HRM 14.12

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PRATT & WHITNEY: WHERE TALENT TAKES FLIGHT OVERCOMING THE LABOUR CRUNCH AT DP ARCHITECTS THE DANGER IN SELF-APPRAISALS

ISSUE 14.12

Chicken Soup 速 for the Soul author

JACK CANFIELD Price inc. GST $9.95

'Live' at Spire HR Summit 2015

EDITOR’S NOTE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sumathi V Selvaretnam

Dear HRM readers,

ASSISTANT EDITOR Shalini Shukla-Pandey

M

JOURNALIST Sham Majid DIGITAL JOURNALIST Roshni Kapur SUB-EDITOR Paul Howell PUBLISHING ADMINISTRATOR Azimah Jasman SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amos Lee GRAPHIC DESIGNER John Paul Lozano SALES DIRECTOR Steve Lye ACCOUNT MANAGERS Edwin Lim Jolene Ong Ryan Kwa Shamaine Chua MARKETING MANAGER George Smith MARKETING EXECUTIVE Rafiq Jalil MANAGING DIRECTOR Kaveri Ayahsamy PHOTOGRAPHY BY Frank Pinckers (pinckers.com) Ted Chen (tedchenphoto.com) PRINTED BY Times Printers Pte Ltd

14.12

y mornings normally start off with the best intentions: a detailed to-do list covering the day’s priorities. I gain great satisfaction in striking off completed tasks but on some days, that list continues to grow exponentially, making it a challenge for me to keep up.

Along the way, my priorities switch around. I get sucked into emails, attend meetings, and spend time troubleshooting issues that may arise with teams that I work with.

The end result? I end up staying back at work longer than I ought to.

The most successful people are great at time management. According to America’s Number One success coach Jack Canfield, learning to manage your time is one of the most important skills you can develop. In this month’s cover story, Canfield shares tips on a more effective time management system where you divide your days into focus days, free days and buffer days.

As we approach 2015, we are also drawing closer to the annual HRM Awards, which takes place on March 6 next year. The events team at HRM Asia has spent the last few months gathering nominations, and we are very pleased to reveal the finalists in this issue of HRM. Curious about what’s in store for HR in the coming year? Read our annual supplement – the HR Guide of the Year 2015 for an overview of future trends.

Have a wonderful holiday season and I’ll see you in the New Year!

PUBLISHED BY

HRM Asia Pte Ltd 121 Telok Ayer Street #02-01 Singapore 068590 Tel: +65 6423 4631 Fax: +65 6423-4632 Email: info@hrmasia.com.sg

Sumathi V Selvaretnam Editorial Director, HRM Asia

CONTACT US:

MICA (P) 206/07/2013

ISSN 0219-6883

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@hrmasia.com.sg

ISSUE 14.12

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1

CONTENTS 14.12 COVER STORY 16 Your blueprint for success

The man behind the Chicken Soup for the Soul series will be headlining the Spire HR Summit in 2015. In this exclusive interview, Jack Canfield, also one of America’s leading success coaches, sheds light on the behaviours of highly successful people and how everyone can reach their true potential

16

FEATURES 10 Helping talent take flight

10

Having grown up with aerospace, William C. Kircher, VP – Singapore Overhaul & Repair, Pratt & Whitney & President, UTC Aerospace Singapore shares his take on mentoring all levels of staff to achieve greater heights

22 The danger in selfappraisals

Asking employees to rate their own performance has been a

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common part of organisational performance appraisals for many years. But guest contributor Dick Grote, author of How to be Good at Performance Appraisals, says they can cause more harm than good.

26 Designing the DP DNA Just as how buildings are only constructed after meticulous planning, Raymond Chan, Director of HR at DP Architects says his company has a carefully-calibrated blueprint for its employees

26

22 30 Making the cut Finally, after months of arduous analysis and evaluation, a record number of finalists spanning 24 categories of the 2015 HRM Awards have been unveiled

42 Flexibility: The key to talent attraction

This Singapore-based independent book publisher draws in talent with a relaxed and flexible work environment

46 How can Singapore manage its workforce diversity?

Singapore’s workforce has long been shaped by different ethnic races, nationalities, idiosyncrasies and cultures. NUS Business School undergraduate Ang Soon Hock gives his take on how organisations can continue to recalibrate and diversify its working population in the country

48 Coaches’ corner Professional coaching is an important tool for driving

business performance. HRM weighs in on the challenges and how best to improve the coaching process

52 Gemalto: Investing in employees

In order to thrive in today’s business environment, companies need to help employees develop new technical and professional skills, including leadership abilities. To address these talent challenges, Gemalto has delivered over 328,000 hours (equivalent to 37 years) of training worldwide.

HRM finds out more

52 REGULARS 4 News

56 Why every HR leader

15 Leaders on Leadership

needs to know about finance

45 Viewpoint

While every business leader will have their own speciality, it pays to have a working understanding of other functions in the organisation. James Leong, Founder and CEO of Visions.One Consulting, says this is particularly important for HR leaders – who need a solid understanding of finance in order to make an impact

47 An HRD Speaks 47 Twenty-four Seven 54 HR Clinic 55 In Person 55 Resources 59 Talent Ladder ISSUE 14.12

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3

NEWS

ASIA

SINGAPORE

INDIA

HIRING PRACTICES CAN BE IMPROVED

OVERSEAS GRADUATES MORE JOB-READY?

Firms hiring new staff are frequently struggling to meet the expectations of candidates, with the latest Employers in India believe foreign university research showing that only half of survey respondents graduates have better technical skills, according to were satisfied with the way their latest job application the India Employability Survey 2014 recently unveiled was handled.

by The British Council.

According to the Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI), The research found that 39% of companies the highest rates of satisfaction were in Thailand and Hong Kong at 59% deemed graduates from foreign universities as and 51% respectively. The Asia-Pacific average stands at 42%. better prepared than those from Indian universities, “The job application and hiring process is typically a candidate’s first perceiving them to require less extensive training. experience with an organisation, and a chance for a firm to showcase Among those who hire foreign graduates, over how it functions and how it treats its people,” said Mark Hall, General 60% of companies hire only from the global top-50 Manager, Kelly Services Singapore. universities, of which close to a third hire only from “Understandably, candidates have high expectations which are the world’s ten best institutions. sometimes overlooked in the process of selecting the best talent.”

Forty-one per cent of all companies have hired at The most common concerns included a lack of least one foreign-university graduate in communication regarding the outcome of job applications the last two years. and interviews, and unclear information regarding job About 42% of firms rank American descriptions, requirements and salaries. universities as either their top or second of Singaporean respondents In Singapore, more than half (54%) of the survey’s choice, while more than a quarter also feel that collaborative respondents had applied for a new job over the previous year. add in universities in the UK. Germany workspaces provide better When asked about an acceptable timeframe for hearing is a distant third, with 6.9% of firms value for money than back after a job application, more than half of hopefuls ranking it as one of their top two traditional workspaces (51%) nominated three to five business days as appropriate, choices of graduate talent.

Source: Regus survey while approximately a third (27%) said that up to two Sector-wise, consumer goods (60%), weeks was acceptable. services (52.2%) and infrastructure, telecommunications and energy (50%) firms are the most likely to have hired at least one candidate with a foreign degree. Industrial (34.5%) and information PHILIPPINES technology (35.7%) companies are the least likely to have done so, though their overall percentages are still quite high.

“As organisations strive to compete and drive A survey conducted by online jobs portal JobStreet.com has found that only business growth in an increasingly global marketplace, two-thirds of companies in the Philippines check employee satisfaction. they place significant importance on international Results of the job satisfaction survey revealed that while a resounding education in the talent they recruit,” said Rob Lynes, 85% of respondents felt that employee job satisfaction was very important Director, British Council India. “Hiring foreign to their companies, only 69% took the effort to regularly measure it. university graduates is an integral part of the talent JobStreet.com said that of the companies that checked the job satisfaction plan for a large percentage of companies.” of their employees, 74% used exit interviews upon resignation as the key Foreign-degree holders appear to be more disposed benchmark. towards having strong ‘technical’ skills – critical “This shows that while employers feel that job satisfaction is something thinking, and the ability to use knowledge to solve very important, their most used measurement only occurs upon an real-world problems. Lynes said graduates of local employee’s resignation,” the research said. universities were seen as relatively stronger on the “The disconnect between employers and job satisfaction can also be seen ‘soft’ skills, such as working with in the differences between what employees claim as factors that influence diverse groups of people, and their level of job satisfaction and what employers think are the top factors inter-personal skills. in job satisfaction levels among their employees,” it also noted.

The ability On the employer’s side, the survey found 73% of them felt salary was the or willingness top factor for high levels of job satisfaction among employees. Benefits to ‘work ranked second and leadership or management quality ranked only third. hard’ remains an While employees still deemed salary as a major influence in their job additional area satisfaction level, with 74% of respondents stating salary was “very of strength important”, three other factors scored higher: quality of leadership, for graduates company stability, and benefits and incentives. from India.

96%

EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION LEFT UNCHECKED

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ASIA

NEWS

HONG KONG

MALAYSIA

BANKING GRADUATES COMMAND TOP DOLLAR

SALARY INCREASES SET TO STABILISE

Companies are offering the highest salaries to fresh graduates who perform job functions in banking and finance, professional services and information technology positions in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.

According to a survey by jobsDB Hong Kong, apart from these three functions, education and building and construction graduates also rank among the top five best paid graduate roles.

To attract and retain top talent from the universities, the banking and finance related jobs are relying on good salary packages to sweeten the deal.

“The banking and finance posts are undoubtedly the most stable and reliable source of quality jobs,” said Andy Wong, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School. “Good salaries, structured career paths and perceived social prestige are all key factors that attract fresh graduates.”

Employers are on the look-out for graduates who have a combination of technical expertise and interpersonal skills.

“A combination of hard knowledge and soft skills is

always a winning package.

Riding on steady economic Having a good mathematical growth, the average salary mind, high proficiency in English increase for Malaysia has been and interpersonal skills are also recorded at 5.3% for 2014, and is essential. What’s more important projected to rise to 5.6% in 2015. is a positive attitude to learn and Variable pay has been steady grow,” Wong added. “Only those across most employee categories, averaging around who humble themselves and work 20% of annual base salary. There was a sharp hard to constantly deliver can fully increase at the senior management and executive realise their potential.” levels where the variable pay rose to 46% of annual “The difference between the base salary in 2014, as compared to 36% last year. talent supply and demand is one of According to Towers Watson’s 2014 Talent the key reasons behind the salary Management & Rewards Study – Asia-Pacific, Malaysia, gap of fresh graduates, Justin Yiu, this indicates robust business performance for the General Manager, Jobs DB Hong year, leading to healthy bonus pay-outs.

Kong, commented. “The supply of The overall employee turnover rate in Malaysia was certain job functions is relatively 12% in 2014, a marginal drop from 13.2% in 2013. But the higher in the market, which will asset management and banking industries continue eventually result in a relatively low to feel the pinch, with attrition rates spiralling way pay standard. On the above last year for both industries. contrary, some job “The attrition rate, seems to grow unabated functions requiring in the knowledge-based industries of financial professional services and high tech,” said Sulaxmi Prasad, of students believe that it qualifications are will take them less than one Practice Leader, Global Data Services, Malaysia, month to land their first job relatively short in Towers Watson. “This can be attributed to the Source: LinkedIn’s “Life supply, resulting dearth of employable talent to support these of a Professional” study in higher pay knowledge-intensive industries, leading to standards. constant poaching across companies.”

“However, salary standards Malaysia ranks second only to Thailand in terms of should not be the only factor to positive hiring sentiments over the last 12 months. consider in job hunting,” Yiu says.

“This indicates that demand for critical talent “The graduates should also consider in Malaysia will continue to rise and the role of their own personal interests, competitive salary offerings to attract talent will be strengths and core competencies for needed,” said Sean Darilay, Practice Leader, Global career development.”

Data Services, Southeast Asia, Towers Watson.

15%

ASIA

STAFF RETENTION FUELS GROWTH OF SPECIALIST COMMUNICATORS Corporate expansion plans and a focus on staff retention are driving greater demand for niche communications professionals and PR agencies across Asia, according to new research from VMA Group Asia-Pacific.

While in previous years, even a small number of Internal Communications (IC) specialists on the communications team were considered a luxury, this function has become much more important. Nearly 60% of respondents

to VMA Group’s survey, The Pulse, stated that they belonged to a dedicated IC team within their company, and nearly half (45%) saw themselves as specialists working primarily on internal communications. A third of respondents reported that they now operated in a standalone IC function.

“Organisations across Asia are looking to increase staff retention and engagement and internal communications teams will play a huge

role in achieving this. It’s encouraging to see the rise in standalone IC functions,” said Katrina Andrews, executive director of VMA Group.

“As any communications expert will recognise, employees require a different engagement strategy than other audiences, so this growth of dedicated resources shows a real commitment from businesses in the area to better communicate with internal stakeholders,” she added.

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INF GRAPHIC

HUMAN CAPITAL TRENDS 2014 Talent has been constantly cited by organisations as being a major issue. But what are some of the actual talent problems and trends encountered by companies? HRM shares some insights from Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2014-SEA Report

TOP 5 HUMAN CAPITAL CHALLENGES

HR AND TALENT PROGRAMMES REPORT CARD

SOUTHEAST ASIA Workforce Capability

40

74%

Leadership

39

72%

Retention & Engagement

35

65%

27

50%

Reskilling the HR function 26

48%

Learning & Development

GLOBAL Leadership

1,721

68%

Retention & Engagement

1,476

58%

Workforce Capability

1,453

57%

Learning & Development

1,327

52%

Talent Acquisition & Access 1,067

42%

33%

Importance Readiness Capability Gap

Leadership

76% 38%

-38%

Reskilling the HR function

75% 30%

-45%

Retention & Engagement

75% 45%

-30%

Global HR & Talent Management

67% 36%

-31%

Talent & HR Analytics

67%

-40%

27%

GPA 1.5 (C-)

31% 20%

2% 1

10

Excellent

17

Good

Adequate

30%

31%

11

Getting by

13% 7

Underperforming

GLOBAL

GPA 1.5 (C-)

24%

5%

10%

121

762

Excellent

794

Good

610

Adequate

Getting by

245

Underperforming

HR INVESTMENT IN NEXT 12-18 MONTHS 44%

TOP TRENDS BY IMPORTANCE AND READINESS – SOUTHEAST ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

33%

17% 9

Significantly increase (more than 5%)

Growth spending averages at +2.06%

0% 24

Increase (1-5%)

18

Remain the same

0

Decrease

6%

0% 0

Significantly decrease

3

Not applicable

GLOBAL

39%

36%

14% 62

Significantly increase (more than 5%)

Growth spending averages at +1.32%

3% 179

Increase (1-5%)

163

Remain the same

13

Decrease

1%

8%

5

37

Significantly decrease

Not applicable

Source: : Deloitte Singapore| Engaging the 21st century workforce-Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2014-Southeast Asia report • Some icon graphics are by flaticon.com 6

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INTERNATIONAL

NEWS

KPIs or just getting by

UK

STUCK IN THE CAREER DOLDRUMS Career advancement has not gone according to plan for a sizeable proportion of UK workers.

According to the latest CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook survey, one in three employees (33%) say their career progression to present has not met their expectations.

The survey also found that over a quarter (28%) of employees were “discontented” with the scale of training and development provided by their present firm.

In fact, over a third (37%) of employees believed it was “unlikely” or “very unlikely” they would be able to realise their career ambitions in their present company, as opposed to one in three (30%) who believed it was “likely”

or “very likely” they would.

The survey revealed that only six percent of workers who felt they were likely to realise their career goals were searching for new employment, as opposed to nearly half of those (48%) who believed it was unlikely their career goal would be furnished by their present company.

When probed about the aspects that contributed to fulfilling career expectations, the most frequently cited factor was an individual’s own hard work and talent (76%).

The survey of more than 2,500 employees was published by the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development in the UK, in partnership with Halogen Software.

Dr Roland B Smith

Vice President and Managing Director, Center for Creative Leadership (APAC)

W

hat is the ROI in leadership development? What should the metrics be? While many acknowledge its importance, measuring its impact remains largely subjective and intangible. Doubt is only natural, as executives question the added benefit or even necessity of leadership development.

Through an extensive evaluative report on the impact of development programmes, ideas can be ignited to maximise leadership development opportunities, by implementing the following measures: • Identify individuals’ clear development goals • Peer-experience sharing to reinforce new behaviours & learning • Actively looking for progress feedback • Capturing examples that can be attributed to lessons learned Programme participants with high levels of satisfaction reported that they had achieved their objectives of: • Bridging the gap between senior management & front line • Collaborating across the organisation to gain perspectives & manage politics • Effectively managing complexity in the face of changing conditions • Leveraging experiences gained to increase leadership effectiveness • Building resiliency to effectively manage stress While intangible, they feel more appreciated and engaged, creating a greater affinity towards the organisation. Ultimately, the impact of a programme can be measured, captured and monetised, if the proper expectations are in place and when the evaluation plan is embedded in the learning plan.

