People Management Asia: Issue 3

TH E C I P D M AG A Z I N E FO R AS I A

www.cipd.asia/pm ISSUE THREE

From smart networks to business alignment – an HR professional’s guide to reaching the next level PLUS

Positive discrimination Is there a better way to tackle the diversity deficit?

Social learning Why the future of L&D is about collaboration

Welcome

What’s coming next?

Wilson Wong Head of insight and futures, CIPD

In a fast-growing region, where nothing stays still for long, attracting, developing, retaining and deploying talent is a key competitive advantage. The future of talent in Singapore 2030 report (see page 6) is an attempt to examine the issue, and the future of work in Asia. Coming in the wake of the Singapore budget, where there was a lot of emphasis on human capital development, the research contributed to the national discussion on the relationship between technical excellence and innovation in Singapore, and the various initiatives to meet near-term skills shortages.

More widely, one of the ambitions of People Management Asia is to stay abreast of developments in the region. In recent weeks, we’ve seen interesting news from the parliaments of Vietnam and Myanmar; more festering revelations on 1MDB in Malaysia; the impact of El Nino on rainfall and temperatures in Asia; and the global impact of China’s economic slowdown. You may ask: what’s this got to do with HR? All of these (and more) are factors shaping the future of work, workplaces and workforces across the region. We are increasingly interconnected and

interdependent. Slowing domestic demand for steel in China, coupled with over-capacity, has forced Chinese producers to export, causing prices to plummet and closing older EU steel plants, to give just one example. Meanwhile, economic growth in China is increasing the number of overseas students returning to the country. The practice of HRM in China has to evolve rapidly to retain talent.

To be architects of the workplaces of the future, HR professionals have to pay attention to the complex interactions that shape our lives. We hope The future of talent report provides a stimulating read, just like this issue of People Management.

Visit the website and sign up for the newsletter www.cipd.asia/pm Tweet us @peoplemgt_asia Join our LinkedIn group Search ‘People Management Asia’

Contents About the CIPD p5 News and analysis p6 Why Singapore must rethink its talent strategy Case study p10 Focus on Myanmar’s Ooredoo Debate: performance management p12 Has the appraisal had its day?

How to win at work p14 Tips from HR professionals and headhunters

Does positive discrimination work? p20 Getting inside a 21st-century diversity dilemma The rise of social learning p24 Why L&D will never be the same again Q&A: Lawrence Tan p28 Meet the HR director who keeps Singapore watered The Knowledge p30 Key workplace skills, with expert commentary The View From Here: Melissa Richardson p34 People Management Asia

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Register for the free exhibition at cipd.co.uk/IA1

Be part of our growing presence in Asia Access resources – Network – Support Join with us and a community of 140,000 members worldwide to: • engage in a range of world-class HR and L&D events and networks across Asia and online global communities • access numerous tools to support and facilitate your continuous professional development

• keep abreast of the latest developments in the profession through insightful and practical Asia-specific thought leadership, analytics, and research reports • s tay up to date with all the news, jobs and our pick of the best thinking in HR and L&D in Asia with our weekly People Management email bulletin and the CIPD quarterly publication People Management magazine.

For more information on instant access to CIPD membership benefits, visit cipd.asia/membership/affiliate-membership

People Management is published on behalf of the CIPD by Haymarket Network and Haymarket Business Media, both divisions of Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Registered office: Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, UK

Editiorial email: pmeditorial_asia@haymarket.com Commercial email: pmsales@haymarket.com Editor Robert Jeffery Deputy editor Cathryn Newbery Art editor Chris Barker Production editor Joanna Kelly Designer Richard Walker Digital content coordinator Emily Burt Online editor Mark Williams Picture editor Dominique Campbell Commercial director Cathy McDonagh Global partnerships director Nicola Fulker Commercial email: pmsales@haymarket.com Senior production controller Alex Wilton Production manager Trevor Simpson Managing director, Haymarket Network Andrew Taplin Editorial director Simon Kanter Creative director Martin Tullett Account director Issie Peate Senior account manager Julia Saunders CIPD Publishing Margaret Marriott Repro by Haymarket Prepress Printed by Stephens & George Print Group

CONTACT THE CIPD 43 Niven Road, Singapore 228390 (65) 6338 4528 cipd@cipd.asia COPYRIGHT © All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including, but not limited, to any online service, any database or any part of the internet), or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Haymarket Media Group Ltd, which accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.

Be part of a global community When you’re a member of the CIPD, you’re part of an international community of 140,000 members working in HR, learning and development, people management and consulting.

The CIPD is the only professional body for HR and L&D in the world that awards Chartered status. It contributes to the development of HR internationally, sets and maintains HR standards, and works with governments, organisations and partners to help fulfil its broader mission of championing better work and working lives.

CIPD professional membership is an achievement you can be proud of and will ensure you stand out in the workplace.

It will give you status and relevance with employers and an edge over your peers.

It’s a badge of your credibility: • It shows that you meet the CIPD’s rigorous standards for good practice and adhere to its Code of Professional Conduct.

• It demonstrates your ability to make a difference to your organisation.

• It inspires confidence in employers, clients and peers.

• It proves a commitment to your continuing professional development.

CIPD professional membership is respected by employers and industry, and can help improve career prospects and earning potential. It is available at three levels: Associate Member, Chartered Member and Chartered Fellow.

When you gain professional membership, you can use designatory letters after your name to highlight your professional standing within the HR and L&D community.

Associate Member (Assoc CIPD) For professionals providing advice to managers across the business, and supporting the HR or L&D function.

Associate membership is the CIPD’s first level of professional membership. It demonstrates that an individual has attained a recognised level of competence as an HR or L&D professional.

Chartered Member (Chartered MCIPD) For experienced professionals, managing, developing and implementing HR policies that support organisational objectives.

Chartered Member is the CIPD’s second level of professional membership. Achieving Chartered Member status demonstrates that the individual has the knowledge and experience to create a real impact in the workplace and make a difference to an organisation’s strategy and people.

Chartered Fellow (Chartered FCIPD) Chartered Fellow is the highest level of professional membership and is aimed at experts who are leading the development of strategic HR and L&D plans that drive business performance.

A Chartered Fellow is a role model for the profession and part of a select group of senior HR and L&D professionals and business leaders who drive innovative people practices to help deliver strategy.

Wherever you are in your career, the CIPD and its members will support and inspire you to achieve your full potential.

For more information about professional membership and how to join the CIPD, please visit: www.cipd.asia/membership People Management Asia

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Singapore has grown rich on its financial sector – but it may be forced to diversify

Strategy

Singapore ‘can’t be complacent on talent’ WORDS ROBERT JEFFERY

CIPD report urges a focus on anticipating key future trends – and helping risk-taking and mistake-making become more accepted in the workplace Singapore cannot afford to be complacent about its economic success if it is to remain a prosperous and dynamic place to live and work in the future, according to an influential new report published by the CIPD and the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI).

The future of talent in Singapore 2030 examines four alternative scenarios the city-state might face by the end of the next decade. These situations were developed with inputs from a range of academics, 6

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policymakers and HR professionals, supported by trend data. The aim is to invite Singaporeans to think critically about what would be required to meet such scenarios.

At its heart, the report suggests that Singapore may need to examine the shape and nature of its talent base to be sure of remaining competitive, and that there is a significant danger of complacency if political and business leaders assume the policies and practices that have made the country successful to date will be sufficient

to power its future growth.

“When you keep doing the same things you’ve always done, can you be confident of your resilience in the face of radical change?” asks Dr Wilson Wong, the CIPD’s head of insight and futures.

“Maintaining economic growth – and GDP per capita growth remains impressive, currently more than twice that in the UK (on a ppp basis) – has required Singapore to become very successful at translating human capital into national wealth. But is that strategy enough?

Is intensification of skills alone enough? Singapore has reached a pinnacle of excellence in human capital and technical ability. What else can it do?”

The scenarios outlined in The future of talent report range from a continuation of Singapore’s current economic stability, to a “fortress” mentality where the country is buttressed by technological threats and clamps down radically on the influx of foreign talent.

“In a worst-case scenario, we may be gripped by fear and become more ‘tribal’, putting up walls – even a fortress – against outsiders,” says Wong Su-Yen, chief executive officer of HCLI. “We have to recognise that this will only stifle our ability to innovate and, ultimately, be the creators of the future.”

Dr Wong says it is particularly interesting to consider the potential impact of technological trends such as ‘disintermediation’, which could remove whole swathes of human capital from financial services as decisionmaking and transactions are almost entirely automated.

This would require interventions at both state and microeconomic levels, and it may be useful to begin planning now: “Singapore has told people they need to work hard for the economy to thrive. But

“HR needs to take the long view – business plans only go so far”

News and analysis now that it’s pulling away from the pack, it may become more important to diversify to remain relevant.”

In such a scenario, the state may need to relinquish some of its tendencies towards central economic planning. But there are also ‘softer’ interventions that could prove broadly beneficial. In both education and the workplace, there is a tendency to stigmatise failure, whereas acceptance of mistakes and an ability to learn from them could encourage innovation and democratise workplaces.

Schools and universities could also do more

News in numbers JAN

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66% SEP

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Proportion of Singaporeans who think they would be able to find a new job within six months

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Advances in technology are changing the market

to inculcate critical thinking skills, to ensure the right sort of local talent is emerging to work alongside foreign skills.

The report suggests there are already socioeconomic indicators that should give policymakers pause for thought, including the consistently low level of unemployment (currently 1.9 per cent); lower productivity growth; lower levels of imported talent; and demographics, such as a birth rate of 1.2 per cent – the lowest level for 15 years.

These trends have implications for HR professionals, as well as government. “HR’s job is in part to anticipate the trends that will affect the organisation’s core business, and sometimes that requires taking a longer view.

But most businesses’ strategic plans don’t go beyond three to five years,” says Dr Wong.

HR could take on an enhanced role by deepening links between employers and institutions, and considering the potential of techniques such as mentoring (and reverse mentoring) to encourage skills transfer.

