Human Resources March 2015

March 2015

The smart HR professional’s blueprint for workforce strategy

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March 2015 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY 14 Q&A Aileen Tan, group director of HR at Singtel, speaks about the organisational transformation HR is helping to drive, and how it has brought employees on board.

Features 18 Balancing the bling and the bucks With the spotlight on the rewards team to craft strategies to match both costs and workforce needs, Aditi Sharma Kalra uncovers the compensation outlook for 2015.

24 Relocation done right As corporations become more globalised, how can HR and mobility managers overcome the complications arising from moving large volumes and different types of talent? Akankasha Dewan finds out.

Opinion 36 Learning & Development Cassandra Cheng, head of learning and development at OCBC Bank, speaks about the philosophy of growing one’s own timber using programmes for high potentials and graduates.

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40 People Issues

ON THE COVER: Art Direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman; 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

Andrew Murray, executive vice-president of human resources at Lazada Group, recounts how leveraging on the company’s corporate culture and attractive perks has paid off in the long run.

42 Unconventional Wisdom At an unlikely place and time, George Avery, director of total compensation and benefits for IBM Asia Pacific, finds a surprising way to energise team morale.

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44 Upwardly Mobile For HR to become a superstar, it’s critical to start speaking the language of numbers the business is familiar with, writes Jassy Tan, divisional director of HR for FJ Benjamin (Singapore).

48 Last Word Aditi Sharma Kalra finds out the key to managing people and deadlines – managing herself.

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Regulars 3 4 6 8

Ed’s note In the news Suite talk Spacial awareness

10 HR by numbers 11 Snapshot 46 Shelf life

Any suggestions or tip-offs for Human Resources?

Email aditis@humanresourcesonline.net March 2015 « Human Resources «

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EDITOR’S NOTE

regional editor journalists contributors

regional art director senior designer regional marketing executive regional directors

Aditi Sharma Kalra Akankasha Dewan Jerene Ang Cassandra Cheng Andrew Murray George Avery Jassy Tan Shahrom Kamarulzaman Fauzie Rasid June Tan Karen Boh Yogesh Chandiramani Jaclyn Chua Naomi Cranswick

regional producers

Darren Beck Sharissa Chan Nikita Erpini Kenneth Neo Jenilyn Rabino

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

Yeo Wei Qi Evelyn Wong Tony Kelly Justin Randles

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The start of the journey Everyone we meet from the C-suite, be it in HR or other functions, loves to talk about how people are their company’s biggest assets.

But like any asset, unless they are taken care of, upgraded frequently, and led by trained professionals, their value will depreciate each year.

Employees need frequent development opportunities, regular feedback and coaching, and encouragement to learn new skills constantly or to suggest better ways of doing things – all facilitated by trained managers and leaders.

As upholders of the HR profession we are responsible for being continuous learners, better people managers, and using all of that knowledge to really devoting ourselves to moulding our teams to excel both personally and professionally.

The recent budget announced by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam lists investments in skills of the future as one of the nation’s top priorities this year.

“Singapore must become a meritocracy of skills, not a hierarchy of grades earned early in life,” he announced at the session.

To promote this culture of lifelong learning, the government is planning to boost investments in its SkillsFuture programme by more than $1 billion per year on average, from now until 2020.

This will include enhanced education and career guidance programmes in schools, training subsidies, and a SkillsFuture Credit account for all Singaporeans with an initial credit of $500.

Clearly, continuous learning is a nationwide agenda.

In our Q&A this month, Aileen Tan, who heads HR for one of the country’s oldest and most established companies, Singtel, resonates this thought.

She speaks of an organisation-wide change the HR function is helping to drive – an example of how HR can develop new competencies that are useful throughout the business.

In addition, she talks about equipping the line managers with skills to become “talent magnets” – to attract the right people to work for them.

Just as critical is her message about all managers needing to be “talent developers” and not “talent suppressors,” so much so that managers at Singtel carry a target of talent rotation to ensure their team members get the exposure they need.

Penning my first editorial for Human Resources, I could not resist the temptation of writing about this as my New Year’s resolution.

I know it is a little late in the year to start on resolutions, but humour me, dear readers. Let’s make 2015 a year of continuous learning, for ourselves and our teams.

Starting each day with a positive outlook, and a declaration towards this commitment is just the first step. It needs to reflect in our attitudes and behaviours at the workplace, lending a listening ear to a team member in need, or helping someone who is struggling with something that you are good at.

Let’s take those affirmative steps towards achieving what we aspire to become.

Happy reading!

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

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Aditi Sharma Kalra Regional editor March 2015 « Human Resources «

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News from humanresourcesonline.net

SALARIES OF HR PROFESSIONALS IN SINGAPORE

10 WORDS TO CUT FROM YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE

Directors of compensation and benefits, and organisational development, as well as generalist HR professionals and HR business partners, are pulling in the highest salaries within the function in Singapore.

A new report by FocusCore identified C&B specialists at the director-level earn on average US$240,000 per year, while organisational development directors, and HR generalists and HRBPs receive average annual salaries of US$220,000.

The 2015 survey also found the demand for HR professionals in the country is on the rise compared with previous years.

While work-life balance was the top priority for young professionals, salary andd company culture ranked high for those att the management level. Senior employeess were also motivated by larger bonuses and long-term incentives.

If you use words such as “passionate”, “motivated” and “strategic” to describe yourself to others on social media, there’s a big chance your professional profile will go unnoticed.

Those were the top three buzzwords identified in LinkedIn’s list of the most overused, and underwhelmed, terms and phrases in Singapore, with “driven” and “track record” rounding up the top five.

Buzzwords such as “creative”, “extensive experience”, “responsible”, “dynamic” and “analytical” followed in sixth to 10th respectively.

“The new year inspires many of us to start thinking about our careers and explore new job opportunities,” LinkedIn’s blog post stated. “Before you begin yyour search, take some time to think about your our professional brand and how you w want to brand you.”

THE 10 MOST AND LEAST STRESSFUL JOBS OF 2015 Because of the physical danger, unpredictability and negative psychological effects or tight deadlines and high expectations, some of the most stressful jobs of 2015 with their median salary (US$) are firefighters ($45,600), enlisted military personnel ($28,840), and military general ($196,300); with airline pilots ($98,410) and police officers ($56,980) rounding up the top five.

In sixth to 10th place, we have actors ($46,070), broadcasters ($60,070), event co-ordinators ($45,810), photo journalists ($42,530) and newspaper reporters ($37,090).

On the opposite end of the scale, some of the least stressful jjobs bs with their median salary are hair ha stylists ($22,770), audiologists ($69,720), university professors p (tenured) ($68,970), medical records recoo technicians ($34,160) and jewellers ($35,350) rounding ro up the top five least stressful jobs. are These ar r followed by medical labora a laboratory technicians ($47,820), sea a seamstress/tailors ($25,590), die e dietitians ($55,240), librarians ($ ($55,370) and forklift operators ($31,150) in sixth to 10th place. ($3 3

MAR 10 PREDICTIONS FOR HUMAN RESOURCES IN 2015

A new report from Bersin by Deloitte listed 10 predictions for HR in 2015, the first of which hich is that engagement and retention will remain front-burner ont-burner issues. Companies will look to simplify their performance process to a more “coaching-oriented” one. Alongside, HR is expected to review the work environment and advise business leaders eaders on how to simplify work.

Corporate learning is expected to take onn increasing importance importance, as big data analytics and mobile learning apps gain prominence. Recruitment is more likely to be led by referrals and internal talent mobility than third-party agencies.

The study also anticipated internal talent mobility to drive longer tenures by encouraging incentives that force managers to let people shop for new jobs internally, instead of pinning all their cards on a promotion. It also called for HR managers to rigorously assess leaders at all levels.

It pointed for investments in talent analytics to be optimised by bringing together teams across the function to evaluate workforce data. Similarly, the evolution of technology asks HR to focus on user experience, real-time data, and integration with social networks.

Finally, it predicted companies reducing the number of HR generalists, and replacing them with a fewer number of senior HR business partners.

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» Human Resources » March 2015

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SINGAPORE’S ORE’S SALARY AND JOB TRENDS ENDS FOR 2015

SINGAPORE STILL STIL THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN THE W WORLD

2014 saw salaryy hikes of 10% to 20% in the local job ease which is expected to continue in 2015, market, an increase according to a new report by Robert Walters. l d ill likely lik l see the th “The employmentt landscape off 2015 will competition for Singaporean professionals accelerate,” said Toby Fowlston, managing director of Robert Walters Singapore.

Candidates with skills in online content, project delivery, mobile and application development, and user experience will be in demand come 2015, as businesses continue to invest in digital strategies, IT and marketing.

Within the human resources function, HR generalists and business partners are expected to command the highest salaries, from SG$200,000 to SG$400,000 per annum.

Professionals with niche skills such as organisational development are also top of the list, with salaries ranging between $250,000 to $300,000 per annum in banking and financial services, and up to $320,000 in all other industries.

High demand is also expected for HR professionals in compensation and benefits, with salaries ranging from $220,000 to $350,000 per annum.

Singapore has once again emerged emerg as the top city for expatriates to live in, while cities such as Hong Kong hhave slightly lost their appeal, according to ECA International’s latest Location Locatio Ratings survey.

Polling worldwide, the survey evaluated a host of factors, P lli 450 locations l ti ld including climate, the availability of health services, and housing and utilities, to form an assessment of the overall quality of living for expatriates.

Japanese cities Osaka and Nagoya maintained their position in second and third place in the Asia ranking respectively. Australia’s Adelaide and Sydney ranked second and third globally.

Hong Kong’s attractiveness dropped 16 places this year – from 17th to 33rd globally. The survey warned, however, the impact of some of the factors assessed, such as distance from home and differences in culture, language and climate, will vary according to where someone comes from.

For example, it stated while Singapore has been ranked as the top for Asians for the past 16 years, it is 96th globally for someone coming from Western Europe.

TOP 10 PLACES TO WORK IN 2015 Based on the rankings from employees, career community Glassdoor has released its seventh annual list of the best companies to work for.

Employees were asked to use a scale to rate their satisfaction at the company they currently work in, including how they feel their CEO is leading the business and other key factors such as their compensation and benefits, career opportunities, culture and values and work-life balance.

Staff were also asked whether they would recommend the company they worked for to a friend, and to give their opinion on how they felt the company would succeed in the next six months.

Google came in first place, withh a rating of 4.5, estlé Purina followed by Bain & Company and Nestlé PetCare with ratings of 4.4 each. F55 Networks ded up and Boston Consulting Group rounded h. the top five with ratings of 4.3 each.

The companies from sixth to 10th place all had ratings of 4.2.

They were: Chevron, HEB, In-N-Outt Burger, McKinsey & Company and Mayo Clinic.

HR PROFESSIONALS INCREASINGLY UNHAPPY WITH THEIR CAREERS HR leaders are becoming increasingly dissatisfied because cause they believe HR is being perceived as a less importantt function to the business, in Harvey Nash’s new survey.

The proportion of HR professionals who claimed too be “very satisfied” in their role dropped from 37% in 20133 to 32% in 2014. In addition, 44% of HR professionals stated ated they were planning to change jobs in the next two years.

Doing interesting and exciting work topped the list of what HR practitioners wanted in their careers, while the importance of their role to the business was the second most important factor.

The survey also delved into the top three issues the function was focusing on today – recruitment, ageing eing workforce, and getting the right skills.

While corporate websites were the top recruitment nt tools, investment in online recruiting increased by 8% in justt 12 months.

March 2015 « Human Resources «

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WORK LIFE » People GET INTO THE BOSS’S HEAD

Suresh Sachi Deputy managing director Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Having been a partner at a law firm, what made you switch to A*STAR 13 years ago?

The main draw for joining A*STAR was the opportunity for me to be more involved in the business end of things, in particular, the commercialisation of the intellectual property generated from the A*STAR research institutes.