US

I CAN’T COME TO WORK TODAY BECAUSE...

Fewer US workers are taking unnecessary sick leave, but those that are appear to be getting more elaborate with their claims.

According to a new survey

by CareerBuilder, over the past year, 28% of workers have called in to work sick when they were actually well, down from 32% last year.

When quizzed for a reason, 30% cited that they simply did not feel like reporting for work that day, while 29% claimed they wanted the day to “chill out”.

According to the poll, when asked to reveal the most unconvincing excuses workers have provided for calling in sick, companies noted the following real-life examples: • Employee just put a casserole in the oven.

• Employee’s plastic surgery needed some “tweaking” to get it just right.

• Employee was sitting in the bathroom and her feet and legs fell asleep. When she stood, up she fell and broke her ankle.

• Employee had been at the casino all

weekend and still had money left to play with on Monday morning.

• Employee woke up in a good mood and didn’t want to ruin it.

• Employee had a “lucky night” and didn’t know where he was.

• Employee had a gall stone they wanted to heal holistically.

• Employee burnt their uniform by putting it in the microwave to dry.

• Employee “accidentally” got on a plane.

Nevertheless, while the majority of organisations give their workers the benefit of the doubt, 31% claim they have assessed to see if an employee was actually being honest in one way or another.

The survey was conducted online within the US by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder. It involved 2,203 hiring managers and HR professionals, and 3,103 workers.

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LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

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NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

GLOBAL

FANCY SOME WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY? Employees around the globe are set to warmly welcome wearable technology at the workplace, with close to three-quarters (73%) of adults seeing at least one potential workplace benefit.

According to The Workforce Institute at Kronos “Wearables at Work� survey wearable technologies could be advantageous in terms of boosting efficiency, productivity, and safety.

While close to half of US adults (48%) feel that wearable technologies could assist the working environment, this percentage was the lowest out of all other regions surveyed: 96% in Mexico saw potential benefits, as well as 91% in India, 72% in Germany, 69% in France, and 66% in the UK. Globally, the top-three wearable devices that adults cite as being most useful in their present workplace role are smart headphones, smart watches, and arm/wrist computing devices.

Only 20% of employed US adults believed that smart watches would be beneficial in their present roles, as opposed to 40% in Mexico, 33% in Australia, 26% in the UK and 21% in both France and Germany.

While privacy was ranked as the chief potential worry of US employees, less than half (44%) feel privacy could be an issue.

Data security was deemed to be the second highest ranked worry, with 35% of US workers identifying it as a potential issue.

The survey was conducted online in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the UK and the US among 9,126 adults.

US

DIFFERENT GENERATIONS FACE OFF A rivalry of sorts is quickly brewing between youthful and senior employees in the US. According to a survey by the Ricoh Americas Corporation, close to seven

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in 10 workers (69%) polled claim that younger workers are infuriating when it comes to work ethic.

Nevertheless, close to half of employees (48%) surveyed cited that the younger counterparts usually had to assist their older peers to use technology at their place of employment.

When employees were asked to select which generations served as the best mentors, they usually chose their own generation, regardless of age.

In fact, those aged 18-34

INTERNATIONAL

NEWS

UK

I LOVE “IT” IT employees in the UK certainly seem to be relishing their profession, according to the 2014 Randstad Fulfilment@Work Report by specialist recruiter Randstad Technologies.

When quizzed on which sector they perceived would have the highest job contentment, the most popular choice for IT workers was pointedly their own, with one in seven (14%) employees identifying “IT & Technology” as the most fulfilling industry to be employed in.

The statistics differed greatly as compared to those of the general population who were polled.

By far, the largest proportion of the general UK population (23%) claimed a career in health or care would be the most professionally satisfying.

Only five per cent of the British public cited that working in the IT and technology industry would provide the most rewarding career.

While British workers said they could work in the same sector for 13.9 years before their professional fulfilment was affected, IT professionals felt they could stay for up to 17.0 years – the longest potential tenure of any industry covered in the research.

IT and Technology professionals say they could even work for the same employer for up to 15.5 years before starting to feel unfulfilled, much higher than the UK average of 12.2 years.

“The IT and Technology sector is still to shake the stereotype of being an unfulfilling sector to work in,” said Mike Beresford, managing director of Randstad Technologies. “But workers on the inside of the profession know it is constantly throwing up new challenges and opportunities for professionals.”

were three times as likely (27%) as those aged 35-44 (eight per cent), 45-54 (four per cent) and aged 55-64 (five per cent) to cite Generation Y as the best working generation.

“Although Generation Gap 2.0 doesn’t pervade the culture like the original generation gap did, it’s no less a real phenomenon,” said Terrie Campbell, Vice President, Strategic Marketing, Ricoh Americas Corporation.

“It’s more of an undercurrent – a subtext – and definitely something business leaders need to manage. It has serious

implications for teams, employee training and mentor relationships.”

According to Campbell, Baby Boomers and Generation Y have pertinently different world outlooks, and organisations need to be careful in how they evaluate work styles.

“Perhaps a highlyfunctioning workplace with a mix of work styles will work best, much as a winning baseball team needs a mix of good pitchers, hitters and fielders,” added Campbell.

The survey was conducted online within the US among 2,014 adults.

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9

LEADERS TALK HR

Helping talent take flight Q

Tell me about yourself.

Having grown up with aerospace, William C. Kircher, VP – Singapore Overhaul & Repair, Pratt & Whitney & President, UTC Aerospace Singapore shares his take on mentoring all levels of staff to achieve greater heights in the industry

described a problem that was difficult Aerospace has always been to fix and related how he came up with close to my heart because I an entrepreneurial engineering solution grew up with it. I grew up in Cincinnati, by working with his teammates, thereby Ohio, home to Procter & Gamble and making a customer happy. the General Electric aircraft engines I’m inspired by everyday heroes like that. business. Everyone in the neighbourhood I lived in basically worked in one way or What’s your leadership style another for GE Aviation. like?

Shalini Shukla-Pandey While my interest in aerospace was I love people management! shalini@hrmasia.com.sg almost inherent, I started out in the When I think about leadership, I think satellite and telecommunications about building and inspiring teams industry. That stint helped me cultivate my love for technical towards overall organisational success. Change management products. Being with UTC Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney has in a large organisation cannot be done by one person alone, so allowed me to marry my two passions. a team is very important. My personal style is based on strong interpersonal relationships, be they with small or large groups Where do you draw your inspiration from? of people within a team.

I’m inspired by people who are dedicated to The biggest strength I’ve honed over the years is to greatness, such as our hourly employees who come communicate strategies effectively with a diverse group of staff, up with the most amazing ideas. be they hourly-rated employees or senior executives and board Just recently I was on tour at one of our shop floors with members, to inspire and motivate them towards success for some senior executives and a technician came up to us, both themselves as individuals and the organisation as a whole.

Q

Q

BIO BRIEF William C. Kircher is Vice President, Singapore Repair and Overhaul, at Pratt & Whitney, which is a division of United Technologies Corporation (UTC). As Vice President, Kircher leads Pratt & Whitney’s seven part repair and engine overhaul businesses in Singapore and Taiwan.

Being President of UTC Aerospace Singapore, he is responsible for the UTC products, services and operational presence in Singapore, as well as the development of the local business strategy. Additionally, he speaks for UTC with external stakeholders including industry groups, regulatory agencies, partners and customers.

Kircher was previously the Managing Director of ESA, the Singapore engine centre that is the global centre of excellence for the PW4000 engine overhaul business. Prior to this, he was the Director of Pratt & Whitney’s turbine airfoil repair sector that included worldwide leadership of that function.

Kircher joined UTC in 1999 and has held several positions of increasing responsibility. He is also the co-chair of the Aerospace and Defence committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.

Kircher holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

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LEADERS TALK HR

WILLIAM C. KIRCHER

Vice President – Singapore Overhaul & Repair, Pratt & Whitney and President of UTC Aerospace Singapore

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11

LEADERS TALK HR I draw lots of leadership inspiration from the book “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t”, by Jim Collins. A rather pertinent thing he said was: “Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.”

That’s how we put talent in the right places at Pratt & Whitney as well.

Q

How do you interact with employees at all levels of the organisation?

To best connect with staff, I have great conversations with people, from the shop floor up to those in senior management, to build rapport.

One way I do that is by using my massive passion for the Manchester United Football Club. It’s a great icebreaker to start conversations and helps build on my emotional quotient, along with my rather HR vibe.

These regular conversations increase my effectiveness as a leader.

As you progress into more senior roles, any company would want its leaders to drive performance. It may provide for difficult moments as well. This was no different in my case. While having a personal connection with people is my leadership style, I also understand that these are people who I may need to have difficult conversation with at times.

Employee Scholar Programme The Employee Scholar Programme (ESP) is recognised as one of the world’s most comprehensive employee education programmes. It pays for tuition, books, and fees for employees enrolled. In addition to prepayment of expenses, employees also receive paid time off each week to study.

Unlike more typical tuition reimbursement programmes, ESP places no restrictions on the course of study an employee may pursue, and there is no requirement that coursework pertain to an employee’s current job.

As of March 2014, Pratt & Whitney Singapore had invested US$11.8 million in the ESP. More than 200 employees had enrolled in the programme and 542 degrees had been earned. Across UTC worldwide, more than US$1.1 billion has been invested in nearly 7,500 enrolled staff, resulting in more than 36,000 degrees earned – more than double the combined number of degrees awarded by American, Georgetown and George Washington universities last spring.

However, since I already have a transparent and open relationship with staff, difficult conversations do not necessarily come as a surprise. We have these conversations right away, the moment I feel performance needs to be managed. I don’t wait for an annual performance review.

I follow the teachings of The One Minute Manager, by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. Whenever necessary, I sit down with my staff to do one-minute goals, praisings and provide feedback.

The only problem with doing things the way of the one-minute manager is that my other meetings get delayed!

However, the advantage of having that immediate conversation with my staff

Powering the future Pratt & Whitney Canada and Temasek Polytechnic recently signed a three-year Memorandum of Agreement, establishing a cross training partnership, aimed at developing and preparing a talent pool of future engineers who are industry-ready when they enter the fast-growing aviation industry.

Unique to this collaboration is a ‘Train the Trainer’ aspect where Pratt & Whitney will provide Temasek Polytechnic lecturers with the same hands-on training that aircraft maintenance engineers in the field receive. Lecturers will be trained across topics such as “Basic Engine Familiarisation” and “Maintenance, Repair and Operations” to help them develop and deliver aircraft engine maintenance workshops for finalyear Temasek Polytechnic students pursuing a diploma in Aerospace Engineering.

The workshops will focus on delivering practical know-how on engine disassembly, cleaning, quality inspection and assembly. A PW100 engine will also be on loan to the polytechnic for training purposes.

As part of this cross-training agreement and the company’s continuing education and training, Temasek Polytechnic will in turn conduct workshops with Pratt & Whitney employees on theoretical modules. As a result of the training, employees will gain insights into current industry best practices and knowledge.

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far outweighs any downsides.

Q

What would you consider to be the most challenging aspect of your role?

Pratt & Whitney is blessed with a highly educated workforce. We have a backdrop of less than two per cent unemployment, a very robust economy in Singapore, and on top of that a robust aerospace industry in the country. The challenge is really about keeping talent engaged and motivated.

The Employee Scholar Programme (ESP), which I would argue is the best programme of its type in the world, is our way of addressing this manpower challenge within Pratt & Whitney. We support those finishing a bachelor degree or getting a second degree with books, tuition, and time-off to study.

All this is done without bonding the employees to the company, a strong statement in Asia where bonding an employee in such a programme is the norm.

Right now, we have over 200 people active in the programme in Singapore.

For example, May Teo, a sales manager at one of our shops, did her MBA through the ESP. We took a high potential employee and invested in and developed her so that she could align her experience with up-to-date qualifications to perform her job even better.

Employees who have been through the ESP are appreciative of the investment the

LEADERS TALK HR company makes in them and start having conversations with their line managers: “You just spent $60,000 on me, and I’m still in the same role. I want to change and contribute what I’ve learnt and do more for you” is a common opening.

We, in turn, celebrate this investment in talent through the ESP Hall of Fame, where pictures of each person who ever graduated from the programme are put up for all to see.

This all ties in with the culture at Pratt & Whitney: delighted employees make for delighted customers.

Q

As in other industries, the fast-growing aviation industry not only needs experienced talent that’s continuously trained but also fresh talent with new skills. How does Pratt & Whitney address this?

The way we address this challenge is to adjust our programmes and partner talent early to fit their expectations and individual development plans.

Our most important tool is to reach out to talent while they’re still in school.

We go to Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs) and speak to over 300 soon-to-be graduates. We also work with Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic and most recently, Temasek Polytechnic (see: boxout) and speak about fast track internships, promising them that a job will be waiting for them if they do well.

For the past five years, we’ve also been sending students from Singapore Polytechnic to our customer training centre in Beijing to learn about engines and other such aerospace-related equipment.

We also have excellent partnerships with universities. For example, I represent Pratt & Whitney on the aerospace engineering industry advisory panel of the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

Through this role, I’m part of an industry panel that helps to shape the university curriculum to ensure that the

institution produces graduates that fit well to the needs of the industry.

Young talent from ITEs, polytechnics and universities then join Pratt & Whitney and have the option to continue to expand their skills throughout their careers through ESP.

Q

Staying on the topic of development, what sort of leadership development opportunities do you provide, and how do you personally mentor staff?

There is an unbelievable amount of focus on this topic by Pratt & Whitney and UTC Aerospace.

In Singapore, we wanted to have a platform that’s led, managed and run

by Singaporeans.

The UTC-level review of talent development in Singapore stipulates that expatriate talent be reduced and more emphasis placed on local talent. This has borne fruit, with expatriate staff numbers cut in half, from 38 to 18, over the last four years.

We get in early, targeting talent from the entire spectrum: from ITEs and polytechnics to universities. We then work with them to create individual development plans and then continue to develop them through ESP. We proceed to identify high potential talent and conduct regular conversations about their careers. For example, each quarter, we invite about 10 people to an informal president’s breakfast together with the general manager and HR manager.

We impress upon them that we want Singapore to be self-sufficient and that would mean high potential staff such as themselves will be expected to do more.

They come out of such conversations fully energised and raring to go.

Me Myself I I love: spending time with my family: my wife and three children.

I dislike: selfish behaviour.

My inspiration: my wife.

My biggest weakness is: lack of patience.

In five years’ time I’d like to be: continuing to lead in aerospace and able to let go of my children who will be moving on to college.

Favourite quote: “Good is the enemy of great.” – Jim Collins, author of Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t

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LEADERS ON LEADERSHIP

How can leaders manage the rapid growth of social media within their organisations?

I

n recent years, social media has become increasingly embedded into our daily routines. Recognising the potential benefits of such platforms, organisations too have begun placing greater emphasis on integrating its use into their overarching business strategy.

From a corporate viewpoint, social media provides organisations with a wealth of previously untapped business opportunities, and also creates a dynamic environment for employee engagement.

Given the sheer volume of data generated from such platforms, social media serves as a treasure trove of realtime information and a tool to better analyse customer behavioural patterns.

By mining such data, organisations are thus equipped with useful business intelligence that enables them to better cater to the needs of their customers.

Social media can also have a transformative impact within the workplace. These platforms are often rich sources of insights and ideas, and can be important tools for creativity and inspiration when harnessed effectively.

As such, social media can play a significant role in facilitating innovation and creating the right environment for creative minds to thrive.

Here at Leo Tech, we take pride in our pool of creative minds and believe in empowering our employees to make their own decisions about how they manage their time at work. Similarly, the same approach is taken with social media – we entrust them with the freedom to integrate the fun aspects of social platforms into their work commitments, ultimately striking a balance between the two that serves to better accentuate their capabilities.

B

ANDREW WILDBLOOD

Head of Asia-Pacific Enterprise, Telstra Global Enterprise and Services

eing social at work isn’t new. It is in fact the way that work gets done.

Like many large organisations with people across the globe, Telstra has looked for ways to connect beyond geographical and hierarchical boundaries, and internal social media is an effective way to do this.

Yammer is our social media platform and, following an official endorsement from CEO David Thodey in 2012, our Yammer population has grown to more than 40,000 members. Our Yammer community is one of the largest and the most active in the Asia-Pacific region.

For our leaders being able to connect with people across the organisation, this has meant access to the unmediated feedback, opinions and knowledge of a much broader community than was previously possible. Across the organisation, we have seen people engage with leaders in frank and meaningful conversations that have challenged and grown the organisation’s

BIMAL SHAH Chief Executive Officer, Leo Tech Services

social networking capability. We’ve seen things raised in Yammer that have helped to solve long standing issues and we’ve seen stories that have inspired and engaged our people.

Leaders who aren’t in the same social spaces as the people who work for them risk missing out on the conversations that matter. Importantly, social networks give leaders an opportunity to be transparent and authentic. We use “Ask Me Anything” sessions on Yammer to encourage conversations with leaders. The experience has provided engaging two-way dialogue, offering real insights into the pain points and passions of our people.

