HRM 13.11 CSR Special by Key Media

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Why Danone’s a great place to grow Employee empowerment at Castlewood HCL’s Vineet Nayar on happiness at work

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ISSUE 13.11

Why socially responsible companies are winning the war for talent Plus: • Designing fair pay systems • Boosting employee health and wellness

HRM 13.11

Contents 22

Brand boost Social commitment is an essential ingredient to the building of a successful employer brand. HRM looks at how a company’s corporate social responsibility efforts can help with talent attraction and retention

EDITOR Sumathi V Selvaretnam JOURNALIST Shalini Shukla-Pandey SUB-EDITOR Paul Howell TRAFFIC MANAGER Azimah Jasman SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amos Lee GRAPHIC DESIGNER John Paul Lozano SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Yogesh Chandiramani ACCOUNT MANAGERS Rebecca Ng Edwin Lim Jolene Ong GENERAL MANAGER Kaveri Ayahsamy REGIONAL MANAGING EDITOR George Walmsley MANAGING DIRECTOR Richard Curzon PHOTOGRAPHY BY David Teng (xcalibrephoto.com)

“Companies that integrate sustainability programmes into their corporate strategy, such as engaging employees to participate in green initiatives or leveraging market presence to encourage sustainable and meaningful partnerships, are able to better realise the benefits in both the short and long term”

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– A MATEEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF HR, DHL EXPRESS SOUTHEAST ASIA MICA (P) 137/07/2012 ISSUE 13.11

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HRM 13.11

Contents

Check out HRM online:

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FEATURES 12 | Everyone’s a leader in their own right

For a leader to say his managers must be able to lose him money (and justify it) says a lot about the level of trust he places on them. For Chris Comer, CEO and Property Developer, Castlewood Group, empowering his managers and crew whilst still holding them accountable is crucial in helping him expand a business that’s already worth millions

16 | A great place to grow

Employees form the heart of performance at French food giant Danone. HRM examines how the company attracts, retains and develops talent across its diverse business lines and how its travelling corporate university is helping to shape the next generation of leaders.

26 | Building morale through corporate volunteerism

Employee volunteerism programmes not only boost employee engagement and morale, they can also be great reputation boosters, helping a company become an active participant in its community.

30 | Greening up the workplace Adopting green business practices goes

beyond environmental gains and cost savings. Eco-friendly organisations are also more likely to attract and retain talent as employees feel a sense of pride for their place of work. HRM investigates

36 | Happiness at work

Viewing time as currency and using it wisely is an essential step in enjoying the work that you do, says Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies and STJobs HR Summit Speaker, Vineet Nayar.

41 | Designing fair pay systems

The design of compensation and performance evaluation systems is crucial, and can result in anything from great corporate success to massive losses. HRM considers how employees’ performance can be rewarded fairly while preserving the wider pay system’s integrity

46 | Keep your employees smiling Research shows health and wellness programmes improve the morale and productivity of employees, while also enhancing communication and loyalty. HRM finds out how adding dental coverage to staff health plans can further these goals, without necessarily impacting on budgets

CONTACT US: Read something you like? Or something you don’t? Perhaps there’s some insight we haven’t considered? Have your say on HRM’s news, features, and contributions by emailing: info@keymedia.com.sg 2

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ANALYSIS

Workforce Planning

Fair job opportunities The Ministry of Manpower will scrutinise not just hiring but how firms operate across the entire employment lifecycle By Sumathi V Selvaretnam Effective from August 1 next year, the new Fair Consideration Framework aims to ensure that Singapore professionals receive fair job opportunities. Under the framework, companies will have to advertise vacancies on a new national jobs bank for two weeks before they can accept any applications from foreigners requiring employment passes. Companies with fewer than 25 employees and jobs paying more than $12,000 a month are exempted from the advertising requirement. HR experts that HRM spoke to were generally receptive to the move. Lim Der Shing, CEO of the JobsCentral Group, said: “The national jobs bank should be a good initiative as it allows for more transparency for Singaporeans looking for Employment Pass-level jobs. On the employer front, such a jobs bank will add a bit of administrative cost but when viewed together with the Fair Consideration Framework, it will also make employers more careful to be fair when hiring.” However, he added that a jobs bank alone would not create better opportunities for locals. Rather, it serves only as a platform that offers timely information on available jobs. “Over time, this platform will also be able to offer some useful metrics and analytics on job vacancy trends, which can help with manpower-related decisionmaking on a national level,” Lim said. Others were concerned about the type of candidates the jobs bank will elicit. “The idea is definitely sound but its success is hinged on the quality of candidates in the jobs bank and how useful it is for recruiters and companies,” Sherwin Tien Siregar, Deputy CEO, Atlas Sound & Vision told HRM. Some 33% of employers who participated in a survey by online jobs portal JobStreet.com felt that the national jobs bank would slow down their hiring processes. Some 54% also felt that the bank would not help with recruitment at all. “For jobs that have a history of not attracting Singaporeans, it is a waste of time for employers to have to advertise through the new portal and wait 14 days. This will cause unnecessary delays to our recruitment process,” said one construction industry employer.

Another concern is the national jobs bank’s positioning amidst the existence of other commercial online job portals. “It may become a challenge if it ends up offering similar services to both jobseekers and employers, and if it is marketed heavily on both ends. If that happens, some employers may decide to not post with commercial portals and just use the jobs bank,” Lim said. A win-win alternative would be to allow jobs posted on commercial portals to be automatically fed into the national jobs bank and assigned the job bank posting number which can then be used for the Employment Pass application, suggested Lim. “Applicants who view these jobs on the national jobs bank can then apply via a link to the respective commercial job portal that provided the job feed. This would fulfil the objectives of the jobs bank, minimise inconvenience to employers, and allow job portals to participate in this new framework.” Going further, Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin told Parliament recently that the framework would extend beyond just the jobs bank and hiring process, and scrutinise how firms promote, retire, and retrench staff. “Employers will be identified for additional scrutiny based on a range of factors. We will consider how a firm’s proportion of Singaporean professionals, managers, and executives (PMEs) compares with others in the same industry. Other factors, such as how fast the proportion changes over time, which could be due to promotion or retirement or retrenchment patterns, are also relevant,” said Tan. He added that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is not expecting each firm to work towards a target percentage of Singaporean PMEs in its workforce, given that this can vary across industries. “What is important is that the firm has fair and meritocratic hiring practices that consider Singaporeans fairly. And at the MOM side we will have our internal triggers to hone in on, and we will scrutinise these companies accordingly.” Employers are most concerned about the overall Fair Consideration Framework and how it will affect their day-to-day running, said Lim. “It can end up being very cumbersome and expensive if employers have to keep long audit trails to prove that they considered locals before hiring on an Employment Pass.”

The new Fair Consideration Framework aims to ensure that Singapore professionals receive

fair job opportunities

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NEWS

Asia SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE

1 in 5 complaints related to race, language, religion One in five complaints handled by the Tripartite Alliance of Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) is related to race, language or religion. The national body to promote fair employment practices received almost 500 complaints in total from 2012 till June this year. Although it is a relatively small number, TAFEP said employers need to be made more aware of their obligations towards responsible hiring. According to a study on indicators of racial and religious harmony in Singapore by the Institute of Policy Studies and OnePeople.sg, 20% of Malays and 18% of Indians said they often, very often or always feel discriminated when it came to applying for a job. Only four per cent of Chinese feel that way. Also, 17% of Malays and 18% of Indians say they often, very often or always feel racially discriminated against when being considered for a job promotion. That is compared to only four per cent of Chinese. Bob Tan, co-chairperson for TAFEP, told Channel NewsAsia: “The important thing is not to let the biases project itself into hiring practices by the company, so companies have to make sure they have a well-articulated value systems and also hiring practices that do not discriminate so the individual bias itself does not project… out. They have to follow certain processes and procedures so they have the best people for the job.”

Mobile security concerns abound in SMEs Medisave withdrawal limits to pay for health insurance premiums will rise by

S$200 from 1 November for people aged 66 Source: Singapore’s Ministry of Health

46%

of employers in Asia-Pacific now provide mobile network access to employees. Source: Towers Watson 2013 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey

Hong Kong employers experienced

25% MALAYSIA

Digital marketing skills slipping Marketing professionals in Malaysia’s fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) sector need to upgrade their skills in order to stay competitive in the job market. According to a recent survey commissioned by Adobe, less than half of professionals who consider themselves primarily digital marketers feel “highly proficient” in the digital marketing space. A majority of digital marketers haven’t received any formal training in the field, with 82% instead learning on the job. These findings underline the need for organisations to invest in training and resources that will enable marketers to extract actionable insights from data, says Chris Mead, regional director of Hays in Malaysia and Singapore. 4

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increased availability of talent as a result of the Global Financial Crisis five years ago Source: Robert Half survey

There are

107 employees for every one HR staffer in Asia

Source: 2013 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey

The increasing prevalence of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD)work environments among SMEs in Singapore is causing a headache for information technology administrators, who feel they are ill-prepared to deal with the growing security issues associated with the trend. According to a survey by IT management software provider SolarWinds, almost half of relevant organisations place the security and safety of mobile devices solely in the hands of their staff, with only 16% providing staff with some assistance in securing their device, including installing anti-virus or anti-spam programmes. Despite the fact that over 70% of respondents agreed that mobile devices posed the biggest risk to network security, and almost the same amount (67%) admitting to heightened concerns over staff-owned devices being used instead of company-supplied equipment, only half of all those surveyed said that they had developed an IT security plan for their business. The most common issue faced by those charged with managing and securing employees’ personal mobile devices within their network was the inability to rapidly identify quarantine, and mitigate threats, with 35% of the survey citing this as a problem. Other BYOD issues included the visibility (or lack thereof ) of corporate devices on the network, viral attachments, and even uncooperative employees. “Given that more than a third of all SMEs surveyed (35%) have all of their staff using their own mobile devices for work, the lack of assistance provided to staff to secure those devices poses a significant risk for organisations of this size,” said Sanjay Castelino, vice president and market leader of SolarWinds. “In fact, around 10% of the respondents reported that their employees’ mobile devices had already threatened the security of their organisation.” Almost a third of those who had implemented a mobile security solution (31%) only did so in response to a threat, rather than to mitigate against potential threats. The most common user behaviours on mobile devices which threaten the security of the Singapore SMEs surveyed include: • Loss of handsets • Unsecured sharing of company files and data • Use of unsecured Wi-Fi • Creating passwords which are too easy to crack • Visiting phishing or malware sites without appropriate security “Singapore SMEs need to take a more hands-on approach to managing their employees’ mobile devices which access their corporate network,” Castelino said.

NEWS

ASIA

Jobseekers visit job boards first

Senior management hiring myths 69%

of Singapore employees say their direct manager has a significant impact on job satisfaction Source: Kelly Global Workforce Index

Most jobseekers visit an online “job board” in the first instance. According to a recent survey by TipTopJob, 28% of jobseekers head to job boards first when looking for a new job. The company says this highlights how job boards have become more common place in today’s jobseeker market. More than a quarter of the survey’s respondents also said they would visit a search engine first, which of course may lead to a jobseeker then finding a job board. Search engine users also located recruitment agencies and online tools such as job aggregators. Sixteen per cent of jobseekers indicated they would go to a recruitment agency first; 14% go directly to employers, and four per cent use their friends or acquaintance networks as their first port of call. Mike Dauncey, managing director of TipTopJob, said another 10% used social media in the first instance. “Although social media is not the most obvious place to go to look for a new job, it will become more mainstream in the future as more recruiters and direct clients use (them) to advertise and recruit, and as people use social media sites to network about potential roles amongst friends and acquaintances,” he said.

Maximum weekly working hours in South Korea may soon be cut from 68 to

52 hours

Source: South Korea’s labour ministry

Senior managements candidates prefer to engage directly with their potential employers online, much more than entry-level or middle management candidates. According to a study by recruitment solutions provider Cazar, quality senior applicants also shy away from sending their CVs to generic application forms, free job boards, and anonymous email addresses. They prefer to engage with employers directly via their career websites. While some may think that senior roles require executive talent recruitment agencies, Cazar’s study suggests that employers have become very proficient at finding top candidates online themselves. The most successful organisations have a clear online recruitment strategy and the right tools. For example, companies with content rich corporate career websites alone found these contributed the largest source of new senior hires. Similarly, candidates who applied to senior roles through professional networking,

which is often done online, had a 37% chance of getting hired. Building a talent pool is essential for employers looking to hire for senior positions. For instance, companies with a quality talent pool of previously qualified applicants hired 22% of their new senior recruits through it. A talent pool is also the quickest (24 days on average) and most cost-effective way of finding senior hires, the Cavas research found, with new recruits getting started in almost one third of the time that agency recruits take (71 days). “There is a big shortage of senior professionals in Asia,” explains Stefan Sawh, Asia-Pacific regional director of Cazar. “It is not surprising that a significant number of candidates are now sourced online - it is the quickest and most effective method. In Singapore for example, many employers have a talent acquisition strategy that includes a career website, social media and other new candidate channels. Without it, hiring top local and expat talent efficiently would not be possible.”

SINGAPORE

High-tech wages growing Salaries in Singapore’s High-Tech industry grew by four per cent in 2013, with that growth rate projected to stay consistent during 2014. A survey by Towers Watson has revealed that the highest increase in entry level salary was observed in the MBA graduate category at six per cent from S$2,700 in 2012 to S$2,850 in 2013. There was also a modest two per cent increase in entry level salaries for university graduates, from S$2,550 to S$2,600 a month. The market’s emphasis on pay-for-performance compensation models was observed from more companies positioning their total variable compensation above the market median. Interestingly, there are still a handful of companies (fewer than 10%) who do not have a clearly established pay positioning strategy. “Provision of healthcare benefits remains important with most companies providing clinical or outpatient cover as well as hospitalisation benefits,” said Sean Darilay, Global Data Services Leader for Towers Watson Southeast Asia. “Consistent with the recent trend towards workforce well-being, we observed a notable increase in the provision of wellness and healthcare programmes with over 50% of the respondents providing such benefits this year – a significant jump from 37% last year. “Overall, benefits programmes remain an integral part of attraction and retention strategies,” he added. The survey also found that employee turnover in the High Tech industry in Singapore had remained stable in 2013, at 12% across all levels of employee, similar to 2012. ISSUE 13.11

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HR INSIGHT

Diversity

Women still missing out on top jobs Female employees are still facing barriers to leadership positions in the government and private sector across the Asia/Pacific region, says a survey by MasterCard

HOW CLOSE ARE WOMEN TO ACHIEVING PARITY WITH MEN? ASIA / PACIFIC REGION – 2013

China 61.5%

Korea 49.7%

Japan 48.1%

Hong Kong Taiwan India 63.3% 64.7% 38.0% Thailand 61.3% Vietnam Philippines 64.4% 70.5% Malaysia Sinagpore 54.3% 67.5%

Company programmes focused on women SME opportunities for women

Score - 100 – gender equality

Australia 76.0%

Seats in parliament Parental childcare entitlement

New Zealand 77.8% Kiwi women lead the pack in terms of workforce participation with over 90 women for every 100 men employed in the workforce

Source: Mastercard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement 6

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17.1% 11.6% 10.3% 13.5%

Top concern for women in China, Malaysia and Taiwan

Education

Score < 100 – gender inequality in favour of men

Factors women believe will help advance their role in society

Women on boards

Scores are based on:

Leadership

Women in New Zealand, Australia and Philippines are frontrunners in this year’s index

Affirmative action

Indonesia 56.5%

Employment

DID YOU KNOW

13.7% 12.9%

Seen as a top priority by women in Australia, Japan and South Korea

Maids Women helping women Women who say they are advanced enough

9.6% 7.5% 3.7%

NEWS

International UK

Senior managers in the UK are in denial about the low levels of trust within their organisations, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned. Its latest research Employee Outlook: Focus on trust in leaders, has found that while one in three employees rate trust in senior managers as weak, those at the top have a far rosier view, reporting strong trust between employees and senior management. An overwhelming majority of non-managerial workers report that they trust in their colleagues and line managers to “some” or “a great” extent (92% and 80% respectively). The study also found that trust between employees and senior managers appears to be particularly weak in the public sector, but strong in the voluntary sector (see table below).

Older Americans are working longer and delaying retirement, with four in five saying they can’t yet afford to quit. According to a survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, the recent recession has had a marked impact on retirement plans. The average age of those retiring before the recession was 57, while the average for those who retired afterward is 62. Also, the line between working and retirement is shifting, with 82% of Americans aged 50 and older who are not yet retired saying it is “likely” or “very likely” that they will do some work for pay during their retirement. Of those who are currently working, nearly half now plan to retire at a later age than they expected when they were 40. Financial need, health and the need for benefits were cited as the most important factors in their retirement decisions. “The survey illuminates an important shift in Americans’ attitudes toward work, ageing, and retirement,” said Trevor Tompson, director of the AP-NORC Centre. “Retirement is not only coming later in life, it also no longer represents a complete exit from the workforce. The data in this survey reveals strikingly different views of retirement among older workers today than those held by the prior generation.” Projections show that by 2020, approximately one quarter of American workers will be 55 or older.