“Companies can also help by moving their talent around, giving them experience in uncomfortable new environments and across cultures,” adds Ms Wong. ✶ Read the full report at bit.ly/CIPDtalent

Proportion of Hong Kong employees who would consider moving to China to work

50% Income tax rebate announced in the Singapore budget, up from 30 per cent

97% Proportion of southeast Asian professionals who think leadership is important, the highest level in the world SOURCES: RANDSTAD, MICHAEL PAGE INTERNATIONAL, DELOITTE

LEGAL UPDATE

Pattie Walsh, partner in the international employment group at Bird & Bird, gives an overview of the latest legislation and advice affecting HR professionals

Inappropriate behaviour – and the return of the unions In uncertain financial times, reducing the labour bill (or at least ensuring it is tightly managed and delivers to its maximum potential) is often a priority. China is currently experiencing an upturn in restructuring and reorganisations, with a general aim of reducing staff costs in various disciplines and roles. However, this is not limited to China: employers across Asia have been looking at how they could adapt their strategies to limit hiring and actively reduce numbers.

Along with growing instability in the workplace, we are seeing the rise of the collective agenda, with trade unions and collective obligations becoming increasingly important.

When individuals feel the future may be uncertain, they often look for support from organisations outside of their employer. The union drive in China has become a hot topic in recent years but, interestingly, Singapore is also reporting a visible rise in trade union activity.

With the globalisation of the trade union movement and Asia’s position at the forefront of news and comment on the importance of labour law protection and the very public assessment of human rights violations, the collective influence agenda is likely to become more and more relevant in the coming months and years.

Inappropriate behaviour has also moved up the employment law agenda in Asia and this is expected to continue. It has included broadening the categories of characteristics that receive enhanced protection in the area of discrimination. For example, protection against discrimination on the basis of race was only introduced in Hong Kong in 2008.

However, there is now debate about whether this protection should be extended to include discrimination on the basis of nationality, citizenship and residence.

In India, the introduction of legislation at the end of 2013 to protect women from sexual harassment at work has brought with it an increased degree of regulation, including obligations for employers to train the workforce and to continued overleaf People Management Asia

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News and analysis

establish internal committees to deal with allegations of sexual harassment.

In Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower, National Trades Union Congress and Singapore National Employers Federation have issued a Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment to help employers and employees working through the complexity and challenges of this topic.

Practical steps for employers to help navigate these challenges include: • Ensure all employment contracts and policies are regularly reviewed and kept relevant from a compliance and protection point of view.

• Avoid creating inadvertent contractual obligations through custom and practice; for example, by regularly and consistently enhancing redundancy terms.

• Focus on implementing performance management as a priority so that employees who are not delivering can be exited from the business without the additional costs of redundancy payments, etc.

• Implement a programme of training to ensure that all staff are fully aware of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Senior leaders are often the biggest culprits, so make sure that all those who have the ability to create risks to the business are included.

• Take a strategic look at your industrial relations policy. If unionisation and a greater level of collective engagement is inevitable, ensure that this is managed to include a focus on training those who will have to negotiate collective terms.

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Countries ‘will compete’ for migrant skills Aborted official plan to import 1.5 million Bangladeshis into Malaysia puts spotlight on talent shortages – which may worsen Economic migration has been thrust to the front of the political agenda in Malaysia and several other Asian countries, after the Malaysian government was forced into a climbdown on a controversial plan to import up to 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh.

A memorandum of understanding between the two countries was signed and apparently withdrawn after protests from unions, though experts say such large-scale migration – often mandated by government – is only likely to increase in the years ahead as skills mismatches and economic disparity make it more attractive for individuals to move.

The Malaysian situation has drawn attention to the issue,

says Dr Hwok-Aun Lee, senior lecturer in the Department of Development Studies at the University of Malaya: “There was backlash from unions, the opposition and employers.

What was quite striking was the lack of consultation – employers were not demanding importing more labour.”

It was never intended that Malaysians would lose their jobs as a result of the move, he says, but it has created an atmosphere of mistrust that focuses attention on the issue, particularly given the rising cost of living in the country.

The proportion of foreign workers in Malaysia increased from less than 4 per cent of the labour force in 1990 to 15 per cent in 2010, according to the

World Bank. Some 70 per cent of all those employed in the Malaysian agricultural industry are foreign-born. Singapore is also highly dependent on migrants, with 42 per cent of the population born overseas.

Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, says around 87 per cent of migration within southeast Asia involves low-skilled workers.

Facts at your fingertips The latest CIPD research findings Innovation is top priority HR and business leaders agree that innovation should be their top priority for the year ahead – but they aren’t as well aligned on how to achieve this aim, according to the CIPD/Workday HR Outlook leaders’ survey.

The poll of 300 executives in UK-headquartered companies found that 35 per cent of HR and 32 per cent of other business leaders consider innovation to be their top business strategy. But while HR is confident its people

strategy is the way to achieve such aims, that view is shared by only a quarter of other leaders.

The report also suggests that business leaders have little knowledge of the scale and scope of HR analytics in their organisations. “HR professionals need to better illustrate the insights they have at their disposal to key stakeholders outside the function, to show the value they can bring to wider business objectives,” says Jill Miller, CIPD research adviser. “What gets

measured gets managed, but only if that data is interpreted and the rest of the business is engaged with the results.” ✶ bit.ly/HROutlook

Inclusive leaders get results The happiest and most productive employees work for ‘inclusive’ leaders, new research jointly produced by the CIPD and the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion has found.

According to the report, inclusive leaders are “aware

PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES, BRIAN FINKE

LEGAL UPDATE continued

Big thinkers The latest round-up of inspiring ideas for HR professionals

Malaysia may choose to import talent to tackle its pressing skills gaps

Mendoza says experts predict that more migration will take place in the next two decades, but destinations will gradually change: “An increasing number of countries are building their own human capital more systematically. You can expect that India and China will be fishing in the same talent pool as high-income countries do now. Countries will have to compete for the same workers.”

of their own biases and preferences, and actively seek out and consider different views and perspectives to inform better decision-making”. There is a strong correlation between inclusive leadership and engagement, job satisfaction and performance.

“This is not just about profits and productivity, it’s about a happier workforce and making people feel valued in the workplace,” says Ksenia Zheltoukhova, research adviser at the CIPD. ✶ bit.ly/inclusiveleaders

The most effective leaders seek out talent in unconventional ways, such as employing those without formal qualifications or industry experience, according to Sydney Finkelstein’s new book, Superbosses. Finkelstein, who is Steven Roth professor of management at Tuck School of Business, delves into the personality traits of leaders such as director George Lucas and fashion designer Ralph Lauren and finds that they set high expectations and offer intense feedback to those they hire, but are also notable for the number of future leaders they create.

One of the most effective ways to generate good ideas, and become more dynamic in your day job at the same time, is to develop an external creative interest, says author and social scientist Adam Grant. In his new book, Originals, Grant (a magician in his spare time) points out that Albert Einstein was an accomplished violinist.

In all, Nobel Prize winners are 22 times more likely to act, dance or create music outside their regular pursuits. Grant believes this is because creativity stimulates innovation.

Tommy Weir is one of the Middle East’s most celebrated management thinkers, but his most recent advice to businesses is deceptively simple: if you can’t keep track of time, how do you know what’s important? Weir, author of Leadership Dubai Style, recalls asking executives to keep a record of how they spend their time. They realised they were

focusing on operational activities at the expense of strategic or motivational goals. Weir advises keeping account of time in the same way you do financial outgoings: “If you have a time budget, all of a sudden you’ll become conscious of how you use time.”

The shift to a multicultural workforce should be the pre-eminent concern of business leaders, according to Dave Heddle, principal consultant at organisational development consultancy Coverdale. Heddle believes that with more western businesses building a presence in China, the development of multicultural teams has crept up corporate agendas. But the sort of behavioural change that is required to deal with such new environments has failed to keep pace with the speed of business development, he adds.

The majority of companies are not prepared for large-scale hacks or information security breaches, say Robert Austin and David Upton of Copenhagen Business School – and that means they are leaving their corporate reputations wide open. In an article for MIT Sloan Management Review, they urge organisations to better manage their assumptions in an age of ‘super transparency’. As opposed to searching for leaks, leaders should be vigilant about best practice, Taking up a cr ea can help you in tive hobby creating a novate at work, says Adam Grant climate where questionable behaviour is discouraged and reported.

Many of Ooredoo’s employees are new to the corporate environment

Ooredoo, Myanmar

“I want people to be passionate” Bringing strong HR practice to Myanmar is daunting – but it’s a chance to do something revolutionary, says Ooredoo’s Myo Than WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY PHILIP HEIJMANS

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ate last year, the sense of anticipation was palpable in Myanmar ahead of the country’s most democratic elections in more than half a century. For an entire generation, it marked the first time they could vote – and today, with a new government taking its seats for the first time, that sense of hope is briskly transforming what was once southeast Asia’s most closed-off country.

But the task of integrating Myanmar with the rest of the world isn’t purely a political matter. Both multinationals and local businesses are feeling their way as they 10

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transform the country’s 51.4 million people from an isolated but curious population into a global workforce capable of developing a technology-enabled future market.

It is a challenge that relies on the people acumen of the likes of Myo Than, part of the first cohort of business leaders who have cut their teeth abroad and are now dedicating themselves to jump-starting Myanmar’s threadbare economy. “The change will be gradual,” says Myo Than, director of talent development at Ooredoo Myanmar, one of two foreign telecoms giants that broke a decades-long government monopoly with

a national rollout of mobile phone coverage last year. “Next year will be the start of a new direction for this country.”

Myo Than returned to the country after decades abroad – most recently as a corporate trainer in Thailand and working in L&D in the Cambodian hospitality sector – to oversee the training and development of Ooredoo’s largely local staff, headquartered in Yangon and currently numbering 900, but expanding rapidly.

His principal problem is how to help employees, most of them newcomers to the industry and in many cases to a corporate

Case study

Ooredoo Hlaing University

Ooredoo Myanmar ICT Park

Hlaing

environment, to sell and manage a service most people hadn’t even imagined until recently. The simple process of calling customers for marketing or operational purposes can seem extremely difficult when most of the country isn’t used to receiving a phone call.

The answer to this conundrum is more than a theory – it’s a mantra. “Peoplefocused, people-centric,” says Myo Than, with the confidence of a man who has seen his HR philosophy tried and tested during periods in Egypt, Australia and Russia, among others. The best way to grow a team with long-term ambitions for the acquisitive Qatari-owned operator, he says, is to ensure that staff feel thoroughly engaged with what they are doing.

Ooredoo is committed to training its employees to international standards, at a cost of more than $1 million, or 3 per cent of its payroll, each year. Naturally, that includes a wealth of training programmes, but the business’s principal differentiator as an employer is that it offers the opportunity to grow. “This is how you make adjustments in people. We try to borrow these concepts to help a manager become a leader,” says Myo Than.