When I joined A*STAR, I was able to be really involved in the deal making and negotiations and making business decisions. That was certainly more exciting.

Did you carry over any people-related learning from the law profession?

There are three main things that I try to live by – integrity, innovation and industry. As a young lawyer, I learnt very quickly that without integrity, you are nothing. You will not have the respect of your seniors, peers or subordinates and more importantly, the courts, judges and those in the legal system. I had great mentors who drummed this into me from day one.

Innovation is important. One needs to work hard, but also work smart – learn always and continually improve, but try new ways of doing things and be more efficient.

Finally, there is no substitute for hard work.

One needs to put in the hours and grind it out.

Along the way, learn from your mistakes, learn from the mistakes of others, and don’t repeat them.

How would you define your leadership style?

I do not think there is one particular style of leadership – it is largely contextual and leadership can and often should be situational. Much depends on the needs of the staff at a particular point in time or situation.

Sometimes there is a need for a “team hug”, other times there is a need for discipline. In some circumstances, you need to exhibit vision and be able to coach, mentor and rally the staff.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

The variety. There is always something interesting going on at A*STAR. A new project, another 6

significant deal, new process improvements to implement. We deal with science, scientists, products of the mind (intellectual property and technology) and the economy. The business of science is quite different from any other industry – it is interesting, challenging and thought provoking.

I see developing people as my main role. I love working with people who are willing to learn and to teach. As a coach and mentor, it is my responsibility to help my staff achieve excellence and give them every opportunity to learn and grow.

Everyone struggles at times. What’s the best way to motivate staff having a tough time?

Understanding the underlying problem is crucial. If something is wrong, a good manager should have picked it up early and intervened.

All staff behave differently. Even self-motivated staff need coaching, mentoring, reassurance and direction. So, staff who are less self-motivated will need more help. Sometimes a simple conversation helps to find out if an employee is struggling with some problem. It’s surprising how quickly a problem can be resolved if we listen carefully.

Training is important. Good managers will analyse and understand the capability gaps and ensure their staff are adequately trained.

It is also important to give credit and acknowledgement where it is due. Telling staff they are doing a good job goes a long way. Everyone wants acknowledgement for their work – even if it is something that is expected of them.

But what does one do in cases where they haven’t done a great job?

As a good leader and manager, it is important nt re to be totally honest with your staff. If there are performance issues, we need to understand what these are, the reasons behind them and thenn find a solution to address the issues.

If there are capability issues, then it is he staff important to have a candid discussion with the reas. and deploy them to their strengths in other areas.

In some instances, it means coming up with a performance improvement plan and making difficult ut. decisions at the end if it still does not work out.

be the best that they can be; not just to do work and perform for the organisation, but to do so for themselves. If we are clear about this and put in place strategies to achieve this, then the overall business of the organisation will naturally improve.

How can HR better its business contribution?

A well-managed and good HR outfit will help ensure an organisation is able to attract the best people to join the organisation and strive together in an aligned manner to achieve the vision, mission and objectives of the organisation. Good HR practices means greater staff engagement and ensuring the leadership is attuned to what motivates employees to do better.

Do you see many HR leaders making it to the CEO level?

I actually see no reason why not. I am of the view that HR is not merely a support function, but a driving function. However, it’s not very often that one hears of HR managers rising to take over as CEO, especially in large companies.

I can hazard that many boards may not see HR leaders as a future CEO because HR is a cost centre and does not directly contribute or be seen to contribute to the bottom line in terms of generating revenue. Also, in many instances, HR is viewed as a back-room operation and a support function. As such, it is not typically regarded as one of the premier functions within an organisation and, thus, HR leaders are not seen as being capable of driving organisations as CEOs. But I think it is up to the individual to make the case and to exhibit he or she is capable of taking on that CEO role – be larger than your job.

How do you usually unwind after a toughh day?

I spend time with my family. That always lifts me.

My family is the most important thing to me, and I often feel guilty that I do not spend enough time not with them. I try to exercise regularly as well (not doing very well with this right now). Exercise helps to relieve stress. Prayer helps too.

What’s your take on the HR function?

I think HR is a critical business function. At A*STAR, we recognise that our most valuablee asset is our people. And HR is about our people – how m to we coach, train and mentor them to get them

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People WORK LIFE

SpacialAwareness SPOTIFY’S OFFICE LETS EMPLOYEES ‘PLAY EVERYWHERE’ Brightly coloured and with a fun vibe, Spotify’s Asia headquarters in Singapore is designed to reflect the company culture and shared values of its employees (aka “Spotifiers”).

As a global company, the music streaming service tries to instil the same values in its staff all over the world, and as such, its offices are set up to reflect the company purpose of “play everywhere”, says Sunita Kaur, managing director (Asia) for Spotify.

“As we constantly work to provide ‘the perfect music for every moment’ to music fans all over the world, we want to have fun together so the journey becomes even more enjoyable,” she says.

The company also has four value mantras to describe how it does things the Spotify way – “Think it. Build it. Ship it. Tweak it”; “Give it everything you’ve got”; “Play fair” and “Go big or go home”.

“As our employees count among our biggest fans, working at Spotify goes beyond being a job – it’s a lifestyle,” she says.

“We are used to giving it everything we’ve got, and we want people that join our team to do the same. We’re looking for people who are passionate, collaborative and add that little extra into everything they do.”

Thanks to the company’s interior design and facilities team, all Spotify offices worldwide share the same look and feel, with chill-out areas, conference rooms, pantries and bean bags.

“Our adjustable standing desks are a big hit with Spotifiers who like to stay active at work.”

And what’s a day in the Spotify office without music?

“Someone’s always got a playlist or two streamed via Spotify Connect, which allows for seamless integration with home entertainment devices such as in-room speakers,” she says.

“We have several Spotify Connect devices in the office, which not only

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allows us to turn up the volume when we want to party, but allows us to share and discover new music on a daily basis.”

The design and vibe of the office aims to stay true to the company’s brand purpose and values, which is something many offices would benefit from considering, she adds.

“When other companies think about redecorating, it would be helpful to think about how their own brand values and purpose can be brought to life through their office interiors. This would help them create a workplace and foster a culture that resonates with their employees.”

» Human Resources » March 2015

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WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

Expect a rise in staff turnover Employers in Singapore can expect a rise in turnover levels, as a large proportion of employees say they are likely to change jobs in 2015.

According to a new report by Michael Page, more than a third of professionals viewed the current employment market with optimism.

“Generally there is quite a bit of optimism for Singaporean employees at the moment, but we do forecast churn in the local job market,” said Andrew Norton, regional MD for PageGroupp Southeast Asia.

25%

cited career eer progression as their number ber one reason for wanting too quit.

23%

said that salary increase was their top reason for wanting to change roles.

55%

stated their intent to ask for higher compensation within the next 12 months.

Source: 2015 Employee Intentions Report, Singapore

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67%

of employees in Singapore said they were likely to leave their current role in 2015.

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People WORK LIFE

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

Eswaran Nadarajah

Human resources director Club 21 WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HR AS A PROFESSION? I would be lying if I said I chose HR as a profession. My passion was to be a professional footballer, but that did not work out. However, my soccer coach in university also happened to be the associate professor teaching organisational behaviour, so I joined his class. I enjoyed his classes and started to enrol in more HR-related subjects, and the rest is history.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? The variety that comes with the job. Engaging with different people every day or the same people with different situations. The challenge of trying to create a stronger impact on the business – be it revenue generation or cost management through effective HR – and attaining management buy-in to change areas of work, roles and organisation structure, so we can stay competitive into the future.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE A REGULAR WORKDAY? My regular workday has changed since January 12, as we have gone through a 'Rethink Work' campaign. The only thing that has not changed is my greeting to our office security associate in the morning.

My 'new' regular workday is logging into the system to check my schedule for the day and to ensure I have all the necessary information for meetings. Next, I check our internal social media feed for company updates and part of my emails. I speak with my managers on their work progress and review necessary reports.

I have lunch alone (unless I have a scheduled lunch meeting) normally to catch up on my reading, social media, and online gaming on my phone. I visit one or two of our stores in the Orchard area and then it’s back to the office.

WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED? Job experience helps you navigate similar work situations better, but in this day and age, similar work situations rarely happen and are often more complex. The key is to never stop learning and ensure your skills are relevant for the future because that enables career progression.

HOW DO YOU THINK THE HR FUNCTION WILL EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? Mobile technology will be more widely used to deliver most, if not all, HR services such as pre-screening interviews, payroll, training content, short videos, and performance feedback. There will be less of a need to meet in-person to get things done. With this, the flow of HR information will have less friction and location constraints, and be more real-time. I can also see technology such as Google Glass or Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets make a change in the way we orient staff. Or Apple’s Siri technology could allow employees to ask anything relating to work, and get answers without having to check with an HR representative. In short, I think technology will take away some aspect of the HR function delivered by a physical HR representative.

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WHITE PAPER » Leadership

THE MOST VALUABLE SOURCES FOR FINDING TALENT

Southeast Asia – As hiring volumes increase, social professional networks are fast becoming the most preferred tool for hiring managers to use in Southeast Asia.

Sixty-six per cent of respondents chose social professional networks as their most loved recruitment tool, according to LinkedIn’s 2015 Southeast Asia Staffing Trends Report.

More than half continued to use internet job boards (51%), followed by more than one-third using employee referral programmes (38%) and their internal candidate database (36%).

Large agencies were found to prefer internet resume databases (32%) to place high quality talent with their clients, as opposed to smaller agencies (14%).

However, 54% of global staffing leaders admitted they were not doing a good enough job tracking return on investment on sources of hire.

While the number of placements made was ranked as the most valuable hiring metric (33%), client satisfaction (24%) and quality of placement (18%) were also deemed as important to evaluating hiring performance.

“As the gap between hiring volume and budgets widens, it’s time to invest in and optimise the sources that return both the best quality and quantity of candidates,” noted the study.

Availability of quality talent was the number one hindrance that Southeast Asian companies faced in attracting top talent (57%), outstripping competition (49%).

“Offers made by clients is also viewed as a threat to more large than small firms, although the difference is less significant.”

More firms also prioritised the need to build their brand reputation, with 77% of respondents saying their brand will significantly impact their ability to “engage great talent”.

The most important sources for hiring quality talent Social professional networks

66%

Internet job boards

51%

Employee referral programmes

38%

Internal candidate database

36%

Source: LinkedIn’s 2015 Southeast Asia Staffing Trends Report

THE INDUSTRIES WITH THE MOST ENGAGED EMPLOYEES IN SINGAPORE

Singapore – Employees from the tourism and hospitality industry were found to be the most engaged in Singapore.

A whitepaper from EON Consulting & Training (EON) found that professionals in the industry emerged with the highest engagement levels at 84.29%.

The healthcare industry had the second highest number of engaged employees (82.99%), followed by the engineering industry (79.92%).

The report attributed the engaged employees in tourism and hospitality to the sector’s cohesive organisational culture and employees’ achievement of work-life harmony.

The industries with the most engaged employees in Sin Singapore Tourism and hospitality industry

84.29%

Healthcare

82.99%

Engineering

79.92%

Construction

78.90%

Public service

77.12%

Source: EON Consulting & Training Report

“Employees in this industry also indicated that support from their supervisors was the most important factor in engaging them as well,”

said Ong Jie Xin, consultant from EON Consulting & Training.

“They value supervisors who are able to organise work efficiently, value them and support them in their work. Therefore, businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry should continuously train and equip their supervisors with the right skills, knowledge and autonomy to be able to support their employees promptly whenever needed.”

In the healthcare industry, getting along with supervisors, and gaining their support and recognition were the top reasons for employees to be engaged.

On the other hand, staff from the engineering sector cited “challenging work” as their top reason to stay engaged at work.

