Quick Reads

FunDing & invESTMEnT Darwinbox raises funding from Salesforce to accelerate HR digitalization

Darwinbox, one of Asia’s leading enterprise HR technology platforms, announces the closing of its 15MN USD funding round led by Salesforce Ventures with participation from existing investors, Sequoia and Lightspeed. The company has grown 300%+ since its last round of funding in 2019. The company shared that with the new funding, it plans to accelerate its expansion in Southeast Asia, onboard new partners, drive product innovation, and significantly grow its team in the region. Chaitanya Peddi, Co-founder and Product Head at Darwinbox, in an exclusive interaction with People Matters says, ''this funding really validates the product and the work we are doing in the HCM space. We now want to scale up on the journey.''

EMPloyEE EngagEMEnT Anxiety related to job changes has increased: WEF

According to a World Economic Forum-Ipsos survey, stress, anxiety, and loneliness have increased among working people. More than half of working adults experienced anxiety relating to their job security and stress due to changes in their working patterns. Among those able to work from home, family pressures, finding a work-life balance, and feelings of loneliness and isolation were cited as increasing as the pandemic disrupted lives and interrupted long-established practices.

Hiring 40% of Singapore companies looking to hire this year

Hiring in Singapore is projected to shoot up by 40 percent in 2021, according to the latest talent trends report by Michael Page. Most of the activity will come from the technology and telecoms sector, consistent with the general trend around the Asia Pacific that started last year as companies rushed to digitalize, and with the report's other finding that 68 percent of companies in the region plan to increase investment in technology and digital tools.

TEcHnology Google workers form the company's firstever union

Hundreds of employees at Google and its parent, Alphabet, have launched a union, a rare step for the tech industry that also represents the biggest and most organized challenge yet to the company's executive leadership. Announced Monday morning, the Alphabet Workers' Union will be run by employees and open both to full-time workers and contractors at the tech giant. "This is historic," said Dylan Baker, a Google software engineer, in a release.

Hr TEcHnology German startup Personio raises $125 MN

The German startup that targets small- and medium-sized businesses (10-2,000 employees) with an all-in-one HR platform covering recruiting and onboarding, payroll, absence tracking, and other major HR functions — has picked up $125 Mn in funding at a $1.7 Bn post-money valuation. The Series D is being co-led by Index Ventures and Meritech, with previous backers Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northzone, Global Founders Capital, and Picus all participating. The $1.7 Bn valuations is a big jump on the company’s $500 Mn valuations a year ago, and it comes after a year where the startup has doubled its revenues and was not on the hunt to raise, with much of its previous fundraising still in the bank.

Hr TEcHnology Singaporean HR tech firm Snaphunt raises $1 Mn from Beenext

Singapore based intelligent recruitment platform Snaphunt has raised US$1 Mn in a funding round from venture capital firm Beenext. The financing round gives the tech firm a post-money valuation of over US$7.2 Mn as per data from VentureCap Insights. The HR Tech startup will use the proceeds to expand the company’s footprint in Asia and strengthen its offering to employers who are looking to increase their remote and onsite teams across the region, Snaphunt’s Founder and CEO Tulika Tripathi told Tech in Asia.

EMPloyEE EngagEMEnT Mondelez Malaysia pledges for companywide flexible working

Mondelez International has pledged for company-wide flexible working across its worldwide operations, including Malaysia. Through its Flexible Working Pledge, the company is empowering employees to work in a way that suits their overall life, while finding a balance between both professional and personal needs. The response for Mondelez International was to not only adapt to the “new normal” but to commit to a way of working which would support its people’s productivity today and in the future.

EconoMy Singapore's economy shrank by 5.8 percent last year

2020 brought an overall contraction to the Singapore economy, according to advance estimates released on January 4 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. GDP in every quarter was lower than in 2019, with the largest drop in Q2—when the city-state went into lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19 and shut down all non-essential businesses. Overall, the Singapore economy shrank by 5.8 percent as compared to 2019, more or less in line with predictions last year. The hardest-hit sectors were construction, which could not operate at all as worksites across the island were shut down; accommodation and F&B, which completely lost tourist income when the borders were closed to all short-term visitors in March; and wholesale and retail trade, transportation, and storage, which suffered from the general slump in the global economy. These three sectors remained significantly in the red at the end of 2020.

