HR mag spring 2015

2015 SPRING

PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST If it’s important to HR, it’s in HR Magazine.

PEOPLE WITH 26 EMPLOYING DIFFERING ABILITIES HR tactics that enable rather than disable

16

COVER STORY Why HR needs to get more comfortable with the C-word to pave the way for future success

30 HR IN TOP GEAR

What HR can learn from Formula 1 in terms of building winning teams and maximising performance

The C-word ...why HR needs to get more comfortable with it

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Opportunity is everywhere. So are we.

IN THE NEWS Positive hiring numbers dominate the start of 2015, and this issue of HR Magazine looks at how this optimistic hiring attitude will impact the months to come. But not all that glitters is gold—as many Hong Kong professionals admit to being unhappy, stressed and are on the lookout for greener pastures. To help reduce attrition, we highlight the importance of engagement and share tips—straight from source at the year’s first HR Magazine Conference—on how to find and retain talent (page 46).

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COVER STORY It’s time to address the elephant in the room and stop dancing around the almighty C-word. We look at the importance of HR building stronger relations with the C-suite, and how bridging the divide between staff and employer is no longer simply a 'concern' but is now critical to HR's success. We share advice on getting senior management more involved in HR, and how to better prepare for the imminent changes that may be lurking just around the corner (page 20).

Americas: americas@unigrouprelocation.com EMEA: emea@unigrouprelocation.com Asia/Pacific: apac@unigrouprelocation.com

OTHER STUFF While the BBC’s wildly popular TV show has had its own HR headaches with host Jeremy Clarkson, we look at how HR switches into its own Top Gear by learning from Formula 1 teams (page 32). We then notch up the speed even more as we look at HR challenges for NASA as it struggles with talent retention (page 30). We feature tips on keeping your A-players on board (page 24), and on how to better engage your staff in innovative ways (page 29).

UniGroupRelocation.com/hrmaghk

Enjoy…

Paul Arkwright, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, HR Magazine

HR MAGAZINE EDITORIAL Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Paul Arkwright No part of this publication can be reproduced without consent from the Publisher. Copyright of all material is reserved throughout the publication.

Contributions are welcome but copies of work should be kept, because HR Magazine takes no responsibility for lost submissions. The views, conclusions, findings and opinions published in this magazine belong to those expressing such, and do not necessarily represent those of the Publisher, Editor-in-Chief or editorial staff.

Copy Editor Carlos Bruinsma Staff Writers Marc Dunn Philippa Edwards ART Designer Fish Wong Photographer Fish Wong

EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Paul Arkwright Tel: (852) 2736 6318 paul@excelmediagroup.org ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP Carmen Leung Tel: (852) 2736 6862 carmen@excelmediagroup.org Katrine Leung Tel: (852) 2736 6339 katrine@excelmediagroup.org SUBSCRIPTIONS Sumi Yu Tel: (852) 2736 6375 Fax: (852) 2736 6369 subs@excelmediagroup.org

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CONTENTS 2015 SPRING

HR NEWS 04 16 17 18

HR News HR Events HR in Numbers HR Moves

12

MTR's safety committment

The C-word

44

26 28 29 30 32 34

Why HR needs to get comfortable around

20

46

HR in top gear

32

52 54

HR Conference—Digging up the best talent & retaining treasure HR is like herding cats: The 2014 AmCham Human Capital Conference COL opens up new frontier of HR role

HR BOOKS 55

Retention of A-players

56

24

More HR legal headaches over China pensions Ebola: key employment legal issues for multinational employers

HR COMMUNITY

the C-word

Retention of A-players still key concern for HR in Hong Kong Employing people with disabilities Global benefit managers are missing opportunities The secret to building employee engagement Competing in today's space race: NASA's need for a revitalised workforce HR in top gear—F1 winning teams Shifting sands and changing tides

Making an impact with T&D Lessons in HR leadership

HR LEGAL 42

HR FEATURES 24

36 40

NASA’s need for a revitalised workforce

COVER STORY 20

30

HR TRAINING

The Naked CEO—The truth you need to build a big life The Best Place To Work—The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace Women on Board—Insider secrets to getting on a board and succeeding as a director

HR CLASSIFIEDS 57

HR Classifieds

HR NEWS

HR NEWS

Best Employers in Hong Kong 2015 announced

HR swamped—global C&B view essential

Aon Hewitt announced its list of the Best Employers in Hong Kong 2015 at its recent Awards Ceremony & Learning Conference at the Hong Kong Football Club. The conference covered key market insights, benchmarks and case studies, and a CEO panel that explored what this year’s best employers did better.

higher growth in their income profits when compared to market average.”

Companies were judged based on three main criteria: 1. The organisation inspires strong commitment and superior performance from its people; 2. It drives business results through effective people practices; and 3. It manages its business in ways that build long-term success and sustainability.

Additionally, the winners demonstrated considerably higher levels of employee engagement—with a score of 83%, compared to 57% market average—and had clearly defined employer branding practices.

Nearly two-thirds of global pension and benefit managers claim that day-to-day operational activities are limiting their ability to add value and are hampering their strategic contribution to the company. This, according to leading global professional services firm Towers Watson. Research from its latest Current and Emerging Global Benefit Themes survey shows that three-quarters of participants also feel there is increasing pressure for them to do more with less, suggesting they are going to have to change the way they do things if they are to create the time to focus on more value-added activities.

The most noticeable trends that emerged in this year’s awards showed that winners attain 37% higher growth in profit than participant average, have 20% lower attrition and filled 52% more openings internally than their market peers.

Only a few organisations made it to the 2015 list of Best Employers in Hong Kong:

Best of the Best The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong

Best Employer Hong Kong 2015

Sushant Upadhyay, Managing Director of Aon Hewitt, Hong Kong & Taiwan commented, “Best Employers clearly achieve better business results compared to market. We found that Best Employers in Hong Kong achieve significantly

American Express International Marriott International, Hong Kong McDonald's Restaurant (Hong Kong) Ltd

According to the research, around 70% of headquarter pension and benefit managers predict a significant increase in their global or regional involvement in pensions and benefits in 2015, with the top three focus areas expected to be ‘global control and oversight of pensions and benefits’, ‘financial management of pension and benefit costs and risks’ and ‘employee appreciation of pensions and benefits’.

Steven Yu, Asia Pacific Lead for Towers Watson’s International Consulting Group, said, “Global or regional headquarter

Best Employer Hong Kong for Women American Express International

Fritz Yeung, Aon Hewitt Best Employers Hong Kong Project Manager advised, “For organisations that don’t make it to the Best Employers list, but are aspiring to become Best Employers, we want to reinforce that this is a journey. Becoming a Best Employer doesn’t happen overnight. It is possible for everyone to become a Best Employer, if you’ve articulated the destination you want to head to and have planned your journey wisely.”

Best Employer Hong Kong for Generation Y

Staff redundancies ludicrous says IBM areas such as cloud, analytics, security and mobile technologies. IBM's new cloud leader, Senior Vice President Robert LeBlanc, told Fortune that IBM has plans to hire a thousand cloud professionals.”

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong

Best Employer Hong Kong for Commitment to Engagement Marriott International, Hong Kong

The company emphasised that it is still making a huge profit—USD 21 billion in operating pre-tax profit last year—and that IBM's ‘strategic imperatives’ represent 27% of the company's total USD 25 billion revenue, which is up 16%.

Work

Work hard, play hard A recent rumour suggesting IBM is about to lay off 26% of its workforce has provoked a response and some clarification from the company, which called it ‘totally ludicrous’.

IBM stated, “We have already announced, after our disappointing Q3 earnings report,

With the Chinese Year of the Ram upon us, and Chinese New Year a fading memory, take a moment to identify what kind of holidayer you are. Perhaps you try to only check your emails once a day, or you expect workers to be ever-contactable, maybe you even refuse to pick up your work phone once the public holiday or your annual leave has begun. A recent poll carried out by eFinancialCareers has found that if you’re based in Hong Kong, you’re more likely to be unable to put down the phone and move away from the paperwork.

4 | HR HRMAGAZINE MAGAZINE

pension and benefit managers are under relentless pressure to focus on activities that will add value to their organisation, but are finding themselves swamped in day-to-day operational tasks. To overcome this, managers need to take stock of the activities the global pensions and benefits team are undertaking, and look at whether the activities are creating impact for the business and are being undertaken as efficiently as possible. The challenge is to free up the time to deliver this value—and to use any such time really well.”

The research showed that almost half of Hong Kong professionals admit to checking work emails constantly over their holiday, compared to 33% in Singapore. In comparison, the majority of those in Singapore (43%) say they don’t monitor their emails, but will just allow colleagues to call them if there’s something particularly urgent.

One in 10 Hong Kong professionals is also expected to be fully working and on call throughout their holidays, compared to 6% in Singapore.

that the company would take a USD 600 million charge for restructuring—that's several thousand people, significantly fewer than the rumour suggested. Moreover, IBM currently has job postings for more than ten thousand professionals worldwide, with more than half of them in growth

The company’s statement continued, “We have high growth in a substantial portion of the portfolio, and those areas (CAMSS) have better-than-normal margins in areas that matter most to clients today—that's the heart of the IBM transformation.”

Neil Clark, Director, eFinancialCareers stated, “The number of people who appear never to switch off from work is quite remarkable and it shows how committed many financial services professionals are to their careers. But taking a real break is crucial for long-term career satisfaction and sustainability.”

Regardless of your industry, to help avoid burn-out, set clear boundaries with colleagues and line managers before public holidays and taking annual leave.

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HR NEWS

China 2015 hiring spree

HR NEWS

HK employers positive about hiring pace

APAC hiring up over 50% Hiring activity has risen by 51% in the last year for the APAC region, according to the Morgan McKinley Asia Pacific Employment Monitor. Meanwhile, the number of jobs and professionals seeking new roles has decreased since Q3 2014, mostly due to seasonal factors.

Greater China’s employment market is expected to be bullish in 2015 as new survey results reveal over half of employers throughout the region plan to hire new staff over the next 12 months. Michael Page’s latest Salary and Employment Forecast Outlook for Greater China identifies optimistic attitudes on hiring among employers in the markets of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Anthony Thompson, Regional Managing Director, Michael Page Greater China commented, “The outlook for 2015 shows there is steady growth in the labour market across the region. With rising salaries and a talent shortage, employees will be the winners on the labour market in the coming year.”

Survey results reveal Hong Kong’s employment market is buoyant, with junior professionals in the banking and finance sector being highly sought after for the first time since the financial crisis. Additionally, there is a need for sales and marketing professionals across multiple sectors.

The Q1 2015 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey indicates that Hong Kong employers expect staffing levels to increase during the next three months at a steady pace similar to the previous five quarters.

After removing seasonal variations from the survey data, Hong Kong’s Net Employment Outlook stands at an increase of 15%, unchanged when compared to the previous quarter and relatively stable year-on-year.

18% of the 801 employers surveyed forecasted an increase in staffing levels in the first quarter of 2015, while only 3% predicted a decrease.

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Employers were categorised in six industry sectors, and employers across the board forecast an increase in payroll during Q1 2015. Globally, staffing levels are expected to increase in 38 of the 42 countries.

Outlooks are generally more positive when compared to 2014 surveys. Hiring confidence for the January – March time frame is once again strongest in India, Taiwan and New Zealand. The weakest and only negative forecasts are reported by employers in Finland, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Pro-democracy protests have done little to dampen Hong Kong's attractiveness for inward investment even with declines in the Hang Seng index. Investors put USD 200 million into exchange-traded funds in the quarter and over 360 new companies entered

the Hong Kong market in 2014, with that number forecast to grow in 2015.

Hiring within the financial services sector still remains focused, driven by regulatory rather than business requirements with a broad range of compliance professionals being in demand. The Wealth Management sector also remains buoyant with private banks developing more sophisticated platforms to cope with the demands of their ever more complex clients wealth management needs.

Holliday commented, "The general slow improvement in the hiring environment is set to continue in 2015, as more international and, increasingly often, more local clients expand into the region. A number of detailed surveys forecast a global recalibration of talent, with growth in emerging Asia for financial services professionals estimated at 21% over the next five years."

All these illicit office dalliances and cross structural affairs have the potential to go very wrong, many respondents expressed their regret and advised caution.

However, it is not all doom and gloom.

Singletons will be pleased to discover that a third of office romances led to a long term relationship or marriage, meaning lingering at the water cooler might just find you love.

most notably technolog y, FMCG and luxury retail—according to the latest annual Global Salary Survey from Robert Walters.

Figures from the Survey suggest that professionals moving jobs commanded an average 10 – 20% salary increase in 2014 as a result of increased hiring activity, while non-movers received increases of 2 – 5%.

