Human Resources June 2013

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June 2013 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY 14 Q&A

Karmit Shilo, global head of HR at Amdocs, talks us through the nuts and bolts of using gamification for employee engagement.

28 Heads up, HR In our second annual special Futurist edition, we speak to dozens of HR heads to find out where they’re placing their resources to focus on future talent challenges.

Features 18 It’s time to transform HR Despite advances in HRIS, HR professionals are only just getting comfortable with them. Sabrina Zolkifi explores how this trend is impacting the function.

22 Meeting to make a difference If HR leaders want to help the business make changes, they need to alter their approach to off-site meetings, Rebecca Lewis discovers.

28 18

Opinion 52 Learning & Development Building an achievement-oriented organisation begins with understanding the fundamentals of coaching, says Jason Wee, senior manager of learning and organisation development at Wiley.

54 Unconventional Wisdom Preparing for future leadership and increasing productivity is a delicate balance to get right, says Eduardo Pérez-Cejuela, senior director of human resources at Asia Pacific SABIC Asia.

55 People Issues Sometimes, employee engagement is all about fun and games, says Samuel Goh, human resources director at Imtech Marine Singapore.

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54

57 Upwardly Mobile

Michelle Yeoh, director of human capital and development for PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road, explains what the hotel has done to reduce reliance on foreigners and increase retention.

64 Last Word

Rebecca Lewis plays Agony Aunt and (sort of) solves a real-life HR problem.

Regulars

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57

3 Ed’s note 4 In the news 6 Hot topic 8 Suite talk 9 Spacial Awareness 10 HR by numbers

11 Snapshot 11 Widernet 12 White paper 62 Up the ranks 63 Shelf life

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The future of HR is data How well do organisations really understand what I couldn’t agree more. Part of it, he goes drives performance among their employees? The on to say is about being able to look at data and reality is, not well at all. tease out what the relevant data trends are, but Could you tell your CEO why one staff I think it also comes down to HR being able member is performing better than another? Do to blend what they do with data-driven you think you could correctly forecast whether one decision making. candidate will work better within your organisation Eckart Jensen, vice-president of HR at over another? What about your leaders – do you Daimler Asia Pacific, puts it well: “We have to run know why your current leader HR like a business.”

“HR data, if used is struggling, but the previous This means serving all effectively, can end one seemed to thrive in the stakeholders – internally and decisions being made same conditions? externally – as well as including for the business These are the sort of customers, shareholders and questions HR professionals suppliers into the business on a hunch.” would love to have the concept of HR. answers to. They’re the questions CEOs want the “HR employees have to become answers to. Yet, the answer to most of them is a entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs to rebuild the resounding no. We don’t know these things. function,” he says.

Not really.

There is a real skill in data analytics – you We’re still at a point with HR in Asia where need to clean up data, understand statistics and decisions about recruitment and management are problem solve – and I’ll bet most HR employees based on a “feeling” – maybe not entirely, but a don’t currently possess these skills. It’s time for lot of these decisions are down to an individual, or companies to find the people who do, and get a team of individuals, in a company. them working alongside HR to beef up their HR In our team at Human Resources, we’ve been data skills. looking at some of our own processes, and have HR data, if used effectively, can end decisions realised we’ve been doing some things “because being made for the business on a hunch and that’s always how we’ve done it”. propel HR professionals to the top It is a very poor way to make decisions, of organisations. and yet decisions are made every day in HR I guess we’ll see, won’t we? departments throughout the region because of Enjoy the issue. this belief.

The good news is, you guys have data. You have employee demographics data, performance data, mobility data, training data … I just don’t think it’s being used effectively, and it’s a huge missed opportunity.

In this month’s special edition of The Futurist, we spoke to more than 30 HR heads throughout the region to get their thoughts on what trends we can expect over the next few years. A majority of them said we will – or we should – experience HR better by understanding meaningful analytics.

One of our contributors, David Chin, group head of HR at Neptune Orient Lines, had this to say: “HR is comfortable with numbers and number analysis when we’re talking about compensation, but we’re not comfortable talking about numbers when it’s data analysis.”

Rebecca Lewis editor June 2013 « Human Resources «

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hrbulletin

News from humanresourcesonline.net

MANAGERS THINKING ABOUT LEAVING

Singapore – A majority of mid and senior-level managers in Singapore are considering a job change this year. Almost 88.5% of employers may seek a move, according to the 2013 MRIC Talent Report. Out of 5,000 directors, managers and professionals across reputable firms in Singapore and China surveyed, 35.6% chose “yes” and 52.8% “maybe” to seeking a job change.

Even though the percentages were lower than last year, it was still the highest among Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China. The report revealed compensation as an important attraction, along with work-life balance.

It also found 53.2% of Singaporeans were dissatisfied with their current level of compensation, up from 50% a year before.

STAFF NOT FEELING APPRECIATED

Singapore – Unsatisfactory compensation is the reason behind 56% of local employees wanting to leave their job in the next two years. While employees are beginning to feel confident about switching jobs, many feel under-recognised for the hard work they invested during the downturn.

“Now the outlook is more positive and many businesses are in a position to loosen their purse strings, employees are demanding their hard work is recognised – and if it isn’t they’ll vote with their feet,” said Michael Smith, director of Randstad Singapore.

Companies can also look at providing staff with time-off in lieu and career development opportunities to keep them on board.

Smith said companies able to craft a strong employer brand also stood a better chance of attracting and retaining top talent.

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» Human Resources » June 2013

ARE YOU A BAD BOSS?

Singapore – It seems the biggest crime you can commit as a boss is to intrude on the personal time of your employees. According to JobsCentral, three quarters of local bosses believe their employees should work after hours or over the weekend, and 48% will contact workers who are on leave. Another 58% believe their employees should remain contactable while on vacation.

Other bad boss habits include stretching meetings beyond working hours (23%), emailing employees early in the morning (20.3%), frequently shortening deadlines (16.8%) and asking employees to run personal errands (6.3%).

While a majority (69%) of Singaporeans said they were satisfied with the working relationship with their bosses, those who were unhappy at work cited reasons such as lack of advancement (87.5%), lack of autonomy (80.6%) and work demands (71.1%).

JUNE

THE WORLD’S NICEST COLLEAGUES

US – A woman who missed out on her company’s lottery pool was in for a surprise when her coworkers hit the jackpot. Jennifer Maldonado decided to sit out of the betting pool at her office because she couldn’t afford the $25 buy-in price. While her co-workers offered to loan her the money, Maldonado refused.

So when she heard her colleagues had won US$1 million (S$1.2 million) in the draw, she thought it was a joke, kait8.com reported.

“I really thought they were pranking me, I was the new girl. I was the only one who didn’t put into the pool,” she said.

Laurie Finkelstein Reader, who organised the pool, said she and the other 11 winners felt compelled to include Maldonado in the winnings and gave her a portion, worth US$83,333.33 (S$103,305).

TIME TO WAKE UP, GEN YS

Singapore – More than half of local bosses believe Gen Ys are difficult to recruit because of their unrealistic expectations of career advancement and salaries.

A Robert Half survey found 54% of Singaporean employers believe Gen Ys are the hardest group to recruit, compared with Gen X (21%) and baby boomers (9%).

There are also more local (59%) than global (45%) employers who find Gen Ys challenging to retain. Eighty per cent of bosses said Gen Ys were a handful because they had high expectations for career progression, while 75% of employers said younger talent believed they were worth more than they really were.

Stella Tang, director of Robert Half Singapore, said companies had to be better at engaging Gen Y employees and give them roles that challenged and leveraged on their strengths.

WOMAN FORCED TO DISPLAY BRA SIZE

Sweden – A lingerie store has been found guilty of discrimination for forcing one of its employees to wear her bra size on her badge.

Although the staff member objected to having to display her chest size, her employers insisted she had to share her name, chest measurement and cup size while working at lingerie chain store, Change, Swedish news agency TT reported.

An employment tribunal found the store to be guilty of discrimination, with the Swedish Labour Court saying the woman’s dignity had been “violated”. The company told the tribunal it had set the ruling to show customers the wide range of products available and to play down the issue of bra size.

Change was ordered to pay 50,000 kronor (S$9,750) in damages, as well as the plaintiff’s legal fees.

FOREIGN TALENT INCREASING LOCALS’ SALARIES RAIN OR SHINE, THE CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

Singapore – With the warmest months of the year upon us – predicted forecasts of average highs of 32 degrees Celsius through to July – you may notice people wearing fewer layers and shorter hemlines.

However, the warm weather is no excuse to reveal more skin or be overly casual when dressing for work.

Nicole Williams, a LinkedIn career expert, said employees had to remember they were dressing for their careers, regardless of the temperature.

The biggest office attire no-nos include shorts, spaghetti straps, halter tops, tube tops and miniskirts for women, and untucked shirts, shorts and jerseys for men.

“You want to be taken seriously at all costs. You don’t want to be dismissed because your skirt is too short,” she said.

Peter Handal, chief executive of Dale Carnegie Training, said companies should be clear on the acceptable dress code.

“Employers need to balance the needs of their clients and corporate culture when determining appropriate dress codes for warmer weather,” Handal said.

Singapore – Increasing the minimum salary requirements for Employment Passes (EPs) will help boost entry level wages of Singaporeans, acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said. As the number of Singaporean PMEs is expected to rise, Tan explained the changes to the EP requirements were meant to “make sure wages are moving correctly, so that Singaporeans have fair opportunities, have good and fair remuneration”.

Because entry level salaries for Singaporeans have remained stagnant for five years, the revised EP requirements will help shift local salaries in the right direction.

According to mean data from graduate employment surveys by tertiary institutions, recent cohorts of graduates received lower entry level salaries as compared with the 2007 cohort, The Business Times reported.

Changes are being made to salary requirements for the lowest Q1 tier, and also upper P1 and P2 categories of employment passes.

“Obviously, we have not been very successful in the last few years, with the (foreign manpower) tightening,” Tan said. “The desired outcome is not a ‘Singaporean-first’ or ‘Singaporeanonly’ system – that would not serve Singaporeans well in the long-term.”

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June 2013 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » Hot topic

Mid-year reviews It’s that time of the year again to review employees for their mid-year performance. HR experts share their thoughts on the practice of mid-year reviews.

■ Alice Lee Director, human capital and development Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore Mid-year reviews should be compulsory because productivity is a big topic nowadays. In order to pay an associate correctly, we usually depend on the company and individual key performance indicators (KPIs). Constant follow-up on an associate’s performance will let them know what degree they are always into their designated KPIs. I think six months is a good gauge on associates’ performances. In fact, superiors or

department heads should constantly review their associates’ performance so they know where they can improve. It’s better not to wait until mid-year or year-end to review performance, as we usually take only the most recent performance into consideration.

Before making an appointment to conduct the review, managers should first review files of what has been accomplished to date by the associates – this will be a good tool during the discussion.

Managers will also have to ask their associates to come prepared with major accomplishments achieved so far and their priorities for the rest of the year. During the discussion, share which goals they have achieved so far, as well as what they can

improve on and what you would like them to focus on for the rest of the year.

Having a mutual understanding on performance expectations is important because it will minimise unpleasant surprises at the year-end review. You will also have to find out what challenges they are facing and assist to eliminate them. Last, but not least, remember to thank them for their past contributions.

Besides confirmation and mid-year reviews, we have also started 30-day, 60-day and 90day reviews for all new hires, which helps new associates know where they are heading up to their confirmation.

Both good and bad feedback are equally important with this. Feedback can motivate

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» Human Resources » June 2013

Hot topic WORK LIFE »

the associate if it is good, and also help them improve, in the event bad feedback is required.

Balancing feedback is hugely important, but the way it is delivered also plays a big part. Twomonth feedback sessions, key results areas or follow-ups on action lists are some good ways of tracking performance.

Since we are in hospitality, the number of complaints and compliments we get can act as a tracking tool.

I would advise my HR peers to train the managers first and let them know the benefits of conducting performance reviews with the right approach. Changes might not happen overnight, because some associates are already accustomed to the old approach and may think their manager is watching over their shoulders.

■ Jeremy Tan Head of human resources Titan Petrochemicals Group Depending on the maturity of the organisation, mid-year reviews are good to have because managers can track progress of annual KPIs. Employees also deserve feedback on their performance. However, managers will still provide informal quarterly or even monthly reviews for companies that are already very structured.

For companies where managers are not equipped to conduct this process, it would be counter-productive because resources are wasted when the process is carried out ineffectively.

Six months is definitely enough time to measure an employee’s improvement. It would be disastrous if an employee was unaware he had been heading in the wrong direction for six months because his progress wasn’t checked. Managers must remember two factors during reviews.

Firstly, it is about the alignment of corporate objectives to individual targets. It would be a good time to take stock of the efforts thus far and whether everyone is still on the same page. If direction has changed because of the environment or competitors’ actions, this is also a good time to re-strategise.

Secondly, remember it is also about development. Giving feedback to help subordinates improve is the responsibility of all supervisors – it

is an obligation of an effective manager. It is also important the process is two-way.

Both parties must have an open mind to listen to one another. At the end of the day, it’s about helping each other and delivering results for the organisation together.Managers should be provided with training on how to conduct performance reviews.

We have engaged external trainers and developed an internal methodology on how to provide feedback to employees in a nonthreatening manner.

Managers must remember this process is a tool to help them meet their annual department’s KPIs. There will be synergy if the process is conducted effectively.

Whether there is good or bad feedback, it is necessary to justify it. Give multiple examples instead of just one. The process should be about helping everyone meet corporate objectives.It is nothing personal and everyone is just doing what they are paid to do.

Start by giving the obvious good feedback, which will be easily accepted. Then continue to highlight other areas of good feedback that are not obvious, which employees may not be aware of.

This will allow them to know managers are serious and genuinely trying to help. The bad feedback comes next. If the previous two steps were done correctly, this step will be less threatening.

For mid-year reviews, managers and employees meet up to discuss the KPIs developed at the beginning of the year. They are reviewed and refined where necessary, then continue to be tracked in the second half.

It is all about communication. Communicate clearly what the whole process is trying to achieve and then communicate again to show management is leading by example and sponsoring this process.

Continue to reinforce the process so everyone will eventually accept this as part of their work.

■ Rachel Parsons HR business partner, AsiaCotton On Group I believe mid-year reviews are incredibly valuable so long as they are conducted in the right

way and the actions and themes that come out of them are acted upon and reviewed regularly.

In HR we need to make sure we are prepared for reviews and have the time to look through and analyse the results and how we can help, rather than spending hours on paperwork and admin.

Performance reviews should be ongoing, not just mid and year-end procedures. They should be setting SMART objectives and making sure these are measured in a tangible and factual way.

Reviewing performance should be part of the day-to-day activities.Managers should know their staff well enough to have an open and honest conversation about performance. There shouldn’t be any surprises because strengths and weaknesses should be discussed all-year round with their team.

Managers should make sure they are prepared for the review meetings and take the time to do the reviews – it’s important to the individual and the business.

At Cotton On we try to give enough time for managers and their team to carry out their reviews taking into account the busy trade periods. We’ve also just reviewed our EDP forms to make them more streamlined based on feedback from last year’s review. We’ll make sure we obtain feedback this year as well and will continually look to improve.

Managers need to be honest with their team at the mid-year reviews and make sure they are factual with their feedback rather than emotive. All feedback needs to be consistent.

We are currently going through our mid-year reviews and I have been speaking to managers about how to conduct them, as for some of them it is their first time.

It’s also important managers talk about what happens next and put development plans in place if they don’t already exist.

The advice I would give is to make sure to give employees enough time to carry out reviews, coach managers on how to do them and also how to give honest constructive feedback.

Also make sure your review form is as simple as possible because you don’t want people getting tied up doing paperwork when it’s the conversation that’s the most important thing.

Finally, make sure you do something with the results.

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June 2013 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » People

suitetalk

Get into the boss’s head

Lee Hon Tong

General manager, consumer healthcare unit GlaxoSmithKline WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL VIEW OF HR AS A NECESSARY BUSINESS FUNCTION? Human resources is a critical partner to the business, to guide and assist with developing our most important assets – our people. In addition, there are many operational aspects of human resources which need to be done with excellence to allow the organisation to move at greater speed. HR provides many skills across a broad base of important organisational operations and is heavily involved in business decision-making.