Trust deficit

Americans working longer

How would you rate the overall level of trust between employees and senior management currently in your organisation? (percentage of all respondents)

Overall

Private sector

Public sector

Voluntary sector

Very strong

Strong

Neither strong nor weak

Weak

Very weak

Don’t know

“There seems to be a real lack of awareness amongst senior managers, who rate the trust levels much stronger than more junior employees,” said Claire McCartney, research adviser at the CIPD and author of the report. “It seems they either have a tendency to view things through rose-tinted glasses, or are out of touch with how employees nearer the coalface are feeling. “If senior leaders are in denial or burying their heads in the sand, there is a danger that a ‘them and us’ mentality will emerge and change will be very difficult to achieve,” she added. Employees report that trust is the third-most important attribute in senior managers (after competency and communication), and more than a third of employees also rate attributes such as openness and honesty as important attributes. The survey found that the majority of employees point to simple and effective practices to create a culture of trust. Being approachable and consistent were key attributes. They also admired leaders who “admitted mistakes”, “consulted on major decisions,” and “treated staff fairly and with respect”.

About

half

of workers aged 50 and above say their boss is younger than them Source: Survey by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research

Denmark

is the only country to earn an A grade for its pension system this year Source: Mercer’s Global Pension Index

33%

of HR managers say communication breakdowns are at the heart of most morale problems Source: Accountemps survey

One third

of US employees who call in sick are not Source: CareerBuilder survey

Hackers may be hired for cyber-defence Convicted computer hackers may be recruited to a new British military unit to combat cyber-attacks. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the armed forces did not have an “absolute bar” on signing up criminals, and told the BBC’s Newsnight that former hackers would be assessed on case basis. “The conviction would be examined in terms of how long ago it was, how serious it was, what sort of sentence had followed,” said Hammond. Lieutenant Colonel Michael White, the head of the new Joint Cyber Reserve unit said that the military was looking at capability development instead of specifying individual personality traits. The Joint Cyber Reserve unit will work alongside regular forces to protect against cyber-attacks and if necessary, launch counter-attacks, striking out at enemy targets for the benefit of national security. The reservists could be called up for full-time duties if required. ISSUE 13.11

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NEWS

International WORLD

HR needs to catch up with Big Data HR and sales professionals are seen as lagging in analytical skills when compared with other organisation functions, according to a study sponsored by the American Management Association (AMA). As part of the global survey, Conquering Big Data: A Study of Analytical Skills in the Workplace participants were asked to assess the analytical skills of their employees by corporate function. With a combined 58% rated as “advanced” or “expert”, finance departments’ analytical strength was rated highest, followed by those Table: Analytical Ability by Job Function

Non-existent/Poor

Basic

Advanced/Expert

Finance

35%

58%

Executive Team

11%

38%

51%

Operations

42%

48%

Research and development

23%

32%

44%

Marketing

16%

43%

41%

Sales

20%

46%

34%

23%

50%

27%

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of executive teams with 51%. Trailing five other functions, HR and Sales departments were rated as advanced or expert by just 27% and 34% of participants respectively. “It’s not a surprise that analytics strength isn’t distributed uniformly across today’s organisation,” said AMA’s senior vice president, Robert Smith. “What is cause for concern is how deficient some functions are rated.” Professionals at all levels need to be savvy when it comes to analytics and know what questions to ask and how to make wise choices based on data, he added. Most organisations are looking years ahead to identify what skills and competencies will be required, with these analytical skills becoming more important over the next five years. “As a result, companies will need to ramp up training and development to hone those skills,” Smith said. “While it used to be okay that only a handful of experts in a company had analytical responsibilities, every function must now have the right people with the right skills,” he added. “Although HR and sales (teams) have the most catching up to do, the other functions are not where they need to be either.”

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LEADERS ON LEADERSHIP

Talent Management

Developing leadership How do you ensure continued growth and development as a leader in your organisation? Gary Newbold

VP – Asia Pacific & Japan, Extreme Networks

Growth to me is exposing oneself to new challenging situations, solving them and learning from the experience. That’s the leadership model I have undertaken and it’s exactly what I did when I took on the new role of Vice President of Asia Pacific & Japan. The networking industry is a mature industry and many have highlighted it as facing challenges of being a commodity in the future. However, my belief is that to develop as a market leader and not just as an individual, one has to be innovative in solving organisational and technology challenges; willing to learn every single day and willing to form partnerships – i.e. not work in silos. I learn a lot from my peers, members of my team, customers, and partners. Personally, I see this new environment and culture as an immense growth opportunity for me. The ability to learn different business cultures and provide different perspectives to my team from my past experiences, is in line with Extreme Networks’ culture globally. While companies focus on forming partnerships and alliances to ultimately understand and serve customers better, a good leader balances it with an equal or greater emphasis on making it easier for his team to manage these relationships with customers and deliver results. I strive to work closely with my team so they can utilise my experience to overcome their challenges. My task is to clear the way so that my team can focus on their roles. To me, that’s growth. 10

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Lee Chong-Win Managing Director – ASEAN, Avaya

Building a robust leadership pipeline is crucial to an organisation’s ability to deliver sustained profitability and growth. Avaya employs a talent management methodology that maps employees to customised development plans based on the individual’s skills, experience, aspirations and long-term leadership potential. Employees also have access to Avaya University, a vast array of online selflearning tools covering business, technology and management strategy. We encourage employees to take ownership of their career development and also request for mentorship from seniors if desired. Budding leaders are also often challenged to take on special short-term projects. These projects expose them to the broader organisation and help them better understand the opportunities and challenges that other business units, cross functional teams and regional branches face. Each project will have executive sponsors who provide critique and guidance along the way. Besides providing increased exposure to senior management, these projects not only sharpen the employee’s problem solving skills but also help develop finesse in cross enterprise, cross country collaboration. With the belief in providing the right support for the always connected employee to excel, video collaboration tools and software such as Avaya’s Scopia solution serve as the enabling technology that makes this possible.

Marie Gruy

Managing Partner, PHD Singapore

A lot is expected of today’s leaders. They have to drive through their own vision whilst ensuring that they foster a positive, motivating environment that also powers the organisation to greater growth. Ultimately however, as the saying goes, ‘You can’t be all things to all people’. One single person can’t possibly live up to the standards and expectations of all those in their organisation. No matter how accomplished, knowledgeable or committed the leader, there is only so much that can be done and done well. At PHD Singapore, we have actively based our agency growth on a spirit of collaboration, cultivating and empowering others in the organisation to contribute positively to the culture based on their own strengths. As a result, we now have a dedicated heads in talent development, new business and product innovation. This has allowed us to coordinate and centralise these strategic efforts across the wider agency to develop and challenge everyone else even further. Leaders who continually strive to do everything themselves and stay on top of it all are ultimately denying themselves, and most importantly their own organisation, the opportunity to grow. In contrast, the ‘incomplete’ leader knows when to ask for help and when to let those who know the local market build the local strategy. This isn’t humbling, it’s empowering. This ensures that decisions are made with the right context and most importantly with the right people on board.

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LEADERS TALK HR

Castlewood

Everyone’s

a leader in their own right For a leader to say his managers must be able to lose him money (and justify it) says a lot about the level of trust he places on them. For Chris Comer, CEO and Property Developer, Castlewood Group, empowering his managers and crew whilst still holding them accountable is crucial in helping him expand a business that’s already worth millions By Shalini Shukia-Pandey

When I stepped into the Castlewood office, the first thing that struck me was employees brimming with energy in an environment which almost egged them to excel in whatever they did. This dynamism encompasses the corporate culture and talent management strategies within the real estate development company. A clear chain of command, instead of the usual open-door policy, also helps to keep things running like clockwork. “I try to talk to only five people in the organisation,” says Chris Comer, CEO and Property Developer, Castlewood Group. “We are expanding very rapidly and I need people who I can rely on to work independently and produce results without me having to influence or micromanage them.” To keep up to speed with developments in the various offices worldwide, Comer has a department meeting with his managers every week if he’s in town. If not, he studies meeting minutes.

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Empowerment is the way to go At Castlewood, managers must be leaders in their own right, says Comer. “They must be able to lose me money and justify it.” Comer is constantly challenging his managers, and it’s always a very deliberate challenge. “I’m not trying to create mini-versions of me but if I have people signing off my money, I need to know that I’ve got the best ones doing so,” he says. Never undermining his managers, Comer empowers them to make decisions and manage crew (that’s what he calls his employees) under their purview. “My managers know they can come to me for any support they need,” says Comer. “They are, however, the end of the line for crew.” Still, that’s not to say his staff cannot communicate with Comer directly if need be. “Most of the time though, issues raised are rather petty and can be resolved by immediate managers,” he explains.

BIOGRAPHY Chris Comer

CEO and Property Developer, Castlewood Group

UK born, Chris Comer joined Dubai-based real estate company Castlewood International in 2007, and was tasked with launching the global development of what is now the Castlewood Group companies, with business interests in Singapore, Thailand, Dubai, and Mauritius. Prior to joining Castlewood, Comerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strengths within the real estate investment business had seen him accept key leadership and development roles in the UK, Spain, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and New Zealand during his career, specialising in fiscal strategy, product development, marketing, and sales. In 2004, Comer was a founding board member of the The First Group, an award winning Dubai real estate developer, where he held the position of Managing Director.

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LEADERS TALK HR

Castlewood Castlewood Group CEO Chris Comer says Singapore staff are able to

attend international training and education opportunities

Managing talent When it comes to managing talent, Comer prefers to push the limits. “If my crew want the unbelievable money, they have to put in the exceptional effort,” he explains. He has restructured jobs so that everyone relies on each other, has a wider job scope, and is able to earn above average salary for what they do. For instance, the receptionist does compliance and contracts as well, allowing her to earn at a higher grade. “Wages for an average person in Singapore are very, very low,” he says. “While our sales crew work in a very rewarding environment, our back office does not see as many financial perks and that can breed negativity. Restructuring jobs helps to bump up salaries for them, whilst constantly challenging them.” It’s not all work and no play at Castlewood either. Everyone goes out at least twice a month on Friday nights for a few hours of bonding time and some laughs. “That’s where we interact; where I have a laugh with them too,” says Comer. When Castlewood first began operations in Singapore in 2006, it was difficult to implement specific strategies

for training and recruitment. “People were educated but were not hungry enough,” Comer explains. “We are in the sales industry so we definitely need people who absolutely want the very best out of life.” With his managers, he proceeded to draw up what the company needed from each department. He also wanted to diminish reliance on expatriate managers. He revamped trainings and expectations of staff. “We have a responsibility towards not only the business, but the staff as well. In keeping with that, we have given them an environment where the product does a lot of the selling,” says Comer. “We now see our local crew mimicking their trainers and managers; therefore we’re slowly but surely building a good strong pipeline of managers for the future.”

Talent attraction Starting out, Castlewood had to rely extensively on expatriate talent. Now however, only six out of 55 employees are from overseas. Indeed, while Castlewood still needs expatriates to kick-start growth in other countries around the region, in Singapore, there are people to take on senior

• • • • •

I love: my life. I dislike: false people. My inspiration is: family. My biggest weakness is: my big heart. In five years’ time I’d like to be: turning over half a billion US dollars a year. • Favourite quote: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T. S. Elliot

Reward and recognition Castlewood has created a culture where success is celebrated and financially rewarded. The company provides everything necessary for employees to be their best and to be proud of what they do, including state-of-the-art offices in prime locations and full training and development from some of the best leaders the industry has to offer. Last month, the best salespeople received Rolex watches as bonuses. Other incentives include all-expenses-paid return business class fares to any Nikki beach resort around the world, and tickets to the Formula 1 Grand Prix. “I’ve never been as happy with a team as with the one I have right now,” says Chris Comer, Group CEO and Property Developer, Castlewood.

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management roles as they become available. “Department heads have been nurturing people beneath them and they have a choice at some stage – to stay or move up and move abroad,” says Comer. He says he generally finds expatriates too demanding, categorises them into three groups. “The first is overwhelmed by Singapore – I can’t have miserable people in my business.” “The second completely enjoys Singapore, to the point that it affects their performance. The last group treats Singapore as a stepping stone, so there’s no stability and continuity in the business.” In view of relaxing his reliance on expatriate staff, Comer has tweaked the recruitment process for local staff. They are scrutinised a lot more, and the company

is very upfront about what is expected from them. They are also paid very well. “For example, our top earner last month, a broker, took home $84,000,” says Comer. Comer also decided to change the profile of the people he was looking for. “We took away the need to have sales experience and were able to hire a diverse group of people, including ex-crew from Singapore Airlines, ex-insurance people, or people involved in the social scene,” he explains. “We then implemented a training programme to teach those sales skills.” Each department head is responsible for training their own crew. Training and development, both personal and professional, is used to motivate crew, instead of monetary rewards. “For instance, we have seen our receptionist through university and she’s still with us upon graduation,” says Comer. Appraisals are also conducted every six months to check performance, with managers owning the appraisal process completely. Within the different properties under the purview of Castlewood, each resort or hotel handles its own recruitment of staff. In some places within Thailand though, finding quality talent can be a challenge, and

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DID YOU KNOW

LEADERS TALK HR

Castlewood Group CEO and Property Developer, Chris Comer, lost 40kg by changing his lifestyle. He drinks eight litres of water a day and eats more balanced meals. “I’m responsible for not only my family but my crew as well,” he says.

the turnover rate is high as well. Hence, managers there are still made up of expatriates. “At Nikki Beach club, training is second to none,” says Comer. “We have a mini academy in the hotels in Thailand to train our crew.” Comer also doesn’t pay his Thai crew as locals. They are paid on par with other similar Nikki Beach roles around the world, in US dollars. “We are still expanding,” says Comer. “Expatriate managers might be required to jump-start operations but our future is undoubtedly local.”

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HR INSIDER

Danone Asia

A great place to

GROW Employees form the heart of performance at French food giant Danone. HRM examines how the company attracts, retains and develops talent across its diverse business lines and how its travelling corporate university is helping to shape the next generation of leaders By Sumathi V Selvaretnam A culture of speed and agility enables French food company Danone to stay ahead of the competition in fast-changing markets. To achieve this, the company believes in breaking the traditional barriers to business and empowering employees with the freedom to act. “We are not driven by processes. Our people are always the first consideration. Decisions do not come from the top, allowing each level the opportunity to take responsibility,” says Cecile Diversy, VP Human Resource Dairy, Danone Asia Pacific, Middle East & South Africa. The various country business units in Danone are autonomous, empowered to make decisions and share their best practices. The food giant’s main business lines are centred on four areas: dairy, water, early life nutrition, and medical nutrition. Attracting and developing talent across these different business lines is one of the key people challenges faced by company. “For example, water is a long shelf-life product whereas a dairy product lasts two weeks. So this creates very different ways of working for the different business units,” Diversy explains. These different styles of working created inefficiencies and control issues that were hampering 16

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the company’s growth. To address these challenges, Danone embarked on a transformation process to create better synergies in the organisation. It conducted reviews with its business leaders and interviewed people both within and outside of Danone. An important part of this process was both leaders and employees being jointly involved in defining their future actions and directions, says Diversy. The process also led to the development of Danone’s own brand of leadership, expressed through the acronym CODE : Committed, Open, ‘Doer’, and Empowered. The company hopes that each of its employees will embody these leadership attributes throughout their careers.

Developer of talents Danone identifies and motivates employees through a variety of training programmes. The Bo Le progamme is one such initiative. Named after the legendary god of horses in Chinese mythology, who was known to pick talented horses who can run fast, the programme represents Danone’s own drive to be a good judge and developer of talents.

HR INSIDER

“The best way to have insights about yourself is when you go outside of your own culture and expose yourself to different ways of working” – CECILE DIVERSY, VP HUMAN RESOURCE DAIRY, DANONE ASIA PACIFIC, MIDDLE EAST & SOUTH AFRICA

AT A GLANCE • Total number of employees: 150 in the Singapore regional office, including the R&D centre. Some 25,000 in the Asia Pacific. • Size of HR team: 10 • Key HR focus areas: Talent attraction, leadership development, coaching for retention.

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HR INSIDER

Danone Asia One of the aims of the Bo Le programme is to develop a strong Asian talent pool specifically, as the company is expanding into high-growth markets in the region, says Diversy. She cites the example of a marketing talent in Danone’s China office who was groomed to become a General Manager in another Country Business Unit. “We gave her a career path where she took on regional roles in marketing across different business lines. Three years later, she is now the General Manager of our Malaysian office.” Another Singaporean employee based in Thailand was sent to the Spanish office for two years as it was the best place to pick up high-level marketing skills. Currently back in Asia, he is now working for Danone’s Indonesia business. “The best way to have insights about yourself is when you go outside of your own culture and expose yourself to different ways of working,” says Diversy. She adds that overseas exposure also makes employees more creative and enables them to think outside the box so that they can bring new ideas and better solutions back to their home countries.

