Human Resources Director Singapore 2.04 by Key Media

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2016 Asia-Pacific HR Report

HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR HRDMAG.COM.SG ISSUE 2.4

HR’s next generation THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE SILO The Ulrich model’s next iteration

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OUT OF SIGHT, NOT OUT OF MIND Your duty of care to travelling employees

WOMEN ON BOARD Shattering Singapore's glass ceiling

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EDITORIAL www.hrdmag.com.sg DECEMBER 2016 EDITORIAL

SALES & MARKETING

Editor Iain Hopkins

Marketing & Communications Manager Lisa Narroway

Journalists Hannah Go Miklos Bolza Lauren Acurantes Production Editor Roslyn Meredith

Commercial Manager - Asia Gareth Scott

CORPORATE

ART & PRODUCTION

Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley

Design Manager Daniel Williams

Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley

Designer Marla Morelos Traffic Coordinator Freya Demegilio

Managing Director Justin Kennedy Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil

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WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH… THE HIGH pressure stakes of a merger or acquisition can be a valuable learning experience for HR professionals. Whether your organisation is the buyer or seller, rarely is HR given more of an opportunity to contribute to business operations than during M&A activity. As our statistics infographic in this issue demonstrates (p4), M&A deals are on the rise globally. Significantly, according to a study by Mercer, 89% of companies listed talent issues in their top three integration challenges, including such pain points as employee retention, cultural integration, leadership assessment, compensation and benefit levels, and overall talent management. These people-related challenges exist in a highly competitive deal environment featuring truncated timelines, less access to information, and increasingly activist shareholders. In fact, 41% of buyers report less time to complete due diligence compared to three years ago, while

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Eighty-nine per cent of companies listed talent issues in their top three integration challenges 33% claim sellers are providing less information about assets for sale. Meanwhile, more than one third of sellers (34%) are finding that more and more of their divestment resources are required to address HR issues. These risks are magnified when deals occur beyond national borders, which in 2016–17 is more likely to occur than ever: 50% of respondents reported recently conducting cross-border deals, and 24% are more likely to consider multi-country transactions than they were in January 2014. The report listed legislative and regulatory issues, cultural and operational mismatches, and differing leadership skills and expertise as being the factors that escalate the most in cross-border transactions. One would hope that the HR professionals in this issue’s Rising Stars list are exposed to an M&A at some point in their careers – and ideally, sooner rather than later. That kind of experience cannot be bought.

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Iain Hopkins, editor

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ISSUE 2.4 - DECEMBER 2016

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CONTENTS

HRDMagSG +HrdmagSg HRDSingapore

UPFRONT 01 Editorial

16 FEATURES

THE NEXT ITERATION OF THE HR FUNCTION

20 COVER STORY

RISING STARS

The future of the HR profession is in great hands. See who made the grade in HRD’s 2016 Rising Stars list

The Ulrich model is moving with the times – here’s what you need to know

How HR can earn its stripes during M&A activity

04 Statistics

M&A activity globally is on the rise, and talent management is increasingly being seen as critical to any deal’s success

06 News analysis

Many executive teams and boardrooms across Singapore still lack female representation. Lauren Acurantes explores why

08 Upfront: Employment law

Is legislation on retrenchment reporting inevitable?

10 Upfront: L&D

Upgrading HR skills in Singapore

12 Head to head

Do HR professionals make good CEOs?

FEATURES

TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT From the latest in L&D and talent management technology to upgrading your HRIS – HRD presents its annual guide to technology

PEOPLE 54 Career path

CrimsonLogic’s chief people officer, Sylvia Koh, has taken a career journey driven by her need to try new challenges and opportunities

56 Other life

Lessons learned from Tim Rath’s rock star past are helping him keep his team in sync

2016 ASIA-PACIFIC HR REPORT

OUT OF SIGHT, NOT OUT OF MIND

FEATURES

HRD asked over 3,000 HR practitioners for their opinions about their profession, including key challenges and opportunities

FEATURES

Aran Alexander outlines the duty of care all employers owe to travelling employees

HRDMAG.COM.SG CHECK IT OUT ONLINE

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UPFRONT

STATISTICS

THE TALENT FACTOR IN M&As

GOING GLOBAL: ESSENTIAL HR DUE DILIGENCE Global M&As are on the rise – half of the respondents to Mercer’s survey report being involved in a cross-border M&A transaction. But multi-country M&As bring with them a host of potential risks as HR tries to navigate differing legal, cultural and operational concerns that could pose compliance issues if not handled correctly. A comprehensive plan to address these aspects is a must for maintaining compliance.

A new study reveals the key HR elements to consider for merger and acquisition deal success M&A DEALS around the world are on the rise, with companies constantly looking to grow their business and improve operational efficiency and finances. For Singapore-based companies, M&A activities may occur due to a desire to extend geographic and customer markets, increase production, sales and distribution capacities, and add new products and technologies. However, businesses need to be reminded of the people behind the scenes. Though the human capital is difficult to place a dollar value against, when integration is done right, it offers sustainable competitive advantage and

$4.7trn

Total value (in US$) of M&A deals worldwide in 2015, a 32% increase over 2014

89%

Companies that included ‘talent issues’ in their top three integration challenges

is key to successful M&As. Mercer’s inaugural report, People Risks in M&A Transactions, is the first to focus exclusively on the people factor and how it impacts on integration. The study identified a significant increase (32%) in global M&A activity for 2015, with buyers becoming more open to cross-border transactions. Such deals bring with them added risks due to cultural and legal barriers. Companies must not only consider the human capital in terms of finances, but also its effect on the operations and contribution to the overall strategy of the business.

64%

Companies that focused on senior talent acquisition and retention during M&A activity

57%

Private equity businesses that identified leadership team effectiveness as a top M&A issue

SWEETENING THE DEAL VALUE DRIVERS: BUYERS Buyers must consider these practices to make sure all bases are covered in multi-country transactions: 1. Assess the leadership team and key employee capabilities 2. Develop effective retention strategies 3. Have a clear culture, communications and change management plan 4. Evaluate HR service, delivery and design needs 5. Enlist experienced resources to hasten the transition process 6. Adopt an enterprise/global view to effectively manage benefits 7. Leverage reward programs to attract and retain talent

FOCUS ON REWARDS VALUE DRIVERS: SELLERS Sellers must maintain customer relationships and productivity while transitioning the business, and thus have to act on the following: 1. Consider a retention program for critical employee groups 2.Leverage experienced sell-side advisers and separation specialists 3.Consider providing a well-priced transition services agreement [TSA] 4.Document a clear talent management/ staffing plan

Medical benefits

91.7% Defined contribution plan(s)

78.6% Broad-based compensation

44.7% Executive compensation

35.9%

HR compliance

24.3%

Executive contracts/change-in-control payouts

23.6% Global benefits

21.8%

Minimum wage issues

18.0% DB pension/post-retirement Source: People Risks in M&A Transactions 2016, Mercer

Evaluating corporate reward schemes – from base pay to incentive metric/targets and non-cash rewards – is crucial during due diligence. Here’s what companies are assessing:

Source: People Risks in M&A Transactions 2016, Mercer

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CULTURAL CONCERNS » » » »

OPERATIONAL CONCERNS LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY CONCERNS » » » » » » »

Data protection Tax/remuneration Employment law Works councils Social security Reporting requirements Record-keeping

Vendor fragmentation Currency issues Location of records Format and content of records Technology utilisation Process variations Language Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance » Harmonisation of contract renewals » Common vendor contract language » Fiduciary standards » » » » » » » »

National cultures Management style Organisational culture Local customs and practices

SKILLS CONCERNS » Complex stakeholder environments

(eg works councils, unions, management and supervisory boards) require very specific skills and engagement approaches » Accountable HR country resources

Source: People Risks in M&A Transactions 2016, Mercer

TRENDS IN TALENT DUE DILIGENCE Sellers recognise the importance of allocating more resources and efforts to address HR issues during due diligence. Sixty-four per cent of companies agree that talent is the most significant aspect at this stage, and they are making the effort to assess the talent in the businesses involved on both sides of the deal.

TOP 5 PEOPLE RISKS 1. Employee retention 2. Cultural and organisational fit 3. Leadership team (quality of management/executives)

How much effort are you putting into HR issues when preparing for a divestiture? More effort 34% About the same 65% Less effort <1%

By what means are you learning about the talent involved in the deal? Through an external adviser 10% In-house talent assessment process 55% None 35%

Source: People Risks in M&A Transactions 2016, Mercer

4. Compensation and benefit levels 5. Talent availability, identification, assessment and placement

POST-MERGER HR SYNERGIES Buyers require post-deal evaluation of the following for successful HR operations: Compensation and employee benefit alignment to market HR technology Cultural drivers for success Source: People Risks in M&A Transactions 2016, Mercer

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UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS

WOMEN ON BOARD Despite the progress made in gender diversity, many executive teams and boardrooms across Singapore still lack female representation. Lauren Acurantes looks into the challenges women still face in the workplace IN THEIR report, Women on Boards: Tackling the Issue, the Diversity Action Committee (DAC) claimed that there’s good news and not-so-good news when it comes to female representation in boardrooms around Singapore. The good news is that there is now widespread awareness of the need to have more women on the board, and that there has been continuous growth in the past four years.

Compare that to the UK (21.9%), Australia (18.1%), and Hong Kong (12.1%) and the disparity is jarring. Additionally, they found that when women do get promoted, their tenure is much shorter than that of their male counterparts. Twenty-three per cent of male independent directors have been on boards for more than 10 years, with the longest tenure reported at 45 years. On the other hand, only 8% of female

“As a woman you need to drive your own career. Don’t just wait for opportunity; stand up and let your organisation know where you want to go” Maria Zhang, Juniper Networks, APAC The not-so-good news is that it’s not enough. Singapore is still behind many other key developed markets, said the report, prompting key committee figures to comment that “Singapore’s reputation as a financial centre is at risk”. The DAC, which was created in 2014 to specifically promote female representation in leadership positions, said that only 9.7% of companies have a gender diverse boardroom.

independent directors have been on boards for more than 10 years. The longest tenure of a female director reported was 21 years, almost half that of her male counterpart.

Mid-level drain A separate report by Willis Towers Watson gave one possible reason as to why women are still under-represented in the boardroom. It found that four in 10 women exit the

workplace at the mid-level, with 47% citing the need for career breaks and 46% saying their company lacked flexibility during childcare years. Additionally, one in four women take career breaks for family reasons while only one in 10 men do. “At the outset, HR could be hiring an equal number of men and women, but at the mid-level more women are exiting due to family obligations,” explains Mira Gajraj Mohan, regional practice director for talent management and organisational alignment at Willis Towers Watson. “Companies have to look at their core analytics and see if, as women go up the ladder, they are keeping the right proportions,” she adds.

Crushing gender stereotypes Gender stereotypes are also still a prevalent issue in Singaporean workplaces. The Willis Towers Watson survey reports that female leadership behaviours are rooted in more empathetic, maternal traits, which often do not align with traditional leadership models. And when women do exhibit more ‘masculine’ traits, they’re often mocked for being ‘iron ladies’, said the report. Recruitment specialist Robert Walters, in its white paper, Empowering Women in the Workplace, also reported that 49% of female workers don’t feel like they have a strong female role model to look up to. The problem that presents is twofold. Firstly, this underscores the need for more visibility of female leaders; and secondly, how do female workers define a ‘strong role model’? Are women still looking for stereotypical ‘masculine’ behaviour from their leaders? One study seems to back up that claim. Randstad’s Workmonitor survey on workers’ perceptions of the gender gap found that 74% of women in Singapore would prefer working for a male boss. “The Workmonitor results show a worrying trend in this region with such strong

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career breaks to ease back into the workforce through six-month projects. Similarly, Standard Chartered partnered with Mums@Work and CareerMums for its ‘Moms Matter’ initiative, which aims to employ mothers in various roles within the organisation.

preferences for having male bosses in the workplace – despite open discussions around the issue of gender equality going on around the world,” says Michael Smith, managing director of Randstad in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Darren Rushworth, managing director of SAP Singapore, says he’s not surprised by the findings, and adds that “if you want to make changes in the organisation, you have to start with the males in the organisation”.

Robert Walters reports that 71% of women consider mentoring important, while the Willis Towers Watson report said that 55% of the women it surveyed indicated the same. “Women can bring a lot to the table,” says Zhang. “We found that more female leaders are able to get the team on board faster, and

“If you want to make changes in the organisation, you have to start with the males in the organisation”

Action plans As the DAC report claimed, part of the good news in terms of gender diversity in the workforce is that more companies are aware of the situation and are doing their part in actively addressing the issue. Rushworth reiterated his earlier statement and says SAP now offers ‘Men for Women’ programs, career mentoring, and leadership programs for women. “On the leadership level, it’s critical that we employ diversification and we reinforce that throughout the organisation,” he says. There’s also a trending push among companies to entice mothers to re-enter the workforce. SAP recently rolled out its Back-to-Work initiative enabling women who have taken

Darren Rushworth, SAP Singapore At Juniper Networks, Maria Zhang, senior director of human resources in APAC, says her company has employed someone specifically to recruit for diversity. It also offers workshops specifically for women, she adds, in order to give them career advice and mentoring. “As a woman you need to drive your own career. Don’t just wait for the opportunity; stand up and let your organisation know where you want to go,” she says. Mentoring and coaching sessions are key drivers in creating a female leadership pipeline, according to several studies.

APPOINTMENTS OF FEMALE DIRECTORS AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL APPOINTMENTS (2006–16)

they’re very strong in emotional intelligence.” The DAC further added that the government should also play a role in pushing for more diversity in the boardroom. It urged the Monetary Authority of Singapore to require listed companies “to disclose their gender diversity policies, self-set measurable objectives, and progress made in achieving their objectives”. “DAC firmly believes that increased requirements for transparency and accountability will spur companies to adopt a disciplined approach to diversifying their boards at a faster pace,” it said.

BREAKDOWN OF NEW APPOINTMENTS JAN 2015–JUN 2016

14% 12% 11% 9%

12%

First-time directors

37%

10%

31%

Male

Female

9% 8%

Experienced directors

63%

4% 06

Jun 16

Jan 15–Jun 16 Source: Diversity Action Committee, Women on Boards: Tackling the Issue, June 2016

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UPFRONT

EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS NTUC warns companies against ‘disguising’ layoffs

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant secretarygeneral Patrick Tay has expressed concern about companies disguising retrenchments to avoid payment of workers’ retrenchment benefits, bad press and other repercussions. According to U PME Centre, which handles employment concerns of professionals, managers and executives, most companies terminate with one month’s notice to avoid paying benefits, with nearly 20 cases recorded so far in 2016 compared to less than 10 the year before. Tay recommended that the government should consider making the reporting of layoffs and retrenchment benefits mandatory in order to help more workers.

250 companies on MOM’s ‘triple weak’ watchlist

Minister of Manpower Lim Swee Say reported to Parliament that 250 companies had been identified as ‘triple weak’ – not nurturing a strong Singaporean core – with 300 employment pass (EP) applications now under “closer scrutiny”. According to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices, 20% of the companies previously identified responded to the measures introduced to improve HR practices, and were removed from the watchlist. Instead of adjusting the EP scheme to prioritise Singaporean candidates, which could cause prolonged vacancies in international corporations, Lim has suggested that local workers upgrade their skills to improve employability.

Common EP mistakes employers make

Following the Ministry of Manpower’s placing of 250 companies on a watchlist for not promoting a strong Singaporean core within their workforce, HRD consulted with employment lawyers on how

companies should handle employment pass applications. Michelle Chan of Colin Ng & Partners advises employers to remember to advertise vacancies on the Jobs Bank, practise fair employment, and demonstrate adequate efforts to consider Singaporeans for job vacancies. Muntaz Zainuddin of Gloria James-Civetta & Co reminded employers to use MOM’s self-assessment tool to identify key considerations for the eligibility of foreign workers.

