Human Resources Singapore, June 2016

June 2016 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY

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12 The Futurist The scope of HR is changing – but are we ready to face the challenges and opportunities in 2016 and beyond? HR leaders from DBS, Sanofi, 3M, LEGO, Jetstar, and more, reveal their predictions and insights for 2026.

Features 28 The secrets to a top-tier recruitment strategy In a job market favouring candidates, how can HR professionals ensure they get the best talent available? The Human Resources team finds out in three case studies across the recruitment spectrum.

Opinion 34 People Issues Jacinta Low, head of HR planning for OCBC Bank, gives away her secrets to building an inclusive workplace, with initiatives such as a career break scheme and the PSLE leave scheme.

36 Event update ANZ took the Grand Winner’s prize among in-house recruiting teams, while ScienTec Consulting excelled among agencies. Aditi Sharma Kalra reports.

40 Last Word What Tinder taught Akankasha Dewan about recruitment.

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

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7 Snapshot 8 Spacial awareness 10 HR by numbers

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Email aditis@humanresourcesonline.net

June 2016 « Human Resources «

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Human Resources is published 12 times per year by Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd. Printed in Singapore on CTP process by Sun Rise Printing & Supplies Pte Ltd, 10 Admiralty Street, #06-20 North Link Building, Singapore 757695. Tel: (65) 6383 5290. MICA (P) 178/08/2010. Subscription rates are available on request, contact the Circulation Manager by telephone: (65) 6423 0329 or by email to: subscriptions@humanresourcesonline.net COPYRIGHTS AND REPRINTS. All material printed in Human Resources is protected under the copyright act. All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the prior written consent of the publisher and the copyright holder.

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Sense opportunities early and respond swiftly Halfway through 2016 and we have a special edition to keep the momentum going and to bring you a set of ideas for the rest of the year – welcome to The Futurist!

The Futurist is Human Resources’ mid-year compilation, featuring interviews with 32 senior HR leaders across the region with their predictions on what the future holds for the HR function.

And from this year’s collection of HR’s finest minds at work, the biggest thing that stuck out for us was a call to “sense opportunities early and respond swiftly” for the HR function to be able to make a valuable contribution to business results.

This call for agility resonated in responses by the HR directors, who sought to “replace operational aspects of HR by ‘bots’”; “immerse learners in ultra-realistic, virtual scenarios”; and “create a ‘live’ performance management platform that allows for instant feedback”, among some of the fascinating ideas.

Another interesting observation was made

by CK Mohan, senior director of HR at Yum! Restaurants, who spoke of the need to let employees function as entrepreneurs to really tap into what motivates them.

“The best (talent) will want to start their own businesses. Companies with flat structures that reward big ideas (versus levels) and propagate entrepreneurship will succeed in the future.”

And then there was Alessandro Paparelli, vice-president of human resources at leading luxury brand company Kering, who envisioned what he will be doing in the summer of 2026: “I’m celebrating our last gig for the Asia Talent Tour with the team. We’re chatting about the excitement in the crowd when we holo-projected the ‘career stories medley’ with our brands’ CEOs, as well as the entrance of the drone-transported test station.”

Head over to page 12 to read the full feature on this year’s most stimulating HR predictions, with inputs from organisations across sectors, such as DBS, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, Sanofi, and many more.

But that’s not all we’ve packed in this special edition. Our team also scoured the list of winners at Asia Recruitment Awards 2016 (which you’ll find on page 38), to highlight some of their winning best practices for a feature spanning the spectrum of recruitment.

We have proven case studies from ANZ on strengthening the selection process; InMobi on nailing the employer brand pre and post hire; and Kadence International on the value of starting the onboarding process well before day one – look out for those on page 28.

From here, our team dives straight into our annual L&D conference, Training & Development Asia, hosted across five days in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. We would love to meet you at the conference, but if you can’t make it follow all the action live on Twitter at #TDA2016.

In the meantime, please write to us with your feedback and comments on the future of HR. Enjoy the issue.

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

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Aditi Sharma Kalra Regional editor June 2016 « Human Resources «

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3/6/2016 12:59:08 PM

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News from humanresourcesonline.net ne.net

HUBSPOT OPENS REGIONAL HQ IN SINGAPORE; PLANS TO HIRE 150 STAFF ACROSS FUNCTIONS

With the opening of its Singapore office, HubSpot announced it would hire 150 Singapore-based employees over the next three years across the business, including sales, marketing, services and support. The office – known as SingSpot – becomes HubSpot’s Asia Pacific headquarters, with the second regional office in Sydney.

“HubSpot has an incredible opportunity for growth in Asia Pacific and we could not be happier to be celebrating that with a new office and a commitment to hiring 150 new employees,” said JD Sherman, HubSpot president and COO. At the opening, Human Resources spoke to Jeetu Mahtani, HubSpot’s MD of international, on the reason for choosing Singapore as its hub.

“A lot of the talent here gets how you can use content to attract the consumer who is buying differently today. E-commerce is growing rapidly in Singapore, and talent here is getting very comfortable at being social and buying online so it was a natural fit.”

Katie Burke, HubSpot’s vice-president of culture and experience, added the recruitment was being planned across functions.

“We want people from Singapore to service every touch-point of the customer experience – and that autonomy is one of the things that makes HubSpot unique.”

MORE ORE FOREIGNERS IN SINGAPORE WERE LAID ID OFF LAST YEAR According ding to the latest Ministry of Manpower report, “Red “Redundancy R dundancy and Re-entry into Redund Employment 2015”, Singapore’s foreigners were more likely to be made redundant yment 2015” compared with residents (7.7 compared with 7.1 redundancies per 1,000 employees).

Among the 9,090 residents who lost their jobs last year, 71% were professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), followed by production and related workers (16%) while the remaining 13% were clerical, sales and service workers.

The majority of these resident PMETs laid off consisted mostly of those in their 40s (37%) and 30s (32%) while those displaced from the clerical, sales and service (38%) and production and related jobs (59%) tended to be older – in their 50s and above.

Alongside, while there was a slight dip in the rate of re-entry into employment, 68% in 2014 to 66% in 2015, the rate of re-entry remained fairly stable. More than six in 10 residents made redundant in the first nine months of 2015 secured employment by December 2015. Additionally, 81% residents who re-entered employment took about three months or less to secure their new job. Perhaps thanks to the various upskilling initiatives by the Singapore government, most also found a job in a different industry from the one they were made redundant from. On a whole, layoffs were found to have increased across the board in 2015, rising to 15,580 in total. According to sector, they were particularly common in the manufacturing (from 3,970 to 5,210) and services (7,260 to 8,510) industries.

SINGAPORE GRANTS 16 WEEKS OF LEAVE TO SINGLE MOTHERS

Singapore’s Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin has announced 16 weeks of paid maternity leave for unwed mothers, effective 2017, equivalent to what married mothers get. Currently, single mothers are eligible for eight and four weeks of paid and unpaid maternity leave, respectively. In addition, children of unwed parents will qualify for the Child Development Account, including the $3,000 CDA First Step, announced during Budget 2016.

Minister Tan explained: “We are in the process of working on the legislation to get it in place as well as the system enhancement. And this is likely to kick in for children born from the third quarter of this year.”

In addition to these changes, the Ministry for Social and Family Development and the National Council of Social Service will work with the relevant voluntary welfare organisations to strengthen support for families with vulnerable, low-income unwed mothers.

Minister Tan wrote in a parliamentary response: “They are vulnerable, usually because they are younger and lowereducated. Some may have been rejected by their own families.

It can be difficult enough to bring up children, but to do so single-handedly without family support, is really tough.”

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WHAT YOUR JOB TITLE SAYS ABOUT YOUR PAY

Analysing the annual salaries and job titles for more than 130,000 roles held by those between the ages of 18 and 35 in the United States, Earnest’s new report found that one’s job title does have an effect on the pay package of professionals. Here are the golden words you want to have in your title that translate into handsome pay.

1. Lead: Across all functions, those who have the word “lead” in their job title earn a median of $23,000 over others in the same function.

2. Director: Those called directors enjoy a median salary difference of $21,000 from others with a similar function, but a less senior title.

3. Senior: It’s worth bringing up a title change to “senior” as it can mean getting paid $20,000 more.

What about keywords that might not bring in as much money? If your title includes the terms “assistant”, “associate” or “staff”, it could be holding you back from earning more.

“Assistant” positions can have a median negative difference of $10,000 in annual salary, while “staff” indicates that a person could be earning up to $15,000 less than someone with essentially the same role.

While it sounds cool to be the founder, nearly one out of three (31%) of them reported zero earnings compared to 29% of the interns – in this report, the median salary for founders was $10,000 less than the $12,000 for interns.

The pay for consultants was the most unpredictable – the salary for this title had the greatest variation with the middle half earning between $37,000 and $96,000.

» Human Resources » June 2016

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3/6/2016 10:39:45 AM

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE LOCAL HR DEPARTMENTS?

With 85% of global organisations saying their talent management programmes need an overhaul, the effectiveness of HR departments comes into question.

In Singapore, the sector shines in managing corporate conflicts, but needs to improve in other areas.

This was the result of a global study by The RBL Group and the University of Michigan, reported by The Straits Times. The study involved 2,006 respondents from more than 30 organisations in Singapore, where HR professionals were rated highest at ensuring that practices comply with government laws. They were also adept at managing paradoxes such as balancing the needs of employees and expectations of the customers and investors.

The lowest-rated behaviour was crafting the right organisational culture to deliver results. This relative weakness explains the government’s efforts to professionalise the sector by putting a qualification framework in place, said Darryl Wee, regional MD of The RBL Group.

Practitioners in the public service scored higher when it came to using technology and related tools to enhance the company’s performance or to recruit and retain staff. HR staff from multinationals had higher scores for being able to create a wholesome reward system for employees.

IF YOU THOUGHT MILLENNIALS ARE TOUGH NUTS, MEET GEN Z

Employers haven’t had it easy with Millennials, but it looks like they could have a harder job on the horizon, as Generation Z may want more than Millennials, especially in the area of meaningful work.

A study by ADP Research Institute revealed these 18 year olds are searching for meaning beyond lucrative salaries to feel fulfilled – 89% of respondents choose to work on personal interests/things that impact society and 82% define their own work schedule.

“Today, the younger generation of Millennials places more of an emphasis on a search for meaning within their jobs than previous generations, who tended to look for meaning outside of work,” said the study, which surveyed 2,400 employees in different age groups, including Millennials, working at companies with more than 250 people.

