Human Resources Singapore, November 2015 - Vendors of the Year special edition by Human Resources Online

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015 S$10.00 INC GST

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HR. PAYROLL. BENEFITS. WHETHER YOU DO BUSINESS ACROSS THE STREET OR AROUND THE WORLD, WE HELP YOU SUCCEED.

EDITOR'S NOTE

CELEBRATING THE BEST

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

regional marketing manager regional production lead regional producers

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

Aditi Sharma Kalra Anthony Wong Akankasha Dewan Jerene Ang James Foster Shahrom Kamarulzaman Booney Tan Fauzie Rasid Sherlyn Yap Deborah Quek Naomi Cranswick Karen Boh Yogesh Chandiramani Jaclyn Chua Robin Yeo Jenilyn Rabino Darren Beck Sharissa Chan Nikita Erpini Kenneth Neo Evon Yew Yeo Wei Qi

Evelyn Wong Tony Kelly Justin Randles

These finalists, who then submitted documentation to verify their credentials, were validated by a panel of HR leaders from some of Asia’s largest employers. In effect, the very end users of services providers, such as in the fields of recruitment specialists to HR technology providers and mobility consultants, are the ones who made the critical decision of the winners and finalists represented in the pages ahead. Given the vast experience of each jury member, their stamp of approval has been given to each vendor, solution provider and partner featured in this magazine. Warmest congratulations to all the winners, and a big thank you to all our judges and those HR leaders who took the time to rank the finalists. Here’s to another decade of celebrating the best of the best. Enjoy the issue.

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

regional editor editor, Hong Kong senior journalist journalist sub editor

2015 marks a decade of Human Resources bringing to you its HR Vendors of the Year annual special edition – a highly respected publication which provides a ranking of the most preferred vendors, service providers and consultants used by HR and C-suite professionals to recruit, manage and develop people in Singapore. Having received phenomenally positive feedback about the comprehensive listings in the past, this year we are privileged to extend this definitive directory of trusted and reliable HR solutions providers to Human Resources' readers in Malaysia and Hong Kong as well. Just like the Singapore edition, the HR Vendors of the Year rankings laud the brightest HR innovators in their respective fields and geographical regions. The annual special edition serves as the one-stop guide for reliable HR vendors that leaders need to achieve their HR objectives, according to HR managers and directors. But that is not all we have changed this year. We have extended this publication to a fully fledged awards show celebrating the very best HR solutions providers in Asia. In line with our aim of improving each year, we set in place much more stringent assessment criteria to ensure the winners and finalists of the HR Vendors of the Year Awards truly stood out in all 31 areas of HR services assessed. To ensure that only companies which offer first-rate solutions for HR professionals are rightly distinguished at the HR Vendors of the Year Awards, these vendors were judged by the people who matter most: senior HR professionals from the biggest employers in Asia. The ranking was based on a two-tier selection process. Category finalists were identified through an extensive online survey of HR managers in Asia, which queried them on their vendor preferences.

Vendors of the Year is published annually by Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd. Printed in Singapore on CTP process by Sun Rise Printing & Supplies Pte Ltd, 10 Admiralty Street, #06-20 North Link Building, Singapore 757695. Tel: (65) 6383 5290. MICA (P) 178/08/2010. Subscription rates are available on request, contact the Circulation Manager by telephone: (65) 6423 0329 or by email to: subscriptions@humanresourcesonline.net COPYRIGHTS AND REPRINTS. All material printed in Human Resources is protected under the copyright act. All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the prior written consent of the publisher and the copyright holder. Permission may be requested through the Singapore office. DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in Vendors of the Year are not necessarily the views of the publisher. Singapore: Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd 100C Pasir Panjang Road, #05-01, See Hoy Chan Hub, 118519 Tel: +65 6423 0329 Fax: +65 6423 0117 Hong Kong: Lighthouse Independent Media Ltd 1F Wui Tat Centre, 55 Connaught Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: 852-2861-1882 Fax: 852-2861-1336

To subscribe call: (65) 6423 0329 or go to: subscriptions@humanresourcesonline.net

Aditi Sharma Kalra Regional editor

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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Editor’s Note

Methodology

Best Recruitment Websites Logging in to the leaders

Best Recruitment Firms – Non-management roles (under US$4k per month) Building a strong foundation

Best Recruitment Firms – Middle-management roles (US$4k-US$10k per month) Managing the middle

Best Recruitment Firms – Senior-management roles (over US$10k per month) Load up your leadership

Best Overall Recruitment Firms Recruiting winners

Best Employer Branding Consultants Be what you want to be

Best Psychometric Testing Providers Reading your candidate’s mind

Best Serviced Apartment Companies Making yourself at home

Best Car Leasing Providers Travel in comfort

Best Management Training Providers Time for school

Best Sales Training Providers Learn to sell

Best IT Training Providers How to stay tech-savvy

100

Best Team Building Training Providers The collective sum of individual efforts

104

Best Training Venues A place of pride

108

Best Payroll Outsourcing Partners The best way to dole out the dough

112

Best Recruitment Process Outsourcing Partners Partners in hiring

118

Best Payroll Software Paying their way

122

Best Background Screening Providers Keeping out the unwanted

Best Applicant Tracking Software Keeping an eye on your talent pipeline

128

Best Succession Planning Consultants Passing on the baton

Best Learning Management Systems Learning the ropes

134

Best Leadership Development Consultants Leading from the front

Best Talent Management Software Manage your talent smartly and effectively

138

Best Outplacement Consultants Going out in style

Best HR Management Systems Efficient systems for more productivity

142

Best Compensation & Benefits Consultants Getting bang for your buck

Index

148

Best Retirement & Pension Plan Providers The best-laid plans

Best Employee Insurance Vendors Investing for a rainy day

Best Corporate Healthcare Providers Getting in great shape

Best Relocation Companies Wheels in motion

Best Mobility & Orientation Consultants Getting ready for day one

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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METHODOLOGY

PRESENTING THE BEST OF THE BEST In the 10th edition of the HR Vendors of the Year Awards, vendors were ranked based on a two-tier selection process, including robust assessments made by senior HR experts in Asia. 2015 was a year of changes within Singapore’s HR landscape. These ranged from alterations in hiring legislation to an increased focus on local leadership training. Despite these, HR vendors continued to stand as reliable pillars of support for HR departments in the country, adjusting their services and products to suit what was required by firms. This was once again proven in Human Resources’ HR Vendors of the Year Awards, which is a long-running annual vendor rankings report that recognises and celebrates the very best HR vendors in Asia. In line with the changes identified above, our team altered the rankings' judging criteria to ensure 2015’s top HR vendors truly represented the best in the landscape.

More categories This year, we are proud to announce that 31 big award categories have been identified – up from 17 last year. We designed the categories carefully in order to identify the vendors that have truly delivered excellence in growing their business and serving the HR industry at the same time. These cover a range of areas, including best recruitment websites, best leadership development consultants and best learning management systems, among others. Robust assessment process Keeping in mind the extensive range of categories we finalised this year, we also altered our judging process to make it more robust and truly effective.

The HR Vendors of the Year Awards this year was based on a two-tier selection process. In the first step, Human Resources conducted an extensive online survey which was sent to its comprehensive and large database of HR managers in Asia. These professionals provided us with a list of category finalists which reflected their vendor preferences for each category. Each finalist then provided us with a submission form, profiling their companies and any special alterations they had made to their products and services over the past year. In the second step, an esteemed jury of senior regional heads of HR from around Asia judged the finalists’ profiles (listed in table on page 5). Companies represented on the HR Vendors

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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METHODOLOGY

of the Year Awards jury are the most respected Fortune 500 organisations and some of the biggest employers in Asia. Jury members hailed from companies such as NXP Semiconductors, Avery Dennison Singapore, DBS Bank, Mitsubishi Electric Asia, Syngenta and Cargill APAC. Scores obtained from these judges then led to us identifying gold, silver and bronze winners across each of the 31 categories, along with a list of finalists per category. This year, we received more than 200 entries across all of the categories in total.

Full list of categories

A regional gala awards show In the 10th edition of the HR Vendors of the Year Awards this year, Human Resources magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-running annual vendor rankings report will inaugurate as a fully fledged awards gala night. Recognising and celebrating the best of service providers for HR professionals, this prestigious award ceremony honours the most esteemed HR vendors and promotes excellence across the plethora of HR services and solutions. At this year's hugely coveted awards, gold, silver and bronze trophies will be taken home by the winners presented here in each category.

NO. CATEGORIES

16. Best Relocation Companies

Best Recruitment Websites

17. Best Mobility & Orientation Consultants

Best Recruitment Firms (Non-Management Roles under US$4k per month)

18. Best Serviced Apartment Companies

Best Recruitment Firms (Mid-Management Roles US$4k-US$10k per month)

Best Recruitment Firms (Senior management roles over US$10k per month)

Best Overall Recruitment Firms

Best Employer Branding Consultants

Best Psychometric Testing Providers

Best Background Screening Providers

Best Succession Planning Consultants

19. Best Car Leasing Providers 20. Best Management Training Providers 21. Best Sales Training Providers 22. Best IT Training Providers 23. Best Team Building Training Providers 24. Best Training Venues 25. Best Payroll Outsourcing Partners 26. Best Recruitment Process Outsourcing Partners

10. Best Leadership Development Consultants

27. Best Payroll Software

11. Best Outplacement Consultants

28. Best Applicant Tracking Software

12. Best Compensation & Benefits Consultants

29. Best Learning Management Systems

13. Best Retirement & Pension Plan Providers

30. Best Talent Management Software

14. Best Employee Insurance Vendors

31. Best HR Management Systems

15. Best Corporate Healthcare Providers Full list of judges NAME

DESIGNATION

COMPANY

Ramesh Ganeshan

Vice-president of human resources, Asia Pacific region

Agility Logistics Services

Alvin Chan

APAC HR business partner, airline IT and distribution

Amadeus GDS Singapore

Ravi Bhogaraju

Global HR leader

Archroma

Sharon Teo

Human resources director, ASEAN

Avery Dennison Singapore

Manish Verma

Regional HR leader, APAC

Cargill Asia Pacific Holding

Aylwin Pang

Vice-president, talent acquisition group, group human resources

DBS Bank

Ng Kok Eng

Director, human resources, office of corporate services

Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore

Ang Gey Wee

Head of HR (global shoe production and sourcing)

ECCO Shoe Production

Vishal Chhiber

Vice-president, human resources

Emerio, an NTT Communications Company

Eddy Neo

HR director, AIR South Asia and Club Car Asia Pacific

Ingersoll Rand Southeast Asia

Frederick Goh

General manager, human resources and administration

Mitsubishi Electric Asia

Aparna Kumar

Regional human resources lead, APAC

Monsanto

Renee van der Burg

Vice-president of human resources

NXP Semiconductors

Aveenash Tewari

Regional rewards business partner

PayPal

Stephanie Nash

Chief people officer

RedMart

Ban Ping Goh

Head of regional HR, Asia

Sennheiser

Angela Ryan

HR director, South East Asia

SunGard

Swati Chawla

Head of people and OD, ASEAN, North East Asia and Australasia

Syngenta

Jesper Petersen

Senior director and head of Asia Pacific human resources

The LEGO Group

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RECRUITMENT WEBSITES

LOGGING IN TO THE LEADERS Career websites fulfil one of the most basic needs HR professionals have – sourcing candidates easily and conveniently. With recruitment being one of the top challenges of HR professionals, HR managers would be lost without recruitment websites. While all recruitment websites have their strengths and weaknesses, the best recruitment websites do not necessarily deliver the most candidates.

Instead, the best recruitment websites focus on delivering the most relevant candidates – high-calibre, motivated applicants who can do the advertised job well. Other features of great recruitment websites are candidate management features, ability to integrate with employers’ recruitment systems, mobilefriendly, and social sharing-enabled. Employer branding flexibility, price and customer service are also big considerations.

The winner of the Best Recruitment Website award is the site which ticks the most boxes on the HR professional’s wish list. If you are a user of one of these six finalists, you’re in good hiring hands. BEST RECRUITMENT WEBSITES GOLD

jobsDB Singapore

SILVER

JobStreet.com

BRONZE

Rigzone

BRONZE

STJobs

FINALISTS Adecco Personnel Spring Professional Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD jobsDB Singapore Gold winner jobsDB is one of the biggest names in Singapore’s recruitment game. The website’s huge number of unique visitors per month from Singapore, 30% of which are unique, ensure a strong brand presence – 59% of candidates in Singapore can recall the brand without being prompted. In addition to building a huge candidate database, jobsDB has been hard at work solving the recruitment issues which are only too familiar to HR professionals in Singapore – increasing importance of the mobile platform, emphasis on passive candidates, recruitment seasonality, low unemployment and an extremely tight labour market. To help its clients address these issues, jobsDB has invested in innovative technology to improve its website’s mobile capability as well as continual improvements to its recruitment centre, talent search and brandedAD+ functions while also investing in market research. The recruitment centre is a fast, simple and user-friendly online interface that allows employers to post jobs in three quick steps and manage job ads in a single consolidated candidate management tool and then manage candidate applications and

notify them on their application status all on one platform. Talent search is an advanced module in jobsDB’s candidate management platform. It allows hirers to search and connect with candidates by either buying relevant profiles or sending job ads posted with jobsDB to candidates to increase the chances of qualified talent applying. Brandedad+ is a new way jobsDB allows employers to give their job ads greater exposure to a larger job seeker audience by featuring employer branding in their job ads, job alerts and customised job ad templates. With consumer and candidate sentiment shifting so quickly, jobsDB regularly invests in market research programmes to advise employers so they better understand candidates and their triggers to job functions to ensure job ads are written, tagged and hosted correctly every time. Improvements in jobsDB products and services have resulted in the recruitment website’s continued business growth and the company’s expanding key client list. Key clients have been with jobsDB for almost a decade on average which says a lot about how its clients feel about the value they get from it.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RECRUITMENT WEBSITES

SILVER JobStreet.com JobStreet’s vision is to connect businesses with talent and improve lives through better careers. The recruitment website is one of Asia’s leading online employment marketplaces and helps to facilitate the matching and communication of job opportunities between job seekers and employers in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia as well as Vietnam. Somewhat satisfied with its whopping number of average unique visitors per month and millions of page views per month, JobStreet’s major initiative of late has been to improve the recruitment experience for both employers and candidates with a “less is more” customised approach named “richer job ads”. In the past, JobStreet’s focus was traffic – driving more jobs to job seekers and driving more applicants to employers. However, problems began to emerge when job seekers, who have the ability to apply to as many as 40,000 jobs, began applying for jobs which were not suitable. As a result, employers needed to filter hundreds of applications and seemingly qualified applicants began not showing up for interviews.

Information is the key to making an informed decision, whether for job seekers or for employers. With richer job ads, instead of having to choose from 20,000 jobs, each job seeker only has about 150 jobs at any given point in time. Job seekers only see jobs which match their expected salary, seniority, job function, industry and preferred location. Complementing the richer job ads development were other functions such as “others who applied”, Facebook login, an improved resume search tool, spam control and the JobStreet mobile app which attracted about 140,000 users in August 2015. According to JobStreet’s internal research, seven out of 10 employers agree JobStreet provides the most successful hiring service while the company’s top achievers awards continue to recognise and motivate sales team members’ efforts along with team-bonding events as well as activities. In addition, JobStreet validated its position by taking home the gold and silver awards for Best Recruitment Innovation and Best Career Website respectively at the Asia Recruitment Awards.

BRONZE Rigzone Earlier this year, OilCareers and Rigzone, previously competitors, joined forces under the Rigzone brand to create the largest oil and gas information resource in the market providing the very latest industry news, data services and jobs. Rigzone has more than three million oil and gas sector members and its database has more than two million industry professional CVs. Rigzone’s mission is to help its clients in the oil and gas industry to source and hire the most qualified professionals in highly skilled occupations. Rigzone is now a truly global business with offices in Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and the Americas. The company knew that to further build its customer database on an international level it would need to understand the type of products wanted in order for clients to succeed and meet their hiring expectations. Research gave Rigzone an insight into its website users and revealed Rigzone was their go-to resource within the oil and gas industry and its new and improved search facility was very popular. Rigzone also discovered the searching process is different for job seekers in every region and the company needed to alter its service to be more

localised and regionalised. It also decided to make more of its industry news section – people want to know which companies are letting go of staff and which companies are hiring. Another key Rigzone initiative for 2015 was in customer service which resulted in restructuring the sales teams to ensure the recruitment website had key account managers and new business teams to drive market coverage and richer client engagement. It now has a fully dedicated team of client service executives in every office across the globe. Rigzone’s leadership includes Mark Guest who was previously the UK managing director at OilCareers and is now Rigzone’s strategic development director with a focus on building partnerships around the globe to improve brand recognition, product and revenue. APAC sales director Jackie Kirk is responsible for driving a regional strategy for client acquisition, retention and growth, while in the EMEA region Danny Leigh is sales director, responsible for growing the business. Rigzone has won several awards, including the Best Marketing Campaign in the UK at the Northern Star Business Awards in 2014.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RECRUITMENT WEBSITES

BRONZE STJobs

Adecco Personnel

Spring Professional

Dedicated to understanding the industry, Singapore Press Holdings, publishers of The Straits Times, noted the needs of the tightening labour market and launched STJobs in 2006. Since then, the database has grown to more than 900,000 job seekers. With a localised candidate base, employers have many reasons to post job listings, and as a result, STJobs has seen an increase of 100 new employers each month. STJobs has also experienced healthy growth in traffic, with page views and unique visitors increasing each year. STJobs prides itself in offering a balance of quality and quantity in its job positions while delivering the ultimate online user experience. With a fully mobile responsive website, job seekers have access to more than 50,000 employers and more than 30,000 jobs at any one time, spanning industries from finance to oil and gas and covering a spectrum of fulltime, part-time and temporary positions. This allows for job searches on the go, across multiple platforms from web to mobile. STJobs has also rolled out a psychometric profiling test for registered members to get to know themselves better and offer them personality based career choices. STJobs is dedicated to understanding industry and market needs. For HR practitioners, STJobs will continue offering a complete suite of online and offline recruitment solutions to tackle ongoing talent acquisition challenges. In addition to its job portal, STJobs organises a series of job fairs for employers to meet candidates face to face. With tighter labour guidelines in Singapore, it has become more challenging and important for STJobs to provide a seamless, yet cost-effective platform to local employers. It plans to improve to provide the best recruitment solutions to local job seekers and employers as the HR landscape evolves.

Backed by Adecco’s 30-year presence in Singapore and its expertise in the banking, engineering, IT, supply chain and luxury retail industry sectors, Adecco’s recruitment website continues to build great traction with its client development and employee retention. Technology is an area of focus for Adecco and its recruitment website is a demonstration of that. The improvements made to the website were designed to make job distribution more effective for the firm’s consultants and clients. Adecco has revamped its recruitment website for better usability. The recruitment firm has seen an increasing number of job applications through its recruitment website since its improvement and the additional mobile optimisation. Adecco’s recruitment website is boosted by the recruitment firm’s brand which is strong internationally and in Singapore. Adecco has built its reputation as a recognised voice in the industry. On the topic of Singapore’s current labour market, Adecco is regularly featured in the TODAY, Business Times and Berita Harian newspapers, the AsiaOne website, local radio station Radio 93.8 and regional TV network Channel NewsAsia. In addition, Adecco’s leaders regularly share insights at association events such as the Swiss Business Association, EuroCham, AmCham and others. Adecco Singapore is headed by Femke Hellemons who was appointed to the role of country manager in April 2013. Her career with Adecco began in 1999 when she joined the company as a branch manager in the Netherlands. After three years, she became an area manager before moving into a managed services role in 2008 that saw her highly involved in the strategic servicing of Adecco’s key clients in the Netherlands.

Spring Professional is an international recruitment firm specialising in mid senior-level management in the industries of engineering, IT, property and construction, as well as supply chain and logistics. Within two years of operations, it has expanded its regional footprint to cover eight countries in Asia while increasing its repertoire of specialisations from engineering and IT recruitment to include property and construction as well as supply chain and logistics. In addition, Spring Professional began its operations in Europe, where it has 45 offices in France and five in Spain. Since its inception in March 2013, Spring Professional has ramped up its digital and social media attack with targeted “build, engage and recruit” online tactics with a particular focus on LinkedIn. At the end of 2014, Spring Professional embarked on a mobile optimisation charge and the new springasia.com site is now fully optimised for all mobile devices and is fully integrated with the company’s front office system as well as shareability on all social media platforms. The new website allows for CMS job tracking, personalised candidate dashboards, job application history reviews, application analytics, job streaming on mobile for all the latest jobs and jobs streamed straight to Facebook with ecosystemic links to all other social media sites. At Spring Professional, teamwork is recognised as a powerful tool and it is committed to fostering a collaborative working environment. It also provides regular industry updates, thought leadership and career advice through its Spring Professional leadership series, which is available for download on the Spring Asia website.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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ADVERTORIAL

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Every HR professional knows that serviced residences are an eﬀective solution to traditional hotels, especially when it comes to reducing travel costs without compromising on the travelling employees’ safety and wellbeing. For business users in particular, serviced residences oﬀer quantifiable

young ones, means that guests are well taken care of and they can rest

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Breakfast services for busy professionals are also provided from Monday to Friday, at an exclusive breakfast lounge oﬀering a wholesome way to start the day.

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QUALITY FEATURES

residences in Singapore and abroad.

Along with an excellent location and services, Orchard Scotts Residences also oﬀers quality features within the premises.

CENTRAL LOCATION

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For added convenience, Orchard Scotts Residences oﬀers a free

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BEST RECRUITMENT FIRMS – NON-MANAGEMENT ROLES (UNDER US$4K PER MONTH)

industries. Leveraging this array of skills, junior staff keep the wheels of the organisation turning and feed the company’s talent development programmes to become the leaders of tomorrow. Attracting the right junior staff is hugely important and the winner of the Best Recruitment Firm – Non-Management Roles (under US$4k per month) category is the recruitment firm which best supplies its clients with high calibre entry level and junior talent. Consider yourself in safe hands if you consistently partner with one of the winners and finalists listed in this section.

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION As an employer, you are constantly on the look out for high potential, multi-skilled talent to do more with less in today’s tight labour market. While some integral skills are industry and jobspecific, the most in-demand employee attributes are those which unanimously straddle across varied positions, regardless of entry levels and/or

BEST RECRUITMENT FIRMS (non-management roles under US$4k per month) GOLD

Hays Singapore

GOLD

Robert Half

SILVER

ManpowerGroup Singapore

BRONZE

Adecco Personnel

BRONZE

RGF

FINALISTS Achieve Group ACI HR Solutions Kelly Singapore Page Personnel Search Personnel The GMP Group ZW HR Consulting Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Hays Singapore A world leader in the recruitment of qualified, skilled professionals, gold winner Hays Singapore has seen impressive growth through the years. Having been in Singapore since 2007, Hays Singapore has been accredited with the International Quality Standard ISO 9001:2008 since 2013. A recruitment partner for a number of worldrenowned organisations, it is recognised as one of the best suppliers of quality talent for local organisations, multinationals and SMEs. Its consultants place great importance on the service provided to clients and candidates, receiving high feedback scores on its regularly measured customer satisfaction levels. The combination of innovative technologies, global reach and scale, local market knowledge and breadth and depth of expertise sets it apart. Using its expertise, it is able to recruit across more than 18 areas, including accountancy and finance, IT, engineering and HR to name a few. Hays Singapore’s strong global and regional footprint gives the firm the ability to source professionals from its global network of mobile candidates and database of local nationals.

With an impressive amount of visits per month on its websites in Asia and a substantial following on LinkedIn, the firm is committed to providing its clients with the best service, giving them multiple communication avenues and finding them the best talent on the market. Hays sets about doing this by proactively focusing on finding solutions combined with quick responses and a flexible, tailored service, winning many coveted awards along the way. This gold winner's superb candidate engagement ensures it is already in contact with the talent its clients want to talk to. As the world’s leading recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) expert, it delivers intelligent resourcing that helps transform businesses as well as offering full outsourcing solutions to manage the end-to-end resourcing process or modular-based services. Determined to be known as a leader in the way it trains and develops its people, employees at Hays Singapore are given clear career paths based on meritocracy and placed on many training programmes focused on developing them into recruitment experts.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RECRUITMENT FIRMS – NON-MANAGEMENT ROLES (UNDER US$4K PER MONTH)

GOLD Robert Half A recognised leader in professional recruiting and consulting services, gold winner Robert Half is dedicated to providing excellent staffing services to its candidates and clients. It has been growing its global and regional footprint and expanded into Singapore in 2007, with a number of other offices in Asia Pacific. With a culture of customer success at its core, Robert Half makes sure everyone puts the customer first, with the company serving top MNC clients across sectors such as banks, real estate and FMCG, while maintaining a high retention rate in the past year. Robert Half operates four divisions in Singapore. Robert Half Finance & Accounting offers temporary contract and permanent recruitment services at all levels in the accounting and finance profession, while Robert Half Financial Services is for high-calibre professionals within various industries, including finance and accounting, and technology. Robert Half Technology is for experienced IT professionals, while Robert Half Management Resources focuses on senior-level finance, accounting and business systems professionals on a project and interim basis. The company possesses

one of the most extensive, responsive and up-to-date databases in Singapore with an outstanding number of registered candidates available for both temporary assignments and permanent roles. Being a relational database, its CRM programme, Bond Adapt, allows Robert Half to record all events, including job applications, feedback and references on a candidate file. The flexibility of the programme’s multidimensional searching capabilities gives Robert Half the ability to easily facilitate cross-reference searches to find the most suitable candidates for clients. The firm has built a high-traffic online presence via its website which contains streamlined content tailored to employers and job seekers, making jobs accessible and easy to navigate through. Robert Half recognises it is crucial for professionals to stay competitive, offering its candidates access to e-learning programmes with a plethora of free online training courses. Not forgetting its own staff, it has a long tradition of promoting from within and provides a structured series of onboarding and training programmes for its new hires.

SILVER ManpowerGroup Singapore A world leader in innovative workforce solutions, ManpowerGroup unlocked a new achievement in 2015, by acquiring the Australian and Singapore arm of Greythorn, a leading professional services and recruitment firm specialising in technology and finance. With this acquisition, Greythorn and its banking and finance subsidiary Marks Sattin, became wholly owned by ManpowerGroup Australia, operating under the Experis brand. This acquisition proved vital in gaining access to a large, international network of resources and greater reach in both local and global markets – important given the high demand for skills across the IT and finance sectors in Singapore and all over the world. The company’s commitment to excellence and sterling standards in deliverables has given it one of the highest client retention rates in the industry, with its contingent services team scoring major coups in the period between 2014 to 2015. One of the brands in the ManpowerGroup family, Right Management, has consistently delivered outplacement services that knit Fortune 500

companies as trusted partners seeking its service. Unsurprisingly, its expertise and commitment, together with new breakthroughs, has won ManpowerGroup numerous global awards. ManpowerGroup Singapore is also proud of its industry leading expertise that covers a wide range of services. One of these is the borderless talent solutions, which mobilises in-demand talent from skill-rich regions to markets with talent shortages. The firm’s unsurpassed global network, local recruiting expertise and labour market experience creates an international talent source for any company. Combined, these services provide innovative solutions that add value to clients’ organisations, increases the agility of their workforce and helps them bring their businesses forward, while minimising turnover and maintaining productivity. Not forgetting to take care of its own staff, ManpowerGroup has an enviable staff retention rate in an industry known for high employee turnover. The company believes the contributing factors to this success include its organisation structure, staff training and welfare programmes which foster a culture of cohesiveness.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RECRUITMENT FIRMS – NON-MANAGEMENT ROLES (UNDER US$4K PER MONTH)

BRONZE

Adecco Personnel

RGF

Achieve Group

With 30 years of presence in Singapore, Adecco has continually developed its teams for optimal performance for clients and candidates. Aligning with the Lion City’s position as an increasingly popular destination for shopping and events, luxury retail was included as a speciality branch through Adecco Retail in the year 2013. Other areas of optimisation include restructuring for speciality staffing services, delivered through divisions in banking, engineering and IT, among others. Drawing from its portfolio of wealth of experience, Adecco Singapore does not take its position for granted. It continues to innovate to provide clients and candidates with better solutions in this dynamic industry. Some key developments in the past year include improvements to job posting platforms and its website for better usability. With the enhancements and the added mobile optimisation, the firm saw an increased number of job applications through the website. Achieving yet another milestone, in 2013 Adecco established strategic workforce solutions through the managed services programmes and recruitment process outsourcing offerings. Leveraging on all companies under the Adecco Group umbrella in Singapore to share best practices and expertise as a group, the company is able to provide solutions which meets challenges from general staffing and human resources in Singapore. As Adecco considers people to be its assets, it has a strong focus in the area of employee development. Adecco Academy was developed to recognise and develop talents within the firm. Additionally, it has a service excellence course aimed at raising awareness of customer needs and expectations to help consultants navigate the environment.

RGF Singapore, established in April 2010, offers the full spectrum of services – executive recruitment, general recruitment and Japan desk, and contract recruitment. It is part of RGF, the global brand of Recruit Holdings, Japan’s largest recruiting and information service company. In just five years, RGF Singapore has proven itself in the market against competitors who have been around for much longer. In 2014 and 2015, RGF Singapore invested heavily in people and technology by hiring experienced specialist recruiters. Another significant investment was in a research team to handle candidate searches, allowing recruiters to focus on working closely with clients to enhance service quality and delivery. RGF also developed an in-house system to remain at the forefront of digital innovation, leveraging on sourcing, matching and mobile technology to decrease manual processes, enhance productivity and allow for progress tracking and ROI measurement. All these enhancements helped RGF to source for active and passive candidates with added accuracy and speed. In line with market demands, RGF Singapore also embarked on vertical specialisation, making it easier to target the right market segments, enhance service levels, efficiency and productivity. It also encouraged teamwork and the sharing of market knowledge, boosting its brand and reputation as a thought-leader in the market. Clients appreciated this specialisation, finding it more convenient to have one point of contact who is a specialist in their relevant sector, strengthening the rapport between clients and recruiters. Alongside, RGF Singapore boasts a strong and stable management team which has been with RGF since the start of its growth.

Achieve Group is best known in the industry for being reliable, efficient and passionate. Since its inception in 1990, the company has delivered a wide range of talent acquisition and HR consulting services to local and multinational corporations in the region. To fulfil the constantly evolving needs of its clients, in 2011 Achieve Group expanded its service offerings to include HR consulting. Today, it boasts two lines of services, each targeting a specific market segment – talent acquisition (general placement, technology recruitment, global energy and executive search) and HR consulting (strategic HR planning, recruitment and selection, employee engagement, and more). Lately, Achieve Group was appointed by SPRING Singapore as part of its list of service providers catering to SMEs in Singapore with HR consultation, outsourcing and shared services. While recruiting for the best candidates for its clients, Achieve Group also exercises due diligence in the recruitment of its own employees through comprehensive background checks and psychometric tests. To equip new employees with suitable skills, each consultant undergoes an induction training and an on-the-job programme. For enhanced productivity, consultants specialise in a certain industry. Additionally, the company requires all consultants to submit supporting documents after each engagement and performs regular checks and balances to deter illegal and unethical practices. With a strategic goal of raising customer satisfaction, Achieve Group conducts annual customer satisfaction surveys. The survey statistics are then analysed and the results are used to brainstorm new ideas, initiatives and processes to improve services.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RECRUITMENT FIRM – NON-MANAGEMENT ROLES (UNDER US$4K PER MONTH)

ACI HR Solutions

Kelly Singapore

Page Personnel

One distinct advantage of ACI HR Solutions is its highly regarded team of consultants comprising professionals from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. ACI was established in 2012 after founder and CEO Andrew Chan identified a need for a specialist recruitment firm owned and operated by people from within the travel, tourism and hospitality sector dedicated to the advancement of the tourism landscape in Asia. Understanding that time is valuable in today’s fast-paced environment, all of ACI’s consultants are well-versed on the latest tools of recruitment. The team has been known to turn around a shortlist of qualified candidates to clients within a week as well as manage the recruitment process, including salary negotiations, onboarding, and post-placement follow ups. The bedrock to ACI’s success is client partnerships. The company’s passion about its clients’ success and the industry as a whole places them as the leading travel and hospitality recruitment experts in the region. Annually, the company produces the ACI Report, a publication with a sample of nearly 1000 travel, tourism and hospitality personnel across Asia Pacific, which gives an extensive view of salaries and employee satisfaction. This report provides not only a unique statistical view of the travel, tourism and hospitality labour market, but also offers an invaluable insight into the mindset of industry personnel. With a burning passion for the hospitality industry, ACI aims to improve not only industry standards, but also the safety of Singapore’s general public. It established, and provides the only government (Health Promotion Board) endorsed responsible service of alcohol workshop and has trained numerous service staff across the industry.

Kelly Singapore has been at the forefront of the recruitment industry for more than 60 years since its establishment in 1946, setting the benchmark with its innovative recruitment strategies. It has continued to be a trusted partner to the best local companies, government agencies as well as respected companies throughout that time. Demonstrating its ability to do entry and junior-level search assignments and helping companies with talent and recruitment needs, Kelly reached a new milestone this year, winning a significant number of clients in the general recruitment division. Kelly places great importance in understanding its clients and their requirements. The firm is known for working closely with clients, ensuring their business needs are met while providing them with customised HR and recruitment solutions. As a result, Kelly has been steadily expanding its range of products and service offerings to enhance the customer service. Recent new products include the Kelly job board, which keeps candidates aware of job opportunities in nearly every discipline and industry, as well as the new service excellence centre at Changi Airport Terminal 3. While working on recruitment and retention strategies for its clients, it also makes every effort to motivate and retain its own staff, developing and deploying retention strategies which are expected to maximise their satisfaction and retention. Kelly advocates an internal promotion policy and invests significantly in learning and development. The company also values the voice of its employees, running an annual employee pulse survey to find out how employees feel about their jobs.

The year 2016 will mark five years of recruitment excellence in Singapore for Page Personnel, and 20 years for PageGroup. PageGroup is a provider of permanent, contract and temporary recruitment for qualified professionals, clerical professionals and executives and consists of some of the most recognised brand names in the recruitment industry, including Page Personnel. As part of PageGroup, Page Personnel mirrors the geographical and sectoral coverage of Michael Page and provides specialist services to organisations requiring talent at the professional, clerical and support levels. Using PageGroup’s organic growth model, Page Personnel’s business has grown steadily to be a very mature business. True to the business model, its Singapore office has diversified and is now recruiting across six disciplines – finance and accounting, customer service, marketing, sales, secretarial and office support, and technology. In line with such expansion, PageGroup is also on track to expand its business across the region using the Singapore office as a platform. In the past year, PageGroup has rolled out and enhanced several key technologies, for example, the Page Recruiting System, which standardised its systems and ways of working to increase productivity and improve the IT experience for the business. Other enhancements included the NextGen Website, Yammer – a corporate social network for staff; and Join PageGroup – the company’s unified global careers website. Crucial to Page Personnel’s success is its people. The company’s strategy to grow organically is achieved by drawing upon the skills and experience of proven management, ensuring the best and most experienced homegrown talent is in each key role.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RECRUITMENT FIRM – NON-MANAGEMENT ROLES (UNDER US$4K PER MONTH)

Search Personnel

The GMP Group

ZW HR Consulting

Established in 2013, with the motto to place the right candidate for the right job, Search Personnel has achieved long-term working relationships with its clients. Search Personnel recognises the immense needs and challenges clients face when it comes to recruiting the best employees and strives to help them search for qualified, best-fit candidates through its extensive network and team of dedicated consultants. It does so by providing a one-stop solution for all recruitment needs – permanent placements, temporary and contract placements, outsourcing, executive search and payroll administration services. All services are offered in a fast turnaround time without compromising service quality. It aims to provide its clients with the best candidate match within a week of getting the job description through its impressive resume bank, while maintaining continuous contact with clients and candidates throughout. Through its various engagements, it has received numerous compliments from clients and candidates, praising consultants for their excellent service. All this is possible as the company believes that people are its assets, and it has a culture of treating its consultants as family. It provides consultants with comprehensive training before they start calling potential clients to ensure the best service quality. Despite being a relatively new recruitment firm, Search Personnel aims to think ahead and think far, setting its sights on being among the top 10 recruitment firms in Singapore by 2020. To achieve this goal, clients and candidates are engaged regularly for feedback so as to improve the services offered. Despite only being in the market for two years, it is on the right track to achieve its vision.

Being in the business for almost 25 years, GMP has survived half of Singapore’s 50 years of trials and tribulations of nation building. Through the years, it has experienced growth with its clients in the electronics, manufacturing and IT sectors and now it also has a good foothold in pharmaceuticals and biosciences, finance as well as the retail and consumer sector. What really differentiates GMP from its competitors is its ability to attract and retain corporate blue-chip and multinational corporations on exclusive or preferred supplier agreements, as a reflection of the quality of service it provides and its ability to work across different markets. Yet, its success today is determined by the ability of its people and its management’s commitment to deliver to clients a dedicated service quality with a vast wealth of experience in recruitment and specialised industry knowledge in the various fields. GMP has six speciality divisions – GMP recruitment, GMP technologies, GMP banking, GMP international, GMP consultancy and GSI executive search. With a unique selling point and expertise in each division, clients can leverage on them, ensuring they get the right talent they need every time. The firm has consistently provided clients with committed services, including a wide pool of top-notch talent stored in its ever-growing common database which also captures data from other sources. One way it has ensured the constant flow of candidates is by revamping its website, streamlining its content and giving it a much more user-friendly interface. Alongside, GMP aims to continuously upgrade and develop its staff to not only help them grow and get better at what they do, but also to provide the best service to clients.

Starting its fully fledged recruitment operations in Singapore in 2014, ZW HR Consulting provides recruitment expertise across a broad range of specialisations, including aerospace, life sciences, human resources, IT, engineering, industrial, supply chain, sales and marketing and corporate functions. Being the only recruitment firm in Singapore with a strong footprint in China, it is able to support companies in China as well those who aim start their operations or expand into the country. With a strong social media presence, a formidable following on LinkedIn and an extensive database of skilled candidates across APAC ready to be matched against its clients’ needs, ZW HR Consulting is able to easily find the best-fit candidate for its clients. The firm has specialist teams who are experts in their area, be it recruiting in IT, HR, life sciences, aerospace or the legal sector. They are hardly found working in areas outside their field of expertise. This is part of its efforts to improve the quality of service both candidates and clients receive. ZW is also known for the successful facilitation of clients’ acquisition of talented individuals from overseas. One of its more unique points, which leverages on its strong foothold in China, is that ZW HR Consulting is able to successfully locate and place executive talent from among Chinese nationals for roles abroad. It is also able to support candidates who would like to build a successful career in China. At the same time, ZW HR Consulting aims to keep industry practitioners up to date with the latest HR trends through the release of various reports and salary guides, which provide employers and job seekers alike with a comparative overview of salaries in Singapore.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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B E S T R E C R U I T M E N T F I R M S – M I D - M A N A G E M E N T R O L E S ( U S $ 4 K - U S $ 10 K P E R M O N T H )

awards are the recruitment firms which excel at identifying high potential talent and linking them with the companies and roles which are the best fit. With hundreds of recruitment firms in this category dotting Singapore’s landscape, if you are working in any of the 18 on this list, you can be assured of working with the best of them. BEST RECRUITMENT FIRMS (mid-management roles US$4k-US$10k per month)

MANAGING THE MIDDLE

GOLD

Randstad

SILVER

Hays Singapore

BRONZE

Kelly Singapore

BRONZE

Robert Walters

FINALISTS 33Talent Achieve Group

The average tenure of a manager has shrunk to less than four years on the job. With companies having to replace key personnel so often, this can lead to a drain on the senior team’s time and financial resources to fill vacancies. What is more important is these costs – be they monetary or non-monetary – are avoidable. Both line and HR managers can nip the problem in the bud with a strong hiring process. However, the reality is, mid-level talent is often the trickiest to recruit. Investing in the pipeline of middle managers and grooming them for future leadership positions is cited as the number one concern of HR heads.

Hay Group’s 2012 study on Next Generation HR listed “developing future leaders” as the top priority for HR leaders, not just then, but for at least the following five years. Experienced enough to understand their core function, yet not sufficiently seasoned to take full control of the business, high calibre middle managers are confident in their abilities and well looked after by their current employers. But they are looking to accelerate their careers and are open to joining a new employer if it means taking a step up into a more senior role. The winners of the Best Recruitment Firm for Mid-Management Roles (US$4k-US$10k per month)

ACI HR Solutions Adecco Personnel Capita JAC Recruitment Links International Michael Page RecruitPlus Consulting RGF Robert Half Search Personnel The GMP Group ZW HR Consulting Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Randstad 2015 has definitely been an eventful year for gold winner, Randstad. The company launched the most definitive and first-ever HR guide in Singapore – the Randstad Workpocket 2015/16 Singapore – in collaboration with the Singapore Human Resources Institute, the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and Wong Partnership (a legal partner). This comprehensive guide details regulations and best practices in the face of a challenging employment landscape, highlighting the key factors driving employment choices. Randstad’s strategy to business development and retention within the recruitment sector is one that blends a key account management strategy together with a 360-approach from consultants. This provides the firm with the unique ability to interact with clients on different levels and provide them with industry specialist knowledge and services from different perspectives. Randstad’s strong focus on addressing clients’ needs has also steered the company in its strategy to tailor its product and service offering. One example is RPO-lite, a unique and

alternative solution for clients looking to augment their talent acquisition and recruitment teams without giving up control of their recruitment process. This programme places recruiters at clients’ premises to assist in project hiring, but unlike the typical RPO model, Randstad’s recruiters are equipped with an extensive reporting system which allows its clients to have full visibility of the entire recruitment progress. Another example of the firm’s commitment to client service excellence was a highly customised assessment centre for a global MNC client where it recruited multiple additions to the client’s regional sales team within a short frame of time. Indeed, Randstad prides itself on maintaining strong relationships with its clients through various thought-leadership platforms throughout the year. The efforts have proven to be effective in creating strong traction. The company has successfully retained its key accounts and continually highlights that high client satisfaction relationships can only be built by delivering consistent and excellent service quality.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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SILVER Hays Singapore Any professional familiar with the recruitment industry in Singapore will be aware of the leading role Hays plays in recruiting permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. The firm’s deep expertise allows it to recruit across more than 18 areas – spanning accountancy and finance, banking and financial services, IT, construction, engineering and HR, to name a few. This year’s silver winner, Hays Singapore has been accredited with the International Quality Standard ISO 9001:2008 since the year 2013. Because of its strong global and regional footprint, Hays is able to source professionals from both its global network of mobile candidates and its extensive database of local nationals. Its approach proactively focuses on finding solutions combined with quick responses and a flexible, tailored service. The firm has also made its mark in providing

an innovative candidate sourcing technique. This includes system integrations with Google and LinkedIn across its database of screened and assessed candidates, enabling far reaching and accurate search results. With a high volume of applications and visits per month on its websites in Asia, Hays is able to gain access to a readily available pool of talent, along with having a large pool of passive candidates on its database. To ensure its continued ongoing success, the company relies heavily on its talented and engaged workforce. It is determined to be recognised as the global industry leader for the way in which it trains and develops its people – which is essentially a two-fold process. Hays not only focuses on the quality of the provisions it offers, but also in the way it builds a culture that truly supports and encourages learning, networking, knowledge creation and sharing.

BRONZE Kelly Singapore Dealing with a tight labour market in Singapore and the global market volatility is no easy feat, but bronze winner Kelly has proven its dedication to its clients by overcoming such challenges sufficiently. The bronze-winning firm places great importance in understanding its clients’ specific requirements and works closely with them, while providing them with valuable, highly customised HR and recruitment solutions. The company recently expanded its offerings to enhance customer service with its Kelly job board. This career portal keeps candidates aware of new job opportunities in nearly every discipline and industry. Its launch has seen significantly high numbers of registered members and job views. With increased engagements with the Changi Airport Group, which resulted in an expanded headcount, Kelly moved into a larger and more accommodating work space for its growing team

at the end of January this year. Furthermore, Kelly invests significantly in learning and development to ensure all employees are comprehensively trained. All employees have access to the Kelly Learning Centre, which provides more than 3,000 online courses to help them gain and enhance their skills. Top performers are sponsored to go on external training programmes at local educational institutions such as the NUS Business School or specific consultancies, with a dedicated training budget spent for each division per year. Numerous employee engagement activities are also organised for employees, which include exclusive movie screenings, barbecue evenings, team-bonding trips, festive treats and angbaos, and Donut Thursdays. Internal top performer awards help to recognise the best recruiters, apart from strong reward and incentive schemes such as quarterly performance bonuses.

YES, we recruit there. Your single point of contact for all of your hiring needs globally

www.npaworldwideworks.com

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BRONZE Robert Walters

33Talent

Achieve Group

Robert Walters worldwide produced a strong first half performance delivering a substantial increase in profit against the first half of 2014. The company’s excellent trading performance, underpinned by its focus on consultant productivity, enabled it to continue to invest for the future, while growing frontoffice staff numbers in high-performing businesses. With such a performance, it is not surprising that Robert Walters Singapore is a leading global specialist professional recruitment consultancy. Established in 1997, localised expertise gives the firm unique insights into specific industries and job markets, while the group’s global footprint enables it to meet the demands of candidates and clients whose needs extend beyond Singapore. In line with such a unique placement, it is precisely the firm’s ability to understand market demands which have enabled it to stand apart. With the introduction of the Fair Consideration Framework in Singapore and the acute talent shortage faced by many clients in Singapore, Robert Walters is able to leverage on its international database and strengthen the local talent pool by tapping on Singaporeans living and working overseas. The firm’s global reach and its “Balik Kampung with Robert Walters” initiative allows it to contact Singaporeans overseas who are thinking of moving back home. In line with the firm’s commitment to providing high quality services to clients, a majority of the firm’s recruiters are industry professionals and are equipped with the necessary market knowledge, professional memberships, affiliations and network connections. To keep abreast of the areas they specialise in, consultants regularly attend or participate in industry forums and conferences.

