Human Resources Singapore, March 2016

March 2016

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March 2016 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY 14 Q&A Freddie Chow, chief talent officer, Asia Pacific at Sanofi sheds light on the culture shift that has been driven by an open-plan office space, with a view to driving more innovation and collaboration.

Features 18 Making the most of every cent Jerene Ang speaks to award winners from the HR Excellence Awards 2015 to bring out the components of reward strategies that make employee retention worth every cent.

24 The art of corporate relocation With multiple generations of staff relocating today, HR leaders have to manage multiple needs and expectations. Akankasha Dewan explores how best to dabble in the art of corporate relocation.

Opinion

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32 Learning & Development Usha Baidya, VP of HR for AMEA region at BT Global Services, reveals the 3 types of leadership programmes which equip bosses to help staff excel.

34 People Issues

ON THE COVER: Art Direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee using Nikon D810 – www.elliotly.com

Having policies that take into account diverse workforce needs is crucial for ensuring NSmen stay productive at work, says Tan Ying, vice-president of HR at CDL.

35 Unconventional Wisdom

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Chella Pandian, sub-region HR director at Merck Sharp & Dohme, analyses if the generation gap can be resolved through a more intense focus on training leaders to manage across generations.

36 Upwardly Mobile Wong Keng Fye, head of human resources at Maybank, highlights why it is important to harness the collective wisdom of older workers

40 Last Word You asked for it, so we compiled it – Aditi Sharma Kalra speaks to five managers for advice on dealing with the constant complainers or those who always miss deadlines.

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

8 Spacial awareness 10 HR by numbers 37 Personal growth 38 Shelf life

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March 2016 « Human Resources «

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Much to be positive about There has been plenty of action to keep HR professionals on their toes this year.

The global economy is shaky and the chances of growth are uncertain, even in the typically robust emerging markets. A number of companies in and around Singapore are cutting back on staff strength or salary increases, with layoffs being led by large employers such as Yahoo and Barclays.

HSBC, which first announced a global pay freeze, revised its decision following an employee backlash, and will now fund pay rises from the 2016 variable bonus pool.

But not all is doom and gloom. IBM recently ditched its 10-year-old annual performance review system for an approach that lets employees set shorter term goals, and gets managers to provide feedback at least every quarter. What’s more, IBM turned to its 380,000 employees to crowdsource the new process through its internal social media platform, garnering 75,000 views and 2,000 comments. The new app-based system called Checkpoint has already gone live.

In talking about change, this past month we spoke to Sanofi’s chief talent officer, Asia Pacific, Freddie Chow.

In August last year, Sanofi relocated to a new office space in Singapore, where for the first time, employees are getting the chance to work side-by-side in an open-concept environment. This move signifies a literal breaking down of walls in Sanofi’s culture, what it calls “One Sanofi”, driven by collaboration and activity based working.

The Q&A with Sanofi is on page 14.

Another issue we take an in-depth look at this month is compensation strategies - the feature is on page 18. In keeping in line with our regional focus, we speak to Singtel and SMRT in Singapore, Astro in Malaysia and Avnet in Hong Kong, and identify how they leveraged their rewards strategies optimally.

For example, at Singtel, a bold organisational restructure saw the revamp of its benefits programme, based on employee feedback, to include enhanced medical and insurance coverage.

This wasn’t the only thing on the agenda though – in 2014, it launched an annual SG$300 bill rebate to offset against Singtel’s service subscriptions. Having listened to exactly what

employees asked for, Singtel saw low voluntary attrition at 12% compared with an industry average of 14.4%, while the staff advocacy index has steadily improved from 80 in 2013 to 82 in 2015, among other improvements.

And with that look at best practices, we have our signature Talent Management Asia conference coming up, the biggest and most respected conference in Asia dedicated to human capital management. Now in its fourth year, Talent Management Asia will feature globally respected HR gurus and Asia’s leading HR practitioners for a diverse mix of senior-level attendees.

What strengthens this year’s conference more than ever is that the centre stage action will be complemented by parallel streams focused on specialised themes such as recruitment & retention, HR technology, and learning & development. On day one, delegates will be able to pick and choose the sessions that are most relevant to them, amid the bustle of simultaneous learning and discussion avenues.

As always, we’re excited to bring this conference to you and look forward to seeing you and your teams at Talent Management Asia. Keep writing to us with your feedback or just tweet us at @Mag_HR. Enjoy the issue.

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

HumanResources

Aditi Sharma Kalra Regional editor March 2016 « Human Resources «

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News from humanresourcesonline.net

MAERS GROUP MAERSK ANNOUNCES NEW ANN MATERNITY BENEFITS MAT

The Ma Maersk Group has announced improved mat maternity benefits worldwide. “To increase th the retention of women following childbirth or adoption, the Maersk Group is from 4 April 2016 implementing a new maternity policy that improves benefits during and after maternity maternit leave for employees globally,” it stated.

The new policy includ includes a phased reintegration to work for all onshore employees and a global guaranteed minimum of 18 weeks maternity leave on full pay for all employees, subject to local workforce regulations.

The new policy will improve terms for women working for Maersk in at least 51 countries out of the 130 in which the group operates compared with the statutory minimum.

The new policy also includes a return to work programme which gives onshore employees the opportunity to work 20% less hours at full contractual pay within the first year of childbirth or adoption for up to six months after returning to work. The phased return will enable women to have a smoother transition back to work and contribute to increased employee retention.

WHY YOUR MILLENNIALS ARE LEAVING YOU

According to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s (Deloitte) fifth annual Millennial Survey, employers can expect that only about a third of the Millennial employees they have now will still be with them by 2020.

This percentage is higher in markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand wer in countries such as Australia, UK and and Philippines (69%) and only slightly lower the US (61%).

Why are so many Millennials planningg to leave?

A majority (71%) of those likely to leave inn the next two years (19%) are unhappy with how their leadership eadership skills nts higher are being developed – 17 percentage points than those planning to stay beyond 2020..

Loyal employees were, however, moree likely to agree with phrases such as “there is a lot of support/training available to those wishingg to take on leadership roles” (68% versus 52% off those planning to leave).

STAFF SAY HR DEPARTMENTS ARTMENTSS ‘NOT VERY USEFUL’ CANDIDATES C ANDIDATES BEHAVING BEHAVING BADLY BADLY

Half of bosses kno know ow within wi i the the first firirst st five fiv ivee minutes miinuttes minu tes off an interview if a candidate is a good fit for a position. But if you’re not within 50%, fret not not. With the way candidates are behaving today, that 50% today it probably won’t take long for you to figure out whether or not this is a job seeker from hell.

In a new survey from CareerBuilder, employers shared the most memorable job interview mistakes candidates have made such as: – A candidate taking a family photo off an interviewer’s desk and putting it into her purse.

– Another candidate said her main job was being a psychic and she tried to read the interviewer’s palm, despite the interviewer’s attempts to decline the offer.

– When asked why he wanted the position, the candidate replied: “My wife wants me to get a job.”

– A candidate took a phone interview into the bathroom – and flushed.

HR professionals – not only do your firm’s employees l not know k who h you are, they don’t think you’re doing a great job.

According to a recent survey by YouGov, HR departments are consistently rated as “not very useful” by (27%) of staff.

The survey identified eight areas in which employees thought their HR departments were not being useful.

These included shaping the organisation’s culture (27%), ensuring the right mix of talent (25%), developing and training people (25%), rewarding people (27%), managing performance (26%), managing individuals’ wellbeing at work (21%), administering working conditions (pay, benefits, time off, etc) (17%) and establishing adequate organisational policies (18%).

To make things worse, the survey added it is not uncommon that employees don’t really know what their HR department does.

More than half (58%) of the 1,150 employees polled thought the HR d department t t is i mainly i l responsible ibl for f grievances. i Thi was closely l l followed f ll d by b This recruitment (57%), compliance with employment law (57%), contracts (54%) with discipline issues (54%) rounding up the top five.

When asked to identify the biggest body language mistakes job seekers make, failing to make eye contact was the most popular trait (67%) identified by hiring managers.

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THE TOP TTHREE HREE MOTIVATORS MOTIVATORS DRIVING ING STAFF AT WORK

A recent survey bby th the AAssociation i ti off Chartered Ch t d C Certified tifi d Accountants A t found that recognition at work is the highest motivator, regardless of age, industry or location – even outstripping monetary rewards.

Having more challenging work and getting a more senior position were the two second highest motivators followed by job security, earning more and lastly, contributing to the public good.

Harnessing the views of almost 2,000 professionals globally, recognition was found to be particularly important in academia and education, with 90% of those in the field asking for it.

Also in the research, half of the respondents conceded that performance-related pay schemes could help foster better performances. However, up to 70% of respondents in East Asia, the Pacific and Africa agreed or strongly agreed that people may exaggerate or otherwise falsify their performance measures to meet their targets.

Additionally, there were calls for upper management to send the right signals by behaving ethically themselves, thereby reinforcing the idea of “walking the talk” and not allowing double standards to persist.

YOUR STAFF’S TOP WORKPLACE RESOLUTIONS FOR 2016

This year, many people will be closely following the mantra: “New year, new job.” A new report by CareerBuilder found 21% of employees are pledging to leave their current employers in 2016.

Among younger workers, however, the numbers are starker.

Three in 10 employees aged 18 to 34 (30%) expect to have a new job by the end of 2016 compared with 23% last year.

To keep their resolution, 34% of employees are regularly searching for job opportunities, even though they’re currently employed – a four-point increase since last year (30%).

Aside from finding a new job, the top New Year’s resolutions that workers say they’re making for the office this year are:

TAKING IT EASY: THE 10 LEAST STRESSFUL JOBS OF 2016

Stress is unavoidable, no matter your line of work. k In fact, the career found to be the least stressful in CareerCast’s new report iss a perfect example.

An information security analyst, found to be 2016’s least stressful career, was at the centre of a stressful situation in the workplace place in 2015 with the security breach at Sony Pictures Studios. he What occurred in that instance was an anomaly, however, says the report, which was generated on the basis of 11 stress-driving factors, such ch as the amount of travel, deadlines or working in the public eye.

