Human Resources Magazine August 2015 by Human Resources Online

August 2015

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August 2015 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY 14 Q&A With humanisation as her mission, Nora Abd Manaf, group chief human capital ofﬁcer at Maybank, diagnoses the challenge all HR leaders are grappling with, and predicts HR’s role evolving to become a “chief resourcing ofﬁcer”.

Features 18 The right place to learn Akankasha Dewan checks out some of Singapore’s hottest training venues, and explores how HR leaders can work better with training venue providers.

24 Prevention is better than cure With the rising costs of healthcare globally, as well as varying needs of employees, Jerene Ang ﬁnds out new ways to cater to wellness.

Opinion 30 Learning & Development Training manager William Ting shares why injecting fun into the everyday work environment is the thought process behind the engagement and motivation philosophy at McDonald’s Singapore.

32 People Issues Charissa Chan, area director of HR and training for Hotel Jen, shares how the local HR teams nurtured staff to understand and change their behaviour according to the hotel’s new culture.

34 Unconventional Wisdom Pauline Chua, general manager of human capital and CSR at Fuji Xerox Singapore, shares the philosophies behind Fuji Xerox Singapore’s HR initiatives and how the function has evolved.

ON THE COVER:Illustration: Kimberly Ong - kimberlamb.com (hello@kimberlamb.com)

36 Upwardly Mobile Chinmay Sharma, head of HR for Hong Kong, Macau and Asia HQ at Philip Morris International, gives tips on how HR can become a problem solver.

48 Last Word Akankasha Dewan suggests ways on how to handle the weirdest things staff do while on business trips.

Regulars 3 Ed’s note 4 In the news 6 Suite talk 8 Spacial awareness

9 HR by numbers 10 Snapshot 38 Personal growth 39 Shelf life

Any suggestions or tip-offs for Human Resources? Email aditis@humanresourcesonline.net

August 2015 « Human Resources «

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The new world of work “We are result-oriented – we don’t care where employees work as long as they get work done.” “You can have the fanciest of charts and metrics, but you need to train HR leaders to ensure they know what actually can be improved.” “Nobody likes cash. It’s not a good retention tool because once you give it, there is no further engagement or experience with the employee.” In a recent gathering of industry peers at the regional Employee Benefits Asia conference organised by Human Resources, the themes that dominated the conversation were fascinating, as you can see in some of the snippets above around flexible working, HR metrics and rewards. Organisations across the region are making dramatic changes to their ways of working, some driven by compulsion to adapt to the need of the hour, others by a willingness to stay one step ahead on the change curve. From comments about the implications and issues around a tight labour market, the conversation is slowly shifting to real issues such as reward and retention of high performers, and the development of the internal pipeline. We see more and more companies doing away with things that are typically associated with HR, but may just not work well anymore, such as Accenture abolishing the annual performance review, and replacing it with a more fluid system of timely, assignment-based feedback. Nora Abd Manaf, the group chief human capital officer at Maybank, describes today’s change phenomenon as “hyperconnectivity”. “When people are hyperconnected, you can’t box them in,” she said in an exclusive interview this past month in our cover story. “Most of us in the HR fraternity have not yet got our head around the big changes happening out there in the environment.” As a result, in her leadership role managing HR for one of the region’s largest banks, she strives to keep pace with the changes by pressing her team to innovate new ways of working. Maybank, for instance, was one of the first organisations to move away from performance ratings in favour of good conversations about performance.

“This is the second year of the no-rating policy and we’re still learning, but we don’t label people anymore, we assess and provide feedback,” said Manaf. “If you give people a rating and label them, that is the start of all evil. Because then everybody fanatically wants to defend a particular number.” Another good read we have in store for you this month is a special feature on training venues in Singapore, in conversation with Susan Chen of Visa Worldwide, and John Augustine Ong of ANZ. They help to glean key elements you may ﬁnd worth considering to ensure your learning session is effective, as well as ideas on innovating the venue experience. You can also look forward to examples of what to do (and what not to do), and what the conversation should really sound like, when choosing a venue partner. As we dive headﬁrst into the last quarter this year, the momentum from us at Human Resources remains strong, with a host of new events planned for you, and content in line with the areas that are most relevant to you. Enjoy the issue.

Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Makeup & Hair: Michmakeover using Make Up For Ever & hair using Sebastian Professional – www.michmakeover.com

HumanResources

Aditi Sharma Kalra Regional editor August 2015 « Human Resources «

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THE FIVE MOST DIFFICULT JOBS TO FILL IN SINGAPORE

DON’T WANT TO BE A BAD BOSS? LOOK WHERE YOU SIT It’s commonly known that middle managers are prone to mirroring their rapport with senior bosses when they interact with their subordinates. But did you know they are more likely to copy their senior bosses if they sit near them? Research from Erasmus University and Cambridge University found that middle managers will mirror top management’s bad behaviours, regardless of how ethical they are outside of the office. But this is only the case if they sit near a mean boss. On the other hand, sitting further away from bad bosses makes managers behave more fairly with junior members of staff. Researchers undertook five studies gathering data from a total of 400 business students and professionals. They found middle managers who are unfairly treated ted by their bosses will treat their employees fairer if, for example, they are based in different offices or buildings from their ocial distance is high. “We demonstrate that higher level managers, and the social management unfairness ess is passed down from high to middle management, but only if the spatial and social distance is low,” said Dr Gijs van Houwelingen, co-author of the study.

Accounting and finance roles are the most difficult to fill in Singapore this year. That was the key finding of ManpowerGroup Singapore’s latest survey, which polled 41,700 hiring managers across 42 countries. The report found sales representatives ranked second in the list of roles that are most difficult to fill. They were followed by engineers, and secretaries (including receptionists and administrative assistants). Marketing, public relations and communications specialists rounded up the top five types of talent that are most difficult to find in Singapore. Linda Teo, ManpowerGroup Singapore’s country manager, said that of the 234 respondents in Singapore, 40% of them say they find it hard to fill these positions. The percentage was slightly higher than the global average of 38%. “At the same time, employers don’t seem to show urgency to put into place strategies not just to tackle the talent shortage, but to find individuals to meet business needs.” More than half of Singapore employers said talent shortages had a high impact on client relations, significantly higher than the Asia Pacific average of 23%.

SINGAPORE NOW EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE FOR EXPATS Singapore is now the 19th most expensive location for expatriates globally. According to ECA International’s latest study, the city-island jumped by 12 places, beating cities New York and Copenhagen. The study compared a basket of like-for-like consumer goods and services commonly purchased by expatriate assignees in more than 440 locations worldwide. South Sudan’s Juba led the list as the most expensive city for expatriates worldwide, followed by Luanda in Angola and Zurich in Switzerland. The ranking attributed Singapore’s rise in the global rankings y mainlyy to a strongg currency. “Although, like many currencies, the Singapore dollar hhas weakened against the US dollar between annual surveys, it strength strengthened against a number of other major currencies,” said Lee Quane, reg regional director of Asia for ECA International. “Assignees having been relo relocated from one of these locations into Singapore are likely to require a higher cost of living allowance in order to maintain their spending pow power.” Within the Asia Pacific region, however, Singap Singapore maintained its ninth place in the rankings. Shanghai wa was listed as Asia Pacific’s most expensive location for expatriates ex for thee first time, fo follo followed llo by Seoul, Beijin Beijing ng and Hong Kong res es respectively.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FIRE A MILLENNIAL? Did you recently let go of a Millennial employee? Get ready to hear negative comments on social media networks, review sites and within your industry. That is according to a new study by CareerArc, which polledd more than 1,300 job seekers and 218 HR and talent acquisition professionals across industries. Among those whom were once laid-off or terminated, Millennials were slightly more inclined than Baby Boomers to both hold and share negative opinions about their former employers. More than half (58%) of Millennials reported their perceptions of their previous employers’ brands were negatively impacted from the separation event – higher than the percentage of Baby Boomers who stated the same (52%). This was despite the fact the number of Baby Boomers (64%) who had been laid off or terminated once in their careers was 2.5 times higher than the number of Millennials (26%). Furthermore, 73% of Millennials who reported being negatively impacted by the termination or layoff shared their negative views on social media, review sites, and with personal and professional networks. This percentage was again higher when compared with 70% of Baby Boomers.

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» Human Resources » August 2015

SINGAPORE EMPLOYEES EMPLLOYEES OPEN TO HEARING RING FROM A HEADHUNTER UNTER R Despite 65% of Singapore’s workforce being passiv passive in their job hunt, more thann four in every five employees are open to hearingg abo about out a possible new job from recruiters. Employees in India (45%) and Malaysia (36%) top Asia Pacific in actively exploring new job opportunities, with Singapore coming in third at 35%. According to a new 2015 Talent Trends study, close to half of those in Singapore actively in pursuit of a new job are currently satisfied in their jobs, compared with a 76% satisfaction rate among passive candidates. So what does this mean for hiring managers? The top finding is that social professionals networks, such as LinkedIn, would be the best bet to nab these candidates, as they are used by 63% of Singaporeans, the highest percentage in APAC. Malaysia came in second at 59%, followed by India at 57%. Indonesia ranked fourth at 56%. The survey added that online job boards were the second most popular channel (60%) that local talent rely on to find new job opportunities. More than half (55%) of Singapore professionals also stated they relied on word-of-mouth for information regarding new positions.

ARE THESE REASO REASONS ACCEPTABLE FOR EMPLOYEES ACC CALLING IN SICK? About a quarter of employees have “pulled a sickie” in the past two years. While some of the reasons are just ridiculous, one reason for taking sick leave bosses ﬁnd acceptable is a staff member with family responsibilities. According to a report by Cezanne HR, the top two reasons why bosses ﬁnd pulling a sickie acceptable are related to family responsibilities. Coming in on top with 64% is “sick children”, while in second place with 48% is “family reasons”. Seemingly, it is more acceptable for employees with family responsibilities to call in sick because managers and colleagues tend to sympathise with them more. Surprisingly, rounding up the top three is “to attend an interview” with 16%. The study also found that of the 500 people polled, women were slightly more likely to use an illness as an excuse for not turning up at work (64% versus 62%). However, men confessed to doing it more often. It was also revealed the younger generation is more likely to call in sick. While 46% of those aged between 18-24 said they had pulled a sickie, only 19% of the 45-54 said the same.