Women a ‘boon to corporate governance’

A study by University of Toronto professor Daehyun Kim showed that women elected to the corporate board are able to bolster under-represented skills in areas such as HR, risk management, sustainability, politics, compliance and corporate governance. The study focused on small enterprises and examined proxy statements filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that contained the skill set and qualifications of new directors. Kim suggested that companies should welcome more women into the boardroom and use empirical research to measure their impact on the bottom line.

MOM sets new living condition rules for foreign workers

The Ministry of Manpower has announced new conditions for operators of factory-converted dormitories (FCDs) housing foreign workers, starting January 2017. In addition to meeting existing obligations, operators will need to meet four new conditions. These new conditions include provision of a feedback channel for workers to report issues, a personal locker for each worker, at least one sick bay in the FCD or a contingency plan for infectious diseases, and Wi-Fi access within the FCD. MOM stated that operators must provide documentary evidence to prove conditions have been met before they begin operating.

IS LEGISLATION TO REQUIRE RETRENCHMENT REPORTING INEVITABLE? Government and unions recognise the need for compulsory retrenchment reporting to protect workers Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck recently urged companies planning to lay off workers to notify the Ministry of Manpower of their plans as early as possible, in order for them to be able to provide sufficient help to affected workers. While it is not compulsory for companies to report retrenchment exercises to the government, unionised workers are urging the Ministry of Manpower to make it so. They are concerned about companies terminating employees in small batches to avoid bad publicity, and believe more unreported layoffs will occur given the state of the economy. K. Thanaletchimi, president of the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union and nominated MP, said in Parliament that this was a cause for concern as “the government might not be getting an accurate picture of the number of retrenchments in Singapore”. Meanwhile, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant secretary-general has called the practice “disguised retrenchment”, wherein companies laying off workers make it look like the employees left voluntarily. Though not yet “rampant”, he said these cases were especially hard to track, making it difficult for the NTUC to offer any assistance. In September, Minister of Manpower Lim Swee Say told Parliament that compulsory reporting was a “controversial” solution because some companies were concerned that it would affect confidentiality. Despite these concerns, one expert said it might just be a matter of time before

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retrenchment reporting happens. Evan Ng, senior consultant at Mercuri Urval Singapore, said the issue of reporting retrenchment exercises was one that “all governments face”. MOM’s reminder, he believes, is their way of saying that companies shouldn’t force their hand. “The question is not a matter of ‘should’, but if this continues, then [it will be] a matter of time before MOM will step in with some form of legislation,” he said, despite the fact that the government would be loath to legislate it. Though it may seem like a good idea, Ng explained that if companies’ retrenchment

“The government might not be getting an accurate picture of the number of retrenchments in Singapore” actions were subject to legislation, it “can very well compromise and tie their hands on how to carry out these exercises”. Ng advised companies to take the initiative to work with MOM, and in turn “MOM should encourage platforms and interactions for companies and HR consultants to educate and work together in such situations to minimise pain points and provide options for [affected] people.”

Q&A

Julia Yeo Legal director CLYDE & CO

Fast fact Companies might want to start including the use of social media in non-compete clauses, warn lawyers at Lexology. com. Several cases have already been filed in the US alleging the use of social networking sites as poaching tools by recruiters and former employees.

THE LEGALITY OF NON-POACHING AGREEMENTS Is it legal for companies to enter into a non-poaching agreement among themselves? What are the legal risks of entering such an agreement? A non-poaching agreement between two companies is in essence a variant of a non-compete restriction and would also be unenforceable if it has only an anti-competitive ‘you scratch my back and I scratch yours’ agenda. It is against public interest of encouraging employees’ freedom of mobility to seek out better job opportunities. A non-poaching agreement may, however, be enforceable if it is part of a larger transaction – for example, sale of business from A to B where A and B have a moratorium on employing each other’s employees in order to allow B to fully realise the benefit of the purchase. There should always be a legitimate business interest to protect underpinning the non-poaching agreement. Does the Singapore Government recognise or repudiate non-compete agreements between employees and employers? A vertical non-compete between employer and employee can be enforceable in Singapore if it is reasonably drafted in terms of its restricted period and activities to protect a legitimate business interest of the employer. The Singapore courts have to date recognised existing trade connections, goodwill, proprietary information and the need to maintain a stable workforce as legitimate business interests that are protectable by non-competes. What could HR legally do to ensure that their company’s employees don’t get poached by their competitors? Apart from the usual non-compete clauses – which again must be reasonably drafted in order to be enforceable – organisations can look at financial disincentives or loyalty schemes as an option to discourage employees from leaving for their competitors. However, financial disincentives which penalise employees for joining competitors by forfeiting bonuses/commissions already due to them can still be struck down as being no more than non-competes called by another name. Can companies enforce a non-compete agreement in the event of a layoff? The companies must be able to demonstrate a legitimate business interest they need to protect through the non-compete. If you laid off an employee because the business division has been closed down, then clearly there is no protectable business interest any longer. If, however, you lay off an employee due to business restructuring and the job position is no longer available but the business still exists, then you would have a case for enforcing a non-compete. The basis for enforceability is fact-dependent.

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UPFRONT

L&D UPDATE

ONWARD AND UPWARD: UPGRADING HR SKILLS IN SINGAPORE A new certification framework from MOM is designed to put Singapore HR on the cutting edge

A new national certification system for HR professionals has been set for trial before being officially rolled out in the second quarter of 2017. The assessments, according to Minister of Manpower Lim Swee Say, are meant to test an HR professional’s competencies beyond “basic HR functions”. These include the ability to “demonstrate financial acumen, a knowledge of labour law and even a good grasp of data analytics”, according to The Straits Times’ report. The National HR Professional Certification

NEWS BRIEFS

Framework will be run by Workforce Singapore. A 17-member taskforce consisting of industry professionals, academics and government personnel was created in July 2015 to develop the framework. Though the assessment is not mandatory, the taskforce hopes that all 43,000 HR professionals in Singapore will eventually undergo assessment and receive certification. To qualify for the lowest level of assessment, HR professionals must complete 150 hours of structured HR-related training and two years of

Want to learn faster? Take on a language

The more foreign languages a person learns, the more effectively the brain reacts and processes information during learning, say scientists from the Higher School of Economics and the University of Helsinki. The brain’s activity was measured via electrodes placed on participants’ heads as they listened to different words in their native language and foreign languages, both known and unknown by the subjects. Results showed that the electrical activity of the brains of those participants who already knew some foreign languages was higher than those with no knowledge. 10

HR work experience. Certificates issued will be valid for three years. Taskforce head and Singtel group CHRO Aileen Tan called the framework timely, given how “huge disruptions in technology and business models” have led to HR taking on varying roles. “Up until this point, HR has suffered from the lack of a framework and therefore a lack of consistency and a lack of a certain minimum standard that HR professionals are expected to meet,” said Vidisha Mehta, talent strategy practice leader at Mercer. She identified critical areas of improvement for HR professionals, the first being the need to understand the business. HR professionals must be proactive as business partners, and not merely react to problems, Mehta added. “You need to be able to show the business impacts of the initiatives that you suggest, the policies that you want to put in place.” With the ubiquity of organisational restructuring, HR professionals should have technical skills to manage change, and “not just change management as a loose term of workshops”, said Mehta. Lastly, HR as a whole should learn to use big data in supporting business decisions, and not confine analytics to compensation and benefits experts. “Talent management people, learning and development people need to be much more comfortable with using data,” she said. Overall, Mehta said it was important that HR professionals should be willing to talk about things beyond HR and see how the HR elements were connected to the business drivers.

Virtually the best training?

Software giant MYOB is making huge strides in staff development and onboarding by using virtual reality in its induction process, in what may be a step towards augmented reality technology. The firm’s welcome video is a 360-degree VR experience explaining why MYOB exists, what it’s like to work there and how the company operates. “It turns a passive experience into an active one, and this has a strong impact on the individual who has had that experience. It really is a powerful way to get some of our key messages across,” said Alla Keogh, head of people and performance.

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Q&A

Julia Ng Senior executive coach EXECUTIVE COACH INTERNATIONAL

Fast fact The International Coach Federation’s Global Coaching Study 2016 shows an increase in company support for executive coaching in Asia, with 55% of more than 3,000 coaches surveyed saying sessions are sponsored by the company.

BENEFITS OF EXECUTIVE COACHING In what circumstances is executive coaching the most suitable executive development option?

What traits make for a successful executive coach?

In situations where a high-potential manager or executive has behavioural issues that don’t allow him or her to integrate well with the team or organisation, working with an external coach works best for neutrality. Coaching is a collaborative partnership between the coach and the client, and works on the basis of trust and empowerment. Coaching can reach deeper levels of personal transformation, thereby creating long-lasting shifts and continued growth. Executive coaching yields the best results with high-potential people who choose coaching and are willing and able to make an effort to change. If someone isn’t willing to do the work, or feels like he or she has been persuaded, nothing’s going to change.

An effective coach is aware of one’s self, one’s coaching style and how it is received. A good coach doesn’t get stuck with a particular style or approach and is able to ‘dance’ with the client and what is needed in the moment. A coach’s ability to build trust and make their clients feel safe and comfortable is important for clients to open up and be honest with themselves. Coaches also need to be curious, ask evocative questions that reveal new information, be able to listen deeply in order to pick up what the client is not saying but needs to express, and be able to laser in to the real issue, thereby resolving problems at the root rather than coming up with surface solutions. Successful coaches transfer ownership and responsibility over to their clients and do not do their work for them. Above all, any coach who is worth their salt upholds their integrity and works on themselves and their own issues, such that they have the attraction and the capacity to work with other people.

Does an executive coach need to have specific industry experience to match what the person being coached does? No. If I am to coach a doctor in a behavioural issue so that he can enjoy his work and relationships with his patients more, I don’t need to be a doctor myself. While having industry experience could help me understand my client’s situation more, in some aspects this could lead to what is already familiar and I might also lose my ability to be objective. We call this ‘getting involved’ in the client’s case. On the other hand, a coach without specific industry experience can be open and curious, allowing the client to see their situation from a fresh perspective.

Firm aims to get more women into tech

SAP recently launched a Back-to-Work program for women who have taken career breaks. It hopes to engage women from various professions by letting them work on projects that match their skills and experience. Candidates should have at least three years of continuous work experience and a minimum of two years’ leave, said MD Darren Rushworth, who added that candidates did not need to worry about having technical experience. Each project will last for six months. SAP will offer competitive remuneration, flexible work arrangements and potentially a full-time position given good performance.

Do you think senior HR professionals can make good executive coaches? Absolutely. Many senior HR professionals do well as executive coaches because of their extensive experience dealing with executives at different levels. Coaching as a value-add skill set, coupled with a real desire to make a difference for people, could well position them as effective coaches in the workplace.

Do your workers need ‘vidiquette’ training?

With increased globalisation and the rise in telecommuting, many professionals now conduct business via video, which has sparked the need for video etiquette, or ‘vidiquette’, said Amy Barzdukas of Polycom. She explained that “people have been accustomed to being on conference calls where nobody can see [them]”, which is no longer the case. Polycom has launched a six-part Web series on vidiquette to address this issue. Apart from warning against slip-ups (eg eye-rolling and distracting gestures), employers should also train staff to notice factors such as camera position, background noise, and attire.

‘Dismal’ leadership bench strength needs action

Asia-based employers are still not investing enough in leadership, which according to AchieveForum’s Samuel Egerton has resulted in a significant skills shortage. Countries such as Japan, India, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong are all displaying “dismal numbers” in terms of future leaders. Egerton advised organisations to manage leaders “as an investment, not an expense”. He also emphasised the role of leadership in “sustaining performance, innovation, productivity growth and maintaining a talent pipeline”. www.hrdmag.com.sg

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PEOPLE

HEAD TO HEAD

GOT AN OPINION THAT COUNTS? Email hrd_editor@keymedia.com.au

Do you think HR professionals make good CEOs? They share similar leadership traits, experts say, yet two out of three HR professionals are sceptical about their success

Jennifer Wu

Mira Gajraj Mohan

Chek Wee Foo

Head of HR, APAC LEWIS

Regional practice director, talent management & organisational alignment Willis Towers Watson

Group HR director, SEA & Hong Kong ZALORA Group

Can an HR leader be a CEO? Absolutely. A truly dynamic HR leader understands that cultural awareness, its impact on employee morale and motivation, and its resultant productivity and ultimate business growth, are fundamentals that make or break a business. This people-focused trait is often missing amongst other board-level leaders. Ultimately, whether an HR leader can transform into a CEO comes down to the organisation and if they have the foresight to recognise the critical role people play into the business’s longevity. The ability to build loyal, engaging and consistently high-performing people – that’s the real challenge and opportunity for any organisation.

Unlikely. We see a handful of business leaders who have had a stint in HR take on CEO roles, but not CHROs who have grown up through the functional ranks. Success as a CEO demands experience and a track record. Successful CEOs have a track record of setting direction and delivering in P&L roles. They have experience in defining and implementing strategy, delivering financial results, making high-impact decisions with ambiguous information. Often they have taken on several crucible roles early in their career, giving them extraordinary opportunities to build skills and gain exposure. This is where most HR leaders fall short. However, if HR professionals rotate into business roles and take on crucible roles, they too can be groomed into successful CEOs.

No and yes. Business acumen and development are two key aspects a CEO is expected to be great at. For a CHRO to be a CEO, it is a must-have for the CHRO to not only have strong business acumen but be able to convert that business acumen into revenue-generating opportunities for the company. A great CEO is an astute business visionary but is also someone who is able to rally his or her people in working towards a common goal. For the CHRO, he or she is expected to have higher-level leadership abilities and strategy implementation skills. From this angle, it does open up the possibilities for a CHRO to be able to take on a CEO role.

TIME TO STEP UP TO THE TOP JOB? The key focus for CHROs is higher-level leadership abilities and strategy implementation skills. But how well equipped are CHROs to step into the CEO role? To investigate the CHRO role within the C-suite, HR researchers Ellie Filler and Dave Ulrich studied C-suite candidates across 14 aspects of leadership, grouped into three categories: leadership style, or how executives behave and want to be perceived in group settings; thinking style, or how they approach situations in private; and emotional competency, or how they deal with such things as ambiguity, pressure, and risk-taking. Their conclusion: Except for the COO, the executive whose traits were most similar to those of the CEO was the CHRO.

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UPFRONT

OPINION

Feed it forward Agile performance improvement is the future, writes David S Cohen, who shares nine ways to make the next generation of performance management work PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT is on the way out. And in its place, agile performance mprovement, which calls for frequent and ongoing conversations between manager and direct report, is on the way in. I’ve interviewed around 50 firms rolling out this sort of process. Here are eight criteria I advise using in order to make the approach successful:

ESTABLISH AUTHENTIC BEHAVIOURAL CRITERIA 1

Before you begin, you need clear authentic behavioural criteria to be rooted in your organisation’s values. Define what success means to your employees and managers in concrete terms, and not with confusing anchor rating scales or aspirational statements that have no grounding in reality in the organisation. Off-the-shelf behavioural competencies that are not authentic to the culture of the organisation are unlikely to drive people to successful execution of the goals.

ENGAGE EMPLOYEES IN BUILDING THE PROCESS

MAKE GOAL-SETTING FLUID

Goals must be fluid – and adjusted as the year progresses and priorities shift. A system in which, at year’s end, managers bring people back to goals that were originally stated but never worked on defeats the process. Goals should be

FEED FORWARD, NOT BACK

In the traditional performance review system, the focus is on what the person did not do last year. The discourse is on what caused issues or ‘failures’ to meet goals. It focuses on the negative. Instead, focus on what they can do to be successful going forward. Too often what they did not do last year is not relevant to what they need to be successful in the year ahead.