Millennials have pushed companies to change in key areas, including giving employees more freedom to work from om wherever they want and autonomy, including to “self-manage”, e”, rather than be managed. But that will not be enoughh for Gen Z. Employers will need to cultivate a work environment that allows for greater freedom and collaboration, manage employee concerns around job security and provide opportunities for meaningful work.

HOW MANY INTERVIEWERS TO SPOT A GOOD CANDIDATE?

Researchers at UK-based Behavioural Insights team have identified the number of interviewers it takes to make an optimum hiring decision: three.

The researchers, including Kate Glazebrook, principal advisor at the Behavioural Insights Team, asked 398 reviewers to independently rate interview responses from four hypothetical candidates to the generic recruiting question: “Tell me about a time when you used your initiative to resolve a difficult situation?”

They provided the reviewers with guidelines on what a “good” answer should include – to find that the reviewers’ combined ratings coalesced around a single “best” response, making for a clear winning candidate.

“But most organisations can’t afford to ask hundreds of people to help them select a candidate. The critical question is: at what point does the crowd become wise?,” wrote Glazebrook at the re:Work blog.

To answer that, the researchers created 1,000 combinations of reviewers in teams ranging from one to seven people, to average the chances of selecting the right candidate. The team found: with more people, you are more likely to correctly identify the best person. Or, put another way, getting at least three reviewers to vet each candidate can significantly improve the odds of making the best hire.

THE INDUSTRIES MOST LIKELY TO MAKE YOU FATTER Working in the transportation industry? It may be time to renew that gym membership – especially if you are a young female professional. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, workers in this sector are most likely (49%) to have gained weight in their current job.

Polling 3,000 full-time US workers in the private sector across industries and company sizes, the survey found professionals in the healthcare sector were the second most likely (48%) to pack on the pounds. Those in the financial services sector followed at 46%, tying with the sales industry.

Retail (40%), manufacturing (39%) and IT (38%) made up the top seven sectors more likely to add weight to professionals.

“When asked what they felt contributed to their weight gain at their current job, 53% said ‘sitting at the desk most of the day’; 45% said they are ‘too tired from work to exercise’; and 36% of workers said ‘eating because of stress’,” the report stated. It added women (49%) were more likely than men (39%) to report gaining weight.

Additionally, workers in management roles (49%) are somewhat more likely to find an increase in their weight than workers in nonmanagement roles (43%) – thus workers in the middle of their careers appeared more prone to weight gain than younger ones.

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June 2016 « Human Resources «

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3/6/2016 10:41:17 AM

WORK LIFE » People GET INTO THE BOSS’S HEAD

Piyush Gupta CEO DBS Group

Having taken up banking post-graduation, what do you enjoy most about being a banker?

There are a couple of reasons why I joined banking.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a finance major to be a good banker – it requires strategic thinking, people skills and an appreciation of macro-economics.

It’s a very good discipline for general management, and that appeals to me because it plays to my strengths.

In particular, it relies a lot on an understanding of macroeconomics, and the correlation between growth, inflation, and therefore, development and economic policy.

That’s where my undergraduate degree in economics comes into play.

Before joining DBS Group, you spent nearly 27 years at Citibank. What prompted you to move to DBS? At Citibank, I had pretty much reached the top of the totem pole in Asia, so my next move would have required me to move to New York. From a personal standpoint, we were quite keen on staying here and making Asia our home.

Most importantly, I found DBS to be a really attractive platform – financially strong, good capital, and in the right part of the world.

It seemed there was an opportunity to create something special.

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How does your leadership team set a culture to encourage employees to achieve more?

If I had to choose two or three of the things we do as a leadership team, one would be getting a high level of strategic alignment in the company. The idea that every employee must share a vision and sense of direction is very important.

We spent a year and a half capturing that strategy, but more importantly, making sure everybody buys into it and understands their role.

A lot of companies run a balanced scorecard. We use it as a living document to get alignment around individuals’ goals and KPIs to the company’s overarching policies.

The second thing we focus very hard on is creating a unified culture, which marries the old DBS culture – very collaborative and a true set of purpose – with two more elements – entrepreneurial thinking and having fun.

This starts from the belief that you spend most of your day in the company, and if you don’t enjoy your work, you will never put your heart into your work. So we try to make everything fun for people, whether it is the premises, the working environment or an opportunity to grow.

Speaking of fun, DBS is the first bank to organise hackathons for employees, and you are also starting a university to groom banking talent. How closely do you work with the CHRO? Very closely. For me, most businesses are fundamentally about people. I call it HR IT – if you get the human resources and information technology right, you can run a very good company.

Therefore, I’m deeply involved in the HR agenda – where we find people, how we identify talent and how we retain them. In fact, all of our businesses are. To me, these are business issues, not HR issues.

The reason we created the hackathons is because the future is all about digital and it was my strong belief to create a broad-based digital mindset among our people. You can’t create a digital mindset by teaching people on a whiteboard, you need to do it through experiential learning.

So we came up with this idea of hackathons as the best way to give people a sense of confidence, erode their inhibitions and get them to a tipping point of both knowledge and confidence.

A large part of our learning agenda, whether it’s the DBS academy or the learning curriculum, is all targeted at allowing people to discover themselves and grow in the company.

How do you anticipate the banking industry workforce will change?

I think it will change in banking as it will in other parts of our lives. The profile of people we hire now is increasingly different. We want people who are

tech-savvy, design-savvy, data-savvy, people who understand customer experience – so it’s a fairly different profile, and as we go forward, this will continue to change.

At the end of the day, a bank is only going to be a summation of the customer journeys you can put together; so people who are deeply immersed in that will be the profile of the future.

I also believe, however, it’s not only the new kids who can do that, you can train people in this.

Hence, we take mid-career people in their 40s and 50s to reimagine the kind of skills they need.

What are some of DBS’ most significant HR campaigns?

We have one campaign called “Two Plus Two”, which means if you finish two years in your job, then you can look for an internal move and your boss must release you in two months. This creates a mindset that there’s no stigma in looking for another role.

We have another campaign called “Five and Five”, which says you don’t have to sit at work late when you have nothing to do. On the fifth day of the week (Friday), I insist that people go home at five o’clock and spend some time with their family.

There’s no point just hanging around for longer.

We also have a campaign called DBS Cares, which allows staff to take a half-day leave on birthdays.

With a view for the future, what can CHROs do today to help the future workforce?

The HR function can do broadly two or three things. One is that it can reinvent itself – as digital opportunities are changing, they can change their jobs. Things like how you administer HR, how you make it relevant to the Millennials. It has to be completely digitised. For example, we now put all our HR on an app. Second, HR has to be very focused on what the company is doing to digitise itself – so it needs to look for where to recruit the new kind of people, what kind of development and training to give them and how you create an overall system of engagement.

With all the local emphasis around lifelong learning, how do you think line managers can encourage upskilling of employees?

I’m convinced that people management is not an HR function, it is a line function. As line managers, you have to be able to give your employees experiential opportunities – the time and confidence to experiment.

One of our biggest challenges in Singapore is that people are wary of taking risks, there is a high fear of failure. At the same time, as you move towards to digital, there are a lot of inhibitions, people are scared that things will go wrong.

It is up to line managers to create confidence, the room to experiment, the room to fail and the opportunity to invest in some of these things.

» Human Resources » June 2016

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3/6/2016 10:38:49 AM

People « WORK LIFE

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

Caroline Walters

Regional people and culture director MIMS HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH HR? Before working in HR, I was a child protection social worker and when I decided to look for a new career move, the two areas of focus I wanted to try and keep were, firstly, working within a legal framework and secondly, being people focused. Thus a move across to HR seemed to tick these boxes.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB? I love employee relations and I feel I am at my best when most things aren’t going right. I love analysing the issues, understanding legally where we stand and what we should do next.

It is like a giant jigsaw puzzle which I find very interesting. This area of work really pulls a management team together to work at their very best.

The other element I have loved, is working with some of the most inspiring, and intelligent business leaders I have ever met.

WHAT’S A TYPICAL DAY AT WORK FOR YOU LIKE? My typical day has changed hugely working in Singapore as compared to London. In London an HR role can consist largely of employee relation elements, whereas in Singapore there is a different employee culture.

I feel I have been driven in Singapore to prove what HR can do more than ever before – to ensure it is no longer seen as a more back office function by the employee base.

Thus, it has been about culture creation, huge management training programmes and brand awareness focus.

AT MIMS, CAN YOU HIGHLIGHT AN HR INITIATIVE YOU’RE REALLY PROUD OF? One of the HR initiatives I feel proud of at MIMS is to provide a platform of training to our line managers. For me, these guys are the glue to the overall business.

If we can ensure we have line managers who have been trained thoroughly in a variety of different topics, then we would have set a standard and conveyed the behaviours we wish to see emulated. These include, for example, communication skills and change management skills.

HAVING RECENTLY TRANSFORMED YOUR BUSINESS MODEL FROM PRINT TO DIGITAL, WHAT IS THE BIGGEST LEARNING YOU GAINED FROM A PEOPLE/HR PERSPECTIVE?

For a business in transition, there needs to be a lot of consultation, education and planning. Whilst planning for the future, we need to take good care of the present.

Thus, we aim to gain more insight on which new digital skills our current talent are interested in learning, in order to consider transitioning them over to a new digitally focused role.

We want the employees who want to learn these new skills to be given the opportunity to add new skills to their current strengths so that they can maximise their career opportunities. We need to ensure we value the people we have and invest in them in the first instance.

IN SINGAPORE, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST HR CHALLENGE FACING MOST COMPANIES? Hiring talent. As we all know, this should be the most rigorous and time given process, to ensure that you hire right. However, in reality this is most often not the case.

IN YOUR OPINION, DO YOU THINK HR HAS SUCCEEDED IN BECOMING A STRATEGIC BUSINESS PARTNER TODAY? OR IS THERE ANY ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT? Without a doubt yes. HR is at the top working alongside the CEO. However, to improve in how it contributes to the process, HR needs to be resourced sufficiently and ensure it can make its presence felt.

Companies which don’t do this will not survive and be competitive.

You only need to look at the most successful companies to see that this is where their focus is.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE HR FUNCTION WILL EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? At present there is a lot of talk about HR data analytics. However, for most companies using this to add value will not be an easy process. To be seen as a more strategic partner, it is an area that should be given sufficient resources to achieve.

I think it will also be focusing on brand values, culture creation and employee value proposition, to achieve differentiation from other firms.

Essentially, in my opinion, the future of HR will go in two directions.

Firstly, it will be data driven: A situation where everything is measured to enhance productivity.