COMPANIES LACK SOLID EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT POLICY Despite reports of a drop in employee engagement levels, a majority of companies still do not have a solid employee engagement policy in place. Research from WeSpire found only 27% of ﬁrms had an ofﬁcial employee engagement policy. This was despite the fact that 76% of employees under the age of 30 want to see their employer do more around employee engagement. Polling 400 respondents in total, the report highlighted a possible reason for this uncertainty around staff engagement policies was an inherent inconsistency when it came to taking ownership of engagement initiatives. Survey respondents cited three different functions that were in charge of employee engagement: human resources (31%), employees (28%) and management (25%). “Employee engagement and corporate culture have become top-level business priorities for senior management, as there is no arguing that an engaged workforce is a higher performing one. But the disconnect between intent and execution is widespread,” said Susan Hunt Stevens, founder and CEO at WeSpire. “Many organisations don’t know how to tackle the problem of engagement, and are often unaware of how technology and internal advocates can champion the effort.”

JOB VACANCIES ES IN SINGAPORE CONTINUE TO OUTNUMBER JOB SEEKERS The number of job openings held steady from the previous quarter and continued to outnumber job seekers. That was among the key ﬁndings from a report released by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department, Ministry of Manpower. The report found there were 65,300 00 seasonally adjusted vacancies in March 2015, almost similar to the 65,500 vacancies in the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were 63,700 700 vacancies this quarter on a non-seasonally adjusted vacancies – a 5.2% rise from 60,500 a year ago. These vacancies represented 3.0% % of total manpower demand, unchanged from a year ago, according to MOM. It added these vacancies were available ilable acrosss all skill levels. About half (31,100) of the vacancies es in March 2015 were for professionals, managers,, executives and technicians, followed by clerical, service sales rvice and sa les workers (17,500) and production, transport port operator operators, rs, cleaners and labourers (15,000). With fewer job seekers, the seasonally nally adjustedd ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons ersons edgedd up to 143 openings per 100 seekers in Marchh 2015 from 142 in December 2014.

August 2015 « Human Resources «

WORK LIFE » People GET INTO THE BOSS’S HEAD

Taha Bouqdib President, CEO and co-founder TWG Tea

What inspired you to set this business up? TWG Tea is a story of personal destiny and passionate creativity. Tea always had a very important place in my life, especially growing up in Morocco where tea is a very important component of the social life. Everybody is always welcomed with a cup of tea with mint wherever you go, whether you are family, friends or business partners. We could almost say that tea has always been in my blood! After being in the tea business for more than 20 years, and leading Singapore-based TWG Tea for the past eight, I am proud to have founded one of the fastest growing luxury tea brands in the world. What’s your take on leadership? I believe in a hands-off approach by allowing my team to take up the challenge of being responsible with their day-to-day activities – to have them shine and be creative with their thought processes. I personally feel that if someone did something well, it would be an achievement and if someone failed doing a task, it would be an opportunity to learn. A strong leader stands with his team, not on the sidelines giving out orders. This is how you build a strong team. What’s been your most memorable moment at TWG Tea in the past eight years? Starting out as Asia’s first luxury tea brand. Setting up headquarters in Singapore was an important move, as it is not a tea-producing country. This made it the perfect neutral base to do business with plantations across Asia. Strategically, we are also geographically closer to our sources, allowing us to receive the teas faster and in better condition compared to European or American teahouses. Founded in 2008 as a luxury concept, launching TWG Tea has been an amazing experience. We have expanded ourselves internationally and are now available in London, New York, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Thailand and more. TWG Tea continues to strive to be the leading 6

» Human Resources » August 2015

purveyor of exquisite teas in Singapore and around the world, and I am proud of our achievements thus far. What challenge did you face in setting things up here? Since everyone in Asia is born with a proverbial cup of tea, we knew that it would be challenging to create a new luxury tea brand here and, more importantly, get Asians to embrace it as their own. The only way we were going to achieve that was by offering the very finest quality teas available – rare harvests, exquisite varieties and exclusive blends. The rapid expansion of TWG Tea in the region is, for us, proof we have succeeded in doing just that. What gets you back in the groove after a tough day at work? My favourite way to de-stress is to spend time with my wife and son, watching a movie, cooking, or going on a holiday. Delving into antique shops and wandering flea markets around the world allows me time for myself to collect my thoughts. However, I also take solace in my tea tasting room where I can experiment with different tea blends. When it comes to your staff, how do you motivate them? It is necessary to recognise your staff’s achievements, what they have done and are doing to add to the success of the company, and to reward them so they are motivated to keep up the good work. I also believe that spending time with family and having a work-life balance is key for positive morale and the success of the company. We encourage our staff to take time off especially after they have worked long hours.

Where does the HR function stand at TWG Tea? I am very strict about the company’s know-how and product quality, but in terms of human resources, I am quite flexible, allowing team members to thrive in what they do best. I believe the company will benefit from letting employees find their own place in what they do best rather than forcing them into a position that does not suit them. The secret is that people work best at what they love. With that in mind, how can the HR function add more value to the business? One of the most important aspects of our HR strategy is the training and flexibility offered to our employees. Good training is the key to a long and successful career and it is important that our staff fully understand and enjoy our products to be able to pass this excitement on to our clientele. We also believe that people are best at what they love, and we encourage internal moves for them to discover different aspects of the company. Do you believe HR leaders can come up to the C-suite level? The talent crunch has indeed become more acute, and it is always good to train people to operate outside of their comfort zones. Anyone with the right attitude and gumption can leverage their personal experience and understanding of healthy business practices to drive positive change within an organisation. You’ve been in this industry for two decades now. What do you love about it? I love the tea business because I don’t feel like I am working; it is my hobby and my passion. All those years in the tea industry and I don’t see it as work. Tea is a lifestyle.

People WORK LIFE »

SpacialAwareness PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS: CTRLSHIFT’S OFFICE IN SINGAPORE

Innovation and interactivity were the parts of the company culture CtrlShift emphasised on when designing its new office in Singapore. Innovation – which is gleaned from close interactions and the sharing and mixing of ideas – is at the top of its agenda, according to Mohan Mahapatra, head of people and culture at CtrlShift. “As a high-growth company, the kernel of our success is our ability to think out of the box and come up with new ideas,” he said. “We operate in a fast moving industry of programmatic marketing where only sharp-witted innovators thrive. Laggards are not rewarded in this game.” Hence, when planning the design of the office space, be it collaborating with others in a virtual space through laptops or in a physical space, CtrlShift wanted a 100% collaborative environment. “We are avid users of collaboration tools – offline and online – and we want to translate that into our work environment.” He feels that having an engaging office space helps improve productivity in two fundamental ways. First, as having fun is the key to great results and also one of the company’s core values, the company took great care to ensure its new office space was conducive for work and play. “We spend a significant part of our waking hours working. This is why we take great care in making sure that our offices are conducive for work as well as for play. Making it easy and welcoming to have a laugh at work and enjoying and relishing the company of our colleagues are fundamental enablers of success.”

» Human Resources » August 2015

Second, he believes that “great thinking and great ideas seldom happen while you are staring at your computer screen, inundated by e-mails and messages”. Instead, it occurs in the most unexpected situations, such as in casual conversations with peers from different departments. “An office space that encourages cross-department interactivity could bring valued perspectives to the table and encourage more eureka moments. “This is why we have designed a workplace where people can easily gather to share, play and create.” A piece of advice he has for companies planning on refurbishing their office is: “You can compromise on many things, but don’t compromise on your employee’s wellbeing.” He explains that attention to seemingly insignificant details such as the right lighting, colours and smells, which can affect the visual and olfactory senses, sometimes make a world of difference on how an employee feels. “We are human after all and it is critical that we make the working environment as pleasant as possible.” When it comes to motivating staff, do not belittle the small perks as they can go a long way. “Whether it is fresh flowers in the common room or a monthly birthday cake, these are small tokens of appreciation that will not go unnoticed by them – it helps put them in the right frame of mind, which is one of the most important things we want to achieve.”

HR by numbers « WORK LIFE

Longer hours, more stress

1 in 5

staff are spending three or more days on administrative tasks.

Though staff in the APAC region may clock in some of the longest working hours, it seems a lot of it may be time wasted on administrative tasks. Nine in 10 managers said they were spending time out of their core job roles doing tasks such as providing status updates, filling out forms and updating spreadsheets. Such tasks take them two days every week, on average.

Half

of managers admitted they lacked the time for more strategic initiatives.

80%

attributed their lack of time to the “inefficient” manual tools used on administrative tasks such as emails, phone calls and personal visits.

57%

of respondents have to deal with four or more departments for the onboarding of new staff.

Source: ServiceNow “Today’s State of Work: The Productivity Drain” August 2015 « Human Resources «

People WORK LIFE »

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

Shelley Perkins VP of human resources for Asia Pacific FRHI Hotels & Resorts YOU’VE SPENT MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY. WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS LINE? I love hotels, I love the fact there are so many memories created in hotels and we get to share those special moments with the guest. WAS IT A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO JOIN THE HR SECTOR? Originally, I was on the general manager’s track within the rooms division. The birth of my twins prompted me to seek a role within the industry that would be a little less demanding on my time than general management, and which allowed me to work during regular hours. Hence, I decided to move over to human resources through the training department.

planned events, and many unplanned so the team needs to be ready to anticipate anything. In human resources, we typically take care of the day to day items related to colleagues which can range from onboarding, training and development, counselling, planning and strategy. HOW DO YOU THINK HR WILL EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? I believe the use of data will continue to add credibility to decision making. The role of HR will also continue to optimise the performance of the organisation. Additionally, I believe employee and manager self-service will take root internationally with efficiency that comes with that. BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE IN HR, WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ENABLE HR TO CONTRIBUTE BETTER TO THE BUSINESS? HR professionals must know the business. We must speak in a language our customers understand. WHICH HR FUNCTION DO YOU LIKE BEST AND WHY? I enjoy talent acquisition – understanding that placing the right person in the right role can be life-changing.

WHAT IS THE NUMBER ONE HR ISSUE YOU’RE GRAPPLING WITH? Having settled our organisation into the tri-brand structure, we are working to ensure our worldwide initiatives through our three brands take root.

WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED? That was to conduct myself at the level above where I was.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE A REGULAR WORKDAY AT YOUR COMPANY? It all depends on the department. Hotel operations run 24/7 with many

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? I enjoy changing people’s lives, knowing a great work life is valuable.

THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ANNA TAN, WENTWORTH PEOPLE, ASIA

THE PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS Feeling stressed, burdened, got too much to do, or the boss/colleagues/family are making demands when you’re trying your best, but they don’t appreciate your efforts? Do you feel tired, that you have no choice, but to work 10-plus hour days? Does your world sometimes feel like just hard work and no fun? Our world of work is filled with deadlines. We find ourselves multi-tasking and dealing with competing priorities simultaneously. Juggling our work has become an art form … but has often led us to experience high levels of stress and anxiety. I’m glad to see the growing interest and commitment in the corporate sector to support and increase employee health and wellbeing through the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness is not a new concept. It is in fact one of the oldest practices which can include meditation and being present to “the now”. I consciously practise “being present” and find that this keeps me positive and generally happy and optimistic with and in life. It was through a combination of studying and lessons from NLP (neuro linguistic programming), and reading Eckhart Tolle ( The Power of Now) that changed my view of the world and started a journey of self-development. The main three lessons I learnt were: Reality in itself is neutral. We create our experiences through our interpretation of reality, which in turn, drives our thinking, our feelings and our actions. The future has yet to happen, and you can’t change the past. Plan for the future – but live in the moment! Many of the negative things we create in our minds stem from fear and most actually never happen.

Life is a journey – enjoy the experiences that life offers rather than becoming obsessed by the “end goal” or what everyone else thinks.

So if you find that you are struggling or feeling overwhelmed by life, your work and family, try one or more of my top tips to ground yourself and bring some “breathing space” back into your life, and rediscover the joy of simply “being”. “In today’s rush we all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of just being” – Eckhart Tolle. 1. START THE DAY WITH YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD A. Wake up 10 minutes early each morning and slowly wake up and connect with your breath while still in bed. B. During your morning preparation for work, find a minute to pause and look out the window to greet the day, and declare it is a beautiful day – irrelevant of the weather – and smile. C. Create the intention you want for the day for yourself. A simple statement such as “Today I will be more focused, be open to new ideas and friendly”. Have different intentions each day and see what happens when you consciously choose how you wish to “be” for the day. 2. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS A. Enjoy your day deliberately – find something positive in the things that you and others do. B. When feeling stressed, stop and breath, look up at the sky to shift your focus, and count three blessings in your life. C. Be grateful, say thank you and take the time to smile and make eye contact with the other person.

3. STEP OUTSIDE YOUR THOUGHTS AND NOTICE YOUR SURROUNDINGS A. Enjoy nature, look up at the sky, beyond the buildings and notice the trees, the sound of birds, the breeze, etc. B. Take three deep breaths and enjoy the moment. 4. LOOKING WITHIN AND LOVING YOURSELF A. Look and notice your physical body. Look and marvel at your body – hands, arms, legs, face. Accept and be grateful of life. B. Feel your breath – find calmness. C. Feel the wind on your skin, the ground beneath your feet. 5. ENGAGING OTHERS WITH INCREASED EQ A. Pay full attention to those around you – without judgment. B. Take a step back, and listen to their words and watch their body language, sense their emotions and set aside any judgments. C. See each other as fellow human beings and have compassion and accept differences. 6. EFFECTIVE OUTCOMES A. Stop for a moment before you enter a meeting or business conversation to focus and create the outcome you want – by setting the intention, you are more likely to achieve what you need instead of operating on auto-pilot. 7. UNWIND A. Before you go to sleep, spend 30 minutes unwinding by listening to some calming music or meditate. There are many free apps available that will take you on a guided meditation exercise. B. If you have busy thoughts on your mind, write them down so you can leave them to the next day. C. Be compassionate to yourself and others for not being perfect – it’s OK.

“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realise there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” – Lao Tzu Call Wentworth for tailored workshops with your staff to help them discover mindfulness and create a better emotional balance in their lives.

This article was contributed by Anna Tan, managing director, Wentworth People Asia

Find out more at www.wentworthpeople.com or write to anna.tan@wentworthpeople.com

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26/8/2015 5:49:04 PM

WHITE PAPER » Leadership

THE MOST ATTRACTIVE EMPLOYERS IN THE WORLD Global – It seems like everyone wants to work for the “Big Four” consulting firms – KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – this year. All four firms ranked within the top 10 positions in Universum’s new rankings of the world’s most attractive employers (WMAE) in 2015. Polling more than 240,000 business and engineering/IT students, and second only to Google, PwC was ranked as one of the most attractive companies in the world to work for this year according to the business students. EY stood at third place while Goldman Sachs, KPMG and Deloitte rounded up the top six spots respectively. “Millennials’ greatest fear is to be stuck without the opportunity for professional growth and development. Professional services firms like PwC and EY continue to pull the highest rankings in this regard; other industries should benchmark how this sector nurtures employees through training and mentoring,” the report stated. It added that because Millennials want to learn about employees who embody organisations’ values and communicate authentic stories about their working life, it is essential for firms to master the art of storytelling to become attractive employers. 12 » Human Resources » August 2015

The world’s most attractive employers in 2015 Rank

Business

Engineering/IT

Google

PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

Microsoft

EY (Ernst & Young)

Apple

Goldman Sachs

BMW Group

KPMG

Source: Universum’s World’s Most Attractive Employers Rankings 2015

“The big four accounting firms do really well across the world because people are their strongest asset, and they know it. The Big Four really look after their people well, but, above all, they communicate their employee value proposition early and honestly, so incoming talent knows exactly what they can expect,” said Joakim Ström, managing director APAC at Universum. He expanded that the big four’s popularity could also be attributed to the fact they offer some of the best training and development opportunities available across any industry. The engineering/IT students, however, had slightly different preferences when it came to their

most desired employers. While Google remained in first place, tech firms such as Microsoft and Apple were ranked in second and third place respectively. Rounding up the top five were BMW Group and GE respectively. “The 2015 WMAE confirms that Millennials will go to work for companies whose stories they can tell, whose values they can espouse and whose businesses they can learn,” said Petter Nylander, CEO of Universum. “Students are seeking platforms for their own performance and growth. And they told us which companies are accomplishing this.”

Leadership « WHITE PAPER

WHICH COUNTRY TAKES THE LONGEST TO HIRE CANDIDATES? Global – Sifting through more than 4,250 interview reviews in six countries, Glassdoor’s new report found an increase of 3.3-3.7 days in the average time an interview process takes since 2009. It highlighted the average overall job interview process takes 22.9 days in the US. However, jobs in France, Germany and the United Kingdom each take on average four to nine days longer than in the US and Canada to close. The report noted striking upward trends in time required for job interview processes in recent years. Various factors attributed to the rise, including the fact that candidates today are generally facing more “job screening” methods than in the past. “One interview method that has grown sharply in the US is candidate background checks. The percentage of job seekers reporting background checks has grown from 25% in 2010 to 42% in 2014,” the report stated. Interview methods identified as growing recently included skills tests (16% in 2010 to 23% in 2014), and personality tests (12% in 2010 to 18% in 2014).

Another factor that plays an integral role in determining time taken to hire candidates are job titles. In general, the more complex the job, the more intense screening of applicants it requires. Job titles with the longest interview processes were found to be typically government, academic, or senior executive positions. Police officers faced the longest average interview duration (127.6 days), followed by patent examiners (87.6 days). On the flip side, the shortest job interview processes belonged to more routine, lower-skill job titles. This included entry level marketing jobs (3.9 days), followed by entry level sales (5.4 days), servers and bartenders (5.7 days). However, personal characteristics of job seekers – including gender, age and highest level of education – had zero statistical effect on interview lengths. “All of the recent growth in hiring processes appears to be driven entirely by economy wide shifts in the composition of employers, job titles, hiring industries, and company HR policies,” the report stated.

SINGAPORE IS THIRD IN THE WORLD FOR HIRING MORE WOMEN Global - Technology firms in Singapore have upped their efforts in hiring more female workers. A survey by Robert Half found Singapore seeing the third biggest increase in women in technology roles worldwide. The survey polled 901 CTOs/ CIOs across eight countries, and found that 49% of companies in the island nation have hired more women into technology roles in the last five years. The figure was a tad higher than the global average of 44%. The global list was led by Australia, with 65% of firms reporting they have employed more women in technology roles, followed by the United Kingdom at 52%. Hong Kong and France both came in just behind

Singapore at 42%, followed by Germany with 36% - rounding up the top five. On the other hand, Japan came in last and was highlighted as the country where women technology professionals are struggling the most. The biggest gain in female technology professionals in Singapore occurred in mid-sized companies with 150-499 employees. More than six out of 10 (62%) of such firms stated they are increasing the number of women in technology roles. Small (50-149 employees) and large (500 or more employees) companies were also found to have increased their headcount of women in technology roles.

Average length of interview process by country (in days) Canada

22.1

United States

22.9

Australia

27.9

United Kingdom

28.6

Germany

28.8

France

31.9

Source: Glassdoor Economic Research

The report also gave insight into the most useful techniques employed by companies to develop female technology leaders. Almost four out of 10 (38%) of CIOs and CTOs in Singapore believed increasing the number of women enrolled in technology education courses would help the most. Mentoring programmes were also chosen by 26% of respondents as an effective way to develop such leaders, followed closely by government initiatives (22%).

Hiring rate of female technology professionals by country untry All countries

Australia

Singapore

Hong Kong

France ce

Switzerland

Germany

Japan

Increased

44%

65%

52%

49%

42%

48%

36%

31%

Decreased

18%

14%

19%

18%

21%

20%

14%

32%

Stay the same

37%

21%

34%

32%

40%

38%

32%

51%

37%

Source: Robert Half survey August 2015 « Human Resources « 13

PROFILE » Nora Abd Manaf

Nora Abd Manaf Group chief human capital officer Maybank Banking on a new way of working

By ADITI SHARMA KALRA

Q What got you started in HR?

Illustration: Kimberly Ong - kimberlamb.com (hello@kimberlamb.com)

I would be lying to you if I said it was passion from the beginning, or that it was planned – because it wasn’t. I qualified as a chartered accountant, and soon started working with Intel. But I suppose I was always more right-brained than left-brained. I got into HR thanks to an offer by the deputy chairman of one of our client companies for an HR role, requiring localisation of workforce. That opportunity presented itself because I was in a job that I was blessed to be in, thanks to the postAsian economic crisis in 1998, where the demand for corporate training took off. That was my entry into corporate consulting. I did some soul searching, and the right-brain in me made the job proposition sound very interesting. For the longest time, HR had this not-so-attractive reputation and I was guilty of that as well. So I wanted to change my own impression.

Q So it was a personal motivator? Yes and that is reflected in what I do. I speak at a lot of conferences, not to promote myself, but to confront issues the HR community faces. We can’t demand how people look at us just by changing our names from personnel and admin, to human resources to human capital. How people perceive us is a result of how we behave and what we bring to the table.

Q You have always been part of this industry, even before joining Maybank in 2008. What is the charm it holds? The entry into this industry was also 14 » Human Resources » August 2015

not by design, but more about where I was in my life at the time. I was in telecommunications then and enjoying it. I was supporting the company in various joint ventures, learning like crazy, and having frank, and tough conversations with the CEO. But we go through different stages of life. At that time, an offer from the BFSI sector, along with a package that would have helped me when I was just starting a family, getting a new house, was something that pulled me away. Not very noble, but those were my priorities then, but I stayed in Standard Chartered Group for nine-and-a-half years, which says a lot about what the organisation offered me in terms of development and growth, and I suppose what I contributed back as well.