TAKE THE ELEPHANT OUT OF THE ROOM 8

Compensation in the form of bonuses and

Before implementation, employees need to see the pros and cons of the new approach incremental and reviewed every three months during the check-in to ensure progress to a desired outcome at the end of the year.

ANCHOR IT TO BUSINESS STRATEGY 4

The focus must be on the business strategy. How does the program improve productivity and engagement? How will it advance the organisation’s goals? The organisation needs to share the bigger picture, strategy and the reasoning behind the strategy to give people pride in their contribution.

Before implementation, employees need to see the pros and cons of the new approach. If you get them involved through a designthinking process, they’ll feel like owners. It takes more time, but it also eliminates the need for large-scale change efforts. Power accrues from the pride of authorship coming from employees, rather than from human resources or a consultant.

manager to make something happen. Accountability for meeting the goals rests with the individual. I recommend a process of dialogue in which people assess the situation with a common objective to figure out how to improve performance and generate success.

BUILD IN PEER FEEDBACK

If goals are fluid and people need help, are quarterly check-ins enough? One way to augment manager-report conversations is to build in peer feedback that is more frequent and ‘in the moment’.

THINK DIALOGUE, NOT COACHING OR CONVERSATIONS 6

Coaching puts a lot of pressure on the

merit pay is closely linked to the traditional performance review. Many organisations even allocate the budget for bonuses and merit pay in advance and almost always award it all, making the exercise somewhat pointless. The performance improvement process should be focused on achieving improvement and objectives, not satisfying predetermined bonus criteria. I advocate separating bonuses from reviews by making them a transparent part of overall compensation from the outset. The majority of organisations benefit from a more dynamic approach that engages people in an open conversation – one that helps them develop the desired behaviours and skills they need to succeed in alignment with the organisation’s values and strategic objectives. David S Cohen is a seasoned management consultant with a doctorate in humanistic and behavioural studies. He is on the faculty at the Schulich Executive Education Centre at York University in Toronto, Canada.

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EXPERT INSIGHT

JOB REDESIGN

SQUARE PEGS, ROUND HOLES Instead of always searching for ‘perfect’ candidates, perhaps it’s time for HR to examine the job roles in their organisation. HRD chats about job redesign with Leonard Ling, founder and principal consultant, Solutionsatwork HRD: Why the emphasis on job redesign? Leonard Ling: Singapore has a small workforce that will shrink even further as 900,000 locals, or about a quarter of the local workforce, is expected to retire in the next 15 years. The ultra-low fertility rate of below 1.4, way under the replacement rate of 2.1 to maintain population levels, means we will not be able to fully replace these workers in the long term. Employers will need to adapt to a leaner and more mature workforce. They will need to find ways to manage with fewer workers and jobs need to be redesigned to help more workers remain productive over a longer period of time.

HRD: How can employers embark on job redesign? LL: Job redesign can be fairly simple yet cost-effective. Three levels of redesign can be explored. a. Task level redesign Being the simplest form of redesign, employers can make specific tasks simpler, faster, and/or safer for workers. For example, employers can introduce barcode scanning to make stocktaking easier, speedier and more accurate. b. Job level redesign Employers can redesign the work that a

worker performs to make the job more productive and/or more attractive to a particular profile of workers. For example, a safety inspector’s job can be enhanced to include an element of safety education to enhance the job value. c. Process level redesign This is the most complex form of redesign and takes into account the end-to-end

to traditional companies in the hospitality sector. Task level and job level redesign can often be done in-house. Employers can start by fostering a culture of continuous improvement and involving employees to seek inputs on how various tasks or work processes can be improved. Resources should be made available for experimentation or pilot testing and

“Jobs and processes are tightly intertwined, and meaningful redesign requires both to be aligned to common objectives, such as efficiency, productivity, and sustainability” Leonard Ling process as well as the interactions between related processes. In most instances, process level redesign results in transformational change and can enable the employer to create sustainable competitive advantage over its competitors. For example, the way that accommodation is supplied and how consumers select, order, use, and pay for their accommodation has been fundamentally redesigned to leverage on technology, and companies such as Airbnb have become strong competitors

successful projects should be rewarded to spur even more improvement initiatives.

HRD: As the workforce shrinks, will the average Singapore worker spend an increasing amount of time at the office? LL: On the contrary. Properly executed job and process redesign often leads to more balanced work-life arrangements. Jobs and processes are tightly intertwined, and meaningful redesign requires both to

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REDESIGN RESOURCES FOR EMPLOYERS Employers can tap into a wide spectrum of grants and initiatives to embark on their job redesign projects. Among the tools on offer: The Job Redesign Toolkit, developed by the Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers, outlines an approach to future-proof the workforce, identify critical jobs and skills, and to match the right people to the right jobs. Employers can attend the two-day SNEF Job Redesign Clinic to adopt a structured approach to identify areas for redesign and take practical steps to start redesign projects at the workplace. SIM University also conducts a one-day job redesign course to equip management consultants with practical knowledge and skills to redesign tasks to suit older workers and ensure a safe and productive workplace. Under WorkPro, employers can receive up to $300,000 under the Job Redesign Grant to implement job redesign projects and make jobs more suitable for their older workers. be aligned to common objectives, such as efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. A more productive job means a worker can add the same value in a shorter time to improve work-life harmony. Job redesign can also improve work-life harmony more directly by redesigning jobs specifically for sharing between two or more people, for flexible working arrangements, or to suit workers who may wish to only work on a part-time basis.

who embark on task level and job level redesign often enjoy improved attraction and retention of workers. Employers who embark on more ambitious process redesign efforts can be rewarded with a host of additional benefits, such as improved business outcomes, reduced operating costs, improved customer satisfaction, enhanced quality, and a happier, more engaged, and more productive workforce.

HRD: What outcomes can employers expect from job redesign?

HRD: What advice do you have for companies who wish to embark on job redesign initiatives?

LL: All redesign initiatives have the potential to deliver positive outcomes when well thought out and properly executed. Employers

LL: Job redesign must be strategic and must support the achievement of the longterm business objectives. The most effective

job redesign initiatives adopt a continuous approach through subtle changes along the way and making improvements consistently over time. Employers should explore simple solutions and resist the temptation to purchase technology or machines just because they are available. Employers should be mindful that if a process is poorly designed to begin with, the automation of that process is unlikely to make it any better. In fact, it might amplify the poor process. Leonard Ling is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Solutionsatwork Pte Ltd. Solutionsatwork is a home-grown boutique consultancy specialising in HR and process-related projects. Find out more at www.solutionsatwork.com.sg.

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17/11/2016 11:31:45 AM

FEATURES

HR STRATEGY

THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE SILO Despite the Ulrich model being fundamental to HR for over 15 years, like all business structures and functions, it too must evolve. Miklos Bolza talks to leading HR expert Norm Smallwood about how HR should structurally shift to become even more strategic

CREATED IN 1999, the Ulrich model forms the foundation of modern-day HR and has allowed a generation of professionals to shift the HR function from administration to strategy. Change is always constant, however,

more about the Ulrich model and its future than anyone on Earth except for the model’s namesake. Even in recent publications, Ulrich himself has examined the way HR should transform. “Sometimes when I read these

“In companies where HR focuses on building those capabilities, HR is a significant player in the business and contributes to investor confidence” Norm Smallwood and some are saying it’s time for the Ulrich model to evolve. One of these advocates for a new type of HR structure is none other than Norm Smallwood, who co-founded The RBL Group with Dave Ulrich in 2000. Smallwood has co-authored eight books with Ulrich and as a result perhaps knows

critiques of Dave, they’re really critiquing stuff he wrote like the Ulrich model. That was 1999 and it’s 2016. We’ve written eight books on this stuff,” Smallwood says.

From HR to investor confidence Change is needed to bring HR into a more

strategic position where senior HR leaders can actually accomplish business goals and boost investor confidence, Smallwood says. This shift has been spurred by business trends over the past several decades. “Before 1980, earnings or financial results accounted for about 95% of stock price. From 1980 until now, financial results or earnings accounted for about half of share price, so that’s a significant shift.” Intangibles account for the remainder of a stock’s price, Smallwood says. This is because instead of looking to the past to determine how a company will perform, investors started to look to the future. This has led to four factors that could impact on investor (and customer) confidence: • Delivering on earnings • A clear and compelling business strategy • Technical core competencies aligned to the business strategy • Aligned social or cultural capabilities to create uniqueness “These kinds of social or cultural capabilities are things like innovation, efficiency, speed, customer connectivity, collaboration, leader ship, and talent. We looked at that and said, ‘Gee, who’s responsible for that part of it?’ Of course, the answer is HR.” Because of this, HR lies at the true foundation of how a firm can build investor confidence, Smallwood says.

A matter of capability Companies like Google are classic examples of organisations that have realised this change of focus and acted upon it. “The [now former] head of HR at Google, Laszlo Bock, has been really focused on building a culture that’s consistent with what I’m talking about. The culture at Google is around learning and innovation. And who is responsible? A HR guy.” There are six different value propositions which business strategy can be built around: low price, great service, innovation, speed, quality performance, and customer

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connectivity. Each of these corresponds to specific capabilities. “In companies where HR focuses on building those capabilities, HR is a significant player in the business and contributes to investor confidence,” Smallwood says. “The best companies know this and really play to that. They don’t only do it but they talk about it. It becomes a part of how they talk to investors, customers, etc. You’re not talking about HR now; you’re talking about a culture.” This means HR needs to shift from traditional activities such as L&D and performance management and move towards business capabilities such as innovation, efficiency, speed, collaboration, and customer connectivity. Each firm should choose two capabilities to focus on and build these until they are world class, Smallwood says. The rest should be aligned with industry parity. The challenge is knowing how to integrate the various HR practices to align with these particular competencies and the culture.

“These kinds of social or cultural capabilities … we looked at that and said, ‘Gee, who’s responsible for that part of it?’ Of course, the answer is HR” Norm Smallwood Breaking out of the silo Smallwood cites the story of one firm – a medical services company – which shifted completely to this new HR model, creating centres of expertise around the primary focus of innovation. To do this, they answered three foundational questions: 1. Which topics of innovation are most critical to our business? 2. Which participants should we involve in the conversation? 3. Which forums should we work in with our leaders? The company held internal innovation conferences around these identified topics

NORM’S FOUR STEPS TO HR TRANSFORMATION

TRADITIONAL HR MODEL From: HR activities

To: Organisation capabilities (Deliverables)

1. Understand critical business issues from the perspective of the business.

Recruiting Performance management

Internally focused HR activities

Compensation Training & development

to put their plans into action. “It was both content and process facilitation around driving that while keeping the innovation vibe alive,” Smallwood says. As a result, HR became more focused on the business. With HR organised around one or two capabilities, people weren’t trying to optimise HR activities any more. “They were optimising their capabilities as a team in a more interdisciplinary approach because they were organised, measured, rewarded and developed like that. They weren’t siloed any more. They were focused on a different thing, which was to build that capability.”

2. Understand the financial, marketing and economic framework around the new model.

OD Benefits

NEW HR MODEL To: Organisation capabilities (Deliverables) From: HR activities

Leadership

Talent

Efficiency

Recruiting Performance management Compensation Training & development OD Benefits

Targeted organisation capabilities

Collaboration

3. Design the organisation to deliver value to the business rather than just to HR.

4. Invest in the skills required to drive business value in addition to being individually effective.

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17/11/2016 11:32:20 AM

FEATURES

LEGAL

OUT OF SIGHT, NOT OUT OF MIND Aran Alexander outlines the duty of care every employer has to employees travelling for work ’WE NEED you to fly out for meetings next week’ is a common statement in today’s workplace. As Asia gets ‘smaller’, more employees and managers have regional responsibilities beyond the country in which they live and work. Multinational companies no longer just look in the same office, or even the same country, to find the expertise required to complete a task or solve an issue. Portable project teams are becoming more common as they prove to be an effective business tool. Employees of all levels of seniority are increasingly expected to travel around Asia for client presentations, meetings and shortterm assignments. The benefits of flying employees in and out are numerous: better collaboration between colleagues, productivity improvements, sharing of knowledge, and having the right people at the company’s disposal. However, with benefits come risks, and companies may

not be aware of their legal exposure when they send employees abroad for work.

The duty of care across borders Natural disasters, terror attacks, civil unrest, nuclear accidents, military coups and epidemics

In countries with a common law system, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, employers owe a duty of care, in one form or another, to provide a safe work environment for their employees. This obligation does not cease simply because

An analysis of different countries’ work, health and safety laws shows that none of them specifically contemplate risks or accidents occurring outside the country (bird flu, swine flu and now Zika) have all occurred in Asia recently. Employers must be mindful that sending employees overseas – even just for a meeting – may give rise to different or increased risks. Out of sight should not mean out of mind, particularly when it comes to your legal obligations to employees.

the employee temporarily leaves the office or the jurisdiction. In fact, an employer in Hong Kong is held to a higher duty of care when sending an employee to work in a less developed location, especially where health risks are not fully known (in that case, mainland China).1

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In Indonesia’s civil law system, various labour laws, regulations and decrees create a general duty to ensure the health and safety of employees at work. This does not expressly extend to work performed outside Indonesia. However, if the worker remains employed by the Indonesian company during an overseas assignment, arguably, the Indonesian labour law will apply to any work-related incident. With the development of work safety and health laws over the past two or three decades, various obligations to protect workers have also been enacted into legislation, codes, ordinances and regulations throughout the Asia-Pacific region. An analysis of different countries’ work, health and safety laws shows that none of them specifically contemplate risks or accidents occurring outside the country. However, the broad language used in the laws of countries such as Australia, China, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong means that there may be legal consequences in those countries (including prosecution, penalties and imprisonment of senior management) if the employee suffers an injury at work while overseas.

Workers’ compensation and accident insurance Regulation relating to workers’ compensation and accident insurance is another potential source of liability for employers. The Law on Occupational Hygiene and Safety, which came into effect in Vietnam on 1 July 2016, applies to “labor accidents occurring outside the workplace or outside working hours but on assignment from the employer”. In Vietnam, employment law must be interpreted in a way that is beneficial to the worker. As such, an injury occurring on a business trip may still subject the Vietnamese employer to workers’ compensation obligations. Similarly, an employee based in Malaysia, Australia, China or Indonesia who suffers an injury while performing work overseas is likely to be entitled to compensation under the laws of the ‘home’ country. Like Singapore, Hong Kong is viewed as one of the more ‘employer-friendly’ jurisdictions in the region, with its employment law system being relatively easy to navigate. For this reason, some companies employ

MANAGEMENT AND HR CHECKLIST  Is the destination known to contain risks to health and safety?  Have you checked current travel warnings and advisories?  Have you taken steps to identify any safety risks at the location(s) the employee will be visiting?  Have you arranged an induction for the employee with the controller of the premises (eg local office management or the client)?  Have you provided the employee with information on local risks/dangers?  If risks do exist, have you considered alternatives (eg security measures, postponing travel or video-conferencing)?  Has your company appointed someone to monitor these issues?

workers in Hong Kong and then deploy them around the region. These companies may not be aware that if a worker with a Hong Kong employment contract is injured while performing work outside Hong Kong, the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance expressly applies, and the employer may be liable to pay compensation in Hong Kong.