Telstra is working to provide people access to their workplace and social networks anywhere and anytime on any device. This includes making Yammer and other tools accessible via apps on our employee tools of trade their smart phones and tablets.

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COVER STORY YOUR

BLUEPRINT SUCCESS FOR

The man behind the Chicken Soup for the Soul series will be headlining the Spire HR Summit in 2015. In this exclusive interview, Jack Canfield, also one of America’s leading success coaches, sheds light on the behaviours of highly successful people and how everyone can reach their true potential Sumathi V Selvaretnam sumathi@hrmasia.com.sg

1

What prevents people from taking 100% responsibility and how does this impede their success?

Most people have not grown up in a family or school environment where they have learned the importance of or how to take 100% responsibility for their results, their experiences, their feelings, and their lives in general.

Instead, by observing their parents, teachers and other adults in their lives and on television, they have learned to fear the negative consequences (punishment; or loss of status, money, job, or power). This leads them to blame others, complain about their circumstances, and make excuses rather than take 100% responsibility.

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“Learning to manage your time is one of the most important skills you can develop” The cost of not taking 100% responsibility is the lack of personal power you end up with, the problem of not being seen as a person of high integrity, and the lack of trust that ultimately evolves in your relationships at home and at work. Another cost is the undermining of peak productivity in yourself and your organisation.

But probably the most important and expensive cost is the lack of personal growth and development that results. When you take 100% responsibility and something does not turn out the way you want or intend it to, you have to ask yourself, “how did I create, promote or allow that to happen?”

When you ask that question, you get to see where you contributed to the unwanted outcome by what you said or didn’t say, and what you did or didn’t do. When you act as if”you are 100% responsible for everything in your life, you start to look for what you did or didn’t do to cause or contribute to your outcomes, and you begin

to see what you can do differently and better the next time. In this way, over time, you ultimately become a master in your life and your work.

When you quit acting like a victim, take full responsibility for your results, and commit to a practice of lifelong learning and application of what you learn, you will start to produce extraordinary results in your life.

And remember this phrase: If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.

Success requires us to constantly review the results of our actions and change them as necessary until we get our desired actions.

2

Successful people are great at time management. Why is this important? How do you make time for the things that are truly important when you’re sucked into the daily grind?

Learning to manage your time is one of the most important skills you can develop. Nobody is “sucked into the daily grind”. To build on the previous answer, we allow ourselves to get sucked into it. We are always making choices: to have clear boundaries and stand in our personal power or to give that power away by agreeing to requests and demands that are self-destructive.

It is important to purposely create time for all your basic needs: career, financial, relationships, health and fitness, fun and recreation, personal and spiritual growth, and some form of service to others, such as volunteering time to a non-profit organisation or being a mentor. And the only way to make sure all those needs are being met is to schedule time for all of them.

You need to create a rhythm of regularly scheduled activities to meet each of these needs. I take an hour to meditate, exercise and stretch every morning. I attend four personal development seminars every year – one per quarter. I spend Friday nights and Saturday nights with my wife and friends. We go to at least two concerts every month. We have our children (all grown now) and grandchildren visit

us twice a year. I schedule four long weekends with my wife every year, plus a two-week vacation. I have weekly staff meetings with my core leadership team.

And so on. These need to become part of your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly schedule. Schedule your whole year out in advance and protect that schedule as best you can. Of course, you’ll need to make adjustments along the way, but be careful you don’t keep chipping away at family, fitness, and personal time.

In my seminars and trainings I teach a time management system I learned from strategic coach Dan Sullivan. It is a system in which you divide your days into focus days, free days and buffer days. A focus day consists of 6.5 to eight hours of focused activities that use your core genius to produce bottom line results. A free day is midnight to midnight with no work-related activities, and a buffer day is composed of all the non-high impact activities like learning, administrative work, record keeping, delegating, travel, and running errands.

The goal is to schedule as many focus days and free days as possible, while lumping all your buffer day activities into the same day. This keeps you more on task, more focused and more productive, by not mixing high impact activities and buffer activities into the same day, you get more done. And of course, it is important to schedule certain times of day for phone calls, emails and the like so you are not being interrupted on focus days. The value of creating more free days with no work related activity is that it keeps you more balanced and well rested, which leads to making better and more creative business decisions. You can read more about this time system in my book The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be in the chapter called “Redefine Time.”

3

How can you be limited by someone else’s beliefs and how can you overcome this?

You can’t really be limited by someone else’s beliefs. We are all in charge of our own beliefs, and learning to release your ISSUE 14.12

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COVER STORY negative, limiting and self-destructive beliefs is one of the most important things you must learn to do in life.

If you don’t, you will end up being controlled by your sub-conscious mind, which was programmed by your parents, your teachers, and the culture you grew up in as a child.

Most of our beliefs about life, relationships, money and success are firmly set by the time we are eightyears-old. How would you feel if you were getting on a plane and you saw that the pilot was only eight-years-old?

Unfortunately, much of your life is being piloted by an eight-year old inner child.

So you must learn how to identify, release and replace these unconscious beliefs.

On the other hand, someone you have to work for, like your boss or manager, is going to be run by his or her own beliefs, and their behaviour can certainly have an impact on you in terms of how they manage, and the procedures and policies they put in place.

The key thing is to not let other people’s limiting beliefs and fears run you. You always have a choice about how you respond to another person. You can agree to cooperate with their demands, you can disagree and negotiate with them, or you can leave.

You are never a total victim in life.

However, most people are unconsciously run by old beliefs that are based on fear: the fear of not being good enough, smart enough, competent enough or experienced enough, and the fear of not being able to handle what happens to them. The truth is you have survived everything that has ever happened to you, and you probably always will. But when you believe you are not able to handle something then

you protect yourself. And the energy that is spent in protecting yourself is not available for exploration, collaboration and achieving your actual goals.

The solution, once again, is to commit to a lifetime of learning and growing through reading, listening to audio programmes, attending seminars, teleseminars and webinars, and working with a coach.

4

How can mentors help employees achieve their full potential?

Firstly, by being a model of a selfactualising person, which means to be constantly working on yourself. That includes exploring and expanding your own potential, clarifying and living by your values, setting and achieving high goals, taking risks, keeping your commitments, and challenging others to do the same.

Second, by sharing your knowledge in a vulnerable and transparent way.

It’s important to be open and vulnerable about your own challenges, failures and lessons learned on your journey to success.

Third, by spending as much time listening as coaching and teaching.

Fourth, by holding people accountable to the action commitments they make to implement what you are teaching them.

And fifth, by constantly acknowledging the person you are mentoring for the progress they are making.

“The key thing is to not let other people’s limiting beliefs and fears run you”

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5

What role can HR play in helping nurture a culture of mentorship at the workplace?

Firstly, by offering to be a mentor yourself. Secondly, by encouraging others to take the time to be a mentor, and inviting newer and younger employees

to ask to be mentored. And thirdly, by personally and publicly acknowledging those people in your organisation who mentor and coach others.

As an HR manager you can also create and manage a mentorship system that helps match up people in your organisation who are willing to be mentors with the people who want to be mentored.

You can also help by sending out emails, blogs and articles in the corporate newsletter about the importance of mentoring and being mentored, and inviting people to participate. Talk about the value to the mentor as well as the one being mentored. You can recommend books and provide instruction on how to be a good mentor and mentee. There are many books and articles on this. I have a chapter on mentoring called “Find a Wing to Climb Under” in The Success Principles. Another great book on mentoring and creating a culture of mentoring is Shirley Peddy’s The Art of Mentoring: Lead, Follow and Get Out of the Way.

6

What are you looking forward to in your presentation at the Spire HR Summit in Singapore next year?

I am looking forward to sharing the most powerful principles and practices from the newly revised edition of my book, The Success Principles, which includes new breakthroughs in neuroscience, goal setting, goal achievement, visualisation, and the science of success – what some people are referring to as Success 3.0 – that have emerged in the past 10 years.

These include how to uncover your true life purpose, connect with your passion, clarify your vision, overcome the obstacles that stop your vision from becoming a reality, use affirmations and visualisation to accelerate your rate of success, overcome the fears that stop you from taking action, how to persevere in the face of internal and external obstacles, and how to effectively programme your mind and use your emotions to create the right mindset for success.

COVER STORY

Catch Jack Canfield ‘LIVE’ at the Spire HR Summit 2015

3

TOP

TAKEAWAYS

At his Spire HR Summit presentation, Jack Canfield will discuss: • Why it is so important to understand that breakthrough success occurs as the result of implementing a replicable system of principles and practices, which are combined in a certain way and in a certain sequence to guarantee both personal and business success.

• The fundamental principles and the easy-to-learn and immediately-applicable techniques of a “Success System that Never Fails.”

• The universal mindset and skillsets that are required to be successful, no matter what industry you are in or what job description you have. Success starts as an inside job, but most of us have never learned how to utilise the full power of our creative mind, how to manage our internal states, and how to keep ourselves positively motivated.

19-20 May 2015 • Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre Jack Canfield will be making two presentations at the Spire HR Summit 2015:

PLENARY SESSION The Success Principles

Anyone can achieve greater levels of performance and achievement. Yet most people have never learned the proven self-empowerment tools and time tested performance strategies that are the basis for personal and professional success.

Follow Jack Canfield’s Ten-Step Action Plan which shows exactly how to plan for and create greater professional achievement. This is a proven blueprint for living a life of expanded results, greater impact and more measurable on-the-job performance.

Leveraging on his best-selling book; The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Canfield will encourage you to put these principles into practice by helping you to take on greater challenges and produce immediate breakthrough results.

Leave this session exhilarated and excited about the potential you have for your career, your company, your personal life and your success goals.

C-SUITE WORKSHOP SESSION Shift Your Career into High Gear

Whether your organisation needs to boost income, increase output, expand creativity, enhance problemsolving, find more balance or increase sales — when put into practice, Jack Canfield’s outstanding proven disciplines will create a massive and permanent change in its day-to-day operations.

In this exclusive C-suite workshop session, Canfield will leverage on his best-selling book; The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (hailed as the new self-improvement classic) to help you master 64 of the most powerful principles of success and create a clear personal plan of action that will completely transform your life into exactly what you want it to be.

In this session, you will learn to: • Take 100% responsibility • Decide what you want and be willing to pay the price • Invest every day in developing your knowledge base and core skills • Manage time the way successful entrepreneurs do • Say no to the good, so you can say yes to the great • Take five action steps each day toward achieving any goal • Climb under the wing of someone who can help you on your path • Face up to what isn’t working in your life • Focus on your unique abilities • Celebrate your victories as a way to insure future success • Transcend other people’s limiting beliefs and opinions about your goals • Develop and trust your intuition and reasoning abilities • Change your outcomes by reacting differently to any event

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Is It Time to Split HR? Understand How Your Company Really Works & What the CEO Wants You to Know Ram Charan Global Advisor to CEOs & Business Guru

Produce Immediate Breakthrough Results - How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be Jack Canfield America’s #1 Success Coach, Peak Performance Strategist & Co-Founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul

Trailblazers: How Top Business Surfing the Demographic Tsunami Leaders are Using Diversity & - Strategic Workforce Planning ® in Singapore Inclusion to Accelerate Results Challenges Lenora Billings-Harris Gerard Koh Keng Swee Diversity Strategist, AuthorEmpowering & Vice President, HR, Context Intelligence International Speaker SMRT Corporation Ltd

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Miss Jaclyn Lee is currently the Senior Director, Human Resources and Organisational Development, for The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). She handles the full spectrum of HR for the university and is one of the pioneer team members charged with starting up the new university from scratch. She has helped to facilitate key strategic workshops to drive the vision and mission, and is also Sponsors: responsible for helping the top management team develop work plans andGold goals to drive the mission. Her other key roles includes developing the Total Compensation Structure, Performance Management System, spearheading new HR policies and processes, recruiting key leaders, senior academics and faculty, as well as driving the organizational development of the university through change management and the organizational cultural assessment instrument.

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

The danger in

SELFAPPRAISALS Asking employees to rate their own performance has been a common part of organisational performance appraisals for many years. But guest contributor Dick Grote, author of How to be Good at Performance Appraisals, says they can cause more harm than good

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

A

sking an employee to write a self-appraisal using the company’s appraisal form might seem to be an effective management technique. Many books and articles recommend using self-appraisal, including asking the employee to give themselves a rating. An employee’s self-appraisal might give the manager valuable data on the quality of an individual’s performance as well as a preview of what might be expected when the two sit down to review performance. It would seem to be a good idea.

It’s not.

It’s a bad idea and it needs to be stamped out.

Here’s why: Research consistently demonstrates that individuals are notoriously inaccurate in assessing their own performance, and the poorer the performer, the higher (and more inaccurate) the self-assessment. Research by the consulting firm Lominger indicates “the overall correlation between selfratings and performance was exactly zero – the most accurate rater by far is the immediate boss.”

In Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognising One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments, Cornell University researchers Justin Kruger and David Dunning report that those who are incompetent performers are also incapable of assessing the difference between good and bad performance. As they put it, “When people are incompetent in the strategies they adopt to achieve success and satisfaction, they suffer a dual burden: Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make

The appraisal is a record of the supervisor’s opinion.

The review meeting is a discussion, not a negotiation

unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realise it. Instead, they are left with the mistaken impression that they are doing just fine.”

One senior executive describing his company’s experience using a forced-ranking procedure to identify its “A”, “B”, and “C” performers told me of the same problem: “The As are afraid they’ll be considered Bs, the Bs are scared they’ll be seen as Cs, and all the Cs are convinced that they’re A players.”

In July 2007 BusinessWeek surveyed 2,000 professionals in middle management positions or higher in companies around the world. One of the questions they asked was, “Are you one of the top 10% of performers in your company?” Not one of the subgroups in the survey had fewer than 80% of the respondents answer the question affirmatively. Eightyfour per cent of all middle managers reported that they were in the top 10% of performers in their company.

Among executives – the most deluded cluster by far – 97% answered ‘yes’.

Here’s the most serious problem with asking an employee to write a self-appraisal. By doing so you may create a false impression of what the nature of a performance appraisal is.

When asked to write a selfappraisal, particularly when the company’s appraisal form is used, it’s easy for an employee to assume that the structure of the performance appraisal process is that both the individual and the boss separately write their appraisals of the individual’s performance. They then get together, share each one’s document with the other, and come to a common agreement on the final appraisal.

That’s wrong. It’s important to recognise just what a performance appraisal is. A performance appraisal is a formal record of a supervisor’s opinion of the quality of an employee’s work. Listen up: the appraisal is a record of the supervisor’s opinion. The review meeting is a discussion, not a negotiation. Asking the individual to write a self-appraisal encourages a misunderstanding by both parties.

An alternative to self-appraisal If company policy dictates that employees be asked (or ordered) to write self-appraisals, company policy must be followed. But the manager can prevent much of the mischief just described by explaining to his team exactly what the purpose of the self-

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR appraisal is (a way to gain information create a well-rounded, complete, from the employee’s point of view) and objective appraisal. A better and how it will be used (as one data approach is for the supervisor, at source for the supervisor to use in the start of performance appraisal preparing the actual performance season, to ask each direct report to appraisal). It’s wise to ask the send an informal list of their most employee to submit the self-appraisal important accomplishments and to the supervisor well in achievements during the advance of the performance appraisal period. The list The manager’s purpose is to make sure that none of the appraisal discussion so can be e-mailed or just

employee’s successes

that the supervisor can written on a blank piece of use the data as an input to paper – there’s no official the official appraisal and form. And nothing needs to not wait until the review be said about any problems are overlooked meeting to find out what the or shortcomings or failures employee has written. Finally, it helps that occurred. The manager’s to refer to the document the employee purpose is to make sure that none is preparing as the “self-assessment” of the employee’s successes are while the document produced by overlooked. This “good stuff” the supervisor is the “official list will provide the same value performance appraisal.” as a formal self-appraisal. More There’s no question that it’s important, it will help remove some valuable to get information from of the negativity that surrounds the individual about his or her own many people’s feelings about the perceptions. This helps the manager performance appraisal process itself.

Dick Grote is President of Grote Consulting Corporation in Dallas, Texas. He has helped some of the world’s most prominent organisations, in the United States, Europe, India and Southeast Asia, design effective performance management systems and procedures. His most recent book, How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals, was published by the Harvard Business Review Press in 2011.

His new book, Calibration: Getting Performance Appraisal Right, will be published by McGraw-Hill in 2015. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, including Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Thai. His articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal.

In 2013, the Harvard Business School made a series of videos of Dick Grote providing his observations and counsel on performance management for Harvard’s executive education programmes

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HR INSIDER

DESIGNING

THE DP DNA Just as how buildings are only constructed after meticulous planning, Raymond Chan, Director of HR at DP Architects says his company has a carefully-calibrated blueprint for its employees

Sham Majid sham@hrmasia.com.sg

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f you make a trip to Singapore’s premier shopping belt Orchard Road on any given day, chances are that you will visit malls such as Wisma Atria, TripleOne Somerset, The Heeren and Paragon for a spot of shopping.