“Manager is a position – leader is not a position, it is a role. You have to prove that you are a leader; you have to walk the talk. I want people to be

“You don’t need an appraisal, you need feedback every day. Don’t wait until things blow up”

passionate about the training.

Don’t undertake training for no reason or because your boss told you to.”

Plenty of Myo Than’s ideas must seem left-field to the more sheltered members of his workforce – but he insists that having the opportunity to try new ideas without being beholden to a corporate legacy can only be a positive.

Take his use of personality Myo Than says rival testing: almost unheard of firms are keen to in Myanmar, he believes it poach Ooredoo’s has opened up a wave of selfhighly trained staff knowledge among employees, and boosted performance.

The HR team, meanwhile, employs Dave competitors to keep its own employees.

Ulrich’s ‘outside in’ system to become a The financial services sector is hungry for genuine business partner and move beyond the type of talent Ooredoo is cultivating the purely transactional (Myo Than has also and, with almost every business in Yangon partnered with the CIPD to help build HR experiencing attrition of at least 10 per competencies). And all staff sign pseudo cent, it can seem a losing game to keep contracts in which they agree that their your best staff. training and development opportunities “Local employees have an expectation of will be applied in their everyday work. overnight success,” says Myo Than. But he is relaxed about such attitudes, preferring to work with those who want to grow rather than those who chase the highest bidder.

And then there is the issue of helping Myanmar’s largely inexperienced workforce Size of the Myanmarese workforce; unemployment currently stands at around become accustomed to the everyday 4 per cent, according to the World Bank conventions of corporate life: “It’s a little cultural thing. I talk to people, look them in the eyes and say: ‘Hi, how are you?’ People don’t do this: they will bump into each Overall literacy rate in Myanmar, which other on the street and ignore each other.” compares favourably with neighbouring Fixing these issues could be a full-time countries such as Laos (79.9 per cent) and job in itself. But Myo Than is equally India (72.1 per cent) focused on the employees of the future: Ooredoo is currently working with local The result, he hopes, is that employees universities to design open internship will seek out their own development programmes that will help local students opportunities – and that they will display bridge the gap between education and work, initiative rather than waiting to be told what and enter the corporate world with more to do. “You don’t need an appraisal, you need realistic expectations and a greater degree feedback every day,” says Myo Than. “Don’t of preparedness. wait until something blows up.”

Until then, Myo Than will continue to Even so, all the training in the world build an effective, people-centric, HR-led cannot control a talent market that is culture from the ground up. And if he is rapidly overheating, with potentially dire daunted by the scale of his task, he knows consequences. “Whoever receives training what’s important, he says: “As long as

by Ooredoo, these are the people [other you focus on the people you work with, firms] want to hire,” says Myo Than. The recognise how important they are and business often has to effectively outbid take care of them, you’ll succeed.”

30.2 million 93.1%

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The debate

Has the appraisal had its day?

The list of major businesses ditching formal performance management processes is growing, but what happens next? We asked the experts INTERVIEWS GRACE LEWIS

Dhritiman Chakrabarti Asia-Pacific leader for rewards, talent and communication, Willis Towers Watson

It’s still up to HR to be the bearer of bad news There has been so much media frenzy around performance management and the effectiveness of appraisals, and yet our research shows that 41 per cent of organisations in the AsiaPacific region still rely on a once-ayear performance appraisal process.

Plenty are opting for continuous performance reviews, such as monthly catch-ups, which is positive news – but progress is slow.

Managers in Asia are generally not very good at differentiating performance, or giving effective feedback, particularly when that feedback is negative. They tend to pass the blame to HR in the compulsory annual meeting: it becomes ‘HR wanted me to raise this with you’, which creates a negative perception of the appraisal process for both staff and leaders.

Consistently, research shows the old adage to be true – people join organisations, they leave managers – and yet organisations are failing

to equip line managers with the necessary tools and training to become effective coaches, rather than ‘bearers of bad news’. As a result, line managers and supervisors do not feel valued in the performance management process.

Feedback is becoming more and more crowdsourced, with opinions sought from business partners, colleagues, customers or clients.

Some companies have deployed social media techniques where continuous crowdsourced feedback is provided.

This system won’t work for every situation or in every organisation, but feedback needs to be a continuous process in whatever form it takes.

Jackson Kam Regional practice leader – talent strategy (AMEA), Mercer Vidisha Mehta Principal and talent strategy practice leader (Asia), Mercer

It’s hard to make decisions without a proper performance system While there has been lots of market chatter about changes to the performance management process, few companies are actually taking action. And even the more progressive businesses haven’t done away with ratings altogether – instead, they have moved towards a process of frequent reviews, rather than a single numerical or alphabetical rating once a year.

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But while HR managers in all sectors recognise that the current performance management approach is not perfect, there is a reluctance to ditch appraisals altogether. Without a quantified appraisal system, HR will lose a solid foundation on which critical decisions – merit increases, bonuses and promotions, etc – are based. There are concerns about how to be objective,

consistent, fair and defensible in such decisions.

In some cases, managers are being asked to keep diaries or to record observations of behaviour to help them provide more specific feedback to their direct reports, which is helping blur the boundaries between goal setting, reviewing, feedback and actions. This suggests that rather than relying on a rigorous quantitative system, with a well-defined set of rules, employers in future will rely a lot more on good line managers who are observant and have good judgement to critique individuals’ performance.

Kwan Chee Wei Adjunct professor, division of strategy, management and organisation, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore managers and guidance on how to improve.

There is a big gap between what is being required of managers and supervisors today and their abilities to have those developmental, career management conversations.

Managers in their 30s and 40s, operating in very traditional Asian organisations, are grappling with the demands of the new workforce, yet we don’t give them the soft skills to have those discussions and motivate people to perform better.

Increasingly, organisations are operating under a matrix model of management, so rarely do line managers see their direct reports on a day-to-day basis. This might

Managers don’t know how to appraise younger workers There are some signs of a shift towards multi-sourced, regular feedback throughout the year, as the younger generation demands this of employers. But I don’t believe this shift is happening quickly enough.

Traditional employers are now dealing with a group of employees who want a lot more engagement, more conversations with their

explain the shift towards gathering feedback from additional sources of information for any one individual, but the results of 360-degree feedback are mixed.

Without over-generalising, the east Asian culture is typically more hierarchical in process. There isn’t a lot of room for debate, dialogue or frank discussion, and it is less culturally acceptable to give negative feedback about your peers or bosses.

Asian companies are beginning to recognise that to operate in the global market they need to attract and retain international talent, and that means letting go of some of the traditional processes and embracing some better ones. Improving the annual performance appraisal process would go a long way.

Susy Roberts Managing director, Hunter Roberts

The west could learn from Asian appraisals The organisations that I work with consider appraisals an important tool in their performance management processes, but they look very different to those seen in Europe. Appraisals here are typically very KPI-based, and incredibly detailed targets are set at the beginning of the financial year.

In most instances, the measurement of performance is very strict.

People are not inclined to give feedback, which proves difficult for expat managers, for example, who have been trained to develop and respond to their direct reports. The detailed and strict targets employees work towards are almost spoon-fed from above. To encourage these employees to take ownership of their development would require a complete mental shift.

Typically, a manager tells a staff member ‘this is the result you need to deliver’, which they focus on doing without question and are then rated on at the end of the year. I have seen organisations that try to encourage leaders to give feedback,

but they find it extremely difficult.

And when they do, it doesn’t translate well.

Managers need to have confidence and not fear that their direct report will lose faith when receiving honest, constructive feedback.

Having said that, I think the clarity you get from the Asian way of doing things would benefit western organisations. British appraisals, for example, can be pretty vague and target setting hasn’t always been effective – having set objectives at the beginning of the year, which both manager and direct report have written together, can help everyone stay on the same page.

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With fierce competition for the best roles, you can’t leave career advancement to chance.

People Management asked headhunters and HR leaders what it really takes to get ahead WORDS KATE WHITEHEAD

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irst, the good news: by most measures, demand for HR executives in Asia has never been higher. Recruitment agencies specialising in the function report that businesses of all sizes increasingly understand the value an experienced HR professional can bring, and are prepared to pay for the right candidate. The first Hays Quarterly Report of 2016 on the pan-Asian recruitment market was particularly cheering in this respect: L&D practitioners are urged to head for Hong Kong, while in Malaysia strategic planning skills and reward experience are particularly prized. In Singapore, interims and temporary HR leaders should find a vacancy to suit their talents.

Inevitably, however, there is a cloud that comes with this silver lining – supply has never been more buoyant, either. Though LinkedIn is not the most scientific way to measure the depth of any profession, it gives a broadly representative picture, and a cursory search of six of the most significant Asian economies outside China suggests there are at least 43,800 individuals currently working in roles with ‘HR’ in their job title. While Singapore and Malaysia top the bill with 12,000 apiece, there are more than 7,000 in Vietnam and almost as many in Thailand.

Standing out from this large and growing crowd is one of the pre-eminent skills for ambitious practitioners. This brings its own problems, since HR professionals by their nature aren’t particularly careerist: they are used to helping and supporting others more

than themselves, which means they may not be well-versed in the attributes needed to self-promote and build the skills to take the next step on the career ladder. But there’s no reason they can’t be just as ambitious as any other function. The question is knowing where to start.

There are plenty of people who will tell you there is a magic wand that will help you

secure your dream job. The bookshelves are heaving with titles that promise instant career success. One of the most pervasive ideas of recent years, for example, has been the notion of a ‘personal brand’ that will make you immediately employable (and every bit as memorable as a bottle of CocaCola or a Nike swoosh).

The truth may be more prosaic. There is still no substitute for hard work and demonstrable success. But you can choose where you dispense your efforts to maximise your chances of impressing potential future bosses – and one of the most crucial, though less glamorous, attributes of any successful HR leader is proximity to the business.

Phillip Welburn, managing director (north Asia) at specialist recruiter Elliott Scott HR, reports that last year his firm asked people in its network for the most valued trait in an HR professional. The resounding answer was ‘understanding people’. When it repeated the same exercise earlier this year, it had shifted to ‘understanding the business’.

“The really great HR people are more business people than HR people,” says Bin Wolfe, managing partner, talent at EY Asia-Pacific. “I’ve spent practically my entire career in HR, but I see myself as a business person. A left-handed compliment I often get is: ‘You’re not like a typical HR person.’

