “Sometimes for movements within Asia we find we need to provide support for the schools there, so we build an educational allowance for employees. In some cases we have allowed, especially for those employees in higher positions, a reimbursement for education. In other cases, such as for managers, we allow for an allowance which is able to partially contribute to the school,” she says. “We try as much as possible to take away the initial shock.”

Focusing on the overall experience All these HR leaders highlight the fact it’s crucial for companies to keep track of the employee performance even after they have been relocated and when they have finished international assignments – an area in which organisations have significantly failed to deliver. In fact, according to the 2014 Cartus survey, 61% of organisations said they don’t track the percentage of assignees that leave the organisation within two years of concluding their assignment. Three quarters of those polled said their companies did not even address post-assignment career tracking. Focusing on the entire relocation experience as a whole is especially important since, as Lee says, younger employees are more interested in the developmental opportunities relocation provides, as opposed to other benefits. In addition, research has shown that as the generation credited with blurring the personal/professional divide, Millennials place unprecedented importance on what they experience. An inherent desire to communicate these experiences has fuelled the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. “Other than relocation support, it is critical to keep the assignee engaged and motivated after the relocation. As competition for talent is intense for the banking sector, we may lose a

talent to a competitor if the assignee and his/ her dependents are unable to adjust to a new location,” Soo says. Interestingly, providing such a supportive and holistic experience when relocating employees doesn’t necessarily require additional resources or much extra effort. Instead, cultivating an environment which is pro-relocation in itself helps employees overcome initial apprehensions of, or reluctance to, relocate. “We need to be more rigorous in our relocation programmes and be able to take employees along the dream that we have for Southeast Asia and show them relocation is something that is a proven track record for career advancement,” Mehta says. “This includes having different exposures to career markets, businesses and functions.”

The use of role models Mehta says open and regular communication with other employees who have previously been on overseas stints is another valid method of facilitating such a supportive culture. “When you see top leaders at Nielsen, you find most of them are global citizens,” she says. “They’ve gone through the ranks through multiple assignments. We need to get them to communicate more with those people and employees who can relate with them. Because communicating directly with the MD who’s been with the company for 20 years is too far-fetched for younger employees. “I think the Millennial generation sees their opportunities as one year at a time. For us to be able to get them on-board and be able to relate with relocation, we need to have more success stories around people who are in their age group, to be able to connect with them. “We’re doing it, but the more connection you develop, the more willingness you observe.” Along with such instances of experiential learning, direct training opportunities must also be provided to all relocating to ensure they are accustoming well to their new environment. “Citi’s global approach to relocation is to continue to provide career learning and development opportunities to international assignees on top of offering a competitive compensation and relocation package,” Soo says. “Our established programme has given our international assignees a high level of comfort and satisfaction.”

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation

GEN Y DON’T WANT TO RELOCATE Modifications in attitudes, priorities and requirements of today’s diverse workforce is causing a shift in the traditional profile of employees who are relocating abroad. ounger employees are less likely to relocate to another country, according to the Cartus 2014 Trends in Global Relocation: Global Mobility Policy and Practices survey. In fact, the overall profile of a relocated assignee appears to have shifted away from the younger, single make-up that was seen moving into

prominence in 2010 towards an older population – a profile that was more prevalent in 2007. Likewise, the percentage of assignees married or with a partner and accompanied, while slightly down from 2012, is still up sharply from 2010. Here are a few alterations to the demographics of an average relocated assignee.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

» Human Resources Malaysia » January/February 2013

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2/12/2014 11:28:50 PM

OPINION » Learning & development

Are you having the right coaching conversation? ANDREW NG, HR director, Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei Sanofi

As the business landscape shifts, coaching has to be more of a partnership than the directive approach it currently is.

Calling the shots: Is your current approach to coaching really going to get the best results?