These trends are likely to continue in 2015.

Recruitment in Taiwan is expected to be buoyant in 2015—with demand largely driven by growth in a number of sectors,

John Winter, Country Manager, Robert Walters—Taiwan, commented, “We expect that hiring levels will go up in 2015 and professionals with strong technical capabilities, English language skills and industry experience will continue to be in high demand, especially among multinationals. Competitive salary packages and opportunities for career progression are vital to attracting the best candidates. We have also seen more overseas Taiwanese returning for the promising business prospects back home— this will help enlarge the local talent pool.”

Nearly a third of members of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, expect employment opportunities to increase in their local markets, up significantly from only 14% in 2012—according to the CFA Institute 2015 Global Market Sentiment Survey. Additionally, the survey revealed continuing concern for market integrity due to a lack of ethical culture within financial firms and market fraud.

HR nightmare: office hook-ups

Positive recruitment outlook for Taiwan

Employee turnover is still driven by monetary reasons as over a third of surveyed employers report the main reason their employees leave the company is to increase their salary. Survey results show employers are responding to higher salary demand by increasingly offering alternative rewards such as career development, recognition and rewards and a strong company culture.

Thompson said, “As the region continues to be a global player, local companies are increasingly competing for professionals on the same terms as multinational companies.” “Companies in Greater China are making heavy investments in finding and retaining talent and this trend will continue for the foreseeable future. Employers with a clear purpose and strategy, who invest in their people and who have a good reputation with a strong employer brand will be the winners in the future Greater China labour market.”

Of all employers surveyed, 76% expect no employment changes in Q1 2015.

Richie Holliday, Chief Operating Officer, Morgan McKinley Asia Pacific commented, “Despite issues in a number of APAC geographies, however, it does seem that the overall sentiment, remains relatively positive and cautiously optimistic.”

Positive employment outlook in investment sector

More men have affairs at work than women; 58% versus 42%, respectively • •

Five days a week in the workplace with the same people and friendships—and perhaps issues—are bound to blossom. Much to HR’s dismay, however, recent research has found that the office is apparently a breeding ground for infidelity and cross-structural relationships.

HR nightmare! Additionally, over half of office flings involve at least one person who is already in a serious relationship, or worse still, married.

A survey conducted by UK B2B market place Approved Index found that over 41% of office relationships are happening across management and subordinate structures, an

These findings will undoubtedly raise suspicion for some: what’s the real reason for those late nights? Has that big project gone on for much longer than anticipated?

Nearly 70% of those who admitted to having an affair also regularly worked extended hours.

•

•

• •

65% of office workers will engage in or one or more office romances.

41% of office romances happen across management and sub ordinate structures.

50% of office romances involved at least one person who was in a relationship or married.

68% of respondents who admitted to having an affair regularly worked overtime.

More men have affairs at work than women; 58% versus 42% respectively.

30% of office romances lead to a serious relationship or marriage.

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HR NEWS

HR NEWS

Family-friendlier work environments Paternity leave is gradually becoming more common in Hong Kong, with 42% of employers offering it in 2014, 11% more than in 2013. Among those who provided paternity leave, 31% of them offered three days, 14% offered between four and seven days and 10% offered more than seven days. Twelve per cent plan to offer paternity leave in 2015. This, according to the JobsDB Hong Kong Compensation and Benefits Survey 2015.

With space at such a premium in Hong Kong it is unsurprising that the Survey found that only 1% of surveyed companies provide a mother’s room in the office, with 4% of respondents planning to install one in 2015.

The situation with flexible working hours was only slightly better, having been introduced by 17% of companies surveyed, with a further 6% of the respondents planning to introduce flexible working hours in 2015.

Justin Yiu, General Manager, JobsDB Hong Kong Limited said, “This survey was conducted before the Legislative Council passed the bill to provide three days of paternity leave. At that time, around half of the surveyed employers were already offering paternity leave voluntarily or were planning to do so. This survey shows that employers are beginning to realise the importance of family-friendly practices.

Global expansion HR HR-related issues pose biggest challenge for US firms in global expansion

However, other family-friendly measures such as flexible working hours and mother’s rooms are still not common.

A survey conducted earlier by the Public Opinion Programme of The University of Hong Kong revealed that 42% of ‘post-70s’ respondents have quit or have considered quitting so that they can have more time for their families. It shows that employees are very concerned about work-family balance.

Apart from pay adjustment, employers should study the feasibility of family-friendly benefits. It is believed that these practices can help reduce turnover and attract talent.”

High demand for Hong Kong workers unhappy bilingual professionals in Indonesia

hire local HR staff or outsource HR administration to a local service provider.

Up to 42% of US businesses are looking to Asia Pacific for expansion as the country’s economic recovery starts to gain momentum, according to a new study conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC), and commissioned by TMF Group—a provider of business services.

IDC conducted 50 telephone interviews with senior-level decision makers at US-headquartered organisations that have set up, or are setting up, operations in new jurisdictions. The report— Taking the Fear Out of International Expansion for US Companies—also found that the key challenge encountered by those US firms in global expansion is finding the right local talent. Key issues in managing international workforces often

relate to communication barriers and ensuring remote employees understand the company, its direction and its culture.

When companies are operating across borders and employing an international workforce, careful planning and scrutiny are needed to ensure staff members are both fully compliant with global HR policies and procedures, and, more importantly, with local regulations. If that compliance lapses then companies risk fines, reputational damage and even criminal prosecution.

The IDC study shows that most companies with previous experience of operating overseas either

Advantages in outsourcing HR and payroll matters, particularly in the early stages of territorial expansion, include the elimination of non-compliance risk and better cost control. It can also help to speed up the establishment of an overseas operation. Service providers with local knowledge and experience can help to ensure the processing, administration and reporting of a company’s HR and payroll stay compliant with current legislative demands.

In its report, IDC recommends that selecting a service provider that can deliver the required levels of knowledge and operate in multiple locations is helpful as a company expands into additional locations—reducing expansion costs and the time taken to get the new operation up and running. In short, local knowledge and global reach is the key in sourcing the right service provider.

Companies in Indonesia looking to attract key bilingual candidates will have to meet salary expectations, offer quality training programmes and opportunities for international exposure, according to the Global Salary Survey 2015 from Robert Walters.

The country saw significant growth particularly in sectors such as professional services, FMCG, IT, technolog y and manufacturing. This was largely attributed to the active spending habits of Indonesian's burgeoning middle class, which led to a corresponding increase in consumption levels.

Figures from the Survey suggested that candidates who switched jobs in 2014 expected salary increments of 25-35%. This trend is likely to continue in 2015.

Rob Bryson, Director, Robert Walters— Indonesia, commented, “A good command of written and spoken English is a qualification jobseekers looking to join multinationals in Indonesia must possess. As more companies work towards increased cohesion among business units, professionals who could understand the business partnering role of their function are highly sought-after.”

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Office life has never been more stressful, with over half of the global workforce saying they are closer to burning out than they were just five years ago. Globally, the top triggers of workplace stress are lack of exercise, unreliable IT and feeling understaffed, according to a recent Regus report.

In mainland China, 34% of respondents found that lack of exercise and unhealthy eating are the biggest causes of stress – higher than the global average of 21%. However, in Hong Kong and Taiwan, respondents indicated that a lack of staff creates the most stress. Respondents from Singapore, Japan and the USA share the same view. The research also reveals that almost a quarter of

Hong Kong respondents feel that working to deadlines is very stressful, much more so than the global average of 14%, and the highest score in Greater China. In addition, 11% of Hong Kong respondents found that their colleagues are a significant cause of stress, which is more than double the global average and the highest in Greater China.

Additionally, Hong Kongers are the most pessimistic about the future. According to the WIN/Gallup International End of Year Survey 2014, Hong Kong is the only exception to Asia’s optimistic views on 2015, where 63% of Asian respondents were positive, as opposed to Hong Kong’s meagre 28%.

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HR NEWS

Starwood successful at China HR Staff Awards APAC senior professionals value family and high income When it comes to defining success in life, senior professionals in APAC seem to have a balanced set of priorities across their work and personal lives, according to a recent study

by LinkedIn—Life of a Professional.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific has been awarded the ‘Best Practice in Leadership Development’ accolade for ‘Starwood Careers’ at the 17th China HR Staff Awards 2014 held in Suzhou, China.

The award is bestowed on organisations that have displayed clear and well-executed strategies in talent selection, motivation and development at all associate levels.

The award also recognises outstanding programmes such as formal coaching and mentoring programmes that help develop

and nurture potential successors to ensure business continuity.

Dylan Choong, Director, Human Resources, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific said, “We want to thank the panel of distinguished judges and the team of juries for the esteemed recognition. The award is truly an encouragement and a testament that our talent management and development programme ‘Starwood Careers’ is nurturing the future leaders of the hospitality industry.”

China sets up National Management Institute Beijing Chuanglian Education, a subsidiary of China Chuanglian Education, and the Professional Managers Centre, part of the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of the PRC, have agreed to work together to provide training, assessment and certification services to professional managers.

The National Institute for Professional Managers will be established to provide a

nationwide licensing system for local training centres and to expand the service scope of professional managers, as well as to provide training services for professional managers of medium to large enterprises across the country. The Online Institute for Professional Managers will also be set up to provide a training platform for professional managers, and to offer online training services for staff of medium to large enterprises in the PRC.

Chinese business schools climb global rankings The Global Executive Master of Business Administration (eMBa) Ranking 2014, released by the Financial Times, showed three Chinese eMBa programmes rising steadily in the rankings, while other Sino-foreign programmes had mixed performances.

Finally challenging go-to European and US business schools, Chinese business schools, headed by Shanghai Jin Tao University’s (SJTU) Antai College of Economics and Management (ACEM), are fast becoming global leaders in business education.

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Zhou Lin, Dean, SJTU commented, “We are very pleased to see that, in this year's ranking, local Chinese eMBa programmes headed by ACEM have shown an overall upward trend, suggesting that Chinese business schools are being fully upgraded and steadily narrowing the gap with international counterparts.

ACEM is more willing to make more of its own efforts and contributions in leading the sustained and healthy educational development of Chinese business schools.”

More than half of those surveyed cite having a family and a high income as their top measures of success, followed by owning a nice house. The study delves into the aspirations and evolving needs of professionals through the different phases of their career.

There are slight differences across markets. In Hong Kong having a high income was ranked as the number one measure of success. Perhaps reflecting the strong entrepreneurial spirit, becoming an entrepreneur was the number two measure of success in the region. Senior professionals in India ranked high income ahead of their counterparts in APAC. In comparison, fresh graduates in APAC also rate having a family and a high income as the two top measures of success.

Interestingly, this group ranked becoming an entrepreneur higher than senior professionals as amongst the top measures of success, with 38% of fresh graduates listing entrepreneurship, as opposed to 32% of senior professionals.

Diversity initiatives decreasing There has been a big drop in companies with formal diversity initiatives—from 59% in 2013 to 52% in 2014—according to the Harvey Nash HR Survey 2015.

Other findings from the Survey, which took in the views of over a thousand HR leaders across 30 countries, show that the top three labour market issues among HR professionals are recruitment, an ageing workforce and getting the right skills. It was also found that corporate websites, online job boards and personal networks are the top three recruitment tools, with LinkedIn showing the most growth and print adverts experiencing the biggest decline in use.

HR NEWS

HR NEWS

MTR recognised for employee safety commitment SR Group awarded

silver in Investors in People standard The SR Group, consisting of recruitment brands Brewer Morris, Carter Murray, Frazer Jones, Taylor Root and SR Search, was awarded the Investors in People Silver Standard, having demonstrated exceptional employee engagement in every region they operate in.

The British Safety Council recently announced the winners of its 2015 International Safety Awards, which recognise the commitment of the winning organisations to keeping their workers and workplaces healthy and safe during the 2014 calendar year.

This year, over 500 organisations of all sizes and sectors from around the world won an International Safety Award, including businesses from Africa, Asia, mainland Europe, the Middle East, the UK and the West Indies. Twenty-nine organisations were

Changes in Asia Pacific cost of living rankings Hong Kong is the 10 th most expensive location for expatriates in APAC and 28 th globally, while Seoul has overtaken Tokyo to take the top spot in the region— according to the latest Cost of Living survey

by ECA International. The SAR dropped just one spot in the APAC ranking over 12 months and has been overtaken by Singapore. Globally it has risen one place and is now more expensive than the Swedish city of Stockholm.

Lee Quane, Regional Director—Asia, ECA International said, “Prices in ECA’s Hong Kong basket of goods and services typically purchased by expatriates increased 4.5% in the past twelve months. Nevertheless, Hong Kong’s position relative to other locations in the region, and globally, has remained steady.”

awarded a distinction and 320 organisations were awarded a merit. The MTR Corporation Operations Division, Hong Kong was among the 165 organisations that achieved a pass.