Newsmaker oF the moNth

The long road to business as usual

The COVID-19 vaccine is finally here. Multiple vaccines to tackle COVID19 were approved for emergency use in the last two months. Pfizer, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech are among the companies that are leading the pack on approved vaccines. There’s still a long road ahead for businesses to resume ‘’normal work’’ operations. New realities and workplace expectations will dominate the headspace of HR Heads and business leaders as employees return to work.

The pandemic showed that working remotely won’t reduce workplace productivity, but it will cause burnout – especially when blurring work-life priorities aren’t supported by a conducive workplace environment.

Over the last few months, many companies already planned their return to work strategy and instituted a number of steps – from opening up partial work operations, creating a hybrid model of work, creating safety protocols, rethinking workflows to leveraging technology. All of this is likely to continue throughout this year. In fact, companies are moving a step further across the world. They are preparing to vaccinate employees or reimburse those who do. In the Philippines, 200 companies inked a tripartite deal with the government and British company AstraZeneca to supply vaccines to their employees. In India, the Hindustan Times reports that Steel producer Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, multinational conglomerate company Mahindra Group and consumer goods giant ITC Ltd have begun initial checks on vaccines being available to buy. However, these are still early days.

Hegeler Solomon, People & Organizations Director, Mars Wrigley India in a conversation with People Matters said that most companies may not mirror the same return to work strategy. “Relevance matters: Industry, nature of work, client base, competition, and the culture of your organization are some important elements. And in the absence of credible data (to take decisions on returning to work), there’s a need to ‘launch and learn’ - this approach will help us fail and learn fast!”

For the first time since the pandemic began, there’s hope for a normal world – even when new mutations of the COVID19 virus threaten or slow down progress. The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros noted that “for too long, the world operated on a cycle of panic and neglect… We throw money at an outbreak, and when it's over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one. This is dangerously short-sighted and frankly difficult to understand.”

Here’s hoping that business and HR leaders everywhere remember important lessons on the relevance of the workplace environment, the value of employee experience, the enabling role of technology, and the need for human connection.

inTEl aPPoinTS PaT gElSingEr aS nEW cEo Intel has appointed 40-year technology industry leader Pat Gelsinger as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective Feb. 15, 2021. Gelsinger will also join the Intel board of directors upon assuming the role. He will succeed Bob Swan, who will remain CEO until Feb. 15. Most recently, Gelsinger served as the CEO of VMware since 2012, where he significantly transformed the company into a recognized global leader in cloud infrastructure, enterprise mobility, and cybersecurity, almost tripling the company’s annual revenues.

QualcoMM aPPoinTS criSTiano aMon aS cEo Qualcomm has selected Cristiano Amon to succeed Steve Mollenkopf as CEO, effective June 30, 2021. Mollenkopf informed the Board of his decision to retire as CEO following 26 years with the Company. Amon, who has worked at Qualcomm since 1995, is currently President of the Company. Mollenkopf will continue his employment with the Company as a strategic advisor for a period of time. Mollenkopf, 52, became CEO in March of 2014. He began his career as an engineer and, for nearly three decades, has helped define and lead Qualcomm’s strategy and technology roadmap.

aviva inDia aPPoinTS aMiT Malik aS cEo & Managing DirEcTor Aviva India announced the appointment of Amit Malik as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director with effect from 1st Jan 2021. Prior to this, Amit worked as the Chief People, Operations, and Customer Services Officer with Aviva India and was part of the Aviva India Leadership Team. In his new role, Amit will be responsible for bringing Aviva India’s strategy alive and strengthening the company’s position as the Most Trusted Private Life Insurer in India.

caPgEMini aPPoinTS nEW grouP cHiEF oPEraTing oFFicEr

Capgemini announced the appointment of Olivier Sevillia as its Group Chief Operating Officer, effective January 1, 2021. In this role, Olivier is responsible for the Group’s strategic business units and sales, with a focus on applying the Group’s deep and broad industry expertise to be a strategic business partner to its clients. Up until December 2020, Olivier had been CEO of Capgemini’s Europe Strategic Business Unit since July 2018. Before this, from 2011, Olivier led the Application Services Continental Europe Strategic Business Unit.