With the constant changing and competitive business environment in Asia as a result of globalisation, coaching has been a buzzword in many organisations. There has been an increasing need for coaching in the workplace, particularly in multinational companies. Meanwhile, many training institutions have started to provide training or certification programmes on executive coaching, business coaching or performance coaching. Coaching is maturing into a profession, with more professionals with various disciplines going into full-time coaching. Additionally, some organisations have invested in training their line managers to be equipped with coaching skills, while others have given line managers performance objectives to measure their coaching efforts.

In the corporate world, coaching is now commonly bundled with leadership development programmes and introduced as a key element in leadership transitions. However, many leaders are yet to possess a clear understanding on what coaching is exactly, and often relate it to mentoring or giving advice. The International Coach Federation defines coaching as “a partnership which encourages thought-provoking and creative interactions between coach and coachee; a process which will inspire the coachee towards his or her maximum potential”. In the coaching process, it is crucial for the coach to set the expectations right from the beginning by sharing with the potential coachee on the differences between coaching, mentoring, counselling, teaching and consultancy. This will allow the coachee to understand that coaching is very much forward-

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Learning & development « OPINION

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looking and goal-oriented by leveraging on their strength without solutions being provided by the coach. In this context, the coach will focus on what the coachee wants to achieve – or often we call it the “coachee’s agenda”. The coach will engage the coachee in a meaningful conversation by active listening, creating awareness, asking thought-provoking questions, providing encouragement and subsequent follow-up with the coachee on the progress made. Personally, I’ve always shared with my coachees that coaching is a selfdevelopmental journey for them because it requires them to learn and unlearn, acquire new knowledge or competencies, make a mindset shift as well as do things differently. In the coaching journey, the coachee will be able to set clearer goals and take ownership in achieving them. In the market, a certified and professional coach may work with their coachees on any topics, for example, career, business, performance, finance, life or even relationships. Before any coaching can take place, one of the fundamental prerequisites of effective coaching sessions is the coach’s ability to build rapport and create trust – having a “heart to heart” conversation rather than a “head to head” conversation. In the workplace environment, promoting a coaching culture often comes with many challenges. Many a time, people managers are not able to see the benefits of coaching or how coaching can benefit them and the employees at work. They have the tendency to “tell” and give solutions to their direct reports rather than “coach”. They use the same ways of work which were effective in the past and teach the same to their team with the belief it will get the desired results. To some people managers, they have the perception that coaching is time consuming. Hence, they use their hierarchical power to provide answers when being approached by their direct reports with a work issue. Eventually, this does not allow the employee to have full buy-in of the decision and take accountability of their actions. However, the real consequence is this directive approach will limit the potential of the employees and they may end up being dependent on their line managers for decisions. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean we need to apply the coaching techniques in all work situations. Adopting active listening by understanding the context of what the employee means is definitely an essential ingredient for a meaningful conversation. Leveraging from my coaching experience and practising the powerful questioning techniques in some work discussions helps to strengthen the engagement of people. Combining both active listening with asking powerful questions, while facilitating brainstorming workshops, will enable the participants to gain better insights into the topic and find resources. It will also help them to be a part of the options and opportunities to move forward in a way which will allow them to take ownership of the final decision. I believe in the future, coaching in organisations will increase in importance as new generations enter the workforce. A directive and telling approach will not be effective in managing them; instead, taking the coaching approach will empower them, while leveraging on their creativity and strengths will surely make your employees feel more valuable and much more appreciated.