With a mission to disrupt the world of recruitment, 33Talent was launched in Singapore in July 2012. Since its inception, the firm’s key challenges have revolved around opening offices in saturated markets where a long list of established competitors already exist. To overcome these, 33Talent has embarked on a multitude of strategies to make its mark in the field of hiring. The company has created a business model which is agile and always targets to understand a client’s need fully, before providing a bespoke service. In the past 12 months, 33Talent has hired new members of staff in the Singapore office, alongside hiring a practice lead for its new London quarters. To serve its clients to the best of its abilities, the firm employs consultants who are experts in the digital media industry. Clients work with knowledgeable contacts who can advise them on market conditions within the company. Plus, candidates can approach 33Talent’s consultants for career advice and know-how in their own specific sector. As a mark of its commitment to continually provide clients with the most updated information and resources, 33Talent also runs a training-for-talent reward scheme which allows consultants to earn and then spend their own training budget. The company also stands out from its competitors through its continued focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR). During interviews to join 33Talent, potential hires are asked about their interest in CSR activities, as the company aims to foster a team approach that everybody feels passionate about. All its consultants are encouraged to take one day off per quarter to support a charity or social enterprise.

Since its inception in 1990, Achieve has delivered a wide range of talent acquisition and HR consulting services to local and multinational corporations in the Asia Pacific region. With a strong emphasis on service excellence, the company’s team of experienced professionals identifies clients’ needs before swiftly tapping into its global talent pool and accurately matching the right candidate to the right organisation in the shortest time possible. Achieve is best known for being reliable, efficient and passionate. Reliability stems from its emphasis on delivering accurate results within a short time. Productivity has increasingly become the company’s key competitive advantage – delivering further proof of the company’s efficiency. To fulfil the constantly evolving needs of customers, the company expanded its service offerings to include HR consulting, helping customers incorporate HR processes, programmes and practices into daily operations. Having established itself as a leading recruitment services provider, Achieve has now designed various frameworks to help the consultants navigate their problem-solving processes. For example, the company has a detailed and systematic recruitment flowchart containing step-by-step guidelines that consultants can follow for handling inquiries, sourcing candidates, client interviews, offers to candidates and post- placements follow ups. With a passion for service excellence, Achieve has built a reputation for simple, but effective solutions which helps clients cut through the complexity of human resource difficulties. It is therefore not surprising the company is perceived as a dependable partner which embraces clients’ challenges in a rapidly changing business environment.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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ACI HR Solutions

Adecco Personnel

Capita

ACI is dedicated to the travel, tourism and hospitality sector. It stemmed from a need for a specialist recruitment firm owned and operated by people from within the industry to compete against generalist recruitment agencies, and to dedicate itself to the advancement of the tourism landscape across Asia. All ACI consultants have worked in the travel, hospitality and/or lifestyle industry. They can typically turn around a shortlist of qualified candidates to clients within one week, and manage the entire recruitment process, including salary negotiations, onboarding management and post-placement follow ups. Client partnerships are the bedrock to ACI’s success. Being extremely passionate about client needs, the company prides itself on an outstanding customer retention rate. ACI has a future growth plan that is broken into five key areas: continued growth and revenue profitability, business process, franchising, employee motivation, and customer satisfaction and loyalty. Consultants are not only familiar with this plan, but they have also helped to create it.

Adecco Singapore is at the forefront of industry owing to persistent efforts in innovating to serve clients and candidates better. Over the past year, Adecco has made key developments and improvements, specifically in the areas of technology and process and specialisation. Having observed behavioural shifts towards digital platforms, the company has made alterations to its job posting platforms. It has also revamped its website for better usability. Recognising that diverse and skilled talent is vital, Adecco employs analytical tools to understand segment groups better. Demonstrating a strong mastery over its industry, Adecco’s aim is to provide lifelong employment for everyone, aligned with their personal, family and geographical needs. Within the firm, there is a strong focus on employee development. It has established the Adecco Academy, which was developed to recognise and develop talent internally. Other employee development programmes include a high performers’ exchange, a one-way shortterm international exchange programme for high performing individuals in the company.

Since its inception in 2007, Capita has grown to be a top recruitment company. The firm’s recruitment systems fully measure delivery, customer satisfaction, company HR matrix, performance matrix and business and financial risk controls. This system is constantly refined through yearly strategic planning. What distinguishes Capita is its vigorous growth strategy – of growing from a local small and medium-sized enterprise to a regional company. As part of this, it has implemented a system called “strategic vision operation plans, vision 2018”. This system maps new strategic plans – including operating outside of traditional bases – and also plans for further improvements in the training processes crucial to its business. The strategy seems to have been working with the firm gaining strength in sectors such as healthcare, technology outsourcing, banking and engineering. An upcoming contribution to its development will be the Japanese placement market where Capita has steadily gained ground with its joint-venture company, Intelligence Asia.

JAC Recruitment JAC Recruitment Singapore is part of JAC Recruitment Asia, with the group HQ in Singapore. The group is expanding aggressively in the region with further offices to be opened in Southeast Asia during 2016. Last year, the company opened its Hanoi office in July and the group now operates in 10 countries, with a wide network of offices. A striking quality of JAC Recruitment’s service is its rapid turnaround time. The firm promises to respond within 24 hours from the moment it receives inquiries from its clients. Furthermore, it provides a minimum number of CVs within a week of receipt of notification,

followed by a status report and a reference check as part of its added-value services. The firm’s recruitment processes are also thorough and optimally structured. Before arranging interviews with clients, consultants have a pre-screening faceto-face interview with every candidate to ensure the qualifications required for the position are met. Indeed, JAC’s consultants are undoubtedly a key asset to its growth and the firm is committed to retaining and attracting staff to ensure its success. In line with this aim, the company provides comprehensive and systematic training for new staff over a period of three months.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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Links International

Michael Page

RecruitPlus Consulting

Links International’s USP is its philosophy of innovation, the latest effort being Links’ digital interviews, which have been a game-changer and enabled Links to stand out. These digital interviews enable Links’ clients to build their brands efficiently in Asia by hiring the right candidates quickly. In addition, the firm’s value-adding HR outsourcing services include payroll, visa and contracting services. It is precisely Links’ continued growth, innovative approach and value-add services that places it ahead in the recruitment of mid-management roles, with a majority of the placements in the past 12 months in this area. In a further commitment to be recognised as the innovative HR partner of choice, Links embraces diversity. The firm hires outside the mould to obtain a team with diverse perspectives and experiences, and is open to hiring those from diverse geographical backgrounds. The company’s workforce is also quite gender diverse – especially at senior levels, along with staff being multigenerational as well.

2016 will mark 20 years of recruitment excellence in Singapore for PageGroup and its operational brand – Michael Page. The group is a leading provider of permanent, contract and temporary recruitment for qualified professionals, clerical professionals and executives. In 2015, PageGroup rolled out and enhanced several key technologies. These included PageGroup’s page recruiting system (PRS) which standardises the company’s systems and the ways of working, increases productivity and improves the IT experience. PRS integrates with the firm’s digital systems, including its next-generation website and job boards, as well as its financial systems to create a seamless recruitment process. PageGroup has also launched its next-generation website, which features an enhanced keyword search, a responsive layout and a modern content management system. These innovative efforts have paid off and the business has grown steadily using PageGroup’s organic growth model, and it continues to see promising growth.

Set up as a one-stop service provider for all HR-related services, RecruitPlus provides permanent and contract search services, managed HR services, consultancy and learning to assist clients in facing the unique challenges of their respective industries. Armed with unique, yet rigorous recruitment and headhunting methodologies, a comprehensive database and tested hiring toolkits such as the job-centric match assessment test, the firm’s talent specialists are imbued with in-depth sectorial expertise. Never to be complacent, however, the firm has developed new services to enhance existing ones. This year, the company launched its recruitment process outsourcing service having identified that outsourcing recruitment processes and/or selective modular post-hiring HR functions have become an essential and effective way for businesses today to be costcompetitive without losing out on efficiency. The company has also pushed to market a retainer with embedded job-centric profiling services as a value-add refinement of the existing retainer service.

RGF RGF is the global brand of Recruit Holdings, Japan’s largest recruiting and information service company. For more than 54 years, RGF has provided comprehensive HR and talent acquisition services which include executive recruitment and market mapping, senior to staff-level specialists and contract recruitment as well as payroll services. RGF Singapore invested heavily in people and technology last year. The group hired experienced specialist recruiters and invested in a research team to handle candidate searches so recruiters could focus on working closely with clients to enhance service

quality and delivery. RGF also developed an in-house system to leverage on sourcing, matching and mobile technology. Technology, in fact, cut down a lot of the firm’s manual processes, enhanced productivity and allowed tracking of progress and ROI, while enabling sourcing for active and passive candidates with accuracy and speed. RGF also made significant changes to its product offerings, embarking into vertical specialisations in line with market demands. Simultaneously, it also encouraged teamwork, sharing of market knowledge and boosted the firm’s brand as a thought-leader in the market.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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B E S T R E C R U I T M E N T F I R M S – M I D - M A N A G E M E N T R O L E S ( U S $ 4 K - U S $ 10 K P E R M O N T H )

Robert Half

Search Personnel

The GMP Group

Robert Half’s innovative methodology, the Company-In, offers clients a time-saving approach to get their business fully staffed and running smoothly within a matter of weeks in three simple steps. First, experienced consultants review the client’s needs, considering both the position’s technical requirements and the personality fit. Next, tapping into their extensive knowledge base of highly skilled candidates, Robert Half’s consultants co-ordinate a focused interview schedule, in which the client consecutively meets with a few candidates. Lastly, the client decides which of the candidates they would like to meet again – following which, Robert Half schedules more in-depth interviews. Over the years, the firm has also carved a name for itself through its independent global research on salaries and workplace trends. It also produces annual employment reports and salary guides for hiring managers. The company has also fully adopted the content marketing mindset with its award-winning and popular blog platform, WorkLife Asia.

Search Personnel spent 2015 reaping the benefits of providing more learning and grooming opportunities for staff. The company provides a one-stop solution for all recruitment needs: permanent placements, temporary and contract placements, outsourcing, executive search and payroll administration services. It offers specialised placement services in various industries such as accounting and auditing, hospitality and tourism, banking and finance, trading, and IT information. The firm boasts a strong bank of updated resumes and believes in the value of having a good working relationship in place from the first point of contact with potential clients and candidates to the last point of contact in finalising the deal and candidates commencing work with the clients. As a testament to the high quality of its service, the company has gained more orders for mid-management positions through its clients. In addition, the firm also has a quick turnaround time, striving to provide the right candidates within a week of getting the job description.

GMP has consistently provided clients with a wide pool of top-notch talent. Its database is ever-growing, and candidates from other sources are also captured in this database. One way the company has ensured the constant flow of this is through the revamp of its website, which involved streamlining its content and giving it a much more user-friendly interface. The company also keeps itself abreast of new technologies and trends for different groups of talent through an understanding of government initiatives, growth sectors and global trends. GMP has also tapped into social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to reach out to a wider pool of talent. Such initiatives are undoubtedly helping the company’s aim to be the leading people solutions provider in Asia, with a global reach. At the same time, GMP has built an inclusive working culture in that everyone from support staff to the sales teams feels like family. To keep the bond, the HR department holds monthly activities based on themes such as Hari Raya or the Mid-Autumn Festival.

ZW HR Consulting ZW HR Consulting is proud of its strong footprint, especially in China, and is able to support companies in China as well those who want to start their operations or expand in China. Leveraging on this position, the firm is uniquely placed to recruit local executive talent abroad or support candidates who would like to move to China. In 2015, the company underwent a major rebranding, which involved an improved website and social media presence. Originally started as a service office to support companies in China that have operations in Singapore, the firm started its fully fledged

recruitment operation in Singapore in the middle of last year. ZW has now achieved an extensive database of skilled candidates across Asia Pacific ready to be matched against clients needs. The firm has specialist teams who are experts in their area. ZW also participates in industry events from which consultants can take the time to get to know possible future candidates in person – not just their CVs, but their career goals and motivations. Apart from business development, the firm also focuses on societal development, and it recently partnered with a charity called Half the Sky to raise money for orphans in China.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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B E S T R E C R U I T M E N T F I R M S – S E N I O R M A N A G E M E N T R O L E S (O V E R U S $10K P E R M O N T H)

LOAD UP YOUR LEADERSHIP As market boundaries blur and organisations try to cope with increasingly diverse workplaces, the question of senior leadership has to be raised. Questions such as: do our current senior managers have what it takes to pave the way for your organisation’s successful future? What makes a truly exceptional leader? How can we find and groom the next generation of leaders? Answers to all of these lie at the heart of recruitment of senior managers and leaders. Talking to senior managers and discussing their careers takes a sophisticated set of skills, not the least of which is the ability to communicate at their level and establish trust. Identifying senior candidates who are ready for business unit management or top leadership roles and then persuading them to move is an extremely difficult task.

The Best Recruitment Firm – Senior Management Roles (over US$10k per month) category winner is the recruitment firm which can best demonstrate consistent success in this high level area. If your senior-level recruitment mandate lies with any of the 16 firms who have made their mark on this list, then you have just raised your chances of success at hiring leaders. BEST RECRUITMENT FIRMS (senior management roles over US$10k per month) GOLD

Page Executive

GOLD

Randstad

SILVER

Hays Singapore

SILVER

Robert Walters

BRONZE

Kelly Singapore

FINALISTS Achieve Group ACI HR Solutions Capita Charterhouse Partnership Singapore JAC Recruitment RGF Robert Half Search Personnel Spring Professional The GMP Group ZW HR Consulting Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Page Executive 2016 will mark 20 years of recruitment excellence in Singapore for PageGroup, as the regional headquarters, PageGroup Singapore, invested heavily in the success of its regional business, supporting the establishment of businesses in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The executive search division of PageGroup, gold winner Page Executive, provides a range of search, selection and talent management solutions for organisations on a permanent and interim basis. Recognised for its powerful in-house research function, speed and flexibility of response and assignment completion rates, organisations worldwide use Page Executive to secure their senior talent. Page Executive makes use of PageGroup’s innovative technology to support the businesses. In 2015, PageGroup rolled out and further enhanced several key technologies regarding talent search and operations. PageGroup’s newest communications platform Yammer is a corporate social network that allows group staff to collaborate and interact with staff not only in their own office, but anywhere in the world.

From sharing expertise, market data, and making referrals, Yammer provides a central platform for connecting staff. The Page recruiting system standardises ways of working, increases productivity and improves the IT experience for businesses. It integrates the digital systems, including its next-generation website and job boards, as well as financial systems to create a seamless and automated recruitment process. The enhanced NextGen website features an enhanced keyword search, a responsive layout and a modern content management system to enable regular updates. Join PageGroup is a unified global careers website that has signalled a change in the way the company communicates its employer brand to potential candidates. Leveraging on its global scale and local experience, Page Executive offers trusted recruitment advice and insight through the Page Executive blog. The blog shares insights from key clients as well as market insights to bolster its position as a market leader in executive search.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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GOLD Randstad Randstad’s strategy to business development and retention within the recruitment sector is one that blends a key account management strategy together with a 360-degree approach from its consultants. This provides the firm with the unique ability to interact with clients on different levels and provide them with industry specialist knowledge and services from different perspectives. As the only HR services provider included in the professional services industry of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices review in September, Randstad’s strong focus on addressing clients’ needs has taken it far. Randstad offers a unique and alternative solution for clients looking to augment their talent acquisition and recruitment teams without giving up control of their recruitment process. This programme places Randstad recruiters at clients’ premises to assist in project hiring, while providing an extensive reporting system which allows clients to have full visibility of the entire recruitment process. To stay ahead of the curve, this gold winner invests heavily in innovation. The Randstad

Innovation Fund (RIF) is the only one of its kind in the recruitment industry, with a constant focus on seeking out and investing in the newest disruptive technology. The commitment to invest in emerging technologies allows the company to better compete in the increasingly evolving HR services industry. Randstad also takes pride in its research, launching the most definitive and first-ever HR guide in Singapore, the Randstad Workpocket 2015/16 Singapore, detailing regulations and best practices in the face of a challenging employment landscape and highlighting the key factors driving employment choices in the nation. Building on its success and expertise with research, Randstad also conducts the annual global Randstad Awards survey. The survey is the world’s largest employer branding research, surveying more than 220,000 respondents and covering 75% of the global economy. The research generates thousands of valuable insights which helps clients to chart their retention and attraction strategies. In today’s digital age, Randstad leverages various electronic platforms for outreach purposes.

SILVER Hays Singapore Hays has been in Singapore since 2007, recruiting permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. It has a deep expertise in recruiting across more than 18 areas, including accountancy and finance, banking and financial services, IT, construction, engineering and HR to name a few. With its strong global and regional footprint, the silver-winning recruitment consultant is able to source professionals from both its global network of mobile candidates and its extensive database of local nationals. Hays’ approach is proactive, focusing on finding solutions combined with quick responses and a flexible tailored service. With innovative candidate-sourcing techniques, including system integrations with Google and LinkedIn, Hays consultants can quickly and easily sift through the database of screened and assessed candidates, enabling far-reaching and accurate search results. Being one of the most followed companies worldwide on LinkedIn, Hays Singapore possesses an impressive candidate base for employers.

The firm also has a high number of visits by job applicants per month on its websites in Asia. Recognised as among the best suppliers of quality talent by local organisations, multinationals and SMEs, Hays is the preferred recruitment partner for a number of world-renowned organisations. Hays’ consultants place a high importance on the service they provide to clients and candidates. To evaluate how well its consultants are performing, the company also frequently measures customer satisfaction levels. Building on a specialist business model, Hays uses its expertise to inform clients, candidates and the wider community on recruitment-related trends and insights affecting various sectors and professions. The firm has also invested heavily in producing research reports such as the Hays Salary Guide, Hays Global Skills Index and the Hays Singaporean returners survey. It is this combination of innovative technologies, global reach and scale, local market knowledge and breadth and depth of expertise that makes Hays a world-class leader in the recruitment industry in Singapore and beyond.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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SILVER

BRONZE

Robert Walters

Kelly Singapore

Achieve Group

As one of the leading global specialist professional recruitment consultancies in Southeast Asia, Robert Walters has served Singapore since 1997. The recruiter’s localised expertise gives unique insights into permanent and contract specialist recruitment across many disciplines in Singapore, including accounting and finance, banking and financial services, and compliance, among others. Its global footprint enables this silverwinning recruiter to meet the demands of candidates and clients whose needs extend beyond Singapore. A majority of recruiters at Robert Walters are industry professionals equipped with the necessary market knowledge, professional memberships, affiliations and network connections. To keep abreast of the areas they specialise in, consultants regularly attend or participate in industry forums to keep updated on the latest industry trends and challenges, which helps them bring the right candidates and clients together. The company strongly believes people are its greatest asset and is committed to investing in their personal and professional development to ensure the highest quality of service to clients. Robert Walters takes pride in that its recruiters have the ability and knowledge to speak confidently about market trends, employment requirements and to provide consultative advice to clients. On top of its professional client and candidate servicing, Robert Walters seeks to add value to the business by bringing in regular industry leading market intelligence. This includes comprehensive white papers, infographics, mid-year market updates, the Asia Job Index and global salary surveys which are widely appreciated and quoted by clients in business presentations and conversations.

Established in 1946, Kelly Singapore has a long history as the trusted partner to the finest local companies and the government. Headquartered in Michigan, Kelly serves clients in all major markets throughout the world, including many well-known international businesses, and among those listed on the Fortune 500. Kelly has a philosophy of building long-term relationships and many clients have been with the company for significantly long periods of time. The firm also places great importance in understanding its clients’ specific requirements to ensure their business needs are met, while providing them with valuable, highly customised HR and recruitment solutions. The company recently expanded its products and service offerings. Launched in May 2014, the Kelly job board keeps candidates aware of new job opportunities in nearly every discipline and industry. Kelly invests significantly in learning and development to ensure all employees are comprehensively trained. All employees have access to the Kelly Learning Centre, which provides more than 3,000 online courses to help them gain and enhance their skills. There are quarterly sharing sessions on recruitment and market trends as well as workshops on resume writing and interview tips to support employees’ personal and professional growth. As a local leader in recruitment, Kelly has demonstrated its industry experience and expertise through talent market updates, white papers and research reports that educate clients and candidates to best practices and alert them to changing trends. In 2015, Kelly launched the “Making the business case for gender equity" white paper, the Kelly Global Workforce Index, the Singapore Talent Market Update and the 2015 Singapore Salary Guide.

To win the talent war in Singapore, Achieve Group points to the importance of becoming specialised. To boost productivity, this recruitment consultant has required its consultants to specialise in a certain industry so they can develop experience and expertise in it. For example, one group of consultants focus on the chemicals industry, making them specialists in the sector. They become familiar with the specific HR requirements of clients, and are able to respond to their demands more quickly. Riding on its goals to raise customer satisfaction, the emphasis on client relationship management goes beyond the conventional. Achieve has a systematic approach even when dealing with negative publicity and customer complaints. When it makes a mistake, the company apologises and clarifies its position if there is a misunderstanding. Internally, Achieve strives to find out the root of the problem by analysing complaints from customers. The insights obtained from the analysis then provide information on how to train consultants in dealing with similar situations in the future, showing commitment to building long-term relationships. Achieve is in the process of installing new customer relationship management software. Candidates will receive regular job alerts and consultants will be able to track the activity of the clients, such as whether they have seen the candidates’ resumes or not. Achieve understands the importance of hiring the right people, for which comprehensive background checks and psychometric tests are conducted. The company employs a customised Harrison Assessment in its selection process that produces a detailed report on candidates’ capabilities and personal traits.

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B E S T R E C R U I T M E N T F I R M S – S E N I O R M A N A G E M E N T R O L E S (O V E R U S $10K P E R M O N T H)

ACI HR Solutions

Capita

Dedicated to the travel, tourism and hospitality sector, ACI believes a specialist recruitment firm owned and operated by people from within the industry will contribute to the advancement of the tourism landscape. All ACI consultants have worked in these sectors and are well trained in the latest methodologies in recruitment and executive search. With time being a valuable commodity, the firm pledges to turn around a shortlist of qualified candidates to clients within one week, and can manage the entire recruitment process, including salary negotiations, onboarding management and post-placement follow ups. ACI’s unique business model ensures stability to weather the fluctuating business cycles which have become the norm. Given the travel and hospitality industry is traditionally low yielding when compared with others such as finance, ACI has eliminated as many costs to its business as possible. First it does not run a traditional office. Each staff member is given a Regus Businessworld Gold Card, allowing access to any Regus Serviced Office locally and internationally, proving to be a more costeffective, yet productive option. Additionally, consultants’ base salary was removed and commission doubled, giving them unlimited earning opportunities and, at the same time, safeguarding the business against costs during slow months or downturns. Client partnerships are unequivocally the bedrock to this company’s success. Being passionate not only about its clients’ success, but the industry as a whole, sees ACI taking a role as the travel and hospitality recruitment experts in the Asia region. In the next growth phase, ACI will aggressively expand its licence model, with the first successful franchise having launched in the Philippines in 2014.

Since its establishment in 2007, Capita has enjoyed success in the healthcare, technology outsourcing, banking and engineering sectors. The next step for the company is moving from being a local SME to a regional company. To attain this goal, the company has implemented a new system, SVOP2018 – strategic vision operation plans 2018 – to refine its operational environment, map out new strategic plans for growth outside of traditional bases, and further improvements in training. As part of the mandate for enhancing training, a continuous development roadmap for all employees in the company was implemented. This includes a comprehensive set of training modules for staff at all levels – from new recruiters to business leaders, being coached externally to improve skill sets. Newly onboarded employees are attached to senior consultants as mentees. Regular training touches on skills development, while subject matter experts help to improve recruiters’ skills and functional knowledge. There is also a talent development team to improve the standards of the whole company. Capita’s priority is to keep in line with its strategy to progress leaders based on the matrix of sales and team delivery, rather than the traditional hierarchy system. With such intensive internal development, the company is highly focused on the delivery of results for clients. Its recruitment systems fully measure delivery, customer satisfaction, the company’s HR matrix, performance matrix, and business and financial risk controls that aid the operations and growth of the company. The system is constantly refined through yearly strategic planning, and tools such as the Balanced Scorecard to define the operational matrix. Through such control, the company is able to provide the most up-to-date services.

Charterhouse Partnership Singapore With Singapore as its regional headquarters, Charterhouse is looking to grow in various ASEAN markets. Experience is key in the recruitment consultancy market, and Charterhouse appears to be well aware of this fact, with a vast majority of its staff coming with almost 10 years of commercial and proven recruitment experience. Efficiency is another priority for Charterhouse, which has stringent guidelines on the quality of profiles within a promised deadline. The rule is that upon understanding the job requirement, the company will respond to clients within 48 hours as to whether it is able to deliver on the request. If so, consultants have at most up to 14 working days to provide suitable profiles to run through with the client. Clients are also given regular updates as to the different stages of delivery. Integrity and delivering on this promise is core to Charterhouse’s standards. The company’s hiring philosophy has never been one for the need-to-hire, but the need to only hire the strongest consultants. While it imposes high levels of professionalism, integrity and results to consultants, it ensures a realistic time frame for everyone to have all the proper foundations and necessary tools to be successful. This is the reason why the company only hires a consultant for the business who the company believes will be able to sustain during a downturn or recession. Charterhouse operates on a 20/80 rule, endeavouring to partner with 20% of the markets which it operates in and the remainder 80% of the industries forming the main pool of candidates from which the company will source for its clients.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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JAC Recruitment

RGF

Robert Half

Headquartered in Singapore, JAC takes pride in pledging a response time of no more than 24 hours. Its team of consultants are on duty 24/7. Before the interview arrangement with clients, consultants have a pre-screening face-to-face interview with every candidate to ensure the qualifications required for the position for which candidates are sought are met. Consultants will conduct not only phone screening, but video conferences where candidates are overseas. JAC is committed to providing at least three CVs to clients within a week of receipt of notification, followed by a status report and a reference check as part of its added value services. For the placement of senior management roles, clients should expect an average turnaround time of closing a deal in two months, while positions for middle managers take around one month on average. The team of consultants in Singapore is truly international with members from Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Germany and the UK. The recruiter is also expanding aggressively in the region with the opening of its Hanoi office in July 2015, with further plans to open offices in Southeast Asia during 2016. Currently, JAC operates in 10 countries, with 26 offices. Aside from the core business, JAC also provides translation services, work pass processing services and salary survey services, as a total recruitment service provider. The company’s main CSR project is called PPP – “One placement, creates one plant to save the planet” – which supports reafforestation projects in Sarawak and Bali. Since the project started in 2008, the company has planted 52,724 trees to replace those that have been destroyed.

Global recruiter RGF believes specialisation is the key to enhancing service levels, efficiency and productivity. Working in partnership with its clients, RGF provides a one-stop talent management service. RGF recruiters see themselves as brand ambassadors not only for the organisation, but also as industry experts who speak the right jargon, understand the industry, know what the required skill sets are and what challenges clients and candidates face. To stay up to date with the happenings in their own fields and share industry knowledge, these consultants participate regularly in industry events to network with peers and professionals in their specialised sectors. To serve clients and candidates better in 2014 and 2015, RGF Singapore invested heavily in people and technology. It also hired experienced specialist recruiters. It also invested in a research team to handle candidate searches so recruiters could focus on working closely with clients to enhance service quality and delivery. This also enabled candidates to find the right organisation, negotiate good packages and share market knowledge. With such specialisation, RGF achieves more accurate, quality and faster candidate sourcing and matching through better use of technology and enhanced service levels. Being specialists, RGF recruiters possess market knowledge, competitor information, along with key market, industry, and functional expertise. RGF has also developed an in-house system to leverage sourcing, matching and mobile technology. The enhancement of technology helps source for active and passive candidates with accuracy and speed. RGF also provides market knowledge, salary surveys and other value-added services.

Serving top MNC clients across sectors, Robert Half’s team of recruiters in Singapore specialises in four divisions: finding placements for management resources, finance and accounting, banking and financial services, and technology. Each division has established relationships with prominent industry associations, and such influential connections reinforce Robert Half’s leadership position and demonstrates to clients and job seekers why it is one of the top names in specialised recruitment at senior levels. With one of the most extensive databases in Singapore, Robert Half has an impressive number of registered candidates. The database is made up of candidates for both temporary assignments and permanent roles. The recruiter pays great efforts in keeping candidate information up to date, and part of each recruiting manager’s KPI is that candidate details are regularly updated. The firm’s customer relationship management programme, Bond Adapt, is a relational database that keeps a record of all events, including job applications, feedback and references on a candidate’s file. It has multi-dimensional searching capabilities allowing recruitment managers to search on the basis of the candidate’s resume, consultant comments and other marketing information. This flexibility means recruiters can easily conduct a cross-reference search on experience, industry and organisations to find the most suitable candidates. Robert Half’s website has streamlined content tailored to employers and job seekers, making jobs accessible and easy to navigate. The firm also offers candidates access to e-learning, including specialist courses or general training modules, such as ways to improve communication in the workplace.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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Search Personnel

Spring Professional

The GMP Group

As a relatively new player in the executive search market, Search Personnel’s motto is to place the right candidate in the right job. Through an extensive network and dedicated consultants, the company strives to help clients search for qualified and best-fit candidates. Its team of licenced recruitment consultants are focused on placing competent candidates to suit the business needs of clients by providing a one-stop solution. They are able to provide services in permanent placements, temporary and contract placements, outsourcing, executive search and payroll administration services. The company has a pledge – from the first point of contact with potential clients and candidates to the last point of contact in finalising the deal and the candidates commencing work consultants will maintain continuous contact with the clients and candidates. By doing so, the company is able to keep improving its service. The vision of Search Personnel is to become one of the top 10 established recruitment firms in Singapore by 2020, and it is clearly well on its way.

Spring Professional is an international recruitment firm, and in the past two years this finalist has expanded its regional footprint to cover eight countries in Asia. At the same time, it has increased its repertoire of specialisations from engineering and IT recruitment to include property and construction as well as supply chain and logistics. As a fast-growing recruiter, Spring has a strong presence on social media with targeted “build, engage and recruit” online tactics. At the end of 2014, Spring embarked on a mobile optimisation charge. The new site offers job streaming on mobile for all the latest jobs, streamed straight to Facebook with ecosystemic links to all other social media sites, personalised candidate dashboards, a job application history, and application analytics. Spring recognises teamwork as a powerful tool and is committed to fostering a collaborative working environment. Its regional footprint provides key opportunities for its consultants and employees to extend their capabilities beyond the office and across borders to gain valuable knowledge.

Having been in business for 25 years, GMP has experienced growth with clients in the electronics, manufacturing, and IT sector, apart from various others. In 2015, the company expanded to the pharmaceuticals and biosciences, finance as well as the retail and consumer sector. GMP constantly reinvents itself and its services to meet clients’ change of requirements for talent. Today, the company has a high number of candidates in its databases – all of whom GMP monitors closely. This database is evergrowing, with new candidates registering every day. Candidates from other sources are also captured in this database to provide clients with an abundant talent pool. GMP keeps abreast of the employment needs for new technologies or trends for different groups of talent by understanding government initiatives and global trends. To cater for the young and tech-savvy generation, GMP has also tapped on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ to reach out to a wider pool of talent.

ZW HR Consulting Since starting its fully fledged recruitment operation in Singapore in 2014, ZW HR Consulting has enjoyed success in a broad range of specialisations that includes aerospace, life sciences, HR, and more. The company is equipped with an extensive database of skilled candidates ready to be matched against clients’ needs. It also has a strong social media presence. ZW believes specialisation is the key to providing quality service. It employs specialist teams who are experts in their area, assuring clients its consultants will only be serving their area of speciality. The firm also has a strong footprint in China with

the ability to support companies in China as well as those companies who want to start their operations or expand in China. It has had great success placing executive talent from China abroad and supporting candidates who would like to move to China. ZW participates in several industry events at which consultants can get to know possible future candidates in person – not just through their CVs, but their career goals and motivations. The company also takes pride in its research. In April 2015, ZW released the Singapore HR Salary Guide 2015 which was very well received by HR leaders and practitioners across Singapore.

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BEST OVERALL RECRUITMENT FIRMS

RECRUITING WINNERS It is no secret that economies in Asia are among the fastest growing the world has ever seen, and this is a reflection of the region’s important contribution to various aspects of global business and market development. For this reason, access to a qualified and skilled pool of candidates is the foremost priority of business leaders. Regionally, the heightened competition for talent in Asia is also having a direct impact on recruitment processes, which means human resources professionals have their work cut

out for them, and often they require the support of a capable recruiting partner. Being recognised as a leading recruitment firm in one area is one thing, but demonstrating leadership in all areas of recruitment takes a very special organisation. The winners and finalists of the Best Overall Recruitment Firm category are the recruitment firms which best match the right candidates, regardless of age or experience, with the right roles in the right organisations across the entire recruitment and talent acquisition spectrum.

BEST OVERALL RECRUITMENT FIRMS GOLD

Hays Singapore

GOLD

Kelly Singapore

SILVER

PageGroup

BRONZE

Robert Half

FINALISTS ACI HR Solutions Adecco Personnel RGF Search Personnel Spring Professional ZW HR Consulting Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Hays Singapore A market leader in recruiting for permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments, Hays Singapore has been accredited with the international quality standard ISO 9001:2008 since 2013. Because of a strong global and regional footprint, it is able to source professionals from both a global network of mobile candidates and an extensive database of local nationals. In delivering a flexible and tailored service to clients, Hays’ candidate-sourcing techniques include system integrations with Google and LinkedIn across a database of screened and assessed candidates. It also has a dedicated focus on passive candidates. To enable efficient recruiting, the company’s database provides enhanced functionality by harnessing the power of Google search, automatic CV uploads and job board postings. Its talent solutions business, looking after recruitment process outsourcing, has been in Asia Pacific for more than 20 years, ranging from discrete projects to a single shared service centre or large scale projects. Backing up such recruiting expertise is a talented and engaged workforce built on a culture of learning, networking and knowledge

sharing. The training and development programmes focus on developing employees into recruitment experts, right up until careers at the senior management level. Career reviews are performed regularly, where successful employees can seek local, regional and global opportunities. The aim is to create an open, honest and vibrant working environment, and to ensure all colleagues are respected as individuals. The impressive results of the 2015 employee engagement survey proves the company is on the right track. Boosting the commitment towards making Hays a great place to work is the managing director of Asia, Christine Wright, who is an advocate of gender diversity and regularly attends events and speaking opportunities around the region to promote the topic. She was also recently recognised on the 2015 Global Power 100 – Women in Staffing list which recognises influential female leaders in the industry. In addition, Hays has invested in producing industry leading research reports, a prominent part of which is the Hays Salary Guide, an annual publication revealing salary and recruitment trends across Asia, which is now in its ninth year.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST OVERALL RECRUITMENT FIRMS

GOLD Kelly Singapore Headquartered in Michigan, Kelly is no stranger to Singapore having set up operations in 1979. The firm prides itself on long-term relationships with clients, with many of them having been on board for up to 14 years. This year has seen an equal balance of new clients and expanded engagements in its recruitment portfolio. It also partnered with the Singapore Sports Hub and the Singapore Southeast Asian Games Organising Committee for the successful 28th Southeast Asian Games, providing temporary staff to help execute the event. Over the past year, the firm’s product and service offerings have expanded to include the Kelly job board launched in May 2014. This career portal keeps candidates aware of new job opportunities in nearly every discipline and industry, and is fully integrated with the “search jobs” page. The company’s long history of industry experience and expertise also enables thought leadership, which includes talent market updates and white papers that educate clients and candidates to best practices and changing trends. For example, earlier this year, it wrote a paper on “Making the

business case for gender equity”, finding that across Asia women are most highly represented at junior levels, but the lowest at senior levels across the world. Such thought leadership spills over to internal HR practices as well through extensive efforts to motivate and retain staff. An internal promotion policy is advocated wherever possible, driven by significant investment in learning and development. All employees have access to the Kelly Learning Centre which provides more than 3,000 online courses to help them gain and enhance skills. To inspire the recruiting team to deliver its best, internal top performer awards help to recognise the best recruiters, which also cover incentive schemes such as a quarterly performance bonus, spot bonuses and shopping vouchers. Such focus on training and recognition proves its value in the annual employee pulse survey taken to find out how employees feel about their job, compensation and benefits as well as working environment and culture. In the past year, the company has been pleased with high scores in the area of how likely employees are to recommend the company as a place to work.

SILVER PageGroup In 2014, PageGroup’s robust organic business model, highly respected brands and financial strength, delivered a solid financial performance, as announced by chairman Robin Buchanan in the 2014 annual report. And, there is little doubt the success has continued through this year. PageGroup’s brands are some of the most recognised names in the recruitment industry and its business model has proven itself through economic cycles and as the business has expanded into a global enterprise. At its core is a focus on organic growth, and this is backed by six core values that define the actions and behaviours of the team at PageGroup leading to success. The first is that consultants are offered a welldefined and varied career in recruitment through a clear development structure. Second, given that recruitment is a fast-paced business, PageGroup endeavours to respond quickly to the opportunities and challenges, making it both agile and responsive. Team profit-led compensation is the third key

driver for PageGroup, as such focus promotes positive corporate behaviour and consistent quality of service for clients and candidates. Fourth is the commitment towards productivity led expansion, where PageGroup’s operational metrics focus on productivity by team, discipline and geography. Next is the experienced management pool at the helm, and its experience through economic cycles and across geographies and disciplines that reduces the firm’s learning curve. In the same vein is a global management mobility policy, which regularly sees experienced directors moving into markets where they guide the business through the challenges of a market cycle. In 2015, PageGroup rolled out and further enhanced several key technologies. One of these was the NextGen website, which features an enhanced keyword search, a responsive layout and a modern content management system to enable regular updates. Another one was the adoption of Yammer, which is a corporate social network that allows PageGroup’s staff to collaborate with staff not only in their own office, but anywhere in the world.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST OVERALL RECRUITMENT FIRMS

BRONZE Robert Half

ACI HR Solutions

Adecco Personnel

Traded on the New York Stock Exchange and a member of the S&P 500 index, Robert Half is a recognised leader in professional recruiting and consulting services. It has been growing its global and regional footprint and expanded into Singapore in 2007, with 11 other offices in the Asia Pacific. In Singapore, Robert Half operates four divisions, the first of which is the Robert Half Management Resources for senior-level finance, accounting and business systems professionals on a project and interim basis. The second, Robert Half Financial Services, is for high-calibre professionals within finance and accounting, operations, risk, compliance, investment banking and financial markets, and technology. Robert Half Finance & Accounting is a specialised financial recruiting consultancy offering temporary, contract and permanent recruitment services at all levels in the accounting and finance profession. Finally, there is Robert Half Technology for experienced IT professionals. Another differentiator for Robert Half lies in its innovative methodology, the Company-In, which offers clients a time-saving approach to get their business fully staffed and running smoothly within a matter of weeks in three simple steps. First, its experienced consultants review the client’s needs. Next, tapping into their extensive knowledge base of highly skilled candidates, Robert Half consultants co-ordinate a focused interview schedule. Last, once the interviews are complete, the client decides which of the candidates they would like to meet again and the recruitment firm schedules more in-depth, follow-up interviews. Employees also feature on top of Robert Half’s agenda, as eligible employees are offered a comprehensive package of benefits such as loyalty leave and career breaks.

A company dedicated to the travel, tourism and hospitality sector with renowned big-ticket clients in its bag, ACI stemmed from a need identified by founder and CEO, Andrew Chan. He had the vision of a specialist recruitment firm owned and operated by people from within the industry to not only aggressively compete against major generalist recruitment agencies, but at the same time passionately dedicate itself to the advancement of the tourism landscape across Asia. In total, the ACI team has a combined management-level experience of over 60 years in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. In setting up ACI, Chan established a unique business model to ensure stability and sustainability, recognising that costs can escalate quickly, particularly around the salaries of poor-performing consultants. This is important in the travel and hospitality industry – where ACI specialises in – because it is traditionally low yielding when compared with other industries such as finance, oil and gas and FMCG. Owing to this, ACI eliminated as many business costs as possible, including the traditional office. Each staffer is given a Regus Businessworld Gold Card, allowing access to any Regus Serviced Offices locally and internationally. Not only has this been more cost-effective, it has seen productivity increase as consultants and candidates can choose meeting venues most convenient to them. Additionally, the consultants’ base salary was removed and commission doubled, giving them unlimited earning opportunities, at the same time safeguarding the business against costs during slow months or downturns. ACI also organises the most successful networking events in its industry called Wine Down Wednesdays.

Being among the top globally for HR solutions, Adecco, which has been present in Singapore for 30 years, does not take its success for granted. It continues to optimise operations for both clients and candidates, having done so in the speciality staffing services divisions of banking, engineering, information technology, among others. Luxury retail was included in 2013 as a speciality branch from Adecco Retail. In the past year, development and improvements focused on two areas – technology, and process and specialisation. The first, technology, was based on behavioural shifts of the audience towards digital platforms. This saw job posting platforms being improved to make job distribution more effective for consultants, while the website was revamped for better usability and mobile optimisation, which has since resulted in an increasing number of job applications through the website. In addition, to cater to talents from different fields, backgrounds, walks of life and interests, analytical tools were explored for better digital engagement. Adecco Singapore has been headed by Femke Hellemons since April 2013 as country manager, who brings almost 20 years of diverse experience in the HR industry. The firm places a strong focus in the area of employee development, with initiatives in place such as the high performers exchange, a one-way short-term international exchange programme for high performers in the group. Adecco also partners with INSEAD for the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), an annual benchmarking study comprising 103 countries, with one major theme being talent/human capital and its connection to competitiveness.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST OVERALL RECRUITMENT FIRMS

RGF

Search Personnel

Spring Professional

The global brand of Recruit Holdings, Japan’s largest recruiting and information service company, RGF has more than 46 offices operating regionally, with industry, functional, and most importantly, local market expertise. For more than 54 years, RGF has provided comprehensive HR and talent acquisition services which include executive recruitment and market mapping, senior to staff-level specialists and contract recruitment as well as payroll services. RGF Singapore, established in April 2010, offers the full spectrum of services – executive recruitment, general recruitment and Japan desk, and contract recruitment. To serve its clients and candidates better in 2014 and 2015, RGF Singapore invested heavily in people and technology. It hired experienced specialist recruiters. It also invested in a research team to handle candidate searches so recruiters could focus on working closely with clients. To ride on the forefront of digital innovation, RGF also developed an in-house system to leverage sourcing, matching and mobile technology.

Despite only being in the industry for just over two years, Search Personnel is proud to provide first-class services to clients and candidates. In recruitment, where the only constant is change, kaizen – the philosophy of continuous improvement – has been a prime factor in Search Personnel’s growth story. With a team of qualified licenced recruitment consultants spearheading Search Personnel, the firm provides a one-stop solution for all recruitment needs: permanent placements, temporary and contract placements, outsourcing, executive search and payroll administration services. Search Personnel’s SOP dictates every step from the first point of contact with its potential clients and candidates to the last point of contact in finalising the deal, through continuous contact with clients and candidates. Based on their inputs and with this mindset, in 2015 Search Personnel introduced enhancements to its company profiles and changes to its placement fees for clients to make the firm more attractive and competitive.

Here is an organisation where teamwork is recognised as a powerful tool in fostering an environment that is good for the company, colleagues, and ultimately, for clients. Spring Professional is an international recruitment firm specialising in the industries of engineering, IT, property and construction, as well as supply chain and logistics. Since setting up operations in 2013, Spring has ramped up its digital and social media with targeted “build, engage and recruit” online tactics, with a particular focus on LinkedIn, where it has seen vast growth in engagement as well job applications. At the end of 2014, Spring embarked on a mobile optimisation charge that saw the website become fully mobile-optimised, as well as fully integrated with shareability on social media platforms. Such efforts are the epitome of a streamlined and more efficient digital breakthrough for this specialist recruitment company, with the conceptual pitch of “spring to mind” ready to drive online influence. This expansion is also taking place physically with the firm having begun operations in Europe.

ZW HR Consulting Providing recruitment expertise across a broad range of specialisations, ZW has had an impressive year. It is the only recruitment firm in Singapore that has a strong footprint in China and is able to support companies in China as well those companies that want to start their operations or expand in China. In Singapore, the team originally started as a service office to support companies in China that have operations in Singapore, but April 2014 saw it begin fully fledged recruitment operations. The past year also saw a major rebranding from the perspective of an improved website and social media presence. It also partnered with a charity

called “Half the Sky” to help raise money for orphans in China. Supplementing all of these initiatives is a powerful internal team of consultants who are experts in their areas. Another one of ZW’s specialities is to facilitate the acquisition of talented individuals from overseas, as the firm has seen great success in placing Chinese executive talent abroad or supporting candidates who would like to move to China. Recently, ZW HR Consulting launched the Singapore IT Salary Guide 2015/16 to provide employers and job seekers with a comparative overview of IT salaries in Singapore.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST EMPLOYER BRANDING CONSULTANTS

BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE The term “employer brand” is commonly used to describe an organisation’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation. To attract the best talent at the right remuneration level and keep them in the organisation, companies need to be great places to work in the mind of current employees and key

stakeholders such as active and passive candidates, clients, customers and other key stakeholders. This is the essence of a valuable employer brand. The term was first used in the early 1990s, and has since become widely adopted by the global management community. Just as a customer brand proposition is used to define a product or service

offer, an employee value proposition is used to define an organisation’s employment offer. Marketing disciplines associated with branding and brand management have been increasingly applied by the HR community to attract, engage and retain talented candidates and employees, in the same way marketing applies such tools to attracting and retaining clients, customers and consumers. Strong employer brands don’t happen by accident. Rather, they are the product of smart strategies; and great employer brand consultants are the best in the business at helping companies achieve that outcome. The winner of the Best Employer Branding Consultant category is the employer brand consultant which best delivers visible employer brand improvements for its clients. The five finalists in this section have been nominated by the Singapore HR community and by a panel of 20 heads of HR from some of Asia’s biggest employers. If you are working with one of the best employer branding consultants listed here, your company is on the right path to a valuable employer brand. BEST EMPLOYER BRANDING CONSULTANTS GOLD

Universum

SILVER

Black Marketing

BRONZE

Aon Hewitt Singapore

FINALISTS Robert Walters TMP Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Universum Universum Singapore, the APAC headquarters of the Swedish employer branding consultancy, has seen impressive growth since its launch in 2012. Factors which led to this include inspirational leadership, regional and local client growth and continued improvements in the company’s global research activities. In 2015, the world’s largest annual talent survey exceeded one million qualified respondents for the first time – 1.3 million globally and more than 260,000 in APAC. In Singapore, Universum has formal relationships with the big four universities – SMU, NTU, NUS and SIM – which gives it access to the views of Singapore’s top potential graduate talent. Around Southeast Asia, Universum has experienced success breaking into new and more challenging markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, where the company is working with some major employers. Sometimes thought of as a research organisation, Universum is a fully fledged employer branding consultancy, working at a strategic level with more than 1,700 of the world’s largest employers. Universum’s activation solutions are

experiencing significant growth. Recently, Universum has added three new product offerings: Iris, Gemini and the employer branding academy. A social listening tool designed for HR, Iris is an affordable SaaS product that empowers talent acquisition specialists to monitor not only the effectiveness of their own social media posts to talent across all platforms, but to listen to and benchmark against the industry and competitors. Gemini is a white-label content platform which enables employers to both attract and communicate with their target talent in a way that works and the way talent wants to be spoken to. Realising that many organisations still struggle with employer branding, Universum has built a training platform to educate HR professionals on how to get employer branding right, how to compete and win in the talent market, and how to align with business goals and objectives. Universum is regularly quoted in regional and local media such as CNN, Forbes, CNBC, Financial Times, The Straits Times, Singapore Business Review, Human Resources, The Star, The South China Morning Post and the Times of India.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST EMPLOYER BRANDING CONSULTANTS

SILVER

BRONZE

Black Marketing

Aon Hewitt Singapore

Robert Walters

Launched just last year, Black Marketing has grown rapidly on the back of an integrated branding and marketing service on the LinkedIn platform. One of the reasons clients engage Black Marketing is because its CEO Chris Reed has almost 30,000 LinkedIn followers and is an “official power profile” with the most viewed profile in Asia Pacific. Black Marketing provides four services: personal branding, company branding, content marketing and new business; employer branding is part of all four. It has also been the key to the success of Black Marketing’s service offering and its clients’ performance on LinkedIn. By enhancing their profile on LinkedIn, investing in content and accentuating a company page on LinkedIn, leaders are reaping the benefits of this social employer branding strategy. Another one of Black Marketing’s key services is the ghost blogging service. Black Marketing has won awards ranging from the British Chamber of Commerce Rising Star and Asia’s Most Influential Digital Media Professional – all for founder Reed who then uses this to market and brand Black Marketing.