Q I am glad you say we can put our personal aspirations forward as much as our professional ones. Maybank had a transformation mandate underway when you joined, driven by business expansion. What were the first 100 days like? I got a call from the CEO telling me how the expansion was about carving a name as a leading institution in the region, besides just being a country champion. The transformation programme was launched a few months before I joined. He said he needed to attract the right people to drive it, but because we were not very attractive as an employer back then, it was a catch 22 situation. So the first 100 days were pretty scary because everything was banking

VITAL STATS Nora Abd Manaf has led Maybank’s people transformation programme since 2009, and is responsible for the human capital centre of expertise which develops and implements group policies. Before joining Maybank, she was with Standard Chartered Group for more than nine years. She has worked with several MNCs and large local organisations across sectors, including at Maxis and Intel.

on us, the Executive Committee (ExCo) members, to lead the transformation. But that was also good because we attracted others who engaged with us on values rather than the brand. My challenge was in getting the right leaders on board so they could then pull the right people in. I went into this organisation thinking I knew it all from an MNC standpoint, but it really is tougher because Maybank started from scratch, taking on the financial giants who had been operating in Malaysia for 100 years before us. When I spoke to Maybankers in 2009, I used a football analogy – we were champions of the Football Association of Malaysia league, and now we wanted to play the Premier League, so we had to do some things differently. We had some great players, some that would not make it, and we had to import some players. We knew that for things to move at the early stage, we ExCo members needed to drive things ourselves, starting with communication in the remotest branches where no other management team member had been before. That’s why we chose humanisation as our mission. We felt like we were making a difference to the people in the remotest branches, to make them believe we could play in the EPL. In that sense, for me it became more than a job, it was a calling.

Q Where do you stand today on your number one human capital challenge? I feel like most of us in the HR fraternity have not yet got our head around the big changes in the environment. For example,

PROFILE » Nora Abd Manaf

I questioned my team about the last time we approached training differently. If you Google how credit decisions are made, you’ll get plenty of information immediately, much of which is the syllabus for a basic 101 class. Courseware hasn’t changed much to reflect this fact. Those are the kind of things I’m grappling with. I hate it when people look at HR as a back end function. Organisations with great strategies won’t be able to execute them without the people, so why would people come last? I want HR teams to look at every aspect of what we do and understand how to leapfrog to leave the competitors behind. Another example is in recruitment and sourcing, where I visualise we are going to be using people based predominantly on skills. So job titles will be very different. Think how consulting firms pull teams together to deliver on an outcome from a people database based on their skills and experiences. The one word that describes the current environment is hyperconnectivity. When people are hyperconnected, you can’t box them in. If things have changed and we have not started thinking about how to get around this, we are not doing the organisation justice. 16 » Human Resources » August 2015

Besides this one big issue, I also face the challenge of productivity like many others. But, quoting Einstein, how can we expect different results when we are doing the same things over and over again? The good thing is we have invested in the selection of our ExCo members. Every organisation needs a core team that not just works well together, but is made up of like-minded experts who are open to trying new things, and trust each other to do that. Last year, for example, we were one of the few organisations that have done away with performance ratings. When I presented this idea to the ExCo, the CEO said: “I don’t understand fully, but let’s do it, I trust you.” I told them, even as far back as when I first joined HR, people have been talking about the issues in performance management, central tendency or ratings, and not about having good conversations. When it comes to ratings, very few, if any, are trying anything different. So I showed them three organisations that have done away with ratings and moved purely into conversations. I told them, we will be trying something different, which will require us to delve into how agile we are in learning. To be confident yet humble to admit if any part doesn’t work and quickly enhance it. We don’t have full consistency and the perfect culture yet, but we have data to show our accelerated progress, and more importantly, enough mass in the workforce now who can walk the talk. This is the second year of the norating policy and we’re still learning, but we don’t label people anymore, we assess and provide feedback. If you give people a rating and label them, that is the start of all evil. Because then everybody fanatically wants to defend a particular number. What should go into the database is the narrative about the performance. To support this, the system disallows the manager to proceed to the next field if the comments sections are left blank. It will keep prompting them to put in important messages about the person’s performance. This initiative was a calculated risk we took in a time when people want perfection and answers. It takes an authentic team to say: “We don’t know everything, but if we find something that is not working well, we’ll change it immediately.” All along we were, and are, tracking the change initiative, we are a bank after all! Tracking is a discipline in Maybank now, especially during the transformation,

you have to track and be able to defend, inspire and communicate traction.

Q How did you show value on this new way of measuring performance? We had validations from people who turned around after being branded as non-performers, following their managers having a real performance conversation with them. In the second year, we have ironed out some kinks from a process perspective, but now the focus is on cracking the nut on its link with rewards. For an organisation with 47,000 people, it’s tough, compared to the earlier organisations that have attempted this.

Q How big is your HR team to help support such a large workforce? We are a very productive team especially from an Asian standpoint, with a ratio of 1:150 for each employee, while Asia’s average is about 1:60. So we are lean in that sense. The group team sits in Kuala Lumpur, while country HR heads double up as industrial relations and local law experts. We also set up an HR shared service centre in 2009, but we are getting quite a reputation for it being more than that. Because shared service centres typically are like BPOs in terms of the employee churn and how low they can bring down those costs. But for us, the centre in KL is built on humanising the customer (staff) experience, together with speed and low cost.

Q You’re at a stage where Maybank is one of the most coveted employers in Malaysia as well as the rest of ASEAN. How do you ensure your brand promise remains authentic in really providing what employees expect before joining? Humanisation is not just a word, but we really have to act it. You can’t tell people to do unto others when things are not done unto them. We have a number of pillars of humanising from a staff’s standpoint. We pride ourselves on authenticity. Not for a minute do we say we are consistently perfect on all points as an employer, but we say you can check if we are really acting on these five pillars at any time. Respect is the first one. If at any point of time anyone feels disrespected, it’s not what we intend, so they must make a noise about it – that’s what I tell them during induction. Within that pillar, we define what respect means to us, by giving

Nora Abd Manaf « PROFILE trackers of what we do to make sure they are being respected. An example of the tracker is an email address we’ve set up which goes direct to my team member managing employee engagement. No one else has access to it and there will be no repercussions for people to be afraid. Another pillar talks about fairness and transparency. We show, for example, how many applications we have received for internal job ads, and we actually have a target of filling eight out of every 10 vacancies internally rather than externally. When we make that commitment, we open ourselves to being audited again. We spend more than 100 million ringgit every year to train employees to show that we mean what we say. For any other aspect as well, I’ll have the data to show what we are doing. We are not perfect, but we know where we are going and many organisations cannot give you that.

the intended outcome is and they can influence it. That’s my calling every time when I speak to a candidate: “Now that you’re clear in terms of what we want to be, you know where we stand, come join us.” More often than not, they love it.

Q How do you see your role evolving

in the next one year? What will your job description look like? There are many fancy titles out there right now, some of which are very progressive. Like me, they are trying to figure out that something needs to change in the world of HR. Because the landscape has changed and most of us are just living on borrowed time. For me in HR, everything else pales in comparison to resourcing – so maybe we will become chief resourcing officers! When I say resourcing it’s all encompassing, putting people in the right role and knowing how to do that in a connected world where long-term maybe just a month. Q So everything you do for employees Maybe it could be about across functions, translates into understanding and bridging expectations these pillars? across the organisation, because there is fastjobs-v2.ai 1 09/07/2015 4:33:13 PM Yes, and we make sure they know what disconnect right now in terms of what is

Part-time Temporary

Contract Non-executive

needed and what HR leaders are doing – so maybe, chief bridging officer? We have to also understand what people governance is going to look like in the future. I am one of those who does not switch off, I work 24/7. When I first graduated, my lecturers told me to leave my personal stuff behind when I enter the office. Today, that notion is ridiculous. Because if you’re a mother, you don’t have a switch which says you are no more a mum when you enter the office. This is even more prevalent now because you have to stay connected. We need to think many things through. An example is - what really are the working hours of today and the future? If a manager can expect, and encroach in a staff’s nine to five, which is 9pm to 5am, to respond to work needs, why is it that family crises cannot encroach into 9am to 5pm? So my team is working on this – how we will govern in the future. People will baulk and say this is going to be very disruptive, but disruption is now the norm. Before all of us are out of a job, doing everything that nobody wants, think of the next two to three steps you need to do.

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August 2015 « Human Resources « 17

An environment conducive to learning is a critical aspect of starting a training session off on the right foot. Akankasha Dewan identiﬁes the elements HR leaders need to master to choose the right training venue.

n the early years of L&D, training sessions were stodgy affairs with limited options in location and capability. Today, ample innovation has been done in the depth and variety of learning, but it is the choice of venues that has made a big impact. “If you ask anybody in the learning profession, you will know our emphasis is very much on learning effectively,” says John Augustine Ong, Singapore learning lead at ANZ. “The environment of the training venues plays a very important role in helping put the learners’ in an optimal state of mind, so that optimal absorption of knowledge and transfer of skills can take place.” Susan Chen, director of HR for APAC at Visa Worldwide, adds: “People do want to feel this learning is something they want to be focused 18 » Human Resources » August 2015

on, and not be distracted by daily deliverables and answering their emails,” she says.

Deciding on the features required “The features of the room have to match the learning (requirements). Do the training facilitators need space for activities, do they need breakout areas – or is it just a short gettogether to download information?” Ong says. When it comes to leadership development, or skills transfer training, he selects areas that are brightly lit and rooms with open windows and natural scenery, amid a bright colour scheme. “Next, the seating arrangements and technical equipment such as sound systems also play an important part in producing a conducive environment,” he says. “Th is is why we make the effort to go down

Training Venues Guide « FEATURE and have a recce session beforehand so that we can put ourselves in both the learners’ and facilitator’s shoes. You have to play out the whole learning scenario in mind,” Ong adds. Chen recounts an example of what happens when such elements are not taken into consideration: “I remember about four years ago, I had brought regional heads for training to a venue which was right next to a kitchen. The whole time we were talking, we heard loud noises from the kitchen,” she says.