Secondly, we will be focused on global talent engagement and management These two areas are quite different in skills set requirements and impact.

However, for me, this is why HR needs to focus on becoming more analytical and quantifiable. In addition, it needs to become more knowledgeable on global talent engagement.

I CANNOT IMAGINE HR WITHOUT… smiling.

YES, we recruit there.

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www.npaworldwideworks.com June 2016 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » People

SpacialAwareness

WHY P&G’S INNOVATION CENTRE GAMBLED ON NO ‘EXECUTIVE AREAS’ In designing its Singapore innovation centre (SgIC), P&G prioritised a workspace that would inspire creativity and drive innovation among its 500 engineers, researchers and support staff. In line with that, the best way to foster collaboration within and across various teams focusing on different areas of research was to implement an open-concept office space.

Ayako Fujii, HR manager for P&G’s SgIC, explained: “The SgIC work environment is extremely flat – we don’t have so-called ‘executive areas’.

“Employees can approach their managers and senior leaders in the open plan office to bounce off any ideas they might have.”

P&G also made sure the SgIC work environment catered to the different work styles of its diverse workforce.

“Employees are free to reconfigure the rooms to suit their needs, whether it is for small group discussions, brainstorming sessions or presentations.”

The SgIC houses 250 laboratory modules equipped with advanced measurement and testing capabilities to support research efforts and product innovation. “The ‘proto-park’ is a dedicated experimentation zone where our staff can exercise their creativity using advanced tools and equipment to create proto-types of products and packaging.

“Small batches of new products are created at the process research lab for quick testing. We also have some of the latest 3D printing technology to develop innovative packaging.”

Apart from the hardware, the firm has also implemented programmes to foster a culture of innovation. These include informal weekly “lunch and learn” sessions, where internal and external speakers are invited to talk on a range of topics, from the latest innovations in 3D printing to motivational talks by senior

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leaders. “Staff are free to attend these informal sessions, in which ideas are exchanged and where the next breakthrough products are sometimes born.”

As P&G is represented by 45 nationalities from different backgrounds and cultures, it provides amenities to meet their diverse needs such as dedicated nursing rooms for mothers on every floor and multi-faith prayer rooms.

“Since we spend a large part of our day at work, we felt that creating an engaging space where our employees felt inspired and comfortable in was key to bringing out their maximum potential.” Additionally, P&G believes the key to optimum productivity is a healthy workforce.

“We have a vibrant living room where employees can receive personal health coaching from health professionals as well as areas with exercise machines and rest areas for employees to keep fit and re-energise. Employees can also have a rubdown in our dedicated massage rooms by professional therapists when they feel the need to relax.”

Fujii advised that when designing any new offices, it is important to listen to the needs of employees. “This was especially important at the SgIC, where specialised research laboratories were created to support our R&D efforts.

“We conducted an internal survey to find out just what our team of researchers needed in terms of research equipment and facilities.

“We then worked with a group of experts in design, engineering and technology, among others, in order to create a work environment that best suits the needs of our employees and helped foster a collaborative work culture. The flexibility of the workspace also allows us to reconfigure it to meet the latest requirements of cutting-edge R&D facilities in the future.”

» Human Resources » June 2016

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3/6/2016 10:45:37 AM

WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

Professionals in Singapore earn the highest in APAC As the leading economy in the region, it is no surprise to see globally competitive salaries in Singapore.

In fact, those working in senior management and top management roles in the country are paid the most among their peers in APAC. On the other hand, top management in India (54%), Taiwan (55%) and Malaysia (60%) were found to be paid the lowest in APAC.

Those in top management roles in Singapore are found to have a base salary index (United States = 100%) of

127%

Hong Kong follows closely behind with a base salary index of

115%

Australia comes in third place at

96%

Singapore also pays

28%-52% more than China at the top and middle-management level.

Source: Willis Towers Watson’s 2015/2016 Global 50 Remuneration Planning Report

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3/6/2016 12:36:10 PM

Leadership « WHITE PAPER

SINGAPORE ON TOP AS THE MOST FUTURE-READY ECONOMY IN APAC

Singapore – It looks like the Singapore government’s focus on skill building and investment in economic and social infrastructure for the future has paid off.

In Dell’s recent ranking of the 50 futureready economies worldwide, the Lion City came in third, slightly behind San Jose, and San Francisco, both in California.

Among the APAC countries, Singapore was ranked first, followed by Sydney (10), Seoul – Incheon (12), Beijing (24) and Hong Kong (25).

These economies were evaluated along three dimensions – human capital, infrastructure and commerce.

The human capital dimension evaluated cities on whether its people were equipped with the right skills to drive meaningful social and economic change (where Singapore was ranked third globally).

In the infrastructure dimension, cities were evaluated on whether they had the infrastructure necessary to support the people, businesses and technology that enable progress over time (where Singapore was ranked third globally).

For cities to be evaluated well in the commerce dimension, they had to have sustained opportunities for businesses to accelerate innovation, growth and profitability (where Singapore was ranked 12th globally).

Ng Tian Beng, VP and MD for South Asia and Korea at Dell, cited the reasons for Singapore’s high performance.

“Singapore ranked third in human capital for its ability to develop and attract talent and ideas,” Ng told Human Resources.

“More notably, it was identified as a world leader in labour force engagement and top three for its social/cultural attractiveness, making the country an ideal place to nurture an innovative culture and conducive environment for future readiness.

“Singapore was also ranked third in infrastructure, scoring high in data transparency as well as transportation and energy accessibility.

“Singapore’s world-class airport contributed to the boost in its infrastructure ranking.

Similarly, the government-backed open data portal, and the Personal Data Protection Act, ensures data is shared in a sensitive manner that allays any concerns.

“Singapore’s ability to provide access to emerging markets of Asia was also a plus. Cities can work towards future readiness in many ways and Singapore has exhibited this capability through numerous initiatives in its drive to build the world’s first Smart Nation.”

Dell’s model scores large, high-growth global metropolitan areas based on attributes

that enable people and organisations to access new tools and new ideas that deliver better connectivity, better economic performance – and a greater ability to attract talent.

“By understanding future-ready economies and their attributes, cities, businesses and people can create policies and strategies that will enable them to prosper and achieve strong economic health,” said Amit Midha, president, Dell APJ. Top 10 economies in the rankings 1

San Jose, California

2

San Francisco, California

3

Singapore

4

London

5

Washington, DC

6

Boston, Massachusetts

7

Austin, Texas

8

Raleigh, N.C.

9

Stockholm

10

Sydney

Source: Dell’s ranking of the 50 future-ready economies around the world.

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June 2016 « Human Resources « 11

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T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE F RED D I E CHO W CHI EF TA LENT O F F I CER, A PA C, SANOFI

G RACE Y I P CH I EF O PERAT I NG OF F I C E R , GR OU P H R , D BS BANK In 2026, the role of HR becomes more critical as we help our workforce be effective in the digital age. HR teams must become more digital to effectively partner with the business.

Digitally enabled organisations will massively leverage automation to eliminate administrative and transactional activities. As such, we need to rethink our engagement strategies, how we should deliver our services, and reskill to play a bigger part in the strategic HR agenda.

Adopting employee-centric and value-creation mindsets are essential, and there are some key skills the HR practitioner of the future must acquire.

The fi rst are change management and marketing skills. It is not sufficient to just push out new programmes as too often they are overlooked or misunderstood. Effective change management and marketing of these programmes is needed to drive adoption and satisfaction.

The second skill is making data-driven decisions. Th is is no longer optional as business leaders want to know there is sound judgment and analysis. The use of human capital analytics will be a big differentiator, enabling both specialist teams and business partners to obtain deep insights from the data we collect on our employees to optimise productivity.

The third is to adopt a journey thinking approach. Really putting ourselves in the shoes of candidates and employees – and understanding their experiences as we acquire, develop and engage with them – will be game changing. HR should rethink the end-to-end candidate and employee journeys, focusing on the moments that matter and making the entire employee experience a focal point of re-engineering efforts.

The future of the HR model will be focused on centres of expertise/ excellence (COE), business HR, and shared services.

The COE will have experts in talent management, total rewards, and talent acquisition, which will drive the process, and develop tools to help managers manage their human capital.

Business HR will be a partner to the business leader to drive HR strategies aligned to the business strategies.

Shared services will manage all transactional workloads through cloud-based systems. Each cluster will require the right capabilities and competencies. Gone are the days of an HR generalist – a Jack of all trades. Such HR talent is limited and in demand, and coupled with tight headcount control, the need to attract and hire the right talent becomes mandatory to achieve success. Organisations will need to decide what areas to manage in-house and what areas to outsource to professional outsourcing vendors.

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SPECIAL FEATURE »

THE FUTURIST

J O H N AU G U ST I NE ON G S I NG APO RE L EAR N I N G L E A D, ANZ In the future, the lines between a traditional banker and a fi nancial technologist will begin to blur and a new breed of bankers will emerge.

These professionals will be more digitally savvy and be able to integrate both their fi nancial capabilities and technologist roles in a seamless manner.

For decades, learning professionals have sought to make the lesson come alive for our learners in the name of experiential learning. Virtual reality is going to take that concept to a whole new level.

From the Oculus Rift to Samsung Gear VR and a whole host of upcoming products that are being developed, I believe VR can be harnessed to create the ultimate learning experience for our learners by immersing them in ultra-realistic scenarios.

Geography and distance will no longer be barriers for effective communication and collaboration as learners will be able to come together in a virtual universe. Both learning and team effectiveness will greatly increase as a result.

J OA N W ON G H E A D, H U M A N R ES O URCES , 3 M S I N GA P OR E The future of HR will be a continuation of our present attempts to build high performing and diverse talent globally, with a stronger emphasis on shaping a culture of teamwork and collaboration.

Th is will ensure that knowledge is transferred, competencies are built and that succession planning is not limited to the senior management positions, but also extends to other roles – guaranteeing business continuity.

With globalisation and the prevalence of the “boundary less” organisation, we will also see an even greater amalgamation of talent from different ethnicities and cultures working closely together. Th is makes rallying around the effort on diversity and inclusion a key priority.

The HR function is likely to be leaner and meaner in most big corporations with a focus to empower every manager to become a HR manager in his or her right. The concept of employee self-service with technology integrated solutions will be the order of the day. Hence, there will be a strong need to balance the offering of low-touch and high-touch HR programmes and solutions. People skills outside the virtual world will likely be in demand more than ever.

The phenomenon of “talent will not stay beyond three years on the job” will be a constant talent challenge that companies will also have to grapple with. Long service awards will be passé. Additionally, fi xed-term employment or overseas project-based assignments with a “work-life balance clause”, such as telecommuting, shorter work weeks, sabbatical leave and the like, will be the new normal.