DO YOU THINK THE HR FUNCTION NEEDS TO BE MORE STRATEGIC? With such a large operational workload, there is always a danger HR is not playing a strong enough role in the strategic management of people and how this is aligned to the business goals. There is always room to do this better.

IS THERE ANYTHING HR LEADERS ARE OVERLOOKING IN TERMS OF BEING BETTER BUSINESS PARTNERS? The HR department participates in strategic planning to help the business

meet present and future goals. Rather than concentrating solely on HR duties, HR departments need to add value to the company by overseeing recruiting, training, advancement and placement of new and current employees. At GSK, we are cultivating an environment where HR can also contribute to the growth of the team structure.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR A HR PRACTITIONER TO BECOME A CEO? Having a vision, engaging in macro-management, staying in tune with industry trends, being customer-focused and hiring a strong management team are some elements needed to become a CEO. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE? I believe in engaging with my team. It is important for me to set specific goals and encourage team members to participate and express ideas. I then help to refine their ideas and strategies, which is in line with my role as the final decision-maker. This way, goals and objectives are clear within the team. Part of engaging entails practising openness and transparency, which is in line with the company’s vision and goals.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? I am fortunate to see growth in the business and of the talent GSK has to offer, and this is the most rewarding part of my work. People are the most important asset of a dynamic company such as GSK. Developing talent is an enjoyable process and I constantly look out for new challenges and assignments for the team. Seeing them achieve their career progression is rewarding for me as a leader.

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» Human Resources » June 2013

People WORK LIFE »

SpacialAwareness

WHERE FLEXIBILITY BREEDS ENGAGEMENT At Cisco, “work” is less a location and more a verb.

“This aligns with our vision – changing the way we work, live, play and learn.

We work smart and collaborate effectively across teams to do extraordinary things. At Cisco, we work, grow, learn and have fun together,” says Hwa Choo Lim, head of HR for ASEAN at Cisco.

“We empower our employees to be effective and productive, recognising and rewarding deliverables completed and results attained, instead of being assessed by the hours spent at the desk.”

The company recently moved into its new regional headquarters in Singapore, as it marked its 20th year in the country.

The facilities now boast features such as trishaws with power sockets and e-cafés on every floor to provide employees with an informal and collaborative environment. Staff are also able to utilise any of the 48 quiet rooms or 148 audio privacy rooms.

Hwa says having an interactive and dynamic work space helps create a more engaged workforce.

“The environment creates positive employee experience which translates to highly engaged employees and this in turn increases productivity,” she says.

She says the flexibility of being able to decide where and how employees work provides better work-life integration.

“For example, our Gen Y and millennials need to be constantly connected.

By providing an engaging work space (where employees have a collaborative work space as well as play areas such as massage chairs, punching bags, nap rooms and a games floor) employees can stay connected while they work and play,” she says.

Hwa says because the way of doing business is evolving, workspaces in the future will not revolve around the desktop. Rather, she expects it to be a combination of devices such as smartphones and business tablets.

“From a HR perspective, it will be good to ensure your HR policies are aligned and support new ways of doing work. As the way of working evolves, employees’ mindsets will need to change, and having a good changemanagement process is equally important to help them embrace the change effectively,” she says.

June 2013 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

The bad habits of bosses Singapore – Seventy five per cent of employers in Singapore think you should either work overtime or get stuff done on the weekend instead.

According to JobsCentral, 48% of local bosses also wouldn’t think twice about contacting employees who are on holiday to get work done.

Another 58% believe it is important their employees remain contactable even when they are on vacation.

If you want to avoid being considered a bad boss, take note of the actions of Singapore’s worst offenders below – and do the opposite.

23%

of bosses stretch meetings beyond working hours.

17%

are guilty of frequently shortening deadlines.

6%

like to ask staff to run their personal errands.

Source: JobsCentral

10 » Human Resources » June 2013

20%

of bosses email staff early in the morning.

People WORK LIFE »

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

Eddy Neo

Regional human resources director, South Asia Ingersoll Rand Industrial Technologies WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST HR JOB AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HR AS A PROFESSION? I graduated in 1998 during the peak of the Asian financial crisis. I accepted the first job that came my way and it was an HR officer role with Keppel Shipyard. I would be lying if I said my career aspiration then was to work in HR, even though I studied a HRM module in university. But there was no looking back. I have truly enjoyed HR as a profession.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE HR FUNCTION WILL EVOLVE? In many companies, HR has assumed the role of becoming a strategic partner to business leaders. I believe this trend will continue to evolve, while transactional functions will continue to be outsourced, either externally or internally to a shared service team. In addition, I believe HR analytics will be embraced in a big way to model and predict capabilities, measure business impact of HR interventions and make better informed decisions on future investments.

widernet

WHAT DO YOU THINK CAN BE DONE BETTER WITHIN HR? In our pursuit to be strategic partners, we must not lose sight of operational excellence, where there are basic HR services that need to be delivered in a prompt and efficient manner.

Also, HR programmes should be easy to understand, and HR processes made simple. No one appreciates it when they are complex.

WHICH HR FUNCTION DO YOU LIKE BEST AND WHY? HR business partnering because it requires an understanding of the business and regular engagement with business leaders. It also requires me to think on my feet when dealing with different issues as well as the opportunity to witness first-hand the kind of value HR is delivering to the business.

WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED? The more you do, the more you learn. The only portable thing is knowledge and experience.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? The multiple roles I have to play – as a talent scout, a coach and mentor, an internal consultant, a facilitator, a change agent and to lend a listening ear. Who can say HR is boring?

I CAN’T WORK WITHOUT … coffee.

Perspective on regional HR

Working with diverse cultural attitudes It is important to embrace local culture and customs when managing HR initiatives across the region, even if that means bending company culture ever so slightly when needed. What works in one country may not work in another.

As a multinational corporation, our professional image is an important part of who we are. Office attire still includes business suits, including ties for men. I recently had a salesperson come see me about our company dress code while in the field. He was visiting a remote customer in the Philippines and the meeting took place on the verandah of the customer’s house, with his “shop” situated inside a container on stilts.

The customer was dressed comfortably in walking shorts and a golf shirt. Our sales person was in a shirt and tie, although he quickly lost the tie upon exiting the car in 40-degree heat.

Although the professional image of the company is important, it should not put our employees in uncomfortable situations.

It is critical for HR departments to understand regional cultures when implementing HR initiatives.

We have sales offices in 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region and each country has a host of

Flexibility: Company culture can vary slightly in different countries.

different benefits, policies and practices that are aligned not only with the country, but also company culture.

Flexibility and knowledge is critical when designing initiatives from scratch. In 2005 we initiated an early send-off on Friday for the Singapore office. Instead of the usual 5.30pm finish,

we were allowed to leave the office at 5pm. The irony? For the first six months or so, many people still left quite a bit later with the reason being they either had to pick up a spouse or child from school. Although we thought this would have a large positive impact on staff morale at the time, many people did not enjoy the benefit.

A culturally rich region such as Asia Pacific is certainly exciting and challenging from a HR perspective. Regardless of culture or work practices, it is critical to get buy-in from employees.

We sometimes make the mistake of thinking they will benefit from something, when in fact it may have a negative impact. If the human resource team is not located in the same country, it is even more important to find out what will or won’t work from employee feedback.

Angela R. Locke Director, Asia Pacific human resources and organisational development FUTURE Electronics

June 2013 « Human Resources « 11

WHITE PAPER » Leadership

JOBLESS RATE AND JOB CREATION REMAIN LOW Singapore – Employment growth in Singapore has dipped and the unemployment rate remains low, according to MOM’s Employment Situation report for the first quarter of 2013.

Data compiled by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department evaluated the overall employment situation for the first quarter of this year, looking into aspects such as the unemployment rate, employment creation and redundancy rate.

Despite the slight increase in unemployment, these figures were still lower than the 3.3% overall, and 4.9% unemployment rate for residents and citizens during the recession in 2009. The exact number of unemployed professionals is estimated to be 57,800 residents, which includes 50,000 locals.

The seasonally adjusted figures for residents and citizens were 60,600 and 52,900, respectively.

Unemployment rate: Preliminary estimates revealed a 1.9% rise in the overall unemployment rate in March 2013, up from 1.8% in December 2012. While the citizen unemployment rate remained at 2.9%, there was a 0.2% increase in unemployed citizens, from 2.7% in 2012 to 2.9% in the first quarter this year.

Employment growth: Slow economic growth and the tightening of foreign inflow have resulted in low total employment growth during this first quarter. The figure for total employment growth is estimated to be 20,800, the lowest gain for a first quarter since the recession period in 2009 (2010: 36,500; 2011: 28,300; 2012: 27,000).

In spite of low employment, the total number of employed workers rose by 3.8% over the year to 3,378,400 in March 2013.

While the services sector continued to generate the most employment growth with 14,600 more workers, it was much lower than the first quarter of 2012 when it grew by 15,800.

Additionally, the manufacturing workforce shed (-1,800 workers) for the first time in five quarters.

Unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) % M12

J12

S12

D12

M13

Overall

2.0

2.0

1.9

1.8

1.9

Resident

2.9

2.8

2.8

2.7

2.9

Citizen

3.1

3.0

3.0

2.9

2.9

Source: MOM Employment Situation, First Quarter 2013

Growth in the construction sector dropped from 8,700 to 7,800 workers.

Redundancy: There was a decrease in layoffs, with a lower redundancy rate than in 2012. The total number of workers made redundant in the first quarter of 2013 dropped to 2,000, down from 3,350 workers in the preceding quarter, and 2,600 in Q1 of 2012. The definition of redundancy in this study comprised of both retrenchment and the premature termination of contract workers made redundant.

Despite a slight increase in the construction sector, figures were offset by the manufacturing and services sector. The manufacturing sector had the biggest dip in redundancy as layoffs dropped from 1,580 to 700. Layoffs in the services sector fell from 1,690 to 1,200 workers.

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12 » Human Resources » June 2013

Leadership « WHITE PAPER

INNOVATE TO STAY AHEAD

Singapore – Employees in Singapore are no different from their global counterparts when it comes working in teams and understanding their job expectations, but they are lacking when it comes to believing they have opportunities to be innovative.

With human capital and innovation making up the top three challenges CEOs in Asia are expecting in the coming year, leaders in Singapore have to do more to make sure their employees are helping the business move forward.

According to a report by The Conference Board and Sirota, employees in Singapore are among the least motivated to be innovative in the region. They also believe their companies are not as innovative, falling behind peers in Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Thailand and China.

Therefore, leaders in an organisation have to focus on strategies that can help improve engagement to increase the business growth.

The report revealed only 45% of Singaporean respondents felt they had a good idea of their career progression within the company, lower than the regional average of 54%. Locals were also found to be more dissatisfied with their compensation and benefits than their regional counterparts, as well as believing their organisation does not take “a genuine interest in the well-being of its employees”.

Only 53% of local respondents feel their company is invested in their well-being, compared

I am encouraged to be innovative in my job Manager

Non-manager

China

81%

79%

India

81%

76%

Indonesia

85%

87%

Malaysia

77%

73%

Philippines

69%

84%

Singapore

73%

72%

Thailand

77%

15%

Source: Making Employee Engagement Matter, Sirota 2013

with 66% regionally. Singaporeans were also behind the regional average for believing they have opportunities to learn and grow (60% versus 69%).

But the question remains: how can leaders, especially those in HR, help create an environment where employees are not afraid to work outside their comfort zone?

Lewis Garrad, managing director for Sirota Asia Pacific, said the research suggested employee engagement was fundamentally supportive of innovative cultures, and positive mindsets helped breed openness and creativity.

“However, in order to be truly innovative, companies also need to create a local environment that encourages people to bring forward new ideas and improvements, along with systems and processes that helps to transform the best of those

suggestions into tangible outcomes. Our data suggests the latter is a key issue in Singapore and Southeast Asia,” Garrad said.

Other areas leaders should focus on to mitigate future HR challenges were growing talent internally, providing employee training and development opportunities and improving performance management processes and accountability. Leaders should also apply new technologies, promote and reward entrepreneurship and risk-taking and develop innovation skills for all employees to create a culture of innovation.

“Showing employees the company acts on their ideas and suggestions creates a virtuous circle; involvement enhances engagement, further building people’s propensity to be creative and innovative,” Garrad said.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 13

PROFILE » Karmit Shilo

Karmit Shilo Amdocs Press play for engagement

By SABRINA ZOLKIFI

Q Why is engagement a core

business focus?

We are a large company and when we get feedback from employees, one of the main messages we hear is they want to be seen and recognised. So we had to find a way to connect the different desires, while putting an emphasis on recognition, which doesn’t have to be just rewards.

Q How do you provide non-monetary recognition?

It can be acknowledging in a respectful way, such as through the contributions they have made.

Q Is that why Amdocs created the

Values in a Box game?

The Values in a Box game was created with two goals in mind: to familiarise employees with the new values and to give them the chance to recognise each other based on the values. It was, on one hand, a way to introduce our values and what we value in our employee’s performance, but was also a by-product of trying to make recognition something more fun. People need to have fun at work.

Q What were the main objectives of

the game?

Using gamification to familiarise employees with the new company values was an idea that came out of the internal communications and organisational development teams. The goal was to get employees familiarised with the new values while recognising each other for bringing extraordinary value to their workplace. Receiving the box gains you virtual points and the highest scoring

14 » Human Resources » June 2013

employees receive modest rewards, such as points for Amazon.

who are not on the premises, could participate. This was one of our key objectives in all our values launched, which was to make sure we had fun and participation.

It was very important to us to have a broad reach and to involve as many people as we could. Of course, it’s easier to launch a programme you can conduct in your own offices, but when your workforce is so distributed, you have to reach out through these virtual games.

Q How was HR involved in the

process of creating and executing the project?

The implementation and execution of the project involved various teams from within the HR community, with the help of focus groups and partners in IT.

Q What was the immediate reaction

to the game?

It was amazing. We had 20,000 employees participating in the activities and we did not encounter any problems.

It was also great to see all generations within Amdocs being represented, even among the winners. The young people loved it, but we also had some older, more veteran employees bobbing up as recognised employees.

We were amazed at how everyone really wanted to take part in the game – it was one of those things that everyone just loved. We are now considering using the game on an annual basis to continue recognising our peers. We want to enjoy our work and we want to make sure we are having fun.

Q Why was it important this project

take on a virtual outlook?

In 2011, Gartner predicted by 2015, 50% of organisations will have gamified their processes. We have taken this trend one step forward by not only using it as an education tool, but also with a recognition element as well – peer recognition. We wanted to make it so even employees who are on the customer-side or those

Q What drove the need to

VITAL STATS KARMIT SHILO IS THE GLOBAL HEAD OF HR AT AMDOCS AND A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TEAM, LEADING STRATEGIES ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, WELFARE, CSR, ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TALENT MANAGEMENT. BEFORE THIS ROLE, SHE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND WAS THE DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS CONSULTING IN CORPORATE SALES.

communicate the values to employees?

Imparting our values has always been part of the on-boarding process, especially for new employees, but this time, with the whole employee base change that we’re doing, we needed to rationalise why we’re going through this change, and make sure employees feel like they have ownership and understand how we expect them to change our culture.

Q Was this done solely through the

Values in a Box game?

This was done through many, many activities. It was also done through a virtual blackboard for all the employees who are not in Amdocs’ offices, where they can practise some of our values and write their thoughts about a particular value. Employees had to complete the sentence, “Together we can …” so it was very interactive.

We also had success forms where our most respected leaders shared their successes after practising our values.

There was music plays and giveaways

Karmit Shilo « PROFILE

to familiarise people with the values. We decorated our offices, made videos and created a broad set of activities to establish the new values in the hearts and minds of employees.

Q Is this the first time Amdocs has

taken on a gamification project?

It is, and we piloted this within HR last year. However, we are planning on doing more with other programmes to involve more employees. We have an Instagram competition where selected pictures are then used in other means.

Q Why gamification?

Gamification is a great communication tool that can be utilised for sending out positive messaging, creating buy-in and a sense of community among employees.

When it comes to gamification and other social media platforms, you have to just go with it, even if you do not have an existing platform to lean on.

All these programmes are working towards supporting the business strategy that focuses on an industry that is ever changing and expanding beyond practices of the past. That’s what has driven us to create these programmes to support the business strategies.

Q Was there a concept behind the

Instagram competition?