While these malls are renowned for being the heartbeat of Singapore’s retail landscape, not many people are aware of its origins.

So says Raymond Chan, HR Director, DP Architects.

HR INSIDER “People actually do not know that we helped shape around 30 projects along Orchard Road, such as Wisma Atria, Mandarin Gallery, The Heeren and Orchard Central,” says Chan.

“Actually, we have a hand in contributing to the built landscape of Singapore.”

How big a hand, you may ask.

Architectural icons such as the EsplanadeTheatres on the Bay, Singapore Flyer, Marina Centre, Resorts World Sentosa, VivoCity and Singapore’s latest crown jewel, the Singapore Sports Hub, are just an iota of the buildings DP Architects have constructed since the company’s birth in 1967.

In fact, DP Architects has also extended its footprint beyond Singapore shores, designing and overseeing the construction of an assortment of buildings in countries such as China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

“We built the largest mall in the world in Dubai, The Dubai Mall,” beams Chan.

“It continues to expand and we are still involved.”

Foreign labour crunch

AT A GLANCE Total number of employees in Asia-Pacific: About 1000 employees Size of HR team in Asia-Pacific: 11 Key HR focus areas: - Talent Management - Recruitment - Performance Management

Despite its standing as one of Singapore’s leading architectural firms, Chan explains that the organisation is not immune to ongoing talent and manpower crunches in the design and construction sector.

One key gripe has been the recent tightening of foreign labour by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

According to Chan, companies are now having to adopt a different approach and restructure their manpower practices.

Examples he attests to are the S Pass and Employment Pass handed out to foreign employees to work in Singapore.

“Firstly, for the S Pass, there is a quota for the industry so we are limited by the number of people we can employ,” says Chan.

For the Employment Pass, he explains that on paper, MOM says there is a minimum income criteria of $3,300 per month in order to obtain a pass.

Nevertheless, Chan cites that it comes with a caveat that says that it also depends on factors such as qualifications and work experience.

“So it doesn’t mean paying a person $3,300 gets him an employment pass,” says Chan.

Another example Chan points out is the fact that DP Architects employs many foreign talents.

“For certain nationalities, we may have to pay 30% to 60% above their customary salary range in order to secure them an employment pass today,” says Chan.

“So this big jump unsettles manpower processes because you are faced with a sudden jump in costs to employ foreign talent, a challenge companies have to contend with.”

Chan concedes that organisations will have to think of how to do less with foreign labour and yet, grapple with this constant manpower problem.

While he adds this issue will be a recurring theme for 2015, the recent announcement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that there will be no further tightening of foreign labour is “a relief” to the industry, he says.

“So at least, it gives some assurance and stability to the whole industry,” says Chan.

The hunt for graduate talent With architecture deemed to be a niche and highly-specialised course, Chan says all architectural, design and construction firms will fight to the death to poach coveted talents.

He provides a unique case study to illustrate this point.

Chan says that traditionally, the National University of Singapore (NUS) is the only university that produces architecture graduates.

He says there are about 100 in each annual cohort.

Pointedly, he also highlights there are approximately 600 registered architect and interior design companies in the Board of Architects Singapore.

Chan says not all graduates will work in an architectural firm.

“Developers, government agencies such as the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Housing Development Board, and even contractors need and employ architects,” he explains.

“With 100 graduates every year, how do you serve so many stakeholders in the industry?”

Even those graduating from polytechnics are adding to the talent conundrum, says Chan.

According to him, despite polytechnics comprising of about 120 graduates per year, diploma holders in the current era aspire to further their studies and earn a degree.

“This adds to the problem because traditionally, we would employ foreign manpower to do the same jobs the polytechnic students would do in terms of technical drawings and documentation,” says Chan.

“But with the pool of polytechnic students choosing to further their studies after graduation, coupled with the Government’s stance on foreign manpower which

ISSUE 14.12

HRMASIA.COM 27

HR INSIDER controls the intake of foreign labour, the whole pool of talent shrinks.”

Nevertheless, he adds the industry recognises the talent dearth and that Institutes of Technical Educations (ITEs) are formulating courses to help meet that talent pool need so they can step in and fill that gap.

Another source of the company’s graduate talent is through the Building and Construction Authority (BCA)-Industry Built Environment Undergraduate Scholarship scheme.

Conceived in 2009, this is an industry scholarship that encourages people to work in this profession.

The BCA will fund 70% of the study costs, and the participating company will fund the remaining 30%.

Upon graduation, the student will have to work for the company and be bonded.

“We find that this is a win-win situation and to date, we have sponsored 24 BCA scholars and 11 are still studying now,” says Chan.

“So all in all, we have actually

sponsored 35 of them and they are definitely our talent pool.”

In addition, Chan says the organisation’s reputation also means it has a sizeable number of graduates applying for jobs.

“I must say that the success rate of employing them is almost 99%,” adds Chan.

The DP Academy Although DP Architects currently does not possess a formal talent roadmap, Chan says the organisation is in the process of setting up an initiative called the “DP Academy”. This is scheduled to be launched next year.

The DP Academy is intended to be a one-stop learning and development centre for all employees within the company, be it in the architectural, technical, contract or administration support departments.

Presently, the firm hosts a plethora of in-house trainings, all run by different departments.

“We have envisaged that as part of our Talent Management process, we will include the learning roadmap where every staff member will have to undergo certain training at certain points of their journey with us,” says Chan.

Another key training programme the firm conducts is the Team Leadership Toolkit Course.

This course equips all team leaders and title holders with essential leadership skills.

According to Chan, the company originally sent its staff to a publicly run course.

“But my boss found it to be so good that we brought the consultant over and customised the course just for the company,” says Chan.

Since then, there have been 14 training cycles and close to 500 employees have been trained.

Chan says registered architects have to undergo continuing professional development (CPD) every year as a regulatory requirement.

WHO’S WHO IN HR RAYMOND CHAN Director, HR

LINDA CHOO

Deputy Director, HR

CHRISTINE HAN HR Executive

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SERENE WONG

Senior HR Executive

SHARON TAY HR Executive

BONNIE NI

GLADYS TYE

HR Executive

SHARON CHAI

Assistant Manager, HR

HR Executive

KOH SEE HWA HR Officer

KAITLYN CHAN HR Executive

SOEN WEE HR Officer

HR INSIDER Architects are expected to fulfil 20 CPD points.

“So why don’t we conduct such courses and get them to accredit the courses?” asks Chan.

“If we set up this DP Academy, we can ask the relevant agencies to accredit the courses because we have the relevant consultants.”

The “PHD” Project While DP Architects is a broad organisation boasting offices in China, Malaysia, Dubai and India, Chan says the company is actually nimble.

“Ask everyone here and they will say we are a big family,” he explains.

In fact, Chan says Francis Lee, the company’s CEO, preaches the mantra that every DPian (DP Architects’ employee) matters.

“The message is that everyone is important and that you can make a difference.”

Besides this philosophy, Chan also adds that the CEO drives the work philosophy called PHD: Purpose, Hunger and Drive.

“He (Lee) feels that when you are here working with us, you must have a sense of purpose, otherwise, you are merely going through the motions,” says Chan.

“If there is no purpose, there is no drive and no sense of achievement.”

Another interesting aspect is the “we” and not “I” culture being fostered at DP Architects.

“We share success together but when I make a mistake, I own it,” says Chan.

Engagement in the end Chan says that in DP, employee engagement begins right from the first day a new staff member joins the company.

“It’s actually very funny because this initiative of engaging new staff during the first day of induction started off with the exit interviews,” he explains.

“I conduct exit interviews and I often have very meaningful conversations with those who leave and one of the questions I ask is how they would define

their experiences in the company.”

Chan says he always tells the person that he wished it wasn’t the first and last time he had spoken to them.

“Because of this, I told myself I want to engage staff from the beginning and not at the end, and it started from there,” he adds.

Now, Chan says he makes it a point to make time during induction days so that he is able to engage them over lunch and a chit chat session on their first days.

As part of a continuous process to engage their employees, DP Architects introduced a first month assessment tentatively coined as the “Great 30 Days”.

Chan explains it is geared towards guiding new employees during their probation period, instead of leaving them on their own during this time and then simply assessing their performance at the end of the probation period.

“We insist that every team leader must have a formal dialogue session with the new staff member in the first month,” elaborates Chan.

“It’s an initial assessment of how the person is performing, are they adjusting, are they happy with what they are doing, and to find out whether they are well-directed.”

By including this in the first month, Chan adds it enhances interaction and allows team leaders to garner feedback and gauge whether the new staff member is adjusting well or is still lost.

Should the new employee require assistance, team leaders can then resolve the issues immediately rather than wait until the end of the three months.

Setting up a DP home Having to acquire young talents to spearhead the company’s projects is just the beginning of the acquisition cycle, cites Chan.

He says the mindsets and aspirations of the younger generation are different from those of their older counterparts.

“You can give them the challenging jobs and titles but after some time, they

Chilling aboard SerenDPty Away from their design blueprints and drawings, employees at DP Architects have the chance to unwind on-board a yacht. Bought and owned by the company, the yacht is aptly named “SerenDPty”.

All staff in the firm can book the yacht and use it for family outings during weekdays or over the weekend. They only pay a nominal fee. The boat is docked at Keppel Marina. When a team from the firm utilises the boat for bonding sessions, it’s free of charge. “We have a portal where employees can book it,” says Raymond Chan, Director of HR, DP Architects. “Basically, in the interest of equity, if you are a titleholder, you pay more but for the nontitleholders, they may pay as low as $200.”

may still tell you that they want to have a taste of other opportunities outside,” says Chan.

“You develop and build them, hoping they will be your future leaders, but before that can happen, they decide to move on to other opportunities.”

In addition, Chan explains that young talents are increasingly cutting their corporate teeth by becoming their own bosses.

Nevertheless, the company has coined a term, “DP DNA”, to epitomise its retention efforts.

“I guess if you have the DNA, that is probably the only thing that will make you stay because you know this is your family and this is the place where you can grow,” says Chan.

In fact, Chan espouses his own analogy: “We want to build a home, not a house”.

“We don’t want people to come in here and say this is my job; like a house,” he says.

“You go to a house just because you need a shelter, but we want employees to build DP as their home, where they feel a sense of belonging and where there are many opportunities given to them to grow and develop.”

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HRM AWARDS 2015

FINALISTS

Making

THE CUT Finally, after months of arduous analysis and evaluation, a record number of finalists spanning 24 categories of the 2015 HRM Awards have been unveiled

A

ccording to The Conference Board CEO Challenge2014 survey, HR is the number one challenge in both Asia and Europe, and the number two business issue in the US and Latin America.

Fittingly, as organisations round up their year-end activities and look to usher into 2015, the HRM Awards offer an important platform to herald and celebrate the efforts of firms who have rigorously championed for and overcame a plethora of human capital obstacles.

30 ISSUE 14.12

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Sham Majid

sham@hrmasia.com.sg

Now back for its 12th incarnation, the crème de la crème of HR will gather on March 6 at The Ritz Carlton, Millenia Singapore, with firms and public organisations battling to be recognised as the top dog in their respective nominated categories.

A record 236 finalists from 89 organisations have reached this final stage.

SingTel Group leads the pack with a mammoth 11 nominations.

The telecommunications conglomerate scooped up two awards last year (Best Use of Social Media and Champion of HR) and is in

FINALISTS

HRM AWARDS 2015

the running for the top gong in categories including Best Diversity for five straight years. & Inclusion Strategies, Best Engagement Strategies, the Sage “This award is a timely celebration of the essential role that Award for Best Performance & Productivity Practices, the Kaplan HR plays in the success of organisations today,” says Chris Professional Award for Best Training, Learning & Development, Mead, Regional Director of Hays in Singapore and Malaysia.

Best Use of Social Media, the Robert Walters Award for Best HR “We’re proud to be associated with an award that celebrates Leader and the Hays Award for Employer of Choice. commitment to human capital. From all of us at Hays, our Next in line with 10 nominations for 2015 is Unilever Asia. congratulations go to all finalists.”

The consumer goods giant walked away with three For the second straight year, the HRM Awards awards in last year’s HRM Awards (Best Performance 2015 will also be honouring Singapore’s small and & Productivity Practices, Best Leadership medium enterprises (SMEs) with the SME Employer Development and Outstanding Contribution to HR) of the Year Award. and has been nominated this year in categories including Best Diversity & Inclusion Strategies, the Drum rolls please.. as a finalist allows HR teams and their companies to be STJobs Award for Best Employer Branding, Best All finalists will now have an extremely busy but lauded and recognised for Graduate Development, the British Council Award fruitful few months ahead of them. Each will have their sterling HR efforts for Best Talent Management Practices and the Hays to craft a comprehensive report for our esteemed Award for Employer of Choice. judges’ deliberation.

The Public Service Division (PSD), Prime Minister’s Office Finally, on March 6, the red carpet will be rolled out to and SMRT Corporation share joint-third spot in terms of welcome the movers and shakers of the HR industry in nominations for 2015, with nine each.

Singapore. Only then will they discover who will be crowned as The HRM Awards 2015 would also like to give a big welcome HR kingpins in their respective categories. to organisations including Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd, Black Stay tuned for a night of glitz, glamour, suspense and drama & Veatch, Bloomberg, Carlsberg Singapore, dnata Singapore, on Singapore HR’s most celebrated pedestal.

Hawksford Singapore, GlaxoSmithKline, Heineken Asia Pacific, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, PSD and UPS; companies who are finalists in the Awards for the maiden time.

However, the HRM Awards will feature an added twist this year, with an additional Special Recognition commendation This year’s HRM Awards nominees represent an assortment of companies being given out in most group categories. from wide-ranging industries. SingTel Group heads the list of nominations but “This year’s awards promises to be the best ever,” says Emma will other organisations rise to the occasion during the HRM Awards?

Dean, Events Director, HRM Awards 2015.

“It is extremely heartening to see a plethora of organisations No. of Rank Company from different sectors coming together to celebrate the best of nominations what HR has to offer in Singapore.”

Being nominated

Simply the best

Recognising shining stars The HRM Awards serve to acknowledge, reward and endorse the HR profession as an attractive and satisfying career choice for professionals.

Being nominated as a finalist allows HR teams and their companies to be lauded and recognised for their sterling HR efforts.

“The HRM Awards epitomise the hard work HR teams in all organisations do on a daily basis and these prizes give them the ideal platform to be recognised in terms of best HR practices,” explains Dean.

“They also deeply illustrate the unique HR processes and policies of various companies which greatly improve areas such as employee engagement, performance and talent management.”

1

SingTel Group

11

2

Unilever Asia

10

3

Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office

9

4

SMRT Corporation

9

5

McDonald’s Restaurants

7

6

A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology & Research)

6

7

DBS Bank

6

8

Keppel Offshore & Marine

6

9

Resorts World Sentosa

6

10

American Express

5

11

Citi Singapore

5

12

Yahoo! Asia Pacific

5

The Coup de Grace

13

Auric Pacific Group

4

The showpiece award is the Hays Award for Employer of Choice, the most cherished trophy on the Singapore HR landscape.

Title sponsor Hays has been endorsing great HR and this gong

14

Barclays Bank

4

15

Dell

4 ISSUE 14.12

HRMASIA.COM 31

HRM AWARDS 2015

FINALISTS

Sage Award for Best Performance & Productivity Practices FINALISTS

• Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow • GlaxoSmithKline • Keppel Land International

• McDonald’s Restaurants • Norbreeze Group • Pratt & Whitney

• SingTel Group • SMRT Corporation • Unilever Asia

British Council Award for Best Talent Management Practices FINALISTS

• A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) • Accor Asia Pacific • Black & Veatch

• • • • •

Citi Singapore Heineken Asia Pacific Keppel Land International Keppel Offshore & Marine MSD Singapore

• Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office • SingTel Group • StarHub • Unilever Asia

Best Engagement Strategies FINALISTS

• Bloomberg • Brady Corporation Asia • DHL Express • Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

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• Jurong Health Services • Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore • Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office

• SingTel Group • SMRT Corporation • Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts • Yahoo! Asia Pacific

FINALISTS

HRM AWARDS 2015

Best HR Young Achiever FINALISTS

Andrea Lau Sein Teng Executive, Learning and Talent Advocacy, Auric Pacific Group

Xander Leong HR Business Partner, Risk, Legal and Events and Roadshow Marketing, Asia Pacific, Barclays Bank

Steven Lai Senior HR Specialist, Dairy Farm Singapore

Vivian Beh HR Executive, dnata Singapore

Tan Wei Xiang HR Executive, dnata Singapore

Jemma Quarterman HR Executive, APAC, LEWIS PR

Tan Hui Hong HR Executive, McDonald’s Restaurants

Siti Fairuz Ahmad HR Executive, MindWave Solutions

Neo XinYi Wendy Senior HR Executive, Mitsui Chemicals Asia Pacific

Cheryl Poon Executive, Resorts World Sentosa

Loh Yu Min Executive, Resorts World Sentosa

Lee Pei Zhi HR Development Executive, Singapore General Hospital

Center for Creative Leadership Award for Best Leadership Development FINALISTS

• A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) • Barclays Bank

• Building and Construction Authority • DBS Bank • Heineken Asia Pacific

• Keppel Offshore & Marine • OCBC Bank • Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office

• SingTel Group • Unilever Asia • UPS • Yahoo! Asia Pacific

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HRM AWARDS 2015

FINALISTS

Kaplan Professional Award for Best Training, Learning & Development FINALISTS

• A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) • Alexandra Health System – Khoo Teck Puat Hospital

• DFS Venture Singapore • DHL Express • GlaxoSmithKline • Keppel Offshore & Marine

• • • •

Ministry of Manpower OCBC Bank Singapore Marriott Hotel SingTel Group

• SMRT Corporation • Unilever Asia

PayrollServe Award for Best Use of Technology

®

FINALISTS

• American Express • Elite Translations Asia • MasterCard Singapore

• Millennium & Copthorne International • Pacnet Singapore

Best CSR Practices FINALISTS

• Baker & McKenzie.