Each job was given a stress score, corroborated with median annual income and growth outlook data pulled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The 10 least stressful jobs of 2016 are:

1. Information security analyst

6. Medical laboratory technician

2. Diagnostic medical sonographer

7. Jeweller

3. University professor (tenured)

8. Audiologist

4. Hair stylist

9. Dietitian

5. Medical records technician

10. Librarian

SEVEN MILLION JOBS COULD BE LOST BY 2020

If you hate working in the office and administrative sector, it may be time to stop taking things for granted. That industry is the most likely to see a termination of jobs by 2020, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The report is based on a survey of CHROs and top strategy executives across nine industries, covering 15 of the world’s largest economies.

It highlighted that developments in fields such as artificial intelligence and machine-learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, and genetics uption to labour markets over and biotechnology, will cause widespread disruption the next five years.

As many as 7.1 million jobs could be lost through redundancy, automation or disintermediation, with the greatest losses in white-collar office and administrative roles. et “This loss is predicted to be partially offset by the creation of 2.1 million new jobs, mainly in more specialised ‘job families’, such as computer uter and mathematical or architecture and engineering,” the WEF said.

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March 2016 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » People GET INTO THE BOSS’S HEAD

Priti Mehra Managing director, Singapore and Myanmar Millward Brown When did you start out at Millward Brown?

I started with the Kantar Group in 1997 at IMRB in India and have been with Millward Brown for the past 10 years now. It has been an interesting and rewarding journey across three continents and different roles. I have always been very discipline agnostic – I believe that consumers’ truths and brand stories need to come together and there are many ways in which we can get to that sweet spot; we do not need to define it by disciplines.

How was the experience working with the company across countries?

I worked with Millward Brown in Johannesburg for four years before moving to Singapore in 2010.

South Africa was an amazing experience. The people there lived life to the fullest and have a genuine desire to push the limits. It is a great and challenging environment to work in.

Furthermore, South Africa is a very fertile ground for learning as there are many industry experts and the advertising industry has earned international respect for producing some of the most creative advertisements (in the world).

I also found South Africa to be a lot about relationships. The people I had worked with – my teams and my clients – are now my good friends and we still stay in touch and discuss the occasional business challenge as well.

And what do you enjoy most about working here in Singapore?

Singapore has been my home for the past six years and like many others, I have spent a lot of time at airports, but it has been an amazing window to other cultures and understanding consumers from a more macro multi-country regional lens.

Managing a business, which at last count had 16 nationalities, has been a great learning experience in coming together to meet common goals, despite different backgrounds and cultures.

“HR has a vital role in forming that bridge between management and people.

Organisation goals and the HR function are inextricably linked in my mind.”

I believe in confronting the difficult challenges a business faces and then setting a clear agenda on how we are going to overcome them. It’s also very important for me that I have the trust of my team as without a strong team by your side, no leader can succeed.

Having worked across three continents, did you tweak your leadership style slightly?

I think the communication style is the one which we need to adapt. Having said that, it’s important to respect cultural nuances wherever you go and that definitely reflects in the leadership styles as well.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

Helping clients grow their brands. It is our mission statement, but that is what I have enjoyed over the years – the feeling of success and accomplishment when clients turned around and told us that we had helped them achieve what they had set out to do with their brands.

The challenges are diverse across the different industries and sectors we work with, but the sense of achievement remains the same. It’s this client partnership over the years that I really value.

What is your view of the HR function?

Human resources is a critical business function for a people-focused business like ours. We need to identify the right kind of talent, provide relevant training, help map out career paths and reward and recognise our talent. None of this is possible without HR playing a central role in the business.

How can HR add more to business goals?

By being better business partners and keeping the management close to people-specific goals.

Especially in tough trading conditions, organisations such as ours are highly dependent on our people.

HR has a vital role in forming that bridge between management and people. Organisation goals and the HR function are inextricably linked in my mind.

What has been your most memorable moment with the organisation?

There have been so many. Over the years, my teams, my clients and my bosses have contributed a lot to my life personally and professionally. It would be difficult to cherry pick any one moment.

How do you engage and motivate staff when they are struggling with work?

The first thing to do is to acknowledge there is a problem and spend time actively listening to staff. Too often we jump right into trying to solve problems without first understanding what the real problem is. aff at all We have regular catch-ups with staff ne-size-fitslevels so it’s not a broad brushstroke one-size-fitsople to feel all approach. It’s also important for people involved in decision-making and we try to ensure clear ownership of different initiatives.

How would you define your leadership style?

Inclusive and giving space for others to grow. I have always believed in unlocking the potential of people and guiding them along on their career growth.

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People « WORK LIFE

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED? I have learnt that success is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It takes a lot of hard work, effort, time and dedication.

Chloe Gan

Associate director of HR arvato Systems WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB, AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HR? I have more than 13 years of a generalist background in diversified industries, including retail, pharmaceutical and IT. My first HR generalist role was with Levi Strauss Malaysia.

The reason I chose HR as a profession is because I enjoy working with people and I find satisfaction in helping others.

I personally think HR is the backbone of the company and it is an important value driver for a successful business operation.

HR is involved right from the moment any candidate steps into the company – from interviewing, hiring, onboarding, training, learning, performance management, exit management, etc.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR CURRENT ROLE? We value the authenticity and diversity that every employee brings to the business. To generate this inspiring culture, our HR function undertakes a wide range of initiatives to engender a dynamic and enjoyable working environment, staffed by people who care about doing the best for their team and this is what I enjoy the most.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE A REGULAR WORKDAY AT ARVATO? Honestly, I don’t have a regular workday – this is why I love being in HR so much. Every day, we have different tasks and ad hoc requests from various parties, making our work life very interesting and challenging at the same time.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE HR FUNCTION WILL EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? The concept of the HR business partner is nothing new. It has been known to HR professionals for some time now. The transformation into an HR business partner model is motivated by the conviction that HR should contribute significantly to the company’s success.

I think in the next five years, HR professionals will continue to embrace technology which will enable them to drive the HR function more effectively and become more commercially relevant to the company.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU FEEL HR CAN DO BETTER TO PLAY A BIGGER ROLE IN ORGANISATIONS? There is a rising demand for HR professionals to add value to the growth of the business. Companies now view HR as a strategic partner and not just a supporting function.

At the same time, they are also recognising the importance of building their HR function’s capabilities to contribute to the business success.

Hence, I think the priority for HR now is to build its value proposition for its key stakeholders, employees, customers and investors.

HR should also move from a bottom-up perspective to a top-down perspective by understanding the business and its key objectives.

I feel that HR professionals should aim to proactively engage stakeholders, establish ways to attract and retain talent, manage diversity in the workforce, leverage on technology in our daily work, and manage organisational change and transformation.

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WORK LIFE » People

SpacialAwareness LIVING IN BLUE JEANS AT LEVI STRAUSS & CO. Since the birth of the first riveted blue jeans 143 years ago, originality has been a core value at Levi Strauss & Co. According to Karthik Sarma, the VP of HR for Asia, Middle East and Africa at Levi Strauss & Co, innovation is at the heart of everything the company does. “We have 18 nationalities working in the Singapore HQ, and with such a diverse workforce, it is critical to provide employees with an interactive open-plan workplace which fosters innovation in the way we cater to our consumers, tackle challenges and nurture a culture of being expressive yet accountable,” he said.

When moving into its new Singapore headquarters, Levi’s made it a priority to have an open working environment which allows collaboration. “This includes open collaboration areas for maximising creativity and teamwork as we believe that an engaging atmosphere, culture, connectivity and flexibility are the key to increasing overall productivity,” Sarma said.

To enhance employees’ overall wellbeing and mental concentration, all employees’ desks are height-adjustable. Additionally, an open office creates multiple opportunities for interaction. Sarma explains, “We certainly don’t want our colleagues to be bound to their desks all day. As we drive a culture of performance, ‘how’ goals are achieved is just as important to us.”

In line with this, the firm has placed a focus on ample meeting rooms, phone booths, and a large eat-in pantry area. The workspace also sports a table tennis table for employees to come back to work feeling reinvigorated.

Another key priority is engagement.

“Engagement is a key priority at Levi Strauss and we must engage the hearts and minds of our employees. Research shows that an engaged employee usually demonstrates a consistently high performance, is innovative and has a drive for efficiency.”

As such, the firm showcases its signature products – such as the original 501 blue jeans as well as the Levi’s trucker jacket – throughout the office along with a short history. This helps its employees understand the Levi’s brand, and instills in them a feeling of pride working in a company with a rich heritage.

When it comes to moving or refurbishing offices, Sarma advises companies to involve employees in the process. “It is critical to listen to your employees and to understand their requirements in order to create an environment where both they and the business will thrive.”

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Since employees spend the greatest part of their working day in the office, it is crucial this working environment provides them inspiration to enable them to give their best performance. “The work environment should connect them with what the company does and what their consumers experience.”

Levi’s does so by having a retail design lab complete with mannequins and product displays as well as having the marketing slogan – “Live in Levi’s” – written out in neon lights at the reception area.

Sarma points out another essential element is constant communication.

“Keeping employees informed with regular communication ensures they are involved in the process, making the transition that much smoother.”

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SPONSORED RECRUIT ADVICE HOW TO THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY CCL

NAVIGATING CHANGE Organisational change can be complex, continuous and often difficult.

CCL’s research has shown that 75% of change initiatives fail. That is because organisations often neglect to address the human elements that accompany major transitions, including emotional complexities, diversity of perspectives and behavioural resistance. Focusing intently on process at the expense of people can inadvertently destabilise teams or even an entire organisational structure.

So how can a leader lead change in the organisation and do so successfully?

Without proper coaching and mentoring, we can learn the wrong things and repeat them over and over again. The concept of it is just like learning golf – it can take endless hours on the practice range to achieve little improvement without the help of professional instruction to correct mistakes. Therefore, if you have a coach or mentor who understands how to lead complex, continuous change – take advantage of their support.

Achieving breakthroughs in learning Breakthroughs in learning are usually the result of readiness and opportunity. We find it difficult to perform at a higher level unless we have already learned the skills required to do so. Once we have prepared ourselves, we need the opportunity (sometimes more than one) to put our new skills to the test. If we achieve success, our learning is reinforced – that is a breakthrough.

We are faced with the challenge of becoming better at leading complex, continuous change. We have recognised that our current way of responding to change has not worked very well. Overwhelmed with projects, and many of them are not producing results, we need a better way of doing things. There are consequences for failing to improve, but we should always remain motivated to learn.

