Human Resources September 2014

September 2014

The smart HR professional’s blueprint for workforce strategy

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September 2014 « CONTENTS

COVER STORY 12 Q&A Touching on gender diversity, unconscious bias, work-life balance, and everything else in between, Rebecca Port, HR director for learning, leadership and organisational development at Allergan, explains the importance on having “average role models”.

Features 16 We want you … but do you want us?

While employer branding used to be considered a “nice to have”, it’s now a critical aspect of HR globally. Sabrina Zolkifi reports.

24 A people perspective on MICE events Akankasha Dewan explores what HR leaders can do in their capacity to make the planning and execution of MICE events better.

Opinion 34 Learning & Development

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Gen Y employees don’t always have to be a headache. All you need is a bit of common sense, says Chew Han Guan, corporate L&D manager at Singapore Technologies Aerospace.

36 People Issues It’s time employees get physical. Hisham Musa, a corporate wellness consultant, shares some tips on how leaders can build healthier workforces.

39 Unconventional Wisdom Conducting an HR audit may seem challenging, but Asha Menon, former vice-president of human resources at Citigroup Malaysia, says it’s necessary.

ON THE COVER: Art direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Makeup & Hair: Alycia Tan – alycia.makeupartist@gmail.com

41 Upwardly Mobile

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Julie Woods-Moss, CEO of Nextgen Business and CMO of Tata Communications, asks the age-old question of whether creativity is a “natural” process or something which can be forced.

48 Last Word Ever wanted to be in two places at the same time or have the power to freeze time? Sabrina Zolkifi outlines the superpowers she believes would make her a better employee.

Regulars

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3 4 6 7 8

Ed’s note In the news Suite talk Spacial awareness HR by numbers

9 Snapshot 10 White paper 46 Up the ranks 47 Shelf life

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EDITOR’S NOTE

editor deputy editor journalist contributors

Rebecca Lewis Sabrina Zolkifi Akankasha Dewan Chew Han Guan Asha Menon Hisham Musa Julie Woods-Moss

regional art director senior designer regional marketing executive

senior event producer

Shahrom Kamarulzaman Fauzie Rasid June Tan

Ang Yoke Han

regional head of event services

Yeo Wei Qi

senior executive – event services

Renee Phua

senior account manager account managers audience managers

Karen Boh Ben DeRegt Manuel Almira Yang Kai Lin

publisher

Mike Parsons

regional finance director

Evelyn Wong

group editorial director group managing director

Tony Kelly Justin Randles

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My gender bias experience I was pretty young the first time I experienced gender bias in the workplace.

Working at one of my first jobs, I was confronted with an awkward situation after I discovered a new male colleague had begun work on the same starting salary as I was currently on, despite me having nearly three years of experience on him at that particular workplace, and in general.

A few weeks passed, and the emotions stirred within me. Why was he on more money than me?

Surely, there was a mistake. It took a while for it to sink in that actually, this salary disparity was probably quite normal. Before this, I had never given much thought to the fact women were often underpaid for the exact same job as men.

I had read numerous articles about gender wage imbalance, but had always thought it was one of those things I thankfully didn’t have to worry about – until it happened. And it sucked.

So, I made a plan. Without giving anything away to my colleagues or bosses, I began asking questions – of the salespeople, of various management – so I could work out exactly how much money my individual efforts had made for the company, based on the number of front page stories I wrote, and so on.

Eventually, I realised I had a lot of data. Yes, I thought, this is fantastic ammo. Now I can go to my boss and state my case as to why I should be paid more, aside from the experience factor. They can’t argue with the cold, hard facts.

My immediate manager was fantastic – he backed me when I went to the big boss to ask for more money. It was tough (right at the start of the GFC, so no one was exactly handing out cash), but we thought I’d have a good shot.

To cut a very long story short, it didn’t work.

Excuses were given, and I begrudgingly accepted my fate (after demanding a couple more meetings to state my case again and again) and started to think I might make plans to look for another job.

But then I discovered a different male colleague got a pay rise at about the same time, and I realised right there and then that I was done.

While standing up for myself didn’t help in the end, I realised when talking with Rebecca Port, the HR director of learning, leadership and organisational development at Allergan – our Q&A

cover star this month – that when it comes to gender bias in the workplace, it’s actually quite rare for women to feel as though they can fight for what they want, because generally speaking, we are not conditioned to ask.

“Related to the workplace, you need to be asking for a pay rise, for a promotion or for the big job which is two grades above where you are,” she says. “Men will ask for these things because they have been raised in such a way that they are the ones who ask and women are the ones who wait to be asked.

“I think some of that stuff, and the way we are socialised, goes on to be unhelpful, so that’s why I think it’s important to talk about it.”

You can read more about Port’s viewpoints on page 12. The interview gave me a lot to think about, and I hope it will also help shape your views on how gender issues can be handled in the workplace and at home.

Enjoy the issue.

Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Hair & makeup: Vanida Yam Yen – vanidamakeover.blogspot.com

HumanResources

Rebecca Lewis editor September 2014 « Human Resources «

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News from humanresourcesonline.net rceso

C CHINA BANNED CIVIL SERVANTS C FFROM FASTING

ARE YOUR STAFF CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU PAY THEM? According to a poll by CareerBuilder, thre three quarters of American employees believe they have to earn between US$100,000 and $150,000 per ann annum before they can feel content and successful.

More than ha half (56%) said they would feel content if they received be between US$75,000 and $100,000.

“The survey ssupports past research suggesting the US$75,000 threshold th is particularly significant, as this level allows households in most areas of the country to not only get by, but enjoy an ideal lifestyle and a secure futur future,” said Rosemary Haefner, vicepresident of hu human resources at CareerBuilder.

“Inte “Interestingly, what workers would ultimat like to earn does not necessarily ultimately factor into what they need for a successful succe career.”

In fact, 78% of respondents said they do don’t think they need to earn US$100,0 or more to be successful. The US$100,000 survey also rev revealed that for the respondents, success is relative to the type of work they do or their current career stage.

WANT TO BE A BETTER LEADER? It’s no easy task being a leader, and sometimes everyone can use a pickme-up.

Here are five inspirational quotes to help you become a better leader: “I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.” Diane Sawyer “Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.” Mark Twain “I find that the harder I work, the more luck on I seem to have.” Thomas Jefferson n, “It is better to fail in originality than, to succeed in imitation.”

Herman Melville “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growingg others.” Jack Welch

Th holy Muslim fasting month has just The passed, but China was thrown into the pa spotlight in the lead-up after it reportedly sp banned civil servants from fasting. ba According to several news reports, including the South China Morning Post in aand AFP, the commercial affairs bureau of TTurfan city wrote on its website that “civil sservants and students cannot take part in ffasting and other religious activities”.

Other government bodies also ssupported the ban in the Xinjiang region, which is predominantly Muslim. The state-run Bozhou Radio and TV university even said on its website it would “enforce the ban on party members, teachers, and young people from taking part in Ramadan activities”.

Rights groups in the region have spoken up against the ban, adding it will add conflict to the area. Xinjiang has been plagued with violence over the past few years, most of which was related to discrimination against the Muslim Uighur ethnic group.

BNP PARIBAS’ ‘GOOD D NEWS’ $8.9 BILLION FINE Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news, especially ecially if it comes with a hefty price tag.

However, after BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to breaking sanctions against pariah regimes and brea agreed to a record breaking $8.9 billion fine, CEO agre O Jean-Laurent Bonnafé called the incident “good news”.

Jea In a memo to staff, he said: “The difficulties that we aare currently experiencing must not affect our plans for tthe future.

“This is good news for all staff and for our clients. ents.

It w will enable us to remove the current uncertaintiess that are weighing on our group. We will be able to put behind us tthese occurrences, which belong to the past.”

The bank said it had “ample” resources and would ould be able to pay the fine, although Bonnafé personally apologised pologised to aanalysts and investors in a conference call.

“We deeply regret the past misconduct that led to this settlement.”

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TINDER BOSS IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSUIT

ARE YOU A FAMILY FRIENDLY EMPLOYER? If you’re a working parent wondering which companies will best support your need for flexible working, we’ve got just the list for you.

Through a competition this year, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) have identified the most family friendly employers in Singapore.

According to the results, the top five companies for mothers are: EY, Hitachi Asia, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, Jardine OneSolution, and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The most enabling companies for fathers were also identified: Absolute Kinetics Consultancy came top, followed by CGG Services (Singapore), FedEx Express Singapore, Carlsberg Singapore and Environmental Resources Management. Barclays Capital Services was also given special mention as the company with the most supportive supervisors, ervisors, while DBS Bank was recognised as the company with the most supportive ve colleagues.

HERE’S TO VERY LONG WEEKENDSS Billionaire Carlos Slim believes three-day ay work weeks are the secret to being more re productive and having a better work-lifee balance.

Slim, who is one of the world’s richest hest men, said at a conference: “With three work days a week, we would have more time to relax; x; for quality of life. Having four days [off] would be very important to generate new entertainment activities and other ways of being occupied.”

He is not the first to suggest a four-day r-day work week. In the UK, a doctor said a four-day working arrangement would combat stress and reduce unemployment.

A four-day work week was also practised in New Zealand during the financial crisis, with many bosses agreeing it allowed them to provide more flexible working arrangements and avoid making staff redundant.

You would think the CEO of a dating app would know how to act around the ladies. ular mobile dating app Tinder has been suspended from The co-founder of the hugely popular dent of marketing accused him of sexual harassment his job after the former vice-president and filed a lawsuit.

Whitney Wolfe claims Justin Mateen called her a “slut” and a “whore” inn a series of text messages, which were presented in official court documents. She also alleges Mateen een harassed her after they broke up, adding him m and another co-founder, Sean Rad, revoked herr cofounder status because five founders ers was “too many” and because she was female.

After the suit was filed, Rad sent a memo out to staff, to clarifyy the company “did not discriminatee against Whitney because of her age or gender, and her complaint paints an inaccurate picture of myy actions and what went on here”.

SINGAPORE’S JOBS BANK KICKS OFF The National Jobs Bank was officially launched on 14 July making it compulsory for all employers in Singapore to advertise a role paying less than S$12,000 a month on the site for 14 days before they can offer those positions to a non-local.

Since launching in its beta stages in May, the Jobs Bank had more than 16,000 job jobs when it officially launched. The portal is managed by the Workforce Development Aut Authority (WDA), and will support the Fair Consideration Framework, which began on 1 AAugust. sed to roll out the Jobs Bank as an additional res “WDA is pleased resource to com ng job matching services available to support local job seeke complement existing seekers.

The Jobs Bank is intended to benefit all workforce segments and we seek to bui build an inclusivee portal that caters to a wide spectrum of employment and ma ds,” said Ng Cher Pong, chief executive of WDA. manpower needs,” “We wouldd like to encourage all employers and Singaporeans to em eir hiring and job search efforts through the Jobs Bank.” embark on their

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WORK LIFE » People GET INTO THE BOSS’S HEAD

Dick Van Motman Chairman and CEO Dentsu Aegis Network Southeast Asia Tell us about your experience with Dentsu Aegis Network so far?

The experience has been great. I was previously leading the team at DDB China Group. When Dentsu came knocking, it wasn’t anything I had considered before. Dentsu’s model is quite different than the rest of our industry. Our competitors are mainly decoupled organisations or decoupled media and digital companies, quite quite siloed.

Dentsu, however, runs a convergent model.

And I think that model is very suitable for this day and age. This is mainly because technology has made it possible for you to be everywhere instantaneously. Therefore, integration and speed become important. And that’s the model they have built in Japan and in pockets in Asia and are trying to replicate it on a more global scale.