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OPINION » People issues

Taking a walk in their shoes Have you ever traded in your power suit to “walk in the shoes” of line staff? Find out what happened when this HR director became a loss prevention officer for a day. MARK FLETCHER Director of human resources The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore

In April this year, the guidance team at The RitzCarlton, Millenia Singapore, traded in their power suits for a day to “walk in the shoes” of line staff. This inaugural initiative saw senior hotel executives, such as the general manager, spending his day as a fitness centre attendant; the hotel manager as a line cook and the director of sales and marketing as a laundry attendant. The idea for the “walk in your shoes” came about during the hotel’s annual department heads’ strategic planning session, which was held at the end of 2013. The department heads felt it would be good to initiate a more structured exercise where senior leaders could assume the roles of rank and file ladies and gentleman for a day to better understand operational needs and challenges and to get feedback from the ground. This initiative would complement the ongoing culture of lateral services, where our ladies and gentlemen are encouraged to volunteer to assist each other whenever operational needs arise. Such ad hoc informal opportunities have always been a good platform for senior leaders to work alongside and interact with our staff. The guidance team picked their roles out of a random hat draw and I was given the opportunity to be a loss prevention officer. A full day programme was mapped out for me and I was attached to Ariff, our loss prevention learning coach. My day involved manning the security desk at the staff entrance, doing perimeter patrols, fire command centre duties and the rare opportunity to access restricted areas of the hotel such as the rooftop, which is part of the vertical patrol tasks. Being an operational role, a lot more walking was required of me, compared with my more desk-bound routine as a human resources leader. However, being a very hands-on person, I was able to adapt and assimilate into my new role quickly. Personally, the biggest takeaway from this exercise was the reaffirmation of the importance of staying in touch with and being relevant to the needs of our ladies and gentlemen. At The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, our people are the most important resource in our service commitment to guests. This exercise allowed me, as a senior hotel leader, to gain a better understanding and appreciation of how I can better support my staff in what they do. We want our ladies and gentlemen to be empowered to create indelible experiences that will in turn create Ritz-Carlton guests for life. Having fully engaged staff translates to fully engaged guests, and we viewed this unique opportunity for feedback as a useful tool for initiating change within the organisation. Collectively, the senior management team felt the feedback we received was so good and relevant, we have decided to hold

Step into it: Taking on a line staffer’s role can help boost engagement.

another “walk in your shoes” exercise at the end of the year so we can all swap roles again. The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore has consistently achieved excellent employee engagement scores. In 2013, we scored 95% in our annual employee engagement survey and were awarded the prestigious Aon Hewitt “Best of the Best Employer” award. We also achieved 98% and 95% in 2011 and 2012 respectively, exceeding the Asia Pacific average of 80%, according to Aon Hewitt. I believe creative channels for feedback such as our “walk in your shoes” and our “open door” policy, which encourages our ladies and gentlemen to drop by the offices of their leaders for informal chats and feedback, coupled with our deeply embedded culture of teamwork and lateral service, have enabled us to achieve such stellar results.

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Unconventional wisdom OPINION

Winning people before winning customers Are you focusing enough on your employees so they are able to give their best to customers? A MATEEN Vice-president of HR DHL Express Southeast Asia

The famous slogan, “The customer is always right”, resonates more and more among companies as they recognise customers as the lifeblood for any business. In view of the intense competition, what makes one company more successful than another and, more importantly, what did these companies do to make their customers tick? Operating in a highly competitive environment, one important factor that ensures sustainable competitive advantage in the logistics industry is the people. As third party logistics (3PLs) providers have to work increasingly closer with their customers to develop deeper and more collaborative relationships, the interaction that customers experience at each touch-point are determining factors when evaluating logistics partners. Starting from within There is often a common misconception the role of customer service is all about complaints handling and manning reception desks. Truth is, the customer service team functions as an essential communication gateway for our customers. Operating in the service industry, employees need to demonstrate a thorough and accurate knowledge of all services offered. Training is a vital cog in developing a highly competent and effective organisation, and we invest substantially in improving the staff service levels through the innovative certified international specialist (CIS) learning and development programme. As a change management initiative, the award-winning programme has been instrumental in instituting a cultural transformation within DHL Express as well as providing greater clarity and understanding of the business objectives by reinforcing the company’s international market leadership. Specifically to the customer service team, all employees have to go through quarterly training, including soft and technical training, conducted internally by our own customer service trainers. Building a motivated team Good customer service offers the intangible human element that cannot be replaced by technology and automation. We are no stranger to the concept of providing good customer service. It has always been a major focus and the company takes a proactive approach towards addressing our customer’s needs and issues. Businesses have to understand employees are the foundation for the success of any company, and having a motivated and engaged team will translate to engaged customers. Employees need to be empowered to share their own ideas, skills, experience and opinions to help shape the development as well as drive innovation of the company. At DHL, we work as a team and are focused on doing things right the first time. Active leadership is key to fostering a cohesive