To learn, we need support, opportunity, resources and aptitude. Moreover, we must cope with bouncing back from failures and learning through them until we achieve a breakthrough in our ability. It can take some time before we see benefits that reinforce our decision to learn.

Ultimately, creating the conditions for learning to lead complex, continuous change can be challenging. In the face of demands to respond to issues that are constantly emerging, we find it difficult to take time to step back, reflect and learn.

Yet, we have a clear choice, whether we are aware of it or not: to continue on as we always have or to invest in learning.

Change is calling – embrace it As difficult as organisational change may be, there are people who choose to endure organisational change, and there are those who embrace it. Those who embrace change are the first to recognise its positive potential, even if the initial steps of change are disruptive or confusing. These are the sort of leaders who help major transitions become successful and sustainable. By accepting that change can be good, effective managers and leaders help smooth over phases of turbulence as they rally optimism in co-workers and bolster overall team confidence.

Moving people from a familiar past to an uncertain future requires vision and confidence. As the organisation introduces change, encouraging people to get on the same page is one of the most critical responsibilities of leadership. Leaving behind old ways takes time, but it becomes an exciting and worthwhile endeavour.

Organisations ought to conquer complex change by adopting a mindset change – one that encourages leaders to think fewer, think scarcer, think faster and think smarter. At the same time, learning opportunities and assistance are bonuses – these ensure that we are not learning the wrong lessons from our experience and having others around can help provide guidance, support and feedback. In the end, learning through experience is indispensable. But it’s not simply just a matter of trial and error.

The best performers in their individual fields of expertise are not born that way; they practise their way into it. In fact, research has revealed that 10,000 hours of practice seems to be the tipping point between someone who is very, very good at something and someone who is a true genius. This presumes a lot of things – that the person has an aptitude for the work; that they continue to learn and improve rather than repeating the same performance over and over 10,000 times; and that they are fortunate in having the support and resources that enable them to engage in such a focused activity as they progress from amateur to expert.

This article is contributed by Bill Pasmore, organisational practice leader

Dr Bill Pasmore is the senior vice-president of global organisational leadership at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) and the author of the new publication Leading Continuous Change.

CCL is a top-ranked, global provider of leadership development. By leveraging the power of leadership to drive results that matter most to clients, CCL transforms individual leaders, teams, organisations and society. Our array of cutting-edge solutions are steeped in extensive research and experience gained from working with hundreds of thousands of leaders at all levels. Ranked among the world’s top five providers of executive education by Financial Times and in the top 10 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CCL has offices in Greensboro, NC; Colorado Springs, CO; San Diego, CA; Brussels, Belgium; Moscow, Russia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Singapore; Gurgaon, India; and Shanghai, China.

For more information, please call +65 6854 6000 or visit www.apac.ccl.org or email ccl.apac@ccl.org

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WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

What HR experts can earn this year This year will see high demand for HR-related jobs in various sectors, as MNCs and large local firms continue to aggressively expand their presence in Singapore as a regional hub.

Specifically, increased demand is expected for in-house talent acquisition specialists and HRIS managers with compensation and benefits knowledge, owing to a shortage of candidates in the market. These insights, featured in Links International’s 2016 Asia salary snapshot, also cited continued demand for HR business partners and managers with APAC or SEA experience. (all figures in SGD)

$6K-12K

is what HR managers (including those with regional roles) with up to 10 years’ experience can expect to earn monthly.

$14K-20K is set to be offered to regional C&B directors per month.

$12K-25K is how much HR directors (including those in regional roles) with 10 to 15 years of experience can earn per month.

$18K

is what regional recruitment and organisational development directors are expected to earn monthly.

Source: Links International’s 2016 Asia salary snapshot.

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WHITE PAPER » Leadership

RECRUITMENT TRENDS IN SINGAPORE FOR 2016

Singapore – A general election and 50 years of independence – 2015 was definitely a big year for Singapore.

However, employment growth remained relatively flat, with just a 4% increase in the number of jobs advertised in 2015 year-on-year – with maximum job advertising growth in medical services (19%), information technology (16%) and HR roles (5%).

In 2016, Robert Walters’ annual salary survey anticipates no great rise in salaries, in line with stable inflation and employment scenarios.

However, with IT expected to be the most active sector for recruiters, professionals in cyber security could see a 10% to 20% rise in salaries, specifically for job movers rather than a result of the annual salary review.

In Singapore’s candidate-driven market, the survey identified the top roles across sectors that are expected to be in demand in 2016. Some of these include: Accounting: Specialists skilled in niche areas such as treasury, tax and internal audits are in high demand due to the limited talent pool.

Human resources: Change management,

How much HR professionals can expect to earn in 2016 (per annum): HR business partner

S$200,000-400,000

HR generalist

S$200,000-400,000

Organisational development expert

S$250,000-320,000

Mobility expert

S$75,000-120,000

Source: Robert Walters’ annual salary survey

problem solving and stakeholder management skills are required in senior-level HR positions.

Legal: Lawyers with proven track records and familiarity with the Singapore market are sought after within in-house legal teams.

Secretarial and support: Top-tier executive secretaries and office managers with abilities to run an office independently will see opportunities.

Within the HR function, this year will see a number of companies offshoring HR services to lower-cost locations outside of Singapore, especially tasks such as payroll and benefits administration and training support.

The second trend evident in HR is that candidates with the ability to translate HR strategies into measurable outcomes across the

business will be highly sought after in 2016 – that includes skills in change management, problem solving and stakeholder management.

Speaking to Human Resources, Bruno Marchand, manager for Robert Walters’ HR and business support (permanent) divisions in Singapore, noted that the local talent pool for HR in Singapore was “pretty strong” so there was typically no need to attract foreigners.

“The only time there is a challenge is when for senior HR roles, we need someone with exposure to different markets. For example, an MNC based in Singapore trying to develop its market in Vietnam would like to have a Vietnamese HR professional based here, given their strong market knowledge.”

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Leadership « WHITE PAPER

ARE HR DEPARTMENTS TOO POOR TO BE MORE ‘STRATEGIC’?

Global – A majority (80%) of HR leaders may think their departments already act as strategic business partners to the firm, but how many of them actually support the company’s long-term business goals and outcomes?

Not a lot, at least according to a BambooHR survey of more than 1000 current business leaders (HR and non-HR).

The report found that currently only 27% of HR professionals work with corporate boards on business strategies.

This was despite the fact the majority of respondents felt it was important to implement strategic HR practices.

However, the report added more than 72% of HR professionals revise and adapt their HR strategies reactively instead of proactively, indicating “a significant lack of strategic HR”.

So, what exactly is keeping HR professionals from proactively creating strategies to support long-term business goals and outcomes (besides not working with their corporate board)?

Among other critical things, a lack of resources (for example, budget and tools) is apparently a serious obstacle (51%), followed by inadequate software (47%).

“Without the necessary resources, HR will be stuck between wanting to master strategic HR and actually mastering strategic HR,” the report pointed out.

“But since executives recognise they aren’t doing enough, the time to ask for (and ultimately receive) more resources is now. 2015 was the year strategic HR came to the forefront of business leader’s minds. 2016 can be the year they do something about it.”

More than three out of 10 (32%) of those polled also stated a lack of executive and employee buy-in was a key obstacle preventing HR departments from being more strategic.

This was unsurprising, considering only 18% of HR professionals say the executives in their organisations provide HR with the complete support they need to be effectively strategic.

What is preventing HR departments from being more strategic?

A lack of resources (for example, budget and tools)

51%

Inadequate software

47%

Lack of executive and employee buy-in

32%

Source: BambooHR

Similarly, only 13% of non-HR management agrees that HR is given all the support they need.

“Frequently, business leaders don’t think of HR as a strategic partner because they don’t yet act like one; and they don’t act like one because the company leaders don’t give them the resources to be able to; it’s essentially a selffulfilling prophecy,” the report added.

Jassy Tan, divisional director of human resources for F J Benjamin (Singapore), told Human Resources, however, that while not all HR departments today are truly strategic, they are “getting better”.

“There are a few factors keeping HR professionals from doing that, and some could be the lack of capability, or the readiness of the organisation to accept and see HR playing that role of strategic partners,” she said.

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PROFILE » Freddie Chow

Freddie Chow Chief talent officer, Asia Pacific Sanofi Emerging from the shadows as One Sanofi

By AKANKASHA DEWAN

Q You’ve been CTO for over a year

Art Direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee using Nikon D810 – www.elliotly.com

now. What’s the best part of the role?

The role has been carved out quite uniquely for me because it allows me to focus on the senior leaders, as I look after the top 50 leaders within Asia Pacific. I focus on their career plan and aspirations.

Quite a few of these leaders are expats, so most do move on after their assignments, and I help them achieve the next stage of their career plan. I am also involved in identifying the next leader to replace them.

I enjoy the engagement with these senior leaders. We exchange a lot of experiences.

Q What’s your advice for CTOs to build a strong relationship with their CEOs? The key is really understanding where the company’s future lies - understanding its aspirations and ambitions. Talent is key to helping the business grow – so if you know where the business direction is, then you’ll be able to speak the language of the CEO. This helps us to plan successors to ensure we have the right people at the right place to support growth.

Q Have you encountered any challenges in working across divisions?

The challenge of this role is that you deal with multiple stakeholders, and hence, their needs are pretty different. You may have to work with people who are often biased – who judge and wish to work with talent based on whether they are familiar with them, rather than consider the potential of new talent objectively.

The challenge for me is to sell and hire

for us to improve further, mainly in two interrelated areas. One is in business acumen – and the other is business partnering. In order to be a good business partner, you have to know the business. And I find typically within the HR community, there is a lack of understanding of financial information. In other words, how does the P&L look, or how does the financial ratios work?

This is something we need to build on. And this can be done by maintaining budget reviews, being involved in business discussions and checking with the CFO.

the type of talent that really belongs to the organisation and is really able to support the growth of the company.

Simultaneously, I need to convince our existing employees to work with this new talent. It’s always about balancing the leader’s need and the organisation’s need.

Q Having been with Sanofi since 1992, How have you seen HR evolve?

In the past, HR used to be quite transactional, and people looked at it from an operational point of view. Today, HR is becoming more and more strategic. It partners with the business, collaborates transversely, and importantly, functions on a shared service centre model. This makes it play a key role in developing and encouraging the future of the organisation.

Q What is Sanofi’s HR team currently working on?