This is why I thought it was a very interesting role because it’s not just about playing a different game from an advertising point of view. It is also a transformational management job.

What do you enjoy most about work?

The fact that it’s about “shaping” on every level.

When you work in advertising or marketing it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. It is always about topping that the next day – coming up with a new solution. So, technically every day the challenge and the frustration is the same – it is a blank sheet of paper.

But because Dentsu is on its way to becoming a more dominant global player after establishing Dentsu Aegis Network outside of Japan, it is about helping shape a 113-year-old company with a very venerable reputation and track record that wants to do something new and innovative. That’s what I like most.

How would you define your leadership style?

Particularly in the service industry, which advertising is, you employ talent based on their capabilities and potential. So just identifying and hiring high potentials is not enough – it’s how you organise them. I think nowadays the way to do that is via culture and technology. Technology has a big role to play. It’s more about unleashing the talent rather than controlling the talent.

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How do you ‘unleash’ the talent?

It’s all about how you bring them on board. What are the working environments where you can get the best out of them? That is the challenge in Asia, where you have slightly more shy cultures. The challenge lies in making sure people are willing to give their best and speak out.

It’s not just about saying it, it’s about doing it. For instance, when I visit an office, I hold a town hall meeting. I sit down with staff and share the state of the union with them. There’s nothing better than actually sniffing out an office and getting hands-on with the people. Now that our operation is starting to get bigger, it becomes more challenging to be everywhere. But I do think it is important to get a finger on the pulse, because nothing beats having your feet on the ground.

What’s the toughest decision you’ve had to make as a boss?

If I look at my last 25 years, the most important thing I’ve learnt is you shouldn’t procrastinate when making tough decisions. Because when you do, you always realise you should have made them earlier. That’s what I tell myself every time I need to make a big decision. A lot of big decisions have to do with changing people, and you realise later that a lot of people are aware that decision needs to be made and are looking at you to make it. You should simply do what you feel is right, and do that sooner rather than later.

How do you motivate staff?

I’m a performance-driven person, but I do like to joke a little, and enjoy a bit of lightheartedness.

I also keep an open-door policy as much as possible. Also, in society, you have influencers, transmitters and receivers. I think it is important to be aware which people are socially important in a company - the social connectors - and to be close to them so you get the information about the mood is within the company, how certain people are doing, and then take up action if necessary.

I also give handwritten birthday notes to my first line of reports and key staff under them. I do think a personal touch is important.

go purely from HR to a CEO without bottom-line experience is very hard.

Do you think the HR function is disconnected from the business?

If I had an HR lead who thought his function was disconnected, then I would have to ask myself some questions. For me, HR is a very strategic part of the business. I like to call my functional leads my partners, and it is very important to look at these functions as partnerships. This implies that knowledge needs to flow and it involves a healthy degree of sharing of business issues, as opposed to engaging with the person on his or her own area of expertise. I don’t think that gets the best out of everyone. My talent partner needs to know the business issues we’re struggling with, because only then can you put the talent part into perspective.

So it’s not about whether HR leaders could make it to CEO, but what kind of HR leaders could make it to that level. And those are mainly HR leaders who are firmly embedded within the business issues via their own function and are willing to go outside their area of expertise and take, for a period of time, a P&L responsibility.

What is the future of HR? People are our business, and I view an agency as a football team. You’ve got to select the right people for the right position and then you’ve got to make them play a unique game. But like every football club, you have transfer seasons. You need to grow talent from within, and therefore HR is at the centre of our company.

We need to make sure we never see the function purely from an admin point of view, but more as a talent management function which helps to build a culture, which helps in performance management and in collaboration. I see the talent management doing multiple things.

What do you do to re-energise yourself?

I remind myself that stress is part and parcel of the job. I also have an informal network of friends and we come together once or twice every year over a long weekend and talk about each other’s businesses and what we go through. Industry forums help, too, and for a long time I employed a personal coach and spoke to him once a month.

Can HR leaders can make it as a CEO? I think certain HR people ccan definitely do that.

It all depends whether you have bottom-line responsibility somewhere in your experience. To

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People WORK LIFE

SpacialAwareness

INSIDE DBS’ MODERN HERITAGE HUB DBS Bank was recently crowned Singapore’s most valuable brand , so it’s no surprise its local offices at DBS Asia Hub, DBS Asia Central and DBS Asia Gateway have all been designed to reflect its New Asian roots.

Tan Sor Cheng, managing director and group HR shared services and risk, HR at DBS Bank, said the company’s new work environment “mimics a communal hive that turns the workplace into a collaborative and innovative working space for employees”.

The office at DBS Asia Central boasts flexible and free-form areas for employees to work and relax.

“These informal spaces, known as Social Hubs, are set against panoramic views of Singapore’s new skyline,” Tan said. “They encourage spontaneous interaction, exchange of ideas and help foster stronger relationships among employees.”

Tan says through good communication, recognition, development and support, DBS Bank has been able to create a great workplace for employees to grow professionally and personally.

“The bank’s new offices and supportive environment have gone down well with our employees, with many appreciating the spaciousness,” she says.

“Some of them also choose to hold their discussions at the social hubs instead of the meeting rooms, as they believe that it promotes creativity and allows for better interaction.”

She adds they have seen employee engagement scores improve over the years, and have been awarded the Gallup Great Workplace Award in 2013 and 2014.

“In terms of design, it is very important that the space represents the message, goals and values of your organisation,” Tan says.

“It is also essential to gather feedback from employees so that you can create a great environment that supports their growth and development .”

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WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

Sleeping on the job Singaporeans are among the most sleep deprived people in the world.

According to research by Jawbone (the makers of a digitised wristband which tracks sleep) Singaporeans are only getting an average of six hours and 32 minutes sleep per night.

However, this is still more than places such as Tokyo and Seoul, where workers get less than six hours a night.

The lack of sleep could be linked to long working hours – a recent report by eFinancialCareers found the majority of Singaporean finance professionals work beyond their contracted hours, with 43% remaining contactable while at home, over weekends and on holiday.

Six hours 32 minutes is the average amount of sleep a Singaporean has each night.

10%

of workers in Dubai are still asleep by 11am.

6:29am

is the time most Australians wake up for work.

78%

of financial service professionals in Singapore work beyond their contracted hours.

Source: Jawbone; eFinancialCareers

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People WORK LIFE

snapshot

15 minutes with ...

Aki Taha

Head of recruiting for Asia Uber

MALAYSIA

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HR AS A PROFESSION? I interned in HR as an undergrad for Ford Motor Company in Beijing. I had to find an internship as part of the study abroad programme I was doing. The next summer I did another internship in HR at J.P. Morgan, and I haven’t looked back. The mix of softer people challenges and harder analytical ones always appealed to me. As did being able to impact a business and the experience people have as part of that team.

HOW WILL HR EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? That probably depends on the industry, and where HR stands now within that industry. I’ve always worked for software companies, in part because it seemed to me that in the absence of a physical product to manufacture and ship, software companies often place high value on finding and keeping great people. So I think we’re starting from a decently healthy point. That said, I think that data will really transform our function. It will affect what we do, how we do it, and how that work is perceived.

WHAT DO YOU THINK CAN BE DONE BETTER WITHIN HR? I think we continue to suffer from a bit of a branding problem. Most people don’t understand what HR involves, how important it is and how challenging and rewarding the work is. And I think it’s up to us, within the function, to solve that by sharing what it is we get to work on, and then using that to go out and attract stellar people into the function.

WHICH HR FUNCTION DO YOU LIKE BEST AND WHY? I’m pretty passionate about recruiting, but I also have a real soft spot for compensation. I love that it is scientific on the one hand, and emotional on the other; that you can come to an objective “answer”, but still need to finesse that answer using more subjective factors.

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WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED? “Go where the growth is”, which is something Sheryl Sandberg used to say all the time – I think she still does – when she was at Google.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE A REGULAR WORKDAY AT UBER? It’s fast, everything is urgent. It’s a mix of needing to be in the weeds, while constantly forcing myself to think and act more strategically.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? The challenges, the impact I have and the people around me, who stretch me. Our business is growing fast, which means we need to hire just as fast, without compromising the bar to which we hire and messing up the culture that got us here. It's hard work, but it’s an awesome challenge.

I CAN’T WORK WITHOUT… Spotify. Even we need to tune out sometimes.

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September 2014 « Human Resources «

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WHITE PAPER » Leadership

WEEDING OUT THE UNDESIRABLES

Asia Pacific – Bosses and hiring managers need to be more vigilant in their hiring process if they wish to avoid hiring a candidate with a background discrepancy.

According to Employment Screening Trends Report: Asia Pacific, Q1 2014 by First Advantage, Singapore saw a 10.42% year-on-year increase in discrepancies.

The country was behind only Australia and New Zealand.

Nearly one in five of all Asia Pacific employees were also identified as having some form of background discrepancy, according to data drawn from 300,000 employment background verifications and reference checks conducted by First Advantage in APAC from January to March 2014.

“With more and more multinational companies expanding their footprints in Asia Pacific, the challenges associated with hiring the right candidate have increased,” the report stated.

“Some of the key challenges in hiring suitable candidates are continually changing regional legislation surrounding anti-corruption, data privacy and consumer protection.”

It added the total number of checks done per case in the APAC region had gone up from four checks in Q1 2013 to five in Q1 2014.

This increased number indicated a higher level of awareness among companies about

Countries

Percentage of employers screening candidates

Australia

23.38%

New Zealand

23.38%

Singapore

18.78%

Source: First Advantage Employment Screening Trends Report: Asia Pacific

background screening services. The report said 18.9% of the discrepancies in the Asia Pacific region were related to the education of employees, while 54.6% were related to their employment history.

It added more employers from different verticals in the Asia Pacific region were screening their candidates.

Australia and New Zealand topped the list with 23.38% in Q1 2014, which was a significant increase from Q1 2013 when they stood at just 12.96%.

This was followed by Singapore, which clocked in at 18.78% in Q1 2014.

Almost three out of 10 (26%) employers in the Asia Pacific region were identified as conducting more than six checks and above.

They were 11 times more likely to uncover a discrepancy as compared with those who conducted only two checks (3%) or five checks (9%).

The study also identified a growing trend towards “infinity screening” in which screening programmes are extended to include contractors and vendors and to introduce periodic rescreening of existing employees, accounting for a drop in discrepancy rates in certain countries.

“Through this trends report, First Advantage seeks to help employers in Asia Pacific identify the current employment background verification trends and understand how they can optimise their screening programmes,” said Matthew Glasner, managing director of south APAC at First Advantage.

“We are seeing a significant increase in discrepancies in the region and this further highlights the importance of using state-of-the-art screening practices that are available to ensure companies know who they are hiring, thereby mitigating the business loss associated with a wrong hire.”

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Leadership « WHITE PAPER

SINGAPORE – 52ND MOST LIVEABLE CITY IN THE WORLD Singapore – Singapore has once again made its mark in establishing itself as one of the world’s best places to live.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Ranking 2014, the island nation came in at 52nd place this year.

It was also found to be the fourth most liveable city in Asia after Osaka, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

The report, which surveyed 140 cities, titled Melbourne as the world’s most liveable city for the fourth time in a row with an index of 97.5 out of 100.

The Australian culture hub was buoyed by superlative healthcare, infrastructure and education as well as a crime rate of 3.1 per 100,000 people, half the global average of 6.2.

“Events in Ukraine, in particular, have had significant knock-on effects for cities such as Kiev, Moscow and St Petersburg,” the report said.

“Localised instability has also affected locations like Bangkok.”