Partnering with training venue providers Echoing Chen, Ong says that establishing a good partnership with training venue providers can enhance the overall customer experience. “More often than not, if fi rms approach the training venue providers for a long-term contractual relationship, they are more than willing to support those fi rms, in fulfi lling ad hoc requests, or additional services,” he says. Chen adds that along with companies approaching training venue vendors with the right attitude, the providers themselves should be asking the right questions. “The conversation should be much more

oriented around the outcome of the session, rather than the practical ability,” she says. “It should go beyond the L&D leader saying we need space for 25 people, for instance. The conversation should start with both sides discussing what the optimal shape of the room should look like, instead of the training vendor selling the only room he or she has left.” She reveals, however, that in her company, it is not necessarily herself or a senior HR member who makes such excursions to the venue – but often someone from the administrative or operational services department. But she mandates to that person a clear understanding of what is required from the training venue. Her warning is justified, because one study by Cornell University identified that “operations management and HR management have historically been very separate fields”. That is precisely why HR leaders should play a more active role in deciding which type of training venue to go with, according to Ong. One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is choosing the cheapest option – purely because it is the easy way out. “If you haven’t done your homework, that can be a recipe for disaster.”

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August 2015 « Human Resources « 19

FEATURE » Training Venues Guide

CHANGI COVE W: www.changicove.com E: enquiry@changicove.com Changi Cove, a hotel and conference centre, is Singapore’s fi rst conference centre with meeting spaces themed for various off-site meeting agendas such

GRAND COPTHORNE WATERFRONT HOTEL W: www.grandcopthorne.com.sg E: Enquiry.GCW@millenniumhotels.com With 65,000 square feet of function space, 32 meeting rooms with modern amenities and meeting aids, including wireless broadband internet access and motorised screens, the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel goes all out to build a training environment. “We have 34 versatile meeting rooms with different sizes and characteristics, and 32 of them are with natural daylight. In addition, we are also located along the historic Singapore River and the central business district,” explains Malcolm Hew, director of catering at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. 20 » Human Resources » August 2015

as management planning, leadership training, sales meeting, product updates and team-building retreats. At Changi Cove, organisers can fi nd spaces that are purposefully designed and creatively aligned to meeting their needs. Chew Teeyen, executive assistant manager of Changi Cove, says “the idea is to ensure our meeting spaces are well designed to drive maximum

productivity for meetings and training. Too often, we have been in meetings which adapt to the spatial requirements rather than the other way around. “At Changi Cove, we want to make our spaces relevant and yet flexible at the same time.” The three-storey conference centre at Changi Cove encompasses nine meeting rooms and an auditorium with a distinct design intent. The spaces created for casual and creative discussions such as brainstorming and team-building are fitted out with beanbags, bar stools, roller tables and writable walls – a feature that is unique to Changi Cove. Located at the far eastern side of Singapore and surrounded by lush greenery, Changi Cove offers the best of both worlds to companies. Participants are redirected from the business end of the city to a tranquil and refreshing environment for recharging, without having to compromise on modern and creative meeting facilities.

He adds, however, the needs of clients have changed in recent years – with most becoming more discerning and having higher expectations from their optimal training venue. For example, he explains because training sessions are becoming more interactive, clients require a more versatile set-up (lighting, setting, floral arrangement) and different types of meeting rooms (catering to a group size of 10 to 600) to facilitate sessions. In addition, clients expect the

events executive to accommodate their last-minute requests, provide valueadded perks and to serve them with a personal touch. “For clients wishing to have a successful experience at our hotels, we would advise them to avoid planning at the last minute. They should also provide the event organiser/executive with sufficient information such as agendas for meetings, setting, dietary requirements, billing and special requests,” Hew says.

Training Venues Guide « FEATURE

LIME HOUSE W: www.limehouse.asia E: hello@limehouse.asia Lime House has facilitated unique training experiences for various clients, bringing teams out of their conventional environments to energise and unite them around learning something new. “An example of this was a recent global consumer brand that brought its teams from the US, Europe and Asia together for three days around a repositioning initiative. It was memorable to see how different people, most of whom had not met in person previously, bonded and interacted during their time at Lime House,” recounts Chris Morris, founder of Lime House. Lime House offers a restaurant dining room and outdoor lounge space

as well as additional settings that can be used to break up the monotony of a typical training session. Morris explains the modular nature of the location, whereby the room configuration and layout can be quickly and easily converted, allows for flexibility needed by facilitators to keep their groups engaged. The complimentary inclusion of AV equipment also gives trainers what they need to keep things interesting.

“We have found that clients fi nd it quite useful that attendees can ‘break out’ in different parts of our building. Th is helps to facilitate more creative interactions and group-based learning. “Generally speaking, I think that companies should look closely at the actual working environment and how that can be optimised to ensure effective results. For example, at Lime House, we work with our clients to plan out the day as a whole.”

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August 2015 « Human Resources « 21

FEATURE » Training Venues Guide

SINGAPORE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

to the more tech-savvy nature of the younger workforce, training venue providers are seeing an increase in interest for “blended” training methodologies - a combination of e-learning and face-to-face classroom training arrangements. More organisations are also embracing social media tools, however,

he believes in Singapore, many are lacking the knowledge on how to effectively use these tools for learning and development. One of the unique training experiences conducted at SIM was “Lunch in the Dark”, with the outcome being the ability to show empathy and relate more effectively with others. The participants were served lunch by a blind server, where they got to experience communicating, giving instructions, moving around and dining in the dark. They also had the benefit of learning from the blind server who despite her handicap, was able to perform her job with much pride.

The training programmes the Singapore Management University (SMU) Executive Development designs are all aimed to address current and future business challenges. Therefore, the programme delivery location is decided strategically per requirements. “At times, the regional CEOs will suggest certain locations to address specific management challenges,” says Steve Wyatt, executive director of executive development at SMU. “Cross cultural collaborations and understandings are frequently an objective and so we can include immersive in-country experiences

during the in-person modules, as well as virtual team collaborations between modules, as participants work on business challenges.” He adds that being located in the business district of Singapore has significant advantages of convenience. He stresses it is important for chief learning officers not to choose learning venues based solely on the notion that classroom teaching of business cases is sufficient. Instead, he says, “executives need multiple learning contexts and experiences, blended seamlessly together each day. So does the venue of the training partner facilitate this?”

of SNEF, says companies today are looking for “2Ps + 1E” in training venues - a “place” that is convenient and has amenities such as shopping and eating; a “product” in terms of relevant training that is not too long; and an “expert” trainer or facilitator who is not only knowledgeable, but also entertaining and able to translate

concepts into application. Such decisions are mostly taken by HR and L&D leaders, but sometimes by senior management, he points out. SNEF creates a conducive environment through lighting, temperature, learning tools and aids, and the facilitator. However, Yee explains companies must ensure the service level of their training venue caters to specific learners’ needs, for example, an area for lactating mothers, or a place to pray for Muslim learners. “Good tea break items, post-training support and ensuring that learning takes place in the training rooms are also part of this.”

W: www.sim.edu.sg E: receptions@sim.edu.sg The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), founded in 1964, accomplishes its mission of higher education and professional training, through three educational arms, each catering to a specific segment of learners. Vincent Yo, director of operations and service support at SIM Professional Development, observes that owing

SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY W: www.smu.edu.sg E: enquiry@smu.edu.sg

SINGAPORE NATIONAL EMPLOYERS FEDERATION W: www.snef.org.sg E: webmaster@snef.org.sg The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) has a Training Institute comprising the Corporate Training Centre and Executive Development Centre. Stephen Yee, assistant executive director and senior director (training) 22 » Human Resources » August 2015

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FEATURE » Employee Healthcare

With the rising costs of healthcare globally, as well as different needs across employee demographics, firms have to find new ways to cater to wellness while keeping costs down. Jerene Ang speaks to HR experts and finds out why prevention is the new cure when it comes to the wellbeing of the workforce.

eeing as a company’s greatest asset is its people, it only makes sense for organisations to invest in their health and wellbeing. However, with the rising costs of healthcare globally, as well as different needs across employee demographics, fi rms are fi nding new ways to cater to wellness. Towers Watson’s report earlier this year found that healthcare cost trends are more than double the rate of inflation, raising affordability concerns for employers. Rosaline Koo, founder and CEO of CXA, agrees: “Historically, companies offered basic, ‘one-size-for-all’ health plans to employees. But this has changed with Asia’s continuing talent war, worsening employee health, escalating costs and an increasing interest in wellness.” 24 » Human Resources » August 2015

She notes companies are now choosing to invest time in three areas: Ensuring the money spent on benefits drives engagement and retention; launching wellness and disease prevention programmes to combat worsening employee health and rising insurance premiums; and, driving operational efficiency to eliminate paper forms, multiple vendors, staff queries and day-to-day administration. Lim Teng Teng, regional director of HR for SCIEX, adds: “We have observed increasing demand from employees to provide more comprehensive health benefits and coverage.” In line with this, Priyanka Kalra, APAC regional compensation and benefits lead for Cargill, notes: “Employers expect employees to be more engaged in their healthcare buying

Employee Healthcare « FEATURE decisions and lifestyle choices and also adding more co-share options to increase the ownership and share costs.” George Avery, director of people operations and culture at IBM Global Business Services Asia Pacific, fi nds that technology will have a bigger part to play in employee healthcare. “We have wearable technology now and our phones and the devices can now track your heart rate. Th ings can be expanded to be subtle reminders to people to tell them ‘hey, you haven’t gotten up, you haven’t walked around’.” As a result, he says some companies are, in fact, using wellness as a differentiator.

Balancing costs with wellness According to Aon Hewitt’s 2013 report, 85% of employers have a wellness and health improvement strategy today and another 14% of them are considering such a strategy. Avery agrees: “We have a number of wellness activities and exercise programmes on-site.” He gives the example of how a group of IBMers go together to take fitness classes on the fi rst floor at their office on certain weeknights. Agreeing with Avery’s earlier point about fi rms using wellness as a differentiator, Koo says: “Firms in Asia are increasingly aware the health of employees is key to their ongoing success and there are significant costs with not having a healthy and engaged workforce.” Th is might be because 87.2% of staff consider health and wellness offerings when choosing an employer, as shown by a 2013 survey by Virgin HealthMiles and Workforce Management. Lim notes the team at SCIEX strives for a holistic approach, with medical and dental care supplemented with insurance coverage for employees as well as their families. It also seeks to educate them on healthy living through fitness programmes, and encouraging better eating habits by providing healthy lunches. Similarly at IBM, the team wants staff to know they are cared for, and that they should have a balance across areas such as work, being active, family time and personal interests. He adds: “We make sure they have access to knowledge that they need to empower themselves to make sure they know what the right balance across all those is.” Therein lies the challenge of making sure they are aware of managing their workload, as well as ensuring managers are educated to look out for people who are not in the right balance. “I think people are very dedicated to their

work and it is very exciting to them. The things that we do with our clients are very transformative and they are very passionate about it. When you are passionate about something, you spend time on it,” Avery says. Besides the balance of time, another challenge is the cost of implementing employee wellness benefits. Koo observes that Asia, with its rapid growth and war for talent, rapidly ageing population, middle class expansion and early onset of illnesses, has experienced years of double-digit growth in insurance premium costs because of worsening employee health. Kalra agrees, stating the three most pressing challenges fi rms face: “balancing value with rising healthcare costs; managing expectations of different demographics; and catering to diverse employee groups with varied priorities to make sure employees are all well covered”.