Aon Hewitt is a global leader in advising, designing and executing a range of consulting and outsourcing solutions that enable clients to cultivate talent, navigate retirement risk, while providing financial security and redefining health solutions for greater choice and affordability. It is a pioneer in the employer branding field. It defines exactly what it means to work in their clients’ organisation and helps to create a tailored employee value proposition that aligns with the clients’ brand positioning. Aon Hewitt believes that in today’s competitive global job market, being a well-known organisation or having a famous consumer brand name is not enough to attract and retain top talent. Organisations need to actively promote their strengths and demonstrate why they should be considered a preferred employer to work for. The Aon Best Employers Studies were established 15 years ago to recognise the achievements of firms that create a competitive advantage through their people. Its research suggests that being a Best Employer leads to improved results for all stakeholders.

Established in 1997, Robert Walters Singapore is one of the leading global specialist professional recruitment consultancies in Southeast Asia. The recruitment firm’s localised expertise gives it unique insights into specific industries and job markets, while the group’s global footprint enables it to meet the demands of candidates and clients whose needs extend beyond Singapore. Robert Walters believes people are its greatest asset and is committed to investing in their personal and professional development to ensure they offer the highest quality of services to its clients and candidates. It stands for diversity in the workplace and through its partnership with Singapore Diversity Action Committee, it has been listed under the panel of search firms that will help champion best practices to recruit more high-calibre women onto board-level and senior positions. The group’s annual global charity day reinforces the strong team spirit among its employees. Robert Walters Singapore is led by Toby Fowlston who is the MD of Robert Walters’ offices across Southeast Asia.

TMP As one of the world’s leading recruitment advertising agencies, TMP was founded in 1967. In the field of employer branding, TMP helps organisations understand and engage the talent they need to succeed in competitive markets. TMP’s “People in Business” division builds insights into its clients’ businesses to create an employee value proposition and communicate it to existing and potential employees. With this division, TMP looks at creating a clear business case with strategic intent, stakeholder buy-in and sponsorship, development of a high-definition EVP closely aligned to the corporate brand, aligning people management

processes to deliver a more consistent on-brand experience to employees and new joiners, ensuring the employer brand is represented consistently through all communication channels, and more. TMP believes in a collaborative approach to employer brand development, based on highly participative cross-functional workshop sessions, which combines its specialist expertise with its clients’ hands-on knowledge of the organisation to co-create the most effective solution. The firm targets to help deliver the insights its clients require to establish a proposition fit-for-purpose for current employees, potential candidates and the business.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING PROVIDERS

Within the time given to fill openings these days, it is often an arduous task just to find a reasonably suitable candidate for the role. But in the current environment of datadriven HR decision-making, psychometric testing has migrated from the fringe to become an increasingly common part of the talent acquisition process. Psychometric testing is used by companies to ensure that shortlists are free of people whose personalities do not gel with an employer’s culture and environment. In this new category introduced this year, the winner of the “Best Psychometric Testing Provider” award is the company that provides insights into a candidate’s personality and future behaviour on a consistent basis. If you are working with one of the best psychometric testing providers identified in this year’s shortlist, you can rest easy knowing that your selection and assessment process will provide you with the best-fit candidates for the roles that enable them to excel.

READING YOUR CANDIDATE’S MIND

BEST PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING PROVIDERS GOLD

C-VAT International

SILVER

StrengthsAsia

BRONZE

Aon Hewitt Singapore

Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD C-VAT International C-VAT psychometric testing, developed by professor Reed Nelson in the United States in 1984, may be a lesser known name among psychometric testing, but it is certainly a highly efficient and reliable testing method in the industry. Since 2004, C-VAT International has successfully introduced its psychometric testing method to government departments in Singapore and other major commercial organisations. To begin with, it is convenient to use, requiring only 20 questions that can be answered in 15 minutes to produce valid and reliable results compared with other psychometric tests. The testing method focuses on a holistic approach to organisation development rather than simply testing on the individual. It ensures the client organisation and candidates attain the three “fits” which are inline with Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower’s recommendation of achieving high performance and staff retention. Apart from being comprehensive, the test is constantly updated to meet market challenges. After years of research, C-VAT International was

able to identify eight career/team types. Users who fill out their C-VAT personality profiles not only get to understand their traits, but they also get closer to knowing more about their career choices. C-VAT International also offers online training material for trainers and life coaches, delivering soft skills training. HR personnel can download the materials on demand. In the ever-changing business world, C-VAT International anticipates three trends in the area of psychometrics going forward. First, the world is looking at team dynamics for performance rather than single contributors. Companies no longer look at IQ or individual performance and motivation for selection. As a result, C-VAT psychometrics, which are based on sociology and organisation behaviour research, is going to gain more attention. Businesses are looking to get things done with efficiency and the simple quick C-VAT psychometric testing appeals to that. Finally, it is a reasonably priced testing tool that has a variety of uses and that fits in well with today’s business demands.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST PSYCHOMETRIC TESTING PROVIDERS

SILVER StrengthsAsia StrengthsAsia has been firing up people and organisations in Asia to love what they do and do what they do best every day since 2011. By getting more and more people to do that, the corporate training provider is bringing more focus on the worth and wellbeing of the individual. The company brings changes by creating momentum in people to believe and invest in their unique strengths, and unleashing positive disproportionate impact into their lives, organisations, communities and societies. Being in Asia has given the company a unique edge, experience, perspective and understanding in designing and delivering Strengths-based engagement in Asian cultures. StrengthsAsia comprises top Gallup-certified strengths coaches in Asia in the advocacy and practice of Strengths-based thinking, living and performance. Through this, the firm strives to create and deliver inspirational transformative experiences in Strengths engagement for individuals and businesses. With a belief in engaging corporate leaders and teams in the dialogue of discovering, leveraging

and maximising individuals’ and teams’ talents and strengths, the company provide Strengths-based leadership and team engagement. As a partner of Gallup, the company uses Strengths to drive personal and corporate lives towards excellence through the Gallup StrengthsFinder, StrengthsQuest, StrengthsExplorer and the entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder. With the StrengthsFinder tool, leaders and managers are equipped with the language to bring out the very best in people in their respective organisations. This translates to increased employee engagement in organisations, more motivated teams and better team performances. This is part of the global movement that was started by Gallup to reach one billion people in discovering their talents and strengths through StrengthsFinder and unleashing the potential of excellence in people in Asia. Lim Kim Pong is the CEO and MD of StrengthsAsia, and the first platinum-certified Gallup Strengths coach in Asia. Gallup has also named him among Asia’s most accomplished practitioners of Strengths-based development.

BRONZE Aon Hewitt Singapore As a global provider of human resource solutions, Aon Hewitt partners with organisations to solve their most complex benefits, talent and related financial challenges, and improve business performance. With the aim of making the world a better place to work for clients and their employees, Aon Hewitt runs the Adaptive Employee Personality Test (ADEPT-15) – an advanced adaptive personality assessment tool. The test assesses 15 unique aspects of personality that are critical for a successful performance in a wide range of organisational roles. Ten aspects are based directly on the wellvalidated Five Factor model of personality, and five additional aspects stem from decades of research on leadership effectiveness and learning orientation. The ADEPT-15 relies on modern psychometric theories to more accurately model a test taker and present items in a computerised adaptive testing (CAT) format that enhances accuracy and security, and mitigates socially desirable responding. Each item is presented in a multidimensional forced-choice format that requires test takers to choose the one option in each pair they believe is

most descriptive of themselves. Items are composed of pairs of statements chosen on the basis of a test taker’s previous responses as well as on social desirability and other psychometric constraints. The test takes about 30 minutes to complete and draws on a pool of more than 230,000 unique item pairs. It was designed from the ground-up to be fair, globally relevant and infinitely flexible. Throughout the development cycle, great care was taken to ensure all items are “culture-free” and have minimal demographic (for example, ethnicity, cultural, gender, disability status, etc.) differences. Getting test reports is easy. Reports come in two main formats. One is a selection report for hiring managers, and the other is a development-based report to support career growth. The selection reports provide fit information for the role, while the development reports provide detailed personality information, as well as in-depth and actionable onthe-job development recommendations. The development reports can be used either by the test taker or in conjunction with a coaching effort, either from an Aon Hewitt coach or an employee’s manager or mentor.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST BACKGROUND SCREENING PROVIDERS

KEEPING OUT THE UNWANTED Background screening has become a fairly standard practice in the mature economies, but Asia Pacific has seen a significant rise in adoption rates only in recent times. That stems from the fact there has been a surge of employees forging their educational or work qualifications, even at the senior leadership level, making employers aware the cost of a bad hire is too high to leave to chance. Research shows that 82% of organisations currently perform some sort of background checks, with the objective of improving the overall efficiency of the recruitment process. Most commonly, employers deploy criminal searches as part of their screening practices, while identity verification and past employment verification follow closely behind. The growing incidences of false and fraudulent information in candidate applications has increased the need for the type of robust background checking only specialists can provide. In addition to leaving a company open to embarrassment, being fooled by false candidate credentials can allow fraudsters into the organisation where they can do untold damage. The winners and finalists of the Best

Background Screening Provider category demonstrates excellence in protecting employers from unscrupulous candidates. You can be assured of a stronger recruitment and selection process for your organisation if you are working with one of the five organisations on this year’s list. BEST BACKGROUND SCREENING PROVIDERS GOLD

HireRight

SILVER

First Advantage

BRONZE

RISQ Group

FINALISTS Blue Umbrella Capita Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD HireRight Having served its Asia Pacific clients remotely for about eight years, HireRight opened its regional headquarters in Singapore in 2014, signifying its commitment to growing its operations in the region. It set the wheels turning by growing its staff strength to provide a customised service to its clients in the region. This renewed focus on the region has resulted in a substantial increase in HireRight’s APAC staff strength and year-on-year revenue. A majority of HireRight’s clients are multinationals in industries such as financial services, technology, and manufacturing, representing a majority of the Fortune 100. It has retained almost all its client base in Asia Pacific and added a few other major players across industries. This year, HireRight launched its first website specifically for Asia Pacific – a portal where customers in the region can get product and service updates. Another key feature setting HireRight apart is its automated online background screening portal which allows professionals to order the types of checks they need easily and quickly. In the past year, this gold winner has launched a significantly improved version of its online

background screening portal for candidates – the next generation applicant centre. A first-of-its-kind in the industry, it guides candidates step by step through the background checking process, enabling them to supply additional information, view the status in real-time as verifications are completed, and ask any questions directly to HireRight, alleviating the HR professional’s role. This system was launched in beta version in mid-2015 and has been tested by some of HireRight’s major clients, with very favourable feedback. The product is expected to be launched officially and made available to customers at the end of this year. Being a rapidly growing company means an abundance of opportunities for HireRight’s staff to play a role in building the business. The company’s performance measurement and rewards system recognises staff’s positive contributions to its success. In addition, HireRight’s leadership has prioritised creating a culture where employees feel engaged and valued, and where global internal surveys are conducted to get feedback on the type of organisation they want HireRight to be.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST BACKGROUND SCREENING PROVIDERS

SILVER First Advantage As the trusted partner of an outstanding number of organisations worldwide, First Advantage provides easy to understand background screening results for clients to confidently make decisions about prospective employees and vendors. The company has a global presence with a substantial number of employees across various countries and conducts a large amount of background screenings annually. These screenings not only safeguard its clients’ brands, but also helps them to arrive at dramatically better background insights which they can rely on to make more informed hiring decisions. Clients of First Advantage include the world’s largest organisations in the financial services, retail, IT, pharmaceutical and oil and gas sectors, among others. Combining its global reach and local expertise, First Advantage has expanded its risk-mitigating services to include solutions that complement the expertise it has nurtured. This comprehensive range of new solutions helps reduce the risk, time and costs associated with recruiting, applicant tracking, and candidate screening. This includes background checks which provide insights to reduce a client’s recruitment risk while improving talent quality.

Another notable product First Advantage will be launching across South Asia in 2016 is the enterprise advantage platform, a new client site interface tried and tested in the US. Clients are expected to benefit in various ways such as having innovative data to capture solutions by gathering information from candidates and employees for screening in the local language, and online reporting and analytics which provide up-to-the-minute insights. Across the industry, First Advantage advocates the importance of managing people risk and screening. When engaging the nascent background screening market in many developed and emerging economies across Asia, it adopts a three-pronged approach – demand generation through content, media engagement and client engagement; risk awareness through discrepancy trends data; and thought leadership through participation in numerous HR and risk and compliance conferences. Its strategic approach to grow the industry through the above activities has yielded strong returns, placing silver winner First Advantage as the screening provider of choice for Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions.

BRONZE RISQ Group In the past year, RISQ has grown significantly and it is looking at the next phase of growth which includes a new office in Singapore. It has offices in a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region, giving it a wide operational footprint. Over the past 12 months it has added an impressive amount of new clients and maintained a client retention rate to be proud of. In the process, RISQ has climbed from being the new kid on the block to being recognised as a preferred vendor with its clients, which include Singapore’s best known brands such as banks, insurance companies, educational institutions and property companies. The firm’s core business is background screening and security vetting and it is leading the way in terms of turnaround time, accuracy and low unverified rates. The products RISQ offers includes background screening services designed to identify inconsistencies, confirm candidate history and reveal recorded occasions of misconduct. The firm’s screening process is comprised of tiered verification based on the level of required clearance. It also offers credential verification,

identity verification, integrity verification and baseline vetting, among others. In this exciting time of growth, RISQ believes it is important to never lose sight of what is important – its people, and of equal importance, is their development. RISQ acknowledges that background screening is a people industry and it places people at the heart of what it does. Its background screening solutions are delivered with consistency, accuracy and speed to help RISQ’s clients hire the right people. This bronze-winning company is open and transparent and says things as they are, with a belief there has to be full accountability and ownership around its process, and clients must always know with whom to speak to. Serving as a key differentiator from its competitors, RISQ implements a dedicated client case management approach to each individual client via its team of global client case managers, which ensures localised interaction. As a result, the company has maintained market-leading high client satisfaction rates and net promoter scores through meticulous client care and responsiveness towards them.

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BEST BACKGROUND SCREENING PROVIDERS

Blue Umbrella Blue Umbrella is fully focused on providing a risk management service. With more companies moving towards a shared services model for HR, Blue Umbrella has grown significantly in the past several years and is Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second-largest pre-employment screening provider. The firm serves governments, global financial institutions and Fortune 500 multinational corporations and focuses on providing services for local organisations. With the complexities of conducting Asian background checks, Blue Umbrellaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own in-house language capabilities and local knowledge, ensure that no matter where clients are hiring from, it will continue to deliver services with the same level of consistency and quality. Its in-house language capabilities include Chinese, Hindi, Bahasa, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch and more, all under one roof. The multilingual technology interacts with clients and candidates, sourcing across the region to improve the turnaround time of reports, giving everyone accurate answers sooner.

Blue Umbrella believes every organisation is unique and each due diligence programme is different from another. Its managers spend considerable time working with clients to design a customised screening programme most suited to their respective needs. Sometimes what is commonly available in Asia is not legally available for background screening purposes. The company has always maintained the very highest ethical and legal standards in terms of the checks that it offers. Blue Umbrellaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technology enables clients to generate statistics based on various parameters which allows them to review their programme performance coherently from different angles. The company invests heavily in technology and has robust redundancy, recovery and backup available at the switch of a button. It also provides the most secure data environment available which is subjected to the most rigorous penetration testing, physical and software audits. With the addition of services in Latin America in Q4 2015, Blue Umbrella is on its way to becoming a global provider.

Capita Since its inception in 2007, Capita has grown to be a top recruitment company with excellent revenue growth. Reflecting the solid delivery of its operational matrix and financial controls, it is now considered to be one of the top recruitment companies locally, in terms of revenue. Its recruitment systems are highly focused on the delivery of results for its clients, fully measuring delivery, customer satisfaction, company HR metrics, performance metrics and business and financial risk controls, aiding its operations and company growth. The team has been gaining strength in its key growth areas namely in the healthcare, technology outsourcing, banking and engineering sectors where headcount has been expanded. It has also made much headway into RPO/managed services since the inception of Capita outsourcing (temporary and contract placement division) in 2011. In recognition of its relentless drive to keep its client product and service offerings relevant and of utmost quality in the industry, Capita has garnered a number of awards in the past few years, while its growth in headcount rivals the growth of most local and international recruitment firms in Singapore.

With a growing staff strength and increasing visibility of Capita as a consistent top 10 HR vendor in Singapore, it saw a need to start looking at ways to engage, develop and retain its own staff. As such, it has developed a comprehensive set of training materials for new recruiters to business leaders who are being coached externally to improve their business skill sets. New employees are required to undergo training programmes while attached to senior consultants as mentees. As a result, it boasts one of the lowest turnover rates compared with its peers, despite being among the top few recruitment companies in terms of scale, workforce and profitability. Not one to rest on its laurels for too long, Capita intends to continually research ways on how leaders can be better groomed through various leadership development opportunities, continuous employee satisfaction surveys, feedback channels and peer reviews. Capita is also an active participant in many industry events. It supports networking sessions and job fairs for graduates and PMEs (professionals, managers, executives), among many others.

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BEST SUCCESSION PLANNING CONSULTANTS

PASSING ON THE BATON Succession planning – that ideal system wherein senior executives periodically review their top executives and those at the next lower level to determine several backups for each senior position. This concept found importance due to the fact that it often takes years of grooming to develop effective senior managers who will eventually form the pool of candidates with high leadership potential. But how many organisations and boards strive to create systems that promote succession planning as a practice? In fact, because of the lack of a more viable option, many organisations tend to believe that perhaps hiring a successor from outside is a better alternative than choosing one from within the company. An emerging Asia holds a lot of promise for the region as it pulls in more investors to leverage its growth potential, but companies in the region are lagging their Western counterparts in leadership and talent management practices. This is despite research showing companies with strong leadership and talent management practices (called “talent magnets”) increase their revenues 2.2 times, and their profits 1.5 times faster, than companies with weak practices (termed as “talent laggards”).

In a perfect world, when one employee leaves a company his or her colleague would seamlessly step into their shoes, and the business would not skip a beat. Unfortunately that rarely happens – in the real world, staff leave and the company can struggle while looking for a replacement. The winners of the Best Succession Planning Consultant award are the companies that best ingrain succession planning and talent development into the corporate culture of their clients. If you are working with one of the three winners in this category, you can be confident there are no leaks in your leadership pipeline. BEST SUCCESSION PLANNING CONSULTANTS GOLD

DDI

SILVER

Mercer

BRONZE

Aon Hewitt Singapore

GOLD DDI For more than 45 years, DDI has helped companies around the world transform the way they hire, promote and develop their leaders and workforce. Winning gold for its succession planning practices, DDI’s areas of expertise span every level, from individual contributors to the executive suite. Within its succession planning services, DDI promises to identify leadership potential earlier, accelerate individual growth, and prepare leaders to be ready for key leadership vacancies or new business opportunities. It brings expertise, a roadmap, structure and proven tools and methodologies that drive focus and meaning, and needed clarity to clients’ talent discussions and decisions. DDI’s approach to talent management ensures a close connection between clients’ business strategies and their talent strategies. A unique factor encapsulating DDI’s expert dedication towards providing high-quality service is in how the company utilises the advantages of data and analytics. It goes beyond metrics to deliver business and leadership return on investment. Through such

methods, it helps clients make confident talent decisions for their future with deeper insights and data-driven intelligence. Another element which the firm utilises to identify leadership potential is its holistic executive assessments. These help to produce deep insights about clients’ senior leaders. It is therefore this marriage of individual and group data which gives clients the right amount of intelligence to help accelerate their leaders’ development. Staying ahead of change in its industry and markets, DDI invests twice the industry average in research and development. Built on well-researched, experience-tested concepts, its solutions are flexible and adaptable – making them easy for clients to scale globally and configure for more agile assessment and development. In Singapore, the firm works with a mix of multinational companies and Singapore-based organisations on their succession management initiatives. It has, specifically, conducted leadership assessments for operational leaders across the region.

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BEST SUCCESSION PLANNING CONSULTANTS

SILVER Mercer The leadership pipeline is routinely cited as one of the biggest challenges facing organisations across Asia Pacific. Thankfully, Mercer offers an end-to-end suite of leadership solutions to clients that helps them identify, develop and retain a pipeline of ready capable leaders who can drive the strategic agenda of their organisation and help their organisation gain competitive advantages and deliver measurable results. From leadership strategy development and implementation (software and processes) to a full suite of services, including competencies, assessments, development and succession planning, Mercer has everything covered. Further, it provides clients with a comprehensive understanding of all human capital issues, apart from leadership, and how they interrelate and support business imperatives. Mercer’s point of view around succession planning encompasses, firstly, building an infrastructure by designing a global career framework that enables organisations to build a through-flow of capable leaders. It also places great importance on enhancing talent decision-making

by bringing rigour and decision science to the succession process by drawing on assessment data. Further, Mercer helps to manage pipelines by tracking talent and talent decision-making through the use of workforce analytics and talent review governance to manage clients’ talent pipelines. The development of local leaders in key markets is another area of priority through the design of international mobility policies and compensation strategies that support the transfer of knowledge, experience, and skills across borders. In addition, it allows future leaders access to global learning and career development opportunities through international assignments. To support the growing and diverse client needs in the region, Mercer has set up the impressive centre of excellence (CoE) for its talent strategy group in the region. The CoE is committed to developing new products and solutions based on market challenges and client demands and ensures Mercer delivers compelling, valid and scalable solutions. Through such meaningful initiatives, it is not surprising that Mercer continues to be the firm of choice for talent solutions among growth markets.

BRONZE Aon Hewitt Singapore Aon Hewitt’s key advantage is it is able to adopt a broad view of two of the most important issues in economies today: risk and people. The company partners with organisations to solve their most complex benefits, talent and related financial challenges, and improve their business performance. It does this by designing, implementing, communicating and administering a wide range of strategies across the fields of human capital, retirement, investment management, healthcare, compensation and talent management. Another advantage is the firm’s client focus. Every day, Aon Hewitt’s employees ask: “How can we help a client or how can we help a colleague help a client?” Because each of the firm’s client groups has unique needs, its professionals – co-ordinated by strategic account managers or relationship managers – specialise by product, function and client industry. Aon Hewitt’s succession planning strategy is clear. Supporting the entire spectrum of career management activities, the firm helps clients develop a career management philosophy, career architecture, including career paths, movement

criteria and mechanisms and all related policies, procedures, tools and templates. In addition, not only does it help clients and customers by defining the framework and process for succession management, it also implements this for typically senior levels of the organisation. Aon Hewitt is able to expertly do this by defining the critical levels at which succession planning should take place and the criteria for succession, and assessing the talent pool against these criteria to identify and recommend potential successors for critical positions. The final step in Aon Hewitt’s succession planning toolkit involves assisting clients in ensuring the integration of career and succession management systems with their other HR systems. As the regional headquarters for Asia with a range of speciality leaders, Aon Singapore is able to provide its clients with the best that Aon has to offer. Since the firm’s speciality resources are mostly domiciled in Singapore, Aon has unprecedented leverage within the insurance market in addition to a depth of experienced and expert personnel unparalleled by any of its peers.

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BEST LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS

LEADING FROM THE FRONT With no shortage of the printed word about leaders and leadership and an abundance of leadership frameworks backed up by years of research and academic theories, there is no doubt that leadership development is one of today’s most critical business imperatives. As a matter of fact, investing in talent management programmes to develop an organisation’s leaders came up as the primary focus for human resources professionals in research conducted just this year. As a result of this intense focus, HR and business leaders are spoilt for choice in shopping for suitable solutions at the leadership development store, but with the challenge of effectively finding and implementing the framework that is most likely to accelerate the development of leaders in their organisation. From functional leads to business unit heads all

the way to the C-Suite, leaders who come from within the company are much more likely to succeed than if they were recruited externally. Therefore, plan A is always to identify the organisation’s high potentials, keep them in the company and develop them into leaders. This doesn’t happen all by itself and increasingly even the best managed companies turn to leadership development consultants for help. The winners and finalists of the Best Leadership Development Consultant category is the consultancy which best helps its clients consistently develop the next generation of leaders. These are the eight specialists you can trust to provide the know-how and the right tools to develop your leadership pipeline, based on a meaningful understanding of your organisation’s needs, your current bench strength, and the factors impacting their development. BEST LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS GOLD

DDI

SILVER

Future Leaders International

BRONZE

Mercer

FINALISTS BTS Centre for Executive Education (CEE) MHI Global Asia Singapore National Employers Federation Towers Watson Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD DDI If you have ever had a leader you revered, or marvelled at how quickly a new hire came up to speed, you might have experienced DDI at work. Pioneering the field of talent management consulting, Development Dimensions International (DDI) remains one of its chief innovators. DDI’s content is deeply rooted in changing one’s behaviour with practical advice and tools to succeed in the day-to-day routine, using a three-phase process of assess, acquire and apply. It sets about developing leaders across all levels with custom-designed learning journeys that extend development beyond formal learning experiences and on-the-job training, sustained by the support of senior management and a community of learners. Mindmarker and DDI announced a partnership earlier this year, where as a certified content partner, DDI’s training courses now may include custom-built Mindmarker training reinforcement. This can be added post-training to increase knowledge retention, and is delivered through the Mindmarker application on mobile and webiOS, Android, Windows and web. The year also saw Tacy M. Byham, PhD, taking up the role of chief executive officer, succeeding

her father, chairman and former chief executive, William (Bill) C. Byham, PhD, in September. This was part of a planned succession process initiated more than 12 months earlier, leveraging the principles in DDI’s seminal book, Grow Your Own Leaders. During transition, DDI’s leaders wear two hats – one to work with their successors transitioning their current responsibilities and the other to learn as much as they can about their new positions and teams. The leadership team in Singapore was also strengthened recently by DDI boomerang Desmond Tan, who returned as director of consulting for leadership insights and growth, bringing with him talent management experience from across various industries, both in the United States and around Asia. To stay ahead of change in the industry, DDI continues to invest in research and development, a sample of which is its “Global Leadership Forecast”. The seventh report since DDI began this research in 1999 was released in a joint effort of DDI and The Conference Board, with a record-breaking sized participant pool, enabling DDI to dissect findings based on diverse perspectives, along with special topical reports and separate country reports.

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BEST LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS

SILVER Future Leaders International To catalyse the development of high potential leaders through customised acceleration programmes, Future Leaders International (FLI) has developed a proprietary framework that ensures success. Based on the principles of 70/20/10, FLI creates blended learning journeys that include rapid and condensed exposure to structured and on-the-job learning experiences, such as classroom training, simulations, action learning projects, development accelerators and job rotations. Established in Sydney in 1997, FLI opened for business in Singapore in 2008 (now the head office), and has since established a solid reputation for customised leadership development solutions as a boutique leadership consulting firm. It has been consistently profitable and revenue has grown year-on-year, along with an accomplished client list comprising multinational and local companies. FLI was founded by Cameron Francis, an organisational psychologist with more than 20 years of experience. In October 2014, Mark McCutcheon joined FLI as managing director for Southeast Asia, prior to which he was the head of business development for Europe at DDI.

To help realise FLI’s ambitious growth plans and build a more sustainable business, a number of key appointments were made in 2015. These included Patrice Hoffmann as client relationship director and Erwin Lennertz as practice leader of leadership development, working alongside Adeline Wong who leads the operations and project management team. Developing strong leadership to lead the business is no mean task, and FLI’s leaders are passionate about this. Employees are encouraged to constantly review their development plans and identify needs that will support them in being successful in their role. They also have open access to management for formal or informal coaching. With the volatility in today’s economy, most multinational organisations have in place global leadership programmes. However, given the unique cultures and challenges leaders in Asia are facing, FLI recognises that global programmes sometimes are not able to address the needs of leaders in Asia. As such, FLI has established a community for inhouse talent development professionals to exchange views. It has also created an online community on LinkedIn to encourage ongoing discussions.

BRONZE Mercer The leadership pipeline is frequently cited as one of the biggest challenges facing organisations across Asia Pacific. With extensive experience in working with corporations everywhere, whether global, national or government-owned, combined with comprehensive research, Mercer offers an end-toend suite of leadership solutions to help companies identify, develop and retain a pipeline of ready and capable leaders. From leadership strategy development and implementation (software and processes) to a full suite of services, including competencies, assessment, development and succession planning, Mercer has everything covered. Mercer’s leadership development products and solution development in this region are led by the centre of excellence (CoE) for its talent strategy group. The CoE is committed to developing new products and solutions based on market challenges and client demand, and this ensures Mercer delivers compelling, valid and scalable solutions. Another challenge Mercer addresses is that of developing global leaders. With global leadership no longer being the preserve of expats or senior

executives, a global leader is anyone who works across geographic and cultural boundaries. Based on extensive research with clients, top companies, thought leaders such as Dr Jay Conger and organisations such as Harvard Business School, Mercer has developed a global leadership model, including products and solutions to help organisations assess and develop global leaders. This is also available for reading through a paper called Mercer’s “Developing Global Leaders”. Alongside, Mercer continues to invest in new leadership products and services. “Leading to Transform” is one, which consists of a two-day, fully immersive programme that develops leaders’ ability to lead change within a global context. One more distinct initiative is the leadership readiness tool that assesses the capability of leaders in a realistic manner by simulating a work environment that can be delivered to their desks. Complementing these practices is a host of thought leadership in the form of white papers, webinars and articles. Such initiatives ensure Mercer provides clients with a comprehensive understanding of all human capital issues.

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BEST LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS

Help Your

BTS

First-Time

BTS management and consultants strongly live the core values of freedom, responsibility and fun. Centred on this people strategy, the past year has seen BTS winning bigger projects, backed by investments in digital solutions and efforts in cost efficiency. Investments were made in the organisation, marketing and product development, and the firm is confident of its future. This focus on continuous innovation saw BTS making advancements in existing client platforms as well as in new programmes, along with contributions to thought leadership in the leadership development industry. One sample of this stems from its philosophy of disrupting leadership development. With a belief the traditional approach to leadership development is not improving performance, BTS entails a move away from universal competency models to an approach that recognises each company’s unique history, culture, market position and business model. The BTS recommendation, in this context, is to move to an approach where the organisation’s role-models’ behaviours and actions are based on what great leaders do. All steps, thus, look at the company individually to build a set of desired behaviours based on real-life, tangible examples of how to be a high performer.

Leaders

Survive and

Thrive!

Centre for Executive Education (CEE)

‘‘

The most practical, detailed, and truly useful [leadership book] I’ve seen in a long, long time. And no, it’s not just for first-timers. Eric Schurenberg,

Media President and Editor-in-Chief, Inc. Magazine

www.YourFirstLeadershipJob.com #YourFirstLeadershipJob

How can you implement textbook solutions for long-term goals if the textbook changes almost monthly? That’s precisely what the Centre for Executive Education (CEE) helps clients with. CEE opts for tailor-made learning and organisational development strategies that cater to specific business contexts, with the result of earning clients’ trust and building lasting relationships. CEE’s collaborative approach is known as process consulting, where clients and consultants learn together. This methodology avoids pre-supposed solutions, while enabling CEE consultants to pragmatically work themselves out of the assignment, rather than becoming indispensable. CEE’s suite of executive development programmes includes succession planning, leadership development and executive coaching. Over the past year, it has strengthened its solutions in the areas of assessment, engagement and development of talent, in light of the favourable economic climate and buoyant employment outlook. The year has also seen growth in the CEE team of consultants and executive coaches, many of whom have held senior corporate learning and development positions, with the team led by the founder and CEO, professor Sattar Bawany.

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BEST LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS

MHI Global Asia Supported by the real-world experience of passionate practitioners and research on best practices, MHI Global brings best-in-class expertise to develop world-class sales, service and leadership teams. Everything begins with the customer, in MHI Global’s view, therefore customers’ needs drive every discussion. Apart from applying proven methodologies to solve their real-world challenges, MHI also offers them access to all of MHI Research Institutes’ proprietary resources and solutions. After all, everything it does is rooted in research. For example, CSO Insights (part of MHI) is a members-only research organisation that provides cutting-edge research to help complex B2B sales organisations improve sales productivity and performance. The team of sales and research experts is led by Joe Galvin, chief research officer. In the past year, MHI Global has received a host of awards for its range of leadership and management programmes. One of these programmes is called “Get Grounded”, which focuses on “Building Trust Under Pressure™” and “Delegating for Shared Success™”. Other programmes include “Stay Productive”, “Coach Others” and “Create the Future”. 2014-2015 also saw expansion for the organisation, as it brought together the proven methodologies of the world’s most respected brands in sales performance, customer experience, and leadership and management, with AchieveGlobal, Miller Heiman, Huthwaite, Impact Learning Systems, and Channel Enablers now under one roof. In Asia, MHI Global is led by Greg Moore as MD, responsible for the integration and growth of MHI Global’s brands (Miller Heiman, AchieveGlobal, Huthwaite, Impact Learning Systems, and Channel Enablers).

Singapore National Employers Federation The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) has performed well in the past year, having expanded course offerings in leadership, HR and industrial relations, service excellence, sales productivity and business management. Its reach has also grown owing to government schemes being administered, which includes projects such as courseware development for the Personal Data Protection Act, tripartite guidelines for the Harassment and Bully Act, and the itemised payslips and key employment terms for companies. With SNEF being a not-for-profit, it sets its prices at a reasonable rate for companies to send their staff, and it also has a successful take-up rate for its open public classes. Having been a long-time strategic partner of Workforce Development Authority (WDA), SNEF undergoes rigorous quality checks on top of other finance audit requirements. In delivering the course, SNEF preassesses the skill sets of participants in cases of customised training. It also provides aftertraining support on the competencies acquired after three to six months. Additionally, the staff goes the extra mile to assist customers on claims and SkillsConnect issues. The leadership at the secretariat level of SNEF has seen a strong and committed core, with Stephen Yee as the senior director of training and assistant executive director. As the tag line goes, SNEF addresses the needs of companies as a responsible employer and a sustainable business. A recent example was an ASEAN conference in partnership with ILO and IOE on the topic of women in business management. Moving forward, SNEF will embark with employers and government agencies to develop talent, be the voice of the enterprise, and develop firms into the future.

Towers Watson With 150 years of history, Towers Watson has a wealth of experience in helping organisations enhance their workforce. It does so by combining a deep understanding of employee behaviour with a focus on programmes and processes that support lasting change. High employee engagement is the primary difference between companies with good results and true market leaders, and Towers Watson’s research data proves that organisations with effective communication and change management produce measurably superior business results. This key competitive advantage, in Towers Watson’s view, can be accomplished through effective change management and communication, which in turn can unleash the discretionary effort and superior performance that results from an engaged workforce. To help organisations deliver those results, Towers Watson supports global communication and targeted campaigns – from pay and benefits, and complex business process changes, to mergers and acquisitions, and senior leadership communication. In addition, this finalist recognises that successful organisations have a deep understanding of their employees and their evolving needs. It makes use of that information to drive the practice of workforce segmentation and the creation of meaningful employee value propositions that align with talent management strategies. By starting with a deep understanding of a client’s business issues, combined with extensive employee research, Towers Watson ensures the organisation’s talent management strategy aligns with business goals. It further brings practical insights into how an organisation’s workforce can best be managed, using the right guidance, tools and capabilities.

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BEST OUTPLACEMENT CONSULTANTS

GOING OUT IN STYLE “Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it’s because they sat there that they were able to do it.” It’s an unfortunate truth the support provided to employees exiting an organisation won’t come in the form of motivational sound bites such as the one above from the 2009 movie Up in the Air. With the ebb and flow of business cycles and regular merger and acquisition activity, downsizing is an ever-present part of the corporate landscape. Outplacement consultants are engaged by reputable companies to help their redundant staff enhance their skills and re-enter the workforce with

minimum disruption to their professional lives and wellbeing. The term “outplacement” was coined more than 30 years ago with the increased rates of downsizing, redundancies and layoffs, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. During this time, businesses increasingly found a need for assistance in reducing the trauma of redundancy for both departing employees and those who remained. Research still shows that losing one’s job is one of the most stressful experiences a person can face. The winners and finalists of the Best Outplacement Consultant award are the firms which consistently get recently redundant staff back to

work quickly and respectfully. Having been endorsed by the HR community and assessed by a jury of senior HR leaders, your retrenched staff and your company’s reputation will be in good hands with the five companies listed in this section. BEST OUTPLACEMENT CONSULTANTS GOLD

Lee Hecht Harrison

SILVER

Right Management

BRONZE

Capita

BRONZE

Sandbox Advisors

FINALIST

The GMP Group

GOLD Lee Hecht Harrison Lee Hecht Harrison is a global leader in career transition and executive coaching. The company’s Singapore office has grown significantly over the years and in 2015 its strong performance earned it recognition among the operations worldwide. This year, the Lee Hecht Harrison Singapore team will see record-breaking growth on the back of increased revenues and improved margins. The company’s client satisfaction figures have also increased, especially in the “responsiveness to customer needs” and “demonstrating the customer come first”. More importantly, candidates who have experienced Lee Hecht Harrison’s career transition services have rated the company 4.5 out of five, with 92% of clients reporting “they felt better prepared to pursue their career goals as a result of Lee Hecht Harrison’s services”. For more than 48 years, this gold winner has been providing career transition services to clients worldwide. With its team of experienced career coaches, impacted employees are given the best care and training to get them back on their feet to find the right role in the shortest time possible. It recently revamped its suite of training

modules, and updated its content to include new tools such as its proprietary career assessment and reflection (CARE™) module, where candidates are provided personalised assessment tools to better understand their career aspirations and goals. In addition, Lee Hecht Harrison has also focused on real-world methods of job-hunting such as leveraging on technology and social networks. 2015 has seen a significant rise in demand for Lee Hecht Harrison’s professional services, and the company plans to roll out several new products/ services for 2016. Lee Hecht Harrison is led in Singapore by Lyndsay Potts as MD. Potts is a seasoned HR professional who has spent nearly two decades in Singapore and has worked across the Asia Pacific region in both corporate and consulting roles for the past 15 years. In addition, Adrian Choo, author of the book Career Crossroads: A Headhunter’s Guide to Career Strategy, has come on board. Lee Hecht Harrison regularly conducts professional briefings for select HR leaders and has organised a series of exclusive closed-door clientonly events for highly specific issues.

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BEST OUTPLACEMENT CONSULTANTS

SILVER Right Management Right Management, the global leader in talent and career management workforce solutions within ManpowerGroup, is a pioneer in workforce management. It designs and delivers solutions to align talent strategy with business strategy. With more than 3,500 employees working out of more than 300 service locations in over 50 countries, Right Management has the skills and resources to help companies engage their talent, increase productivity and optimise business performance. The company helps organisations become more agile, attractive and innovative by creating a culture of career management and learning that nurtures future talent, motivates and engages people, and provides individuals with opportunities to increase their value throughout their careers. Right Management improves time to value through its expertise in organisational effectiveness, career management and individual development. Its approach is centred on the company’s belief that organisations thrive when individuals are successful in their careers. Right Management has spent the past 35 years identifying workforce challenges and developing

innovative solutions, enabling globally informed methods to be time-tested across more than 50 countries. Shifting market dynamics lead to business change. Over the past 35 years, Right Management has developed and transitioned more than three million people into new roles, careers and opportunities. It provides organisations with innovative tools and dedicated support teams to help plan, communicate and implement workforce transitions. The company also offers proven coaching, skills development and landing services for exiting employees through its state-of-the-art RightEverywhere® application. As experts in talent and career management, Right Management offers capabilities that span talent assessment, leadership development, organisational effectiveness, employee engagement, workforce transition and outplacement in Singapore and around the world. The company’s clients are large and mid-sized businesses from a wide range of industries and include more than 80% of Fortune 500 and over 70% of Fortune Global 500 companies.

BRONZE Capita Since its inception in 2007, Capita has grown to be a leading recruitment company in Asia with consistent revenue growth over the past eight years. The Capita system is highly focused on the delivery of results for its clients and measures delivery, customer satisfaction, company HR matrix, performance matrix and business and financial risk controls. Capita’s client satisfaction scores in 2015 saw a positive score of high satisfaction across all client sectors surveyed. Capita has been gaining strength in key growth areas such as healthcare, IT, banking and engineering sectors where the company has been expanding headcount. It has also made headway in the RPO/managed services space and has partnered with several key accounts in sectors such as government, retail, hospitality, telecoms and MICE/logistics to establish a strong temporary and contracts offering. With a growing staff strength and the increasing visibility of Capita as a consistently top HR recruitment services provider in Singapore, the company found there was a need to start looking at ways to engage, develop and retain its

staff. As a result, it has developed a comprehensive set of training modules for new recruiters to business leaders who are coached externally to improve their business skill sets. Capita is led by Francis Koh, the company’s managing director. As president of the Singapore Professional Recruitment Organisation and a council member of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), Koh regularly contributes as a speaker to many industry events and offers comments to the media regarding HR and recruitment topics. Koh is also co-chairing the SME HR Award – a new accolade established by the ASME and the Singapore Human Resources Institute. Capita was also recognised at the Asia Recruitment Awards recently. Capita is an active participant in many industry events organised by CaliberLink, Employment & Employability Institute (e2i), Institute of Technical Education and Temasek Polytechnic, supporting networking sessions and job fairs for graduates and PMEs, and soccer-friendly matches, among many other things.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST OUTPLACEMENT CONSULTANTS

BRONZE Sandbox Advisors Thanks to repeat business, positive word-of-mouth, referrals and effective online marketing, Sandbox Advisors has enjoyed impressive growth in 2015. The company has successfully delivered projects for clients in Singapore, China, India, Cambodia and Thailand this past year. When it comes to outplacement, Sandbox Advisors’ goal has always been simple – it wants displaced employees to find another job of their liking at the earliest opportunity. To achieve this Sandbox Advisors ensures that every part of a client’s job search is as effective as possible. The company constantly has an eye on the latest research and recruiting/hiring managers’ preferences to keep methods effective and practical. This leads to its clients finding employment faster than the average time taken. Sandbox Advisors understands that displaced employees may not be in the best frame of mind to attend a workshop with other participants. Therefore the company delivers its outplacement services on a one-to-one basis. This helps the company to properly understand every

individual’s unique situation and provide solutions to meet their needs, rather than just generic information. In addition, it provides professional resumes and Linkedin profile-writing services, videobased job interview training and secretarial services to reduce the administrative burden. Sandbox Advisors is led by Amit Puri who has extensive business and career managementrelated experience in Asia and Europe. This experience has been diverse, and has included organisational/strategy consulting with Bain & Company, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. Puri’s educational qualifications comprise of a MSc/PG diploma in organisational psychology and career counselling with the University of London, training in occupational psychometric testing with the British Psychological Society and an MBA degree from INSEAD. Sandbox Advisors’ insights and expertise are regularly featured in the print and online media, including The Straits Times, Channel NewsAsia, and the Singapore Business Review. In addition, the company holds regular workshops for different faculties at NUS and NTU.