The index ranked cities against factors such as overall stability (25% of total score), healthcare (20%), education (10%), infrastructure (20%) and culture and environment (25%).

“Cities registering improvements are largely

based in countries that have enjoyed periods of relative stability following significant falls in liveability,” the report stated.

It added the average global liveability score fell by 0.16 and 0.22 percentage points over the past six and 12 months respectively, to 75.33.

The report also found a correlation between the types of cities that sit right at the very top of the rankings.

Top 10 most liveable cities 1. Melbourne, Australia 2. Vienna, Austria 3. Vancouver, Canada 4. Toronto, Canada 5. Adelaide, Australia 6. Calgary, Canada 7. Sydney, Australia 8. Helsinki, Finland 9. Perth, Australia 10. Auckland, New Zealand Source: EIU’s Global Liveability Ranking 2014

Those that scored best tended to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density, without high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure, increasing a city’s liveability rankings.

“For the very top tier of cities, with scores of over 80%, there is no change to report over the past 12 months. Many cities have seen levels of unrest stabilise as economies recover from the global and euro-zone crises, but austerity and tighter fiscal budgets may also have slowed planned improvements, meaning that scores have remained static,” the report stated.

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PROFILE » Rebecca Port

Rebecca Port HR director, learning, leadership & organisational development Allergan Getting the balance right

By REBECCA LEWIS

Art direction: Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Makeup & Hair: Alycia Tan – alycia.makeupartist@gmail.com

Q Can you tell me a bit about your experiences working in HR and how diversity and gender has played a part in this?

I started my career in academia and did a PhD in leadership, and there was an element there looking at what makes a great leader and how diversity impacts that. I then went on to consulting and worked in assessing leaders, and built consulting models of leadership looking at the gender differences there. I then moved in-house and that experience was more about how we get more women into leadership roles. Certainly over the last couple of years, with things like the push for more women on boards, there has been more attention paid to it. It’s about looking at what we can do to really change the system so it creates gender balance.

I think some of my experience has been never to really look at the obvious.

Q What do you mean by never looking at the obvious?

My previous role was focused on getting more women into managing directors positions, and so the obvious place to focus is women directors, and how we can get them to a MD level. But what I did was look at the data to find out the actual problem, which wasn’t always obvious.

Q And what did you find out?

Generally, in some industries, if you’re a male director or female director, you have as much likelihood as being promoted to managing director as each other; I certainly found pretty much equality there.

Where the problem was, was much lower

down. At a junior level, men were more likely to get promoted, which would result in a skewed population. So, focusing on the director-level wasn’t the problem, what needed to be focused on was finding out why junior women were leaving, and why they weren’t being promoted. Is it that there are biases within the system? And a lot of the work that I do now is looking at where those biases lie. Sometimes it will be something obvious, but often it’s quite unconscious. It might be that your promotion process favours people who are like the people on the promotion panel – who may happen to be male. It’s really about figuring out where the bias is, and whether it’s conscious or unconscious.

Q So with that bias, do you believe it is mostly unconscious?

It’s difficult to say because it’s so subtle, and nobody is going to admit to their biases. The notion that we’re all biased, and it’s the way the brain works, is something we need to get more comfortable with.

Q Having a bias towards people who are more like you is natural.

Most of that is probably unconscious, but some people have also probably recognised the people they like spending time with are very similar to them. I often think unconscious bias is the phrase given to it when people diplomatically talk about bias and create comfort around it, but the key here is making sure people become conscious of their bias. In some places there is undoubtedly out-andout conscious bias where people might

recognise they’ve got a dislike of X type of people, and some of that is inevitable, but I hope it’s rare.

Q In an HR role, how do you get

VITAL STATS In her role, Rebecca Port is responsible for leading change initiatives and building organisational capability to support the business, by tapping into the immense potential of the Asia Pacific market. Her previous roles include head of talent at Standard Chartered Bank and head of consulting at DDI India. She is a chartered organisational psychologist with a degree, master’s and PhD in psychology.

She is currently based in Singapore with Allergan.

around this issue of gender bias?

I think it’s about looking at the system and where decisions are made, and ensuring they’re not being made by an individual.

For example, someone may have a bias against people who wear black shoes, and if they can make big decisions about who gets promoted, who gets hired, then their bias has room to play out. But if I work in a system where there is a rigorous interview process and where promotions are discussed by a diverse group of people, then that bias is less likely to play out. It’s about looking at the system and making sure there are a range of diverse individuals contributing to decisions.

That’s why I think our problem with gender is not always at the senior level because most senior decisionmaking in big organisations is done via a committee. Whereas at the junior level, it’s an individual’s line manager deciding how much they pay and whether they promote. But looking at how to change this throughout the organisation, without crippling it, is incredibly challenging.

Q So what are some of the biggest hindrances to how gender issues are managed at a senior and junior level?

There’s often a strong bias towards the “lean in” culture and focusing on women to “fix” women, but I don’t think just “fixing” the women is ever going to be enough.

There is a lot of research that suggests

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PROFILE » Rebecca Port huge differences in men and women around self-limiting belief and aversion to taking risks. For example, men look at a job and say, “This job has 10 requirements needed and I can do two of them; great, I’ll apply”, whereas women will look at the same job and say, “I can only do eight of those things, so I won’t apply”. However, we need to go beyond this and also look at getting men to lean in.

One way to do this is unconscious bias training, as well as having good HR systems such as hiring and promotion processes. It’s also important to get the messaging right.

Q Can you explain a bit more about that messaging?

I ran an off-site with about 60 senior leaders, and the head of the business stood up and said, “We need more women in our business”, and he showed the business rationale for that. For many years it’s been about diversity being a “nice” thing to have, but having the senior leaders share the business reasoning behind it is necessary.

Q That’s interesting. Women need to “lean in”, but it’s also about getting the men on side to understand the pitfalls of gender imbalance?

I spend a significantly high proportion of my time working with men to increase the gender balance.

I’ve spent more time in my career working with men to help them understand who they are sponsoring. I’ve also spent a lot of time doing reverse mentoring.

I’ve gotten a number of senior leaders to take groups of mid-level women out for lunch to ask them about what their experience is like in life and at work. What it is like to be a woman in the organisation? What are some of the challenges they face?

Having senior leaders – both men and women – talk to the target population is incredibly impactful. They often had no clue how hard it is for women to get ahead and the obvious or subtle barriers they experience.

Q Do we need to keep talking about women and leadership in order for it to become a non-issue?

Yes, I think so. It’s so complex and there’s hopefully a transition phase, when people talk about it and it’s a big, scary issue, but over time it becomes less so. It needs to be talked about in so many broad ways

because there is so much influence. The way women are brought up is different to men, and some would argue about this difference in power bases between boys and girls. There are certain things in women’s upbringing that hinder them.

Q What about a woman’s upbringing that might hinder them at work?

I often talk about the fairy tales. There are three types of fairy tales which I think are really unhelpful to women. The first is the idea of marrying Prince Charming.

Aiming to marry someone that is several social echelons above you because his biggest trait is that he’s charming is just a bad idea. Already within that you’re in a power differential, and until you get equality at home, you’re never going to strive for it in the workplace.

Then there’s the fairy tale that a knight in shining armour comes and rescues you.

Why not climb out of the tower yourself?

It’s a ridiculous idea, and for men too, because it just creates these terrible unequal expectations.

And then there’s the notion of being asked to go to the ball. This is something so ingrained. Women wait to be asked to dance, they wait to be asked to be married.

If I were to have proposed to my husband, it would have been seen as devaluing the engagement, which is totally nonsense.

Related to the workplace, you need to be asking for a pay rise, for a promotion or for the big job which is two grades above where you are. Men will ask for these things because they have been raised in such a way that they are the ones who ask and women are the ones who wait to be asked.

I think some of that stuff, and the way we are socialised, goes on to be unhelpful, so that’s why I think it’s important to talk about it.

Q Is it as important to talk about these sorts of things at home, externally, as as in the workplace?

Yes, and I think for many other diversity issues a lot of things have become hugely socially unacceptable, but women have not been blessed with the same grace.

There’s an awful lot of counter information available that flies completely in the face of gender equality, that I don’t think other diversity issues necessarily face.

Q It’s fairly recognised that women typically earn less than men. How important is it for women to identify

and understand their own potential and worth in the workplace?

Finding out your market worth is really important. Men tend to talk about money and talk about their bonuses, and my experience is that many women don’t do the same. But working out how much you’re getting paid compared with other men and women in similar roles is really important. It’s a difficult thing to do, but it’s totally acceptable to ask for a pay rise.

There is often an assumption that women are not necessarily the sole breadwinner, whereas men possibly are, and my response to that is that it doesn’t matter.

They are doing the same job, and who cares what you do with your money?

Women finding out their market worth is really powerful, but it’s challenging because in most organisations you are contracted not to discuss your pay.

Q What are your views on gender quotas?

I do think on one hand what gets measured gets done, and I think the quotas and targets in boards in the UK and the US are useful because it has brought attention to the issue, and it gives you a relative benchmark.

On the other hand, in organisations it can be quite challenging because it’s easy to create a “you’ve got the job because you’re a woman” mentality, and nobody wants to be that token woman in the room.

If we’ve already acknowledged that in some cases women’s confidence and outspokenness about their achievements is lesser than men’s, then why would we want to put women in a position where everyone else is thinking, “Well, you haven’t got the job because you’re brilliant and really skilled, you’ve got the job because of your gender”?

So, at a smaller organisational level, I don’t think quotas are necessarily a good idea because it can increase people’s bias.

Q How could that be avoided?

It’s important to have the data and to set progress against that data.

So rather than say a blanket 30% of all hires must be female at a director-level and above, try and employ three women in those roles this year, if you currently have none, for example. Then you start scouring the market for the very best women, and find them and hire them, but you might not necessarily talk

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Rebecca Port « PROFILE externally to the company about what you’re doing.

But between a small team – maybe the head of the business and HR partner – you can continue to track this and see how you are progressing against your new target. Then you can start talking the numbers and the improvements you’re making.

I think it requires a much more subtle approach than just hiring 30% women, as doing that can often elicit resentment from some people.

Q Let’s talk about work-life balance.

Is creating this flexibility today easier because there are more women in senior leadership roles, and more of a focus in keeping them there?

The thing about work-life balance is figuring out what that means to you as an individual, and then as an organisation.

There are some careers and roles that are much more flexible than others, and I think there are both men and women who have a preference for more or less flexibility.

I don’t think women can have it all, but I don’t think men have it all either.

Q Really? Neither men nor women can “have it all”?

To be a really successful leader you make sacrifices, and different people draw that line in different places – both men and women. I think people need to define what having it all means to them – and this will be different for different people. Research does suggest women have a lot more pressure on them to do the lion’s share of housework and child care, even when in a dual working relationship.

A key to getting work-life balance is finding balance at home and making sure domestic activities are divided in an equal way that aligns to your view of having it all.

Q Who are some leaders – male or female – you admire and why?

That’s actually a really hard question because I think there are different people who I respect for different reasons.

I admire people I have worked with, rather than famous leaders, because I have seen how exceptional they are at their jobs, I’ve learnt from their passion and how they are great partners to their spouse and parents.

I do think the lack of role models for women is problematic.

One of the mistakes we’ve made in addressing gender balance is the focus on women who have “made it”, who are too distant.

Also those leaders would have made it no matter what, and I don’t think they’re generally a good case study, because what we need is more women who are filling up the norm.

Q That’s a really interesting point. Do we need more “average” role models?

What we actually need to look up to are women who are reasonably successful and quite good at being reasonably successful.