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T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE JES PER PETERS EN SENIOR DIRECTOR AND HEAD HR A S I A PA CI F I C, LEGO GRO UP The future of HR starts with understanding a few things as an HR professional – level of globalisation, and business scenarios (growth, decline or stable) – because that determines which part of the HR toolbox you use.

As we are probably not going to see a talent surplus anytime soon, we need to get used to not being able to retain people for as long as we had until now.

Not only will the HR profession, as a result, change dramatically, but the processes will look very different.

I also see a bigger contingent workforce, people with specialised competencies you will need for a project of, say, six months.

K I T FAN CO RPO RAT E H EAD H R , T H E H O NG KO NG A N D C H I N A G AS CO M PANY (TO W N GA S ) In the future, HR’s role will be more focused on strategic advisory – providing expertise in the manpower plan on issues such as culture, succession planning, organisation structure, employer branding, talent acquisition, engagement, etc, to support business strategy. Certain work, for example, recruitment or training will delegated to line managers. Knowledge of the external environment will become more important to HR than today.

For an organisation to succeed 10 years from now, it will require a dramatic change in HR strategies as product life cycles will be shorter, fi nancial markets more volatile, and thanks to technology, some jobs will become obsolete more quickly. We need to be able to keep pace with technology, change our HR processes, and build a culture to include multiple generations of employees.

Ten years from now, it would be fantastic to see more HR professionals on boards in recognition of our strategic role to both investors and employees. In preparation, HR professionals must know the business and its SWOT analysis to enable us to make sound people decisions.

June 2016 « Human Resources « 15

Jesper Petersen’s photo: Art Direction: Elliot Lee, Nikon Ambassador (Singapore) – www.elliotly.com

B E AT R I C E S N G DIRECTOR HUMAN RESOURCES, APAC, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

SPECIAL FEATURE »

THE FUTURIST LAU YI N CHENG CHI EF, HR A ND O D , INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHO RI TY O F S I NGA PO RE

D H EERAJ S H AST RI GLOBAL HR STRATEGY AND ANALYTICS, ABBOT T L AB O RATOR I E S I have always been very passionate about technology and how it has been the single most detrimental catalyst in the change of the power dynamic. Parallel support functions like marketing were the early adopters. With the advent of big data, marketers can leverage even more diverse data and crunch to optimise marketing focus and spend.

While most of the talk is about applying big data to marketing and consumer businesses, there is an even bigger opportunity to apply big data to human resources. Leading global employers are going through HR transformation and no longer restrict the usage of past performances to steer the direction of new programmes and predict the results.

Organisations are also realising the power of workforce analytics and its tremendous possibility to leverage employee data to improve operational performance. In the next decade, it is going to impact every aspect of human capital flow – from the very beginning of talent acquisition to every aspect of talent management, including talent retention.

Leadership talent development and retention continue to be the key challenge across industries. Looking at the current talent shortage and strong competition, HR has to think innovative and needs to move ahead of the curve, from a pure “gut feeling” to more fact-based decision-making.

For instance, just having a healthy talent pipeline on paper may not help the business unless we utilise our pipelines and deploy talent to pivotal positions.

With the usage of internal workforce data and external talent and macroeconomic references, HR needs to start predicting the success of talent deployment.

Organisations must see themselves in the future as being part of a larger ecosystem, interconnected to other stakeholders and not operating in isolation. Leaders must drop the illusion that they can know everything, because they can’t. They need to tap on the collective wisdom of individuals to deal with complexities and re-look at how they structure their organisations.

Individuals also have to allocate sufficient time for self-care to achieve the balance and centredness required in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment as well as be willing to learn new skills.

The role of the HR and OD function is to partner our organisations, our leaders and our people in understanding, accepting and adapting to these trends.

The future is characterised by exponential changes. What we see today as mere pilots or start-ups will become mainstream sooner than we think and feel. So sensing early and responding swiftly is the key to success.

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T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE RO L AND M U L L ER COUNTRY HEAD, HR SI NG APO RE, AND R E GI ON A L H EAD , H R PRI VAT E B A N K I N G ASI A AND M I D D L E E A S T, AB N AM RO BANK A lot of the work HR is doing now is focusing on the “what” and considers basic operating output from an HR functional view such as payroll, benefits administration, etc. However, where we can make an impact is on the “how”.

Clearly, technology will drive the way we run HR in the future. Over the next 10 years, our operational HR models will disappear. Payroll, HR shared services, etc, will be gone and replaced by straight-through processing. What’s left will be HR business partners that truly partner with the business on strategic matters such as workforce planning, succession management, strategic recruitment efforts, etc, and are no longer engulfed in non-value added discussions.

I also foresee other specialist functions such as compensation and benefits, and learning and organisational development, being impacted and reduced, to focus purely on advisory and non-transactional matters. Going out on a limb, I could foresee that technology will replace at least 50% of the current HR workforce over the next 10 years, as much will move towards employee and manager self-service.

GE R A L DI N E F R A S ER HR DIRECTOR, F R I E S L A N DC A M P INA A S I A A typical day in the future might involve reviewing big data trends and insights; discussing and executing change initiatives as change will be more constant; and contributing to, or determining, the business case for partnering with outsource or service suppliers. However, even in 10 years time, I believe there will still be a strong need for people interaction and engagement – being the eyes and ears of the organisation – but our methodologies will be different.

The majority of HR functions as we know them will likely become automated in some way. We are already seeing this with self-service platforms such as recruitment, payroll, benefits administration and performance management.

On the back of technology that will give us insights into human behaviour and how we can better enhance the performance of our teams, HR’s position as a function and solutions gateway, will add context to how a business future-proofs itself.

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SPECIAL FEATURE »

THE FUTURIST JA M ES F O O HEA D GRO UP HUM A N RES O URCES , A BR HO LD I NGS

BI ANCA W O NG G RO U P H U M AN RE S OU R C E S A N D C OR P OR AT E COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, J EBS EN & CO I think 10 years from now the leadership and people management agenda is going to be drastically different from today.

The change will include employer branding and promotion, use of gamification, communication channels and approaches, performance management approaches, learning and development formats, and data analytics.

Besides becoming more adaptive to technology, HR must evolve to become (employer) brand specialists, data analysts, as well as customer (employee) experience experts – that is, following the development of the marketing field.

With a geographically dispersed workforce, we are also expecting much more advanced technology to manage performance, give feedback, provide bite-size training solutions with unconventional instructional design, as well as to manage the workforce, and provide real-time performance results tracking, as well as recognition to drive engagement.

I see data analytics as an area that is still quite untapped at the moment, due to both the lack of skills as well as the data readiness. With more organisations recognising its importance, data is now being set up with future analytics use and I think within the near future, there will be significant developments in this field.

18 » Human Resources » June 2016

In a decade from now, HR departments will be focused on talent acquisition and management and employee engagement. HR automation software will take over functions such as benefits administration, leave modules and payroll. Most of these functions are relatively routine and time-consuming.

Once automated, employee selfservice online will free HR staff to focus on their strategic roles. Other HR functions I foresee to be outsourced are benefits and wellness claims, recruitment, learning and development and compensation. These roles can be undertaken by HR specialist companies or consolidated to the company’s shared services.

Strategic HR functions in a decade from now will mainly involve large data analysis and creating strategic value to partner the business strategy. With HR automation and outsourcing on the rise, in-house HR will downsize.

In addition, I also believe entry level HR jobs will disappear eventually. Plus, recruitment roles will become more specialised, and operate in a manner akin to marketing functions.

T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE AM AND A G ERVAY REG I O NAL H EAD H R , A S I A PA C I F I C , T H O M SO N REUT ERS In 2026, an increased use of technology and data will lead to more fluidity in talent flow and mobility, especially since the next generation of talent are seeking more variety in their work and are comfortable with change in a shorter period of time.

I predict there will be new emerging clusters of how and where talent pools come together, such as geographical talent marketplaces, subject matter expert networks and communities that may not exist today.

Th is means the talent acquisition function will have to take advantage of those new platforms by being talent connectors, bringing skills and experiences together to match company needs and resource requirements at a much faster pace and in more creative and innovative ways.

MELODY LUK WAI-LING ASSI STANT CO M M I S S I ON E R F OR L A B OU R (L ABO U R REL AT I O N S ) , L A B OU R DE PA R T M E N T, T H E G O VERNM ENT OF T H E H ON G KON G S P E C I A L AD M I NI S T RAT I V E R E GI ON Looking ahead, the competition for talent will be very intense. Against this backdrop, the adoption of suitable HR management practices makes perfect business sense.

There are often doubts over what focus should be placed on developing an employee-friendly workplace – we suggest a possible choice is family friendliness.

As most employees have family members to take care of, making the workplace family friendly will enable employees to balance both their work and family commitments.

HR professionals have an important role to play in this sphere. With their expert understanding of the profi les of their employees and business needs of their enterprises, they are best tasked to identify and introduce practical measures for implementing suitable family friendly HR practices in their own enterprises.

GEORGE AVERY DIRECTOR, PEOPLE O PERATI O NS A ND CULTURE, I BM A S I A PA CI F I C, GLOBAL BUSINESS SERVICES HR will only grow in importance as fi rms focus on their people as their main competitive advantage. Most operational aspects of HR will be replaced by automated “bots” or done by managers via mobile devices.

Shared service roles will continue to be done in offshore centres and then slowly eliminated altogether as these HR systems allow a much more userfriendly experience.

Additionally, HR can add value in ensuring people have the correct set of skills for the future.

June 2016 « Human Resources « 19

SPECIAL FEATURE »

THE FUTURIST

S H EL L EY PERK I NS VI CE- PRES I D ENT H U M A N R E S OU R C E S , A S I A PA C I F I C , FRHI HOTELS & RESORTS Predicting the future of HR is an exciting and perplexing concept, with many predicting technology will provide the death knell of the HR function. I see the increasing use and sophistication in the HR technology space as an opportunity for HR to focus on culture, talent and strategy.

Systems and technology will enable HR to remain relevant in way that adds value to the connection and collaboration of the workforce.

We will be efficient in ways that no one notices (but we must be sure to inform), but needs.

Digital capability and expertise will be the norm for the HR professional. HR will be skilled at knowing how the use of technology impacts people’s habits and behaviours.

HR will excel through greater insights into the psychology of the workforce, and will be the architects of relevant and value-adding structures which can flex when the situation needs it. We can build a more nimble workforce in comparison with the rigid structures we have today.