Talent management is a key area, but more importantly, we are putting in place a company system, while working with Workday. This is being done to make sure we capture all employee information within one system. Sanofi has a slightly complicated business structure as we run different business activities. We are trying to become “one” Sanofi – and to do that we need one standard system to combine all business information. This system will capture all aspects of talent management.

Q What are the biggest challenges the HR team is encountering?

The challenges are more like opportunities

VITAL STATS Freddie Chow is the chief talent officer for Asia Pacific at Sanofi.

He has more than 20 years of experience in human resource management and 23 years working for the Sanofi Group. Before this appointment, he was the vice-president of human resources for Sanofi Asia/ China. His early career years were in the fields of purchasing and materials management.

Q What do you do to overcome talent shortages in your industry?

There are a number of things we need to do to overcome talent shortage. One is to continuously scout for talent – we don’t wait until we need to fill a vacancy. We should continuously engage with external candidates, know the kind of external talent landscape and know what people are looking for. We should also know what our competitors are doing, how they are growing the business and where they are attracting their talent from.

It’s also important to build a solid employer brand, through campus talks and getting people to visit the company.

We have to sell to talent the vision of our company to enable them to believe what the company can achieve.

Q So how then is the HR function in Sanofi becoming more predictive?

The key thing we’re talking about is

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“ Y O U T O

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A N D

W I S H

W O R K

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PROFILE » Freddie Chow We are working on that. Today, we are very good with coming up with a business plan. We are now trying to integrate the business plan with the human capital plan so that we know if we need to grow the business by this percentage, where and how we can get the talent we need.

Q You mentioned employer branding is one of the techniques you’re using to overcome the war on talent. How are you building a good employer brand?

Sanofi has evolved from a purely pharmaceutical company, dealing more with prescription drugs, to a diversified healthcare company, with businesses in animal health, consumer healthcare, etc.

For employer branding, the good thing now is that we’re able to attract talent from different industries, such as FMCG. In the past, we were only able to scout for talent within the pharmaceutical industry.

Q Sanofi in August last year shifted

workplace planning. While the business has a long-range plan for about five years, HR has to do the same. What is the HR human capital five-year plan?

With the plan, you’re able to forecast the talent capability you need, the number you wish to hire, etc. So you start to build your forecast. Once you have that, you can go out to scan the market and do the talent scouting. Then you can map out the available talent. Don’t wait until the day you can hire. Instead, you can start engaging them on the spot.

As part of my role, I work with some headhunters who introduce me to candidates even though I have no role for them at the present. Internally also, I scan for talent within the organisation.

So I would say i am like an internal and external headhunter.

Sanofi is a large company with over 100,000 employees. We have enough talent across the organisation. My job is to hunt them out, meet and talk to them, and discover what they really want to do.

So when the time comes, we can plan to scout for the right people.

Q Does Sanofi’s have that long-term talent plan in place already?

to an office space where employees would, for the first time, work side by side in an open-concept, free-seating environment. What was the philosophy behind this change?

In the Singapore office in South Beach Tower, we have three floors that consist of the sales affiliates and a regional platform for different business activities. A majority of the employees belong to regional teams and they travel around 50% of the time.

In terms of space utilisation, this allows better use of the floor area than having many closed offices. Also, we wanted to create the “one” Sanofi family and having open offices improves the interaction and collaboration of employees.

This open office is designed based on an activity-based workplace concept.

Employees can decide where they sit based on the job activities they are doing at that time. There are also collaborating work stations, and 60 meeting rooms, if anyone needs to have brainstorming discussions with their team.

Q Were employees receptive to this?

In the beginning, there was a lot of resistance, as people found the change to be quite drastic, since it involved losing their personal office or space. They asked questions such as whether they would have to come into the office early to find a seat or whether it would be too noisy.

Q So how did you overcome that?

We appointed a change consultant who helped us manage the resistance.

We identified change ambassadors across different teams and they held regular meetings to update people on the progress, created activities to build awareness, organised visits to other open-plan offices, created a mock-up office to test the new systems such as the Lync Communicator, asked for feedback and addressed concerns. This started to change the mindset of the people and by the time we moved, they loved the new office and their concerns were gone.

Q Any changes to your engagement rates owing to this floor plan?

We did not carry a formal survey, but through our town hall meeting in the first month, we received very positive feedback and staff morale is certainly at a high.

Q One of the biggest stressors for staff is when they are uncertain about change. How does Sanofi handle changes made to any HR policy?

Any changes made on HR policy are raised in a management meeting first to seek management approval or endorsement. Depending on the extent of the change, communication is made through line managers, before reaching out to all employees. Different channels are used such as emails, webcasts, town hall meetings or managers’ briefings.

Communication is key to reducing the anxiety of employees. We need to allow them to ask questions and clarify.

Q How have leaders and staff changed the way they work as a result of this change?

Today, leaders are sitting and working with junior staff in the same room. They are talking to each other much more. The hierarchy has started to break down as people are free to move around. They are also able to interact with people across different business activities. This has really changed the whole culture of collaboration, engagement and interaction.

Q Speaking of leaders, what leadership development policies do you have in place?

Our people and leadership development policy identifies development needs. It also entails designing global leadership programmes and runs them for leaders. For example, we recognise that

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Freddie Chow « PROFILE communication skills are very important for leaders so we run a programme called IMPACT. The aim of the programme is to inspire teams and cascade strategic messages to increase engagement and motivation. This corporate programme is conducted for the top 300 leaders in Sanofi and today we are also cascading it to other levels in the organisation.

Q How do you track how well your employees are performing?

First of all, we do have a performance management system that starts with the employee and manager agreeing on the priorities for the year. The employees’ objectives are measured on the “what” and the “how” at the end of the year and feedback is given by the manager.

Q And what initiatives do you have in place to engage employees?

Sanofi conducts an engagement survey called PULSE, usually once every two years, to measure employee engagement.

In Singapore, we have a quarterly town hall, and the business leaders of each business activity will share their business goals and provide an update

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of their business performance. We have a recreation club formed by employees who organise employee events to engage employees and create the “one” Sanofi family. Events such as the annual D&D, CNY lunch, and group runs and gym memberships are organised for employees.

Q How important is teamwork?

What policies does Sanofi have in place to ensure there is a smooth collaboration between virtual teams among its staff – considering it has operations in more than 100 countries?

Teamwork is very important at Sanofi as we are a matrix organisation and most of us have more than one reporting boss. To ensure a smooth collaboration between individuals and teams, one of our competencies that we are measured on in our performance appraisal is “transversal collaboration”. We also have a corporate global leadership programme called INFLUENCE that trains employees on working with multi-stakeholders and achieving a win-win outcome.

Q Clearly, Sanofi’s HR team plays a significant role in ensuring the

company achieves its business goals. What is the one element of your HR team which you are most proud of, and is the biggest strength of the HR team?

I think we are an organisation that has changed a lot, which has transformed a lot and has gone through a lot of integrations.

And that is exactly what our HR team is good at – taking a lead in our change transformation agenda. This has become a very critical competency for us. We have always said that to really survive in Sanofi you must be prepared to accept change and be prepared to deal with it.

Q How do you think HR is different in different countries?

I think it is very different. For example, China is a big emerging market; it is still growing, but it is also a very complex organisation. China itself is more than one country – it is like a continent. So if you look at people in the north, south, east and west, the culture is very different.

Therefore, when you look at people in this type of context, you have to be very agile in knowing their needs and what they wish to achieve.

19/2/2016 4:16:39 PM

FEATURE » Compensation and Benefits

In trying economic times, organisations need to retain their most talented employees by rewarding them for their performance. Jerene Ang speaks to award winners from the HR Excellence Awards 2015 – Singtel, Astro and more – to bring out the components of reward strategies that make employee retention worth every cent.

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Compensation and Benefits « FEATURE hen sailing in choppy economic waters, it is increasingly important for organisations to attract and retain their talent in order to meet business targets.

While more employees – especially Millennials – are placing more importance on nonmonetary benefits, money is still a motivating factor in employees’ decisions to stay or leave.

According to the 2016 Hays Asia Salary Guide, the salary or benefit package is the top reason why employees look for a new job in Singapore (43%), Hong Kong (65%) and Malaysia (53%).

However, with the economic instability of recent years, it is only natural businesses have tried to keep costs down. How should organisations strike this balance between minimising costs and an attractive compensation and benefits plan?

Th is feature showcases regional case studies of organisations rated the winners and fi nalists in the 2015 edition of the HR Excellence Awards.

Case one: Singtel (Singapore) In 2012, Singtel announced a bold organisational restructure per customer segments instead of geographical lines. To drive business transformation, the right people were required, for which the right talent needed to be attracted, engaged and motivated through a sound compensation and benefits strategy.

Singtel’s compensation package now comprises not just the basic pay structure based on job roles, but also a variable component that links rewards to an employee’s contribution to business performance as well as their embodiment of Singtel’s core values.

The package is tied to Singtel’s four guiding principles – alignment of interests with shareholders and support of business transformation; fair and appropriate distribution of rewards; effective implementation to meet rigorous corporate governance requirements and ensure employee understanding; and clear line-of-sight to drive the right behaviour.

The rewards are communicated to employees at the point of employment through regular briefi ngs as well as the intranet.

With Singtel’s senior management taking staff performance and wellbeing seriously, these policies are reviewed regularly against feedback March 2016 « Human Resources « 19

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FEATURE » Compensation and Benefits

from its staff engagement survey, market trends and legislative changes. The management also actively seeks input from the Union of Telecoms Employees of Singapore (UTES), and maintains a strong management-union relationship.

In its efforts to continually improve, Singtel conducted a staff survey in early 2014. Results showed that employees perceived performance management as an onerous exercise, and performance discussions as heavily centred on performance ratings and bonuses, with little emphasis on career development.

Based on this, the team implemented a new performance management platform on its new global One HR system, HRCentral, in 2015.

HRCentral allows managers to cascade a business objective to the entire team or an individual, creating a clear line of sight for employees in what they have to deliver and how their goals contribute to overall success.

The system also contains built-in training guides to help employees set measurable KPIs and engage in meaningful performance feedback and career conversations. The system is open all year round.