The whitepaper also ranked employee engagement by generation, with those in Generation Y (aged between 31-40) being the least engaged, followed by their younger peers aged between 21-30.

Generation X (aged between 41-50) came in next, followed by the baby boomers, who were the most engaged.

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THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY WENTWORTH PEOPLE SINGAPORE

SHOW ME THE MONEY LOVE Hooray, we have entered a new realm where it’s now accepted that money no longer is the main motivator for the vast majority of workers. This has been backed up again and again by research from consulting firms and universities. Indeed, a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group with over 200,000 participants showed that money only ranked #8, behind ‘appreciation for your work’ and ‘good relationships with colleagues’ (see chart).

Aon Hewitt’s 2013 Asia Pacific Exhibit 8 | Happiness on the job: survey shows that engagement is static Ranking 26 factors or declining across the region (58%).

Despite the undisputed link between 1. Appreciation for your work engaged employees and company 2. Good relationships with colleagues productivity, the majority of bosses 3. Good worklife balance and companies in Asia still believe 4. Good relationships with superiors that money is the main motivator for 5. Company’s financial stability people to stay in jobs and give their 6. Learning and career development best efforts, and have ignored creating 7. Job security engaging work environments.

8. Attractive fixed salary Do employers believe that 9. Interesting job content engagement is either too hard or too 10. Company values elusive to bother investing in?

What would it take to shift leaders’ perspectives in order for them to commit to employee engagement practices that would truly transform their companies in the long run?

As the economic dynamism continues to shifts towards Asia, shortage of talent becomes more acute and employees’ attitudes are quite clear: “Engage me or I will go elsewhere”.

There are 3 levels which will lead to better, if not awesome - work cultures : 1. The work environment: Review your working environment with fresh eyes and ask newcomers for feedback. Does the place feel welcoming and encourage collaboration? Can you create different spaces, with quiet areas, chat zones, and flexible zones where people create, move, work, play while still perform well?

2. Behaviours and company practice: If you want an innovative and ‘engaging’ culture you need to embrace ‘failure’ where people try new things – this is part of the process of exploring and finding new ways. Do your practices encourage open, honest, blame-free discussions? Do you promote a learning and sharing culture?

3. Leadership: Your staff engagement also depends on your team leaders: do they provide good support and guidance; are they being a fantastic role model? Are your leaders walking the talk?

5 TOP Tips: 1. Pay your people the market rate – you don’t need to pay the highest. The market rate will take the ‘pay’ issue off the table. Then focus on all the soft side – culture, values and behaviours.

2. A strong company purpose - one beyond pure profit making - will serve to inspire the workforce and allow a shared vision that they can be proud of.

3. Many team leaders/supervisors have never been properly trained when they were promoted. Train them in best practice management styles – give them the skills to effectively delegate, give helpful feedback and train their team using Leader Led Learning as an approach. They are your key to success.

4. Inject the fun and enjoyment factor in the workplace – fill it with laughter

Case study: international advertising and media agency Agencies in the media and advertising sector have a real battle to attract and retain talent. Churn regularly sits at 30%+. The industry demographic is young, smart, highly mobile, keen to progress, hungry for purpose, variety and progression. Culture is vital.

The brief we received had specifics: reduce churn, increase skills, create a consistent learning approach to develop people at all levels, build management and leadership capability; Create a culture where people enjoyed working: to do the best work and be the best place to work.

We helped them create a compelling vision and “on brand” values, after which communicated and enrolled everyone into the vision and values.

Everyone went through a structured development program, consisting of a set of daily behaviours to change the way the business worked. Skills workshops were rolled out across 5 offices; Personal development plans were introduced.

Social events, charity work and culture champions were initiated.

The results were amazing and surprisingly rapid: Within a period of 5 years, they became the only agency to be listed under “Best places to Work in Australia”. They were awarded “Agency of the Decade” and “Agency of the Year” for 3 years running. Staff engagement scores sat between 83% and 89% over 6 years. As a result, they have exceeded their profit and revenue numbers every year.

and friendly banter. People will often go the extra mile for a friend, so fill the workplace with friendships.

5. Team building should be a daily event instead of just once a year.

We have helped 100’s of companies leapfrog their competitors in higher performance and engagement, ask us how.

This article was contributed by Anna Tan, Managing Director, Wentworth People Asia

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

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PROFILE » Aileen Tan

Aileen Tan

Group director of human resources SingTel A mission for communication

By ADITI SHARMA KALRA

Art Direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman; 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

Q How is the experience heading the HR function for one of Singapore’s oldest and most established companies?

Working at the country’s largest listed company means there is never a dull moment. There is a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun and exciting challenges.

While we take pride in our 135-yearold heritage, our philosophy is to always look forward and evolve. The world is moving very quickly which means we have to stay ahead of the times, and not just stay with the times. To do this, we need to be a lot more innovative, open-minded as well as proactive.

The best thing about working in corporate HQ with a diversified business and a large workforce is we are at the heart of the decision making. We have a lot more bandwidth to put in place innovative people practices and programmes that have a wide reach. I see this as a great honour to be able to make a difference and receive a great deal of gratification from our efforts and contributions.

If you have lots of passion and energy, and want to be at the forefront where all the action is – this is the job to be in.

Q What attracted you to HR as a career path?

I come from an entrepreneurial family. My father ran a cassette shop and I helped out as a teenager. That’s where I got my first-hand experience at running a small business and managing people, although just two salespersons.

I landed my first job in the role of a management associate in the operations

VITAL STATS Aileen Tan, joined Singtel in June 2008 as group director of human resources. She oversees the development of human resources across the Group, and also leads its corporate sustainability function. Prior to this, she was group general manager HR at WBL Corporation and VP, centers of excellence with Abacus International.

department of a wholesale business and was tasked to lead a team of 20-plus people. I soon realised that managing a large team was totally different from managing one salesperson.

One day, my supervisor came by my desk and asked what I thought was causing staff attrition. I told him that either staff didn’t know how to do the job or they were just not motivated. Something I said must have clicked with him because two weeks later in the town hall, he announced that I would head the new training and development department.

I was really shocked he pinned his hopes on a rookie like me. But I really went out there and did all I could to get the function started. I realised I could actually make a difference to people. That is why I decided to stay in HR. Back in school, I was a pure science student who went on to study computer science and statistics. Nobody would have guessed that I would pick an HR career.

As I ventured into HR, I decided to do a Masters in organisational behaviour, although a MBA was a more common path. This made me a unique HR person – having studied computer science, statistics and organisational behaviour.

I try to marry all of them into a more holistic perspective when I lead the function – adopting a systematic and analytical approach to issues, yet taking care of people.

As you can imagine, there have been many changes to the business over the years, but we are seeing massive changes in the industry landscape, especially in the digital era.

About three years ago, we decided to organise our business around customer segments, and established our digital businesses. We were glad that we had leaders with the experience and skills to lead the business.

HR was in the thick of this transformation. We had to light the way for many. We had to think about how we were supporting the leaders and engaging people in their new roles. We also had to understand employees’ concerns and work closely with the leaders to address them.

Q SingTel started an organisational

play in enabling this transformation?

Our leaders play a key role in leading the transformation. They have to continue to reach out and engage their people.

transformation initiative two and a half years ago. Why did the business require this?

Q What are the major things the business is looking to change?

We look at the change from the perspectives of strategy, structure, leadership, engagement and culture.

Transformation will happen if it is supported by the right mindset and right culture.

Our core values – customer focus, integrity, a challenger spirit, personal excellence and teamwork – remain our bedrock for the way we work and behave.

We got our employees to talk about what our core values really mean to them and how they bring them to life.

Q What role does the leadership team

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PROFILE » Aileen Tan with all 23,000 employees which included asking them these two questions – what do you think of the change? And, do you think this transformation will bring out the best in SingTel? About 90% of our employees were on board. They understood the need for change and believed the change was for the better.

The transformation isn’t just a project.

We will keep revisiting and reinforcing it to make sure it is fully embedded and institutionalised in the company.

It is a lot of hard work, but when you see pride in the employees, it makes a lot of difference to us in HR.

Q You managed to get the support of

We worked with the leadership team to define the leadership competencies that were needed to be successful in the transformation. As a result, a new leadership competency model called SCORE – which stands for strategic ability, collaboration, opportunity, results-focus and engagement – was developed and implemented throughout.

Essentially, our leaders have to understand the business, regardless of where they are in the organisation.

While our leaders are very disciplined in execution, they are also expected to engage and develop talent.

Q How are you tracking progress on the initiative?

About six months after the transformation kicked off, we did an engagement survey

your employees on board which is half the battle won. Where’s a big area of impact for them in all this?

This transformation will not happen if we don’t have the right talent. They are the heart, soul and brain of the company. We knew from the beginning that to make this successful, we have to think about how we run our talent programmes.

We feel very strongly that we need to have talent across all levels. Given we have a four-generation workforce, we have the opportunity to expand and strengthen our talent pipeline.

Like many companies in Singapore, we do have an ageing workforce. So we want to engage our “silver talent” to continue to contribute to the company. We are currently reviewing our policies around re-employment, skill development and benefits for this group of talent.

At the same time, we also went deeper into the organisation to identify our young talent who are just starting their career. We hope that some of our highest potentials that are in their 20s can take on leadership roles before they turn 30 through our accelerated development programme. We have already identified 50 to 60 of them.

Talent has to be owned by the leaders and not HR. For our talent initiatives, we have our CEOs as our business sponsors and HR plays an enabling role. HR continues to ramp up programmes to get leaders to be good talent managers.

Q How do you identify the top talent?

Do you see line managers taking an active role in this?

We have very robust assessments and internal benchmarks to identify talent –

looking at agility, performance, mobility and motivation.

Our line managers are indeed starting to take a more active role in this. They have to and if they don’t, they should not be managers.

It is important to set expectations right for our line managers. For example, we expect our managers to be talent magnets – to attract the right people to work for them.

Next, they have to be a talent developer and not a talent suppressor.

Our leaders are expected to develop our talent and ensure that they are rotated to different areas for exposure. What gets measured, gets managed – our managers carry a talent rotation target as part of their KPI. Managers have also got to be talent optimisers – to optimise the strengths and potential of their teams.

Finally, they have to be talent motivators. We encourage managers to practice “PCP” – praise, counsel, praise.

As a leader, they have to learn to deliver tough messages to their employees, but with the best intent, so this feedback must be constructive.

Q SingTel has a lot happening in the area of work-life balance such as coaching, recreational club and flexi hours. What’s behind this focus?

I would not call it work-life balance – balance is very quantitative, like 50/50.

We prefer the concept of work-life integration, which is about focusing on the quality of the time spent at work and at home.

The wellbeing of our employees comprises a number of different elements, including physical, emotional, developmental, material and social dimensions.

For example, our staff recreational club organises inter-group games that our employees can participate in – from the most physical activities like dragon boat racing to the most intellectual, like a mahjong competition.

The emotional wellbeing of our employees is also very important. Should any of them encounter difficulties – whether work or personal – we encourage them to seek support and confidential help through our employee assistance programme.

Wellbeing can also be about having

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Aileen Tan « PROFILE a strong desire to grow, learn and stay relevant. For this, we have our learning fiesta which is bite-sized sessions for employees at all levels to develop personal and professional skills.

For our younger group of talent, we have career talks, along with assigning them coaches to help them navigate their careers. Coaching takes place at the executive level too, based on the person’s individual requirements.

Q Besides HR, you also head CSR for the group. Are the responsibilities linked in some way?

To me, they are linked. Employees want to feel they are a part of a community, they want to work for a company that is committed to CSR and they want to be able to contribute.

Our employees play an active part in our CSR activities. We call it “VolunTeaming” – combining CSR initiatives with team-building activities that enable our employees to interact with the beneficiaries that SingTel supports.

Even from a strategy perspective, there is linkage. CSR is a key component in sustaining the business. Customers

want to buy from a company which is a good corporate citizen that supports good causes and protects the environment.