Somebody who is reasonably successful is not going to be [Facebook COO] Sheryl Sandberg – I think a lot of what she does is great – but I don’t think she or other leaders like her are necessarily useful role models.

Women need to look at types of leaders who resonate with them, who have the type of balance they want.

Likewise, gender research needs to look at what reasonably successful women have done and see what other women can learn from them.

Because the majority of leaders who have “made it” are not representative.

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FEATURE » Employer Branding

Increasingly informed candidates are forcing companies to be more steadfast in crafting a winning employer brand. Sabrina Zolkifi talks to companies who are at different stages of building an employer brand and finds out what you need to know to leave a good first impression on future employees.

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Employer Branding « FEATURE s the saying goes, first impressions go a long way.

So why would it be any different when it comes to companies? An increasing number of organisations have redirected their efforts towards building a strong employer branding in a bid to attract, retain and motivate talent.

But for many, employer branding begins before a candidate even considers them as a place of work.

“Many potential employees’ first and lasting impression is how they view a company’s products, services and brand impression,” says Gerard Koh, vice-president of HR at SMRT. “In some cases, how they experience the brand as a customer transfers their impressions to what they believe the company will be as an employer.”

This is something Unilever also experiences, as so often the first point of contact a potential candidate has with the brand is through one of the company’s products.

“It becomes much easier for us to connect with talent,” says Anish Singh, HR director for leadership and organisation development for global markets at Unilever. “That, for us, is a starting point.”

Once a connection has been made, one of the most important aspects of creating a strong employer brand is to make sure the messages sent out are aligned with the company’s values.

Koh says talent these days are looking to work for a company which makes a difference – an understanding that has allowed SMRT to target and attract the right group of individuals.

“A public transport company like SMRT that touches the lives of three million commuters a day has a mission that resonates with talent that have a passion to serve others,” he says.

“So, the theme of ‘serving others with pride’ is a common thread that runs from the company’s brand promise to the employer branding.”

Of course, SMRT isn’t the only organisation which has picked up on candidates’ interest in the bigger picture.

Can you make a difference?

“People want to know how we are impacting lives and making differences in the society,” says Srikanth Chandrashekhar, director of human resources for APAC at Bombardier Transportation.

“We are doing a lot more branding with some

of the projects we’re taking up, and linking it back to the cultural aspect of those projects. So if we do something in China, they want to know how we are impacting lives in China.

“Employees spend so much of their lives here, they want to know what kind of a workplace we are.”

For SMRT, it is also important to communicate how it can help employees grow and develop as they work in the company.

“In short, it’s communicating, ‘How do I help you grow and value-add more over time?’”, Koh says. “We don’t sell jobs, but careers. For example, we recently launched a career scheme for train operators and engineering staff (nonexecutives) that focuses on career progression and training.”

“If you look at hiring, it’s happening more through referrals today and it creates so much buzz when people outside of work go on social forums, talking, and sharing ideas.”

– Srikanth Chandrashekhar, director of human resources for APAC at Bombardier Transportation

And one of the easiest – and most effective – ways companies can communicate strong authentic messages as part of their employer brand is to engage current employees as brand ambassadors.

Chandrashekhar believes this is a powerful method that all companies should adopt.

“If you look at hiring, it’s happening more through referrals today and it creates so much buzz when people outside of work go on social forums, talking, and sharing ideas,” he says.

Koh agrees, adding candidates will find the employer brand to be more authentic coming from current employees rather than the communications or HR teams.

But Chandrashekhar admits this is still something Bombardier is trying to perfect, and it’s now looking into how it can leverage on employee brand ambassadors to put out messages around company ethics, values, practices and transparency.

“We want to bring more transparency around our internal practices so candidates understand what they’re getting into.”

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FEATURE » Employer Branding One thing all three companies agree on is that employer branding is not something HR can build, execute and manage alone.

Unilever has been partnering with its marketing and communications peers for a while, and built a “repeatable” employer brand model, which can be picked up and adopted by the company’s different markets and brands.

At SMRT, the HR team also works closely with its communications counterparts. Koh says the HR and corporate communications team collaborate on the company’s “employer narrative”, which communicates “what it means to be an employer in SMRT”.

“Core to the narrative is what SMRT stands for and what value do we add to our customers and society. We both recognise what is promoted as an employer brand impacts the company’s brand and vice versa,” he says.

“For many of them, it is that strong sense of service to the public, of loyalty to the company being recognised and rewarded, and of the opportunity for a stable, but yet interesting career. This, we found out from our organisational climate survey and various engagements with the employees.”

– Gerard Koh, vice-president of HR at SMRT

As for Bombardier, Chandrashekhar says it is currently in the process of restructuring its employer brand, including exploring more ways it can leverage on social media to reach a wider talent pool.

Going digital “Social media is one way we’ve increased brand visibility and it drives our brand equity,” Chandrashekhar says, adding it’s been invaluable to boosting the recruitment process.

“It helps people understand who we are, what we do, and what we stand for; without that, when we go through recruitment, we have to explain the kind of company we are. I’d rather spend time convincing the candidate about the job than explain the company.”

He says utilising online tools such as LinkedIn has allowed Bombardier to put out content that provides a clear idea of the company.

“We are going to produce more online content about our businesses and the projects we’ve completed. We also want to use YouTube, where our engineering candidates will get a chance to look at what our site and facilities look like. We’ll be exploring using Twitter as a recruiting tool as well.”

Adds Koh: “At SMRT, social media has become part and parcel of the company’s employer branding strategy.”

He adds on the SMRT Facebook page, it shares posts of staff and their experiences, which helps to showcase the people behind the scenes and what they do to keep things running.

“Such human interest stories of common folk have garnered quite some interest, and we will use this to build up our communications efforts on our employer brand online,” Koh says.

An added challenge Bombardier is facing is making sure its employer brand is aligned across all its business units.

“We are running something called OneBT, and it drives towards having common messages, common values and common practices across businesses. With this initiative of having a common careers page and a common social media strategy, all businesses are equally involved in setting the strategy right at both a regional and country level.”

For other companies building or revising their employer brand strategy, they have to make sure the groundwork has been done.

Looking back, Koh says SMRT did not start with a blank page, and had gleaned insights from incumbent staff, including their sense of pride for the organisation.

“For many of them, it is that strong sense of service to the public, of loyalty to the company being recognised and rewarded, and of the opportunity for a stable, but yet interesting career. This, we found out from our organisational climate survey and various engagements with the employees,” Koh says.

“From there, we developed aspirational goals to better the lot of our workers as they continue their career journey with us. In other words, it has to be anchored on the current reality, but improved with the desire to be even better than we are now.”

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

LIVING IN A VUCA WORLD We’re living in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world. A number of changes – including unstable economic conditions, globalisation, technological innovations, population and demographic shifts, environmental changes, and political upheavals – have made the current business environment more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous than ever before. This is the new normal. If your leaders have not come to terms with this fact, your organisation may be headed for trouble.

Each year, Sirota surveys over one million employees working in small, medium and large companies around the globe. When we analyse survey items that measure employee perceptions of leadership and management effectiveness, we are seeing some alarming trends:

respond rigidly, hoarding information and resources and retreating into silos and turf wars.

3. When people are working towards a common purpose in an enthusiastic workforce built on a foundation of shared values and partnership principles, and with systems and processes that are flexible and adaptive, organisations can reach their full potential and achieve unprecedented levels of performance. We call this “dynamic alignment”.

To create “dynamic alignment” companies must do four things:

1. Companies are not keeping up with the pace of change. At least not from an employee perspective. In 2007, 65% of employees felt their company was responding effectively to changes in the external environment. In our most recent norms, that number has dropped to 55% – a 10-point decrease in five years.

a)

Architect a strategic plan that establishes clear goals, accountabilities and structures that drive performance.

b)

Enable employees to execute on strategy through flexible and participative systems, process, tools and resources.

2. Organisations are struggling with efficiency. At a time when organisations need to function like well-oiled machines in order to meet growing demand and beat out competition, only 60% of employees think their company is a wellrun organisation. That’s a 13-point drop from 2009 – the height of the global recession – when 73% of employees felt their organisations were operating effectively.

c)

Unlock workforce potential and sustain employee enthusiasm by ensuring leaders and managers meet the achievement, camaraderie and equity needs of their people.

d)

Elevate leadership and management practices by ensuring leaders and managers live the values and model the behaviours that promote a partnership-driven culture. We have found that the only way to achieve dynamic alignment is by developing a partnership mindset and culture within organisations. Partnership principles allow for and encourage employees, manager managers and leaders to share nd respond to changes in the internal and external ex information and environment.

3. Employees don’t feel their feedback is being heard. When asked if management takes action based on employee ideas, just 46% of employees agreed in our latest set of annual norms. And only 37% of employees could agree that senior management had effectively utilised their survey feedback to create positive changes. Based on experience and research, we know that one of the best ways to demotivate employees is to ignore their suggestions.

4. Confidence and clarity are declining. In 2007, 82% of employees had confidence in the future of their company. Since then, we’ve seen confidence levels slowly erode a point and a half a year, falling to 76% in our most recently published year-by-year norms. We’ve also seen employee ratings of senior management’s ability to provide a clear picture of the future direction of the company decrease from 74% favourable to 67% over the same time period.

Considered together, these results suggest that more and more leaders are struggling to clarify the way forward during these tumultuous times.

This his article was contributed by Lewis Garrad, naging director managing Asia Pacific at Sirota

Dynamic alignment At the 43rd Annual World Economic Forum at Davos, global economists and business experts identified resilience as critical capability for 21st century organisations.

As we talk to our clients, we’re seeing that many leaders realise they need to build a more resilient workforce, culture and company. They just don’t know how.

Here is how we think organisations should respond: 1. To succeed in the 21st century, organisations must do two things: Continually adapt to an ever-changing business environment, and effectively align leaders, managers and employees around a clear and compelling strategy.

Sirota is the leading specialist provider of employee insight solutions and strategies. Founded in 1972, Sirota pioneered the areas of employee survey analytics, action research, HR analytics and data utilisation. For more information, visit us at www.sirota.com.

2. Organisational psychologists have shown that under times of stress, people in organisations respond to threats in one of two ways. They either display resilience and share information, resources and work together to solve problems. Or they September 2014 « Human Resources « 19

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FEATURE » Employer Branding

CASE STUDY: UNILEVER Unilever talks us through its employer branding journey and why working with marketing and communications has been invaluable to the process.

Unilever has been around for more than 100 years, but this doesn’t mean it takes employer branding lightly.

“We want our candidates to have the same great experience with our corporate brand they’ve come to expect from our products,” says Melissa Gee Kee, the leadership and organisation development director for Southeast Asia and Australasia at Unilever.

“Somebody could apply for a job with us, not have a good experience and decide not to buy our brands anymore. Equally, they could have a fantastic experience and want to have more of a brand. The two for me are so closely interlinked.”

This is why Gee Kee and her team work closely with their peers in marketing because they believe employer branding is a strategy owned not just by HR, but the entire organisation.

“Partnering with marketing on a local level is a critical and potent combination because once we get those two things working hand in glove together, we can learn a lot from them,” she says.

“We can learn how to better segment in our market, understand the different types of people we’re trying to target, and the different channels to get to those people.

We can learn from marketing’s expertise and they can also learn from us.

“It’s been a great partnership. In fact, you see a lot of our marketing vice-presidents reigniting their passion around the employer brand and because of that, we’ve been able to do things that alone we couldn’t have done.”

Anish Singh, HR director for leadership and organisation development for global markets at Unilever, says HR worked with the marketing team to build a repeatable model called the employer branding wheel, as part of its efforts.

