Human Resources Singapore, August 2016

August 2016

The smart HR professional’s blueprint for workforce strategy

H O W J O Y D E E P B O S E , O L A M I N T E R N AT I O N A L’ S

GLOBAL HEAD OF HR, IS PLANTING THE

S$7.90 INC GST

SEEDS OF LEADERSHIP GROWTH.

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August 2016 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY 14 Q&A

Joydeep Bose, president and global head of human resources at Olam International, reveals the three tenets of culture which have played the biggest role in developing senior leaders.

Features 18 The region’s top training venues – 2016

Meghna Gupta scours the needs of L&D professionals to identify 14 distinctive venues for corporate training across Singapore and Malaysia.

26 Healthy recipes for an engaged workforce

To spark ideas for HR leaders, Jerene Ang explores best practices from C&A, Lendlease and Dow Chemical Pacific (Singapore), as well as compiles top tips from experts at CXA and Mercer.

Opinion

ON THE COVER: Art Direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman & Fauzie Rasid; Photography: Elliot Lee, Nikon Ambassador (Singapore) – www.elliotly.com

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32 Event Update Two jam-packed days of case studies, panels and networking – here’s your guide to all the action from Training & Development Asia 2016, reported

by Akankasha Dewan.

34 Learning & Development With a 93% participation rate in its recent engagement survey, here’s why employees feel “it is safe to speak up”, says Goh Leong Huat, director of HR at Singapore General Hospital.

36 People Issues

A full-scale employer brand strategy is what Tristram Gray, VP and head of HR for Ericsson Southeast Asia and Oceania, and his team laid out – read why this was successful both for the business and HR.

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40 Last Word While smashing targets, don’t forget to be sensitive towards staff, says Akankasha Dewan, as she bids farewell to Lighthouse.

Regulars

34

36

3 Ed’s note 4 In the news 6 Suite Talk 7 Snapshot

8 Spacial awareness 10 HR by numbers 12 White paper 38 Personal growth

Any suggestions or tip-offs for Human Resources?

Email aditis@humanresourcesonline.net August 2016 « Human Resources «

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EDITOR’S NOTE

regional editor senior journalists editorial intern editor, Hong Kong sub editor contributors

regional art director senior designer web designer circulation executive regional head of advertising & sponsorship regional directors

Aditi Sharma Kalra Akankasha Dewan Jerene Ang Meghna Gupta Anthony Wong James Foster Goh Leong Huat Tristram Gray Shahrom Kamarulzaman Fauzie Rasid Sherlyn Yap Deborah Quek Naomi Cranswick Karen Boh Yogesh Chandiramani Jaclyn Chua

regional marketing manager

Isabel Ho

regional head of production

Sammi Zhang Sarah Kee

regional producers

Eric Cheng Nikita Erpini Francis Lee Angela Leung Sanna Lun Kenneth Neo Jenilyn Rabino Evon Yew

regional head of event services regional finance director group editorial director group managing director

Yeo Wei Qi Evelyn Wong Tony Kelly Justin Randles

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Permission may be requested through the Singapore office.

Hale and hearty wins the race Health and wellness are often cited concepts in today’s employee conversations, given that not many organisations can successfully measure the impact of physical and mental employee health on productivity. There is, however, no question in the mind of HR directors that financial metrics may not provide enough data about the health of an organisation’s workforce.

The good news is that leading companies are becoming health conscious, visibly spending more time and dollars in keeping employees fit. Dutch fashion retail chain C&A, for instance, focuses on both mental and physical health, enabling staff to take up charity work as part of the former, and sports activities throughout the year as part of the latter. A cross functional team of 10-12, with HR as the leader, is empowered towards this agenda.

While the team faces “the occasional monetary challenge when the finance team is looking to cut programme budgets”, the results speak for themselves – a 12 percentage point increase in employee satisfaction from 70% in 2015 to 82% this year, and employee turnover being as low as a single digit in certain markets.

This focus on wellness is evident in other case studies featuring Lendlease and Dow Chemical in addition to C&A on page 26 – a timely feature, given our upcoming conference, Employee Benefits Asia 2016 (#EBA2016 on Twitter).

Another highlight of this edition is our annual special feature on training venues, a list of 14 locations across Singapore and Malaysia that L&D managers can refer to when organising the regional training calendar. Flip to page 18 for that.

On the cover this month, we introduce Joydeep Bose, president and global head of HR at agri-business giant Olam International, home to 62,500 employees worldwide, across businesses such as cocoa, coffee, cashew, rice and cotton.

Having seen immense growth since he joined, from a private start-up to a publicly listed company in Singapore, Bose is working shoulder to shoulder with the leadership team in making HR an intrinsic part of the business, after developing the function

from scratch. Olam has instituted a number of key people strategies: a culture audit prior to any acquisition; rigorous training with the CEO for new hires within their first six months on the job; and aggressive elimination of bureaucracy and hierarchy where possible. In a frank conversation, Bose not only explains the implementation of such policies, but also addresses issues such as engagement rate trends in the past three years.

Before we sign off, I hope you have submitted your team’s entry for the upcoming HR Excellence Awards. This year, we have introduced three new categories – Excellence in Workforce Mobility, Excellence in Employee Healthcare, and the Public Sector Employer of the Year award, on top of the more than 20 existing categories.

As always, this fourth edition features a panel of more than 60 judges from Asia’s top employers.

The Awards are a great way to position your company as a leader in human capital strategy, get your HR team to reflect on their achievements, recognise and reward your team’s hard work, and remind everyone else in the organisation how lucky they are to work with an award-winning HR team.

We hope to see you at the gala awards night in October at the Shangri-la Hotel!

Enjoy the issue.

Photography: Elliot Lee, Nikon Ambassador (Singapore) – www.elliotly.com Makeup & Hair: Michmakeover using Make Up For Ever & hair using Sebastian Professional – www.michmakeover.com

HumanResources

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

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Aditi Sharma Kalra Regional editor August 2016 « Human Resources «

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News from humanresourcesonline.net

THE WORLD’S MOST ATTRACTIVE EMPLOYERS THIS YEAR

Ranked as one of the top employers in Singapore, it comes as no surprise that Google has yet again secured the top spot as the world’s most attractive employer. This is, at least, among both business and engineering/IT students in the latest Universum Talent Survey.

Polling more than 267,000 business and engineering/IT talent in the world’s 12 largest economies, the report found that among the business rankings, Apple proved to be a close competitor for Google after having jumped five spots from seventh to second place.

This was followed by EY, Goldman Sachs and PwC which dropped three places to fifth.

On the engineering/IT side, Google was followed by Microsoft, Apple and BMW Group.

Additionally, IBM replaced GE in fifth place.

Preferred industries among business talent included professional services (50%), management and strategy consulting (29%), and banks and financial services (28%).

With strong “lifestyle brands” doing better than others, mixed fortunes were seen for consumer goods firms among the business talent – for example, Nike debuted in the rankings in 16th place compared with adidas Group in 19th place.

JPMORGAN AND PWC SKIRT AWAY FROM FORMAL DRESS CODES

According to The Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan Chase is now allowing employees to wear business-casual attire on most occasions. PricewaterhouseCoopers has also ditched its traditional dress codes for staff in Australia, UK, India and other offices.

Human Resources spoke to a number of industry experts to find out if this trend is here to stay.

“I believe this new era of tie burning is a way our world’s best organisations and leaders are breaking down traditional barriers to treating each other like humans rather than problems,” Louis Carter, co-chairman and CEO of Best Practice Institute, told Human Resources.

“And, there is nothing wrong with this – it is simply the decision to wear whichever uniform works best for you, your clients and your job function. If you are in the office, and not client-facing, you may as well have a writing or radio job.”

Marc Havercroft, VP of HCM cloud and digital strategy and transformation, global/APJ at SAP, said: “Dressing down doesn’t matter as much for a financial analyst or desk jockey writing PowerPoint presentations, working on innovative new scientific discoveries or performing primary and secondary research all day. It’s all about form, purpose and function.”

ANZ TERMINATES 50 JOBS IN SINGAPORE

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) laid off up to 50 staff in various departments, sources have shared with TODAY, stating the terminations were made in February and were part of the bank’s efforts to cut costs.

“According to a source who was retrenched a few weeks ago, the dozens of employees affected were from the wealth management, business banking and marketing departments in the Singapore unit,” TODAY stated.

TODAY’s report also interviewed other sources from the bank, who said they had, in fact, been given a briefing by management in regards to the issue.

“There have been cuts across the board,” said a relationship manager with the bank.

Commenting on the issue, an ANZ spokesperson told Human Resources the bank remained committed to the Singapore market which is a key business hub in Asia.

“Like our industry peers, we continually review our business to ensure our products and services align with the needs of our customers, and allocate resources to reflect the opportunities and market environment.”

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» Human Resources » August 2016

RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA CUTS STAFF

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has allegedly let go of 400 employees – “about 150 croupiers, 200 supervisors and 25 pit managers have been let go in recent weeks, either via voluntary retrenchment or termination of services”, according to TODAY. When contacted by Human Resources, the Attractions, Resorts & Entertainment Union and RWS said in a joint statement that the latter was “reviewing its operational resources” to remain competitive in the market.

“With the current business environment, it is necessary for RWS to review the headcount in its gaming business so that it can achieve the right size to meet its business needs,” said the parties.

A RWS spokesperson revealed details of the separation package to Human Resources.

“We have adopted the Tripartite Guidelines on managing excess manpower in carrying out this decision,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added the adoption of these guidelines entailed: • Offering retrenchment benefits to all affected employees even though the Tripartite Guidelines recommended them only for employees with two or more years of service.

• Offering an upfront S$1,500 training grant payout for local employees as well as paying their union membership fee for another 12 months.

SINGAPORE EMPLOYERS DON’T EXPECT TO HIRE IN Q3

Amid the economic slowdown, hiring intentions in Singapore for the third quarter of 2016 (Q3 2016) are expected to be moderate at best. According to the Q3 2016 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, of the 647 employers surveyed, only 11% of employers are planning to increase headcount.

Almost eight in 10 are planning to maintain their workforce size while 1% expect a decrease in staffing levels.

Overall, the net employment outlook stands at a modest +9%. This makes Q3 2016’s employment outlook the weakest forecast reported since Q3 2009.

Linda Teo, country manager of ManpowerGroup Singapore, said: “Even though we may not be in a recessionary mode, the employment sentiment certainly isn’t as positive as it has been in the past.

In fact, the third-quarter results are the weakest reported since we started to emerge from the last global financial crisis. However, more than three-quarters of the employers we surveyed told us they planned to keep their current workforces intact during the July-September time frame.

“Employers are clearly sensing more uncertainty in the business environment, but most of them appear to be waiting for clearer signs in the marketplace before they engage in further personnel decisions.”

WHY SOME FIRMS IN SINGAPORE ARE STILL AFRAID OF FLEXI-WORK More firms in Singapore are now offering flexible working arrangements for their employees, but it may be some time before all employees can take advantage of such arrangements.

In fact, around 27% of firms are afraid that employee teamwork will decline with prevalent flexi-work, according to a survey by Vodafone.

The survey revealed that 57% of Singapore employees feel they do not have a usable flexible policy in place at their job. This is despite the fact that 53% of companies in Singapore, who have introduced flexible working, have seen increased profits since implementation.

Many respondents stated they believed performance had been enhanced as a result of flexible working.

For example, 77% of Singapore companies who have implemented flexible working have seen an increase in employee productivity, while teamwork has improved in 54% of Singapore organisations utilising flexible working.