There is a common perception of HR people as warm and fuzzy, focused on policies. We

are here to enforce and implement policy, which is all part and parcel of the job. But the role of HR is to really understand what we are looking to achieve as an organisation and the implications for talent and human capital, and then to develop a talent strategy that will enable us to grow the company.”

What being close to the business looks like will depend on your sector and circumstances. It could entail ensuring you have a voice in important discussions, from board or strategy meetings to internal conferences, or taking a central role in shaping the organisation’s future direction,

CHEAT CODE “Put your hand up for new projects, such as M&A, to get out of your comfort zone” aligning your talent strategy with a broader vision rather than operating in an HR silo. Or it could be as simple as ‘walking the floor’ to find out what really happens, how decisions are made and how value is generated. The Dave Ulrich-inspired HR business partner model is a common way to create a more formalised arrangement for bringing HR closer to the business. But

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it’s equally possible to take things into your own hands. One HR director of a large café chain recalls that she rarely saw or heard from the bakers who made up a large percentage of her workforce. The solution was to dedicate at least one morning a week to a 2am start so she could join them on their early shift. Not only did it give her insight into how the business really operated and enabled her to hear problems first hand, it earned her considerable trust and respect across the employee base.

“It’s become important for professionals to be able to demonstrate how what they are doing makes a measurable difference to the business,” says Anthony Thompson, regional managing director for PageGroup (Greater China and southeast Asia).

“You’ve got to show CEOs that effective HR management can directly impact the business’s bottom line.”

But getting ‘outside’ your traditional confines can also mean leaving the industry, the function or even the country.

“The great thing about HR skills is that

FInding the right mentor can help you get ahead – but make sure you choose extremely carefully

they can be transferred across industries,” says Felix Yip, associate director of the human resources management programme at Baptist University in Hong Kong.

“Before I moved into academia, I spent 34 years working in five industries as HR: food, telecoms, a container port, cars and

retail. When you have solid HR knowledge and skillsets, you can be successful in HR in other industries.”

Yip believes that some newer HR professionals become too deeply immersed, too quickly, in the nuances of the profession.

They begin to use HR jargon that alienates them from others in the business. “Moving beyond your functional expertise” is, he

What I look for

Ash Russell Senior business director at Hays Singapore

What about more senior roles?

That’s more about stakeholder management skills. Someone who understands the business and can build relationships, talk to their customers and stand up to them. Someone who has influence and provides insight, which is mainly to do with communication.

Is it possible to promote yourself too much – or, conversely, to be too modest?

I think both can apply. You need to keep yourself grounded.

I find that a lot of HR professionals believe they have much better skills than they actually do. They might be very operational but think they’re a business partner.

There’s also a lot of competition and a growing number of excellent HR professionals out there. When I interview someone and they don’t promote themselves enough

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or go into depth about their skills, it can be a hindrance because HR is very generalist so it’s important to highlight key skills and achievements.

Can coaching or mentoring help?

I think junior employees need to be coached and mentored. At the beginning of your career, everything ahead can seem quite daunting, so if you can find someone who can help you along it will relieve that stress. Having a mentor can give you a sense of the bigger picture when you’re starting out. They can identify your strengths, help you improve your skills and provide you with a wider support network. You need to find someone who has achieved similar goals to your own and who has the time to give the relationship a go.

Continuing professional development – how much and how often?

Throughout your career you should improve your skills as much as you can in different areas. With new technology, it’s more important than ever to stay up to date and ensure your skills are cutting edge. If you don’t keep up with new innovations, you’ll have newer employees snapping at your heels and you could find yourself out of a job. And it’s not just keeping up with new technology. There’s leadership development, dealing with Generation Y – it can be anything.

INTERVIEW MARK WILLIAMS

How can someone with relatively little experience stand out in an HR role?

Living or studying abroad – any kind of international exposure – is always valuable, but especially in Singapore because it means you’re a lot more internationally minded and understand everything outside of the Singapore bubble. Personality is key. In HR, people tend to have very similar skillsets, so to differentiate yourself you need to be able to proactively engage in a conversation, exude confidence or show drive and ambition.

says, an important antidote to becoming compartmentalised in your own function.

“Having international experience is incredibly valuable since we operate in a global economy,” says Wolfe. “And talent is a lot more mobile so, from a talent management standpoint, having that experience of being in other places, understanding other cultures, is tremendously important.”

Welburn says international exposure is one of the things that really sets certain candidates apart for HR roles. If you come across an opportunity to work abroad, jump at it, he says. Even a secondment from Singapore to Malaysia will be a real plus: he sees many clients who are frustrated that they can’t find local employees who have worked overseas. “People move around all the time.

Sometimes it makes sense to take a bit of a hit [to your salary], get international exposure and then when you come back your career won’t stagnate – you won’t hit that glass ceiling so early on and you will be in line for a big promotion later.”

Welburn also recommends getting experience outside HR if possible. Toyota, Cathay Pacific and other large businesses are well known for the way they rotate individuals between disciplines, while ensuring they gain a strong grounding – and the chance to pick up relevant qualifications and certifications – in particular functions.

If you’re in a company that doesn’t have such a system in place, he advises keeping an eye out for those opportunities yourself and being ready to take on something new.

In a fast-changing environment where the talent leader often reports to the CEO, Wolfe says it’s important to be open-minded and curious, receptive to learning and agile.

Welburn echoes that sentiment. When HR professionals approach him, it’s often because they have hit a flat spot in their career,

CHEAT CODE “It’s vital for HR professionals to demonstrate their connection to the bottom line”

MY CAREER PATH Debbie Cross, vice president human resources at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, on how she reached her current role I started in the hotel industry in 2000 in the UK. At that point, I was doing a specialist role in recruitment and had a background in talent acquisition.

I studied for my CIPD qualification and graduated in 2007. It was great to have because it gave me much broader exposure to all areas of HR. I had a chance to interact with other HR professionals in the industry while I was studying, and to learn about HR outside of the hotel industry.

When I joined Four Seasons, I knew I wanted to be director of global recruitment. On my first day with the company, I purposefully looked up who was doing that role because I wanted it. I volunteered to be involved in projects, got to know the person who was doing the job and became more visible to the senior leaders, really putting myself out there and sharing successes from my own hotel with them. I got the job four years later, after working with

perhaps staying in a role for too long and becoming too comfortable. His advice is to always be proactive and make things happen for yourself: “Put your hand up for projects, whether it’s M&A or something else. Try and do those extra things and not stay in your comfort zone.”

But it’s important to attend to the fundamentals of HR, too. The concept of continuing professional development (CPD) – the process by which individuals develop new skills and knowledge throughout their careers, to supplement the everyday

the individual in the corporate office – I took over from her when she retired.

After eight years with Four Seasons, I got a call from a headhunter about the opportunity to join Shangri-La. My move to Asia was great for me in terms of culture, the whole work environment, work ethic and differences in HR practices. In my current role, I oversee a really diverse region: from Canada to Europe, the Middle East, India and the Indian Ocean. Coupled with my Asian experience, it means I have a global picture of HR. If you want to get ahead, make yourself visible, get yourself a mentor and volunteer for projects above and beyond your existing job. For those who want to push themselves, it’s always about setting goals. There’s a learning curve in any role, and when you get to a certain comfort level sometimes it’s just good to push yourself to the next level, to go that bit further.

experience they gain on the job – is important as HR increases its influence inside organisations.

“Ten years ago, we didn’t talk about employee engagement,” says Yip. “That means if you’ve been in HR for a decade, it’s possible that you might not even know what it means.

You need to go through CPD to understand the latest knowledge and concepts – and it also helps with promotion.”

CPD encompasses many channels, from reading magazine and journal articles to attending conferences and seminars, People Management Asia

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What I look for

Richie Holliday COO at Morgan McKinley Asia-Pacific

How would you recommend someone go about singling themselves out?

There’s been a mindset over the last 10 years that getting exposure and getting known by senior management is an important part of career development. You can go about this the wrong way and try and seek the limelight for yourself. That can be a good thing, but it can also be seen as a bit grasping. One day, the boss is in town and suddenly you’re working until 10pm, whereas everyone in the office knows that you never normally do that. People spot it quite quickly. So you should let your work speak for you. Deliver within and above expectations, but just make

watching TED Talks and completing formal courses, online or offline. It is often selfdirected, and inevitably it can be hard to fit the idea of professional improvement around a busy job.

Increasingly, formal HR qualifications are a useful component of CPD, and a way to demonstrate your commitment to your career, as well as benchmarking and enhancing your knowledge. Welburn says he expects qualifications will become more important over time, as HR professionals increase their voice across Asia. And Shu Khoo, group HR director at insurance giant AIA, says qualifications can more

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Is it useful to have a career plan?

A career plan with a timeline is helpful, because we’re all busy people and time flies. If you don’t write down some things you planned to achieve in the first half of the year and constantly remind yourself of them, they may not happen. It can be too rigid: if you are obsessed by it, it can be a little demoralising. There’s always going to be something that comes up and gets in the way of your particular goals. But if you have flexibility in your goals, that shouldn’t demoralise you.

Does a social media presence help?

I think it’s important to have a professional online presence – people will want to research you when it comes to an interview. The difficulty is knowing what is an effective way to broadcast your message, whether that’s a tweet or a blog post. Then there’s the sheer amount of noise online – the volume of content that is just put out for the sake of it. People are told they must tweet five times a day, but if you’ve got nothing interesting to say you probably shouldn’t. I’m not a social media guru, but I share a lot on LinkedIn. However, I only share selectively because no one has time to read things you’ve shared all day.

immediately benefit HR professionals in some sectors: “If you’re in an industry where qualifications are important, such as financial services or engineering, having qualifications [as an HR professional] gives you credibility.”

But if you’ve got the business acumen, the external experience and the commitment to developing further, what’s the secret ingredient required to truly progress?

The answer comes in supplementing whatyou know with who you know – not in a nepotistic sense, but by embracing networking skills that will open doors.

Networking is a buzzword, and it’s been misused to make the number of connections

CHEAT CODE “Network with people outside the business who have a commercial mindset” 18

sure you deliver. And if you consistently do that, that’s all your organisation could ask for.

INTERVIEW MARK WILLIAMS

What makes a successful applicant for an HR role?

Someone who will step up and do more than is required for the role. You want to hire people who are too good for the job they’re hired for.