The GMP Group Having been in business for 25 years, GMP has survived half of Singapore’s 50 years of nationbuilding. Through the years, GMP has experienced growth with its clients in the electronics, manufacturing, IT, pharmaceuticals, biosciences, finance, retail and consumer sectors. GMP is committed to constantly reinvent itself and its services to meet its clients’ changing requirements. The recruitment company believes its ability to attract and retain corporate blue-chips and multinationals on exclusive and preferred supplier agreements is a reflection of the quality of service it provides, the company’s ability to work across different markets and its leading technology and databases. GMP has six speciality divisions: GMP recruitment, GMP technologies, GMP banking, GMP international, GMP consultancy and GSI executive search. Each one has its own selling point and expertise, allowing clients to leverage on them, ensuring they get the right talent they need. GMP aims to continuously upgrade and develop its staff to not only help them grow and get better at what they do, but at the same time provide the

best service to its clients. The recruitment company provides its employees with opportunities to attend courses as well as sharing sessions organised by various organisations to keep them abreast of the latest news, laws and policies in the Singapore HR landscape. GMP staff, with their knowledge and expertise, are what helps the company provide a high level of service to its clients. Although GMP is constantly looking to hire new blood to join its team, the company is also passionate about staff retention. GMP understands the experience, knowledge and expertise of its staff are invaluable and are what drives the company forward. The organisation aims to be the leading people solutions provider in Asia, but also with a global reach. The company strives to be the first choice for companies when recruiting locally and internationally as well as the first choice for job seekers. A TAFEP pledge signer for 24 years, GMP is a winner of the Singapore Entrepreneurs Award which is a prestigious business accolade which recognises the entrepreneurial elite in Singapore and beyond.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST COMPENSATION & BENEFITS CONSULTANTS

GETTING BANG FOR YOUR BUCK Gone 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. The fact that employees are in control of today’s talent market has meant that compensation, benefits and rewards strategies have been elevated to a much higher priority. HR teams, and their compensation and benefits professionals, have been party to a sea change in their job descriptions. Compensation and benefits consultants provide HR professionals with the data they need to build competitive packages that don’t break the

business and also advice on how to structure and communicate remuneration policy, a complicated task which only gets more difficult when rolled out across multiple markets and tax jurisdictions. The winners and finalists of the Best Compensation & Benefits Consultant category are those that provide the best insights and advice to their clients. These consultants have been vouched for by the HR community, so you know your spend is in the right hands when you work with them. BEST COMPENSATION & BENEFITS CONSULTANTS GOLD

Mercer

SILVER

CXA Group

BRONZE

Aon Hewitt Singapore

FINALISTS HR Business Solutions Singapore Towers Watson Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Mercer Mercer is the global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments, supporting clients around the world to advance the health, wealth and performance of their most vital asset – their people. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, with an extensive experience of working with corporations everywhere, whether global, national or government-owned. Mercer’s approach demonstrates a strong business and customer focus, taking into consideration the operational needs of its customers, and helping customise solutions. Its consultants constantly keep abreast of the latest trends and issues to provide insightful analysis to clients and assist them in making appropriate and timely decisions. Mercer has in-country operations with a large and culturally diverse team focused on ensuring quality through advanced and rigorous statistical tools. It also has an institutionalised process with various levels of statistical checks to ensure quality of data submitted and analysis produced. In the area of compensation and benefits, it offers hallmark products and services to help

organisations attain success. One of these is the international position evaluation, which provides a better understanding of the jobs that make up organisations’ unique structures, through a robust user-friendly tool. Another distinct solution is Mercer’s compensation analysis and review system (CARS), that has been carefully conceptualised to help clients with their annual salary review process. The tools of the trade, often spreadsheets, lend themselves to human error and, as a result, many hours are lost in keeping the compensation review process on track. With CARS, which is available as a customised report or as an online tool, clients can ensure fairness in internal calibration and wise use of budgets, among other benefits. Other products Mercer offers include the Mercer executive remuneration guides (MERG) and workforce metrics solutions, to name a few. This gold winner also has a strong presence in the practice of helping companies with employee mobility and expatriate compensation. Mercer also helps its clients improve sales performance through the optimisation of human performance across their entire sales effort.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST COMPENSATION & BENEFITS CONSULTANTS

SILVER

BRONZE

CXA Group

Aon Hewitt Singapore

Asia’s first private workplace insurance and wellness marketplace CXA Group helps to transform clients’ existing healthcare expenditure into personalised benefits and wellness programmes that empower employees to be healthier. CXA’s platform allows its clients’ employees to select from a host of wellness providers to make cashless, paperless transactions using employersponsored flexible benefit dollars, allowing for the personalisation of benefits. CXA Group’s innovative products help clients combat the rising premiums while keeping administrative costs down. At the same time, the technology incentivises healthy behaviour by providing staff with information needed for better health management. This silver winner’s data analytics capabilities allow employers to measure the ROI of their wellness initiatives and benefits plans which helps them to streamline their benefits offerings the following year. It further increases the value of benefits by providing clients with the best choice of vendors and data to help in decision-making.

Aon Hewitt advises, designs and executes a wide range of solutions that enable clients to cultivate talent required to drive organisational performance, while providing new levels of financial security, and redefining health solutions for greater affordability and wellness. Within the realm of compensation and benefits, it helps clients ensure their pay strategy is designed and executed to meet business needs, while focusing employees on what they need to do to help the company meet its goals. Its range of compensation and rewards services, backed by research data, are split into two categories – performance and compensation advisory, and executive compensation and governance advisory. Such extensive services are provided through Aon’s executive compensation, broadbased compensation, survey solutions, sales force effectiveness, and global rewards groups. Additionally, Aon Hewitt helps its clients tailor communication strategies for specific audiences, ensuring the workforce truly understands how pay and benefits add up to total rewards.

HR Business Solutions Singapore Established in 2001, HR Business Solutions (HRBS) values its clients as partners, and prides itself on providing them with highly responsive and the most up-to-date support in their compensation and benefits strategies. At HRBS, new products and surveys are continuously launched to meet its clients immediate compensation and benefits needs. Apart from typical compensation and benefits programmes such as salary structure design, sales incentives reviews, sponsored surveys and salary benchmarking, HRBS has also completed several projects related to the Local-Plus policy review. In the past year, some of its new product launches included the Myanmar C&B survey, LTI Seminar, Excel VBA Seminar, the APAC logistics survey and more. HRBS also holds a large chunk of survey data, and maintains a strong foothold in retail and luxury retail, sourcing, market research, construction, healthcare and medical devices, and high-tech manufacturing, among others. Alongside, a regional business model allows HRBS a fluid flow of information.

Towers Watson Setting, managing and communicating executive pay has never been more sensitive. As executive pay programmes come under closer scrutiny and grow more complex, organisations face ever greater challenges. Towers Watson provides thoughtful, timely and independent executive compensation advice to help companies attract, retain and motivate top leadership. As a global HR solution provider, Towers Watson specialises in compensation and benefits consulting, in the areas of executive compensation, reward strategies and retirement benefits. Given that effective design, delivery and

execution of employee rewards strategies lead to significant business value, Towers Watson also helps build and implement leading-edge organisation, job and reward framework solutions that create an engaging employee experience and delivers the right return on investment to the organisation. When designing rewards programmes, Towers Watson helps organisations identify the top drivers of attraction, retention and engagement to shape reward strategies around things employees value. All of Towers Watson’s insights are backed by market-leading data, including compensation data for more than 100 countries on six continents.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RETIREMENT & PENSION PLAN PROVIDERS

THE BEST-LAID PLANS In a few Asian markets, governments play a leading role in retirement planning, while in other markets pensions are largely managed by the private sector. Regardless of country specific laws and government policy, financial services firms play an important role in retirement planning and in helping HR professionals add attractive corporate retirement and pension elements to their employees’ retirement benefits packages. Even so, there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to retirement benefits planning. Employers are encouraged to approach the development of retirement programmes in a more

flexible manner without losing control of costs, in today’s environment. If business leaders want an all-encompassing retirement benefits strategy, they should first realise that formulating a plan that meets the needs of their mature workforce can lead to better productivity, retention and employee satisfaction, and this mandate often requires specialised support. The winners of the Best Retirement & Pension Plan Provider category are the financial services firms which best help companies offer retirement and pension solutions to their staff. This is a new category announced this year.

You can count on an optimum retirement benefits strategy for your organisation, if you are working with these providers, who have been vouched for by HR professionals across the region, and assessed by a stringent and expert jury of senior HR leaders. BEST RETIREMENT & PENSION PLAN PROVIDERS GOLD

iFAST Financial

SILVER

Great Eastern Life Assurance

BRONZE

Aon Hewitt Singapore

GOLD iFAST Financial iFAST Financial is a wholly owned subsidiary of iFAST Corporation, a leading internet-based investment products distribution platform headquartered in Singapore, with a presence in Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. The iFAST Pensions platform was specifically established to assist companies in administering pension schemes for their employees via an internet platform. iFAST Pensions specialises in tax-effective defined-contribution plans to provide benefits on retirement, leaving service, death and early retirement due to disability. It offers plans for administration and investment services for the Singapore Section 5 scheme, offshore pension scheme and SRS. The firm is committed to providing quality services through its B2B and B2C divisions, through a range of investment solutions to financial advisory firms, financial institutions, multinational companies, pension fund managers, as well as retail and highnet-worth investors. Depending on the HR objectives and investment mandate, corporate retirement plans under iFAST Pensions can be tailored to best fit the needs of

each company. iFAST also boasts it can upgrade a company’s existing plans or transfer plans administered overseas to Singapore for tax and costefficiency, establishing new arrangements to meet its HR objectives. Through its one-stop solutions package, it helps companies analyse the gaps, costefficiency and effectiveness of their pension plans. A key element of the firm’s administration process is its user-friendly platform and online tools, which makes it easier to manage and access accounts and information. From member enrolment to termination, the entire process is seamless. The company firmly believes that in a retirement or pension plan, the value and benefits of the scheme have to be communicated to the employees. It assists employers by managing the communication process, ranging from handbook drafting to employee education sessions and providing dedicated help desk support to members. In the second quarter of 2015, other than the current fund offerings, iFAST Financial began distributing bonds in Singapore after receiving regulatory approval. It will endeavour to bring these products to its pension clients in the near future.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RETIREMENT & PENSION PLAN PROVIDERS

SILVER Great Eastern Life Assurance Great Eastern is the oldest and most established life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia. With significant assets and policyholders, it has three successful distribution channels – a tied agency force, bancassurance, and a financial advisory firm, Great Eastern Financial Advisers. The group also operates in Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei and has a joint venture in China as well as a representative office in Myanmar. Firmly guided by its core values of integrity, initiative and involvement, Great Eastern has blazed new trails of excellence as it delivers a superior and differentiated customer proposition and strives to be the most trusted and admired insurance company in the region. In 2012, Great Eastern refreshed its brand purpose to go beyond the traditional role of an insurance company in order to actively help customers live healthier, better and longer. This was supported by an integrated health and wellness “live great” programme, which provides wellness tools, mobile apps, health tips, workshops and events as well as exclusive privileges – that helps and rewards customers in their journey to better health.

Another thing which Great Eastern stands out for is its commitment towards fair dealing – ingrained in the firm’s culture. The company is fully dedicated to providing firms with the best possible service in a timely, fair, transparent and professional manner. Its professional and quality advice is based on firms’ individual needs and circumstances. It communicates clear details of products and plans, as well as features, benefits and risks, terms and conditions on top of providing comprehensive products and services to meet clients’ financial and insurance needs at different stages of life. Lastly, a prompt response to customer feedback is also a promise the firm consistently upholds. Among the firm’s noteworthy products is the guaranteed lump sum payout, which provides individuals with a lump sum worth 24 times their initial monthly retirement incomes at the start of their retirement. Another one is the guaranteed monthly income, which goes on for 20 years starting from aged 60, 65 or 70. The third is the guaranteed 25% increase every five years, a plan which can help individuals manage inflation and secure their desired retirement lifestyle.

BRONZE Aon Hewitt Singapore Financial risk, market volatility and regulatory changes make it extremely difficult for companies to design retirement programmes that align with business goals and optimise results for both employers and employees. Bronze winner Aon Hewitt is, however, one company not to be deterred by these challenges. A recognised global leader in retirement management, Aon Hewitt’s retirement consultants have the deep expertise necessary to help design best-in-class strategies for effective and efficient retirement solutions. They help ensure clients’ programmes are secure, equitable and sustainable. Thousands of companies trust the firm with their retirement plans because it delivers sufficiently in every aspect of plan management. This is precisely why Aon Hewitt retirement solutions are recognised as “best in class” – its retirement consultants not only come with effective and efficient plan management, but also showcase a deep level of commitment to their professional promises to clients. Assigning a delegated pension manager to

each client, the firm ensures its consultants help integrate the client’s entire pension programmes. These managers execute key investment, actuarial and administrative responsibilities and communicate transparently with with clients. Aon Hewitt’s strategy includes a streamlined process designed to consolidate vendors to reduce the time clients spend managing their plans; reduce fees via efficiencies and leveraging Aon Hewitt’s buying power; execute a dynamic asset allocation to reduce risk as funded status improves; and establish an “endgame” for clients’ pension plan, whether a total risk transfer or a more sustainable programme. Further demonstrating its capability to provide its clients holistic and effective solutions, Aon Hewitt also offers investment consulting that leverages on its industry leading investment modelling and monitoring techniques to help clients meet their fiduciary duty as well as minimise costs while managing risks. Aon Hewitt also provides legal consulting to help clients understand statutory/regulatory requirements that impact their business, and balance business considerations and legal risks.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST EMPLOYEE INSURANCE VENDORS

INVESTING FOR A RAINY DAY

While cash is king in the HR professionals’ compensation and benefits arsenal, medical and life insurance is an increasingly important benefit. As healthcare costs continue to climb, healthcare benefits that can attract, retain and engage employees become a more serious challenge for HR. Many organisations are looking for ways to curb the impact of high prices without losing their competitive edge in the talent market. The objective behind this category is to identify vendors of employee healthcare investment, those who are presenting strategies, opportunities and solutions in keeping healthcare and wellness programmes beneficial to employees and the overall business standing amid increasing costs. This is a way for employers to examine the available options and what needs to be considered when it comes to designing cost-efficient healthcare benefits. The issue is not just about investing in employee benefits, but also how to effectively implement them to satisfy the demands of the current workforce. These are the vendors that commit to addressing issues in corporate healthcare considered critical in the decision-making process of HR executives and compensation and benefits managers, such as the impact of rising healthcare costs on people management. They have studied how rising healthcare inflation alters healthcare programmes and what

should be accomplished to mitigate risks and to ease the consequences for employers. Another consideration they have examined is how to leverage insurance to combat worsening employee health and boost employee participation in wellness initiatives. Employers need reliable employee insurance vendors which offer affordable packages and are flexible enough to keep the most demanding members of staff happy. The financial services firms which provide companies with employee insurance for their workforce in the best possible way have taken home the Best Employee Insurance Vendor award. The winners and finalists in this category are the specialists that have received the nod of approval from the HR community, and cleared the assessment criteria of an experienced jury. BEST EMPLOYEE INSURANCE VENDORS GOLD

AIA Singapore

SILVER

Great Eastern Life Assurance

SILVER

Mercer Marsh Benefits

BRONZE

ACE Insurance

BRONZE

Aon Hewitt Singapore

FINALISTS Aetna Aviva Singapore CXA Group Shenton Insurance Zurich Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD AIA Singapore With more than 50 years of experience in providing employee benefits and group insurance services, AIA Singapore’s comprehensive range of corporate health insurance solutions include real-life needs in protection, health and corporate wellness for employees. The insurer provides both packaged and customised solutions that can provide the coverage, flexibility and cost-efficiency that organisations and their employees desire. In January this year, AIA Singapore launched AIA Employee Care, the first mobile application in Singapore that provides employees easy and secure access to insurance claims submissions and their policy information via their mobile devices. This innovation also supports Singapore’s ambition of becoming the world’s first smart nation, where technology enables people to better anticipate needs and continually improve service delivery. Following this launch, AIA Singapore launched the quotation software on the interactive point of sales platform, a fully secured digital process for corporate solutions agency intermediaries. It helps to provide customers with a one-stop shop for an on-the-spot package plan quote and allows AIA to

provide customers with comprehensive financial advice, anytime and anywhere. This technology also facilitates e-application forms to be electronically submitted for underwriting and customers are covered as soon as the underwriting process is completed and policy contracts issued. AIA Singapore is serious about its customers’ staff’s health, so they can lead healthier and fulfilling lifestyles with their loved ones. To boost health and productivity, companies can also start their employees on a journey towards better health and wellness with AIA vitality – a science-backed wellness programme that works with employees to make real changes to their health. For its own staff, people development is of paramount importance to AIA. Great emphasis has been placed on their learning and development because the primary goal is to help them in their professional development so they can progress and help the company to grow in this competitive industry. As part of this, there is ongoing consultation with senior managers to determine how learning and development can support the achievement of business objectives.

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BEST EMPLOYEE INSURANCE VENDORS

SILVER Great Eastern Life Assurance Life insurance group Great Eastern operates through three distribution channels – a tied agency force, bancassurance, and a financial advisory firm, Great Eastern Financial Advisers. The firm is aware that rising healthcare costs, a mature local workforce and an older retirement age will continue to be the areas which employers will focus in the next five years. It is therefore dedicated to helping employers tackle these challenges. The firm’s “Live Great” is a holistic, corporate wellness and health programme. It delivers expert advice, tips, support, articles, apps, rewards, member privileges at partner establishments as well as talks/ seminars held at clients’ premises to support all employees’ best intentions for healthy living. In an evolving economic environment with lean and ageing manpower resources, the firm identified that more companies are exploring having a portable medical benefit plan to complement their group hospital and surgical plan so as to provide some form of continuity of medical coverage when the employees retire or leave the employment. Addressing concerns that not all employees can be insured under a portable medical benefits scheme

because of pre-existing medical conditions is why Great Eastern offers an integrated solution whereby a basic group hospital and surgical insurance plan can be established for all employees. Those employees not accepted under the SupremeShield plan can still enjoy some protection under the basic group hospital and surgical insurance plan for expenses due to an illness or accident. The firm’s group hospital and surgical insurance plans are the backbone of the company’s employee benefits and they are also the most cost-effective way of providing medical coverage to employees. With regards to providing longer term medical coverage such as the Medisave-approved Shield plans, employers are increasingly more receptive to it. While there is no single plan that fits all requirements of companies, Great Eastern is willing to work with them to identify their employee benefits objectives and conduct a health fact-find which includes the budget they have set aside. Great Eastern also operates in Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei and has a joint venture in China as well as a representative office in Myanmar.

SILVER Mercer Marsh Benefits Mercer Marsh Benefits provides clients with a single source for managing the costs, people risks and complexities of employee benefits. The network is a combination of Mercer and Marsh local offices around the world, plus country correspondents selected based on specific criteria. Through locally established businesses, Mercer has a unique common platform that allows it to serve clients with global consistency and locally unique solutions. In the past year, Mercer has been active in developing new products and solutions for clients across the globe. It took a proactive role in listening to the needs of clients and the trends in the market to ensure new product offerings and enhancements to existing products are adequately aligned. Mercer’s BenefitMe is a portal designed to provide HR professionals with online access to their organisation’s benefits coverage details. It also provides HR with the capability to generate on-demand reports on benefits coverage, claims and member information. Employees can directly access information about their benefits coverage. They can also download important documents such as claims

procedures and forms, directly from the online portal. All of this reduces HR’s workload, thereby freeing up time for more strategic activities. Another product, the international health access, offers employees specialised international medical coverage and peace of mind for serious health conditions. The product provides a first-in-class medical second opinion for a wide range of illnesses, and treatment coverage for qualified conditions. Mercer also advises clients on how to balance the efficiency of global policies with the requirements of local markets. Within the industry, market trends and the need to deliver a broad array of services globally have created a need for deep expertise. It is this expertise in talent, health, retirement and investments services that distinguishes Mercer in the marketplace. Mercer’s consultants help clients around the world advance the health, wealth and performance of their most vital asset – their people. The firm’s global capabilities around these four business segments allow it to deliver to clients the most innovative and comprehensive solutions on a standalone or integrated basis.

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BEST EMPLOYEE INSURANCE VENDORS

BRONZE

ACE Insurance

Aon Hewitt Singapore

Aetna

ACE has one of the largest product portfolios in the insurance industry worldwide – in the number of distinct insurance and reinsurance products and services for businesses, individuals and families. As one of the leading accident and health corporate solutions providers, ACE specialises in group personal accident cover and group business travel insurance. Specific to employees in Singapore, ACE focuses on two areas: traditional group coverage and voluntary schemes. ACE’s key products are simple and written in easy to understand policy wording. Policies are reviewed and refined every 12-18 months to ensure relevance and accuracy, as well as relevant and flexible pricing determined through a constant review of market conditions, pricing and portfolio reviews. ACE strives to be innovative in its strategy to bring more comprehensive employee solutions to the workforce. This is exemplified in the “preferred ACE transportable programme”, which offers a wide range of products that ensure seamless and continuous coverage whether the policy holder is employed, retired or with another employer. To meet the evolving needs of consumers and corporate clients, ACE actively engages in product enhancements to ensure relevance and adequacy of coverage. For example, to meet the lifestyle needs of its customers, ACE launched a mass market dental insurance solution as well as hybrid solutions. New corporate solutions using technology platforms have been well-received by both business partners and clients. In parallel, ACE maintains a strong communication channel with its network of staff via the ACE global village – an interactive social intranet used to connect and promote communication and collaboration.

Aon is a global market leader in employee benefits consulting and insurance placements, as well as flexible benefits solutions. It has delivered innovation to the Singapore market with proprietary solutions through Aon Care, Aon BenefitsPLUS and Aon Pulse. Aon Care is an employee health and wellbeing management solution that combines the power of innovation and integration to deliver flexibility, cost-management, worldclass quality and convenience to employers and employees. It provides a 24/7 concierge service with easy access to web and mobile applications. Aon BenefitsPLUS aims to close gaps on corporate-sponsored benefit plans through an expanded benefits programme through products and personalised services that will improve the productivity of employees. Aon BenefitsCARE is a comprehensive employee benefits programme specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises. The firm believes every business should be empowered with a productive and engaged workforce. No exceptions, however small the organisation might be. Aon is proud of its commitment to service, and promises its partnership with clients will be underpinned by its service methodology known as the Aon client promise. This unique methodology is designed to ensure Aon meets the goals and objectives of clients. With an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the market, Aon is committed to continuously investing in creative ideas, factbased solutions and pragmatic research that anticipates client needs and solves their current and future business challenges. In the face of rising premiums and medical inflation, Aon recommends solutions that work uniquely for clients.

With more than 160 years of experience in healthcare, Aetna specialises in international health benefits insurance. Group plans offered by Aetna provide comprehensive and flexible employee health insurance coverage, so expatriate employees can access care from the provider of their choice – anywhere in the world. Aetna understands each company has individual needs so it has designed a range of UltraCare international medical insurance plans to offer clients choice and flexibility. Clients can choose from four plans starting with the entry level UltraCare standard plan right up to the most benefit-rich UltraCare elite plan. The UltraCare plan can also be enhanced with additional insurance benefits for worldwide travel and personal accident. The insurance can cover groups of three or more employees on any of the UltraCare plans, including the dependants of group members. If clients have a particular requirement for cover that isn’t matched by the “off-the-shelf” plans, Aetna is able offer a tailored solution. Aetna helps to make it easier to take care of life on-the-go through its mobile app, international mobile assistant. The app offers the most important features of the secure members’ website at one’s fingertips. It can help look for a doctor, make an appointment, submit and track claims, access the member’s account and download important forms Aetna pledges a human touch for clients. Its team of consultants is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Its team of professional member service representatives are trained to assist clients, often in a single call. It can help locate healthcare services, arrange for reimbursements in more than 180 currencies and answer questions in eight languages.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST EMPLOYEE INSURANCE VENDORS

Aviva Singapore

CXA Group

Shenton Insurance

Aviva believes a business is only as good as its employees. This corporate insurer appreciates that the key to making employees the business’ most valuable resource is keeping them healthy, happy and loyal by protecting them with employee insurance. Aviva’s employee insurance plans offer flexible benefits and premiums and easy administration for employers and employees. It also provides a range of employee insurance covers for death, disability and illness and 24/7 global coverage for many of the plans. Aviva is also well aware of how wellness contributes to the productivity of a business. Its Fit & Well is a dynamic, interactive and fun lifestyle tool that can be used to gain advice on health, and track the progress someone has made. This resource is only offered to Aviva’s corporate customers. Aviva’s philosophy is to help businesses do the right things for health 80% of the time, with the freedom to relax for the other 20%. It is about balance, sustainability and taking small, achievable baby steps towards finding a better version of you and your staff.

CXA is Asia’s first private workplace insurance and wellness marketplace. It transforms a company’s healthcare spending into personalised benefits and wellness programmes that empower employees to be healthier. Employees can select a mix of insurance and wellness services from a wide range of providers to suit their individual needs. Companies purchasing insurance coverage through CXA’s brokerage receive no additional costs, but receive its data analytics as well as flexible benefits and workplace wellness administration. CXA’s technology offers employers and employees an easy and affordable way to access wellness at work. Face-ageing technology helps employees visualise the future impact of their current lifestyle habits. The proprietary lifestyle risk questionnaire provides every employee with an individualised assessment of their health status. By increasing the value of benefits and providing a choice of vendors and analytics to make decisions, CXA helps employers get the most out of their corporate insurance plans.

Shenton Insurance believes that success in balancing cost containment and clinical excellence is dependant on sensible benefit designs that encourage outpatient care, thereby avoiding costly surgeries. The firm has an impressive number of private panel specialists, giving members access to premium care at fair prices. In addition, members may visit government restructured hospitals, polyclinics and government specialist clinics. This year, Shenton Insurance has developed two key products, the first being the portable medical assist plans. In line with the regulatory changes in universal healthcare insurance for Singapore (Medishield Life), this is the group medical insurance product that eliminates the duplication of coverage. The second product, targeted interventions for wellness, co-ordinates partners to work with members who want to lead healthier lifestyles, but lack the knowledge to do so. Shenton has also impacted the workplace with its research work and specific consultancy engagements.

Zurich Zurich Insurance Company provides risk solutions and general insurance to commercial/corporate customers in a range of products and solutions, including property and casualty, accident and health, marine, financial lines, construction, engineering, trade credit and political risk. Apart from offering peace of mind, Zurich strives to produce solutions that fit in with today’s challenging business world. Globally, Zurich has more than 135 years in the insurance business. As one of the largest and broadest corporate insurers globally, corporations can rely on its expertise in crafting and servicing compliant programmes in more than 180 countries.

The insurer’s global network of risk engineers and claims professionals provides key insights for clients to better understand, benchmark and mitigate their risk exposures. At the same time, Zurich digs deep into finding the best insurance solutions for clients. For example, it found floods affect more people globally than any other natural disaster. In 2013, Zurich launched a global programme to enhance flood resilience. The insurer is collaborating with an alliance to help reduce the risks posed by floods and promote public dialogue around flood resilience. Pre-event risk reduction is now a focus of Zurich’s efforts.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST CORPORATE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

GETTING IN GREAT SHAPE When looking at factors which have a track record of being strong attraction and retention tools, rarely does “healthcare benefits” make the list. According to a recent Michael Page study, the top three things job seekers are looking for in their next role are an increase in salary, career progression, and more seniority or a promotion. When it comes to what will retain top talent, the top three factors were financial rewards based on performance, additional career development or support, and a motivating manager. But the absence of employee healthcare from the top five most powerful attraction and retention motivators hasn’t stopped the most progressive companies from realising the true value of taking care of the organisation’s most important asset – its people. By providing healthcare offerings to staff, the

company puts itself in an enviable position where it can provide benefits that will eventually be seen by employees as a “must have” rather than a “nice to have”. It is a benefit which strengthens the employer proposition given employees feel reassured they are looked after and encouraged to focus on their recovery rather than worry about their medical concerns and expenses. To avoid healthcare costs spiralling out of control and to maintain policy consistency, many smart companies engage healthcare providers to treat their employees, put them on the road to a speedy recovery and to raise corporate wellness. The winners and finalists of the Best Corporate Healthcare Provider award is the hospital, clinic, health screener or other healthcare provider which gets company staff back to health and keeps them healthy. Working with the companies listed here is a good way to make sure your employees are back on their feet and in optimum condition to give their best to the organisation. BEST CORPORATE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS GOLD

Fullerton Healthcare

SILVER

Raffles Medical Group

BRONZE

Parkway Shenton

FINALISTS AsiaMedic MHC Asia Group SingHealth Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Fullerton Healthcare With more than 50 years of experience, Fullerton Healthcare aims to provide employers and employees affordable access to market-leading healthcare services through medical clinics across Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. To ensure its service portfolio remains best-inclass, it continues to invest in technology to make the patient and client experience easier, quicker and better. For example, Fullerton Healthcare was one of the first to digitise X-rays, providing doctors and patients quick and easy access to results via smartphones. It has also developed a smartphone app and an e-portal, which has redefined the way patients access clinic information and submit claims. To further underscore the importance of technology, a memorandum of understanding was recently signed with Microsoft to bring together capabilities and resources to advance the delivery of healthcare. Fullerton Healthcare is also developing Asia’s first executive screening presidential suites for high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 2011, the company has since experienced rapid market growth in terms of

geographical reach, expanding into six markets; service offerings, growing through mergers and acquisitions; employee size, and company turnover. Upholding the highest standards of medical care while championing constant innovation is underpinned by a strong leadership team backed by renowned institutional investors, and supported by experienced doctors and healthcare support staff. Fullerton Healthcare has a strong people strategy driven by the identification and development of internal talent for succession planning, examples of which can be found aplenty within the leadership team. All staff – irrespective of position – also receive benefits such as free medical consultations for themselves and their family members, while partaking of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The differentiator of the ESOP is it is given to all levels of employees – from tea ladies to the group CEO. As much as it creates internal equity, Fullerton Healthcare recognises that across Asia, many disparities exist in the quality of healthcare solutions. Through the Fullerton Foundation, it invests in projects that make a real difference to the communities in which it operates.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST CORPORATE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

SILVER Raffles Medical Group Healthcare costs will continue to rise given the manpower crunch in the industry, which will impact companies using healthcare services. It is, therefore, important for a comprehensive corporate solution to help companies achieve efficiencies in healthcare expenditure, while at the same time maintaining quality healthcare for their employees. A public listed company in Singapore, Raffles Medical Group (RMG)’s financial performance has continued to grow in the past year, shoring up its position as a lifelong healthcare partner to patients and corporate clients. It has also announced various local and regional projects to enhance its position as a complete regional corporate healthcare partner, such as the opening of the Shaw Medical Centre, and the announcement of the construction of the Raffles Hospital Extension due in the first half of 2017. As it celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2016, RMG is focusing on its RafflesOne corporate solution – integrating all its services and meeting the needs of its corporate partners. This seamless integration is possible through the group’s 80 multi-disciplinary outpatient centres, one tertiary hospital and operations in cities such as Hong

Kong, Osaka and Shanghai. RMG works on the belief that every company has its distinctive needs, for which it partners its corporate clients through customised programmes. This enables them to achieve efficiencies in healthcare expenditure, have programmes co-ordinated by a dedicated multi-disciplinary account team, and leverage RMG’s suite of IT applications for data analytics. RMG’s corporate clients have also collaborated with the group on workplace health promotion programmes, occupational health and safety services, and chronic disease management programmes, among others. As more companies embark on healthcare services for occupational health and workplace safety as their needs evolve along with the legislative requirements, RMG will continue to support existing and prospective corporate clients with these fast needs given its unique RafflesOne proposition. At the helm, the group’s leadership team comprises medical and business leaders led by Dr Loo Choon Yong, executive chairman and chief executive officer, and Dr Prem Kumar Nair, the managing director (Singapore healthcare) and chief corporate officer.

BRONZE Parkway Shenton As a leader in providing corporate clients with an integrated healthcare solution, Parkway Shenton has endeavoured to give back to society since 1973. One example is through its support of the Ministry of Health’s Haze Subsidy Schemes initiative, where all Shenton Medical Group clinics gave the elderly and lower/middle-income Singaporeans affordable treatment for haze-related conditions. It also provides corporate clients with a wide range of talks spanning from chronic diseases to travel health. This approach of tackling healthcare has won the company a strong increase in profit in the past year, accrued to an increasingly extensive client portfolio. The value proposition is to be a one-stop ecosystem of comprehensive and seamlessly integrated healthcare solutions, from primary to tertiary care. It does so through synergies in working with parent company, Parkway Group Healthcare; sister companies, Shenton Insurance and iXchange TPA provider; and its own Parkway Health Radiology and Parkway Health Laboratory Services. This enables it to provide a holistic healthcare solution, and while keeping corporate clients in mind, Parkway Shenton is developing a key product that

offers targeted workplace interventions and health promotion programmes for wellness. This system of assessment, risk identification and targeted intervention ensures employees receive the best possible care and healthcare standards. Other recent initiatives include the Shenton panel clinic mobile app that helps clients to search for their nearest panel clinic on the go, and the eCard mobile app that replaces the need for a physical Shenton card, making medical visits paperless. Behind this skillful business is a team of engaged and striving employees who are boosted by the strong and inspirational leadership from the top. A recent appointment was CEO Veronica Allen, who brings more than 25 years of experience in business management across sectors such as healthcare, retail and distribution, and petrochemical, inclusive of strong international experience from organisations in Europe, Asia and Australia. Besides this, employees are continuously trained in an array of courses by its Parkway College. These courses, local and overseas, are tailored to suit the needs of the employee profile, spanning from allied health and nursing to management level.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST CORPORATE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

AsiaMedic

MHC Asia Group

SingHealth

Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Catalist Board of the Singapore Stock Exchange, AsiaMedic is a premier healthcare provider. It focuses on the management of clinical services in disease prevention, early illness detection and advanced diagnostics for individual and corporate clients. Its medical professionals provide management and clinical services in Singapore and overseas. AsiaMedic’s mission is to provide positive experiences and clinical outcomes for patients based on its wellness philosophy of early diagnosis, pre-symptomatic diseases detection and disease prevention. Services provided include health-risk screening, general and subspecialty imaging such as MRI and CT scans for cardiovascular, neuroradiological, ENT and musculoskeletal imaging; PET/CT imaging for diagnosis, staging, localisation and monitoring the progress of cancer. Its travel clinic provides various vaccinations and health consultations for clients travelling to a foreign country for work. This ensures they are able to adapt to the new hygiene and health conditions. AsiaMedic also helps patients manage their personal health-risk profile with personalised lifestyle solutions by applying the latest evidence-based medical information. Driven by its commitment to the core values of competence, care, convenience and collaboration, AsiaMedic has built up a strong brand name for delivering positive patient outcomes for patients from Singapore and around the region. AsiaMedic has a growing presence in growth markets such as China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Russia. Having proven its business model in Singapore and the region, AsiaMedic is developing more innovative healthcare services in selected markets for its next stage of growth.

The former CEO of NTUC Healthcare CoOperative, Cecilia Tan, has lent her experience in the medical and pharmacy industries as the chairman of MHC Asia Group, collaborating with founder and CEO Dr Low Lee Yong, credited with establishing 15 clinics together with other businesses. MHC believes in the core values of integrity, faithfulness and people skills. These are utilised in the retention of high-performing staff members through profit-sharing initiatives and incentives. The company’s culture embraces fun at work. If work is fun, the bottom line will take care of itself. This dedicated focus to the bottom line has led MHC (Make Health Connect) Asia Group to process a large number of claims every year across its clinics in Singapore and Malaysia. MHC empowers employers with data to identify and manage cost-drivers. These allow employers to assess their company’s health profile and see if wellness programmes are effective in mitigating the firm’s health risk. With data such as this, companies can come up with incentives to reward staff who make the effort to keep healthy. The big data MHC collects as a by-product of its services has proven to be more than just numbers and reports. It can also reveal discrepancies such as whether the doctor dispenses cost-effective drugs or not, or if there was an unusual spike of clinic visits in a patient’s name. Therefore, MHC plays a far more important role than just being a thirdparty administrator by moving towards playing a gatekeeper role in the healthcare scene. It has leveraged technology as well, having developed the MHC clinic network app in 2012, to help clients conveniently locate clinics under the MHC network, book health screening appointments, and a virtual membership card.

SingHealth offers a range of workplace health programmes for organisations, promoting healthy lifestyles in the work environment and enhancing employees’ health and productivity. Its team of multi-disciplinary professionals, consisting of dietitians, medical social workers, music therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, psychologists and speech therapists, guide employees on workplace health and empower them to take positive steps in healthy living in the workplace. These health programmes include talks, workshops, health screening and on-site assessments. The health talks and workshops feature themes such as mental health, occupational health, diet and nutrition, and exercise. Companies can request for customised workshops to suit their needs. SingHealth also produces ergonomic analyses to facilitate the development of an environment that enhances performance and the wellbeing of employees. From the evaluation, a comprehensive report that contains the hazards and risks identified and suggestions for improving the workstations and work processes will be generated. The survey includes the gathering of data around the subjective comfort level of employees in a particular job or area to provide information on employees’ health profiles. There is also an on-site evaluation that involves the analysis of the work set-up and workstations and the identification of risk factors. The objective is to compose a list of ergonomic risk factors associated with specific duties, tasks or steps. Following the evaluation, there is a report on cost-effective recommendations on workstation designs and preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Finally there is a follow-up consultation to reevaluate recommendations.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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One

One Group • One Practice

Your Corporate Healthcare Solution

Thank You

for Voting Us as Your Preferred Employee Healthcare Provider again RafflesOne offers integrated care and tailored healthcare solutions to our coporate clients through our Group Practice Model and 39 years of direct clinical and operational experience. Raffles Medical Group works on the belief that every Company has its own distinctive needs and we partner our corporate clients through customised programmes to match their evolving needs.

39 years of direct medical care and employee benefits administration One tertiary hospital

We offer direct medical and employee benefits services including group insurance across the healthcare value-chain to our corporate partners.

2 million patients served annually

6,500 corporate partners

80 multi-disciplinary outpatient clinics 2.8 million medical and non-medical claims processed annually

www.rafflesmedicalgroup.com l rafflesone@rafflesmedical.com l 6557 6861

MedicalGroup

Singapore • Hong Kong • Osaka • Shanghai

Raffles Hospital • Raffles Medical • Raffles Dental • Raffles Japanese Clinic • Raffles Chinese Medicine • Raffles Health • Raffles Medical Hong Kong Raffles Medical Osaka • Raffles Medical Shanghai • Raffles Health Insurance • Raffles Healthcare Institute 80 Robinson Road • 112 Katong • Anchorpoint • Ang Mo Kio • Anson Centre • Asia Square • Bedok Mall* • Bedok North • Bishan • Capital Tower • Causeway Point* Changi Airport (Terminal 3 B2*^, Terminal 3 B1, Terminal 2, Transit 1, Transit 2 & Transit 3) • Changi Business Park • Changi City Point • Clementi • Eastpoint Mall • Harbourfront • Hillion Mall* (Opening Soon) Holland Village (Opening Soon) • Hougang Central • Jurong East • Jurong Point* • Lot 1 • Loyang Point • Mapletree Business City • Marina Bay Financial Centre* • Marina Square* • Nex Ngee Ann City • Northpoint • Raffles City • Raffles Hospital*^ • Raffles Place* • Rivervale Mall • Seletar Mall* • Sembawang Way* • Shaw Centre* • Siglap Centre • Sixth Avenue • Tampines 1* Toa Payoh Central • Yew Tee Point • Waterway Point (Opening Soon) • White Sands* *Clinics with Dental Services ^Opens 24 hours

BEST RELOCATION COMPANIES

who has flown from Singapore to New York may have a different view. For the world’s relocation firms, the Earth’s circumference is still 40,075 km, the same as it was 100 years ago and Tim Berners-Lee’s invention of the world wide web did not change the time it takes a cargo ship to sail from Manila to San Francisco. Layered on top of the logistical challenges is the human factor (that is, the expatriate staff member and his/her family) which means care of goods, timing, communication and customer service must be beyond reproach. The winner of the Best Relocation Company category is the relocation firm which both delights expat staff and reduces the administrative burden on its clients’ HR and mobility departments. If you’re working with one of these eight Best Relocation Company firms you can breathe easy – your HR peers have voted them the best in the business.

WHEELS IN MOTION Relocating key staff across the world has become commonplace, but that doesn’t mean the physical transportation of personal effects has gotten any less complicated. People say the world is getting smaller. Anyone

BEST RELOCATION COMPANIES GOLD

Brookfield Global Relocation Services

GOLD

Graebel Relocation APAC

SILVER

Allied Pickfords

SILVER

Asian Tigers Mobility

BRONZE

Crown Relocations

BRONZE

Santa Fe Relocation Services

FINALISTS Nave Relocation UniGroup Relocation Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Brookfield Global Relocation Services Brookfield Global Relocation Services is a leader in the design and management of international and domestic relocation and assignment services. This relocation firm endeavours to recruit the best in the business and grew its staff numbers globally in 2014 significantly. Brookfield is passionate about maintaining its high employee satisfaction and its brand as an employer of choice in the relocation industry. And its employees are also committed to working with the communities in which it operates at both a global and local level. In 2014, Brookfield supported the “Move For Hunger” on a global basis and a charity called Care Community Service Society in Singapore, which focuses on the young and elderly who are underprivileged and vulnerable, donating more than $3000 over the course of a year. Brookfield prides itself on the recognition it has received at industry awards and accolades in the past year such as being the only relocation company selected for a second consecutive year as a global leader by IAOP’s Top 100 Global Outsourcing Companies for 2014 and 2015; and winner of the Global Relocation Service Provider of the Year at the Re:Locate Awards 2014.

Brookfield’s executive team inspires its staff by example. The CEO Traci Morris leads the charge, with her long track record of relocation management expertise in operations, finance and technology. In October 2014, Morris was joined on the Brookfield executive leadership team by Greg Stewart who is responsible for leading worldwide sales, marketing and consulting services. Stewart is a 30-year veteran of the mobility and talent fields. For more than 20 years Brookfield’s consulting services team has been dedicated to analysing data, researching trends and sharing results with clients, customers and the industry at large to create the Global Mobility Trends Survey, considered one of the most reliable and respected resources for global mobility data and trends. Findings in the 2015 report were based on responses from global mobility and HR professionals from 143 multinational companies, and represent an array of mobility programme structures, industries and geographic markets. Clearly, Brookfield strives to be a thought leader in talent mobility. It also publishes other white papers, benchmarks and pulse surveys in all areas of relocation and is often heard at conferences.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RELOCATION COMPANIES

GOLD

SILVER

Graebel Relocation APAC

Allied Pickfords

Graebel Relocation administers world-class relocation and removal services for its Global 100, Fortune 500 and mid-sized company clients. The two Graebel APAC centres, including its regional HQ in Singapore, are major contributors to the success of the huge number of global initiations in the APAC region last year. The past year also saw Graebel proving its credibility and value through accolades from its clients and from within the global relocation industry with over a dozen prestigious new and repeat honours. It is the mission of Graebel Relocation to become an employer of choice in its industry worldwide. The APAC regional team has become an in-region resource which offers viable, cost-saving solutions to solve some of the region’s most pressing challenges that face clients and expats. Scott Sullivan is the MD for Graebel in APAC. He is well-versed in how global companies’ relocation programmes demand proper definition, best-in-class implementation and measurement for ongoing, constructive refinements to attract and retain clients’ people on assignments. Graebel is also a front-runner in market intelligence forums, such as through educational sessions and networking for industry professionals.

Allied Pickfords points to the benefits of partnering with it through the tag line, “Relax. We carry the load”, with priority accorded to high service standards, international accreditation and innovative technology tools. Every office in the network is required to follow the company’s service charter, which ensures a consistently high level of service. Being FAIM (FIDI Accredited International Mover) or ISO accredited is another factor that makes Allied Pickfords a top-tier international mover. In terms of technology, Allied Pickfords does not just report the information captured throughout the entire moving process, but analyses it and then presents it to its clients. Allied Pickfords works equally hard to improve the relocation experience for assignees. Its goal is to provide consistent moving experiences to relocating employees so they can get to their destination and be successful in their new role as quickly as possible. In addition, its network provides moving services in more than 40 countries, delivering global services with local expertise. It has also developed an RFP toolkit, which reduces the administrative burden and allows its clients to secure competitive and transparent household goods rates.

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. With experienced and knowledgeable people on the ground in more than 60 countries we equip you well for your relocation: s 7E LL HELP YOU GET TO KNOW THE DESTINATION WELL BEFORE YOU GO s 3HOW YOU HOW TO MAKE IT EASIER AND MORE EXCITING FOR CHILDREN AND LESS STRESSFUL for pets s 7E LL LOOK AFTER YOUR BELONGINGS WITH EXPERT PACKING AND TRANSPORT s !ND WHEN YOU ARRIVE WE CAN HELP YOU GET SETTLED QUICKER AND ENJOY THE THRILL OF a new place or a different culture.

Tel: +65 6861 6818 singapore@crownrelo.com

Go knowing www.crownrelo.com/singapore

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST RELOCATION COMPANIES

SILVER

BRONZE

Asian Tigers Mobility

Crown Relocations

Santa Fe Relocation Services

Asian Tigers Mobility in Singapore has more than 52 years of experience in the relocation business. The silver winner has grown to innovate, be flexible and find new strategies to grow its client partnerships. The past year has been one of change, where the firm extensively invested in replacing its fleet of vehicles with better functionality and capabilities. All vehicles are fitted with global positioning system devices for faster response and execution during service delivery. Its vehicles are Euro 5 compliant and run on an environment-friendly biodiesel which reduces their carbon footprint. It is also developing a more robust and dynamic management information system. Asian Tigers Mobility is led by chairman Eric Lim who joined the company in 1975 as a salesperson, and progressed to management, before buying the company 27 years later. Lim is supported by managing director Gordon Bell, who joined in 1978, started his work in the warehouse, left Singapore for an interval, and then returned to the company in 2004. In addition, there is Robbie Heng, senior general manager, who has been with the company for over 37 years, and John Lim, group general manager, who leads various business entities and accounts for the overall group’s operations. Many of the firm’s staff have been with it for 15 to 25 years. With a strong leadership, Asian Tigers Mobility has built a culture of quality and dedication embraced by its employees. In addition, Asian Tigers Mobility has been an active supporter of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) for many years. Through its partnership with the IFAW, it has committed a percentage of each moving fee to help save its animal namesake. It has contributed well over US$375,000 to the fund.

Bronze winner Crown Relocations focuses on strengthening ties with clients through a partnership approach to better support their mobility specific requirements. Its partners are looking for creative outsourced mobility functions to streamline and redefine HR functions and Crown views this as its priority. Crown has been consistently and actively realigning its strategies to adapt to market demands in an ever-changing landscape. The company has been taking a consultative approach with its partners to create more effective solutions. With this, it has enabled better management of their mobility programmes and achieved valued savings. With a global footprint, Crown has the ability to provide rapid local responses in locations where the company has an office. It believes in the power of the team and the people who work for it. Earlier this year, it boosted its team further with the appointment of a key member to the newly created role of world mobility operations manager, reporting to the director of client services for world mobility in Singapore. This reorganisation has brought about greater visibility between account teams, created opportunities for staff development and career progression, and promoted greater sharing of best practices and better ways of working across all consultants. Crown remains committed to corporate social responsibility and in this Crown group’s 50th year, the company participated in the Group Golden relay to raise funds for a charitable cause in the community and pass the baton to the next Crown office. Crown Singapore also upholds the PDPA in all areas of its business in Singapore, and has appointed a PDPA officer to maintain the procedures and ensure on-going compliance.