“The wheel really tells you what you need to do to build the employer brand, and where the gaps are. We implemented the employer branding wheel in 2009 for our work with graduates, when we were the number one employer in nine countries. In 2013, we became number one in 29 countries.”

Plug, play, repeat Gee Kee adds with this repeatable model, it is important her team has the right capabilities and skills to understand the wheel and execute it effectively in the local markets.

“Another part of that wheel is working with the

"Partnering with marketing on a local level is a critical and potent combination because once we get those two things working hand in glove together, we can learn a lot from them." communications team to amplify what we’re doing and help us better understand the channels and message,” she says.

“They’re the ones who have their ear to the ground and have all these great stories within the company. They’re helping us look at how we can share those stories with the mid-career recruits or graduates.”

One way Unilever has effectively used this model to tie employer branding with its graduate recruitment programme was with its TRESemmé line, which it launched in the Philippines last year.

“They had a huge style bus they would drive to shopping centres to do consumers’ hair,” Gee Kee says. “We were able to take that to campuses and link the two things together, which is really exciting.”

She says that is a good example of when the company has to adapt a global strategy to the local market.

“You leverage on the model globally, but you think very locally about what the candidates or consumers in a particular market are really looking for.”

For this very purpose, Unilever has a tool kit that spans four specific pillars: Great people, great place; sustainability; innovation; and business performance.

“Depending on the market, we might want to speak more about sustainability, or talk more about the great people and great places to work,” Gee Kee says.

“As long as the countries use those four pillars, which are basically the employer value proposition, no matter where they are in the world, people will always be joining a place where they can come in, innovate, grow and have access to great leadership development.

“But what these candidates really want to understand may be slightly different, so we want to be able to communicate the messages they want to hear and the values in that location well. There is a consistency, but there’s also a very local route in the approach.”

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FEATURE » Employer Branding

Consistency is key While on the topic of consistency, another aspect of employer branding which Unilever takes seriously is making sure the message put out to candidates is aligned with the experiences of employees.

“It’s a combination of the promise you’re making outside and how that’s being converted into action on the inside,” Singh says.

To make sure they’re always in tune with what both candidates and employees are saying about the brand, Unilever employs several methods.

Externally, the company partners with Universum in Southeast Asia and Australasia to better understand who and where their target candidates are – from a graduate perspective as well as mid-career movers.

“Internally, we have a global people survey we run every year; every second year it’s a lighter touch survey to really make sure the culture we have internally is matching up to what we’re saying externally,” Gee Kee says.

“We would look at our brand health from a corporate brand perspective as well as externally, and make sure those two things are marrying well together. If there is a gap, we’ll have to find out why that gap exists, and make sure we close that gap within the market.”

Singh and Gee Kee suggest candidates in the region are looking for competitive compensation, as well as a company that is focused on giving back.

Regionally, candidates also seek out employers who are able to provide an agile working environment, along with international opportunities.

Singh adds it’s very similar on a global scale, with even more focus on picking companies which are sustainable and planning for the future.

“Unilever also places a lot of emphasis of the relationship between employer brand and leadership pipeline.”

Creating pipelines This aspect of employer brand is particularly strong in India, where the company has created more than 800 CEOs from that country alone.

“Our talent strategy is to build talent and leadership pipelines through graduate programmes. We bring them inside the company, give them opportunities, make sure they’re on the right path, and that they grow with the organisation,” Singh says.

“When you’re in a graduate programme, whether you’re working with Unilever or not, that always stays in your mind. In a way, that affects the choice they make later on.”

Gee Kee says research has shown there is a strong co-

relation between the employer brand students associate with in their graduate years and what they identify as an aspirational employer in their later years.

“It is a crucial part of our pipeline and a crucial part in helping youths find their right employment, and build that talent early on,” she adds.

Melissa Gee Kee Leadership and organisation development director Southeast Asia and Australasia Unilever

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

DO YOU KNOW THE TRUE COST OF A BAD HIRE? Hiring a candidate is not an easy task. Most of the work in hiring activities involves creating a set of performance criteria to assess who is apt for a role.

The entire process of hiring may appear to be easy, but in reality the costs for a recruiter are high. With the upsurge of different sources of information, it becomes extremely tedious for recruiters to scan through candidate information available from different social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

It is not just the investment of money, but also the time that human resources professionals spend on searching for the right candidate. According to Recruiter.com, the true cost comes out to a staggering US$830,000, based on someone earning US$70,000, and whose employment is terminated after two and a half years.

The cost associated with the recruitment of a candidate includes advertising, recruitment agency fees, scrutiny of application, multiple rounds of interviews, travel and accommodation, training and orientation. The extent of expenditure on a bad hire depends on the position of the candidate, the cost of training and the tenure of the bad hire.

Hiring the wrong person – it happens to most organisations According to a survey by Recruit Plus in Singapore, it found 99% of the survey respondents felt their organisation was employing a certain percentage of bad hires – from 10% to a whopping 50%.

Of 4,000 respondents, only 64% have the intention to improve their bad hires through training while 11% will live with it. The remaining 25% is non-committal.

From the numbers mentioned above, it is evident that almost every company suffers from some degree of damage due to bad hires. A bad hire often causes significant loss in business, which can also tarnish the image of a company.

The costs which are difficult to quantify are the reduction in consumer confidence towards the company, loss of business, and cost of disruption of the business and mistakes and failures of the candidates. One of the major losses is reduced employee morale as when an employee is terminated, the entire team can be in disarray.

Reasons for a bad hire There are various reasons that lead to a bad hire. Some common factors are: • • • • •

Uncertainty of the requirements for a particular position.

Urgency to fill the vacancy.

Insufficient talent intelligence.

Inefficient research done on the candidate.

Lack of reference checks.

How to minimise bad hires As the saying goes, prevention is better than the cure. The incurring of loss of manpower, finance and business is enough motivation for organisations to avoid bad hires. So how can they do so? When hiring, recruiters should remember these simple tips: • • •

•

Understand what skills a position demands.

Look for the intangible qualities such as leadership, a team player and good interpersonal skills.

Converse well with the candidates. This helps in understanding the candidate and also gives an opportunity to the recruiter to communicate to them exactly what is expected.

Make optimal use of social networking sites and available resources for background screening.

Background screening is equally important for employees. With globalisation, companies are looking at growing markets in Asia Pacific to expand their businesses.

Talent from developing and underdeveloped countries also endeavour to explore greener pastures that would allow them to lead a better life both financially and socially.

This has resulted in tough competition as there are often many candidates available for the same position. The desire to get a good job in a top multinational company with an excellent remuneration package is so high that one may not be deterred from forging his/her CV. The benefits of conducting background screening Background verification also helps in providing employees with a safe working environment.

While conducting background screenings, companies also carry out criminal and financial checks. This enables the recruiters to be aware of any recorded criminal offences, including violent and theft offences, committed by prospective candidates in the past.

Based on the First Advantage Q1 2014 Asia Pacific Background Screening Report, criminal history and financial-related discrepancies can pose greater legal, compliance, reputational and security risks than other types of discrepancies.

Criminal and financial background verification not only helps to provide a safe working environment, but also protects a company from reputational damage, potential risk to workplace safety or confidential data that could result from negative hiring.

To protect the company, an effective background screening programme is an essential part of any employer’s hiring strategy.

A bad team has always been a catalyst to a company’s failure. Sustaining the talent pool and providing the employees with a safe work environment is of utmost importance for every company.

This article cle is contributed ed by Matthew Glasner, antage First Advantage managing director, South Asia ficc Pacifi

Matthew Glasner is the managing director of South Asia Pacific for First Advantage, the largest provider of employment background screening services in the Asia Pacific region.

First Advantage conducts more than 23 million background checks annually, offering comprehensive screening solutions and industry best practices for coverage, legal regulations and processes.

For more information, visit www.fadvasia.com

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FEATURE » MICE Events

How can HR leaders help with the planning and execution of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) events for a smoother run and better results for the business and its people? Akankasha Dewan finds out.

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MICE Events « FEATURE n 2013, Singapore received more than 15 million visitors, and a good chunk of that number was made up by corporate arrivals taking advantage of the country’s growing meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) space.

When you include internal audiences – companies and people already working in Singapore – the number of off-sites, conferences, training days and engagement events held outside the office grows even bigger.

Undoubtedly, the MICE space is important, and in their bid to make it a more strategic part of the organisation – as well as a better business partner and more than a function which simply handles administration – human resources professionals have evolved in many companies to take an important role, if not a lead one, in helping to plan and execute these events.

Where HR can truly add value to the overall business is in the alignment of the human capital strategy with the business strategy. In fact, a 2014 survey conducted by the Centre for Effective Organisations – including companies such as Unilever and Sony Entertainment – recently concluded HR can contribute significantly to companies “by simply allocating more time, budget and expertise to the emerging trends that have the greatest potential effect on organisations”.

It’s precisely for this reason that today’s strategic HR leader cannot shy away from playing an active role in the conception and execution of MICE events.

Another report – the American Express Meetings & Events 2014 Global Meetings Forecast – concluded that in 2014, “meetings and events will likely continue to remain critical drivers for organisations to align on strategic business objectives and effectively communicate with employees, customers and partners worldwide”.

This growing reliance on corporate events to boost organisational growth is a trend not lost on Pearl Tong, senior HR business partner for APAC at Waggener Edstrom Communications.

“Each year we look at the team’s needs and organise training, team off-sites, team-building, and management team planning meetings at external venues,” she says.

The trend has proven to be especially popular in Singapore, with the island nation having been heralded as the world’s top international country and city for meetings, according to the Union of

International Associations (UIA) 2013 Global Rankings.

The report found 944 international meetings were hosted in Singapore last year, and the nation formed 9.4% of UIA’s database of meetings, which was represented by 174 countries and 1,465 cities.

The skills gap But as these events gain prominence in the region, it becomes even more integral for HR leaders to carry with them the knowledge, techniques and competency to plan, organise and stage meetings, conferences, exhibitions and other business-related events from both the project management and operations perspectives.

Studies suggest, however, it is fundamentally from an operational point of view that HR departments often don’t have the skills to plan and execute such events.

One study by Cornell University identified that “operations management and human resources management have historically been very separate fields.

“In practice, operations managers and human resource managers interact primarily on administrative issues regarding payroll and other matters,” it stated.

Therefore, when it comes to deciding on the venue and logistics of corporate events, challenges tend to ensue for HR leaders.

“The usual challenges consist of cost – venue, miscellaneous, cancellation policies, finding a venue that has all the facilities to ensure the event is successful, catering services at the venue, transportation – as well as public transportation access, parking facilities and site visits to ensure the facilities are in good condition,” Tong says.

The problem is made even more complex with integrated venues, especially in Singapore, which often offer new product combinations, retooled themes and dining and entertainment programmes that assure a myriad choices for a corporate event planner.

Commenting on MICE venues in Singapore, Tong elaborates on “the diverse range of convention centres, meeting venues, and exhibition halls to choose from” for any type of meetings.

“The city itself also has a wide range of accommodation with good transportation infrastructure and access,” she says.

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FEATURE » MICE Events Understanding the goals of MICE events Leveraging on HR skills Crafting a clear and well-planned organisational strategy then becomes integral to deal with any potential issues, Tong says.

“Before exploring venues, you should set a budget and think through the criteria and guest list. There’s no point in visiting a fivestar hotel venue when the budget does not support it.”

The response time is important as well.

Tong suggests when you find a venue you like, see how quickly the venue sales staff responds to your enquiry because this can often give a good indication of what the service will be like.

“Before exploring venues, you should set a budget and think through the criteria and guest list. There’s no point in visiting a five-star hotel venue when the budget does not support it.”