Congratulating the winners, Neal Stone, acting Chief Executive, the British Safety Council said, “2015 marks the 57th year of the International Safety Awards, the success criteria for the International Safety Awards is challenging and that rightly reflects the importance of achieving good standards of health and safety at work.”

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said, “Achieving the Investors in People Silver Standard is something that any organisation should be truly proud of.

It is the sign of a company which is very committed to good people management practice and we’d like to congratulate The SR Group on their achievement.”

Upon receiving the award, Mark Brewer, CEO, The SR Group commented, “We are incredibly proud to have been awarded Investors in People Silver Status at first pass. This is a great achievement and one that speaks volumes about the company we have built. We intend to use the award as a platform from which we can further develop our proposition as an employer of choice in our sector in 2015 and beyond.”

UA crew fired after reporting ‘bye-bye’ message on plane engine Thirteen United Airlines flight attendants contend they were fired illegally by the carrier after refusing to fly on a Hong Kong–bound plane last summer that bore a ‘threatening’ message under its tail engine. They have recently filed a complaint with the United States Department of Labour US DOL in which they detail seeing the words ‘Bye Bye’ together with a happy face and evil face finger-drawn in oil grime under the auxiliary engine of the Boeing 747-400 prior to its take off from San Francisco International Airport.

The flight attendants, all with 18 or more years of experience, said the airline refused to deplane the passengers and did not conduct a security inspection. They said that they had disobeyed orders to work as they believed the threat was serious and in doing so they may have been endangering the lives of more than 300 passengers and crew onboard the aircraft. Following the delay on 14 July 2014, the flight was eventually cancelled.

According to the complaint filed with the US DOL, United Airlines later accused the flight attendants of insubordination and fired them all.

Sustainable business initiative launched A new initiative is to be launched to help businesses embed sustainability into their human resources management, operations and strateg y. Sustainable Business Hong Kong (SBHK) will focus on issues that affect both long-term business success and societal wellbeing, including how to engage and develop young talent for the future workforce, and the implications of a rapidly ageing society.

SBHK is being driven by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), which runs the Caring Company Scheme. It is overseen by a committee of business and NGO leaders, including representatives of MTR, Hong Kong Electric and The Link. The official launch took place at the Caring Company Luncheon Reception and Partnership Expo on 25 March, coinciding

It is well documented that in the brain, blood flow and thinking peak during young adulthood—but a new study published in Psychophysiology has shown that oxygen availability is higher in adults who exercise regularly. So, HR take note: staff who exercise regularly are more likely to be better business thinkers—as the amount of available oxygen is known to positively relate to brain health and function. In the study, women who exercised on a regular basis had higher oxygen availability in the anterior frontal region of the brain and performed best on difficult cognitive tasks.

Dr Liana Machado, Senior Author of the Psychophysiology study said, “Findings suggest that regular engagement in physical activity may improve brain functioning even in young adults in their prime. Both blood supply to the brain and cognitive functioning appear to benefit from regular exercise.”

So the age-old adage of healthy body— healthy mind still very much rings true, and encouraging staff to engage in regular exercise not only makes for a healthier workforce, but also a brainier one too.

Frazer Jones Recruiting HR specialists

with the launch of the initiative’s website and a short report on young talent.

The report provides a number of recommendations including influencing young people before they choose their secondary qualifications, co-ordinating efforts at the industry level, engaging parents to challenge negative perceptions of certain industries that face skills shortages and supporting young employees to progress quickly into specialised roles.

To find out how we can assist you in your next Human Resources hire or if you are looking for a change in your career in 2015, contact the team on +852 2973 6737.

Shook Liu (shookliu@frazerjones.com) Gemma Gastaldo-Brac (gemmagastaldobrac@frazerjones.com)

Simon Lee, Sustainability Manager HKCSS. Stated, “Many companies in Hong Kong are now reporting on their sustainability and CSR initiatives. By helping them share best practice and collaborate around shared goals, we hope to give them more good news to report.”

GLOBAL HR SEARCH & RECRUITMENT PART OF THE SR GROUP frazerjones.com

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Staff who exercise regularly have better business brains

@FRAZERJONESHR

FRAZER-JONES

Brewer Morris | Carter Murray | Frazer Jones | SR Search | Taylor Root UK | EUROPE | MIDDLE EAST | Asia | AUSTRALIA | OFFSHORE

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HR NEWS

HR NEWS

Differently-abled, not disabled

Education key in developing countries

Hiring people with disabilities—core to talent management, not just a social obligation.

According to the United Nations, there are an estimated 70 million people with disabilities in India, of which only an estimated 100,000 are in employment.

A new Companies Bill including a mandate that 2% of corporate profits be devoted to Corporate Social Responsibility, and proposed changes to the Disabilities Bill, are placing increased focus on people with disabilities. In celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, Community Business launched its latest research—Tapping A Pool of Disabled Talent in India: Focus on University Students.

Pooja Shahani, Country Manager— India, Community Business explained, “Many companies are looking to fulfil their obligations as a socially responsible employer. However, the more enlightened companies are seeing it as an opportunity to explore how they can embrace those with disabilities, referred to by many in India as the ‘differently-abled’, as part of their overall talent management strategies. These companies recognise the potential of disabled individuals as a largely untapped talent pool and are keen to understand the needs of this target group so they can attract them to their organisations and support them to develop meaningful careers.”

Community Business launches its latest research Tapping A Pool of Disabled Talent in India: Focus on University Students

The research is designed to increase understanding on the issues around recruiting people with disabilities in India and focuses particularly on university students with disabilities. In conducting the research, Community Business interviewed eight leading disability experts and engaged with over 100 university students with disabilities from 50 different universities in India through an online survey and face-to-face facilitated dialogues.

Drawing on the findings and perspectives shared, the report highlights that when it comes to the recruitment of students with disabilities, companies should: View students with disabilities as an important talent pool. Recognise that students with disabilities—who have overcome the personal challenges they face and make it through to university­—are likely to be well-educated, determined and committed individuals. Students with disabilities are no different from other ambitious graduates and their desire for long-term, well-paid and interesting work is the same as their peers.

Recognise the business case for hiring people with disabilities. Overcome the mindset that bringing candidates with disabilities into a team is something that a company ‘should’

do. Fully acknowledge that, if harnessed correctly, tapping into this pool of talent provides a potential source of competitive advantage.

Develop a targeted approach. While students with disabilities look to a broad range of sources for information when they think about applying for a job, most of them (60%) rely on their personal network (including friends, classmates and families) and very few (15%) participate in mainstream graduate recruitment fairs.

Work in partnership with universities and local disability-organisations.

Companies are encouraged not to work alone as, by working together, each party can leverage their unique strengths and resources to create meaningful and appropriate programmes that increase opportunities and prepare future employees to be effective in the workplace.

Demonstrate commitment—actions speak louder than words. The research highlights that when it comes to looking for an employer, students’ most important criteria for selecting an employer is whether a company can clearly state its commitment to diversity and inclusion and/or being an equal opportunities employer.

Learn more on employing people of differing abilities on page 26.

Relaxing over a few beers after a late-night finish in the office, is now illegal in Singapore following Parliament passing a new Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Bill. The new Bill now outlaws the drinking of alcohol between 10.30pm and 7.00am in public areas including parks and communal areas within public housing estates. Under the new booze-buster plan, retail shops island-wide are also be banned from selling take-away alcohol from 10.30pm onwards.

Youth with post-secondary education living in middle- and low-income countries have a much higher chance of finding a decent job than those with only secondary or primary education, says a recent ILO publication—‘Is education the solution to decent work for youth in developing economies? ‘ Building on the results of school-to-work transition surveys conducted in 28 countries worldwide in 2012 to 2013, the study highlights that having the highest level of education ‘serves as a fairly dependable guarantee’ towards securing a formal job.

On average, 80% of young people with post-secondary education were in non-vulnerable employment in the 27 low-to-upper-middle–income countries examined. In low-income countries the average was 75%.

Completing secondary education is not enough to ensure that youth in low-income countries achieve better labour market outcomes. Only four in ten young secondary-school graduates were engaged in non-vulnerable employment, compared to seven in ten in lower- and middle-income countries.

EC to generate more European jobs Over 2.1 million new jobs could be generated by mid-2018 under the three-year investment plan put forward by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The ILO report, ‘An Employment-Oriented Investment Strategy for Europe‘, shows that a combination of public and private sector investment worth EUR 315 billion might foster

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De-stressing after work over a few late night beers becomes illegal in Singapore

Europe’s competitiveness and help tackle the jobs crisis. Success depends, however, on how the programme is designed.

Director of the ILO Research Department, Raymond Torres, indicated that the plan, “Can complement the monetary measures recently announced by the European Central Bank, by encouraging enterprise investment, growth and job creation.”

This clampdown on late night tipples now means people found guilty of drinking after 10.30pm in a public place will face a fine of up to SGD 1,000 and repeat offenders will not only face a fine of up to double this, but also imprisonment for up to three months.

Licensees selling alcohol beyond their stipulated trading hours may also be fined up to SGD 10,000.

Career development driving factor in Thai talent retention Organisations in Thailand will need to look beyond remuneration in order to retain their best talent, according to the latest annual Global Salary Survey

by Robert Walters. Because of keen competition for professionals in the market, companies are expected to think long-term and increase their focus on internal career opportunities as well as training and development programmes.

Figures from the survey suggest that candidates who switched jobs in 2014 could command an average salary increase of 20 – 25%. This trend is likely to continue in 2015.

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HR EVENT

HR IN NUMBERS

HR Events March

May

16/03/2015 – 19/03/2015

7/05/2015 – 08/05/2015

i4cp 2015 Annual Conference

Southeast Asia HR Summit

Organised by

i4cp

Location: i4cp 2015 Annual Conference Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Arizona Tel: (206) 624-6565, Tel: (727) 345-2226 Website: www.i4cp.com/conference

Organised by

Marcus Evans Kuala Lumpur

Location: Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: (603) 2723 6748 Email: SitiK@marcusevanskl.com Website: http://unbouncepages.com/seahr-hrmagazine/

HR in Numbers

1 in 7

62%

Number of employers in Asia who utilise the exit process to improve their business.

Percentage of global pension and benefit managers who claim that day-to-day operational activities are limiting their ability to add value and are hampering their strategic contribution to the company

Source: 2014 AESC BlueSteps Executive Compensation Report

Source: Towers Watson’s eighth annual Current and Emerging Global Benefit Themes survey

16/03/2015 – 19/03/2015 SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference Organised by

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Location: SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference Washington, DC Tel: (800) 283-7476, option 3 (U.S.) +1 (703) 548-3440, option 3 (Int’l) Email: prodev@shrm.org Website: www.conferences.shrm.org/legislative-conference

April 15/04/2015 VHIS' Threat to Staff Medical Schemes Organised by

Gain Miles Assurance Consultants Limited

Location: 1804, 18/F, Tower 1, Admiralty Centre, 18 Harcourt Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2893 4402 Email: gmac@gainmiles.com.hk Website: www.gainmiles.com.hk

12/05/2015 – 15/05/2015 3rd Annual Shared Services and Outsourcing Malaysia Organised by

IQPC Worldwide

Location: Grand Millennium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: (65) 6722 9405 Email: enquiry@iqpc.com.sg Website: http://www.ssomalaysia.com/

jobsDB HR Day 2015 Organised by

Hold on HR: engaging & retaining key talents

18/06/2015

• • • • • • • • • •

Location: Cliftons, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2736 6399 Email: carmen@excelmediagroup.org website: http://hrmagazine.com.hk Fee: FREE ENTRY for HR Magazine subscribers, non-subscribers HKD 1,200

HRMAGAZINE MAGAZINE 16 | HR

Number of CEO respondents who claim that their talent management strategy is informed by and aligned with their core business strategy.

Source: Regus report 2014

Source: Economist Corporate Network survey, ‘Aligned for Success?

Strategy, talent management and the role of the CEO in Asia’.

Jobs DB Hong Kong Limited

Location: S221 – S223, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3909 9969 Email: event@jobsDB.com Website: http://hk.jobsdb.com/hk

June

Using IT social platforms to engage and retain Gen Y & Z Talent management Employer branding & building a convincing EVP Work-life balance: best practices Wellness programmes Medical, dental & insurance schemes Training programmes Executive training & development programmes CSR & team building activities Employee retention strategies Employer compensation strategies

Percentage of Hong Kongers who say long meetings are the number one productivity killer.