Corporate University The Danone Learning Campus is a “travelling” corporate university that offers learning and networking opportunities to staff from all country business units and functions. Danone’s Asia-Pacific offices host three regional campuses a year in countries including China, Indonesia and Thailand. Each campus runs for a week and welcomes 300 employees from various country business units. The main aim of these regional campuses is to serve as a platform where employees can share and support mobilisation and transformation around Danone’s strategic goals. Participants attend plenary sessions, group learning parties, training seminars, Q&A sessions with top management, and networking events. Course content is determined by the demands of the participants’ individual development plans. Facilitators go through these before each programme to determine the top 18 areas across each cohort, says Diversy. Danone’s Learning Campus is delivered by both external and internal facilitators. The latter are experienced full-time employees. “Top managers have a key role in developing their people. We are very lucky to have managers who are extremely engaged and passionate about sharing their experiences,” Diversy says. Internal facilitators are also more in tune to organisational challenges and able to conduct more meaningful sharing sessions. More than 20 nationalities are represented at Danone’s Campus events. This makes it an ideal platform not just for competency building but also to build a cohesive company culture, says Diversy.

WHO’S WHO IN HR

Cecile Diversy

Gemini Aryanto

Soo Peo Goh

VP Human Resource Dairy, Director, Learning Danone Asia Pacific, & Organisation Middle East & Development Asia Pacific, South Africa Danone Asia

Learning Manager, Asia Pacific, Danone Asia

New generation leadership While Danone has been experiencing double-digit growth in Asia, it has observed skills gaps among some of its local leadership. To address this concern, it invited high-potential employees to participate in its New Gen programme, which focuses on leadership capability building. This programme was initially intended for Asia only but has since been rolled out globally. The six-month long programme is divided into two modules. The first looks at areas such as finance, strategy and leadership. The second module requires employees to participate in a business immersion project with colleagues from a different country business unit, as well as a social project. The latter requires employees to working on something that has both economic and social value, says Diversy. “For example, our aqua business produces a lot of waste. In Indonesia, employees work together with waste-pickers and look at ways to better their business, such as how to split a used plastic bottle and get the most value from each of its components.” According to Diversy, employees are very proud to be involved in projects like these. “It gives them a sense of purpose in the company that they are working at.”

Overseas exposure

makes employees more creative and enables them to think outside the box so that they can bring new ideas and better solutions back home

Building communities Danone is also bringing employees together through an internal social network. Here, employees can create their own communities based on their interests and start discussions. Diversy says that this has proven to be more effective than email threads as it facilitates continuous discussions where everyone sees the latest updates. Employees are also more easily connected to their colleagues across the globe. As more and more Generation Y staff enter the workforce, social media is becoming the most natural way to communicate, she adds. In the near future, Danone also hope to create learning communities on social media so that employees can exchange best practices. ISSUE 13.11

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The CSR Special • Building your employer brand through CSR • How volunteerism boosts staff morale • Greening up your workplace

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CSR SPECIAL

Employer Branding

Brand

boost Social commitment is an essential ingredient to the building of a successful employer brand. HRM looks at how a companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s corporate social responsibility efforts can help with talent attraction and retention By Sumathi V Selvaretnam

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In today’s competitive marketplace, an organisation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts have a strong bearing on the success of its recruitment activities. Top talent are becoming more discerning about their choice of employer and socially responsible companies are edging out the competition. According to a 2011 study published by the Society of Human Resource Management, 49% of businesses engaging in sustainable workplace or business practices say that involvement in sustainability had been critical in creating a positive employer brand that attracted top talent. In addition, 40% of those surveyed also reported that involvement in sustainability was “very important” in improving employee retention, and 33% said it was “very important” in developing the organisation’s leaders Sustainability and responsibility are central themes in day-to-day work at beverages company Diageo. “We have in place a strategy to reduce the social and environmental impacts of every aspect of our business – from sourcing raw materials, to running our manufacturing safely and efficiently, to influencing how our brands are sold and consumed,” says Ada Wong, Communications and Engagement Manager – Supply, Asia-Pacific, Diageo.

CASE STUDY

Making a bald statement DHL Express Singapore has organised its annual Hair for Hope satellite event since 2010, and has seen an increasing number of employees taking part. For the first time this year, all business units with the Deutsche Post DHL group came together to support the cause. About 70 DHL employees stepped forward courageously and volunteered to make a “bald” statement at the 2013 event. In addition, DHL Singapore successfully raised over $21,000. Through this event, the group not only hopes to raise funds for the cancerstricken children but also to educate and raise awareness of childhood cancer amongst fellow DHL colleagues.

Diageo employees learning more about the company’s environment targets

In particular, Diageo has set itself stretched environmental targets. By 2015, it hopes to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, improve water efficiency by 30%, reduce wasted water at water-stressed sites by 50%, reduce the polluting power of waste water by 60%, and fully eliminate waste to landfill. “To date, we have achieved three out of the five targets in Asia-Pacific and I am excited to say that we are well on our way to delivering on all of them,” shares Wong. At DHL Express Southeast Asia, corporate responsibility is not about being satisfied with having accomplished a few good community projects. According to its vice president of HR, A Mateen, an organisation also needs to consider the following questions: Is our economic success enabling social progress? Are we considering the environmental impact of our operations? And are we making decisions in the long-term interest of our customers and employees? “Companies that integrate sustainability programmes into their corporate strategy, such as engaging employees to participate in green initiatives or leveraging market presence to encourage sustainable and meaningful partnerships, are able to better realise the benefits in both the short and long term,” says Mateen.

Talent attraction

Hair for Hope – DHL Satellite Event 2013

According to the 2011 Deloitte Volunteer Impact survey, corporate volunteer programmes are a key consideration factor for 61% of millennials (generation Y) when making a job decision. The best talents in the workforce not only want to work in organisations where they can thrive, but also prefer to work for companies that practice good corporate citizenship, says Mateen. “DHL’s active involvement with local communities has helped define our identity and positioned us to better attract and retain talent,” he adds. Dedicated programmes at DHL have not only helped to improve its employees’ motivation and identification but have also increased awareness of corporate responsibility, enhanced recognition for engagement in ISSUE 13.11

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CSR SPECIAL

Employer Branding this area, and strengthened the organisation’s competitiveness, shares Mateen. Environmental sustainability is also a key element of Diageo’s attraction as a recruiter, says Wong, noting that graduate candidates are constantly asking about the company’s sustainability programme during interviews. Diageo’s sustainability and responsibility programme is becoming increasingly important for retaining and recruiting the best talent, is one of its most important resources and an area of increasing competition in emerging markets, Wong explains. “The environmental contribution of employees drives general performance and productivity, and there is a correlation between engagement around environment, and super-engaged employees. We recognise that internal engagement on environmental issues drives business growth.” CSR-related activities have also been positively received at American Express. “Increasingly, we find that people want to join an organisation which is a good corporate citizen. This gives them a greater sense of wellbeing and purpose in their work, and is often a source of pride,” says Yoshimi Nakajima, Singapore Country Manager, American Express “American Express employees who support companydriven CSR activities, often tell us that they feel a sense of deep gratitude after each experience,” she adds. CSR is a great way for top management to connect with employees on the ground. American Express encourages

Top tips for a successful CSR strategy • Align your CSR strategy with the values of the organisation The way it operates in accordance with those values becomes the measuring stick in CSR. Long-term trustworthiness and integrity always trump short-term profits and public relations gimmicks. • Set clear goals for the CSR strategy and programme Before putting together a plan, it is important to set clear goals and objectives. This will help the team develop a more robust plan that will deliver greater benefits to the organisation and the community. • Set measurable and achievable targets Failing to meet CSR commitments may have a negative impact and could even affect the company’s reputation. To ensure effective implementation, measurable, and achievable targets must be set. • Be highly engaging and actively communicate your CSR plans Employees must believe that the business is committed, and must fully understand the goals and the ways in which they can contribute. A tight communications plan will bring activations to life and generate buzz pre, during and post-event for sustained awareness • Leaders must walk the talk For an organisation to successfully drive CSR, the leaders must be committed to make a difference and lead by example. Having buy-in from the C-level will greatly strengthen the company’s commitment, enhance the overall brand positioning, and further drive participation amongst employees. Source: American Express, DHL Express and Diageo

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its leaders to participate in team events to build relationships and engagement in their teams, and they often opt for charity events to do this. “When we take part in charity events, leaders and employees serve the community together, side by side. It is a great opportunity to deepen relationships within the team, and at all levels of the organisation,” says Nakajima.

Getting employees involved CSR might not be at the top of the agenda for employees caught up in the daily grind. It is therefore important for organisations to get their buy-in and see the value of their efforts. One challenge facing Diageo is the fact that a large portion of its environmental targets are manufacturingfocused. “We needed to communicate the full spectrum of Diageo’s environmental initiatives – from renewable energy installations at our manufacturing sites to recycling projects in the offices – to employees across all levels of the business so that even our office-based teams are clued in to the measures we’ve taken to drive sustainability at our manufacturing sites,” says Wong. To achieve this objective, Diageo Asia-Pacific Supply and Procurement division launched the region’s first dedicated environmental action campaign in March last year. “Our aim was to engage Diageo’s Asia-Pacific employees across all business functions in our high-level environmental targets, fostering a mentality that every employee’s actions can contribute to overall environmental success,” says Wong. Activities included a “Hands Up for the Environment Day” – an afternoon of activities that coincided symbolically with World Water Day. The company aimed to employ a fun, engaging and interactive way to educate its team, and turned its in-house bar into a showcase of environmental activity and targets. The set-up clearly showcased a 360-degree view of the company’s targets to each and every employee, Wong says. Diageo also created a microsite online to invite employees from across Diageo’s Asia-Pacific offices to start their own campaign by pledging their support to the environment. “Each employee that participated added their own pledge to the site and in return received a “Hands Up for the Environment” recyclable bag and a branded email signature to upload to their sign-offs, showcasing their support of the campaign both internally to their colleagues and externally,” Wong says. In companies such as American Express, senior leaders serve as CSR role-models by leading and participating in charity events. “I am the executive sponsor of our Charity Task Force, a self-organised employee network. I am actively engaged in the planning and execution of events it plans throughout the year,” says Nakajima. “By encouraging employees to give back to the community and working with them, we are able to bond as a team and make a difference together.”

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Some past activities organised by American Express include wall painting of HDB flats occupied by elderly residents, serving Lo Hei dinner for elderly residents during Chinese New Year, and educating young children on the value of money. To keep employees informed about the CSR possibilities available, DHL Express organised a dedicated “Info Fair” for staff to generate generate greater awareness of the company’s “Living Responsibility” pillars. These pillars are: “GoGreen” (environmental protection), “GoTeach” (championing education) and “GoHelp” (delivering assistance to community members in need). “The two-day Info Fair allowed DHL employees to learn and appreciate the importance of volunteering through interesting games and puzzles,” says Mateen.

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CSR SPECIAL

Employee Engagement

Boosting morale through

corporate volunteerism Employee volunteerism programmes not only boost employee engagement and morale, they can also be great reputation boosters, helping a company become an active participant in its community. HRM learns how some organisations have been implementing organised volunteerism By Shalini Shukla-Pandey

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Now is a good time for organisations to go beyond their usual corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, such as corporate philanthropy and volunteerism. Speaking recently at the 5th International Singapore Compact CSR Summit, Speaker of Singapore’s Parliament Halimah Yacob said that companies could focus on “social innovations” that would bring about new business opportunities and more productivity, which in turn could help to narrow the income gap in Singapore. These innovations may include providing products and services for lower-income groups and the elderly. Singaporeans could also have a more fulfilling pace of life and better social wellbeing if businesses apply CSR principles, she noted. For example, companies instituting labour policies which give employees better work-life balance may see a a more inclusive environment as a result. IPG Mediabrands is one company that actively encourages employees to volunteer and also shares their passions with others to inspire them to volunteer. “We are up for anything: charity runs, university tours; blood donation drives; or even playing The Biggest Loser to donate money or time to good causes,” says Prashant Kumar, President, World Markets Asia, IPG Mediabrands. “There is no corporate objective to fulfil, or a specific cause to support, or a CSR activity to promote,” he adds. “As a company that follows a laissezfaire approach towards adopting a cause to support, we aim to support each person’s and each team’s passions.” For instance, in Thailand, the team spent several hours each Friday in painting classes, with the best paintings at the end of the year being auctioned in a year-end industry fair to fund a children’s charity. The Malaysia team participated in a blood donation drive, while the Singapore offices supported the 10km Yellow Ribbon Run in support of giving ex-offenders a chance to re-integrate into society. Voluntary activities have also been integrated within Mediabrands’ Happiness Programme. For instance, in an upcoming challenge, each office will organise a project to make a difference in their immediate community. The project might involve working with partners (clients, media vendors, or charitable organizations) and take any shape or form, from gathering donations, to volunteering time to the organisation’s activities, to donating services as media agency, or the company’s own internal talents. The challenge is aimed at finding happiness while helping others, involving as many colleagues as possible and making the biggest impact possible. “We have also carried out various engagement programmes with universities in the region. Our senior leaders are encouraged to teach at leading source institutions around the region,” Kumar adds. “Thailand for instance has initiated a mentorship programme for budding media students.”

The business case for CSR Nearly all major corporations commit efforts in one way or another to a wide range of CSR programmes, and proudly manifest their good corporate citizenship to stakeholders on official websites or in their advertising campaigns.

CASE STUDIES IBM As IBM marks the five-year anniversary of its Corporate Service Corps, the company has been recently featured at a US Department of State Forum on International Corporate Volunteerism, aimed at promoting skilled international corporate volunteerism. IBM’s Corporate Service Corps deploys the company’s most talented employees in teams of between 10 and 15 people to provide pro-bono consulting services to local government, businesses, schools and non-profits – mostly in the developing world and growth markets. They assist with issues connected to economic growth and job creation at the intersections of business, technology, and society. The programme is highly selective, choosing only 500 of IBM’s highest performers annually from among thousands of applicants. The Corporate Service Corps not only provides solid know-how to communities around the world, it is also a cost-effective way for IBM staff to develop professional and leadership skills. In addition, the programme provides IBM with insight into new markets and inspires solutions that can be applied to commercial customers. By year’s end, approximately 2,400 IBM employees based in 52 countries will have been dispatched on more than 187 Corporate Service Corps engagements. They will have undertaken 850 team assignments in 34 countries since the founding of the programme five years ago, in 2008. Since that time, Corporate Service Corps has provided more than US$70 million worth of skilled, pro-bono consulting services and has directly benefited 140,000 people. Over the last five years, the programme has sent more than 638 employees in 56 teams to 11 countries in Africa alone, a growing market for IBM. “We are proud of how sustainably the programme helps governments and businesses throughout the globe,” said Stanley S. Litow, IBM’s vice president of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, and president of IBM’s International Foundation. “The programme has also proved transformational for the skills and satisfaction of our employees, and complements IBM’s core business strategy. “While the model we established is scaled globally, with the aim of truly shaping a smarter planet, we feel that aspects of it can be successfully replicated at many organisations,” Litow adds. “If only (just) 100 of Fortune 500 companies sent 500 of their top talent on such assignments, we could collectively deploy 50,000 of the most talented leaders around the world to solve some of the most difficult problems facing society and, in the process, create remarkable goodwill.” IBM is leading a trend in corporate America toward skilled international corporate volunteerism. Washington DCbased CDC Development Solutions (CDS) – one of the nongovernmental organisations that helps IBM identify suitable projects for its Corporate Service Corps – estimates that in 2006, only six US companies sent 280 employees to four countries, but by 2012, approximately 1,700 employees in 24 programmes were sent to dozens of countries.

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CSR SPECIAL

Employee Engagement CASE STUDIES GSK The PULSE Volunteer Partnership is GSK’s skillsbased volunteering initiative. Through PULSE, motivated employees are matched to a nonprofit organisation for three or six months fulltime, contributing their skills to solve healthcare challenges at home and abroad. When PULSE Volunteers return to GSK, they act as catalysts to change the company for the better. Since its launch in 2009, PULSE has empowered nearly 300 employees from 33 countries to partner with 70 non-government organisations (NGOs) in 49 countries, impacting hundreds of communities. Each year, PULSE invites motivated employees to apply for a volunteering assignment, empowering them to develop their leadership skills while working for a partner organisation. Committed employees who believe they can make a sustainable change and have been with the company for three years or more go through a rigorous selection process. Successful PULSE candidates have: • A record of achieving beyond their core role • Demonstrated leadership behaviours • A desire to develop their leadership and management skills • The opportunity to apply their learnings when they return to their jobs PULSE is a global programme and is open to employees from any business group and any country – employees may work with a local partner organisation in their own community or with a global NGO on an international assignment. Eligible employees can apply many different professional skills while on assignment, including: • Communications and marketing • Data management and knowledge transfer • Financial management • HR • Logistics and supply chain management The PULSE Team works in collaboration with each relevant community and government outreach teams, as well as local businesses, to ensure that each assignment has philanthropic and strategic benefit for the communities GSK serves.