Harassment and discrimination What if an employee suffers harassment while on an overseas assignment? While Singapore’s Protection from Harassment Act does not impose specific obligations on employers, it does apply if the victim is outside Singapore when the incident occurs. A Singaporean employer could be vicariously liable if the harassment is perpetrated by a colleague, or if the employer has placed the victim in an unsafe environment. The Hong Kong Sex Discrimination Ordinance, on the other hand, only applies to sexual harassment occurring in Hong Kong and does not extend to harassment that occurs during an overseas business trip.

Mitigating risk For companies with operations in multiple countries throughout Asia-Pacific, it will be necessary to understand the different obligations under the specific laws of each jurisdiction. However, it may be possible to adopt a best practice approach, including using a checklist prior to an employee undertaking any business travel (see box above). If an employee does suffer an injury or illness while on a work trip, various questions will arise (see following ‘Risk factors’).

RISK FACTORS  Was the incident in the course of their employment (or, for example, did it occur after hours or on a personal side trip unrelated to their work assignment)?  Does the company have a history of work-related incidents/accidents?  Was the risk foreseeable?  Did the employer take all reasonable steps to keep the employee safe?  Did the relevant managers and directors of the company exercise due diligence to prevent the risk? Managing risks and keeping employees safe when they are out of the country presents challenges for any company. However, this is not the concern of governments and lawmakers, who are focused on eliminating work-related injuries and fatalities, and industrial disease. Notwithstanding the differences in law between countries, employers in AsiaPacific are expected to take a proactive approach to protecting the health and safety of all their employees, regardless of their location at any given time. This will require companies, including the highest levels of their management, to provide the thought and resources required to identify and meet their various obligations. 1

Li Hoi Shuen v Man Ming Engineering Trading Co Ltd [2006] 1 HKC 349

Aran Alexander is a senior associate, Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow.

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17/11/2016 11:32:54 AM

COVER STORY

RISING STARS

Who made the grade in HRDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2016 Rising Stars list?

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WELCOME TO HRD’s inaugural Rising Stars list. We asked you, our readers, to nominate HR professionals who you believe are doing outstanding work. You responded with enthusiasm – the HRD team received over 40 nominees. The final list of 20 professionals profiled over the following pages is a stellar collection of upcoming superstars – all of whom have less than 12 years of experience in the industry. From tackling

complicated IR/ER challenges to advocating groundbreaking D&I initiatives and being the go-to experts for their respective CEOs and other senior executives, these professionals are adding value to their workplaces and the industry as a whole. They are all demonstrating clear career progression and are enviously high achievers. Rest assured, if this list is any guide, the future of the HR profession is in capable hands.

INDEX BY COMPANY COMPANY

PAGE

NAME

COMPANY

PAGE

NAME

American Express

Anjali Lobo

Quotient TravelPlanner

Jade Chen

Arvato Digital Services

Momoko Iida

Randstad Singapore

Claire Smart

Barclays Singapore

Christopher Goh

Revel Systems

Alex Pusenjak

Big Box Singapore

Zen Tan

Sandbox Advisors

Amit Puri

Changi Airport Group

Sam Neo

Citi Indonesia

Alvin Hadiono

Singapore Institute of Management University

Charissa Tan

Gallup

Saurav Atri

Starbucks Coffee Singapore

Lavinia Chen

Hays Hong Kong

Zoe Tang

Simplot

Anchana Smith

HP Inc.

Pooja Jhaveri

Talent Plus

Priscillia Tan

Kantar Philippines

Franz Josef Magallanes

The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore

Vivian Wong

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COVER STORY

RISING STARS ENTER GEN Z By 2020, Generation Z – those born between 1990 and 1999 – will make up 20% of the workforce. It’s time for employers to start considering this cohort of workers now, as they finish up their studies and enter the workforce. Their workplace reality will be different to any previous generation’s. One report, The 2015 Future Leaders Index by Co-op in partnership with BDO, notes that these workers will operate in a truly global job market. They will enter a job market that is continuously being shaped by global working practices. Flexible working arrangements, contract-based assignments and global outsourcing will be the norm for this age cohort.

ALVIN HADIONO

Country learning and development head, Citi Indonesia

Alvin Hadiono’s work at Citi has been “exceptional” (as his performance was officially rated), particularly over the last two years. One major project he implemented was Citi’s Leadership Culture Transformation, which involved training more than 700 senior managers and leaders on leadership standards, values chartering and cascading, respect at work and career ownership; this initiative significantly improved manager effectiveness scores. Hadiono also launched other development programs that have helped increase productivity to the extent that potentially more than 70 working hours have been saved by the top-performing project teams. His efforts have contributed to Citi Indonesia winning various industry awards, such as the Best Companies in Developing Leaders from Within and Best Corporate University awards. On top of his responsibilities as L&D head, Hadiono also serves as HR business partner for seven global functions in Citi Indonesia, and is currently working on a regional alignment initiative of professional skills training portfolio for all Citi offices across Asia-Pacific.

VIVIAN WONG

Assistant director of HR, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore

Vivian Wong started her career in HR within the hospitality sector in 2008, first as a training executive. A subsequent promotion to assistant training manager occurred within a year. Shortly after, she became part of the pre-opening team for one of three Forbes five-star hotels in Singapore, working on recruitment. Wong joined The Ritz-Carlton in 2013, and was promoted to assistant director for human resources in 2014. Following this appointment, she immediately embarked on a project to equip the HR team for cross-functional purposes and to cover a wider spectrum of duties for hotel employees. This initiative resulted in improved efficiency of the HR team in providing bespoke solutions, which led to a significant increase in employee engagement. This year, the company scored a whopping 96% in Aon Hewitt’s Employee Engagement Survey, and received the ‘Best of the Best’ employers award. Wong and her team were also included in HRD Magazine’s list of top HR teams for the year.

ZEN TAN

Senior HR executive, Big Box Singapore

For the past few years, Zen Tan has been occupied with spearheading recruitment for the opening of the largest warehouse retailers in Singapore, which has involved hiring approximately 200 staff and arranging their compensation packages and incentives. The project also led to the evaluation and fine-tuning of various internal HR policies – including employee leave provisions and other benefits for existing staff – and the alignment of these with the benefits for new staff. As an acknowledgement of his efforts, Tan was promoted to his current position in July 2016. His other recent efforts include assisting business units in gauging manpower needs by reviewing work patterns and adjusting schedules to reduce overlapping hours and increase productivity, as well as conducting exit interviews to generate quality feedback and implementing changes from that feedback in order to reduce turnover rate.

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PRISCILLIA TAN HR business partner, Talent Plus

Formerly a management consultant offering talent management solutions, Priscillia Tan was able to work closely with the HR and L&D managers of various companies. These experiences gave her the skills and insights needed for her current position as HR business partner at talent assessment specialists Talent Plus, which she took on in June 2016. In this capacity, she works directly with CEOs and other key leaders, helping them formulate strategies and design initiatives for various HR areas, such as organisational development, and workforce and succession planning. She also trains HR team members on how to conduct better interviews. Tan is one of 1,000 professionals across the globe with a GPHR designation. The credential demonstrates a mastery of cross-border HR responsibilities that include strategies of globalisation; development of HR policies and initiatives that support organisational global growth and employer retention; and creation of organisational programs, processes and tools that achieve worldwide business goals.

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COVER STORY

RISING STARS

LAVINIA CHEN Learning and development manager, Starbucks Coffee Singapore

The continuing growth of Starbucks in Asia, as seen in the new branches opening and new product lines being introduced, is proof that the company is effectively reinventing itself, which explains the need for continuous L&D for all staff. Lavinia Chen is helping to sustain this with her work as L&D manager. For the past 12 months, she has been implementing a comprehensive L&D plan, with the following key initiatives: a comprehensive training needs survey for all 700 full-time partners; a retail training guide presenting career pathways and training programs; a learning management system for automation of training registration and tracking; and a leadership program for high potentials, which involves regular group discussions and mentoring sessions. Thus far, these initiatives have led to a 20% quarter-over-quarter increase in the number of barista trainers, as well as improvements in new-hire success rates.

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FRANZ JOSEF MAGALLANES HR executive, Kantar Philippines

As talent acquisition specialist for consumer research and insights company Kantar, Franz Magallanes manages the manpower needs with third-party suppliers and coordinates with various operating brands of the business to provide suitable candidates for managerial level as well as rank-and-file team members. His most impressive initiative has been the strong use of data analytics for recruitment. Magallanes set up a recruitment framework and developed funnel metrics that included tracking hit rates, which helped in evaluating effectiveness of specific recruitment activities and appropriateness of the timelines set. He has also incorporated key parts of data gathered into reports for management, including specifics on demographics and insights on workforce management. Magallanes also facilitates the employee orientation/induction program and initiates global and local performance surveys and subsequent sharing sessions, all of which have served to enhance employee engagement in the company.

ANCHANA SMITH

HR team leader – APAC, Simplot

It might seem an unusual mix – accounting and HR – but Anchana Smith has proven what a powerful combination of skills this can be, having moved from an auditor role into the HR sphere. A colleague says Smith is able to “get into the detail, but also has the ability to see the bigger picture”. In her four years at Simplot, Smith has worked her way up from an HR graduate to an adviser, and now to team leader for Asia-Pacific. During this time, she has worked on and led multiple projects, including a large-scale organisational restructure and streamlining of the performance management and development planning process. Smith has also worked with senior HR business partners and shown herself to be capable of stepping up during their absences. Smith’s colleagues say her ability to directly express work concerns to her superiors while remaining empathic towards employees demonstrates a maturity beyond her age and experience, and makes her both a high-potential employee and a rising star.

CLAIRE SMART

Head of HR, Southeast Asia, Randstad Singapore

Since taking on an HR business partner role in 2014, Claire Smart has worked closely with senior management in shaping a ‘people first’ culture at global HR services and recruitment firm Randstad. She introduced the Great People Survey to solicit anonymous feedback and suggestions from staff about their work and general areas they felt needed improvement in the company. After implementing changes based on employee feedback from previous surveys, 94% of employees now recommend the company as an employer and 86% are satisfied with their current jobs. Today, Randstad is one of the top three recruitment firms in Singapore. To acknowledge her success, Smart was recently promoted to head of HR SEA and assigned to oversee five business entities in the region.

NEXT GEN SNAPSHOT 74% of Gen Zs revealed that face-to-face contact was their preferred way to communicate in the workplace*

45% of Gen Zs cited personal challenges working with baby boomers, compared to 17% who anticipated difficulties with Gen Xs and 5% with millennials*

71% of bachelor’s degree graduates are employed full-time within four months of completing their degrees, compared to 85% in 2008^

67% are concerned about getting a career-related job in the current economic environment (women especially, with 76% expressing concerns)^^ Sources: *Robert Half survey of almost 800 university students between the ages of 18 and 25 ^Grad Stats 2014 ^^2015 Future Leaders Index by Co-op in partnership with BDO, a survey of 5,000 people aged 28–29

CHRISTOPHER GOH Vice president, HR, Barclays Singapore

After graduation, Christopher Goh immediately joined Barclays and worked in various units of the company, such as technology, investment banking and global markets, before eventually establishing himself in HR and rising through the ranks, all in less than six years. One of his major contributions to HR work in the company has been the handling of multiple largescale workforce planning projects that have involved notoriously tricky HR areas such as examining end-to-end workflows, managing offshoring/relocation of roles, and addressing concerns following business divestment and closure. Goh has also led Singapore-specific initiatives, an example of which is the Apprentice Programme, which made Barclays the first global investment bank to hire fresh graduates from polytechnic universities through a structured development program.

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COVER STORY

RISING STARS THE TRAINING DEFICIT Gen Z, like their predecessors Gen Y, are keen to learn more on-the-job skills during their studies in order to be more desirable candidates for potential employers, as well as adequately prepared with relevant and practical workplace skills.

84% believe there needs to be much more workplace training for students today

82% believe businesses need to take a much more active role in training students to be ready for the workforce

ALEX PUSENJAK HR manager – APAC, Revel Systems

“Ambitious” and “incredibly talented” – these are words befitting Alex Pusenjak, who has worked his way up from an entry-level internal recruiter to a regional HR manager role in a span of five years. As a standalone HR business partner prior to this at SIRCA, Pusenjak contributed to a seamless company transition to a new entity, RoZetta Technology. During this time, he helped develop a strong corporate culture and other initiatives for the new entity, which resulted in the company receiving finalist nods at the 2015 Australian HR Awards for its remuneration and benefits and health and wellbeing offerings. His current (and again) standalone role as HR manager for Asia-Pacific at Revel Systems requires extensive coordination with the company’s global HR team to create and implement effective HR strategies and processes.

MOMOKO IIDA

HR business partner, Arvato Digital Services

64% believe universities are not sufficiently equipping students with practical skills to help fulfil workplace needs Source: 2015 Future Leaders Index by Co-op in partnership with BDO

SAURAV ATRI Director of talent sourcing, Gallup

As director of talent sourcing at Gallup, a talent and performance management consulting company, Saurav Atri’s work is crucial to demonstrating the effectiveness of the very practices and strategies the company promotes. Atri has received internal All Star Awards every year from 2013 to 2016 for excellent work in recruitment as well as in L&D. In terms of the latter, Atri consults with organisations on matters such as the design of engaging workplaces, effective measurement of individual contributions, and alignment of roles and individuals. He also serves as an executive strengths coach to CEOs and senior leaders of multinational corporations, advising them on best practices in employee engagement and productivity as well as talent retention.

Momoko Iida joined Arvato Digital Services at a time when it was facing high turnover. She was immediately tasked with recruitment work but after a transitional period began to shift the focus towards programs for enhancing engagement and improving retention, recognising that these initiatives might lead to longer-term solutions. Her efforts have led to her becoming the first point of contact for staff on all issues, and she ensures there is follow-through by communicating the feedback to respective managers and providing advice as needed. Iida streamlined parts of the recruitment process that involved agencies by presenting business needs clearly, establishing rapport and standardising the terms and conditions of engagement, all of which greatly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the hiring process. She also introduced a staff referral program, which not only reduced hiring costs but has also resulted in longer tenure of staff.

JADE CHEN Director, HR and operations, Quotient TravelPlanner

After being appointed as group HR and administrative manager of a growing company in 2012, Jade Chen began streamlining the HR processes and for the next three years worked on honing the talent retention strategy, structuring bonus schemes, and building a strong HR team. Since joining travel agency Quotient TravelPlanner in April 2016, Chen has been working alongside senior management in refining the organisational structure, formulating a holistic HR strategy in line with the business objectives, and overseeing everything from manpower planning to training and development programs. Following the company’s plan to begin operations in Myanmar and Taiwan, Chen has also taken it upon herself to study HR practices in these countries as part of the preparatory work.

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ANJALI LOBO Singapore market HR coordinator, American Express

As HR coordinator, Anjali Lobo has played an important role in strengthening connections among employee groups and ensuring frequent and effective exchanges between leaders and staff. The company has created employee networks as part of its diversity effort, to enhance the collective presence of various groups and cater to their needs through activities such as job fairs, cultural events, and volunteer programs. In line with this, Lobo has helped give the efforts of the groups a cohesiveness by establishing connections among the eight active networks in the market. She has also provided a common employee engagement purpose for the leaders of the groups to align their efforts and encourage collaboration. Her efforts have contributed to the creation of 34 unique network events in the past year, with over 2,800 participants combined. Employees who are part of a network continue to display engagement levels that are higher than the average in Singapore.

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COVER STORY

RISING STARS CHARISSA TAN

Senior lecturer, Singapore Institute of Management University

Charissa Tan began her career in HR as an industrial-organisational psychologist, and was promoted to the role of senior regional manager of the HR department at Federal Express Asia-Pacific. In this capacity, she oversaw various HR functions and worked with key leaders and staff in the company’s ground operations and customer service departments. One of her most notable achievements included championing the shift from traditional training methods to mobile learning. Now a lecturer at SIM, Tan is adding value to the thought leadership of the profession and helping to groom the current and future generation of HR leaders.