The employee-oriented company also further revamped its benefits programme in April 2014 following feedback from an employee survey in 2012. Singtel’s new benefits programme features enhanced medical and insurance coverage. The company also collaborated with its healthcare provider to review a list of panel clinics, introduced a clinic locator application, as well as constructed a new in-house clinic at NCS Hub. The next step was to ensure employees were aware of the changes and the benefits they were entitled to. To achieve this, Singtel not only summarised its policies on the intranet, but also used animated videos and posters to bring across the value of these benefits. Briefi ng sessions and roadshows were also conducted.

Th is wasn’t the only thing on Singtel’s compensation and benefits agenda – in 2014, it

launched the Singtel $300 programme, which provides an annual SG$300 bill rebate to offset against Singtel’s service subscriptions. In 2015, the fi rm renewed the Singtel collective agreement that guarantees base terms and conditions of employment for bargainable employees for the following three years.

In FY2015, Singtel saw a 4% increase in net business profit, and a steady increase in engagement scores from 75 in 2013 to 76 in 2014 to 78 in 2015. At the same time, voluntary attrition was low at 12% compared with an industry average of 14.4%, while the staff advocacy index has steadily improved from 80 in 2013 to 81 in 2014 to 82 in 2015.

Case two: SMRT (Singapore) To build a high performance and engaged workforce in a complex operating landscape, SMRT designed its C&B schemes to be market competitive, and aligned to business performance along five strategic thrusts: improve operational performance, enhance the customer experience, strengthen workforce health, instil organisational excellence, and ensure sustainable growth.

“We leverage on our compensation and benefits schemes to power SMRT’s transformation and drive cultural change,” said Koh Teck Chee, deputy director of careers and rewards at SMRT. In line with its pay-for-performance philosophy, the fi rm rewards performance and productivity – not just based on the performance of the individual, but also that of the organisation. Th is can be seen from its annual bonus allocation mechanism which comprises company and individual performance components. By establishing a common set of goals for all staff in the company, HR fosters greater collaboration and shared ownership across the organisation.

Recently, the company reviewed its rewards structures to meet the different requirements of its fare (that is, public transportation) and non-fare businesses. A greater emphasis was placed on operational performance for its fare businesses in trains and buses, while fi nancial achievements were weighed more for its non-fare businesses such as advertising and commercial activities.

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Compensation and Benefits « FEATURE Salary reviews and competitive benchmarking are also conducted regularly as part of a bigger plan to enhance the career development and progression of all employees.

In addition, performance-linked incentives are purposefully scheduled on both a longterm and short-term basis to maximise staff motivation to induce better performance and higher productivity. SMRT also utilises nonmonetary measures to complement monetary rewards by applauding individual and team excellence, and celebrating company successes at key events.

The company’s competitive rewards and compensation packages have enabled HR to grow SMRT’s headcount by 30%, despite a tight labour market. SMRT successfully attracted and grew its engineering headcount by more than 100% to about 400 today, despite Singapore’s acute shortage of engineers. The fi rm was also able to attract a pool of experienced global talent to kick-start a new subsidiary, Singapore Rail Engineering, in 2014.

Voluntary attrition rates halved to reach a low of 5.3% this fi nancial year (ending in March). Employee engagement scores are at best-in-class levels, with nine in 10 staff being proud to serve at SMRT, and 86% of staff being sustainably engaged – a noteworthy increase from the 82% score in 2013, which places the company way above the Singapore norm of 80%.

Customer service levels and network reliability have also improved. The compliments-to-complaints ratio improved by 25% over the past year; train delays of more than five minutes have dropped from a peak of 1.8 incidents per 100,000 km to 0.7 now; and the number of trains being pulled out of service dropped from three per 100,000 km to less than one now.

In addition, the fi rm’s profits remained resilient despite big increases in spending on maintenance and the renewal of ageing rail assets. Th is is partly attributed to productivity gains even as wages grew – economic value added per employee increased 6.5% from FY2014 to FY2015.

Moving ahead, SMRT will continue to review its compensation and benefits strategy to shape workforce culture and provide meaningful careers for its employees.

Case three: Astro (Malaysia) Integrated consumer media entertainment

group Astro knew that to achieve its five-year growth strategy of becoming Malaysia’s leading source of consumer entertainment, it needed to attract and retain both on-air and off-air talent. It set out to build an employer brand that catered to the workforce needs and embraced diversity as a source of competitive advantage.

Part of building an attractive employer brand is having benefits that meet employees’ diverse needs, based on what stage in the employment life cycle they are at. Astro decided to implement a customisable benefits plan – myChoice@Astro – in 2011, the aim of which was to empower employees to choose their benefits according to their priorities, be it cash rewards, training and development or medical needs. Additionally, it provides employees with a comprehensive range of reimbursable items to suit each individual’s needs.

MyChoice@Astro has five components, which include a benefit allowance based on salary and job grade, allowing staff to top-up the flexible spending account, and an option to upgrade core health insurance and medical coverage. The core benefits of the plan include annual leave, meal allowances and free payTV subscription. On the other hand, optional benefits include health and wellness, fi nancial benefits and transport benefits, including a new vehicle maintenance component.

The plan also includes four upgrades: encashment which converts unutilised annual leave and outpatient coverage into flexi points and allows employees to earn additional points by staying healthy; enhancement – allowing the user points to improve core health and medical benefits; enrichment – an optional portable and personal hospital and surgical top-up insurance coverage; and a leave depository – which allows staff to deposit annual leave into a leave bank for extended leave use in the future or on family care emergencies.

Astro communicated this new plan through various channels, including its intranet, online portal for employee self-service, e-newsletters, as well as the annual total rewards statement which breaks down the components for compensation so employees can understand what they are getting – both tangible and intangible aspects.

“Employees were initially sceptical of the benefit offerings when introduced to myChoice@Astro. There was also a need to manage legacy benefit offerings that were in March 2016 « Human Resources « 21

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FEATURE » Compensation and Benefits

In FY2015, Singtel saw a steady increase in engagement scores from 75 in 2013 to 76 in 2014 to 78 in 2015. Voluntary attrition was low at 12% compared with an industry average of 14.4%.

place prior to myChoice@Astro,” said Paul Thomas Kannimmel, senior vice-president of human capital at Astro Malaysia Holdings.

“Having said that, moving away from a onesize-fits-all C&B model won over our employees from diverse backgrounds.”

Since the launch of myChoice@Astro, the company’s employee satisfaction rate has increased from 54% in 2011 to 63% in 2013. At the same time, the attrition rate has decreased over the years, remaining consistently below the Malaysian norm.

Furthermore, there has been a steady improvement in employees’ overall health and well being, with the average number of sick leave used per year dropping from 2.98 days in 2011 to 2.43 days in 2014 as employees are incentivised with additional flexi points for low sick leave utilisation.

Moving forward, Astro plans to enhance the myChoice@Astro programme in two ways – one, by growing the list of reimbursable items, and two, by introducing an employee assistance programme to improve their physical and psychological health.

Case four: Avnet (Hong Kong) For Avnet Technology Hong Kong, in the business of supply chain of electronic component solutions, having great people is a strategic differentiator.

With this in mind, “inspired and engaged people” is one of the core components of its strategic framework.

In the past couple of years, however, Avnet noticed the employee turnover at its logistics centre was particularly high, especially among its distribution centre (DC) assistants. Hence, in October 2014, it formed a project team within

HR to address the persistent high employee turnover in this function.

In January 2015, the team introduced an engagement bonus programme to its DC assistants. It works by giving 90% of DC assistants a bonus at the end of the FY in July, based on the employee’s individual performance rating as well as the percentage attained of the perfect attendance allowance.

The top 20% of DC assistants are eligible to receive a bonus of about 67% of the average monthly salary, the top 21% to 90% employees receive around 53%, while the bottom 10% do not receive the bonus payout.

The programme was approved by senior management and the team partnered with line managers to communicate it to employees via face-to-face meetings.

When devising the new programme, the Avnet team made sure that the coverage of the targeted group was wide enough to engage performing employees – while also making sure that the payout amounts were calculated fairly while being significant enough to motivate staff.

The other set of considerations included the cost-benefit analysis, time and duration, senior management buy-in and the collaboration with line management.

The programme saw huge success in reducing the turnover rate of DC assistants – from 26% in FY14 to 5.7% in FY15, leading to a drop in overall turnover from 23.9% to 9.3% for the logistics centre, far below the target of 18% set by management. Other than this, the programme also improved employee attendance by an average of 6.2%, brought about cost savings of US$$300,000 per year, and reduced the number of quality issues from 30 in the fi rst half of FY15 to 11 in the second half.

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Executive Relocation « FEATURE

With the need to meet multi-generational employee expectations, while simultaneously fulfilling business needs, corporate mobility has now become a canvas of experimentation for HR leaders trying to formulate a solid relocation strategy. Akankasha Dewan explores how best to master the art of corporate relocation today. orldwide, mobility programmes are increasingly being included in attracting, recruiting and engaging talent. Such programmes also allow companies to take advantage of emerging opportunities and markets and cope with macro-economic events flexibly, while controlling costs.

“There seems to be an increase in the ‘internationalisation’ of business with increased trade and travel, in technology providing new opportunities and in the world generally becoming a smaller place,” says Stephen Park, global mobility manager of Fonterra.

The art of corporate relocation In line with such trends, companies today are stepping up efforts to ensure relocated employees are being taken care of optimally.

“In the past, corporate relocation involved sending a business leader from the company’s headquarters as a representative or figure head to keep a watchful eye on the local subsidiary and ensure the local subsidiary repatriated profits home,” Park says.

Now, he adds, an “industry” has been “developed for high-touch services to support this art of corporate relocation”.

Echoing his views, Tarun Gulrajani, the head

of human resources at REHAU, says fi rms who don’t focus on supporting relocated staff may lose out on the global war for talent.

“Companies now want to ensure that employees have the best experience in every aspect of their work life, and this goes without saying, is addressed towards corporate relocation as well,” he says.

In essence, the delivery of the relocation experience – and its implications for a future relationship – is more critical than ever before.

The pressure on HR departments to justify expenditures, manage programme costs and support mobility decisions will only increase.

To stay ahead of this trend, HR departments should consider setting up specialised centres and dedicated units to incorporate solid relocation models. Th is is exactly what Siemens has done, according to Rahima Ibrahim, senior vice-president of human resources.

Because of the massive relocation of employees worldwide, Siemens has created several regional hubs to manage specific country legal and tax laws.

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation to ensure effective and efficient services are provided and business needs are met.”