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Also, every year one can come across various corporate social responsibility rankings such as the GLOBAL 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World ranking, or Newsweek´s Green Rankings listing the organisations with the highest degree of involvement in responsible environmental practices. According to research by Purdue University, formal or structured volunteering has a positive cumulative effect on the mental and physical activity of employees as they age. The study, led by the director of Purdue’s Centre on Ageing and Life Course, Kenneth Ferraro, revealed that “older adults who were engaged in regular volunteering had slower increases in physical disability, and they stayed independent and physically active for a longer period of time”. Ferraro attributes these results to the benefits of social engagement achieved through volunteering. Empirical evidence supports that those who volunteer on a regular basis have better cardiovascular health, less depression, and lower blood pressure than those who are not involved in volunteerism. “Voluntary activities engage people in a completely different way. They give employees a chance to work together, become acquainted with one another’s passions, and take pride in being able to make a difference collectively,” says Kumar. “We have seen higher levels of team spirit, self-confidence and people feeling good about themselves after (they) have been involved in a voluntary activity,” he notes. “My teams have told me about feeling purposeful and being able to better know their strengths and weaknesses, something a workshop or classroom opportunity doesn’t do.”

Prioritising CSR Unfortunately, CSR programmes are often the first to feel the impact of budget cuts. As a result, the ability to prove – and improve – the value of volunteer programmes is critical to attracting and retaining support. “We go with qualitative evaluation of the outcomes,” Kumar says about Mediabrands’ voluntererism promotion. “We give our employees feedback forms on an initiative taken and over the course of time have begun to understand what they would like to do and what activity brings the best outcome. “We don’t make volunteering a corporate objective or part of a CSR activity and have seen this being extremely successful as it is not associated with a budget or any corporate goals,” he adds. “We believe volunteering must be a natural thing and a matter of choice and a personal connection, not a corporate connection. This approach has worked best for us.”

Challenges aplenty While volunteerism results in higher productivity, higher employee morale, and can aid in retention and recruiting, there may be some potential negative aspects as well. For example, the biggest concern is that encouraging employees to participate in employee volunteerism programmes can make them feel that

Tips when recruiting employees for charitable causes For a volunteer programme to be successful, Prashant Kumar, President, World Markets Asia, IPG Mediabrands, says a local and meaningful cause that drives broad participation, something that is non-exclusive and motivational, is the best fit. “Blood donation is a very good example – It is straight-forward to organise and easy to work with partners who have the necessary infrastructure,” Kumar says. “Charity and awareness runs are also great examples as they motivate employees and are wellorganised.” Some of the teams at IPG Mediabrands have taken a step beyond and done planting of trees, dedicating time to paint and run charity causes, and even lecture at universities to educate students. “However, the most important thing is to ensure that it is employee-led so it has the groundswell and is fully-backed and supported by the management,” Kumar concludes.

Tips for HR:

• Research and familiarise yourself with your cause and organisation to make your appeal as universal as possible. • Email is the best method to reach out to colleagues, but exercise caution not to bombard your co-workers. • Refrain from language or references that are political or religious. • Think of creative ways to get co-workers involved. • Offer alternatives for those who cannot participate in the event or donate funds.

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the participation is more mandatory than voluntary, and in that way all the employee’s work attitudes, including intrinsic motivations, may not be increased as one would expect, says Kumar. “Employee volunteerism programmes might also divide employees into those that participate and know each other better, and those that are not engaged in volunteering and as a result might feel left out,” he adds. “Furthermore, employee volunteerism programmes are additional activities that might distract employees from everyday work tasks.” Ultimately, volunteering must be a staff-led activity, not a corporateled one. Staff must be empowered to take charge. “We also don’t expect employees to spend too much time organising events that take them away from their actual work. This is where partnering with a good charity becomes necessary,” says Kumar. “Also, we don’t set high goals. Small ways of making a difference are perhaps the most successful, especially for teams like ours which don’t have a fully-fledged CSR goal,” he adds. “Volunteering is indeed a simple, yet invaluable way of building confidence and trust among teams and I would say, each company – big or small – can begin to encourage volunteering almost immediately.” Kumar advises. “The dividends it pays are huge.”

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CSR SPECIAL

Eco-friendly Offices

Greening the up workplace Adopting green business practices goes beyond environmental gains and cost savings. Eco-friendly organisations are also more likely to attract and retain talent as employees feel a sense of pride for their place of work. HRM investigates By Sumathi V Selvaretnam Organisations that care deeply about their environment and society are more likely to take care of their employees. Herein, lies the draw of sustainable companies among job seekers. According to a 2012 survey conducted by US-based online job board TheLadders, 72% of job seekers would prefer to work for an “eco-conscious” company. The survey also found that 75% of employees would be keen to change their daily routine if their company provided them with small incentives to be green. However, sustainability isn’t just about minimising environmental impacts – it’s bigger than that, says Shirley Chua, director of communications and outreach, Singapore Environment Council. “In the context of HR, it’s more about taking a long-term view, and that’s the key characteristic of a sustainable organisation – a concern for the future survival of the business, not just of present profitability.” According to Chua, HR can play a major part in sustainability in terms of managing the relationship between the business and its workforce. “However, the challenge for modern businesses is one of changing 30

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workforces – because today’s workforce is very different from previous generations,” she says.

Boosting staff morale Environmentally conscious companies often have an edge over the competition when it comes to talent attraction. Young employees these days aspire to join an organisation whose culture resonates with their own personal values, Retnam Pui Yim, Vice President of Corporate Services, YTL PowerSeraya. “They would like to be associated with a company that cares for the environment. This is evident in some of the interviews that our HR department has conducted for potential candidates. They were keen to join YTL PowerSeraya because of its active involvement in green practices.” According to the Singapore Environment Council, green practices are generally positive in nature and help to assure employees that their company is not just focused on its bottom line but is equally mindful of the environment and the impact it has on staff. Green programmes are also a good way to boost employee engagement. An active green programme to

consistently engage staff will especially help those who value green practices to think further about their own involvement and, as a result, lead to greater engagement and sense of belonging in the company, says Retnam. Employees who already adopt green practices in their home would also feel more engaged and happier working in a company that also adopts green practices, says Retnam. “Collective green efforts in the company can help build a common purpose and this helps bind staff members and boost their morale.” YTL PowerSeraya, which is a certified Eco-office (see: boxout) includes green initiatives in its corporate social responsibility activities. For example, it conducted pot-painting workshops with its adopted charity GROW, which placed completed potted plants in staff work areas. “Having such plants at work can contribute towards a better working environment, improve indoor air quality and promote staff’s wellbeing,” says Retnam. Socially-responsible companies also emit a more attractive employer

Green practices that can boost staff morale • A green businesses and building can enhance productivity and health of staff, and reduce absenteeism. • A green workplace accompanied with a reward system to motivate or encourage green activities can satisfy employees’ environmental expectations of their organisation. • A flexible working programme, such as working from home for part of the week, can improve the work-life balance of employees, leading to enhanced job satisfaction. Source: Singapore Environment Council

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CSR SPECIAL

Eco-friendly Offices brand. Companies that follow environmentally-sound initiatives such as electronic filing, car-sharing, teleconferencing, recycling, online training, and energyefficient office spaces leave a positive impact. “All these measures don’t just ensure compliance and improve productivity, they also have an impact on intangible yet invaluable assets such as brand and reputation. Employees are attracted to companies who run their businesses and achieve goals in a way that aligns with their values, and connects their business decisions to ethical, social and environmental concerns,” Chua says.

Go green and save on costs! Ricoh • Since it started monitoring paper and electricity consumption, and finding measures to reduce consumption in 2003 the average consumption rate per staff member has been reduced by 51% and 31% respectively.

Driving the green agenda

A clear direction and good leadership are essential for driving effective

Recycling efforts at Ricoh

YTL PowerSeraya • $5,000 in annual energy cost savings at its corporate office since 2010. • $5,300 in annual paper cost savings since introducing paper monitoring as well as reduction measures in late 2008

YTL Power Seraya employees at a pot-painting workshp

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green workplace practices

A clear direction and good leadership are essential for driving effective green workplace practices. But who takes the lead? YTL PowerSeraya has a dedicated Sustainability Department that is responsible for the green agenda in the organisation. This department also leads a “Green Team” at its corporate headquarters, which comprises of representatives from different business units looking into ways to ‘green’ the office. The HR team at YTL PowerSeraya plays a role in facilitating the Sustainability Department’s efforts to educate staff on “green” matters. For example, the green agenda is incorporated into employee orientation programmes. “This includes sharing about the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and how our CSR Strategic Thrust of ‘Nurture Human Capital’ is more than just training and developing employees, but also about inculcating a sustainability culture within the organisation,” says Retnam. YTL Power Seraya’s HR team also provides staff with training opportunities on green matters such as in the area of energy efficiency management, so that such knowledge may be applied at the workplace, in plant operations, and even in helping to educate customers on energy efficiency. Similarly, at imaging and electronics company Ricoh, green practices come under the purview of the Environmental Management Group Department. An Environmental Committee takes cares of green certifications. “HR plays a supporting role in generating environmental awarenesss during Induction Training and provides necessary facilities,” says Wong Yee Thing, assistant manager of the regional environmental management group service and environment division of Ricoh Asia-Pacific. Every year, Ricoh sets clear targets and objectives focused on areas such as company-wide environmental conservation, the purchasing of environmentallyfriendly office stationery, as well as environmental social contributions outside of the office. “We monitor our internal paper and electricity consumption and convey the results to all staff on a monthly basis. All our staff (go)

through environmental training and complete competency test to ensure they are aware of our company’s environmental policy and practices,” says Wong. At Ricoh’s Eco-certified offices, there’s no individual waste bin for staff. “We have a general bin for food waste and coloured bins for waste segregation purposes. We even have recycling rooms and engage certified recyclers who collect papers, cardboard, and electronic waste every month.

Overcoming challenges Adopting a green agenda is not without its challenges. When Ricoh embarked on its efforts in 2003, going green was uncommon and it took a while to change employees’ mindsets, shares Wong. “So, the support from top management was really important. Subsequently, we ensured that all our new staff went through environmental training to ensure the smooth faciliation of our green initiatives. Pursuing ‘green’ is often perceived to mean extra costs to the organisation, says Retnam of YTL PowerSeraya. “However, if we were to look at the life cycle cost of going green, there are actually long term benefits and cost savings to the company.” For example, when YTL PowerSeraya decided to purchase paper from Forest Stewardship Councilcertified sources in 2008, it was more expensive and still is. “Over years of deliberate paper reduction measures, we have managed to reduce paper usage to a level that not only pays for the cost premium but also reaps cost savings,” Retnam explains.

Adopting a green agenda is not without its

challenges

Get your workplace eco-office certified Launched in 2002, the Eco-Office certification programm is a joint initiative between the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and City Developments. It focuses on ‘heart-ware’ to gear behavioural change in workplaces. The main aim of the programme is to instill a green culture in offices and a cascading sense of responsibility for employees, who can pass green tips and habits to their families at home. Interested companies can contact the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) for a self-audit form which can be used to assess their current environmental performance. With this self-audit form, points are allocated with each item achieved. It is based on simple metrics, such as corporate environmental policy and commitment, purchasing practices, waste minimisation measures, and levels of recycling. Companies will be eligible for an external audit with a score of at least 50% and the SEC will then assist in all arrangements between them and the third party external auditors. External audits take approximately half a day, where companies present evidence to auditors based on their input in the completed self-audit form. SEC will then vet through all audit reports to confirm that the report submitted is fair and accurate. An auditor’s score of at least 50% will allow companies to be “Eco-office-certified”, an assessment that is valid for two years. As of June 2013, a total of 177 unique offices are currently registered as Eco-offices. ISSUE 13.11

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Vineet Nayar, Vice Chairman, HCL Technologies & Author Turning Conventional Management Upside Down

Karl Chong, Founder & CEO, Groupon Singapore Dealing with Sudden Growth & Change at Groupon

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Work Life Balance

APPINESS

Vineet Nayar’s presentation at the STJobs HR Summit 2014:

Turning Conventional Management Upside Down – C-Suite Exclusive

Top three takeaways • How to implement an “Employee First” policy • Creating a culture of trust • How managers can become “self-propelled engines of change”

at work

Viewing time as currency and using it wisely is an essential step to enjoying the work that you do, says Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies and STJobs HR Summit Speaker, Vineet Nayar

In this candid account celebrated management guru Vineet Nayar will recount how he defied conventional wisdom by putting employees first, and customers second. Nayar believes that since employees are the closest interface with the customer they are the new value zone for companies: the place where value is truly generated for customers. Nayar will highlight how organisations can implement the ‘Employee First’ philosophy by: enabling staff to see the truth of the company’s current state as well as its possible future; creating a culture of trust by pushing the envelope of transparency; inverting the organisational hierarchy by making management first; enabling functions accountable to employees; and unlocking the potential of the employees by transferring the ownership of ‘change’ to the value zone. The session will also offer a host of valuable insights for managers seeking to realise their aspirations to grow faster and become self-propelled engines of change.

Just the other day, a friend and I were discussing the living cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and his incredible feat of scoring 100 centuries (the record is unlikely to ever be broken, with the next most prolific century scorer being the retired Ricky Ponting with 71). A cricket buff himself, my friend believed Sachin’s magic ingredient has been happiness. “Look at him carefully when he is at the pitch,” he said. “He looks so happy! His childlike enthusiasm seems to melt away the 22 years of hard work that he has put in.” I couldn’t have agreed more and kept thinking about it afterwards. There is no doubt about the fact that happiness is the magic ingredient in any field. Think of all the experts or leaders you admire: the one common factor among all of them is the sheer joy you see on their faces when they are in their professional domain. And yet, happiness seems so elusive at work, almost like an oxymoron. Mercer’s What’s Working 2011 survey revealed that over half of Britain’s employees were unhappy at work. Sure, you could dismiss this as a sign of the times, but the fact is that this is the moment when we most need the positive energy of our people at work. A general malaise or apathy among the workforce will only dig the hole deeper. ISSUE 13.11

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Work Life Balance “When you begin to take responsibility for your time, you start enjoying it more – simply because it is your conscious decision to spend it the way you do. That is the magic ingredient” – VINEET NAYAR, VICE CHAIRMAN, HCL TECHNOLOGIES AND STJOBS HR SUMMIT SPEAKER

HR experts believe that happiness at work is achieved when you are in the ‘flow’, a term coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He believes creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. According to him, “When we are involved in (creativity), we feel we are living more fully than during the rest of life.” Tony Hseih at Zappos has been using scientific sense, business sense, and human sense to build a business model around a culture of happiness at work. Most people agree that the happiness quotient leads to an incremental increase in productivity. And Tony is living proof of this. So how do we find this zone of enjoyment, this magic ingredient of happiness at work and in our lives? I believe we can do this by taking charge of our time and therefore, taking charge of our life. I remember a conversation I had with a very interesting gentleman on a train ride during my days as a student when I was quite a drifter. He told me, think of time as “currency”. In fact, it is the only currency we are born with. Treat that currency as what you are spending – every second, every minute, every hour and day. You have to think about who decides to spend that currency. When you begin to take responsibility for your time, you start enjoying it more – simply because it is your conscious decision to spend it the way you do. That is the magic ingredient. So now, let’s go back to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his thoughts on finding the “flow”. In his words: “If one prays in order to be holy, or exercises to develop strong pectoral muscles, or learns to be knowledgeable, then a great deal of the benefit is lost. The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake”. In other words, if you are doing what you choose to do at a particular moment in time, and then focus all your energy on creative execution of the activity you have chosen, you will find yourself in that elusive zone of enjoyment. And when all these joyous moments add up together, isn’t that the very definition of happiness and success at work?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Vineet Nayar is Vice Chairman of the $4.5billion global technology services company HCL Technologies and author of the celebrated management book: Employees First, Customers Second. An acknowledged management visionary and radical thinker, Nayar was the architect of HCL’s transformation from a $0.7 billion organisation in 2005 into the company that it is today with over 87,000 employees working across 32 countries. This pioneering transformation led Fortune Magazine to recognise HCL as having “the world’s most modern management” and BusinessWeek to recognise it as “one of the world’s most influential companies”. These- praises have led to HCL’s innovative management practices being taught as case studies in both the Harvard and London Business Schools. Chosen by Fortune Magazine for HCL’s global ‘Executive Dream Team’ which has been described as having an “all-star leadership”, Nayar is part of the elite Thinkers 50 List, hosts a Harvard Business Review blog focusing on business strategy, and was cited in Forbes Magazine’s prestigious “Heroes for Philanthropy List” in 2013.