POOJA JHAVERI

Talent partner, Southeast Asia, HP Inc.

ZOE TANG HR manager, Hays Hong Kong

For a company that provides recruitment services and dispenses advice on HR-related matters, it’s critical to practise what they preach. For Zoe Tang, this has meant funnelling her efforts into setting up and reviewing HR policies and streamlining processes, as well as managing benefits for employees. Her biggest projects for the past 12 months have included arranging health insurance policies for new employees in Hong Kong and Malaysia – which she managed successfully, achieving a 15% saving in premium cost – as well as setting up the core policies and procedures for the company’s new operations in India. She has also led the implementation of employee surveys, turnover analysis, and policy reviews in the Asia offices while coordinating with other HR managers in the region.

The past 16 months have been a “highly intense journey for HP”, which has gone through a separation from Hewlett Packard Enterprise to become a standalone Fortune 100 company. The unique circumstances – a rich legacy but with the culture of a start-up – have meant Pooja Jhaveri has had to strike a balance between keeping to tradition and staying ahead of the times. In the process of transitioning to the new HP Inc., Jhaveri has been in charge of guiding senior leaders through organisational design and capability planning for a newly formed business unit, juggling two roles – as talent partner and regional HRBP. Her key accomplishment in the past year was co-designing and leading the talent and learning strategy for Asia-Pacific and Japan, which involved redefining existing programs as well as starting new ones, all with a tight budget and reduced resources. Outside her usual responsibilities, Jhaveri has also helped extend business resources by establishing partnerships with other companies to provide employees with more benefits. She has also helped improve employee engagement and enhance HP Inc.’s employer branding. She takes pride in the fact that HR as a department and field has truly taken on a strategic role as opposed to staying ‘transactional’, and she continues to capitalise on that position by being a proactive business leader.

AMIT PURI

Founder and CEO, Sandbox Advisors

One of HR’s key purposes is to help people find work and build careers that fit both their capabilities and organisational needs, and Amit Puri recognises how challenging this can be. It’s why he established Sandbox Advisors in 2008. The company was the first in Asia/Singapore to provide comprehensive career counselling for students and professionals, in addition to HR consulting and talent management services for organisations. In the past year, Puri has received accolades for his work in global training and development, having implemented programs across Southeast Asia, China and India. Puri has also established flexible work arrangements for all his associates, who not only get to pick where they work but also the projects they wish to work on.

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SAM NEO Assistant manager, HR business partnership and scholarship, Changi Airport Group

Though relatively new to the Changi Airport Group, having joined the company just last year, Sam Neo has already tackled several pressing challenges, including spearheading a boot camp for applicants for the Airport Emergency Service division, and facilitating dialogue and work plan discussions with managers and staff following feedback from an employee engagement survey. However, Neo considers his most important and innovative achievement to be the introduction of a ‘gaming’ approach to the company’s scholarship engagement program. According to a survey by BrightSparks, Changi Airport Group has the number-one bonded scholarship program, and to maintain that position and keep candidates engaged, Neo introduced gaming events such as the SG50 Airport Race in 2015 and the CAG Go! in 2016 (following the Pokémon Go craze). Neo believes that as professionals in the industry continue to nurture an innovative spirit while capitalising on technology and harnessing big data, the HR field will continue to flourish and become an even more desirable career choice for the next generation.

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TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

TALENT MANAGEMENT

FITTING THE (TALENT) PIECES

Effective talent management can be likened to a jigsaw puzzle – multiple components must fit together seamlessly in order for it to work well HR PROFESSIONALS would be familiar with the concept of engagement from ‘hire to retire’ – and indeed, savvy employers these days recognise that the employee life cycle extends beyond ‘retire’ and through to the alumni network. The repercussions of this concept for talent management are multifaceted and complicated.

There are several key components that need to be considered for effective talent management. - Identifying and recruiting talent, followed by successful onboarding of that talent. - Learning and development. Building and developing the knowledge and competencies of employees. - Performance. Defining goals and

“Where organisations are truly adding value is when they create not just career paths but more dynamic career progression and career development” Mark Chan All about people capability Mark Chan, Cornerstone OnDemand’s Regional Sales Director, ASEAN and HK, views talent management as essentially being about harnessing people capability – and particularly how that capability is aligned to the needs of the business. He says Cornerstone OnDemand uses talent management to help clients align employees’ individual goals and needs with business objectives.

measuring performance against those goals; building a performance-driven culture. - Succession. Identifying talent and then preparing that talent for key areas of need within the organisation, and ensuring that employees know about the career paths available to them within the organisation. - Compensation and benefits. Ensuring these are market competitive, fair, and transparently communicated.

While Chan says these are “disparate but interlinked” areas, there’s one area he believes lies at the heart of effective talent management: L&D. “We care passionately about L&D,” he says. “And employees care about how they develop themselves. As employers we must show employees that we have a strategy and program in place to develop them – as professionals, as leaders – to keep them engaged.” L&D also plays a critical role in succession planning and creating career paths for employees, although with much flatter organisational structures today, this can be a challenge. “There are still career paths within a stream, whether we call that a ladder or not,” Chan says. “However, with these flatter structures we might see as much sideways movement as upwards movement.” This is particularly important for millennials, who have the dubious honour of being branded as ‘job hoppers’ – something that Chan does not believe is true. “We actually see that young people will stay with the same employer but they will change roles within the organisation. They’re looking for new challenges, for different types of fulfilment within their careers. That’s why sideways movement is very important.” How can employers enable that sideways movement and career mobility? Firstly, Chan suggests, there needs to be recognition within the organisation that job movement is a key part of talent management, and that’s got to come from the very top. Secondly, there must be a culture of transparency and visibility between departments, and between companies in larger organisations. Once these goals are achieved, more effective talent mapping can take place. “Where organisations are truly adding value is when they create not just career paths but more dynamic career progression and career development. They do this by looking at the skills

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relating to each type of job, and the development activities associated with those roles. This comes back to empowering and engaging your employees through L&D,” says Chan.

Engagement and talent management Another key aspect of successful talent management is ensuring that employees are engaged throughout their entire life cycle, as Chan explains: “We always hear from our clients and employees that this is one of the things employees care most about: Is what I do meaningful? Is what I do bigger than just a day-to-day job? Am I participating in and engaging with my organisation and having a positive impact on the broader community?” Engaging employees throughout their career with a company has long been recognised by HR professionals as being critical, but today they have the metrics and empirical research to back up their hunches (see box). Talent management processes are designed to focus on employee development, confirms Vikas Verma, Principal, Talent, Rewards and Performance at Aon Hewitt. However, no matter how sophisticated the training programs

BENEFITS OF AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE Aon Hewitt looks at the benefits of engagement from three perspectives: customer satisfaction, financial outcomes, and talent outcomes. Vikas Verma of Aon Hewitt explains: “Higher employee engagement scores are strongly correlated to Net Promoter scores. The Net Promoter score measures the strength of word of mouth to determine the likelihood that an employee will recommend an employer to someone seeking a job. If we take the example of a telco operator, stores that have higher employee engagement also have higher customer satisfaction. “At the same time, organisations with a higher engagement have greater return on shareholder value. Findings from the Aon Best Employers 2015 study show that Best Employers across Asia-Pacific have 24% higher engagement and 25% higher relative growth in sales, with 17% lower turnover. “This leads us to the talent outcomes. Employees with higher engagement scores are less likely to leave, as shown in the Aon Best Employers 2015 study. Engaged employees also show greater satisfaction with leadership, with these organisations likely to do better during difficult times.”

and career development processes are, the fundamental element is the relationship between manager and employee. “Engagement gets affected due to an employee’s lack of visibility on his or her career path in the organisation,” Verma says. “This is why it’s not enough to just have performance conversations once a year. Managers have a responsibility to communicate all talent management processes clearly, and how it relates to the employee.” Aon Best Employers coach their managers

on how to have effective career conversations, and communicate a vision around how team members can transform their careers and grow in the organisation. “At Aon Hewitt, we call this ‘continuous listening’ – or gathering feedback and taking action across the entire employee life cycle, from pre-recruitment to exit,” Verma explains. Aon Hewitt’s The Engaging Leader study also identifies five qualities of good managers, one of which is ‘Serve and Grow’. “This refers to a manager who believes in the wellbeing of

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TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

TALENT MANAGEMENT Brought to you by

TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE SOCIAL ERA Social media is impacting on all facets of talent management. Two examples include: L&D: While there will always be a place for traditional synchronous learning (whereby a group of employees are all engaged in learning at the same time), companies today are utilising the asynchronous nature of social learning – that is, their employees are learning the same material at different times and locations. However, this is impossible unless you embed that aspect of learning, creating groups and cohorts with common topics of learning. Performance management: “Cornerstone has seen a drive to companies using tools to facilitate ongoing feedback,” Mark Chan says. “These might be social performance tools, which can be collated and utilised in a more structured conversation, or perhaps tools like badging and providing different types of recognition for employees that can then be tied back and considered in the ongoing performance discussion and the performance review.”

CORNERSTONE ONDEMAND Cornerstone OnDemand (NASDAQ: CSOD) is pioneering cloud-based learning and talent management software to help organisations realise the potential of the modern workforce. Based in Santa Monica, California, the company’s solutions are used by more than 2,700 clients worldwide, spanning 26.3 million users across 191 countries and 42 languages. Visit www.csod.com.

his or her employees, and provides employees with the resources to be successful, not just in the team but in their entire professional journey,” Verma says. “Apart from processes, systems, and technology, this is the lynchpin of an effective talent management process.”

Disruptor 1: Big data At the tail end of 2016, big data and keeping up with technology are the two disruptors in the talent management space – and all employers will need to keep up. On big data, Chan says the number of transactions done and the data points touched on during all elements of the talent management process are “absolutely staggering”. “You’re collecting a huge amount of valuable information, but the key is what you do with that data,” he says. Cornerstone is working with clients to help ‘connect the dots’ and understand the patterns apparent in the data collected. “We’re looking at areas like career progression and analysing the data to identify possible career paths. This can lead to innovations like predictive succession. How do we leverage that data in terms of helping drive our top performers and guiding them on a career path?” Verma adds that rather than basing decisions on industry-wide studies, big data can help employers make real-time decisions based on specific analytics within the organisation. Verma cites a telco employer as an example: “Big data enables the telco to utilise findings from stores with high employee engagement and customer engagement scores, discover what they are doing differently and effectively, and apply these actions to stores that have lower scores. They can also identify high-performing managers and use them to revitalise stores that aren’t doing well.”

Disruptor 2: Technology Technology has allowed people to be more social: they are forming networks online;

they are collaborating and interacting more effectively than ever before. How will this ‘social aspect’ of talent management play out? The biggest technology-related game changer, and not surprisingly the area Chan says employers struggle most with, is using social tools in the workplace. “We fundamentally believe that when you deploy social tools in the workplace, it has to be within a certain context. We respectfully believe that should be around talent.” The benefits of social tools for talent are manifold. Firstly, collaboration occurs. Communities are formed for individuals to share information, to share what personal and organisational goals they’ve accomplished. It’s also a great way to make information and knowledge searchable; it allows organisations to capture valuable information from leaders and thought leaders and then disseminate it to all employees. It also allows for open, transparent, and multidirectional communication. Another area is recognition: social tools provide opportunities for peers and managers to give kudos to others in ways that go above and beyond the official performance review. Chan adds that how, where and when employees are working is changing. People work from home, on the go, outside of traditional office hours. Often this means these social tools become vital for employers to engage with these employees.

Unified talent management Chan talks with clients about the importance of unified talent management, because too often they approach each area of talent management from a siloed perspective: they have a learning platform, a performance platform, etc. “We all know these elements are tied together. Cornerstone approaches this through unified talent management,” he says. “We help clients look across all these discrete areas but then look at the interconnections and how these processes tie together.”

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TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

RECRUITMENT

21ST CENTURY RECRUITMENT Digital innovation is transforming how many business operations function, and recruitment is no exception. David Reynolds outlines the latest trends and how HR stands to benefit from making data-led decisions about tomorrow’s workforce GONE ARE the days when recruiting a new hire was based on a gut feeling. Today, as more and more innovative processes become integrated into the recruitment process, HR professionals are now able to make data-led decisions when it comes to new staff. Not only are these innovations ensuring companies make the right hire from the start, but research is showcasing increases in staff retention and performance. Some of the most successful innovations include digital interviewing, tailored psycho metric assessment, situational interviewing and in-depth benchmarking, including the use of ‘heat maps’ to rank all shortlisted candidates.

Digital interviewing in practice Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads COO Jennifer Grace recently introduced digital interviewing when hiring the new deputy director-general for TransLink. Prior to this, the group followed traditional methods in all of its recruitment processes. “The new way provides an opportunity for genuine panel engagement and participation,” Grace says. “There is now a science that has taken us into the 21st century and is well overdue in the recruitment industry. “It’s digital, online and agile. It provides more information to make the right decision. The digital interviewing process gives us, as

an employer, a genuine opportunity to look at all shortlisted candidates. It provides more of a level playing field and provides candidates with another opportunity to sell themselves.” Employers are quickly embracing the new technology as it provides them with

review the shortlisted candidates prior to attending the panel interviews. “They came to the interviews more informed, and this provided them with more objectivity,” Grace says. “All of the panel members reported back that it was easier for them to form a more

“The digital interviewing process gives us, as an employer, a genuine opportunity to look at all shortlisted candidates. It provides more of a level playing field and provides candidates with another opportunity to sell themselves” Jennifer Grace another lens through which they can assess candidates, and through the involvement of each panel member it encourages a more robust and intimate involvement. Furthermore, it creates a greater level of accountability and decision-making. While it does put increased pressure on candidates, it also assists in identifying exceptional candidates and provides the opportunity for them to sell themselves. Grace says the online approach gave panel members an opportunity to independently

in-depth view of the appropriateness of each candidate. “They had not been exposed previously to the notes and reports that had been incorporated in the shortlisting documentation. All of this combined gave a lot more meaning to the process.” On the other side of the coin, Grace says the new approach improved their employer brand for prospective candidates. “The new approach provides a better focus on candidate care,” she notes. “We now

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see the benefit, as far as our employer brand is concerned, that we are progressive and more engaged with candidates. “The new process ensured every candidate was given due consideration and we were able to obtain a complete and deeper understanding of the candidates. There was the opportunity to see candidates live, and this provided us with assurance of certain capabilities that we were seeking, particularly their presentation skills, and their ability to respond under pressure.” Candidates have the opportunity to show another side of their personality and demonstrate their ability to respond under pressure, but also to articulate their value proposition and succinctly respond to questions that would directly relate to the role and their past successes. Building Queensland group director of governance and business support Colin Royce recently used the process to engage 17 new staff members in one bulk recruitment drive. “[Digital interviewing] also means that you aren’t wasting as much of the candidate’s time,” Royce says. “The process is much quicker, and because of that they are not sitting around waiting for an answer for a longer period of time. We did notice it flushed out the higherquality candidates earlier in the process and a final pool of candidates that were suitable to each role, rather than having to sift through them at panel interview.”