We connected it to the context of the new release of one of our portfolios that is coming up. We asked people to send pictures they took through Instagram, which they thought represented the theme of our new release. The theme was “the power of experience”, and the June 2013 « Human Resources « 15

PROFILE » Karmit Shilo

“Gamification is a great communication tool that can be utilised for sending out positive messaging, creating buy-in and a sense of community among employees.”

award-winning pictures are going to be used as postcards, and that leads back to employee recognition as well.

the company. We see this as good signals that we are improving and working in the right direction, but we still have a lot to do.

Q Companies often struggle with

Q Why do you think gamification has

measuring engagement. Is this a problem Amdocs faces?

You’re right, engagement is one of the most difficult and important things to manage and measure. Like many companies, we have a yearly employee engagement survey which helps us measure how we are based on inputs and how we’re doing in different aspects of engagement. This process drives us to focus on specific areas where our employees tell us we have a gap to close. We also have mechanisms to help us understand at the group level and regional level how we’re doing, and if the programmes we’re doing are successful.

Of course, there are concrete measurements around attrition and employee tenure on the other aspect that is showing us if we’re on the right track or not. Actually, our employee attrition is trending down; it’s better than the industry average in most countries where we operate. We enjoy the fact a large part of our employee base has a long tenure with

16 » Human Resources » June 2013

worked out so well for Amdocs?

A large part of our employee base is made up of young employees. For us, it’s a very, very strong consideration to use tools that are relevant for our teams. The fact is, despite some managers being unfamiliar with these trends, it does not hold us back. The managers were very excited to see the level of participation, and when you talk about employee engagement, one of the biggest things we measure is actually the participation.

Q How does participation link

to engagement?

An involved employee is an engaged employee. An employee who takes part in games and surveys and who sends pictures is a much more engaged employee than one who is just on the payroll. Once this understanding is part of the manager’s thought process, their openness to these games as a means to involve is very important. And the tone from the top, coming from our own

managers, is to find a way to reach the employees, even those at the smallest locations in the world. We have sites where there are only a handful, where it’s a challenge to get them involved, so these virtual games are very, very good tools to overcome these challenges.

Q What is one piece of advice you

would give HR peers who are thinking about implementing gamification?

Definitely relate it back to the employee demographic, and try to understand the coverage the regular programmes have – who are we touching, and who are we not?

We used employee focus groups to help in the design of the activities. We have a team called “mini Amdocs” where we asked them what’s important to them. We came up with very good insights to the things they relate to and their expectations and we made sure this team had a good representation of the demographics of the company.

We used this team as a sounding board for many of the programmes we did and we have new comers and veterans, as well as people in different geographies and business groups. They feel they are much more involved, and we get better insights and recommendations.

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Go knowing

FEATURE » HRIS

Despite numerous advances in HR information systems, HR professionals are only just getting comfortable with them.

Sabrina Zolkifi looks into HRIS trends and how they can impact the HR function. oday, in a few clicks or less, you can order takeout, book movie seats and purchase airline tickets. With such rapid advancements in technology over the past few years, it’s no surprise the HR function is beginning to pay more attention to it.

But a report by CEB found fewer than one in five global HR leaders are satisfied with their systems’ ability to manage talent data, with only 17% reporting their HRIS systems are accessible via mobile devices.

The need for data to be accessible is quickly becoming a main focal point for HR. Gerry Tan, HRIS lead for Elsevier APAC, says when the company decided to move away from traditional data tracking two years ago, one of the

18 » Human Resources » June 2013

main reasons behind the shift was the ability to retrieve data more effectively.

“Before HRIS, everything, including personal information and compensation packages, was on Excel spreadsheets. If you wanted to know something, you’d have to go into the spreadsheets and filter the information out,” Tan says.

Elsevier then engaged the services of HRIS provider PeopleSoft, which allowed employees more control over the data, as well as gaining immediate and up-to-date information.

“With the automation of the system, we did see more accurate data as well,” Tan says.

Accuracy and timeliness is also critical for one of the more used services under the HRIS umbrella: payroll. However, there’s still much

HRIS « FEATURE room for improvement. A recent survey by Ernst & Young found while service providers believe more companies are headed towards a globalised payroll system, organisations are hesitant.

About two thirds of respondents from 160 global MNCs said their current payroll function is a hybrid of in-house and fully outsourced, with 76% indicating they have no intention of bringing any portion of their payroll services in-house over the next year.

But Tan believes more companies will adopt HRIS offerings and utilise newer systems which will allow on-the-go access.

We need info and we need it now However, this constant need to access information on mobile devices goes beyond standard administrative HR functions.

There has been a steady increase in the percentage of recruiters accessing candidate information via smartphones or mobile devices between 2011 and 2013. This year, the CEB report found 38% of respondents said the ability to access candidate information on mobile devices will make their hiring process more efficient, up from 25% two years ago.

This need is two-sided as well, with 23% of candidates requesting to complete their job applications on their mobile devices, a significant increase from 9% in 2011.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “Millennials at the Workplace” report also found 78% of 4,364 graduates across 75 countries believe technology helps them be more efficient at work.

Suddenly, HR’s ability to integrate technology is no longer just pivotal to business efficiency, but also for attraction and retention.

The biggest challenge practitioners are facing in terms of a payroll HRIS are legislative compliance (23%), and organisational consistency in the payroll process (18%).

Surprisingly, the Ernst & Young report also found while a third of companies are planning to go global, only 11% are actively pursuing a global payroll solution and 18% are in planning stages.

HR’s daily challenges with payroll are more specific: incorrect tax withholding (24%), underpayments (17%) and overpayments (12%).

To better mitigate these payroll-specific HRIS challenges, HR has to form stronger ties with its counterparts in finance, IT and internal audit.

This is especially since the function will become more reliant on other departments to support HRIS.

But can the tech invasion in the world of HR be for the best?

Although concerns may rise over technology causing certain HR roles to become obsolete, the change in direction paves the way for practitioners to be more strategic and focus on functions within the role that have a direct impact on business.

Are you ready?

Moving forward, HR leaders looking to embrace technology within HR, will have a few points to keep their eye on.

Tan says one of the biggest areas of focus should be accuracy of data.

“I think one of the biggest challenges will be maintaining 101% accuracy in the system,” he says.

“At Elsevier, we have implemented regular audits to make sure data is up to date. We also send out notifications to remind employees to enter information into the system promptly.”

A report by CedarCrestone found three HRIS trends global HR leaders expect in the future are work management, big data and social-enabled knowledge management.

“The need for data to be accessible is quickly becoming a main focal point for HR.” Unfortunately, 53% of respondents admit they are not familiar with using HRIS to improve work management, indicating this is still in its early adoption stages.

Big data was also alien to a majority of the respondents, with only 7% reporting to have already adopted it, leading CedarCrestone to predict this is a trend that will only take more shape come 2015.

The third trend, social-enabled knowledge management, seemed less daunting to respondents – 38% have systems or tools in place to “capture, store and share knowledge across the enterprise”.

To truly embrace technology and utilise it to best support HR, leaders have to implement strong change-management processes.

CedarCrestone also suggested keeping the process and systems user-friendly, as well as sticking to an integrated solution for lower cost.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 19

FEATURE » HRIS

CASE STUDY: ELSEVIER Elsevier made a huge leap from traditional data-tracking to HRIS two years ago, but has the risk paid off? Sabrina Zolkifi finds out.

Before getting on the HRIS bandwagon, the HR team at Elsevier was still using traditional methods for tracking administrative HR functions such as compensation and leave.

The process of managing HR with spreadsheets was tough because it made extracting employee data a time consuming and complicated process.

It was then Gerry Tan, the HRIS lead for Elsevier APAC, said the company decided to engage a services provider to help manage its data.

“We knew HRIS would release us from doing manual work in terms of tracking employee operations,” Tan says.

It also decided to adopt HRIS to keep up with companies who were latching on to SaaS (software as a service). Tan says Elsevier implemented the PeopleSoft software about two years ago in the APAC region, following in the footsteps of its European and American counterparts.

Keeping up with the times Currently, Elsevier’s HRIS provides employees with selfservice functions which allow staff to update personal particulars and also track job information changes such as supervisor changes and employee transfers of any department. Elsevier decided to roll this out in two batches, targeting its larger employee bases – such as India, Japan and Singapore – first.

“We rolled it out to the bigger countries first to make sure it worked and to understand how the system will go about. Once it was stabilised, we pushed it to smaller countries like Taiwan and Korea.”

With the decision made to utilise HRIS, the team was faced with the task of migrating the company’s APAC data over to the PeopleSoft platform – an activity that took the HR team a year and a half.

However, the team engaged the services of another vendor, Infosys, who helped collate the data and move it over to the new platform.

“Every country had their own different idea of how they wanted to move into the system, and even simple reports were hard to generate and move, so it was actually quite tough to standardise everything.”

Therefore, Tan’s team placed a lot of emphasis on auditing the employee data regularly in the initial stages of implementation to ensure the risk of mistakes was minimised.

Overcoming hurdles He then came up with an exercise called Project Revisione,

20 » Human Resources » June 2013

which was an auditing system that checked all the information moving into the new platform.

“This project was really a simple spreadsheet, but even then we were able to make sure the numbers were tallying,” Tan says, adding this auditing project took no longer than 10 minutes per session.

“In the initial stages, HR was running audits once a week, but at a later stage when everything was stabilised, they were able to run it once a month.”

Then, there was the issue of the employees themselves.

Tan says despite some of the new features such as manager and employee self-services, which gave the staff more ownership and empowerment, some had difficulties understanding why the responsibility now fell on them to manage these aspects. “They had the mindset of ‘Why are we doing the role of HR?’” Tan says.

To get around this, the company provided a manual for a better overview of the different employees and teams’ responsibilities and benefits in terms of HRIS. Reaping the benefits For companies looking to either implement HRIS or improve their current structure, Tan says it’s important to keep an eye on the technical aspects of things to better anticipate problems. Leaders must also remember employees expect “more tender loving care” and can’t rely on communication solely via email.

“What we could do better would be to organise a ‘lunch and learn’, where we can provide technical training to employees over lunch,” he says. “We’ve never done something like that, but it’s something we are considering in the future.”

It is also in the process of building a shared services centre to provide better HRIS support.

For HR leaders looking into constructing one, Tan says they have to keep in mind employees will expect a more personal touch than if they were to get support from another function such as IT. “When they approach HR, they do expect customer service.”

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FEATURE » Off-site meetings

If HR wants to help the business make changes, then HR needs to make it their business to alter the approach to off-site meetings. By Rebecca Lewis

meeting that has no real purpose or clear direction. However, breakfast is usually served, therefore it is still beneficial that you attend.”

This description of an off-site meeting comes from the tongue-in-cheek website Urban Dictionary and, although the definition is rather facetious, it holds an element of truth.

Hosting meetings for employees at a venue away from the regular office is something most CEOs, MDs and HR departments consider an integral part of their leadership strategy – and they can work, provided they are designed to be where the most essential conversations about the company’s future take place.

However, an off-site which simply assumes employees will automatically think “outside the box” because you have taken them out of that “box” are doomed to fail.

Whether business is booming or caving in, an off-site meeting is usually discussed by HR teams and company heads as a means to pool everyone together to find ways to manage growth, make changes or re-work strategies.

HR books a venue and plans an itinerary which is managed by the chosen facilitators.

This itinerary usually features white boards, PowerPoint presentations and other 22 » Human Resources » June 2013

brainstorming aides, which are then followed up with group exercises, and the odd icebreaker exercise to keep people feeling alive.

But what happens next is probably all too familiar for HR heads – nothing changes. A few months after the off-site, action plans are written and distributed, but very little is seen through.

So how does it so often happen that a room full of smart people create so few ideas with any real business impact?

“The desire for an off-site is the goal, not the work that needs to be done,” says Philippa Penfold, former regional head of policy and government for Asia at RHB. “If people say, ‘Let’s have an off-site, what will we do there?’ rather than, ‘We need to plan for XYZ, an off-site is the most effective way to achieve the best results’ then they’re making a mistake.”

Although many organisations still go ahead with cookie-cutter meetings simply because “that’s the way it’s always been done”, plenty of companies worldwide are finding unique ways to design off-sites that are fun, memorable and effective.

Really going ‘out of the box’ Expensify founder and CEO David Barrett has a slightly different approach to brainstorming

Off-site meetings « FEATURE and off-sites to most leaders – instead of regular meetings, he takes his entire company on a month-long trip to an overseas destination that’s out of everyone’s comfort zone.

Based in San Francisco, Barrett has taken his employees – all of them – to countries such as India, Mexico, Turkey, Vietnam and Thailand.

The idea is to spend a month backpacking and partying, but also brainstorming, bonding and doing regular day-to-day work in between, just from a different location.

“It’s an absolutely unbeatable way to ‘gel’ with new employees,” he says. “It gives you the time to really think long-term about the business. It creates tight, uncomfortable, sweaty experiences where tempers run high and it brings lurking problems to the surface.”

While these trips are not inexpensive, Barrett believes the cost is worth the outcome.

“I genuinely think our best ideas come out of these trips.”

However, if you don’t have the money to do what Expensify does (you can read more about it on page 26) there are other ways to get out of the zone you’re stuck in and make it different – and it begins with planning.

Penfold says no matter where you decide to conduct an off-site, the purpose of it must be clearly articulated, with time and attention dedicated to designing a schedule that will achieve the objectives.

“Most of the time there is simply an agenda containing a list of general or vague topics.

The schedule should be communicated to all participants weeks before the event, not a few days before as many agendas are.

“This will help ensure the time is used most effectively for the original purpose.”

Additionally, requiring all participants to undertake pre-off-site work can help retain focus.

“Any pre-work must be decided and communicated well in advance of the off-site to give them sufficient time to complete it.”

Location, location, location Preferably, you want to get away from the office to give staff something to look forward to and a new environment to tempt their creativity.

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FEATURE » Off-site meetings You also need to consider cost and the number of staff joining the off-site.

“To employees, the cost out-of-pocket isn’t prohibitively high because we pick places that we know are very cheap,” Barrett says.

However, deciding to stay in Singapore also isn’t such a bad idea. In fact, it was rated the “top international meetings city” by the Union of International Associations in 2011.

Wherever you decided to hold it, Penfold says it’s important to firstly identify why and when you want to conduct an off-site.

“Off-sites are most effective for two key reasons – team-building and strategic planning for change,” she says. “Team-building off-sites may be valuable when many team members are new or when people are in new roles which require the development of new relationships.”

Additionally, planning an off-site offers value when people need to think more broadly and creatively than is often required.

Worry about logic, not logistics Some of the biggest off-site errors are made when HR and business leaders lose focus of the overall objectives. Too often, HR will get caught up in the airfares, billings, arranging meals and accommodation of people.

This isn’t going to help the business achieve

anything – in fact, a focus straying from overall objectives will have zero impact on the business.

“One of the biggest risks is that people don’t come prepared for work, they come prepared for golf,” says Penfold, adding poor quality discussions about what is to be achieved will only lead to poor results.

If HR is focused on logic, then off-sites can more or less mitigate the following risks: unfocused discussions, people not contributing to broader discussions and a lack of creative thought.

Additionally, it’s important you have enough people competent in note-taking, so key points are adequately captured.

“Generally notes take too long to distribute and the impetus is lost,” Penfold says. “They should be shared within a week of the off-site’s completion with proper follow-up.”

Finally, and probably the most important point for HR to take note of, is championing follow-up after the event.

“While off-sites can generate some terrific ideas, they often die due to a lack of follow-up and absence of a structured implementation plan,” Penfold says.

“The lack of transference of ideas from an offsite to day-to-day business is why people often think of off-sites as junkets.”

TIPS FOR A HIGH IMPACT OFF-SITE MEETING DO

DON’T

Invite the right people Depending on your specific challenges and desires, you may need to invite certain people to the off-site. This may mean inviting more than the core team, but it could save you hours, weeks or months to have the right brains on board.

Lack clear objectives Make sure you and the entire team fully understand what the outcome of the off-site must be. No excuses.

Conduct work in shorter bursts Much like in the office, don’t push the same problem for hours on end. Take a break, regroup and tackle the issue again with clear heads.

Plan an off-site for the sake of it Why spend money taking staff somewhere only to have them sit around and watch PowerPoints and listen, something they could do back in the office.

Do some work outside the meeting room Take your work with you on a walk, on a boat or to an exciting destination. Chances are people will remember the location as well as the outcome for this business.