22/05/2015

16/04/2015 •

1 in 9

46%

Final Presentation Seminar Organised by

Number of Hong Kong employees who expect to leave their current employer in the next two years Source: Towers Watson 2014 Global Workforce Study

61%

51%

Percentage of Hong Kong Employees who are completely disengaged or detached.

Source: Towers Watson 2014 Global Workforce Study

Rise in job vacancies between Q4 2013 and Q4 2014 Source: Morgan McKinley Asia Pacific Employment Monitor

HKMA

Location: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Tel: (852) 2774 8519 Email: pinkyyam@hkma.org.hk Website: http://www.hkma.org.hk/trainingaward/

18/06/2015 – 26/06/2015 HR Metrics & Analytics Asia Organised by

1 in 3

Akolade Pty Ltd

Exclusive 10% discount by inserting the VIP Code: IFXA1 Location: to be confirmed – Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia Tel: (61) 2 9247 6000 Email: marketing@akolade.com.au Website: www.akolade.com.au

2.1 million Number of new jobs generated by mid-2018 under the three-year investment plan put forward by the European Commission Source: ILO report, ‘An Employment-Oriented Investment Strategy for Europe’

1 in 2 Number of professionals who did not voice their unhappiness before starting a job search.

Source: Robert Walters Focus Asia whitepaper, ‘Acquiring insights from the exit process to build a better workplace’.

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HR MOVES

HR MOVES

HR Moves Usha Baidya to champion BT’s HR strategy in AMEA

Lelia Konyn appointed Chief Human Relations Officer, Rediscovered

BT has announced the appointment of Usha Baidya as the new HR Vice President for Asia Middle East and Africa (AMEA) responsible for managing human resources for the company across the region.

Rediscovered, a bespoke travel company providing luxury residences and voyages, has appointed Lelia Konyn to the newly created role of Chief Human Relations Officer. Konyn is a global business professional and a human resources expert with 25 years of international business experience spanning APAC, Europe and North and South America.

Baidya has more than 15 years of HR experience, along with seven years at various business units of BT Global Services. Prior to joining BT, she held a number of senior HR positions at Vodafone Global Services in the UK and Germany. Her experience working in multi-cultural environments puts her in an excellent position to plan and oversee BT’s talent strategy to ensure the company gives the best support to customers across AMEA. Commenting on her appointment, Baidya said, “BT is a melting-pot of culture, language, skills and experience. Our role within HR is to find the right balance so that our employees will find their stay with us fulfilling at the professional and personal level. I am very pleased to be part of BT’s drive to create a sustainable, harmonious and diversified work environment for over 4000 people across the region.”

She is highly skilled at translating business goals into people strategies and performance outcomes, having spent over 10 years in global head of HR roles, managing significant international growth, acquisitions, restructuring, downsizing and divestitures. In her new role she will contribute to the expansion of Rediscovered in Asia and its further expansion internationally.

JW Marriott Shenzhen Bao’an appoints Nicholas Tse as General Manager

FedEx announces changes to APAC senior management team

JW Marriott Hotel Shenzhen Bao’an, located beside Qianhai Bay in the Bao’an district, has announced Nicholas Tse as General Manager. Tse’s hospitality career spans more than 22 years, working for Marriott Hotels across Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

FedEx Express has announced two new appointments to two key positions in its APAC senior management team. Dr. Karen Reddington, previously Vice President, FedEx Express, South Pacific, took up the role of President, FedEx Express, Asia Pacific, in January 2015. She is succeeding David L. Cunningham Jr, who is returning to FedEx headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee to become Chief Operating Officer. Kevin O’Hearn has taken up Karen Reddington’s previous role as Vice President, FedEx Express, South Pacific, beginning in December.

Tse commented, “I am delighted to lead the team at JW Marriott Hotel Shenzhen Bao’an, in the heart of one of China’s most dynamic cities, which is a key commercial centre for the region. I am excited by the challenge of guiding the hotel to meet its objective to become a destination of choice for business and leisure travellers in Shenzhen.”

Johnny Choi to join DLA Piper Beijing as Of Counsel DLA Piper has announced that Johnny Choi has joined the firm's Employment group as Of Counsel based in Beijing. Johnny joins DLA Piper from Simmons & Simmons, where he was ranked twice in the 2013 and 2014 editions of Chambers Asia Pacific as an ‘associate to watch’ for PRC employment (international law firm).

Johnny is a well-respected employment lawyer, having advised a diverse range of multinational clients in China. He practises across all areas of employment law, including redundancies, dismissals, and HR reorganisation and transfers. He has particular expertise working with financial institutions on the design and implementation of employee compensation and incentive schemes.

Julia Gorham, Head of Employment Asia, at DLA Piper said: "Johnny's joining is an example of how we are strategically building our practice to add quality and significant strength to our existing capabilities in China."

Professor Chris WH Chan named Associate Dean, Asia at Western University's Ivey Business School Ivey Professor Chris WH Chan has been named Associate Dean, Asia of Western University's Ivey Business School.

He replaces Janet De Silva, who has served in the position since March 2011. Previously working as Ivey Asia's Regional Director, Executive Education, Chan brings 17 years of experience in graduate business education and corporate executive development having held leadership roles at renowned universities worldwide.

Prior to joining Ivey Business School at Western University , Chan worked as Professor of Accounting at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, and Dean of the Cornell-Nanyang Institute in Singapore. He was responsible for the growth and development of Cornell's Master of Management programme and spearheaded the school's alumni development activity and corporate relations in Asia. Before Cornell, Chan was Assistant Dean and Director of MBA programmes at The University of Hong Kong.

Robert Kennedy, Dean, Ivey Business School commented, “Chris brings a wealth of experience to the role and looks forward to building on Ivey's track record of driving innovative degree and executive education programming in Hong Kong and mainland China.”

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HR COVER STORY

HR COVER STORY

The C-word

Why HR needs to get more comfortable with it

Importance of C-suite to HR One of the most important issues in HR today is the disconnect between staff and employer.

An excellent example of how staff view the current ‘top-down’ leadership style was highlighted in a study presented by Technische Universität München (TUM) and ISF München at a recent international conference in Munich, which showed that German employees want more democracy in the workplace.

The study showed that some two-thirds of the respondents agreed with the statement that companies should be managed more democratically. The majority found the idea of choosing their own managers attractive, and the thought of participating in determining corporate strategies even more so. On average, however, they nonetheless viewed the possibility of their wishes coming true as fairly unrealistic. Managers also believe democracy is difficult to achieve in practice, according to the study.

Dr Andreas Boes, Board Member, ISF commented, "We are moving towards a divide regarding democratisation of work.

New possibilities for employee participation and empowerment could be instrumental in helping democratic companies toward a breakthrough. A feasible countertrend might, however, emerge in the form of power wielded by those who own the data.”

A little closer to home, staff are experiencing a similar disconnect. Employee engagement and retention levels in Hong Kong continue to be a challenge as companies struggle to understand and effectively address the issues important to their staff. Workers in Hong Kong are less engaged and loyal to their employers than their global counterparts, according to two new major surveys—the 2014 Global Workforce Study and the 2014 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study, both recently released by Towers Watson. Employees are also concerned with how their salaries compare with both colleagues and external peers at the same level.

C-level engagement is not only desirable, but now crucial to HR success. In a world where organisations are constantly looking for ways to become more efficient, more digitalised and more streamlined, effective processes are the foundation of development. No sector has felt these changes more than human resources. This begs the question, with a myriad of new HR practices currently being introduced, how important is the approval and active participation of the C-suite?

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Marieke van Raaij, Practice Leader of Organisational Surveys & Insights, Towers Watson said, “The high percentage of employees responding that they are considering leaving their current employers

is certainly a worrying trend for Hong Kong companies. Our research reveals that highly engaged employees are more than three times as likely to stay with their employers, which emphasises the importance that organisations need to place on policies and programmes that truly engage their employees.”

Struggle for staff Age-old HR practices frequently emphasise the importance of incentives for staff, such as training and development. But the success of T&D programmes is largely determined by how management views the purpose of the programme in question.

Joyce Yap, Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific, Société Générale—serving as a judge on the Awards Organising Committee for the HKMA Award for Excellence in Training and Development—also warned of potential issues with the top-down approach to T&D. She pointed out, “Sometimes managers comply with training requirements sent down from senior management, but their heart is not really in it, so the staff in their training sense the lack of support from the manager.” She suggested that, to avoid this situation, T&D should be one of the primary objectives of the manager, rather than just paying lip service to company requirements.

Senior executives also need to play their part, Yap added, “They should be seen as champions of T&D as a way of ensuring the sustainability of the business, of retaining the employees and of building employer branding.”

Employer branding may only have been gaining momentum as one of the key foundation pillars of HR development and staff recruitment and retention for a relatively short time, but organisations all over the world are quickly realising its importance. Again, without C-level approval and participation, employer branding can be swiftly doomed to fail.

HR’s shop front According to Neil Chowings, Managing Director, Work Group in Asia, employer branding is an organisation’s shop front, and it has to be an HR issue for it to work.

As long as we realise that

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HR COVER STORY

employer branding is far bigger than HR itself, it has to be on the corporate agenda.

He commented, “The employer brand needs to live and breathe amongst the behaviour of the C-suite. That’s why HR needs to get them involved in the process early on. If you develop the whole plan, present it to the C-suite, and they look at it and say ‘that’s not the business I work for’, then you have a problem.”

Moreover, in order to drive the employer brand into people’s perspectives, Chowings suggests not only getting senior management involved early on, but ensuring that the CEO is the right person for the brand and vice versa. He said there is no right or wrong in this business, as much as there are the right and wrong kind of people for your company. He explained, “Your employer brand should be the articulation of C-suite behaviours. If your employer brand is all about innovation and inclusiveness, and then you meet the CEO and he or she is very dictatorial and directive, then you’ve got your employer brand wrong.”

Chowings stressed that honest communication is key, commenting, “Your employer brand should attract the right people, and equally importantly, turn off

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HR COVER STORY

the wrong people.” This goes doubly for the CEO—the keeper and champion of your employer brand, and by extension the company as a whole. They have to walk the walk and talk the talk.

Talent drought Rapid economic growth, changing business imperatives and demographic realities have resulted in fierce competition for managerial talent across Asia. As a result, talent management is a growing strategic priority for business leaders in Asia, especially considering the growing disconnect between staff and employer, as well as the need for engaged and involved C-suites. CEOs do, however, recognise that they need to do more in this area, according to new research conducted by the Economist Corporate Network: Aligned for Success? Strategy, talent management and the role of the CEO in Asia. The study found that 95% of CEO respondents feel they are actively involved in talent management, however, the nature of their role and the extent of their involvement varies widely.

The research also reveals that the involvement of CEOs in human capital issues centres most heavily on strategic and planning activities, such as assessing the future shape of their workforce needs, and organisational design.

Conversely, many CEOs admit to playing a far less prominent role in the developmental

aspects of talent management such as nurturing key skills, training programmes and mentoring future leaders. The question remains, how can HR get them involved?

Training the trainer In an attempt to rethink HR principles, Swiss business school IMD has launched the IMD Global Leader Index, a new online platform that allows users to benchmark their leadership capabilities against other executives and identify areas for future leadership development.

Businesses are currently spending a great deal more money on leadership assessment than on leadership development. By providing executives with a free and credible starting point for thinking about leadership development, this type of development aims to make it easier and more efficient for businesses to invest in their leaders' capabilities.

The IMD Global Leader Index shows users where they stand as global leaders, how they compare with peers, and which leadership capabilities they could improve.

It also proposes relevant executive education programmes and free magazines.

In a similar vein, Jim Aggen, Managing Principal and Noah Rabinowitz, Senior Partner and

Leadership Development Solution Lead, Korn Ferry have recently published a series of articles on leadership development focusing on training leaders to better connect with staff, within a context that the C-suite is comfortable and familiar with i.e. real, current business problems.

The articles support the notion that leaders learn best when they connect new information and skills to their own experience. Aggen and Rabinowitz contend that despite over thirty years of studies highlighting the effectiveness of real-world learning, it is still far from the norm for leadership development in today’s workplaces. When asked where leadership development happens, the majority of executives still think primarily of the classroom.

However, when the same executives are asked what shaped them as leaders, most cite real-world, on-the-job experiences.

Aggen and Rabinowitz point out, “Gathering people to ask for solutions and involvement is relatively simple but can have impressive

results. The results are transformative for both individuals and for the organisation.”

Building on these twisted ‘training the trainer’ concepts, HR can open up better dialogue with its business leaders to help bridge the divide between staff and the employer (see this issue’s HR training section on page 40 for more).