Managing expectations However, according to Grace the feedback from candidates can be mixed and HR professionals need to manage expectations. “Candidates felt challenged by the process; however, it was viewed as most engaging,” she says. “It allowed them to personally present themselves rather than just be represented by a piece of paper. The process lifted the bar, which is a good thing and allowed internal candidates to be benchmarked against external candidates. “We also had more information to provide objective feedback to candidates, and so it would not be just one person’s view.” To assist in facilitating the bulk campaign

and making it more streamlined, Royce’s team ran a comprehensive campaign that included online campaigns, enhanced internal systems, digital interviewing and online reference checking. Royce says the renewed process improved the visibility of candidates and also sped up the whole process. “The use of digital interviewing meant that it was a lot less labour-intensive for us, and it also provided us with an earlier view of the candidates rather than just a CV,” he says. “To my knowledge, most of the feedback was very positive. The video was definitely a new innovation for most of them. It wasn’t universally liked, because it did put pressure on the candidates, but it was good from our perspective. “Being a somewhat stressful event [the bulk campaign], it showed us how each candidate handled the unexpected, in addition to the quality of their actual answers. “It also allowed more people in the panel recruitment process to view the candidates earlier, and in their own time. Diary management was a lot easier as a result.”

Heat maps Digital interviewing isn’t the only innovation Royce claims has assisted his recruitment process. The team at Building Queensland, with their partner Davidson Executive, have also fine-tuned their position descriptions and implemented ‘heat maps’. Heat maps are a graphical presentation of where candidates fit in a quadrant in relation to each other and in terms of the employer’s ratings as well as best practice ratings. “We put a lot of effort into developing detailed and specific position descriptions that accurately described both the role, and also the key deliverables expected over a 12-month period,” Royce says. “Candidates were able to read these and self-select earlier if they didn’t feel that they had the skill sets to match the role. It enabled stronger interview questions because we had spent the time developing the key criteria. “It certainly added a scientific basis to the recruitment process. It is a more detailed

KEY TIPS FOR PREPARING QUESTIONS FOR A DIGITAL INTERVIEW The questions are not meant to trick applicants; rather they give them an opportunity to present their credentials. The questions should be directly aligned to KPIs of the role. Review the job description and ensure the questions relate directly to candidates’ experiences and how they complement the role, organisation and sector. Rate the candidates’ performance in the interview independently to ensure an independent assessment is made. Use the heat map to identify top performers and the preferences of panel members. Use the digital interviews to tailor final employer interviews to each individual and probe into areas of concern. process than the way it used to be, that’s for sure. It also added transparency around individual panel members’ thinking of each candidate, and allowed us to develop a heat map on the preferred candidates for panel interview.”

Embrace the new era Digital interviewing is only one small part of the innovative changes that are being made to the recruitment process. Innovation drives the elimination of unnecessary steps from the recruitment process, reduces its timeframe, and enables better buy-in from employer stakeholders. It also brings to life the candidate experience as well as providing a platform for more collaboration and interaction between candidates and employers.

David Reynolds is the group manager of Davidson Executive.

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TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

HRIS

HR TECHNOLOGY:

TIME FOR AN UPGRADE?

Investment in HR-related technology and software may be up, but HR leaders still need to build a solid business case to get it over the line

SPENDING BY HR departments increased by 4% between 2014 and 2015, according to the Bersin by Deloitte 2015 HR Factbook. Between 5% and 8% of this went towards tools and technology. Large companies unsurprisingly spent the most on technology (almost 10% of their HR budget), and this increased spend has fuelled huge market growth in cloud-based HR technologies. The entire HR software market is over US$10bn in size and Bersin by Deloitte says many segments are growing at double-digit rates. Closer to home, Kevin Brooks, national sales and marketing manager at Frontier Software, says companies are starting to realise the value of good HR technology and the benefits this can bring to any organisation. As a result, the investments are increasing – however, many companies are still to actually take the step of actively taking advantage of the full potential of new HR technologies. “Whilst the majority of decision-makers have realised the need for new HR technologies, many are still not focusing on how to deploy these solutions,” Brooks says. “One thing companies are investing in is mobilising key features of the HR function, such as self-service. The demand to be mobile is increasing, and as the workforce is mobilising so does the HR department. This not only saves times for HR personnel but also contributes to staff engagement and a positive employee experience.”

What’s hot? In the second half of 2015, Information Services Group (ISG) conducted its second annual Industry Trends in Human Resources Technology and Service Delivery Survey. The survey explores the changing landscape of HR technology and service delivery, and therefore provides clues as to where companies are spending. The key findings from this year’s survey suggest: ÎÎ Enterprises continue to migrate

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from on-premises Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based HR technologies; more than 70% of respondents have implemented or plan to implement HR SaaS within the next two years.  User experience and usability factors are driving selection criteria and expected benefits for both HR technology and service delivery model decisions.  HR organisations are shifting their focus from cost savings to strategic business alignment, process improvement and employee engagement.  The market is seeing initial signs that enterprise-level HR decision-making is becoming increasingly data-driven.

Who holds the purse strings? According to a 2013 survey by memberbased advisory firm CEB, CIOs still control about 60% of the average IT budget in a corporation. However, the other 40% is being utilised by a diverse range of internal ‘rogue agents’, including marketing, finance, and

“It’s becoming increasingly common for HR departments to have technology as part of their budget, as more companies realise and acknowledge the business benefits and efficiency achieved from effective HR systems” Kevin Brooks, Frontier Software the new member on the block, HR. “It’s becoming increasingly common for HR departments to have technology as part of their budget, as more companies realise and acknowledge the business benefits and efficiency achieved from effective HR systems,” says Brooks. And while CEB reports that most CIOs are actually okay with this more democratic approach to IT spending, many CHROs still need the go-ahead for technology investment from the CFO (see box, p38). Fortunately, the ‘sell’ is getting easier.

MIGRATION TO SAAS IS ACCELERATING Depending on the HR solution, 35–47% of organisations surveyed are considering implementing a new HR technology solution in the next two years. Talent management and HR analytics are two of the fastest-growing areas. Here’s where the SaaS investments are likely to occur.

17% 21%

Workforce administration Payroll/time Benefits administration Talent management HR analytics

19% 17%

15% 19% 19% 15% 9% 17%

Fully implemented

Currently implementing

38% 35% 35% 42% 47% Considering implementing 0–2 years

13% 13%

15% 15%

23% 6% 19% 9% 19%

Considering implementing >2 years

Not considering implementing

Source: 2016 Industry Trends in Human Resources Technology and Service Delivery Survey, Information Services Group

“Mobilising key aspects of your HR practices is very much becoming the norm,” says Brooks. “Increased mobility can enrich the employee experience, which in turn can increase employee engagement and productivity. For employees to be able to access their HR information anywhere at any time is giving them a freedom they haven’t had in the past. If companies don’t acknowledge this they will fall behind very quickly.” Frontier Software, for example, has seen increased interest and enquiries for core HR and payroll, workforce management and talent management software. This is not before time: many HR professionals are coping with outmoded and old-fashioned legacy systems, which over time simply will not hit the mark. “At some point it will become unworkable, and manual work-arounds will become unmanageable,” Brooks says. “A review of HR processes can usually help in the decisionmaking process when upgrading or deciding to change their incumbent system.” Brooks stresses that despite the temptations, when it comes to new technology HR should not jump into industry trends without establishing alignment to their business needs and readiness to deploy such technology. “A good technology or system vendor

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TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

HRIS

GETTING THE CFO OVER THE LINE

should be able to uncover the requirements based on your HR strategy and overall company objectives,” he says.

Kevin Brooks provides his tips: “In many cases the CFO is the hardest person to convince that a new HR system is needed, which is why you need to build your business case carefully. Highlighting the ROI in terms of the efficiencies that will result from automating and streamlining your HR functions is critical to convincing decision-makers. Measuring an HR system’s ROI can be quantified in the following ways: eRecruitment can significantly increase efficiencies when shortlisting candidates, managing applications and automating rejection letters. Performance management and succession planning efficiency is greatly increased when using HR technology. Not only will you be able to streamline these processes but also make better business decisions.”

Getting buy-in Further to educating the CFO and other decision-makers about the benefits of new HR systems, the CIO and business analysts need to be involved in the decisions around HR tech investments. The CIO in particular needs to be comfortable that the system can support the company’s data security, data hosting and technical requirements.

Ask for ‘sandbox testing’ as a component of technology selection. Buyers need a first-hand experience of interacting with the application and navigating in the tool. Technology providers are adjusting to these demands by having ready-to-configure sandbox environments, detailed user guides and a helpline within the sandbox. Providers unwilling to give open access to clients for testing will find it increasingly challenging to compete.

The entire HR software market is over US$10bn in size and Bersin by Deloitte says many segments are growing at double-digit rates Getting buy-in from your employees is also crucial, says Brooks. “By including them in the process they are less likely to resist the change in adopting a new technology or software, which will ultimately drive the success of your new system. A great way to engage your staff in the process is to do an internal survey or pilot group to understand their requirements well before you start speaking to vendors.”

Be sure to go beyond functionality to understand the software vendor’s strategic direction, road map, services and support model.

Final tips For those companies that are considering implementing new technology and/or service delivery model changes, there are a few key points to consider from the ISG report:

Pay significant attention to and invest in change management and process redesign. New tools applied to old processes, or tools that aren’t used by the majority of employees or managers, will not work as intended.

Understand the specific ways that HR technology can best support the most critical business processes; create detailed

Develop a business case for change that incorporates the strategic, operational and financial benefits for the organisation.

use cases that focus on the organisation’s key requirements.

In making the HR transformation, be sure to address all parts of the overall service delivery model, including shared service centres, HR knowledge base/HR portals and customer support solutions (eg telephony, chat, case management).

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TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

L&D

ONLINE LEARNING TRENDS Few areas of HR have been transformed by technology in recent times as much as L&D. Here are the hot trends you should know about ONLINE LEARNING is subject to fast and frequent changes that leave many HR professionals fighting to stay informed – so how can they do it? According to industry expert Koreen Pagano, there are currently seven major trends dictating the online learning space, and HR professionals should be definitely be paying attention. Here, Pagano – a product management director for online learning and teaching specialists D2L – reviews the main areas of importance.

Video-based learning Video-based learning has been around for a long time, but we’re seeing a huge upswing since streaming capabilities have improved and recording and playing video on mobile devices has made video creation and consumption available everywhere. Video is now the expectation for online instruction, feedback, and interaction.

Immersion It’s not enough to just present information any more. People understand that practice and application is more important than knowledge, and technology is providing more and new opportunities to practise what you learn before you use it on the job. Games, simulations, multimedia storytelling, augmented reality and virtual reality – these are all supporting a new wave of immersive learning.

Performance objectives, not learning objectives In line with immersive learning, metrics are shifting from learning to performance. Aligning learning initiatives to support business metrics and measuring performance as an indicator of learning are helping online learning gain traction as a strategy to improve the business. It is not simply a cost centre or ‘checking the box’ for compliance training any more.

Big data Personalisation Historically, learning was driven by the organisation’s needs, and many learning platforms were built with management and monitoring of learning in mind (think compliance). Now, learning is focused on developing each individual’s skills, and creating career paths to drive engagement, improve those skills, and make both the organisation and the individual successful.

The rise of big data has had a huge impact on learning, giving us more robust insight into how learners are interacting with content, where they are spending their time and how effective they are at finding the right content.

Gamification Games are proven to work with the reward systems in our brain,

encouraging behaviours that we want to see in learning through the use of games. Repeated attempts with content and progression through levels help engage and reward learners in ways we haven’t seen before.

Addressing the retirement wave and new-hire skills gap The baby boomers are retiring, and with them also go their organisational knowledge, skills and experience. Millennials entering the workforce could benefit from this knowledge being passed along, but many organisations struggle to capture the knowledge of their retiring employees before they leave. In addition, many university graduates don’t have the basic skills that companies are looking for. Online learning is one way that organisations can simultaneously capture the expertise of their retiring subject matter experts and up-level the skills of their new hires.

SHORT AND SHARP: ‘MIND TRIGGERS’ Video-based learning has been earmarked as being perfect for time-poor workers. These could be as simple as using ‘mind triggers’ or short video courses to facilitate L&D within the organisation. “Let’s imagine that you start your day,” says Laura Goodrich, co-founder of GWT Next and international keynote speaker. “You have three meetings but you also get an email that says that there’s a mind trigger available for you. You can go to those meetings and focus on them since they’re critical, but afterwards you can find a quiet space where you can really focus your energies on that learning.” Even though the video itself may only be a few minutes long, the methodology actually encourages participants to think on what they have learned afterwards through a number of self-reflection questions. These can be anything from what the lesson means to their work to ways in which they can apply this new knowledge, Goodrich says. After a group completes the same training and has watched these mind triggers, they then have a shared experience and can commence dialogues with each other.

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FEATURES

HR REPORT

2016

ASIA-PACIFIC HR REPORT The HR profession has spoken. For our second annual Asia-Pacific HR Report, we asked over 3,000 HR professionals about their own aspirations, as well as the hurdles and opportunities they see in HR. The result is a revealing portrait of a dynamic, evolving and challenging industry

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WHAT MAKES HR professionals tick and what’s keeping them up at night? HRD sought to find out from the source: we surveyed 3,184 HR professionals for their views on their profession. First, the negatives: constant change, fewer resources, less time. Now the positives: unbridled optimism about where HR is heading as a profession, an increasingly stable presence on executive teams, and more effective technology and data tools, which are leading to greater insights and thus credibility. There are areas to improve and the function itself is something of a constant ‘work in progress’ – some 47% of HR teams have restructured over the past 12–24 months. HR professionals are working on themselves, too. Seventy-two per cent of HR professionals will be undertaking some form of professional development over the next 12 months, with the key focus areas being communication and influencing skills, and building business acumen.

WHERE ARE RESPONDENTS BASED?

WHERE DO RESPONDENTS WORK?

A total of 3,184 respondents from 12 countries took part in this year’s survey, with the bulk coming from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The bulk of respondents came from mid- to largesize companies. 12% of respondents hailed from the health care and social assistance sector; 10% came from professional, scientific and technical services fields; 9% from manufacturing and 9% from financial & insurance services; 7% from education & training; and 6% from information, media and telecommunications.

Australia

India

32%

New Zealand

Vietnam

18%

Singapore

China

16%

Malaysia

South Korea

Indonesia

Thailand

Hong Kong

Other

SURVEY PARTICIPANTS GENDER

27%

58%

male

73%

female 500–999 employees (13%)

JOB TITLE 24% 16%

CHRO

14%

HR director/VP/manager

37%

HR adviser/consultant/executive HR assistant/coordinator 37%

1% Less than 1 year

1–99 employees (16%)

100–499 employees (31%)

Some 51% of respondents were at HR director level or above. HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED IN HR?

COMPANY SIZE

1–5 years

6–10 years

10+ years

Other

12%

1000+ employees (40%)

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FEATURES

HR REPORT

2016 CHALLENGES ASIA-PACIFIC BASED organisations are Change may be the new norm but that does not mean it’s getting any easier for HR professionals. They voted ‘managing change’ as their biggest 2016 challenge, followed by employee engagement & retention.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING THE HR PROFESSION?

Least important

Most important

Respondents were asked to score a list of priorities in terms of importance. Here are the overall results, from 1 (least important challenge) to 5 (most important challenge). Average score 3.93

Managing change

3.92

Employee engagement & retention

3.82

Demonstrating value as a business partner

3.72

Building internal credibility and influence

3.60

Other*

3.55

Employee development

3.30

Employee recruitment

3.12

Adapting to new technology

2.96

Dealing with legal changes

*Other responses included managing an ageing workforce, using data and analytics more effectively, industrial and employee relations, and building leadership capabilities

operating in unprecedented times. Uncertainty, wrought by global events (terrorism, political turmoil) and local events (ongoing economic uncertainty) means many organisations need to be able to turn on a dime; the ability to make rapid responses to external and internal pressures is now de rigueur. Following major political upheavals such as the US elections and Brexit, it’s no surprise that managing change was the number one challenge cited by HR leaders. As this reader summarised: “Part of HR’s success comes down to our ability to deal with changing political and economic environments, which have a flow-on to nearly all HR activities.” Some HR professionals are struggling with the pace of change and the constant battle to do more with less. One HR leader from the financial services industry in Singapore wrote: “Cost and workplace design pressures are our biggest challenges. We get stuck in downsizing cycles but never have enough time to build up before moving into another one. It’s a race to the bottom driven by money, when with money and good HR you could make more.” For some it’s about creating work cultures that are open to this era of constant transformation, and bracing the workforce for this change: “It’s about changing

HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THE FOLLOWING TRAITS ARE IN AN HR LEADER?