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Dr. Sherman Ong Chief Development Officer NATIONAL CANCER CENTRE OF SINGAPORE

Anuradha Naik Director, Learning and Development, APAC EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Cara Reil Vice President - Talent Management & Development SINGTEL

Margaret Fulham Regional Talent & Performance Manager, Asia Pacific MAERSK

Elliot Lee Head of Learning & Development YCH GROUP

Oberdan Marianetti Head of Learning STANDARD CHARTERED BANK

Rose Mendoza-Espina Training Lead SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY

Jin Hwui Lee Deputy Director, Human Resource Development LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

Kifaya A.Thallam Group HR Adviser TIP-UAE

Cara Tan Former Talent Management Consultant, Global Talent MULTINATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPANY

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FEATURE

Performance Management “Now that we’ve hired you we would like to restructure the position.”

FAIR Designing

pay systems

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FEATURE

Performance Management Companies looking to grow their market share are focusing on ensuring overall competitiveness within the market – not just for salaries but for their whole compensation packages. The market for top-notch employees remains highly competitive and salary packages are becoming more sophisticated as a result. The humble monthly pay packet is now not the only thing that attracts and retains the best talent. “Employees are becoming much more discerning about cash and non-cash benefits,” says Nathan Kitchner, Director – Asia, Power2Motivate. “They are looking for employers who are prepared to provide them with a tailored and holistic package that recognises their individual performance.” Indeed, although employees in Singapore rate base pay as the top driver for attraction and retention, only a third of employees here are satisfied with the external equity of pay (global average is 46%) and just 36% say they are satisfied with the internal equity of pay (global average is 52%), according to Towers Watson’s Global Workforce Study 2012.

Tips to stay ahead Transparency and fairness are key when it comes to setting wage and rewards policies. Employees need to understand what organisational expectations are in their wage-setting policy – whether it is a one-size-fits-all or a highly individualised one. “Ensuring your employees have a clear understanding of your wage policy and how wages are set, reviewed and increased, reduces the propensity for undue comparison and complaints,” says Nathan Kitchner, Director – Asia, Power2Motivate. “Same too when it comes to recognition: employees need to know what values, behaviours and standards of performance are valuable to the business, and how you intend to recognise performance. “For both wages and recognition, publishing a policy just once won’t cut it,” he adds. “You will need to communicate, engage and continuously reinforce your organisational expectations.”

Today, there are significant opportunities for companies in Singapore and the region to communicate the “Total Rewards” they offer to employees – including salary, benefits, learning and development, career opportunities, and flexi-working programmes, says Abhishek Mittal, Senior Consultant – Organisational Surveys and Insights, Towers Watson – Singapore. For employees at the top levels of the corporate ladder, increased scrutiny of executive pay and the revised Singapore Code of Corporate Governance which came into effect in the last quarter of 2012 are the two single most important factors shaping thinking on executive pay in the country, says Kevin Ong, Director – Executive Compensation, Towers Watson – Southeast Asia. Some of the trends likely to continue include: the provision of non-cash benefits to employees as rewards for performance, standard benefits such as full medical insurance coverage, and additional leave entitlements which enable employees to better balance their work and family lives, says Kitchner. Being a financial services hub, banks in Singapore will be looking at how global banks react to the slew of regulatory changes in Europe and the US. “Risk is now an important consideration in compensation designs,” says Ong. Non-financial services companies are not spared either. “With the increased scrutiny on executive pay, boards in companies, especially listed ones, are spending more time deliberating pay designs, structure and levels,” Ong explains. By benchmarking compensation and rewards plans against guides such as the Towers Watson Report on Compensation, Benefits and Employment Practices, HR professionals can not only develop cost-effective salary and benefit packages but also ensure compliance with local laws and compare the costs of employment across offices within the region.

Changing salary systems In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the nature of the employment deal has been shifting. For instance, Towers Watson’s Global Workforce Study 2012 shows that nearly half of employees in Singapore feel they have been working more hours than normal over the last three years, and they see this trend continuing. As a result, a good 37% feel that they are unable to take as many vacation days as before. The most significant skills gap in compensation and benefits within the Singapore market is around the strategic alignment of compensation and benefits with the business plan, and capability to take a true “Total Rewards” approach to benefits packaging. Many companies are continuing to rely on the “salaryplus-bonus” model, as it is a tried and tested methodology, without realising that this approach may not be competitive in the market any more. Sophisticated companies on the other hand, are taking a more holistic approach to benefits packing, even individualising compensation and benefits to the needs of the individual employee and communicating the total value of the benefits, says Kitchner. 42

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FEATURE

“In such a cost-conscious scenario of doing more with less, companies need to think about novel ways to reward their employees, including thinking about environmental rewards such as flexi-working, work-life integration, career management, employee wellbeing, and work culture,” Mittal adds. “Some companies are already communicating the value of ‘Total Rewards’ instead of just managing compensation.” Executive pay is continuing to converge across the globe. “One clear trend is the three-part pay model comprising base pay, short-term incentive, and long-term incentive,” Ong explains. “The long-term pay component has seen increased prominence as executives are increasingly being held accountable for performance beyond a 12-month period, and for sustainability of company performance over the longer term.” The pharmaceutical and oil and gas industries are topping the list in terms of overall salary increases, while banks and financial services companies are still recovering from the financial crisis and undergoing major compensation restructuring. “2013 salary increase figures are on the conservative end due to the subdued business environment in Singapore, while 2014 projections are more optimistic due to expected recovery and better business performance outlook,” says Sean Paul Darilay, Manager – Global Data Services, Towers Watson – Singapore. Companies are also moving towards fewer job levels and consequently wider salary system ranges. “This supports

the changing culture focusing more on employees’ contribution with broader and more flexible roles,” says Darilay. “At the same time, this requires managers to be more pay ‘savvy’ and to have more active career development responsibilities for their direct reports.” Salary systems have evolved from being a pay-for-timeworked, promotion or reward-based on length of service model to a much more flexible model which recognises performance; enables the management of a raft of non-cash benefits, and individualises the package whilst still providing organisational alignment, says Kitchner.

Pay-for-performance For listed companies, it is no longer enough to simply state in annual reports that there is pay-for-performance within the company. “Shareholders, potential investors, the media and other stakeholders want to know how pay is being pegged to performance,” says Ong. “Companies will have to strike a balance between the need to disclose and the importance of maintaining confidentiality for competitive reasons.” The big thing to remember about pay-for-performance compensation systems is that they should not just be “pay” for performance, says Kitchner. “Multiple peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated that cash payments for performance have a low impact in terms of reinforcing performance and behaviour

Threequarters

of the Singapore workforce are not highly engaged. Source: Towers Watson’s Global Workforce Study 2012

Features of a successful pay for performance environment Organisational culture

• • • • •

Training

• Supervisors and employees receive advance and on-going training that covers both the mechanics of the system and its underlying philosophy.

Supervisors’ role

• Supervisors treat employees fairly when assigning work, evaluating performance, and allocating rewards. • Supervisors monitor and document employees’ performance on a regular basis throughout the assessment cycle and provide feedback that is timely, accurate, and meaningful. • Supervisors assist poor performers, through measures such as feedback and training, to help them to improve their performance. If their performance does not improve, the employee may be subject to an adverse action, such as a pay reduction. • Supervisors have the necessary discretion to make personnel decisions.

Performance evaluation

• Supervisors and managers are held accountable for ensuring that performance ratings distinguish between levels of performance. • Performance measures have been carefully designed to encompass the most critical outcomes. • Performance is evaluated at the appropriate level. • Employees understand how their individual performance supports organisational outcomes.

Fairness

• The system includes checks and balances to ensure fairness. • Pay and bonuses are distributed according to performance.

Funding

• Adequate funding ensures that employees receive compensation that corresponds to their contributions.

Evaluation

• The compensation system is evaluated on an on-going basis to ensure that it is accomplishing the desired objectives in a fair and cost-effective manner. • Measures of employee attitudes, such as employee engagement and motivation, as well as outcome indices, are tracked and analysed to determine the impact of pay on employee satisfaction and performance.

Organisational culture supports the concept of pay-for-performance. Leaders demonstrate commitment to a performance-based pay strategy through their words and actions. Open communication A high degree of trust between supervisors and employees. Performance management systems support pay for performance.

Source: US Merit Systems Protection Board report – Designing an Effective Pay for Performance Compensation System

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FEATURE

Performance Management

Onethird

of Singapore workers are likely to leave their current organisations within two years. Source: Towers Watson’s Global Workforce Study 2012

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essentially because everyone can do with a little bit of extra money,” he explains. “Often that money goes towards paying bills or buying essentials, so the reward effect is limited.” To be truly effective, performance-based pay systems need to include a measure of non-cash rewarding. Providing an employee with a reward in the form of a gift or experience actually provides a stronger link between the behaviour or performance and the reward received. “Think about it, every time the employee looks at the photos of their reward experience, or uses the iPod they were rewarded with, there is a deep emotional connection back to the reason why they received it,” says Kitchner. “Whether you pay cash or reward employees for performance, it is critical that you define clearly what you are rewarding them for,” he adds. Many companies continue the process of establishing annual objectives or key performance indicators for achievement. This often has the outcome that employees focus on those narrow areas of their work which will have the highest pay-out value and focus less on the areas of their job scope which don’t have a pay-out value. Often, managers say things like “the employee gets their job done really well, but they have a negative attitude,” or “the employee is not the most efficient at their task, but they really are enthusiastic and keen to learn more”. Performance reward needs to recognise not only the outcomes but how the employee conducted themselves in achieving them. “A highly negative employee who is an otherwise a good achiever is just as damaging to your workplace morale as a poorer performing employee,” Kitchner explains. Recognition and performance evaluation processes have the best outcomes for employees, managers, and the business when they are specifically tailored to the operations, organisational size and also future organisational objectives. “So many companies use performance evaluations solely as a process of looking-back at past performance,” says Kitchner. “I think this is a missed opportunity, as there is a lot to be gained in employee development, retention and business improvement, and making the performance evaluation process a launching pad for future development and progress as well.” Peer-to-peer recognition works best in an ad-hoc fashion rather than being an integral part of a formal process. This is because there is a lot of team development value to be achieved in providing employees with the mechanism to recognise their peers and this works best when that recognition happens close to the time when the action was performed. “Peer recognition in this manner is a really positive reinforce, and the Power2Motivate system supports this process by giving employees the opportunity to ‘thank’ their fellow employees for going over and above,” says Kitchner. However, formalising the peer-to-peer evaluation process can create a popularity competition or an environment where politics and ‘paybacks’ are the norm. This kind of negative culture should be avoided as it will undermine the otherwise positive intentions of the HRMASIA.COM

performance recognition process, Kitchner warns.

Social media and rewards While there is increased discussion on executive pay and expectations on companies to account for how executives are being paid, social media has made the world smaller and comparisons easier. Comparisons are made not just within the country but across industries and borders. “Obviously, some of the comparisons are not fair,” says Ong. “This calls for HR, Finance and Board Directors to be able to effectively filter out the noise and use relevant data to support their executive pay plans.” Used well, social media is a highly effective tool for employee recognition. Power2Motivate provides a social media platform that enables HR to provide instantaneous recognition to employees that have performed well, as well as communicate that performance to their peers and company managers. It also encourages real-time and effectively on-going performance management and recognition which is critical to continuous improvement and retention of employees. “Furthermore, the fact that employees will see the recognition that is provided to others acts as an aspirational motivator for everyone to achieve at a higher level and get recognised,” says Kitchner. The frequency of recognition can also be recorded and those statistics can then be made available to managers so they can see which employees have been getting heavily recognised for their performance during that period. “This provides managers with invaluable employee performance information,” Kitchner adds. The continued evolution of technology will ensure that more businesses will be taking up performance recognition and reward programmes, seeking integrated solutions, expecting flexible platform structures, and seeking the convenience of solutions that aren’t just online, but are also on mobile applications. “Employers who are still operating manually or using spread-sheets to manage their compensation and benefits or rewards processes will fall behind those who engage in smart technologies,” says Kitchner.

SPONSORED BY PARKWAY SHENTON

Parkway Shenton

The Parkway

Pulse Programme Parkway Pulse Programme (PPP) is developed as a corporate wellness programme targeted at working adults, to influence long-term behavioural change through empowerment with knowledge, inspirations and tools they need to lead a healthier life for themselves. This new corporate lifestyle initiative by Parkway Shenton aims to provide a holistic approach to screen, advise, guide and reward its participants for keeping themselves healthy. Participants who choose to join in the programme will complete health assessments to understand their current state of health. They will then receive a clearly defined personal health plan with products and services offerings to assist them in their journey to good health. Those who have achieved their personal health plan will enjoy greater benefits and motivation that will be carried with them throughout their life.

The programme consists of three stages:

STAGE 1

Understand your Health: Health screening for our corporate clients will be conducted at their worksite/office, Parkway Shenton Executive Health Screeners or Shenton Medical Group Clinics.

STAGE 2

Enhance your Health: Targeted Groups will be sent for a three-month long “Fitspiration” or “Foodspiration” programme. • Foodspiration: Targeted at mid to high risk employees with chronic conditions – an integrated dieting and low intensity exercise programme to help employees lead a healthy lifestyle and in the process, achieve long term weight loss and weight maintenance. It focuses on fitness and nutrition, and features educational and interactive sessions conducted by a Mind by Fitness consultant, dietician and psychologist. • Fitspiration: Targeted at overweight and slightly obese employees – a personalised exercise programme at a renowned fitness club where participants will have personal training sessions with a fully qualified Personal Trainer to build up their fitness and lose body fat.

STAGE 3

Enjoy a better life: Upon the successful completion of either programme, participants who have achieved his/her personalised health goals and targets will reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

For more information on our Parkway Pulse Programme, please contact us at corporate_services@parkwayshenton.com or +65 6227 7777.

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FEATURE

Corporate Health

Keep your employees

SMILING Research shows health and wellness programmes improve the morale and productivity of employees, while also enhancing communication and loyalty. HRM finds out how adding dental coverage to staff health plans can keep staff smiling, without necessarily impacting on budgets By Shalini Shukla-Pandey 46

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FEATURE

Investing in your employees’ health can help your bottom line. According to the Towers Watson/ National Business Group on Health 2011/2012 Staying@Work study, nearly two-thirds of companies with highly effective health and productivity programmes (66%) report better performance than their top competitors, versus just 50% of companies with “ineffective” programmes. Productivity, efficiency and staff well-being all increase as employees become healthier and more energetic, says Patrick Fiat, General Manager of Royal Plaza on Scotts. “The number of medical leave (days) taken will also decrease as more employees adopt healthier lifestyle habits,” he adds. Besides these advantages, investing in an employee’s health and developing a wellness culture also shows how much an organisation cares for its most important resource – its staff. But there’s one important area that is often passed over when corporate health plans for staff are being negotiated.

controls blood sugar to worsen diabetes, and can physically affect the size of blood vessels to increase blood pressure and the risk od stroke and heart attack,” says Tram Hoang, a dental surgeon practising at Q & M Dental Centre – City Square Mall. Other research has found that gum disease in pregnant women can be associated with pre-term birth, low-birth weight babies, and intrauterine growth restrictions during pregnancy. “Also, the relationship between gum disease and obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, and lung disease are currently being explored,” says Hoang. In addition to the important medical implications of having a healthy mouth, good oral health is important to a person’s overall well-being. “For example, people who suffer from bad breath may not be as confident speaking around their friends and colleagues,” Hoang explains. At the same time, tooth decay and gum disease can cause pain that may prevent people from performing at their optimal ability at work.

Dental as part of overall health

Corporate dental coverage

Dental coverage is well known to be a vital aspect of any individual’s overall health, but it is often left out of staff medical plans, especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). “I think many SMEs mistakenly view dental health as a separate and less important aspect of the well-being of their staff, as compared to medical health,” says Dr Lin Gengfeng, Division Director, T32 Corporate. “As such, they tend to provide only a nominal dental allowance for their staff, and this is usually less comprehensive than the medical coverage provided.” There is also less emphasis on dental health as many dental diseases progress in an insidious manner, with little or no symptoms in their initial stages. They can, however, result in severe and debilitating conditions at later stages, Lin adds. Richard Kwok, Senior Manager – Corporate and Business Development, NTUC Unity Healthcare Cooperative (Unity Denticare) attributes the relatively low popularity of dental coverage in SMEs to the lack of awareness about the importance of good oral health, and the misconception that dental plans are costly and unaffordable. “With some staff having encountered unpleasant experiences in their past dental visits, they may also not be keen to visit a dentist even though dental benefits are provided for,” he adds. Scientists have found that gum disease can increase inf lammation in the mouth which, can result in inf lammation all over the body. “This inflammation can then impair how the body

A standard corporate dental plan consists of basic procedures, such as scaling and polishing, fillings, and extractions. More comprehensive coverage will include complex procedures such as wisdom tooth surgery and root canal treatments.