Q What’s your take on the HR focus for the year ahead?

We in HR have to light the way to lead and shape the agenda. The other thing I feel strongly is that we have to execute with pride, passion and care.

When we embark on something, SingTel has an amazing appetite to commit to the journey. Being such a big organisation, we must be adamant about making things simple. Similar to the 80/20 rule, we need to focus on the vital few that will make a big difference to the business and put time and resources to get that done.

We challenge ourselves not to take the conventional path and will continue to make bold departures in people practices in 2015. For example, while many companies typically measure employee engagement, we actually go beyond to find out if our employees are also energised and enabled so that we can achieve sustainable engagement.

In addition, we recognise the company

alone cannot determine how engaged the employees are. Each employee has a big part to play in making SingTel a great place to work in. This year, we are introducing E2E: Empower to Engage, a personalised, confidential engagement report for each of our employees. We hope that the personalised report will empower all our employees to take action and make a difference.

On the external front, we are committed to enabling the government’s SkillsFuture agenda and have just launched a diploma scholarship programme, which focuses on nurturing young talent in the areas of engineering, cyber security and customer experience.

In the the first corporate programme of this kind, the SingTel Cadet Scholarship Programme offers a total of 90 scholarships each year to students from both Singapore Polytechnic as well as Republic Polytechnic.

Cadets will be offered exciting career paths that include scholarships, internships, secured roles and developmental opportunities. High performers may even get overseas assignments and degree sponsorships.

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FEATURE Âť Compensation & Benefits

It’s that time of the year when most organisations are in the midst of performance cycles. With the spotlight on the rewards team to craft strategies to match both cost and workforce needs, Aditi Sharma Kalra uncovers the compensation outlook for 2015.

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Compensation & Benefits « FEATURE one are the days where companies had the luxury of tossing up money at the problems they faced. The world before the financial meltdown of 2008-09 was one characterised by excess, while the era since has been often classified as the new normal.

Low hanging fruit is harder to come by for organisations, which now have to go the extra mile in most geographies, product lines, or targeting consumer groups. Innovation – be it in the form of newer solutions or newer ways of doing things – is repeatedly proving to be the key source of competitive advantage.

The impact of all these developments has not been lost on those in charge of devising the best ways to attract, reward and retain an organisation’s critical talent. HR teams, and their compensation and benefits professionals, have been party to a sea change in their job descriptions.

Hay Group’s research on “The Changing Face of Rewards” identified managing costs as the top business challenge in 2010. This theme spilled over as a top driver of rewards as well, which the study identified as external benchmarks, performance management and cost management.

Is it about costs versus compensation?

Rather than being at opposing ends of the spectrum, costs and compensation have emerged as complementary. What that means for C&B professionals in 2015 is a continuing focus on defining what performance and productivity mean to the organisation.

Sai Yew Yeoh, AirAsia’s group head of rewards and people services, speaks of the environment in Malaysia, as well as across the region.

“With the currency deficit and the drop in oil prices, the market outlook is quite uncertain.

Most companies are re-looking at their strategies and trying to minimise costs. Where possible, nice-to-have expenses will have to be worked on,” he says.

At the airline, performance of the off-ground staff is measured simply in terms of the number of flying hours.

“Our packages are exercised based on productivity. The reason is because our industry is quite volatile, so we try to minimise fixed costs as much as possible.”

That entails a greater focus on variable compensation, so that “the more they work, the more they get”. In fact, about two-thirds of the

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FEATURE » Compensation & Benefits pay for cabin crew and pilot is made up of the variable of flying hours.

However, this framework is not without its own share of complexity. With statutory requirements different across countries, each definition of performance varies slightly.

Sai Yew takes the example of medical leave, which has various country specific implications impacting productivity. The policy is straightforward in Malaysia and Singapore, where employees are entitled to a certain number of sick days in a year which they cannot exceed, dependent upon producing a doctor’s note.

However, Indonesia’s law provides for unlimited sick leave, while in Japan, it is unusual for employees to take sick leave at all. As a result, what defines and incentivises productivity has to be tweaked not just per statutes, but also the culture in each country.

“For markets with more entry to junior-level professionals, there should be a greater emphasis on the cash component. In markets which hire a more mature workforce, we see C&B strategies more focused on the benefits component such as setting up a pension fund or health insurance.”

– Joanne Chua, account director at Robert Walters Singapore

Optimising the rewards spend The “nice-to-have expenses” Sai Yew talks about implies that a better use of rewards spend is a priority for companies in 2015. And the first step to that is identifying what employees really want.

Over at Alstom Asia, the team has been looking at making better use of its benefits money.

Says Joanne S.Y. Chan, the company’s compensation and benefits director for East Asia Pacific: “Medical and insurance costs are going up by 10% to 20% in some of our own countries of operations, like Singapore and Malaysia.

“So we were working to get a better handle of what employees really want in terms of benefits.

We were looking at ways to collect data from them through focus groups and such.”

The feedback it got was that while employees were satisfied with their own coverage levels, they wanted any additional benefits outlay to help them with better and higher coverage for dependents.

“We recognise that medical costs will go up, but it’s a matter of getting a better return on the money that we are spending.”

Joanne Chua, account director at Robert Walters Singapore, helps to decode employees’ needs further.

“For markets with more entry to junior-level professionals, there should be a greater emphasis on the cash component. In markets which hire a more mature workforce, we see C&B strategies more focused on the benefits component such as setting up a pension fund or health insurance.”

Perhaps this consideration towards going back to what employees want most will minimise the element of risk, and make for a more responsible way to determine returns on reward spend.

What employees want most At the end of the day (or year), all signs point to money as the reigning monarch to rule employees’ minds. The extent of financial compensation, be it though base pay, bonus or monetary incentives, is expected to be at the forefront of attraction as well as retention strategies in 2015.

Take Singapore, where more than two-thirds of employees are either quite or very likely to leave their current role this year, as reported in a new Michael Page survey. An increase in salary was cited as the second biggest reason for wanting to change roles, beaten off by career progression as the top reason, by close to a quarter of local staff.

The issue was sparked by rising costs of living, which more than half said was a big concern for them. In turn, if offered financial rewards, almost a third of respondents admitted they would remain in their current job.

Fifty-five per cent also said they were planning to ask their employers for higher compensation within the next 12 months.

In fact, signs point to compensation playing a key role in attracting overseas locals back to their home countries, in talent-short countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Another study, this one by Hays, found that almost half (49%) of Singaporeans currently either studying or working overseas will consider

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www.power2motivate.asia

FEATURE » Compensation & Benefits

Tracing the rewards path: The first step lies in identifying what employees really want.

returning to the nation only if they can increase their salary.

Singaporeans are not the only ones motivated by increased salaries, as one-third of returning Chinese and 38% of returning Malaysians agree on this count, suggesting salary is a key motivator.

“Singaporeans looking to return are wary of the high cost of living and housing. For families with children, international schooling is cited as an attractive inclusion in a salary package,” noted the report.

Explains Nicholas Fernandez, HR manager at Robert Walters Malaysia: “From our experience, some companies are open to offering ‘expat packages’ to returning Malaysians. Companies who offer local packages in some form or way may also have additional benefits such as positioning the candidate at a higher end of the salary band or relocation allowances.”

Adds Chua: “Compensation will be pegged to

the level of the role. Hiring managers also need to be mindful that the tax rate in Singapore is lower than most developed countries. Hence, candidates should also not assume they will earn more than their local counterparts upon return.”

In such regions where skilled local talent has been hard to come by, the government has intervened with measures to make it easier to tap into the local workforce, such as Malaysia’s Returning Expat Programme, and Singapore’s Fair Consideration Framework.

Increasingly, compensation and benefits professionals, not just in large more established companies, are seeing their role evolving from that of a support system to a real enabler in tapping into the pulse of happy employees at all levels.

The best rewards practitioners will likely keep one eye on long-term business strategies, and the other on employees’ needs, for a delicate balance between the bling and the bucks.

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Compensation & Benefits « FEATURE

CASE STUDY: MASTERCARD When MasterCard was looking to implement a new incentives programme for its salespersons globally, it made sure to bring each stakeholder on board, Mike McCarthy, the company’s group head of HR for APMEA, tells Aditi Sharma Kalra.

The learning organisation expert, Peter Senge, once said: “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed!”

So when MasterCard was looking to implement a new incentives programme last year for its salespersons, slated to impact about a quarter of the regional workforce, it made sure to bring each stakeholder on board along on every step of the way.

Mike McCarthy, group head of HR for MasterCard in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, explains the need for the new programme. “Our incentive programme for salespeople had been in place for a number of years.

People were comfortable with it, and they could work out what was coming their way.”

But internal and external changes encouraged the organisation to re-look at the way it rewards performance.

Rewinding the clock, MasterCard was created by a group of banks to allow money transfers. For the largest part of its history, it was an association, with members, not customers. As a result, the eye was not always on profits.

“Since we became publicly listed, there is much more focus on growing the business. Our customer base has become more diverse to include consumer groups, merchants, technology companies, and governments.

“We wanted the change in the customer base and focus to be reflected in how we were measuring people.

“For example, a lot of the work we do with the governments is about how we can drive fi nancial inclusion. It’s not where we make money, but it’s a very important part of our business.”

As a result, there was a need for a new scheme – one that reflected not just “what” sales teams were achieving, but “how” they were achieving that, and the effort put in.

For example, a salesperson in one country may have an apple fall from the tree into their arms, while in another, someone may be working their fi ngers to their bone, but end up with very little to show for it.

“Another thing is our HR business partners in this region have very good relationships with the business heads and line managers, so they got them to sign up.”

And for the “hard core miscreants”? A little bit of motivation, strong arming, and lots of communication.

“Once it was rolled out, it was communicated. Once people had to set their target, we had another round of training. We reviewed the objectives during the year,” chimes in Patricia Goh, APAC head of C&B. Adds McCarthy: “A lot of HR teams feel the need to introduce a programme as a surprise and that’s the absolute worst (thing) you can do. You need to have the business inputs from the start, go out and test those.

“We didn’t just pack our friends on board. We got some of the more vocal members who will ask questions.”

The feedback received is that the scheme now better reflects what the sales teams are doing out in the market.

“From an HR perspective, you want to have reward schemes that are recognised by those doing the job as appropriate, and being an incentive that makes them want to do lots more of the stuff that makes money, that builds relationships and drives fi nancial inclusion.

“In any function, if you are not adding to the bottom line, if you are not adding to profit, if you are not reducing risk, if you are not enhancing brand and reputation, then do g what at you aaree do g why are you doing doing?”

Countering resistance As with all changes, the team saw some initial pushback.

“But the way we did this project, which is quite typical of MasterCard, is that all key stakeholders were involved.

Not every individual had a say, but every group, geography and business area was represented.”

Equally important was the training of line managers and country heads, he adds. After some resistance, they came on board once they understood the concept, which was key to the implementation.

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation

As corporations become more globalised, relocating employees successfully has become a key tenet of business growth. But how can HR and mobility managers overcome complications arising from moving large volumes and different types of talent?

Akankasha Dewan finds out.

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Executive Relocation « FEATURE

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation oday, relocation has become one of the key watchwords in businesses worldwide.

Rather than relying solely on bringing someone new to boost growth, companies are focusing on putting the right talent in the right places – all in order to achieve optimal amounts of growth in the fastest amount of time.

According to the 2014 “Global Mobility Policy and Practices” survey by Cartus, while the majority of companies indicated their mobility activity was “status quo” over the past two years, 50% of companies expected to see their mobility volume increase overall for the upcoming twoyear period.

The survey, which polled 172 mobility managers, also highlighted that 38% of respondents said their global mobility programme was critically important to achieving short-term business goals (up 13 percentage points from 2012), and 63% said global mobility was critically important to strategic global expansion (up 12 percentage points from 2012).