Change before you have to HR needs the C-suite more than ever to deal with the looming challenges of tomorrow, but it also needs active involvement from all parties involved. The world where power flows down seems to be phasing out, and the future of work is changing rapidly. Considering the impact of digitalising workplaces, more streamlined companies, and the ever-growing importance of employer branding, it is high time for HR and C-levels to sit down and have a serious talk about what is looming on the horizon. Let us not forget Jack Welch’s famous advice, “Change before you have to.”

Over time, even reluctant senior leaders warm to the idea that business growth and individual learning are intertwined.

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HR FEATURES

HR COVER STORY

A-player retention key concern for Hong Kong HR Even during the present economic conditions and recruitment situation, HR professionals are invariably worried about recruitment programmes and employee retention.

A survey conducted by en world Hong Kong has revealed that more than half of HR leaders face challenges when it comes to the retention of top employees. Moreover, about 85% of HR professionals believe that their firm has struggled to recruit top talent.

The economy across the APAC region continues to grow and the quality of local hires is the key to developing a successful business.

Bernard Yeo, Country Manager, en world Hong Kong believes that the main challenge HR is facing is in hiring and retaining ‘A-players’.

Yeo explained, “HR is prioritising recruitment programmes but due to increased employee turnover they are struggling to catch up.

Where en world adds value, is through managing recruitment seamlessly as many organisations can’t afford to put the resources and framework in place.

Outsourcing recruitment on a contingency basis enables employers to adopt a ‘just in time’ mentality to mid-career hiring so they can use in-house resources to focus on retention after people join. It is well known that motivated staff are crucial for company growth and profit acceleration, so companies should also review what and how they reward key behaviours and activities that drive the business.”

He recommends HR professionals consider the following questions regarding their top talent:

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What are your people thinking?

One relatively simple, but yet highly under-appreciated, employee retention practice is the age-old technique of getting feedback from current employees. Employers need to know what current employees value but also where they think company culture or benefits are lacking. An employee satisfaction survey can be helpful for existing employee retention and motivation but also for attracting fresh talent.

What opportunities exist for me at this company?

For example, internal mobility plays a quite significant role when it comes to providing an overall positive picture, so small initiatives like the proper advertising of open roles internally can have a huge impact in showing a future career plan to your team.

Are my colleagues A-players?

A-players want to be around other A-players and need to be recognised as such. Nothing is more demotivating to your top talent than seeing resources squandered on underperforming co-workers, while their own career and performance goes unrewarded.

Any kind of retention technique must primarily revolve around employee motivation, especially for your ‘star employees’. Acquiring and retaining excellent workers may come down to a feeling of whether the business is ‘exciting or not’.

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HR FEATURES

Employing people with differing abilities enabling, not disabling

HR FEATURES

Fear barriers Once the workplace has been made accessible for those with mobility issues, all candidates should be on a level playing field. Yves Veulliet, Global Disability & Inclusion Manager at IBM, had an accident that deprived him of the use of his legs when he was 21. He claims that people with disabilities face barriers not only in finding a job—often due to misconceptions about what they can and cannot do—but when they do get a job, negative attitudes from co-workers and supervisors often affect their careers, even in companies committed to hiring disabled persons. He commented, “The reality is that we are all afraid of the unknown. Most people are uncomfortable at first around people with disabilities, it is natural.”

Veulliet has now been with IBM for 25 years, The company presented an environment in which he felt his disability had vanished due to the work culture, an inclusive atmosphere and also the accessibility of the premises. He stated, “At the end of the day, an employer’s mission is to provide me with an enabling environment so I can manage my disability, and my mission as an employee is to manage my disability and my work. Roles must be clear for both.”

Employing people with disabilities—a huge and largely overlooked market segment— makes a lot of sense for companies, but sometimes requires overcoming an irrational fear of the unknown and looking at abilities rather than disabilities. When deciding between two job candidates, who do you choose? The able-bodied or the disabled applicant? The International Labor Organization argues that any organisation would be foolish to allow disabilities to factor into the decision-making process. What matters most is which person possesses the necessary skills and will fit well into the company’s environment.

If the positive recognition from employees for being a disability-blind skill-centric employer is not impetus enough to get companies to review their hiring strategies, Rich Donovan—a disability and corporate profitability expert— urges them to think of the bottom line. The world’s 1.3 billion people with disabilities along with their 2.2 billion friends and family control more than USD 8 trillion in global disposable income per year. Even those without a close connection to someone living with a disability are likely to look favourably upon those companies that employ people with disabilities.

Enforcing inclusion Some nations have implemented legislation to get disabled people into the workplace—at least 1% of Indonesian workforces must be made up of people with disabilities. Better Work, a partnership between the ILO and the International Finance Corporation, helps companies in Indonesia

26 | HR MAGAZINE

comply with the law. It may sometimes be a case of jobseekers and employers not knowing what legislation is out there to protect them. Simon Field, Chief Technical Advisor for Better Work Indonesia, shared, “One of our team members, Angela Friska, who is deaf, raises awareness among the employers in the garment industry.”

To date, only three of the 90 suppliers Better Work works with are fully compliant with the legislation. “There is still a lot of work to be done,” Field said,. “but it’s a start.”

Multinationals are also pushing their suppliers to become disability inclusive, with employers gradually realising that hiring people with disabilities is not just charity and that employees with disabilities have a lot to contribute. Sreela Das Gupta, Global Diversity & Inclusion manager at Tata Consulting Services stated, “It’s not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do.”

Sean Callaghan, a GM at Sodexo in Canada has four people with various disabilities on his team of 36. He said, “How do you speak about someone’s ‘disability’ when it is hidden by their ‘ability’?”

In the many presentations he gives about disability inclusion, Veulliet asks managers to ask themselves why they should hire a person with a disability when they can hire a non-disabled one.

He stated, “The answer is companies do not have to hire a person with a disability. They have to hire someone with the appropriate skills to perform a given job. If that person happens to have a disability, so be it, but disability is not the point.”

Local efforts Always championing acceptance and awareness, Community Business's latest Diversity & Inclusion in Asia Conference brought together Hong Kong’s thought leaders on diversity and inclusion. Led by stories from Coca-Cola and Standard Chartered Bank, discussion was based around real examples of diversity being leveraged to drive competitive advantage.

Kit Choi, Vice President Human Resources, The Coca-Cola Company commented, “To Coca-Cola, diversity is not just about Human Resources policies and practices. It’s an integral

part of who we are, how we operate and how we see our future. As a global business, we believe that our ability to understand, embrace and operate in a multicultural world—both in the marketplace and in the workplace—is critical to our long-term sustainability.”

Jacqueline Rolf, Head, Group Diversity and Inclusion at Standard Chartered Bank shared, “At Standard Chartered, we have found that designing products and services for specific groups of clients, such as women, the LGBT community, and our Islamic Banking clients, has the added benefit of appealing to many others outside that specific group. In the same way, we know that fostering a truly inclusive and flexible environment in the workplace for diverse groups, in which they can play to their strengths and produce their best without fear of bias, has the happy outcome of creating an inclusive environment for everybody. So flexibility—of mindset, and of working practices—is a key enabler for engagement, productivity and hence business success for the future.”

Day one of the conference centred on a ‘Female Advantage Programme’, designed for those looking to leverage the competitive advantage brought by female talent to leadership and organisational success in Asia, whilst the ‘Taking the Lead with LGBT Programme’ on day two was targeted at those passionate about progressing LGBT inclusion in Asia and achieving market differentiation. There were also breakout sessions on culture, disability, religion, and generations.

Fern Ngai, CEO of Community Business stated, “We have worked hard to help companies understand that embracing diversity and inclusion is critical to being an employer of choice. But if we are to engage business leaders and make diversity and inclusion core to business strategy, we have to help companies see the link with achieving competitive advantage in the external market place.

Although a top-down approach can ensure momentum, passionate individuals who embrace responsible and inclusive practices are powerful bottom-up forces to influence culture and buy-in across the organisation. ”

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HR FEATURES

HR FEATURES

Global benefit managers are missing opportunities Nearly two-thirds of global pension and benefit managers claim that day-to-day operational activities are limiting their ability to add value and are hampering their strategic contribution to the company, according to Towers Watson.

Research from the latest Current and Emerging Global Benefit Themes Survey shows that 75% of participants also feel there is increasing pressure for them to do more with less, suggesting they are going to have to change the way they do things if they are to create the time to focus on more value-added activities.

Steven Yu, Head of International Consulting Group, Asia Pacific, Towers Watson said, “Our research shows that global or regional headquarter (HQ) pension and benefit managers are under relentless pressure to focus on activities that will add value to their organisation, but are finding themselves swamped in day-to-day operational tasks.

To overcome this, managers need to take stock of the activities the global pensions and benefits team are undertaking, and look at whether the activities are creating impact for the business and are being undertaken as efficiently as possible. Global pension and benefit managers also need to use different resourcing models for HQ activities—such as insourcing, co-sourcing and outsourcing—to create space to focus on more valuable opportunities.”

According to the research, 71% of HQ pension and benefit managers predict a significant increase in their global or regional involvement in pensions and benefits in 2015, with the top three focus areas expected to be global control and oversight of pensions and benefits, financial management of pension and benefit costs and risks and employee appreciation of pensions and benefits. Respondents also named the UK, the US and Germany as the top countries to focus on in 2015 for financial and strategic pensions and benefits review reasons, the Netherlands due to pension legislation changes and Brazil, China and India for more operational reviews.

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Yu continued, “The overwhelming consensus from respondents is the belief that real value added business opportunities exist from HQs getting more actively involved in pensions and benefits management globally, for example to help bring global perspective to key local decisions. The challenge is to free up the time to deliver this value—and to use any such time really well. Our work with global pensions and benefits centres of expertise has identified insights and techniques which multinational companies can deploy more systematically to help square this circle.

The trick for HQ pension and benefit leadership is to articulate and embed a coherent global pensions and benefits strategy and management approach—and support it with enablers such as roadmaps of priorities, policies, guidance, technology and networking forums for sharing experiences.”

Advice from Towers Watson for HQ Pension/Benefit Managers on how they can achieve their priorities: 1. Understand where your organisation is on the global benefit management continuum, where you want to be and how to get there. Develop a phased approach to address country, strategic and infrastructure priorities.

2. Instil a sense of common purpose among global benefit team members, supported by a global management framework aligned to the business.

The secret to building employee engagement

By Frank J. Adick, CSP, CMC (USA), MD & Founder, Dew-Point International Ltd.

HR managers, and most management teams, understand the value of strongly engaged employees. It means more productive, more competitive and more resilient organisations. While its importance is easy to acknowledge, making engagement happen is a more complex challenge. Many organisations have not developed managers that know how to effectively grow and sustain employee engagement.

So how do you improve employee engagement and create people who are connected and committed to the business? There are no quick fixes. Models, incentives, surveys, measurement and other tools may help, but they’re not really what it is all about. If there is a secret to building employee engagement, it is this: Everything begins and ends with management. Acquiring the leadership skills to improve employee engagement takes time and management effort. Without management focus and commitment, it won't happen.

A highly productive step in improving employee engagement is to first explore what

your managers are doing to disengage staff.

Management 'mistakes' have a seriously negative impact on engagement, and consequently productivity. Poorly handled communication is a good example, such as mid-level and frontline managers who filter communication coming from senior management rather than boosting it.

That is, rather than intensifying or stepping up the signal coming from senior management, they have a tendency to filter out key messages. This is made worse when managers inadvertently promote a 'we/they' environment, in which a wedge is driven between senior management and employees, trivialising or demeaning organisational purpose and objectives. Senior management is the 'rock' that all employees need to believe in.

Whilst your managers should always be developing their team,and we don't mean just ensuring they have the right training, empowerment is a great tool for increasing their engagement. When effective managers are providing a clear and appropriate scope to act, people feel connected and committed to the organisation, which is the essence of employee engagement.

Engaged employees will exceed expectations and increase productivity levels because they want to, not because they have to. Creating a work culture and environment that focuses on employee engagement benefits the individual as well as the entire organisation.

Training | Consultation | Assessment Tools www.dew-point.com.hk

Providing you organisational development solutions since 1973 3. Assess every HQ activity for business impact and efficiency, and continuously identify process improvements.

4. Collect and maintain only those data that have a clear recurring purpose and value.

5. Leverage technology, standardised processes and third parties to support and accelerate the journey.

6. Build regular and constructive connections with key business stakeholders to drive value, including providing thoughtful input and responses to procurement and audit activities.

7. Conduct robust resource planning for business as usual, project activities and contingencies.

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HR FEATURES

HR FEATURES

Competing in today’s space race NASA’s HR need for a revitalised workforce Last year was a great year for space exploration, with over 700 exoplanets discovered outside our solar system—the highest number ever recorded— and the European space agency (ESA) landing spacecraft Rosetta’s lander module on a comet.