There is talk of the “uberisation” of work, the concept of the just-in-time workforce, which provides people the ability to work when it suits them, moving away from the restrictive Monday to Friday, nine to five tradition. In our around-theclock industry, this will be intriguing.

20 » Human Resources » June 2016

M I CHA EL GO H CHI EF HUM A N RES O URCE O F F I CER, JURO NG PO RT I see analytics and technology affecting HR in a big way in the coming years.

With the business environment becoming more complex, coupled with the increasingly diverse needs of our employees, HR can no longer rely on one-size-fits-all policies.

Instead, HR will have to rely more on analytics and big data to make datadriven analysis and decisions to ensure our policies remain agile and relevant to the business and our employees.

Th is will mean HR practitioners will have to acquire a new skill set, and it will probably be a worrisome prospect for those who are numerically challenged.

I also see HR self-service taken to new heights on mobile platforms, allowing our managers and employees easy access to their corporate information 24/7.

Th is may extend, for example, to having a “live” performance management platform that allows for instant feedback on targets achievement. The possibilities can be limitless, and immensely exciting.

T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE RO N G ARRO W CH I EF H U M AN RES OU R C E S O FFI CER, M AS T ERCARD The future of HR is being established today. Millennials and others relatively new in their professional lives are looking at their employers as brands.

They’re shopping and comparing these brands much in the same way they might a new car or a new pair of sneakers.

To be an employer of choice in this environment requires two important things. First, the realisation that our employees and prospective employees are our consumers. Second, that we place an all-consuming focus on our consumer. As my marketing colleagues say:“The consumer is king, queen and everything in between.”

To compete and thrive in this type of environment, MasterCard is looking at how the brand promise comes to life internally, as much as it does for our cardholders, banks and merchants.

Ultimately, it comes down to engaging – not just reaching, but truly engaging people. And fi nding the right tone, tenor and experiences that will make that possible.

GE N E V I E V E GODWI N REGIONAL HR DIRECTOR, J . WA LT E R T H OMPS O N A S I A PA CI F I C The future of HR will be a much more strategic function within the business. Flexible employment practices, dynamic processes and employee participation will be key features of this.

Flexible working practices are much more prevalent in some industries than others. Advertising is well-known for its long hours and lack of work life balance. We can see the predictions of flexibility, remote working and virtual management all becoming the norm. In addition, companies will need to evaluate how they employ people and the shifts in the value of a full time permanent role. Employees of the future will want a more flexible relationship with companies not only in hours, but in their employment arrangement.

Contractors and contract roles will become more prevalent in the future and HR needs to ensure the business structure supports this.

Performance appraisal processes will be a permanent fi xture of the past. Companies now and in the future will implement strategic, real-time, conversation-focused performance management models rather than lengthy appraisal processes which take months to complete.

Real-time feedback will become the norm with social media being used in 360-degree feedback models and employees will need to manage their careers resulting in a significant cultural shift from the manager/employee approach.

Associated with this, the future will see employee participation continuing to increase in HR processes.

Instead of HR administering employee benefits, employees will have the opportunity to choose and manage a flexible benefit programme online, which would have been outsourced to an external provider.

June 2016 « Human Resources « 21

SPECIAL FEATURE »

THE FUTURIST CO RI NNA CHEA NG HEA D , PEO PLE, JETS TA R A S I A

AL ES SAND RO PAPA R E L L I VI CE- PRES I D ENT, H U M A N R E S OU R C E S , K ERI NG It’s the summer of 2026. I’m celebrating our last gig for the Asia Talent Tour with the team. We “played” in Shanghai in front of hundreds of young students. We’re chatting about the excitement in the crowd when we holo-projected the “career stories medley” with our brands’ CEOs, as well as the entrance of the drone-transported test station.

Those always work well during the show. Oh, yes, the show: some were sceptical about it being able to attract talent. But they had to fi nally embrace change: we needed to be on the road, where the talent is. Just like a rock concert, the show is important, but in the end what counts is the music and the engagement you create.

I have to leave for a moment as they’re calling me from the tactical unit (TU). We’re in the fi nal stages of a search. TU asks me where I can set up the war room: any fairly dark environment would do. I borrow four personal devices from the team and ask TU to remotely video-float the various modules through each device – mobile talent intelligence, context module, relationship module and the assessment module. I make a couple of validations and add my comments to the pack. TU pulls back the modules, the virtual screens disappear, and I go back to the pool bar.

22 » Human Resources » June 2016

The changing business landscape, technological advancements and workforce trends will require HR leaders to have an acute vision for the future and be prepared to work with business leaders to respond to the fastchanging needs of businesses.

It is going to be more apparent to the business how HR delivers real value within the organisation, as increasing globalisation will require a workforce with greater responsiveness, flexibility and creativity.

In the next 10 years, the workforce will evolve to be more digital, mobile and multi-generational. Increased competition and complexity in businesses and industries will continue to transform jobs and redefi ne future workplaces.

Th is requires HR to put in place strategies which will enable a diversified workforce to stay connected, promote work mobility and crossborder collaboration and provide continuous learning opportunities while we defi ne the talent pipelines for the future.

The HR of the future will be managing and connecting with a workforce where communication, collaboration and engagement happen without boundaries.

T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE F OO C H E K W E E GROUP HR DIRECTOR, SEA AND HONG KONG, ZALORA Macroeconomic forces will determine how the HR function, like all corporate functions, will evolve over time.

In 10 years, low birth rates, relative high skilled labour demand across both emerging and advanced economies, and technology democratisation, will accelerate the establishment of the global gig economy, where organisations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.

The “uberisation” of work will happen, where the nature of work will be further compartmentalised and specialised.

Furthermore, talent fluidity will cut across geographies in a more expedited manner.

As a result, the HR function, by competition or will, will have to establish a new work paradigm and execute this paradigm in buying, building, borrowing and bouncing talented services, not talent.

Y EO H SAI Y EW H EAD , PEO PL E D EPART M ENT, AI RASI AX My prediction on the future of HR will be more focus on culture, as it’s the only thing that cannot be easily copied.

Even though a company might not be able to attract the “best” talent with its culture, it will be able to attract the “right” talent. HR analytics will also get more important in the future. It will no longer involve the churning of routine reports such as payroll costs, but focus more on how to integrate all these together. As such, more sophisticated software will enable all data from HR, finance, sales, etc, to link up easily.

CLODAGH LOGUE SENIOR DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL HR, FITBIT The emerging trend of employee wellness has significant implications for the workplace. Many employers have begun to think deeply about employee engagement, productivity and retention. In an increasingly flexible and “always-on” work environment, employers will want to ensure the health and productivity of their workforce by supporting them to achieve balance in their working lives.

Additionally, the emerging Millennial demographic has different expectations of their employers from previous generations. Tenure, transparency, purpose and trust will take on a new dimension in the workplace of the future.

So employers need to be thinking about creative ways to drive employee engagement and retention, particularly in the technology sector where competition for talent is strong and building leading workplace practices is common.

June 2016 « Human Resources « 23

SPECIAL FEATURE »

THE FUTURIST

L I S A TAY H EAD , H U M AN RE S OU R C E S , J O H NS O N & J O H N S ON AS I A PACI FI C Businesses today are increasingly affected by disruptive technology, innovation and an increasingly volatile environment. I think our external environments will continue on this trend of rapid transformation well into the future. As a business, we must be flexible to overcome these challenges.

To navigate the future, HR leaders should be curious, connected and stay abreast of the most recent thought leadership and expertise. They must connect the dots to the diverse insights and shape their conversations and strategies around the trends that are changing their businesses.

The ongoing responsibility of HR professionals to develop the leaders of the future will become even more critical. We must prepare leaders who are able to grow into increasingly complex and interconnected roles.

To successfully do this, we need to make sure we drive organisational change that is based on credible insights. Most importantly, we need to be able to inspire and activate the organisation for growth and change.

24 » Human Resources » June 2016

B E N J A M I N W ON G HR DIRECTOR, ASIA PACIFIC, K N OR R - B R E M S E Human resources professionals are generally struggling with either fi nding or securing a seat on the executive board level to make their presence felt with the added value necessitated by the board and shareholders.

A lot of debates and studies have shown the business partnership requires more than just personnel administration; it needs to create value to deliver the strategic and innovative solutions to the daily HR topics and issues.

CHRO, chief people officer, or however innovative the position titles will be of HR leaders in the future, the main function will be to think outside of the box, and help with either people and performance management, employee engagement and all HR processes.

In 2026, I anticipate more generalists within the HR function, with most having exposure to dealing with integrated HR methods and tools. HR will also continue to be strategic and hands-on at the same time.

People development could also become more sophisticated, due to the post-Millennials entering the workforce in the 2020s. Talent management will become more difficult due to high expectations of the new generation: HR leaders will have to build very individualised career paths to satisfy this group.

T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE E V E LY N C H OW MANAGING DIRECTOR, DE C ODE H R

NO RA M AH B O B HR DIRECTOR, L’ORÉAL MALAYSIA I see the role of HR as a strategic function to unleash human potential to meet the organisation’s vision and goals.

And this will not change even 10 years from now, but we’ll see a change in how it’s managed as we see the rise of the HR strategic partner – a generalist developing an integrated HR strategy within business lines and working with executives to deliver tangible results.

This means the HR professional’s role will not be limited to HR practitioners, but open to people from strong business or consulting backgrounds with an understanding of the pulse of the business, making them better equipped to formulate and deploy HR strategies.

With this trend on the rise, there will be a need to outsource for traditional HR services. Outsourcing will contribute towards cost-savings and increasing the efficiency of the HR department.

Technology and new business alliances will completely alter businesses in 10 years.

In my mind, 2026 will see HR practitioners being astute users, initiators and proponents of technology, and not merely adopters. HR technology will come in shapes and forms beyond what we can imagine today, and the chasm between innovative organisations and companies that are not agile will continue to widen. With this in mind, data literacy, in terms of strategic computational thinking and analysis, will be a key HR skill.

The emergence of artificial intelligence will completely change the way businesses run, and the impact on job design and core competencies will be immense. HR will need to stay close to this revolution, to help their organisations harness the benefits as well as guide their senior leadership team to make decisions that will drive future success.

Business alliances will also change the dynamics of the economy or even entire nations.

The smartest companies are beginning to recognise the competitive edge of powerful alliances and the best way to win the game is to reinvent the playing field.

For the HR leader, the implications are staggering.

Depending on the alliance model, these partners can leverage on each other’s talent pools.

Alliances will also have greater bargaining and negotiating capacity in their stakeholder relationships.