– Pearl Tong, senior HR business partner for APAC at Waggener Edstrom Communications

“Also, see if they offer site visits as this is very important in allowing you to see whether the location is convenient and if the facility meets all your requirements.”

Tong’s suggestions hint at the possibility of leveraging on an overlap between traditional HR skills and those required to make corporate event planning better, such as communicating effectively.

This is often identified as a pressing challenge for those in charge. At an Andavo Meetings and Incentives’ Edu-Forum, meetings arrangers shared their most pressing challenges when it came to organising business meetings. One of the top challenges cited was getting meeting stakeholders to clearly articulate their desired business outcomes.

“Often, stakeholders are not fully engaged in the meeting design phase which can create a disconnect with the business purpose of the meeting and make it difficult to create metrics for success,” a report on the forum read.

Where HR can help is in identifying and communicating the purpose of MICE events to make them as successful as possible and getting buy-in and support from all levels of the organisation.

Using the strengths of the HR function to help plan corporate events, where appropriate, can help to overcome some operational challenges such as venue selection.

“The type of venue is selected depending on the nature of the meeting/event,” Tong says. “We recently did a negotiation training workshop for the team and since the team is young, I wanted to include an element of fun and wanted them to set work aside and focus on their development.

“Instead of picking a hotel or training centre function room that doesn’t have windows and reminds them of work, I chose a non-traditional venue that was outside the city centre. The room had lots of windows which brought in good natural light and a view of nature. I also organised the room setting to be more casual so the team could relax and enjoy the full day training session.

Viewing event management as an extension of one’s HR responsibilities also becomes easier considering MICE events are now increasingly targeted towards the people dimension of the phenomenon, rather than being a solely productoriented one – especially when it comes to employee incentive functions.

“The days of the old ‘boondoggle’ employee incentives are over and meeting arrangers must find ways to do much more than arrange golf and activities at a five-star hotel. Employee engagement is the new incentive,” Andavo’s report stated.

Essentially, aligning business aims and goals of MICE events with talent management policies such as effective attraction, retention and development of talent becomes a helpful tool to adopt when HR leaders get involved with planning MICE events.

For example, HR leaders can provide valuable tools and skills needed to recruit appropriate employees for executing the events, in addition to managing their performance and setting the right compensation and benefits strategies for them. Organising training sessions for staff, as well as setting budgets, are also responsibilities HR can easily undertake.

The MICE industry may be dynamic, complex and pose challenges which HR practitioners may not always know how to overcome, but by concentrating on the talent dimension of these events, HR can make their role in the conceptualisation and execution of them a more strategic one.

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SPONSORED RECRUIT ADVICE HOW TO THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PUBLIC SERVICE DIVISION

COMMITTED TO GROWING OUR OFFICERS A vital mission, solid learning opportunities and multiple professional pathways – these are just some of the attractions of a career in the Singapore Public Service.

As the Public Service’s central people agency, the Public Service Division (PSD) sets the direction of HR policies for the Singapore Public Service, which comprises some 139,000 public officers across 16 ministries and more than 50 statutory boards.

Putting people at the centre Given the current challenges on the employment scene, it is more crucial than ever for employers to attract and develop their talent pool. As Singapore’s largest single employer, the Singapore Public Service is committed to “putting people at the centre” in all that it does.

If there is one lesson worthy of note of the Singapore Public Service, it’s to invest in its people, a key success factor for any organisation.

Investing in the development of employees will lead to better retention; enhanced attractiveness as an employer; reduced attrition and recruitment costs; better succession plans; a higher level of productivity; and higher employee engagement, commitment and contribution.

To encourage a culture of continuous learning and improvement, the Singapore Public Service advocates training as a shared responsibility between public officers and supervisors. Each officer is entitled to 100 training hours which he can use to develop essential skills and competencies. The Singapore Public Service also has in place a Training Incentive Scheme to recognise the efforts of junior officers who have proactively pursued upgrading opportunities.

Training not only motivates officers, it also ensures the Singapore Public Service continues to have the required capabilities to carry out its functions effectively.

“Investing in staff development has always been a significant value proposition for public officers,” explains Low Peck Kem, chief HR officer and senior director (business partnerships) at PSD. “Once you maximise the potential of your people and get your engagement done right, the strategic outcomes will follow.”

“As Singapore’s largest single employer, the Singapore Public Service is committed to ‘putting people at the centre’ in all that it does.”

PSD will be working to further enhance the HR capabilities of public agencies,” Low says. “Besides collaborating with the Civil Service College on a roadmap that will allow HR officers in the Singapore Public Service to attain internationally recognised professional HR accreditations, we will also be bringing together HR and organisational development practitioners with our finance and strategic planning counterparts to address strategic, service-wide manpower needs.”

OUR CORE VALUES

As stewards of the public good, public officers need to uphold the core values of integrity, service and excellence. Public officers are committed to making Singapore a better home for all, and take pride in carrying out this vital and meaningful mission.

One career, infinite opportunities The Singapore Public Service is also committed to offering a range of career and advancement opportunities to officers, by functioning as “One Public Service”. This flexibility ensures officers can explore new professional pathways according to their skills and the needs of relevant agencies.

The diversity of roles within the Singapore Public Service allows for numerous opportunities to work across departments and agencies. To facilitate the development of officers, the Singapore Public Service employs a well-established performance management system and career development framework that includes job rotation within the organisation as well as posting and secondment to other agencies. This helps officers learn new skill-sets and perspectives, in turn allowing them to make an even greater contribution to the public service.

The road ahead Prospects in the Singapore Public Service remain bright. “In the coming years,

The Public Service Division (PSD) is the central people agency of the Singapore Public Service.

As the central people agency, it develops bold and forward-looking public sector leaders; promotes best practices and ensures that the skills of public officers remain relevant and up-to-date; and champions change in the public service. For more information, visit us at www.psd.gov.sg.

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FEATURE » MICE Events

CASE STUDY: NUS Organising large-scale MICE events is a tricky process, but it’s also an opportunity to engage staff and give them a chance to work outside their job scope. Akankasha Dewan speaks with leaders from the National University of Singapore about their experiences organising a recent off-site conference.

It is undeniable Singapore has become one of the most popular places in the world for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) events.

The island nation’s solid infrastructure, efficiency, vibrant business ecosystem, knowledge networks and strategic location in Asia are often identified as factors contributing to its popularity as a MICE location. In fact, Singapore was named Asia’s top convention city for the 12th year in a row this year by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

“The quality of food [in Singapore] is always very good,” says Oliver Chen, deputy director of education and industry relations at the Risk Management Institute (RMI), National University of Singapore (NUS). “This is especially compared to non-Asian countries which usually only have cold sandwiches for lunch.

“The service in Singapore at hotels is also usually very attentive, and that is much appreciated by foreign visitors.”

Suan Ng, senior manager of human resources and finance at NUS, agrees adding that MICE venues in Singapore are “well-connected, with sound infrastructure to tailor for different configurations”.

NUS’ annual RMI conference Chen and his team host a RMI conference every year, which is targeted towards the region’s financial industry.

“The aim is to bring together financial industry practitioners, regulators and academics to share their ideas and gain from each other’s experience,” Chen says.

This year, NUS held its eighth annual RMI conference at the Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore.

“The conference was held over two days. The first day was a policy forum where the speakers were from the financial industry. The second day was a scientific programme where academics presented their recent research,” Chen says.

“Many of the academics also attended the first day as well and many practitioners returned to attend the second day event, so there was a good cross-fertilisation of ideas. In total, we had nearly 300 people in attendance.”

When taking into consideration the top priorities when planning for such a conference, both Chen and Ng agree deciding on the venue is the most important first step.

“Since we have many financial industry practitioners

"The aim is to bring together financial industry practitioners, regulators and academics to share their ideas and gain from each other’s experience." who are accustomed to a high-level of service and quality, choosing an appropriate venue is quite important for us,” Chen says.

“Besides the service and food quality, the type of space is quite important.”

This includes deciphering if the venue in question has the right size and number of rooms, and if it is able to cater to different numbers of people who show up on the day of the event.

“We ended up choosing Pan Pacific Hotel because the ballrooms were the right size for us, and because they were very flexible in letting us choose what types of rooms we wanted. The level of service was excellent and the food was very good,” Chen says.

Ng agrees, adding that elements such as the “event format and target audience” should also be taken into consideration before deciding on “the suitability of a venue”.

She also shed light on what HR teams can do in their capacity to assist event teams in planning such conferences, highlighting the need to step in and fill gaps in talent acquisition and development, where possible.

“Manpower needs should be discussed and to render support where necessary.”

Leveraging on the opportunity to learn and grow Such help is integral for organisations such as NUS, which does not actively engage external vendors to organise largescale events for it.

Instead, the onus falls on management teams (with the help of HR) themselves to conceptualise the conference, decide on the agenda and speakers, and handle all logistical elements of the event.

“We’re probably quite unique in that we don’t outsource the event management of such a large event,” Chen says.

But interestingly, the team at NUS views the organisation of such events as an opportunity to go beyond

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FEATURE » MICE Events

their current job scopes and instead leverage on the chance to learn new skills and bring out their hidden potential.

“We feel that it provides our staff an opportunity to do something a bit different from their usual desk-bound jobs, and also it’s a chance for them to take pride in their work since most do not usually interact directly with external parties,” he says.

The need for clear communication The main problem, however, with relying on internal forces to plan such events, is to overcome the lack of experience needed to execute processes. This is where, Chen implies, direct and clear communication becomes integral within the team.

“My advice to people planning such an event is to make sure that every staff member understands the level of quality that is expected of them,” he says.

While preparing for the RMI conference, Chen delves into how he documented all required roles and responsibilities into a PowerPoint presentation a week in advance of the conference.

“One area for improvement is on the audio/visual systems,” Chen says.

“This year at Pan Pacific Hotel there weren’t any issues, but previously at other hotels it was quite common to encounter problems in hearing the speakers, or have problems relating to the projector, etc.

“Also, temperature control is often an issue. What we’ve done is to station staff to monitor the room temperature and then alert the hotel staff when it is too hot or too cold.”

"My advice to people planning such an event is to make sure that every staff member understands the level of qualityy that is expected of them."

“These slides have details that specific roles should be thinking of so that everybody has an idea about the level off detail that is expected.

“New staff members come out of the presentation understanding what needs to be done and have a greater appreciation of the scale and quality required. Staff members who have previously worked in the event have a reminder of the different details.”

He adds the presentation is updated every year based on what went wrong and what worked well.

Through this reflective process, Chen and his team believe they are getting more efficient at planning and executing the conference.

Overcoming external challenges Such careful planning and allocation of tasks doesn’t necessarily dictate, however, that his team is not exposed to various external challenges and difficulties that are encountered at the venue itself.

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OPINION » Learning & development

Want to engage Gen Y? Use common sense CHEW HAN GUAN Corporate Learning & Development Manager Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd

Engaging and catering to different generations of employees is easier said than done. Chew Han Guan, corporate L&D manager at Singapore Technologies Aerospace, suggests using common sense and analytics to better engage staff of specific ages.

The global workforce is experiencing a phenomenon of change as one generation is passing the baton to the next. As with all change, there will be unknowns and as the dynamics unravel, the implications and consequences can become confounding and protracted.

Gen Y and the currently dominant Gen X are like oil and water – they simply do not mix. They are two generations of contrasting ideals, ethics and pathos.

Gen X believes in hard work and earning your way up, influenced by an era of post-industrial revolution values. Long working hours is still prevalently held as a virtue, especially in the Asia context.