Santa Fe is a leading provider of global relocation services, offering solutions for even the most challenging global mobility programmes. In addition to moving services, the company provides mobility services such as global mobility programme health checks, policy benchmarking and design, mobility programme reviews, total cost management reviews, and mobility supply-chain reviews. Santa Fe’s focus in the past year was on consulting services, where its team members all have operational backgrounds, which means the company’s solutions are grounded in reality and best practices. Santa Fe’s approach revolves around its unique “beehive” model which enables it to analyse its clients’ businesses from both a strategic and an operational perspective. The company places value on transparency and makes everything from pricing structures to the way it engages stakeholders simple and open. In 2015, Santa Fe launched a mobile app developed specifically to ease things for relocating employees. The Santa Fe Relo app is available in Apple’s app store and Google Play and helps to plan relocation tasks, track the status and provides access to useful tools to help with the settling in process. It also enables assignees to stay connected with their case manager throughout the assignment, with current information and contact details of their designated point of contact, to keep them in touch with their experienced and locally based relocation experts. Additionally, Santa Fe shares its expertise with clients and the industry through its global mobility survey, which is one of the world’s largest and most reliable studies on global mobility programmes managed by organisations worldwide.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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10/28/13 11:46 AM

BEST RELOCATION COMPANIES

Nave Relocation A September 2014 start-up, Nave started full operations in November last year. Starting with just a couple of clients, Nave is now a one-stop service provider of destination services in Singapore. Its scope of services includes visa and immigration, temporary accommodation, area orientation, home finding, school search, settling in, household goods management, intercultural training, language training and tenancy management. Nave continued to grow even after the Singapore government recently announced that foreign manpower registered its lowest half-yearly growth since 2009. Initially assisting clients with temporary accommodation, Nave began to provide visa and immigration services. Based on clients’ mobility policies, Nave handled and managed the expectations of expat employees during their relocation into Singapore. Nave consultants and management try to always respond quickly and go the extra mile to ensure seamless relocation processes for both HR and their employees. Nave supports HR professionals by reducing their administration work and streamlining their mobility processes.

Service requests are acknowledged within one day and visa and immigration documents are handled promptly to ensure employees are able to work legally and on time. Service evaluation forms are tailored to each Nave assignee to ensure that assignees do not receive a standard form and only complete the programme they have received. This helps Nave to monitor their service performance. Nave has increased its manpower to ensure that services and programmes are taken care of and there is no leakage in flow. In addition to timely coordination, Nave assists in counselling the emotions of the relocating employees which helps reduce one of HR’s mobility challenges. The Nave management team believes in flexibility for its services without compromising on dealings with local authorities. The company’s destination programmes are designed to benefit assignees together with their spouse and children. Nave also provides inter-cultural services to support spouses and assignees to settle in. In contributing to the industry, Nave recently participated in the Workforce Mobility Interactive Conference 2015.

UniGroup Relocation With offices in 180 countries and more than 1,000 locations, UniGroup Relocation is based in Missouri. In this part of the world, its regional HQ is in Hong Kong, SAR, with nine regional offices – Singapore, Japan, China (Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai), Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. UniGroup’s main goal in policy, procedure and operational planning is customer satisfaction. As a FIDI FAIM and ISO 9001 accredited company, UniGroup’s procedures and policies comply with these standards to ensure consistent service for each move from the beginning to the end. UniGroup regards its staff as its most valuable resource. Each year it identifies and assigns employees to undergo training to help them gain up-to-date knowledge on topics relevant to their daily tasks. Whether this is FIDI training, training provided by the company’s head office, GMS training by ERC or internal training, UniGroup believes continuously increasing the knowledge of an employee is one of the most valuable investments for the sustained growth of the company. With knowledge from training and hands-on experience, the foundations for exceptional service are built.

UniGroup also stands for seamless communication in daily working life. It applies this principle in its communication with clients, assignees and vendors or moving partners who are from different cultures and backgrounds, and based in different locations. The company’s international move co-ordinators are trained in customer service to handle all situations. With UniGroup’s new RedSky system, information can be easily and quickly obtained and shared all over the world with a click of a mouse. Taking another step forward in embracing the use of technology, UniGroup has adopted Voxme Estimator, a pre-move survey application which runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows, mobile smartphones and tablets. It allows a consultant to create a list of items to pack and move and to check the accumulated volume by room or by shipment mode quickly. This helps save time as reports can be easily generated from the device and it minimises the risk of human error in calculating volume or weight. With skilled staff, the right certifications, customer-oriented policies and cutting-edge technology, UniGroup is a preferred partner.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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THINKING RELOCATION? THINK SANTA FE. We make it easy

Award Winning Services

2014 Destination Services Provider of the Year 2014 Best Vendor Partnership of the Year Relocation | Moving | Immigration | Records Management

Santa Fe Singapore T: +65 6398 8588 E: sg.sales@santaferelo.com www.santaferelo.com

BEST MOBILITY & ORIENTATION CONSULTANTS

Navigating the logistical challenges involved in shipping containers full of household items is one thing. Getting relocated staff settled in their new city and back to work with minimal business disruption is another. In fact, studies with HR leaders have revealed that, more often than not, overseas assignments have failed because the individual or his/her family have been unable to successfully integrate into the new environment, and not because the individual on assignment is not successful. The best mobility and orientation consultants should be able to prepare the relocated manager (and their family) for changes in culture before the move, take care of the immigration administration, work out tax issues, provide advice on banking and other legal and statutory requirements and get the expat executive into the office as soon as possible. The winners and finalists of the Best Mobility & Orientation Consultant category best exemplify these traits, and you can trust them to acclimatise your assignees in their new work location. BEST MOBILITY & ORIENTATION CONSULTANTS

GETTING READY FOR DAY ONE

GOLD

Brookfield Global Relocation Services

SILVER

SIRVA Singapore

BRONZE

ECA International

BRONZE

Nave Relocation

FINALISTS Crown Relocations UniGroup Relocation Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Brookfield Global Relocation Services Brookfield is a trusted leader for the design and management of international and domestic relocation and assignment services. It strives to ensure all components of its clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mobility programmes are as effective as possible and aligned with their broader talent and business objectives. In 2014, the firm saw impressive revenue growth and an increase in its global and regional client base as well as notable increases in headcount. The company is passionate about maintaining its high employee satisfaction and proud of its brand as an employer of choice in the relocation industry. Believing that innovation is a pervasive concept, not owned by a single individual or department, the gold winner has worked tirelessly to breed a culture of innovation and aims to reflect that in its services, and the technology that enables them. Last year, Brookfield helped clients reduce costs and improve services through the introduction of its bundled destination services programme, MovEssentials, which combines home finding, settling in and, if applicable, orientation and educational assistance programmes. It is offered as an alternative pricing structure based on the

completion of services, rather than a prescribed number of days, allowing for cost transparency and an improved customer experience, and a customised scope of offerings. Such a programme provides comprehensive support to the assignee and their family, optimising assignee satisfaction, while also offering clients significant benefits from a cost perspective. In the same year, Brookfield also launched ReloAccess and piloted the use of SimpleShow. Passionate about maintaining high employee satisfaction, Brookfield has established various retention strategies focused on re-recruiting existing employees to ensure they feel valued. As a result, it has seen relatively low staff turnover rates. Additionally, all its consultants are sent for regular formal industry, process and technology training developed internally. Employees are also devoted to working with the communities in which it operates, supporting organisations and charities at a global and local level. Brookfield is proud of its comprehensive approach and has received various global awards, alongside being an industry thought leader.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST MOBILITY & ORIENTATION CONSULTANTS

SILVER SIRVA Singapore Setting itself apart from its peers in the industry, SIRVA is the largest globally integrated relocation and household goods moving company. Uniquely, it vertically integrates its moving and relocation services, giving clients more control over their relocation programmes leading to cost savings, successful relocations, happier relocating employees and greater productivity. SIRVA’s expansive network provides relocation services worldwide and this global reach enables it to deliver worldwide relocation services with local expertise and flexibility, making it an industry leader. As a result, it is able to support companies anywhere they need to conduct business. It also boasts an extensive network of globally integrated suppliers and has a strong focus on relocation expertise to educate clients so they can meet the evolving challenges of the industry. The firm believes it’s never about SIRVA, but the organisational benefits it brings to clients. It builds its strong relocation programmes with expertise, and prides itself on providing guidance to help companies better understand challenges and opportunities. Through its goal of providing

companies with the relocation services they need, and everywhere they need them, SIRVA has built long-term relationships, high marks for satisfaction and new clients year after year. From start to finish, SIRVA’s relocation experts take a proactive approach – from shaping relocation programmes to client contact and specialised on-the-ground support. It provides easy to use innovative technology that enable clients to better manage their mobility programmes, while enhancing the assignee and transferee experience as well as a single point of accountability for its clients. New products and services introduced in the past year include SIRVAlytics which empowers companies to transform relocation data into actionable insights, and the SIRVA connect mobile app which provides assignees information and tools to manage their relocation on the go. SIRVA has also started to provide visa and immigration services. SIRVA considers its people to be the most important asset of its organisation. The company engages trainers to coach its staff and equips them with the relevant training and tools to deliver seamless support for its clients.

BRONZE ECA International ECA International aims to provide industry leading data and technology to enable companies to move their staff around the world as cost-effectively as possible, doing so through two main areas – data and software. Its operations in Asia support an impressive number of companies and it boasts a high client retention rate. Offering a holistic product range, its value proposition is to provide companies that subscribe to its country reports with all the needed information to manage employee mobility. In the past year, it has progressed significantly. Improvements made have included increasing the number of locations for which it provides data, and expanding the comprehensiveness of reports for increasingly popular locations in Asia as well as enhancing its coverage in key emerging locations in ASEAN. When it comes to software, ECA International was at the forefront of developing the assignment salary calculator technology in the 2000s that continues to the present day. It has made three key enhancements to its software offerings in the past 12 months, including a report builder functionality,

a costing tool and a net-to-net calculator. Gaining favourable feedback from ECA International’s clients, the software report builder functionality provides subscribers with the option to compile their own reports by selecting various areas of the standard report. The costing tool is an integrated employee mobility cost-estimate tool, allowing companies to calculate estimated employee and employer costs for all types of employee mobility, including permanent transfers, international assignments and short-term assignments. Finally, the net-to-net calculator allows users to assess the feasibility of offering local compensation packages to relocated staff versus their home salary package. ECA International aims to offer its staff the opportunity to develop and grow within the organisation. It continuously develops a majority of them to take on senior roles, with a special focus on this in the past few years. Not only does it provide staff with various internal training programmes, it also enables them to avail external accreditations. As a result, the company has seen excellent staff retention rates for its operations in Asia in 2015.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST MOBILITY & ORIENTATION CONSULTANTS

BRONZE Nave Relocation Nave was set up in September 2014 and started its full operations in November the same year. Starting with a small pool of clients, it has tremendously expanded its client base over the past 10 months. With superb client retention rates, Nave has constantly been referred for its stellar performance. A one-stop provider specialising in providing destination services in Singapore, Nave’s scope of services includes visa and immigration services, area orientation, home finding, school search and more. Nave handles the expectations of expat employees during their relocation into Singapore, providing flexible destination programmes to fit their needs. Visa and immigration documents are handled promptly and with high accuracy to avoid delays which could cause disruption to businesses. Not just in the delivery, but the focus on excellence also lies in the service. To ensure its assignees feel valued, service evaluation forms are custom-made and sent to each assignee. These forms also help Nave monitor its service performance and focus on areas that need improvements. The firm believes customer service is an important factor in relocation.

In addition, its consultants and management provide clients with quick responses, going the extra mile to ensure a seamless relocation process for both HR and its employees. To enable a prompt service, the company issues mobile phones to its consultants to ensure they are contactable at all times, especially in cases of emergencies faced by HR teams and their employees, since expat employees may often deal with a different time zone. As a result, Nave’s consultants are always proactive when handling relocation matters with HR and its employees and their extensive experience allows them to foresee upcoming issues and quickly alert their clients. Before taking up their first assignment, its employees are required to undergo training on how to review and vet the letter of intent and tenancy agreement, proving its commitment to looking after both employees and clients. The organisation also believes in a two-way communication between employer and employee. Its management is open to ideas by staff to ensure they are happy and working in a good environment.

Crown Relocations This past year, Crown Relocations developed a group productivity tool which has helped it achieve greater efficiencies and balance with caseloads and file management within the mobility team in Singapore, while objectively measuring capacity and output. In tandem with this productivity investment, Crown reorganised itself in early 2015 to introduce new roles and realigned all consultants under operations rather than specific account managers. It announced the appointment of a key member of the team to the newly created role of world mobility operations manager, reporting to the director of client services for world mobility in Singapore. This critical reorganisation brought about greater visibility between account teams, created opportunities for staff development and career progression, and promoted greater sharing of best practices and better ways of working across all consultants. After the changes, Crown Relocations has seen an overall improvement in quality, work processes and sharing of best practices, which elevates the team as a whole and allows it to continue providing top quality services to its clients in today’s highly

competitive and price-sensitive economy. The firm believes in the power of “team” and in the people who work for it. Crown has also been successful in both onboarding new businesses and renewing/extending contracts for Singapore destination services as well as immigration services based on strong client relationships and proven service excellence. As a result, Crown Relocations continues to demonstrate its ability to flex and customise as well as develop services specific to client needs. In alignment with the requirements of the changing business environment, Crown Relocations upholds the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) in all areas of its Singapore business, and has appointed a PDPA officer to ensure ongoing compliance. In addition, it remains committed to corporate social responsibility and in this, the Crown group’s 50th year, it participated in the Group Golden relay to raise funds for a charitable cause in the community. Putting together the impact of all its efforts across its services, and employee and community development, at a group level, Crown Relocations has won various global and regional awards.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST MOBILITY & ORIENTATION CONSULTANTS

UniGroup Relocation UniGroup Relocation, headquartered in Missouri, US, has a global mobility network serving a number of countries worldwide, making it one of the largest owner-managed relocation networks in the world. It also has numerous offices in the Asia region, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. The company provides a broad range of pre-assignment, transportation and destination services, guiding transferees along every step of the journey. The main goal is customer satisfaction and it strives to provide a seamless service to clients and assignees. As an ISO 9001 accredited company, UniGroup Relocation has its standard of procedures and policies recorded in its quality manual to ensure the same level of service is performed throughout each task. Monthly internal checks and audits are conducted to ensure procedures and policies are adhered to. Non-conformity is investigated and corrective or preventive actions are proposed to prevent this from reoccurring. UniGroup Relocation views its staff as a valuable resource and greatly values them. Each year employees are assigned to undergo training to help them stay abreast on the latest topics in the industry.

Knowledge from training and hands-on experience are the basics for providing excellent service to clients or assignees in UniGroup’s belief. Besides that, UniGroup Relocation takes the code of conduct seriously, especially on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and all staff across all levels of the company are required to have a full understanding of it and attend FCPA training. UniGroup Relocation believes communication is vital in daily life regardless of whether it’s on a work or on a personal level, and the key to providing successful destination services is to communicate with people. Its consultants are not only highly trained in customer service to handle various situations, but are also experienced in the relevant fields of destination services such as immigration assistance, home search and school search, to name a few. Apart from this, UniGroup Relocation understands the importance of technology and has moved into a modern and technology oriented era to increase efficiency, productivity and go paperless to be environmentally friendly – a clear commitment to sustainable excellence.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST SERVICED APARTMENT COMPANIES

MAKING YOURSELF AT HOME As the saying goes, there is no place like home. But in a world where there is high demand for employees to be on the move, whether relocating temporarily or permanently, no organisation wants their mobile assignees to settle for second best. Recently relocated expatriate staff and their families need to live somewhere appropriate while they wait for their personal belongings to arrive from their previous city, and take the time required to decide on where they are going to live permanently. This can take as long as six months. Serviced apartments are often the perfect

solution, providing individuals and their families with comfortable residences and a wide range of amenities to give them the best of both worlds. The winner of the Best Serviced Apartment Company category is the organisation which supplies the best quality serviced apartments and the highest level of service to its corporate clients. If you are looking to provide your relocated assignees a home away from home, working with the winners and finalists listed here will ensure your decision has been validated by the wider HR community in the region.

BEST SERVICED APARTMENT COMPANIES GOLD

Frasers Hospitality

SILVER

Far East Hospitality

SILVER

Shangri-La Apartments, Singapore

BRONZE

Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, Singapore

FINALISTS Atas Residence Great World Serviced Apartments Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard, Singapore PARKROYAL Serviced Suites, Singapore Wilby Estate International Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Frasers Hospitality With the vision to be a leading global hospitality group, Frasers looks to exceed the evolving needs of corporate travellers through continuous innovation and intuitive service. Frasers chooses to locate its properties near major business areas in the cities it operates in to reduce unnecessary time for executives while commuting to work. The convenience of being located near the city’s shopping, dining and leisure amenities also enhances their experience of being overseas. Complimentary high-speed internet access is a standard offering across all properties, allowing executives seamless connection through their stay. Each apartment has defined living, dining and study areas to allow corporate travellers the liberty and independence to balance work and leisure in the privacy of their own “home”. Understanding the corporate traveller’s needs to work effectively from the comfort of home, the meeting facilities at the brand’s properties are equipped with the latest audio visual equipment, while the in-house business centre provides the option of conducting meetings away from the office. As part of this gold winner’s commitment to

meet the evolving needs of travellers, a number of enhancements were introduced last year. The new website provides a faster more responsive and seamless experience across multiple devices. It features richer content and interactivity, enhanced search functions and filters to help users manage reservations. A Chinese version of the website was also launched to cater to this key growing market. The new e-concierge service provides travellers with easy access to updated information in place of conventional and often outdated in-room compendiums. It has been successfully implemented in Singapore and Malaysia and is being progressively rolled out in other markets. It helps travellers with pre-arrival research on the city with useful insights on transportation systems, security, places of worship, embassies, consulates, local attractions, dining options and event highlights. In 2015, Frasers saw its scale of business expand globally, following the opening of nine new properties across eight cities in Asia, Australia, Middle East and Europe, and the acquisition of the Malmaison Hotel du Vin group in the UK. The brand now runs 129 properties in 77 cities.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST SERVICED APARTMENT COMPANIES

SILVER Far East Hospitality Far East Hospitality’s serviced residences are specially designed for business executives and their families who are travelling to Singapore or Malaysia for work/leisure with a minimum stay of seven nights. With an increase in demand for longer term transient accommodation, Far East Hospitality has done well in catering to business travellers, recording a high percentage of full-year average occupancy last year. Service standards and attention to the needs of guests are areas in which Far East Hospitality’s serviced residences continually strive for excellence in. From spas to Jacuzzis and well-equipped gyms, residents can be assured of an enjoyable and comfortable stay in Singapore. The residences provide a wide range of choices for business executives and families. Visitors can choose to stay in a one-bedroom suite and for larger groups of people, they can choose from residences

with two or three bedrooms that are able to house up to six people. All Far East residences are conveniently located near a MRT station and major business and shopping districts of Singapore. Travellers can make bookings at the multilingual website in English, simplified Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian. As a recognition of its efforts in delivering excellent service to customers, all eight of the silver winner’s serviced residences have won TripAdvisor’s 2015 Certificate of Excellence Award. Operating eight serviced residences in Singapore, Far East has the largest selection in the country. These include Orchard Scotts Residences, Orchard Parksuites, Regency House, Far East Plaza Residences, with four more under the Village brand – Village Residence Clarke Quay, Village Residence Robertson Quay, Village Residence Hougang and Village Residence West Coast.

SILVER Shangri-La Apartments, Singapore Shangri-La Apartments has been an industry leader in Singapore for its range of accommodation options. In November 2014, it launched a new direct booking engine on its website to help drive substantial incremental business and revenue. Shangri-La stands for excellence in service standards and ongoing product maintenance. Guests can enjoy a range of great F&B options such as an extensive buffet breakfast selection, in-room dining options, and food and refreshments that can be ordered at the swimming pool. Residents can also be assured they are in the good hands of veteran hoteliers. Many of the department heads at the apartments have more than a decade of experience in their fields, be it housekeeping, food and beverage or engineering. This year the apartments have upgraded the facilities with new wallpaper and carpet in guest corridors and rooms. There is also a coffee machine

in the lobby providing a complimentary cup of coffee to help guests kick-start their day. Seeing that more families are staying at the apartments, relevant games for younger guests such as a ping-pong table have been introduced to keep them engaged. Shangri-La wants guests to travel in style while en route, whereby a complimentary shuttle gives them the privilege to travel in a Mercedes-Benz Vito. Keeping staff up to date is the key to service excellence, and every department has identified its own set of professional technical skills. Training is conducted either by in-house trainers at the ShangriLa Academy or an external trainer. These training programmes equip all Shangri-La employees with the skills and knowledge to deliver the desired level of hospitality to all guests. For new hires there is one-to-one coaching to help them settle in and get ready to perform.

Experience Great World! Experience The World! Great World would like to say Thank You for voting us as your preferred Serviced Apartments for the past 9 years. For more information please visit our website: www.greatworld.com.sg or contact us at: (65) 67220 7766 or apartments@greatworld.com.sg

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST SERVICED APARTMENT COMPANIES

BRONZE Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, Singapore Opened in May 2013, Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, Singapore is a 180-suite property. It is unique in having a hotel licence at the same time to cater to both long and short stays. It comprises categories ranging from a one-bedroom deluxe suite to the two-bedroom premium suite to suit the needs of travellers. Although it is a relatively new property, it has at its helm a strong team with many years of experience in the industry. Many associates have been working with the Pan Pacific Hotels Group for many years before the opening of Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, with a number of the department heads having been in the hospitality industry for decades. This team constantly provides excellent service to its guests allowing the property to reach a ranking of No.15 on TripAdvisor, among more than 300 hotels in Singapore, after just two years of operations. As part of its full service offering, the suites feature a dedicated team of personal assistants, who are on call 24 hours a day to help connect residents to business and social networks as they settle into a new city. Food and beverages are another staple of the residences, where guests can enjoy a made-to-order breakfast in its Pacific Lounge. Local dishes are also available in the buffet line to ensure guests enjoy a taste of Singapore during their stay. To provide the best for guests, the residences also provide a complimentary shuttle service, as well as packing and unpacking services, ensuring guests are able to make the most of their time. The view of the Singapore Harbour and the Singapore Flyer from the residencesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rooftop swimming pool continues to be a highlight for many guests.

Atas Residence Atas Residence offers fully furnished corporate housing solutions for expatriates and travellers coming to Singapore. Its serviced residences in the nation include Atas @ Oxley and Atas @ St Thomas Walk. With a full understanding of what expat travellers need, Atas Residence aims to provide cost-efficient and luxurious apartment accommodation solutions which serve the needs of corporate clients. With a diverse apartments portfolio, it is able to customise tailored housing solutions for different expat accommodation requirements. Atas Residence's modern apartments have been finely crafted, promising the best of metropolitan living in Singapore. To begin with, the residences are conveniently located never more than a two-minute walk to the MRT, taxi stand, supermarket, restaurants, laundry shop and shopping malls. Atas @ Oxley is located in the River Valley neighbourhood in the heart of town and a mere seven-minute walk from Somerset MRT. Atas @ St Thomas Walk is within a seven to nineminute walk to Somerset MRT. The residences provide hassle free services and customised packages for all corporate housing needs. There is a fulltime team of dedicated and experienced professionals ensuring fantastic service, security and support. All guests have unfettered access to a host of facilities such as the swimming pool, gym, rooftop garden and barbecue area. Besides excellent service, it also offers competitive prices and it is easy to book. The residences pledge no extra charges, no add-on gimmicks and no hidden costs. Atas Residence offers accommodation for professionals who enjoy affordable luxury, convenience and privacy of a fully serviced apartment during their stay.

Great World Serviced Apartments Managing two 34-storey blocks with 304 apartments, Great World Serviced Apartments has been serving visitors and Singaporeans since 1997. Dedicated to providing a home-away-fromhome experience for families, the serviced apartments come in a wide range of choices ranging from one bedroom to four bedroom penthouses with balconies and Jacuzzis, with sizes of 800 square feet to 2200 square feet. Visitors can choose from the 10-plus choices of rooms depending on the size of the group and the service and facilities they prefer. One of the unique features is the intense focus on customer needs, for example, visitors are welcome to bring their pets during the stay. There are plenty of family friendly facilities for kids to enjoy, including a lounge, wading pool, tennis court, tennis practice wall, basketball half-court and barbecue pits. For families travelling with young children, there are amenities such as high chairs, potties, baby cribs and childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cutlery. All apartments are fully furnished and equipped with all the essential comforts of a home, including a fully equipped kitchen. The residence welcomes both visitors who are staying short-term or long-term. The residence adjoins the Great World City Shopping Centre which is more than 400,000 square feet of shopping space, boasting an exciting shopping mix of facilities such as a cineplex, supermarket, fashion and electrical store, with over 20 food and beverage outlets. For business travellers, the residence is a few minutes drive from Orchard Road and complimentary shuttle buses take visitors to the nearby MRT station. Great World is part of the Kuok Group of Companies that is famous for highly acclaimed developments throughout Asia.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST SERVICED APARTMENT COMPANIES

Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard, Singapore

PARKROYAL Serviced Suites, Singapore

Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard, Singapore opened its doors along the nation’s downtown area Orchard Road in 2008. The serviced suites offer superb levels of comfort. For instance, personal assistants available round-the-clock to attend to the needs of residents. The 24-hour personal assistant service is a signature feature catering to a range of support services. These include checking into the apartments, serving breakfast in the lounge, packing and unpacking services, as well as grocery delivery services. Guests can choose from 126 suites and penthouses with a choice of one or two bedrooms for guests to choose from, all of which have sleek, modern Italian furnishings. Each suite is designed to make working as convenient as possible. With the inclusion of an IP telephone system with IDD, DID, conference features and high-speed internet access, guests can remain connected at all times. The residences also have a list of wellness facilities and events. To help guests unwind after a hard day of work, they have an ionised water pool, a hydro-treadmill and hydro-bike, fitness centre, hydro-therapeutic spa, along with a golf putting green and several OSIM massage chairs. Guests can choose to relax with a book from the well-stocked library in the residences’ living room while lounging in the sky gardens, or challenge a resident to a game of pool. The serviced suites work on a lean manpower model, leveraging synergy between all three serviced apartments in Singapore, with shared teams for human capital development, marketing and information technology, and the engineering head, allowing capitalisation on the residences’ strengths.

Established in 1979, PARKROYAL Serviced Suites, Singapore was among the first serviced suites set up in the nation. Given the property has been around for many years, it has a strong following of key corporate accounts, and a high repeat guest ratio. The property houses 90 units of one and two bedroom suites, located near Singapore’s central business district. The units offer panoramic views of the city’s skyline or the sea. Besides standard facilities such as a home entertainment system and washer-cum-dryer, each unit offers a stylish kitchenette that allows guests to prepare home-cooked meals. The concierge team is ready to share its extensive knowledge of the city to help residents fit in like a Singaporean. Guests can count on them to make recommendations on how to enjoy authentic local experiences and get under the skin of the nation. Relying on a team of veteran servers, the service suites constantly strive to provide top-notch services and products for guests and constantly add value to their stay. The property has a strong team with many years of experience in the industry, which helps to drive high employee satisfaction rates among associates. Many servers have been working with the group since the opening, one of them having stayed for 44 years. To keeping a happy team, employee engagement activities are a huge part of the monthly events at the suites. As part of the Pan Pacific Hotels Group, PARKROYAL Serviced Suites has a long history in the industry and continues to have top-ofthe-mind recall for most employees when it comes to selecting serviced apartments in Singapore. The group continues to expand its reach across different countries, along with its serviced apartment offerings.

Wilby Estate International Client retention and loyalty have always been the focal point at Wilby, where staff are trained to keep clients on their minds with sincerity. As a result, staff are approachable and inspired to go the extra mile to ensure high service standards to create an extraordinary stay for their guests. Going mobile is a norm for all businesses and the hospitality sector is no exception. The Wilby team designed a mobile application for its tenants’ usage to reduce response time in fulfilling requests and providing assistance. The concierge operates 24 hours to help follow-up on these requests, and ensures they are completed quickly. Providing a range of food and beverages is another big priority, and Wilby recently added fresh-baked bread from Boulangerie Asanoya to its breakfast menu. It will also be working with Boulangerie Asanoya in Q4 of 2015 to create a range of miniature breads exclusively for tenants. Wilby’s management team believes in treating staff well for them to treat guests well. To promote harmony between departments, a quarterly get-together lunch is held to make communication more seamless. Maintaining stability in its serving team also makes Wilby proud, with employees having worked with the company for more than 35 years. Along this journey, it constantly upgrades employees’ skills and encourages training through weekly reviews and monthly training sessions with the executive housekeeper who has more than 20 years of experience in housekeeping training. Presently, it is working with its parent company Tan Chong International to adopt and roll out a loyalty programme called DUO, which aims to reward clients with vouchers and discounts.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST CAR LEASING PROVIDERS

TRAVEL IN COMFORT Most expatriates have experienced the freedom of travelling in comfort in their home countries. The majority of them expect the same convenience in their new cities – they either look for a car or a car with a driver. The car leasing companies that made this list provide a lot of options – from cars manufactured in the world’s major economies – to those of all sizes

that an assignee needs ranging from economy sized to luxury models. Whether you are welcoming a VIP from overseas, or looking for a long-term durable option for a family, these car companies are able to provide speedy and efficient services to ensure your guests and staff have a wonderful experience while commuting. Great car companies are able to cater to different demands of clients. Besides family cars, they also offer bigger vehicles that can transport a bigger group of visitors around the city. They also provide quality motor vehicles that suit the expat driver and back up their cars with excellent after-sales service. The winners and finalists of the Best Car Leasing Provider category best demonstrate these traits. You can rest on a comfortable commute for your staff while working with these HR industry and jury approved providers. BEST CAR LEASING PROVIDERS GOLD

Sime Darby Services

SILVER

Goldbell Car Rental

BRONZE

Hawk Rent A Car

FINALISTS Evergreen Rent A Car Kah Motor Roset Limousine Services Wearnes Leasing Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Sime Darby Services Backed by the resources and stability of the Sime Darby Group (Motors), Sime Darby Services has represented the Hertz car rental business since 1982. In that time, with experienced and professionally trained chauffeurs in the driving seat, Hertz Car Rental has become one of the largest car rental companies in Singapore, as a preferred choice for business travellers and holiday goers. This gold winner values each and every customer by providing a pleasant and memorable rental experience by believing in going the distance for their journey. It offers a comprehensive range of mobility services from short-term rental to chauffeur services, and fleet management and events to longterm leasing, to meet customers’ needs. The short-term rental business offers flexibility for those who wish to hire the car from a day up to a month, from a wide range of cars, including the tailored Family Collection, and the environmentally friendly Green Traveller Collection. Long-term leasing is a recommended solution for corporate customers who have relocated to Singapore. They can lease existing cars or new cars of their choice of brands. The Hertz lease team recommends vehicles to

customers per their mobility needs. For example, expatriates that relocate with their family will require a bigger car such as the Hertz Family Collection. Moreover, a BMW fleet of cars is also used to provide personal chauffeur services. These include airport transfers as well as hourly charters, ensuring guests arrive at their destination rejuvenated and in style at all times in a comfortable ride at the hands of professionally trained chauffeurs. All employees undergo extensive on-the-job and on-course training to increase their work quality. The chauffeurs department consists of staff who are experienced and professionally trained to create a bespoke experience. Hertz recognises employees’ hard work through awards for long service of more than five years. Another aspect that plays a role in delivering customer excellence is Sime Darby’s four values imbibed in its global operations – integrity, respect and responsibility, excellence and enterprise. Sime Darby Motors Division is also the official distributor for BMW, Ford and Peugeot cars in Singapore. It has a presence in Australia, China, Hong Kong and Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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SILVER Goldbell Car Rental A holistic automotive solution taking care of corporate needs from start to end, Goldbell Car Rental offers a variety of services. These include operating leases (long-term and short-term), limousine and transport, used car trade-ins and disposals, vehicle insurance, financial leases, leaseback schemes, and fleet management. Customers are Goldbell’s priority. This shows in its level of support where last year, with climbing COE levels, it understood the pain of customers and offered them an alternative solution of used car leasing. This enabled them to have a well-maintained vehicle to drive without feeling the pinch. On top of that, Goldbell is passionate about service excellence and customer satisfaction. It has proven successful with its long-term partners having acknowledged its efforts through the high customer retention rate and a number of testimonials. The past 12 months have also seen the company expand staff strength in line with the acquisition of new clients. As part of the Goldbell Group, Goldbell Car Rental has implemented a special approach to running a company, starting to play “The Great Game of Business”, which involves teaching employees

to think and act like owners, using open-book management techniques developed by Jack Stack. The game has a simple proposition: “The best, most efficient, most profitable way to operate a business is to give everybody in the company a voice in saying how the company is run and a stake in the financial outcome, good or bad.” Through this initiative, it hopes to educate employees about the business and give them the tools to understand what winning means in business; how to track, measure and improve performance; and how to share a self-funding stake in the outcome, that is, to win or lose as a team. The ultimate goal is to create a “business of business people” who think, act and feel like owners. Goldbell Group’s corporate philosophy also reflects in the Goldbell Foundation by supporting critical programmes that address the wellbeing of communities in Singapore. Now partnering ISCOS through the Fairy Godparent Programme, Goldbell Car Rental supports the cause of motivating families in achieving an equal chance in life, while also positively engaging its own staff towards the spirit of volunteerism.

BRONZE Hawk Rent A Car Hawk Rent A Car is an industry leader in Asia with offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Beijing. Hawk Singapore was established in May 1995. It concentrates primarily on the corporate market and offers a variety of services from daily, weekly and monthly leasing of vehicles to fleet management. Hawk has a fleet of more than 600 vehicles in Singapore, which is made up of 80% of Japanese car models, 2% of Korean car models and the rest are continental, offering a range of latest models from sedans to SUV vehicles with three rental branches. A number of achievements marked the company’s past year, with one of them being the introduction of the Hawk mobile app. The year also saw the third version upgrade of Hawk Singapore’s website and online reservation system. Reservations can now be made online easily, even as many other companies in Singapore are still using the conventional manual method. All Hawk offices use high-end, dynamic US webbased car rental and fleet management software by TSD called Rental.Net. The system is upgraded annually. Through this system, Hawk handles

international car rental reservations from 25,000 locations worldwide. Richard Hawkins is the founder of Hawk, as well as the group CEO. He previously worked with Avis in Asia Pacific from 1972 until 1994 when he decided to set up his own company and so initiated Hawk. Hawkins left Avis at his last-held position of chief executive of Avis Asia, an area that stretched from Pakistan to Korea and included all countries in between, affording him adequate experience and exposure to the industry’s needs. In Singapore, David Chen is the managing director who has spent more than 30 years in the industry, having worked for many years in the post of country sales manager at Avis Rent A Car Singapore. Singapore also has Shelley Kang as general manager, who has worked in the car rental industry for the past 20 years. Backed by this strong team, employees are well taken care of at Hawk. Its staff retention programmes include the provision of additional insurance, personal upgrading, individual and departmental KPI incentives, overseas incentive trips, annual D&D, and more.

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BEST CAR LEASING PROVIDERS

Evergreen Rent A Car

Kah Motor

Roset Limousine Services

Whether an MNC or SME, Evergreen Rent A Car is a solution provider to a company’s transportation needs – for everyone from the head of a department to a relocated individual for a temporary work assignment. The company understands each client has their own requirements, hence, it offers different car models and packages. All Evergreen cars come with comprehensive insurance coverage and a 24-hour emergency hotline so guests can drive with peace of mind. In case any customer comes across any problem, staff are always there to listen and solve the problem as soon as possible. The customer support department promptly and politely listens to the needs and requirements of customers and provides relevant solutions. The availability of customer care executives round the clock has made it easier for customers across the world to connect with them at any hour of their choice. Evergreen Rent A Car is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tiong Choon Co, a Singapore SME 500 company, established in 1957.

Boasting more than 37 years with the Honda brand, Kah Motor provides Singapore motorists with successive generations of better and more advanced Honda models. Specialising in the Honda, Kah Motor offers rental and leasing services with a wide selection of cars to choose from. Clients can be assured of excellent reliability and support as all cars are serviced and maintained by Kah Motor’s automotive experts. In addition to the standard features of rental cars, Kah Motor also provides a 24-hour back-up/breakdown service, free delivery within Singapore, free additional driver, free doorstep pick-up and delivery for cars due for service. The cars also come with navigation devices. As Singapore’s exclusive distributor, Kah Motor boasts an extensive sales, service and spare parts Honda network. The entire range of models can be viewed and test-driven in two strategically located Honda centres, both of which are characterised by their complete sales and service facilities. The Ubi Honda Centre also houses Kah Motor’s headquarters and a fully stocked parts inventory.

Roset Limousine Services was incorporated in June 2004, with a view to provide limousine services. It has since grown to include car leasing, shuttle services and the outsourcing of chauffeurs. It has the experience, equipment and personnel necessary to ensure guests reach their destinations on time and in comfort. The limousine service is ideal for senior executives or visiting VIPs. It comes with a dedicated chauffeur and choice of luxury sedans or multi-purpose vehicles. The chauffeurs are trained to be familiar with the layout, logistical details and traffic patterns around the airport. They also stay in constant contact with the guests, and are equipped with the relevant renowned certification and skill sets (e.g. certification of Rolls Royce special training) to ensure guests are comfortable and safe. Roset’s shuttle service caters to all of its clients’ transportation needs, be it from a central location or going and returning from the office in 13-19-seaters. Roset also provides services for the outsourcing of chauffeurs, eliminating the logistical hassles around it.

Wearnes Leasing Established in 1906, Wearnes Leasing holds distributorships and dealerships for a range of premium passenger marques in Singapore. A division of Wearnes Automotive, it offers direct access to the finest cars from Bentley, Infiniti, Jaguar and others. Besides the premium marques, Wearnes can also acquire other makes of their clients’ preference. Wearnes takes great care of customers’ safety through its tailor-made Wearnes Assist programme. With just a phone call, Wearnes Assist brings the ultimate motoring protection and convenience to customers through 24-hour emergency roadside

assistance, complimentary taxi service, concierge service, and emergency medical evacuation/ repatriation, upon request. In addition, the company provides complimentary replacement vehicles and hotel accommodation for travel in Peninsular Malaysia. The company is committed to strengthening its strategic partnerships with international brands to provide consumers with a wide choice of products and services. Alongside, it takes pride in providing the “Wearnes Experience” – synonymous with the standards of excellence of the luxury marques that the firm represents.

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BEST MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROVIDERS

to inspire future leaders by challenging them to step out of their comfort zone and reach a new level in their career development. They are able to transform the culture of the company and the way managers look at their business. Every organisation and every manager or executive will have different needs at various stages of their career. Training consultants are able to customise programmes to fit each individual’s needs. If you are thinking of nurturing the next generation of leadership to ensure the sustainable and long-term growth of the company, this list of winners and finalists will be a good place to start. BEST MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROVIDERS GOLD

Cegos Asia Pacific

SILVER

DDI

TIME FOR SCHOOL

SILVER

MHI Global Asia

BRONZE

Centre for Executive Education (CEE)

BRONZE

Singapore Institute of Management

The foundation of a company is built on strong leadership. To help nurture the next generation of leaders for a company, employers need to provide strong leadership training for high potential staff to get them prepared for the next leap in their career. But the sad fact is most managers learn how to manage people on the job, and as a result, they make far more mistakes and lose far more people from their teams compared with managers who received

FINALISTS Management Development & Consultancy

management training before they were tasked with running teams. Great management training providers equip new and experienced managers with people management tools which in turn leads to improved bottom-line business performance. The winner of the Best Management Training Provider award achieves this for its clients on a consistent basis. Great management training consultants are able

NTUC LearningHub ROHEI Corporation Singapore Management University Singapore National Employers Federation StrengthsAsia Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Cegos Asia Pacific Created in 1926, the Cegos Group is a world leader in professional training, having rolled out major training projects and initiatives internationally. The gold-winning firm operates worldwide with a significant number of employees. It trains an impressive number of people each year through traditional methods, blended approaches and its own suite of e-learning offerings. Its motto, “think global, learn local”, is at the heart of its commitment to learning. The company’s Asia Pacific head office was set up in 2011 and is located in Singapore with operations in countries across the region as well. Cegos Asia Pacific’s performance over the past year accelerated following its investment in content marketing and building strong customer-centred networks regionally. Its approach to gaining new customers and driving strong retention of existing customers has centred around a pioneering content marketing framework with a big amount of its new business in 2015 coming directly through this means. On top of that, Cegos Asia Pacific is increasingly valued by its customers and networks for the

operational APAC centred-research and expert papers it shares about the cutting-edge of learning and organisational development challenges that we face as we approach the workplace of the 2020s. As one of the few global players specialised in the field of developing middle managers and first-line leaders since its establishment, Cegos Asia Pacific has been entrusted with various multi-country rollouts by its clients. Since its HQ was set up in Singapore, its success has centred on local and regionally driven pioneering programmes rolled out across APAC and often exported back to the US and Europe. A further innovation brought about by Cegos Asia Pacific was to produce an e-learning module to have a dual role as a key message learning reminder and engagement tool. This approach has now been widened, giving Cegos traction with various luxury customers. Placing equal importance on internal development, each employee at Cegos Asia Pacific receives a budget for personal development and is required to provide a business case for this funding, which makes them own their development.

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BEST MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROVIDERS

SILVER DDI Pioneering the field 45 years ago, and remaining a chief innovator, Development Dimensions International (DDI) is one of the world’s top talent management consultancies. It helps companies transform the way leaders are hired, promoted and developed, resulting in people who are ready to execute business strategies in a short period of time. In Singapore, DDI works with a mix of multinational companies and Singapore-based organisations. It has worked with organisations across industries and has seen impressive revenue growth owing to repeat customers. DDI has been instrumental in transforming the way millions of participants have consumed content over the past four decades. Its learning and development approach is simple, but realistic, using a three-phase process – assess, acquire, apply – to help individuals identify growth areas, plan development strategies and apply new or enhanced

knowledge and skills. DDI’s ability to cater to all levels of the leadership pipeline is another aspect its clients appreciate. The firm offers a host of training and development solutions to address the unique learning preferences for each level, based on a core set of leadership beliefs. The company invests twice the industry average in research and development to stay ahead of change in its industry and markets. Built on well-researched, experience-tested concepts, DDI’s solutions are flexible and adaptable. An example includes the Business Impact Leadership®, a suite of courses to equip mid and senior leaders to meet business challenges. Another one is Strong Start® which is a step-by-step process to accelerate onboarding and time to productivity. In the area of senior-management transitions, leaders wear two hats – one to work with their successors, and the other to learn about their new positions, based on DDI’s proprietary research.

SILVER MHI Global Asia With expertise spanning multiple industries, MHI Global has a proven track record of 40 years. Bringing together proven methodologies of the world’s most respected brands in sales performance, customer experience and leadership and management, MHI Global has seen an exciting year of growth and expansion. This silver winner is widely known for its ground-breaking management programmes where it helps leaders develop and coach their employees to improve productivity and engagement. Its leadership and management programmes are incorporated with research findings specifically designed to address the real challenges faced by corporate leaders in today’s world. Management courses offered by MHI Global cover the needs of today’s leaders, in programmes such as: Get grounded, stay productive, coach others, manage performance, and lead teams.

Supported by the real-world experience of passionate practitioners and ongoing research of best practices, MHI Global brings best-in-class expertise to all aspects of the relationship with the customer. It knows the customers’ needs and wants should drive every discussion of how to improve performance and it applies proven methodologies, processes and tools that solve real-world challenges. It accepts accountability for delivering measurable results, helps leaders consistently measure, manage and improve the key metrics important to them and provides best-in-class solutions from its sales performance, customer experience and leadership and management lines of business. At the same time, it offers access to all of the MHI Research Institutes’ proprietary resources and solutions, a global and comprehensive source for consistent, scalable and end-to-end customer solutions.

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BRONZE

Centre for Executive Education (CEE)

Singapore Institute of Management

Management Development & Consultancy

Over the past year, the Centre for Executive Education (CEE) has strengthened its executive development and talent management solutions. This bronze winner offers a suite of executive development programmes, such as talent management and succession planning, management and leadership development, and executive coaching, to help corporate leaders and small business owners optimise their performance and accomplish business and professional objectives. CEE collaborates with clients to implement tailor-made learning and organisational development strategies that enhance organisational capability. In recent years, the firm has established two new divisions – Centre for Executive Transitions (CET) and Centre for Executive Coaching (CEC). CET provides comprehensive career transition services, with a marketproven approach to outplacement consulting and support. CEC offers a suite of executive coaching solutions for C-suite executives and high potential individuals. Executive coaching at CEE focuses on developing a top executive’s full potential by coaching them to think and act beyond existing limits and paradigms. It is a highly individualised form of leadership development, because it is based on the understanding that in order to be maximally effective, executives must identify their strengths and areas of development, examine the impact of their behaviour on others, and regularly and reflect on their values, goals, and effectiveness. The team is led by founder and CEO, Prof Sattar Bawany, who has over 30 years of international business management experience, including 20 years in executive coaching and group facilitation.

Through its professional development arm, SIM Professional Development (SIM PD), Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) provides a comprehensive range of executive programmes for PMEs (professionals, managers and executives). It also offers customised in-company learning and development solutions in the fields of leadership, management and HR development. SIM PD is also a membership society devoted to serving the management community across Singapore. It has embarked on mapping its suite of programmes to its competency framework which underpins all programme offerings and trainer management. This initiative paves the way for SIM PD to align its offerings with the learning interests of its clients. SIM PD’s vision is to be the choice partner in management excellence by enabling individuals and organisations to attain performance excellence through lifelong development. Its programmes are focused on delivering business outcomes through the effective transfer of learning. This initiative paves the way for SIM PD to align its offerings with the learning and development interests of its clients, as well as the nation’s interest in developing its workforce in the areas of leadership and management excellence. Its efforts are focused on ensuring that its programmes deliver business outcomes that impact top-line and bottom-line performance of organisations through effective transfer of learning. Efforts are also being made to ensure that its programmes meet specific competencies and skills requirements as stipulated under several frameworks of WDA’s blueprint for Workforce Skills Qualification.