Vodafone’s global enterprise Asia Pacific president Ben Elms said: “Vodafone’s research reveals a profound and rapid shift in the modern workplace. Singapore employers are telling us that flexible working boosts profits while their employees tell us they’re more productive. We truly are in an era when work is what you do, not where you go.”

REDUNDANCIES IN SINGAPORE HIGHEST SINCE 2009

Amid softer economic conditions, the first quarter of 2016 (Q1 2016) has seen the highest number of workers made redundant in the first quarter in Singapore since 2009. This was according to a new Ministry of Manpower (MOM) labour market report.

In Q1 2016, 4,710 redundancies were found to have been made in the island-nation. MOM added that “redundancies are expected to rise in sectors affected by weak external demand”.

By sector, the bulk of the redundancies this year came from the services sector (54%). This was mainly in professional services (13%), wholesale trade (11%) and financial services (9.1%).

Similar to previous reports, professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) represented the large majority of layoffs at 71%. When it came to short-week or temporary layoffs however, PMETs were among the least affected (22%) while the bulk of those affected were production and transport operators, cleaners and labourers (69%).

Q1 2016 also saw the lowest rate of re-entry into employment since June 2009 (43%).

Around 60,400 residents were unemployed in March 2016. This was lower than 64,600 (residents) and 57,900 (citizens) in December 2015.

FORMER HR VICE-PRESIDENT AT HARRY’S FINED $40,000

Parmjit Kaur, the former vice-president of human resources at Harry’s International, pleaded guilty to charges of consenting to the offence of making false declaration of salary in work pass applications.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Kaur was convicted in Singapore’s State Court and fined $40,000.

It was revealed through investigations that Kaur, in her capacity then as the company’s president and chief operating officer and subsequently the vice-president of human resources, instructed her subordinate to declare higher fixed monthly salaries for 20 foreign employees to meet requirements needed to obtain Employment Passes (EPs).

She, however, knew the company only intended to pay them a monthly salary below the minimum requirement.

The salaries of the 20 foreign employees were declared as $3,100 and, based on the false information provided to the Controller of Work Passes, the 20 EP applications were approved and the EPs were issued to the foreign employees.

However, they would have to reimburse the company $1,600 for meals and transportation which actually cost less than $1,600.

August 2016 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » People GET INTO THE BOSS’S HEAD

Barry Robinson President and MD Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific; and Wyndham Hotel Group South East Asia and Pacific Rim

You’ve been in hospitality since you started your career in 1997. What steered you to this path?

I was brought up in the hospitality industry as my parents owned hotels. So from an early age we were taught about being customer-centric and having an eye for detail.

Having been with Wyndham in your current capacity since 2003, what are the biggest ways you’ve seen it evolve – specifically in terms of its talent?

We believe in recruiting high-potential individuals and nurturing them into leaders. Our team is encouraged to develop their personal brand value by performing well in their role and going the extra mile.

This is in line with our Count On Me! service promise in which each associate aims to be responsive, respectful and deliver great experiences to our customers, guests, partners and communities, and to each other.

Our company is a strong advocate for promotion from within; we notice that when we reward our staff they are more motivated, perform better and stay longer in our organisation. When their personal brand value increases, their external brand value also increases in the general marketplace.

What would you list as your career’s most memorable achievements so far?

There have been so many and hopefully still more to come. However, I would say that creating a great team around me and seeing people grow and blossom throughout their career is always memorable.

Being “first to market” – being a market leader in lots of our initiatives over the years both with Wyndham and Choice Hotels.

You’ve been known to take a very handson approach to your team. As a business 6

» Human Resources » August 2016

leader, what drives you to work so closely in an HR role?

Our pool of talent is the most important resource in our service-driven industry and everyone plays an integral role in the organisation.

It is my responsibility to ensure that our HR strategies are in line with the company’s overall business objectives.

I believe in open dialogue and engaging with everyone in the organisation.

When they know you as a leader on a personal level, it motivates them and aligns their interest with the business.

We receive critical feedback that allows us to perform more efficiently; feedback that could have otherwise been lost in the noise of a traditional corporate bureaucracy.

With a new HR leader joining the team soon, what is your expectation and accountability from this role in order to work as business partners?

The HR director will report to our senior VP of HR, Bruce Harkness, and is expected to be commercial, strategic and forward-thinking.

Ultimately, the person has to contribute to the bottom line. Traditional HR processes, although important, may not necessarily move an organisation forward.

Hence, it is critical for our HR leader to be business focused and help the company increase sales and profitability by recruiting, training and developing the right talent.

Can you describe one HR campaign at Wyndham that others can learn from?

We have a “Be Well” employee wellness programme designed to help our staff lead a better life.

As part of this programme, we aim to cover four different aspects of wellness by providing

talks on financial security, counsellors to promote emotional wellbeing, fitness classes and periodic health checks.

We strongly believe that our employees have to be well before they can take care of our business – it is a mutual relationship.

The latest manpower sectoral plan by Singapore’s MOM focuses on upskilling the workforce. Do you have any campaigns to contribute to this?

We have specific skills development courses in compliance, sales, on-property management and transformational leadership training.

One such example is our executive leaders’ orientation workshop for general managers of our hotels.

During this workshop, a certified trainer will cover a variety of brand experience initiatives such as operations, sales, customer service, the latest updates in technology as well as revenue management strategies and best practices.

This also gives them an opportunity to network with industry professionals and to grow their personal network.

What was the toughest day you’ve faced at work, and how did you deal with it?

The global financial crisis when we had to lay off 500 people just before the festive season.

I had to focus on the positives and the people remaining in the business; how to ensure it moved forward so we didn’t lose the business completely. From that point, we ended up with double-digit growth throughout 2009 and 2010 onwards.

How do you spend your free time or your weekends?

Surfing, snow skiing and quality time with family and friends.

People « WORK LIFE

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

Beatrice Oger

HR digital services director Schneider Electric HOW HAS YOUR JOURNEY WITH SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC BEEN SINCE YOU JOINED IN 2012?

Really intense because I have been working in HR transformation. Specifically, I am in charge of moving all our HR systems on cloud. This year, it will be all about analytics and mobile applications.

WHAT IS YOUR VIEW OF THE HR INDUSTRY TODAY? I’ve been in HR for 20 years now, of which 15 were in HRIS, so my domain of expertise is really in HR digitisation. The HR function is highly visible and needs to evolve on a regular basis. Hence, to be agile today, it is most important to adjust to people and business needs.

There has been so much talk about using such technology, but HR managers specifically have been known to lag behind in using technology.

WHY DO YOU THINK THEY ARE HESITANT IN USING TECHNOLOGY? At Schneider, I think we are moving quite fast in HR. We have a global HR system as opposed to other functions such as finance. All our HR processes are fully deployed on cloud technology for our 150,000 employees in 110 countries. We have no choice, but to become more digital at work. The pressure comes from our personal life where people are often permanently connected on smartphones and tablets.

HOW DO YOU THINK HR WILL EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? The HR landscape will be influenced by the new generation where it’s all about being connected. People will have to set their own limits between work and personal life. Regular processes such as performance reviews, salary reviews and even leave management will start to be challenged.

They are seen as time-consuming processes and don’t bring as much

“The HR landscape will be influenced by the new generation where it’s all about being connected.

People will set their own limits between work and personal life. Processes such as performance and salary reviews will be challenged." added value for the business. The idea is to be agile and managers will be encouraged to do more regular feedback, and employees could be able to take as much personal time off as they wish, as long as the work is done.

WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED? Don’t listen to anybody else; just do what you want to do. You need to like your job. Frustration does not help. It’s important to be passionate.

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE: I CAN’T IMAGINE HR WITHOUT …

People. Because companies are all about people. HR is a difficult function to be in because we are impacting all the employees and because our actions are very visible and sometimes also very personal.

This interview was conducted at Oracle’s Modern Business Experience Summit 2016 in Singapore.

August 2016 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » People

SpacialAwareness

BUILDING A NEW WAY OF WORKING AT THE LEGO SINGAPORE HUB When LEGO designed its Singapore Hub, it wanted the new office to be an enabler of collaboration, coherence and simplicity.

“At the LEGO Singapore Hub we have designed the office around the same set of principles as we use for culture and leadership,” said Jesper Petersen, senior director of APAC human resources at the LEGO Group.

“The physical layout should be looked at as more than just a nice office. It should be a place you get energy from and where you really want to spend time.”

With a fun culture that sees children as role models, rather than developing the office with only productivity in mind, the organisation chose to focus on the ways of working instead.

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» Human Resources » August 2016

LEGO wanted to give all employees – regardless of seniority – an opportunity to work in a zone that fits the task or the activity they are doing, and their individual preference.

“It’s not about the outcome or delivery, but rather on ways of working – the LEGO way of working. For example, we believe that taking a coherent approach in everything we do is critically important throughout the company,” Petersen said.

“We enable employees to do that by changing seating throughout a workday or week, and in an orchestrated way, meeting colleagues from other teams in a random way.

“We have already seen more collaboration and a better understanding of the end-to-end value chain.”

When redesigning the office, a piece of advice he has is: “Engage the leadership team in identifying the drivers of this change.”

“If it’s really about how you want the office to look like, you can establish cheaper solutions,” he said.

“On the other hand, if you are looking to strengthen your culture, improve ways of working and embed certain sets of behaviours – then you should consider activity based working or a different concept that will help you fulfil your aspirations.”

“The office can be an enabler for culture, leadership, behaviours and more.

However, it can also be just an office!”

WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

Are smartphones hurting productivity?

According to a new survey by CareerBuilder, smartphones are causing a distraction in the workplace.

More than eight in 10 workers (82%) with smartphones keep them within eye contact at work. And while only 10% of those with smartphones say it’s decreasing their productivity at work, 66% say they use them several times a day while working.

“Have an open dialogue with employees about tech distractions.

Acknowledge their existence and discuss challenges/solutions to keeping productivity up,” said Rosemary Haefner, CHRO at CareerBuilder.

65%

of employees with smartphones do not have their work emails on them.

38%

say that low productivity due to distractions leads to lower morale because others pick up their slack.

Three out of four employees say

two hours

or more are lost in productivity each day because of distracted employees.

Source: CareerBuilder

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32%

of employers have blocked certain internet sites to mitigate productivity killers.

SPONSORED RECRUIT ADVICE HOW TO THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY FAA

GOING BEYOND FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS Most of us in the corporate world have been through the rigmarole of securing qualifications. Josh Bersin, the principal and founder of Bersin, Deloitte, sees a disconnect between education and employment, wherein many have spent a fortune on education, but are still looking for jobs. Why? Perhaps as Richard Arum, a New York University professor of sociology, described in his book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, that 36% of students do not show any progress in critical thinking despite having spent four years in college.

At the same time, we can reel off names of those who have succeeded despite being “underachievers” in college, the notable ones include Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg.

What is alarming is the fact that only a dismal percentage of employees appear to receive due recognition for their efforts. A 2015 Industry Ranking Report

by TINYpulse, involving some 3,000 employees and 60 organisations worldwide shows, that a mere 21% of the employees surveyed felt they were truly recognised in the workplace, while some 38% thought otherwise. A massive 80% of the employees thought they were poorly to moderately valued.

Any employer with a finger on the pulse would rally to turn things around. It stands to reason that employees who feel recognised would be more motivated to perform and in so doing achieve better KPIs. And motivated employees are also more committed. Ultimately, all this will impact the company’s operating margins and bottom-line. But just what is this recognition that employees are seeking?

Recognition can be measured against tangibles such as promotions, salary, insurance and vacation time. At the same time, employee satisfaction is also affected by intangibles such as appreciation of a job well done as well as validation of one’s knowledge and skills. The latter needs to become part of an organisation’s routine and culture.