Scientists have found that

gum disease

can increase inflammation in the mouth which, can result in inflammation all over the body

Screening wellness Health screenings are an integral part of ensuring a ‘lifetime of good health’ as they allow for early identification and control of disease and even the avoidance of some altogether. “Given that people spend a lot of time at the workplace and that about 65% of Singaporeans over 15 years of age are in the workforce, health screenings are recommended to be incorporated into corporate’s workplace health programme,” says Dr Khor Chin Kee, CEO, Parkway Shenton. “Health screenings will help influence employees’ behaviour to adopt a healthier lifestyle.” Corporate health screenings can be done onsite in the office or at one of seven conveniently located Parkway Shenton screening centres. A Designated Workplace Doctor can serve the needs of corporate clients’ statutory health screening requirements during onsite screening. Parkway Shenton has also recently introduced the Parkway Pulse Programme (PPP), to influence long-term behavioural change in working adults through empowerment with knowledge, inspiration and tools to make real improvement in their health and to reward them for doing so. PPP participants complete health assessments to understand their current state of health and receive a clearly defined personal health plan with product and service offerings to assist them in their journey towards healthy living. More discounts are made available to those who have achieved their personal health goals. “The benefits provided by our nationwide network of partners include attractive discounts on gym membership, sports apparels and shoes; health supplement and one-to-one dietician consultation among others,” says Khor. “In other words, PPP will act as a Compensation and Benefits component to reward employees for keeping healthy.”

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FEATURE

Corporate Health Prevention or halting the progression of dental diseases is a central aspect of the T32 Corporate dental programme, with the aim being to ensure more debilitating conditions are avoided or controlled. “Ultimately, this reduces the down time for staff under the programme, resulting in increased staff productivity,” Lin explains. In addition to providing corporate rates for primary dental healthcare procedures, any treatment for corporate members is customised and tailored according to specific needs, she said. Corporate rates are also extended to immediate family members of T32 members. “We also provide dental talks and dental health screenings for our corporate members to raise awareness and add value to the healthcare programme of SMEs,” says Lin. “T32 Corporate partners with childcare centres, medical centres and wellness groups so our members can enjoy special privileges, leading to well-rounded health management.” Q & M Dental Group has recently launched a web-based cashless system, known as the Healthcare Benefit Module (HBM). “Available at all Q & M clinics in Singapore, the system allows our corporate clients to enjoy cashless healthcare beneﬁts, and at the same time eliminate the hassle of handling and processing claims by the HR department,” says Joean So, Sales and Marketing Manager. Besides simplifying company’s claims management process, HBM also tracks and stores important information such as dates of visits, treatments done and spending, all of which can be accessed online. It generates a

CASESTUDY

One hotel’s war on obesity Royal Plaza on Scotts has taken the fight against obesity and ill-health up a level. Its workplace health programme is specifically targeting staff fitness levels and diets, with strong early results In response to the Health Promotion Board’s “One Million Kg Challenge” encouraging Singaporeans to collectively lose weight and fight against obesity, Royal Plaza on Scotts (RP) has implemented a range of ‘healthy lifestyle’ initiatives for its staff. It aims to share the importance of healthy living with employees and encourage them to adopt healthy lifestyle habits. HPB has approved a grant of $7,800 to help fund the hotel’s workplace health programme. Employees learn a range of simple exercises, tailored for professionals to stay fit in the workplace. Staff also participate in physical activities such as bowling or futsal, allowing them to bond with colleagues from different departments at the same time as exercising. A hotel-wide weight loss competition is also currently being held, where employees pitch themselves against each other to determine who will be the “biggest loser”. The department which loses most weight within three months will walk away with $388 in cash, with a $188 prize for the most successful individual weight loss. Three hundred and sixty employees, weighing a total of 23,961 kg have taken up the challenge, with a collective goal of losing 3% of the hotel’s “total weight” within three months. RP has invested in digital weighing scales for all departments to encourage employees to be proactive in keeping fit. Besides encouraging employees to engage in physical activities, RP also recognises the importance of mental well-being. Workshops are conducted to help employees cope with stress and unwind. Employees can also pick up tips on how to achieve work-life balance through effective goal-setting, managing their time, and overcoming obstacles. RP is also providing cooking demonstrations, teaching employees how to whip up healthier dishes and foster better eating habits. Food and beverages served in the staff cafeteria also offer healthier choices with fewer oily or fried items on the menu. In 2007, the hotel introduced its non-smoking programme to encourage staff to either cut

down on the number of cigarettes smoked or kick their habits completely. Fifteen employees managed to completely quit smoking within the first year, a 25% improvement from the number of employees who initially quit. Those who continue to smoke have also cut down their daily use by an average of three sticks. Employees say they have experienced increased health benefits since voluntarily participating in the programme. A $70,000 Chillax Lounge within the hotel premises acts as a chill-out space for staff. They are able to bond with other colleagues and watch movies or television programmes in a mini theatre within the lounge. A live aquarium was specially installed so associates can enjoy the calming view, while relaxing in massage chairs. On top of the activities, employees can also claim between $220 and $450 per annual for health-related expenses such as health supplements, and sportswear and gym membership, under a flexible benefits scheme. By creating a healthier and happier environment for all employees, the hotel hopes to encourage staff to be physically active and maintain positive mindsets. On employee says he feels “cared for” by the management of the hotel with the wide range of activities and talks that have been planned for staff. “It feels good to be able to take time off work and engage in physical activities, such as the inter-department futsal competition, and get to know colleagues from other departments at the same time,” Syed Mohamad Dawan Bin Ahmad Nassir, a technician with Royal Plaza on Scotts’ engineering department shared. “I’m looking forward to more of such healthy lifestyle activities.”

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FEATURE

Corporate Health Prevention is better than cure Many people visit their dentist only when dental infection or pain sets in. But these symptoms can often appear too late for preventive medical intervention, forcing patients into complex fillings, tooth extraction and even invasive surgery. “While discomfort and pain from such treatments is tolerated, losing a tooth or teeth is an irreversible and permanent repercussion for some worsened conditions,” says Richard Kwok, Senior Manager – Corporate and Business Development, NTUC Unity Healthcare Co-operative (Unity Denticare). “This may not necessarily spell the end of the chapter, as dentures or implants are then required to support restoration of a missing tooth or group of teeth. “Importantly, preventive dental care is also imperative in arresting other medical conditions, which through early detection by dentists will enable better treatable outcomes,” says Kwok. “Thus, it is no secret that oral health prevention is always better and cheaper than cure.”

Q & M Dental Group has recently launched a

web-based cashless system, known as the Healthcare Benefit Module (HBM)

single consolidated invoice for the ﬁnance department at the end of each month and can also generate various other reports stakeholders. With 15 branches in Singapore, employees of Unity Denticare corporate clients have easy access to clinics for their dental needs, including scaling and polishing, crown or bridges, dentures, wisdom tooth extractions, dental veneers, implants, tooth whitening, braces (orthodontics), and gum and root canal treatments. In order to help companies to better manage their healthcare costs, Unity Denticare provides corporate rates to its corporate clients. “Both self-payment and companypayment mode can be arranged at the preference of the individual company,” says Kwok. “Necessary credit terms can also be established upon understanding the billing requirement of our respective corporate clients.”

Do you know that 40% of our corporate patients require tertiary dental care, including root canal treatment and crowns?

6733 1388 corporate@t32dental.com www.t32dental.com/t32-corporate 50

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VIEW POINT Dr Lim Kheng Ann Visiting Consultant, Unity Denticare Specialist Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, FAMS (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery), FDSRCS (Edinburgh, Scotland), BDS (Singapore)

NTUC Unity Healthcare

Bringing forward

your best corporate smile Good oral care is essential for creating a positive first impression. Providing comprehensive dental benefits will not only boost your company’s image but increase the overall health and productivity of your workforce, says Dr Lim Kheng Ann, Visiting Consultant, Unity Denticare In our daily dealings with clients and colleagues, it is important that we project the correct image for various reasons. Be it in our daily correspondences with our fellow workers at our workplace, or having an important meeting with our clients, it is imperative that we do not exhibit signs of bad oral health. Bad oral health can present itself in many ways. The most noticeable will of course be halitosis or bad breath. Nobody wants to have bad breath or worst still, hold a conversation in close proximity with one who has. If we are meeting clients, bad breath can be a ‘deal killer’. The next most noticeable feature will be badly decayed and discoloured or missing teeth. Bad teeth will result in a bad smile or even no smile at all. Poor oral image has been shown to affect the confidence of a person. The image of the company will, as a consequence, be adversely affected by such an employee. From a client and customer’s perspective, the outward appearance of a person reflects not only on one’s standard of personal hygiene but even more so reflects on the image of the company he or she works for. Imagine meeting an air stewardess with the most beautiful uniform and makeup but with bad looking decayed teeth and bad breath, it will invariably reflect badly on the airline she works for as it demonstrates a lack of respect for the client. The image of the company is, therefore, inexorably linked with the oral hygiene state and appearance of the employees. This is especially so when it comes to frontline staff and companies dealing with lifestyle and luxury items. From the company’s perspective, it is important for the employee to be healthy and productive with minimal medical leave. The oral health of employees reflects on their general health. As the common notion goes; the mouth is the window to the body. The oral health of an individual is a window to his

health in many ways. Some examples will be diabetes, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal problems and even autoimmune syndromes. These medical problems may present initially with gum disease and even changes to the oral mucosa and bad breath. When detected early, these diseases can be picked up in its early stages and treated. Complications can then be avoided. As responsible employers, it is not only important to ensure that the working environment is safe for employees; the employer should also ensure that employees’ health is well taken care of. This will result in a healthier workforce with fewer days off for medical conditions and also with better health; there will be better productivity and higher morale amongst the workforce. From the employee’s perspective, the provision of medical and dental benefits tells the employee that the company is a caring company. This will result in a better sense of responsibility and loyalty to the organisation. Nobody wants to work for an uncaring employer. Corporate dental schemes come in many forms. The main thrust is a ‘group benefit feature’ where employees benefit from a predetermined ‘group discount’. It is hoped that this incentive will encourage employees to visit the dentist to kick off their oral hygiene programme. Some companies will even extend the benefit to the employees’ dependants as an added feature of the scheme. One dental chain providing corporate services to companies is Unity Denticare. Being a co-operative itself, Unity Denticare can extend corporate benefits to companies at very reasonable rates. Providing corporate dental benefits to employees can only be beneficial to the company. Having dental benefits not only boosts the health, confidence and productivity of the employees but also enhances the image of the organisation.

NTUC Unity Healthcare Co-operative Limited (Unity Denticare) 55 Ubi Avenue 1 #08-01 Singapore 408935 Tel: 65904300 Web: www.unitydenticare.com

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TALENT LADDER

New Appointments Yee Poh Ling

Senior Vice President, Global HR, Asia Pacific, Y&R Group Yee Poh Ling has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Global HR, Asia Pacific, Y&R Group. In her capacity as Regional HR Director, she has dual responsibility for both Y&R and Wunderman networks across Asia. She was instrumental in the launch of the Zed Academy which began in Singapore and she drove the collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board in creating, and gaining financial sponsorship for, the Zed Graduate Programme.

Commenting on the promotion,William J. Manfredi, Executive Vice President Global Talent Management, Y&R Group said, “In my career I have worked with many HR managers. However, Poh Ling has redefined the definition of HR professional with her relentless work ethic, accessibility, can do attitude and her ability to represent and carry out the overall global talent strategy across their regions. This promotion is testament to our ongoing focus on Asia Pacific.”

Added Yee, “Our talent management programmes across the region continue to grow. I look forward to driving our initiatives to the next level and to further enhancing our partnerships with Asian schools and universities.” She remains based in the Group’s regional Headquarters in Singapore, reporting to William Manfredi and regional network heads Y&R Asia President Matthew Godfrey and Wunderman Asia Pacific President Stephane Faggianelli.

Josephine Chua

Director of Human Resources, Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park Josephine Chua has been appointed as the Director of Human Resources at Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park. An industry veteran with over 28 years of experience, Chua was previously a senior manager in the Human Resources & Talent Development Department at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS). She provided end-to-end one-stop HR services onsite at four strategic locations within the resorts for employees spread across diversified businesses such as hospitality, attractions, gaming and retail. Prior to RWS, Chua held engineering and

global supply chain roles in companies such as Hewlett Packard Singapore, Agilent Technologies Singapore and Avago Singapore. In addition to this, Chua also focused on HR areas such as learning and development, leadership development and talent development at these three companies. In her new role at Ramada and Days Hotels, Chua oversees the HR department and is responsible for the entire spectrum of HR services, strategies and deliverables. As both hotels and brands are fairly new in Singapore, Chua says that there is great

potential for her team and her to establish the hotels as employers of choice in the coming days through generous employee benefits and forward thinking HR policies. “One good example of a forward thinking policy will be our Masters of Experience programme (ME in short), which was set up to manage manpower challenges and to nurture talent in the hospitality industry,” Chua says. “Developing people has always been my passion so I look forward to setting new benchmarks for myself, and for the hotels in attracting, nurturing and retaining associates,” she says.

Laurence Smith

Managing Director HR, Group Head of Learning & Talent Development, DBS Bank Laurence Smith recently took on the role of Managing Director HR and Group Head of Learning & Talent Development at DBS Bank. A HR industry veteran, Smith was previously working with HR guru Dave Ulrich and launched his Results Based Leadership (RBL) consulting business in Asia, based out of Singapore. Prior to RBL, Smith held a number of L&D roles including, Chief Learning Officer at LG Electronics in Seoul and Asia Head of 52

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Learning & Development for GE Money in Tokyo. Joining DBS marks his return to the banking world. At DBS, Smith will focus on learning and talent development as well as pursue his interests in the ‘enabling technologies’ of collaboration, peer2peer learning, simulations, social learning and gamification. “While I am a huge believer in the importance of face to face programmes and the learning and networking that results, I

think that social learning and real-time collaboration offers the greatest potential for L&D to make a difference in the future,” Smith says. Smith hopes to make DBS recognised region wide, and ultimately worldwide, as a “University for Banking Talent” that leads the way with innovative learning, creating a robust pipeline of globalised Asian leaders both for DBS and beyond.

IN PERSON

HR Talent Tricia Duran HR Director, Unilever Asia

How many years HR experience? 18 years. Why Unilever? Why not?! I love Unilever. Why HR? I realised early on in my career that products, processes, systems and even factories could be copied, but the one thing that was a truly unique competitive advantage was our people. While I began my career in marketing, I quickly realised that I had a bigger calling, and that was to build our biggest brand - the Unilever Employer Brand. It was on all our packaging and advertising, therefore it was the brand with the widest reach and the most access to attract the best talent in the world. I was up for that challenge! Biggest achievement? It would have to be leading the transformation of the global marketing organisation alongside the chief marketing officer and his leadership team. We had a business challenge at that time - our brands needed to

go global, and we needed an organisation to support that. So we set some organisational principles, identified the characteristics required to become a great marketer, put our best people in the key roles and created career paths and a change management plan to ensure the new organisation landed well. I’m proud to say that the current marketing organisation in Unilever is an outcome of this work. Biggest Challenge? I’ve had an amazing international career, having lived in five countries, thanks to Unilever. I’ve been away from home (the Philippines) for 13 years and my biggest challenge is missing my closest family and friends. In the early days, technology was not so advanced and it was especially difficult, but these days I’m a big fan of social media and technology, which needs me connected. After hours? I have a regular yoga practice and last year got certified as an internationally qualified Yoga Teacher. I have a passion for Vietnamese art which I indulge in. I’m also the lead singer of a band (but we only play for friends!).

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ADVERTORIAL

Enterprise Training Support

Transform your workplace with

Enterprise Training Support (ETS) Need a helping hand? The ETS scheme will support you in your quest for HR innovation

To find out more: Call WDA Hotline at 6883 5885 or email WDA_Enquiry @wda.gov.sg Alternatively, visit www.wda.gov.sg/ets

The Enterprise Training Support (ETS) scheme is a new scheme jointly developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to support organisations in training their workforce and implementing progressive and innovative HR systems that will help to raise their skills and productivity. A part of economic restructuring, the ETS scheme also aims to create more hiring and competitive opportunities for Singaporeans through good HR development management systems and practices. The scheme also benchmarks compensation and benefits to market rates for local talent attraction and retention. The Government has set aside approximately $20 million for the ETS scheme, which will run from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2015. ETS is open to all Singaporeregistered or incorporated organisations, including societies and non-profit organisations.