Conduct off-sites in a manner that suits only some people Events planned to suit dominant employees or senior management only will backfire. All participants’ needs must be taken into consideration.

Focus on quality not quantity It’s not about how much work you get done, it’s about getting the right work done. Don’t re-hash old problems or do unnecessary tasks just to fill up the day.

Pack the schedule too tight Respect personal time. Allow people time to check in with family and get a good night’s rest in between meeting days for an effective outcome.

24 » Human Resources » June 2013

FEATURE » Offsite Meetings

CASE STUDY: EXPENSIFY David Barrett, of Expensify, says sometimes going “out of the box” for an off-site meeting means really pulling out all the stops.

Usually when companies talk about off-site meetings, employees conjure up images of meeting rooms and PowerPoint presentations. But when Expensify employees think about their annual off-site meetings, they think of things such as sandy beaches, cocktails and scuba diving.

David Barrett, founder and CEO of online expense reporting start-up Expensify, based in San Francisco, says he started doing overseas off-sites with his last start-up, Red Swoosh, in 2005 – and he hasn’t looked back.

Now, every year, he takes all his staff away for a monthlong off-site retreat.

“We’ve gone every year since 2005 – Thailand, Mexico, India while at Red Swoosh, and then Turkey, Philippines, Vietnam, and most recently Thailand at Expensify,” he says.

Last year, he took 20 staff to Railay Beach in Thailand for a month, where they hung out together, worked and became creative in a vastly different environment.

Planning your trip Barrett says these trips began not because of a light bulb moment where he figured an overseas trip would help engagement and productivity, but because of a more practical reason.

“I genuinely think our best ideas come out of these trips - ideas which we simply wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore otherwise.”

“We were between offices,” he says. “We had a month between when the lease of our office expired and the lease of the new office began.

“We were discussing where to work, where had good Wi-Fi, and we realised we could do it in Thailand. It’s got good enough Wi-Fi. I mean, the internet goes everywhere, why can’t we?”

Right before the trip, Expensify had a few new employees start. Most companies would spend this time ramping up, but these new employees were thrown into a unique experience with their colleagues.

However, these trips are not all-expense-paid affairs.

26 » Human Resources » June 2013

Instead, they are viewed as a “working trip”, where employees keep up their normal daily job duties as well as take part in planning meetings and other group exercises.

“The rules have evolved over the years, but in general the company covers the cost of the flight because preferences around planes aren’t very strong and the range of options is small, while everybody covers the cost of their meals and hotel, because preferences are very strong and the range of options is wide.”

The result is it typically costs Expensify about US$1,000 per employee for the whole trip, plus the cost of a few group events over the course of the working trip.

“And to employees, the cost out-of-pocket isn’t prohibitively high because we pick places that we know are very cheap. Twenty dollars a night in Thailand will get you a poolside private suite in places and $2 a night will get you a hut in the jungle.”

Additionally, not everyone has to go. “It’s completely optional, but generally the whole team goes,” Barrett says.

Keeping it optional allows employees with children or other commitments to stay behind if they need to, but with such a unique yearly trip, there are not many people who pull out.

The perks of the trip While there are many benefits to running off-site meetings this way, some are clearer than others. The biggest benefit is hiring, Barrett says.

“It’s the ultimate company perk.”

Another benefit to the company is productivity. Despite the downtime for employees to swim, relax or go hiking, it’s typically the most productive month of the year for Expensify.

“After all, you’re 12 time zones away from the rest of your life, in a country where you don’t speak the language and culture you don’t understand, surrounded by coworkers 24/7.”

However, Barrett says the biggest benefits are the ones which are less obvious. He is adamant about the fact a working trip is the “absolutely unbeatable way to gel with new employees”.

“It gives you the time to really think long-term about the business. It creates tight, uncomfortable, sweaty experiences where tempers run high and it brings lurking problems to the surface – problems that might have otherwise been allowed to seethe forever in the office.

“I think every year we’re surprised by how powerful the event is. I genuinely think our best ideas come out of

Offsite Meetings « FEATURE

these trips – ideas which we simply wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore otherwise.”

Return on investment The best ideas may come out of these trips for Expensify, but it’s not because it is doing full-on typical off-site meetings.

Despite being in exotic locations, employees are still expected to work a standard 50-hour week and then the team does side trips on the weekends. However, the hours are very flexible.

“If you want to work for a couple of hours in the morning, then rent a sea kayak or go climb a mountain during the day, then relax when the sun sets with a laptop and a whiskey, more power to you,” he says.

The most important thing before embarking on an off-site overseas is pinning down clear objectives before you go.

Expensify typically picks a large project which involves the whole team and sets a deadline for finishing it before they land at the destination. However, he admits it can be hard to do.

“We’ve gone back and forth on this – it sets a very tangible goal, but can make it stressful at the end.”

HR_ANIDBN1_2PGEADFINAL.indd 1

However, the outcome is worth any stress or expense incurred by the company.

“It’s absolutely had an effect on recruiting and retention.

It’s a perk that’s pretty hard for any other company to beat.

“But really, it is not just about this one month – it’s a demonstration that Expensify is truly a place like none other, every month.”

Off-site mistakes to avoid “The biggest mistake is making off-site meetings super boring,” Barrett says. “They’re something that people need to do, but don’t really want to do.”

Off-site should be looked at by the company and employees as an exception to normal processes, where you are expected to do something else in addition to what you normally do.

Avoid “an endless series of all-day meetings talking about topics that sort of don’t matter”, he says.

“I think an off-site should just be your normal process, your normal tasks and your normal working day on steroids, on a remote beach, with a lot of booze.”

We’re sure a lot of people couldn’t argue with that.

5/21/13 4:15 PM

June 2013 « Human Resources « 27

There’s no denying the HR function has progressed significantly in the past year.

When we published the inaugural Futurist edition last year, the focus fell primarily on technology and the management of Gen Y employees.

This year we’ve seen a shift, with more leaders concerned about social media, talent analytics and strategic HR. “It may sound obvious, but we need to be continually readying ourselves for change,” said Moira Roberts, head of HR Singapore and head of talent for APAC at UBS AG Singapore.

We’ve gathered the responses of 33 senior HR practitioners with responsibilities across the region to find out what they’re doing to prepare themselves for the challenges ahead.

There is also an emphasis on preparing the workplace for an ageing population, and leaders are busying themselves with putting in place programmes and systems to ensure knowledge remains in the office despite the departure of senior staff.

“As life-expectancy increases, people work longer and have longer careers, and in this world of businesses competing for skills it becomes evidently clear on the benefits of retaining experienced and capable co-workers longer to support organisation transition,” said Aldys Kong, HR manager of IKEA. Flip through the next 22 pages to find out what other influential HR thought-leaders from companies such Burberry, Philips, Daimler, Groupon, McDonald’s, Bank of America and more are predicting to happen in the industry’s near future.

28 » Human Resources » June 2013

In the future, performance management will evolve into a more holistic and integrative exercise.

It will be the bedrock of talent management, succession planning and internal mobility, and all other individual developmental aspects will revolve around it. Appraisals will move away from the disengaging process of 20:70:10, which leaves a large part of an organisation in the “mediocre” category. Appraisals will focus more on increasing individual productivity.

I also believe we’ll see more compensation transparency. CEO compensations have gone public and we’ve seen a higher probity and justification of contributions made by them. It will be interesting to see the trickle-down effect of this and greater transparency in compensation. It will be a daunting task, but it could force an organisation to put its money where its mouth is.

Compensation is a hygiene factor for an individual’s engagement, and the confidentiality surrounding it leaves too much to the imagination.

In an ideal meritocracy, individuals should know their contributions and the way organisations reward them and others for their value creation.

The kernel of the most effective CEO is being a great HR leader. HR leaders with strong business

and integrate HR practices around critical business issues.

Technology proponent: Using technology to stay connected with peers and colleagues and taking a bigger role in managing information and turning it into useable knowledge.

acumen could be equally effective in C-suite. HR expert and author Dave Ulrich suggested six new competencies an HR leader must exhibit to shift HR to the next stage of development: Credible activist: HR professionals with credibility and good stakeholder relationships.

Strategic positioner: Understands the global business context and builds the relevant organisational capabilities around that.

Capability builder: Helps define and build organisational capabilities.

Change champion: Helps build the organisation’s capacity to change and to sustain change.

Innovator and integrator: Ability to innovate

Environment: The resources of our planet will be used while thinking of future generations. To not go green will become an exception.

Demographics: Birthrates and the ageing workforce will change societies.

Most dynamic HR leaders have mastered these competencies and are delving deeper into profits rather than just processes. The time is ripe to see HR leaders climbing to the top post.

When it comes to developed nations such as Singapore, the ageing population is a very real issue. The world over, HR has been slowly but surely dealing with changing demographics at work with a focus on diversity and inclusions such as LGBTI. The ageing population in Singapore adds another dimension to workplace demographics where three generations are working together.

HR and business leaders have to play critical roles in understanding this. An ageing population definitely increases the cost of business, but at the same time eases knowledge transfer concerns.

Organisational policy needs to reflect the changing needs of late retiring employees and has to make it attractive for them. HR leaders are also required to be thought leaders in this aspect and influence external stakeholders such as government on immigration policy and the retirement age to facilitate the ease of doing business.

How will HR deal with these changes? There is only one way – we have to run HR like a business. We have to serve internal and external stakeholders

HR before becoming CEO, and an experienced HR head who has run the function like a business and shown their capability to do this on a larger scale.

When it comes to the ageing population, HR must view this from a business perspective. The customer and resource bases are changing, so services or products offered have to be adopted. The ageing society is viewed as a challenge. This needs to change and we must realise the tremendous

and include the shareholders, customers and suppliers into the business concept of HR. HR employees also have to become entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs to rebuild the function. For us in Singapore this is theoretically easy – just take the transformation of the country since its foundation as a role model and you will create a success story.

In the future, I see two types of HR leaders who could become CEO: Proven business leaders who make their mandatory three-year “pit-stop” in

opportunities this will deliver. Experienced people with good skills will be a productive part of the work society for longer and retirement in its classical sense will be a thing of the past.

The younger workforce will have multiple choices to train their skills in strong co-operation with experienced co-workers. Both sides will benefit from this “generation contract”.

HR people have to become leaders of the HR business.

Over the past 10 years, HR has made good progress and in most companies is a full member of management boards. The functional expertise of HR is now highly accepted as creating value to the business. To predict the future, the following trends may develop like this, according to author Dave Ulrich.

Society: Lifestyles will change and work-life balance will no longer be a buzzword.

Technology: New devices with high-performance will support work from all over the world.

Economics: Economic cycles will shape the confidence of citizens and governments (e.g. the Euro crisis and economic development in Asia).

Politics: Regulations will be more transparent and tighter. Data exchange among governmental institutions will become daily practice.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 29

THOMAS IRAWAN Director of HR, Asia John Wiley & Sons Two current trends I predict will have the most impact on the HR function in the future are the widespread use of social media in general and among professionals, and borderless competition of talent both in terms of geography and industry.

The widespread use of social media will transform how organisations search for talent.

The old and existing way of getting talent through advertisements or employment agencies when the needs arise will become ineffective. Companies need to network through social media much earlier before a job vacancy is open. HR needs to be much more proactive, understand in advance what the business strategies and requirements are and then network with potential talents before the opening of the job vacancies through social media.

Competition for talent will happen across industries and countries. Because the world we live in is becoming much more globalised and wired, talent can be spotted all over the world. As the world becomes much more wired, industries now require talent beyond the typical profiles in the industry.

It is likely we will see more HR leaders climbing the ladder to become CEO, but not in the near future. HR leaders in general still need to prove they are competent business leaders. We still see many top HR leaders who are not articulate about the financial aspects of running a business, or who do not have an in-depth understanding or vision of innovative technology development and its impact to the company or industry.

Moving forward, HR needs to understand

and be involved in setting the business strategic direction and plan if it wants to prepare current employees for future challenges. We will then be in the position to anticipate the requirements for future capabilities of the organisation. We can then design learning and development programmes accordingly.

In view of the current rapid economic expansion in the Asia Pacific, especially in countries such as China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar and the Middle East, recruitment and retention will be a major challenge for organisations because of the limited pool of high calibre PMET and senior management in the country.

The tight labour market will force companies to source for foreign labour, which will create new challenges for companies in managing their diverse work force.

Managing employees to optimise the diverse experiences that global talent brings with them to grow their business will be a challenge. However, if these talent are not managed properly, there will be an adverse impact.

Talent management and development is critical to prepare current employees to take up new and future roles so as to provide manpower dynamism for companies to achieve business growth in new ventures.

As to whether more business strategic roles within HR, such as recruitment or talent management, will remain part of HR depends on the companies’ business directions, HR philosophy and functions.

If HR functions are perceived as an administrative role and/or services, then the more strategic HR functions will be separated, which is already happening in some MNCs. However, I personally feel these HR functions should remain part of HR and be totally integrated as a system to be effective in handling the growing complexity of people issues and challenges.

Having a total HR system also ensures effective implementation of strategic initiatives and alignment to business needs.

30 Âť Human Resources Âť June 2013

There is a slow but steady shift in the conventional thinking that doing business is just about money. There’s growing recognition that people are the heart and soul of companies and the most valuable asset in any business.

HR leaders, who have most touch-points with people, are equally, if not more important, in running a company than a CEO. That said, to become a CEO, HR professionals need to hone their business acumen, to not just understand employees but also the customers.

HR should also work with various stakeholders to see how jobs can be done differently. With an ageing population in mind, we need to see how jobs can be made less strenuous or how we can offer these workers more tools to help them with their jobs. With the older workers in your employment, HR leaders also need to be more proactive in pre-retirement planning, including literacy and other functional skills training of the ageing workforce and closely monitor the opportunity to redeploy them to other roles, for example, in training or desk-bound jobs.

These are all good questions businesses need to start asking now.

Innovations in areas such as telecommunication, social media and collaboration platforms are already making their impact felt on organisations. What we are seeing today, however, is only the tip of the iceberg.

I foresee dramatic changes in the way we approach organisational design, work processes, the definition of “employee”, physical workspaces, critical skills and competencies, working hours, etc, as a result of these technologies. All of this will have enormous implications for every aspect of the HR function.

Another trend I see happening is the acceleration of change. The pace of change we are seeing today is unprecedented and, if anything, will accelerate further in the future. Organisations that are unable to adapt quickly enough to these changes are seeing their competitive advantages eroded. Yet, many HR functions have traditionally been built on “static” models, be it job descriptions, competency frameworks or career paths. HR will need to fundamentally rethink how to adapt to this new environment.

The past trends always reflected main core business functional experts who took on the CEO position and, in some cases, even the CFO was made the CEO because the board of directors believed that good finance management was crucial to the bottom line and profits.

However, with high potential talent becoming the main focus of an organisation to sustain itself and enable all deliverables, it is very likely high potential HR leaders will start to be nominated as part of succession planning for COO and CEO roles.

We have a perfect example in my current organisation in which the COO started off as a HR practitioner and this proves it is indeed possible for aspiring HR practitioners.

Groom thought-leaders with creativity, adaptability and innovation as attributes necessary to prepare the talent to be top performers and take on new roles which do not exist. Also identify the talent that performs exceedingly well and state other areas they would be keen to explore and venture into in their personal career plans in their performance appraisals. This talent should be considered first when such roles become available or created in the organisation.

Also ensure solid leadership and individual development plans are in place for top talent in the organisation and reward them accordingly for their work performance.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 31

32 » Human Resources » June 2013

One of the emerging trends that is going to increase the momentum of the HR function is datadriven decision-making.

HR is increasingly taking on roles in terms of providing analysis, using data and predicting trends, and using that to have a conversation with senior decision-makers to say: “What does this mean? How do we anticipate the future?”

This really goes to HR being a strategic partner, which has been an ongoing theme, but what you see is strategic partners blending together with data-driven decision-making and analytics to start running HR and HR processes more like we would run operational businesses.

HR is comfortable with numbers and numbers analysis when we’re talking about compensation, but we’re not comfortable talking about numbers when it’s data analysis.

team of two or three people, whose job is to drive reporting and help me do analytics and trending of data, so it gives me insights I can take to my CEO, CFO and president, and have those data-based conversations with them.

HR needs to be able to have a conversation with the business about what the future looks like.