Certain administrative or bureaucratic requirements may dictate the necessity of a particular qualification before an employee can advance further in his or her career. Typical job advertisements do state the minimum academic and/or professional qualifications required for various positions. In the best-case scenario, this ceases to matter once one gets through the door and the reward system hinges solely on attitude, performance and productivity.

But delve a little deeper and you will find an experienced person who has been passed over for a promotion, not because they have under-performed, but because they lack the requisite formal qualifications. A person without formal qualifications has to try harder to prove their worth, so the path is often an uphill one.

Bersin recognises the value of “self-learners”; those who are motivated to learn and possess “learning agility”, which describes a person’s speed to learn.

He suggests employers may well benefit from recognising their worth. This calls for certifying employees’ informal and non-formal learning which would empower those who may otherwise be hampered.

In today’s competitive world, individuals enhance their competencies through all forms of learning. While learning through formal systems is widely recognised, the acquisition of knowledge and skills in non-formal and informal contexts is not.

A formal validation of learning acquired in all three contexts is necessary to allow employees to gain recognition for knowledge and skills they already have. This formal endorsement gives employees a greater sense of worth, and increases their mobility in the marketplace.

The FAA recognition of learning (FRL) mechanism developed by FAA recognises knowledge and skills possessed or gained by individuals in all three contexts; formal, non-formal and informal. It is based on contemporary adult learning principles and sound assessment practices. The FRL enables a flexible

and inclusive assessment of an individual’s competencies, allowing individuals to gain recognition for knowledge and skills they already possess, and be certificated.

While paying due recognition to an employee’s efforts and contributions, this formal validation is perhaps the most significant measure that the financial services industry can adopt to ensure its talent is appreciated and is duly rewarded.

It stands to reason that employers who do not give due recognition to employees run the risk of losing them. As Robert McNamara, former American Secretary of Defence puts it: “Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated.”

While employers should go beyond formal qualifications, FAA is opening the door to qualifications that are more than that described on paper.

This article is contributed by Dr Amat Taap Manshor, CEO, Finance Accreditation Agency

Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) is an international and independent quality assurance and accreditation body supported by the Central Bank of Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia. As an advocate of the highest quality in internationally benchmarked standards for learning programmes, FAA aims to create highly competent and internationally mobile professionals for the financial services industry globally.

To find out more about this mechanism, please write to us at info@faa.org.my

August 2016 « Human Resources « 11

WHITE PAPER » Leadership

FIVE REASONS WHY EMPLOYEES DON’T TRUST BOSSES

Reasons for the employee-manager distrust Global – Trust undeniably plays an important role in the workplace, but if reports are anything to go by, getting your employees to trust you is easier said than done. The top factor for this lack of trust in the workplace? Issues around compensation.

This was, at least, according to the latest research by EY, which surveyed more than 9,800 full-time workers aged 19-68 at companies of varying sizes.

The research found less than half (46%) of full-time employed respondents globally, aged 1968, placed a “great deal of trust” in their employer, boss or colleagues (both 49%).

Among those, who said they had “very little” or “no trust” in their current employer, the top five factors that led them to say this were: 1. “Employee compensation is not fair” (53%).

2. “Does not provide employees with equal opportunity for pay and promotion” (48%).

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Employee compensation is not fair

53%

Does not provide employees with equal opportunity for pay and promotion

48%

Lack of strong leadership

46%

Too much employee turnover – voluntary and/or involuntary

43%

Does not foster a collaborative work environment

43%

Source: EY’s Global Generations 3.0 Study

3. “Lack of strong leadership” (46%).

4. “Too much employee turnover – voluntary and/ or involuntary” (43%).

5. “Does not foster a collaborative work environment” (43%).

The implications of this research reveal a number of actionable opportunities that C-suite executives across the globe can implement to positively enhance trust for their organisation.

These included actions such as greater CEO transparency, open communication, a diverse and

inclusive culture and a company-wide commitment to equity and fairness.

Gen Z were the least likely to place a “great deal of trust” in their employer (41%) or boss (46%). Millennials (aged 19-34) were in the middle for placing this much trust in their employer (45%), and boss (50%). Globally, the research found a higher percentage of full-time working Baby Boomers (aged 51-68) placed a “great deal of trust” in their employer (51%), boss (52%) and team/colleagues (53%) than other generations.

Leadership « WHITE PAPER

ASEAN CEOs’ TOP TALENT PRIORITIES IN 2016

ASEAN – Leadership development continues to be a key issue for bosses in the region, as corporate landscapes get more competitive and bring forth new sets of challenges every day. In fact, the ASEAN findings highlighted the top talent priority for regional CEOs this year was to enhance their supply of future leaders.

Canvassing responses of CEOs from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, here are the top five aspects of talent management ASEAN and global CEOs are changing to maximise their talent attraction and retention strategies (first figures ASEAN, second global).

A majority of ASEAN CEOs (43%) stated they would make changes around building a pipeline of

leaders for tomorrow (49%). Similarly, 43% also stated they would make changes around workplace culture and behaviours (41%); almost four in 10 (39%) stated they would make changes around effective performance management (38%); 39%

also stated they would make changes around pay, incentives and benefits provided to employees (33%); and 32% stated they would make changes around their focus on skills and adaptability (30%).

Confidence levels in their company’s growth in the next 12 months were, however, lower this year (38%) compared with last year (47%). In addition, 80% of ASEAN CEOs also believed there were more threats to the growth of their company today than three years ago – 14% higher than the global average. Despite this, 59% expected to increase headcount in the next 12 months, with 12% planning to cut their workforce. Comparatively, 48% of global bosses are planning to expand their teams this year.

The biggest changes ASEAN CEOs are looking to make this year Make changes around building a pipeline of leaders for tomorrow

43%

Make changes around workplace culture and behaviours

43%

Make changes around effective performance management

39%

Make changes around pay, incentives and benefits provided to employees

39%

Make changes around their focus on skills and adaptability in their employees

32%

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 19th annual global CEO survey 2016.

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August 2016 « Human Resources « 13

Joydeep Bose « PROFILE

Joydeep Bose

President and global head, human resources Olam International Planting the seeds of growth

By AKANKASHA DEWAN

Art Direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman & Fauzie Rasid; Photography: Elliot Lee, Nikon Ambassador (Singapore) – www.elliotly.com

Q How has the HR function in Olam

changed over time?

The journey can be described as one of change and growth. In the time since I’ve joined, Olam has grown from a private start-up to a publicly listed company.

Through our initial public offering, we secured a strong capital base to embark on expansion. Our growth was mainly organic in the beginning. More recently, over the past five to six years, our approach has shifted more towards acquisitions.

From a more personal and HR perspective, I oversaw the formation of the group HR function. Our focus today is on HR working shoulder-to-shoulder with business heads and the leadership team to make HR an intrinsic part of the business.

As our company has grown, HR has become more deeply involved in supporting our business units and the organisation on a day-to-day basis so as to meet their growth requirements. We address issues about the talent pool that may get in the way of them meeting their business goals.

At the end of the day, the leadership has given HR the responsibility to manage the talent-related risks of our business and we take ownership for this. At the same time, with guidance from our CEO and the leadership team, we are focusing on how we want to shape the organisation going forward – from a cultural perspective as well as in ensuring we have a set of lasting shared values and vision for the company.

Q How would you summarise this

culture at Olam?

Our culture is fundamental to our success.

It is not a soft, touchy-feely matter, but rather a very hard part of our business. We realised early on in our journey that our unique culture has driven and will continue to drive our business growth, allowing us to gain a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.

This unique culture includes, firstly, being very entrepreneurial; secondly, demonstrating a high level of stretch and ambition; and thirdly, ensuring every individual takes strong ownership.

These three key constituents, which we intuitively arrived on and internalised, have underpinned our success so far and we believe this very same culture will lead us to greater heights moving forward.

VITAL STATS Joydeep Bose is responsible for providing leadership to the human resources function globally across more than 26,300 employees in 70 countries. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the human resources field across industries such as chemical processing, telecoms, information technology and supply chain management.

Q How do you manage the cultural

displacement which occurs when you acquire new firms?

In looking at any transaction or acquisition, we evaluate the culture of the company as well as the economics of the deal. The business has realised that our culture is the one thing that has allowed and will continue to allow Olam to succeed. We have always been clear that we will not enter a transaction where we do not have control over influencing the entity’s culture.

While we understand that economic priorities can take precedence, we have been fairly diligent in looking into the culture of companies we have invested in.

Whenever we acquire a company, we hold a culture audit.

One other thing we have realised is that if the leadership has a clear vision about the type of culture they want to August 2016 « Human Resources « 15

PROFILE » Joydeep Bose from Colombia or Singapore, should have a similar experience working in the organisation. One way in which we ensure this is through our signature processes that cut across all parts of the organisation.

These high-impact initiatives differentiate us from our competitors.

For example, we have a signature process called “core process”, where all new employees who join at a certain level or above will come together within their first six months for a four-day training session with our CEO. In this, new employees go through very rigorous training with our CEO, who takes them through the business, what the future holds for the business and Olam’s values and culture. We have close to a dozen such signature processes to build a shared experience – and these apply to various aspects of our business.

Q Speaking about leaders, Olam

build, then it is easier for new employees to adapt. The three tenets of our culture, as shared above, are not constraining, but are liberating for employees.

We have seen that if we can provide an enabling environment for employees where they can think out of the box, take judicious risks, make mistakes and learn from them, have a growth mindset and take accountability for the outcomes, they will inevitably become engaged and meet expectations.

In fact, many employees from our acquired assets are now leaders of our businesses at Olam. We have seen them make the desired behavioural shifts in terms of embracing our culture as we hope to see in our new employees.

Q Considering your company is so

diverse and large, how do you align the culture across the firm?

As a global business spread across 70 countries and operating in 44 businesses, we recognise that the only way we can move forward together as one team is by having a strong unifying culture and vision. We have a clear vision of what we want to be, that is, the most valuable and diversified agri-business globally. This is extremely believed in by the entire organisation.

We also ensure that any employee in the company, whether they are

16 » Human Resources » August 2016

has been hailed for its leadership development initiatives. What’s your take to developing leaders effectively?

There is a clear expectation in what we mean by leadership. It embodies the three major elements of our culture I spoke about earlier. In assessing an employee’s leadership ability, we look at whether he or she is risk-taking, entrepreneurial, and has an ownership mindset in taking accountability for outcomes.

In our industry, you get buffeted by external challenges outside your control.

It is important for our leaders to take accountability and deliver regardless of what is happening around them. For instance, we can’t accept a leader saying he or she was unable to meet a target because the budget was cut.

With that in mind, we create an environment for employees who possess these elements to blossom and succeed in our company. When we hire employees, we look for fit and aptitude for these values.

Some people prefer working in a more structured environment, but we aren’t operating in such an environment, so we’re a little more careful in hiring them.

What we also offer is very empowering roles. We give employees responsibilities earlier than at other organisations – such as in defining their impact terms, financial budget terms and decision-making terms.

Because of this, our roles are very highimpact ones.

We find that the roles our employees play are the one key factor that keeps

them engaged. We believe that because of the jobs we provide our employees, our organisation is a factory for building leaders as we really nurture leadership skills. We also support our leaders throughout their career journey. We have a very strong mentoring and coaching culture. Staff are trained to coach, mentor and have constant communication and coaching sessions with their managers and managers’ managers. In this way, they receive feedback and can reflect on what went well, and what did not, drawing on the strengths and experiences of others.

Q Can you name any structured

leadership development programmes?

While we have leadership programmes that apply across the five bands of employees, we believe firmly in the saying that 80% of leadership development happens when you practise leadership, when you are put in tough situations.