1 Integrity

2 Emotional intelligence

3 Business acumen

4 Persuasiveness

5 Flexibility

6 Intelligence

7 Other*

8 Assertiveness

9 Humility

*Other responses included communication skills, resilience, adaptability and technical competence

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many readers, it’s the powers of persuasion, influence and the ability to ‘sell’ ideas, concepts and initiatives that remains critical to the function. “We need to change the perception of the HR department as being ‘red tape’,” wrote one reader. And this: “People still don’t trust HR. We need to work on building our integrity and powers of persuasion.” For those wanting to get ahead in HR, the recurring theme is around business acumen. This rounded out the top three

most important traits. “Part of HR’s problem is convincing other business leaders that we are not just about ‘the soft stuff ’. We need to know how the business operates and what makes other business department heads tick. Only then will we gain credibility,” wrote one HR business partner. Best of all was this comment: “A good HR professional who truly understands their organisation is the ‘canary in the mine’. We should be the warning system for the organisation on people issues.”

WHERE IS HR SPENDING ITS TIME? Respondents were asked how much they were personally involved in a number of areas. Each area was rated from 1 to 5 (1 being rarely involved and 5 being heavily involved). Average score Heavily involved

established mindsets and practices, being open to change,” wrote one Sydney-based HR director in the pharma sector. Another bemoaned the default setting that many people have towards change: “Change management is the greatest barrier. Employees always tend to resist change even when the outcome is positive for everyone.” Some readers are still on the path of changing perceptions of the HR function itself. “For me it’s about changing organisational thinking from HR being a reactive resource to be a proactive resource and engaging with them at the beginning of a project/task.” Another commented: “It’s about shifting from operational/transactional HR work and into the strategic work.” ‘Demonstrating value as business partner’ and ‘building internal capability and influence’ were cited as the number four and five challenges. For some, it’s the age-old problem: the HR function has evolved, but others are stuck in the past. “My challenge is demonstrating value to a business and influencing old school thinkers who believe HR just hire & fire,” said one reader. Another wrote: “I get bogged down in policy for policy’s sake and not having the ability to change from ‘HR agenda’ to ‘business agenda’.” Many HR professionals simply cited time – or lack thereof – as being a key challenge. “Having the confidence and time to innovate and try new things. Not seeing barriers as the end of the road but using influence to ensure the best outcomes for the business and the people,” wrote one HR director working in hospitality.

4.03

3.99

3.62

3.55

Staff development and training

Recruiting the best talent

Identifying risks, regulating and ensuring compliance

Reducing costs

3.47

Enhancing employee productivity

2.25

Expanding to new markets

2.18

Helping the sales and marketing departments to acquire, serve or retain clients

When asked which traits are most important for HR leaders to overcome these challenges, it’s refreshing to see that integrity remains the most important, followed by emotional intelligence and business acumen. For

Rarely involved

Getting ahead

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FEATURES

HR REPORT

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Communication and influencing skills, followed by business acumen, are viewed as the top skills required by HR. How are they obtaining these skills? Sixty-one per cent have spent time outside the HR function and 32% have spent time working overseas.

THE ASIA-PACIFIC HR Report provides interesting insights into how HR has gained the experience they have up to this point in their careers, as well as the skills and knowledge they believe will be most critical to their success over the coming 12 months.

WHAT SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE DO YOU THINK WILL BE MOST CRITICAL TO YOUR PERSONAL SUCCESS OVER THE NEXT YEAR? Respondents were asked to rank a list of 12 skills/competencies in terms of importance. Here are the overall results, from 1 (most important) to 12 (least important).

1 Communication and influencing skills

2 Business acumen

3 Leadership capability

4 Change management

5 Relationship-building and networking

6 Emotional intelligence

7 Coaching and mentoring skills

8 Technology

9 Employment law

10 Big data and analytics

11 Financial management

12 Other*

*Other responses included cultural intelligence, time management and project management

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The journey to now HR is often criticised for having ‘siloed careers’ – they have spent time in the HR function and nowhere else. However, 61% of respondents indicated they had worked in functional areas outside of HR. Another surprise, given the perception that HR is removed from client-facing roles, is that ‘customer service’ (32%) was the most frequently cited area that HR spent time in prior to moving into the profession. Other popular areas were finance (21%) and operations (15%). It also appears that HR professionals have plenty of global experience to draw on. Thirty-two per cent of professionals have spent time working in countries outside their own. For Singapore-based HR professionals, this has meant spending time in the Southeast Asia region, in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. China was cited by 15% of Singapore-based professionals. Some 31% had at some point in their career held Asia-Pacific regional roles and 14% had held global roles.

HAVE YOU WORKED IN OTHER FUNCTIONAL AREAS APART FROM HR?

HAVE YOU EVER WORKED IN AN OVERSEAS ROLE?

Yes

39%

32%

61%

Yes

68%

WHAT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ARE YOU UNDERTAKING? Attending seminars or conferences

69%

On-the-job/informal learning (job rotations, special projects, etc)

48%

Coaching or mentoring

40%

Short courses

38%

E-learning courses

32%

MBA or master’s degree

12%

Other

Essential skills of the future As HR continues its fight to gain credibility and sustain its position in the senior leadership ranks, a recurring theme throughout this year’s results was ‘communication and influencing skills’. HR professionals are also keen to build their business acumen and leadership capability. Given the hype around ‘big data and analytics’ it is something of a surprise to see this ranked 10th on the list. To build these skills and knowledge, the majority (69%) will be attending seminars or conferences, while others will be relying on on-the-job training (48%) and others will undertake coaching/mentoring (40%).

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FEATURES

HR REPORT

HR SUPPORT Over 60% of surveyed HR professionals indicate there is room for improvement when it comes to support from senior management – and there’s a perception that CEOs are not spending quite enough time on HR-related matters.

DO YOU FEEL THAT SENIOR MANAGEMENT SUPPORTS YOU IN YOUR HR INITIATIVES? Yes, senior management is always supportive

12% 26%

No, senior management is not supportive

Yes, most of the time but there is room for improvement

62%

TWENTY-SIX per cent of HR professionals may believe their senior management team is always supportive of the HR function, but this still leaves a lot of room for improvement. A significant 62% indicated more support was required. For those HR professionals who do receive sufficient support, in some cases it’s just good business sense, as this reader suggested: “As a services business, 90% of our costs are people-related and so I receive strong support on people initiatives aligned to business goals.” This HR business partner from the legal sector in New Zealand responded along similar lines: “Our director is super supportive and very employee focused. He realised early in his career that employees are his biggest asset,

CEO SUPPORT: PERCEPTION VS REALITY If CEOs really value the people in their business as highly as they say they do, it stands to reason that they should devote enough time to this area to make a difference – while of course still balancing all their other priorities. However, there’s a disconnect between the amount of time people think a CEO should spend on HR issues, and the time they actually do spend. Forty-six per cent indicated their CEO spent less than 10% of their time on this area. However, 69% felt this should be closer to 11–50% of their time (the reality is just 49% of CEOs spend 11–50% of their time on HR-related matters). Readers pointed to just how critical CEO support is. “My CEO is very HR-centric and is the driving force behind HR strategies to build an engaged and dynamic workforce to achieve the company vision,” wrote one HR director. Another commented: “Results improve dramatically when the CEO is in the field, talks with (not ‘to’) employees, understands HR and what it can bring to the business, and sees what the day-to-day operations of the business look like.”

PERCEPTION

REALITY

How much time do you think the CEO of an organisation should spend on HR-related issues?

In your organisation, how much time do you think your CEO spends on HR-related issues? More than 50% of time

Less than 10% of time

More than 50% of time

13%

18%

46% 49% 69%

11–50% of time

Less than 10% of time

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HR SERVICE DELIVERY and without good staff his practice couldn’t succeed.” Others are making changes at the HR end in order to gain this buy-in. One reader noted: “The key is to make it simple to understand and implement, and connect any initiative to business strategy.” Another wrote: “As long as initiatives can demonstrate ROI, my executive team are usually supportive.” Can there ever be too much of a good thing? Only when HR gets so embedded that its limited resources are stretched to breaking point, as this reader pointed out: “HR is really embedded in the organisation – sometimes too much as the team is involved in so many things. Sometimes we can lose sight of our strategic influence.” For the 12% who lack senior support, often it’s a corporate culture issue. “Excessive focus on ‘bottom line’ means that any form of innovation that costs $$ is not considered,” wrote one HR manager. Others lack the tools and insights required to get noticed. “It is very hard to justify what I am trying to do because I do not have access to figures,” said one HR business partner based in Singapore’s financial services industry.

Turning the tables We asked HR professionals to rate from 1 to 5 (with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent) the strength of current leaders in their organisation. Surprisingly, two areas in which HR is usually considered strong (change management and staff development) are the areas in which other business leaders need the most development. For those HR professionals looking to bolster the leadership capabilities of their executive colleagues, here’s how their capabilities and skills were rated, from ‘excellent’ to ‘poor’: 1. Client focus 2. Results focus 3. Problem-solving 4. Communication 5. Change management 6. Staff development

UNSURPRISINGLY, THE majority (55%) of respondents follow the traditional and widely used Ulrich model. Readers were divided but positive overall about the viability of this model, with 65% of those using it saying it was effective in delivering HR services to the business.

As businesses continue to evolve, so too does the HR function. Are the typical structures of HR departments still effective?

IS YOUR HR TEAM STRUCTURED ON THE TRADITIONAL ULRICH MODEL (HR BUSINESS PARTNERS, HR CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE, HR ADMINISTRATION CENTRES)?

No 45%

55%

Yes

IS THE ULRICH MODEL EFFECTIVE IN DELIVERING SERVICES TO THE BUSINESS? “Our HR team is structured in this way, on a significantly smaller model. All team members are responsible for partnering with the business, creating centres of excellence and balancing the administrative aspect of HR practices.” “We have business partners (as generalists) handling clients directly, specialists as centres of excellence, and HR operations as admin centres/shared services. It works very effectively for us.” “It works well – though it needs constant massaging to ensure no divisions form.” “It’s mainly effective, with just some customer service issues with the COEs at times.” ”HRBP roles have been split into strategic or tactical/operational areas. We’ve then centralised the operational side, while keeping the strategic roles aligned to business units. It’s working well so far and feedback from business unit leaders is positive.”

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FEATURES

HR REPORT

HR SERVICE DELIVERY

THE FUTURE HR professionals are overwhelmingly positive about the future, but they do have several critical priorities to work on over the next 12 months.

IS THE ULRICH MODEL EFFECTIVE IN DELIVERING SERVICES TO THE BUSINESS? “The Ulrich model is not meeting all of our needs. The business engagement model needs work, especially in terms of conflict between what our COEs do and what our BPs do.” “In some ways it is working, but in many ways it fails to closely integrate with the operational departments within the business. Feedback from business units is that HR is not helpful and that they are too many procedures which inhibit innovation and productivity.”

Change ahead

IN GENERAL, ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HR AS A PROFESSION? 8% Pessimistic

92%

Optimistic

It’s telling that participants selected ‘change management’ as their number one priority over the next 12 months because 47% of HR teams themselves have undergone a restructure in the previous 12–24 months, and this looks set to continue. There is a theme of history repeating itself. A number of survey participants suggested their HR function had gone from centralised to decentralised and now back to centralised models. It’s also significant that, despite some of the criticisms of the Ulrich/HR business partner model, this is where most departments that are undergoing change are moving to. Here’s what four readers had to say about future change. “I changed my team to the Ulrich model and embedded the BPs into the business. I married strategy and employee

WHERE WILL HR be focusing its efforts in the next 12 months? Survey participants prioritised these five key focus areas: 1. Change management initiatives 2. Developing personal leadership/management skills 3. Succession planning and talent mapping 4. L&D programs across the organisation 5. Incorporating new technologies to improve internal processes However, if optimism wins out, these challenges will be beaten. These three reader responses sum up the positive sentiment many in the industry feel about the future.

relations/IR into one team to de-operationalize IR and tie them to the strategic intent and broaden their minds, which has led to far greater outcomes and reduced legal costs.” “It was a decentralised model with the business partner part of each area/unit reporting to the GM of that unit. Now we have

“A personal viewpoint: the glass is half full. See what you can do to improve what you already have and build upon that. I think education at all levels of a business is best to achieve this. Whether that is formal (courses/qualifications) or informal (expanding capability through in-house training/information sessions).”

recentralised and have the BPs reporting to the HRM.” “Moving from a full COE approach to splitting COEs into mini

“The change of name to ‘People and Culture’ in many organisations represents a real shift in thinking about what it is that HR does.”

COEs aligned to business units to create a closer business relationship and stronger business understanding.” “We traditionally outsourced HR and have brought this function in-house to be better aligned to the needs of the business.”

“I think those that say HR is not required underestimate the impact of positive, productive and engaged employees. A strong positive employee culture requires continuous work, but can be undone very quickly.”

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AND THE WINNER IS… HRD offered the chance to win an Apple Watch to the reader who offered the best response to this question: Where will the HR function be 10 years from now? And the winner is…

“I would like to see the leader of HR in an organisation as valued as the COO, CIO or CFO. HR professionals will have more than just operational HR experience, they will have organisational depth with experience in the business, understanding legal frameworks, business operations and financial structures. A more diverse partner than just the specialised HR knowledge.” As the survey is anonymous, we are unable to publish the name of the respondent; however, the HRD team would like to thank all our survey readers for their comments. Here’s a small sample of what they had to say on where HR will be a decade from now.

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WILL BE CRITICAL ”The ‘HR business partner’ will not exist and ‘business partnering’ should be a given. HR practitioners will be business leaders, with a specialisation in building and sustaining organisational capability.”

TECHNOLOGY WILL REVOLUTIONISE THE FUNCTION “I think with the advancement of technology and the ability to analyse data with greater sophistication, HR will be using business intelligence to drive strategic business directions and decisions.” “Leveraging state of the art technology to bring performance and development experiences to people that are fun, tailored, personalised, engaging and highly effective.”

THE STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATIONAL POSITION OF HR WILL CHANGE DRAMATICALLY “HR will see a split over the next 10 years. The administration will be completely separate and people strategy will be more closely aligned with the strategic planning process.” “There will be a HR department undertaking administrative services and supporting systems; somewhere, hopefully, will be an ‘organisational and HR strategic developers’ function but at this point I do not see this unless the next generation are more strategic (or we could end up in marketing and business development). It is a gloomy picture so I advise people wanting to get into HR to do a degree in some form and then look at HR or influence HR management from an operational department.” “... further outsourced as a function, due to advancements in technology; whilst remaining a true strategic partner as practices in managing employees evolve.” “Sitting at the right-hand side of the CEO on Boards.”

A KEY PRIORITY WILL BE ADDING VALUE TO A NEW GENERATION OF WORKERS “Increasingly involved in a dynamic and transient workforce, and maximising the interchange and recognition of skills and talent across industry sectors.” “Helping to shape a new model of business, virtual teams, part-time employees and executives, outsourced functions, short-term careers, and yet supporting a corporate culture.” “The HR focus will change according to the industry it supports. Unions will continue to decline significantly so the IR space will be less of a focus. Talent management will be a significant focus in some industries. There will be an increase in supporting a 24-hour global workforce and HR will need to ensure there is a culture of supporting innovation within the business to remain competitive.”