Clearly, HR leaders will need to be comfortable in teams that orchestrate such alliances, and anticipate and resolve potential challenges inherent in such covenants.

June 2016 « Human Resources « 25

SPECIAL FEATURE »

THE FUTURIST C H R I S M A J OR H E A D, R E C R U I T M ENT M A RKETI NG, PHILIPS ELECTRONICS SINGAPORE

S APNA S AXENA COUNTRY HR MANAGER, APAC, TELSTRA In 2026, I predict automation and telecommuting will be as common place as Wi-Fi is today.

As we move towards greater automation, some forms of human interface will very likely be replaced by automated processes or humanlike machines. I foresee the impact of this will include some huge corporate buildings giving way to a workforce working from locations that are not traditional offices.

Th is not only means an increase in the number of employees working from home, but employees even working from any part of the world.

Such a phenomenon will impact the mix of employees that companies presently have and have a huge impact on their talent strategies. We can anticipate a phenomenal impact in how organisations attract, manage and interact with their employees.

Shifts in talent frameworks and topics such as, what is a productive employee and what represents a promotable employee, will be complex.

Significant changes will also need to be made in areas related to culture and employee engagement.

If this happens at the scale I am imagining, the HR community will need to completely rethink its approach to work and partner with a highly connected and automated employee and leadership base.

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Employer branding is a discipline that is evolving as quickly in the marketing space as it is in the HR space. It’s been said that these days every new and exciting innovation in marketing eventually makes its way to recruitment marketing (or employer branding).

I believe that presents employer branding teams with tremendous opportunity to leverage innovative new ways to promote and position their talent brand.

I also think employer branding will need to focus more on segmentation in the future, and tailoring its employer value proposition to suit an increasingly diverse candidate market.

Those putting off retirement, for example, will be driven and attracted by a different proposition than younger candidates looking to upskill themselves, and will enhance their personal development as quickly as possible. In 10 years, the age make-up of the global workforce will also be very different, and I think we’ll see tailored HR programmes being developed to accommodate that divergence.

I believe we will see a continuation of the trend of “Gen X and Y” away from organisational loyalty, and further towards job task loyalty – where upskilling becomes more important than the company those skills are employed at.

Th is, I think, will force HR to consider ever-more tailored education programmes to entice the best talent on board.

And for members of our ageing population who decide they would rather stay longer in the workforce, I think we’ll see tailored employee health and assistance programmes to ensure we make it easier for them to stay.

T H E F U T U R I S T « SPECIAL FEATURE C . K . M OH A N SENIOR DIRECTOR, HR, YU M ! R E S TAU R A N T S The world we live in is seeing rapid changes, and there are three areas that are likely to impact HR in 2026: personalisation, connectedness and an acute talent scarcity. The fi rst, personalisation, relates to how today’s customers expect to be able to customise products or services to suit their individual tastes. Since these customers are also employees, I see an increasing trend of personalised work arrangements in working hours, location, leave and salary components.

Employees with specialist skills or deep expertise will be better placed to exploit this trend. 2026 will be the age for specialists. Companies that have progressive HR leaders will be better placed to face the future.

The second is the concept of staying connected. Real-time communication and keeping employees informed and engaged will be the norm in 2026. Th is will be a real HR challenge given the trend for flexible work arrangements. HR leaders will not only need to be conversant, but also competent with technology.

The third is acute talent scarcity. Almost all good universities have business incubators which help students who aspire to become entrepreneurs. Th is will be an even bigger force to deal with from a talent standpoint. The best will want to start their own businesses and companies will need to create an environment where entrepreneurship is encouraged.

Companies with flat structures that reward big ideas and propagate entrepreneurship will succeed in the future.

June 2016 « Human Resources « 27

FEATURE » Recruitment

THE SECRETS TO DESIGNING A TOP-TIER RECRUITMENT STRATEGY

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Recruitment « FEATURE

The Human Resources team explores best practices across the recruiting spectrum through award-winning case studies from ANZ, InMobi and Kadence International. mid today’s talent shortage, the job market is said to be very much in the candidates’ favour. It is no wonder HR professionals fi nd recruiting and retaining top talent to be one of their key challenges. Per a survey by OfficeTeam, 36% of HR professionals highlighted recruiting as their greatest staffi ng concern. In line with that, 36% of respondents also pointed out the most challenging aspect of their job is identifying and hiring candidates for open positions.

To help HR leaders improve their recruitment strategies to secure top talent, we dedicate this feature to the best practices across the recruitment spectrum – from employer branding to candidate experience and candidate evaluation. All case studies are from gold award-winning programmes from this year’s Asia Recruitment Awards, held across Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Case study: How InMobi’s fresh employer brand raised referral rates by over 100% High wage costs, coupled with a limited talent pool, is a challenge for any company, especially for one trying to attract talent in the dynamic and highly competitive technology space.

Th is challenge was what InMobi had to overcome, having realised its internal hiring practices needed a performance boost.

Only 1% of the organisation was involved in recruitment, and the hiring function was devoid of set processes.

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FEATURE » Recruitment

Tapping out a good policy: There are a number of things employers need to do for a good recruitment strategy.

The fi rm’s mission was to rebuild an entire recruitment team to cut down on costs and produce beneficiary results. Hence, InMobi began a long-term sustainable approach to tackling the problem of talent shortage and to make significant improvements in its employee retention, attrition and attraction rates.

Rather than winning the war for top talent purely by enhancing compensation, the fi rm began to launch initiatives that defi ned what made InMobi an employer of choice, as Human Resources’ Akankasha Dewan found out.

Strategy: Prioritising employee needs InMobi saw a tremendous opportunity to build on its employee-centric culture. Rather than concentrating on business alone, its initiatives reiterated the fi rm’s commitment to prioritise the needs of its employees.

For example, branding and communications were highlighted with the launch of its new social networking handles. InMobi began posting all office happenings on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, which were then mass shared by the employees. It targeted every medium: video, blogs, posts, posters and others.

Instead of hiring external experts to lead its branding strategies, the fi rm hired two college interns to help it craft an authentic employer brand. The reason? InMobi wanted a fresh set of eyes to help it discover its culture in the eyes of its employees and enhance the brand.

The fi rm didn’t incur any additional people costs, but the help of its interns empowered the entire team, along with 900 InMobians, to be the brand ambassadors for InMobi.

In addition, the company encouraged InMobians to decide on the best people to

join the fi rm. It rewarded “experiences” for referrals, as opposed to cash amounts – such as international vacations, iPhones, Rockrider bicycles and the Royal Enfield Terminator.

“Our culture is our brand. InMobians take pride in speaking positively about our culture and sharing it with the world every day,” revealed Kevin Freitas, InMobi’s human resources leader (Asia).

Meanwhile, the sabbatical policy encourages InMobians to try their hand at entrepreneurship, and take a break to return refreshed. The company offers infrastructure, support and meals free of cost for InMobi alumni who have turned into entrepreneurs.

Besides this, InMobi’s springboard philosophy, rooted in career development, also offers internal internship opportunities across functions to every InMobian.

Results: Referrals and recruitment costs As a consequence of these changes, InMobi significantly improved its attrition and referral rates. Referral numbers rose by over 100%, while InMobi’s recruitment costs reduced by 95%.

The metric of saving-per-hire also increased to 107%. Importantly, InMobi’s branding programmes evoked positive responses from its employees. They proved their commitment towards the company by referring the fi nest talent in the industry and closing more positions in less turnaround time, along with improved quality of hires.

Case study: Why Kadence has a 95% offer acceptance rate Kadence’s “communication culture” has been the bedrock of its success – so, in 2014, the consultancy felt it was important to explicitly articulate this winning principle to ensure its sustainability for the years to come.

Building on its mission statement and HR policy, Kadence decided to invest time and thought to ensure every new colleague was smoothly assimilated into the Kadence team, regardless of background, and that they knew Kadence’s expectations from them.

“Kadence has bold strategic goals to raise the profi le of our company and to reposition what market research stands for in the eyes of the wider marketing community. An integral part of this process is how we communicate with our candidates,” explained Phil Steggals, managing director for Kadence International, to Human

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Recruitment « FEATURE Resources’ Jerene Ang. “We want to share our vision from the outset and ensure that people buy into, and are enthused by, our ideas. It is our fi rm belief that we are being interviewed as much as we are doing the interviewing – and this ensures that we clearly communicate the direction that we want our business to move in.”

Strategy: Communicate from the start Kadence’s onboarding experience doesn’t start once a job offer has been made, it actually begins even before the interview.

“Our candidate experience strategy is built on three core objectives: simple, timely and personal. We read all CVs and cover letters within 24 hours of receiving them to ensure that we can respond to candidates in a timely manner,” explained Ashley Nin, associate director of Kadence International.

She added that once the right candidate is identified, Kadence will send them a few simple questions to understand their interest in the industry, company and the role to accurately gauge their engagement level. Again, all responses are made within 24 hours and candidates are then invited for an interview.

“During this interview, we invite them to deliver a short presentation, which demonstrates their creativity, proficiency in market research and a bit about their personal interest,” she said. “Th is provides the ideal means for us to get to know the candidate and for the candidate to get to know the Kadence philosophy and way of working.”

Wanting all new employees to hit the ground running, Kadence’s onboarding involves extensive preparation in terms of logistical requirements and human requirements.

Once the employee has signed the contract, they are included on the necessary email correspondence from the very fi rst day.

Additionally, a week before starting work, they are invited for social drinks to allow any questions, and to stoke their enthusiasm about their new role.

Subsequently, the “welcome week” and orientation is tailored to the level and experience of the new colleague, ensuring that information is delivered in a timely, engaging and personal manner. Beyond the standard orientation tasks, this “welcome week” typically consists of a balance of interactive discussions, social integration and reading material.

Results: Positive onboarding feedback Kadence fi rst assesses its onboarding experience through feedback from the new employees themselves. They often offer feedback that they feel integrated, inspired and productive from their fi rst hours in the company and become Kadence advocates in their fi rst few days.

As a result of Kadence’s excellent candidate experience, employees are committed to the fi rm’s goals, leading to enviable retention rates by the standards of any industry – in 2015, only two employees left the Kadence team.

“With a nearly 95%-plus acceptance rate, we believe this strategy has been highly successful

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FEATURE » Recruitment at identifying and engaging the right candidates,” Nin said. Additionally, the timely, personal and engaging induction, which doesn’t break the bank in terms of investment – about S$700 per new colleague – has played a part in accelerated productivity and familiarity, as well as the longterm commitment to the Kadence vision.