Expressing her personal opinions on the issue, Sheila Teyu, senior advisor for global mobility at Dell, says there are many invaluable things one can learn from working in a different country.

“Firstly, you learn to be more culturally sensitive, and learn survival skills you thought you never had.

“From a business standpoint, I think relocation opportunities also enable us to become better team members and business partners by learning to work in different group dynamics, grow our networks, and build stronger and more effective communication skills.

Providing relocation opportunities is also a way for the business to attract talent.”

“Current trends are showing an increase in assignments from developing locations,” said Scott Sullivan, executive vice-president of Brookfield Global Relocation Services.

“Recognising the changing international environment, it can no longer be business as usual. It will require more flexibility in a company’s approach and assignment policies in order to ensure an assignee is successful in a new location as well as avoiding costly errors often at times associated with this type of assignment.”

Sean Collins, founder of Talent Mobility Asia, acknowledges a shift in relocation priorities and motivations, adding a mobility manager today has to shoulder a vast range of responsibilities to relocate employees successfully.

“If you look at mobility now, it is very different from what it was 10 or 20 years ago,” he says.

“In the past, it was very much multinational – mainly involving sending senior people overseas to help start up companies in international locations and it was a very one-sizefits-all-expats kind of package.

“Now, because we’re all so global, and talent pools have been globalised, we’re getting all different segments of talent moving around.

“So companies have to build flexible policies to support all these different talent types – from those who have just started their careers and want some more exposure to the middle and senior management. We have got that whole range now, and companies need to segment that talent and build policies to support each kind.”

Teyu agrees, and adds she has seen an evolution in the process by which relocation packages are approached today.

The evolution of relocation

The increasing reliance on flexible relocation packages

With more companies relocating large volumes and different strata of talent for a diverse range of purposes, managing international assignments for assignees has become more complex and comprehensive.

This has raised a greater need for the international HR leader to provide a quality experience for relocating employees and their families.

According to a new report from Brookfield Global Relocation Services, these assignments not only create new challenges, but add some twists to existing assumptions typically held by mobility managers.

“Over time, companies have adapted different strategies to help accommodate them.

Because there is so much focus on compliance and cost-control now, it is not as easy as before,” she explains.

“I know more and more companies are adopting a more flexible policy approach nowadays, which means relocation packages are no longer all standard or fixed. ‘Non-standard’ relocation packages are a new standard now, as this gives the business discretion in providing benefits which are not really mandatory (e.g. language lessons, spouse assistance, etc).”

She adds such flexible policies are useful

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Celebrating 50 years of global business Some think it a recent idea, but we’ve held a global perspective from day one

In fifty years we’ve learned a lot about what makes relocations more successful for everyone.

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation because they help cut down on overall costs (not sacrificing compliance) which then enables them to still provide good relocation opportunities for their employees. The employees, in turn, are happy to go when they see their main concerns addressed through the package.

Collins agrees with such an increased amount of evaluation in crafting employee relocation packages, and adds the country to which the employee is relocated plays an important role in customising these packages.

“Companies are looking at the type of packages they are giving to people. They are still using a typical expat package, but they have reserved these packages now mainly for principal talent, and those which showcase a lot of potential for development,” he says.

Collins explains companies are creating other low-cost alternatives today, such as local plus and local lite.

“Compliance is definitely one of the biggest challenges. With each country having different tax and immigration laws, I think global mobility managers have a need to be always on the forefront of these regulations to ensure their mobility programmes will meet the necessary compliance requirements for each destination they have moves in.”

– Personal view of Sheila Teyu, senior advisor for global mobility at Dell

“In fact, there are lots of different packages that are being created now to try and fit specific needs. Local plus programmes can be country specific, for example, in Singapore.

“Singapore is an attractive place for people to move to, so companies in the past would have provided significant support for housing and education and other aliments on local plus. Now, they’re re-looking at where the support is really needed.”

He adds support is generally needed in elements such as education because it’s difficult to fit an international child into local schools.

Factors such as housing allowances, however, are being re-evaluated to see if they can be reduced.

“Housing is a personal choice – you can choose to live in a very expensive central area or you could choose to live a little outside the centre of Singapore and get more value for your money. So, companies are kind of reassessing and addressing expectations of their transferees and assignees.”

Overcoming challenges Such flexible packages have, in fact, also helped in overcoming some of the biggest challenges typically associated with mobility programmes.

According to the Cartus survey, mobility managers worldwide stated the three biggest challenges causing them to lose sleep were controlling costs (77% of respondents), housing (47%) and compliance-related issues (45%).

“A lot of companies are doing the surveys and the ‘voice of the customer’ as they call it, to find out which benefits and allowances are most valued to employees,” Collins says.

“That way, they can maybe re-adjust and concentrate on the support that provides the most value and the most impact. Sometimes, the most valuable types of supports are not the most costly.

“For example, spouse support is a very low cost item, but can add huge impact to the family.

So, companies are trying to re-look at their packages. Things like mobility premiums are being reduced, and cost of living and housing allowances are being revised after looking at more efficient indexes.”

Teyu also admits that while cost containment is not a new challenge for global mobility managers, she believes they face constant pressure from the business to cut down on programme costs. She adds managers, however, need to ensure they do not cut costs by sacrificing compliance.

“Compliance is definitely one of the biggest challenges. With each country having different tax and immigration laws, I think global mobility managers have a need to be always on the forefront of these regulations to ensure their mobility programmes will meet the necessary compliance requirements for each destination they have moves in,” she says.

She explains that in her experience, another challenge is explaining to the business the compliance issues present in international relocations, even on business trips.

“All the business tends to see is that this employee has a visa to go, so it must surely be all

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation right to go. They don’t realise until too late that a business/tourist visa is not always the right type of visa for the work they are doing in that country, and there may be potential tax liabilities under certain countries’ tax laws when they cross over a certain number of days.”

Having enough knowledge about the complications involved in overcoming compliance and cost-related issues is therefore, integral, if mobility managers wish to minimise the risks of relocating employees overseas.

“Next, I think one of the biggest challenges for global mobility managers out there is also educating the business and making them

aware of these compliance risks so we can catch them before they actually leave the country,” she says.

“It’s important for HR business partners to actively communicate with global mobility managers when doing any long or short-term international moves to assess any compliance concerns.”

Outsourcing relocation programmes versus designing them in-house But do companies generally have such in-house resources and knowledge necessary to craft optimal relocation packages?

Flexibility on a platter: Companies are reassessing the expectations of their transferees in areas such as housing allowances.

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation “Well, the larger companies would typically have a mobility expert in-house,” Collins says.

“But small or medium-sized companies may not have the volume to justify a full-time person dedicated to mobility. Mobility is a very technical area, and you have got very complex kind of mobility situations to deal with every day, such as tax and legal compliance, so it’s a very specialised part of HR. “For companies who do not have the volume to justify a full-time mobility person or a function, then it typically falls to HR to do the job.

That is precisely when issues can arise because the expertise simply isn’t there.

“Essentially you have a way to track and highlight potential tax and legal risks, and that’s very important. It is about really just leveraging expertise that’s out there in the industry to come and help support them in their role.”

– Sean Collins, founder of Talent Mobility Asia

“The HR manager or director would be busy with other parts of their role, so they may not have the time to dedicate to learning about the latest regulations or spending enough time on developing policies or strategising business.”

In such situations, Collins advises companies should engage with external vendors to craft the most relevant and strategic relocation packages.

“If companies don’t have the in-house expertise or manpower to manage their assignment programmes, there are vendors out there they can source. Those vendors can help bring in some of the expertise to manage the administration of the assignment programme,” he says.

He adds hiring external vendors to successfully relocate employees is a good investment by a company to get some solid policies in place. Such policies will also ensure a consistent approach globally throughout the company and get some systems in place for compliance.

“Essentially you have a way to track and highlight potential tax and legal risks, and that’s

very important. It is about really just leveraging expertise that’s out there in the industry to come and help support them in their role.”

Crafting in-house relocation programmes For those companies who do not have the resources to engage external vendors, Teyu suggests crafting an internal relocation package that strikes a perfect balance between three key elements.

This includes, first, a package which meets compliance requirements in the host location, including governable and local employment law requirements.

Second, the company and business itself must be agreeable to the costs and contents of said package.

The last element involves a mindful and active role by the company to provide the best support to relocating employees.

“As a company, we do believe in providing a ‘duty of care’ to assignees, so while the business can keep pressuring us to cut costs, as global mobility managers, we do have to be mindful of the employee’s best interests and experience too,” Teyu says.

Collins adds crafting an internal mobility package should also be done keeping in mind the requirements and motivations of the company and the type of employee being transferred.

“When we look at an intern, for example, they’re bound to have a completely different package compared to a senior leader.

“It also really depends on the culture of the company. Some companies are typically very generous – they do a lot of hand-holding. Other companies are more laid back and promote mobility and expect their people to put up their hand and grasp opportunities and largely invest themselves in the experience.

“The key elements of support are making sure the right visas are in place and making sure the family gets settled in. The core kinds of support you see in most packages are things like the flight allowance, the shipment allowance and some temporary housing so you at least get the family settled.

“Then, you will see some optional but, obviously, quite valuable things like intercultural training, spouse support, and language training if they go into a country which doesn’t speak English or their first language.”

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FEATURE » Executive Relocation

CASE STUDY: ALSTOM ASIA Labour and workforce issues often lead to companies relocating staff to different locations. But how can HR ensure that expectations of expatriates are in line with company provisions? Akankasha Dewan speaks with Joanne S.Y. Chan, compensation and benefits director for East Asia Pacific at Alstom Asia, to find out.

Managing international assignments for assignees has, over time, become more complex, as it requires HR managers to adhere to the needs of each assignee.

Such was the problem Joanne S.Y. Chan, compensation and benefits director for East Asia Pacific at Alstom Asia, faced when the company required international talent to fulfi l its growth aspirations.

“Alstom has been in the country for twenty years. Eight years ago, we started construction of the Circle Line MRT, when the company was growing rapidly,” she says.

“At the time, the nation did not have adequate rail expertise. We had no choice, but to get talent from somewhere else. We were buying and borrowing, more than building, when it came to skills. We didn’t have time to build the expertise we needed, owing to rapid growth.”

Chan recounts how different packages were being used for different employees, depending on the negotiation and the demand for their expertise.

“As a result, we soon had many different pay practices in place, and there was a need for internal equity.”

Streamlining the process For a more methodical approach towards crafting expatriate packages, Chan’s team put in place a local-plus policy in 2009. It was aimed towards standardising the terms and conditions of expats’ employment contracts - a way to control costs as well as maintain internal equity.

“The basic principle was they could come to Singapore without getting the full-fledged expats’ bells and whistles.

Most MNCs, including us, offer these bells and whistles to the senior-most layer,” Chan says.

“But here we had a way to provide mobility to our middle and lower level staff, without a full package, but by helping them through co-sharing of costs for a certain period of time.

“We offered to co-share their housing and schooling costs for four years after they moved, on a decreasing schedule. Over four years, the benefits would go away.”

A key strength of the package was the pay scales for employees relocating to Singapore were similar to their home countries.

“We are lucky that pay levels in Singapore are comparable to the developed world, and it also has a lower tax regime. Despite the currency exchange, net-to-net basis, we hardly had any issues matching pay.”

Overcoming loopholes Chan says the policy is still in place.

“We refreshed it last year. We had some feedback on loopholes or where things were not clear. So we tightened them, reviewed some amounts to make sure they are still reasonable, but the basic principles remain the same.”

The loopholes were mainly administrative in nature, such as the usage of different terminology in different contracts. To ensure clarity for all employees, Chan’s team is now putting in place a standard template for all staff.

Clear messaging about the details of the policy is also essential, since it is communicated on a case-to-case basis for those who fit the profi le of what the company is looking for.