She adds that corporate relocation or, as Siemens calls it, “international delegation” is essential to supporting the company’s strategy because it helps in “placing competent managers and experts where they are needed”.

Multi-generational complexities The inherent problem in doing this, however, is that placing and developing the right talent at the right place involves dealing with employees of all ages and skill levels.

“Currently, it seems corporate relocation

“Implementing an effective strategy for corporate relocation enables the teams performing or supporting business activities to have the right skills set at the right time to deliver business results with the least amount of distraction.”

– Stephen Park, global mobility manager at Fonterra

has moved down the organisation. For example, companies are relocating armies instead of just sending their captains overseas. Th is means that employees even in their early careers are being expatriated to more diverse home locations than in the past,” Park explains.

Indeed, as the mobility industry has grown, it has attracted Baby Boomers, Gen X and now Millennials, on par with industry demands.

“The biggest differences we see among the generations is the balance between technology and personal interaction,” says T.J. Spencer, vice president sales, Oakwood Worldwide.

“The Baby Boomers use technology, but tend to prefer to have a person guide them through the relocation process. Generation X is a bit of a hybrid, comfortable with both technology and personal interaction. Millennials, to no one’s surprise, are very immersed in technology and prefer to communicate virtually and expect information immediately.”

Because of this, all interviewees agree that mobility strategies will need to evolve to meet more sophisticated deployment demands, while simultaneously managing the very different needs and expectations of the new multigenerational workforce.

“Implementing an effective strategy for corporate relocation enables the teams performing/supporting business activities to have the right skills set at the right time to deliver business results with the least amount of distraction,” Park says.

“However, one of the fundamental points for corporate relocation to include is the human touch and being able to develop individuals, family units, teams, clients and other networks in person in real time.”

Essentially, multiple stakeholders are involved in the process, and to develop all of them, it becomes important for HR professionals to understand generational profi les and differences.

Of course, there are always candidates that don’t fall into neat categories based on age.

But when relocation managers understand the needs, desires and expectations of each generation, it is easier to create a relocation offer that aligns with those needs.

“It is about setting realistic expectations at the HR policy level, coaching the business about managing their own expectations of relocation along with their employees’, being transparent and consistent so there are no surprises, and creating a sense of trust as relocating is a huge commitment,” Park says.

The Millennial conundrum But this is easier said than done, with today’s well-informed and inter-connected workforce.

“People are well read, well travelled, some of them have even had early experiences living in another country for a few months either through an exchange programme in a school or later in life through short project assignments to other countries. Employees have no qualms moving to a new location with family in tow, as they feel they gain a lot more from new work experiences, new collaborations with team members and spending some time developing expertise outside their home turf,” Gulrajani says.

Because of the possibility of such previous experiences in travelling, he adds HR needs to be extra careful in not making promises regarding relocation policies and benefits that cannot be sustained.

“On the same token, it also hurts HR’s reputation when relocation companies over promise and under deliver. I have moved countries a couple of times and it is never an easy thing to do, too many factors are at play

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation and it does not help when the relocation does not go well,” he says.

Th is is especially important for Millennials, who seem to be fast dominating the relocated population. While those aged 50-59 are currently the largest group of assignees, the 2014 Brookfield Global Relocation Trends Survey found the fastest growing age group within the mobility sector is 30-39 at an overall 33%.

Indeed, the report adds that as Baby Boomers start to retire, the Millennial employee is advancing in an increasingly connected global marketplace. More complex mobility patterns are emerging across the region, both intra-regional and west to east.

Th is complexity is, however, made more prevalent because Millennials seem to bring with them new and sometimes contradicting perspectives regarding relocation.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “Millennials at Work: Reshaping the Workplace” report, 70% of Millennials want or expect an overseas assignment at some point in their careers. And with 1.8 billion Millennials globally predicted to make up 50% of the workforce by 2020, employers need to ensure their relocation programmes are attractive to this generation – a feat which is not devoid of its own challenges.

Gulrajani believes Millennials are “easier to relocate” than other generations because they

Box clever: 70% of Millennials want or expect an overseas assignment at some point in their careers.

are “fresh off the block” and are willing to take on challenges and new experiences.

Th is is echoed by Park, who says that at “the moment we can generalise and say they are at the early stages of their careers”.

“They are at a phase where they are developing their skills and capabilities and our concept of co-investing in their career is very relevant. They typically have no children or have infants so they are more mobile and able to relocate and their partner (if they have one) is able to be mobile as well.”

Interestingly, while admitting Millennials are easy to relocate because they are “keen to learn and want international exposure for their career development”, Ibrahim warns that being “ambitious”, the young generation can sometimes get “impatient” and companies need to fast-track their careers and provide them with challenging assignments.

Maintaining a delicate balance In such a situation, it becomes difficult to formulate fi xed and solid relocation policies for each generation.

However, the issue at hand, Park explains, doesn’t remain at whether a particular generation is easier to relocate, but how to maintain the delicate balance between standardising relocation practices and meeting the specific situational requirements of relocating each employee.

“The biggest challenge is managing expectations when you have a duty of care to two parties (business versus employee),” he says. He adds that in the process of relocating, employees talk among themselves and compare themselves to other organisations and do their own informal benchmarking.

“The danger is that perceptions are generated based on incomplete information and you have challenging discussions as to what is right,” he says.

Park suggests it is precisely due to the erratic nature of relocating employees that HR leaders need to be able to fi rstly analyse the needs of all the stakeholders involved.

“Each relocation has competing drivers and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach. You have to think who is involved with each corporate relocation and there’s a lot of interested people: the employee, the hiring manager in the home location, the hiring manager in the host location, HR in the home

28 » Human Resources » March 2016

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation

“The biggest disservice HR can do is trying to focus on everything instead of letting the experts deal with it.

This also helps in neutrality as you are taking yourself out of the equation. “ – Tarun Gulrajani, the head of human resources at REHAU

hiring manager in the home location, the hiring manager in the host location, HR in the home location, HR in the host location, fi nance, etc,” he says.

He explains: “I think you have to quickly identify parties who are decision makers, who are supportive, who provide challenges and juggle the competing drivers to come up with a business decision. It’s an art, you will always receive different interpretations from the interested people.”

Spencer adds that the duty of care, “which as a result of recent well-publicised incidents and international security concerns, has jumped to the top of the agenda for many organisations when reviewing their in-house travel and risk procedures for employees”.

“Increasingly therefore organisations are looking to their global housing providers to provide a level of care for their employees.”

Gulrajani warns, however, of the dangers of catering to everyone’s demands, adding that HR should also not hesitate to take help from experts where necessary.

“Don’t look at pleasing everyone because you won’t. And don’t try to do everything yourself,” he advises.

“The biggest disservice HR can do is trying to focus on everything instead of letting the experts deal with it. Th is also helps in neutrality as you are taking yourself out of the equation.”

He cites an example of maintaining such a balance between catering towards employee demands and fulfi lling business needs – in the area of relocation pay packages.

“One option that I implemented in my previous company was to completely transform relocation benefits to a relocation cost. So instead of offering employees ‘X’ number of relocation benefits, we started given them a relocation amount. We told them they now have ‘Y’ dollars to play with, and they get to decide how to use that amount.

He added the company’s policy was to not take back any unused dollars and employees got to keep savings, if there were any.

“That was a win-win as there were fewer complaints as the onus was on their employees to ‘manage their fi nance. From an administrative perspective it was a lot easier on HR as our relocation costs table was created based on job levels and the host country costs.

Th is made it fair for everyone,” he says.

Similarly, Park elaborates on the philosophy Fonterra has adopted to structure relocation employees of different age groups.

“For international assignments, we are moving towards balancing the employee’s needs for support while on assignment versus business requirements for the assignment.

“The key thing is to understand if there is a need to have a connection to the home country whether it is for legal requirements, duty of care for the employee (immigration/tax/healthcare/ pension/social security), talent requirements for the employee to remain globally mobile, etc.

If so, then we look at providing the home-based approach to compensation structures.”

He adds the company generally does not try and differentiate employees’ pay packages based on age.

Instead, the organisation looks at “the personal circumstances relative to their level of seniority within the organisation and benchmarks constantly”.

“For example, the housing budget for a single person is generally smaller than the budget for a family of five, and the housing budget for a person in their early career is generally smaller in dollar terms than a person in the senior career category (maybe in absolute terms only, but percentage of housing allowance to relative income may be the other way around).”

Such an approach is, undoubtedly, in line with the fi rm’s efforts to maintain the balance between flexibility and consistency when it comes to relocation. Though far from achieving “global mobility nirvana”, as Park terms it, this approach is a step towards attaining it.

In essence, shaping a corporate relocation programme to fully enhance and support multigenerational needs and business goals is one of the most effective ways that organisations can meet the challenges of the future. The winners now and in the years to come will be those companies that adjust their relocation strategies now to address these requirements.

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22/2/2016 1:07:21 PM

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OPINION » Learning & development

How BT’s leaders create ‘energy’ in the firm USHA BAIDYA Vice-president of human resources for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), BT Global Services

The 3 types of leadership programmes which equip bosses to fully optimise staff potential.

Plugged in: The BT Academy is made up of four faculties: leadership, customer first, technical and business, and 29 professions.

Talent acquisition and retention are always challenges for any organisation, but the problem is particularly acute within the IT and telecom sector, where fastpaced innovation and transformation are the reality.

This is especially true in the booming region of Asia, where the pool of talent is limited and the competition for experienced and skilled professionals is very fierce.

As a recognised progressive employer managing 87,000 people across 170 countries, BT has been highly successful in grooming talents in the region, where we have more than 5,500 staff.

BT’s new approach to learning is based on the world’s best thinking. It’s a way for people to continuously develop their skills and careers, and we provide tools, programmes and communities to help them learn, share and collaborate.

We have the BT Academy, which is made up of four faculties: leadership, customer first, technical and business, and 29 professions.

A “profession” is a group of people who have similar professional skills, capabilities and experiences. These “professions” bring BT people together, helping us exploit the things we have in common and therefore learning to innovate and develop together.

Through the BT Academy, we’re also helping leaders to

understand the way they can help BT to grow by encouraging them to aim high, coach to succeed and create energy. So far, more than 5,000 of BT’s leaders have taken part in three major leadership development programmes.

BT’s “the leadership challenge” is a world-class learning experience for the senior leaders in the company and an important step in building on our existing leadership capability.