Management Development & Consultancy (MDC) aims to develop and customise programmes to keep up with market trends and training needs. This past year, MDC saw a steady increase in participants from across various industries, with its local business having served a significant number of small companies and multinational corporations. MDC also introduced a slew of new courses last year for a closer fit to clients’ training needs. A total of 79 new courses were added to MDC's public seminars in the recent past, covering such disparate areas as : risk management, business management, HR management and development, financial management, team leadership and supervisory management, sales and marketing, communication and EQ, personal effectiveness and productivity, and IT short courses, with a focus on 2013 Microsoft suite. MDC’s training programmes go beyond the transfer of information to address competencies in functional and interpersonal skills. Facilitated by some of the best training consultants in the industry, its training programmes are business-relevant, and conducted in an interactive format designed to fully engage every participant with real-life situations and challenges. MDC’s parent company, MDIS has once again proven its high quality standards of education in achieving the EduTrust Certification by the Council for Private Education for another four years from 2014. It is a significant milestone for MDIS as it attests to the institute’s exemplary education and business excellence standards. MDIS was amongst the first batch of Private Education Institutions (PEIs) to be registered under the Enhanced Registration Framework.

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NTUC LearningHub The development of management talent advances the need to educate, train, and develop the skills of managers, supervisors, and even workers of an organisation. Many business organisations have recognised that there are several incentives in investing in management education, training and development. The organisation would also be able to attract best talent if it maintains a good reputation for training and development of its workers. In this view, NTUC LearningHub (LHUB) believes in providing training solutions for its clients to help them achieve operational excellence. LHUB offers a wide range of training programmes and has helped to upskill more than a million workers through its training courses and certified trainers. As a total learning solutions provider to organisations and individuals, it forges partnerships through providing a wide range of relevant training solutions and working constantly to improve its training quality. Over the past year, its new offerings include the

John Maxwell signature leadership courses, as well as WSQ courses powered by John Maxwell. There were also new improvements on certain courses with added team building elements, as well as personal profiling in addition to the expansion on courses. LHUB also maintains its relevance by linking with learning communities, keeping track of new trends in learning such as mobile and e-learning as well as improving its training methods with innovation and technology. Throughout the past year, LHUB continued to identify training needs, define curriculum roadmaps and deliver contemporary training programmes. LHUB has been certified ISO 29990:2010 in learning services for non-formal education and training by the Certification International and the Singapore Accreditation Council. Not forgetting the development of its own people, LHUB has a development plan called â&#x20AC;&#x153;project butterflyâ&#x20AC;? to groom its new managers. This total learning solutions provider ensures it delivers its employees a range of training programmes.

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BEST MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROVIDERS

ROHEI Corporation ROHEI Corporation started in 2007 as a learning and development consultancy with a mission to inspire hope, joy, courage and purpose in the global workforce. It champions the development of core skills by crafting transformative experiences for organisations and individuals. With eight training rooms and one performance space, ROHEI has increased its capacity by four times in recent years. This past year, ROHEI launched services in executive coaching to help current and emerging leaders develop critical skills needed for expanded roles and appointments, and to support executives in crisis or managing the impact of change and transition on themselves and others. In partnership with Chris Hogan, who is ROHEI's practice group leader for the practice of executive eoaching, the firm's vision is to develop powerful relational leaders known not only for their ability to produce results but equally for building successful and empowered high-trust relationships in thriving organisations and teams. To create strategic impact, ROHEI engages individuals both intellectually and emotionally by creating inspired learning experiences. To do this, it formed a special projects team earlier this year. Fuelled with passion and creativity, this team explores new and innovative ways to engage adult learners. In 2014, ROHEI launched Cozeh, a creative agency specialising in video production – extending its product and service offerings to allow clients to enjoy more authentic learning experiences. In this way. ROHEI engages its audience through storytelling, delivering content in fresh new ways, while capturing the essence of intangibles such as trust and empathy.

Singapore Management University

Singapore National Employers Federation

Established in 2000, SMU’s mission is to generate leading-edge research with global impact and produce broad-based creative and entrepreneurial leaders for the knowledgebased economy. SMU’s education is known for its highly interactive, collaborative and project-based approach to learning, and for its technologically enabled pedagogy of seminarstyle teaching in small class sizes. SMU Executive Development (SMU-ExD) is dedicated to international talent development in a contemporary Asian setting. Integrating the best of Asian and Western practices and theories, its open enrolment and custom programmes deliver outstanding returns on investment for individuals and organisations. The open enrolment programmes include managerial expertise, industry excellence and the anticipation of challenges, all of which are Asia-relevant. Another key solution is the SMULeadership Academy, a centre of excellence for leadership development in Asia. The faculty are drawn from institutions globally to fuse the best insights into the needs and traits of outstanding leaders in the context of Asia. The Academy offers a portfolio of open enrolment programmes for leaders at four stages of their career: emerging leaders, general managers, senior executives, and company directors. It also offers a suite of supporting services, namely: individual assessments, structured programmes for teams and individuals, and personal coaching for senior executives. SMU faculty members collaborate with leading international researchers and universities, as well as with partners in the business community and public sector.

In the past year, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) extended its course offerings to employers in the areas of leadership, human resources and industrial relations and service excellence, among others. It serves both members and non-members in training and provides consultancy services in training needs and analysis, and in representing employers. In the past it has completed impactful projects such as courseware development for the Personal Data Protection Act, tripartite guidelines for the Harassment and Bully Act, and the itemised payslips and key employment terms for companies. As part of its solutions offered, SNEF provides pre-assessment of the skill sets of participants from companies that are opting for customised training, so that the SNEF team can gauge and tailor their training accordingly. On top of that, the institution provides aftertraining support services such as survey and assessment of competencies acquired, three to six months after the training. SNEF’s products undergo constant review and improvements. Since SNEF is a not-for-profit orgaisation, it sets prices at a reasonable rate in order for companies to send their staff for training and to buy its other services. It does not forget to focus on the training of its own staff, and most of its employees have at least a WSQ ACTA (advanced certificate in training and assessment). SNEF also sponsors staff for their diploma and degree. Apart from this, SNEF is a longtime strategic partner of the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) and it undergoes a rigorous quality check by it on top of its other finance audit requirements.

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BEST MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROVIDERS

StrengthsAsia StrengthsAsia has been firing up people and organisations in Asia to love what they do and do what they do best every day since 2011. The firm offers three key training products: strengths based leadership, strengths based team engagement, and great managers programme. Comprising top Gallup-certified strengths coaches in Asia in the areas of advocacy and the practice of Strengths-based thinking, StrengthsAsia creates and delivers inspirationally transformative experiences for individuals and organisations. Being in Asia gives StrengthsAsia a significantly unique edge, experience, perspective and understanding in delivering Strengths-based engagement in Asian cultures. StrengthsAsia is a partner of Gallup in using Strengths to drive personal and corporate lives towards excellence through the Gallup StrengthsFinder, StrengthsQuest, StrengthsExplorer and the entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder. Lim Kim Pong is the CEO, principal coach, and managing director of StrengthsAsia, and the first platinum-certified Gallup Strengths coach in Asia.

The Gallup Organization has also named him among Asia’s most accomplished practitioners of strengthsbased development for his work in the region. Lim's entrepreneurship experience in successfully growing a SME has given him deep knowledge in leadership, employee engagement and talent management strategies. He was instrumental in partnering The Gallup Organization in kicking off its highly successful Gallup Certified Strengths Coaching programme in the year 2014. As the founder and CEO of StrengthsAsia, he engages corporate leaders and teams in the dialogue of discovering, leveraging and maximising individuals’ and teams’ talents and strengths. With the Clifton StrengthsFinder tool, leaders and managers are equipped with the language to bring out the very best in people in their respective organisations. This translates to increased employee engagement in organisations, more motivated teams and better team performance. He practices what he preaches, abiding in the philosophy that when leaders and managers help their teams win, they themselves win as well.

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BEST SALES TRAINING PROVIDERS

their clients with the products and services they need within set budgets. True sales professionals consistently exceed their targets and drive the revenue performance of their companies. But true sales professionals don’t just happen. Their raw optimism, enthusiasm, communication and people skills are groomed through training and practice by sales trainers, some of whom are inside the organisation, but most often are a professional sales trainer. The winner of the “Best Sales Training Provider” category is the company that is in the business of transforming friendly and chatty salespeople into high-performing sales professionals. Previous winners and finalists include AchieveGlobal, Beacon, Dale Carnegie, Kaplan, MHI, MIS, NTUC LearningHub, SMU and TÜV SÜD PSB. The six finalists in this section have been found to be the best sales trainers in Singapore. BEST SALES TRAINING PROVIDERS

LEARN TO SELL There are salespeople who have the gift of the gab and then there are true sales professionals who understand how to get their clients to open up, appreciate the value of listening and really provide

GOLD

Cegos Asia Pacific

SILVER

MHI Global Asia

BRONZE

Marketing Institute of Singapore

BRONZE

momenta

FINALISTS Management Development & Consultancy Singapore National Employers Federation Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Cegos Asia Pacific The Cegos Group, created in 1926, is a world leader in professional training with programmes across human resources, performance and organisation, individual and collective effectiveness, and marketing and sales. It delivers these through traditional methods, blended approaches and its own suite of e-learning offerings. Think “Global, Learn Local” is the philosophy at the heart of Cegos’ commitment to learning. Its Asia Pacific head office is located in Singapore with operations in China and Hong Kong. This is supplemented by a region-wide network of partners and collaborators from India to the Pacific. Cegos’ commitment to sales and service training has been centred on implementing a robust blended learning approach anchored in the 70:20:10 approach with as much focus in developing the plan for the 20% (share) and 70% (do/action), as much as the 10% learning element (knowledge acquisition through formal training). Through this approach, Cegos encourages a focus on learner ownership, informal learning and peer-based sharing. Cegos APAC is led by Jeremy Blain, regional

managing director, who has brought in an empowering and development-led approach to the leadership of the company. In addition, Meng Vuki, head of business operations, has been instrumental in driving a proactive can-do attitude from operational staff. James Siew, a local learning leader, and Stephen Jenner who joined from a Singapore GLC, round up the management team. Cegos prides itself on contributing to the latest industry thinking and driving insights to enable calculated decision-making around learning strategies for its customers. Publications this year include the 2015 APAC Workplace Learning Trends Survey report; Blended Learning 2.0 Tomorrow’s solution, today; and Learning and Development Function Globalisation and Challenges. Cegos has also presented at webinars and conferences in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and India. This past year, Cegos was announced as a Singapore Employer of Choice, winning a silver medal in this category and receiving three further awards as a top-performing company in its sector.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST SALES TRAINING PROVIDERS

SILVER MHI Global Asia MHI Global is the product-proven methodologies of five of the world’s most respected brands in sales performance, leadership and management, and customer experience. Miller Heiman, AchieveGlobal, Huthwaite, Impact Learning Systems and Channel Enablers are now under the MHI roof, providing organisations worldwide with an expanded approach for managing long-term customer relationships. MHI understands that everything begins with the customer and knows the customers’ needs and wants should drive every discussion of how to improve performance. As a result, it applies proven methodologies and tools that solve real-world challenges; and accepts accountability for delivering measurable results. In the process, it helps leaders consistently measure, manage and improve the key metrics important to them; provides best-in-class solutions from MHI’s sales performance, customer experience and leadership, and management lines of business; and offers access to all of the MHI Research Institutes’ proprietary resources and solutions. MHI is clearly a global comprehensive source for consistent, scalable, end-to-end customer

solutions. MHI is most widely recognised for its sales performance programmes, professional selling skills, conceptual selling and SPIN. Together, these programmes fulfil sales engagement and performance at all levels within an organisation. In early 2015, the Professional Selling Skills version 6 was released to high-market demand. The system directly addresses the skills needed at every level of an organisation to ensure lasting sales success. A research project was initiated in early 2014 to carefully evaluate opportunities for this redesign. The teams spent almost a year formalising version 6 with positive feedback from all beta testing. MHI is led by Byron Matthews, president and general manager, while in Asia, Gregory Moore leads MHI, with more than 20 years of experience in sales, sales management and business leadership. MHI shares a passion for developing world-class sales, service and leadership teams by transferring knowledge gained from more than 20,000 engagements around the globe. The company has been recognised with awards from organisations such as TrainingIndustry.com, Workforce Magazine and Chief Learning Officer magazine.

BRONZE Marketing Institute of Singapore Founded in 1973, the Marketing Institute of Singapore (MIS), a not-for-profit organisation, is the national body for sales and marketing. Over the years, MIS has nurtured more than 50,000 sales and marketing practitioners through its professional learning and development programmes and provided ample networking opportunities for thousands of members through its diverse events. MIS plays a leading role in providing training, learning and development solutions to professionals and corporations in Singapore and the region. Its comprehensive range of executive development programmes caters to the skills upgrade and professional development of executives and managers in keeping themselves abreast with industry trends, knowledge and skills. Its custom-designed training programmes also help organisations identify gaps in their workforce competencies and optimise training ROI by tailoring a curriculum to their specific training goals. MIS is constantly engaged in product innovation. This involves trend-spotting the latest curriculum and designing it to suit the needs of the local market. The institution’s ability to execute

high quality and effective training has propelled the learning curve of individuals and brought about greater value to organisations. MIS’ training is experiential and through its multi-sensory approach in methodology, it allows cognitive connections and associations to be made. MIS understands the importance of constantly upgrading skills to match changing market conditions. Its employees are encouraged to play an active role in charting their own learning curves. To raise the ownership of their personal and professional developmental needs, employees are empowered to select courses across various disciplines, regardless of their functional roles. In addition, MIS regularly organises events to engage members and the general public. Such activities allow the exchange of ideas, sharing of best practices and creates new business opportunities by bringing like-minded people together. In alignment to Singapore’s “Vision for a Smart Nation” by 2065, MIS is partnering with IBM and the Economic Development Board to help companies increase engagement with customers by leveraging on technology to boost sales and efficiency.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST SALES TRAINING PROVIDERS

BRONZE momenta Established in 2001, momenta is a leading Asiabased people development company that focuses on delivering business results for its clients through advanced sales training, sales performance coaching and consulting. The company’s solutions are designed to complement its clients’ values, existing processes, procedures and best practices. The company has offices across Asia Pacific, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Philippines and Japan. Its clients are industry leaders and government agencies across the region. The company delivers its programmes in more than 10 languages and has an extensive network of trainers and consultants who have more than 15 years of experience in key industries such as financial services. The past year marked an important milestone as momenta made concerted efforts to build, refine and strengthen its learning methodology and approach. In the process, big strides were made in instructional design methodology and learning adoption strategies, such as leveraging the use of technology,

mobile learning, gamified-learning, video-based experiences, and coaching services to support the reinforcement and application of knowledge transferred during training workshops. The past 12 months also saw momenta launch the first-ever simulation-based workshop through its partnership with Knolskape. momenta believes in gamification and gamifiedlearning solutions as the future of learning, and is looking to integrate this into various programmes. Its regional management team comprises professionals with a strong track record in the learning and development industry, as well as those who have held key appointments in the industries it focuses on. A longer-term key strategy of the firm is an emphasis on holistic wealth management advice, and to shift the sales paradigm towards a holistic advisory sales approach, and to move away from product-centric discussions. Re-focusing on the advisory services would be key for momenta in ensuring that both the premier wealth and mass market segments deliver a sustainable and differentiated value proposition.

Management Development & Consultancy Management Development & Consultancy (MDC), the corporate training arm of MDIS, has played a leading role in meeting the changing needs of businesses through a range of programmes since being established in 1995. MDC is committed to developing high quality programmes with accredited trainers and providing training solutions that are at pace with the dynamic changes in the business world. Its key services include seminars, customised training programmes and business consultancy services designed to equip professionals with the essential tools of the trade. By putting theoretical knowledge into practice, MDC has become recognised in the industry for developing the next wave of corporate professionals, both locally and regionally. As an independent training authority, MDC is able to provide impartial assessments and customised training programmes to meet clients’ training needs. All associate trainers offer a high level of service and are subject to regular peer assessments and interviews before joining the institute. Trainers must be qualified and have relevant experience to an

agreed level and are subjected to continual audits and evaluation. Strict internal assessment is implemented as part of quality control. In recognition of industry needs, MDC introduced a slew of new modules in the past year. A total of 79 courses were added to its public seminars, covering disparate areas such as risk management, business management, HR management, financial management, team leadership, and sales and marketing. In another significant milestone attesting to the institute’s effectiveness, MDIS, MDC’s parent organisation, achieved the EduTrust Certification by the Council for Private Education for another four years from 2014. MDC continously strives to ensure its training programmes are business relevant, and its interactive format is designed to fully engage every participant with real life situations and challenges. Every programme is offered as a customised training experience to address the unique challenges, needs and culture of each client. Its growing client base spans a wide range of industries and includes small companies and multi-national corporations.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST SALES TRAINING PROVIDERS

Singapore National Employers Federation In July 1948, 23 employers in Singapore formed a trade union of employers known as “The Federation of Industrialists and Traders in Singapore”, with the primary objective to promote and protect the interest of employers. With the growth in its membership and the rapid expansion of industries, the name was changed to the Singapore Employers Federation (SEF) in 1953. The National Employers Council (NEC) was also formed by a group of employers in 1965, with the objective also to serve employers. In 1 July 1980, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) was established through the amalgamation of the SEF and NEC. SNEF is registered as a trade union under the Trade Unions Act, and is an independent, autonomous not-for-profit organisation funded by membership fees and revenue from consultancy, training and research. In the past year, SNEF has extended course offerings to employers in the areas of leadership, human resources and industrial relations, service excellence, sales productivity and business

management. Alongside, it has trained an impressive number of employees, as it serves both members and non-members in training and provides consultancy services in training needs and analysis. SNEF’s products undergo constant improvement to offer the best to its clients. It tends to focus its training products towards the needs of the market and also in line with government policies because of its origin. As SNEF is a not-for-profit, it sets prices at good rates which enables companies to send their staff for training and other services. SNEF is a long-time strategic partner of the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) and undergoes its rigorous quality checks on top of its other finance audit requirements. The firm also provides pre-assessment of the skill sets of participants to companies so that it can gauge and tailor their training accordingly. Plus, it provides after-training support services such as surveys and assessment of competencies acquired after training. Its employees also go the extra mile to assist customers in queries.

10 Anson Road, #06-14/19/20 International Plaza, Singapore 079903. +65 6323 7911 I www.comat.com.sg I trainme_comat@comat.com.sg Our Centres of Excellence:

ITBM

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IT & Business Management

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HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST IT TRAINING PROVIDERS

In the knowledge economy, training on technology goes far beyond the traditional confines of the ability to operate a machine. Beyond this, both basic and advanced technical skills are required for technological knowledge to be a distinct advantage. A major challenge in IT training is the pace in which technology changes. What worked three months ago might not work today, and trainers need to constantly update their knowledge to keep up with the market’s evolution. But great IT training companies take employees with rudimentary technical skills and return them with the ability to operate specific software applications with ease. Dedicated IT trainers are able to provide up-to date training that is most relevant to the organisation. The winners and finalists of the Best IT Training Provider category are those who can demonstrate the ability to upskill employees quickly and efficiently.

HOW TO STAY TECH-SAVVY Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said that “change is the only constant in life”. This could not be more accurate today, where information can travel at the speed of light, and technology has made the world so much smaller than it used to be. As a result, companies need to become nimble enough to respond to the challenges that change can

bring – be it evolving business needs or changing consumer expectations. Being technology savvy has never been more crucial to help companies and their employees stay competitive. Those that are able to leverage on the latest technologies tend to be the most productive and successful through their efficiency.

BEST IT TRAINING PROVIDERS GOLD

COMAT Training Services

GOLD

Impress Training

SILVER

NTUC LearningHub

BRONZE

Singapore National Employers Federation

FINALISTS Eagle Infotech Consultants Management Development & Consultancy Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD COMAT Training Services 2015 has been an exciting year for COMAT with the integration of three business centres of excellence – IT and business management; safety and health, environment and quality; and leadership and professional development. Combining the strengths of these three centres, COMAT now provides an end-to-end learning solution comprising learning management and administration, learning delivery and learning performance measurement to meet clients’ current and future business and learning needs. In its evolution to excellence, COMAT has moved from traditional classroom-based training to multi-modal delivery platforms, including online and blended lessons to accommodate the different needs of the workforce. As the top training provider for international computer driving licence (ICDL) courses, COMAT leads many initiatives that focus on driving capability and competency on Microsoft Office skills to help companies drive higher productivity. COMAT will be the first in Singapore to introduce blended ICDL training in the fourth quarter of 2015, which is a co-initiative with the WDA and ECDL.

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COMAT’s in-house trademark – SkillsXpress™ – provides intensive one-day, deep-dive courses that narrow in on specific aspects of IT application and management skills, allowing professionals to focus on areas that are relevant to their work. Driven by the desire to stay abreast, COMAT has incorporated the New Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model in its training approach. This method of evaluating training and development focuses on return on expectations (ROE) – which measures both qualitative and quantitative benefits realised from a programme. COMAT has also introduced the online skills assessment (ESTEAM) test to enable clients to better assess the skills gap so the right training solution can be provided to them based on individual competency requirements. Apart from customised training programmes, COMAT also provides consultative services such as instructional and courseware design, and office workflow automation. COMAT also works closely with the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to develop programmes for IT professionals that are aligned with the National Infocomm Competency Programme.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST IT TRAINING PROVIDERS

GOLD Impress Training Impress Training looks towards tomorrow’s needs to find programmes that actively pursue new ways of thinking or doing. The firm was among the first training providers to introduce introductory workshops on “carbon foot-printing” almost five years ago, likewise with its course on “design thinking”. Even with existing courses, it seeks out new methods or technologies in which to train people to become more productive, gain new skill sets or simply new perspectives. Every year, it changes the catalogue of courses and trainers to keep pace with the market. Recently, Impress Training introduced courses called “understanding business analytics”, “building dynamic excel dashboards” and “customer experience design”. As a further testament of its culture of innovation, the company has been in the process of building a new e-learning platform to extend courses online and provide a continuous learning platform

beyond the training room. This has been done to extend the depth of knowledge gained from these courses. The platform has been completed and is being tested with an expected roll-out in 2016 with the “PowerPoint design for business presentations” being the first of the programmes to be marketed. It is undeniable it’s only through the dedication, passion and hard work of Impress Training’s individual trainers this high-quality and relevant training can be made available to clients. Such dedication grants Impress Training a competitive edge. Its IT programmes are designed with the employee in mind – meaning the firm gives employees the mechanics and skill sets to achieve what they need to do themselves. The aim of the firm ultimately is, productivity – reducing business costs by empowering employees to do better with less effort and achieve the same outcomes faster.

SILVER NTUC LearningHub Having the essential certifications is vital to developing one’s career and staying competitive. With this is mind, NTUC LearningHub has Infocomm Technology (ICT) courses for everyone – be it someone new to technology, or one who is changing careers, or is a seasoned IT professional. NTUC LearningHub embraces the mission of enhancing the lifelong employability of Singapore’s workforce by providing high quality, innovative products and affordable learning. The training programmes provided include infocomm technology, professional IT certifications, soft skills and literacy, workplace safety and health, an employability skills system, customer service training, trades, cleaning, WSQ security and manufacturing skills. The firm’s latest ICT offerings are the series of Qlik’s training programmes. These accelerate the adoption of visual analytics by providing environments which remove common learning

barriers and provide users a structured path to build knowledge about Qlik applications. All these suit the needs of business users, analysts, data architects, system administrators and web developers. To deliver quality computer-aided design skills, the firm works with Autodesk to provide both training and certification programmes. The number of training days have been reduced to a maximum of three days to reduce disruptions to customers’ work schedules, while at the same time enabling professionals to achieve industry recognised credentials which are useful for their career. As a total learning solutions provider, the firm forges partnerships through a wide range of training solutions and working to improve its training quality. The company also maintains relevance by linking with learning communities, keeping track of new trends in learning such as mobile and e-learning as well as improving its training methods.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST IT TRAINING PROVIDERS

BRONZE Singapore National Employers Federation Having extended more course offerings to employers in the areas of leadership, human resources and industrial relations, service excellence, sales productivity and business management in the past year, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) continues to perform well. The firm’s revenue has also improved significantly and it has trained an impressive number of candidates this year. SNEF serves its members and nonmembers through training and provides a consultancy service in training needs and analysis for employers as well as in the fields of HR and IR. It prides itself on its IT courses, which are more than just certifications. It also deep-dives into certain functional areas that firms value to close the skills gaps of clients. Due to a rise in various government schemes the company is administering, this has caused a definite uptake in the number of clients approaching it for training solutions. Additionally, SNEF has completed projects on courseware development for the Personal Data Protection Act, the tripartite guidelines for the Harassment and Bully Act, and the key employment terms for companies. The firm foresees a surge of demand in training for itemised payslips and the key employment terms when these comes into force in April 2016. As part of its promise to deliver effective and relevant training, its offerings undergo constant review and improvements. SNEF tends to structure its training products in accordance to the needs of the market and designs them in line with government policies. The firm is also a strategic partner of the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) and undergoes rigorous quality checks by it on top of its other audit requirements.

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Eagle Infotech Consultants Eagle Infotech Consultants takes extreme pride in helping to train the nation’s workforce. It believes the skills it imparts to its participants are integral in boosting their productivity at work and a positive in the role they play to help Singaporeans, who have not been working, to train and return to the workforce. As a Workforce Development Authority (WDA) authorised training organisation, Eagle has courses in information technology (IT) that range from Microsoft office modules to project management and image editing courses. Its online collaboration courses help keep participants up to date on IT technologies. It has also developed one-day courses to help busy executives to zoom in on specific topics they are keen to master. With the recent emphasis on mid-career workers to skill up, Eagle has increased its course schedules to include weekends for such participants who may not be able to attend during office or working hours. The firm’s diverse customer base includes multinational corporations, government bodies, associations, small and medium enterprises as well as individuals. To date, it has trained an impressive number of participants in IT-related and soft-skills training. Incorporated in July 1988, the firm is also a registered training centre with the Ministry of Education. In addition, it is also an approved Certiport iQcentre for delivery of Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) training and examinations. Eagle has established itself as a training centre that provides quality training tailored to individual needs. Additionally, this training provider doesn’t lose sight of training its own employees. Its staff works with a go-the-extra-mile spirit, even as the firm stresses on integrity and honesty as its key characteristics.

Management Development & Consultancy The past year has seen a steady increase in participants for Management Development & Consultancy’s (MDC) programmes, while continuous support and positive and valued feedback from clients was maintained throughout the 12 months. MDC’s performance also grew strongly in revenue for local and overseas business. Moving forward to 2016, MDC believes in continuing to develop and customise new programmes to keep up with different market trends and training needs. In appreciation of industry needs, MDC introduced a slew of new courses in the past year to enhance its offerings to clients and ensure a closer fit to their training needs. A total of 79 new courses were added to its public seminars covering diverse areas such as risk management, business management, HR management and development, financial management, team leadership and supervisory management, sales and marketing, communication, EQ and service excellence, personal effectiveness and productivity, and IT short courses, with a focus on the 2013 Microsoft Suite. The company’s accomplishments last year had a far-reaching impact. In July 2015, MDIS, of which MDC is the corporate training arm, partnered with Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai, India, to establish MDIS India. Construction on the institute’s third overseas campus, spanning about 70,000 square feet, will begin in 2016. In July 2014, MDIS acquired the Service Quality Centre (formerly known as TÜV SÜD PSB Learning), a pioneer soft skills specialist in service quality and excellence. The partnership was yet another milestone in cementing MDIS’ vision of promoting lifelong learning.

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BEST TEAM BUILDING TRAINING PROVIDERS

THE COLLECTIVE SUM OF INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS In today’s uncertain global economy, achieving organisational targets is a task that even the most Herculean leader will find daunting. Prospects of growth are shaky at best, and success in this scenario cannot be achieved without team support. In Ernst & Young’s 2013 research, an overwhelming majority of senior executives surveyed

agreed that teams were the best way to address today’s increasingly complex business problems. In fact, more than 80% were of the view their organisation’s ability to develop and manage teams would be essential for their future competitiveness. Alphabet’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt recently voiced his opinion on the topic by posting an

African proverb on his Twitter stream: “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” However, the word “team” no longer refers to employees who simply work in the same department, doing similar kind of work and reporting to a single manager. Teams have changed – drastically. Teams that work together with genuine team spirit are the ones which perform the best and deliver the most value to their companies. Sometimes team spirit sparks by itself, but most of the time it requires hard work and smart techniques. Most of the time those smart techniques are provided by team building specialists. The winners and finalists of the Best Team Building Training Provider category are consistently able to transform groups of employees into high performing teams who work hard for each other, communicate effectively and achieve fantastic results. You can be assured of the benefits of synergy, working with these jury approved firms. BEST TEAM BUILDING TRAINING PROVIDERS GOLD

FOCUS Adventure

SILVER

GRINESS

BRONZE

Gogreen Holdings

FINALISTS Singapore National Employers Federation StrengthsAsia Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD FOCUS Adventure Averaging hundreds of training programmes with thousands of participants in the past few years, gold winner FOCUS Adventure is an industry leader. In the past year, the company expanded to a new training site in Sentosa, which is about one hectare, or four times larger than its previous site in Sentosa. This new site is exclusive, yet accessible. It is located at the end of Palawan beach and is only five metres away from the beach. It will include six fully air-conditioned function rooms, two open-air deck areas and challenging rope course activities. By the end of 2015, it will have completed construction of Singapore’s first ever Team Challenge Hourglass (TCH). This refers to a 30-metre high challenge tower consisting of a variety of challenges. Participants will work in teams of four to five members and ascend the tower in a continuous spiral manner. The team will have to work together to overcome the challenges presented at different segments of the Hourglass. The reward for reaching the summit is a 30-metre leap from the tower, with a safety device attached. This TCH will be the fourth that FOCUS Adventure has built over the years. The previous three projects

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are in Sibu Island (Malaysia), Bintan (Indonesia) and Hainan (China). The concept is a one-of-a-kind and will offer a fresh team building experience. While the Hourglass may look very imposing, it is carefully designed to ensure most corporate participants are able to take on the challenge. FOCUS Adventure has also been offering water activities for many years, but in 2015 it decided to put more emphasis on them. It built up a sizeable fleet of hardware to support activities such as sailboats, support boats, kayaks and dragon boats. This hardware enabled it to design programmes new to the market, such as dragon boating from Sentosa to Lazarus Island, which ensures clients keep coming back to this provider. Additionally, the firm’s senior facilitator, Joey Ng, become the first person in Singapore to attain the status of certified competent facilitator awarded by the International Institute for Facilitation. The year also saw a huge push towards its internal leadership development programme. To develop its facilitators, it exposed them to real-time leadership challenges, all of which are part of this firm’s focus on excellence.

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BEST TEAM BUILDING TRAINING PROVIDERS

SILVER GRINESS This silver winner is committed to introducing new team building games every three months. As a result, the past year saw GRINESS introduce We Are Different (big five traits personality profiling), Hells Kitchen and Bon Appetite (cooking team building), Uniquely You Art Jam (art jamming), among others. In the process, the team married hard science and hard fun. Instead of using commercial and popular personality profiling tools, it introduced the “Big Five Personality” model, which is relatively unknown in the business world, despite being among the most researched models in the scientific community. It was the same in the case of other new activities such as Hells Kitchen and Bon Appetite, which were not just about fun cooking, but were used to introduce topics of customer service and project management. GRINESS offers three main services: team building workshops, corporate training, and a meetings and retreats facilitation. The team building is offered in over 20 workshops that include the domino effect, airships, team symphony, terrarium of happiness, and running man race, among others. As a result of its innovative approach, the company has

been growing steadily over the past few years, owing to a relationship of trust with clients. The company attributes this trust to its win-winwin strategy. That includes a win for participants through fun experiences, improved relationships and practical knowledge; another win for management through activities that bring across their messages and reinforce desired behaviours; and a final win for event organisers, through flexible arrangements, prompt replies and hassle-free event planning. Perceptibly, GRINESS takes games seriously – and this has borne fruit in its gamification of training. The team has studied games and entertainment trends and transformed them into training games. In an environment where universities are looking for new ways to engage learners and increase training effectiveness, training games is one of the solutions it offers. The founder and lead facilitator of GRINESS has a master’s degree in organisational psychology. He ensures the content and tools used in the company’s workshops are evidence-based cutting-edge science, and not another “management fad”, in a commitment to the win-win-win philosophy.

BRONZE Gogreen Holdings Gogreen Holdings is Asia’s leading zero emissions transportation provider. Besides being the exclusive distributor for Segway® Products in Singapore, Gogreen Segway is also an attractions partner of Sentosa Development Corporation, prominently the Segway® Eco Adventure. Its rides provide guests with a unique opportunity to have fun and feel nature’s beauty without leaving a negative impact on the environment. Being the attractions operator of Segway Eco Adventure tour in Sentosa brings the firm a large number of people. Over the past 12 months, Gogreen Segway has hosted a great number of corporations and schools while catering to their team building exercises. Throughout this time, it constantly listens to its clients and their special requirements, so as to adapt the experience. Leisure activities aside, Gogreen is the official distributor of Segway PT in Singapore. In fact, one of its clients has successfully deployed its officers on multiple Segway PT at their work area, substantially shortening the travelling time, and leading to more efficient operations overall. Moreover, the Segway PT can easily captivate

an audience and enhances its clients’ profile during activities such as product launches, exhibitions and promotions. Gogreen’s clients look at it as a highly creative, flexible and unique marketing channel and a key way to influence the way its target audience sees its business. To cater to client needs, Gogreen introduced the Segway corporate membership scheme, as a repeat business model for corporates who like to do more to reward their employees. This scheme allows the staff and their family members to enjoy the Segway Eco Adventure Tour & Bicycles rental for free once the employers opt in. Having a safe work environment is critical to the success of its business, and Gogreen has overcome the challenges of effectively integrating comprehensive environmental, health and safety policies into the sustainability of its operations. This was done through meticulous co-ordination among staff and a set of standard operating procedures. Some examples of such policies include compulsory safety gear when riding a Segway PT and checking each Segway PT thoroughly every day before and after operations.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST TEAM BUILDING TRAINING PROVIDERS

Singapore National Employers Federation SNEF’s motto is to address the needs of companies as a responsible employer and a sustainable business. Hence, it works to nurture talent in organisations through training and development as well as represent the voice of the employers when it comes to the human capital aspect, such as the Employment Act, Workplace Safety and Health, the Personal Data Protection Act and other nationwide tripartite guidelines. In partnership with the International Labour Organisation and the IOE, SNEF ran an ASEAN conference in Singapore on the topic of women in business management. The organisation has conducted a notable number of events for its members, in tandem. SNEF continued to perform well last year after extending its course offerings to employers in the areas of leadership, human resources and industrial relations, service excellence, sales productivity and business management. SNEF serves its members and non-members through training and provides a consultancy service in training needs and analysis for employers as well as in the fields of HR and IR. In working with clients, SNEF provides pre-

assessment of the participants’ skills sets, in cases where the companies are working with them on customised training. Beyond that, it also supplies after-training support services such as survey and assessment of competencies acquired post three to six months of training. Through all this, the organisation’s leadership at the secretariat level has remained stable, with a strong and committed core team which has been with it for more than 10 years. The senior director of training and assistant executive director, Stephen Yee, envisions the direction for the training division addressing needs in alignment with government policies. Apart from the leadership, SNEF invests in the training of the rest of its staff. Most of them will have a WSQ ACTA (advanced certificate in training and assessment) at the minimum. SNEF also sponsors their diplomas and degrees. Well trained and equipped, they go the extra mile in assisting customers on claims and SkillsConnect issues, making them familiar with the claims process from the government on course fee funding and absentee payroll. This valued addition also enables greater outreach to clients.

StrengthsAsia With superb levels of revenue growth, client retention and completed projects over the past year, StrengthsAsia offers three key training products: Strengths-based leadership, Strengths-based team engagement, and the great managers programme. With this mission, StrengthsAsia has been firing up people and organisations in Asia to love what they do and do what they do best every day since 2011. By getting more and more people to do that, it is bringing more focus on the worth and wellbeing of the individual by creating momentum in people, groups and organisations to believe and invest into their unique strengths, and unleashing positive, yet a disproportionate impact into lives, organisations, communities and societies in Asia. StrengthsAsia is a partner of The Gallup Organisation (Gallup) in using Strengths to drive personal and corporate lives towards excellence through the Gallup StrengthsFinder, StrengthsQuest, StrengthsExplorer, and the entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder. As part of the global movement started by Gallup, it is playing a role in Asia in partnering Gallup to reach one billion people in discovering their

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talents and strengths through StrengthsFinder and unleashing the potential of excellence in people. StrengthsAsia comprises top Gallup-certified strengths coaches in Asia in the advocacy and practice of strengths-based thinking, living and performance. The company creates and delivers inspirationally transformative experiences in Strengths engagement for individuals and organisations. Being in Asia gives this finalist a unique edge, experience, perspective and understanding in designing and delivering Strengths-based engagement in Asian cultures. StrengthsAsia is founded by Lim Kim Pong, its principal coach. He was accorded the first platinum Gallup-certified coach title by Gallup in Singapore. He is recognised by Gallup Singapore as one of Asia’s foremost experts in Strengths practices, coaching and training. He was also the first of 20 Gallup-certified coaches in the world to run StrengthsFinder initiatives publicly. He has also been a key partner in kicking off Gallup’s global strengths coaching programme in Singapore.

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BEST TRAINING VENUES

A PLACE OF PRIDE In the early years of the learning and development (L&D) industry, training sessions were stodgy affairs with limited options in terms of location and capability. Today, ample innovation has been made when it comes to the depth and variety L&D leaders offer staff in their corporate training sessions, but it’s the choice of venues – the meeting site or destination – that has truly made a big impact on the industry In fact, the excitement, anticipation and expectations that surround a training session are quite dependant on the choice of the training venue. Understandably, establishing an environment

conducive to learning is a critical aspect of starting a training session off on the right foot. Sometimes the company conference room or office pantry area is fine, but in most cases training is more effective when it takes place off-site at a neutral venue. Since deciding where to hold the training session is often just as important as deciding which training will take place, the winners and finalists in this category are those that have truly aligned themselves holistically with the business needs of their clients. Not only do they have state-of-the-art facilities, but they also look to build long-term relationships. The best training venues listed here encourage communication, creativity and confidence within set budgets, and the companies that have made it to the Best Training Venue category best deliver these attributes on a consistent basis. If you are looking for the perfect location to host corporate training, the list below will be a good start. BEST TRAINING VENUES GOLD

Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre

SILVER

Far East Hospitality

BRONZE

Carlton Hotel Singapore

FINALISTS NTUC LearningHub Singapore National Employers Federation Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre As one of the leading convention and exhibition centres in the industry, gold winner Suntec Singapore has taken a leadership role in changing the way people look at such venues. One of the ways it has done this is the optimum utilisation of technology. Its smart digital centre incorporates an intelligent-building management system, venue-wide high-speed Wi-Fi and a network of sensors allowing for more productivity and flexibility in serving clients. For example, the system of moving walls is complemented by the auto-zoning of air conditioning, while digital room signage is centrally managed. In another effort to enhance efficiency, it has developed a patent-pending modular chair dolly designed to change the way rooms are set up. Not only is it ergonomic and safer, but Suntec Singapore has shared this with peers in the industry as well. Whether for a classroom-style training, interactive workshop, seminar or large conference, Suntec Singapore remains equally adept in delivering on its promise of a customised, seamless experience where everything just works. Its success in attracting these events is built

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around six core pillars – central location, flexible customisable space, impeccable service, Suntec technology suite, culinary excellence and intelligent sustainability After having enjoyed near-monopoly status since its launch in 1995, Suntec Singapore closed for a major revamp in June 2012 for a year, emerging more resilient in taking on the competition and exhibiting impeccable business performance, despite operating with a facility still going through teething issues, a dramatically more competitive landscape and a brand new team. The team’s ability to competitively win back previous events post the major renovation, along with the ability to secure a huge number of new events, clearly demonstrated its commitment. It was also impressive that Suntec was able to marshal its new team to deliver a high level of service given it had to overcome problems with a newly renovated building, from operations to the F&B quality and getting all the new technology to work. The company’s ability to deliver a consistently high level of customised experience for its clients has resulted in a top-notch 2015 performance.

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BEST TRAINING VENUES

SILVER Far East Hospitality Service standards and attention to the needs of guests are areas in which Far East Hospitalityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Village Hotels excel in. The term village reflects the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to providing local and authentic experiences for discerning travellers. Located in the heartland areas, the Village Hotels comprise Village Hotel Albert Court, Village Hotel Bugis, Village Hotel Changi and Village Hotel Katong. All four have consistently received great traveller reviews, and a number of industry recognitions. One of these even included a highly acclaimed rating for outstanding achievements in environmentally sustainable building practices. An ongoing initiative is the soft refurbishment of club and suite rooms and meeting areas at Village Hotel Changi, with a target completion date of January 2016. In the meantime, Village Hotel Changi has upgraded its air-conditioning chiller system by replacing it with a more energy efficient one. Along with a greater call for workforce training in Singapore, in particular, Village Hotel Katong and Village Hotel Changi have been appealing to corporations as meeting/training venues. The Village Hotels, with their rustic environment, good security,

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and easy accessibility to the city and airport, are very conducive for corporate meetings and trainings. Far East Hospitality places a high importance on the training and development of its employees. Training courses are available in a multitude of areas, such as people management, business management, customer service, human resources, workplace safety and health, and many more. As a result of this intensive training focus, key staff promotions have emerged internally. For example at Village Hotel Changi, general manager Kent Law recently took charge of the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall operations and financial performance, having first started out as a rooms division manager more than three years ago. Contributions of outstanding staff do not go unnoticed, with the year-end company wide service champion star awards held to identify and recognise service champions and role models. For corporations looking to conduct their training at the Village Hotel properties, the facilities provide the participants and trainers a familiar and cozy setting, while staying within their budget, along with providing convenient and accessible locales.

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BEST TRAINING VENUES

BRONZE Carlton Hotel Singapore Newly renovated and ready to host training, Carlton Hotel Singapore is expecting to close this year with revenue and staff growth safely tucked in, and increased customer satisfaction. As the largest independent hotel in Singapore with a sizeable inventory, the hotel occupies quite a significant share of the market. Its recent refurbishment took place in the main tower and executive wing, and the hotel is proud to cater to the needs and scales of any event. With an extension of high-ceiling and pillarless rooms, the Empress Ballroom is great for a large gathering of guests. The hotel's Istana Rooms come with natural lighting, making them very conducive for smaller meetings as well as the Connaught rooms with the tastefully furnished settings. The newly added Esplanade three and four rooms are ideal for board meetings and cocktail parties. Positive testimonials from clients exemplify the high service standards at Carlton Hotel Singapore. Guests can be assured all meetings, trainings and seminars will run smoothly. The hotel is a supporter of the Workforce Skills

Qualification (WSQ) programmes and has taken on the enterprise training system to train staff in their work fields to upgrade their skill sets. Adding another feather to its cap, the Hotel’s Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant has bagged various awards, along with Café Mosaic. Carlton was also awarded for a creative advertising campaign launched post-renovation. The past couple of years have seen new appointments for various roles, such as the roles of general manager, resident manager, director of sales and marketing, director of marketing communications, director of catering, as well as an assistant director of food and beverages. With seasoned industry professionals in its ranks, the recruitment of these key people has brought fresh insights to the hotel and helped to strengthen the hotel’s position in this increasingly competitive business. In parallel, recruitment among the rest of the staff has also seen growth in the recent past, to cope with the growing demands of the hotel and to continue increasing customer satisfaction scores post the hotel's renovation in February 2015.

NTUC LearningHub A tremendous improvement in the employee attrition rate, a significant number of internal transfers and promotions, and a big boost in the employee engagement index – these were the hallmarks of NTUC LearningHub’s (LHUB) achievements in the past year. In parallel, LHUB implemented “project butterfly” to groom new managers internally. A name well-known to most Singaporeans, LHUB offers a range of training programmes for upskilling and reskilling of employees, and does so with an excellent pool of training courses and certified trainers. With its positioning as a total learning solutions provider to organisations and individuals, LHUB constantly seeks to forge partnerships through relevant training solutions and tireless improvements in its training quality. LHUB also maintains relevance in content and materials by linking up with learning communities, and keeping track of new learning trends. The past 12 months saw LHUB continuing to fulfil its commitment to helping organisations identify training needs, define curriculum roadmaps

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and deliver contemporary training programmes. In addition, it was certified ISO 29990:2010. As part of its dedication towards upgrading facilities and customer experience, LHUB recently increased the number of customer service touchpoints, with the latest addition at Lifelong Learning Institute in the East. Following sectoral demands, LHUB also increased the forklift training capacity in its Benoi centre as well as added more classrooms in the Tampines (Abacus Plaza). The infocomm training facilities at Bras Basah Centre were also recently upgraded with a view to providing best-in-class training experiences for customers. New Asus laptops are also now in use for some of LHUB’s infocomm technology programmes. Apart from these, the classrooms located at LHUB's headquarters in NTUC Trade Union House saw enhancements, as part of continuous improvement efforts. Till date, it has befitted quite a significant number of companies to identify training needs, define curriculum roadmaps and deliver contemporary training programmes.

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BEST TRAINING VENUES

Singapore National Employers Federation Addressing the needs of companies as a responsible employer is the mission undertaken by Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), stemming from a nation-wide need to develop organisational talent through training. Furthermore, SNEF represents the voices of employers when it comes to human capital aspects involving the Employment Act, Workplace Safety and Health Act, Personal Data Protection Act and other tripartite guidelines. Such a remarkable focus on holistic development is extended to training participants, with SNEF providing pre-assessment of their skill sets to tailor training accordingly. This is followed up with after-training support, such as surveys and assessments of competencies acquired. Also, with SNEF being a long-time strategic partner of the Workforce Development Authority (WDA), it undergoes rigorous quality checks by it on top of its other audit requirements. In the past year, SNEF invested in expanding its portfolio of course offerings to employers in the diverse areas of leadership, human resources

and industrial relations, service excellence, sales productivity and business management. Clearly, SNEFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products undergo constant reviews and improvements, attuned to the changing needs of the market. Being a not-for-profit organisation, it endeavours to set its prices at a reasonable rate for companies to send their staff for training and invest in other services. This ensures good take-up rates for its open public classes. A big advantage is SNEFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s training location in Central, in the Orchard Road belt, making it highly accessible by public transport, while also providing ample parking for those participants who drive in. Moving forward, SNEF aims to embark with various employers and government agencies to develop future talent. It also prides itself on targeting to be the voice of the nation's enterprises as its long-term mission. In addition, SNEF envisions to better the employment landscape for employers, along with developing businesses by providing them with core and fundamental key skills to the best of its abilities.