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FEATURES

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

LEADERSHIP DIVERSITY:

LONG-TERM & GRASSROOTS SOLUTIONS Chris Cook outlines how Asian businesses can capitalise on the nexus between leadership and diversity MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES view it as highly desirable, if not essential, to hire diverse and ‘glocal’ talent in Asia. But Asia can be a spectacularly difficult place to do business, with a plethora of different employment laws and regulatory regimes necessitating a bespoke approach to human capital in each jurisdiction. Most organisations have not been able to move their diversity agenda forward in a meaningful way, or take a more enlightened approach to attracting top executives with particular nationalities, both of which are essential to building sustainable businesses in countries such as Indonesia.

You can’t fight demographics Diversity is an impossible problem to solve in the short term as the candidate universe, for example for senior financial services or technology roles, is representative of the overall demographics of those groups. Only long-term and grassroots initiatives can change that. The same applies to executive talent from Asian countries which have historically suffered from subpar education systems – there are simply fewer homegrown candidates with the right skills and experience. This sociological barrier

is a good reason (and excuse for) why many firms have not done enough.

‘Life is a spreadsheet’ My wife likes this phrase – I think she is joking (although she does have a lot of spreadsheets), but decisions in business are often rightly made on the basis of a model, ROI calculation or other analytical process. This is the point at which investment in diversity can often be deselected. When the executive team is considering where to spend their precious investment dollars, the quantifiable return of a new technology program to streamline, save cost and improve customer experience, or an improved compliance environment to guard against issues, regulator scrutiny or fines, may prove far more attractive than a seemingly intangible investment in diversity.

The ROI for those willing to invest The fact is that the ROI on diversity is no longer intangible. McKinsey asserts that diversity is a competitive differentiator and that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians. Gender

diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform the market and ethnically diverse companies 35% more likely. Leadership advisory firms can help forward-thinking clients improve their diversity ratios by tracking and curating global talent pools. This requires significant resources and effort on the part of the advisers and there is a cost attached, but it’s a drop in the ocean when you consider the ROI opportunity that hiring these individuals can bring. Talent pipelining is not a guaranteed solution of course – nothing is in human capital – but it is a lot more scientific than commissioning tactical searches at times

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in our tribe so to speak. It is perfectly natural to want our sons, daughters and – to an extent – work colleagues to reflect ourselves. It makes getting things done that much easier. But it is in fact the very opposite of what we should be striving for. Diversity of thought and cultural-specific knowledge stokes debate, promotes creativity and leads us down more visionary paths. So many companies have gone spectacularly wrong

Beanbag to boardroom Many financial services companies are now creating bespoke ecosystems for their digital talent to thrive in, often housed separately from HQ. These innovation labs are a step in the right direction, but there is often significant cultural disparity that needs to be recognised and addressed when hiring a new breed of talent that does not emanate from a competitor across the street. Companies need to be mindful

Decisions in business are often rightly made on the basis of a model, ROI calculation or other analytical process. This is the point at which investment in diversity can often be deselected in Asia through not being sensitive enough around local execution and not having the talent in place to effectively manage it.

The next step? Talent planning

of need and hoping for the right outcome. A recent study by Ernst & Young found that female partners take 18 months on average to make a decision to move firms, while their male equivalents take six months. Companies are much more likely to be effective in courting female leadership talent using a longer-term approach, a worthwhile investment when you consider McKinsey’s claim that for every 10% increase in gender diversity in a company’s leadership team EBITDA rises 3.5%.

God created man in his own image We can all be guilty of hiring ‘people like us’,

The identification, socialisation and eventual hiring of scarce talent is only the first step. Leadership advisory firms are now working more strategically with clients on talent planning. A lot of good work can be done in advance to try to ensure the soil is fertile when talent is eventually hired. Typically, this involves detailed analysis of competitor organisational constructs that help clients benchmark their own structure, borrow best practice and evolve before going to market to fill leadership gaps. The alignment between leadership advisory firms and HR chiefs will get even closer, with external firms operating as an extension of in-house HR departments. Part of the requirement is to manage the risk of post-hire rejection. This not only demands due diligence before the candidate comes on board, getting the framework right in term of organisational design, rules of engagement and support network. It also demands an onboarding program that carefully integrates the newcomer and maximises their chance of success.

and invest in their culture to ensure that new seeds flourish and germinate. Most major corporates have now established good diversity basics, ensuring role models are in place, mentoring occurs, unconscious bias is removed and company values are in line with 21st century work practices. Many others still have a long way to go, particularly from the perspective of embedding cultural change. There are no easy answers, but a handful of leadership advisory firms have had some great success in implementing longerterm initiatives to repatriate and integrate Asian leadership talent from overseas. Such initiatives include onboarding nontraditional executives and showing clients that cross-sector hiring can be hugely beneficial. With ever more studies proving the financial link between successful leadership and diverse hiring, there is every hope that diversity and inclusion initiatives across Asia will accelerate.

Chris Cook is principal, APAC, at Marlin Hawk, a boutique advisory firm focused on the next generation of global leaders.

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FEATURES

REWARD & RECOGNITION

WHY TOTAL REWARDS = TOP RESULTS Growing cost pressures are forcing HR to look beyond the ‘cash is king’ equation towards better reward and recognition strategies and a total reward approach, writes Ben Abbott

SINGAPORE’S HR leaders have been waiting on the sidelines for the results of more radical approaches to engagement, like those pioneered by Netflix in the US. After all, taking ‘cash off the table’ and instead offering 12 months’ paid maternity leave and unlimited annual leave to a ‘fully formed adult’ workforce is not something all employers can offer. In Singapore, HR has been taking smaller steps. While falling short of true innovation, local HR teams have been experimenting with new levers to encourage desired behaviours. “In the last five years we’ve seen a massive increase in the adoption of online recognition and rewards that recognise behaviour and encourage repetition,” says Power2Motivate executive general manager Mark Robinson. “However, I’d say we are still behind the rest of the world.”

Willis Towers Watson’s business leaders say that constraints on salaries – with an expected increase of between 3.7% and 4.5% across the board this year – will be further curbed by CPI growth, meaning employees can expect only meagre rises in real terms. “In the past, we used to see companies solve things by throwing money at the problem,” says practice leader Subeer Bakshi. “However, with

“In the past, we used to see companies solve this by throwing money at the problem, but with the slowdown in Singapore, they now just can’t afford to pay their way out of the situation”

The cash crunch

Subeer Bakshi, Willis Towers Watson

HR professionals have had no choice. Singapore managed just 2% GDP growth in 2015, down from 3.3% in 2014 and 6.2% back in 2011. As overall economic growth has slowed, businesses have had to take a more aggressive approach to managing their costs. According to advisory firm Willis Towers Watson, over 60% of companies polled in March this year confirmed they had a more cautious business outlook that would affect costs such as salary growth.

the economic slowdown in Singapore at the moment, they now just can’t afford to pay their way out of the situation,” he says. Employers are adapting somewhat by tailoring their bonus strategies. But Singapore’s employers have had an on-again, off-again relationship with true performance-based bonus structures, despite being widely accepted as having positive productivity and engagement

impacts. “Before the financial crisis there was really no differentiation based on performance at all, but companies did begin to look at it during the crisis. However, when things got better, many of them just started distributing bonuses to everyone again,” Bakshi says. This has pushed companies in the direction of enhanced reward and recognition. Though cash has always been king in Asia, new

generations of employees and less salary firepower mean engagement has begun to take a more holistic form. “Companies are changing quite slowly. I would call it consolidation, more than innovation,” says Willis Towers Watson’s Gaia Gentili. “But there is a move away from the foundation of pure compensation to talking about total reward, which is nothing new, but

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they are realising they need to do that,” she says. For example, a Willis Towers Watson’s study of 400 employer approaches to compensation shows wellness programs are proliferating, from 122 employers in 2014 to 139 in 2015. Over the same time period, the number of employee assistance programs had quickly doubled. Power2Movitate’s Mark Robinson says there is a definite shift from cash towards new recognition approaches taking place. “I think Asia used to be very cash-driven – it was all about the money, that was just the mentality. With the millennials and Gen Y, the soft type of rewards are more important in ensuring employees feel valued, empowered and trusted.”

Reward and recognition According to Robinson, the art of recognition and reward has changed considerably, but many companies and HR teams have not. For example, many Asia-based companies still maintain poorly structured quarterly employee recognition programs, which many experts argue have been made redundant through technology and workplace culture changes. “Certificates are always nice, and they do go a long way in terms of engaging that employee, but with quarterly awards and similar types of programs, what you tend to find is if somebody demonstrates a behaviour on 1 January, they won’t get recognised for that until after the first quarter. By that time, they’ve probably forgotten what they’ve done,” Robinson explains. These programs also run the risk of disengaging the unrecognised ‘losers’ in the workforce. “A quarterly award is usually about nominating somebody, so you might get 100 nominations. But what happens to the other 99 people that have done something really amazing within the organisation? Do they feel valued? Nine times out of 10, probably not,” he says. Robinson says a good traditional program – for example, one that recognises the other 99 with a small reward, and the winner with something larger – is preferable. However, the

RECOGNITION BY THE NUMBERS • 75% of organisations have a recognition program – however, only 58% of employees know about it* • 14% of organisations provide managers with the necessary tools for rewards and recognition^ • 67% of workers say praise and commendation from managers was rated the top motivator for performance, beating out other non-cash and financial incentives^^ • Employers with ‘highly effective’ recognition programs claim to have 31% lower voluntary turnover than employers with ineffective recognition programs* • Organisations with the most sophisticated recognition practices are 12 times more likely to have strong business outcomes* Sources: *Bersin by Deloitte, The State of Employee Recognition, 2012 ^Aberdeen Group, The Power of Employee Recognition, 2013 ^^McKinsey, Motivating People, Getting Beyond Money, 2009

consensus is that HR should be looking at more modern approaches. Best practice has moved on to recognition that is small, frequent, and targeted at rewarding desired behaviours. “The best approach is more immediate. If you are recognised within five days of demonstrating a behaviour, for example, you are much more likely to feel valued and repeat that behaviour again. The longer you string it out, the less impact it is likely to have,” Robinson says. Bakshi says one way that companies in the region have embraced this is by recognising employees frequently through social media. “We are seeing more companies offering opportunities for employees to distinguish themselves on social media platforms like LinkedIn, by saying they attended a conference, as well as sending baskets of flowers to recognise achievements. It’s my sense that employees value this and it has considerable appeal,” he says. Robinson agrees. “Social recognition is

very important in terms of shouting about employee achievements. For example, at Power2Motivate we have a social feed in our platform that recognises employees within our organisation,” he says.

Cash still king So, which is the better lever for engagement: cash, or employee recognition programs? “I think cash is always the top attractor across all employee groups, and I don’t think we will really ever move away from that,” Gentili says. “But what we do see is the workforce is changing their values and the reasons they join companies, especially young people. This means that elements like career opportunity, mobility, development programs and flexibility are becoming just as important considerations across different groups.” Gentili says more employers are meeting this challenge – amid tough economic conditions – by educating and communicating with their employees about their total reward package, which in many cases is lost on employees who just look at a salary dollar value. “More and more companies are working at making employees aware of their package. We’ve done research that shows many employees are not able to explain or are not aware of their total reward package, so companies are investing in communication about those, or are perhaps starting to extend some of those extra benefits to a larger group of employees,” she says. However, moving in the direction of Netflix is well over the horizon, mainly because the results of such programs are not yet known. “A lot of people in Asia are slow adopters and like to see results before they go ahead and do something,” Robinson says. Bakshi agrees. “Caution is justified for some of the more radical concepts. But if they are mature organisations with strong HR teams, they could probably be a bit more adventurous. My personal view is that companies need to look within and look at benchmarks. I don’t think HR has been doing that enough in the past.”

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PEOPLE

CAREER PATH

SEIZING THE DAY

Sylvia Koh has taken an illustrious career journey, driven by her need to try new challenges and opportunities After graduating from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy), Koh 1998 FIRST STEPS was brought on as a graduate trainee at the Housing & Development THE BIG BREAKTHROUGH Board, where she worked for over two years. Armed with proper Two years after joining EDS Group in an organisational L&D role, Koh business experience, Koh then took up organisational L&D roles at Seagate, eventually moved into her first fully fledged HR position. As regional HR Compaq, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Raffles Hotels & Resorts. manager for Southeast Asia, she transformed HR into a more strategic function that delivered a full spectrum of HR services.

1983

2005

A DOOR OPENS Koh expanded her responsibilities, starting off in a training role and eventually moving on to become the regional HR director for APAC at Convergys. This included responsibility for HR shared services and outsourcing. “I saw an opportunity there to not just do internal HR but really get out there and do business.”

2009

ON THE LEADERSHIP FAST-TRACK While at RSA, Koh was elected into a leadership fast-track program for the top 1% of leaders globally. While meeting the firm’s global leadership team, she expressed her dreams of doing something more than HR. She was made director of business services organisation as a result and given three additional portfolios – IT, insurance business operations, and global insurance business.

2011

M&A ACTIVITY IN HONG KONG AND BEYOND

In September 2011, Koh took up the Hong Kong-based role of regional HR director, Asia, at Jardine Lloyd Thompson. Here, she oversaw a number of JLT Group firms which, in addition to the brokerage business, included Dairy Farm Group and IKEA. “What also interested me was the opportunity to use my M&A skills. I was called in to look after a few deals, including a large one in Indonesia, one in Shanghai, one in Taiwan and another in Malaysia.”

“That was a rather exciting experience for me. I just needed to be humble and learn from my own team. I was very lucky in the sense that I was with a team that was willing to teach me” 2008

SETS FOOT IN CHINA Never one to pass up an opportunity, Koh took up the role of HRD for Greater China at insurance firm RSA, moving to Shanghai with her family. During this time, she ramped up two representative offices in Beijing and Nanjing to fully fledged branch offices. “The first thing I did was to get myself in touch with a strong legal partner. It’s very important to understand the law of the land.”

2014

CARRYING THE FLAG After seeing her sons develop through the National Service, Koh decided to move back to Singapore and give back to the country. Joining CrimsonLogic as chief people officer, she works closely with the CEO to create a close-knit culture, expand the company’s global footprint and recruit more talented young workers. “This is the future. The future is now. We started initiatives in the last three years to bring young talent into CrimsonLogic to groom them, because these are our leaders of tomorrow.”

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PEOPLE

OTHER LIFE

Age when Tim started playing the drums

2–3

Number of hours spent practising each day

Number of years playing in a punk rock band

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE

Lessons learned from Tim Rath’s rock star past are helping him keep his team in sync

IT WAS a close friend of his parents who got Tim Rath, chief people officer and founder of Lazada Group, interested in playing the drums. His love for playing the instrument would lead him to play in high school and eventually join a local punk rock band. Rath would spend the next few years playing at gigs with his band across his hometown of Bonn, Germany. These days, though, he mostly plays the drums as a hobby and as a way to relax. Learning to play the drums is no mean feat, Rath says, and the first year of learning is the most challenging. His biggest tip for would-be drummers is to find a great

teacher who inspires you, and be patient. “Playing the drums has taught me many lessons,” he says. “The drummer is an integral part of the band, helping everyone to keep time and rhythm. To get to the point where you’re ready to keep that rhythm, though, you really need to put in your time in practice.” “Similarly, at work, you need to put in the effort to continuously learn and improve your own capabilities so that you contribute effectively to your team or organisation. Working – and playing – in sync produces great results for everyone.”

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