If you’ve got someone who is just capable of the role, that’s great and they could do it fantastically well, but they’re never going to be looking to push forward to the next level. You want someone who is keen to get involved in external assignments and take on extra within the team. The team might already be high-flying, but, if someone can come in and see ways that it can be even better, they will single themselves out and be very successful.

you have seem more important than their depth. Grabbing fistfuls of business cards is unlikely to help your long-term career goals, but taking a more thoughtful approach might.

It also shouldn’t just involve HR. “Networking with other HR professionals may create the opportunity to progress into other roles, but it’s also important to network with people outside the business, who have an understanding of the commercial aspects,” says Thompson.

Khoo says she networks across her industry, contributing to initiatives outside of HR and getting to know people in different functions. She previously taught night classes on a topic related to her industry on a voluntary basis, which helped introduce her to a range of industry leaders. “The starting point of networking with business people is that you want to contribute, particularly if there is a cross-industry initiative. You want to understand more about the industry and

Watching TED Talks can help you keep up to date with the latest knowledge and ideas

CHEAT CODE “When you can cope with the challenges you face in a role, you should be on edge a little” a side benefit is that you get to know people and they get to know you and think of you when an opportunity comes up,” she says.

This less mercenary approach pays off.

When Wolfe was parachuted into Hong Kong in 2008 after more than two decades in the US, she set aside time to network and get to know people. Having studied in the US, her network there grew organically, but

on the other side of the world she had to start from scratch. She made good use of the many platforms available to HR leaders and became actively involved with the American Chamber of Commerce and Asia Society in Hong Kong, she says.

Many HR professionals find that taking up speaking engagements is a particularly powerful way to build a profile. But networking doesn’t have to take place exclusively offline: blogging or maintaining a considered and relevant social media presence can be a lower-key way to cultivate connections.

The prevailing philosophy joining these disparate strands is perhaps curiosity, and a dash of ambition. No matter where you want to get to, understanding what’s next – and what that means for HR, and for business – is likely to propel you. For Wolfe, that means being plugged into the possibilities of analytics: “I laugh when HR people tell me: ‘I’m not a numbers person.’

If you’re not, you are limited in what you can do. You’ve got to be curious about what’s behind the numbers. Let me be clear – I ask the questions, I don’t crunch numbers. The important thing is the questions we ask to get to the heart of the matter. What is the data telling me, and what is the next set of questions to ask?”

And, adds Khoo, it’s this constant curiosity and willingness to ask questions that will help

you make decisions about your career with clarity, rather than simply being a careerist.

“When you are not dealing with complexities that are stretching you, when you can cope with the challenges you face in a role, you should be on edge a little,” she says. “Look for new experiences and exposure. When a new role comes up and I ask HR people whether they would consider it, the first two questions they usually ask are: ‘Is it more senior? What is the job title?’ These things should matter less. You should be asking: ‘Will it bring me more experience? Will it bring me more exposure? What will I learn from it?’”

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Does positive discrimination work?

Its adherents say over-compensating for traditional imbalances is a “necessary evil”. But proper diversity policies may be a more effective tool

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atershed moments in history have often proved a febrile basis for positive discrimination – the idea that promoting the interests of underrepresented groups, particularly when it comes to recruitment or progression in the workplace, can help redress long-standing imbalances caused by discriminatory practices.

In the US, the civil rights movement paved the way for positive discrimination to be used as a way to combat racism in the hiring process. And affirmative action legislation was used in South Africa to correct the gross imbalances of the apartheid era.

In Malaysia, the only country in southeast Asia to practise an ongoing official policy of positive discrimination, the defining moment occurred on 13 May 1969, the date of the Kuala Lumpur race riot.

While the last throes of the so-called ‘love decade’ were being played out elsewhere, the landscape was bloody and bitter in the Malaysian capital. Violence erupted on the city streets following a fiercely contested general election, pitting Chinese and Indian against Malay, and shining a light on the chasm between the races that had been widening since the days of British colonial rule.

The reasons for the riot – in which the official death toll of 196 is widely believed to be grossly underestimated – varied. The most notable cause, however, 20

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was resentment of the huge disparity in wealth between the country’s Chinese and Indian minorities – many of whom were imported by the British to service the powerhouse colonial industries of tin mining and rubber tapping – and native Malays, known as bumiputera, or ‘sons of the soil’.

The government responded to the riot with a New Economic Policy (NEP) aimed at improving the lot of the bumiputera, who were overwhelmingly rural subsistence farmers and manual labourers, by giving them preferential treatment in university admissions and for civil service jobs. The policy, introduced in 1971, remains largely in place today, even though the official term for the NEP ended in 1990.

Few would dispute that the policy has achieved a tremendous amount of good.

According to figures from the World Bank, the percentage of households living below the poverty line across all ethnic groups has been reduced from 49.3 per cent in 1970 to less than 0.6 per cent today. The wealth ownership of the bumiputera has increased substantially, and Malays account for a significant percentage of the managerial and professional ranks in the workplace.

Although racial tensions still exist, Malaysia is

“Positive discrimination based on race has no place in modern Malaysia”

a largely peaceful country and there has been no sign of any repeat of the calamitous events of 1969.

The continued existence of positive discrimination, however, is a point of contention, and highlights the difficulties surrounding a concept that is seen by many to be worthy, but flawed, corruptible and, by its very nature, reverse discriminatory and unfair.

“Positive discrimination is a necessary evil,” says Prabhakar Bagchand, a rights activist fighting on behalf of lower caste groups in Nepal, who have (as they have in India) benefitted from reservation quotas for further education and employment. “It is necessary because certain groups in society have not had opportunities to do well in life. It is evil because it often institutionalises and fortifies differences.”

Critics of the NEP in Malaysia argue that provisions requiring a certain proportion of the shares of any publicly quoted company to be in bumiputera hands, and that favour bumiputera-owned firms for various government contracts, enrich only a few well-connected Malays.

The policy has also nurtured simmering resentment among Malaysia’s Chinese and Indian citizens. With most public universities in Malaysia reserving 70 per cent of their places for bumiputeras, Chinese and Indian students flock instead to private and foreign institutions. With many staying away after their studies, it is argued that the policy has exacerbated a brain drain.

A World Bank study in 2011 found that

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In 2013 Singaporeans protested against the government’s population white paper, which revealed that it could rise 30 per cent to 6.9 million by 2030

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about one million Malaysians from a total population of 30 million had left the country. Most were ethnic Chinese and many were highly educated.

Conversely, critics of the policy say it dulls bumiputeras’ incentives to excel. Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s former prime minister who extended the reach of the policy during his time in office, is among those who have lamented that bumiputeras treat university places as “a matter of right”.

“Positive discrimination based on race has no place in modern Malaysia,” says Sheena Rajagopal, an Indian Malaysian owner of an accountancy firm in Kuala Lumpur. “The NEP was created with good intentions, but it has been abused and only a percentage of privileged Malays have progressed. Instead, the platform should be used to assist Malaysians regardless of race. Malays, Indians and indigenous people remain the poorest in the country.

NEP should be used to assist these groups.”

Just as the NEP has proved divisive, opinion is split in Malaysia on how to use positive discrimination to promote more equal representation in workplaces. “Right now, we are either ignoring critical issues, or perpetuating a polarised stand-off between those defending the privileged status quo without assessing the downside, versus those demanding meritocracy without thinking of viability,” says Dr Hwok-Aun Lee, senior lecturer in the department of development studies at the University of Malaya. “Need-based affirmative action – as a substitute for race-based affirmative action – is a vague, muddled and ill-formed concept that was not, and cannot, be the basis for necessary systemic reform.

“Malaysia’s economy has done exceptionally well by international standards. There’s no reason to hypothesise more spectacular growth in the absence of the NEP. The focus should be on the way affirmative action is disempowering or under-equipping bumiputeras for more open competition, not whether growth could have been faster.”

“Private companies realise more diversity is better for business” 22

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The 1969 race riots in Kuala Lumpur highlighted the economic chasm between the country’s ethnic groups

Although Malaysia is the only country in southeast Asia to have officially adopted clear, government-mandated positive discrimination policies based on ethnicity, it is not the only nation to have flirted with the concept in one form or another.

Unofficial quotas based on nationality are in place in several job markets, ensuring members of the local workforce are given fair – and sometimes preferential – treatment. In Thailand, although official policy is often opaque and subject to change, legal firms that specialise in assisting foreigners with visa issues currently advise that four Thai employees must be registered in a social fund per foreign employee.

The topic is contentious in Singapore, where the People’s Action Party government has been forced to negotiate a delicate balancing act between keeping the economy on an upward trajectory and managing resentment among the local population – many of whom feel expatriates are filling jobs that should be theirs.

The number of foreign workers in the country, which has a population of approximately 5.6 million, has risen significantly in recent years from 1,053,500 in December 2009 to 1,336,700 in June 2014, according to figures from the

Ministry of Manpower. Although unemployment stands at just under 3 per cent, many Singaporeans feel expatriates are likely to receive preferential treatment when looking for a job, work shorter hours and get promoted more rapidly. This has led to plenty of anti-immigrant rhetoric and, on occasion, public protests.

In August 2014, the government introduced the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) policy, requiring all employers to consider Singaporeans fairly for job vacancies. It states that they should only hire an expat if no suitable Singaporeans apply within two weeks.

Although some Singaporeans say the FCF doesn’t go far enough in applying what could be classed as a form of positive discrimination in their favour, many expatriates have a different take. In a widely publicised blog post entitled ‘The Foreign Talent Landscape is Changing in Singapore’, Elliot Jackson of specialist recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley highlighted what he perceived as an increase in pro-Singaporean employment practices.

“The introduction of government policies such as the FCF and the continuation of internal promotions of Singaporeans into top-layer management has made it increasingly difficult for

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foreigners to secure an employment pass in Singapore,” he wrote.

Despite strong views on either side, there are many others who would say the Singaporean government has done its best to facilitate a system of meritocracy (enshrined as one of the country’s official guiding principles) in its workplaces.

Charlie Thomas, CEO of The Talent Business, an international recruiter for creative businesses with an office in Singapore, says: “I have encountered little positive or negative discrimination in Singapore.” Others suggest that the Ministry of Manpower will generally withhold employment passes only when an organisation employs a noticeably large number of foreigners.

Race or nationality is, of course, not the only area where positive discrimination can apply. Preferential treatment has historically been given to people with disabilities, those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and (especially) women in various job markets. In Norway, on all public stock company boards, either gender should be represented by at least 40 per cent. In the UK, positive discrimination is technically illegal, but it has been suggested as a way to address the fact that most of the country’s police forces fail to reflect the country’s ethnic make-up.