In addition, we have a “challenging leadership in action” development programme for the leaders across our biggest teams, and we have the pioneers programme, which is aimed at first-line leaders in BT. The purpose of all three programmes is simple: to equip our leaders with the skills and behaviours to get the best out of our people and grow the business.

BT also fosters further cross-collaboration through the “BT challenge cup”, an annual competition that encourages employees from different departments to work together in devising the best solutions to specific business problems.

The best teams are evaluated in a global final and one of the winning teams, for example, launched a video channel on YouTube that offered solutions to common customer problems.

We want BT to be a place where everyone has the opportunity to succeed, our people are coached for success and we recognise great performance.

32 » Human Resources » March 2016

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OPINION » People issues

HR policies to make your workplace NS-friendly TAN YING Vice-president of human resources, CDL

Having policies that take into account diverse workforce needs, such as those of National Servicemen, not only garner awards, but also ensures NSmen stay productive at both work and in the field.

An arrow in the quiver: NSmen are given a full day’s leave on the day of their individual physical proficiency test so they can prepare sufficiently.

The economic progress and prosperity of Singapore is founded on national security. A strong defence and credible security force ensures a stable environment for businesses to grow and flourish.

It is the responsibility and interest of every citizen – both corporates and individuals alike, to safeguard Singapore’s present and future.

With a sizeable proportion of National Servicemen (NSmen) working for large corporations, it is important for companies such as CDL to take the lead in pro-NS initiatives.

Besides our economic defence, our employees who are NSmen can have peace of mind to focus on their NS duties during in-camp training (ICTs). This builds a psychological defence and helps ensure the Singapore Armed Forces remains at a high state of readiness which enhances our military defence.

Through their training in ICT, our NSmen also hone important skills and qualities, such as organisational abilities, resilience, teamwork and tenacity, and this in turn, can be applied to their work environment.

CDL is cognisant of the importance of national service and since 1999 has introduced NS-friendly policies that place the fulfilment of NS duties at a high priority.

With the strong support and endorsement from our senior management team and heads of department at CDL, there was little resistance faced in the implementation of NS-friendly policies. Employees were also quick to embrace the initiatives and were appreciative of them.

HR policies for CDL’s national service staff Some key NS-friendly policies at CDL include giving NSmen a

full day’s leave on the day of their individual physical proficiency test (IPPT) so they can have sufficient preparation and rest time.

In addition, under the IPPT standard scheme, CDL matches IPPT rewards dollar-for-dollar and accords our NSmen half to a day off (depending on the award level they achieve).

As further encouragement for those who have improved on their IPPT results or maintained a gold award and for those who are promoted during their NS stints, we provide supplementary monetary rewards and commendation letters.

A half day off is also granted to NSmen at the end of their low/high key in-camp training to allow them to recuperate.

To ensure that CDL’s NSmen stay fit all year round, staff games and exercise programmes are also organised to promote an active lifestyle after work.

Taking care of those who take care of the nation The various NS-friendly schemes at CDL allow our NSmen to benefit both physically and mentally. The activities and initiatives encourage them to stay fit and perform well for their IPPT, while the support extended allows them to focus on their NS responsibilities during ICT with peace of mind.

For over a decade, our supportive manpower planning measures have allowed CDL to achieve zero deferment for ICT due to work reasons.

For our sustained commitment towards NS, CDL has been accorded several awards over the years. This includes being conferred the NS Advocate Award for Large Companies in 2015, which is the highest accolade given by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) in recognition of CDL’s consistent support for total defence, and in particular, national servicemen.

34 » Human Resources » March 2016

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»

Unconventional wisdom OPINION

Minding the generation gap Can this gap be resolved through an intense focus on training leaders to manage across generations? current population of Millennials (aged 16-36) is already in managerial roles. This represents four generational groups (Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y) co-existing in the workplace. Generation Y is 70 million-strong – roughly double the size of Gen X. The combination of Gen Y advancing up the ranks and Baby Boomers often refusing to retire has, over years, dramatically shifted the composition of the workforce. More importantly, Boomers and Gen Ys are together redefining what constitutes a great place to work.

CHELLA PANDIAN Sub-region HR director, Merck Sharp & Dohme

A bridge too far? Managers need to stop using the same old approach.

There’s been much discussion around Gen

Y’s working style and behaviours, and strategies to manage them, most of which is raised by Gen X leaders. On the other hand, Gen Y has been complaining Gen X being old timers, very conventional and clueless about technology.

Where does the root of the problem lie – the Millennials’ expectations or the leadership style of Gen X? It’s worthwhile to analyse this from yesteryears’ perspective.

Born in the post World War II era, Baby Boomers are frequently respected as the “workaholic generation” because they were willing to work long hours to secure career advancement.

Generation X was the first to see fast-emerging technology, grew up taking care of themselves, and watching their parents lose their jobs. This shaped their willingness to work hard, but they yearned to spend more time with their family. They were good examples of ‘calculated risk and moderate returns’.

The general perception about Millennials is they have a short attention span, are job hoppers, and live by the motto, “you only live once”. At the workplace, they advocate a work-life balance. They appreciate flexible working hours, but are willing to sacrifice leisure time to complete their responsibilities. They have understood the meaning of ‘high risks and high returns’.

Respect is a value that has been highly instilled in Baby Boomers and Gen X – taught to respect those more knowledgeable than them. Alternately, Gen Y proposes that respect does not succumb to age, knowledge, status or position.

Statistics to put things in perspective According to the 2015 Millennial Majority Workforce, a joint study by Elance-oDesk and Millennial Branding, 28% of the

What’s the generation gap about?

It has been increasingly challenging for managers to lead employees from different generations because they haven’t learnt the art of customising the leadership style to suit the generations. The problem arises when leaders try to use the same approach for all generations.

Are leaders nowadays trained to embrace the generational differences and utilise the full potential of the employees? Are they willing to learn from someone younger than them? Are leaders ready to manage the upcoming leadership transition?

Where do we go next?

To untangle this mystery, we have to go back to the fundamental question – where are we learning leadership practices from?

Not everyone gets to learn from schools or colleges – it is not part of the curriculum! Leaders are made over time through real-world experience, challenges and self-reflection.

John F. Kennedy famously said: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” It is natural for people to learn from others surrounding them, especially their superiors – so we can assume that Gen X learnt its leadership skills from Baby Boomers while Gen Y learnt from Gen X. So the need of the hour is not to focus on Gen Y, instead both Gen X and Gen Y should come together to unlearn and re-learn leadership practices to manage Gen Z. Can schools and universities help future leaders by incorporating leadership as a part of their curriculum in all disciplines of graduation?

My experience with generations Being a Gen Xer and having learnt my leadership skills from a combination of Baby Boomers and Gen X leaders, I have been fortunate to mentor people across generations. All generations have their strengths, but it is up to each one to leverage on them, rather than focus on the problems of other generations.

Great organisations, developed countries, broad-minded families and top class universities have learnt the art of working past generation gaps by appreciating the strengths of each other. This is where success lies.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of Merck Sharp & Dohme.

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OPINION » Upwardly mobile

‘They ain’t old; they’re my colleagues’ WONG KENG FYE Head of human resources, Maybank

Older staff are akin to a firm's 'Google search engine', making it constructive for firms to harness their collective wisdom.

What do you do when you are stumped for a word? You hit Google of course – the world’s best search engine since the internet. Take this to a corporate setting – what do you do when you want to find out what happened at a product launch more than five years ago; why certain policies were crafted; or how a certain customer relationship developed?

There isn’t a company “Google” search engine. Typically, you would trawl through old documents and archived files; which allow you to assemble a rough story board. But the best data repository rests with people – the older staff who have been with the organisation for the past 20, 30, 40 or more years.

There has been much talk about the rehiring of older workers, i.e. those who have reached the official retirement age.

Are companies treating it as a favour to the retirees or should they view rehiring as a norm? Forward-thinking organisations often believe that people are their greatest assets, especially with their wealth of experience and institutional memories.

So how can an organisation best tap into the veritable information troves and harness the collective wisdom?

Sure, the younger generation is ahead of these Baby Boomers in being technology savvy, and perhaps their hunger for success. But their senior colleagues bring with them stability, commitment, and a strong sense of loyalty. Many older workers may still be in their first or second jobs, and it is with a certain sense of contentment that they have chosen to stay on.

Older workers believe that if you do your best for your employer, your employer will recognise your achievements and reward you for it. In turn, you continue to grow within the company. This is a positive cycle.

As Singapore continues to compete in the global marketplace, we need to ensure that our workforce remains competitive despite a greying population. One way to achieve this is to tap on the growing pool of experienced and skilled mature employees. At Maybank, we walk the talk by employing more than 250 staff who are over 50 and some 50 staff, aged 62 and above. Each senior colleague has his or her own special story. For example, there is Mr Lee, who was made senior banker in Maybank’s global banking division when he reached the retirement age of 62. His role is to deepen the relationships with customers, and to nurture and groom the younger bankers.

Mr Lee’s role is very much like an emeritus mentor, an ambassador for the bank. He sees the customers, develops paths to certain markets and paves the way for businesses to build up. He can do this because he has spent more than 35 years in corporate and commercial business. He knows the ground, the way to do business, customer behaviours and how to sustain and enhance relationships with customers.

Old is gold: The proverbial pioneer generation has helped build the company.

Then there is Salmah, our compliance manager, who has been in this role for a couple of months. She was the service manager in our Maybank Tower branch for more than 10 years.

The main branch has always been one of the toughest branches to manage in terms of size, complexity of transactions, profile of customers, and simply the pressure of expectations.

She helmed the spot admirably for more than 10 years, but now in her late 50s, she wanted to explore something different.

We would have lost a solid and reliable performer if we had not paid attention to her needs. Our staff have different needs and motivations as they go through the different life stages and a good employer should be sensitive to that. After all, a happy employee is a productive employee and that translates into better business results. So we moved Salmah from the front to the back office, where we know she can continue to contribute with renewed motivation and passion. With her incredible wealth of experience as service manager, she is now able to put it to good use in her new KYC (know your customers) portfolio. Her colleagues will benefit greatly as she helps lead the teams.

Age is, but a number and the Mr Lees, and Salmahs of our world are not old. They are our colleagues – a walking encyclopedia of corporate history and valuable reservoirs of wisdom. They are the proverbial pioneer generation who have helped build the company and continue to do so. It is always about finding a win-win situation, redesigning jobs, adapting workplace practices and encouraging older workers to upgrade their skills. Every company has these gems – we just need to polish them to allow them to shine through.