On the other hand, Gen Y can be distinguished by their creativity and resourcefulness, always seeking the most efficient way of doing things. Being born at the dawn of the internet era, they are used to information being readily available at their fingertips; Gen Y seeks the same pace and speeds in their life and work. This is only natural.

Put the two together and you get the professional equivalence of: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

With a lack of understanding on either side, at best you will get compromises after compromises, and at worst you can get confrontations , discords, grievances and ultimately turnover.

None of the outcomes bode well for the individual and the organisation, resulting in disengagement, a lack of synergy and loss of productivity. As the negative perceptions on each party accumulates over time, the susceptibility to stereotyping increases. The false-consensus effect gets reinforced with each generation pigeon-holing the other as dysfunctional. This picture is arguably an exaggerated extreme in a time when Gen X still rules the workplace. But in years to come, as Gen Y grows in numbers, who is to say this will not run true, especially if Gen X remains unexposed and unenlightened about the seemingly elusive Gen Y. But the generational differences are surmountable. In fact, their collaboration is predisposed for success given the wider environment. Gen X has to deal with Gen Y on a personal level.

Many Gen X have families or relatives who are Gen Y; be it a sibling, a son, daughter, niece, nephew or cousin twice removed.

When you go to the movies, the cinema or a restaurant, chances are you may be served by a Gen Y part-timer. When you watch the television or read the news or read a book, Gen Y inevitably

Get on Gen Y’s level: Forget the bells and whistles, just use common sense.

contributes a part of that entertainment. Gen Y has come into the present and Gen Y will dominate the future, faster than you may imagine.

In fact, for Singapore, projections show this will likely take place around 2025, which is just a decade away from where Gen Y forms the majority of the population of working age.

Fortuitously, as described above, the motivation to understand, the necessity to interact with and the environment to practise in is engendered in many parts of life and also work.

On engagement First, give Gen Y feedback informally and frequently. Gen Y respects authority, but they do not fear it. Their upbringing plays an important role in shaping this mentally. Gone are the days of child rearing which follows the axiom of “sparing the rod and spoiling the child”.

Gen Y are reasoned with from a young age and guided to make the right decisions. The top-down approach without any explanation will not go down well. Mentor them and coach them and they may yet become a useful aide. Take a moment to share your experience. They will value that. The timeliness of feedback will sate their appetite to get information more than at the twice a year formal performance appraisal-cum-feedback session.

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Learning & development « OPINION Second, they may challenge your ideas and instructions and provide you with alternative suggestions. The diversity of information they are exposed to makes them more open minded and creative.

They start work with whatever knowledge or experience they have picked up. Hear them out and guide them to make the right decisions and give them a sense of autonomy by involving them in the decision-making process. Challenge them to prove their ideas and they might teach you a thing or two. It is perfectly possible for reverse mentoring to occur, especially when information technology and social media are concerned.

Third, give them the opportunity to network and make the connections that will help them in their work. Afford them this freedom if they have the aptitude for it. Groom them to be effective communicators and tap on their vigour and energy to help you achieve your goals. Share with them the culture of the organisation and the personalities of the people in the company.

Who knows, you might just win them over as your fan!

On rewards and benchmarking Money is a necessary evil because it’s the basis of labour. A fair day’s wage for a fair day of work has been the maxim through the ages. The primary reason we work is to earn our keep. I believe in paying fairly and reasonably. A simple approach to this would be to use psychologist Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory to guide the compensation and benefits approach.

As a rough guide, people earning wages to the left of the

median salary will tend to value monetary benefits more heavily, so pay them the market rate. There is little point in paying them less and agonising over the recruitment process again once they leave for a higher paying job.

People earning wages to the right of the median salary earn a more comfortable keep, and they will demand more out of work. They will look for more job satisfaction. Pay them reasonably, within a decent percentage of the market rate, and develop a career path for them.

While this holds true for all generations, in this new age, external equity is gaining more importance as information asymmetry diminishes. Gen Y can easily figure out what they are worth through a multitudes of channels, that is, on-line salary polls, published salary surveys, from fellow Gen Y peers who are more open to exchange information, browsing job offers and going for interviews.

Conclusion The challenges ahead as the organisational demographic evolves will be an exciting and pivotal time and I believe a key criteria that will make companies successful in the near future will be how well the companies can tap on the unique characteristics of Gen X and Gen Y through purposeful efforts to harmonise and complement their strengths and differences.

This article is written on a personal capacity and does not express the views and opinions of my employer.

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OPINION » People issues

Time to get physical Hisham Musa, a corporate wellness consultant from TeamFitnessGuru.com, shares some simple tips on how leaders can build healthier workforces.

HISHAM MUSA Corporate wellness consultant TeamFitnessGuru.com

Let’s get physical: Stretch your body, not your budget. A focus on health and wellness helps both the waistline and the wallet.

In Singapore, overweight and obesity levels among employees have been increasing over the years. In the US, the total cost of obesity for US companies is estimated to be $13 billion a year. This is about US$8720 per claimant of obesity related issues every year for wage-loss coverage.

Obesity also contributes to work-related injuries.

Companies in Singapore can prevent costs and lower productivity levels by embracing and integrating a weight management intervention as part of their wellness programme.

One of the quickest and most cost-effective methods of a weight management programme is to outsource it to a qualified vendor. Singapore companies are also in for a treat by the government, which provides grants (no co-funding needed) for target interventions such as this.

Besides incurring zero cost (if you’re taking this grant), employees also appreciate outsourced programmes because they don’t like to feel as if they’re being watched by their bosses.

This usually improves co-operation and synergy between participants, which will assist in making the programme to lose fat and gain lean mass successful.

A good weight management programme usually comprises three main components: Physical activity, nutrition and mental skills. But the key component that makes the programme successful, and binds those three components, is adherence.

While we usually think the “physical activity” component is usually a hard and intense workout session – it is actually more (or less) than that.

Any kind of movement such as walking briskly to the train station or climbing up staircases is also considered physical activity, termed as non-exercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT. They don’t take up too much time, they’re easy to do and they burn calories during the activities and after. When employees are made aware of how simple it is to integrate NEAT activities into their lifestyle, the probability of them improving their weight and health will improve.

When employees think of nutrition, they usually think of “DIET” (don’t include eating this), which is very negative. Diets usually involve extreme calorie reduction and imbalanced meals.

Experts teach employees that the secret to healthy eating is to be smart in their choices – which include eating the food that we love and not depriving our bodies of good food.

A negative calorie intake and eating the right food is the solution to overweight problems. Employees should be made aware that progressive calorie reduction is important to weight loss, so they lose fat and not muscle.

Even if employees have all the knowledge on negative calorie intake, physical activity and nutrition, it won’t be complete without mental skills – one needs to find the motivation and volition within one’s self, and there are skills that can be learnt to bring out the best in them. Long-term adherence to a healthy lifestyle should be the outcome of these programmes.

I usually advise employers to consider the barriers and find solutions for the successful implementation of these programmes.

The lack of employee engagement, the lack of time to participate, and the lack of staff are some of the barriers most companies face. Based on the many companies that we work with – the ones with the highest success rates have programmes which: 1. Have support from management. Bosses need to encourage employees to take up the programmes.

2. Allow employees some time off from their usual work routine to attend such programmes, or even to join a weekly exercise programme.

3. Are conducted during lunchtime (and give them some time to have their lunch afterwards).

Another alternative is to do the programme on the last hour of a weekday so they can leave for home straight after. There are many other options to raise the awareness of the dangers of obesity and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

36 » Human Resources » September 2014

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Unconventional wisdom OPINION

Why you need to conduct an HR audit ASHA MENON Former vicepresident of human resources Citigroup Malaysia

While HR professionals have acknowledged the value of conducting HR audit exercises, they still struggle with overcoming the complexity of the processes and making them more efficient.

When I was first “But the philosophy behind introduced to the concept of HR an audit exercise is to ensure audit three years ago, the first that everything is in the right thing that came to my mind was place and nobody gets blamed the scepticism reaction exhibited for anything.” towards internal auditors.

It’s the same I would say Auditors are nit-pickers that was the idea behind an HRD and fault-finders. Would HR audit. Auditing is an opportunity practitioners be seen in the same for introspection if it’s done light and be branded similarly? voluntarily by the HR managers.

Isn’t it bad enough we are already Most of us spend a lot of our time seen to be discharging duties as and effort in conducting internal Surrender to the audit: There’s no reason to shy away from introspection. the corporate “police function?” surveys, building systems and Only when I embraced the processes and administering underlying concept and understood the rationale and missionary training programmes without estimating the relevance and impact behind an HR audit exercise was I able to comprehend and on our business. The HRD audit methodology addresses this and conceptualise the immense benefit and potential revolution it could enables HR managers to assess the ground reality. bring to the human resource department (HRD).

The challenge lies in the un-organisation of the companies.

The HRD is still the most neglected department. It is mainly So, what is an HR audit? confined to staffing. The whole of the HR department is busy A HRD audit is a comprehensive evaluation of the current human conducting interviews, managing high attrition rates, and in the resource development strategies, structure, systems, styles and name of HRD, the manager co-ordinates the dates and logistics skills in the context of the short and long-term business plans of for the induction of new recruits. The plight is the vicious cycle a company. never comes to an end.

Why perform an HR audit?

Conducting HR audits is an integral part of an an HR professional’s role in any company. Not only will an HR audit help a company ensure it’s in compliance and conformance with the law, but it will help HR professionals standardise processes, identify risk areas, and tie HR goals to strategic business goals. There are various types of audits designed to accomplish a variety of objectives.

An HR audit can be as comprehensive as needed within the constraints of time, budgeting and resources. There are also various steps an HR professional can take during the audit process to make the process run smoothly, effectively and efficiently. An HR audit attempts to find out the future HR needs of the company after assessing the current HRD activities and inputs available.

Why do organisations hesitate, and what are the challenges?

Well, I would not talk of imbibing at this stage because an HRD audit per se is still a challenging idea to be accepted by many organisations, even among the contemporary HR managers. We often feel disgusted at auditors and the checks they perform. We often take the approach, “it’s best not to tell the auditors anything unless they specifically ask”.

The way forward HRD competence and business impact assessment are the magnum opus in this audit process. If all of us in HR undertake auditing in our respective companies and concentrate on the weak areas identified, I am sure we can enhance HR credibility in the business.

“HR audits have proved that business-aligned HR teams tend to create sensible and impactful people policies and processes for the organisation.”

I do not find any reason for HR managers to shy away from this introspection. I concluded by going through some of the books written by the profound writers in this area that the idea is simple and aims at the good of all.

The HRD audit is in a nascent stage. Its adoption will need a very high sense of integrity, an enormous amount of intellect, and an even greater conviction in the betterment of processes. It could very well be linked with the concept of HR accounting.

In future, only the organisations which hold a true value for its people will survive, while the rest will creep into the darkest corners. That’s why there is a dire need of some accreditation for the HRD audit which compels the organisations to follow the basic processes.

September 2014 « Human Resources « 39

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Upwardly mobile « OPINION

Can you control creativity?

Julie Woods-Moss, CEO of Nextgen Business and CMO of Tata Communications, asks whether creativity is a “natural” process or something which can be forced out of a person.

JULIE WOODSMOSS, CEO of Nextgen Business and CMO of Tata Communications

Pressing play on creativity: Can you control what makes a person innovative?

Why is it that the best ideas come to us when we try the least?

I was pondering this while running in Hyde Park the other day and realised that some of my best ideas have come when my energy has been focused elsewhere. Creativity is desired yet so often elusive, a function of our thinking that has been analysed and researched so that psychologists can now create an equation for creativity. Perhaps the most exciting example of this is a recent study into the creative processes behind freestyle rap, which talks about the “flow state” of creative freestyle rapping.