Positive discrimination has certainly changed the make-up of Norwegian businesses, and has also been attempted by British political parties to increase female representation among parliamentary candidates. But there have been few reliable studies to assess its long-term impact, and in most cases it has been deployed as a temporary fix rather than a fundamental game-changer.

Asian governments seem reluctant to use it as an ongoing tool. Calls for tougher action to address workplace gender imbalances in traditionally patriarchal societies, for example, have generally gone unheeded.

This aversion to overtly positive discrimination hasn’t prevented companies from working to promote better diversity in more systemic ways. In Singapore, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices promotes greater awareness of fair employment practices among employers and the public. Its multi-pronged strategy involves creating awareness and educating employers on the business benefits of selecting staff on the basis of merit, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, marital status, family responsibilities or disability.

Larger companies, especially multinationals, are putting more of an

emphasis on their diversity and inclusion strategies – and with good reason. Mixed gender executive boards outperformed all-male ones by 26 per cent over six years, according to research in 2014 by Credit Suisse. And global studies have shown that organisations with diverse and inclusive cultures are 45 per cent more likely to improve their market share, and have employees who not only give greater discretionary effort, but are also less likely to leave.

“We strive to have a diverse staff because we believe it is beneficial to our business and our company culture,” says Byron Perry, founder and managing director of Coconuts Media, a local city website network with offices in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong. “Diversity is definitely something we consider when we are hiring. We believe in openness, equality and freedom of expression. It is better for us to have different perspectives and different types of people. If we have an imbalance in gender or ethnicity, it is something we would try to address through the hiring process. Having said that, we are a meritocracy, so it would always come down to getting the right candidate for a job.”

Despite a growing awareness of the economic benefits of diversity, huge challenges remain. “Asia is behind on issues such as gender representation and pay parity,” a diversity specialist for a US investment bank in Hong Kong says.

“Homosexuality is still illegal in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, which also presents barriers.”

The specialist maintains that positive discrimination would not be a direction most private enterprises would choose to pursue. “Although I can see the rationale for positive discrimination, I think private companies are coming round to the idea that more diversity is better for business without having to deal with things like quotas.”

Almost 47 years after the Kuala Lumpur race riots, Malaysia continues to grapple to ensure a fair deal for all of its ethnic groups through positive discrimination. With other markets in the region also facing related challenges in areas of gender, race, age and sexual orientation, however, the country is far from alone in seeking the ideal solution to the diversity conundrum.

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Social learning:

What ca staff teac The days of didactic learning are numbered…

…staff can connect with each other in an instant…

U

ntil recently, developing by some measures the most exciting advance new skills in the workplace in workplace learning for some time – is invariably meant an in-house rapidly altering how we develop and share training course, hosted by knowledge at work. either an organisational or The definition of social learning depends external expert (and probably on who you ask, but broadly speaking it featuring a weird ‘trust’ exercise as a warmis about connecting people to each other up). But today, while a more (we’re social animals, after all) to find traditional model still has its answers to specific questions or meet place, L&D is undergoing a broader developmental needs. quiet transformation.

That could mean putting people in In a working contact inside your landscape where organisation the answer to any – recognising question is only a the huge few clicks away, and expertise you where you can hold have sitting a Skype conversation untapped within your own dge wle kno ff Turning sta with an expert on the four walls – or opening their into a wiki can help other side of the world eyes to external information employees solve in seconds, the concept of that might help them. workplace challenges waiting for allotted ‘learning’ slots “Social learning is the looks increasingly anachronistic. People are semi-formal layer that surrounds formal absorbing knowledge in new ways, and social learning,” says author and consultant Julian learning – a product of this development, and Stodd. “Formal learning occurs in a defined

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time and place, with a story owned by an organisation. A face-to-face course is formal learning, but a conversation between colleagues about that course is social learning, where the same information is communicated through different channels.”

Imagine you’re an L&D professional in an engineering business. A staff member is having trouble operating a specialist piece of machinery. You could call in an expert (which will cost money and delay workflow), or you might find that there is someone inside the organisation who has the answers.

And if you can capture what they have to offer and turn it into a wiki, their thoughts will be immediately available to anyone with the same problem in future, and can be added to by others.

Perhaps your managers have a problem dealing with difficult reports. You could put them through a formal programme that might help alter their behaviour, but it could take months and might only impact a small number of people. It might be much more effective to source online videos offering

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an your ach you? …and learn without being in a classroom…

role-play scenarios and create a simple, informal course of video study that could be shared internally (or, better still, invite one of your better managers to host a lunchtime talk on the topic and film it for use on your internal social network).

The shift away from a top-down model comes partly in response to changing business landscapes. The popularity of flexible working means employees can now go weeks without setting foot on the office floor, and the increasingly youthful workforce is hooked on new technologies.

The CIPD’s 2015 Learning and development report showed that L&D professionals anticipate an increased use of user-generated content – learning materials such as blogs and videos, collaborative technologies or even sharing ideas in ‘lunch and learn’ sessions – over the next few years.

“Learning does not simply equate to training or education,” says Jane Hart, founder of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies and a prominent social learning blogger and

…it’s L&D, but not as we know it

author. “The majority of social learning happens through social collaboration – working with your colleagues in your organisation – and now it is frequently underpinned by social technologies.”

The centrality of technology both to business and personal life has played a fundamental role in the growth of social learning. According to the CIPD survey, three-fifths of L&D professionals expect their use of e-learning courses to grow, while more than 30 per cent see their use of virtual classrooms and webinars rising, and a further 25 per cent predict an increase in mobile device-based learning in the near future.

But social learning is not synonymous with digital culture, or social media.

Instead, technology acts as a facilitator: anyone in possession of a smartphone

“In the future, L&D will act as a connector – finding and plugging into communities”

is now capable of learning at a time and place that suits them. Employers can use the tools available through smart devices to create self-sustaining platforms of learning, and connect workforces spread across industries, working environments and skillsets. Having this connection, and space for collaboration, is crucial to confronting global workforce challenges.

“Interaction has always been part of the learning process,” says Andy Lancaster, head of learning and development at the CIPD. “Cavemen and women learned to make fire through social interaction, and children learn largely through social processes. Part of L&D’s role in the future will be to act as a connector, finding communities and plugging into them.”

As businesses become increasingly global in their reach, and many companies in southeast Asia continue to rely on skilled foreign and expat workers, organisations are facing new obstacles to bringing together their working communities.

“The challenges of connecting global People Management Asia

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The future of L&D The five behaviours the learning professional of tomorrow will need to exhibit – as outlined by the experts

1

communities are huge, because when you deal with learning in a global sense you’re not just talking about geography but legal, ethical and moral boundaries,” says Stodd. “There are big cultural differences between Singapore and the UK, for example, and organisations must find ways of engaging people despite these differences. Equality is the foundation of any social leadership and social learning: all voices have to be equal and equally heard.”

Businesses can be slow to successfully adopt this culture, because social learning thrives on the breakdown of established leadership structures. As the way employees absorb knowledge changes, managers must learn to adapt the way they communicate.

“When it comes to social learning, the only leadership is the type a community can afford you,” says Stodd. “To really develop social leadership, organisations must be willing to relinquish control of the conversation. If you enter a social learning space with a formal learning authority, you won’t succeed.”

Adopting a leadership role in creating these spaces can be as simple as setting up digital forums where employees can discuss issues and tackle workplace challenges, or encouraging them to take advantage of each others’ specialisations within their sector. This is where social media comes into its own, creating a global classroom where people can share and engage with learning programmes that are relevant and

“Businesses have to be willing to relinquish control of the conversation”

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People Management Asia

Social facilitator

If there’s one thing that’s become clear in the age of Google, it’s that no one has all the answers. Even Google itself. L&D professionals are now being asked by employees and managers to help them collaborate with and learn from their peers – to act as curators and facilitators of knowledge and connections, rather than the entirety of the learning experience.

Andy Lancaster, head of learning and development at the CIPD, says moving from being a learning creator to a learning curator is the most critical challenge facing practitioners. “L&D needs to loosen its grip on designing learning content, to become a facilitator of learning,” he says

2

Performance analyst

Asking new and unexpected questions is the key to moving beyond the usual answers. “Good consultancy skills, combined with strong questioning skills, can help uncover deep-seated issues that may be masked by other symptoms,” says Krystyna Gadd, founder of How to Accelerate Learning.

This type of enquiry might also help learners think differently – perhaps the struggling salesperson needs a confidence boost from coaching rather than yet another stand-anddeliver seminar? – and can help save money and resources by getting people to embrace shorter bursts of learning (such as lunchtime sessions or blogs) rather than immediately opting for a more traditional course.

3

Business leader

Three quarters of respondents to the CIPD’s 2015 Learning and development survey say they aren’t sufficiently aligned with the needs of the business. Dive into the reasons

interesting. Organisations such as global professional services company Accenture are proactively engaging with these concepts. The company has ‘connected classrooms’ and uses a digital ‘on the go’ learning platform so that employees can connect and learn anytime, anywhere, through mobile and tablet devices.

However, the complexity of social learning means a lot of organisations,

behind this mismatch and it becomes clear that L&D professionals aren’t always truly connecting with business strategy, while business leaders don’t always understand the purpose and capability of L&D. As a result, L&D is too often regarded as a function that’s separate from the rest of the organisation. “L&D must be seen as a change agent rather than a cost,” says Gadd. “Only then will we see the business truly partnering with L&D to embed learning.”

4

Digital specialist

Having the confidence to understand, recommend, deploy and use new technologies is one of the biggest challenges facing L&D professionals today. Just one quarter of CIPD survey respondents say they feel ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ confident in their ability to harness technology to increase the effectiveness of their interventions. It’s a good idea to ask employees and managers which digital tools they find most useful; how much time they would like to spend on learning; their views on the digital tools used currently; and the technologies they’d like to try.

5

Behavioural expert

Cutting-edge insights into how we learn have the ability to transform organisational learning. Nigel Paine, author of The Learning Challenge and former chief learning officer at the BBC, says: “Neuroscience knowledge will become embedded in our behaviour, and we will build learning in ways that encourage retention, behaviour change and neuroplasticity without thinking much about it. And we will look back at the crazy ideas we used to have about learning, such as keeping people sitting in the same room for hours on end.”

particularly at a regional level, are yet to fully engage with its demands. “Social learning is a relatively new concept in Asia,” says Bala Murali, head of Sea Salt Learning’s Singapore branch. “There is interest in the concept, but people require more education before organisations can start introducing it fully.” Once they realise the potential, they may wonder how they ever did things the old way.