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BEST PAYROLL OUTSOURCING PARTNERS

THE BEST WAY TO DOLE OUT THE DOUGH The outsourcing of traditional HR functions has now become a norm rather than an exception. With great advancements in technology, HR professionals can rely on software to take care of payroll management. Indeed, one of the keys to advancing the HR function is the ability of HR professionals to free themselves of administrative HR functions which

will enable them to focus on strategic HR management issues. Such payroll systems bring benefits to employees as well – easier tracking of their salary slips with just a click on the computer, rather than looking for printed documents from months ago, being just one of them. The switch to a paperless way of working helps both parties.

Given that so many companies in Singapore are operating across the region, another key feature HR decision-makers look for is a framework that takes each country’s considerations into account, and yet is able to manage the payroll process efficiently. Undoubtedly, outsourcing payroll to a reliable third party is a godsend for many companies. The list of winners and finalists in this edition is a stepping stone for your organisation’s consideration in working with this third party for your payroll management. The companies that have been featured here are the ones that were listed by HR managers themselves, and then ratified by a jury of HR directors across the region. These winners and finalists of the Best Payroll Outsourcing Partner category are the companies that best deliver bottomline value for their clients as a result of taking on and improving payroll administration. BEST PAYROLL OUTSOURCING PARTNERS GOLD

ADP

SILVER

Links International

BRONZE

Times Software

BRONZE

Virtual HR

FINALISTS NGA HR APJ Payroll2U PayrollServe Ready Software Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD ADP Gold winner Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is relied on by employers worldwide for cloud-based solutions to help manage people. A pioneer in human capital management and business process outsourcing, ADP serves an astonishing number of clients worldwide, boasting impressive client retention and growth rates as well as revenue growth rates. From human resources and payroll to talent management and benefits administration, ADP brings unmatched depth and expertise in helping clients build a better workforce. ADP provides clients with a wide range of payroll options, ranging from manually calling in their payroll requirements to its specialists, entering their payroll data online with an internet-based solution or via a mobile device, to outsourcing their entire payroll process to ADP. Its key product and service offerings are flexible payroll solutions provided to clients of all sizes, from the preparation of employee payslips, to management reports. It also enables its largest clients to interface their major enterprise resource planning (ERP)

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applications with ADP’s outsourced, secure and compliant payroll solutions. One of the payroll outsourcing solutions provided in the APAC region is CPAY, which offers in-country payroll and lodgement services, giving clients improved efficiency, transparency, cost control and compliance with local laws and regulations. Another one is GlobalView which is offered as a multi-country payroll to large clients to help them manage complex risk to ensure regulatory compliance worldwide. Streamline is another regional solution, which is offered to smaller multinational clients enabling them to harmonise multi-country payroll and human resources administration processes from a single point of accountability. Additionally, ADP also leads in industry contributions and thought leadership via its various publications and has won awards and earned numerous media coverage for its excellence, apart from being recognised by Gartner as a leader in its magic quadrant for payroll BPO services for the fourth consecutive year.

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BEST PAYROLL OUTSOURCING PARTNERS

SILVER Links International Links International’s outsourced payroll service is delivered from its innovative HR portal, purpose-built for Asia and supported by its local payroll experts. Its cloud-hosted HR portal provides functions such as e-payslip, e-leave, e-expense, e-HR records and e-HR reporting in order for its clients’ employees to have a streamlined and environmentally friendly HR experience. The portal also enables them to access and update their HR records, apply for leave and make expense claims anytime, anywhere. Links’ efficient HR portal and payroll outsourcing enables its clients to build their brands efficiently in Asia by removing distractions and reducing the costs associated with payroll. Due to its successful client partnerships, Links has seen a significant year-on-year increase in the number of payroll clients and significant growth in its HR outsourcing revenue in the past year. Apart from the ease and streamlining of processes, other benefits its clients are able to gain include the productive allocation of their internal resources; compliant, timely and supported payroll; and in-depth HR reporting among others.

Not surprisingly, Links is confident in its innovative HR portal and will ensure it continues to be a dominant player in the outsourced payroll space in Asia through such innovation. The company has regularly been recognised for its progressive work in the HR space, having won various awards. It also puts time and effort in creating engaging thought leadership, such as Onboard, its quarterly publication that keeps HR staff aware of significant payroll as well as HR changes across the region. As a professional services business, Links recognises its staff is its key unique selling point and the crucial factor in ensuring a successful business. Accordingly, Links allocates significant resources in attracting, retaining and developing the best teams and ensuring employee engagement through programmes such as Links Next Step, Links Vibe Survey, Links Masterclass training and aggressive bonus structures. As such, Links is able to reap the benefits of a stable and engaged workforce, while enjoying high retention rates among clients and employees.

BRONZE Times Software Times Software stays true to its mission of providing products and services to cater to all its customers’ needs, in supporting the finance and human resource functions, and assisting in the development of large, medium and small-sized companies, and MNCs in a rapidly changing environment. Times Software has been unifying the finance and human resource functions for the past 17 years. It owes its success and resilient sustainable growth to the practice of “Kaizen” – the philosophy of continuous change for improvement, to constantly better its products, processes and services. The “Kaizen” philosophy is at the heart of everything this firm does. Times Software ensures all its staff are equipped with the knowledge of statutory requirements so customers get the right information in the shortest amount of time. Its people-first HR approach is about recognising that employees are people first and must be treated differently than other organisational resources. Times Software’s core principles are to cultivate, manage and retain talent, believing its human resources increase in value through organisational knowledge. It is always driven to achieve high

employee retention rates, achieving a major milestone in 2014 to 2015 where it maintained an impressively low turnover rate, attributed to initiatives in areas such as training and knowledge transfer, welfare and benefits and job satisfaction. This bronze winner has enjoyed steady customer growth per year, maintaining an impressive customer retention rate, owing to its excellent relationships with customers and its world-class payroll outsourcing services. Its customer base consists of organisations from diverse industries ranging from manufacturing to retail. It also manages payroll for government institutions. Another thing that gives Times Software an edge over its competitors is its payroll and HRIS software are all developed in-house enabling the firm to respond to regulation changes within the shortest amount of time. Besides, for many years, Times Software has been donating its payroll systems to educational institutions to be used as learning tools, while actively sponsoring top student awards for polytechnic students in 12 subjects in the business field.

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BEST PAYROLL OUTSOURCING PARTNERS

BRONZE Virtual HR

NGA HR APJ

Payroll2U

Virtual HR was founded in 2000 and has grown steadily since. As a payroll outsourcing specialist, it focuses on a sustainable approach in becoming the trusted partner of its clients in managing formidable payroll dollars per year. This past year, Virtual HR introduced its bespoke systems such as the scholarship management and staff movement system. The bespoke systems are aimed at meeting the needs of time and resourceconsuming HR processes not met by standard HR software systems in the market. These intricate processes are often overlooked by software houses or lack visible profiles to justify product commercialisation. Virtual HR is prepared to invest in such developments to contribute to the continued push for productivity, hoping these systems will eventually benefit the larger community. Further, the year saw improvements to its products, such as migrating clients to a new platform that manages processes such as leave applications, payroll and appraisals. This ensured clients are equipped with the most optimised product, along with changes in technology and regulatory compliance. Also, Virtual HR ensures the user interface aligns with the user experience and expectations. With payroll being a time-sensitive function, Virtual HR ensures its communication channels are clear and quick from end-to-end, while having a lean structure to keep costs low when delivering the service. Its organisation structure consists of two key leaders with a team of subject matter experts. All other roles are dedicated to customer service or payroll management. Virtual HR has also established a knowledge networking platform to facilitate the sharing of knowledge among its clients, the HR and business community.

Supporting clients through their entire human capital journey is what makes NGA HR distinctive. This finalist helps shape its clients’ HR and IT strategies from the planning phase via tools selection and transformation to ultimately running their business processes to deliver modern and effective HR services. NGA HR’s products and services are available globally, covering both tactical and strategic HR requirements. As a “glocal” company, it can deliver large-scale, crossgeographic assignments and bring its local HR subject matter expertise to the requirements. The company prioritises a world-class delivery engine, market-leading offerings, the relentless pursuit of greater market share, the sharpening of operational efficiency and delivery of service excellence. Key products and services it offers include payroll services, HR outsourcing, application management, HR consulting and benefits and insurance broking. Its notable features include a global payroll system with comprehensive and managed services, global service delivery capability and a global footprint. This is coupled with an extensive partner network, a safe pair of hands committed towards quality and security, while operating under industry standard controls and compliance and market-proven technology. All of the above has resulted in the firm gaining many new business wins, notable client retention rates as well as impressive client satisfaction scores. The company also strives to build a great place to work, providing staff with various training and development programmes. It wants its people to take advantage of its many learning and development offerings to help fulfil their career aspirations, and it builds personalised development plans for each one.

Established in 2012, Payroll2U is a payroll technology and business processing outsourcing company that has developed its payroll application, smartPAY, and payroll processes to help Asian companies manage their payroll efficiently and accurately. The company spent its first two years focused on building and testing a world-class system, with a belief that having its proprietary payroll software was important. This enables it to effect statutory changes without relying on third party software. Payroll2U’s payroll engines are statutecompliant locally and available in various countries regionally. It aims to be the payroll processing partner of choice in Asia Pacific and is pursuing the addition of more regional engines into its suite of solutions. Its smartPAY software is a cloud-based application requiring clients to just have an internet browser and connection. It has its own import and export facilities and can interface with several HR management systems. It also has a mobile application, enabling users to view their payslips on their mobile devices, apply for leave, approve a subordinate’s leave, apply for overtime, and more on the go. Other modules to complete its payroll suite include a leave module, benefits and reimbursement claims module and a time management system. Payroll2U’s system eliminates the time and cost associated with installing, administrating and supporting applications. It also enables the quick implementation of monthly payroll procedures and processes, and allows quick and easy up scaling of the number of users. Another novel fact is that Payroll2U codevelops its system with client users, who often give valuable feedback, helping to improve the user interface. Moreover, Payroll2U prides itself on having a pool of talented staff.

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BEST PAYROLL OUTSOURCING PARTNERS

PayrollServe PayrollServe, a Stone Forest company, provides a full range of scalable payroll and HR outsourcing solutions. In the past 30 years, the firm has grown from strength to strength, and has a strong team of qualified payroll professionals based locally. Quality is the absolute cornerstone for this firm. To ensure consistent practices, it adopts global methodologies, policies and practices which are compliant with internationally recognised standards. PayrollServe partners some of the world’s leading providers of payroll and HR outsourcing solutions. Such partnerships extend the reach of its services in Asia, distinguishing it as one of the top choices for payroll and HR solutions among startups, SMEs and MNCs, with a presence in multiple countries in the region. PayrollServe provides the following four services – payroll management, absence management, HR advisory and payroll compliance. These services are made possible through the support of its qualified team of payroll specialists, and its proprietary online system – PayDay! human resources management solution (HRMS). Strongly believing in technology, PayrollServe’s

long-term vision has been “to be a technology driven company”. With that in mind, it embraces and invests heavily in technology to build its business. One of the investments focuses on mobile technology. By creating the PayDay! HRMS mobile application, PayrollServe encourages a paperless environment, allowing clients to access their itemised payslips and leave balances anytime anywhere, bringing convenience to HR personnel as well as end users. With a clear operation structure and strategic career development plan in place for its employees, it sees high employee retention rates. Plus, PayrollServe also fosters a culture of workplace learning and development. It believes that training is important to meet its objectives, and its PayrollServe Academy is an Approved Training Organisation (ATO) by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA). PayrollServe works closely with local associations and institutions to reach out to local enterprises and banks, and was recently appointed by SPRING Singapore as an approved human resources vendor for its new initiative.

Ready Software Ready Software provides knowledgeable payroll practices and prompt payroll services, along with a willingness to provide ad-hoc reports whenever required by customers. Customers not only outsource payroll, but also e-payslips, e-leave and e-claims from this one-stop HR service. Ready Software provides payroll outsourcing services to its ReadyPay users as a value-added service. Its customers can rely on Ready Software to support them in their time of need, for example, when their payroll staff are not available. Its unique position is its customers get a backup of the processed payroll which they can view with the ReadyPay software they already have. They can subsequently continue with the payroll process themselves if they no longer require the outsourced service. Ready Software has customers who have been using its payroll outsourcing services for as long as 10 years. Its client retention strategy is to provide new features yearly to enhance its ReadyPay software to make it more powerful and better able to handle all types of payroll outsourcing requirements. It is focusing on developing more employee

self-service web applications for the HR community to improve their efficiency and productivity. The company’s founder and managing director Rachel Swee is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants. She is also an active volunteer mediator of the Consumers Association of Singapore. She was awarded the entrepreneur of the year by the Rotary Club of Singapore jointly with the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises. Apart from being the company’s MD, she also takes part in the initiation of all new developments and is actively involved in training her employees. With its top management actively participating in employee training, it is not surprising that Ready Software is able to retain most of its key employees with more than half of its current employees having worked for long tenures. Ready Software is recognised for its active contribution to the HR industry by developing payroll and human resources web applications using new technology, thereby improving the efficiency and productivity of the HR community.

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BEST RECRUITMENT PROCESS OUTSOURCING PARTNERS

When well-executed, the outsourcing relationship streamlines the recruitment process and passes it on to someone who is better equipped to meet the organisation’s hiring needs. Resourcing and the administrative side of contract and permanent recruitment takes up a huge amount of time and soaks up large volumes of HR department resources, time and effort which could be put to more valuable use if allocated to more strategic HR management issues. Regardless, if you’re new to RPO, an expert or just looking for a second opinion, HR Vendors of the Year has made your job simpler. What should you look for when choosing the right partner? How can you make the most out of your investment? How can you better foster your partnership? The winners and finalists of the Best Recruitment Process Outsourcing Partner category are the companies that takes the administrative recruitment work off its clients’ hands and deliver the most value for their clients.

PARTNERS IN HIRING Bringing the right talent with the right skills on board is harder than ever, which might explain why 58% of organisations around the world plan to increase their use of third-party recruitment firms within the next 12 months.

This is according to the Global Trends in RPO & Talent Recruitment report, which also found – albeit worryingly – that senior hiring managers did not display a strong understanding of the recruitment outsourcing models available.

BEST RECRUITMENT PROCESS OUTSOURCING PARTNERS GOLD

Randstad Sourceright

SILVER

APBA

BRONZE

RGF

BRONZE

Capita

FINALIST

The GMP Group

GOLD Randstad Sourceright Gold winner Randstad Sourceright has a deep understanding of the Asian labour market dynamics and has expertise in solutions to help employers overcome challenges. The firm delivers advanced RPO solutions to clients across the globe, of all sizes and industries. Its Asia Pacific headquarters is based in Singapore, offering RPO solutions driven by a unique global presence, a focus on smart innovation, leading recruitment expertise and deep client-focused resources. Randstad does not deploy “one-sizefits-all” or “cookie cutter” solutions. Its solutions architects are focused on helping to strategise and design programmes. The company runs sourcing centres in Hyderabad, Chennai, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Manila, made up of sourcing specialists for various industries. They provide traditional and innovative sourcing techniques, discovering even the most passive talent in the marketplace. Randstad continuously assesses its trendforward approach based on an integrated active and passive sourcing strategy. Its sourcing experts use complex string searches to give clients a complete

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view of the candidate market – as opposed to presenting only those candidates actively searching for jobs. Led by industry experts and thoughtleaders in the areas of sourcing, RPO, technology and employer branding, Randstad’s recruiting and innovation centre of expertise (COE) provides the structure and focus needed to drive continuous improvement and ensure quality results for clients. The COE leads a strategic approach to recruiting and is responsible for owning and nurturing the core methodologies that drive Randstad Sourceright’s recruitment. It enhances candidate quality and effectiveness by centralising knowledge, guidance and expertise in assessment utilisation, and ensuring clients have the right assessment solution for their talent and business needs. It is equipped with smart applications for managing clients’ social media presence, and aligning their employer brand with the expectations of clients’ potential candidates. The Randstad website is updated regularly with blogs and white papers written by its leaders, demonstrating the company’s commitment to sharing knowledge with the industry.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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SILVER APBA 2015 was a milestone year in APBA’s history since its inception in 2011. In addition to its investment activities, the company expanded its services to include recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), business process outsourcing (BPO), payroll process outsourcing (PPO) and HR advisory solutions as part of its organic growth initiatives. Though it may seem like a rookie player, only starting to offer outsourcing solutions this year, APBA’s innovative and comprehensive business solutions have gained traction from employers who are looking at outsourcing their recruitment, payroll or business functions. Clients who make use of APBA’s RPO services are provided with an on-site consulting team to understand their unique challenges, identify gaps and recommend solutions per their distinct needs. Based on these, APBA’s customised RPO solutions can include sourcing, pre-employment medical screening, personality profiling and employee engagement programmes, to name a few. Additionally, its BPO solutions allow clients to transfer their non-core business functions to APBA, allowing them to continue to sharpen their

competitive advantage while leveraging on APBA’s strengths. Its BPO solutions include HR operations, customer service management, facilities operations management and IT management. The company’s payroll services aim to help clients free up valuable talent to focus on work that adds more value to their organisations. Its suite of payroll services span from the calculation of monthly payroll, including allowances and claims, to the issuance of e-payslips, with the complimentary use of the e-platform (staff, attendance, leave and benefits). APBA’s HR advisory team comprises HR veterans who have amassed a wealth of human capital experience at operational and strategic levels. Recognising the sensitivity involved when implementing new HR initiatives, APBA partners with its clients to ensure new programmes are implemented smoothly. The past year saw exponential growth for the organisation, as it also expanded its recruitment and business process outsourcing team. With a tight and productive team, APBA has been effective in managing its clients’ operational requirements and candidates’ needs.

BRONZE RGF RGF is the global brand of Recruit Holdings, Japan’s largest recruiting and information service company which operates regionally across Asia. RGF has many specialist consultants across Asia with industry, functional, and most importantly, local market expertise. RGF Singapore, established in April 2010, offers the full spectrum of services – executive recruitment, general recruitment and Japan desk, and contract recruitment. Within five years, it has proven itself in the market and competed against its peers who have been in the market for many more years. To serve clients and candidates better in 2014 and 2015, RGF Singapore invested heavily in people and technology. It developed an in-house system to ride on the forefront of digital innovation, where it leveraged on sourcing, matching and mobile technology. This technology enhancement helped RGF to cut down on manual processes, enhance productivity, allowed the tracking of progress and ROI and helped to source for active and passive candidates with accuracy and speed. In the past year, RGF also embarked into vertical specialisations which made it easier to accurately

target the right market segments; enhance service levels, efficiency and productivity; encourage teamwork and sharing of market knowledge; all while boosting its brand and reputation as a thought leader in the market. Clients also found it was more convenient to have one point of contact who is a specialist in their relevant sector. At the same time, with researchers, who are also industry experts assisting with candidate searches, it allowed recruiters to spend more time on service delivery. In-line with one of RGF’s values, Kaizen, the company continuously looks at improving its systems and processes. For example, it recently upgraded both its websites to enhance the client and candidate experience. RGF Singapore believes in building long-term relationships with clients and candidates and has had a strong and stable management team which has been with RGF since the start of its organic growth in Singapore. Having worked up the ranks, the team possesses extensive experience, market knowledge and is definitely an industry pioneer which has been there, and done that.

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BRONZE Capita As part of its continuous plan to grow the company, bronze winner Capita has implemented the Strategic Vision Operation Plans, Vision 2018 (SVOP2018) to refine its operational environment, map out new strategic plans, which include growth outside of traditional bases, and also institute improvements in its training, which is crucial to its business. The primary objective is that by the correct execution of such objectives, it can move from being a local SME to a regional company. Since its inception in 2007, Capita has grown to become a top recruitment company, one that believes that a key factor for its outstanding performance lies in the successful implementation of SVOP2018, which leads to growth in revenue and also in clients. In reality, its system is highly focused on the delivery of results for clients. Its recruitment systems fully measure delivery, customer satisfaction, company HR matrix, performance matrix and business and financial risk controls that help it in the operations and growth of the company. These are constantly refined through yearly strategic planning and the use of strategic and

operation tools such as the Balanced Scorecard to help Capita define its operational matrix better. Capita has also made headway into RPO and managed services since the inception of Capita Outsourcing, its temporary and contract placement division, in 2011. In doing so, it has partnered a few key accounts in sectors such as government, retail and hospitality, telco and infocomm, and MICE and logistics to establish its temporary and contracts offering as one of the key revenue growth drivers in Capita. Gaining these key accounts was also a testament to its strengths in client service. Capita has also been gaining strength in key growth areas, namely in the healthcare, technology outsourcing, banking and engineering sectors. Capita’s business support division continues to be its core offering, partnering clients in many midsenior corporate support placements. For this level of efficiency, the company has garnered awards in the past two years, such as the silver for Recruitment Agency of the Year at the Asia Recruitment Awards, in recognition of its relentless drive to keep its client product and service offerings relevant and of utmost quality in the industry.

The GMP Group With a vast wealth of experience in recruitment and specialised industry knowledge, GMP meets the needs of clients through six speciality divisions. These are GMP recruitment, GMP technologies, GMP banking, GMP international, GMP consultancy and GSI executive search. Each division has its own unique selling point and expertise, allowing its clients to leverage on them, ensuring they get the right talent they need, every time. GMP has consistently provided clients with committed services, including a wide pool of topnotch talent stored in its common database. This database is ever-growing, with new candidates registering with the company every day. Candidates from other sources are also captured in this database to provide clients with an abundant talent pool. One way it has ensured the constant flow of this is the revamp of its website. The company streamlined its content and gave it a much more user-friendly interface. GMP also keeps itself abreast of the employment needs for new technologies or trends for different groups of talent through an understanding of government initiatives, growth sectors and global trends.

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It even builds new teams to develop new talent for new sectors and growth areas. Similarly with the advent of a young and tech-savvy generation, which is always on the move, GMP has tapped on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ to reach out to a wider pool of talent. Being in the business for almost 25 years, GMP has survived half of Singapore’s 50 years of trials and tribulations of nation-building. Through the years, GMP has constantly reinvented itself and its services to meet its clients’ requirements in response to the technology, market and global shift. Alongside, this finalist aims to continuously upgrade and develop its staff to not only help them grow and get better at what they do, but at the same time provide the best service to their clients. GMP provides them with opportunities to attend courses as well as sharing sessions organised by various organisations to keep them abreast of the latest news, laws and policies in the Singapore HR landscape. Its staff, together with their knowledge and expertise, are what ensures GMP provides the best possible service to its clients.

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BEST PAYROLL SOFTWARE

a secure network, easily accessible, and providing a breakdown of all the elements that went into its making – such as salary, commission, bonus, flexible benefits, tax, leave, expenses, time and attendance. Alongside, there has been a focus on employee self-service, with a number of solutions now available to cater to self-service capabilities, cloudbased accessibility and multiple layers of security. All of these factors have conspired to make a smart payroll package an essential item for all companies. The winners and finalists of the Best Payroll Software category are the companies which have developed the most intuitive and most valuable payroll systems. BEST PAYROLL SOFTWARE

PAYING THEIR WAY Back in the “good old” days, employees got a cheque at the end of the month, and if they were lucky they received a copy of the payslip. Personnel would take hours out of their routine to make the process happen, driven by a number of variables such as the total staff strength, the size and complexity of the company structure, frequency of the payroll process, and the level of control and layers of management the process needed approval from before the pay was disbursed.

In fact, HR managers would repeatedly complain about being held back by productivity killers such as paperwork, payroll processing and routine training sessions, before efforts to automate these processes started to emerge. A report by SilkRoad found 72% of HR professionals admitted that a lack of automation in talent management was holding them back from business success. How times have changed. The typical payslip is now automatically emailed to employees, or uploaded to

GOLD

ADP

SILVER

Payroll2U

BRONZE

PayrollServe

BRONZE

Times Software

FINALISTS Info-Tech Systems Integrators JustLogin NGA HR APJ Ramco Systems Ready Software Sage Software Asia SAP Unit4 Asia Pacific Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD ADP ADP is a provider of cloud-based solutions, helping businesses worldwide manage their human capital. From human resources and payroll to talent management and benefits administration, ADP uses its expertise to help clients build a better workforce. ADP launched its in-country solution CPay in Singapore in 2014, providing payroll and lodgement services and giving clients improved efficiency, transparency, cost control and compliance with local laws and regulations. In fact, ADP provides flexible payroll solutions to clients of all sizes, including the preparation of employee payslips, supporting journals, summaries and management reports. It also enables its largest clients to interface their major enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications with ADP’s outsourced, secure and compliant payroll solutions. GlobalView, on the other hand, is its multinational solution. ADP began offering multicountry payroll to large clients in 2001 in the APAC region with this SaaS single source solution. The offering helps clients manage complex risks and ensures regulatory compliance worldwide. The single shared platform supports multiple

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languages and currencies, provides a complete view of the organisation’s pay practices and data, and is supported by ADP’s dedicated shared services centres in Hyderabad and Shanghai. Further, ADP unveiled Streamline, its multicountry payroll solution in 2005, for clients with less than 1,000 employees in two or more countries. It enables them to harmonise multi-country payroll and HR administration processes from a single point of accountability across 104 countries. In August 2015, NelsonHall, a global BPO analyst firm, recognised ADP as a leading provider of global payroll solutions. Its assessment report identified ADP as a leading service provider in overall payroll, multi-country payroll, HR cloud integration and analytics and reporting. NelsonHall specifically cited the ADP® mobile solutions app as an example of increased investment and client adoption of the mobile delivery of payroll services. It also recognised ADP® Marketplace, a cloud-based app store designed to help employers dynamically manage an ecosystem of enterprise applications, built using ADP’s secure application programming interfaces.

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SILVER Payroll2U Silver winner Payroll2U is a payroll technology and business process outsourcing company – and it may be a relatively new player, but its senior team and staff have over 15 years of payroll experience in Asia. Tapping on this human capital for payroll domain knowledge and harnessing today’s technology for payroll software development, Payroll2U developed its proprietary payroll application, smartPAY, which helps Asian companies process their payroll efficiently and accurately. Established at the end of 2012, Payroll2U has grown from strength to strength, now doing business in more than 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region. Armed with a mobile application (Android and iOS platform) and a cloud-based payroll system (smartPAY), Payroll2U is poised for greater heights. SmartPAY is a cloud-based application where clients just need an internet browser and connection to get into the system to process their companies’ payroll. There is no need to purchase any additional computers, servers or devices. As the name implies, smartPAY has a payroll core. Other modules that Payroll2U has developed to complete its payroll suite include leave modules,

benefits and reimbursement, claims modules, and a time management system. Payroll2U’s payroll engines are statutory compliant across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Philippines and Myanmar. Taiwan and Vietnam will be added to its country payroll list by the end of this year. For countries that it does not have a payroll engine with, the company can interface with third party payroll engines so employees see a similar user interface and reports across all countries. Apart from that, smartPAY has its own import and export facilities. It can interface with several HR management systems (HRMS), making it a sensible choice for Payroll2U to import employees’ core data from their clients’ HRMS into their payroll system without keying them a second time. The mobile application, alongside, enables employees to view their payslip on their mobile devices, apply for leave, approve a subordinate’s leave, apply for overtime, and even doing timeclocking on the mobile phone. This technology company is committed to studying trends carefully and continuing to improve its software and service offerings.

BRONZE PayrollServe PayrollServe, a Stone Forest company, provides a full range of cloud and LAN-based applications for companies to manage HR and payroll processes. This bronze winner’s long-term vision is to be a technology driven company. With that goal in mind, it embraces and invests heavily in technology to help build the business. One of the company’s investment focus is on mobile technology. There is a growing interest in this new technology which is gaining popularity among enterprises quickly. Riding on the mobile technology trend, the company created the PayDay! HRMS mobile application. This encourages a paperless environment, allowing HR practitioners to access their itemised payslips and leave balance anytime anywhere – bringing convenience to HR personnel as well as the end users. PayrollServe works closely with local associations and institutions to reach out to local enterprises. The company is currently working with a lot of SMEs in Singapore that were granted subsidies from the government to use its payroll technology and services. SMEs, which have not previously outsourced

their payroll services, can enjoy up to a 70% subsidy of the fees. With this attractive grant and the support from the government, SMEs can focus more on their business, while getting their payroll needs optimally taken care of. Quality is the absolute cornerstone for the firm. To ensure consistent practices, it adopts global methodologies, policies and practices which are compliant with internationally recognised standards. To uphold these high service standards, PayrollServe fosters a culture of workplace learning and development. It runs the PayrollServe Academy, an approved training organisation by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA). The firm is aware that training is important to meet the strategic and operational objectives of the company. It also encourages the sharing of knowledge among staff and ensures the continual success of the business. Other than training topics related to its work, the HR team has also mandated orientation and general training topics, such as the i.C.A.R.E. programme which teaches how “I create a remarkable experience” for its clients.

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BRONZE Times Software Times Software serves customers from diverse industries ranging from aerospace to pharmaceuticals. Payroll processing, financial management for employees, tax scheduling and processing, appraisal management systems, and employee performance appraisals and evaluations – all of these critical processes need a streamlined, efficient and a unified system to help businesses organise their resources and human assets, and this bronze winner offers a complete suite of payroll and HR integrated solutions. These fulfil the areas of payroll processing, leave, attendance and claims management, recruitment and people development. Times Software also specialises in creating products for SMEs, large MNCs and government agencies. Its products are widely used in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. Seeing a growing demand for software as a service products, the company launched its first cloud-based payroll system and service this year, and is about to launch its first Android and iOS mobile application, regarding leave management. In the near future, it will have a unified application for complete HRIS solutions. With 17 years of experience providing HR technology, the company has built its success on sustainable growth. To achieve this, it expanded the business proportionately and realistically in line with cash flows, profit-debt ratios and employee growth. The company practises “Kaizen”, the concept of continuous change for improvement, to constantly better its products, processes and services. Times Software looks to provide excellent products and services to cater to all its customers’ needs, especially in the finance and human resources functions, in rapidly changing environments and technology.

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Info-Tech Systems Integrators Based in Singapore, Info-Tech Systems Integrators (ITS) focuses on integrated HR systems and it has more than 19 years of experience. With a strong focus on after-sales services and a group of dedicated software support specialists, the company strives to be customer-oriented. Its various products and services are developed with the user in mind, enabling organisations to manage employees effectively through training, incentives and rewards, the right staffing requirements and retaining talent through best practices. Infopay, the company’s payroll system, is a simple and user-friendly payroll software. It is approved by the CPF board, IR8A online submission to IRAS (auto inclusion) and all the banks in Singapore for employee salary transfer. The software is packaged with leave functionality to track an employee’s annual leave, medical leave, child care leave, and more. An employee’s leave eligibility, leave taken and leave balance details can be viewed and printed on the payslip. Payslips can be printed on sealed payslip paper or can be sent via email in PDF format with password protection. Info-Tech also focuses on mobile apps developments, especially for attendance tracking, recruitment and leave application on the iOS and Android platforms. This is critical for off-site users who are still required to report to work as usual, despite working remotely. With these apps, employers are able to get real-time information such as overtime hours prior to a payroll run, track job costing, monitor resources, employee attendance and other employee data. Underlying all this is a people-first HR approach, which is about treating employees differently than other organisational resources.

JustLogin JustLogin provides HR and payroll software on the software-as-a-service model (SaaS) to customers in 23 countries, including MNCs and SMEs. JustLogin’s applications enable companies to improve staff productivity and streamline HR work processes. From processing payroll, managing leave and claim applications, and tracking time and attendance, Justlogin’s suite of applications are able to transform a company into an intelligent enterprise with total ease and affordability. Its team of programmers are constantly improving and upgrading current products while bringing in innovative tech solutions to HR professionals. Continually aiming to strive better, Justlogin has recently improved its creation ePayroll to include support for multiple currencies. This allows customers to create and configure pay elements for statutory contributions in different countries. The company has also pledged excellent after-sales service through the phone, live chats and email support. JustLogin takes security to the highest level, doing regular daily and weekly backups to ensure its clients’ information is stored safely. After more than a decade of serving enterprises in Singapore, the company expanded to Hong Kong in 2014, launching payroll software specifically for the market. JustLogin also recently rolled out eTimeclock, a cloud-based time and attendance system that uses mobile devices to capture times, photos and GPS locations that are sent real-time to cloud servers. This feature-rich module allows companies to manage staff in multiple locations with no need for hardware setup or maintenance. It is also fully integrated with e-leave and ePayroll to accurately calculate hours worked, overtime, staff attendance and also manages shifts and rosters.

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NGA HR APJ

Ramco Systems

Ready Software

NGA Singapore supports clients with a one-stop solution for their human capital management needs. It helps in shaping clients’ HR/IT strategy via tools selection and transformation, ultimately running their business processes to deliver modern and effective HR services. With its products and services being used in more than 145 countries across the globe, the company specialises in end-to-end HR service offerings, covering tactical and strategic HR challenges in its broad-based HR service portfolio. It prides itself on being a “glocal” company, with the ability to deliver large-scale, cross-geography assignments, while focused on local HR subject matter and expertise. The company is committed towards the quality and security of its services, keeping a strong focus on operating under industry standard controls and compliance. At the centre of all of this is decades of HR-only advisory, impressive HR systems implementation and comprehensive HR application support experience. Additionally, the firm provides a one-stop shop benefits solution ranging from benefits consulting, insurance broking and benefits administration plus a value-added service offering integrated health and wellness programmes. NGA is a diverse organisation geographically and culturally. It celebrates different talent and skills with personalised development plans for each employee around the world. All employees at NGA understand not only the career opportunities available to them, but also how to take advantage of the company’s various learning and development offerings to help fulfil their career aspirations. The company operates in 35 countries.

Global payroll service provider Ramco Systems banks on constant innovation to stay relevant in this dynamically changing environment. Its cloud-based HCM and talent management solution is one of the most popular and fastest growing products in the company’s 20-year of history. Ramco HCM is a comprehensive HR management solution with multi-country payroll covering the 360-degree life cycle of an employee from hire to retire. It focuses on a Gen-Y user interface, role-based workspace and in-memory engine. The firm also offers multi-country payroll compliance across more than 35 countries, with the capability to address over 70% of the world’s working population. Ramco Payroll is the only global solution that can comply to payroll legislation for 13 countries in APAC, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, TimorLeste, and Papua New Guinea. The Ramco Payroll solution is preferred by those companies that are running both distributed as well as a shared services model. Several managed payroll services players are using Ramco Payroll to process payroll for their end customers. The firm has always disrupted the status quo with a mission to create and provide nextgeneration enterprise solutions that enhance the competitive capabilities and value, by leveraging new technologies and expanding global connectivity. As talent, and not natural resources, become the differentiator for nations and industries, HR has become a major focus for organisations. The emerging role of HR has Ramco seeing enormous potential in this segment where it could prove to be of great value among progressive corporations.

Ready Software has been an active player for the past 20 years having won and retained a number of long-term clients. It’s retention strategy? Provide new features yearly to enhance its ReadyPay payroll software to make it current. Ready Software plans to develop more web applications for the HR community to improve its efficiency and productivity. Much of its work is in the area of employee self-service web applications – getting employees to contribute their data rather than having HR enter it. ReadyPay is its user-friendly payroll software that has evolved from a simple payroll system to a comprehensive and powerful payroll system over the years. Besides the standard payroll features, it has unique things such as a multi currency payroll; foreign bank account crediting; user-friendly report generator; exporting data to spreadsheets; and salary increment projections, among others. Its web application ReadyPay.net uses the latest .NET technology and runs on the Microsoft SQL database. It allows users to login from any computer anytime and anywhere via internet browsers to do the payroll. It has more than just payroll functions and includes HR functions as well. Another product the firm offers is ReadyImport.net that saves a payroll user’s data entry time by importing data directly from spreadsheet files. Next in line is ReadyPayAdvice.net that allows employees to retrieve their e-payslips, e-form IR8A and other confidential documents using any types of computers, tablets and smartphones through an internet connection. Fourth in its suite of web applications is ReadyLeave.net. This is for employees to apply for leave and enquire about their balances. It also allows managers to approve leave.

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Sage Software Asia

SAP

Unit4 Asia Pacific

Sage EasyPay is a leading payroll and human resource management software system trusted by SMEs to MNCs in the region. In 2013, Sage Software added Sage EasyTime to the Sage HRMS product family to automate all the operational HR activities starting from manpower planning, time attendance taken, payroll computation to all the statutory submissions. Sage’s principle is “customer for life” and in keeping in line with their expectations, Sage EasyPay version 10.6.11 was released in June this year. This version included general updates such as an enhanced e-individual report, new fields to pay details export and enhancements in the leave balance computation upon employee cessation. It also added Singapore-specific improvements, such as the addition of SG50’s public holiday on 7 August 2015, and the addition of new fields for employee additional CPF and employer additional CPF to pay detail export for current and previous fix pay items. Next up is the Sage EasyPay version 10.6.12 scheduled for release in December, where users can expect general enhancements such as the customisation of the report templates for confirmation letters, increment letters and employment letters; and a year-end checklist wizard for income tax processing. Singapore-based users can look forward to relevant changes such as the addition of an option to include one additional week of government-paid paternity leave, as well as the CPF salary ceiling, effective from 1 January 2016. With its intense focus on customers, it led to the expansion of its payroll division, where the past year has seen the addition of a product development manager, technical manager, and business development manager in charge of overseas expansion.

As the market leader in enterprise application software, SAP is at the centre of today’s business and technology revolution. Its innovations enable customers worldwide to work together more efficiently and use business insights more effectively. SAP helps organisations of all sizes and industries overcome the complexities that plague businesses, jobs and lives. With Run Simple as its operating principle, SAP’s employees focus on a singular purpose that inspires them every day: To help the world run better and improve people’s lives. Its core human resources and payroll software helps streamline HR and payroll operations in the cloud. It does so by consolidating core HR and payroll operations in the cloud with the SAP SuccessFactors software that’s available in 37 languages. Companies can execute talent-driven strategies for workforce planning with embedded insightful reports and analytics. There is focus on value-added activities that support business strategies and goals. This simplification and streamlining of global payroll processes in the cloud helps to increase ROI for clients. SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central goes beyond basic automation to deliver a suite of applications. Within the product options, SAP’s global payroll solution is available as a hosted option that comes integrated with Employee Central. For organisations that wish to manage payroll in-house via a cloud-based solution, SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central payroll offers all the same features and benefits as SAP’s on-premise payroll solution, but it is delivered with the security, scale and flexibility of the SuccessFactors cloud. The SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central payroll is available as an option for SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central customers only.

HR personnel can be free from the pain of calculating employees’ wages with the UNIT4 Prosoft HRMS Payroll, a comprehensive solution that simplifies and computerises the tedious task. The module includes all the payroll functionalities needed by businesses to process payroll quickly and accurately, including multi-country support for regional payroll (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and more); flexible payroll transactions; quick and accurate payroll processing; bonuses, advance payments, and back/retro payments; online submission of banks, provident funds and personal income tax, among many others. Its Prosoft HRMS consists of administrator and employee self-service modules. The administrator modules serve as a main control of all employees’ data, starting from creating a new employee record, updating their particulars, processing payroll to giving leave entitlement. It enables HR personnel to define various payroll groups, each with its own rules and calculation methods. With employee self-service modules being recently introduced, employees can go online to apply for leave, claims, update their address, view payslips, and more. For the integrity of data, all HR modules are seamlessly integrated and are using a shared employees database across all modules. The benefits are tremendous, with the entire organisation linked via the Prosoft intelligence system where better controls can be put in place to facilitate workflow with the introduction. Communication is enhanced with the help of electronic processes. With the data bank, information can be easily extracted. With the easy translation of data into useful information, its analysis will translate into knowledge and organisation intelligence.

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BEST APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

KEEPING AN EYE ON YOUR TALENT PIPELINE Anyone who has sorted through 200 resumes to fill a single role will understand how tedious it is to manage job applications. Now think about filling 200 roles in six markets over a 12-month period with a quarter of those candidates applying for more than one role. Impossibly complex. It is no secret that a company’s success is built on the quality of its talent. In today’s ultracompetitive talent wars, merely promoting job openings through advertisements and on social media, and monitoring them manually, is not enough. Companies need applicant tracking software to help them better manage the recruitment process from the first contact to onboarding. Missing out on conversations with candidates at any stage may result in losing them to a competitor.

Research shows nearly half of HR professionals worldwide still don’t offer candidates the option of accessing their applicant tracking system (ATS) via a mobile device. This raises serious concerns, considering that when job seekers can’t apply via a mobile device, 65% said they rarely return to their desktop to finish the application. Smart companies make use of applicant tracking technology to ensure they are keeping in touch with the candidates at all times. This enables them to feel that the company is committed and also a caring employer, regardless of the result of the recruitment process. An intuitive applicant tracking system is the answer. The winners and finalists of the Best Applicant Tracking Software category are the software companies that have developed the ATS packages which have both saved time and unlocked value for their customers. BEST APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE GOLD

PageUp

SILVER

HRBoss

BRONZE

iqDynamics

BRONZE

Workday

FINALISTS Bullhorn Software SAP Times Software Unit4 Asia Pacific Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

GOLD PageUp Since its inception in 1997, gold winner PageUp has helped multinational employers align their talent resources to execute corporate strategies across borders, business units, cultures and languages. The PageUp SaaS-delivered solution unifies recruiting, performance management, learning, compensation, career planning, succession management and advanced workforce analytics to help employers overcome talent management challenges. Headquartered in Melbourne, PageUp has additional office locations in Sydney, London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. The first module in PageUp’s unified talent management solution is its applicant tracking and recruitment system. It enables the recruitment of quality candidates fast, with one simple system to track every stage of the candidate life cycle. Not only does it automate recruitment workflows with bulk actions for volume hires, but it connects seamlessly with existing technology partners such as online test providers, job boards, background check providers, and more. Moreover, PageUp’s candidate relationship management (CRM) empowers recruiters with

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collaborative social hiring tools to proactively identify, connect and foster relationships with passive talent and start building tomorrow’s pipeline. What’s more, the solution provides powerful analytics dashboards and custom reports to not only enable better decision-making, but prove the success of recruitment efforts and measure return on investment. Apart from its products and services, PageUp is deeply committed to all aspects of organisational talent management through contributions to the industry through its global research, in the form of books, white papers, seminars, roundtables, conference circuit presentations and its websites. Since the beginning of 2014, PageUp has published two books: Talented South East Asia and Talented Philippines. These are particularly notable as they are the first books on talent management to be specifically focused on the countries of Southeast Asia. The company has also published white papers on topics such as “The Talent Management Gamification 9-Box”, “Mobilise Now Southeast Asia”, “Mobilise Now Hong Kong”, among a long list of others.

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BEST APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

SILVER HRBoss HRBoss was founded in 2011 with the launch of HiringBoss, the first Asian-born applicant tracking software for corporate HR. It powers customers from world-leading government organisations, to enterprises and institutions. Delivered as a turnkey cloud-based subscription solution, HiringBoss is the brainchild of seasoned leaders, who have had more than 20 years of experience in the HR and recruiting industry in Asia. HiringBoss reduces administration and paperwork by bringing all hiring-related information onto one intuitive platform and automating the end-toend hiring process: from job requisition, posting jobs, reviewing candidates, scheduling interviews, sending emails, parsing of CVs, generating offer letters, and ultimately hiring the right person for the job. This silver-winning solution has revolutionised the industry by offering a multi-lingual, easily configurable, locally supported cloud-based ATS at

an affordable price. A large portion of HiringBoss’ strategy is based around listening and acting on what its customers want, as the firm believes they are the ultimate experts in their field. The product roadmap, therefore, always includes a minimum of 50% of customer-requested features. With HRBoss’ vision to provide innovative, easy to use software which is fully localised for businesses in Asia, staying ahead of local market intelligence is a priority. The sales and marketing teams regularly publish analyst reports and white papers available for complimentary download on its dedicated human resources web page. They also maintain the HRBoss blog, sharing weekly curations and topical articles which to date have 2,000-plus active subscribers across the Asia region and beyond, besides organising HR events of their own.

BRONZE IqDynamics IqDynamics is a software developer that has been specialising in people-centric software solutions to help companies and organisations of all sizes for the past 21 years. In particular, its product, HRiQ human capital management solution, has been serving organisations in Singapore and around the region for 15 years. The firm is committed to developing HRiQ to become an indispensable asset to HR managers, directors and top-level management, to help them in growing their business successfully. Because of its uniquely integrated, yet modular system, the companies iqDynamics works with run across a full range of sizes, from local SMEs to global MNCs operating all over the world. Throughout the past year, the firm maintained an outstanding client retention rate. Additionally, many of its customers indicated their preference to retain iqDynamics’ services, using HRiQ as their preferred HR management or talent development

solution. The company is also inspired to see strong indications of growth in many of its clients – and it communicates frequently with its clients to see exactly how its integrated and comprehensive talent management solution is helping them. Many of the firm’s clients are looking for strategic offerings through HRiQ Talent such as performance appraisal, talent assessment, recruitment and learning development. This is not surprising as HRiQ Talent empowers the HR department to become a strategic force in its organisation, and allows HR’s active contribution to management decisions. As an established HR solution provider, the company prides itself on staying up to date with the latest HR best practices. Its directors and consultants are knowledgeable and well-trained to provide consultative and advisory services in these aspects to not only customers, but other companies looking to improve their human resources.

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BRONZE Workday In 2015, Workday made significant investments in the Asia Pacific region, including increasing the number of employees in Singapore and Hong Kong, opening a new office in Kuala Lumpur, and upgrading the office in Hong Kong to add training facilities. Growth has been consistent across all functions, including professional services, sales, business development and administration. Spurred on by the local cloud, mobile and HR self-service trends, and Workday’s growing global reputation, the firm’s marketing strategy in Asia centres on value creation and working with other trusted advisors in the local HR industry. Workday has had a disruptive impact in the Asian market, in allowing organisations to confidently embrace new technologies. As a pure-play cloud application provider, Workday – together with companies such as Salesforce and ServiceNow – is playing a leading role in helping Asian companies transition to the cloud. Through its mobile, self-service interface, Workday is helping Asian organisations fully exploit the benefits of a shared-service HR solution. Workday’s embedded analytics bring all the benefits

of big data and predictive analytics to HR managers – for example, the ability to more efficiently identify retention risk – without costly external implementation. Workday 25 is its latest release, which adds mobile expenses, an improved user interface and detailed analytics. It was rolled out to customers in less than four hours. Ease of migration is just one example of the disruptive benefits of Workday in the cloud. Another significant way in which Workday adds value locally is by regularly hosting user groups, which builds a growing community of companies and HR professionals, empowered to share ideas and exchange information.