While NASA has been at the forefront of space exploration and the ‘space race’ for many years, it is evident other agencies and nations are trying desperately to catch up. While the ESA recently celebrated landing the first probe on a comet it is becoming apparent that NASA’s once dominant position in leading the space race is threatened, with China, India and Japan also investing heavily in space projects.

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programmes with other organisations, according to Loizos Heracleous, a professor at Warwick Business School, and Steven Gonzalez, of NASA’s Johnson Space Centre.

After analysing NASA’s strategy and organisation, Heracleous believes a more flexible workforce, effective internal integration among its field centres, and better partnerships with other space organisations will help propel the space agency forward in the face of increased competition both nationally and internationally.

Global expenditure on space activities stood at $290 billion in 2012, but NASA only accounted for 6% of that. This begs the question, is NASA doing everything it can to maintain its once-certain lead in the space race? And more so, what can the famous space agency do to stay competitive in an ever-more important field?

He commented, “In the 1960s NASA hired the brightest people, who saw it as the high technology place to be. Back then employee turnover was at 10 – 15% per annum, so the agency could be continually revitalised with fresh talent and new ideas. Now turnover is down to just 1.7% —excluding retirees— which makes revitalisation of the workforce challenging. These days, 58% of NASA’s employees are aged 45 to 59, up from 38% in 1993 and higher than any time in its history.”

First and foremost, NASA has to revitalise its workforce by sending them on exchange

Going from the position of the world’s leading, if not only, reputable space agency, NASA’s

monopoly on space resources and space exploration is now in jeopardy due to extensive international competition for leadership in space activities. To stay ahead of the curb, NASA will have to look to its own workforce.

Heracleous added, “To bring in the fresh ideas and skills needed NASA must have flexibility to manage its human resources and infrastructure based on market-based, competitive, performance-oriented principles.”

In Two modest proposals for propelling NASA forward, published in Space Policy, Heracleous and Gonzalez suggest NASA should let more established workers practise and develop their skills elsewhere before allowing them to bring these new skills back to the organisation.

An example of a successful government programme that could be utilised by NASA is Sandia's Entrepreneurial Separation to Transfer Technology (ESTT). Under the scheme, Sandia employees are allowed to leave the labs in order to start up new technology companies or help expand existing companies.

The authors concluded, “Such entrepreneurs are guaranteed reinstatement by Sandia if they choose to return to the labs. A NASA scheme like this would allow brilliant scientists to not only accomplish great things in NASA, but also facilitate technology transfer and exchange with industry and universities. It will give the

scientists and inventors a chance to gain a different perspective on their technology and inventions prior to returning to NASA.” NASA is under continuous budget pressure, having seen it fall from 4.5% of the federal budget during the Cold War to just 0.5% today. To combat this, Heracleous suggests an organisational design that fosters continued development. He stated, “Our second modest proposal is for NASA to become a real network organisation. One that is properly integrated both internally—across NASA centres—as well as externally with whatever organisations have superior space-related knowledge and technology, wherever they are. Building a real network organisation has both strategic dimensions and dimensions of organisational structure and processes. It is a tricky balancing act, but one that must take place.”

It is only with this combination of clear, long-term objectives, together with confident leadership, market discipline in human resources and infrastructure and developed networks of knowledge both internally and externally that NASA will remain the preeminent space agency globally, according to the authors.

Heracleous concluded, “[NASA] has inspired generations of scientists and captured the imagination of people across the globe. We’ve formulated these ideas not to consign such a legacy to the past, but to help ensure NASA sustains its greatness.”

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HR FEATURES

HR FEATURES

HR in top gear What HR can learn from F1 in terms of building and holding onto winning staff teams This year’s racing season is revving its engines in preparation for the Formula 1 Rolex Grand Prix in Melbourne this week, making it an exciting time for racing and car fans around the globe.

While it may be the drivers and the cars that make Formula 1 racing exciting and draw in the crowds, without a great deal of hard work behind the scenes and a well-oiled team, they would never make it off the start line. Alan Peasland, Head of Technical Partnerships at Infiniti Red Bull Racing (IRBR) and Bernard Yee, Regional VP—Asia Pacific at AT&T shared their views on how the partnership between their respective companies enables a successful Formula 1 team to function.

Peasland describes a ‘traditional partnership’, he said “We work together, we develop together and we try to innovate together.” Yee emphasises the parallels between the demands of more conventional business clients and the Red Bull racing team, he stated “How to improve the car’s performance through analysis of data is

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a real-time exercise in F1, and no other arena better reflects the continual improvement and flexibility required from a lot of our business customers day in, day out.”

some of the team, typically 20–30 engineers, to be away from the energy and emotion of the track in order to focus better on their particular responsibility in a calmer environment.

When it comes to the actual racing, vast amounts of data are managed both on race-weekend and throughout the season. Peasland said, “The challenge for every F1 team is to try to get to the optimum car earlier in the season than the competition. It really is a development race.

Engineers of all different disciplines are at the race track. There are AT&T trackside telemetry data engineers that go to every race, they link with the operations rooms in France and the UK in real time. Over a race weekend we can have 200GB of data—firing up an engine creates 7GB of data. The operations room is where we can accommodate the data and support the race.”

This real-time communication network between the two operation centres in France and the UK, and the 60-strong team at the track allows

Pia Jenson, who handles AT&T’s partnership with IRBR, puts this task into perspective, “What we’re doing here is basically setting up a mobile office for the team every two weeks in a different location around the world. Obviously we often set up offices for companies around the world, but generally not just for a race weekend.”

Peasland sees the ease of communication between the IRBR people across the globe as important to the success of the team. He remarked, “Getting forecast simulations and expert advice from track to factory, that’s where AT&T really step in for us.

Whilst we’re at a race weekend, our experts in the factory can offer advice within seconds. Real-time, and support the engineers at the race track in making decisions.”

One goal On the ethos of the IRBR team, Peasland asserted, “We have a very simple mission statement, which is to win races. Ultimately the 600 people who work within the IRBR team go to work every morning with that same mission in mind. It’s ‘How can I do something today that will help the team win a grand prix?’ This is all about doing things differently, being creative and actually loving life—enjoying what we do.

For every one of the 600 in the team, Formula 1 is a way of life.” According to him, this mentality goes for all of those working at IRBR, including the 60-strong team at the track and the drivers.

Young talent IRBR’s strategy for developing their staff has proved fruitful. The two drivers this year, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat—and also Sebastian Vettel, the four-time World Champion with IRBR who left the team last year—have all benefited from the Red Bull Young Driver Programme, which uses another competing Formula 1 team—Torro Rosso—as a training ground for Red Bull’s up-and-coming talent. Peasland explained, “A lot of other teams have young driver programmes but they get very little chance to compete in F1. That’s something we’re very proud of—that we can

take this young talent and actually bring them on to a world-class stage.” When asked how it’s possible to retain such high quality talent, he explained that it takes something special, “It’s very much a culture, an atmosphere, we are a family within the team. There is a unique Red Bull vibe, a Red Bull way of life—think differently, be creative. That filters into the Formula One team. That makes it a really empowering, inspiring, fun place to be. We are very stable in our workforce, which is quite rare in Formula One. The way we operate, with a family feel, means people really will stay with the team for a long time.”

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HR FEATURES

HR FEATURES

Shifting sands and changing tides What’s the corporate response?

By Callistus Antony D’Angelus, HR professional (you might remember from one of our previous HR Conferences) currently based in San Francisco

It may seem from one set of lenses that the world is being gripped with mayhem. The political, economic and social evolution, or even revolution, has placed us at a time in history where the extent of change and tumult is causing distress, uncertainty and hardship to the various stakeholders of society—with some being impacted more than others.

This period of volatility was preceded by an era of economic growth, described proudly by some renowned economists and regulators, including two former Chairmen of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernake, as a period of ‘Great Moderation’. It was opined very strongly, where any sort of dissent was often met with disdain and contempt, that the violent boom-and-bust cycles of the economy were over and that the economic growth experienced would continue—with any gyrations being minor.

Such growth came on the back of the end of the Cold War, with the Reaganites and Thatcherites claiming that the progress was due to privatisation, reduced regulation, and the evisceration of workers’ rights.

Immediate results, especially economically, may have supported such an argument.

The Global Financial Crisis in 2008 and its aftermath, however, have established that the world order is broken and the current system—or lack of it—is not sustainable.

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Globalisation trade to the exclusion of all else The term globalisation is used to reflect a world where goods and services can be exchanged and moved around with little restraint, where the World Trade Organization had been established to see to this end. To an extent this has proven to be successful, and we live in a world where the barriers to international trade are being dismantled swiftly.

The social dimension of globalisation has been ignored, and this has in turn caused social, economic, cultural and political issues. This is resulting in disenchantment and unrest that has manifested itself in various forms.

Henry Kissinger in his World Order captured the dichotomy between the current state of interplay between politics and trade where he stated that, “The political and economic organisations of the world are at variance with each other. The international economic system has become global, while the political structure of the world has remained based on the nation-state. The global economic impetus is on removing obstacles to the flow of goods and capital. The international political system is still largely based on contrasting ideas of world order and the reconciliation of concepts of national interest. Economic globalisation, in its essence, ignores national frontiers.”

The exclusion of the social aspects or human soul of how trade globalisation has taken root

in practice has caused a host of social issues.

This would include a growing income and wealth divide, increasing relative poverty, crippling of dissent and the exclusion of large sections of society from the social, economic, political and cultural mainstream.

The promise that globalisation is a tide which would lift all boats has in reality proven to be a myth. It has lifted some boats through a rising tide, with the backlash of that same tide having resulted in a tsunami which has hit those excluded. Pope Francis had succinctly captured this argument where he said, “Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the socialised workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile the excluded are still waiting.”

As reported in the Financial Times, a recent International Labour Organization study revealed that since the 1980s, wages have been rising less quickly than productivity, which means that workers are receiving a shrinking share of economic growth.

Backlash & effect on corporate world The recent political upheavals in Hong Kong through the pro-democracy protests, the Scottish independence referendum vote which could have resulted in the break-up of the United Kingdom, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, among so many others, have caused businesses around the world to reassess their risk profile due to the changing political dynamics. We cannot expect this to subside anytime soon.

Businesses operating in environments experiencing uncertainty would usually make

contingency plans, and go to the extent of evaluating the continued viability of operations, investment plans, security of staff, etc.

The corporate world has artfully held itself out to be independent of politics and social issues which could be deemed as being controversial. This would especially be in the case of international companies, who often support the ruling elite quietly behind the scenes while resisting any change to the prevailing status quo. From a purely short-term business standpoint, this may well be the clever play. In the longer-run though, this is impractical, unsustainable, and could be argued as being morally wrong as well.

In South Africa, many foreign owned-businesses operated and even thrived during the apartheid regime. It was only when it was clear the way in which the cards were falling did businesses assume a different position. There have been some quarters that have wrongly accredited businesses for the success in dismantling the apartheid regime. It was the collective

will of the South African people which caused the fall of the brutal regime.

Corporate response In these times, political considerations are a necessary facet of any business strategy, plan or calculation. What has become clear is that business would have to relate to their environments differently, with the relationships between international companies and the different environments even more complex.

The new normal—an evolutionary process It is so very often that some new idea or position is described as ‘the new normal’. Reality though is that the new normal is an evolutionary process and is changing all of the time. The corporate world should embrace itself for this and—as difficult as it may be—institutionalise a system, culture and philosophy which will allow for a conflict of opinions to determine the new normal at any point in time. HR should be taking the lead in the process and working together with the Board to make it an ongoing reality.

While there are many different approaches in dealing with this change, D’Angelus highlights some key considerations that should be made by HR and the C-suite.

Key considerations for organisational models 1. Bold positions consistent with the values that are espoused by companies need to be taken, even where the shorter-term business interests suffer; 2. Corporate Responsibility is treated as an investment, cost, moral and social obligation; 3. Shareholder value takes a wider and more sustainable meaning, where it works and stands to benefit together with the value and interests of other stakeholders such as employees, general public, civil society institutions, etc.; 4. Local considerations and needs are considered in a de jure sense, and not just by using a de facto approach; 5. A deliberate effort is made, in particular by international companies, towards an inclusive approach. Biases in favor of the country where the head office is situated should be avoided and not allowed to become institutionalized, and 6. A certain form of balance should be found in terms of how things operate within any international company. The common gravitation towards adopting a Western operating and cultural model should not be the default position.

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HR TRAINING

HR TRAINING

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Making an impact with T&D

Joyce Yap, Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific, Société Générale

In the HR world, it’s all about pragmatic implementation. The HKMA Award for Excellence in Training and Development provides the perfect opportunity for HR professionals to demonstrate just this. The Awards recognise exemplary work in training and development and, as a judge on the Awards Organising Committee, Joyce Yap, Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific, Société Générale is analysing candidates’ T&D programmes and exactly what makes them so successful.