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4/4/2016 4:36:20 PM

Interview

“We have to stop losing our millennials” Lawrence Tan, HR director of Singapore’s strategically vital water agency, is tackling pipeline issues far removed from H2O INTERVIEW JUSTIN HARPER PHOTOGRAPHY FYROL ANWAR

Y

ou could say water is in Lawrence Tan’s blood. He has worked for the Public Utilities Board (Singapore’s national water agency, and one of the country’s most strategically important organisations) for the entirety of his three-decade career, the last 10 years as HR director. It’s a role the former engineer and change management practitioner says he relishes, not least because a significant proportion of the agency’s 3,400 headcount come from a similar engineering background. Safeguarding Singapore’s precious water supply is a mission close to his heart but, given the constrained supply of young engineers coming through the ranks and an ageing population, can he be optimistic about meeting it?

How has your role changed since you first took it on?

My first role in HR was asking: ‘How does HR add value to the business?’’ I think I

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have moved the HR team along so that it can help the business deliver its results, as opposed to just having fanciful HR theories and philosophies. When I first arrived, I introduced business partnering. Over the years, by improving HR workflow processes, we have become strategic partners in the development of the business.

Now I ask: ‘How do I continually enable staff to upgrade and retrain themselves?

How do I do training differently so it’s always at their fingertips?’’ And: ‘How do I ensure staff have the appropriate job

exposure so that they can better hone their knowledge and skillset?’ I am focusing on these areas as we need to continually ensure that our people remain competent, and that the organisation has the capacity to undertake new and expanded roles.

How do you handle the industrial relations aspect of the role, which is so crucial under the tripartite model?

Whenever a new member of staff comes in, they tend to think the union might be antagonistic towards management. But as

“As HR director, I encourage staff to join the union – they are our strategic partners in many ways” service, 30 per cent will leave within that time. Millennials need a sense of engagement, to share our sense of purpose and to know we are looking out for them. So we introduced a mentor scheme and a foundation programme, where senior leaders explain to them what our imperatives are – sharing our concerns and challenges for the future.

We encourage them to ask us questions and propose improvements to the organisation.

Our most recent data show that, today, only one in five leaves in that period.

HR director, I encourage them to join the union. They are our strategic partners in many ways, including in communication and staff alignment. We have regular meetings and talk about operational issues.

Before I roll something out to the staff, I run it by the union first. I may have the best idea, but by running it past them I can fine-tune it and make it more effective and palatable.

They are a key partner in motivating staff and encouraging them to retrain. In town hall meetings and company-wide events, we accord them a protocol level similar to our senior management.

Given Singapore’s ageing population, does PUB have a policy towards the mature workforce?

Our philosophy is this: why should a person’s age be a consideration in fitness to work, as long as they are physically fit and they have the right skillset to do the job?

We must see the mature workforce as a key resource that we can effectively deploy. The important thing is they are willing to be retrained where needed.

Your staff turnover is around 2 per cent.

Why do you think that is?

We have a sense of alignment and values that drive us to do our jobs. Because the mission is simple, the core values help us align the workforce. We believe in meritocracy and career progression for our staff – those who perform well and have the potential to take on a larger job should be given the opportunity to progress faster in their career.

However, while we have a high retention rate, we found that, among people PUB runs who are young campaigns to and have less encourage more than three years’ responsible use

Where else are you using data analytics in your HR efforts?

I always ask the question: ‘What does the future PUB workforce look like and can we better organise ourselves, based on the skills that I want?’ That means looking at the age profile, and whether there are enough people to replace those who retire. For that, I need data. It helps me work out what is out there in the market, and realise the number of people enrolling in engineering schools is decreasing, for example. We need to increase the pool to improve both quality and quantity.

What can you do about the engineering talent pipeline?

Sadly, I think the youth of today do not find engineering sexy. We are looking at ways to better brand ourselves and engineering as a whole. We have a public sector-wide initiative, as we want our brighter minds to move into such professions. There are lots of infrastructure projects coming up, not just within PUB. We need a lot of good engineering staff to come forward and we need to ensure they understand that an engineering career is exciting and there is ample opportunity for career progression.

It’s not all about wearing a hard hat on a construction site, it’s a career that helps shape Singapore’s landscape and manage the vast infrastructure we have.

of water resources

People Management Asia

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THE KNOWLEDGE

Your quarterly run-through of essential skills, with expert commentary

WORDS VICKI ARNSTEIN

1

Run a downsizing programme

Businesses can find themselves needing to lose staff for various reasons, including cost management, a change in strategy or a restructuring, when functions are outsourced externally or because of mergers and acquisitions. But no matter what the scale or the reasons, HR must be integral to the process.

Organisations should embark on a downsizing mission with the end in mind, which means carefully considering what the future business will look like – whether that centres on a particular team, a department or the entire operation.

Examining future objectives allows business leaders to align their manpower demands to ensure the business has the right number of employees with the right skills, knowledge, experience, mindset and potential.

While downsizing often means making redundancies, it can also involve implementing a hiring freeze and retraining existing staff – something Heng: HR can act as HR should also be a moderator in the involved with. redundancy process Paul Heng from NeXT Career Consulting Group, Asia, says the HR department is typically the moderator in the redundancy process, ensuring that team leaders are not selecting people to leave based on personal reasons, and decisions are made on merit and in accordance with future 30

People Management Asia

strategy. Even when entire teams are Where redundancies are less made redundant because of technology widespread, HR can help ensure the or outsourcing, HR still has process is fair and justifiable. a role, much of which may “To the people affected revolve around easing the by job losses it will always stress for those involved. be perceived as unfair,” “Equip them with change warns Heng.

In reality, he says, besides management skills. Encourage them to focus on what they underperformance – Managers might consider which can be backed have the power to influence, whether an employee up with performance such as keeping skills updated is a team player and relevant, getting their review records – resume ready and networking,” managers often look at says Heng. behaviours when deciding whose name is on the list; for example, being a team player, being willing to do that bit extra, having a difficult personality, being unable to fit in as a team member or personal chemistry.

Employee and employer views on redundancy One way to make sure jobs are kept by those most able to perform, rather 47% of employers believe it than individuals who are the most well should be compulsory liked, is to ask employees to reapply for for organisations to their roles, or future roles, and assess provide career transition services to staff being them on merit. The litmus test is that made redundant you should not be hiring again for any of the positions you have made redundant within six months.

80% The majority of staff But while who have been made adhering to relevant redundant say they used local labour laws support when it was offered by their employer is important, treating staff who are leaving well is 39% also key. “Don’t of employees identify treat your departing the feeling of failure as the biggest effect of employees as if redundancy they have become untrustworthy and unprofessional More than 60% overnight. Treating them with dignity, of employers say the greatest benefit of humanity and respect is the universal offering career transition services is ensuring staff leave on favourable terms rule of thumb,” adds Heng.

How to ease the pain

“Don’t treat your departing staff as if they have become untrustworthy overnight”

The Knowledge

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PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES

Understand (and act on) an engagement survey Engaged employees take fewer sick days, stay with a company longer and aid profitability and business growth.

Regular surveys can help you assess how engaged staff are but, once you have collected the data, how do you analyse it and capitalise on the results?

According to Gitansh Malik, senior engagement consultant and regional head of the Best Employers programme for Asia-Pacific at Aon Hewitt, most organisations already conduct regular engagement surveys. While many issue them annually or every two years, there is a growing trend to conduct smaller, more frequent surveys.

“Business leaders are keenly aware that low employee engagement is not good

The rules of engagement SOURCE: AON HEWITT REPORT: 2015 TRENDS IN GLOBAL EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Snapshot of employee motivation in Asia

64%

62%

Overall engagement of employees in Asia-Pacific

Overall engagement of employees globally

21%

24%

Proportion of employees who are highly engaged

Proportion of employees who are passively engaged

Top five drivers of engagement

1

Career opportunities

4

2

Employee value proposition

Reputation

3

Recognition

5 Pay

for the company in the long run. They on the engagement drivers they should take survey results seriously, to either develop and cultivate,” he explains. increase or sustain engagement levels Choo says action planning following a in their organisation,” says Malik. survey should take place on three levels By analysing the responses of an – with senior leaders, line managers and engagement survey properly, you may HR: “First, senior leaders should pick uncover issues that are preventing one or two actions that could enable your employees from performing at them to achieve their business goals. their best and be able to implement At the line manager level, we help them any necessary action plans. “Acting on pick and prioritise the action areas and the data insights and addressing understand their reports, and we the challenges they highlight also work with HR because they should not be an afterthought are the ones line managers and but an integral part of the leaders will come to when they business strategy at the outset,” want to understand the results says Malik. and facilitate the process.”

If the analysis reveals a pattern, It is also important to it may be possible to dig deeper publicise the results to to understand the issues staff, and any resulting Choo: a post-survey plan involved. Qualitative research action plan, in a timely should involve HR, senior leaders and line managers fashion. “Employees techniques, such as focus groups, can be carried out as a should be informed of follow-up, and data can be cross-referred engagement survey results, the action with other information held by the planned and the stakeholders who will business. If particularly disappointing be leading those actions in their teams. engagement is found in a certain team, Progress made on action plans should for example, HR could look through also be shared every quarter or six past exit interviews and performance months,” says Malik. reviews to see if there have been Choo adds: “All employees have the corresponding issues, such as problems right to know the results, because they with a particular line manager. have given their time. We have seen “With the trend in HR around big examples where companies took a long data, we are increasingly working with time to communicate their results and, clients to link their engagement data even when they did, it wasn’t done well, to other data,” says Dr Stephen Choo, so employees felt the business was trying director and regional head of insight to hide something. It impacts on the (ASEAN) at Korn Ferry Hay Group. next survey.”

Malik agrees that this can Engaged employees be beneficial. contribute to “High-performing business growth organisations correlate engagement results with other business metrics, such as customer satisfaction, productivity, attrition and retention rate. They get richer insights that, in turn, offer them pointers People Management Asia

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LinkedIn enables companies to access a far larger talent pool

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Are businesses investing in social media?

Organisations based in Indonesia and Singapore are most likely to have large dedicated social media teams, with 47 per cent and 24 per cent respectively indicating that these consist of more than five people.