Let’s talk about policies Apart from providing a variety of medical benefits, we found most companies have some sort of committee or club to promote wellness. SCIEX, for instance, has a recreation committee consisting of 20 volunteers from various business units, that sets up and executes activities for general health, mental health, and wellness interventions, across the entire year. Cargill has something similar called the workplace health committee to plan health initiatives, with active representation from managers and employees. “Some of the initiatives include creating groups to encourage an active lifestyle and healthy activities. They also arrange health talks, on-site health screenings and such. Employee families are very often encouraged to join these activities,” Kalra says. Adding to that, Avery reveals the IBM club is for staff to “spend time doing non-work related things together like charity”. There are also a number of running events for employees with similar interests to come together. Additionally, IBM has something called wellness month, through which tips are provided on health, parenting and elder care to all Singapore employees, alongside on-site vaccination programmes. With the rising costs of healthcare, initiatives such as wellness clubs or committees may partly be an effort to bring down the cost of traditional healthcare benefits, with prevention rather than the cure, being the focus. August 2015 « Human Resources « 25

FEATURE » Employee Healthcare According to SHRM’s 2015 Employee Benefits Survey, more companies are offering preventive health and wellness benefits. Some perks include wellness resources and information (80%), general wellness programmes (70%), health and lifestyle coaching (46%) and preventive programmes specifically targeting employees with chronic health conditions. Most HR experts we spoke to are on the bandwagon when it comes to preventive healthcare. Lim says: “Prevention is defi nitely better than a cure, as the saying goes. “Many of our physical activities and lunch workshops on mental wellbeing are devised to help prevent the onset of major illnesses, managing emotional health, and educating our employees on healthy living, eating and lifestyle.” Kalra adds: “Initiatives such as on-site health-screenings, joint weight management programmes and such, are to help employees improve their health and wellbeing, as well as to take preventive measures rather than focus on a cure alone.” While most such programmes cover more of the physical health aspects of wellness, it does not just stop there. Wellness is about the mind and the body and many of the HR experts we spoke to feel the same way. With stress levels increasing globally, what are HR professionals doing to counteract this problem? “Ultimately, clients want their employees to be physically and mentally healthy to ensure peak performance and productivity,” Koo says. Kalra agrees, adding: “We have an employee assistance programme which includes an anonymous hotline for employees to reach out if they need help. “At the same time, mental wellbeing/ stress assessments are conducted and talks are arranged throughout the year to help our employees focus on a healthier lifestyle and gauge any issues which need attention.” Avery says IBM has a similar approach. “If someone is feeling stressed or anxious or showing signs of depression, we have a fairly robust employee assistance programme that allows them to talk to qualified professionals about what they’re going through and about the steps they should take in order to address that.” 26 » Human Resources » August 2015

Th is programme allows staff to seek assistance without approval from the company, meaning staff do not have to approach their bosses if they don’t feel comfortable doing so. Avery adds: “Obviously if someone wants to share something with their manager, we take that very seriously. The manager gets engaged very quickly and talks about how we can help this person and how to address workload shifts and things like that.” Lim reveals that to take care of its employees’ mental wellbeing, SCIEX’s recreation committee holds mental health lunchtime workshops with its employees. “For example, in the past, we have had certified psychiatrists come in and talk about how to manage stress level, etc. In addition, the company often organises small-scale events for employees to socialise with one another.

The never-ending debate The execution of healthcare policies brings us to the age-old debate of engaging vendors or managing this internally. To that, Kalra notes Cargill does a bit of both. “We do engage vendors for certain healthcare programmes such as insurance, while continuing to provide certain benefits inhouse such as outpatient medical.” Similarly, Lim uses vendors and manages it internally. “We engage and work with an external provider to develop and refresh a range of general health-related activities, sports contests, and mental wellness programmes yearly.” Other things it works with vendors to carry out are contests related to promoting good health. The free health screenings the recreation committee brings in annually for employees are also managed by vendors. “Internally, our committee members organise various sports events in which our employees can participate, in a bid to promote an active and healthy lifestyle.” So, what are the pros and cons? Lim says: “An external vendor offers a wider professional perspective and a considerable network of healthcare professionals whom we can leverage on.” Additionally, she notes: “Having a vendor who is working with other companies can help us to lower costs through economy of scale when engaging the professional trainers as well as determine if our healthcare programme

Employee Healthcare « FEATURE is balanced and if it abides by the Health Promotion Board’s guidelines.” However, when the need to change vendors arises, Lim observes, “there is quite a bit to transition and it takes a while for the new vendor to adapt to our culture and how we work”. Another debate among HR professionals is the Millennials and if there really is a generation gap in their interpretation of health benefits. “The Millennials, through social media and the internet age, want instant gratification,” Koo says. While traditional insurance programmes provide adequate challenges, “fringe benefits are more valued than insurance: gym memberships, lifestyle perks, work-life balance, additional vacation leave, etc”. Lim also observes a shift in wellbeing needs in her company as more young people join. “For example, the young workforce has a more Westernised lifestyle and attitude, and they are big on work-life balance.” She says the company’s approach has been modified to meet the needs of the Millennials. An interesting approach used includes the addition of birthday leaves and two floater leaves per year for employees, above their annual leave, to meet their personal needs. However, Avery believes the generations aren’t really that different in terms of the way they access information. “For example in Singapore, when I take the bus to work and everyone in the bus, no matter what age they are, is on the phone. “I think that the generations have a slightly different view of getting information in terms of what they trust, but I think that everyone is going to access it in exactly the same way.” While making sure his employees have access to the knowledge to manage their wellness, Avery notices: “The questions and content to me is different, but the way in which they are going to access it and fi nd it is going to be the same.”

What’s next? Kalra feels the future of healthcare will focus more on joint ownership by employees of their healthcare and wellbeing in addition to wider coverage, and more choices offered, with increased cost-sharing to contain and control employer costs. She also believes there will be more

Thinking out of the box: The future of healthcare may focus on joint ownership by employees of their healthcare plans.

communication between organisations and employees, allowing them a better understanding of what their options are. Avery’s vision of the future of employee healthcare is largely driven by technology. “We are going to see more wearable technology being used, whether it’s through your phone or an actual wearable watch or device.” Currently, individuals have some health information on their wearable devices which they can plug into the computer. He feels the next phase will be to electronically share that information with doctors, allowing them to be able to identify trends based on one’s medical history. He also talks of employees being able to see the doctor through FaceTime chats instead of going to a clinic. “It would be like an office visit and they would be able to ask you questions and so you would have an interaction with a human. Then they could decide at the end whether they could take a course of action or you needed to come in for more tests,” he explains. The future for employee healthcare looks promising, what with the current and planned policies HR experts have in mind. It will be interesting to track these trends and fi nd out how they benefit both the waistline and bottom line. August 2015 « Human Resources « 27

FEATURE » Employee Healthcare

CASE STUDY: SCIEX Rayner Chua, chairman of SCIEX’s Recreation Committee 2015, and Lim Teng Teng, regional director of HR, map out how sports, family and health-related activities can bring down employee turnover rates, in this conversation with Jerene Ang. SCIEX formed a recreation committee in 2009, incorporating the framework laid out by the workplace health promotion programme, by the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore National Employers Federation, and the Health Promotion Board Singapore (HPB). Th is committee, comprising about 20 volunteers from various business units, is responsible for social activities in three areas – general health, mental health, and wellness interventions, for the year, explains Rayner Chua, chairman of the recreation committee for 2015. “Such social activities create a sense of camaraderie among employees and promote team-building spirit and morale, in turn, boosting their productivity,” Chua said. Workshops, classes and events Last year, SCIEX was given a grant to be reinvested into this year’s programme by HPB. The management also sets aside funding every year to co-support the programme. The committee now organises a wide array of recreational activities for the staff, ranging from weekly sports sessions of basketball, badminton, futsal and running to quarterly dance classes for Zumba, K-Pop, and aerobic classes after office hours. With a view to improve intra-team synergy, it also hosts events, such as barbecues and parties for Christmas, New Year and D&D, as well as an annual family day for employees and their families. Other than that, the company reimburses the cost of an employee visiting a predetermined local attraction with their family members. Last year, more than 300 people, for example, went to River Safari, while this year’s location was Madame Tussauds Singapore. Health is also on the radar for employees who ns are encouraged to take part in running competitions for good causes. For many years, SCIEX has participated in the Standard Chartered Marathon 5 and in September, the team is also joining the 2015 Race Against Cancer. “Those who fi nish the entire run will be fully reimbursed for their participation,” Chua said. For more targeted interventions, the committeee gs engages an external healthcare provider who brings here in professional groups to host lunch workshops, where lthy employees are given practical tips on adopting healthy eing. lifestyle choices and improving their mental wellbeing. ned Lim Teng Teng, regional director of HR, explained htime more about the programme. “We have hosted lunchtime

28 » Human Resources » August 2015

workshops on forming healthy dietary habits and afterwork exercise sessions as part of the programme. “We also host diverse healthcare programmes monthly. In June, we resumed our cholesterol intervention programme for employees.” The programme, which usually spans two months, focuses on the education of cholesterol-related diseases, creating awareness and encouraging healthy behaviours. Improved health As an outcome to the initiatives, more than 200 staff members have signed up for the annual free-of-charge health screenings. Some of the sessions and workshops were so popular that the team had to schedule a certain talk twice because the fi rst one was fully booked and there were still people who wanted to sign up. “We have observed decreasing trends in a number of problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, etc,” Chua said. Lim added: “For example, the percentage of highblood high-risk members has decreased from 14% in 2013 to 9% in 2015.” She notes similar decreases have been seen with the underweight and overweight members of the workforce as well those in the high cholesterol category. “In addition, our teams are performing better and we have always sustained a lower-than-industry-average turnover rate for many years,” Chua said. “I believe the programme is showing results incrementally, and delivering both tangible and intangible health be enefi fittss ffor or our employees.” emplloyees.”” benefi

OPINION » Learning & development

How the McFamily keeps its members engaged WILLIAM TING Training manager McDonald’s Singapore

Continuous learning and development, along with an injection of fun, are the themes behind the engagement and motivation philosophy at this company.