Putting things into practice According to Yap, there are a few elements that are essential in creating the perfect training and development programme. It should be simple, cost-effective, and scaleable so that—for international organisations—it can be adapted to suit the varying cultures in which the company operates. Another very important characteristic is that the programme is aligned to the business strategy, to ensure there is a positive effect on the company. Lastly, but by no means less importantly, the effectiveness of the T&D programme should be measurable. Yap explained, “At Société Générale, the success of our mentoring programmes is measured using various KPIs—such as the percentage of participants who remain in the organisation and the percentage who go on to take on more responsibility.”

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Actually putting successful T&D programmes into practice, however, is not always easy. Yap explained a frequent stumbling block is lack of communication. What is the reason for the training? Is there discussion with management and staff prior to the training on what is required? Is there follow-up discussion afterwards to find out what has been learnt and how this is applied in the workplace? She stated, “Sometimes we hear from participating staff that they don’t even know why they’ve been put on the training programme.”

Another possible problem for T&D staff when providing training for workers is insufficient support from the manager. Yap warned of potential issues with the top-down approach to T&D, “Sometimes managers comply with training requirements sent down from senior management, but their heart is not really

They [senior executives] should be seen as champions of T&D as a way of ensuring the sustainability of the business, of retaining the employees and of building employer branding.

in it, so the staff in their training sense the lack of support from the manager.”

She suggested that, to avoid this situation, T&D should be one of the primary objectives of the manager, not just lip service to company requirements.

Difficulties are also often encountered in finding the time for T&D. Busy staff can seldom afford to spend three or four days in training. Nowadays single-day or even two-hour ‘flash training’ sessions are becoming more common. Yap added, “For me, modular, shorter sessions would be good, which provide more chance to apply what’s been learnt immediately after a session. Sometimes back-to-back sessions or days can be too intense.”

Other recent changes in staff development, according to Yap, include more of a focus on ‘development’, or non-classroom-based types of learning, rather than more traditional types of ‘training’. The younger generation are more adapted to digital learning, which can also save the company money. She described another change in that employees are now more interested in development. They are asking what’s in it for them, apart from the salary, and how companies can make their CVs more attractive.

Who's important to T&D? Yap believes that a good trainer should be extroverted, engaging, able to articulate complex ideas in a simple way, and passionate about their field. She also emphasised that practical experience in the relevant area is becoming a more important factor. She said, “In most banks now they have ‘lunch & learn’ with in-house trainers.

The benefit is that staff see these speakers from their organisation as knowing their business better than any external trainer. In Société Générale, we have 'Lunch and Learn' sessions with our own experienced bankers and experts as 'In-house Gurus'. It is a great opportunity for the employees to learn from someone they may have seen in action at work. In addition, the sharing may help the 'In-house gurus to share their tacit knowledge within the bank.

The trainer isn’t the only person with an important role in T&D programmes. Yap believes that senior executives also need to play their part.

She said, “They should be seen as champions of T&D as a way of ensuring the sustainability of the business, of retaining the employees and of building employer branding.” She gave an example of how Société Générale is making this idea a reality, adding, “As part of our bank’s mentoring programme, mentees are assigned to the CEO.” Securing a great trainer and senior executive buy-in, however, still doesn’t guarantee a successful T&D programme. Yap offered insight into a common mistake HR makes when rolling out staff development schemes, “HR often just roll out programmes without giving thought to how they align with the business goals or strategy. The result is a poor return on investment with little positive impact on the business.” She asserted that T&D programmes need to be subject to clearly defined KPIs, and everyone involved should agree on how exactly the return on investment is measured.

After putting in so much effort and investing in the ideal employee development programme, how can companies be sure that the very people they’ve helped will stay to benefit the organisation in future? Yap said they can’t, “I have seen it. People do leave for the money or the career opportunities, but then they also often return. We in HR have to have faith that this kind of generous giving ensures a strong relationship that might make the employee think twice about leaving. But if they do leave, it should be with a positive view of the company that helped them develop their careers, which means they may return.”

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HR TRAINING

HR TRAINING

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Real business impact In designing effective T&D programmes, Feng explained, “There is one main factor that stands out as particularly important—a good programme has real business impact in three dimensions. On an organisational level, a departmental level and an individual level.” If a programme can further the skills or career of an individual and enhance the performance of a department and the organisation, then it can really be seen as successful.

As well as having a sustainable and innovative design, a clear measure of effectiveness, and being replicable in other areas, for Feng, it is essential that the T&D programme objectives are aligned to the business goals.

She commented, “All too often, this isn’t the case.

Sometimes we spend lots of time thinking up a great programme design from an HR perspective, but it may not fit in with what the business requires.” To avoid this she suggested getting feedback from management, prior to rolling out the programme, on whether it’s relevant to the business strategy.

Another important point for consideration would be whether the programme is right for the market. Feng explained, “Global organisations sometimes tend to have ‘one size fits all’ schemes, designed in head office, that can be applied throughout the company. But this might not fit in with what the regional need. The learning programme should be customised to the local business needs.”

As a member of the Organising Committee for the HKMA Award for Excellence in Training & Development, Judy Feng, Head of Organisational Development, The Hong Kong Jockey Club sees the Awards as an ideal platform to help enhance T&D.

Involving the right people Feng described a common challenge for HR, “Getting the buy-in and support, including resource allocation, from the management is something T&D staff always have to think about.” Taking The Hong Kong Jockey Club as an example, she explained that when introducing programmes, they first run several pilots to try out some alternatives, they then get feedback from various focus groups, conduct interviews with those involved and also consult management to get their input. Then they launch the programme, having taken into account all of the feedback received, with the support of management that was nurtured through their input.

The Awards bring two key benefits for Hong Kong companies. Firstly, in sharing best practice and experience in training and development, companies can access a great learning opportunity. Secondly, the Awards help inculcate a culture of learning and continuous improvement throughout the Hong Kong market.

Feng explained that a similar approach can help ensure senior executives play the role they should in learning and development. She added, “They should be advocates of the programme, promoting its importance, as this message will resonate if it comes from a senior executive. They need to be role models. For example, the CEO at The Hong Kong Jockey

Judy Feng, Head of Organisational Development, The Hong Kong Jockey Club

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Club, despite a very busy schedule, finds time to visit the participants in leadership development programmes to emphasise its importance. You’ve got to engage senior management by getting their input on the programme.

You’ve got to show them the benefits of the programme, not just tell them— this will get them interested.”

Adaptable trainers Feng asserted, “Trainers can be developed, but there are some characteristics that help certain individuals a lot. A passion for training and sharing knowledge is important, and good communication skills are obviously helpful too.” She added that trainers also need to be able to adapt their style to meet the needs of the group. A group of young, energetic sales people might benefit from different types of training to a bunch of more experienced researchers in R&D centre. With this in mind, trainers need to be sensitive and adaptable to the specific needs of the audience.

Keeping up with the changes Feng offered some insight into changes in approaches to staff development over recent years, where there has been more of an emphasis on making sure the T&D programme is aligned with the business strategy, and also how the effectiveness of the scheme can be clearly measured. She went on to describe how technology is influencing the way learning programmes are designed, “Using social media tools to better engage employees and promote a learning culture is becoming more common. Mobile learning, providing a way to learn anywhere, at any time, is well suited to the young generation’s needs. The Jockey Club is now looking at how to make learning online more attractive, interactive and easy to access at any time, as a result of the younger generation coming into the workforce. This approach also enhances a culture of collaboration between employees.”

Developing talent, and keeping them Creating the development culture within a company is a vital factor in engaging and retaining talent. Feng thinks that there is a very strong connection between what a company offers in terms of staff development and how happy the employees are. She commented, “Globally and in Asia, career development always comes in as one of the top three factors in what people value at work. Good quality learning and development programmes have become a ‘hygiene factor’ for companies, 'a must-have', a basic requirement to compete in the competitive market for talent and provide what the younger generation demand.”

As T&D is now so important to employees, how can companies stand out and attract the best talent? Feng explained that a company must be able to tell a success story. They must first show how they nurture young talent, and then they must be able to demonstrate how this internal talent is further developed to prepare for the succession of more senior positions. She added, “You’ve designed a nice programme. So what? What are the results? What’s more important than specific L&D programmes from HR is a culture of commitment to talent development within the organisation as a whole.”

HKMA Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2015 Website: www.hkma.org.hk/trainingaward Enquiry: 2774 8519 Seminar on "The Way to Become a Top Trainer" Date: 21 April 2015, Tuesday Time: 3pm-5pm Venue: CYMA Charity Fund Management Development Centre, Room 201, Pico Tower, Wanchai, Hong Kong Language: Cantonese Seminar on "Benchmark your Training and Development Practices with Some of the Excellent Companies" Date: 18 June 2015, Thursday Time: 9am-5:30pm Venue: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Language: English

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HR TRAINING

HR TRAINING

Lessons in HR leadership In the first of a four-part series, Jim Aggen, Managing Principal and Noah Rabinowitz, Senior Partner and Leadership Development Solution Lead from Korn Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting examine exactly what HR needs to know to develop truly agile leaders.

Part 1: Develop your leaders in context

About this HR learning series In these four articles, we highlight the keys that enable HR to develop truly agile leaders who can pivot with the needs of the business strategy.

Part 1. Develop your leaders in context. Leadership development can be used to put the best minds in a company to work on real, current business problems.

Part 2. Who leaders need to be and what they need to do. Each leader’s effectiveness depends on a number of factors, including personality traits, personal experience and workplace skills. Effective development addresses all of these.

Part 3. Realize that development is a journey. Meaningful change happens over time, but leaders can embrace new behaviours when they have been given time to understand them.

Part 4. The power of service and purpose. Serving a greater good is a powerful motivator for a leader to be their best self.

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HR and CEOs may consider many ways of steering the workforce toward a new strategy, but often overlook leadership development as a primary tool to help them achieve this. In fact, it should be right at the top of their lists.

attitude. By integrating leadership development into this strategy summit, these leaders began to adopt, practise and demonstrate the creative thinking the organisation needed.

Likewise, ‘leadership development’ can be integrated into sessions focusing on growth strategy or developing new business ideas.

Gathering people to ask for solutions and involvement is relatively simple but can have impressive results. Over time, even reluctant senior leaders warm to the idea that business growth and individual learning are intertwined. The results are transformative for both individuals and for the organisation.

Leadership development can be used to put the best minds in a company to work on real, current business problems. This context is key, and it is well documented that leaders learn best when they connect new information and skills to their own experience . Over thirty years of studies have shown the effectiveness of real-world learning yet despite this, it is still far from the norm for leadership development in today’s workplaces.

Benefits of contextual learning

Most executives, when asked where leadership development happens, think primarily of the classroom. However, when executives are asked what shaped them as leaders, most cite real-world, on-the-job experiences.

Leadership development is a potent way to implement new strategy and even transform corporate culture. Steeping development in the real-world context of the business yields highly motivated people who are positioned to lead by example.

An Asia-based financial services firm recently introduced a new approach to corporate innovation and used a leadership development approach to implement it. For a week, 25 of the organisation’s senior leaders gathered to hear presentations and brainstorm. One-on-one feedback as well as coaching sessions encouraged them to set aside old beliefs about what was possible and to present their best new ideas.

However skeptical they were at the start, all participants asked questions and built on the ideas of their co-workers. The group compiled 10 ideas ready for further exploration. They also exhibited a new level of collaboration and an energetic can-do

4

key benefits of contextual learning Strategies get communicated clearly beyond the boardroom. Many leading companies develop concise messages that communicate their aspirations, their targeted customers and what they want to be considered best at doing. But then that message frequently never goes anywhere.

Leadership development sessions allow articulation of these messages throughout all the leaders and top talent.

Straightforward plans are created for solving problems. Though leaders often know how to leverage a company’s strengths, many are not prepared to handle weaknesses such as underperforming people and underinvested functions. When leaders are offered a clearly articulated strategy and understand what is behind this new action plan, this helps them quantify and plan what they need in terms of talent and resources.

Pioneering ideas get prioritised.

Individuals make assumptions about what their organisations or supervisors value.

Creating a development programme where they can pursue new directions liberates them from such assumptions and opens up channels to new ideas. Leadership development essentially becomes the safety net for innovation and experimentation.

A network of leaders is born. Gaining a breadth of perspective only happens when leaders build relationships across business units. Unfortunately, many leaders feel stuck in their silo: they only get part of the story.

This makes cross-functional problem solving difficult. Crash-courses on communication across borders help enhance understanding and awareness.