Another 15% of leadership development happens with the helping hands of seniors and managers – we have employee socialisation often where we collaborate and get together to learn from each other’s experiences. We think just 5% of leadership development is achieved through classroom-based sessions. So for us, basically, leadership happens on the ground and by doing things rather than being trained in a classroom.

We have to move away from the thinking that training programmes help leaders significantly – they don’t help build leaders. Rather, you have to have an organisation that allows professionals to go through the grind to become leaders.

Tough situations build leaders.

We obviously don’t force or recreate tough situations, but the roles that we give employees create the challenging situations that they have to adapt to.

When you go through these situations for a few years, you automatically develop the ability to lead in a volatile world.

Q Indeed, you also mentioned such

types of roles also help in boosting employee engagement in the company – an aspect which the recent SHRI awards lauded you for in the awards this year. What is your view of employee engagement in Olam?

For us, employee engagement is extremely critical because Olam depends on the discretionary efforts of our staff.

We cannot standardise every activity

Joydeep Bose « PROFILE across the company because we have a huge presence in emerging markets and are in a business where a lot is dependent on nature or circumstance. Therefore, we need people on the ground who can apply their minds and make discretionary calls. You can only do this if you are fully engaged with the organisation. If you are only semi-engaged, and your superior wants you to take a decision in favour of the organisation, you won’t be able to due to the amount of risk involved.

The way we drive engagement is by making our organisation very accessible and open. We eliminate bureaucracy and hierarchy very aggressively. It is an expectation pushed downwards from our CEO and the leadership team, where an employee can meet with anyone in the organisation – regardless of seniority.

Ideas are also welcome, always. We allow people to pursue their ideas while providing them organisational support to bring their idea to pass. That also helps drive engagement in the organisation.

We are proud that our attrition rate is low despite the fact that a lot of our people are operating from very difficult locations around the world.

Q How do you measure your

engagement rates?

We measure engagement rates every two years. Right now this is at 77% – it was 84% previously. We believe it has dropped in these past three years as we have grown a lot through acquisitions.

We need to do a bit more work on the teams we have acquired from other organisations and help them reach similar levels of engagement we have in Olam.

Another reason for this drop in engagement is the commodity industry has been buffeted by strong headwinds in the past three years. Our efforts are ongoing, however, and we hope to address this decisively, sooner rather than later.

Q How do you plan to boost

engagement among your employees?

We revamped our performance management framework recently and did away with performance ratings entirely, so that staff conversations can happen without any element of fear or anxiety.

Today, we have in place a system called ASPIRE, geared towards making the employee the chief beneficiary of the performance management process – not

the organisation or his or her boss. ASPIRE aligns our approach to feedback on performance, personal development and career progress across the organisation.

The ASPIRE process responds to three key questions for employees. Firstly, am I doing a meaningful job? Secondly, how am I currently performing in my role and what can I do to improve? Thirdly, what does the future hold for me in the company?

The process begins with discussions at the beginning of the year between the individual and the manager on the meaning of the individual’s role. Each business unit’s leaders would also highlight their goals and targets to their teams at the start of the year.

Throughout the rest of the year, we will have regular conversations on the progress towards their targets.

These conversations are open and candid since there is no fear or anxiety over ratings, and we track these conversations to better address employee concerns and get feedback.

This system has been in place for a year and a half, and we believe it will help our employees engage more with the company in the future.

August 2016 « Human Resources « 17

Deciding where to hold the training session is often just as important as deciding which training will take place. In this annual special feature, Meghna Gupta scours the needs of learning and development professionals to identify 14 distinctive venues for corporate training across Singapore and Malaysia.

he success of a corporate training programme depends on a comfortable, accessible environment conducive to learning.

Thus, the process of selection to find the right venue is a crucial one.

Sometimes the company conference room or office pantry area is fine, but in most cases training is more

effective when it takes place off-site at a neutral venue. To conduct this search smoothly, training organisers and L&D professionals must have a clear objective in mind in terms of every aspect of the event, including amenities, technology and space needed. The ultimate goal should be to go beyond the norm and ensure a highquality experience in order to make an

impactful impression and build longstanding partnerships with everyone involved. The best training venues encourage communication, creativity and confidence within set budgets.

Here’s our compilation in identifying training venues across Singapore and Malaysia that best deliver these attributes on a consistent basis.

Training Venues Guide « FEATURE

ACC EDUHUB At ACC EduHub, you can be assured your event is in good hands, with a dedicated facilities management office as your single point of contact and a great variety of training rooms.

Located a few minutes away from Dhoby Ghaut MRT station in Singapore, your training or conference experience is guaranteed to be not only accessible, but a smooth and rewarding one.

This is because, whether your event has 10 or 150 people, ACC EduHub provides a one-stop customised solution. You have a choice of 10 training rooms that are completely multi-purpose, made possible through the use of amenities: from banquet chairs suited for seminars to chairs with a table flip for lectures.

For a more spread out layout, you can choose a “cluster” option, with four to six people per table, perfect for team bonding through group collaboration.

Aside from these different seating arrangements, a distinctive feature of the venue is the Harvard Suites Theatrette. With a capacity of up to 150 people, depending on the set-up, it is conducive for seminars, conferences and classes. Be it a sales pitch, training or informative session, trainers and participants will feel comfortable.

Of course, the room, like all others, will be set up and arranged according

CARLTON HOTEL SINGAPORE

Carlton Hotel Singapore encourages you to rely on the expertise of its event planners and the convenience of a host of intuitive technological tools that can empower you to deliver resounding results for your meetings and events in cosmopolitan Singapore.

With the completion of refurbishments in the Main Tower and Executive Wing in February last year, the venue’s new look exudes the luxury and professionalism needed for your training event. Not to forget, Carlton Hotel’s ideal location in the heart of the

city, with three MRT stations within walking distance, making it convenient for participants to attend training.

Apart from sophisticated hotel facilities such as two club lounges, four food and beverage outlets, a swimming pool, gym, spa, hair and nail salon, Carlton Hotel Singapore also provides 13 state-of-the-art function rooms, as well as fully equipped meeting and event spaces.

All function rooms are available for corporate training depending on the requirement and size of the training.

to suit individual preferences. For example, it can be partitioned into smaller rooms to cater to more intimate sized groups.

ACC EduHub’s team offers a trifecta of features for successful training.

First, it ensures reliability, with the experience of delivering consistent services. It also offers flexibility by acceding to any requests. Last, it provides competitive rates.

Also, specifically for training events, additional amenities such as the usage of motorised screen projectors and access to a sound system are included.

Conduct your event in style in the polished atmosphere of the magnificent Empress Ballroom, a pillarless highceiling ballroom. The Istana Room, located on levels two and three, feature floor-to-ceiling windows with natural daylight and are tailored for small-scale meetings or a sit-down banquet, and can even be split into smaller rooms to meet varying needs.

An alternative option is the Esplanade Room. Be it a seminar, conducted theatre-style, or an intimate wedding buffet banquet, the space can host your events in a variety of room configurations, and also opens to an outdoor area where clients can step out for a breather during break times.

These all serve to create a luxurious, comfortable event that brings your employees far away from the stressful workplace environment.

August 2016 « Human Resources « 19

FEATURE » Training Venues Guide

GARDENS BY THE BAY Gardens by the Bay, a renowned venue, offers a training experience out of this world. With a handful of distinctive spaces, the venue provides a perfect environment to learn and collaborate with others.

Nestled within the Flower Dome, the Flower Field Hall is one of the spaces, automatically engaging guests with a sensory experience that will leave them marvelling at the uniqueness of a training event held within such a space. Set amid the periodically changing Flower Field display on one side, and a spectacular view of the Marina Bay skyline on the other, this indoor space of 1,200 square metres captivates you with its backdrop of perpetual spring.

The special LED lights that adorn the ceiling add to the enchanting setting. If you want a more intimate event, the Waterview room allows

trainees to be enthralled by the Marina Bay view and Bay East Garden while enjoying the cosy location. At 600 square metres, the room holds up to 500 guests.

On the flip side, if you have a much larger event in mind, the Meadow will perfectly suit your preferences.

As Singapore’s largest outdoor garden venue, with a standing capacity of up to 30,000 people, be prepared to be enthralled by a panoramic view.

Located in a premium location,

LIME HOUSE ASIA Established in 2013, Lime House Asia is located in a beautifully restored heritage shophouse in Singapore’s Chinatown, and offers a distinctive setting and experience for your training event.

A significant departure from the regular office environment, it allows for a unique and more relaxed feeling with the goal of removing employees from their “work mode”.

Size and capacity are two attractive elements of this venue, with more

20 » Human Resources » August 2016

than 4,000 square feet of space which can accommodate up to 300 guests across two levels. Lime House Asia has a modular nature, whereby the room configuration and layout can be quickly and easily converted to allow for flexibility needed for groups.

This feature can complement every aspect of the event, including how break sessions can be conducted.

For example, the structure often proves useful because it allows

about a five-minute walk from Bayfront MRT Station, Singapore’s downtown cityscape provides a stunning backdrop for a mega event. The beauty and uniqueness of these venues are accompanied by superior services and amenities. These include the basics such as a mobile sound system, projector and projection screen. On top of that, a private hospitality desk and exquisite VIP holding room ensure you and your employees can enjoy luxury while learning and collaborating.

attendees to break-out in different parts of the building, which helps to facilitate more creative interactions and groupbased learning.

The training experience is accentuated by the fact the venue houses a full-service restaurant – home to the only authentic Caribbean cuisine in Singapore – and offers complimentary AV equipment.

This eliminates any worry about outsourcing these components and the headache that comes with co-ordination.

Additionally, in the past, Lime House Asia has facilitated several unique training experiences for various clients, to energise, educate and unite their teams. 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.

One of the highlights of this event was a cocktail-making session for employees to bond and work together.

Training Venues Guide « FEATURE

MAXWELL CHAMBERS Set up in 2010 as Singapore’s main international arbitration centre, Maxwell Chambers is a premier venue that can be tailored suitably for all business events, corporate functions and training sessions.

If you want to organise exclusive and bespoke events, Maxwell Chambers offers customisable room layouts and acoustically treated rooms, making it suitable for a plethora of events such as training workshops, seminars, networking events and corporate meetings. The rooms are also fully outfitted with state-of-theart audio-visual equipment, video and teleconferencing services and complimentary Wi-Fi access.

Another important feature is its prime location in the heart of Singapore’s central business district, reachable by Tanjong Pagar MRT station. There is also ample parking

space in the vicinity. Furthermore, its refurbished four-storey conservation building has won local and international awards for its restoration and blend of traditional and modern designs, which include several customdesigned and fully equipped rooms.

In the past few years, Maxwell Chambers has solidified its reputation as a preferred choice of location for local and international corporate functions, exemplified by an impressive repertoire. Its clients include top multinational corporations, statutory boards, government organisations, small and medium enterprises and even embassies.

Major international conferences held annually at Maxwell Chambers include Global Competition Review Live, and Global Arbitration Review Live. Besides being just a training venue provider, Maxwell Chambers

also offers an extensive range of menu selections for different catering experiences, depending on individual event requirements.

As a result, it stands out for its quality hospitality and exceptional customer service, making it a fitting choice for hosting your event.

Business is pleasurable at Serangoon Gardens Country Club

Serangoon Gardens Country Club offers clients a quiet refuge complete with a variety of function rooms that are perfectly suited for any size corporate event.

Conduct a workshop in our Casuarina Room, have a few drinks with a client in our Crossroads Lounge, get your staff together for a few rounds of karaoke or opt to have your company’s next dinner and dance in our Kensington Ballroom.

From team building workshops to power lunches, at Serangoon Gardens Country Club, doing business is definitely pleasurable.