We talk about it a lot in HR, but I’m not sure we have that much discussion with the business in terms of where they’re trying to go and, as a result, being able to translate that to the business guys in terms of roles, capabilities and skill sets.

We need to do more than just understanding the business direction, understanding strategic trust, and translate that into skill sets and competencies.

There’s also the conversation about whether the skill sets needed exist in our industry in the first

Part of it is data interpretation; being able to look at data and tease out what are the relevant data trends. I had to do multiple statistic courses in university, so that forced me to think analytically about numbers.

As a whole, our practice area is not as strong as it needs to be and it’s clearly something we need to start developing a lot more of.

Having said that, there is a lot more technology today that can assist us, which does help bridge some of that gap. But it doesn’t take away from the fundamental issue that there isn’t as much competence in this area, which is something I think the C-suite is increasingly looking for.

One of the biggest frustrations in HR has always been that we don’t have the data or the data is not accurate.

Given where the technology has gone, and how things are evolving, I think that’s becoming less and less of an issue. It’s almost as though you have to define it the same way you would look at benefits as a practice area.

Within my area, we built an HR data analytics

place. One of the things we look at and think about is whether or not we need to bring in expertise from outside our industry because maybe this kind of activity gets done somewhere else, maybe in an industry that looks like ours, but isn’t.

What we’re finding is it’s very difficult sometimes to take industry people and get them to do things in a radically different way.

What you often need to do is take someone, who does something unrelated or distant enough, and bring them in and use them as a catalyst to show how to do things in a different way.

My view is if it’s not disruptive, it’s not a breakthrough. If you’re creating fundamentally new jobs, the biggest mistake we make is trying to take an existing job and morph it, and not recognising it is more challenging than we think, and retool people and reset their attitude.

Once you’ve established it, you can bring people in to learn, but in terms of breaking through, that radical solution doesn’t already exist inside the organisation.

I would love to see more HR practitioners move into the C-suite, and it would be great to see more HR leaders transitioning in and out of the business; likewise people coming in to HR from the business itself.

In my opinion, the HR function and many of us as practitioners (I include myself in that, of course) are often too internally focused; we need to operate more from the outside-in versus inside-out.

If I look at the business I’m in, as a CEO you need to be skilled in so many different areas: product, strategy, financial management, new business, client management at a very senior-level and peoplemanagement at every level. They’re not easy shoes to fill.

I have worked with some very commercial HR leaders who I could envisage making it and being able to tick all those boxes, but they would be in the minority.

One of the trends I think will have a major impact on HR is data. The economy is quite unpredictable and will continue to be for some time. As HR leaders, I think there will be greater and deeper need for data to inform how we and the business make certain decisions.

Internal recruitment and hiring is also something that will be impacting the function. It is already an increasing trend and with many social media tools and options available there is no reason why companies can’t do this in-house.

There is a huge important trend now in networking and most people I meet and interact with who are on the job market, or just came off the job market, have used networking to open doors as opposed to recruitment consultants.

With the rapid advancement in technology in business operations comes the increased competitiveness and pressure in keeping up with global demands in its implementation and development. This will take form in – and change the way – organisations recruit and operate.

New media with its connectivity and recruitment via web portals, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media will change the frontier on how organisations recruit and reach out to the market, especially with the new generation (Y and Millennials).

Sophistication in HR operating systems and learning platforms will also enhance productivity and change the way of how learning takes place, for example, e-learning.

The ageing population will also affect workforce demographics; with the global and national ageing population, this will also change the practices on hiring mature-aged people. As life-expectancy increases, people will work longer and have longer careers, and in this world of businesses competing for skills, it becomes clear on the benefits of retaining experienced and capable co-workers longer to support organisational transition. They could value-add to building succession and knowledge-sharing.

In the future, HR will have to be ahead and in line with the legislation for employing mature-aged co-workers. It is important to remember older co-workers can be as productive, if not more productive, than their younger counterparts. They are often loyal, committed and can provide significant knowledge of the organisation, industry, as well as take on roles as mentors or coaches. They can also contribute to organisations in terms of their wealth of experience, professional networks and contacts.

HR can be a driver in creating an environment where we value mature co-workers, employing them beyond retirement age, and this is a stance towards being an employer of choice.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 33

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HR is an ever-evolving industry. People in HR used to be known as HR administrators and then HR practitioners, and today they are known as HR professionals. Our roles have evolved over time and we became known as the change agents, the strategic business partners, the people coaches and even mentors within the organisation. That is a long way from HR administrator.

HR departments need to be more tactical and nimble in the future to cater to the increasing workforce and fast-changing HR trends.

I foresee two major changes in the HR sphere: the shift of the HR department from administrative to strategic and the advent use of technology in traditional administrative tasks.

Every people leader or manager in an organisation should be given respective HR responsibilities to allow the HR department to be a strategic partner and enabler to support other departments or companies within an organisation.

To reduce administrative tasks, HR must further embrace technology in its day-to-day management.

With today’s increasing use of mobile and the internet, the organisation must take steps to strengthen its technology platform to cater to the future workforce.

HR leaders must adopt a forward-thinking approach and understand the direction of their organisations.

This can make or break an organisation, to change in tandem with the industry and economy. The faster an organisation predicts and prepares for these changes, the better it will be to bring about different outcomes in the long run.

The first trend that will have a major impact on HR in the future is the focus of companies moving to Asia and Africa as their major source of growth. The second trend is linked to the first, in that a company’s need for talent and skills changes over time as it grows. What this means is HR will constantly have to be on the lookout for the right talent to match the company’s growth rate.

HR prepares current employees for roles within the organisation which do not yet exist by focusing on enhancing the organisation’s capabilities to initiate, lead and benefit change, rather than encouraging a fear of change.

Secondly, HR needs to understand what key activities and capabilities are at the heart of their organisation’s future business success, and therefore do rigorous succession planning and development to support this. Also, HR professionals have to accept that some of these assumptions of these future investments may not be realised in the end.

Of course, this can only be done if an organisation’s senior management team has an idea of how the future for the company will look. In my opinion, all top leaders should reflect on how much time they spent with issues of yesterday, and how much they will spend on them today, next month or in three years.

There are several ways to deal with the changing demographics in Singapore, and they can be applied in combination: recruit, develop, engage and retain young locals.

36 » Human Resources » June 2013

The workforce is becoming increasingly mobile, making it harder to attract the best talent. With a myriad opportunities available, organisations have to ensure employee satisfaction and work-life balance, such as training and creating a career road map for them. The HR function needs to position the brand as an employer of choice and ensure the company lives up to that positioning.

Another trend is the effective convergence of technologies which has brought about improved efficiency and productivity. We believe we are a successful example of a workplace where technologies are used at their best to make lives better for our employees.

Technologies such as Unified Communications (UC) are put to use linking multiple platforms for business communications to facilitate or even expedite correspondences, and to provide a consistent and seamless flow of information across the organisation.

HR practitioners can prepare employees for unforeseen roles by developing two key areas – skill sets and attitudes.

We help BT employees to hone their skills, investing time and money in developing the talents of our workforce through tools such as e-learning, using podcasts and other web 2.0 technologies. Besides the functional competency, we believe a person’s attitude is also important. We train our people to relish challenges and believe in being the best at whatever they do. These are the qualities we develop to ensure our employees are ready to face new roles within the organisation which do not yet exist.

In the future, whether or not we will see more HR leaders climbing the ladder to become CEO depends on whether HR leaders are able to align their objectives with business goals. Businesses generally aim to increase revenue and productivity. HR leaders need to play a strategic role by working with the management team to solve business issues from a people perspective.

At BT, the HR function works closely with business leaders because we recognise our people are the greatest asset we have. As a result, the HR function gains invaluable insight of the business vision and strategy, and is therefore able to implement strategies that attract, develop and retain the talent required to achieve business goals and objectives.

By defining the HR function as an indispensable component of business strategies, HR leaders stand a greater chance of rising up to helm the company one day.

^

Kaplan City Campus @ Orchard 51 Cuppage Road Level 2 to 4, Singapore 229496

June 2013 « Human Resources « 37

To be competitive in this talent war, it is best to keep recruitment and talent management within HR, but these can be managed separately to ensure focus and effectiveness.

Keeping these within the HR department will ensure better control, alignment and consistency across the organisation. From an economic of scale perspective, it is also more viable to maintain both in HR. The ideal approach is for HR to work closely with the manager or head of the hiring department

to identify and grow the talent for succession planning.

To do that, HR leaders must understand and be on the same wavelength as the new generation in the workforce today.

Some of the questions being asked by employees today are: What’s in it for me? What can your organisation offer me that is different from others? How can I grow my career here?

It is very important for HR to take the initiative

and be adaptive to the changing talent needs in the areas of work culture and career growth opportunities.

The primary focus of a HR role has evolved throughout the years and to cater to the new generation in the workforce, HR has been tasked to create and cultivate an engaging and yet flexible organisational culture or work environment. This “new” culture will accommodate the nimble workforce who looks primarily to a rewarding career that also provides growth internally.

The above trends are what will attract and retain talent as HR relies on the global economy today to create a borderless competitive talent war.

With technology, the administrative function of HR can be automated or outsourced which will enable HR leaders to focus on people and the culture of the organisation.

In this people business, HR leaders must keep abreast with the global economic drivers and anticipate the future needs. It is all about having the ability to analyse, assess and predict the future needs based on several business or economic levers or indicators.

HR professionals must be proactive in using all indicators of the current needs to anticipate for any changes in the future. Regular exposure to sharing and lecture sessions with global or industry futurists and development programmes will keep HR practitioners up to speed with the changing industry and business trends and help them prepare for the future.

The establishment of the strategic partnering function of HR managers will lead to the recognition by more and more business people because of the value-added contribution HR managers make towards business as well as business-supporting departments.

HR professionals must be very attentive to the business trends of the past, present and future of their organisations, with analytical views of the business and business-supporting functions, thus expecting the future trends and preparing proactively for future HR needs.

And in this context, HR will demonstrate its vital strategic function.

Simply, because the interface between business strategy and HR strategies is becoming more and more vital for the sustainable growth of any organisation, the interactivity between business people

and HR professionals will become more important. The enhancement of the HR function of organisations’ business departments and the enhancement of the business-supporting function of HR departments must both be implemented.

These two movements will be driven by top management and, as a result, the consultation skills as well as organisational development skills of HR people, will be more and more important.

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The environment and organisations are getting increasingly complex and volatile, with the various interconnected parts, components and constituents having unlimited possible configurations, patterns and interactions among themselves.

This complexity will increase and accelerate in the future. Success lies in organisations working as a whole to ensure the organisation thrives and succeeds in their respective environments. Each part doing its individual best for itself will surely lead to failure.

Therefore, CHROs have a critical role to play to ensure success by leveraging on complexity science and HR’s various disciplines of OD, resourcing, training and development, performance management and talent management to propagate the necessary changes throughout the organisation on an ongoing basis.

The explosion in the application of technology will reduce cycle time of many processes to almost instantaneous. However, the cycle time of our human mind will remain the same, as this has been the case for thousands of years. Hence, HR will have to fundamentally question and redesign all its functions to enable the pace inside the organisation and the minds of the employees to cope with the rate of change in the environment, and not suffer burn-out. As a popular saying goes: “When the rate of change outside exceeds the rate of change inside, the end is in sight.”

CEOs and CHROs cannot allow that to happen.

I think the CEO and CHRO play different roles; the former focuses on the organisation thriving in the environment by leading and managing broadly internal and external affairs. The latter focuses on supporting the CEO to be successful by watching out for internal dynamics, alerting the CEO on possible internal mine fields relating to people, culture and group dynamics that deserve his attention, and then driving the internal changes required, including bringing in the right people and exiting those who don’t fit.

They also have the job of organising, managing and developing people in partnership with the CEO to address those mine fields to make the organisation successful. These different roles between CEO and CHRO are likely to remain in the future.

Whether or not more CHROs can become CEOs in the future really depends on whether CHROs can mentally let go of an ingrained tendency to focus on internal affairs and master new skills related to complexity science, external affairs, regulation, finance, economics and adopt a more balanced and inclusive perspective in running an organisation.

It’s not an easy transition to make, but it is achievable for the balanced, courageous and ambitious HR leaders.

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Technology is the biggest gift to recruiters and an effective tool for great employee experiences.

With technology becoming more important across generations, especially among Millennials, HR practitioners must leverage on technology to recruit smarter and ensure great employee experiences.

In recruitment, HR can use social networking platforms and mobile apps to elevate employer branding, attract talent and build a network. These platforms are interactive and attractive and can be creatively customised to attract different types of people for the different opportunities available.

We can also use technology to create a great employee experience and culture. Technology bridges the gap between work and personal life and allows a more flexible experience for those who have to – or love to – work long hours or need to complete personal errands during working hours.

Technology has also made working from home possible for the workforce.

Employee performance can also be improved through the use of technology – having access to technology helps employees relax or find relevant information that can help them in their role. HR should set up either policies/guidelines or a performance management system to ensure the use of technology directly increases people’s happiness and productivity, instead of contributing to a lack of focus and a decreased productivity or even burn-out because of working around the clock.

At Groupon, we encourage our staff to use technology for learning and development to perform better in their role. For some teams, great performers are rewarded with the opportunity to work from outside the office on certain days.

We have a great performance management system that is transparent to ensure technology is directly and indirectly increasing one’s performance.

Two trends will have a big impact on future organisations and, accordingly, on the HR function.

One is more elevated levels of diversity. When we talk about diversity these days, we still tend to talk a lot about gender (including LGBT aspects) or nationalities. In the near future, the fast-approaching ageing societies in developed countries will force organisations to consider more diversity in age group. Another diversity dimension will come from increasing talent from emerging markets such as Latin America, Africa or certain parts of Asia. Talent competition may be extended more easily to those markets.

Triggered by a lot of technologies encouraging more open and connected societies, a lot of knowledge and “know hows” which were maintained within HR are rapidly becoming openly available to anyone.

This will enable talented leaders to take the HR role and gain HR experiences as part of a career journey more easily than before.

Also, a lot of HR functionalities will be even more decentralised and embedded into wider line managerial role scopes, which will be supported by social technologies.

While HR can always help provide a certain level of skills training or prepare a learning environment for employees to gain new skills for new roles, the most important thing is to create an agile and learning culture where staff are constantly learning new things and taking up new roles for endless self-growth.

Social media will continue to leave a bigger impact on talent acquisition, especially in attracting passive candidates. Social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+) will play important roles in employment branding because they are instantaneous, low in cost, but high in ROI and effective in increasing the employer’s brand visibility online to a huge global audience of qualified candidates.

The ever-evolving world of business will also 40 » Human Resources » June 2013

continue to transform HR from a global perspective to operate locally, powered by highly skilled HR professionals and business partners.

The transformation of HR to a strategic business partner sets the scene for the natural evolution from HR leaders to CEOs. Jack Welch, one of the world’s most respected and celebrated CEOs, said 90% of a CEO’s work was nothing but HR. With HR leaders’ incisive understanding of how different business functions work together, CEOs

with a HR background will find it less challenging to fulfil a CEO’s responsibilities. In addition, compared with other function heads, HR leaders are more closely in tune with the changing aspirations of Gen Y and the next generation.

However, the progression of HR leaders to CEO is marred by the fact that many of us are still stuck with HR administration tasks such as recruitment, training, competency mapping and employee engagement. While these activities are important, there remains a pressing need to quickly rise above these mundane activities and play the strategic role of a HR business partner.

It may sound obvious, but we need to be continually readying ourselves for change. In our industry, we are seeing employees choosing to have shorter tenures with each organisation they join. We need to consider how we can help employees build a short to medium-term career with us and work towards keeping the wealth of knowledge when employees exit the firm.

As HR professionals, we also need to keep up-skilling as part of readying ourselves for change and staying relevant, being more involved with business strategy and acquiring better business acumen to support the business.

Increasingly, we observe career paths are becoming less linear with the rapid flux of changes most industries are facing. Less and less are we able to package a career path for an individual for a stipulated time frame and document this in a systematic flow chart.

In HR, we need to help people think about what a career means for them in our organisation and then seek to partner and help them build one. The key to this is to enable our managers to have ongoing conversations with their employees, to always be in the know of their employees’ aspirations and matching employees to suitable opportunities as they arise as part of their career developmental planning.

As more and more traditional HR support functions are being either outsourced or transformed into a service-oriented delivery model, clients are more at the forefront of what we do.