Target practice: One of the ways in which employees are rewarded for daily achievements is through a restaurant cash incentive programme.

McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc once said: “None of us is as good as all of us.” This is a key belief which the brand has been built upon and continues to hold true for us today. We serve more than six million people in Singapore every month and this would not be possible without our 9,000

30 » Human Resources » August 2015

employees that form our “McFamily”. Our people are our greatest asset and having an engaged and motivated workforce is critical in delivering exceptional service for our customers. Fostering this engagement requires time and effort and, of course, we like to inject some fun along the way. So how do we do it?

Learning & development « OPINION

Continuous training and learning Every employee who walks through our doors can be a future leader. This is why we invest in structured and continuous training and development for all 9,000 employees. The training at different stages of their career enables them to reach their fullest potential to take on desired job roles and opportunities. For example, our continuous lifelong learning programme offers employees the opportunity to undergo intensive training to match their job functions and achieve nationally recognised

diplomas and degrees. In 2014, a record-breaking 208 employees graduated from this. On a higher level, we have the year of the consultant and the year of the manager training programmes. These programmes target business consultants and managers at the restaurant level and are customised to suit the needs of their career level. For example, the former offers training targeted at leadership skills for our business consultants. On the other hand, our year of the manager programme includes restaurant-specific training that focuses on quality, service and cleanliness. Building our McFamily Labour scarcity is one of the biggest challenges that we, together with the rest of the industry, face. Hence, we understand the importance of retaining our employees by

building an inclusive and engaging culture that instils a sense of pride and belonging. One of the ways we engage and excite employees is to bring some fun into our office. For example, in conjunction with the recent launch of the Happy Meal Minion Collectibles in restaurants, we also brought “minion mania” to the office, transporting our employees into the world of minions. From the glass doors to the walls and even at the reception area, the McDonald’s office was decorated with all-things minions. We also invited our employees to dress in the minion colours of yellow and blue and got them to recite a minion password to enter the office. Our employees were also surprised when minions, Kevin, Bob and Stuart, invaded the office. Many of them were excited to see the minions and immediately whipped their phones out to take photos with them. Another way that we keep our employees engaged is through a biannual family night where we invite both crew and their families for a party that helps families understand the working environment. The restaurant’s general manager convention, assistants and floor manager events and crew outings are also organised regularly to encourage team bonding. Employee recognition Our employees do great work every day and we know they deserve recognition for it. They are rewarded for daily achievements through a restaurant cash incentive programme. We also have other crew incentive programmes created by our restaurant management teams. There are also prestigious company awards such as the Ray Kroc award and Presidents’ Award. Named after the McDonald’s founder, the Ray Kroc award is given to the top one per cent of McDonald’s restaurant managers from Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The Presidents’ Award is an individual award that recognises the outstanding achievements of the top one per cent of global staff employees. Both awards recognise the dedication and support of our employees and serve as reminders that exceptional service will always be recognised. In 2014, McDonald’s Singapore saw two outstanding restaurant managers receive the Ray Kroc award, both of whom have served the company for more than 15 years. Having been with McDonald’s for 21 years, I am happy and proud to share that I received the Presidents’ Award in 2014. This award has spurred me on to do even greater work for our people. Engaged employees build strong brands and we know that without them, we would not be where we are today. Continuous training and learning, along with building our McFamily and employee recognition programmes, have allowed us to keep our employees engaged and motivated. It is a continuous journey for us and we are always looking for new ways to keep our employees happy. Together with them, we strive to continue enhancing our brand to become even stronger than it is today.

August 2015 « Human Resources « 31

OPINION » People issues

An ‘inJenious’ way to motivate your staff CHARISSA CHAN Area director of HR and training Hotel Jen

Establishing a positive learning environment was just the starting point when this firm embarked on a journey to nurture a new culture and brand.

A bright idea: One hotel created its own version of the Amazing Race to familiarise employees with the vicinity in an exciting way.

Our core customers are becoming more digitally savvy and highly social, and they also want an effortless, fuss-free hotel experience. To steer the brand in this direction, we needed to make a fundamental change in the way we operate and the way we communicate to the market. We recognised the need for us to adapt the brand accordingly to ensure success in the coming years. Thus, we created Hotel Jen around a unique brand proposition: for it to be a virtual persona, a professional hotelier and an all-time lover of life, travel and discovery. To support the new brand direction, we wanted our colleagues to be able to create that “Jen feeling” in our service. As such, we created a clear direction on how we’d like things to be done, but at the same time allowing our employees to be themselves. We invited the hotel’s senior executives such as the general manager and director of human resources to attend a senior kick-off session in Singapore. In addition to learning the “Jen way”, our senior executives were able to shed light on the best way to cascade the key messages to the more than 2,000 strong workforce worldwide. Based on the feedback from this get-together in Singapore, 32 » Human Resources » August 2015

we were able to develop a workshop for our employees to understand more about Hotel Jen. Since September 2014, we have placed all our employees through a highly interactive workshop to introduce Jen and for them to experience “that Jen feeling”. They enjoyed themselves and were able to come up with a lot of “inJenious” ideas in the workshop which we have implemented today. Establishing a positive learning environment was just a starting point. Our local hotel HR teams have created and implemented many fun activities to nurture the new culture before their respective hotels were rebranded. For example, one hotel created its own version of the Amazing Race to familiarise our employees with the vicinity of the hotel in an exciting way so they were able to find the best local places to eat, play and shop to recommend to our guests. We have now moved onto the next stage of strengthening the Hotel Jen culture, which is to create our employee DNA to ensure we hire the right people and reinforce behaviour that is in line with our brand. But Rome wasn’t built in a day. We are continuing to explore ways and to create simple tools to engage our team to drive the Hotel Jen culture at all levels.

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OPINION » Unconventional wisdom

PAULINE CHUA General manager of human capital and CSR Fuji Xerox Singapore

How this HR function is pushing boundaries to retain the best staff Leaders, HR professionals and line managers have to work hand-in-hand in enabling staff to perform their job effectively, and retain the top talent.

Gone are the days

where HR’s focus was on policy. It is now about being in tune with business needs. I like to think we have moved from being a support function to one that is pushing boundaries to affect change. At Fuji Xerox Singapore, HR is now more focused on human capital and on the value that our people can bring to the business. How can we harness on the strengths of our people and provide them with a conducive work environment? Our leaders and HR play an active role.

find out the candidates’ interests and passion, assess their fit to the organisation’s values and culture and if they possess the qualities to perform the job well?

Acquisition and retention It is far easier to train someone to acquire new skills than to cultivate passion for the job. How do we avoid falling into the trap of taking our Raise the bar: In a tight labour market, HR has to employees for granted? Do we conduct move up the value chain. stay interviews with them to find out how they feel about their jobs? How do we How HR in Fuji Xerox Singapore has evolved help them grow in by sourcing fulfilling experiences for them? Fuji Xerox Singapore has moved beyond measuring employee All managers at Fuji Xerox Singapore are encouraged to satisfaction to measuring employee engagement and conduct career conversations with their employees on at least an enablement annually. We can have very engaged employees informal basis. It is clear that organisations can no longer expect who are willing to go the extra mile, but what more can the employees to stay indefinitely. Instead, we must actively and organisation do in terms of ensuring an appropriate job fit, and creatively engage our employees and even fight to keep them in providing employees access to information, technology and this true “war for talent”. training to get the job done? The war for talent is one of our biggest challenges. As such, For engagement and enablement to go together, we our talent acquisition team has to be a lot more resourceful in consciously reviewed how roles are optimised within Fuji Xerox leveraging on social media to tap into the passive job market. Singapore and worked at providing a positive, energising work Our employees are the best source of referrals which environment through various employee engagement and CSR motivates us to work with line managers to enhance their activities made available to our employees throughout the experience. year. We are happy that both our employee engagement and enablement scores are above the country norm. Ten ways to build the employee value proposition It takes the whole organisation to work together to fulfil our The rationale behind the engagement strategies ten-part employee value proposition. This comprises: an open Like most organisations, we have a diverse suite of employees door policy, being part of a winning team, solving a client’s across generations. HR can help in bringing them together, to problems with the latest technology. working hard and understand each other better and collaborate more effectively. playing hard, and living our core values, as the first five. It is easy to come up with strategies to focus on differences. Rounding off the full list of ten are: integrating work and However, it is even more rewarding for leaders and HR life, caring for the environment, trust and empowerment, professionals to discover what the generations have in common. diversity, and giving back to the community. We all want to be in a work environment where we feel We have an active CSR programme which has benefited trusted and valued, and appreciated for a job well done. more than 3000 youths and their families. It is a great way to Alongside, attracting and keeping good employees is challenging reach out to our employees and customers to make a greater in a tight labour market. To beat these challenges, we need to difference in the community. move up the value chain in examining our selection process. I find working in HR both dynamic and rewarding as we are Are we hiring purely for skills and experience? Do we empowered to push the envelope to make a difference. 34 » Human Resources » August 2015

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OPINION » Upwardly mobile

How HR can focus both on the business and the people CHINMAY SHARMA Head of human resources Hong Kong, Macau and Asia HQ Philip Morris International

In the quest to be viewed as more strategic, how do HR professionals bridge the gap between their aspirations and their actual role? In my work experience so far, there was a specific case where HR, together with the CEO, charged its senior management team personally accountable for talent development of top professionals across the company. That required them to take a step back and assess the business’ most significant talent indicators, which turned out to be not available or poorly reflected in its HR information systems. The company is now building an infrastructure to capture those results and make the “performers with potential” more visible. HR alone would not have been able to commit the company to new performance standards and gain the resources to update systems, but collaboration with the business gave the effort the required “teeth” to do so. Bridging the gap: Managers often think their key deliverable is ﬁnancial results.