Chan admits when her team fi rst implemented this policy, there was a fear employees would resign once their benefits expired after four years. But thankfully, this proved not to be the case. In fact, the programme has helped in boosting the company’s retention rates.

“Where our employee population was earlier only focused on the trains business, we have got more people who are coming in for other types of businesses and career movement,” she says.

“It has also helped us control costs, while putting a signal out that we encourage career mobility and we want to help our employees to do that. In that sense it has been successful. It was then used as a model for other countries to build their own local-plus policies, such as in Malaysia, China and Switzerland.”

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OPINION » Learning & development

Banking on internal talent The philosophy of growing one’s own timber through a slew of leadership development programmes for high potentials and graduates.

CASSANDRA CHENG Head of learning & development OCBC Bank

Pick and choose: Identified talent is put through a fast-track route towards assuming bigger responsibilities.

At OCBC Bank, we view talent management and succession planning as key focus areas vital to the success and future growth of the company. We have a dedicated team tasked to drive talent management for the bank.

Talent management is, as a matter of fact, a managementlevel agenda for us. At the group level, we hold an annual strategic talent review meeting chaired by the group CEO, along with core management members, to review leadership benchstrength, succession planning and discuss development plans for key talent.

At the business-unit level, each business head holds at least two talent reviews annually to review and evaluate talent development plans and progress, as well as create action plans to ensure strong leadership bench-strength.

Finally, at the HR level, we have a process to put identified talent through a fast-track route for them to assume bigger responsibilities, through stretch assignments, which include overseas postings, job rotations and career progression.

Their performance is tracked to ensure they possess the potential to take on senior management roles in the future.

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Learning & development « OPINION

Putting a finger on talent To ensure high-potential talent within OCBC is promptly identified and brought to the surface, a talent review council within the different business units holds at least two meetings a year to discuss new potential talent and develop career plans for their development.

The council spends a significant amount of time deliberating on their performance and growth potential. Other factors taken into consideration include the employees’ core values, motivations and aspirations.

We also adopt a structured hiring approach to identify young high-potential talent to join OCBC Bank. Our Post-Graduate Management Associate Programme (PGMA) targets highly qualified individuals with a Masters degree with two to six years of work experience in both banking and non-banking fields.

This is unique as we believe in the value of their transferable skills from their non-banking work experience. For instance, we have had scholars from the civil service department, as well as psychologists and engineers take part.

Under this programme, these associates undergo a comprehensive 18-month induction programme, including job rotations, project assignments and international assignments to be assessed on their leadership and potential qualities.

Today, many of our associates have transitioned successfully from non-banking industries to leadership positions in OCBC Bank. Over the past 10 years, more than 250 employees have joined us through our PGMA programme.

In 2012, we started a new initiative called OCBC Young Bankers Programme, targeted at fresh graduates keen to embark on a banking career.

Over a 12-month period, we give these young bankers plenty of opportunities to learn and develop their skills to excel in their career. They are assessed on their performance and leadership qualities by their respective managers and mentors.

About 60 young bankers have joined us since commencement and we are expecting another 45 candidates to join us in July this year. We will continue to assess the top 30% of each cohort for another 12 to 18 months before we short-list them for broad-based functional and leadership development.

Last year these young professionals went on to join various divisions in OCBC Bank, including group consumer financial services, group investment banking and group operations and technology.

In addition, our structured internship programme opens our doors to about 100 undergraduates per year, serving as a natural platform to identify high-potential fresh graduates.

We take talent in as undergraduate interns from the three local universities – National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University.

The programme then allows them to gain insights into the industry and to get hands-on experience with real-time projects.

Interns, who perform well and show a strong fit with our culture and values, are offered jobs with the bank upon their graduation.

“At the HR level, we have a process to put identified talent through a fast-track route for them to assume bigger responsibilities, through stretch assignments, which include overseas postings, job rotations and career progression.”

In 2014, we offered jobs to about 60% of our graduating interns.

Building bench-strength In addition to our initiatives for high potentials, we strongly believe in growing our own talent through various leadership development programmes.

For instance, we have partnered with INSEAD for an executive development programme that was launched in 2008 to develop our future leaders. It is an annual two-week programme where participants get to work on projects to be presented to the management committee, with the opportunity to implement them.

To date, over 240 of our employees have gone through this programme, including colleagues from across the OCBC Group such as OCBC NISP, Great Eastern, Bank of Singapore and Lion Global.

Another way to engage with our younger talent is the Future Leaders programme launched in 2012. It is specifically for those who are aged 35 years and below, mobile (able to take on overseas postings), and have the potential to succeed senior management roles in the next five to 15 years.

Each one has a tailored development plan that includes an overseas posting, exposure to different job functions such as audit, commercial banking and credit, and will be mentored by a member of OCBC Bank’s senior management team or even the CEO himself.

We also launched the OCBC Smart Asia programme in 2014 to equip our leaders for future challenges and new competencies, especially targeted towards growth in Asia.

For us at OCBC Bank, talent management is a long-term journey which has been a core management practice for many years. Our structured and diligent process of identifying and developing talent has yielded a strong pool of internal and ready leaders who are helping to grow the company.

Today, almost all of our senior management vacancies are filled with talent groomed internally. They have strong engagement and institutional knowledge about the organisation which are key in driving our expansion in Singapore and the region.

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SPONSORED CONTENT THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PEMBANGUNAN SUMBER MANUSIA BERHAD

HRDF CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2015

The HRDF Conference and Exhibition attracts an increasing number of local and international participants from across various industries.

Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) is organising the HRDF Conference & Exhibition 2015 that will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia from December 8-9 this year. This conference is comprehensive and demand-led, designed to reflect current needs and themes specially selected from extensive industry research from like-minded professionals; and, to gather, network, learn, debate and share best practices in a highly stimulating environment.

The HRDF Conference & Exhibition annual event is a convergence of forwardthinking HR professionals, academics and consultants who are committed to establishing effective HR business strategies today that will address the complex issues organisations will face tomorrow and in the near future.

As Malaysia takes lead of the Chairmanship of ASEAN 2015, economic integration will remain a strong pillar for the country to participate with other nations while emerging as a major force within the global economy.

The dynamism of the ASEAN, offering resilience, cross-border opportunities and synergies will lead to smarter and more intelligent partnerships that will open up more possibilities and growth opportunities.

Under the theme, “People, Prowess, Progress,” this annual event is a strategic platform that allows HR practitioners, specialists as well as experts to discuss and shape human capital potential in Malaysia and within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Values and Focus Issues The theme emphasises three key issues (People, Prowess, Progress) representing

the power and potential of the people, prowess to contribute to the Malaysian economy, and progress towards universal economic growth.

The conference will present different perspectives on human capital development by well-known speakers from various industries.

Among the focused issues that will be discussed during the conference include harnessing people potential, talent management, and talent mobility.

The Malaysian talent issue is a challenging hurdle to the country’s economic growth. It affects the country’s ability to deliver the talent needed to achieve a highincome nation. With much of the local talent getting attracted to companies abroad, this has resulted in a decreased availability of talent within the country.

The HRDF Conference & Exhibition 2015 is unique because it provides an serious interface between leading players of the industry and key personalities with decision makers in HR space. This will further encourages a meeting of minds to better understand human capital development in Malaysia and to exchange talent and resource ideas. The conference itself brings to surface specific business, people and talent investment opportunities.

With new challenges from market volatility, sub-prime losses, tightening credit and unemployment, participants will have the opportunity to engage in developing ideas and strategies to refine the country’s existing pool of talent.

They will also have the chance to learn to identify human resource development challenges and other related issues while creating opportunities and exposure for local talent.

Talent management is also a top priority for many businesses to remain

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competitive. Based on a set of integrated organisational HR processes, participants will learn how to maximise business performance with financial results.

They can learn from experienced experts to manage employee retention, turnover rates and nurture global competitiveness among the workforce.

During the two-day event, participants may also attend the parallel sessions that focus on specialised topics.

These sessions include “Talent Mobility – Helping with the Workforce Planning Disconnect”, “Collaboration Issues – Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Perspective”, “Cutting-Edge Solutions for Global Competitiveness”, “Emerging HR Technologies, Marketing Precepts, Innovation, Solutions”, “The Next Gen Leaders – Who and Where do we start” , “Generation Initiative - New Generation Bringing Innovation into the Workforce” and more.

History of HRDF Conference and Exhibition The HRDF Conference and Exhibition is currently in its 15th year and steadily drawing more participants every year, both local and international, from various industries.

HR professionals regard HRDF Conference and Exhibition as one of the “must-attend” HR conferences of the year. The event allows delegates the unique opportunity to reconnect, engage with, and explore future trends and best practices in the world of HR in this two-day, energy-packed event with renowned leading HR leaders.

The event regularly attracts numerous business professionals, HR practitioners and talent gurus. As a focal point for various HR related issues, it presents different perspectives on human capital development for discussions.

For HR professionals and experts, it provides an opportunity to expand their networks, enabling a bridge between leading players of the industry with key figures and decision makers in the HR field. These interactions encourage a meeting of minds to foster better understanding of human capital development while exchanging talent and resource ideas.

Furthermore, the event opens new prospects in surfacing specific businesses, people and talent investment opportunities.

The conferences’ rosters of speakers have brought together locally recognised experts and foreign presenters, including speakers from Australia, United Kingdom and US, in addition to neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia from various industries, such as, construction, financial institutions, media, entertainment, and academics.

The delegates will also experience an opportunity to visit the exhibition booths which will provide an abundance of useful information on human resources training and development as well as learning modules that would suit their business needs.

For exhibitors, the HRDF Conference and Exhibition is the most anticipated event to showcase their products and services to participants attending the conference. This has fostered more opportunities for them to connect with a wide network as well as provided publicity for sharing useful information in regards to human resource training and development.

Venue Highlights The HRDF Conference & Exhibition 2015 will be organised at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, allowing participants to enjoy the charms of Malaysia’s capital city after the conference and exhibition.

Located in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle area, it is also the city’s main shopping and nightlife district. Participants can visit the numerous shopping malls and pavilions located around Jalan P. Ramlee and Bukit Bintang. Foreign visitors may even use the opportunity to experience and sample some of Malaysia’s popular local dishes.

Other places of interest include the Aquaria KLCC located under the convention centre, Petrosains and the Petronas Twin Towers.

PSMB at a glance Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB) as an agency under the Ministry of Human Resources, was established in 1993 with the aim of developing quality human capital and a world-class workforce, to achieve the nation’s aspiration of attaining a developed country status by 2020, with a high-income economy based on knowledge and innovation.

The organisation since has embarked on a mission to enhance its workforce knowledge, skills and capabilities through effective management of its funds.

Being the most prestigious annual event in the HR world, HRDF Conference & Exhibition is organised by PSMB with the aim to educate and encourage employers to up skill their workforce. At the same time, it acts as the source for human resources expertise and professional connections, leveraging synergies and nurturing new skills that will optimise human resources.

Contact and Information Further information on the HRDF Conference and Exhibition is available at the PSMB website www.hrdf.com.my and various road shows. The event is now open to the public, and interested parties may contact the PSMB Contact Centre at 1800-884800 or via e-mail at azrulsyafiq@hrdf.com.my, mnaqmal@hrdf.com.my, khairul. effandi@hrdf.com.my or mohdkhairizal@hrdf.com.my

This article was written and contributed by Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad, an agency under Malaysia’s Ministry of Human Resources to encourage employers covered under the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad Act 2001 to retrain and upgrade their workforce.

For more information, visit the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad website at www.hrdf.com.my and www.nhrc.com.my or call PSMB’s contact centre via 1-800-4800.

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OPINION » People issues

What attracts talent to a startup (and makes them stay) Leveraging on the company’s corporate culture and attractive perks pays off in the long run.

ANDREW MURRAY Executive vice president of human resources, Lazada Group

Talent magnet: Autonomy over work schedules attracts talent to start-ups.