“Singapore companies are facing intense competition,” says CK Wong, managing director of HME Technologies, a leading oil-field equipment manufacturer. “We need to raise the capabilities of our workers by upgrading their skills through good schemes such as ETS to provide a greater edge in meeting the competitive competition in today markets.” Science Arts Co, a provider of corporate employee health and wellness programmes for SMEs, has set up a systematic and comprehensive HR training scheme and received the People Developer Certification in 2002. The company’s chairman, Tan Lee Huak, was recently appointed as an ETS Envoy. He credits his employees as the most valuable asset in making the company what it is today. “With ETS, we will now be able to level up our training system to train our employees, and further build our HR capability, training delivery and productivity, by tapping on the various grants from WDA,” says Tan.

Grants & Incentives under ETS Type of Grant

How it helps organisations

Training Grant (Up to $200,000 per organisation) *Mandatory

Supports the cost of non-Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) structured training and On-the-Job training (OJT), with bundled WSQ training forming at least 30% of an enterprise training plan

In-house non-WSQ External non-WSQ training funding rate training funding rate (for courses not funded by WDA or via SkillsConnect) SME – Rank and File

$15/hr

Non-SME – Rank and File $7/hr

90% capped at $15/hr 80% capped at $7/hr

SME – PME

$15/hr

90% capped at $15/hr

Non-SME – PME

$15/hr

50% capped at $15/hr

Capability Grant (One-time grant of $20,000 per organisation)

Helps organisations that aspire to be WSQ in-house Approved Training Organisations (ATO), to build capabilities in the areas of training delivery and infrastructure

Curriculum Contextualisation and Alignment Grant (Up to $52,000 per organisation)

Helps organisations to defray costs in developing WSQ training modules and OJT blueprints

Activity

Grant Amount

Funding Rate

Development of WSQ courses Capped at $30,000 90% capped at $10,000 per competency unit developed Contextualisation of WSQ courses

90% capped at $5,000 per competency unit contextualised

Development of OJT blueprint Capped at $22,000 90% capped at $2,000 per OJT blueprint

HR Development Grant (Up to $60,000 per organisation) • Funding of up to 70% of invoice costs, with $5,000 sub-cap on organisation internal manpower costs

One-time grant that helps organisations defray costs of engaging consultants to implement or improve their learning and development system

Compensation and Benefits System Review Grant (Up to $15,000 per organisation) • Funding of up to 70% of invoice costs.

Helps organisations defray costs of engaging consultancy services to conduct enterprise-wide industry salary benchmark reviews and restructuring of wages

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TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN

HR at Work 5.30 am I am a morning person and so starting off early is ideal for keeping my energy levels high. 7.00 am Off to the office but first, I make a short stop to have some quiet time and be in touch with my True North, with a cup of tea, butter sugar toast and soft boiled egg.

12.00 pm Lunch time! A good time to catch some fresh air. Sometimes I make a quick run to the West Coast coffee shop for some traditional local dishes that are not available near the office. Eating is always the best time to reconnect with my team on a personal level. 1.00 pm Mid-day review of my to-do list.

Amor Villalon Regional Vice President – HR, Fujitsu Asia

8.00 am Alignment time with Regional HR and Singapore HR. Typically, we review what happened the previous week and identify priorities and the resources needed for the new week. We also look into potential bottlenecks with regard to ongoing projects and identify ways to resolve them. It is also my time to get feedback on issues that I need to escalate to the regional leaders. 9.00 am Time with the regional leaders. This usually starts with business updates, country and business unit performance as well as what is happening across the region. 10.30 am Follow up 1:1 with regional, country or function leaders.

Understanding Money Managing Money To Live Within Your Means

Planning Ahead Understanding Yourself, Your Rights And Responsibilities

Selecting Financial Products

1.30 pm Combination of face-to-face meetings and calls. Our favourite meeting place is a spot that overlooks the green slopes of Science Park II. 5.00 pm I typically do short calls with HR leaders in other countries, especially when I am travelling the next day. 6.00 pm I get off work and head for a 30- to 60-minute brisk walk either at East Coast Park or the Marina Barrage area. Walking gives me new perspective. It also allows me to sweat profusely ridding out toxins and disease from my body in a natural way! Walking also gives me the chance to witness the changing colours of the sky as the sun sets…

P Prepare You And Your Employees For Different Life Stages

dŚĞ /ŶƐƟƚƵƚĞ ĨŽƌ &ŝŶĂŶĐŝĂů >ŝƚĞƌĂĐǇ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞƐ ĨƌĞĞ ĂŶĚ ƵŶďŝĂƐĞĚ ƚĂůŬƐͬǁŽƌŬƐŚŽƉƐ Ăƚ ǇŽƵƌ ǁŽƌŬƉůĂĐĞ͘ The Institute is a collaboration between MoneySENSE and Singapore Polytechnic

ŽŶƚĂĐƚ hƐ ǁĞďƐŝƚĞ ͗ ǁǁǁ͘ĮŶůŝƚ͘ƐŐ ĞŵĂŝů ͗ ŝŇΛƐƉ͘ĞĚƵ͘ƐŐ ISSUE 13.11

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Finalists Announced Soon

Don’t Miss the HR Night of the Year

2014

HRM Awards is Asia’s pre-eminent event for celebrating the best and brightest HR people and practices. Now in its eleventh year, HRM Awards continues to be the benchmark for recognising and celebrating the very best in HR. Join the who’s who in HR at the industry’s biggest night of the year.

awards Emcee – Adrian Pang

Featuring – Chua Enlai From ‘The Noose’

AWARDS

2014

The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore | 21 February 2014

Title Sponsor

Event Partners

www.hrmawards.com

VIEW POINT

HR Certification Institute

HR Certification proves experience, knowledge and value Getting professionally certified raises confidence and gives HR practitioners an edge over the competition, says HR Certification Institute Earning credentials in Human Resources is the best way to show that one has the expertise, experience and real-world knowledge needed in the profession. Today, more than 125,000 HR professionals in 80 countries proudly display the “letters” they’ve earned from the HR Certification Institute to show that they understand and implement best practices in HR. The Institute offers the Human Resource Business Professional (HRBP◊), Human Resource Management Professional (HRMP◊), Professional in Human Resources (PHR®), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR®) and Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR®) certifications. For HR professionals, earning certification from the Institute has given them confidence and a sense of accomplishment. They also feel that it shows others that they are innovative, are more engaged in work and are dedicated to their chosen field.

Employee Engagement In addition to high levels of engagement by certified HR professionals, companies that utilise HR professionals with industry credentials are better equipped to ensure their employees are engaged, satisfied and productive, according to the Institute for Credentialing Excellence. Making a company a “great place to work” can be an elusive target for many employers, but studies have shown a direct link between high employee satisfaction and increased productivity, retention, customer loyalty, and company profitability. Employers can ensure satisfaction among their workers by hiring certified HR professionals well versed in industry practices related to strategic management, workforce planning, development and training, and other HR-related operations. Credentialed HR professionals can use their expertise to help companies develop and

“Obtaining my GPHR certification was a direct factor in my employer believing that I could handle the additional responsibilities and complexities involved in handling HR for many cross-border global environments” – PATRICK CONWAY, GPHR

“HRCI’s certifications have more global appeal. There are so many people from different countries earning the certifications offered by HR Certification Institute. They go beyond the borders of any one country” – KOJO AMISSAH, HRMP

execute HR systems and strategies that keep employees happy, productive, and loyal.

Employer Satisfaction & Benefits In a 2010 survey of more than 1,500 employers, the Institute found that 97 percent of respondents believe it is important for employees in their HR departments to be professionally certified. The survey also showed that HR certification positively impacts an organisation’s reputation as an employer and demonstrates that it takes HR seriously. In addition, the survey found that: • Ninety-six percent of employers feel that an HR certified candidate applying for a job would have an advantage over a non-HR certified candidate. • Sixty-nine percent of employers state that an HR certified person being considered as an independent consultant for an HR department would have a ‘very significant’ advantage over a non-certified individual.

HR Certification Institute (HRCI) 1800 Duke Street Alexandria, Virginia, USA 22314 Tel: +1 866 898 4724 (US Toll Free) +1 703 535 6000 (International) Email: info@hrci.org Fax: +1 703 535 6474 Web: www.hrci.org

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TALENT CHALLENGE

Training and Development

Ever improving How important is training and skills development towards staff retention?

Jennifer Wu

Talent Manager, APAC, Lewis PR

Training can increase staff retention when it reinforces the value of the employee. People want to feel proud that the job they do is important to the success of the business and therefore the business is investing time and money to help them do their job well. At LEWIS PR, we allow people the opportunity to learn new skills as well as perfect existing skills. Being able to grow and progress in a position and company, and to feel good about the job they are doing, is important to employees and it influences their view of the company in a positive way. By investing in training, employees develops a greater sense of self-worth as they become more valuable to the company and are rewarded accordingly with more responsibility, greater challenges, pay rises, bonuses and promotions. The company, too, will gain specific benefits from training and developing its people including better quality and faster performance and less need for close supervision. People rarely leave a job just for more salary. Training keeps your employees interested in continuing and developing their career with you because it demonstrates that the company values them. Training can lead to greater employee satisfaction and therefore a higher retention rate. Our aim is to provide a learning environment that can offer a route to the career that our employees have always wanted. 58

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Samantha Foong

Manager, Regional Human Resources, Sony Electronics Asia Pacific

At Sony, we place great emphasis on human capital development, ensuring that our employees are equipped with the right qualities and knowledge to stay ahead of our competition. Training and skills development support our aim to attract, engage and retain the finest talents for sustainable business growth. It gives the business a clear resource plan for succession management in order to remove risk from turnover and replacement. Research has shown that through proper training and skills development, employees will transfer what they learn into action and ultimately contribute to achieving company objectives. One of the participants from our leadership programme is a great example. We received positive feedback that his leadership behaviour has improved tremendously by actively applying the skills he acquired from the programme. He taught others what he had learnt in the programme to evoke a positive change in his team. In this instance, the training and skills development not only benefitted him but also his greater team by motivating the team and creating a positive work environment. This has aided in retaining not just the employee but also his colleagues. Together with other Sony programmes targeted at work-life balance and employee engagement, we have successfully decreased turnover rates from 13% to 7.8% from 2010 to 2012. We have also increased employee engagement levels in excess of 80%.

Doreen Cheah

Regional HR Manager, South Asia, Human Resources, Brady Corporation Asia

Organisations exist because of their great products, expertise and most importantly, great and talented employees forming the backbone of organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success Hence, it is important that organisations put in effective training and skills development programmes to continuously grow the employees and retaining them. Effective training and skills development equips employees with the right knowledge and skills to perform their job well. With the right skills, employees excel and derive immense satisfaction and recognition. This in turn, further motivates the employees to improve and accepts new challenges. New challenges open up career progression opportunities for them. With regular job enhancements and enrichments, employees are motivated and more likely to stay on their career path track within the organisation. The right training and development programmes can also help to address the weaknesses of employees who may be falling behind expectations. Once competency improves, employees are comfortable with their jobs and will look forward to further enhancing their expertise. A strong training and development programme also forms an invisible safety net to employees. They are assured that help will be given to overcome temporal challenges that they may face. Such an environment can be unique to the organisation and probably not replicated in another.

RESOURCES

Book Reviews

Know thyself first, then lead others Another book about leadership? Not so. Every leader is unique and this book sends the critical message for anyone who has a leadership role, to understand themselves first. In his book, The “I” of Leadership, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the London Business School, Nigel Nicholson shows that when thrust into a leadership moment, how one sees that moment, views himself/ herself as actors in the moment and what he/she does or plans to do in that moment is the “I” of leadership: Seeing, being and doing. “The capacity of leaders to see what others do not see frames their actions and allows them to build,

transform, stabilise and even destroy organisations,” says Nicholson. Through case studies involving world-famous leaders such as George Bush, Tony Blair, Lee Kuan Yew, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Josef Stalin, Hannibal, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Gandhi, Henry Ford, Barack Obama, Aung San Suu Kyi, JFK, Pope John XXIII and Margaret Thatcher, Nicholson brings out insights on the true nature of human leadership and real-life lessons that a reader can learn from. Also, at the end of every chapter, Nicholson has included a box-out on key thoughts, implications and observations for leaders and organisations – an especially nifty resource for the busy HR professional of today. This book is indeed an invaluable guide to HR professionals, leaders and people everywhere.

Need Coaching?

Title: The “I” of Leadership Author: Nigel Nicholson Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Price: S$40.61

coachfederation.org

86% of Companies made back at least their investment in coaching. Of the 86%, 28% saw an ROI of 10 to 49 times the investment and 19% saw an ROI of 50 times their investment. Source: 2009 ICF Global Coaching Client Study

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WE KNOW RECRUITMENT AND WE MATCH HIGH PERFORMERS WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPANIES

Compensation & Benefits Manager

Learning & Development Director

HR Director

› Opportunity to lead in key projects

› Renowned local MNC

› Newly created role

› Location within the central business district

› Growing APAC business

› Fortune 500 MNC

A pioneer in their industry, our client has established a strong brand name associated with quality service excellence. They are looking for a Compensation & Benefits Manager to join their inclusive team. In this role, you will be involved in the review and development of both compensation and benefits strategies, policies and programs to ensure total compensation competitiveness. You have a minimum of 5 years of compensation and/or benefits experience and strong proficiency in analytical and statistical work. The ability to work on Excel with a large database of numbers is a requirement, as is strong written and presentation skills.

Our client is a leading local multinational in the Technology sector with presence in countries across the region. Reporting to the Head of HR, you will be leading a team to formulate company wide L&OD strategies. You will provide solutions to strengthen the competitive advantage and enrich internal talent to support the company. Ideally, you are degree qualified, with at least 12 years of experience in L&OD, preferably in the Technology sector. You also possess an excellent track record in managing sizable teams.

Our client is a renowned UK organisation in the professional consulting sector. Due to organisational growth in SEA & ANZ, they are now seeking a high-calibre professional to join them as HR Director. Reporting to the Head of HR and Managing Partner, your role is to implement HR strategy, policies and procedures. To be successful in this role, you will be a flexible, resilient, independent, competent and capable candidate. Key to your success will be your ability to engage the senior leaders on a strategic level. The successful applicant will have a tertiary degree in HRM with at least 15 years of relevant experience.

Please contact Lucia Deng quoting ref: H1915620 or visit our website.

Please contact Nupur Agarwal quoting ref: H1926800 or visit our website.

Please contact Sean Tong quoting ref: H1939570 or visit our website.

To apply for any of the above positions, please go to www.michaelpage.com.sg and search for the reference number, or contact the relevant consultant on +65 6533 2777 for a confidential discussion.

Human Resources

14432-AC_SG_HRM Nov 2013.indd 1

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Specialists in human resources recruitment www.michaelpage.com.sg

#14185 Licence No.: 98C5473 Business Registration No: 199804751N

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10/14/2013 10:26:33 AM

Your career in HR starts here. Human Resources Manager You will be in charge of leading and motivating the HR team to achieve operational efficiency and effectiveness, support strategy formulation, execution of strategic plans and communication of strategies to all stakeholders. You will develop, implement and effectively communicate company policies and initiatives to attract, retain and develop talents, monitor recruitment strategies to hire key talents and drive the Performance Management Process with focus on leadership development. You should have a Degree in HR with at least 7-10 years of working experience in the HR field. The ideal candidate is strategic and has a critical thinking mindset, and pays attention to details and possess the ability to multi-task in a fast moving manufacturing / industrial environment. Contact us at +65 6632 0048 / hrmg@capitagrp.com for a confidential discussion.

Senior Compensation & Benefits Executive Reporting to the C&B Manager, you will execute Compensation and Benefits program implementation and administration locally and globally in accordance to the corporate strategies and philosophy. Core responsibilities include managing all C&B related programs such as annual salary review and performance bonus payment. You will conduct salary / benefit surveys, review and refine salary structure in consultation with quality vendors and advise in all policy and benefit entitlement issues. With a degree and at least 4 years of local & global C&B/consulting experience, you have strong knowledge in local and regional employment laws as well as advanced database management skills. Familiarity with Mercer TRS and evaluation methodology would be advantageous. Contact us at +65 6603 3376 / hrmg@capitagrp.com for a confidential discussion.

Associate HR Director (Planning & Development) Working closely with senior management to ensure that the effective deployment and development of manpower, you will plan for all L&D projects, conduct TNA and drive company-wide training initiatives aligned with learning objective. You will also provide leadership on talent management matters, including succession planning, and spearhead talent attraction strategies. You will also establish the management & leadership development philosophy and strategies and incorporate effective recruitment and communication methods for the line managers. A strong track record in L&D and practical experience in managing intensive talent and leadership review processes, above a degree in L&D related concentration and 10 years of leadership experience. Candidates with experience in large, organisation-wide programme and process implementation will have an advantage. Contact us at +65 6603 8037 / hrmg@capitagrp.com for a confidential discussion.