These studies, while fascinating, do not offer much help to the would-be creative thinker. Perhaps that’s because creativity is a natural state as the study shows – when people had freedom to create without preset boundaries then the results were more impressive. The lack of restrictions meant they were able to create with greater ease. It reminds me that there is no word for creativity in the Tibetan language, the closest they get to “being creative” is to call the process “natural”.

There have also been studies into what makes a person creative or what the attributes of a creative person might be. A consistent theme is the willingness to learn from failure.

Famously Thomas Edison, the inventor of the incandescent light bulb , believed in the importance of experimentation, measuring his success in the number of experiments he could pack into his day.

The ability to take the risk of failing and still keep trying is

an essential quality for a creative mind. It seems sometimes corporate life is designed to prevent mistakes from happening rather than to celebrate the discoveries we make when facing up to what went wrong.

Mark Twain once said that it’s not what you know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you “know for sure”. The “truths” of working life may be exactly what is stopping us from looking at things through a new lens. We experienced this ourselves recently – the “truth” of product innovation is that you do not release it until it’s 100% perfect.

It seems as if we can only be creative if we take some risks.

Firstly, the risk of not knowing the answer and of operating outside the expected norms and secondly, the risk of failure.

If we change our mindset and be a little bit braver about being uncomfortable and at risk, we not only have the potential to be creative in our own right, but also to be open to new ideas from elsewhere.

As Linus Pauling, one of the founding fathers of molecular biology, said: “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.” This suggests to me that we all need to spend a little less time at our desks and a lot more out in the world.

And now that cognitive psychologist professor Lorenza Colzato, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, has proved that those who exercised for four times a week are able to think more creatively than those with a more sedentary lifestyle, I’m going to be making those morning runs a whole lot longer.

September 2014 « Human Resources « 41

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CAREERS » Personal development

uptheranks Tracking HR’s industry moves Who: Bernard Columba From: LVMH To: Absolute World Group Singaporean Bernard Columba has been appointed the head of human resources for Asia Pacific for the resorts and hotels operator Absolute World Group.

He brings 20 years of experience having worked in Singapore, Miami, Florida, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Afghanistan, and most recently, the Maldives, where he was the director of human capital development at LVMH. His appointment comes as Absolute World undergoes a strategic reorganisation and improvement of its traditional sales and marketing models.

For this role, he will be based at the company’s Asia Pacific human resources department in Phuket, Thailand.

Who: Alan Darr From: Artyzen Hospitality To: Outrigger Enterprises Group Outrigger Enterprises Group announced Alan Darr had been hired as the corporate director for human resources and support in Asia Pacific.

He is now responsible for the company’s strategic planning, direction and administration of the human resources function for the Asia Pacific region.

He was previously a human resources consultant for Artyzen Hospitality in Hong Kong, and has also worked for Shangri-La Hotels and InterContinental Hotels.

Who: Randy Duax From: WPP To: WPP Randy Duax is the new talent director for WPP APAC. He will be moving to Singapore from New York, where he is currently WPP’s vice-president of executive recruitment.

From 1 October, he will be responsible for the company’s senior talent acquisition and management, and will oversee recruitment teams in Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo.

Duax said he was looking forward “to the opportunity to help build upon the amazing work that our teams have been doing in Asia”.

He will replace Jean-Michel Wu, who is leaving WPP after 10 years.

“We would like to thank Jean-Michel for his strong contributions to establishing WPP’s talent offering across the region, and developing our teams across the region. We wish him well in his future endeavours,” said Frances Illingworth, WPP’s global recruitment director.

personalgrowth BAD HABITS YOU OUGHT TO KICK Everyone has a bad habit or two. But when it starts impeding your productivity, it’s time to do some personal spring cleaning. By Sabrina Zolkifi.

I’ve been guilty of spending a little bit too much time replying to non-urgent emails or taking one too many breaks on slow days. While these habits may seem harmless, not keeping them in check can spell disaster for even the best employees. Here are four common bad habits, and how you can help yourself and the team by nipping them in the bud.

Procrastination This is a big one for me, particularly when I have big deadlines on the horizon.

However, putting off replying to an email, returning a call or even writing a report for “five more minutes” often results in them resurfacing on tomorrow’s to-do list, along with newly acquired tasks. It may be a drag, but it’s important to set aside a little time every day to get these mundane jobs out of the way.

Lousy time management Similar to procrastination, this is easily remedied with a little discipline and hard work.

Set a schedule, come up with a more realistic to-do list, be steadfast in pencilling in time for tasks and seeing them through, no matter how boring or challenging.

Not asking for help No man is an island, especially in today’s working world where collaboration seems to be a cornerstone to every success. Yes, sometimes it can be embarrassing to admit a shortcoming, but trust me, that’s a better option than being someone too proud to ask for a hand.

Taking a break, and another, and another Stop! It’s good to get up and step away from work once in a while, but if you’re taking a 10-minute break every hour, that’s more than an hour a day. Know when to take longer breaks and when to just take a minute to stand up, stretch and say hi to the guy sitting next to you. Too many breaks will lead to procrastination and we already know what little good that does us.

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Good reads to improve your business life

Rich Horwath Wiley S$25.70

ooff strategic tthinking, thi h and th were acumen, they allocation and action.

In this book, he seeks to expand on that, and provide readers with three new strategic fundamentals: Coalesce, compete and champion.

“The three disciplines of advanced strategic thinking provide leaders with new concepts to change mindsets and practical tools to enhance behaviours so that they are maximising their strategic leadership potential,” he writes.

The book is broken up into the three fundamentals, and includes research, case studies and his own experiences to help readers think more strategically.

The ability to strategise has become a key trait to move up and ahead in the corporate world. As the HR function continues to become more strategic, leaders in the function need to be able to provide insights and be influential if they want to succeed.

However, author Rich Horwath believes not enough leaders have grasped the concept of strategic thinking. In a previous book, he had introduced the three basic disciplines

Bookmark this!

Leaders have the opportunity to not only practise key behaviours themselves, but also to continually hone and develop their people’s skills during their daily interactions. Opportunities for shaping how your managers practise include one-to-one conversations, customer visits, and staff meetings.

Monthly strategy dialogues and workshops can be highly formative experiences that raise everyone’s performance – page 126.

Elevate: The Three Disciplines Of Advanced Strategic Thinking

On Target Living Chris Johnson Wiley S$19.80 ttter Everyone strives for better work-life balance. With a busy working schedule, it can be w spot, weet a struggle to find the sweet but by developing good eating habits and healthy rituals, busyy professionals can achieve even more from their career.

Chris Johnson shares insights on how you can better achieve physical and mental focus, while optimising performance.

“What do performance, productivity and success mean to you?” Johnson asks. “I believe many people view this as a financial description.

“If you are successful, you make a lot of money; if you are a top performer, you earn the most income; if you have the most productive sales team, you get the largest commission.

“What if I toldd you none of this matters if you don’t have yyour health, or better yet, you re can have gr greater performance, be more productti and have more success in productive your life, if you take control of your y health.” your Touching on everything f from nutrition, hormonal harm m and physical activities, harmony taa on his 30 years of experience Johnson taps to help you fifind nd a better balance in your busy life.

Bookmark this!

Everywhere you go people are talking about stress! Stress at work, stress at home, financial stress, emotional stress, and physical stress; stressors come in all shapes and sizes and are lurking around every corner. I get that we are all under more stress, but I believe the real threat to our health and performance is not the added volume of stress, but the lack of recovery – page 59.

Managing The Matrix Dawn Metcalfe Wiley S$27.40 er Unlike other business books, this one has been writtenn in the form e, of a narrative, following Debra and Johann, who both work in complex environments and ting multiple reporting lines. The bookk urney follows their journey stand to better understand the secrets to trix working in a matrix here organisation, where communication can get challenging and responsibilities slip through hierarchical cracks.

“Everyone in a matrix, and some would say everyone who works in a modern economy, must be ready for high mobility, work with confused or multiple hierarchies and be able to assimilate multiple perspectives,” Dawn Metcalfe wrote.

“They must collaborate, communicate and persuade; often across geography and function with all the attendant multicultural and language issues.”

The storytelling approach is a refreshing change from the usual readings, and readers might relate to Johann, the senior manager, or Debra, the up-and-coming Gen Y employee desperate for a fast-track development programme.

Bookmark this!

Remember, not speaking up means that nothing changes. You’re missing a great opportunity to help yourself and your colleagues at the same time. As well as demonstrate our leadership ability by fixing, or at least trying to fix a problem, even when you don’t have any authority. By not speaking up you fall into the same habit of not having the difficult conversations, of ignoring things that annoy you about your bosses – page 111.

Photography: Fauzie Rasid

Pick of the month

shelflife

September 2014 « Human Resources « 47

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LAST WORD

Ever wished you had superpowers to help you get more work done?

Sabrina Zolkifi comes up with a few which are ... questionable at best.

We’ve all had days where we wished there were two – or maybe even three – of us. Who wouldn’t agree that being in three places at one time would be an amazing superpower to have?

Today has been one of those days for me, which then got me thinking about superpowers I wished I had to make me a more effective employee.

So between thinking up a superhero name (I’m really inclined towards Super Sab although UltraSab sounds pretty cool too), I’ve come up with a few superpowers which would be useful in the office: Auto-pilot mode Imagine all the times I can rest my eyes and write feature articles at once. Talk about multi-tasking!

Slee meeting Sleep How cool would it be if I could pay 100% attention to m a meeting while asleep?

Bla Bladder of steel rea believe I would be 15% more productive if I I really cou still drink three mugs of coffee a day and the could requ required eight glasses of water a day, without having ta a pee break. to take Rea Reading a book just by touching it Thin of it as knowledge osmosis. Think of it as the Think futu future.

Foo osmosis Food Whi we’re at it, imagine how much time I could While save if I could absorb my lunch through my skin. I’d be a human hagfish!

Refill a coffee mug just by looking at it I’m really, really hoping that super bladder sup superpower works now.

Cha Change the colour of my pen’s ink at will Min mapping and brain storming will never be the Mind sam again. same The ability to erase ink from walls Wha the point of having colourful mind maps if What’s you can’t draw them on the walls?

Mess eliminator My desk isn’t the neatest spot in the world (hey, a messy desk indicates a creative mind … right?) so reorganising everything in neat piles at the snap of a finger would be pretty darn cool.

Invisibility, obviously No one can disturb or distract you if they don’t know where you are.

Predicting exactly what time each meeting is going to end Bringing military precision to time management.

Telekinesis – but only for print outs The ability to move things with my mind seems like a pretty great power to have and I’m not sure I’m ready for that level of awesome. However, I wouldn’t complain if my telekinetic powers were limited to picking up my print outs and levitating them over to my desk.

Super memory As a journalist, it would be fantastic if I would remember every fact, every name, every definition, every interview I’ve ever conducted and everything else. Goodbye all the times I stared blankly into the horizon, thinking, “What is that word describing a chatty person which starts with ‘F’?!” (Answer: Flibbertigibbet) Mind reading Also known as the “bull---- detector”. I’d like to think I have honed this skill a fair bit in my time as a journalist, but it would be cool if my skin tingled or my nose twitched every time someone tries to pull a fast one on me.

Annoy people into submission I feel like this is one skill I’ve nearly got down to a tee, but there’s always room for improvement.

I’d love to hear what you think about my superpowers, and maybe even add some of your own.

sabrinaz@humanresourcesonline.net.

Photography: Stuart Jenner – stuartjennerphotography.com

Have no fear, Super Sab is here

48 » Human Resources » September 2014

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