To book your next corporate event, call or email us today!

Tel: 6286 8888, 6398 5381 or 6398 5387 Email: banquetsales@sgcc.com.sg

22 Kensington Park Road, Singapore 557271 www.sgcc.com.sg

August 2016 « Human Resources « 21

FEATURE » Training Venues Guide

METROPOLITAN YMCA SINGAPORE Metropolitan YMCA (MYMCA) Singapore is not only known for its array of membership programmes for character development, volunteerism and service through community outreach programmes, but also for its social enterprises such as its conference centre. Through these, MYMCA has raised funds for local communities – reminding corporates that choosing it as your training venue implies the support of a great cause.

Running hotel-style function rooms at economy prices have been Metropolitan YMCA’s greatest pride since it was renovated in 2012, specifically the Vine Ballroom and the Cassia, Cypress and Cedar rooms.

Additionally, the Palm Room and Olive Room are currently being renovated to bring about a rejuvenated meeting experience for you and your trainees. Located in a quiet area with

lush greenery conducive for learning, yet near to town for easy accessibility, MYMCA is a five-minute walk from Stevens MRT. The venue offers a complimentary Wi-Fi service and provides meals and snacks in between

training, as well as a kitchen to customise a wide range of menus.

Importantly, 100% of the proceeds from its hospitality services, which include booking of conference rooms and meal orders, are channelled to community outreach work.

Therefore, booking its conference rooms and ordering food enables you and your employees to give back to the community. MYMCA’s team of conference executives are flexible and its sole task is to customise the meeting packages for your specifications. Be it a meeting, seminar, class or a private function, Metropolitan YMCA has the right room for you, at the right price.

Its reliability and dedication as a training venue can be exemplified by its past events. It has hosted religious seminars, residents’ feedback sessions with a minister, conferences with booths, inspirational drawing sessions, piano recitals, ballet performances, engagement parties and weddings, among others.

NOVOTEL SINGAPORE CLARKE QUAY A strategic riverside location, minutes from the Orchard Road area, and 20 minutes’ drive from Changi International Airport – these are some of the benefits in hosting your training at Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay.

Boasting an extensive renovation

22 » Human Resources » August 2016

in 2013 and early 2014 with upgraded MICE facilities, this venue offers two MICE dedicated floors and 1,200 square metres of conference space with eight meeting and function rooms, including a pillarless Phoenix Grand Ballroom which can host up to 600 delegates.

Ideal for workshops, seminars or brainstorming sessions, the meeting rooms provide natural daylight and a large foyer for registration and breaks.

The six state-of-the-art meeting rooms cater to groups of 10 to 90 people, while four of the break-out rooms provide natural daylight overlooking the stunning park of Fort Canning. In addition, the Executive Boardroom located on level seven offers a private foyer and is ideal for brainstorming or management meetings.

The highlight of the training experience is the upgraded Phoenix Grand Ballroom, which has a

maximum capacity of 380 people in classroom-style. It is perfect for conferences, company dinners and dance parties, or team building events, and is equipped with in-built audiovisual systems and LCD projectors.

Supplementing the conference experience is a dedicated events team to oversee every element of an event.

The hotel is also part of the Accor loyalty “Le Club” meeting planner programme, which means that MICE organisers and corporate clients will be rewarded with points for any conference booking.

Another feather in its cap is the distinction as the first hotel in Singapore to achieve the green globe certification for its commitment to sustainable development. It offers an innovative “Green Meeting@Novotel”, allowing corporates to support “A Tree for a Child” programme.

Training Venues Guide « FEATURE

PAN PACIFIC SINGAPORE Pan Pacific Singapore, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, is dedicated to delivering quality hospitality experiences through unsurpassed services, top-notch facilities and enhanced amenities.

To ensure the perfect training experience, it offers a number of options, including 25 meeting venues with high-speed wireless internet access, audio-visual equipment and many built-in liquid crystal display (LCD) screens. Room sizes range from 50 square metres to 100 square metres, and can be tailored to a boardroom, theatre, classroom or a “U” shape setup, with some even having collapsible walls to suit your expected attendance.

All of these are also conducive for small group trainings and meetings with six to 32 people.

Another highlight of this venue is the large pillarless ballroom, which

has a sophisticated lighting system, changeable light colours, a preset dimming system and sophisticated audio-visual equipment to help create the perfect ambience.

What links all of these rooms is Pan Pacific’s flexibility and ability to transform the venue into anything you can imagine, given some of its past events. For a local theme, the training room set-up was tailored with informal sofa seating, batik fabric and a kopi tiam-style set-up for coffee breaks.

Another example that showed this flexibility was a request for a relaxing beach theme, in which a training room

SHANGRI-LA HOTEL SINGAPORE

If you want a training venue that is both well-equipped and beautiful, ShangriLa Hotel Singapore offers 45 years of experience as the go-to host for historic and high-profile events.

The hotel offers more than 60,000 square feet of customisable function spaces that range from intimate function rooms starting from 80 square metres to the Island Ballroom, one of the largest hotel function spaces in Singapore. In addition, centrally located and within close proximity of

Orchard Road, the venue offers guests convenient access to Singapore’s main shopping and entertainment belt.

A vital attribute from a training perspective is customisation, and at Shangri-La, you have 21 flexible function spaces to select from. Moreover, dedicated event managers take into consideration the requirements of your event before adapting the venues. All function rooms include state-of-the-art audio visual equipment with amenities

was decked with shells, beach hats and water guns.

Diversity is also at the heart of its services, with a choice of awardwinning restaurants and bars for private functions, depending on the training group’s agenda.

To celebrate the hotel’s 30th anniversary, you can look forward to a tailored “extraordinary meeting offer”, with rates starting from SG$60 per guest for a half-day meeting package and SG$75 per guest for a full-day meeting package, with benefits such as usage of a projector and projection screen and complimentary internet access.

such as satellite and teleconferencing, simultaneous translation systems, motorised projectors and screens and complimentary Wi-Fi upon request.

Another highlight is the plethora of dynamic outdoor training spaces, spanning 15 acres for training sessions.

With an increasing focus on healthy living and unconventional training sessions, the hotel has assisted with a sunrise yoga session, providing yoga mats and arranging for an instructor at the Banyan Deck – an outdoor venue overlooking the hotel’s gardens and spanning more than 80 square metres.

This year, as well as the hotel’s 45th anniversary, marks the launch of The Orchid, a seven-metre tall open-air orchid greenhouse, home to more than 300 orchids.

Activities have been designed around the space, including sketch classes, guided drone flight sessions and Dîner de Fleurs – a private dinner for two to four guests with a unique themed menu by the master chefs.

August 2016 « Human Resources « 23

FEATURE » Training Venues Guide

SOFITEL SINGAPORE SENTOSA RESORT & SPA Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa boasts a celebrations and events centre which comprises 1,300 square metres dedicated to event space.

It can host a plethora of meeting spaces, all accentuated by natural daylight and a range of configurations that can be customised to suit any theme, attendance and event type.

Equipped with state-of-the-art audio visual equipment and lighting systems, the venue offers a tranquil resort ambience overlooking the South China Sea. The centre is a standalone building away from the main resort; its private driveway brings convenience to event organisers and their guests. There are two ballrooms and five function rooms that can be partitioned into 15 meeting spaces to serve all event types. Aside from the location and amenities of this state-of-the-art meeting venue, Sofitel

Singapore Sentosa also guarantees dedicated service and value-for-money training event packages.

Since the opening of the Sofitel flagship hotel, Sofitel Singapore Sentosa has been impressing guests, both from the previous The Beaufort hotel and guests of Sofitel, with their “cousu main” service. To enhance the meeting experience, they can also incorporate activities such as massages by the So SPA or even yoga. Each meeting space has a dedicated coffee corner,

SUNTEC SINGAPORE CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE

Since its inception in 1995, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre (the Centre) has acquired a strong reputation as one of the region’s pioneering and most awarded international venues, with an impressive 20,000 events under its belt.

The Centre is designed for flexibility and convertibility, with 42,000 square metres of space over four levels to cater to training events of different sizes and formats. Operable walls enable spaces 24 » Human Resources » August 2016

to be converted to suit the programme flow. For example, an open space used for the morning reception can be converted into private rooms for afternoon breakout sessions.

A special feature that encapsulates the excellence of this venue is its focus on digitisation. Kick-starting with a SG$180 million modernisation programme in 2013, the Centre has since been able to anticipate all of its clients’ evolving needs around

serving high quality coffee and tea to complement break-time delicacies.

The series of successful corporate functions held here in the past exemplify the venue’s value. For example, one company requested a casual retreat with its employees.

Therefore, the team at Sofitel replaced the standard meeting set-up with beanbags, allowing for a more intimate session. A themed coffee break was also incorporated as part of the event, including personalised cupcakes.

digitisation. For a powerful first impression, “The Big Picture”, the largest HD video wall in the world, can be customised for event branding.

An online customer portal also allows organisers to review the status of room bookings with views in 2D and 3D, make changes and place additional orders. This extensive network of digital touch-point screens offers training events the ability to customise directional signage and wayfinding.

It can also be an effective platform for branding and displaying the latest training programmes and information.

The Centre can also support complex live broadcasts through satellite transmission. A client that held its Asia Pacific cardiovascular course here broadcasted a number of live surgical demonstrations conducted by renowned surgeons from Singapore, China and India. The surgeons connected with more than 2,000 participants at the training session conducted at Suntec Singapore.

Training Venues Guide « FEATURE

KUALA LUMPUR CONVENTION CENTRE

Since opening in 2005, the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) has established itself as Malaysia’s premier convention facility.

An innovator in corporate training venues, alongside 21 meeting rooms, it is the first venue in Malaysia to develop a solution specifically for small meetings; TenOnCall (TOC) which comprises 10 flexible meeting spaces offering a differentiated experience for short-lead bookings or just-in-time meetings. This allows clients to walk in, select their pre-set room configuration and execute a same-day meeting.

TOC’s unique all-inclusive meeting packages include complimentary Wi-Fi, audio-visual equipment and

an AV technician on standby. These items are in addition to its signature innovative all-day dining concept, enjoyed in an open central atrium, which forms the networking dining area of the integrated meeting space.

The Centre is also the most technologically advanced facility in Malaysia, having recently invested RM3.1 million to upgrade AV capabilities. Accordingly, one of the most innovative training sessions that have been hosted here was a LEGO Serious Play workshop.

meeting area, refreshment area and even an activity area. The activity area can be used for recreation facilities as it acts as an opportunity to build cohesion among employees and employers and also helps create a relaxed ambiance. Amenities include table tennis and beanbags.

To go one step further, the space has chalk board walls and panels that you can scribble on to facilitate the collaboration of ideas seamlessly or transform them into a backdrop for your event itself. Both the walls and glass panels are fit for writing down ideas without an untidy aftermath.

The space also comes with the essentials for any training experience: a basic PA, a projector and screen, stage, microphone, fully equipped kitchen and flip charts, as well as a catering service. RUANG’s team also offers advice to HR leaders looking to ensure a smoother and long-term collaboration.

RUANG Set up in January 2014, RUANG, Malaysia’s trendy venue, is a refreshing choice for your training event.

Now with two locations, SS18 Subang Jaya which opened first, and Seksyen 16 Shah Alam, launched in May 2015, both premises are fully equipped with a number of facilities.

Distinct from most venues, the layout of RUANG is not your ordinary training room. With a flexible layout that is both spacious and aesthetically pleasing, there is room for a main

SETIA CITY CONVENTION CENTRE Setia City Convention Centre (the Centre) symbolises quality, luxury, elegance and sustainability: perfect for a unique, but successful training event in Malaysia. A project by property developer S P Setia, it is strategically located within the 240-acre green commercial hub of Setia City, effectively ensuring your event is away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

However, that doesn’t detract from its accessibility, as it is only 40 minutes from the Kuala Lumpur City Centre via the Setia Alam Interchange.