Wong & Leow • Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd • Citi Singapore • Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation • NTUC Fairprice Co-operative

34 ISSUE 14.12

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• SATS • The Hoffman Agency

Best Work-Life Balance FINALISTS

• Qualcomm • Resorts World Sentosa • SMRT Corporation • Starbucks Coffee Singapore • Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts • Yahoo! Asia Pacific

• Citi Singapore • DBS Bank • Dell • Energy Market Authority • Hawksford Singapore • Jardine OneSolution

• Jurong Health Services • Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore • Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth • NTUC Fairprice Cooperative

FINALISTS

HRM AWARDS 2015

Best HR Manager FINALISTS

Goh Ai Hua HR Manager, dnata Singapore

Irene Yap Ai Ling HR Manager, McDonald’s Restaurants

Shona Ravindran Senior Project Coordinator / HR Manager, MindWave Solutions

Jasmine Tan Manager, Chief HR Officer’s Office, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office

Elaine Chan HR Manager, Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park

Gary Kam You Wei Manager, Resorts World Sentosa

Rachel Ong Mei Ying Assistant Manager, Resorts World Sentosa

Benjamin Sim HR Initiatives Manager, Royal Bank of Canada

Agnes Chin Kam Lo Senior Manager, SES Unit, Singapore General Hospital

Brian Wong HR Business Partner, ASEAN, Thomson Reuters

Best Reward & Recognition Strategies

Best Diversity & Inclusion Strategies

FINALISTS

FINALISTS

• • • •

• Barclays Bank • Citi Singapore • Dell • Goldman Sachs • Keppel Offshore & Marine • MatchMove Pay • SingTel Group • Starbucks Coffee Singapore • Unilever Asia • UPS

DBS Bank Keppel Land International McDonald’s Restaurants Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park • SingTel Group • SMRT Corporation • StarHub • Unilever Asia

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HRM AWARDS 2015

FINALISTS

STJobs Award for Best Employer Branding FINALISTS

• A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) • Auric Pacific Group • Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd

• • • •

DBS Bank IE Singapore McDonald’s Restaurants Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office

• Red Hat Asia Pacific • Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts • Unilever Asia

Ikeda Spa Prestige Award for Best Health & Wellbeing FINALISTS

• Alexandra Health System – Khoo Teck Puat Hospital • American Express • Bloomberg • GlaxoSmithKline

• • • •

Jetstar Asia Airways Jurong Health Services Keppel Offshore & Marine Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

• • • •

MatchMove Pay MSD Singapore Resorts World Sentosa SMRT Corporation

Best Mature and Re-Employment Practices FINALISTS

• Jetstar Asia Airways • Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore • Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office 36 ISSUE 14.12

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• SATS • Simmons (SEA) • SingTel Group • SMRT Corporation

• Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation • Royal Plaza on Scotts

FINALISTS

HRM AWARDS 2015

Champion of HR FINALISTS

John Botia Managing Director, Carlsberg Singapore

Jacqueline Low Chief Operating Officer, Hawksford Singapore

Barathan Pasupathi CEO, Jetstar Asia Airways

Andy Oliver Senior Vice President, APAC, LEWIS PR

Aditi Nayak Chief Operating Officer, MindWave Solutions

Yong Ying-I Permanent Secretary, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office

Tony Cousens General Manager, Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park

Casey Teh Managing Director, Simmons (SEA)

Desmond Kuek Bak Chye President and Group CEO, SMRT Corporation

Best Graduate Development

Best Use of Social Media

FINALISTS

FINALISTS

• Barclays Bank • Citi Singapore • DFS Venture Singapore • DSO National Laboratories • GlaxoSmithKline • Jones Lang LaSalle • Keppel Offshore & Marine • OCBC Bank • SMRT Corporation • Unilever Asia

• Accor Asia Pacific • Certis CISCO Security • Dell • Deutsche Bank • Groupon Singapore • Hawksford Singapore • MatchMove Pay • Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office • Red Hat Asia Pacific • SingTel Group • The Hoffman Agency

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HRMASIA.COM 37

HRM AWARDS 2015

FINALISTS

Robert Walters Award for Best HR Leader FINALISTS

Timothy Sebastian Group Director HR, A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology & Research)

Alexandra Kershaw Director – Head of HR Singapore, Philippines & Indonesia, American Express

Jae Annie Tay HR Director, Energy Market Authority

Jayesh Menon HR Director – APAC, Itron

Jennifer Wu Senior Talent Manager, APAC, LEWIS PR

Syed Ali Abbas Chief HR Officer, Pacnet Singapore

Josephine Chua Director of HR and Quality, Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park

Aileen Tan Group Director HR, SingTel Group

Vineet Gambhir Vice President and Head of Talent APAC, Yahoo! Asia Pacific

Best Recruitment Strategies

Best HR Team

FINALISTS

FINALISTS

• • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • •

A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) American Express Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow Certis CISCO Security DBS Bank Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore Jurong Health Services McDonald’s Restaurants NTUC First Campus Co-operative Unilever Asia

38 ISSUE 14.12

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Auric Pacific Group dnata Singapore LEWIS PR McDonald’s Restaurants Ministry of Manpower NTUC First Campus Co-operative Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office Royal Bank of Canada Singapore Marriott Hotel Yahoo! Asia Pacific

FINALISTS

HRM AWARDS 2015

SME Employer of the Year FINALISTS

Adrenalin Group

Brotzeit

CYS Global Remit

Hawksford Singapore

JUMBO Group of Restaurants

MindWave Solutions

Qian Hu Corporation

Simmons (SEA)

Tan Seng Kee Foods

Timbre Group

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HRM AWARDS 2015

FINALISTS

Hays Award for Employer of Choice FINALISTS

American Express

DBS Bank

Dell

National Kidney Foundation

SingTel Group

SPRING Singapore

Starhub

40 ISSUE 14.12

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Toyota Motor Asia Pacific

Unilever Asia

UPS

Don’t Miss the HR Night Of the Year Join us as we celebrate and reward exceptional HR people and practices at the 2015 HRM Awards. This gala dinner and awards ceremony attracts the ‘who’s who of HR’ and features world class music and entertainment.

2014

awards

Emcee – Hossan Leong

AWARDS

Featuring Local Comedian Fakkah Fuzz

2015

The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore | 6 March

Title Sponsor

Event Partners

GLOBAL HR SEARCH & RECRUITMENT

®

www.hrmawards.com

For more information, please call Cheryl at 6423 4631 or email at cheryl@hrmasia.com.sg

SME SPOTLIGHT

FLEXIBILITY The key to talent attraction 42 ISSUE 14.12

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SME SPOTLIGHT

E

pigram Books is a homegrown independent book publisher, known for its thought-provoking novels, short stories, plays, children’s books and poetry from local writers.

The company was established in July 2011 with just one part-time editor and editorial assistant producing just one title a month. Today, it has a staff strength of 14 and publishes closes to 50 titles a year.

Challenges Being a young upstart in a competitive marketplace is not without its limitations. “As a start-up and a small SME, our turnover is modest and we cannot afford attractive salaries, consistent wage increments and generous employee benefits,” shares publisher and CEO, Edmund Wee. The local publishing industry is also small and there are only so many book

attraction lies in the joy of working with wonderful people and books,” Wee says.

Flexible work arrangements Maintaining good work-life balance is equal to effective employee engagement for Epigram Books. “When a company enables its employees to juggle their personal and professional lives with ease, it is a win-win situation for all.

A happy employee is a productive employee,” Wee says.

The company offer three different types of flexible work arrangements: staggered hours, part-time work, and telecommuting. With staggered hours, employees can start their day at any time between 8.00am to 10.00am, and then leave between 5.00pm and 7.00pm after they have put in eight hours of work.

“This helps them manage personal commitments and also allows them to make alternative travel arrangements

and a period of informal in-house training. Where possible, they are also sent for external training. “To date, we have sent our employees on external programmes such as editors’ bootcamps, cover design workshops, social media marketing seminars and accounting short courses,” Wee says.

Sometimes training is initiated by an employee who is interested in a particular course. On other occasions, the company identifies a skills gap and decides to send the employee for a specific programme. “It helps that the government provides funding; that makes it easier for us to say ‘yes’ when our employees come to us with a course proposal,” Wee says.

Young job seekers often seek rapid growth opportunities, and this can pose a challenge for small companies.

“We understand that our younger employees may get restless after some

Singapore-based independent book publisher Epigram Books draws in talent with a relaxed and flexible work environment

editors and marketers in Singapore, says Wee. This is where other employee engagement efforts come into play.

“We have a relaxed work environment, do not believe in excessive hierarchies, and treat each other with professionalism and respect.”

Epigram Books is also open to hiring fresh graduates, retirees or employees with heavy family commitments. Other potential recruits include mid-career switchers, seasoned professionals and back-to-workers. “While we cannot compete with multinationals in terms of remuneration, prestige and benefits, our

so as to avoid the peak hour commute,” Wee explains.

Employees with heavy family commitments can request part-time work so that they can also juggle childcare or eldercare responsibilities.

“The benefits are the same as a full-timer’s, albeit pro-rated.

Telecommuting is offered to senior and long-service staff who we trust can fulfil their duties off-site,” Wee says.

Training Staff training plays a key role in long term retention. Every new hire at Epigram goes through an orientation

time, so we are open to any ideas they might have and are happy to let them spearhead a passion project or pursue a different portfolio.”

Looking ahead As an independent publisher with a faint hint of an underdog status, Epigram Books appeals to job seekers looking beyond high salaries “So long as we continue to do good and meaningful work, and get the word out on what we do and why we are doing it, we believe that we will remain an employer of choice for many job seekers,” Wee concludes.

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What can coaching do for you?

Professional coaches can help you find your passion, help you overcomes hurdles and unlock your full potential.

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hat do successful people like Apple’s Steve Jobs, Oscar and Golden Globewinning actress Jodie Foster, and sporting legend like Michael Jordan have in common?

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They all had a professional coach who brought their careers to another level.

You, too, could reap the same benefits. A professional coach can help you realise your full potential. The global popularity of professional and executive coaching in the recent decade is backed by the benefits it brings. These benefits range from impressive ROI on personal effectiveness, vastly improved employee engagement to effective leadership development and increased teamwork solutions. How does coaching have such an impact on executives and organisations?

Ensuring personal and professional development The increasing demand for a holistic approach to work-life balance pivots on the understanding of the differences between personal and professional development.

Personal development focuses on a realisation of a fulfilling

life, while professional development focuses on the skills and areas which lead to a rewarding career path or work life.

The obvious advantage of having a professional coach is the overall functioning and satisfaction of a wellbalanced and well-discovered life. The ability to find one’s motivation and passion has enormous implications on whether a client is a happy and passionate executive, or an unmotivated and lacklustre one.

Furthermore, coaching brings forth the intelligence of a client, who has invested the time and energy into making personal and professional moves, which align to his talents and interests.

People are at their best when they can combine both passion and interest in their work.

Developing emotional competencies and mastery Let’s be realistic: A lot of time and money are wasted dealing with un-cooperative or disengaged colleagues. They often have their own agendas that do not necessarily coincide with that of the team or the organisation. While most people are capable of handling themselves well under

normal circumstances, their performance might seriously be compromised when facing extremely stressful situations.

That is when being able to manage our own emotions becomes critical, not only for ourselves but also in our interactions with our colleagues (Consider Michael Jordan battling severe flu during the NBA Finals in 1997 and yet still found the motivation to get up, compete and lead his team to an impressive victory).

Professional coaches assist their clients to deal with challenging circumstances, through a series of techniques and strategies that impart emotional competence and intelligence. This leads to more effective management and leadership of people, as well as the blossoming of a client’s charisma.

Increasing functionality and performance Many of my successful friends and clients admire their great coaches and mentors for providing some of the greatest growth periods in their lives. They play the roles of a confidant, a sounding board or a teacher –these are all extremely useful and supportive.

When clients can express themselves freely and without risk, they become more

authentic with themselves (which is therapeutic in nature by itself), and will toy with creative ideas while having a supportive yet objective sounding board. Being able to bring up new ideas in a creative space allows for the ideas to be challenged and improved by a set of objective questions. This increases access to deeper creativity and contributes to the real-world viability of their ideas.

Professional coaching allows for greater impact on the personal well-being and fulfilment of a client’s personal passions and professional ambitions. The impact on their management and executive abilities influences their roles and responsibilities positively. The holistic approach of coaching allows for better work-life balance and performance. The functional building capabilities of the coaching dynamic allow for greater professional impact and development.

Coaching works and is extremely useful for anybody who wants to tap into their true potential. Whether you want to be a CEO, an actress or an athlete, coaching can help turn those dreams into reality, by making you realise what your true potential is, and guiding you towards it.

Kelvin Lim Founder & Principal Coach, Executive Coach International Email: kelvin.lim@liveyourmark.com 30 Orange Grove Road, #07-01A, S258352 Tel: +65 6737 0916 Email: contact@liveyourmark.com ISSUE 14.12

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HR YOUNG GUNS How can Singapore manage it workforce diversity?

Singapore’s workforce has long been shaped by different ethnic races, nationalities, idiosyncrasies and cultures.

NUS Business School undergraduate Ang Soon Hock gives his take on how organisations can continue to recalibrate and diversify its working population in the country.

D

iversity has always been a key feature of Singapore’s workforce due to her multi-racial community.

In a dynamic demographic landscape characterised by an ageing population, growing female labour force and growing foreign employment, Singapore must continue to manage her workforce diversity in order to benefit from it.

A well-managed diverse workforce entails greater innovation, a larger pool of resources, a stronger support system, and higher productivity.

Although managing workforce diversity requires a national effort, there is no secret behind it. The key is to learn how to appreciate individual and group differences and gradually foster an integrated workplace for all.

I strongly believe that individuals

What attracted you to HR? Why are you studying it?

The main reason for my pursuing of HR is that I would like to understand what makes people tick. In any organisation, the ability to manage human capital effectively cannot be over-emphasised; employees make or break an organisation.

On a personal level, the HR training at NUS Business School has also made me understand more about my existing skillsets and knowledge, personality, values, the importance of work ethics as well as areas for improvement. All these translate into how I can add value to any organisation.

What aspect of HR do you hope to specialise in upon graduation?

If given a chance, I would like to explore the following areas of HR (in order of preference):

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living in the realm of ethno-centrism can make a paradigm shift to a state of ethno-relativism. Simply put, one should consciously and unconsciously refrain from the tendency of thinking that one’s own culture is superior to others and learn that differences are cultural but not universal.

To do so, one has to put off stereotypical behaviours by eradicating unproven assumptions and generalisations about other groups.

At the organisational level, firms should aim to foster an inclusive and harmonious workplace for employees.

In recruitment policy, firms are encouraged to hire based on one’s qualifications regardless of age, gender and culture, provided that the candidate fits into the company and that there is no clash of the overall HR strategy.

• Strategic HR planning • International HR • Recruitment and Employment

The top three things you want from your HR career • Transform into a leader, one who is enriched with an entrepreneurial mindset • Work closely with co-workers, clients and others to develop them and to improve their lives • Discover myself and hopefully become a truly happy individual

What challenges do you anticipate?

With globalisation, I think it is important to be able to communicate and work effectively with diverse teams. In order to achieve this, I think we, the workforce (including myself), have to learn to appreciate

Ang Soon Hock Year three Finance and HR Student NUS Business School

the cultural, gender and personality differences among employees and employers who come from various walks of life.

Your HR career five years from now?

I am currently with Jurong Health Services under the Singapore Industry Scholarship (SgIS), with a service term of four years upon graduation.

After the service term, some of the possible career paths for me include: developing my career at Jurong Health Services, or establishing my own business either in education or the food & beverage sector.

Hobbies/Inspiration Sports activities, such as working out and running; socialising with friends; attempting to sing; and watching culinary television programmes.