Before the global financial crisis hit in 2008, jobs in the financial sector were highly sought after by top performing graduates. Drawn by promises of hefty pay checks, it became a ritual for high flying graduates worldwide to join the ranks of large investment banks and financial institutions.

The prestige of a career in banking, however, has been dwindling. Following the crisis, which led to large job losses and tarnished reputations of major banks, there is now a trend towards ambitious graduates pursuing jobs that provide them with a greater sense of meaning and a better work-life balance.

Technology has subsequently become a more attractive industry to work in. Record numbers of university graduates and business school graduates are now choosing jobs in the technology industry, ahead of a career in finance.

There is now a strong entrepreneurial culture in Asia and cities such as Singapore have a fast growing start-up scene.

Singapore is a location that offers a favourable tax regime, stable political conditions, a growing pool of venture capital investors and a talented workforce, making it a very attractive location for both entrepreneurs and tech start-ups.

Moving away from convention Lazada is one of the companies that has benefited from Singapore’s favourable environment. However, its management team represents only a small percentage of an increasing number of finance and other high flying individuals leaving their corporate careers behind for the technology industry.

One such example is Sing Kwan Ng, a Malaysian national who Lazada hired from one of the top management consulting firms in Malaysia, two years after he graduated. He was fed up with consultancy life and looking for a new challenge.

He initially ran Lamido, an online marketplace owned by Lazada Group, in Malaysia. He immediately took on a huge amount of responsibility, including setting up the team and then building up the whole business in that market. He has now moved into a substantial regional role, based in Bangkok.

To attract more such individuals to join the technology sector, Lazada strives to maintain a relatively relaxed and informal culture and offers perks such as flexible working hours, which appeal to young graduates and professionals.

Indeed, this exciting and fast moving industry has attracted both professionals and graduates from a variety of different disciplines. From fashion to logistics, human resources, business development, marketing, and data analytics, the e-commerce industry has a role for everyone from all backgrounds.

This talented pool of employees remains the bedrock of Lazada’s success and the company has been effective in attracting and retaining the best talent in the region.

What makes talent stay Professionals that have moved to Lazada from leading consultancy firms and banks have cited the autonomy over their schedules, greater responsibility, and the opportunity to see results first-hand and the chance to shape the culture, instead of stepping into a predetermined culture with existing practices, as key factors that persuaded them to leave their jobs for a start-up.

Young professionals at Lazada enjoy a rapid career trajectory that comes with greater ownership and responsibility, which can be rare in other more hierarchical industries. Lazada’s employees are often given highly challenging and pioneering roles which provide them with the opportunity to help break new ground.

They are also given the opportunity to pursue crossfunctional roles. Young professionals value the opportunity for personal growth, multi-discipline learning and job diversity as they are exposed to a number of different parts of the business.

With Asia Pacific’s e-commerce sector projected to grow dramatically, and the attraction of Singapore as a strong regional hub for IT and technology professionals, hiring in the technology industry is likely to continue apace.

Lazada will continue to grow its talent pool this year, with a particular focus on mobile-related disciplines as mobile e-commerce continues its rapid growth in the region.

Additionally, recent high-profile data breaches and hacking incidents continue to fuel the need for data security professionals and business intelligence analysts that can help mitigate IT risks.

Technology is set to remain one of the major industries of choice for both young graduates and corporate professionals looking to capitalise off the huge opportunities this fast growing, dynamic sector offers.

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COMMUNICATE, EDUCATE, COMBAT An ageing workforce poses many challenges to employers. The tasks begins at developing and formalising retirement and reemployment policies that attract and retain talent beyond the statuary retirement age of 62; Human resource is often tasked with the responsibility of organisational development to sustain productivity and business sustainability.

Employee health is also a crucial factor for employers to consider as part of this process. Empowering employees to be take charge of their own health can be effectively achieved through internal professional development such as talks that create awareness on employee personal health and that of their loved ones.

As the saying goes “Health is wealth�.

Organisations can achieve healthy workforces through various programs. However, it is most important to regularly communicate with and educate employees on their personal health. This will equip employees with the skills that will empower them to identify signs and symptoms and take necessary precautions to protect themselves and those around them form infection.

The gravity of many diseases is often undermined due to their incubation and gradual progression. HIV / AIDS, HFMD, Tuberculosis and Influenza are just some examples of such diseases. While these diseases may have less prevalence compared to other more commonly known infections, they are equally, if not more contagious.

As such, it is important to take the necessary precautions to reduce the spread of these diseases.

Both individual and collective benefits can be reaped through education and awareness on Communicable Diseases. It also enhances corporate branding projecting responsible employers who go the extra mile to ensure that their employees are healthy.

HOW CAN EMPLOYERS EDUCATE EMPLOYEES TO TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH? Conducted in collaboration by Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and Health Promotion Board (HPB), the Workplace Infectious Diseases

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6/3/2015 10:50:03 PM

OPINION » Unconventional wisdom

An oft-forgotten way to energise team morale At an unlikely place and time, George Avery, director of total compensation and benefits for IBM Asia Pacific, finds a surprising way to boost team morale.

The right foot forward: A group charity outing can do wonders to re-build employee morale.

Morale and engagement remain hot topics within the HR community. We are always trying to find ways to improve and strengthen the employee experience and their connection to the organisation. I had an interesting experience in this area recently and I wanted to share it.

Recently, we had an outing after work to celebrate a colleague who was moving to a new job within our company.

Many of us had worked with him for the past few years in multiple countries (as our organisation had relocated from China to Singapore last year) and he was now moving to Brazil.

We had spent many long hours working together during that time. As it happens with these types of events, a number of people showed up that were not directly on our team and we began to introduce ourselves.

We found that many of us knew each other via email exchanges or frantic instant messages, but had not met face to face. “Oh, you are so-and-so. I’ve seen your name for a long time, but we’ve never met.”

As the night went on, we had some food and various beverages, but the most interesting thing was that we didn’t really discuss our work. I’m lucky enough to work for a very multi-cultural organisation so we had people from all over the world at our table. And the conversations that came from this were as varied as the participants.

We had discussions about who had the best rugby team (a passionate South African claimed this one), who had the best football team (with a number of Brazilians in attendance, there wasn’t much of a debate), the best island in the region to go on holiday (no consensus there), and so on.

We shared stories and laughter and at one point I remember thinking: “We all needed this. We all needed some time together just to relax and have fun.”

The surprise of the night Sometimes these events are awkward and can often be laced with incessant phone checking, but for a few hours on a beautiful Wednesday evening we sat and just enjoyed spending time with each other.

At the end of the night I walked back to the office as I had to dial into a late call with some colleagues from the US. But I did so with a feeling of invigoration in my spirit that I didn’t realise I needed until this had happened.

When I saw my colleagues in office the next day it looked like they might have had a similar experience and I noticed the interactions to be more positive and spirited within the team.

This seemingly simple event had not only lifted our spirits, but also improved the attitude and atmosphere within our team.

Not another team-building exercise The point is that we never want to infringe on people’s personal time more than our current work environments already do, but once in a while a group charity outing, a community service project or even just a happy hour can do wonders to re-energise employee morale.

Sharing these non-work related experiences with our colleagues can build the bonds we have and provide some additional perspectives that can keep people charged and moving forward together.

42 » Human Resources » March 2015

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6/3/2015 2:49:41 PM

SPONSORED RECRUIT CONTENT HOW TO THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY EASY TAXI

AUTOMATING TAXI CLAIMS: HR’S LAST FRONTIER As experienced human resources professionals, do you still recall the days where pay slips had to be typewritten, rulers had to be used to calculate payroll, and your filing cabinet was taller than you?

Gone are the days where much of the work had to be done manually and with paper, thanks to the advent of information technology, streamlining of processes, improvements in efficiency and minimisation of mistakes.

However, in many companies the transportation claims process seems to have been left in the Dark Ages. We still see employees pasting their fading taxi receipts onto pieces of paper, trying really hard to remember what each ride was for, and handwriting the information onto a form.

For HR and finance, the process is even more challenging: each claim needs to be verified alongside supporting documents; deciphering illegible handwriting takes time, so does interpreting thermal print on faded receipts. Some of our biggest clients need five full working days of three accountants to process the claims, each month.

Another main concern is fraudulent claims. Companies who process a large number of transport claims monthly may find it difficult to verify each and every claim.

A full audit in one of our client companies showed that as much as 40% of all taxi claims were not from business-related taxi rides.

As such, an automated system that tracks business travel may very well be the solution. Employees are saved the trouble of keeping their receipts and crossreferencing these against their calendars at the end of every month. Traveling via taxis is easier as rides can be charged directly to the company. There’s also no need to collect and keep receipts for each ride.

The HR team, on the other hand, will find it easier to review claims as this is automated. You are able to track who is booking a ride, from where to where, and for what purpose – all real time. You can also export reports anytime to have a full view of your company’s taxi usage and expenses.

In addition, an automated system helps you as well as business managers allocate budget in a more precise manner. Credit limits can be set for each employee, each department or each project.

The solution is also a tool that allows you to set rules based on timing and location; for example, call centre employees can only take taxis after their night shift, or warehouse guys can only take taxis from the warehouse.

Moreover, pertinent information such as driver and taxi details, and contact number eliminates any risk of losing documents/phones on a taxi.

Business travelers from Singapore who have to take taxis in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok or Manila will also benefit from using the same corporate account seamlessly across the region’s business centres.

With local language solutions, you do not have to worry about gesturing with a driver in Ho Chi Minh city, as he would already have the full detail of your destination when he accepts your ride request. Also gone are the needs to carry small cash in local currencies or ask for a handwritten paper receipt.

As organisations look to making HR and finance more efficient, why don’t we also automate the control of taxi usage and expenses?

No brainer, isn’t it?

This article is contributed by Michel Glezer, Global Head of B2B for Easy Taxi

Easy Taxi is the world’s biggest taxi solution for consumers and businesses, currently available in more than 30 countries across four continents. Founded in Brazil in 2011, the company began operations in Singapore in December 2013 and has been growing rapidly in the market.

With a wide network of taxi drivers and hundreds of thousands of boarded rides each month, Easy Taxi constantly strives to make travelling easier for both individual and corporate passengers.

Find out more by writing to contact@easytaxi.com.sg

March 2015 « Human Resources « 43

Find out more by writing to contact@easytaxi com sg

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6/3/2015 9:53:17 PM

OPINION » Upwardly mobile

How HR can become a business superstar JASSY TAN Divisional director of human resources, FJ Benjamin (Singapore)

For HR to become a business superstar, it’s critical to start speaking the language of numbers the business is familiar with, and linking it to the softer aspects that HR is familiar with.

The role of HR has evolved through the years. In the earlier days, HR was seen as an administrator and, in some instances, a policeman to procedures. In today’s context, HR’s role is moving towards being a business partner, and towards HR playing a business advisory role, as opposed to taking orders.

How then do we become true HR business partners? We need to arm ourselves with knowledge about the business and take a hands-on approach in understanding its ground issues.

However, more often than not, organisations still see HR as transactional, and it’s a challenge to earn a boardroom seat.

Personally as I have advanced in my career, the transition happened from transactional to strategic HR. But frankly, many organisations just did not buy the notion of HR helping to shape the business, or be true partners in helping get better results.

Like any major change, I have encountered resistance and sometimes downright rejection from the business in seeing our role differently. This has made my job as a business partner fraught with difficulties.

The point of differentiation In my mind, as an HR business partner, the foundation lies in building credibility. One factor that differentiates one from just being a competent HR business partner from a superstar HR business partner is having sound financial know-how.

In the old days, HR professionals could focus only on the people side of the business and get by. It was HR’s job to ensure that hiring and firing were done properly, that labour laws were followed, that employee benefits were properly managed, and so on. The better ones would stand out if they were able to throw up HR-specific financial metrics, such as the cost of turnover.