We need to consider how we can continually leverage on the expertise of our more mature-aged employees, and at the same time, understand what a career means for them at this career stage. UBS Switzerland has launched the “Lifelong Learning” programme, which is a series of four modules geared to UBS employees in mid-life (from 45 years of age), including topics on “Fit in new media” and “Fit for the future”, which I am sure we in Singapore can learn from.

The ultimate goal of every HR professional should be to make themselves ‘redundant’ in the days to come. The strategic roles and functions of HR should be embedded into and owned by the business leaders within the organisation, and not as a standalone function.

By doing so, every business leader is also a HR professional looking into the development and management of their talent to drive business results directly. HR will then be able to focus on a more strategic role in the business.

The function of HR will evolve significantly in

the days to come to a more strategic and robust role in shaping and moulding the mindset of the workforce as well as solidifying the leadership capability of their organisation.

Although both functions are not new trends in the HR arena, the emphasis on these functions in the future will greatly determine the success (or mediocrity) of any organisation.

HR professionals must realise the impact of their role in reducing the variability of behaviours in the workforce by aligning their employees’ passion and drive towards achieving organisational goals.

Besides that, HR also has to revolutionise talent management with the purpose of building and strengthening the leadership bench strength of the organisation.

HR will need to be close to the business, not only at the strategic level, but also to have both feet firmly on the ground and be in tune with what makes business and employee sense. HR will be required to play a role to connect the dots between employer and employees to ensure flexibility in managing an inclusive work environment.

Gone are the days of one-brush-for-all in the areas of development and rewards in organisations. Today, talent brings with them their unique edge and capability.

More likely than not, they are motivated differently. Hence, it is critical for HR to know “what makes them tick” and this can only be done if HR is close to its talent.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 41

Because of the rapid changes in business and the economy becoming more dynamic, HR is required to work even closer with management and not operate on its own.

By entrenching ourselves in the business, we will be able to predict and develop the skills and competencies necessary to address business opportunities quickly.

Moving forward, HR also needs to be more innovative to compete in the talent war.

Realistically, there is a shortage of talented individuals as the current workforce matures and competitors are getting more aggressive in attracting talent; and sometimes that can lead to companies trying to outbid each other in terms of total compensation.

Hence, good talent comes at a high price and organisations have to work harder to engage and retain good talent.

HR leaders need to step up and recognise the fact they need to acquire strategic competencies and perspectives to adapt to the organisation’s future state.

Currently, there are only a handful of HR leaders who recognise this, but the good news is these individuals are increasing.

To prepare employees for the changing trends and new roles within the organisation in the future, first we need to help employees be dynamic and adaptable to change.

We need to help them understand the future state of the organisation, with the caveat, the future state itself is dynamic and technology driven. Finally, the culture of lifelong learning needs to be nurtured within the organisation.

I have observed organisations in this region are too focused on the short-term (one to two years) that they sometimes forget to prepare for the future.

Whether business strategic roles remain part of HR or not really depends on whether HR can evolve itself to deliver good quality results to the organisation. In most cases, business leaders would prefer to deal with HR as the central point. In most cases, business strategic HR roles are spun off into a separate branch mainly because the current HR is either too slow to evolve and/or resistant to change.

In my opinion, the business strategic role should remain with HR; but like I mentioned, the incumbent HR needs to be highly collaborative, consultative, deliverables-focused and agile.

42 » Human Resources » June 2013

It is likely we will see more HR leaders climbing the ladder to become CEOs in the future.

HR professionals are required to keep up with the business domain’s knowledge. Great HR professionals get their hands dirty in the daily work of HR. This in turn trains them to be macro-centric, thus able to sit comfortably as the CEO. Through the business partnering model, they will come to understand the business very well.

However, it is not their role to drive the business; hence, they are often perceived as least effective when it comes to direct involvement in the business.

However, a CEO’s role is all about managing a team and bringing the company towards success, in which a great HR professional can excel in.

Together with their integration to be a strategic HR business partner, they are involved in the contribution of building and implementing business strategies, hence, acquiring greater understanding and cross-disciplinary knowledge during the process. With a grasp in the area of the right human capital, the current human inventory and the understanding of numbers in the P&L, the future HR leaders with their professional capabilities would suffice in the running of the organisation.

A proficient HR business partner or professional entails the participation in business planning that goes up to as long as five to 10 years. Consciously, they would have anticipated and identified the skill sets and key competencies for the future role and criteria in relation to the human capital needed to meet the goals of the organisation.

In addition, a strong knowledge of the peoplemetric residing in the organisation allows HR professionals to pinpoint and assign roles which potentially suits a future role well.

With proper resources and succession planning built up from the people inventory, a career path and development road map can be crafted for individuals to set them up for roles in the future which are yet to exist.

Declining birth rates and increased longevity have resulted in a “greying” of the population worldwide.

Research suggests little has been done in terms of developing pro-active strategies to attract, retain and maintain mature workers. There are a number of challenges associated with a mature workforce: the comparative lack of transferable skills in older workers, higher wage expectations, less mobility and other issues.

In addition, the high rates of retirement and employer perceptions of mature workers are challenges that affect human resources issues such as hiring and retraining practices. All of these factors will have a large impact on the planning and structuring of human resources practices. HR leaders have to think innovatively to overcome this and one way of addressing it would be to upskill the mature employees and keep them relevant to the organisation. It is also important to rewrite the definition of a mature workforce; people are not ageing the way they use to.

Technology has started to make HR function more robustly at each of the employee’s interface starting from pre-hire to retirement.

McDonald’s today is focused on elevating employee engagement by using fully integrated HR tools, which seamlessly incorporate with business tools using clouds which reduces duplication of employees daily tasks and, at the same time, providing employees and managers information that can be used to diagnose issues and ultimately improve customer satisfaction and productivity.

Recognising this trend, many companies have started investing hugely in upgrading their HR platforms. This dramatically changes the way employee engagement is done.

For example, HR in the past had relied greatly on human connections to share/download information and depended prominently on people managers in facilitating employee/employer interface. However, today it is mostly done by empowering HR technologies giving greater access and control over information in the hands of employees and managers, thus increasing personal mastery and independence.

Organisations should have a robust talent management process in place to attract, recruit and retain the right talent. We cannot ignore the fact employees’ expectations are evolving.

Today’s high performers want jobs that not only pay high, but also yield the highest return, in ways that are meaningful to them. Talent has become not only a scarce commodity, but an expensive one.

The only way to stay ahead in the talent war is for HR leaders to shift their focus from just acquiring and retaining the right talent to evaluating internal talent management processes to upgrade and keep employees engaged.

HR now faces difficulties in recruiting, retaining and engaging employees. Thus talent management is a very important process.

To predict future roles within our organisation, we need to gear our employees to compete globally and, yet, manage costs by using technologies to allow companies to do more with less.

Our employees need to be strategic, innovative, creative and effective in communicating. We have to engage our employees throughout the organisation in the task of developing and implementing new ways to reach the organisation’s goals.

Of course, all of the above is a mammoth task to undertake, but it can be done via a structured development programme and as leaders we must exemplify these qualities.

With the paradigm shift of a traditional role of HR practitioners to a more strategic one, I definitely see HR leaders progressing into the role

of a CEO and I think they will bring a different perspective to the organisation.

They have a better understanding and are able to empathise with the employees, which will make them better influencers.

To go along with the shift, HR leaders now need to: • Be a change manager, learning to better assist organisational leaders to deal with change.

• Become business allies by taking roles as strategists to add more value.

• Be an integrator by bringing other people and processes together and collaborate by working with others.

• Solidify areas such as communication, coaching and influencing.

Retirement is also causing labour shortages and

Mature workers can contribute value to the workplace in terms of knowledge, expertise and experience, thus a ageing workforce presents certain issues from a HR perspective, such as: • Technology challenges for some employees because they may not be as savvy compared with the younger workforce. As such, HR needs to provide technology development plans for this group.

• Health concerns – HR needs to be prepared for an increase in health plan costs.

• Loss of expertise after retirement. HR must develop a plan on how the organisation can retain the knowledge, which can be done through succession planning.

• Mentoring plans whereby mature workers can be a mentor and coach to younger employees.

• Offering flexible working schedules and modified benefit packages.

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Significant trends that have a direct impact on the HR function are the proliferation of technology into the working environment at a significant pace, and the changes in the demography of the working population.

The present economical environment, described as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous has added more pressure not only to business leaders, but HR. “What keeps the CEOs awake?” is one of

the most frequently asked question to CEOs and leaders of industries, and the answer has always revolved around talent management, which can range from talent attraction to succession planning.

In the current era of globalisation where talent mobility is a constant, talent management becomes the focus of all industries. Managing talent is no longer the task of the human resources function alone, but the role of both the line managers and senior management team of the organisation.

If HR professionals are able to transform from being a business enabler to being a strategic business partner, we will definitely see them becoming business leaders as well.

However, the key is the ability to quantify the HR outputs and outcomes in the similar manner a

finance function does. This is the challenge and HR analytics is one of the means of doing this.

HR analytics or HR metrics help HR keep track of the return on investment on human capital through the right matrices. HR metrics is the new paradigm of the HR that needs to be embraced by organisations and it is the tool to leapfrog the HR role to a strategic business partner.

Research has indicated more HR practitioners are heading in this direction and we are seeing sporadic acceptance within bigger organisations, but it is yet to take momentum in smaller entities.

By immersing into the business operations, HR leaders will be able to analyse the present and future roles that may come along with the changes in the industry landscape.

Because the discipline is evolving, one of the most interesting challenges you’ll see is the function will move from old-fashioned personnel management to HR and beyond.

We have outsourced our transactional HR so we can focus on how we can support the business in development and building a leadership pipeline.

But even though we’ve outsourced part of HR, we still have to manage it.

You can do all these nice things, but if your transactional HR such as salary is not going smoothly, you can forget about the rest.

One of the things I see now is the HR function is increasingly becoming a role where we try to hold up a mirror to the business and try to challenge the business in terms of organisation effectiveness and efficiencies.

Increasingly, where in the past we may have gathered some data, we have moved to analysing the data and gaining insights and wisdom. That’s the trend we see happening. In terms of analysis and insights, you need different talent. Increasingly,

we see people, who in the past may have been working at universities, now coming into the company to give insights which are necessary if a business wants a competitive advantage.

The HR function has to support the business to make it more competitive, not just with leadership and talent development, but in terms of how you are shaped as an organisation. Do you have the right dynamics? You will need to work more and more closely with the different functions.

In the employer branding field, we work very closely with communications and marketing, and

on the other hand, we work closely with our colleagues in finance.

In the past, HR may not have been comfortable with data, but if I look around me at Unilever, a majority of my colleagues are people with a business or economic background. Two decades ago, you would find HR people with a background in social studies or law. But more and more HR people will need to speak the business language.

At Unilever, because we realise how important HR is, there is never a debate if HR should be at the table; we’ve always been there.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 45

The future trends in Singapore with the most impact on HR are an extremely tight labour pool against a challenging landscape of an ageing workforce, and strict controls on the hiring of foreign workers – as well as economic restructuring driving companies to be highly labour-efficient.

Beyond keeping up with challenging employment laws, HR leaders must possess entrepreneur skills in “thriving under the odds”

and “creative tenacity in turning negatives into possibilities”.

The ability to respond immediately to changes is important because we are definitely not good enough at this. HR must know what the important factors are in retaining staff and be able to translate this knowledge into entrenching the company with strong retentive DNA. Skills in designing creative rewards, building a non-political family culture, remapping and reskilling human infrastructure for success, structuring effective talent and succession pipeline are critical for HR success.

HR leaders who are bold, tenacious, commercially minded and who have perfected their entrepreneurial skills in people strategy tied to business success will climb the career ladder towards roles such as CEO. At the top, more than half the time is spent on assessing, selecting and grooming the right leaders to combat business challenges. The other half is the shrewd application of business knowledge, which HR leaders will have an edge if they are from the same industry.

It is never easy for HR to prepare current employees for new roles and resistance to change is to be expected. Effective change-management starts from helping employees to appreciate the need to change for the better. Once employees understand why their roles have to be changed, the rest of the journey is a lot easier. HR must also conduct assessments of current skills vis-a-vis

new skills to get a reality check and develop a plan for redeployment of employees who are unable to transit into new roles.

In recruitment, HR leaders must acquire new competencies in employer branding and in building sustainable recruitment pipelines. In talent management, HR leaders must excel in employee engagement, enabling organisations to build intimate networks with key talent beyond corporate relationships. Personal mentoring and coaching is one strategy. Giving top talent special attention and generous investment in the form of a customised development plan is another core competency.

With an ageing population, it is a Hobson’s choice; HR leaders have to be open to recruiting mature aged workers and re-employing existing employees beyond 62 years of age. A major review of existing job scopes and competencies has to be aggressively embarked upon now to prepare for the “silver tsunami”. For jobs which are physically demanding and age is a clear disadvantage, organisations have to make an important judgment call to invest in technology and even industrial engineering.

Apart from reskilling existing mature aged workers, many other creative HR interventions will have to be considered such as job sharing, redeployment, flexi or part-time options or going into new roles such as coaching new joiners.

The use of social media to create a more effective employer branding in terms of talent attraction will be more important in the future. Generation Y and the Millennials rely so much on social networks in terms of company reputation.

The lack of leadership models is another trend.

More focus is being given by current senior leaders to churning numbers and growing revenues and margins instead of spending time to coach and mentor talents. Fewer senior leaders are taking the time to have real conversations and coaching sessions with their future leaders.

HR will climb the ladder in terms of authority – HR is more empowered these days than previous years and forms part of the top management team in most companies – but not necessarily CEO roles, especially for companies or industries where functional competency weighs more. Perhaps becoming CEOs in HR-related businesses is more likely. HR can prepare staff for roles which do not yet exist by determining investment areas for present requirements and future requirements.

Typically, it is practical to allocate a large

percentage of development investment to current business requirements, say 80% to 85% of the budget. However, it is also wise to invest a small portion for future requirements, say 10% to 15%.

Talent management teams should also drive programmes that are geared towards creativity and innovation.

The changing demographics will definitely impact employee productivity, and the way to improve such could either be investing in technology or headcount. Investing in technology is always the easiest, provided companies are willing

to. Investing in people would mean developing centres of excellence in different locations where the business operates. By doing this, the company is building strengths across the region where it operates, thus talent sharing or swapping would become a lot easier.

This, in a way, will help ease the impact of a lack of talent because of the ageing population in Singapore. Singapore can remain a regional hub, but the talent source could be the countries around it. This is almost synonymous to outsourcing critical functions so business productivity will not suffer.

46 » Human Resources » June 2013

plan their future assignments to be focused on line management roles that can prepare the person to be CEO. We are in a sustained period of slower global economic growth. Although Asia is still growing, there is not the same accelerating growth in headcount and organisation size we saw over the past decade. This is even more evident at senior levels where there is a trend towards “hierarchy reduction” – meaning fewer senior management positions and a de-layered organisation.

This means there’s a mismatch between employees (who want fast promotions and career development) and companies (who may not have the available roles). Therefore, HR managers need be able to: I personally don’t believe HR roles prepare people to be CEOs. By design, HR roles typically don’t have the same degree of external focus, customer exposure or operational exposure that is required.

If an HR manager asks me about the path to becoming a CEO, I always suggest they try a broader assignment in sales or operations. If they enjoy this and deliver great results, then we would

Three main trends will impact HR in the future.

First, analytics will be a powerful tool to help leaders make human capital-related decisions.

We see how data analytics has helped consumer-driven companies benefit from harnessing the power of consumer insights to sharpen their business strategies. Certainly, HR can do more by leveraging data analytics to better understand our stock of employees, develop comparative benchmarks and give us insights to future workforce trends so we can adapt quickly.

Second, there will be an increasing emphasis on working in and contributing as teams. The world is undeniably complex and more interconnected, and organisations have realised their people can no longer work in silos. To support this, HR needs to serve the organisation well in the following areas: • Know how to use performance management to influence positive team-based outcomes.

• Spot talent which collaborates well with others.

• Enable managers and leaders through deliberate leadership development.

• Give managers the skills to manage the expectations of employees.

• Look for ways to give employees skill development and career satisfaction within roles at their current level.

• Provide more robust and structure talent identification and talent planning.

• Support leaders in change management so they can help staff recognise that optimising for the organisation should take precedence.