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AHRDSPEAKS Speed up hiring by crowdsourcing H

iring speed depends on several factors: head count approval, job evaluation (for new roles), talent pool availability, interview process, offer negotiation, and ultimately on-boarding process.

Still, the best way to speed up recruitment is to truly understand the specific needs of the hiring manager and fulfil these needs by getting to the right leads.

Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining ideas or content by soliciting inputs from a group of people. This concept can also be applied to accelerate recruitment.

Here’s how: When a role surfaces, invite all relevant stakeholders to a

1

SEVEN

meeting (include compensation and benefits if it’s a new role).

Stakeholders include recruiters who are not assigned to this role.

During the meeting, the HR Business Partner or the lead recruiter opens the meeting by giving the context and description of the role. The hiring manager and even his/her boss will be invited to clarify further.

The lead recruiter will go into LinkedIn and enter agreed search keywords and project the results for all to see. This initial search allows all parties to review possible candidates. The lead recruiter will then allocate other recruiters to do deeper checks on

2 3

7.45 AM I arrive at our quiet office carpark and do a quick check on office emails by phone. I will walk to the next office block for a quiet breakfast and indulge in the day’s Straits Times news on my iPad.

9.00 AM

Kelvin Woo Head of HR, The DRx Group

I start replying to emails and catch up with my team for status checks and discussions on outstanding tasks. I will also review all new incoming job applications and pass on those that are potential hires to my team.

11.00 AM I head to the pantry for a quick water break, dropping a Redoxon tablet into my cup for my daily dose of Vitamin C. I then attend to HR queries, calls

4

the selected candidates.

Each recruiter takes turns to summarise and present their findings. All parties are invited to comment.

The lead recruiter finally collates the agreed discussion pointers and takes it away for further exploration.

Several advantages can arise from this 1-1.5hr-session: • Deeper understanding of the role by all relevant parties • Management of recruiters’ expectations • Leveraging of group learning, insights, and experience • Accountability established on next course of action

5

or messages from outlet branch managers or departmental heads in Singapore and Malaysia.

12.30 PM I typically go out for lunch out with different lunch buddies, as my peers and I tend to have our own departmental schedules and work meetings.

1.30 PM Back in the office, I will spend some time strategising and working on HR work plans, and I also tend to the occasional HR or recruitment enquiry if my team is busy. I will also decide on employment offers to shortlisted candidates.

3.30 PM I will look at and sign off all collated staff submissions for

Foo Chek Wee Group HR Director – SEA, Australia & Hong Kong, Zalora

claims and bills relating to staff benefits, which are under HR’s purview. I will also review before signing off prepared employment contracts. I will do phone interviews for preliminary assessments of suitable candidates for the Branch Manager position of our Kuala Lumpur outlets.

6.00 PM I finish up all outstanding tasks for the day and review my work diary for the next day’s schedule and action items, before getting a final update from my team on their given day’s work.

6.45 PM I finally call it a day and head home for dinner with my family. Always glad for chilled out family time!

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

COACHES’ CORNER Professional coaching is an important tool for driving business performance.

HRM weighs in on the challenges and how best to improve the coaching process Shalini Shukla-Pandey shalini@hrmasia.com.sg

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

A

quarter of managers are still not coaching However, the report also revealed that their teams, despite acknowledging that organisations are failing managers by not providing coaching is the single most important tool for the basic elements of a successful coaching driving performance. programme, such as executive endorsement, According to a global survey entitled management accountability, success measurement “Measuring Sales Management’s Coaching Impact”, and pre-determined programme objectives. the main obstacles to effective coaching today “There are several things that a professional are: managers who are too busy to coach, don’t coach can offer where a manager or leader in the know how, or aren’t held accountable for it. same organisation cannot offer,” says Henry Lee, Those that do coach often do it badly, with Managing Partner of Glides Consulting Partners. little structure, vision or purpose.

Firstly, all coaching conversations The report showed that, on average, are private and confidential unless Institute of Technical coaching is given more to underboth parties agree that the manager Education students will get performers, new starters or those needs to be involved in them. that specifically request it, revealing “Confidentiality provides a that managers tend to coach more platform for coachees to be liberated when they feel they have to rather from perceived cultural beliefs which under a partnership with than proactively or as part of their exist in every organisation and the Employment and daily management routine. inhibit breakthrough performance,” Employability Institute (e2i) Managers are using coaching to Lee explains.

Source: ITE & e2i raise poor performance to acceptable Secondly, since the professional levels, rather than as a positive coach is not from the same organisation management intervention with a focus to elevate as the coachee, they can stay focused on the agreed performance across all staff. goals and outcome. They have the clarity of distance Despite evidence of poor coaching practice, from the limiting beliefs that coachees have to deal those surveyed admitted that coaching was the with on a day-to-day basis. most important of all activities in improving the company’s overall sales effectiveness and Barriers to coaching therefore, the business bottom-line. Coaching Although benefits abound when it comes to was rated ahead of sales training, new customer coaching, employers do face barriers when acquisition and cross- and up-selling as being the looking to implement such a programme. activity to most influence sales performance.

“I would say employers face more of an The study found that high performing firms awareness issue,” says Lee. “I usually share with provide 15% to 20% more coaching, compared to potential clients that you can decide to engage other firms and do so across salesperson levels. coaches for your team members during times of aspiration or times of desperation.

“Obviously the results are much more impactful and effective during times of aspiration where the coachees can really be coached on what breakthroughs need to happen to take their In the past, most coaches have been generalists in three broad categories: Business Coaches, performance to the next level,” he explains.

Life Coaches and Career Coaches. “These categories are still in practice and very practical to “Unfortunately, most employers, due to a lack meet client needs,” says Henry Lee, Managing Partner, Glides Consulting Partners. of awareness about coaching and the value of “Over the last few years though, we have begun to see specialised coaches that are much coaching, tend to look at coaching as a panacea more surgical in their approaches, wherein they focus on key areas such as sales coaching, when things are not going well; when employees strength coaching and accountability coaching,” he explains. are not performing,” says Lee. Theresa Ong, Coaching Division Manager, Executive Coach International, agrees and says An analogy to describe this would be professional coaching has diversified into executive, relationship, behavioural and other such comparing taking a pill to get rid of a headache types of coaching. rather than taking vitamins to ensure one gets Where previously, professional coaching used to be available only to top management, it is healthier and stronger. now accessible to the masses, says Ong. Professional coaching is an integral part of “Now more people see the benefits of coaching, as compared to the past when people the leadership training curriculum throughout would think to themselves, ‘I don’t need someone to tell me what to do’,” she explains.

Citibank Singapore.

career coaching

Professional coaching over the years

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT Straight from the horse’s mouth An experienced auditor with a top multinational company, Lee Cheon Loon was performing very well in his job, especially due to his in-depth technical knowledge.

However, he was wondering about whether to continue with his current employer and wait for a promotion or to change jobs. Lee wanted to seek a resolution to his dilemma through coaching.

Through coaching with Executive Coach International, he found out that while he had built up his technical knowledge, he neglected connecting with people and building up relationships with them.

With the help of his coach, he decided to work on building and improving relationships with his loved ones, colleagues and friends. He started to go out and connect with others, spending more time meeting people and truly communicating with his parents.

He found the ability to better connect and work with a team. After his first promotion within two months, he got promoted again because his boss was impressed by the way he managed the team.

On top of that, he found balance in his life through taking up photography as a personal passion.

“We firmly believe that the best leaders are also active coaches who are equipped with the skills to unleash the potential of their team members to achieve optimal performance for themselves as well as the organisation,” says Nadia Mohamad, Senior Vice President – HR, Citibank Singapore.

“Many of our leaders regard coaching as a great tool for building greater empowerment and ownership amongst their teams,” she adds.

Still, Nadia found that, initially, many leaders were put off by coaching because of the perception that it is either too complicated or too time-consuming.

“To address their concerns, we gave them some simple models of coaching that could be easily adapted for different scenarios,” says Nadia.

“This has been the key to our success in helping them tackle this mental obstacle.”

Employees themselves may also be resistant to coaching, says Theresa Ong, Coaching Division Manager of Executive Coach International. “We need the coach to do the coaching and the client to do the work for the arrangement to be successful.”

To overcome this resistance to coaching, Ong says there needs to be open communication between HR, coaches and employees about what the aim of the coaching programme is, thereby creating an environment conducive to adult learning.

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coaching is, many may confuse it with mentoring, especially when internal staff become coaches for peers,” says Ong. “Therefore, it is important for us to ‘coach the coach’, so to speak.”

Measuring the effectiveness of professional coaching The best way to measure the effectiveness of professional coaching is through results. “No one hires a coach for the employees to give them a chance to have a chat or wallow in their problems,” says Lee. “The more important question is how we measure results.”

“There are several ways that we can do this and they all involve having that conversation and agreement before we begin coaching,” he explains.

At Citibank Singapore, once leaders have attended coaching training, they go through two check-in calls – one at three months after the programme and another at six months after the programme. These evaluate how they are progressing with their coaching of staff and address any issues that they may have.

“This gives us a good sense of how our leaders are implementing what they have learnt in the workplace,” Nadia explains. “Their scores also give us an indication of how well they have implemented what they have learnt.”

Improve your coaching Effective coaches are always looking at

ways in which they can improve.

“The best coaching relationships I have had always included management buy-in and support through the whole process of coaching,” says Lee. “This is very important to a successful coaching engagement.”

Nadia believes HR has a key role to play in instilling confidence in people managers so that coaching becomes instinctive in how they develop and motivate their staff. “To do this, HR needs to provide simple, practical models of coaching for managers,” she explains.

Internal coaches should also be exposed to coaching stints externally, so that they are not fixated on one style of coaching, says Ong. “External coaches can also be hired from time to time to keep things fresh within the organisation.”

For leaders to truly be great coaches, it is critical that their roles be clearly distinguished. “They find it hard to coach their directors or subordinates because they feel they can relate to the coachee both as a coach and as a manager, or as a fellow colleague and friend,” Ong explains. “There may be a conflict of interest in this case.”

To overcome this, HR should be the coach. “As a neutral party, HR is in a great place to become coaches to employees of any rank within an organisation,” says Ong. Ultimately, the organisations where employees are most happy and fulfilled are the ones where their leaders take on the personal accountability to drive the agenda for people development.

This can be done through many ways, including classroom trainings, workshops and coaching. They can either engage external professionals or partner with the management team to drive performance. HR should explore various options and take a blended approach to learning and development so as to fit the culture of their own organisations.

“People who work in organisations that are constantly learning, improving and evolving to drive business results will always surpass their competition,” says Lee.

ADVERTORIAL

MY JOB IS NOT TO BE EASY ON PEOPLE.

MY JOB IS TO MAKE THEM BETTER. - STEVE JOBS, 2008

OUR JOB IS TO COACH YOU TO DO THAT. EASILY. - EXECUTIVE COACH INTERNATIONAL (ECI)

DISCOVER HOW LEADERSHIP BY COACHING CAN ENHANCE YOUR COMPANY’S FUTURE! MANAGERS DIRECT, COACHES DEVELOP “Leadership by coaching” is picking up steam as an effective leadership style. Coaches develop and motivate their teams into carrying the company forward through relationship building and personal achievement, providing positive influence not only in their team members’ careers, but also their personal lives.

PERSONAL GROWTH, PROFESSIONAL GAINS This style of management can carry an organisation forward in great leaps. The benefits of self-motivation in the individual can greatly influence the company as a whole. This is a skillset that should be taught from the ground up, by people who know how to teach it.

ECI – A FIRST IN SINGAPORE Executive Coach International is the only coaching organization in Singapore that exclusively offers face-to-face ACTP (Accredited Coach Training Program) sessions. Specifically for middle management and above, our classes are always held “live” in small groups to guarantee maximum efficiency and personal attention. From the constant interactions with our trainers, our clients have found this to maximize learning, promote active listening and aid in designing positive goal-oriented actions.

A TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE ACTP alumnus, Avan Chan, President of the Financial Women’s Association of Singapore, adds, “Coaching is an art and a powerful skillset which enables me to build more open and meaningful connections with people and situations. It gives me clarity about my passion and values as I transform my professional focus towards the social impact leadership field.”

For more details about ACTP, call Theresa at 6737 0916 or contact@liveyourmark.com.

ACT NOW! Register before 31 January 2015 and enjoy 10% off the ACTP Module 1.

Simply quote “ACTP@HRM” in your email or when you call!

Terms and conditions apply.

www.liveyourmark.com

SOON LOO Senior Executive Coach

JULIA NG Professional Certified Coach, International Coaching Federation

HIGH

IMPACT HR

GEMALTO:

INVESTING IN EMPLOYEES In order to thrive in today’s business environment, companies need to help employees develop new technical and professional skills, including leadership abilities. To address these talent challenges, Gemalto has delivered over 328,000 hours (equivalent to 37 years) of training worldwide. HRM finds out more Shalini Shukla-Pandey shalini@hrmasia.com.sg

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M

aintaining the quality, loyalty and trust of its people are strategic imperatives for digital security firm Gemalto and HR policies are becoming increasingly critical to the company’s long-term success.

“Our overall approach to managing HR is based on recruiting the best talents from targeted Gemalto Universities in order to feed our ‘promotion from within’ pipeline,” says Franck Gourlaouen, Vice President of HR – Asia. “To do so, we develop an environment allowing our people to realise their potential, aligning with our belief that Gemalto is built on the ingenuity of its people.”

A key figure to illustrate this strategy: In 2013, 94% of the 250 most senior people in Gemalto had been promoted from within. “This remarkably high rate of internal promotion not only reflects the quality of our learning programmes, but our efforts to support career advancement over the mid to long term,” says Gourlaouen.

According to a recent Deloitte survey, more than seven in 10 business leaders in Southeast Asia rate leadership development as the likely top human capital challenge over the next year.

The same report, Engaging the 21st century workforce: Global Human Capital Trends 2014, found that approximately half of all leaders see learning and development as a significant issue they need to address over the next 12 to 18 months. Many southeast Asian organisations recognised that in order to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving business environment and digital world, they would need to help employees develop new technical and professional skills, as well as be organisationally ready to develop leaders at all levels.

This is why one of the most important HR objectives for Gemalto is to invest in employees to grow their skills.

“Our employees need to be able to respond to the needs of our customers and markets, and to anticipate and adapt to new technologies and challenges,” says Gourlaouen.

Each year, Gemalto invests two per cent of its total salary costs in training, offering a wide range of

courses and other schemes. In 2013, over 328,000 hours of training were delivered worldwide, benefiting over 9,000 individual employees – that’s 75% of the total workforce.

Each employee received 36 hours of training on average.

“Results have been encouraging,” says Gourlaouen. “More than three in four of our employees have expressed satisfaction with Gemalto’s learning and development initiatives over the last three years.”

of the technical community to the company as a whole.”

“This allows us to optimise our internal knowledge transfer by engaging with peers and sharing across the organisation,” he explains.

Tracking sentiments on the ground

Alongside investing in employees, Gemalto has implemented an annual survey called PeopleQuest to track staff satisfaction worldwide. The company uses the results to make improvements for the year ahead. This anonymous Studying at Gemalto University survey is available online and in nine Gemalto runs a wide number of learning languages to encourage as much take-up programmes every year, including and feedback as possible. a global leadership development In 2013, the survey response rate was programme called Gemalto University.

82%, an improvement compared to 78% This prepares future leaders across in 2012. Of these respondents, 81% said the global business through a variety they were satisfied with Gemalto. This of modules: high level of participation suggests that • Discovery Leadership programme – employees understand the correlation held every two years for new recruits between PeopleQuest and improved • Emerging Leadership programme outcomes in their working lives, – helps Gemalto build a crossGourlaouen says. functional, international network of The survey provides data from a participants who receive a diverse regional perspective so business leaders range of learning experiences, are able to use it for policy formulation. focused on digital security.

This data is filtered all the way to the • Executive Learning expedition – departmental level so local managers are allows management team to able to take actionable steps explore and develop through based on the results. benchmarking best practices “Each year, we use the in different industries and results to make improvements of Gemalto’s 250 most ecosystems. for the year ahead and we tailor senior people were Gemalto also places these improvements to meet promoted from within considerable emphasis on employees’ expectations, in Source: Gemalto developing the innovative particular, the areas where capacities of its teams to meet survey scores are lower,” future needs and ensure its long-term Gourlaouen explains. success.

The process of implementing “One of the ways we encourage this is improvement actions throughout through the Gemalto Technical Ladder the year is the key to the success of which gives our technical experts a PeopleQuest. In 2013, over 150 actions structured career path and enables were carried out, including family days them to develop their international and improvements to work spaces. career paths across different business “We believe by creating a stimulating groups,” says Gourlaouen. work environment and providing “Additionally, we are continuing to continual management support, we expand the number of Innovation Cafes empower our employees to thrive and we have worldwide,” says Gourlaouen. feel proud to work at Gemalto,” says “The idea behind this initiative is to Gourlaouen. enable our experts to present their technical work in different Gemalto HR innovation sites, and to promote the importance Gemalto is always on a lookout for

94%

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IMPACT HR

opportunities to make a positive contribution to the communities in which it operates.