When financial discussions happened at business meetings, which could be as often as 80% of the time, that’s when HR became a passive bystander to this area of discussion.

Imagine the credibility you would gain if you participate actively in such discussions, where you articulate financial metrics such as operating profit margin, return on equity, NPBT growth, EBITDA growth, TSR, WA, and others – relating them to “soft aspects” such as performance, retention and growth.

A good grasp of financials and numbers is crucial. Having a commercial understanding of the conflicts, constraints and demands on leaders and managers to achieve results within financial parameters is essential. If a business partner underpins every recommendation and solution with accurate cost and cost implications, this will definitely add credibility.

Sometimes a business partner gets hung up on the “right thing to do”, but business managers would often point out that “doing the right thing” is not always feasible to the business.

Speak the language: Solutions backed by numbers add credibility.

The way to get around financial constraints is to determine the level of risk on a possible course of action. Sometimes, there is no option, but to take some risk. If a business partner is able to help the business ascertain a calculated risk, yet keeping within its financial parameters, they will undoubtedly win credibility.

Learning the language of numbers Like it or not, finance is the common language of business.

Whether it is something that comes naturally to you or not, the one thing every organisation has in common is numbers and how those numbers are tabulated, analysed and reported. In HR, you need to talk the language to be taken seriously and to communicate your ideas and recommendations effectively.

One comforting factor is that financial intelligence is not innate, it can be developed.

As with any new language, you may not have the confidence or be able to speak the language of numbers fluently at first, but as you gain more practice, along comes the confidence and thereafter the credibility.

Superstars in HR demonstrate a high degree of influence and personal persuasion with their business leaders. And they achieve this by building their financial knowledge steadily so they can be viewed as equal partners with them – all because they speak the same language.

In modern day organisations, the focus is shifting from the traditional outlook of HR to a more integrated outlook and as a partner in profitability.

So, if you really want to become an effective HR advocate, leader and business partner, and want to position yourself for positions of greater responsibility, be taken seriously and earn your seat in the board room, it’s simple – improve your financial competence and speak the finance language.

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6/3/2015 2:51:54 PM

Personal development « CAREERS

uptheranks Tracking HR’s industry moves Who: Alan Couldrey From: Brand Union Asia Pacific To: Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific has announced Alan Couldrey, CEO of Brand Union Asia Pacific, as chief talent officer for APAC. At the same time, he will be continuing his role as CEO of Brand Union Asia Pacific, which he has been in for five years. He has also previously held CEO roles at various Ogilvy & Mather offices in the APAC region.

Reporting directly to Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific CEO, Paul Heath, he will be responsible for the company’s employee development and training, the recruitment of top talent and overseeing Ogilvy’s HR function.

“The key to success for an organisation like Ogilvy is its ability to attract the right talent, to find the right mix of talent for today and the near and coming future, and to challenge, train, stimulate and reward those people with an exciting career that once you pick up, you simply can’t put down,” Couldrey said.

Who: Ng Chee Peng From: Ministry of Manpower (MOM) To: Central Provident Fund Board (CPF Board) The CPF Board has appointed Ng Chee Peng, formerly the deputy secretary for special projects of MOM, as the new CEO for the CPF Board.

With effect from March 15, he will be taking over this role from Yee Ping Yi who has served as the CEO of CPF since January 2011. Yee will be returning to the civil service to assume another leadership role. Before joining MOM, Ng has held various roles in the civil service sector, including chief of navy, director (policy) in the Ministry of Defence and chief of staff-joint staff in the Singapore Armed Forces, among others.

personalgrowth IS HR FAILING AS A FUNCTION? Why is HR increasingly getting distanced from employees, asks Akankasha Dewan.

While their range of responsibilities has undoubtedly increased over time, the ultimate goal of HR managers has essentially remained the same – to strengthen the employer-employee relationship.

But how can this happen if HR is not even aware of what the workforce itself is thinking?

A recent study by CareerArc found a vast gap in perception between the two groups of professionals on the state of work-life balance.

While 67% of HR professionals thought their employees had a balanced work-life, almost half of the employees polled felt they didn’t have enough time for personal activities.

Why do such gaps exist? And more importantly, what can HR managers do to remain up to date with what their employees want?

To ensure that you don’t fail in ensuring your employees are getting the right corporate support they need to perform at their optimal level, here are a few things you can do.

Some of these are glaringly obvious and most of you should be performing these anyway, but it doesn’t hurt to remind yourself of them.

Don’t underestimate the power of HR surveys Sure, HR surveys are boring, but they can also be highly relevant if used correctly.

When structuring an HR survey, make sure to include precise and pointed questions, for employees to understand.

Making such surveys lengthy by asking too many questions may be beneficial for you, but it reduces the chances of getting an honest and well-thought response.

Instead, go for a fewer number of probing questions.

Leverage on technology In today’s advanced world, you must have loads of willpower not to enjoy using the

latest technology to collect and interpret data from various surveys and reports. Take advantage of the resources you have – it will aid in getting exactly what you want in the shortest amount of time possible.

But don’t forget to spend time with staff Collecting data and interpreting it to find out what staff really want is a good strategy – but the process is incomplete without you actually talking to employees.

Spending time with staff will help you cultivate relationships with them, which in turn will enable you to gain a deeper insight into their concerns regarding the organisation and their future there.

Naturally, doing all these things will take up time and will require extra effort on your end to communicate with employees – but rest assured, it is all worth it.

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10/3/2015 4:15:40 PM

Good reads to improve your business life

No Excuses: How You Can Turn Any Workplace into a Great One Jennifer Robin, Michael Burchell Wiley S$26.62 No Excuses offers a practical guide for transforming any workplace into a great one.

Authors Jennifer Robin and Michael Burchell reveal the most common excuses managers use for why they can’t create such a great workplace. These include factors such as organisations’ leadership, employees, environment, etc.

Poking holes in every excuse, they explain how managers can create a great workplace by leading people properly. They can do this by interrupting their own negative thoughts and instead creating lasting change.

They prove how great workplaces have surmounted very real difficulties with aplomb.

Developing Analytic Talent: Becoming a ntist Data Scientist Vincent Granville Wiley S$36.04 Being able to harness the power of data is a skill in demand today.

Vincent Granville’ss book shows the skill sets that separate the quality data scientist from other IT professionals.

It is, thus, intended for data and computer scientists, their managers, and those interested in a start-up or consultancy around data science.

The book has three components: a multilayer discussion of what data science is and how it relates to other disciplines; technical applications of and for data science, including

Filled with real-life ca studies and case iinspiring ins n stories from a wide range of major organisations, including CocaCola, Whole Foods, Zappos and Accenture, the book shows great workplaces are more successful than others because of the power of trust.

The examples in the book detail the real experiences of managers and leaders in businesses, and are aimed towards inspiring trust and commitment within businesses.

The authors claim that after reading this book and implementing the practices presented, readers should actually have fewer apologies to make for why their businesses aren’t functioning well.

Bookmark this!

Whether your excuse for not getting started is time, energy or skills, you are ultimately dealing with habits. Habits take time to change, and once they do, they persist indefinitely. Even a manager’s reliance on a subset of skills can be considered a habit, and learning new skills involves the same process of changing routinised behaviour. It is worth taking a minute to consider how to change workplace habits, because they are incredibly powerful. The first thing we need to do in order to change habits is to realise they exist! – page 78.

tutorials and case studies; and career resources for practising and aspiring data scientists. Spread over eight chapte chapters, it explains the finer poin points of data science, the required skills, and how to acquire them, including aanalytical recipes, source co code, and a dictionary.

It also covers everything from data science tricks to co common job interview quest questions, and sample resum resumes.

Bookm Bookmark this!

The only data scientists who can succeed with extreme data science are those with good intuition, good judgment and vision.

They combine deep analytics and advanced statistical knowledge with consistently correct gut feelings and the ability to quickly drill down to the essence of any problem. – page 81.

Winning The War For Talent: How to Attract & Keep the People Who Make Your Business Profitable Mandy Johnson Wiley S$30.49 Instead of another HR self-help book, Winning The War For Talent provides readers with new and different ways to improve the effectiveness of their recruitment processes and capabilities. dyy Author Mandy Johnson outliness s step the ‘Highfliers 7-step iting ting System’ to recruiting and retaining great talent - a how-to guide of people-practices that produce extraordinary business results.

She also explains three “secret weapons” of great hiring: recruitment as a sales process, speed recruitment, and hiring for attitude, but training for skill.

It discusses issues such as corporate attitudes, the involvement of line managers, salaries and effective measurement, and details an unconventional, but impressive approach to improving training operations within a company. Useful and informative, the book is an excellent read for those interested in effectively attracting and retaining the best talent in the market.

Bookmark this!

Local candidates are always the best fit for a position. This is because they have already demonstrated they like living somewhere.

Those who relocate are higher risk because they often find they, or their partner or their children, hate the area, or it’s too stressful finding new schools, doctors, banks and other contacts away from their established family and friends’ network.

There’s also extra cost and time involved in relocation as the new recruit will need more general support for the first few months to get set up – page 90.

Photography: Fauzie Rasid

Pick of the month

shelflife

46 » Human Resources » March 2015

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Human Resources Bulletin bringing you the freshest news!

To subscribe to Human Resources Bulletin for FREE email subscribe@news.humanresourcesonline.net today!

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9/12/2014 9:58:47 AM

LAST WORD

In her new role as a manager, Aditi Sharma Kalra looks for ways to manage time better.

Managing tasks and their deadlines is hard. Managing people is harder. But managing myself and my time is the hardest, but it is the key to managing both people and deadlines.

This was my biggest learning during my first month in my new role as a manager at Human Resources.

The reality is we all have 24 hours in a day, out of which we spend about eight to nine hours at our office desks. On a tough day, this could go up to 10 to 12 hours. But not only is that unhealthy for staff in every way, but it may also be indicative of a need to manage one’s time more effectively.

In the past month, I’ve often found myself looking for ways to check things off my task list faster and more efficiently. Here’s what I learnt, and I hope some of it is a useful reminder for you as well.

1. Invest 20 minutes in planning your day Instead of starting each day in a whirl, I found it helpful to slow down my pace after running into the office, and taking some time to structure my day.

This helped me gain a one-up before the clock got the better of me, and list out my priorities for each day.

I also realised it was futile to put more than three to four big items on my daily to-do list. While making the list, it may help to write the items out in the order of what’s most important to you and your team.

2. Start your day with the most time-intensive activity Starting your morning with the hardest or most time-intensive activity is a good idea, especially if that’s when you’re at your best (which I am).

Coming in nice and early with a fresh mind was the perfect setup to solve my hardest problems of the day, or work on the task that needed the most time and effort from me.

An early start meant I was able to tick off such tasks early in the day, without feeling like I was

“A routine is great when it works, but it’s even more fun when it needs to be reworked to suit your goals better.” running out of time to achieve everything else that I had planned.

3. Routines are meant to be broken A routine is great when it works, but it’s even more fun when it needs to be reworked to suit your goals better. In the past week, I’ve had to play around with the way I have managed my work in the AM and PM and realised that a new routine may be in order.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t quite grasped what my new routine is yet. It can be overwhelming to step out of your comfort zone away from the tried-andtested work habits that have worked so well for you in the past.

But a new year, a new role and a new team are all great reasons to break the monotony and figure out how you can keep doing more of what makes you good at your job, and slowly season it with habits that will make you great at it.

In addition to all of this, with a crazy amount of technology available at our fingertips, and most of it for free, there is nothing stopping us from making the most of it. Tools available to us on a daily basis, such as the Google Calendar or Skype, can be helpful in more ways than to just keep a tab of our meetings.

These are just some of my thoughts over the past month, but I’d love to hear some tips from you. 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

What I learnt in my first month as a manager

48 » Human Resources » March 2015

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10/3/2015 12:59:53 PM

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