Winning formula: If you want the best customers, develop the best employees.

working environment. Leaders walk the talk by continuously demonstrating the company’s core values while motivating others to do the same. Customer service managers and supervisors conduct regular coaching and feedback sessions for team members who are faced with challenges at work. They adopt an open door policy so team members know they are always welcome to approach their managers or supervisors. Staying connected as a team The importance of team camaraderie should never be underestimated, particularly in a high-stress environment. We recognise the importance of each team member in achieving overall service excellence, so boosting morale and promoting teamwork are important parts of DHL’s employee engagement initiatives. Best practices are shared and adopted when the customer service teams from various countries pay us a visit. Globally, DHL holds the annual customer service international week celebration, where the company recognises the unsung heroes who make a difference by proactively addressing customer needs, taking ownership and going the extra mile. The celebration also serves as a reminder to the customers of DHL’s commitment to customer satisfaction. As the idiom goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” – such team-building activities are organised so the entire team can let their hair down and enjoy each other’s company. Finding the winning formula Competition within the logistics industry will only intensify and having a robust customer service is instrumental in value-adding to customers. To deliver high-quality services, it is necessary for companies to invest in people, processes and technology. Q2 2014 « HumanResources Malaysia « 43

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Upwardly mobile « OPINION

The price of a happy workforce NGOH SIAW LING HR director TNT

As Malaysia’s cost of living increases, C&B is high on HR leaders’ agendas. Often, a broader mix of total rewards will help manage costs while keeping staff happy.

The pursuit of employee happiness: What is it worth to you?

Compensation and benefits, or as we call it at TNT Express Malaysia, total rewards, is designed and used as a strategy to attract and retain employees. Its strength lies within one of our company’s corporate pillars, and that is our ability to create a great place to work. We pride ourselves on providing fun and rewarding careers where we equip, empower and engage employees through the perpetual focus on nurturing exponential growth. This is instrumental in supporting a very crucial part of our people strategy – inculcating an awareness to encourage staff engagement in corporate social responsibility, specifically, TNT’s Work for the World initiatives. It is through this support that employee involvement helps fulfil social obligations, as well as for some, achieving lifelong dreams – with that, we are not only stirring up a fun workplace, but also – and equally important – we are building a well-balanced group of employees. Balancing C&B with non-monetary benefits Striking a perfect balance between cash compensation and non-monetary benefits is never easy. Every year, TNT allocates a big portion dedicated to cash compensation. We ensure what has been set is benchmarked according to the standards of the general market in order to remain competitive. As for benefits, a major component will be the coverage offered for our employees’ insurance and medical. In addition to this, we also allocate a substantial amount for each employee to claim usage for their own basic needs such as groceries, children’s tuition fees and school books. We understand one size doesn’t fit all.