“Unlike many other companies that organise corporate social responsibility activities and encourage their employees to join, we empower our employees to improve their local communities in their own ways through environmental and humanitarian activities,” says Gourlaouen.

Gemalto employees who are interested in funding from the company’s “Your World” programme can apply as individuals or as teams by sending a project description to a panel composed of local managers and employees.

For individual projects, the main selection criterion is strong personal involvement. For group projects, there should also be opportunities for team building. Each project can receive funding of up to US$2,500.

In 2013, 71 Your World projects, “We also launched an internal involving more than 440 employees, campaign aimed at strengthening received a total funding of US$120,000. our employees’ engagement with These projects included: Gemalto’s brand in 2013,” says • Taking part in a treeGourlaouen. “With a video planting activity organised based on images of building Gemalto has delivered by the Hong Kong Green bricks or boxes, we invited over Nature Union. employees to share their • Running in the Columbian own personal role and Presta tu pierna race to motivation with colleagues protest against landmines. around the world.” This of training worldwide, • Sponsoring Musiquelaine programme garnered over Source: Gemalto SA, an organisation 2,000 participants from promoting and supporting different countries. music programmes within Gemalto also encourages its staff to disadvantaged community schools in have a financial, as well as a personal South Africa. stake, in the business – offering • Participating in the Zumbathon for employees discounted shares.

Autism in Canada.

“This helps to foster a sense of • Organising a cultural trip for ownership and pride as well as underprivileged families with Accueil encourage our employees to work Goutte d’Or, a voluntary social centre towards a common goal of helping the in France. company to grow,” Gourlaouen explains.

328,000 hours

HRCLINIC How can you avoid tension between IT and HR when it comes to metrics and benchmarking efforts?

O

ver the past two decades, unprecedented change has swept workplaces around the world.

Many organisations are still lacking the concepts, strategies, models and measures that matter most to effectively manage their most vital intangible asset – their people. They most likely have a marketing strategy and an IT strategy, but they do not necessarily have a people or HR workforce strategy to manage what is typically their highest cost item.

I am from the IT industry and I have constantly observed incidents of HR getting challenged by business on the inputs they provide as part of their HR analytics.

For example, simply highlighting the attrition for a particular country as “nine per cent” doesn’t give any insight to business and what to conclude from it.

This is the time for HR to move up the value chain and transition from HR Support to Strategic HR Partnership.

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is the development of a comprehensive HR workforce strategy which is in sync with the business strategy.

HR workforce strategy includes a detailed 360-degree strategic workforce plan that ideally incorporates location strategy, the labour pyramid, and a detailed assessment of functional capability with pivotal roles. This should all be tied with the business’s integrated strategy.

Connecting back with the above example for instance, instead of just providing a dated attrition snapshot, it would be much more beneficial for the business if they received a triangulation of information with: job levels compared to employee ratings compared to tenure.

Dheeraj Shastri

HR Business Partner, Workforce Planning, HP

Ask our HR experts. Email your questions to sham@hrmasia.com.sg

IN PERSON VANDNA RAMCHANDANI Head of Recruitment – Asia-Pacific, Bloomberg LP

Years in HR? Just one!

Why HR?

Managing a cross-cultural business team of about 250 people across Asia helped me realise – more than ever before – the importance of talent. You can achieve any target or business goal if you have the right people and a good team. That’s the role of HR – to bring in the best talent, to motivate and develop them – to help drive ultimate business success. With 17 years in the business, I have a deep appreciation of Bloomberg’s unique culture, and our strong focus on talent is also a personal passion for me, so it was a natural progression.

Why Bloomberg?

I have been with Bloomberg for 18 years, across two geographies, three different departments in at least eight different roles! It’s a very self-driven, entrepreneurial environment: we empower people to be creative, take the lead, and above all, we value our people. The company has provided me more opportunities to learn and grow than I ever thought fathomable at the start of my career. They have taken and continue to take a chance on me. It’s been a true partnership - an amazing journey!

I really enjoy the Financial Services industry, but ultimately, you want to work at a place where you can be yourself – be authentic. The values of the company: to give back to the community, to make the world a better place, and to support art and culture – they all echo my own, and that helps me feel energised about what I do and the difference we make together on a daily basis.

Biggest achievement?

Having been able to create a work-life fit; grow a career; and yet also have a wonderful family.

After hours?

Watch TV, go to the gym, meet friends, but most importantly, spend time with my family.

Family?

My family is my first priority: my parents, my husband and my daughter. I am sure they will all echo that!

BOOK REVIEW

Step up a notch in

performance management W

e often hear the term “performance management” being bandied about, but do we actually know how to conceptualise and implement it for our staff?

HR professionals, fret no more. Performance Management (HR Fundamentals) will allay your fears and anxieties around this crucial aspect of HR once and for all.

The book, authored by HR management specialist Linda Ashdown, is the ultimate guide for everything related to performance management. It takes the reader from a broad, holistic look into performance management, into a deeper and more intimate focus on each of the principal activities involved, including objective-setting and providing feedback.

The book kicks off with a chapter on “What is performance management?” before progressing chronologically to more intensive chapters such as “Why is it important?”, “How does it fit with organisation and strategy?”, and “How does it work?”.

Other chapters cover “How do you do it?”, “Planning and action”, and “Measurement”.

In between each chapter, there are actual activities, questionnaires and case studies that help readers to make sense of different concepts and also apply them in their respective workplaces.

The book is written in a very practical manner, allowing readers to tap onto ideas and concepts in a clear and concise fashion.

Ashdown also utilises her own practical encounters of working in HR as examples and case studies.

This is an absolutely imperative read for those looking to strategise and execute a high performance working culture within their ranks.

Title: Performance Management (HR Fundamentals) Author: Linda Ashdown Publisher: Kogan Page Price: S$62.50 (before GST)

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

Why every HR leader needs to know about finance While every business leader will have their own speciality, it pays to have a working understanding of other functions in the organisation. James Leong, Founder and CEO of Visions.One Consulting, says this is particularly important for HR leaders – who need a solid understanding of finance in order to make an impact

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

“Alice came to a fork in the road. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked.

‘Where do you want to go?’ responded the Cheshire Cat. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered.

‘Then,’ said the Cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”

– Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

N

o business leader can afford to be like Alice. They need to be able to judge a situation, envisage the future and have clarity when making decisions. Often those decisions have a financial element and impact on the organisation. As a business leader with a specialty in HR, people managers need business acumen to carry out their roles effectively to meet board expectations. Knowing finance is “mission critical” to making sound business decisions. The more a HR leader knows about how finance works, the more they can increase their strategic influence at the board level and the more they can help impact the organisation for success.

The seven key benefits of understanding finance form a useful acronym: Fearlessness, Influence, the ability to Nurture, ensuring Alignment, the ability to Negotiate, the ability to Challenge, and increased Esteem.

Fearlessness We tend to be fearful of the things we know least about – our fear of the unknown. Once you understand how finance works, how your organisation

makes money, and how accounting procedures affect financial results, you will reduce your fear of numbers.

With your newfound confidence, you will turn fear into fun as you discover many things about business that you did not know before. Financial conversations that used to go over your head will now make perfect sense and you can contribute meaningfully, making you a valuable member of the leadership team.

financially savvy day-to-day decisions that help to improve the company’s bottom line.

Alignment

Often due to lack of understanding of finance, line departments get into conflicting positions with the finance function. They tend to operate in their functional silos and fail to see the big financial picture of how all parts interact to produce a final financial result for the company. They often Influence see their own functional You will be able to better objectives as priorities and The more a HR leader influence top management make requests that might knows about how finance decisions once you are strain the resources of the works, the more they can able to speak the C-suite company at a time when the increase their language – that of finance company is being financially and accounting. This will stretched. make you a more impactful As a financially-savvy HR leader to your team as your leader, you can demonstrate business cases get approved leadership by working with with greater ease, since you are able the line to manage expectations and to support them with the appropriate align the entire organisation with financial justifications. the overall business strategy. As you act as the interface between the line The ability to Nurture functions and finance function, you Once you are conversant with the are ideally positioned to step into workings of finance, you can better the leadership role of mediating the nurture and coach your team to make needs of the various departments to

strategic influence

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GUEST CONTRIBUTOR unify the organisation. Getting the supported it in its implementation. non-finance functions in the entire This would certainly have a company trained in understanding the tremendous impact in empowering basics of finance is one way to create you in your role, thereby accelerating organisational wide alignment and your career progress. You will move minimise unnecessary friction. The from the sidelines to the frontline of result would be enhanced top-level decision making performance, productivity and leadership.

When you know how finance and and profitability for the The pace of business accounting work, you are in a company. and change has been position to accelerating. Competition The ability to Negotiate is intense. To help your With your knowledge in company succeed in this finance, you can negotiate challenging landscape, HR and challenge the numbers better financial terms leaders have to step up, and conditions with your push beyond your comfort vendors and stakeholders, as well as zone and understand the financial make appropriate trade-offs between aspects of running a business more quantitative financial factors and nonthan ever. financial considerations.

It’s time to transform from being a HR leader doing business to being a The ability to Challenge business leader doing HR. To the uninitiated, many cannot distinguish between the art and science of finance and accounting.

Financial numbers are the result of estimates, judgements and application of accounting rules such as revenue recognition policies and accrual accounting principles. When you know how finance and accounting work, you are in a position to question assumptions and challenge the numbers. You will begin to act like a real leader when, given a set of James Leong is a strategic learning partner numbers, you ask hard questions to to Singapore’s top financial institutions, ensure they are robust and reliable leading blue chip public listed companies before relying on them for decision and has trained with many institutions such making. You should not take numbers as SMU, SIM, NUS, ISCA and Duke CE. He at face value just because they are has presented regularly at professional prepared by accountants – due to forums, continuing professional education inherent limitations in the process training sessions, and appeared on radio and of recording and generating those investor education webcasts. The Singapore numbers in the first place.

question assumptions

“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that” – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Esteem When you can do all the above as a result of mastering the basics of finance, imagine what that will do to your self-esteem knowing that you have contributed so positively to the overall company strategy and

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Business Review has also featured him as one of ten influential professional speakers in Singapore. Leong is well known for his dynamic presentation and ability to simplify complicated concepts in a simple, easy and fun way for his audience to understand and apply to achieve impactful results.

JAMES LEONG

Founder and CEO, Visions.One Consulting

TALENT Susanz Lim

Head, Talent Management, Knight Frank Estate Management

Susanz Lim rejoins the workforce this year with Knight Frank Estate Management as Head, Talent Management, after a sabbatical from work for the past two years. This is the first private organisation she is working for, having worked in the public sector for the previous 20 years in varied aspects of HR, ranging from organisation review to resource planning and development, talent and succession planning and organisation wellness.

Lim’s last job was with Raffles Girls’ Secondary school as Director of Staff Services, where she reviewed and restructured the HR Department holistically.

She also set in place an integrated Worklife Harmony Framework which won the Best Practice Award in Staff Wellbeing under the School Excellence Model in 2012.

Lim holds a Master of Science in AsiaPacific HR Management and a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours in Sociology; both from the National University of Singapore. Her passions in talent development and succession planning are rooted in her belief that every individual with a teachable heart can be groomed from a raw diamond to a polished star.

Lim oversees the full spectrum of HR functions, namely: resource planning, learning and career development, and organisation health and wellness.

She looks forward to making significant contributions in the journey of excellence with Knight Frank Estate Management; especially in areas of organisation review and business re-engineering, best practices, and career growth.

Deborah Woollard Vice President of HR for Asia, the Middle East and Africa, InterContinental Hotels Group

Deborah Woollard is the Vice President of HR at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) for the Asia, Middle East and Africa region. She brings with her more than 15 years of experience in HR management.

Woollard is responsible for shaping and delivering IHG’s HR strategy to support the company’s growth plans in the region. Her role involves leading IHG’s talent management programmes to identify, recruit and retain key talent and building a strong leadership team to drive the company’s ambitious plans to grow the talent pool by over 50% in 2015. Woollard also drives the company’s training and development strategy to position IHG as a preferred employer brand across the region.

“The energy and passion I’ve experienced since joining IHG makes me even more convinced that the success of any company ultimately boils down to its culture – and IHG has one that balances performance with passion, which is really motivating for a HR leader,” says Woollard.

Deborah began her career at Unilever where she spent over a decade growing and sharpening her expertise in talent development and HR management.

Prior to joining IHG, Deborah was with Abbott Laboratories overseeing talent development in key markets spanning Asia, the Middle East and Africa and looking after emerging markets such as Russia, India and China.

LADDER Monica Bhandari Chief HR Officer, And Designs India

Monica Bhandari has joined And Designs India as Chief HR Officer.

Her focus for this initial journey will be on framing and driving the People Strategy for the business. This includes strategic defining of policies and practices, talent development, succession planning and retention strategy, and the employee value proposition.

Monica has over 20 years of HR experience, which includes working 14 years at Bharti Airtel and Bharti Walmart, the two global leaders in the telecom and retail sectors.

In her last assignment with Bharti Walmart, she partnered with Walmart International, China and Japan for a HR Process Reengineering project and also has the distinction of being the Core Strategic team member of the International HR information system and HR Optimisation Program, which aims to carve out the “Walmart HR Way of Working for 2020”. She also set up the Walmart Global HR Shared Services Best Practise Group in 2012.

Bhandari is at equal ease with Indian ethos and international regulations and people practices. She is an enterprising leader with excellent communication and people management skills that have been honed through managing multi-skilled teams. Her knowledge of Indian and global employment law is one of her biggest strengths.

Monica’s passionate belief as a ‘People Champion’ can be summed up in her quoted goal of “creating winning cultures”.

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$5 00

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This double stream two-day conference and workshop combo featuring experts at the forefront of the L&D division’s evolution into a business unit will discuss how to run your L&D departments as a consulting unit, winning methods to build a robust and sustainable learning culture and the psychology behind effective learning to push your organisation to the next level.

What Will You Achieve from this Event: • Build a sustaining learning culture through various learning models • Understanding the psychology of learning • Exploring innovative methods to cope with an increasingly agile and mobile workforce • Utilise this unique learning program to provide compelling business value • Optimise the performance of your organisation’s learning investments, using technology and data-driven decision-making

Featured speakers: Maurice Ooi Director - Commerce Leadership Institute, Group Human Resource CIMB GROUP

Jin Hwui Lee Deputy Director of Human Resources Development LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

Melissa Johnston Head of Learning &Development, Asia Pacific JONES LANG LASALLE

CP Tham Regional Learning & Development Specialist, Asia GLOBAL RISK ADVISORY

Eldon Poscoe Director, Professional & Teacher Development BRITISH COUNCIL (SINGAPORE) LTD

Carl Thong Managing Director SUNSTONE GROUP HOLDING

Jaclyn Lee Senior Director, Human Resources SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

Gyan Nagpal CEO PEOPLELENS GLOBAL ASSOCIATES

Gary Lee Head, Learning & Development SOO KEE GROUP

Prof Sattar Bawany CEO CENTRE FOR EXECUTIVE EDUCATION (CEE)

Lynn Wong Director of Sales Training & Development DHL EXPRESS (S) PTE LTD

www.hrmcongress.com | +65 6423 4631

Premium Gold Sponsor:

HIGHLIGHT

HRM CONGRESS

The Business Savvy HR Leader Workshop For the first time ever, HRM Asia hosted a specialised, interactive workshop designed to help HR professionals master strategies to strengthen their business and financial acumen

H

eld at the Hilton Hotel Singapore on October 29 and 30, The Business Savvy HR Leader Workshop saw C-Suite business leaders explore strategic skills development methods that could be used to both support management-level needs and transform HR professionals into key contributors to any organisation.

HR Gets Hands-On From annual financial statements to industry analyst reports, delegates at this full-house event were given practical and real case studies to dissect and work on – providing them with ample training and exposure on identifying and resolving real-life business issues.

Expert speakers included Dirk Rossey, former Chief HR Officer of Dubai Holding Divisions; Jane Horan, Founder of the Horan Group, James Leong, Founder and CEO of Visions.One Consulting; and Dheeraj Shastri, HR Business Partner of Hewlett Packard’s Workforce Planning and Analytics division.

“In my 20 years of dealing with Fortune Global 500 CEOs, chief financial officers and chief operating officers, the biggest frustration they have with their senior HR managers is that they don’t understand the business well enough,” Rossey said.

“Now, we have the opportunity to bring HR to the next level and bridge this gap.”

Leong engaged the attendees in a highly interactive discussion on Capital Expenditure, Operating Expenditure and investment in people. Speaking from 14 years of experience in HR, Shastri

COMING SOON!

The Business Savvy HR Leader Workshop – Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

explained the methods to and opportunities. develop a credible “SMART“ Rossey challenged the For more information or HR numbers and use them delegates to come up advanced bookings, to demonstrate the value with ways to incorporate please contact us at and return on investment value-chain thinking in info@hrmasia.com.sg of the function. their respective businesses The event also showcased and the event culminated in a rousing interactive panel discussions featuring discussion on the different ways in which John Botia, Managing Director of attendees performed strategic sourcing, Carlsberg and Sikhakollu Srihari procurement and supplier management.