Bullhorn Software For the past 15 years, Bullhorn’s management solutions have helped make clients’ businesses efficient and profitable. Its applicant tracking system (ATS) helps recruiters manage the entire recruitment and applicant management process from a single easy to use interface. Bullhorn’s software automatically tracks all email activity associated with a particular candidate’s record and updates that record in real time, offering a complete view of candidate interactions and relationships. Its mobile recruiting software lets recruiters view and edit candidate records, create notes and access placement data on any device at any time. It is also the industry’s first staffing-specific ATS integration with LinkedIn Recruiter. Using Bullhorn, recruiters can view candidates’ or clients’ LinkedIn records easily. This integration streamlines a recruiter’s workflow, reduces the number of clicks and provides an up-to-date view of candidate information. Bullhorn also offers CRM software for the staffing and recruiting industry. The Bullhorn cloud-based relationship

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management platform is a true multi-tenant software-as-a-service system, implying it is always up to date with the latest features and requires zero software plug-ins or installations. It allows companies to scale without limitation. Additionally, Bullhorn’s 99.99% uptime ensures the system is reliable. The firm also provides the most comprehensive solutions for managing the full recruiter workflow – from sourcing to submittal and placement, allowing recruiting teams to be extremely agile and move fluidly through each step of the recruitment process. For personnel at staffing agencies, Bullhorn’s solutions help manage their contingent staffing operations optimally.

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BEST APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

SAP SAP SuccessFactors helps companies get the right people in the right roles quickly at a reduced cost with recruiting solutions. Its system is able to help employers attract, engage and select the best talent and then measure the impact of that new hire. It improves the entire hiring process by combining an intelligent and social recruiting marketing process with a mobile and collaborative selection process. It reduces organisational risk and delivers better business results and improves the competitive advantage With its system, HR professionals can simplify talent management so HR professionals can proactively act, easily measure, and clearly communicate talent results and business impact. SuccessFactors’ patented methodology ensures that jobs get in front of the right candidate with the right message at the right time. It simplifies administrative tasks so recruiters can focus on strategic recruiting activities in order to fill skills gaps and identify future growth needs. Utilising analytics allows recruiters to better align recruiting practices to decrease time and costs, while increasing the quality of hires. It increases

candidate engagement through marketing best practices to cultivate strong candidates for a pipeline that will save recruiters time and get better results. A smooth onboarding is another key priority for HR, and SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding accelerates new-hire engagement. It incorporates the latest best practices, and emphasises employee socialisation. It guides HR personnel, hiring managers and new hires in meaningful ways by connecting new hires with the right people and relevant content even before their first day. Most importantly, it develops new hires quickly to help them contribute in record time.

Times Software Payroll processing, financial management for employees, tax scheduling and processing, appraisal management systems, employee performance appraisals and evaluation – all of these critical processes need a streamlined, efficient and a unified system to help businesses organise their resources and human assets. Recognising this need for more than 17 years, Times Software has been unifying finance and human resource functions with technology and delivering cost-effective solutions to more than 5,000 customers in Singapore alone. The firm has pushed beyond the boundaries of possibilities by constantly improving its products, processes and services through its “kaizen” philosophy. Its customers have benefited immensely as it imparts to them its solutions and wealth of HR industry knowledge and experience. The firm’s constant positive customer growth every year speaks volumes and proves it has made an impact on the industry. Though it lacks the media and advertising presence that some of its competitors have created with their large advertising investments, the firm’s reputation as a payroll and HR software provider in the region has grown primarily

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through its customers’ word of mouth. It has kept its advertising expenses low and passed those savings back to its customers. In 2013, Times Software launched its applicant tracking system to ease customers’ burden of keeping track of the information received. In its recent versions, it has enhanced and fine-tuned its resume screening functionality and included interview details to ensure recruiters will able to hire the right person for the right job. Despite being a relatively young system compared with Times’ other suite of products, its applicant tracking system is a mature product due to its many years of experience in the HR industry. To achieve sustainable growth, the firm has expanded its business proportionately and realistically in line with its cash flows, profit-debt ratios and employee growth. It cultivates, manages and retains talent by improving their productivity and job satisfaction, thus retaining a low employee turnover rate. The firm is then able to minimise its overhead expenses while achieving increased revenue and profits without the need to increase its employee headcount aggressively.

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BEST APPLICANT TRACKING SOFTWARE

Unit4 Asia Pacific Unit4 is a leading provider of people-centric enterprise software for services organisations. It brings to market cloud ERP and business applications designed to meet specific vertical market requirements, helping customers embrace change simply, quickly and cost-effectively. Through its solutions, customers change and innovate at a higher speed and lower cost. It offers integrated personnel management and administration through the Unit4 Agresso HR and payroll. This gives human resources and payroll managers a comprehensive range of tools to help them perform this essential function more efficiently and effectively, with dedicated modules for each role. The single, definitive HR control and information centre keeps personnel data organised and under control â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no matter where it comes from or how intricate and fast-changing it is. Key to this is the document archive, which provides a centralised record of all employee information. Agresso HR also allows electronic documents (such as scanned certificates from third-party training courses) to be attached to employee records, so that all critical employee information is in one central repository.

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The Unit4 people platform offers a whole new level of capabilities designed around the needs of people, enabling companies to harness the latest advances in key technologies such as social, mobile, predictive analytics, cloud and big data. The Unit4 people planning gives a fast visual overview, by project or department, of the availability and planned activities of people resources, even in times of change. It provides smart tools and an intuitive user interface that gives a comprehensive overview. Whether planning new projects or handling daily administrative details affecting a project, users have all the information they need. The Unit4 people planning enables intuitive, efficient operational planning and scheduling of people resources and gives business owners the information they need to make effective business decisions about issues such as whether the people needed to start a new project are available. Employees and customers are looking for enterprise applications providing a consumer-like experience. Unit4 understands organisations need integrated business capabilities that address their full needs, thus it provides tailored solutions.

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BEST LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

LEARNING THE ROPES Businesses worldwide have woken up to the fact change is the new and perhaps only norm today. In this age of rapidly evolving ideas, technologies and systems, many of employees’ fundamental relationships – within organisations and economies – are being reimagined and recreated in ways that challenge their usual assumptions. Because of this, the learning and development function has become even more integral in the

process of equipping staff with the skills they need to deal with such change. But as conventional assumptions about what such training represents for a company shift, assumptions about the operations of the human resources functions handling such programmes also naturally changes. The issue doesn’t merely stop at whether the function grows in importance or not, but rather about how the function grows.

This involves a revaluation of both the department’s products and sources – in terms of what skills, knowledge and capabilities people will require, and in terms of how learning and development interventions can be delivered effectively amid this environment of change. The verdict is in: Keeping track of the required skills for every role, at every level, in every market and monitoring how every employee is progressing through those required skills and making that data available to all stakeholders in real time is beyond the capabilities of the trusty spreadsheet. Thankfully learning management systems have been developed to take on these tasks and the winners and finalists of the Best Learning Management System award listed here are those software companies which have developed the LMS which best meets the HR professional’s learning and development needs, while providing a measureable return on investment. BEST LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS GOLD

Skillsoft

SILVER

PageUp

SILVER

Workday

BRONZE

Cornerstone OnDemand

FINALISTS iqDynamics MyTechLogy.com Times Software Finalists are listed out in alphabetical order.

GOLD Skillsoft Skillsoft's SumTotal Learn is a software-as-a-service (SAAS), full-feature learning management system (LMS), the only solution to align more than 60,000 curated learning assets across IT, leadership and business in order to deliver the greatest impact on developmental goals. This gold winner is committed to investing in software development, as proven in the last year, where it doubled its research and development capacity, and sharpened its focus on innovation and usability. Since then, there have been some standout features to improve user experience, such as, the In the Moment learner recommendations, where SumTotal Learn delivers push notifications to learners to individualise learning and provide relevant content suggestions and in-the-moment actions, to help them integrate learning into their normal workday. The enhancement also includes easy addressal and monitoring of compliance needs, wherein SumTotal Learn delivers comprehensive capabilities for proactively managing compliance and adapting the workforce quickly in the face of changing

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requirements that might impact employees’ productivity or expose risk for the organisation. Furthermore, Skillsoft takes its internal research and development seriously. An example of that is its annual conference, Skillsoft Perspectives. Regionally, Skillsoft Perspectives Australia and New Zealand is Skillsoft Asia Pacific’s one-day, annual thought leadership event for business function leads with responsibility for learning and development, HR and talent management. Skillsoft and industry subject matter experts share research findings, L&D best practices, and industry trends that affect how organisations are using learning to develop their people. The conference is now in its 19th year. Skillsoft also released a report on mobile learning trends in Asia Pacific as its key research piece for 2015 to understand to what extent organisations were integrating mobile learning into their L&D programmes, and the resulting challenges and benefits. Skillsoft also actively manages the Skillsoft Learning Asia Pacific LinkedIn Group, exclusive to senior-level executives, L&D and HR professionals who have a direct role in L&D.

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BEST LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

SILVER PageUp Silver winner PageUpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SaaS-delivered solution has helped multinational employers strategically align their talent resources to execute corporate strategies across borders, business units, cultures and languages since 1997. A key module in its unified talent management solution is the learning management system. This one central cloud-based LMS helps to administer, complete, store, share and report on learning and development activities by gluing together every part of the career development journey. It brings the 70:20:10 model to life, or in the case of Southeast Asia, 50:30:20, where a greater focus on formal training is required for leadership roles. The system adds informal learning opportunities via access to a tailored learning library with on-demand, social and on-the-job development activities, recommended reading and events. Another big advantage is the solution makes

everyday learning mobile and social by providing employees with easy access to learning activities, wherever and whenever, with tools that encourage social collaboration. With it, another functionality, career path, is an innovative career-mapping and talent planning tool that gives a roadmap of where to go and how to get there, by connecting competency gaps with recommended development activities. In the past year, the solution has continued to evolve to ensure it stays ahead of customer needs. Key developments in the past year have included SCORM-compliant LMS capability; recommended learning activities (with detail as to why the learning activity has been recommended to the individual); bulk assignment of learning activities (clients can auto enroll multiple employees at the same time into learning activities); and the rating of learning activities by employees.

SILVER Workday Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. Since the company began actively marketing in Asia Pacific in 2014, it has experienced steady growth and customer traction in the region in delivering human capital management (HCM), financial management and analytics applications. Workday HCM was built as a single unified solution. It offers a comprehensive suite of business-critical services, including workforce life cycle management, organisation management, compensation management, absence management, employee benefits administration, onboarding, goal management, performance management, succession planning, career and development planning, among others. Workday HCM was designed to be easily adaptable for a global mobile workforce. Its architecture makes getting information and taking

action easy for any user via an intuitive, consumerlike interface. Workday's cloud model provides customers with lower IT cost of ownership and reduced complexity, as the entire HCM solution is accessed through Workdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cloud. The cloud allows for continuous innovation and the redeployment of scarce IT resources to other strategic projects, resulting in tremendous savings. Workday 25 is its latest release and it adds mobile expenses, improved user interface and detailed analytics. It was rolled out to customers in less than four hours. Ease of migration is just one example of the disruptive benefits of planning, and other business processes. Moreover, the company regularly hosts user groups in Singapore and Asia Pacific, which builds a growing community of companies and HR professions, empowered to share ideas.

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BEST LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

BRONZE Cornerstone OnDemand Bronze winner Cornerstone OnDemand leverages best practice project experience throughout the globe, and its privileged position in product innovation to contribute in thought leadership. With Cornerstone OnDemand, clients can deploy the product offerings individually or in any combination. As a result, its clients have the flexibility to purchase solely those products that solve their immediate talent management needs and can incrementally deploy additional products in the future as their needs evolve. Its suite employs an intuitive user interface and may be personalised for the end user, typically based on position, division, pay grade, location, manager and particular use of the solution. This ease of use limits the need for end-user training, even as Cornerstone typically trains administrators. Cornerstone OnDemand suite is accessible through a standard web browser and does not require the large investments in implementation time, personnel, hardware, and consulting that are typical of hosted or on-premise solutions. With a single code base to maintain, the firm releases improved functionality on a quarterly basis. This is a more

rapid pace than most hosted or on-premise solution providers can afford to deliver. The firm works collaboratively with its clients on an ongoing basis to develop almost every part of the suite - so much so that the vast majority of its thousands of software features were designed with existing and prospective clients based on their specific functional requests. As a result, Cornerstone has developed over the last decade a deep understanding of the talent management challenges its clients face. Going forward, it plans to continue to leverage its expertise in talent management and client relationships to develop new products, features and functionality which will enhance its solutions and expand its addressable market. In Cornerstone's contributions to the wider development of its industry landscape, Mike Bollinger speaks in capacity of the firm's global AVP of thought leadership and advisory services at various HCM thought leadership events as Evanta, Argyle, HCI, ICMI and others on HR trends, generations in the workplace and how to measure the impact of HR transitions.

iqDynamics iqDynamics is a Singapore-based software developer specialising in people-centric software solutions to help companies and organisations of all sizes for the past 21 years. In particular, its hallmark product, HRiQTM Human Capital Management Solution, has been serving organisations in Singapore and around the region for 15 years. The company is committed to developing HRiQ to become an indispensable asset to HR managers, directors and top-level management, and aid them in growing their business success. Because every customer, every organisation and every job scope is unique, HRiQ’s learning management system (LMS) is easily configurable so that each of its customers can input their own set of competency requirements and skill sets specific to their organisation. This lets them be very specific in the competency points and skills assigned to each job scope and employee, and set a specific career development path for the employees too. HR and line managers can then monitor the progression path of each employee and its integrated

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solution ensures that all the data can be shared throughout the system in real time. All data in HRiQ LMS is tightly integrated with the other modules within HRiQ Talent (appraisal, succession, leadership development) so an employee’s complex history and data is seamlessly tracked at every juncture of his career path with the company. HRiQ is also upgraded frequently so that it can meet customers’ current and future organisational demands. For example, its latest addition, the HRiQ executive dashboard, brings critical HR and talent management analytics to users' fingertips via an intuitive and intelligent graphical dashboard. With this addition, it’s easy to present complicated data to the management, so that teams can work together to make better and faster decisions to benefit both employees and the organisation. As an established HR solution provider, iqDynamics prides itself, both management and staff, on regularly staying up to date with the latest HR trends, best practices and government regulations, and the firm's directors are intimately familiar with the HR practice and industry.

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BEST LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

MyTechLogy.com

Times Software

IT professionals are the most vulnerable because of fast and every tight project deadlines and IT support activities keep them busy. Invariably they have to be on the move to thrive in the changing technology landscape. IT professionals who are derailed or do not have avenues to achieve their aspirations or are lacking the right avenue to channel their spirit can turn to MyTechnology.com for assistance. MyTechLogy.com platform is built to keep IT professionals relevant and informed. The website is for all tech enthusiasts who want to engage in professional development irrespective of the organisation they are working with. Its objective is to create a meaning for all and is larger than business through social innovation allowing all businesses globally to benefit. Created by IT professionals for IT professionals, the website is free and is catered for global IT community, anytime from anywhere. The website is a digital content partner for IT businesses. It provides focused surveys, reviews on IT courses with the aim to help professionals find what is right for them. It is also a platform for business owners to find IT products, service and talent.

Time Software has more than 17 years of experience in unifying finance and human resource functions with technology. In 2012, it launched its learning management system due to increasing market demand, but the system has a come a long way in the three years since. What started as a simple record keeping system has now evolved to incorporate many other features by actively engaging customers. The enhancements include departmental training budget planning, departmental training request and approval, employee feedback, employee training evaluation, training reminders and e-mail notifications. All these improvements had greatly improved its customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; workflow and processes. Besides, Times also launched the cloud version of its LMS. Being the leader in this industry is not just about providing products and services for Times, but to contribute to the growth of the industry by other avenues. The firm supports charitable organisations by providing donations annually. To help them pursue their goals even further by lowering their administrative costs, it provides them all of its products and services at a premium discount.

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BEST TALENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

MANAGE YOUR TALENT SMARTLY AND EFFECTIVELY Do you experiment like R&D, communicate like PR, engage like sales and measure like finance? A solid talent management strategy relies on HR leaders to collaborate and increase awareness with all other parts of the business in order to be truly strategic. Indeed, there is absolutely no denying that people are still at the heart of what drives businesses in Singapore and everywhere else. As the HR function takes on a more business critical role, the need for practitioners to realise the traditional belief that a talent management strategy only consists of the holy trinity of attract, motivate and retain has to end. That means HR directors need to sit down and come up with a holistic talent management strategy that connects all of their work to the business strategy in a way that adds the most value to the business. The starting point here then becomes the actual business strategy itself - to look at it and find

out what the business' next step is going to be, and anticipate what the talent requirements at that stage will shape up to be. With that being said, talent management is a relatively new concept and talent management software is even newer. And yet smart talent management software (TMS) applications are increasingly essential for companies which need an enterprise system to manage the life cycle of all their employees - from recruitment to performance management to learning & career development to retention and succession planning. The winners and finalists of the Best Talent Management Software category are those software company which have developed the talent management system that provide the most value. BEST TALENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE GOLD

HRBoss

SILVER

Skillsoft

SILVER

Workday

BRONZE

PageUp

BRONZE

Ramco Systems

FINALIST

Bullhorn Software iqDynamics MyTechLogy.com SAP Unit4 Asia Pacific

Finalists are listed out in alphabetical order.

GOLD HRBoss Gold winner HRBoss is Asia's leading cloud provider of data-driven software for the HR and recruitment niche. All of its cloud solutions are intuitive, highlyconfigurable and supported locally on-the-ground, across the region. The company combines big data, embedded business intelligence and visual analytics to provide business leaders with data-driven insights into the workforce discipline. Its philosophy is simple: to provide innovative, easy-to-use software, at prices that any business can afford, fully localised for businesses in Asia. HRBoss has 3 cloud SaaS solutions - but in managing talent, its workforce big data solution, EmployeeBoss, is an industry leader. EmployeeBoss is an all-in-one cloud-based talent management platform that comes with a unique blend of features on one monster platform. Its functionalities include data designer, pre-built dashboards, quick chart and reporting, geo-spatial maps, dynamic organisational charts, and workforce planning. As a result, EmployeeBoss eradicates the need for heavy weight processes which are typically

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expensive, time consuming, and error-prone around data migration, and allows organisations to aggregate all of their employee data into a single system without its customers having to replace any of their existing HR or IT systems. Data is pulled from unlimited customer systems ranging from core HRIS applications through to simple spreadsheets. With EmployeeBoss, HRBoss developed its very own HTML 5 powered organisational charts. While traditional organisational charts are good at showing reporting relationships, one cannot search, drill down or create custom views. EmployeeBoss automates organisational charting and delivers an interactive bird's eye view of the entire company in seconds. To keep such innovation flowing, every new HRBoss employee goes through an intensive onemonth onboarding/training programme with their manager and is assigned a buddy to shadow. Online training videos and materials are also provided through an internal portal which can be accessed anytime. To encourage innovation, IdeaBoss was conceived - an employee programme to promote innovation which operates on a point-based system to reward the best and most innovative ideas.

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BEST TALENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

SILVER Skillsoft Skillsoft's SumTotal Talent Expansion® suite helps transform employee engagement into organisational performance by embedding personalised learning content and development opportunities directly into daily workflows. Such technology enables self-development, building ‘self-developing’ organisations. Using such comprehensive technology results in a host of organisaitonal benefits, such as powerful analytics capabilities including cross functional analytics and end-to-end reporting; user friendly and intuitive dashboards and the ability to integrate talent and learning applications; and the delivery of context-aware applications to develop people in their job roles. Unquestionably, Skillsoft is committed to investment in software development. In 2015, it expanded its research and development capacity, sharpened its focus on innovation and usability

and released enhancements to talent expansion. These enhancements included a Position Fit Feature to enable employees and managers visualise individuals’ succession paths and provide development opportunities to help them advance in their careers. It also included SumTotal Foundation Framework to help organisations blend talent management processes and learning experiences across multiple devices and platforms, and create brand interfaces to boost user engagement and learner identification. The feature helps users at all levels of the organisation track the status of their own talent management initiatives, and enables managers to track the progress of teams. In growing the industry, Skillsoft produced eight webinars in 2015 on topics including leadership development, building integrated organizational learning systems, and how to execute winning HR strategies with technology.

SILVER Workday Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. It delivers human capital management (HCM), financial management, and analytics applications designed for the world's largest companies, educational institutions, and government agencies. Workday HCM was built as a single, unified solution, offering a comprehensive suite of business-critical services including workforce lifecycle management, organisation management, compensation management, absence management, employee benefits administration, onboarding, goal management, performance management, succession planning, and career planning. The software was designed to be easily adaptable for a global, mobile workforce. The architecture makes getting information and taking action easy for any user via an intuitive, consumerlike interface. Workday HCM allows information

from anywhere around the world to be available and accessible from any device, including tablets or smartphones. Workday’s architecture, web-based service, event-driven applications and built-in workflow allow enterprise processes to be easily configured and adapted. Companies need not be stuck with a configuration that worked at the beginning, but fails when the business changes. In 2015, Workday made a significant investment in the Asia-Pacific region including expanding its headcount in Singapore and Hong Kong, opening a new office in Kuala Lumpur, and upgrading the office in Hong Kong to add training facilities. Its marketing strategy in Asia centers on value creation and working with other trusted advisors in the local HR industry. Programmes include global trends in HR (Deloitte) and performance alignment and analytics (PwC), among others.

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BEST TALENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

BRONZE

PageUp

Ramco Systems

Bullhorn Software

PageUp's SaaS-delivered solution unifies recruiting, performance management, learning, compensation, career planning, succession management and advanced workforce analytics to help global employers overcome the talent management challenges that are inherent to operating across multiple geographies. The software, Unified Talent Management Solution possesses capabilities which extend across the full spectrum of talent management. It includes four core solutions: recruitment, with onboarding and contractor extensions; performance, with compensation extension; learning, with career path extension; and succession. Each solution can be implemented standalone. However their full capability is realised in a unified solution which leverages interdependencies across the employee lifecycle. Successful implementation and application of best practice talent management is reinforced through Pageup’s consulting services, The key benefits of PageUp’s Unified Talent Management solution are that it is one platform that facilitates movement of people and data. It also supports quick, smart talent decisions as it is mobile-enabled to deliver talent management anytime, anywhere and to empower employees to manage their own career. These benefits empower HR with the right tools to build a high performance global workforce. They also help to manage the entire employee journey seamlessly, from hire to retire. And finally, they drive better business results by creating efficiency.

Ramco is focused on providing next generation enterprise solutions that enhance the competitive capabilities and value proposition of customers by leveraging new technologies and expanding global connectivity. Ramco’s Talent Management suite addresses end-to-end talent management processes from performance management, learning and development, succession and career planning. The solution runs on a single platform sharing organisation structure, competency models and employee data across processes. This enables each process to talk to the other in a meaningful and relevant manner. For example, training needs recorded as a part of the appraisal process can be used to plan courses in the training module. The solution enables organisations with cutting edge capabilities like Zero UI to thrive in an innovation economy. One of such capabilities is performance management. Ramco Performance Management provides a flexible framework that allows organisations to configure different models and periodicity of appraisals. An independent goal management module that integrates with the appraisal process, allows organisations to define goals and KPIs and cascade them top-down to employees. What’s differentiating about Ramco’s performance management software is that it is designed for today’s organisations where employees toggle between multiple assignments and the organisation as such is agile and dynamic. Ramco moves feedback to speed-back allowing employees and appraisers to get feedback from various stakeholders.

Bullhorn provides cloud-based CRM solutions for companies in business services industries. Its data capture and customer insight technology puts the most up-to-date and powerful information at users' fingertips to give them everything they need to win customers and keep them happy. Headquartered in Boston, the company has offices in St. Louis, London, and Sydney, with 500 employees globally. The company is founder-led and backed by Vista Equity Partners, and it offers a rangle of solutions to help manage talent. Applicant tracking is one such area, where clients can leverage its many tools and features to help simplify and automate the process, saving time and increasing productivity. Its system works the way recruiters work. By harnessing the latest technology and capturing valuable client feedback, Bullhorn is able to deliver tools that empower recruiters to work faster and smarter. From a candidate resume all the way to final placement, Bullhorn tracks all activity and provides real-time reporting. Another solution is onboarding, which offers you control over the entire onboarding process through electronic document management and tracking. The Bullhorn Onboarding tab within the Bullhorn ATS allows recruiters to send and track documents without interrupting their workflow. New documents are easy to upload and customise, and can be sent to candidates early so that they can be ready to start as soon as they are placed. Bullhorn knows putting the best tools in front of a team of professionals is crucial to its success, which is why it is dedicated to cultivating a strong innovation pipeline.

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HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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BEST TALENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

iqDynamics

MyTechLogy.com

SAP

iqDynamics is a local software developer specialising in people-centric software solutions to help companies and organisations of all sizes for the past 21 years. In particular, its main product, HRiQTM Human Capital Management Solution, has been serving organisations in Singapore and around the region for 15 years. The company is committed to developing HRiQ to become an indispensable asset to HR managers, directors and top-level management, and aid them in growing their business success. HRiQTM Human Capital Management Solution is an integrated and comprehensive talent management solution that helps HR departments take care of the complex science of attracting, retaining, rewarding and managing talent. iqDynamics constantly updates HRiQ to ensure that all functionality meets with the latest regulations by government and statutory boards. For example, the latest HRiQ executive dashboard, brings critical HR and talent management analytics to its users' fingertips via an intuitive and intelligent graphical dashboard.

IT professionals are the most vulnerable because of fast and ever changing technology landscape. MyTechLogy platform is built to keep IT professionals relevant. It is a meaningful professional development platform catered towards IT enthusiasts, students and IT professionals globally. It is free and is for everyone, anywhere. It brings together distinct but complementary value added services to create a unique and delightful experience for users. Serving as a robust and scalable platform where users can achieve their professional aspirations through learning, sharing industry insights and build their reputation in the IT industry. The platform carries a list of more than 6,000 IT courses including both free and paid courses. It is also a platform for independent online IT courses review providers to share their views on different courses. The platform also has more than 1.4 Million global IT jobs. Based on its tagging, the engine can map the jobs with current and desired skills of the users. It also provides useful analytics of trends in IT jobs.

German software corporation SAP is a global provider of business software. It has created a variety of softwares to help HR leaders enhance their talent management. SAP's human capital management products help to develop, manage, and empower people to succeed. These products from SAP can help an organisation hire and retain the right people, manage the work environment, streamline HR processes, ensure legal compliance, and create a people-centric organisation. One of these solutions is the SAP Assessment Management by Questionmark, where users can author and deliver employee surveys, quizzes, tests, and exams. This test authoring and talent assessment tool connects to SAP Learning Solution, and can help enhance learning initiatives and certification programmes across a company, allowing managers to measure knowledge, skills, and attitudes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and easily report on results. Another is the employee file management software that helps deliver compliant digital records of a company's workforce.

Unit4 Asia Pacific Unit4 is a leading provider of people-centered enterprise software for services organisations. It brings to market cloud ERP and business applications designed to meet specific vertical market requirements helping customers embrace change simply, quickly and cost effectively. Through its solutions, customers change and innovate at higher speed and lower cost. In the Asia Pacific region, Unit4 providea leading change-embracing solutions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including the Unit4 Agresso ERP suite, Unit4 Coda Financials management software, Unit4 Prosoft HRMS and Unit4 Consolidation & Cash â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that comprehensively

support the ability of commercial and public organisations to adapt and prosper in rapidly changing environments. Unit4 provides on premise, hosted software solutions and payroll outsourcing service for organisations with different needs. Unit4's Prosoft HRMS is a full suite of HR software solutions that is integrated, flexible and easy-to-use. It can streamline HR process through its core modules (personnel, leave, payroll, claim, attendance, training, appraisal to recruitment) to maximise organisational efficiency in companies including multinationals, government sectors and many other industries both local and regional.

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BEST HR MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

EFFICIENT SYSTEMS FOR MORE PRODUCTIVITY Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates made this case for automation in business processes years ago: “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” His view reflected a challenge that many HR professionals face today, with a lack of technology forcing them to spend time doing things that can easily be automated. On the other hand, many of them have implemented technology that promises to provide HR and employee information at line managers’ fingertips, only to find there aren’t enough takers because it requires an additional learning effort from line managers before it starts to reap them benefits in time savings. Conversations with HR decision makers, who are in the various stages of implementing some sort of Human Resource Management System (HRMS) at

their organisations, point to the key challenges they face, not only in considering an external vendor, but in the implementation and utilisation as well. Best of breed payroll, ATS, LMS and TMS systems are often excellent but many companies prefer the consistency and centralised control offered by all-encompassing, end-to-end HR management systems which include all HR technology modules. The winners and finalists of the Best HR Management System award are the software companies which have developed the HRMS which ticks all the boxes and adds the most value for its customers. BEST HR MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS GOLD

Ramco Systems

SILVER

JustLogin

SILVER

Workday

BRONZE

Info-Tech Systems Integrators

FINALISTS Hexaware Technologies iqDynamics Kronos SEA NGA HR APJ Ready Software Sage Software Asia SAP Times Software Unit4 Asia Pacific Finalists are listed out in alphabetical order.

GOLD Ramco Systems Part of the Ramco Group of companies, gold winner Ramco Systems is focused on providing next generation enterprise solutions that enhance the competitive capabilities and value proposition of customers by leveraging new technologies and expanding global connectivity. With over 20 years of rich experience, it has established a strong foothold globally with a wide user base. With its efforts focused on cloud, mobile and analytics across three core products - ERP, aviation and HCM, Ramco is able to constantly innovate and stay relevant in a dynamically changing environment. Ramco HCM is a comprehensive HR management solution with multi-country payroll covering the 360-degree lifecycle of an employee from hire to retire along with focusing on Gen-Y user interface, role-based workspace and in-memory engine. Trusted by plenty of global customers, Ramco’s payroll is compliant with statutory and taxes across countries it is in. Ramco feels that with the changing role of HR to being more strategic, choosing a right HR system becomes critical to engage and

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empower the employees. Thus, Ramco Human Capital Management (HCM) is a global talent management solution that addresses HR and payroll needs through modules like core HR (workforce management), time and attendance, payroll, talent management and more. Ramco HCM also comprises features such as SMS based employee self service, performance journals providing real-time performance appraisals and HUB, removes multiple screen traversals, by putting everything users need to know and do in one screen, providing everything in one glance. Through such customer focus, Ramco HCM has been enabling organisations with cutting-edge capabilities to thrive in an innovation economy. At the firm, innovation is in the DNA, running across not just its products but all across the organisation. Ramco carries this innovative streak when it comes to managing its people as well, stemming from its senior management. It also provides training programmes to its staff in areas such as SQL Server 2008, Ramco ERP Magna Certification, HCM Technical Training as well as HTML 5.

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BEST HR MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

SILVER

JustLogin

Workday

JustLogin was established in 2000 to provide HR and payroll software on software-as-a-service model (SaaS). It was funded by OCBC Bank and ST Electronics in 2000, and was awarded â&#x20AC;&#x153;Killer Application of the Yearâ&#x20AC;? award at Internet Asia 2000. eTimeclock is one of the services rolled out by JustLogin as a mobile time and attendance system. It is cloud-based and it uses mobile devices to capture time, photo and GPS locations that are sent real-time to cloud servers. It is a feature-rich module that allows companies to manage staff in multiple locations with no need for hardware setup or maintenance. It is also fully integrated with eLeave and ePayroll to accurately calculate hours worked, overtime, staff attendance and also manage shift and rostering. JustLogin also recently improved ePayroll to include support for multiple currencies. This allows customers to create and configure pay elements for statutory contributions in different countries. At the helm of JustLogin is KC Kwa, founder and CEO with 30 years of experience in software product development and management. Prior to Justlogin, he was with DSO National Laboratory and ST Electronics.

Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. Since it began actively marketing in Asia Pacific in 2014, it has experienced steady growth and customer traction in the region. Workday serves an impressive number of customers globally, achieving a splendid, industry-leading customer satisfaction rating. It delivers human capital management (HCM), financial management, and analytics applications designed for the world's largest companies, educational institutions, and government agencies. Workday HCM was built as a single, unified solution, offering a comprehensive suite of business-critical services including, but not limited to workforce lifecycle management, organisation management and development planning. Workday HCM was designed to be easily adaptable for a global, mobile workforce. Its architecture makes getting information and taking action easy for any user via an intuitive, consumer-like interface. Workday 25 is its latest system version, which adds mobile expenses, improved user interface and detailed analytics, impressively rolled out to customers in less than four hours.

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BRONZE Info-Tech Systems Integrators Info-Tech Systems Integrators (ITS) is a Singapore-based software company, established in 1997 and focusing on integrated HR systems with 19 years of solid experience. The firm's product and services are developed with users in mind, whereby the integrated HR system links information from different applications into one universal database. The modules include time attendance system, payroll and HR, e-leave, e-mail pay slip, and employee portal, among others. This system also integrates fully with its fingerprint and biometric time recorders to provide a seamlessly reliable, integrated system as whole. Recent addition to ITS’s product and services include BCA EPSS system, a biometric access control system which combines software and hardware to secure a workplace. Another one are mobile apps on recruitment and time attendance for iOS and Android platform, which allow recruiters to design interview questionnaires on the phone and send directly to candidates.

Hexaware Technologies

iqDynamics

Hexaware is a global provider of IT, BPO and consulting services with impressive revenue and many employees worldwide working round the clock to deliver meaningful technology solutions to its customers. Since its inception in 1990, the company has been providing cutting-edge solutions to small, large and Fortune 500 companies across the globe and industries. Hexaware’s experience in the BPO arena fully complements and strengthens its service spectrum and allows it to operate as an enterprise-class solution delivery company. Its solutions aim to provide high value by optimising cost of ownership of technology investments for customers. Hexaware has been involved in many HR transformation exercises globally and specifically in APAC region. Over the years, the company has also published various whitepapers such as ‘Fastening your seat belts for the flight to cloud’. Going forward, Hexaware sees a trend towards moving to the cloud, with talent management and strategic HR functions being its early adopters, to work in conjunction with their traditional on-premise setup.

This preferred HR management and talent development solution provider, iqDynamics, is a local software developer specialising in people-centric software solutions. It has helped companies and organisations of all sizes for the past 21 years since its establishment. Its main product, HRiQTM Human Capital Management Solution has been serving organisations locally and regionally for 15 years and iqDynamics is committed to developing its HRiQ to become an indispensable asset to HR managers and directors. HRiQTM Human Capital Management Solution is an integrated and comprehensive talent management solution that helps HR departments take care of the complex science of attracting, retaining, rewarding and managing talent. One of the biggest reasons why customers choose HRiQ is because of its end-to-end HRMS comprising the functionalities for managing leave, payroll, attendance, claims and even timesheet. Its myriad functions includes alert facilities, document generation, and archival of documents. all of which are easily configurable.

Kronos SEA This past year’s performance from Kronos South East Asia has been exceptional in every facet of the business, from profit to customer satisfaction, and annual turnover to client wins. One of the largest workforce management companies in the SEA market, retaining customers through exceptional service is an it takes pride in. Its APAC team, ollectively has over 140 person years’ experience. Uniquely, each year Kronos reinvests 10% of its revenue back into research and development. This is supported with customer forums to ensure their feedback is incorporated into product roadmaps and in improving the user experience. This practice

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allows Kronos to innovate and sustain its position in the workforce management market. Expanding into South East Asia has meant adjusting to the business rules in countries and forming new partnerships to provide total workforce management solutions which meet client’s needs. Kronos has also devoted time to building significant content by partnering with research and analyst firms like Brandon Hall and Aberdeen Group. This has allowed Kronos South East Asia to provide workforce management thought leadership, specific to key business imperatives including lowering labour costs and improving productivity.

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BEST HR MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

NGA HR APJ

Ready Software

Sage Software Asia

NGA HR supports clients through their entire human capital journey. Using tools to transform their business processes to deliver modern and effective HR services, it helps shape its clients’ HR/IT strategy from the planning phase up. Available globally, NGA HR’s products and services covering various HR challenges through its broad-based HR service portfolio. NGA HR thinks glocal and has the ability to deliver large-scale assignments across various geographies and most importantly bring its local HR subject matter expertise to address country-specific operations. NGA HR’s key products and services include, but payroll services, HR outsourcing, application management, HR consulting and benefits and insurance broking. Notable features of its products are global payroll with comprehensive and managed services, comprehensive global service delivery capability and a global footprint, coupled with an extensive partner network, a safe pair of hands committed towards quality and security of services which operates under industrystandard controls and compliance.

Ready Software has sold several hundreds of ReadyStaff HR Management software licences over the last 20 years and has many loyal customers among local, regional and global firms. Without doubt, its client retention strategy is to provide new features yearly to enhance ReadyStaff Management software to make it current. The suite of 10 Ready Software web applications are ReadyPay.net, ReadyImport. net, ReadyPayAdvice.net, ReadyLeave. net, ReadyClaim.net, ReadyForm.net, ReadyNoticeBoard.net, ReadyTimesheet, ReadyStaff.net and ReadyTraining. Its ReadyStaff Management software is a user friendly HRMS that has evolved from a simple HR system to a comprehensive and powerful HR Management system over the years. The software is enhanced it every year through feedback from customers. Besides the standard HRMS features, it has functionality such as employee career progression, performance appraisal and ratings, training cost record, training scheduling, and training budget.

Sage is a leading supplier of accounting and business management software to small and medium sized businesses. Its regional HQ in Singapore oversees partner operations throughout Asia. Sage Asia understands the unique requirements of various countries throughout Asia, such as multicurrency, nonEnglish languages, taxation, statutory reporting needs, and local business practices. The company works closely with local business partners, development partners and alliance partners to meet its client requirements while delivering easy-to-use, scalable and customisable applications through its portfolio of leading solutions. Sage continuously improves and adds new products and services for clients to leverage on. Its new version of Sage EasyPay consists of general features such as enhanced e-individual report and enhanced leave balance computation upon employee cessation. It also has country specific features, such as new fields for employee and employer additional CPF, and the addition or enhancement of bank disk salary formats for more than 10 banks.

SAP SAP solutions help organisations to simplify HR processes, support talent development, and maximise employee engagement to transform strategies into measurable business outcomes. SAP is committed to helping HR leaders succeed by providing a unique mix of global and industry expertise, cloud-based and comprehensive human capital management solutions, and worldclass support and services. Its solutions blend global and industry expertise with the key HR enablers needed to maximise employee engagement and drive better business outcomes. Working with SAP, organisations benefit

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from: global compliance and process support; efficient HR operations; improved workforce readiness; and better alignment of HR strategies with business strategies. SAP helps HR executives improve employee engagement and business outcomes by effectively attracting, developing, and retaining the right talent. Its SuccessFactors® Talent Management solutions is a comprehensive cloud-based talent solutions that helps to simplify talent management, so HR professionals can proactively act, easily measure, and clearly communicate talent results and business impact.

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BEST HR MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Times Software

Unit4 Asia Pacific

Times Software has been unifying the finance and HR functions for the 17 years in which it has been in business. This is in line with its mission statement, which is to provide excellent products and services to cater to all the customers' needs, to support the finance and HR functions and assist in the development of large, medium and small-sized, MNC companies in a rapidly changing environment and technology. It actively practices kaizen, the practice of continuous change for improvement, to constantly better its products, processes and services. It has enjoyed a positive and steady customer growth per year, since 2009, maintaining an impressive customer retention rate on a yearly basis. This can be attributed to its excellent relationship with customers and worldclass payroll outsourcing services. Times Software has built a complete suite of payroll and HR integrated solutions which fulfill the areas of payroll processing, leave, attendance and claims management, recruitment and people development. It is involved in turn-key projects to create specialised products for SMEs, large multinational corporations and government agencies.

Unit4 is a software company that provides enterprise software, ERP applications and related professional services. It considers itself to be in business for people, benefitting organisations from sectors including professional services, education, and public services through its solutions. For HR practitioners if offers various software to enhance the efficiency of HR functions. Unit4 Business World is an HR and payroll application that provides comprehensive support for all aspects of the organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hireto-retire cycle and payroll processes. It comes with a fully integrated range of functions that includes training and development management, payroll, promotions and staff changes, disciplinary and grievance procedures, and many others. It is designed to be accessible and intuitive, and ensures users can make all the ongoing updates and adjustments themselves. The system can also be tailored to an organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s specific requirements. Another solution, Unit4 People Planning gives a fast, visual overview, by project or department, of the availability and planned activities of an organisation's people resources, even in times of change. It is a smart tool with intuitive user interface that gives users a comprehensive overview.

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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INDEX

Company Page 33Talent 16, 18 ACE Insurance 60, 64 Achieve Group 10, 12, 16, 18, 24, 26 ACI HR Solutions 10, 14, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 34 Adecco Personnel 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 32, 34 ADP 112, 122 Aetna 60, 64 AIA Singapore 60 Allied Pickfords 70, 71 Aon Hewitt Singapore 36, 37, 38, 39, 44, 45, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 64 APBA 118, 119 AsiaMedic 66, 68 Asian Tigers Mobility 70, 72 Atas Residence 80, 82 Aviva Singapore 60, 65 Black Marketing 36, 37 Blue Umbrella 40, 42 Brookfield Global Relocation Services 70, 76 BTS 46, 48 Bullhorn Software 128, 130, 138, 140 Capita 16, 20, 24, 28, 40, 42, 52, 53, 118, 120 Carlton Hotel Singapore 108, 110 Cegos Asia Pacific 90, 96 Centre for Executive Education (CEE) 46, 48, 90, 92 Charterhouse Partnership Singapore 24, 28 COMAT Training Services 100 Cornerstone OnDemand 134, 136 Crown Relocations 70, 72, 76, 78 C-VAT International 38 CXA Group 56, 57, 60, 65 DDI 44, 46, 90, 91 ECA International 76, 77 Eagle Infotech Consultants 100, 102 Evergreen Rent A Car 86, 88 Far East Hospitality 80, 81, 108, 109 First Advantage 40, 41 FOCUS Adventure 104 Frasers Hospitality 80 Fullerton Healthcare 66 Future Leaders International 46, 47 Gogreen Holdings 104, 105 Goldbell Car Rental 86, 87 Graebel Relocation APAC 70, 71 Great Eastern Life Assurance 58, 59, 60, 61 Great World Serviced Apartments 80, 82 GRINESS 104, 105 Hawk Rent A Car 86, 87 Hays Singapore 10, 16, 17, 24, 25, 32 Hexaware Technologies 142, 144 HireRight 40 HRBoss 128, 129, 138 HR Business Solutions Singapore 56, 57 iFAST Financial 58 Impress Training 100, 101 Info-Tech Systems Integrators 122, 124, 142, 144 iqDynamics 128, 129, 134, 136, 138, 141, 142, 144 JAC Recruitment 16, 20, 24, 29 jobsDB Singapore 6 JobStreet.com 6, 7 JustLogin 122, 124, 142, 143 Kah Motor 86, 88 Kelly Singapore 10, 14, 16, 17, 24, 26, 32, 33 Kronos SEA 142, 144 Lee Hecht Harrison 52 Links International 16, 21, 112, 113 Management Development & Consultancy 90, 92, 96, 98, 100, 102 ManpowerGroup Singapore 10, 11

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Company Page Marketing Institute of Singapore 96, 97 Mercer 44, 45, 46, 47, 56 Mercer Marsh Benefits 60, 61 MHC Asia Group 66, 68 MHI Global Asia 46, 49, 90, 91, 96, 97 Michael Page 16, 21 momenta 96, 98 MyTechLogy.com 134, 137, 138, 141 Nave Relocation 70, 74, 76, 78 NGA HR APJ 112, 114, 122, 126, 142, 146 NTUC LearningHub 90, 93, 100, 101, 108, 110 Page Executive 24 Page Personnel 10, 14 PageGroup 32, 33 PageUp 128, 134, 135, 138, 140 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road, Singapore 80, 82 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard, Singapore 80, 84 PARKROYAL Serviced Suites, Singapore 80, 84 Parkway Shenton 66, 67 Payroll2U 112, 114, 122, 123 PayrollServe 112, 115, 122, 123 Raffles Medical Group 66, 67 Ramco Systems 122, 126, 138, 140, 142 Randstad 16, 24, 25 Randstad Sourceright 118 Ready Software 112, 115, 122, 126, 142, 146 RecruitPlus Consulting 16, 21 RGF 10, 12, 16, 21, 24, 29, 32, 35, 118, 119 Right Management 52, 53 Rigzone 6, 7 RISQ Group 40, 41 Robert Half 10, 11, 16, 22, 24, 29, 32, 34 Robert Walters 16, 18, 24, 26, 36, 37 ROHEI Corporation 90, 94 Roset Limousine Services 86, 88 Sage Software Asia 122, 127, 142, 146 Sandbox Advisors 52, 54 Santa Fe Relocation Services 70, 72 SAP 122, 127, 128, 132, 138, 141, 142, 146 Search Personnel 10, 15, 16, 22, 24, 30, 32, 35 Shangri-La Apartments, Singapore 80, 81 Shenton Insurance 60, 65 Sime Darby Services 86 Singapore Institute of Management 90, 92 Singapore Management University 90, 94 Singapore National Employers Federation 46, 49, 90, 94, 96, 99, 100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 111 SingHealth 66, 68 SIRVA Singapore 76, 77 Skillsoft 134, 138, 139 Spring Professional 6, 8, 24, 30, 32, 35 STJobs 6, 8 StrengthsAsia 38, 39, 90, 95, 104, 106 Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre 108 The GMP Group 10, 15, 16, 22, 24, 30, 52, 54, 118, 120 Times Software 112, 113, 122, 124, 128, 132, 134, 137, 142, 147 TMP 36, 37 Towers Watson 46, 49, 56, 57 UniGroup Relocation 70, 74, 76, 79 Unit4 Asia Pacific 122, 127, 128, 133, 138, 141, 142, 147 Universum 36 Virtual HR 112, 114 Wearnes Leasing 86, 88 Wilby Estate International 80, 84 Workday 128, 130, 134, 135, 138, 139, 142, 143 Zurich 60, 65 ZW HR Consulting 10, 15, 16, 22, 24, 30, 32, 35

HR VENDORS OF THE YEAR 2015

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