A grandeur project that combines hospitality and up-to-date facilities, the Centre showcases the philosophy of long-term sustainability as well as a live-learn-work-play lifestyle.

Not only does the venue comprise a grand ballroom with a 2,000 seating capacity and eight function halls, it boasts a green oval event lawn.

Additionally, Setia City Convention Centre offers packages such as a Team Building package to ensure your event can happen at a reasonable price.

Aside from its indoor meeting

rooms, the Centre also has the option to use a variety of outdoor areas. These include a gorgeous oval lawn and event lawn, all potential event spaces for training venues.

Another feature that stands out is its dedication to the environment and sustainability. The Centre is set to be certified as Klang Valley’s latest addition to the Green Building Index for its green features.

August 2016 « Human Resources « 25

Employers refer to their employees as the company’s greatest asset, yet many of them don’t have a solid strategy to keep employees healthy and engaged. To spark ideas for HR leaders, Jerene Ang explores best practices from C&A, Lendlease and Dow Chemical, as well as compiles top tips from experts at CXA and Mercer.

Employee Healthcare « FEATURE he phrase “health is wealth” was conceived for a reason. It makes sense for organisations to invest in their employees’ health and wellbeing since healthy employees tend to be more productive and help the organisation save on unnecessary medical costs.

However, according to the 2015/2016 Staying@Work survey – Asia Pacific, while 90% of APAC employers said that health and productivity was a core component of their organisation’s overall health strategy, only 33% of them had an articulated health and productivity strategy.

This story analyses the ways in which HR can implement programmes that not only keep employees healthy, but also bring about business benefits.

Case one: C&A Kris Lui, global head of HR at C&A, explains that as long as C&A wants to operate as a market leader, it needs to make sure engagement is high – and to be viewed as an employer of choice and continue to attract talent in addition to making staff feel proud to stay. Hence, it spends a lot of time and effort to showing care to employees through health and wellness.

While C&A stands for the founders’ names – Clemens and August – in terms of framing the wellness and healthcare campaigns, it also stands for caring and amazing. C&A’s healthcare and wellness programmes consist of two parts – mental and physical.

Among the mental aspects, C&A does charity work, including the Inspiring Women Campaign, donations to NGOs, and the setting up of the C&A Foundation where charity is done for the wellness of the employees and society instead of just for publicity.

“The mental aspect is very important because nowadays, the employees don’t only look at money, they also look at the meaning of the company, the purpose of the company and how it contributes to the society wellness and their wellness,” she says.

As for the physical aspects, the company actively supports sports such as badminton, bowling, tug-of-war, according to employees’ suggestions. “It shows we are listening to the employees’ needs and it really gels us together as a team. The team spirit is there,” she says.

These programmes are organised by a

cross-functional team of 10 to 12 with HR as a leader and facilitator. The team comes together with the company’s purpose and organisational engagement in mind and suggests programmes for the year, before sharing the proposals with the global or local management team.

At this point, Lui notes it is important to remind the management team that other than endorsing the programmes, it has to be visible in participating in the programme.

Thereafter, the events are announced to employees through a town hall meeting.

She highlights that during the communication process, it is important to highlight the intent of the event as well as “promote and market your initiative like it is a product” using a holistic marketing campaign.

Due to the clear company mission and programme intent, a majority of employees were very supportive and the events saw high participation rates. The one challenge C&A faces is the occasional monetary challenge when the finance team is looking to cut programme budgets.

“But when we have explained the objective of the programme, they are fine with giving us the budget,” she says. “We also make the measurement – which is the employee survey – is very clear.”

After implementing the programmes, C&A noted a 12 percentage point increase in employee satisfaction from 70% in 2015 to 82% this year. Additionally, the company sees a lower than average employee turnover rate – as low as a single digit in certain markets.

“In our sourcing business, we have met 100% KPIs. This means that we can deliver on time and produce high quality trustworthy products which C&A is famous for among consumers,” she adds.

Case two: Lendlease Lendlease company recognises that for people to perform at their best, it must provide the support for them to feel healthy and well.

Hence, last year, it launched the Lendlease “Health and Wellbeing” framework globally to promote healthier minds, bodies, places and culture using country-specific strategies.

“A regional cross-department peer group comprising of senior management was set up to create the strategy and oversee the implementation of an integrated health August 2016 « Human Resources « 27

FEATURE » Employee Healthcare and wellbeing programme to support our staff to feel healthy and well,” says Agnes Tan, head of human resources for Asia at Lendlease.

To help employees have healthier minds, initiatives included a global mental health first aid certified programme, where selected staff members are trained to identify and lend a helping hand to colleagues facing personal or professional challenges.

To promote healthier bodies, Lendlease recently launched an integrated programme called RENEW – an online portal and mobile app to facilitate sustained healthy lifestyles and complementary lifestyle programmes in Singapore. Lendlease also offers complimentary biannual health screenings to all staff.

“Through the health screening results, we see that health issues like high cholesterol and high blood pressure are areas of concern,” Tan says. “Thus, we developed targeted programmes to address these areas such as workouts in the office, talks about eating healthy, cooking healthy, etc.

“These offerings of fitness classes and health talks are held in the offices, providing convenience and easy access to employees to find an activity that caters to their fitness level and interests.”

RENEW encourages physical activities by rewarding staff who visit the gym or an eatery that serves healthy fare with points when they check in. These points can be used

TOP TIPS FOR IMPLEMENTING HEALTHCARE PROGRAMMES

After looking at these best practices, here are some quick tips from HR experts, Rosaline Koo, founder and CEO of CXA, and Liana Attard, principal, AMEA employee health and benefits consulting leader at Mercer Marsh Benefits.

Planning is key

When setting up a new benefit plan – perhaps as a result of moving into a new market or setting up a new entity – it’s important to plan to understand the local market landscape (costs, delivery options, financing, competitor benchmarking) and to consider if you intend to scale.

Involve employees, by forming an oversight committee and conducting employee focus groups

This will help to design an effective programme which removes primary barriers to employee participation/engagement through a review of workplace environment and culture. Employees can also help to design programmes that are highly accessible and convenient for employee participation.

28 » Human Resources » August 2016

to redeem rewards. Additionally, to make keeping fit fun, the portal has a regularly updated leader board to keep track of who is at the top of the list, creating friendly competition across the business.

“We are encouraged to see strong participation across age groups in RENEW, with about 75% of staff on the programme,” Tan says.

To create a healthy culture in line with its values of “respect” and “trust”, Lendlease introduced a flexi-work programme called “Flexibility” last year. Additionally, a new leave type was introduced in line with promoting health and wellbeing called “Wellbeing Leave”, giving staff time to focus on their health without using their annual leave.

“In Singapore, staff members have three days of wellbeing leave a year,” Tan says.

“As of June 2016, more than 64% of our employees have either utilised or booked in an application for their 2016 wellbeing leave.

“We believe this helps to reduce sick days by giving them time to alleviate stress and take part in a wellbeing activity, and return to work feeling more engaged, healthy and productive.”

Lendlease’s initiatives include an option for standing work stations to reduce prolonged sitting – which is associated with health problems such as cardiovascular disease – providing healthier options in the pantry, and a wellness room.

Awareness for these initiatives were raised through engagement roadshows at each of the Lendlease’s offices in Singapore.

“Updates on fitness activities and health talks were communicated regularly via email, newsletters, the staff intranet and at employee town hall sessions to continuously engage employees,” Tan says.

Additionally, to incentivise the creation of a RENEW account, Fitbit Flex activity wristband trackers were given to staff who signed up.

As a result of these initiatives, Lendlease has seen consistently low attrition rates – lower than the industry average. Also, according to a survey conducted independently on behalf of Lendlease by Towers Watson, the company has seen engagement scores around health and wellbeing-related dimensions above the norm for global high-performance companies.

Case three: Dow Chemical In order to be a great place to work at for employees, Dow supports initiatives such as

Employee Healthcare « FEATURE ActiveSG’s Active Enabler programme that promotes work-life balance and wellness.

“We believe that a healthy body and mind will lead to improved productivity, and hence, it is important to us to focus on initiatives that will make employees happy at work,” says Butch Clas, HR director for SEA and ANZ at Dow Chemical. “We believe that happy and healthy employees are key to a company’s overall productivity. Keeping fit through walking is an achievable goal for everyone.”

In line with Dow’s “great place to work” culture – to achieve a good work-life balance through the promotion of sports and wellness activities – the company has a wide variety of programmes allowing employees to choose their preferred sports, wellness activities and healthcare-related activities that best fit their lifestyles. Programmes include weekly sports such as badminton, tennis, walking/ running, dragon boat, futsal, and lunch yoga, a monthly fruit day, and a flexi-time policy which allows employees to take time off work for activities promoting work-life balance.

Dow also has a flexi-benefits programme that allocates flexi dollars to staff annually for them to claim healthcare and wellness programmes for themselves and their family.

Activities that can be claimed include gym/ exercise membership, purchase of exercise equipment, holidays, additional health checks, out-patient medical claims, insurance coverage and more. Additionally, in June, Dow introduced the monthly fruit day where employees receive a pack of fruit in different varieties to encourage healthy eating habits.

“These programmes have proven to be popular among our employees,” he says.

The company also launched a five-month company-wide walking challenge among employees on 31 July. Endorsed by ActiveSG and with co-sponsorship from Under Armour, the challenge aims to develop a sustainable fitness habit over time.

Commenting on the programme, Clas says: “It is easy – anyone can do it, anywhere, anytime. Employees also stand to win attractive prizes.”

Every programme comes with its set of challenges, especially when it comes to changing employees’ behaviours. Speaking on the challenge Dow faced when implementing the programme, Clas says: “Incorporating a ‘great place to work’ culture requires

Health check: Lendlease launched a global campaign to promote healthier minds and bodies using country-specific strategies.

our leaders/supervisors to have a change of mindset. For example, they must feel comfortable allowing their employees to leave the office earlier than usual from time to time because when their employees are refreshed, there are returns in the form of productivity gains, trust and overall wellbeing.”

Thankfully, Dow has strong support from its leadership team in this aspect as well as a dedicated employee committee which volunteers to organise activities for everyone.

At the same time, the wide variety of activities employees can choose from helps to ensure their participation.

As a result of these initiatives, Dow has experienced improvements in various employee satisfaction dimension surveys over the past few years.

“Our yearly internal employee attitude survey has shown an improvement in the stress reduction by 7%,” Clas says.

“We like to attribute part of these improvements from our healthcare and wellness initiatives.

“If our employees are more satisfied, the more likely they are to reciprocate in terms of the company’s results and their happiness.”

To read the full length case studies as well as an additional case study from Suntec Singapore, visit us at: www.humanresourcesonline.net.

August 2016 « Human Resources « 29

Highlights: Training & Development Asia 2016, Singapore Two jam-packed days of case studies, panels and networking – here’s your guide to all the action from Singapore’s most respected corporate training conference, reported by Akankasha Dewan.

Fresh off the heels of inaugurating Training and Development Asia in Hong Kong, the Human Resources team hosted Training & Development Asia 2016, Singapore, at the Grand Copthorne Hotel on 22-23 June.

As Asia’s only dedicated learning and development conference for HR leaders and L&D specialists, the event featured a stellar mix of keynote speakers.

Held for the third time in Singapore, the conference saw the industry’s top-notch corporate learning trends revealed, dissected and expanded upon by learning and development experts from organisations such as Citi and Shell.