Tariffs and price hikes Being in the transportation and logistics industry, half of our employees are blue-collar workers with a lower pay bracket, and the rise in living costs in Malaysia will inevitably impact them. With reference to fixed cash terms, every year we benchmark our pay structure to match that of the market. We ensure our pay structure upholds a competitive advantage. Over the years, we have also implemented benefits in whatever ways possible to help ease the cost of living burden. We also support employees who suffer from critical illness. Although they may be physically unfit for work, they will remain on the company’s payroll for a period of time. We aim to ease the burden for them during this trying time. The inception of the flexi scheme in 2010, which we commonly refer to as the total wellness programme, allows employees to pick and choose items within the budget allocated, whereby they are able to claim for the usage of their own basic needs. We also provide financial educational assistance for those who would like to pursue or further their tertiary education. Key factors for a total rewards programme To attract, retain and motivate our employees, a holistic approach will comprise intrinsic and extrinsic components. The intrinsic component drives the internal value and motivation, providing staff with emotional rewards. It involves encouragement and support in lifestyle, a social environment, work-life balance as well as career growth, learning, development and employability. The extrinsic component deals with encouraging and managing performance and quality of work, achievements and rewarding and recognition. This refers to: • Things assigned a dollar value, such as cars. • Benefits such as health and welfare, leave/time off, retirement. • Base pay in terms of cash, incentives and bonuses. As the cost of running a business increases, maintaining the cost to meet business demands proves to be a challenge. C&B to engage and retain staff Over the past 10 years, our attrition rate lies below the market while our productivity and business has seen a steady and upward climb. We do consider that we are doing pretty well and we have a consistently high score in our company employee engagement survey – VOICE. The success of a rewards system relies on having a holistic approach intrinsically and extrinsically.

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CAREERS » Personal development

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personalgrowth

Tracking HR’s industry moves Who: Catherine Ang From: Pan Pacific Singapore To: The South Beach Catherine Ang moved from Pan Pacific to join The South Beach in May 2014. Her key responsibilities include setting up a new HR team, recruiting and attracting the right talent for the hotel and setting up its compensation and benefits structure. “I am currently working with my team on employer branding, website, recruitment strategy and setting up a new standard operations procedure and forms,” she says. Her biggest challenge is seeking ways to build a high-performance team, which she says she manages by reading self-improvement books and providing ideas of improvement to the management team. She says South Beach’s CEO Aloysius Lee’s passion was one of the things which attracted her to a career at the hotel, and sees the move as “a great opportunity to be part of the pre-opening team who will make history with the successful launch of the 654-room hotel”. Who: John Mullins From: Ruder Finn Asia To: Burson-Marsteller After two years of serving as Ruder Finn’s chief development officer, John Mullins returns to BursonMarsteller as the managing director of human resources in Asia Pacific. He is currently working on bringing his regional team together, focusing on the importance of HR teams working with “the same synergy and integration across markets as do our client servicing teams”. “Because we want our PR professionals to have focused career paths, I am making it my priority to facilitate this through ongoing training and career development programmes,” he said. “As public relations is a people business, a large part of our focus is recruitment, training and talent development.” He was previously the managing director of human resources at BursonMarsteller from 2008 to 2012, and this marks the third time he is returning to the company. “I think most of us come back because we work with some of the best people in the industry and enjoy the high-level of professionalism at the firm.” Who: Srikanth Karra From: HP To: Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited announced the appointment of Srikanth Karra as director of human resources for its India and South Asia operations. He will report to managing director and CEO Gopal Vittal (India and South Asia) and will be a member of the Airtel Management Board. His responsibilities include bringing in business-focused and innovative HR systems and processes, institutionalising global benchmarks, delivering strategies and providing overall leadership to the HR function. He will work closely with the board to develop and execute various HR initiatives with a focus on simplicity, strong business relevance and impact. With a career spanning more than 27 years, he has held several leadership positions across business sectors, including head of HR for HewlettPackard India, global head of HR for Syntel Inc. and head of HR for GECIS – India. He also had an entrepreneurial venture that provided HR solutions focusing on leadership development, HR analytics and talent assessment.