In Malaysia and Singapore, ‘lack of resources’ is the most commonly cited barrier to engaging with social media, with nearly three in five organisations saying this prevents them from engaging in social media activity more effectively.

Company culture was cited as a top obstacle for half of Indonesian companies.

Investment in social media is being shifted away from other marketing budgets, with around half of marketers in Indonesia (50 per cent) and Singapore (44 per cent) saying that is the case.

messages short and relevant to the individual concerned. And although Rajeck believes most people would take an approach from a company seriously, he warns against being too forward: “Don’t put everything in an InMail or message.

Try to get people on the phone instead.”

Businesses can increase their follower base by adding a ‘follow’ button on their website, cross-promoting their company page in LinkedIn groups and on other social platforms, and encouraging employees to include a link to the company page on their own LinkedIn profiles.

By building networks, you may find an individual will apply for a role at a later stage, or they may have connections who would be suitable too. “Don’t make assumptions about people’s connections.

An individual’s first-level connections become your second-level connections, which makes connecting with peer groups essential,” says Headworth.

As Rajeck points out, like it or loathe it, social recruiting is here to stay. “Many people complain about LinkedIn. They say: ‘The news feed is spammy. The groups have become pretty useless.

People try to connect with you for apparently no reason.’ But it is the best thing we’ve got and it can be incredibly useful when recruiting, doing business development or even just trying to get an idea about someone you’re about to meet.”

SOURCE: ECONSULTANCY

Social media is the fastest-growing medium for recruiters. And with 81 per cent of LinkedIn users open to hearing about potential jobs from companies they are connected with, this is one trend businesses shouldn’t ignore.

Hiring used to largely rely either on word of mouth or on candidates who were responding to job advertisements. But while specialist job boards and agencies still have their place, particularly in function- or sector-specific recruitment, social networks have turned traditional dynamics around, allowing employers to build a group of connections they can actively target with roles.

Through platforms such as LinkedIn – the pre-eminent online professional network – employers can reach out directly to the far larger number of passive potential recruits outside their networks whose profiles meet the description of ideal candidates.

According to Jeff Rajeck, researcher and trainer from Econsultancy, LinkedIn

is already being widely used for social recruitment in Singapore, but is not quite as prolific elsewhere. However, he believes this will increase as more people join: “It’s easy to see the potential once you and the people in your industry are on the platform. I think a professional social network is essential.”

So what are the advantages of using platforms such as LinkedIn to research, connect with and approach potential hires? “You can see their CV online in the sense that they have had to put together a page describing who they are,” says Rajeck. “You can also see who they are connected to and get some idea of their skills and previous accomplishments from recommendations.”

While there are free services businesses can use, in-house recruiters should consider paying to access more of LinkedIn’s tools, such as InMails – a function that allows emails to be sent to individuals you are not connected with.

One of the dangers of contacting potential candidates directly is that your approaches could look like spam.

To avoid this, Andy Headworth, founder of Sirona Consulting and author of Social Media Recruitment, suggests keeping

PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES, ALAMY

3

Use social media for recruitment

The Knowledge

4

Improve your internal comms

Internal communications channels are vital for getting key messages out to employees, and when done well can be highly effective at creating a cohesive sense of community inside businesses.

From email newsletters and printed magazines to announcements posted on company intranets and, increasingly, internal social media networks, they can create dialogue and boost engagement.

But how can companies ensure their communications are noticed and have an impact on time-pushed employees?

According to Emma Reynolds, cofounder and CEO of Hong Kong-based consultancy E3 Reloaded, businesses are only just scratching the surface of what’s possible with internal communications.

“Organisations are yet to master how to get attention and engagement in a world of information overload,” she says.

“They assume they have the attention of their employees, which leads to bland and predictable communications: sending PowerPoint presentations over email, producing dry company newsletters and

issuing generic broadcasts. Unfortunately, most employees have been conditioned to ignore these channels.”

Reynolds says attention must be earned and, to do this, businesses should take a lead from marketing: “Marketers seek to deeply understand their audiences. They never assume participation and engagement. They create communications that surprise and delight.”

John Morgan, president and CEO (Asia) at Hill + Knowlton Strategies, says internal communications can have a profound effect when done well. “The end result is that employees feel informed and better connected to a company and its core values, understand how they can contribute to these values in their day-today roles and feel empowered to speak confidently about the purpose of the company internally and externally.”

Segmenting your employees according to who they are and which methods they are likely to use to access communications is important. Email messages sent to busy team leaders may be ignored, while hard-copy newsletters may not reach sales team members based outside

How to communicate better Tips for successful internal communications from Emma Reynolds, co-founder and CEO of consultancy E3 Reloaded he wellclo, hi, ome

1 Know your audience Build a deep understanding of the people you’re communicating with. Not just their demographic profiles but their day-to-day realities, work habits, motivations and pain points. Once you have this, use it to tailor your tone, messaging and channels. pon once u ... a time

3 Less data, more storytelling Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to activate our brains. When we engage with a story, not only is the language processing part activated, but also many other areas. Stories allow thoughts, ideas and messages to be planted. Communicating in stories, as opposed to facts, has a huge impact on engagement.

2 Earn attention The average human attention span is 8.25 seconds. With the volume of information we’re all processing, attention must be earned. Do this by surprising and delighting your employees with your internal communications. !!@#**!!

:(

4 Watch your tone Take a look at the language in your employment contracts, review policy materials and examine past corporate memos. Reflect on the tone of these communications. More often than not it is overly complicated, robotic, condescending, long and boring. If you want people to engage, ensure the tone is engaging, human and authentic.

the office. “How you communicate to these groups of individuals varies, but the obvious methods are company magazines and newsletters, notes from the CEO, intranets and, in some cases, social media,” says Morgan.

“Whatever the approach, the key is to be honest, open and transparent.”

Morgan would Reynolds and Morgan are like to see greater seeing increasing demand for video communications use of video communications: “Personal, spirited videos tend to be watched and are more prone to solicit feedback.” Reynolds reports seeing an increasing demand for digital content, including video.

Enterprise social media networks, such as Yammer, are also becoming more important in workplaces. These allow people to build groups and make and comment on posts in a work context.

While it is another avenue for pushing internal communications, businesses using such platforms must be aware that this opens up the possibility of two-way conversation and employee criticism.

“Inviting two-way communication will breed an open-communication culture. However, not all employees are confident enough to air their feedback on a public forum, so establishing a private communication channel is also important,” says Simon Lance, managing director of Hays in China.

But Morgan says companies shouldn’t shy away from open communication: “This is new for many Asian companies that have been brought up through a system based on respect for elders and following orders – but, if this hasn’t changed yet in an organisation, it needs to change. This is a tough target to achieve in Asia – but the world is changing and Asia is too.”

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Comment

THE VIEW FROM HERE

It’s time businesses woke up to the myriad benefits of mentoring

We’ve all faced situations at work professionals or external experts, can where we feel powerless, where we be transformational for individuals and, aren’t confident or knowledgeable in time, for organisational culture. enough to make a decision, or could Overall, across Asian businesses, just benefit from some sage advice. the concept of mentoring still isn’t You might know just where to turn particularly well understood. But when faced with such a quandary. that is changing – I am seeing a But if you don’t, the answer could be huge uplift in enquiries on the sitting just across the room. topic, not just because mentoring Mentoring is best defined as can be a lot more cost-effective a ‘helping relationship’ between than either coaching or fullsomeone with greater skills blown leadership development and experience and someone at programmes, but also because an earlier stage of their career. it connects people with others This suggests a straightforward who have trodden the same Managing director transaction, perhaps, but path and can offer genuine of consultancy Art of Mentoring in its more ‘developmental’ advice born from hard-worn in Australia form, mentoring benefits the experience. That is a powerful mentor too, opening their eyes tool, and it’s no surprise that to new perspectives as well as mentoring, when introduced creating opportunities and transferring and managed properly, has a profound knowledge to the mentee. impact on retention rates.

In many organisations, mentoring Still, there are a lot of misconceptions happens spontaneously and naturally, out there. One of the biggest is that with senior staff going out of their way mentoring is about helping someone to help and encourage others. Elsewhere, find a better job, or transferring however, formal mentoring relationships, purely technical knowledge. At Art of introduced and facilitated by HR Mentoring, we conducted research with

PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES

Melissa Richardson

Bill Gates says mentor Warren Buffett’s help and advice has been ‘invaluable’

34 People Management Asia

mentees and found that, while they were looking for career planning and guidance, self-confidence, problem-solving and decision-making were also high on the agenda – all of them areas conventional learning interventions rarely touch.

There’s also a belief that any experienced manager will make a good mentor. But some leaders may feel they have nothing more to learn themselves, which makes it almost impossible for them to enjoy a mutual relationship with a mentee. Good mentors have an open mindset and are lifelong learners.

Personality is another area to watch out for. People often think they ought to be matched with a mentor they will get on with, but do you really want to work with someone just like you? The most profound mentoring relationships tend to form between those who didn’t initially get on but developed a mutual respect over time.

Mentoring is what you make it, and there are relatively few rules involved.

It doesn’t have to be face to face – some of the most effective mentoring I have witnessed involved women in Australia’s mining industry, who were working in remote locations but used phone calls and Skype to develop – and it doesn’t have to be kept solely in-house when some of the most knowledgeable and helpful mentors probably lie outside your organisation or even your industry.

The only thing you can guarantee about mentoring, in fact, is that it will become more important. Employees are becoming increasingly self-directed in their learning, while many of us face a future working outside conventional employment relationships. In both cases, mentoring can ensure we’re never alone.

Marmalade Fish is a management and learning consultancy with a presence in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia Pacific. We partner with leading businesses to deliver on their organisational ambition. Our vision is to make work better by creating high performance cultures underpinned by values, enabling employees to be at their best, more of the time.

How can we help you?

PEOPLE CONSULTANT Experts in Learning, Talent, Resourcing, Nationalisation and Organisational Development

TEAM DEVELOPMENT Strategy planning, team effectiveness sessions and off-sites

VALUES AND CULTURE Transforming your business through culture change and values alignment

LEADERSHIP SKILL BUILDING Developing the critical leadership skill to drive high performance

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Revolutionising learning through discovery, exploration and action

EXECUTIVE COACHING Facilitating personal and professional development to achieve your potential

Contact us info@marmaladefish.com www.marmaladefish.com

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