BHarTi airTEl'S HarMEEn MEHTa JoinS BT aS cHiEF DigiTal & innovaTion oFFicEr BT has announced the creation of a new technology unit – Digital – to lead its digital innovation agenda and has hired Harmeen Mehta to lead the unit. The new unit will focus on the development and rapid delivery of innovative products, platforms, and services in key areas such as healthcare and data. Mehta will begin her stint as the Chief Digital and Innovation Officer on March 1, reporting directly to Chief Executive Philip Jansen and as a member of the Executive Committee. She will work closely with Philip, the Board, the Chief Technology Officer, and BT’s customer-facing units to drive the company’s digital transformation

icici'S Mrinal SingH To Join incrED aMc aS cio & cEo InCred Asset Management, the fund management arm of the InCred group, has announced the appointment of Mrinal Singh as its CIO & CEO. Mrinal was presently the Deputy CIO at ICICI Prudential AMC. He has been with ICICI Prudential for more than 12 years and helped set up its research processes, product strategy, as well as business & talent development during his journey.

uPgraD aPPoinTS Ex-DiSnEy cHiEF zuBin ganDEvia aS cEo, aPac upGrad, the online higher education company, has signaled its commitment to growing its presence across Asia Pacific, with the appointment of Zubin Gandevia as CEO for the region. Zubin most recently served as President, Asia Pacific, and Middle East, at FOX Networks Group Asia (part of the Walt Disney Co.). He is credited with

FOX’s first-mover advantage in the region and was responsible for the launch of high-definition (HD), on-demand entertainment, and the direct-toconsumer FOX+ app since superseded by Disney+.

aDEcco grouP inDia naMES nEW cHairMan anD MD The Adecco Group, the HR solutions company, announced the appointment of Vidya Sagar Gannamani as the new Chairman and Managing Director for Adecco India. In his new role, Vidya will be responsible for leading the workforce solutions business for India with an increased focus towards cross-collaboration to enable growth and to deliver on Adecco’s transformational priorities. Vidya specializes in driving cultural, organizational, and business transformations across verticals. He has extensive experience in a variety of roles spanning Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Netherlands.

iBM aPPoinTS MarTin ScHroETEr aS cEo oF inDEPEnDEnT FirM nEWco IBM announced the appointment of Martin Schroeter as Chief Executive Officer of the independent company that will be created following the separation of IBM's Managed Infrastructure Services business ("NewCo"), effective January 15. NewCo will focus on the management and modernization of IT infrastructure in every industry around the world. The previously announced separation is expected to occur by the end of 2021. Schroeter served as IBM's Senior Vice President, Global Markets, where he was responsible for IBM's global sales, client relationships and satisfaction, and worldwide geographic operations, before leaving IBM in June 2020.

Sony MuSic EnTErTainMEnT aPPoinTS anDrEW DaviS aS THE nEW cHro Sony Music Entertainment (SME) announced the appointment of Andrew Davis to the role of Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer. Beginning in early January 2021 and based in New York, Davis will report to Rob Stringer, Chairman, Sony Music Group, and Kevin Kelleher, Chief Operating Officer, Sony Music Entertainment. With experience leading teams at Fortune 500 companies, Davis will be charged with leading SME’s global human resources functions including talent acquisition, talent management, compensation, and benefits, as well as organizational development across the Company’s global operations.

kPMg in inDia aPPoinTS SuniT SinHa aS ParTnEr anD HEaD oF PEoPlE, PErForMancE anD culTurE KPMG in India has appointed Sunit Sinha as Partner and Head of People, Performance, and Culture (PPC) of the firm. He will be based out of Gurugram. In this role, Sunit will lead KPMG in India’s human resources function which comprises talent management and strategy, driving the people culture and professional development to further KPMG in India’s operations and growth. He has over 23 years of experience and comes with strong expertise in organizational strategy and transformation, human capital strategy and leadership development, organization design, post-merger integration, culture transformation, and HR transformation in a digital world.

yES Bank aPPoinTS anurag aDlakHa aS THE nEW cHro Yes Bank has announced two senior appointments in the company. The bank has appointed Anurag Adlakha as the new CHRO and Niranjan Banodka as the new CFO. Anurag Adlakha, the current Group CFO of the Bank will be taking the responsibility of the new Chief Human Resources Officer in place of Deodutta Kurane, who would be retiring from the service of the Bank.

ogilvy aPPoinTS Jag DHanJi aS nEW gloBal cHiEF PEoPlE oFFicEr New York City-based advertising, marketing communications, and PR company Ogilvy have announced the appointment of Jag Dhanji as their new Global Chief People Officer. Dhanji joined Ogilvy in 2017 as Chief Talent Officer for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Dhanji takes over for Brian Fetherstonhaugh, who is reportedly retiring but will be working with WPP Group in an advisory role.