WHY FINDING YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE MATTERS People often say it’s important to find your purpose in life, and a new piece of research is suggesting not doing so could result in an unhappy demise. By Sabrina Zolkifi. According to a report published in the Psychological Science journal, a study which tracked 6,000 participants over a 14-year period, found the 569 who passed away had lower self-reported purposes in life and fewer positive relations. “Our findings point to the fact that finding a direction for life, and setting overarching goals for what you want to achieve can help you actually live longer, regardless of when you find your purpose,” said lead researcher Patrick Hill, of Carleton University in Canada. So how exactly can you find your purpose in the office and live rich and fulfilling lives? Figure out what makes you happy As you go about your day both inside and outside the office, make an effort to identify which activities boost your positivity. It could be something as simple as helping a colleague achieve a team goal or being able to spend more time at dinner with the family. Pin-pointing these happy trigger points will help you better manage your energy, ultimately making you a happier and more productive person. Fuel your interests As adults, it’s just as important to make sure you’re doing something that is self-serving, giving you time away from the desk and the stress that comes with it. While hobbies don’t necessarily have a direct impact on your work, taking time out and indulging in something you enjoy gives the brain a chance to unwind and improve your creativity. Adopt strong role models Make a list of people who inspire you, and what it is about them you admire. Are those traits something you can emulate? What is one thing you can do differently every day which will make you more similar to your idol? Having someone to aspire to could help you shape your purpose and be a better person. Don’t over think it Some people are lucky enough to realise what it is they’re meant to be doing (and be great at it!) while others may take a while to get there. Make concerted efforts to find your purpose and hopefully lead a more fulfilling life, but stressing out too much about it will defeat the point.

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Good reads to improve your business life

shelflife

Network ork Advantage Ad dvantage dvant g

Mike Myatt John Wiley & Sons S$40.61 The term “hack” has evolved over recent years – from bearing a negative connotation of “breaking into” something – to meaning coping and managing something successfully, such as a “life hack” which helps you live better. Author Mike Myatt, a regular Forbes leadership columnist, takes this adapted meaning and expands on it in this book as a way to help leaders understand why their performance falls short or why they aren’t

Ready to be a thought leader? Denise Brosseau Jossey-Bass S$38.47 Being a thought leader is a status most of us would like to achieve in our fields. As a thought leader, one is respected, influential and generally considered to be successful. In HR, being a thought leader will ensure a “seat at the table”, but no matter what field of business you operate in, Denise Brosseau’s book aims to help professionals follow their ideas and make an impact on the world, so that others will also rally around their ideas. Through seven principles, she offers stepby-step insights into how you can hone your ideas, win supporters of your ideas and then

Bookmark this! We have too many people in leadership positions who either can’t or won’t accept responsibility for anything. Put simply, leadership is about accountability, and not only being willing to take the hit, but also being capable of surviving the hit. Leadership is ownership. If your immediate response to a problem is to spin, deflect or blame-shift, then you’ve got a lot to learn about leadership – page 80.

boost your influence by “finding your passion”, “building your ripples of influence” and “activating your advocates”. In an easy to follow format, and using case studies, first-person experiences and great storytelling, the author teaches us how to build a network of dedicated followers as well as make our own careers matter. If you’re looking to enhance your credibility, then this book could be a good place to start looking for tips and inspiration to becoming a thought leader. Bookmark this! Think of your strategic stakeholders as the people with the keys to those doors leading from the room you are standing in today to new adjacent possible futures. They may not be in those adjacent rooms themselves, but they may have a connection to someone who could open new doors. You’re looking for people you know who can help you flesh out your ideas and turn them into workable solutions – page 55.

Henrich Greve, reve, Tim Row Rowley wley and Andrew Shipilov a ass Jossey-Bass S$68.433

Without a doubt bt, doubt, ne of the biggest one ilding an effective keys to bbuilding a and profitable business – andd attracting and retaining the right talent for your organisation – is the ability to network, and network well. In this book, Network Advantage: How to unlock value from your alliances and partnerships, authors Henrich Greve, Tim Rowley and Andrew Shipilov – all leaders in the field of organisational management – aim to bring awareness around how you can better align your business alliances with your corporate strategy to get the most out of your existing and future networks. Based heavily on research, this book offers advice on how to reap the benefits of your alliances using three key advantages – superior information, better co-operation and increased power. The authors offer practical tools and case studies on topics such as “strengthening the foundation of network advantage” and “management practices to sustain network advantage” to help readers – from consultants to executive MBAs – better understand the theory of network advantage and the benefits of effective collaboration. Bookmark this! Business managers are very familiar with the concept of “portfolio management.” Companies managing a multitude of business units through a deep understanding of not only the competitive advantage of each individual business unit, but also through a clear and focused assessment of how much additional competitive advantage the collective portfolio of business units can achieve through collaboration and sharing of resources. The same is true for networks of alliances – page 34.