The conference, which was powered by a solid mix of sponsors, exhibitors and partners, also offered delegates tremendous opportunities for networking during various parts of the day.

Day one featured discussions around the 32 » Human Resources » August 2016

topics aligning learning and business strategy, high potential management and succession planning, and learning ROI. After a speed networking session, Sara Roberts, managing director and head of talent and learning at Citi Asia Pacific, kick-started the conference with a keynote on how to enable employees to take ownership of their careers.

The biggest hurdle Citi faced in implementing the career portal, she explained, was ensuring all internal controls and compliance were followed.

“It was mainly around information security because we were using external vendors. We wanted to sort out the internal compliance matters before we enabled our employees access to the assessment tools.”

After that insightful opening keynote, we dived into a panel on elevating global learning organisations and strategies, moderated by

Aditi Sharma Kalra, regional editor of Human Resources. Panellists included Angelo Pinto, regional head of learning and development and head of APAC campus, BNP Paribas; Anjali Parmar, firm-wide talent development lead, Asia region, Gensler; Raman Sidhu, global head of learning and development, Shell Eastern Petroleum; and Magali Simon, vice-president of learning, talent development and perspectives, BASF. Following a short networking break, DDI’s senior consultant Erwin Lennertz took to the stage to reveal the secrets of transforming L&D professionals into “learning experience managers”.

After his presentation, Rajan Krishnakumar, head of talent for APAC at MasterCard, shared tips on co-ordinating learning, talent development and succession management.

“We feel the Millennials will drive how payments are going to be made in the future.

So we try to hire more of this generation into the organisation. Right now, about 40% of our organisation is made up of Millennials.”

Post-lunch, Dr Roland Smith, senior vicepresident for APAC and managing director of Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), identified the best ways of designing a top-down and highimpact training approach.

In our next keynote session, Bernard Ho, head of talent development and learning for Asia from the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, shed light on the firm’s transformation journey in its expansion into Asia and how it altered its hiring practices.

After that, Phillip Raskin, learning and development director at Golin, shared his views on how to boost productivity levels of middle managers.

Generation Z spends a lot of time on their mobiles watching videos, he pointed out.

“Our goal is not to get them to stop watching videos. It is to actually get into the videos they are watching.”

In the next keynote session, Alexandre Paitre, vice-president of BTS, brought out the need for learning professionals to make a shift from a competency model to a moments-andmoves model.

The first day ended with Sidhu, global head of learning and development at Shell Eastern Petroleum, exploring how to boost employee productivity through training and development.

He pointed out the obsession with ROI or return on expectations from L&D programmes can, at times, be dangerous because it may not link to the business results you are trying to achieve. The second day of Training &

Development Asia 2016, Singapore began with Abhilasha Krishnan, head of human resources for Singapore at Japan Tobacco International, sharing tips on inculcating a culture of learning in organisations.

She highlighted the different leadership behaviours and views firms can adopt to instil trust among employees.

“We’re conditioned to turn everything into a positive and be optimistic about how we view situations. We term challenges as opportunities.

That’s great, but sometimes you have to acknowledge that a challenge is a challenge, and you need empathy in getting over that challenge,” she said.

Following that, Christopher Goh, director of global learning and leadership at Keysight Technologies, spoke more on the role of L&D in driving culture transformation.

Bridget Beattie, group executive vice-president for Asia Pacific and the Middle East at Right Management, succeeded him after a short break and gave useful information on how ongoing career conversations drive business success.

Following that, Namrata Kohli, head of human resources for Southeast Asia at Lloyds Register, began a keynote on how diversity and inclusion can significantly impact organisational performance and innovation.

The conference then featured its first panel of the day, which revolved around rewarding learning outcomes and incentivising performance.

Moderated by Neema Mehta, talent, learning and development director for Amcor, panellists included Kohli, Candy Leung, head of JB academy Asia, Julius Baer and Gary Lee, senior project manager, talent management (global), Grundfos.

Panellists (from left to right): Akankasha Dewan, Ilja Rijnen, Rupali Gupta, Phillip Raskin and Jennifer Neo.

The Human Resources team would like to thank all sponsors and partners: Gold sponsors 1. BTS 2. Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) 3. DDI 4. Knolskape 5. Right Management Exhibitors 1. British Council Singapore 2. First Finance 3. Global Knowledge Event partners 1. SIM Professional Development 2. StrengthsAsia Association partners 1. Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) 2. Japan HR Society 3. Vietnam Human Resources Association Media partners 1. Clocate 2. Chief Learning Officer Middle East 3. HR Monk 4. ResearchSEA 5. Senior HR Forum 6. Voices of Leaders 7. WhenInManila.com After that, Sormishtha Ghosal, head of L&D and organisational effectiveness at Cargill, spoke about L&D’s role in identifying and nurturing emerging talent.

She talked about how Cargill has made the transformation from a rating to a no rating-based system in terms of performance management, saying this has reinforced its focus on being a development-oriented organisation.

Following a short networking break, Kulwant Bardh Singh, CEO for APAC at Knolskape, addressed delegates on the future of learning, with lots of examples and a live gamified simulation.

The conference concluded via a panel discussion moderated by Human Resources’ senior journalist Akankasha Dewan, which explored the best ways of using innovative new-age platforms for optimal digital learning experiences.

Joining her on stage was Ilja Rijnen, regional human resources director for APAC and India at Edrington; Rupali Gupta, human resources director, APAC, LATAM and MEA, Mundipharma; Phillip Raskin; and Jennifer Neo, global director of talent and learning, APAC, at Sealed Air. August 2016 « Human Resources « 33

OPINION » Learning & Development

GOH LEONG HUAT Director, human resources Singapore General Hospital

Why Singapore General Hospital is beating industry norms in engagement With a 93% participation rate in its recent engagement survey, SGH registered satisfaction scores significantly better than national benchmarks across almost all the engagement categories surveyed.

Health at the workplace: The vast majority of SGH staff who meet the criteria for re-employment have opted to continue working with the hospital after retirement.

As Singapore’s oldest and largest flagship hospital, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is well into its journey of not only providing affordable and quality healthcare, but also nurturing succeeding generations of healthcare professionals. Maintaining this status rests squarely on our continued attraction and development of human capital talent – whether homegrown or from around the globe.

Thus, embracing fair and progressive employment is a strategic imperative and an intrinsic value proposition to our almost 10,000-strong workforce. In September 2006, SGH 34 » Human Resources » August 2016

was among the 500 pioneer companies to sign the Employer’s Pledge of Fair Employment Practices. SGH believes that fair, responsible and progressive employment practices facilitate the creation of an inclusive and fulfilling work environment, which in turn, fuels a highly engaged hospital family with the energy and empowerment to deliver the best individualised care for our patients all the time, every time.

Action: A fair and inclusive workplace Establishing a fair and supportive workplace has not been about

Learning & Development « OPINION

a single overarching master plan – rather, a continual journey of multiple sustained efforts, underpinned by a series of targeted interventions. This has been possible only with the genuine commitment of the hospital’s past and present leadership in setting out a shared collective vision, and in being role models.

Action: Recruiting and selection A fair and transparent hiring philosophy and process is the starting point of SGH’s fair employment practice. Candidate selection is based on the competencies, experience and knowledge required for the job, and demonstration of personal values aligned with the hospital’s core values – regardless of race, gender, age, religion, family status or disability.

To enhance the objectivity of the hiring process, customised selection tools are used such as typing tests to assess speed and accuracy, psychometric tests to assess personality fit, language tests, or case studies. Specific non-discriminatory hiring practices are strictly adhered to in support of national imperatives – and the vast majority of SGH staff who meet the criteria for re-employment have opted to continue working with the hospital after retirement.

Recognising that many female nurses prematurely leave the profession to take care of their families, the hospital’s Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing has introduced a return-tonursing programme, in collaboration with the Singapore Nursing Board.

SGH is also a firm supporter of the professional conversion programmes in collaboration with the Employment and Employability Institute and Community Development Councils, where we offer place-and-train sponsorships for mid-careerists to switch careers to healthcare positions.

Action: Learning and growth SGH invests heavily in staff training and career development through a total learning plan framework. A hospital-wide learning fiesta is held every year to emphasise the importance of life-long learning and to provide bite-sized learning opportunities for all staff.

Organisational development, and leadership and management training feature heavily in SGH’s learning suite.

All staff are imbued with the importance of organisational excellence through a “Service with a Heart” programme.

To build our leadership talent pool, the SGH leadership development rubric focuses on leadership at three levels – self, team and organisation. Selected staff members attend specially tailored corporate leadership programmes, as well as a customised SMU-SingHealth graduate diploma in healthcare management and leadership programme.

Action: Staff wellbeing SGH has set up various frameworks that emphasise inclusiveness and whole-person wellbeing. This is done through a dedicated work-life unit specialising in the design of wellbeing programmes targeted at physical, mental and emotional health, social wellbeing and family life.

We take cognisance of the needs of working mothers by providing facilities such as lactation rooms, an on-site childcare

centre with emergency care, as well as some work schedule flexibility. A peer support programme run by our professional medical social workers provides free psychological counselling to staff in the event of critical work-related or personal incidents.

An international staff office delivers acculturation programmes for all our foreign staff to assist them in settling in and integrating within a larger SGH family quickly and effectively.

Action: Safe work environment A centralised hospital-wide safety network taps technical experts across all departments to anticipate workplace safety issues such as fire, waste management, radiation and biohazards; while a comprehensive set of workplace safety and health (WSH) policies assures the safety of patients and staff alike.

WSH is continually highlighted not only to staff, but also

“To enhance the objectivity of the hiring process, customised selection tools are used such as typing tests, psychometric tests, language tests and case studies.” suppliers, delivery personnel and retail tenants through the annual SGH Safety Fair. Staff who champion safety at work are recognised through a SGH Safety Ambassador Award. In the wake of the enactment of the Protection from Harassment Act, a workflow has been established to protect staff from public abuse, and a comprehensive programme developed to equip them with the tools and skills to de-escalate tense situations.

Results: Validating our efforts The hospital’s efforts at establishing a fair and inclusive workplace have been validated across various measures, such as the staff attrition rates which have been significantly lower than national benchmarks. Our foreign staff acculturation programme has consistently been rated very highly by our foreign staff; and the hospital has not encountered any serious incident relating to our diverse staff profile despite our large and heterogeneous staff mix.

Perhaps the most holistic and representative barometer of the overall health of SGH’s human capital is the feedback and results of the hospital’s biennial employee engagement survey.

The most recent survey conducted in 2014 registered a resounding 93% participation rate, with the hospital registering satisfaction scores significantly better than national benchmarks across almost all the engagement categories surveyed. In addition, we won the TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award 2016, reflecting the relevance of our initiatives. SGH recognises the journey we have embarked on is one of necessary continued change. Even as the workforce morphs, whether in availability, profile or expectations, the hospital will need to keep a close watch over the relevance and effectiveness of the components of our HR strategy, and calibrate and re-calibrate to meet business needs and objectives.

August 2016 « Human Resources « 35

OPINION » People Issues

Cutting cost-per-hire by 70% – here’s how Ericsson did it TRISTRAM GRAY VP and head of HR, Ericsson, Southeast Asia and Oceania

A full-scale employer brand strategy is what this HR team laid out – find out how this implementation was successful both for the business and HR.

Superior selection: Last year, Ericsson enhanced and redesigned its career site, migrating it to a mobile-enabled platform.

Over the past two years, Ericsson has created and implemented a full-scale employer brand strategy. This includes research, messaging, communication, social/digital media, segmentation, an enhanced careers site and measurement.