Th is has helped the fi rm bring in a consistent net profit of 12% to 15%, in addition to being crowned the gold winner for Best Candidate Experience, among in-house recruitment teams, at the recent Asia Recruitment Awards.

Case study: How ANZ cut down the average hiring time to 25 days, while enhancing the quality of the hiring pool With a history of more than 180 years, ANZ is committed to building lasting partnerships in 34 markets internationally. ANZ’s Singapore journey started in 1974 through its representative office. Since receiving its Qualifying Full Bank licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2010, ANZ has further entrenched its presence in the country with a wide range of products, services and insights, and some 2,000 employees.

To support the bank’s agenda, the HR team has focused on attracting, developing and retaining a highly diverse workforce to meet customers’ needs.

However, an internal review of its hiring practices highlighted a worrying trend which reflected a decrease in the number of local hires. In addition, local employee attrition was above the market norm for the fi nancial sector.

These factors drove the team, led by Maximilian Then, head of resourcing for Singapore and Hong Kong, to make enhancements to ANZ’s recruitment rigour that ultimately impressed the judges at the Asia Recruitment Awards to hand ANZ the gold for the Best Recruitment Evaluation Technique.

He spoke to Human Resources’ Aditi Sharma Kalra: “Enhancing our evaluation techniques has enabled ANZ to screen quality candidates faster, efficiently honing in on specifically tailored role requirements, removing the opportunity for unconscious bias and adding extra emphasis on some of our core people priorities, including gender equality and developing local talent.”

Strategy: Driving rigour in recruitment Over the course of 2015, ANZ’s recruitment team 32 » Human Resources » June 2016

established a continuous improvement plan encapsulating five new initiatives. One of these was the introduction of questions during the pre-screening application process, via the Taleo Recruitment System. Not only does this include business-specific questions tailored to roles, but it also helped ANZ identify a candidate’s legal right to work to factor into the process upfront.

In addition, ANZ’s Singapore candidate summary form, which provides line managers a consistent framework to evaluate talent, was refreshed. It now includes metrics such as the inclusion of a female interviewer on every interviewing panel, gender-balanced interview shortlists and consideration of local Singaporean talent for all roles in alignment with the commitment to develop local talent.

Results: Boosting local talent by 2% A review of the recruitment process post the implementation of the new initiatives showed that ANZ’s average time to hire externally is only 25 days, proof the improvements in recruitment evaluation techniques are speeding up the interview and selection process.

The strengthening of selection criteria has contributed to great results, including a 2% increase in Singaporean talent, 49% of external hires being female and an employee attrition rate which is now within banking sector norms.

ANZ is tracking well to further improve on these figures in 2016. While these numbers continue to be monitored, ANZ’s awardwinning team is extremely pleased with its progress and this team’s focus on continuous improvements remains unwavering.

Designing a top-tier recruitment strategy After looking at these recruitment best practices, here are our three quick tips for designing a top-tier recruitment strategy.

1. Authentic is key for employer branding. Instead of getting an external perspective, focus on the company culture in the eyes of employees.

2. When it comes to candidate experience, remember to communicate from the very start using simple, timely and personal responses.

3. To strengthen the candidate evaluation process, screen applicants during the application process with business-specific questions tailored to their roles and make sure a consistent framework, including a diverse interview panel to evaluate talent, is in place.

SPONSORED RECRUIT ADVICE HOW TO THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY FIRST ADVANTAGE

SCREENING SENIOR EXECUTIVES Leadership is more than a position or title – it is action and example. When companies rely on their senior executives to set strategic direction, galvanise employees and steer them towards success, appointing the right captain becomes mission-critical.

This process begins with acquiring an accurate and in-depth understanding of the candidate’s background.

It is a common misconception that candidates for a senior executive position will not stoop to falsifying or hiding information. In a perfect world, we could perhaps accept everything provided by a candidate at face value. In reality, however, discrepancies do exist.

According to First Advantage’s 2016 Asia Pacific Annual Trends, discrepancies relating to employment history are most common (57.7%), followed by education (19.3%) and database (18.9%). Database checks refer to a name check against a collection of various databases that include media, addresses, passport identification, company registry and more.

To put this in the real-world context, consider that in Hong Kong, a senior executive armed with fake qualifications managed to land herself a HK$870,000 (S$152,000) position as CEO of an education company. She was later convicted of fraud. There was also the case of Yahoo’s former CEO, who embellished his resume and exaggerated his academic credentials.

Myer, a leading retail chain in Australia, was also duped into hiring a new general manager based on his misrepresented employment history. It was only through an in-depth background verification check, conducted after he had joined the company, the truth was uncovered. Shockingly, it turned out that Myer was not the only company to fall prey to his dishonourable actions; former employers had been hoodwinked as well.

Mitigate risk with background screening Background screening is important for entry-level employees and mid-management hires, but at the senior executive level, it is nothing less than essential. This is especially because of the extent of their responsibilities, the authority that they are bestowed and the access they enjoy to business-critical information such as company details, financial results, business strategies and client data.

Before entrusting an individual with a leadership position, it is the onus of the employer to conduct a thorough, far-reaching background check.

This is part and parcel of due diligence in the hiring process, and a necessary step to minimise hiring risk.

Today, many leading organisations opt for an in-depth, investigative background check – one that goes beyond the standard criminal record searches as well education and employment verifications – to proactively uncover “the good, the bad and the ugly” about a candidate.

For example, it is good practice to conduct financial checks on a candidate to determine if they have negative records regarding bankruptcy, credit standing and money laundering. Financial regulatory checks will further reveal if the candidate has been prohibited, disqualified or sanctioned by a financial regulatory body in the hiring country.

As more executives live, study and work abroad, it has also become increasingly important that employers are able to procure such information on a global basis, and in a timely manner.

To deliver a reliable and compliant screening programme, companies can benefit from an alliance with a background screening partner experienced in the dynamic regulatory environment.

The ideal provider should be deeply familiar and up-to-date on the latest laws and legislation governing the background screening process. Its primary role is to check candidate credentials in a safe and legal manner so that companies can continually hire the right talent for their business.

The success or failure of any company depends, to a large extent, on its leader.

Background screening cannot guarantee business success, but it can certainly help ensure the right candidate is at the helm – and that could make all the difference.

This article is contributed by Drs. Erik Schmit, EVP and managing director, APAC, First Advantage

Drs. Erik Schmit is the EVP and managing director for Asia Pacific for First Advantage, the largest provider of employment background screening services in the Asia Pacific region.

First Advantage conducts more than 54 million background checks annually, offering comprehensive screening solutions and industry best practices for coverage, legal regulations and processes.

For more information, visit www.fadvasia.com

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OPINION » People issues

Why OCBC Bank scores 72% in work-life satisfaction JACINTA LOW Head of HR planning, OCBC Bank

Secrets to building an inclusive workplace, with initiatives such as a career break scheme and the PSLE leave scheme.

Pieces of the puzzle: Some work-life balance initiatives unique to OCBC are the career break scheme, the PSLE leave scheme and employee resource groups.

It’s in our culture to support and care for our

people, who are our greatest assets, as we take a longterm view in looking after their personal and professional development needs.

We also ensure our programmes cater to the different needs of our employees – from working parents and young adults to single parents and mature workers.

At the end of the day, we want to build an inclusive

34 » Human Resources » June 2016

workplace, and we want our colleagues to grow with us as we succeed and celebrate together as a team.

Action: Work-life programme Our work-life programme, introduced in 2004, focuses on the themes of family, work, wellness and community. It is part of our commitment to promote an inclusive workplace that meets the needs of different groups of employees – from working parents

»

People issues OPINION

and young adults to single parents and mature workers. Some work-life balance initiatives unique to us are the career break scheme, the PSLE leave scheme, the employee resource groups@OCBC as well as the in-house childcare centre.

We were also the first Singapore bank to introduce an inhouse childcare centre as well as the PSLE leave scheme. While the work-life programme in itself is not new, enhancements, additions and improvements have been made over the years to ensure it remains relevant to our employees’ changing needs.

“Our employees appreciate the sharing with other colleagues, the learning from an experienced and trained professional, as well as the convenience of having this support group at the office.”

Keeping in touch with employee needs Annually, we conduct an employee engagement survey to find out how our employees feel about their jobs and work environment. This survey is also one of the channels for employees to voice their concerns and give feedback, which provides an opportunity for OCBC to identify ways to create a more vibrant working environment.

The in-house childcare centre, PSLE leave, career

break schemes and some of our employee resource groups (ERGs)@OCBC were implemented as a result of feedback from employees. In particular, some of our ERGs were implemented in 2015 following employee feedback.

Action: Employee ERGs We believe in the wellbeing of every employee, so we started in 2013 conducting a study on internal support groups within organisations, which were then already present in foreign companies. We adopted the concept, but modified the groups which we were to focus on – choosing to focus on positive parenting and family support as a reflection of the societal needs and issues in Singapore.

In particular, some of our ERGs were implemented in 2015 following employee feedback.

The ERGs@OCBC initiative was introduced in 2014 to form internal support groups for employees with similar backgrounds or experience, which provided a safe platform for employees to share and support one another.

Through conversations with employees, we are aware of some of the family related stress and parenting challenges that they are facing – areas where they need help in.

Our first ERG in 2014 was “parents with teens”. Since then, we have added new groups to meet the varied needs of our employees – “single parents” started two months later, and in April 2015 our third ERG, “caregivers of the elderly”, was launched in recognition of the growing ageing population.

Our latest group, “parents of children with special needs”, started in November 2015.

The ERG sessions are held once every two months during lunchtime, with lunch provided. Each session is conducted by an experienced external counsellor, who offers advice, chairs discussions and mentors participants. Participants and their counsellor discuss a topic that is relevant to their group, sharing their experiences and advice with one another.

Results: Answering for the actions Over the past few years, our work-life balance satisfaction scores have been increasing – for instance, it has risen from 60% in 2010 to 72% in 2015. About 280 employees have attended the ERGs to date, with some attending more than one group.

Besides being able to talk to others about the challenges they face, having a support group in the company offers the benefits of convenience and familiarity. Our employees appreciate the sharing with other colleagues, the learning from an experienced and trained professional, as well as the convenience of having this support group at the office.

Many a time, the support from colleagues continues outside the ERG sessions.

Such positive feedback from our employees is certainly encouraging and is a testimony of our efforts in providing support to employees beyond work. We will continue to engage our employees and listen to their feedback, so as to develop new initiatives that are relevant and meaningful to them. In addition, we have won the TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award 2016, reflecting the relevance of our initiatives.