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19/2/2016 7:19:23 PM

Personal development « CAREERS

uptheranks Tracking HR’s industry moves Who: Brandon Lew From: T-Systems (senior HR business partner/head of HR operations (Singapore) To: T-Systems (vice-president of human resources) T-Systems has promoted Brandon Lew to vicepresident of human resources, effective 1 January 2016, moving up from his previous role as senior HR business partner/head of HR operations (Singapore).

He is now responsible for guiding the HR team in its daily operations as well as ensuring the business is aptly supported in its HR needs.

He told Human Resources: “I think a promotion does not happen suddenly, you have to work towards it and be ready to put in the extra efforts to be adequate in your future role.

“I am currently trying to create a stronger outreach strategy for the HR team. This means that HR needs to move beyond operations and business partnering. HR needs to connect with the external market forces to create stronger branding for T-Systems.”

personalgrowth 3 TIPS TO EMERGE UNSCATHED FROM SACKING SOMEONE Having to fire an employee can be one of the most difficult conversations for a manager to have, but with a few simple tricks, the process can be as smooth and quick as ripping off a band aid, says Akankasha Dewan.

It’s the start of the year – the time where even the happiest of bosses brace themselves for another year of work frustrations, worrying about keeping staff productive. But it’s also the time of the year where bosses set new targets for their staff and review performances, and basically judge whether existing employees have what it takes to lead the company to new heights.

Of course, most existing employees are up to the challenge, but quite often you do come across staff who simply do not have what it takes to contribute to your firm – be it due to their own attitudes or the lack of an organisational fit.

You might also have to terminate employees due to an organisational re-shuffle or restructuring. In such a case, how do you let go of staff without facing painful amounts of drama, tears and – most of the time – extreme awkwardness?

While I personally haven’t been fired before (touch wood), I have heard stories of “successful” and quite “unsuccessful” firing sessions. Here are three methods which have worked in the past to make this unpleasant situation better – or at least as “better” as it can possibly be.

Make it quick and easy Think of the process as ripping off another person’s band aid. Lay the news on them gently, but firmly. Avoid long sentences and unnecessary pauses. They might elongate the weariness of the employee in question as he/she awaits the news of their termination.

Be professional As unhappy as you are with your employee, this isn’t a time to go in-depth on their

Who: Sujatha Maniya From: Millward Brown To: Starcom Mediavest Group Starcom Mediavest Group has appointed Sujatha Maniya as talent management head for Southeast Asia, based in Singapore. She will report to Jeffrey Seah, country chair of VivaKi and CEO of Starcom Mediavest Group Southeast Asia.

Her responsibilities include the development of strategic HR business plans, talent management and change management.

“HR as a business practice is in a powerful position to influence business success in 2016, especially as organisational changes and shifting priorities continue to increase in complexity, frequency and scope,” she said.

“HRBPs who improve their skills, maintain partnerships and confidently and competently manage projects they lead can make these changes successful realities in their organisations.”

Added Seah on HR priorities: “Culture, employer branding and industry outreach have become key priorities for HR as each company competes in the space of talent attraction and acquisition.

“This means that most HR, if not all, will need to sell better, seal strategic partnerships with key players in the industry, and manage talent communities.

HR, or organisation coaches as they are, will become a key enabler to help companies future-proof their businesses.”

Maniya replaces Tang Seok Hian, who has moved on to pursue a career as a consultant.

mistakes or use the termination session as an opportunity to vent out your frustration at him/her.

Instead, communicate clearly your reasons for terminating the employee’s stint at the role. It is also important to thank him/her for the services they have provided – regardless of whether those services have been up to standard.

Most bosses also announce the news of a person’s lay-off directly to him or her and behind closed doors. This ensures the individual doesn’t go through unnecessary amounts of judgment from other professionals.

Involve HR A severance package can go a long way in minimising an employee’s potential anger. On the day of the dismissal meeting, invite a representative from HR to sit in and handle the paperwork.

This will allow the employee to shift his or her focus to logistics rather than on having been let go. For small businesses without HR departments, having an office manager sit in on the process could be just as effective. In many instances that manager will never hear from the employee again, but if a terminated employee does choose to take legal action, a well-prepared manager should have nothing to worry about.

Terminations are never easy – both for the employee and for the manager. But by working hard to prepare in advance for the termination session, and by adopting the right techniques, a manager can ease the transition and return to his or her tasks as quickly as possible.

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Good reads to improve your business b life

Pick of the month

shelflife

Why Should Anyone Work Here?: What It Takes to Create an Authentic Organization

Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones Harvard Business Review Press S$ 24.37 Instead of another conventional leadership guidebook, Why Should Anyone Work Here? exposes readers to improve the effectiveness of their leadership processes.

Authors Goffee and Jones directs readers to the most fundamental element of running a business – a workplace culture that leads to sustained high performance. They bring in a fresh perspective to this age-old question by including relevant stories from leading global companies.

The seven chapters of the book lead readers on a comprehensive journey where they discover the precise notions and concepts used to craft a dream organisation.

Bookmark this!

In authentic organisations, individuals have clarity about the rules. They also have discretion to deal with unique situations, while recognising the expression of freedom

Joe Ungemah Wiley S$22.17 Misplaced Talent offers a practical guide for making better human capital decisions in any organisation. Author Joe Ungemah explores the ideas and frameworks, which have for years dominated the field of talent management, and filters their usability.

These include looking through the tools and techniques used to make people assessments which have been developed over the past century. Ungemah examines their true relevance to the modern workplace.

Poking holes in the effectiveness of each technique, he explains that not all of these tools are currently benefiting organisations today. If left untouched, he argues they can, instead, harm a great workplace.

Filled with real-life case studies and inspiring stories from a wide range of major organisations, the author asks readers to

make up their own minds about which approaches work best for their own specific talent decisions.

While doing so, the book provides the best theories and practices available today as a foundation upon which to formulate a more relevant strategy. The examples in the book detail the tools present in bringing HR up to date, claiming they will help readers identify and repair dysfunctional employment environments.

Bookmark this!

The best job descriptions are focused and concise.

Practitioners and line managers have a tendency to create a laundry list of characteristics across five key ingredients. They want a little of everything and by the time they are done, they have described a superhuman and written a document that is totally useless for selection and development decisions. When writing a job description, I challenge my clients to hone in on no more than six absolutely essential points to include for each key ingredient. Next, I have them describe with as much precision as possible what is meant by that characteristic to give direction to those responsible for talent management decisions – page 11.

within organisations rests on a necessary degree of constraint. This seems like a straightforward series of demands. Yet, the enemy – ever-increasing bureaucratisation – remains with us. We do not share Max Weber’s grim predictions for mankind, “trapped in an iron cage of his own making ... from which he cannot escape.” But it would be naive to imagine that it’s a simple task to establish rules that encourage innovation, creativity and discretion – page 159.

Photography: Fauzie Rasid

Misplaced Talent: A Guide to Better People Decisions

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SENIOR APPOINTMENTS

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LAST WORD

You asked for it, we compiled it – Aditi Sharma Kalra speaks to five managers for advice on dealing with the complainers or those who miss deadlines.

Last year, we wrote a story called ”The 10 types of most annoying employees”. We had a ton of feedback from our readers, who had a couple more of their own categories to add.

But more than that, we had people discussing just how to handle these employees. Every team has difficult staffers, and managing them can be a little tricky, while ensuring their habits don’t impact the quality of their work. Each of us may deal with them in our typical styles, but wouldn’t it be great to have a different perspective?

So for this column, I reached out to five managers to compile helpful hints to ensure the five most annoying employee types remain productive. Here’s what my search threw up.

1. The one who always misses the deadline: Delays are inevitable, and a good strategy would typically plan backwards to account for derailers.

One manager I spoke to said the first thing she does is find out the reason the employee has missed the deadline – is it a valid reason or an excuse from someone who’s losing interest?

“I emphasise on the consequences of a missed deadline – that is, the effect on the overall team profitability, and delays cascading to other project stakeholders. I make sure the employee understands this is a critical task that needs to be achieved consistently,” she told me.

Coaching came up as a solution to get the employee thinking on more efficient ways of getting the task done, and defining an action plan.

2. The constant complainer: Need someone to find faults with everything in the office? Good if you mean an auditor, but bad news if it’s someone on your team. “These can be the younger, more pampered ones, in my experience,” said another boss I spoke to, adding, “I have no choice, but to be quite direct and nip it in the bud.”

She explained: “This is the professional world and if you want to get on in life, sometimes (employees) just have to put up with things. I have to put this across as such and snap them out of it.”

3. The time waster: Long coffee breaks, Facebook, and a bit of online shopping – the

perfect Sunday, but what if this is your staff’s typical workday?

This manager, with team members across geographies, keeps track of their time by ensuring their KPIs are measurable through weekly reports.

“Those who fall behind in their KPIs will have to explain themselves. I’ll have to micro-manage such people, constantly checking up on them.

“Hopefully, the staff changes his/her attitude or I’ll have to change the staff.”

While managing on-site, an additional tip is to lead by example. “Most staff will take their cue from the actions of managers. If you are late, constantly on Whatsapp, or always taking smoke breaks, staff will slack off,” he explained.

4. The look-at-me employee: These are the employees that seek constant approval for their work, but take criticism negatively.

The solution? One long-time manager said it helps to create a collaborative culture within the team, where taking inputs from each other is a habit, rather than a one-time, one-way session.

He makes use of team huddles to remind his team members that good ideas can sprout from peers rather than just from managers. This also makes sure feedback is timely and informal.

5. The workaholic: Long hours in the office is one thing, but what happens when someone doesn’t spare either the weekends or the public holidays?

“You’d think that’s a happy problem for any manager, but it can be real annoying to get their Whatsapp messages long after you have shut shop for the day,” said one seasoned manager. Her plan A is to always have a back up or a secondary to-do list for such employees. Plan B? Say it as it is.

“Getting them more work is easy and, honestly, helpful too. But if they are the type to overwork and overthink, causing unnecessary stress, you’ve got to sit them down and tell them how their behaviour, while helpful overall, is causing distress within the team.”

In short: “Thanks dude, but it’s really not needed. Period.” aditis@humanresourcesonline.net

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

How to deal with annoying employees

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