Gurunadh Baba, Managing Director “The workshop featured good strategicand Head of Credit Cards and Personal level thinking, sharing and ideas,” said Financing at CIMB Bank.

Xingyan Chen of Maersk Drilling.

Another delegate, Rohgini Viswanathan HR at the table of Westports Malaysia, also commented The interactive workshop centred on the quality of insights she gathered around four pillars of business savviness: from the event. “The sessions were very Business Acumen; Financial Literacy; informative and the facilitators shared Political Savviness; and Meaningful their views and ideas on strategic HR.” Analytics. Delegates were treated to The sessions successfully translated highly participatory training methods – C-Suite language for HR professionals with live group discussions, case studies and helped demonstrate how they can and even an on-site business clinic where help improve the bottom lines of their participants experienced one-on-one organisations. consultations with the panel members More advanced sessions are planned to discuss specific business challenges for 2015 – stay tuned!

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Regional HR Manager, Asia Pacific

Compensation & Benefits Manager

Senior HR Business Partner

› European multinational company › Hands-on and strategic-focused role › Make a difference today

› Financial Service Industry › MNC › Well known brand

› Property Development › MNC › Industry leader

An international player in the industry, our client has extensive global presence and now seeks a dynamic HR professional to join them in the Asia Pacific team.

This is a key position in Total reward team providing support to the APAC Business. You will have dedicated daily agenda and will participate on the strategic projects and initiatives. You will involve in prepare C&B budget, processes, design and develop policies as well as day to day operations. Gather and analyse competitive data on industry trends and total rewards landscape.

You will partner with HRBPs on total rewards survey participation and also work with regional HR managers on remuneration data and trends. Analyze different components of the remuneration scheme in the organization and prepares reports about the internal equity and external competitiveness.

The Senior HR Business Partner, reporting into the HR Director, is part of the Strategies Leadership team, and is responsible for partnering with Business Line Leadership in the development and implementation of people strategies and tactics that drive the strategic goals for the business. As part of the senior management team, this role has a critical voice in all major business decisions and is responsible for acting in a manner that is consistent with the best interests of the overall organization. It’s include but not limited to execute HR strategy, consults with leaders on strategic and tactical human resource issues, provide support regarding the company’s core values, individual role responsibilities and expectations, work with the business line leadership to determine skill requirements, the gaps, and strategies including development as well as hiring.

Provide advice and counsel to managers and employees on employee relations matters.

Degree qualified, you have minimum of 8 years of relevant experience ideally in MNCs. Those with regional corporate HR experience and proven success in driving and executing change management activities in a complex matrix reporting environment will be preferred. Armed with great communication and strong influencing skills, you have demonstrated HR partnering experience with cross-cultural business leaders. You are highly hands-on, self motivated, and flexible in operating independently and in a team environment.

Reference number: MH/JD48147 Contact person: Maureen Ho (Reg. No. R1105976)

You have strong C&B background with extensive knowledge in APAC benefits, have experience or capability to design and develop policies. You have strong and proven analytical skills with excellent communication skills. You can work independently, have strong time management skills and able to work under pressure and tough deadlines.

Reference number: OL/JD48160 Contact person: Oka Lee (Reg. No. R1216022)

You are a degree qualified experienced HRBP with good track record in stakeholder management. You are an excellent communicator and negotiator with analytical mind.

Reference number: OL/JD48162 Contact person: Oka Lee (Reg. No. R1216022)

Your Human Resources recruitment specialists To apply, please go to talent2.com and search for respective reference number.

For a confidential discussion, you can contact Maureen Ho or Oka Lee for the relevant position in our Singapore Office on +65 6511 8555  linkedin.com/company/talent2

Allegis Group Singapore Pte Ltd Company No. 200909448N EA Licence No. 10C4544

Searching for HR professionals?

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Number 1 Media for Reaching HR Audited at 19,823 copies per month - HRM Singapore’s HR job listings reach more HR professionals each month than any other media. And with our competitive pricing you can increase the number of quality responses - whilst saving money!

Please contact us on (65) 6423 4631 for full details

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1143/1114

Reporting to Regional HR Director, you will align HR plans with business strategies and provide high level professional and operational HR advice to business leaders. You will also provide guidance and expertise on full spectrum HR to the HR community, and play key roles in driving HR projects. You will also act as focal point for HR budgeting, reporting and analytics for the region.

{ WE KNOW RECRUITMENT Regional HR Director

Total Rewards Manager

Human Resources Manager

› Market leading MNC › Strong visibility to the business

› Newly created role for a well recognised brand › Strong career growth opportunities

› Esteemed market leader › Exposure to senior management

Our client is a prestigious and renowned MNC in the oil and gas industry with offices in over 35 countries. In this role, you are required to think strategically and provide leadership in all human capital matters such as designing mid and longterm HR strategies to meet business objectives as well as facilitate people strategy development in forecasting and planning talent pipeline. You will be a Degree qualified individual from a reputable University with at least 7 years of HR Management experience. Key to your success will be your ability to engage with senior leaders on a strategic level.

Our client, among the world’s most reputable in the industry, is currently looking for a driven individual to join the team in Singapore as a Total Rewards Manager. In this newly created role, you will drive compensation and benefits programs, conduct competitive C&B benchmarking and implement current benefits structures. Reporting to the Regional Head of HR, you will be the lead point of contact to the management team on all C&B topics. You should have experience working in a compensation consulting firm, with an understanding of the Singapore compensation practices. This role presents an excellent opportunity to find job satisfaction in an engaging company culture.

Our client is a market leading automotive organisation with a comprehensive blueprint across Asia Pacific. They are looking for a HR Manager who will be responsible for the full spectrum of HR responsibilities including, but not limited to, business partnering various corporate functions to deliver a best class experience in all aspects of their business.

Additionally, you will champion the strategic movement to align HR to be at the forefront of the business. The successful applicant will possess a minimum of 6 years of HR experience with business partnering or generalise exposure.

Please contact Eugene Wong (Reg. no: R1331128) quoting ref: H2478640 or visit our website.

Please contact Domi Di Marco (Reg. no: R1439720) quoting ref: H2441970 or visit our website.

Please contact Sheldon Toh (Reg. no: R1438671) quoting ref: H2481580 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.

Get Connected. Stay Ahead.

Specialists in human resources recruitment

Human Resources

#15102 Licence No.: 98C5473 Business Registration No: 199804751N

MICHAEL PAGE

www.michaelpage.com.sg

EMPOWERING YOUR CAREER Payroll Manager

Head (Human Capital – Compensation and Benefits)

Leadership role Fast track career growth

Team lead Leading MNC Attractive salary package

Our client is an established global facility and catering service provider and they are currently looking to hire a Senior Manager to manage their payroll services.

Reporting to the HR Director, you will be responsible for managing a team of 6, running staff payroll, maintaining payroll information, checking discrepancies, compiling and preparing reports, updating management with information, and maintaining employee confidence in system. You will be expected to manage other HR functions and initiatives.

To be successful in this role, you should have a degree in relevant discipline with 7 years of payroll experience. You should have a minimum of 3 years of experience in managing a team. Candidates with proven expertise in internal HRIS system and people management skills are likely to be successful in this role. You are required to have knowledge of Salary Structures, Benefits Administration, Worker Compensation and Singapore Employment Law. To submit your application, please email your resume in word format to priya_prakash@kellyservices.com.sg. Your interest will be treated in the strictest of confidence.

Our client is well established and highly regarded as one of the key leaders in their field. They are currently in search of a Head (Human Capital – Compensation and Benefits) due to business needs.

Reporting to the HR Director, you will be in charge of administrating the annual appraisal for executive and rank employees, managing the compensation packages for senior management and carrying out the full suite of Compensation and Benefits activities.

To be successful, you should have a strong Degree with Postgraduate Diploma in Compensation and Benefits and more than 10 years of experience managing Compensation and Benefits for MNCs with large headcount.

If you meet the above criteria, please email your detailed CV in word format to maggie_ong@kellyservices.com.sg. Your interest will be treated in the strictest of confidence.

Ong Ai Leng Maggie EA Personnel Registration No. R1105973

Priyadarshni Prakash EA Personnel Registration No. R135491

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) is a leader in providing workforce solutions globally. For more than 35 years, Kelly in Singapore has been partnering the finest

local companies, key government agencies as well as some of the world’s most respected multinational companies to deliver the best talent in the market. Kelly’s centralised recruitment hub makes nearly 8,000 placements in Singapore last year. Complementing our general staffing capability, Kelly also offers great expertise in the sourcing of specialised professionals across technical disciplines such as Engineering, Technology and Science, as well as functional specialties 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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Headquartered in Singapore since 2003, Kerry Consulting is Singapore’s leading Search & Selection firm.

Our consulting team is the most experienced, and amongst the largest, in the ASEAN region.

We offer positions in the following sectors: Banking & Financial Services Commerce Finance Engineering & Supply Chain Healthcare & Life Sciences Human Resources Legal Sales & Marketing Technology

Kerry Consulting celebrates 10 years in Singapore since 2003

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TO APPLY: Please submit your resume to the consultant email address listed, quoting the job title and reference number. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For further information on each job, visit the short URL

www.kerryconsulting.com | Returning the Human to Resourcing

HR Business Partner (FMCG)

APAC Recruitment Director (Healthcare)

Regional HR Manager (Pharma)

Global FMCG Company New position Salary circa up to $90K

Leading Clinical Research Company Strong APAC presence Salary circa up to $150K

Leading pharmaceutical company Strong APAC presence Salary circa up to $120K

Our client is an established multinational with a strong global footprint and one of the world’s largest FMCG. You will be a Business Partner to the Corporate Functions and provide corporate HR strategy, professional HR guidance and support to relevant internal client groups with the objective of adding value to the business. Plans, administers, develops, implements, coordinates, and directs HR policies, programs, and practices.

Duties include formulating policies and procedures for the Human Resources Department and recommending policies and practices to management.

This client offers a full range of clinical development and commercialization services for Asia Pacific. Reporting to the Senior Director of Staffing, you will provide strategic support for continuous improvement of the staffing function through development and implementation of all staffing programs.

This premier and leading specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of healthcare products throughout Asia Pacific. With strong presence in Asia Pacific and headcount of more than 3000 people, there is an opportunity to join as Regional HR Manager based in the Asia Pacific Regional Office (Singapore).

More info: http://bit.ly/pc-7757 Ref No: PC 7757\HRM Priscilla Chen / pc@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104327

You will manage a staffing team for assigned business function/region and partner closely with the business to ensure delivery against strategic business imperatives and deliver solutions to meet business needs. Including leading the implementation of projects related to legislation in the recruitment process within HR and across the business, HR systems, practices, procedures and compliance.

More info: http://bit.ly/pc-7737 Ref No: PC7737\HRM Priscilla Chen / pc@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104327

Reporting to the Regional HR Director APAC, this role is primarily accountable for managing the Regional Office HR Function and driving/executing the people strategy across all APAC. More info: http://bit.ly/pc-7685 Ref No: PC7685\HRM Priscilla Chen / pc@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104327

Compensation & Benefits Specialist (Oil & Gas Industry)

Senior Manager - Total Rewards (SEA region)

Southeast Asia HR Leader (Director Level)

Global Oil & Gas Organisation Strong Career Progression Potential Exposure to Regional Initiatives

Newly Created Role Fortune 500 Organisation Salary Circa up to $200K

Leadership Role Fortune 500 Organisation Salary Circa up to $220K

This is an established Oil & Gas company with a strong global footprint. There is now an excellent opportunity to join the organization as a Compensation & Benefits Specialist. Reporting into the VP HR Asia Pacific, 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, align job grades with the various Business Segments.

This successful and growing organisation is headquartered in Singapore and has an exciting future ahead. The company is looking to make a strategic hire to ensure the further success of the business through its people and partners.

This organization is one of the leading industrial organisations in the world. It is consistently ranked as a great place to work, with exciting expansion and growth plans in the region.

More info: http://bit.ly/ft-7579 Ref No: FT7579\HRM Finian Toh / ft@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104327

Reporting to the Global Total Rewards Leader and partnering closely with senior executives, this key Total Rewards Lead role will require you to oversee, manage and design the C&B policies and framework for the region.

There will be a big emphasis on executive compensation and benefits packages and, long-term incentive programs, as well as stock and share plans. You will also be required to support to M&A activity as necessary.

More info: bit.ly/1pP1REk Ref No: FT7399\HRM Finian Toh / ft@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104310

Reporting directly to and supporting the APAC HR Director, this management role requires you to oversee and lead all HR initiatives for the senior leadership team within the Singapore operations and for SEA. With a diverse workforce, your key priorities will include performance management, compensation and benefits, recruitment, professional development and employee/ union relations.

More info: bit.ly/1q9HI9t Ref No: FT7421\HRM Finian Toh / ft@kerryconsulting.com Reg No: R1104310

Licence No: 03C4828

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Human resources professionals speak to tHe experts Global Hr, Graduate Development lead spearhead the growth of a global financial institution

regional Vp Hr Drive the people agenda

This international bank needs an experienced HR professional with experience in training and developing graduates. Partnering with your peers on a global level, you will define strategy for the global graduate development programmes as well as talent identification and performance management. You must be degree educated with a minimum of eight years of relevant experience in graduate development or campus recruitment and have a passion for Generation Y career planning.

A global brand and market leader, this European listed multinational has a significant opportunity for a senior HR professional to join as Regional VP of Human Resources. You will cover the wider South Asia region with over twelve countries in the scope. This is an outstanding opportunity to be part of the senior management team and provide a broad range of strategic and operational interventions and work closely with the business to translate strategic objectives into specific HR programs. This Employer of Choice offers excellent career development and progression.

Deputy Director, learning & Development revolutionise learning across the organisation

Hr manager (education) implement Hr frameworks & policies

In line with encouraging growth in the business, a rare opportunity exists for a Deputy Director, Learning & Development to join a reputable MNC. Reporting to the Regional HR Director, you will oversee talent development for commercial units across Asia. You will be a Bachelor’s Degree graduate with eight years of relevant experience. An experienced manager, you have a proven track record in leading a large team.

A renowned international educational institute is looking for a driven HR Manager to build out key HR initiatives and oversee HR operations. Aligning global company policies to ensure business processes run efficiency, you will oversee all aspects of HR. You will have at least seven years of relevant HR generalist experience, preferably within education.

please contact ash russell, tamara sigerhall, chris lui, keith lim or sean Wong at hr.singapore@hays.com.sg or +65 6303 0721.

hays.com.sg

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Your career in HR starts here.

Compensation Manager

C&B consultancy experience / Leading local conglomerate You shall develop and implement key compensation guidelines and plans including pay mix analysis and job grading specifics. You will also develop and manage relocation policies and programmes and ensure its compliance with international tax and local laws. Key attributes relevant to this role will include at least 5 years of compensation and benefits consultancy experience, familiarity with financial terminology as well as strong analytical and numerical skills to develop remuneration strategies and policies.

Contact us at +65 6632 0048 / hrmg@capitagrp.com for a confidential discussion.

Manager, Group Human Resource Succeed as a HR business partner / Established retailer

You shall partner the senior management team to optimise performance, through developing and delivering effective HR processes and activities in recruitment, recognition and retention. You will oversee payroll administration, compensation and benefits competitiveness as well as other corporate HR deliverables. Armed with a HRM degree and 8 years of HRM experience, you are well-versed in the Employment Act and are able to deliver sound HR policies in a retail and services environment. Hands-on experience in Times Pay will be an advantage.

Contact us at +65 6603 8021 / hrmg@capitagrp.com for a confidential discussion.

Human Resource Manager

Individual contributor HR business partnering role / Medical manufacturing MNC You will act as an effective business partner with specialist teams, such as Talent Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits, and Learning & Development and be involved in a number of HR projects including acquisitions, harmonization and integration of compensation & benefits and processes, new product introductions, as well as entries into new markets in the region. You will ideally have post grad qualifications in HRM along with 10-15 years’ MNC experience executing regional HR work in a matrix environment.

Contact us at +65 6632 0041 / hrmg@capitagrp.com for a confidential discussion.

Manager, HR and Talent Management

Focused on Asian talent acquisition and management / Global communications leader You will be responsible for developing an effective people strategy, employee engagement and HR internal communications and seek to create a Centre of Excellence for HR programmes in recruitment, training and compensation and benefits. You will need to be influential and have experience in senior management reporting, alongside with the tenacity to achieve excellent HR work where it will resound with both internal stakeholders and external partners.

Contact us at +65 6603 4719 / hrmg@capitagrp.com for a confidential discussion.

BUSINESS SUPPORT | OUTSOURCING | TECHNOLOGY | ENGINEERING | BANKING

Professional. Personalised. Passionate.

CAPITA PTE LTD

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

THE HALLMARK OF OUR TALENT SOLUTIONS

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