Ericsson has been transforming from a mobile telecomscentric organisation to a true ICT and media organisation for a number of years now and this is continuing at an even faster pace today – for example, many people do not realise Ericsson is the fifth largest software company in the world today.

Over the past decade, our organisation has changed 36 » Human Resources » August 2016

dramatically. Ericsson no longer manufactures handsets or focuses exclusively on mobile infrastructure. Rather, we are a dynamic ICT company that provides industry-leading solutions in areas such as mobility, TV and media, cloud and IP. At the heart of our business is our Ericsson vision of the networked society. As a result, our employee value proposition and employment brand has kept pace with these changes and this new reality is reflected in the way in which we engage potential future employees.

Throughout 2015, Ericsson promoted its brand through a

»

People Issues OPINION

number of internal events, channels and programmes. Toolkits were created to provide all Ericsson employees with a solid understanding of the employer brand and how to promote it.

These include the “brand week” event for employees, the launch of the employee referral and the employee advocacy programme, training for the talent acquisition strategy team and regional leaders, and the launch of an internal employer branding portal and toolkit.

These enablers further strengthen our attraction strategies and ensure our approach to attracting new talent is reflective of our market position today and where we see ourselves moving in the future.

This has meant an increased digital presence of the Ericsson employment brand online, on social media, in referral programmes and graduate programmes, which we see as having a material impact on the quantity, but more importantly, the quality of candidates we are attracting.

Being social is a good thing Research shows that socially engaged companies are 58% more likely to attract top talent. In addition, employees at socially engaged companies are 20% more likely to stay with their employer (Source: Social Chorus 2015).

Ericsson has built its employer brand digital strategy around diversity and the role it has played in pushing the boundaries of technology towards the networked society with these key initiatives: 1. A complete redesign of our careers site Last year, Ericsson enhanced and redesigned its career site, migrating it to a mobile-enabled platform.

The regions were featured prominently in the redesign of the careers site. Each region has its own spotlight page where they are welcome to post relevant and exciting content.

Southeast Asia and Oceania (RASO) has been highly engaged since the launch, submitting videos, employee stories and news articles.

2. A social media strategy for the Ericsson careers channels In 2015, social campaigns, as well as one-off social posts, resulted in a 33% year-over-year increase in organic visits to the job site (jobs.ericsson.com) and an 11% year-over-year increase in overall visits to the career site.

RASO social media campaigns resulted in nearly 260,000 impressions and drove over 20,000 clicks, reached over 10,000 users and drove 660 engagements. Furthermore, they created 16,000 Facebook referrals, 1,215 LinkedIn referrals, 586 Twitter referrals and 21 Pinterest referrals.

3. Employee advocacy If people feel they can reach their full potential and advance their career without having to leave Ericsson because they see the investments that we’re putting into their competence development, not only are they likely to stay, but they are also likely to spread the word.

Recently, we launched a social advocacy pilot where employees can share branded Ericsson content across their

“Ericsson’s regional social media campaigns created 16,000 Facebook referrals, 1,215 LinkedIn referrals, 586 Twitter referrals and 21 Pinterest referrals.” social and personal social media networks. Results showed employee engagement increased 1.7 times as a result of joining the pilot.

This resulted in more LinkedIn visits, improving Ericsson’s brand awareness and profile.

Ericsson’s talent brand index increased nearly 45% in 2015, with a noticeable lift occurring when the social advocacy pilot was launched.

We also created an Ericsson careers blog. Four employees were chosen to represent RASO and their career area by sharing their experiences with the inner workings of Ericsson’s diverse culture in their blog posts.

Since the careers blog launched in June 2015, it has received 36,481 views from 25,620 unique visitors.

Converting action into results Throughout 2015, Ericsson promoted its employer brand through a number of events, channels and programmes, shared earlier.

This has had a huge impact on our talent acquisition processes, both in terms of time and cost.

For example, we not only reduced the time taken to fill a role, but in the process increased employee referral hires from 13% to 35%.

Cost wise, we cut cost-per-hire by 70%, while also reducing external agency spend and dependence on job boards.

Additionally, social networks are now consistently a top three source of hire for us. Recently, we were also recognised

by Universum as one of the top 50 most attractive engineering employers in Asia Pacific, ranked number 38.

Apart from these metrics, another way of gauging results is feedback from staff.

Amanda Yap, company control unit manager at Ericsson Malaysia, has this to say: “Ericsson ensures that every employee understands the role they play in delivering the business needs.

“Over the years, Ericsson has been constantly equipping me with various useful and relevant courses, as well as development opportunities, which have played a key role in expanding both my competencies as well as soft skills.”

Ultimately, high retention rates for the business means the investments we have made in employee development and training, development of customer knowledge, intimacy and trust are retained, thereby ensuring a high return on investment.

From the HR perspective, high retention means a reduced effort and cost associated with recruitment, onboarding and training of new employees, which means HR investments and resources can be deployed in other areas to support business growth and profitability.

August 2016 « Human Resources « 37

CAREERS » Personal development

uptheranks Tracking HR’s industry moves Who: Sandeep Joshi From: Talent acquisition specialist at Scope International To: Talent acquisition partner, enterprise services at Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank has employed Sandeep Joshi as talent acquisition partner for enterprise services.

Effective June, this role sees him relocating to Australia from Malaysia where he was most recently a talent acquisition specialist at Scope International.

Commenting on his appointment, he told Human Resources: “As this is my first job in Australia, the most important agenda for me is to understand the Australian market, its culture and environment, as well as identify the right pool of talent using the best practices that are used in the Australian market.”

Who: Hans Han From: Head of compensation and benefits, Asia Pacific at Huntsman To: Regional head of compensation and benefits at Bridgestone Asia Pacific As of July, Hans Han is the regional head of compensation and benefits at Bridgestone Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. In this new role, he is responsible for the overall compensation and benefits strategies and programmes across Asia Pacific.

Before this role, he was the head of compensation and benefits for Asia Pacific at Huntsman.

Along with a master’s degree in HR, he has more than 20 years of work experience under his belt and has worked for prestigious firms such as Hay Group, Mercer HR Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle and Johnson Controls.

Who: Shoba Mangaleswaran From: Talent acquisition specialist at Expedia To: HR and talent acquisition specialist at GoQuo GoQuo appointed Shoba Mangaleswaran as its new HR and talent acquisition specialist. She was recruited by the travel technology developer and her appointment took effect in June.

She was previously the talent acquisition specialist with Expedia, and she continues to be based in Kuala Lumpur.

She comes with about six years of HR experience and previously served as the senior recruiter for talent acquisition at DISYS, among other roles.

personalgrowth TIME TO GIVE WORKING PARENTS A BREAK Do bosses think allowing employees to worry about their children while they are working in the office is good for morale? Anthony Wong asks the question.

Meghann Foye, author of the novel Meternity, recently stirred up controversy by writing in the New York Post that she felt “envious when parents on staff left the office at 6pm to tend to their children, while it was assumed co-workers without kids would stay behind to pick up the slack”.

The 38-year-old felt she deserves “me-ternity” leave to relax, which she defines as “a sabbatical-like break that allows women and, to a lesser degree men, to shift their focus to the part of their lives that doesn’t revolve around their jobs”.

Countering her point was New York Post writer Kyle Smith, who pointed out that “wanting to order a case of chardonnay and settle in to binge-watch the new season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt did not fall in the same category as “having had your body split open by a screaming, red, nightmare-lump of writhing humanity”.

While both writers had their share of followers and opponents, the debate in itself is an interesting one as it explores an issue quite relevant to Asia. If you are a new parent in Sweden, you will enjoy more than a year of parental leave. If you live

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in the United Kingdom, you and your spouse are entitled to 50 weeks of leave. But in Hong Kong, new mothers get 10 weeks of leave; and fathers a mere three days.

In Singapore, paternity leave is pegged at one week.

Do bosses think letting employees worry about their children while they are working in the office is good for their motivation and engagement? To create a family-friendly workplace, merely offering leave is not enough.

For parents, nothing is more worrying than leaving their sick kids at home, even with a domestic helper attending to them.

More employers should consider providing parents in Asia the option to work from home in case their children are not feeling well. I believe that in caring for their employees in this way, they will find convincing evidence that it goes a long way in retaining and attracting talent.

The technology for employees to report to work remotely is readily available, but the bigger challenge perhaps is for employers to accept the fact their team members are not in the office.

LAST WORD

While smashing targets, don’t forget to be sensitive towards your staff, says Akankasha Dewan as she bids farewell.

companies. But I face a situation where I don’t want to, but have to, leave my manager.

That’s right folks, after almost three years of reporting on the day’s top HR issues, I have decided to move into a role which is closer to the industry.

I am excitedly looking forward to applying my theoretical knowledge of HR – knowledge which has been accumulated thanks to my wonderful interactions with all you senior HR practitioners.

These interactions will, I know, continue via LinkedIn and Twitter and I am confident all of you will continue supporting us through our daily e-newsletters, conferences and award shows.

But since I resigned, I have realised everything I will be letting go of at Lighthouse, especially, working with our regional editor, Aditi Sharma Kalra.

While having worked with her for only two years (man, they flew!), her leadership style, and mature approach to handling professional responsibilities and relationships have left an indelible impression in my mind – elements which I have tried to emulate while leading my own subordinates.

But perhaps what impacted me the most is her ability to neatly demonstrate the value of the most humane tenets of leadership – having the fortitude to smash targets while being sensitive towards the needs of people helping her smash those targets.

As such, as a tribute to all that I’ve learnt while working with senior HR leaders, Lighthouse, Aditi, and my juniors, here are some key leadership lessons I have learnt.

Always recognise everyone’s, and I mean everyone’s strengths Right from the CEO to the junior-most employee, everyone is good at something. I realised this firsthand when I learnt short-cuts to editing videos from Meghna, our editorial intern on her first day at work.

This is perhaps even more important in situations where you don’t particularly agree with your junior’s views or don’t get along with them.

Everyone is good at something, and you’ll only win if you focus on their impressive traits.

Balance between being a senior and a peer Nobody likes being told what to do, and even if

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throwing your weight around with your subordinates might ensure the work gets done, it might negatively harm your employees’ engagement rates.

Earn, instead of command, respect. Do this by being sensitive to the needs of your employees and explaining your decisions to your juniors to ensure they know the context you are operating in. This will allow them to identify with your thinking and make it easy for them to accept and internalise your orders.

A secret to enabling your staff to relate to your thinking is by sharing small, personal details with them. Every Monday morning, myself and my team gather for five minutes to discuss what we did over the weekend – even if it only involved sleeping for 18 hours over one day (right, Jerene?).

Admit your mistakes As leaders, nothing irks us more if nobody takes accountability for mistakes and points the blame at others. As such, why should the situation be different when it comes to senior management?

Admitting your mistakes only makes you more human, along with giving you an appreciation of the nuances of what you do and the importance of being more careful in the future. This also sets a good example for your staff. For example, having seen Aditi take the blame for blunders in the past, now I don’t hesitate to acknowledge my errors.

Over time, I have learnt it is not difficult to be a great leader – but all that depends on your definition of greatness. It is one thing to be great by fulfilling revenue targets, but another to be highly regarded by your colleagues. The latter can only come if you focus on the more humane side of leadership which emphasises on you being honest and sensitive towards others.

So thank you Aditi, for teaching me the beauty of being a humane, yet effective leader. And thank you Lighthouse team, for giving me the perfect environment to learn and practise all of this in.

See all of you around, and until then, let’s not forget to be humane and sensitive in everything that we do.

Ed’s note: No special payments were made to AK for writing this column ;) And from all of us at Lighthouse, we’ll miss you AK!

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

Becoming a highly regarded leader

They say staff leave managers, not