Professional. Personalised. Passionate. THE HALLMARK OF OUR TALENT SOLUTIONS

CAPITA PTE LTD

EA Licence No. 08C2893 An ISO 9001:2008 certified company

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MAKE A QUANTUM LEAP Towards unparalleled career advancement with Kelly Professional and Technical division

Director, Human Resources Head of Department Role

Dynamic Environment

Our client is a professional body and has an excellent business model with a well respected leadership team. Partnering Business Heads, you will lead the overall HR strategy and execution on site, serving as HR business partner, change facilitator, and a trusted advisor to the business. You will oversee a HR team and will ensure the smooth running of HR Operations. Key focus areas include talent management and framework, staff engagement, providing advisory on HR policies and processes. The successful candidate will be a graduate in HR Management with ideally 15+ years of HR generalist experience. You should have the ability to initiate and drive solutions along with a strategic perspective whilst maintaining a hands-on approach. You should have excellent knowledge of the Employment Act and human capital practices. You will have an excellent track record in building and maintaining relationships at all levels within a business. Past experience managing strategic talent management would be a plus. To submit your application, please email your resume in word format to lili_kang@kellyservices.com.sg or contact Li Li Kang at (65) 6227 2251 for a confidential discussion. EA Personnel License No. R1108467

Manager, HRBP Full Spectrum HR

Exciting Career Growth Opportunity

Our client is a leader in its market and a trusted name as a facilities management provider. They are recruiting a HR Business Partner to join the HR team. You will be responsible for the HR strategy and execution as a trusted advisor to the business and will facilitate change as the organization evolves. This is a local coverage role and you will be working closely with the rest of HR specialist teams and business unit managers; providing support and advice on the full spectrum of HR activities and for the graduate program. You will have the opportunity to make a difference to the business through formulation and implementation of HR strategies, processes and policies, as well as through the active engagement, understanding and partnership with the business units and their employees. You should have strong academic credentials with a degree in HRM or relevant discipline, ideally with 8+ years of HR experience including business partnering experience. You will have an excellent track record of leadership within a diverse and collaborative environment. You will also be able to demonstrate an ability to build and motivate teams. You possess the analytical and creative skills to understand issues and develop creative solutions. To submit your application, please email your resume in word format to lili_kang@kellyservices.com.sg or contact Li Li Kang at (65) 6227 2251 for a confidential discussion. EA Personnel License No. R1108467

Kelly Services, Inc. is a leader in providing workforce solutions. For more than 34 illustrious years, Kelly has been partnering Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading companies to deliver the best talent in the market. Today, Kelly Singapore operates from over 10 strategic locations island-wide. Complementing our Technology and Science, as well as functional specialities for Finance, HR, Sales & Marketing, Procurement and Banking.

kellyservices.com.sg

Kelly Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd | EA License No. 01C4394 | RCB No. 200007268E

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Group Learning & Development Vice President

Head of HR

Compensation Specialist

Global Investment Manager

Global Real Estate Financial Services Organisation

Leader in the Tourism and Services Sector

Group Role

Country Head of HR role

High Visibility

Program Design Opportunity

Competitive Remuneration

Manager Level

This premier investment manager operates globally and invests in both public and private assets. It promotes creativity, mobility and diversity, and invests in human capital development.

An excellent opportunity exists within this global real estate financial services firm which is currently in a high growth stage with excellent opportunities in the region. Due to continuing business needs, there is now an opportunity for a dedicated and high performing HR professional to join them in this exciting role.

This leading organisation has a strong reputation in the tourism sector, which is known for its innovation and excellence. We are helping to appoint a new compensation specialist into the HQ team based in Singapore. With a global portfolio and growth agenda, it is an exciting time for them.

Reporting to the Group Head of Learning & Development and partnering closely with the business and functional leaders, you will develop a comprehensive learning strategy and design innovative and effective learning & development programs. You will drive organizational and cultural changes in support of the institutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transformation journey. Degree qualified, you will have relevant experience ideally in Financial Services though it is not a must. You will have experience in curriculum design, program development, training delivery experience (mainly on soft skills) and stakeholder & vendor management (on technical training development and delivery). You possess strong analytical, interpersonal and organization skills. To apply, please submit your resume to Adnan Atan at aa@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference no AA6161\HRM, or call at (65) 6333 8530 for more details.

Reporting to SEA Head of Human Resources based in Singapore, you will work closely with the management team and implement global best practices for their regional operations headquartered in Singapore. This is a generalist role encompassing issues pertaining to resourcing, talent management, compensation and benefits, learning and development, employee relations as well as other ad-hoc issues. You will partner with the business and support the management team.

The Compensation Specialist is responsible for undertaking the review of existing structure and implement the revised compensation framework. Reporting to the Head of HR, you will be required to review current system with an objective to formulate and carry out the revised compensation frameworks, hence ensuring the structure is competitive relative to the market.

You are HR qualified and have worked a minimum of 10 years in a progressive multinational. You possess great communication skills and comfortable with presentation in front of management team. You are hands on, yet have the capacity to think at a very broad level.

You will have at least 8 to 10 years in compensation design and implementation within local and global contexts. Ideally you should be degree qualified in Human Resources. You possess ability to collaborate across boundaries, cultures in an evolving environment. Exposure to best practices is highly preferred.

To apply, please submit your resume to Finian Toh at ft@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number FT6152\HRM, or call (65) 63338530 for more details.

To apply, please submit your resume to Finian Toh at ft@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number FT6357\HRM, or call (65) 63338530 for more details.

Financial Services I Commerce I Engineering I Human Resources I Legal I Sales & Marketing I Technology 64

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Business Registration No: 200307397W I Licence No: 03C4828

Returning the Human to Resourcing

6 Best Headhunting awards in Asiamoney Headhunters Poll for Asia since 2009

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Internal Communications manager

VP - Compensation & Benefits (Global Bank)

Global FMCG Organisation

Prominent Global Financial Institution

Newly Created Role

Excellent Career Opportunity

Regional Scope

High Visibility to Senior Management

A global FMCG organisation is looking for a talent acquisition specialist to support their regional business. This is an exciting opportunity to join an organization, which offers a real opportunity to make an impact, drive growth and partner closely with the business.

This hugely successful and progressive global organisation has a global focus across the Asia Pacific region. They have a strong reputation for its collaborative work environment. Due to growing business needs, the organisation is looking to identify a manager to look after the internal communications and employee relations across the business.

This is a well-known global wholesale bank with a strong presence across Asia. As part of the organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategic growth, there is now an excellent opportunity to join as a Vice President (VP) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Compensation & Benefits.

You will report to the Head of HR based in Singapore and will be expected to work closely with the business to recruit across a wide range of functions for the regional offices. You would be required to work independently and also need to be competent at managing external agencies. You also need to independently conduct and search for hard-to-fill positions by proactively networking and establishing talent pipelines, leveraging existing relationships, and developing new contacts. You will have at least 5 years of recruitment experience ideally with regional Business Partner exposure. Knowledge and experience in the FMCG industy is an added advantage. You are a powerful communicator with strong business acumen. To apply, please submit your resume to Finian Toh at ft@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number FT5357\HRM, or call (65) 63338530 for more details.

This role is highly visible as you will be reporting directly to the regional HR head. This role involves spearheading employee communications agenda and various projects for the region. You are also expected to work closely with various senior stakeholders across the region. Ideally, you are degree qualified in disciplines of mass communications or human resources. You will need to have strong communication skills and have worked a minimum of 5 years in a progressive and dynamic organisation.

To apply, please submit your resume to Finian Toh at ft@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number FT6058\HRM, or call (65) 63338530 for more details.

Reporting into the Head of HR, you will work as an advisor to business units and regional HR managers. You will analyze the job markets, benchmark job positions and align current benefits with the market data. You will monitor the progress of stock option programs, assist in annual salary review. You will also be required to design job evaluation instrument and guides, review group medical insurance, design incentive programs and sales commission with the respective business units. You will work with internal system to extract information for analysis and ensure feedback into payroll team. You are responsible for planning and budget for HR team and will ensure compensation & benefits structure are in line with budget. Ideally you are degree qualified with strong C&B background of at least 7 years or more. You have good understanding of various countries C&B benefit structures, and good communications skills. A good team player as well as one, who is able to work with minimum supervision, will succeed in this role. To apply, please submit your resume to Finian Toh at ft@kerryconsulting.com, quoting the job title and reference number FT6134\HRM, or call (65) 63338530 for more details.

Business Registration No: 200307397W I Licence No: 03C4828

Multi-award winning recruitment firm with specialist practices in: Banking, Finance - Commerce, Engineering, Human Resources, Legal, Sales & Marketing, and Technology.

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REGIONAL VP HR IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE Global US Healthcare MNc. Highly values driven culture. Grow and lead your team. DaVita, meaning ‘giving life’ in Italian, is a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc, a Fortune 500® company and listed on the NYSE. DaVita, with more than 50,000 employees globally, has embarked on an international expansion plan and has established presence in 10 countries including 5 in Asia. Asia operations, headquartered in Singapore, have rapidly grown to more than 45 centres in 20 cities across the region including China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Due to this strong focus on the Asian market, DaVita has an exciting opportunity for a Regional VP HR to drive the HR strategy across APAC. Responsibilities include providing strong functional leadership to the business entities, playing a key role in the overall direction and successful growth of the business in the region. Reporting directly to the President for APAC, you will oversee and lead a team of Business Partners and generalists across India, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. Further, you will work very closely with business leaders to deliver high level HR strategy that is strongly aligned with the objectives of the business. In order to be successful in this role, you will have a minimum of 15 years relevant HR experience within a global MNC, and have strong exposure to compensation and benefits across the region. You will have worked within a growing regional organisation that has a strong global footprint and have a ‘building’ and ‘entrepreneur’ mindset. With a proven track record in driving and delivering initiatives as well as communicating and influencing senior stakeholders, this role will suit someone with high business acumen and a strong sense of community contribution. If you want to be part of a truly unified cultural environment and you have the right experience for this position, this is the next step in your career. contact Ash Russell at ash.russell@hays.com.sg or +65 6303 0721.

hays.com.sg

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REGIONAL L&D SENIOR MANAGER PROVIDE REGIONAL LEARNING SOLUTIONS TO THE bUSINESS Strong market presence. Growing regionally. Individual contributor. A global MNC and top ten logistics provider is seeking a Learning & Development Senior Manager/Director to join the HR team in Singapore. Reporting to the VP HR Asia Pacific, you will provide learning and OD solutions to the business. You will identify, design, develop and implement development programs in close partnership with business heads to strengthen the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competitive advantage and enrich their internal talent to support business and growth plans. You will have more than ten years experience as a specialist, with the last two or three in a regional capacity. This role is for an individual contributor so will require a hands on person who is results oriented, with strong leadership and organisational skills. contact chris Lui at chris.lui@hays.com.sg or +65 6303 0721.

hays.com.sg

SENIOR HR bUSINESS PARTNER ROLL OUT, PARTIcIPATE & MANAGE PROjEcTS Leading FS. Fast paced organisation. Advise as a true partner. This leading financial services organisation has a strong presence in Singapore and APAC. They have a fantastic opportunity for a HR Business Partner to join their growing team. This is a true generalist role handling the full spectrum of HR whilst building and managing relationships with key stakeholders. You will be working very closely with the business to identify solutions to organisational issues covering people, structure, process, strategy and culture to support the business effectively. You must have a minimum of eight years HR Generalist or Business Partner experience, ideally gained within the financial services industry, and have proven track record of dealing with senior stakeholders across a regional capacity. Strong business acumen is also key to your success in this role. contact Mamta Shukla at mamta.shukla@hays.com.sg or +65 6303 0721.

hays.com.sg

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Great people are at the heart of every successful business. It is this belief to invest in our team at Charterhouse that makes it possible for us to provide our clients with professional, specialised and tailored executive search services and the best possible talent for each company.

People are our business

Our client list spans across multi-national companies and global enterprises with a vested interest in people and talent development. These companies are currently searching for HR professionals to develop a rewarding professional career for and to value add to the following professional and executive roles.

Regional APAC Compensation & Bene�its Manager

HR Manager

One of the world leading general insurance companies is looking for a Regional APAC Compensation & Bene�its Manager.

Responsibilities:

An established and reputable technology MNC in tools and appliances is looking for a Business HR Manager.

Requirements:

• partner with business to provide strategic support and advisory in the employee life cycle including talent acquisition, employee development, integration and off boarding • lead employee development with focus on performance management and learning • manage employee and industrial relations portfolios • lead special ad-hoc projects and initiatives

Requirements:

To apply, please email your CV to shereenf@charterhouse.com.sg or call Shereen Foo at +65 64355610.

Regional APJ Recruiter

Recruitment Consultant

A fast growing IT MNC listed on NASDAQ is looking for a Regional Recruiter for the APJ region.

Charterhouse is a leading executive search �irm. We are looking for the right individuals for our specialist recruitment focus in Sales and Marketing, IT, HR, Supply Chain, Finance and Engineering.

• develop and manage policies, practices and strategies to attract, motivate and retain based on country, regional and global objectives • to create a high-performance culture and market competitiveness • harmonize the global job grading system and annual review cycle seamlessly • drive a new performance culture through performance ratings and rewards system

• minimum 10 years of regional compensation and bene�its in large corporation or consultancy �irm with proven track record in developing and establishing remuneration and reward strategies across levels including short and long term incentive plans • good understanding of income tax, related legislation and knowledge in job evaluation methodologies and processes in preferably insurance or broader �inance industry

Responsibilities:

• drive full lifecycle recruitment process, best practices for quality and diverse candidate pool • partner with business leaders to understand and plan hiring needs • develop unique sourcing methods to identify top talent and niche skills • foster strong relationships to ensure alignment, integration and sharing of key and best practices for local and global business needs

Requirements:

• minimum degree quali�ied with at least 3 years of recruiting experience in corporate or agencies in the high-tech industry • self-motivated, independent and dynamic with strong customer relationship, prioritizing and communication skills

To apply, please email your CV to shereenf@charterhouse.com.sg or call Shereen Foo at +65 64355610.

Responsibilities:

• minimum degree quali�ied with 8-10 years of experience as a generalist in an MNC environment • proactive, results and client oriented with strong business partnering, in�luencing, leadership and communication skills

This is an exciting Regional Business Development and Sales role; you will get the opportunity to provide regional high quality recruitment solutions and advice human resource strategies to international clients.

Requirements:

• business or related university degree • highly motivated individual with minimum 3 years’ successful recruitment and/or sales experience, an entrepreneurial spirit and a great team player • individuals with passion, drive and ambition in sales and recruitment • individual with �lair for business development and relationship building If you are keen to �ind out more or would like to apply for the role of Recruitment Consultant, please email Evelyn Neo at evelynn@charterhouse.com.sg or call +65 6435 5621.

For more information on your career and recruitment needs, please visit www.charterhouse.com.sg Charterhouse believes in investing in people. If you want to join a company that provides more than a job but a rewarding career call Gary Lai at +65 6435 5601 or email garyl@charterhouse.com.sg. EA Licence Number: 06C3997

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A special feature brought to you by

New Tool Allows You To Determine And Compare Salaries

Want to know how much you should pay an employee or how much your peers are earning? STJobs has a tool for that.

BY MICHELLE WAN

Have you ever wondered if you are over- or under-paying your employees? Or how much your colleagues are making? Now you can find out where your employees stand with their salaries as well as compare your salary against your peers’ with STJobs’ Salary Benchmarker Tool. The tool, which STJobs recently launched in September, easily allows users to find out the median salaries using the latest data by MOM published in June 2013. To begin, go to www.stjobs.sg/salary. From there, key in an annual gross income and select a job function and industry before hitting the ‘calculate’ button. STJobs’ Salary Benchmarker Tool will generate rankings in terms of percentages and provide the annual gross income by occupation in terms of percentile. You can also choose to perform a quick search to find out the average market salary for the same job across various industries.

Follow these step-by-step instructions on using the Salary Benchmarker Tool

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Adrian Tan, Managing Director of RecruitPlus Consulting said of the tool: “The salary benchmarker is a useful tool that enables users to gauge their salaries. The results are credible as they are based on a report released by Ministry of Manpower.”

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Get Started at www.STJobs.sg/Salary

6 Image source: www.stjobs.sg/salary

Key in your gross annual income e.g. $60,000

Hit the ‘Calculate’ button and view results illustrated in graphics

Select your occupation e.g. Human Resource Manager

Click the ‘reset’ button if you wish to re-calculate

Pick an industry or leave the option as default to calculate across all industries

Check out jobs listings relevant to your search

*This tool is only a guideline and should be used with discretion.

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