• Find clever ways to utilise technology.

Third, the future of staff engagement will be about creating shared experiences. One cannot

The trend towards diversity is very strong and most business leaders understand the business case for it, but they are still struggling to really leverage the power of a diverse workforce. We simply don’t have enough diverse talent in senior positions. HR needs to take the lead with this.

We need to change the culture to enable people of different backgrounds to have an equal voice and we need to identify diverse talent and ensure the right mentoring and coaching is given to skill them up for higher level roles. Finally, we need to allow for a more flexible workplace.

To prepare employees for roles which do not yet exist, HR first needs to help set expectations.

Right from the beginning, HR managers need to help employees understand the business strategy will not be static, and the organisation’s design, structure and roles will change frequently.

Second, good assignment planning can help people acquire skills outside their current role. I really like the idea of short-term stretch assignments, where we give them the chance to work on something different. This tests their ability to be agile and is a great coaching opportunity.

underestimate the importance of defining the key experiences the company wants to create for staff, including on-boarding, leadership development and the experience with the customers.

Finding ways for employees to experience these touch-points together and giving them the opportunity to shape these experiences into something meaningful will be very powerful.

In the future, there will increasingly be more expectations for CEOs to have a strong grasp on talent development and talent management. It will not be surprising to have CEO candidates go through exposure in leading the HR function.

How the HR team is best structured depends on a company’s culture and talent management philosophy. However, regardless of the HR structure, it is critical to have a strong alignment between recruitment and talent management with leadership development and C&B. As Singapore faces an ageing population, it all boils down to how HR enables the organisation to thrive and perform amid diversity. Allowing for flexibility in the workplace to cater to different needs, and enabling the organisation to build strong teams, while harnessing the diversity of the members, will be crucial. HR will need to work very closely with OD to build up capability in this area.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 47

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Registration opens June

n these uncertain economic times the need for organisations to focus on leadership and human capital strategies is more vital than ever. Join us at Asia’s premier human capital and leadership conference – the Singapore Human Capital Summit on 11-12 September and hear from more than 30 top regional and global speakers as they provide unique Pan-Asian perspectives that combine the latest thinking, research insights and innovative leadership strategies to prepare your organisation for the future.

2013 Keynote Speaker: Gary Hamel Renowned thought leader, author and speaker Gary Hamel was recently ranked by Wall Street Journal as “the world’s most influential business thinker”, and Fortune magazine has called him “the world’s leading expert on business strategy”. www.singaporehcsummit.com Organisers:

There are two current trends in human resources that we believe will have the most impact on the hospitality industry moving forward.

First, recognising the importance of up-skilling employees to adopt more than one role and responsibility – and encouraging a culture of a more informed, high-skilled workforce that is better remunerated and motivated.

This not only reinforces the Sofitel ethos of creating the link between personal and professional development, but also shows our true commitment to our most valued assets in the organisation – our staff, who we call our ambassadors.

Second, active employee engagement through regular training, social media platforms and customised growth plans. We are seeing an increasing focus on customised hotel-level training, where the power to identify, develop and groom a high-skilled workforce is in the hands of the HR department.

The HR department, in turn, works hand-inhand with the business operations team to ensure every employee has an individualised path for growth within the organisation.

In addition, the growth of social media and digital platforms has allowed us to harness the fact that each ambassador can be a treasured advocate when engaged correctly – or a detractor when the adequate training or processes have not been put in place.

The HR leaders of today are already playing key roles in advising and consulting CEOs on growth plans for the future, and we do not see this trend fading. The most significant assets for organisations currently are their people, and HR department heads are more integrated and involved with business strategy than ever before.

As we look across the region, we are seeing an increasing strain on resources and quality of the workforce. Many organisations choose to take a hardware-fixing route to this problem, battling surface issues. The true point of differentiation, however, lies in the software – understanding the needs of the people in an organisation.

This is where the HR leader plays a crucial role and their responsibilities evolve from specialist skills such as recruitment to a holistic one of being positioned as a strategic business partner.

Encourage employees to take ownership and part-responsibility for the growth of the business – this will encourage them to identify areas of improvement and provide unique, creative solutions that improve efficiencies in the business.

Most importantly, pay close attention to the personal and professional development needs of employees. During the hiring process, have a future vision in mind that includes identifying characteristics that will help map their growth in the organisation, how they want to up-skill and giving staff opportunities to work in different areas.

The changing demographics will see job scopes expanded so they remain challenging and relevant to the workforce. With a shrinking labour supply and a more educated workforce, HR will need to help the organisation evolve and re-invent some roles so the organisation can still be an employer of choice in time to come.

This includes using a more interactive approach to engage and attract suitable candidates to accommodate the increasing number of Gen Ys in the workforce. For example, the Singapore Prison Service has reached out to potential candidates via several touch-points such as Facebook and recruitment road shows at various on-campus job fairs. Beyond recruitment, we also need to tap on diversity and connect with more Gen Ys to inspire them in our day-to-day corrections work.

Many HR leaders have a powerful advantage that will indeed place them in good stead as they advance in their careers towards key senior management roles. As HR personnel, they have an insider’s grasp of both strategic and tactical HR opportunities and challenges such as key workforce trends and staff engagement. These insights contribute significantly to resource planning, ultimately playing the strengths of the employees to the growth of the organisation.

By working closely with all departments, HR serves as a partner that keenly understands the business of corrections and is able to plan ahead. For example, the work of prison officers goes beyond ensuring the safe and secure custody of inmates. It is also about providing an effective rehabilitation programme that helps offenders reintegrate into society after their release. As a result, understanding the future of corrections helps the HR department make strategic decisions that build relevant leadership capabilities and develop agility in the current and future pool of employees.

There is value in residing business strategic roles within HR because there will be tighter integration with other HR functions such as performance management and training and development.

However, allowing the functions to be sited closer to the business units may enable HR leaders to foster a more in-depth understanding of operational needs and for business unit leaders to inculcate a stronger HR mindset. Ultimately, decisions need to be made hand-in-hand so all units are aligned to the ultimate growth of the organisation.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 49

Talent Management 2013 Human Resources’ first-ever two-day Talent Management 2013 conference was a great success with hundreds of delegates attending to hear some of the region’s most senior HR practitioners speak, share and advise on talent management’s best-practices.

On 12-13 March, the region’s top HR professionals gathered at the Novotel Clarke Quay in Singapore for the inaugural Talent Management 2013 conference, hosted by Human Resources magazine.

The conference, hosted by editor Rebecca Lewis, looked into the best practices, case studies and challenges to help the delegates truly succeed at implementing strong and effective talent management strategies.

Twenty five senior HR practitioners took the stage across two days to share their insights and valuable opinions through nine conference topics: talent management think tanks, talent acquisition, succession planning, performance management, growing markets, retention, social, diversity and employee engagement.

Over these two days, 170 delegates attended

50 » Human Resources » June 2013

the event, including HR professionals from companies such as Resorts World Sentosa, Nikon, Fonterra, UOB, Gucci, Barclays Capital, CapitaLand, Singapore Tourism Board, Starhub and many more.

Kicking off the first day, keynote speaker Antonio Ramirez, senior vice-president of human resources for Sands China, addressed the crowd with a presentation about focusing on culture as a core value to identify, grow and retain talent.

This was followed by an insightful presentation on HR analytical tools and applications to help manage talent and improve leadership development by Oracle.

The discussion started with our CEO panel, which focused on their roles in managing talent.

Logan Velaitham, CEO of AirAsia Singapore; Abid Butt, CEO of Banyan Tree Hotels and

Resorts; Kensaku Konishi, president and CEO of Canon Singapore and Stephen Mosely, president and managing director of L’Oréal Hong Kong, Macau and Myanmar, grabbed delegates’ attention with their frank conversations about what HR can do better to help the CEO. Butt said there were specific points where HR could become more strategic to work alongside the CEO better.

“Understanding the core needs of the business is very important, not just for HR but for anyone in the organisation. They have to understand the issues the company is up against.

Unless we live it, we won’t be able to solve the issues. Understanding the business issues is a given; that’s the price of entry.”

Mosely agreed, saying the days where business functions were siloed were over.

“To get to the top of an organisation, there are two experiences you ought to have early in your career. One is a spell in commercial, where you will learn how to sell, and the other is in HR to develop a better understanding of people.”

He added HR professionals must acquire stronger skills in business acumen and finance if they wanted to move up the ladder to become a CEO. This discussion was followed by a panel which analysed future trends and expectations in talent management. It featured Jérôme de Grandmaison, vice-president of human resources of East APAC for Alstom Group; Brad Adams, head of human resources of research and advisory services at CEB; Karthik Sarma, vice-president of human resources for APAC at Levi Strauss & Co; Shaun Ruming, vice-president of human resources and training of APMEA at McDonald’s; and Cara Reil, vice-president of talent management and development at SingTel. Reil said one of the biggest trends for organisations in the future would be going back to the basics and being clear about exactly what type of talent was needed.

“Ask yourself, ‘where is the business heading

three to five years from now?’ We have to know directionally where the business is going first.

The biggest challenge will be understanding where we have to accelerate development,” she said.

For Singapore, the ageing demographics – and for the first time working alongside five generations – will need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

McDonald’s Ruming said in its restaurants in Australia about 80% of its workforce was under 18, but in Singapore this was the opposite.

“We have to change talent discussions, and where we used to do this in annual cycles, now we do them two, four or six times a year because of the ageing demographics,” Ruming said.

Moving onto talent acquisition, Michael Wright, head of talent acquisition of APAC at GroupM, took the stage with an engaging presentation on “the death of the resume”.

This was followed by a presentation from Alexander Mann Solutions on addressing Asia’s talent gap, and a talk from Aditya K. Roy, Google’s director of people operations for APAC and sales, who explained HR should never underestimate the use of data.

“We will not make any people decisions unless it’s based on data,” he said.

The first day also saw companies such as Philips, DDI, Ericsson, SIA Engineering, Shell and Cisco Systems take part in presentations and panels to discuss succession planning and performance management.

Day two kicked off with a panel on emerging markets, where Human Resources senior journalist, Sabrina Zolkifi, hosted a discussion on the difference in talent management strategies between developed and developing markets with HR heads from Facebook, Maersk Line and Dow Chemicals.

The following session on retention saw Pete Baker, head of human resources for Maersk Line, back on stage to discuss preparing talent for roles which do not yet exist.

He explained employees are now living in a volatile, uncertain, complex and agile world and employers must retain employees by giving them a range of experiences to keep them challenged, rather than a traditional career path.

Later in the day a panel discussion on using social media as part of an overall HR strategy kept attending delegates alert, as Madan Nagaldinne, head of human resources for Facebook APAC, Martin Cerullo, managing director of development of APAC for Alexander Mann Solutions and Edvarcl Heng, head of social media at MediaCom bantered on-stage.

When it comes to managing potentially damaging content posted online, Nagaldinne said if you allowed people to be “open” and “bold” you had to deal with the feedback.

Heng agreed saying “social media was not limited” and so HR had to figure out how it could manage this.

The conference ended with two informative panel discussions on workplace diversity and employee engagement, where a highlight was Tony Tenicela, global leader for workforce diversity and LGBT markets at IBM, explaining diversity is “more than an HR programme”.

“We’re starting to realise we need to understand how we can create a customised approach to help us recruit and retain top talent from a diversity perspective. Diversity cannot be isolated – it has to be part of our day-to-day work.”

Additional companies featured on day two included Alstom Group, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Citigroup, Cisco Systems, Sony Electronics, Sands China, Microsoft, DBS Bank, Ericsson and Sirota.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 51

OPINION » Learning & development

Listen up, coach!

Building an achievement-oriented organisation begins with understanding the fundamentals of coaching – and this means active listening, not offering solutions.

JASON WEE Senior manager of learning and organisation development Wiley

Ready, set, coach: Build a coaching organisation to get the best out of your managers and employees.

Organisations today are in search for the best talent who can bring in skills, knowledge and abilities, as well as push the boundaries of organisational growth.

However, companies also recognise there is a shortage of talent – and this is where the war for talent arises.

Many companies put big money into organising workshops and programmes which seek to build capabilities to generate a good ROI, but how long can this be sustained and can organisations continue to pump in money in bad times?

While getting managers and leaders to bring out the best in their employees is one thing, have you ever considered building a coaching organisation? This not only brings out the best in people, but also seeks to build a more empowered culture which aims to raise performance standards while keeping employees motivated as they take charge of their jobs and career.

52 » Human Resources » June 2013

What is coaching?

While many of us are familiar with the terms “managing” and “leading”, coaching takes on a different behavioural aspect.

Managers and leaders may show you what needs to be done and how things should be done, but coaches take people through a conversation of self-discovery.

This happens through following a process which ultimately leads to superior performance, commitment to growth and the creation of positive relationships.

Coaches do not tell their students what and how things need to be done because most people already have the ideas and solutions within them.

The role of the coach is to help process thoughts and support those thoughts to facilitate achievable outcomes through action plans.

Learning & development « OPINION

When would be a good opportunity to coach?

Coaching sounds like a formal discussion between two individuals sitting in a room as they share thoughts and ideas.

This need not be the case.

Coaching can take place in many other locations, such as the pantry, over lunch, on the way to work, or with a friend – it does not have to be in a standard meeting room. It can be formal or informal depending on the situation.

Coaching opportunities can come in various shapes and sizes. They can be about seeking insights of personal behaviours and actions, feeling stagnated or growing out of a role, performance improvement or performance enhancement; needing to find a breakthrough, trying to resolve a complex issue or about transiting from individual contributor to leadership roles, and much more.

It should be made known coaching is a process – but it should also be a way of life. That way, it won’t be seen as punishment for poor performance, but rather as an opportunity to develop greater performance.

So who is the best person to coach? The answer is, everybody is. You don’t need to be an expert in that particular field of work, but you’ll need to understand the behaviours and processes needed to take your colleague through this journey.

Coaching behaviours and process While managers have their own set of behaviours, coaches also have a different set of behaviours.

Coaches do not offer solutions. They facilitate through a set of logical questions which brings out those solutions from their students. Active listening is one of the key skills a coach

“It should be made known coaching is a process – but it should also be a way of life. That way, it won’t be seen as punishment for poor performance, but rather as an opportunity to develop greater performance.” has to possess, and this involves learning to pick out what your clients are trying to tell you – especially the underlying messages.

Lots of patience is needed because there will be occasions where coaches are tempted to cut in with their solutions.

Finally, keep in mind that your clients will share their perspective. Therefore, as a coach it would be good not to impose your own values, but instead understand their perspective and know how best to facilitate it.

Apart from the behavioural stuff, it is important to understand the process of coaching and what the coach should focus on.

First, you need to be aware the person being coached is your priority. It’s not about the coach being the guru within the conversation; it’s about focusing on the needs and interests of the person being coached and respecting them as unique individuals.

Once this mindset is established, the coach can identify the current reality and establish the ideal state of where the person being coached wishes to go. That gap between the current and ideal state is where the coach facilitates and exercises their skills in discovering root causes and exploring alternatives to reaching the coachees’ end in mind.

In conclusion Coaching is powerful tool and, if embraced as an organisation culture, it will increase performance, create greater work motivation, form strong relationships and develop an empowered workforce.

As a wise man once said: “Give a man a fish and it will feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and it will feed him for a lifetime.”

Invest time in coaching today and you will build an achievement-oriented organisation.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 53

OPINION » Unconventional wisdom

The chemistry that matters Getting the recipe right for future leadership and productivity is a real science.

Tyre magnate Harvey

EDUARDO PÉREZCEJUELA Senior director human resources Asia Pacific SABIC Asia

Firestone said more than a century ago “the growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership”. This is an HR truth that rings as true today as it did back then – it sits at the heart of any organisation’s continued success, sustainability and productivity.

At least back in the day, Firestone was probably dealing with a far less diverse workforce than we have in many companies today. The added dimension of globalisation sees us grappling with even more complex dynamics in sustaining leadership and productivity.

This in turn feeds into core HR strategies which need to be pivoted around a few key components vital to building employee satisfaction and productivity: fair employment practices, strong career development opportunities and learning The science of success: It is important to find the right business formula from the beginning. and development.