Time and again HR professionals (myself

included) have debated the appropriate role of the function. Many companies view it as process-oriented, with little or no strategic impact. HR leaders disagree with this perception and regularly seek ways to have a seat at the business table. In the quest to be viewed as more strategic, a gap between HR’s aspirations and its actual role persists. I believe the gap arises from two inter-linked causes. First, managers often think their key deliverable is to get financial results rather than manage people. Second, when managers neglect people management, HR tends to take upon managers’ responsibilities on their own shoulders. On the surface, this seems to work with management moving away from areas it views as less important or uncomfortable. Simultaneously, the HR function gets a false sense of importance. However, in the long term, this approach does more damage to the company. I have seen HR struggling with the balance of being a problem-solving function (or say, operational) or a “proactive” strategic function, but I believe it’s possible to correct the balance without going too far on either side. Being more strategic and efficient problem solvers are two keys. However, as the function stands today, the balance seems to be tilted towards being an efficient problem solver rather than strategic. I believe the journey towards a strategic function will require a fundamental shift in how we operate as an HR function. Business rationale a must When business rationale for HR processes is lost in a race to copy “best practices”, large firms end up with a supersized HR infrastructure in the form of multiple HR systems, questionnaires and templates, resulting in an oversized HR department. 36 » Human Resources » August 2015

Talent advisors enabled with data analytics It’s easy to say, “HR needs to enable and empower”. But granting unlimited freedom to managers in making people decisions can generate inconsistencies, potential liability risks, and cost escalation. Having the access and ability to generate data-oriented people insight, HR needs to enable managers with the right checks and balances. High quality, timely information about talent pools and gaps that HR is uniquely positioned to provide is a significant competitive advantage in large corporations where talent can move smoothly across the globe. HR can help with the critical connections, thus enabling line managers to seize opportunities. A strategic HR function also offers a perspective on emerging gaps. For example, a particular skill that is expected to become more critical to business can be prioritised both from a recruitment and development standpoint. Leadership development Research has proved time and again that the quality of leadership (not just the leader, but the next level) has a big impact on shareholder value, but the reality is that many leadership development efforts don’t achieve their goals. This is mainly because they ignore the business context and offer insufficient or irrelevant solutions. An assertive and strategic HR department clarifies objectives and expectations for leadership development across the company, provides a backbone of proven tools and methodologies, and calls out ways to adapt them to the needs of businesses and individuals. Managers are expected to lead and HR must help them to do so. At all events, HR has the opportunities to assert its expertise and strategic thinking in a non-intrusive way.

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CAREERS » Personal development

uptheranks Tracking HR’s industry moves Who: Michael Piker From: Lenovo To: Naspers Michael Piker has been appointed vice-president of global total rewards at Naspers, in a move that sees him relocating from Beijing to Amsterdam. Effective June 2015, he is the company’s first-ever head of total rewards, managing the function globally. The role entails managing a classic total rewards package, including all elements of pay programmes, such as bonus, equity, as well as mobility. Additionally, he will create the company’s strategy for the emerging field of workforce analytics. Piker spoke to Human Resources on the move. “My role is to build the foundation and credibility of the function and the value it can deliver to the business.” While the company has made initiatives in the space, Piker will help to align those with the business strategy, such as in the areas of mobility strategies, sales compensation and executive compensation. Before this, Piker was based in Beijing as vice-president of global total rewards for Lenovo, where he led a team of 40 professionals in the company’s total rewards and HR M&A team. His past experience also includes roles at Syngenta, Alcoa, Cisco – all of which spanned nine countries, including Singapore, Japan, Brazil and Switzerland.

personalgrowth BEATING THE DEMONS OF DISTRACTION With all the noise from emails and chatty staff, the office can seem hell-bent on not letting you work. Akankasha Dewan shares a few tricks you can adopt to beat the drivers of distraction.

You’re engrossed in some important work, and then bam! – along comes new emails, an endearingly chatty colleague or a WhatsApp message. You don’t give thought to how pressing (or non-pressing) the distraction is – you just give it attention. Five minutes, 10 minutes. Sometimes it goes over an hour. When you get back to work, you’ve no idea where you left off, and you can’t get your mind and heart back into it. There goes your valuable time and effort. There goes your momentum. We know there’s no chance of shutting out the world while busy at work. What we do know, however, is the decision to stay focused is in our hands. Here are three easy ways to beat the demons of distraction. 1. Make it obvious you’re busy Chatty colleagues have often been identified as the biggest driver of distraction. While being open and friendly helps build camaraderie, too much of a good thing can be bad. That’s partly why I prefer wearing huge, bright neon-pink headphones when I’m too busy to talk. Not only does the noise-cancelling effect make me oblivious to chatter, the device also acts as a great “do not disturb” sign to my peers. On the flip side, this may make you look uninterested in helping colleagues (especially outside of the team) or socialising. In such a

38 » Human Resources » August 2015

Who: Joseph Chua From: Ipsos To: Ipsos Ipsos has announced that its current Singapore and Malaysia (SiMa) CEO role will split – resulting in both leadership changes in Singapore and Malaysia. Miranda Cheung, the SiMa CEO of Ipsos will undertake the role of chief client officer for Asia Pacific, effective July 1, 2015. In this role, she will focus on creating dialogue and engagement with key clients in the region to strengthen business relationships, reporting to Lifeng Liu, CEO of APAC. Taking her place are internal successors, with the healthcare leader of SiMa, Joseph Chua, appointed the managing director of Ipsos Singapore, effective April 8th, 2015. In the other office, the marketing leader and executive director, Katharine Davis, takes on the role of managing director for Malaysia. Both Chua and Davis will report to Lifeng Liu in his capacity as interim CEO of SiMa.

situation, marking out “office hours” helps in setting up a window of time daily to let your colleagues know they can approach you – and not be disappointed. All you need to do is make these hours known to your teammates in a firm, yet polite manner. 2. Keep a timely schedule Often, professionals are advised to prepare a daily “to-do” list, but I like to go a step further and set the exact time of the day I can finish my tasks. Besides ensuring my list remains feasible and realistic, it lets me keep track of the amount of time I’m working and the amount I’m not. For example, I can spend a little more time at the pantry, check my personal messages or surf the web, as long as I write my stories by noon daily. 3. Embrace distractions Last, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. A distraction can really derail the task at hand. However, that doesn’t mean we need to have Zen-like focus 24/7 – in fact, distraction and procrastination are vital to healthy living. Studies have even shown that taking a break at work can make you more productive – as long as it’s done at the right times. The trick here is: Instead of letting your brain distract you in the middle of something, schedule specific times for your procrastination along with everything else. Doing so will give you something to look forward to as you push through that last pre-break task. For example, right after our daily intense early-morning coverage of the day’s news stories, the editorial team and I often take a 10-minute breather to glance at the more trivial happenings of the day, and provide our expert comments on why Kim Kardashian wore what she did. Light-hearted jesting among ourselves also helps us feel refreshed and keeps us productive as we move to the remaining tasks of the day.

Good reads to improve your business life

Pick of the month

shelflife

The Power of Workspace for People & Business Jacqueline C Vischer and Keti Malkoski, with foreword by Peter Schiavello $69.85 To many, a workspace is just a necessary space to accommodate people while they work. But it often translates to different things to different people, depending on the time of the day as well as the task at hand. Expanding their collective knowledge in how physical spaces influence human behaviour, the authors tell us exactly how to reap ROI from a workspace. The book can serve as a guide on how to improve the atmosphere in the office to help staff feel more comfortable – eventually aiding in boosting their productivity. Designed for decision makers, it explains why workplace change management, and “co-creation” with employee participation, is necessary for a new workspace.

Book photography: Fauzie Rasid

Bookmark this! Employees agree to workspace change either because they want to, or because they have to, or because they ought to. “Want to” motives are the highest level of commitment to implement organisational change, and to get workers to want to change they need to see the benefits. They must see change as needed to solve a problem, beneficial to their work or to them personally, as resonating with their core values, or as demonstrably supported by others such as leaders or peers – page 118.

August 2015 « Human Resources « 39

57-61 snr appts_OCT10.indd 57

9/21/2010 2:12:54 PM

The secret to running great meetings Aditi Sharma Kalra enlists creative support to banish the boredom and productivity lost at meetings.

40 » Human Resources » August 2015

“The least productive

people are usually the ones who are most in favour of holding meetings,” said American economist Thomas Sowell. While his comment may have been a remark on the way corporations are run, he wasn’t too far from the truth about the loss of productivity at the hands of ineffective meetings. A study last month by Bain & Company showed today’s top executives spend more than two days each week at meetings. Often, the meetings are scheduled “just because”, a reason that doesn’t hit the mark, given that each meeting that starts just five minutes late costs a company 8% of the time that executives spend in it. Last year, The New York Times tried to solve the problem many meetings face – too many people talking, with not enough taking notes, and the responsibility on one person to transcribe and send out the minutes of the meeting. Working with François Chambard, of UM Project, NYT Labs created the Listening Table – an intelligent piece of furniture that hears and understands the conversations around it. It uses speech transcription software and high-resolution sensors to facilitate understanding to generate a word-for-word record of the meeting as well as a semantic overview – what topics were talked about, in what order, and by whom. When a meeting concludes, participants can see a high-level summary showing all the topics discussed, as well as a copy of the recording. “It’s one thing to make a table that transcribes everything, and quite another to make a Table whose very appearance makes it obvious what it is doing,” stated NYT Labs, referring to the embedded, indirect lighting that indicates to passers-by that the Table is listening – and more importantly, recording. Technology like this not only saves time in the administration of running a meeting, but reminds all attending persons to be mindful of what they say, instead of making tall claims and promises. Another company invested more than CAD$3,000 about four months ago upgrading its meeting room to a Star Wars theme, as shared by a reddit user who is an employee. Complete with an R2-D2 trash bin, Yoda photo

frame, and toys depicting intergalactic combat hanging from the ceiling, along with custom wallpaper, the redesign aimed to inject some fun into the monotony a meeting brings. Yet another example came from a company I spoke to in the past year, which has a self-destruct facility on its light bulbs – as soon as the official meeting time is up, all lights switch off, forcing attendees to wrap up on time. There is no denying that companies have tried to be creative in running meetings, but there are also a few basic golden rules that I have learnt from my experiences of attending awful as well as amazing meetings. First up, make sure your meeting has an agenda. When the group MD at our firm took over the mandate of running better meetings, the first thing he did was create a template to run each and every meeting. It seemed tedious at first, but now I can’t imagine going into a meeting without it. Everyone knows what they need to be prepared with and that additional thought they put into it can really help boost the output from the meeting. One more lesson I have learnt for regular team meetings is to have a rotating chairman, giving everyone in the team a good chance to direct the conversation, while making sure the others don’t go off track. Another overlooked aspect is the time of the meeting – having it first thing in the morning, or in the last 30 minutes of the work day, might just rouse the attendees to action, given they have their emails to attend to in the AM, and home to rush off to in the PM. Finally, and this happens most often in conference calls, if you are presiding over the meeting, ensure that no one feels short-changed in not being able to give their views. Group chatter is great for ideation, but it can also prevent some of the quieter ones from speaking up among the voice of the crowd. If you find much of this doesn’t apply to you, keep it simple – run a meeting just the way that you would like one that you attend to be run. aditis@humanresourcesonline.net

Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee using Nikon D810 – www.elliotly.com; Makeup & Hair: Michmakeover using Make Up For Ever & hair using Sebastian Professional – www.michmakeover.com

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