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Meet the winners: Asia Recruitment Awards 2016, Singapore ANZ took the Grand Winner’s prize among in-house recruiting teams, while ScienTec Consulting excelled among agencies. Aditi Sharma Kalra reports.

In a room full of recruitment royalty,

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) took the Grand Winner’s prize for excellence by an in-house recruiting team at the Asia Recruitment Awards 2016 – Singapore held on 13 April, 2016.

The Grand Winner’s prize among recruitment agencies was bagged by ScienTec Consulting, which made a mark across multiple categories.

Asia Recruitment Awards, held for the second 36 » Human Resources » June 2016

consecutive year, are the region’s premier awards for recognising and rewarding excellence in recruitment – across in-house recruitment teams as well as recruitment agencies – in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

The ANZ team excelled in a number of categories, winning gold for best diversity and inclusion strategy (shared with Deloitte & Touche); gold for best onboarding experience; gold for best

recruitment evaluation technique; silver for best regional recruitment programme; and gold for best in-house recruitment team, before winning the Grand Winner’s trophy.

Among the recruitment agencies, ScienTec

Consulting’s Grand Winner prize was preceded by wins across categories, such as silver for best client service (shared with Aspire); gold for best candidate experience; and silver for best recruitment agency (shared with Randstad).

Some of the other standout organisations in the awards for recruitment agencies were ACI HR Solutions (gold for best recruitment innovation); JobStreet.com (gold for best career website); and Xpand Group (gold for best recruitment agency).

On the other end of the spectrum, among in-house recruitment teams, Maybank, GroupM and Ericsson posted strong victories, winning gold for best use of digital media (shared with Changi Airport Group); best in-house recruitment professional (Michael Wright of GroupM); and best use of recruitment technology respectively, among other significant wins.

For best client service by an agency, Resource Solutions Consulting Singapore bagged the gold prize in a category that also recognised good work

by ScienTec Consulting, Aspire, Henderson Scott, and Spring Professional Asia.

The award for best new recruitment agency went to APBA, and silver to Aryan Search, while

Aryan Search’s Vikram Shervani took home the gold for best recruitment consultant, in a closely contested category. Other winners in that category were Amos Tay of Job Hatch Singapore; Kristin Bok of Kelly Singapore; Manjit Kaur of Real Staffing Group; and Eva Sondhi of Charterhouse.

SAP Asia performed strongly across a number of in-house recruitment categories, including gold for best career website as well as employer brand development (shared with InMobi). Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) was another solid contender, with gold in best graduate recruitment programme.

Other in-house recruitment teams that walked off with the judges’ recognition included Bloomberg, Cargill Asia Pacific, Kadence International, PMFTC, Clariant Singapore, TWG

Tea Company, Manulife Financial Asia, Tata Consultancy Services, Parkway Pantai, PUB, Citi Singapore, Ambition Singapore, Certis CISCO Security, MSD International (Singapore branch), SCOOT, McDonald’s Restaurants, Apollo Hospitals, salt communications, Lazada Southeast Asia, McCann Worldgroup, and more.

Credits also go to 33 Talent, HRINC (Cambodia), JobsDB.com Singapore, Progression Search, Sciente International, Links International, Michael Page, Intellisearch Recruitment Services, and Randstad, for securing strong performances in the categories for recruitment agencies.

Human Resources thanks all sponsors and partners for this event: • Gold sponsor – Sciente International • Silver sponsor – Aryan Search/Bullhorn/ CareerBuilder/ Progression Search • Official wine partner – Cellarmaster Wines • Official beer partner – Dester 100% Malt Beer • Official video production partner – Graphiss Productions • Media partner – Senior HR Forum June 2016 « Human Resources « 37

Full list of winners: Asia Recruitment Awards 2016, Singapore In-house corporate recruitment teams ASIA RECRUITMENT GRAND WINNER 2016 – IN-HOUSE

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

BEST RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING STRATEGY

McDonald’s Restaurants

- GroupM Asia Pacific - SCOOT

Certis CISCO Security

BEST USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA

- Changi Airport Group (Singapore) - Maybank

- Certis CISCO Security - Ericsson

Ambition Singapore

BEST CAREER WEBSITE BY A CORPORATE HR TEAM

SAP Asia

Deloitte & Touche

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise

- Ericsson - McDonald’s Restaurants

salt communications

BEST EMPLOYER BRAND DEVELOPMENT - InMobi - SAP Asia BEST ON-BOARDING EXPERIENCE

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

- Clariant (Singapore) - TWG Tea Company

- Kadence International - PMFTC

BEST GRADUATE RECRUITMENT PROGRAMME

- Citi Singapore - Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

- Deloitte & Touche - PUB, the national water agency

Parkway Pantai

BEST STAFF REFERRAL PROGRAMME

Certis CISCO Security

Ericsson

Manulife Financial Asia

BEST USE OF RECRUITMENT TECHNOLOGY

Ericsson

- Manulife Financial Asia - Tata Consultancy Services

GroupM Asia Pacific

BEST DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STRATEGY

- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group - Deloitte & Touche

- Cargill Asia Pacific Holdings - Maybank

Bloomberg

BEST REGIONAL RECRUITMENT PROGRAMME

SAP Asia

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

- Ericsson - GroupM Asia Pacific

BEST CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE BY A CORPORATE HR TEAM

Kadence International

Tata Consultancy Services

Maybank

BEST RECRUITMENT INNOVATION BY A CORPORATE HR TEAM

Deloitte & Touche

MSD International (Singapore Branch)

- Maybank - SAP Asia

BEST RECRUITMENT EVALUATION TECHNIQUE

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

GroupM Asia Pacific

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

- Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore - MSD International (Singapore Branch)

Manulife Financial Asia

Michael Wright – GroupM Asia Pacific

Jean-Michel Wu – McCann Worldgroup

Christina Ong – Lazada South East Asia

BEST IN-HOUSE RECRUITMENT TEAM

BEST IN-HOUSE RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONAL

In-house corporate recruitment teams ASIA RECRUITMENT GRAND WINNER 2016 – RECRUITMENT AGENCY

ScienTec Consulting

BEST CAREER WEBSITE BY A RECRUITMENT AGENCY

JobStreet.com

Michael Page

- ACI HR Solutions - Links International

BEST CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE BY A RECRUITMENT AGENCY

ScienTec Consulting

- HRINC (Cambodia) - Xpand Group

- 33 Talent - JobStreet.com

BEST CLIENT SERVICE

Resource Solutions Consulting Singapore

- Aspire - ScienTec Consulting

- Henderson Scott - Spring Professional Asia

BEST RECRUITMENT INNOVATION BY A RECRUITMENT AGENCY

ACI HR Solutions

- Progression Search - Sciente International

JobsDB Singapore

BEST NEW RECRUITMENT AGENCY

APBA

Aryan Search

BEST RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT

Vikram Shervani – Aryan Search

- Kristin Bok – Kelly Singapore - Amos Tay – Job Hatch Singapore

- Eva Sondhi – Charterhouse - Manjit Kaur – Real Staffing Group

BEST RECRUITMENT AGENCY

Xpand Group

- Randstad - ScienTec Consulting

- ACI HR Solutions - Intellisearch Recruitment Services

38 » Human Resources » June 2016

SENIOR APPOINTMENTS

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LAST WORD

From screening to building employer brands, here’s what Akankasha Dewan learnt when swiping for the ideal candidate.

This month, we interviewed

senior HR professionals on their perspectives on the future of HR, and we observed something in common across many responses – a greater reliance on the digital hiring model. Résumés are increasingly getting displaced by constantly evolving representations of individual experiences, skills and aptitudes that exist purely in the digital realm.

As such, finding the right match for a vacancy will not only involve a more proficient ability to filter through profiles online, but also to set up a seductive digital presence which attracts candidates.

And that is precisely where Tinder comes in.

Like any hiring platform, Tinder gives us a glimpse of people’s personalities, abilities and skills. And, just like a recruitment exercise, it involves the art of screening the plethora of users.

In using Tinder, while not for recruitment, I still cringe when I remember swiping right on “wrong” matches, which greeted me with lines such as: “Do you like mother-in-laws? Because I have one for you.” Here are my hard-learned lessons from the dating world that hiring managers could use.

1. Know what you want With more firms hiring candidates with diverse backgrounds for different periods of time, the need to establish a set of criteria for the desired candidate could not be more important, just like deciding whether your next encounter with your Tinderella or Tinderfella will be a long-term or short-term one.

Everyone has their own reasons for hooking up, and therefore different criteria for selection. Some could be perusing through the app for a life partner, or they may be like me, using it just to meet new people and gain diverse perspectives. As such, my criteria for swiping right on a potential mate would be far less stringent than others.

Similarly, anyone looking to recruit a short-term, or entry-level candidate might be open to someone without any specialty, but who has a broad range of skill sets. On the other hand, firms wanting to hire senior managers might be willing to take less risks and prefer established professionals.

2. Know how to screen candidates Every organisation has its cultural nuances, and

prefer to hire professionals who will appreciate (if not fully fit into) the culture. But perusing hundreds of profiles online can be a nightmare – how can we best know what a potential match will be like?

While Tinder allows users to rely greatly on physical characteristics to judge potential matches, it also provides a peek into the minds of a potential match through the “about me” section. The best way to judge a person would then be to see how well the image and description of the person in question complement or contradict each other.

Similarly, hiring managers need to get their people-assessment skills on point to filter through the right candidates. Set out what makes a first impression count for you and your firm, identify the brand your candidate is trying to build, and look for patterns in order to get an idea of your candidate’s personality, desires and future plans – and if these match with the values of your firm.

(I know that with my “grammar” tendencies, I probably won’t swipe right on a match whose English leaves much to be desired.)

3. Know how to market yourself Swiping right on a potential match is easy, but how do you ensure your desired match does the same for you? Just like as in a career website, Tinder teaches the importance of using imagery and succinct words to reflect the heartbeat of a firm’s culture.

It reiterates the need for firms to be as genuine and authentic as possible. Firms should use their career platforms as an opportunity to talk about the awards they have have won, their top perks (free booze on Friday, for example) and the array of skills they will get to learn. Chat with your team, find out what they love about their job and the culture and use this to attract like-minded people.

More and more recruiters are leveraging on HR technology to cast a wider net of people who express casual interest in roles and firms.

However, it is only by customising hiring tricks to suit the technology of the future that bosses can winnow those cards down to their best prospects, growing the relationship into something greater than just a resume. akankashad@humanresourcesonline.net

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

What Tinder taught me about recruitment

40 » Human Resources » June 2016

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