Building a workforce of effective and for different roles in the organisation. With globalisation, there adaptable leaders at every level is critical in a rapidly changing is more demand for a leader with a truly multinational and world. It is increasingly important to mandate some imperatives, multicultural perspective, who can move seamlessly between such as talent sharing and developing soft skills such as different markets and time zones and appreciates the social coaching among your leaders’ attributes. A successful leader is able to share his high potential employees with other parts of the nuances of each. It kind of goes without saying that yesterday’s organisation and to mentor employees, such that it enables their leaders are not necessarily tomorrow’s.

Future leaders need to be adaptable and able to grow and growth and hones their potential to assume higher roles. build business and teams across diverse cultures. Having equal emphasis on both performance and behaviour helps to align employees from different regions to operate in a unified way to achieve business goals and drive productivity.

Equal emphasis should be placed on developing people through building a strong brand culture that will grow over time, and on creating the internal chemistry that creates a harmonious workforce.

It is also critical to ensure the learning culture of an organisation adapts to the rapidly changing challenges in the business environment.

Finding the right balance between the objective dimension of organisational goals and the subjective realm of organisational culture is an on-going challenge.

Organisations seeking to be progressive and future-ready will need to ensure their HR strategies are aimed at building a Most mid to large companies try to have a strong learning culture which rewards innovation, performance and creativity. and development programme to drive professional growth.

A culture which reflects an organisation’s true values and But to ensure employees have the platform and inclination helps develop trust and empowerment among the workforce will to grow within the organisation, there needs to be a complement undoubtedly result in the development of future-ready, culturally of functional and leadership skills and possible career paths adept leaders and increased business productivity.

“Having equal emphasis on both performance and behaviour helps to align employees from different regions to operate in a unified way to achieve business goals and drive productivity.”

54 » Human Resources » June 2013

People issues OPINION »

It’s all fun and games Cooking contests and increased leadership involvement is sometimes all it takes to increase employee engagement.

SAMUEL GOH Human resources director Imtech Marine Singapore

When I was first appointed human resources director at Imtech Marine Singapore, one of my key tasks was to raise the employee engagement level of the company. Engaged employees are enthusiastic about their work and the company they work for and engagement here “represents the energy, effort and initiative employees bring to their jobs”. To me, this was a challenging, but very exciting task.

Many different variables determine whether or not an employee is engaged and while I understand happy employees might not be engaged employees, I strongly believe social activities such as birthday celebrations and games will help rather than hinder engagement.

Going beyond merely promoting fun at work, our engagement team tried to combine social activities with learning opportunities – and people liked it.

Super chef competition One “social learning” activity was a super chef competition held over lunchtime earlier this year. It was a fun time for everyone involved and teamwork was evident. Even though none of the participants were professional chefs, the food turned out great.

The challenge in this competition was abiding by the strange rules. The organisers deliberately tested the creativity of the participants by limiting the costs and ingredients of the food prepared, and the use of an open fire to cook was prohibited. This in fact, was reflective of a real-market situation Food for thought: Games and contests can help cook up stronger employee engagement. where sometimes the company has to perform under challenging conditions and rules.

Leadership involvement The various teams rose to the challenge and in the process I appreciate the fact my job has been made easier by my learnt to build trust, excellence, competence and team spirit. enlightened boss. Gennaro Pipoli, our managing director, truly led Fanny Hew, leader of the winning team, commented: “It was very enjoyable to participate in this activity. Everyone played by example in the area of employee engagement.

He introduced the “Lunch with Gennaro” movement – lunch a part in the final delivery and when the team won it was really sessions where the managing director eats with his rank-and-file satisfying. I learnt it was important to know and leverage employees (typically not more than seven persons per session). on the strengths of each team member to achieve the During such communion sessions, employees get the chance to common objective.” chat with the managing director as well as get to know each other Vickie Too, another member of the winning team, said: personally at the lunch table.

“This competition was a good chance for me to make friends On top of this, Gennaro also regards the quarterly employee with people from the other departments. Through this activity I meetings very seriously. He understands that clear, consistent learnt the importance of preparation. and honest communication is an important management tool for “The team tried making the dish three times before the employee engagement. event. We also experimented with different recipes before When you show employees you truly care about them, they deciding on what to present on the actual day of competition. To will engage. me, good preparation helped us win as a team.”

June 2013 « Human Resources « 55

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Upwardly mobile « OPINION

Going local – it’s not such a foreign concept MICHELLE YEOH Director of human capital and development PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road

Michelle Yeoh explains what his hotel has done to reduce its reliance on foreigners and increase retention.

For many years, businesses in Singapore

could fall back on foreign workers and talent to fill the gaps in their human resource needs. Various parties have spoken out in support of this as a means to sustain a burgeoning economy because it was apparent local resources alone would not suffice.

While Singapore owes its success in some parts to this strategy, socio-economic challenges have started to surface in recent years. This has made us wonder whether Singapore businesses had been too quick in bringing in foreign workers, resulting in an over-reliance on the foreign workforce and a neglect of investments in technology and productivity improvements.

It has been noted Singapore lags behind other developed economies in terms of productivity, so clearly there is room for improvement. The government’s efforts to lessen reliance on foreign workers have translated to foreign worker levies and the imposition of minimum wage requirements. Economic principles dictate that a higher cost of employing foreign workers would reduce demand. Raising the qualification bar for the S-Pass and Employment Pass and decreasing the number of approvals on work permits have led to a more stringent recruitment selection process.

In response to the current manpower situation in Singapore, PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road has identified where the biggest challenges and opportunities lie and the ways we can better attract, retain and develop our associates to offer a stronger employer value proposition.

Job flexibility for productivity Under this initiative, which was introduced by the Ministry of Manpower in January this year, our hotel has started training associates to perform a variety of functions, instead of recruiting more foreign workers.

For example, our restaurants, bars and events associates receive cross-training in front office responsibilities so they can be deployed to help out during peak periods. We believe this will heighten our productivity and contribute positively to the bottom line.

At the same time, associates benefit from learning new skills that add value to their career development, and they also receive fair remuneration for their enhanced job abilities.

Special employment credit Unveiled in the 2011 Budget, this scheme provides support for employers to raise the employability of older low-wage Singaporeans. It was augmented in 2012 with additional support for employers to hire older Singaporean workers, as well as

Cutting the fat: PARKROYAL is decreasing its reliance on foreign workers.

persons with disabilities. At present, the hotel has under its employment 11 associates above the age of 62 and two with mild disabilities.

Flexi hour scheme Another measure our hotel has undertaken is the implementation of flexi work hours and flexi work weeks to tap on the latent Singaporean workforce. Currently, we have 10 housewives and tertiary students working in various shift patterns which accommodate their lifestyles. This particular step has helped reduce the reliance on foreign workers.

Career development plans and job redesign Besides flexibility schemes to boost local employment, the hotel focuses on two core areas to retain associates, both local and foreigners – to set a clear career development path for every associate and to redesign job responsibilities.

Our human capital and development (HCD) department looks at the job content for each role and alters and reshuffles tasks so associates will be doing the right job while achieving maximum output. The HCD team has also introduced the “organisation human resource planning initiative”, which helps us to look into our talent assessment, organisation capabilities and associate development plan.

As we continue the journey of workforce reform, it is important we acknowledge the various alternatives Singapore businesses can and should explore. Business owners, managers and workers need to be more innovative, adaptive and daring to move forward.

This is not an easy journey, be it financially or operationally, and there is a role for everyone to play in this transformational process. Therefore, we need to embrace the challenges as an opportunity for growth and development.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 57

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CAREERS » Personal development

uptheranks Tracking HR’s industry moves Who: Ujjwal Sarao From: Aegis Media To: Dentsu Asia d Ujjwal Sarao has been appointed regional head of talent for Dentsu Asia and will be responsible for the company’s strategy and innovation around human capital, talent acquisition and employee engagement.

“I am delighted to welcome Ujjwal to the team as she brings a wealth of experience in organisational design and development from both media and agency-side perspectives. She is also the perfect representation of Dentsu’s vision of embracing diversity as it executes its results-driven innovation in the workplace,” said chairman and CEO of Dentsu Network Asia, Dick van Motman.

Sarao, who has spent the past 10 years in the media and advertising industry, will be based in Singapore.

Who: Yvonne Oo From: Ascott To: Millennium & Copthorne International Limited d Yvonne Oo has joined Millennium & Copthorne International Limited (MCIL) as vice-president of human resources in Asia.

Oo has more than 23 years of human resource management and development experience from a variety of industries covering hospitality, real estate, travel, high technology manufacturing and organisational development consulting.

Before joining MCIL, she was senior vice-president of human resources for Ascott with overall responsibilities for leading, developing and executing human capital strategies and initiatives globally.

Oo’s role at MCIL is to execute human capital strategies and plans and programmes in Asia, including talent acquisition, compensation and benefits management, learning and development, employee engagement and productivity to support business growth in the region.

personalgrowth WHY WORK IS LIKE A BASKETBALL GAME

By Sabrina Zolkifi Recently, I did something I wouldn’t normally do and went to watch a basketball game live at the Indoor Stadium.

Sports isn’t really my thing, but an hour into the game (go Slingers!) I was court side cheering, booing and as invested as I could be in a game I still don’t understand.

It struck me how similar the action on the court was to everyday life in the office. Here’s what I learned from my first (and hopefully not last) basketball game.

Leaders are like coaches Coaches spend most of the time behind the scenes, motivating and prepping players to be the best they can. This is very similar to how leaders operate. As the business landscape evolves, leaders have taken on a more mentorship role, giving employees more flexibility in making decisions they feel will best push the company forward.

HR are the refs Let’s be honest, referees aren’t the most liked people on the court, but without them, the entire game would be in chaos. To some extent, HR practitioners play the same role – managing employees, making sure everyone follows the rules and negotiating and mitigating conflict.

The crowd matters One thing that has always struck me about watching any sport is how much more exciting it is live. In the same way, the culture in the office is critical to creating an environment where employees are inspired and motivated to produce their best work.

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Let’s play: Who knew a game of basketball so closely resembled a day in the office?

The 24-second rule In basketball, as soon as you gain possession of the ball, you have only 24 seconds to attempt a shot. It’s no secret employees and leaders are often forced to make quick decisions – and without all the information they need. In times like these, trust is important, as well as support from your team, because a culture that allows for failure is one that breeds creativity and innovation.

Getting personal Once the final whistle has blown, the entire stadium descends onto the court and the players from the Singapore team happily hang out with the fans. It’s a nice touch, and something leaders should keep in mind. Getting your hands dirty, chatting with those at the grassroots level and engaging every single employee on a personal level can’t do anything, but drive home a culture of openness, trust and all-round goodwill.

Good reads to improve your business life

Pick of the month

Leadership conversations

Alan S. Berson & Richard G. Stieglitz Jossey-Bass S$40.61 The ability to hold an effective conversation is an important skill for any leader who aims to achieve success in their business or organisation. The book, Leadership

It’s all about who you hire, how they lead Morton L. Mandel & John A. Byrne Jossey-Bass S$40.61

This book is essentially management advice from self-made leader and billionaire, Morton L. Mandel.

Written with the former editor of Business Week and Fast Company, John A. Byrne, the book documents Mandel’s story, including his personal experiences and the lessons he has learnt which have brought him to where he is today.

Mandel emphasises the importance of selecting the best people for the job, as well as pushing leadership principles and practices to lead creative strategy, superb excellence and client satisfaction.

conversations: Challenging highpotential managers to become great leaders details four key types of conversations – conversations which build relationships, develop others, make decisions and take action.

Case studies are also cited in the chapters, taken from business careers and experiences of various leaders holding first-line manager roles to chief executive roles.

Tables are also provided for comparison of data, making the information easier to digest.

On the whole, Leadership Conversations is a book for high-achieving leaders hoping to move up the ladder to a top leadership position, as well as for managers who want to coach and develop leadership skills in their employees.

Bookmark this!

Conversations become more complex in leadership positions because they extend to executives in your organisation and other key stakeholders. Your focus will be on vision and strategy, instead of tactics and schedules – page 8.

Although this book is rather textheavy, its tone is friendly, and makes for an easy and informative read.

This is a quality read for leaders who need inspiration for success, with lessons that provide real-world experiences without being too swamped with technical jargon and textbook charts.

Bookmark this!

I believe there should be a rule, guideline or policy for pretty much everything a well-run organisation frequently has to do – mainly because it makes “doing” easier for everyone in the organisation – page 85.

shelflife

Exemplary performance Paul Elliott & Al Folsom Jossey-Bass S$74.85

Executives and managers looking for ways to improve their team’s productivity will find this book helpful. Paul Elliott and Al Folsom provide achievable step-by-step guidelines to help readers reach their peak performance levels.

The book is broken down into chapters which address issues such as engagement, defining opportunities, how to best provide training and performance support and the importance of reward and recognition.

Each chapter is also short, allowing for condensed reading and quick takeaways. The book also highlights key concerns readers may have, such as how to decide if the focus should be on the individual or team accomplishments, and what can be done to balance the two.

There are also several case studies and references which provide greater insights into what drives exemplary performance in professionals.

The authors also tackle the issue of feedback, with advice on how readers can better interpret and utilise the data they receive.

Bookmark this!

The most effective and efficient way to capture expertise is to work with your existing accomplished performers – your internal benchmarks. These are individuals who have established approaches to their work that produce the desired accomplishments at a consistently high level – page 56.

June 2013 « Human Resources « 63

LAST WORD

My boss is bitching about me

In this magazine, we’ve covered the issue of communication and established it’s a skill which many people have not yet mastered.

So, it was no surprise when I logged onto my computer the other week and found the below email in my inbox from a reader. Not from someone in HR, but a mid-level staff member.

This month, Rebecca Lewis finally becomes the HR Agony Aunt she’s always wanted to be by solving a reader’s HR problem.

“Yesterday, our HR manager told me my boss keeps complaining about me and my work. My exmanager had previously told me everyone has their own management style and that I just have to adapt, which is true, but it saddens me that he didn’t call me for a discussion himself about my performance.

He just made a complaint straight to HR. “Maybe I’m not being understanding from the manager’s side, but for a moment I felt crushed and backstabbed by my own boss. It’s not a good thing to talk bad about your boss, but all I can say is there are not always guidelines given for the tasks I have to complete. I feel unappreciated. Any advice?”

This is a rather complex issue, but one I’ll bet everyone has dealt with at some point. There are a few things to cover, so I’ll go through them chronologically.

Your boss is complaining about you There’s no two ways around this – this isn’t a good sign for you. It’s not clear what you might have done to make your boss complain, but he’s obviously upset enough to talk about you to HR. Have a think to yourself: Is there anywhere you feel you might have slipped up? Or do you really feel any comments about you are being made unfairly?

You have to adapt to your manager’s style I agree and disagree with this advice from your exmanager. To a certain degree, you do need to adapt to effectively do your job, but we all know this is easier said than done.

But this also applies from your manager’s side. If the way he works isn’t getting results, then perhaps he needs to change his tact. If this disconnect is evident, it really should be HR’s job to notice it and attempt to come up with a solution.

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Your boss went straight to HR Generally speaking, people will only complain to HR about something or someone after attempting to deal with it themselves. So chances are (although there’s no way of me knowing) your boss may have tried to approach you in some fashion first, but felt it didn’t work.

Or, as is still true in many organisations, your boss simply sees HR as a complaints department and not a strategic business partner, therefore it makes sense to him or her this is the place to moan, rather than attempt to fix things themselves.

Of course, you can’t stop your boss from talking to HR about his staff, but you can help to make yourself more available to be approached by your boss directly.

You feel crushed and backstabbed It’s not clear whether you and your boss were close before this happened, but if you felt like you had a trusting relationship previously, then I understand why you feel he’s stabbed you in the back.

However, try to remember your manager is a person, too. He or she has deadlines, teams to manage and a plethora of other responsibilities – it’s entirely possible he was simply venting to let off some steam and get advice on what to do next.

If this is the case, then I have to blame the way HR managed it. The HR manager probably shouldn’t have told you he was bitching about you, and now will need to find a way to fix the relationship.

You don’t have guidelines for your work I’d say this, right here, is the crux of all your problems.

Talk directly to your boss about formalising some guidelines or, if you feel more comfortable, get HR to help set up a discussion and let him know the problem is a lack of direction.

Don’t go pointing fingers, but do come up with some solutions you think will help them to make your job easier. That way, you’ve been your own problemsolver and shown them both the value of this.

Have you come across the same problem before?

How did you deal with it? rebeccal@humanresourcesonline.net