Photography: Fauzie Rasid

Hacking Leadership

living up to their potential. liv Pick Despite core leadership of the p remaining mostly month principles th same over time, he says the the th ttrick tric tr rick is learning how to use those pr principles alongside ever-changing ideas aand practices in the leadership field. This book is riddled with case studies, many of which touch on the wo work Myatt has conducted himself with some of the world’s leading organisations. It is broken down dow into 11 “hacking sections” for better digestion – from “hacking the leadership gap” to “hacking the culture gap” and “hacking the innovation gap”. It’s a simple read with many easy to follow stories, solid advice and effective first-person examples, which would make a good flick-through for an aspiring leader or a leader feeling a little stalled in his own development.

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LAST WORD

Finding your passion The word “passion” is so overused. Or it was until Rebecca Lewis discovered its original meaning, and what I love words. I enjoy the English language (as well as many others – and yes, I’m still we can learn from it. hard on myself for not yet mastering any language

Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Hair & makeup: Vanida Yam Yen – vanidamakeover.blogspot.com

other than my mother tongue) and I have always been interested in linguistics and what the form, meaning and context of words can teach us. As a writer, you’d probably expect this of me. But it is honestly never truer than when I discover something new about a particular word, phrase or idiom, which is what happened the other day. In HR – or actually, in life in general – we always tell people to “follow their passion” when it comes to leading a fulfilling life. This, of course, is easier said than done, and is often crappy advice. How can we follow our passion when we may not even be sure what that is? I was musing over this the other day with a friend, who has an even deeper love for words than I do, when she told me the origin of the word “passion”. Today, we consider passion to mean having a deep and meaningful love or devotion to something. But apparently, passion originally meant suffering. Yep. Passion stems from the Latin word pati, which means “to suffer or to endure”. After geeking out over the linguistic evolution, it dawned on me this actually makes a lot of sense. A lot of the people I know – and people I don’t know, I suppose – who are really, truly passionate about what they do (in the modern sense of the word) suffer, or have suffered, in some shape during their path to inspiration and happiness. My fiancé is a perfect example of this. Starting up, running and maintaining a thriving business is no easy feat (is that the understatement of the year or what?) and I have a front row seat to how much he has suffered in many ways to make it work.

But the suffering is only part of the equation, and his love for what he does supersedes any negativity which may come from the suffering part. Similarly, when I start to think about my own passions, I think about where I have suffered. At the moment, I can think of two things: I’ve suffered in an industry which everyone tells me is “dying”, while struggling to evolve, adapt and keep up editorial integrity; and I’ve also suffered in my younger years as I pushed my body to its limits in a struggle to become the best elite gymnast I could be – broken bones, sprained muscles, torn skin and everything. I love both things, even when I’m suffering in them. That, I think, is the key to finding your real passion. It can take years for people to truly understand what they’re passionate about – and I’m not only talking about passion in terms of a job. Sometimes your job will be your passion, other times your passion will remain something on the side which keeps you ticking, or you will find a way to evolve your passion into a job (which is basically an ideal scenario.) I’m not there yet in terms of fully understanding my passions, but I have started making a list, and so far I’ve added dancing and “creating something” to it. Yes, the last one is a little vague, but I’m working on it. So, the next time you tell yourself, a colleague or an employee to think about what they’re passionate about, try and give them this advice and see whether it makes a difference in connecting the dots. And then ask yourself, what are you really passionate about? rebeccal@humanresourcesonline.net

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