One area for learning comes up again and again: finance, and no more so than in modern HR­—where the ROI of new strategies must be demonstrated. External trainers frequently use a company’s own financial information as

the source material for teaching, but lessons only truly sink in when delivered by the most credible experts from within the company itself. It cuts through the skepticism to hear about finance from the CFO, or customer knowledge from the head of sales. Top talent feel more included and valued when their company leaders have taken the time to share their perspectives personally.

Top talent stays with an organisation as long as they feel like they are contributing and learning. When these drives are paired up during a leadership development process, it can be transformative for businesses.

Companies known for developing leaders have outperformed their peer groups for decades: P&G, GE, Kraft, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Whirlpool and American Express, to name a few. What these very different companies have in common is the practice of leveraging people development to help drive contribution to their businesses. Once up and running, a leadership development system— like the one we are outlining in this series— generates benefits that far exceed start-up costs. Nurturing talent becomes part of your organisation’s culture, and builds in impact over time. Leadership development ignites human potential. Done well and connected to a wider HR strategy, it also delivers results for the entire organisation.

For more information, articles, research and insights visit: www.kornferryinstitute.com

References Hull, Glynda A. 1993. “Hearing other voices: A critical assessment of popular views on literacy and work.”

Harvard Educational Review 63, 20-50.

Carraher, Terezinha Nunes, David William Carraher, and Analúcia Dias Schliemann. 1985. “Mathematics in the streets and in schools” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 3 (1): 21-29.

Jean Lave, Steve Smith, and Michael Butler. 1988. “Problem solving as an everyday practice.” Chapter in The Teaching and assessing of mathematical problem solving, Randall I. Charles and Edward A. Silver, eds. 66-81.

Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

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HR LEGAL

More HR legal headaches over China pensions

By Alan Wang, Associate, DLA Piper, Shanghai

Proposed pension reforms in China, while long overdue from an employee perspective, will be an additional headache for already beleaguered employers in the region. This news comes at a time when the cost of labour in China is increasing—forcing many businesses to review their staffing strategies in an attempt to try and find alternative, more cost-competitive methods of production to keep up with increasing pressure from India and the ASEAN region.

The newly proposed reform aims to redress the imbalance between different categories of employees and, to a degree, appease corporate enterprise employees. It is a milestone in the development of the PRC Social Insurance System. If implemented, it would finally bring an end to the policy of two systems of pension insurance.

The dual pension system has existed in China for numerous years and many employees of corporate enterprises view it as unfair that civil servants and other public sector workers and their employers in the public sector are not required to make any pensions contributions but yet enjoy a significantly higher pension after retirement. This has long been a bone of contention and is even viewed by some as a major cause of the financial deficit of pension funds in China.

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The existing pension system is extremely complicated—apart from the dual pension system itself at a national level, some cities also have their own sub-pension system due to historical reasons. A key challenge will be how to unify all these different pensions systems. The extent of the changes required to achieve this is yet to be felt—as we await detailed implementation rules; there remains a strong likelihood that local governments may find a way to circumvent the full intention of the reform via varying local implementation approaches. One additional question is whether this proposed reform foreshadows a potentially different reform of delaying the retirement age—we will need to wait and see if this develops.

Regardless of the progress indicated by the reform, it will without doubt lead to grumblings from both government and public sector employees—as the salary structure of many such staff is well known to be based on a low-base salary but high value additional benefits. These additional benefits include the fact that they do not need to make pensions contributions but will remain entitled to a high level of pension after retirement. Therefore, it's likely these employees will see reform as a reduction in their overall income and benefits.

We have already witnessed some school teachers and other public sector workers take strike action in response to the proposals.

This wave of strike action is set to continue.

Government bodies and public sector employers will need to take action to maintain standards of employment and to retain staff who may otherwise look to more lucrative packages in the private sector.

The potential impact on the talent pool in China should not be underestimated—in a country where employees frequently shift roles to leverage their position—the more traditional view of remaining in a government or public sector role for their career is likely to be less and less appealing if staff can move to businesses which offer higher salaries and potentially additional perks. While a negative issue for many employees, however, many individuals will not refuse to work for a public company purely because of the social insurance issue—as there are still numerous benefits to working in the public sector.

In terms of wider impact, as the reform does not affect most private or foreign invested companies directly, most companies are just observers. It does, however, present a golden opportunity for HR in such organizations to approach candidates working in the government body or public sector.

HR LEGAL

HR LEGAL

Ebola: key employment legal issues for multinational employers

By Tim Marshall, Sarah Lawrence and Judith Harris, DLA Piper

As the number of Ebola cases hits the 10,000 mark, employers the world over are looking to put in place plans to prepare for the unlikely event that an employee becomes exposed to or ill with the virus. Is your business prepared?

DLA Piper's global team can help advise employers, wherever they are based, on the employment legal issues involved. Some of the key issues to consider are set out below.

How can you best protect the health and safety of your employees?

The World Health Organization says that the risk of a person becoming infected with the Ebola virus during a visit to any of the affected areas is extremely low; nonetheless, employers have an obligation to ensure a safe workplace which should include taking steps to guard against the risk of infectious diseases in the workplace. An effective strategy to protect employees and to eliminate any unnecessary panic should include: • keeping abreast of government advice and communicating this to employees; • updating contact details of employees and circulating emergency contact details for key employees; • carrying out a risk assessment, ensuring good hygiene practices in the workplace and training employees on the key facts and risks; • updating any policies or procedures (e.g. sickness absence, dependent care leave, flexible/home working) which may be affected by an outbreak of Ebola; • displaying signs of symptoms and steps employees should take if they suspect they may have come into contact with someone with Ebola including details

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•

of the nearest medical centre equipped to deal with Ebola outbreaks; and asking employees to report to HR if they have been to a high-risk destination or if they have been in contact with someone else who has, regardless of whether they are exhibiting symptoms.

Can you require employees to stay at home if there is any risk that they may have come into contact with Ebola?

Employers may wish to require employees who have travelled to or been in close contact with someone from a high-risk area to be placed on enforced leave or require them to work from home until it is clear they are not infected.

Employers should carefully review internal policies and contracts of employment to check whether there are any provisions enabling them to do this lawfully and, if there are no such provisions (and depending on the applicable laws in the relevant jurisdiction), weigh up the risks of the ‘quarantined’ employee bringing a claim versus their general duty of care towards all employees.

An asymptomatic US nurse, who was confined to an isolation tent on returning home from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, won a court order blocking her quarantine, despite the fact that it complied with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in the US. The issue of quarantine is likely to remain a live and delicate one.

Any period of time for which an employee is required to remain away from the workplace

should be reasonable, which in general will be no longer than the time taken to establish that the virus has not been communicated. Unless the local regime or contract provides otherwise, employees should, generally, be paid as normal, at least until such time as the situation changes and they are either declared unfit for work—so that any sick leave entitlements kick in—or are able to return. Employers should also take all necessary steps to ensure that employees are able to continue to work (if they are well enough to do so) to avoid employees suffering any prejudice as a result of being required to work from home.

Can an employer carry out a medical screening if an employee has been to a high risk destination?

The right to screen employees and/or require them to attend medical appointments will depend on the local legal position and contractual rights, and here employers need to balance the obligation to provide a safe workplace against obligations of data privacy and confidentiality. Whether it is proportionate and reasonable to ask an employee to undergo a screening test and the potential options if the employee refuses will also depend in

part on the medical advice received in the relevant jurisdiction regarding the necessary precautions, taking into account the level of potential exposure and risk. Discrimination risks could also arise if employers single out certain employees based solely on their nationality or racial or ethnic origin.

Information gathered about the health of an employee will be classed as sensitive data in some jurisdictions, requiring special handling, so employers should always take care to keep information relating to the health of employees confidential.

What can an employer do about employees who refuse to come into work or travel?

Employers need to balance the need to keep genuinely sick employees away from the workplace and the need to prevent unauthorised absence. While employment laws vary from country to country, employers generally have a duty of care

towards employees at work and on business travel—as well as to third parties visiting the employer’s premises—in addition to obligations under local health and safety laws. Employers worldwide are expected to take proportionate and sensible action to protect employees and third parties on their premises, and this will include cancelling business trips if government and insurance guidelines advise against travel to specific destinations. Failure to follow such advice could put your business at risk of negligence or health and safety–related claims should an employee become infected on such a trip and this could even invalidate your insurance policies.

While employers should be sympathetic towards employees who have genuine and reasonable fear that attendance at work or international travel could put them at risk, they should also be wary of employees taking advantage of the

situation. Employers should ensure that their disciplinary and absence policies deal with any employees who are unreasonably refusing to attend work or travel for work through fear of contracting the virus.

How can a multinational employer deal with contingency planning on a global basis?

Ebola is an international concern and multinational employers should consider implementing advice and plans across their worldwide operations. The key issues to consider in respect of each jurisdiction will include: • ensuring that the employer has complied with its duty of care and obligations in respect of health and safety towards employees, contractors, clients and visitors; • reasonably balancing the rights and obligations of employers and employees; • providing employees with access to up to date information and support; • putting in place appropriate medical arrangements; and • considering personal injury liability.

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HR COMMUNITY

HR COMMUNITY

Digging up the best talent & retaining treasure Recruitment & Succession Planning Strategies

HR Magazine’s first conference of 2015 was a huge success, with unprecedented attendance, inspiring and insightful speakers, and good fun all round. The day focused on recruitment and succession planning strategies, a rapidly evolving landscape littered with pitfalls, hard lessons and new technologies on the horizon. From the use of social media and rebranding to attract both active and passive jobseekers, to gamification as a tactic in change management—speakers shared candid advice on recruitment and succession planning.

Building change capabilities

Succession planning— grooming or cloning?

CHRIS MEYRICK

VP HR—Asia Pacific, American Express International Inc.

KELVIN JU Over its 164-year-long history, American Express (Amex) has been continually modifying its focus to provide for its customers’ new needs, shifting from freight forwarding to traveller’s cheques and then to its best-known and most recent form—the credit card. Meyrick shared that the firm now finds itself in the midst of its next big shift—becoming a digitally-enabled company.

In order to stay relevant Amex found it would have to take subtle yet purposeful steps towards becoming more digital—a step that required an update to current HR practices. While the company has, in the past, employed consultants for various change projects, it was keen to standardise its training infrastructure across country and language barriers to avoid inefficiencies.

To bolster its future efforts, Amex has put in place an agile workforce, Meyrick

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explained, “We’re not aiming to keep up with, but to get ahead of, complex change.

Our L&D strateg y is a growth mindset.”

In order to employ the right people, during the recruitment process candidates face questions relating to their previous experience of adapting to change. He added, “We assess the cultural fit, the most important is mindset, first and foremost.”

As a ‘gamification’ exercise in teamwork and change management, Amex challenged its regional managers to play its very own board game at a global meet up in 2014. Meyrick commented, “We want to promote working together. We want people to be making use of virtual communication and even phone calls, not only emails. We want to maximise the togetherness, there is more than enough separateness. This is innovation in how we think of change management.”

Principal Consultant, Talent Development Solutions, Graval Ltd

Half of C-level executives will retire in the next five years, shared Ju. As the baby boomers start to retire, the need for a clear succession path to executive positions becomes ever greater. Not only that, he pointed out, but the average tenure of current CEOs is only 7.6 years, in stark contrast with 9.5 years only two decades ago. One of the reasons why the tenures are so short, and why succession planning is becoming ever more important, he elaborated, is that 40% of CEOs fail in the first 18 months.

Ju commented, “82% of hires don’t work out—that’s a scary number. That means that only one out of every five managers demonstrates a high level of talent.

Additionally, only 20% of managers have basic talent. The problem is not that CEOs are being replaced; it’s that they’re being replaced

badly. If you fail to plan for succession, the consequences can be catastrophic.”

A good way to start to plan effectively according to Ju is to identify 20–25 leaders who might grow into a CEO role organically, or at least show basic competencies required for a CEO position. This is a move away from the idea of one-person succession planning and instead involves working with the current CEO, the board and the talents to come up with a workable plan.

One critical success factor mentioned by Ju was letting go of some old notions, such as that external candidates are always more exciting or promising, and that the successor has to be ready now. He stated, “There’s no such as thing as ‘ready now’.

If this person was ready now, they’d be running a different company.”

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HR COMMUNITY

HR COMMUNITY

Recruiting to enhance financial leadership GRACE WONG

Enablers to sustainable leadership—middle management & talent mobility

VP of HR, HAVI Supply Chain Solutions, APMEA

SAMMIE SHUM

Associate Director, Human Capital Advisory Services, Deloitte Consulting (Hong Kong) Limited Despite the importance of effective leadership and its public perception, Shum explained that companies still aren’t getting the investment right, with only around 4% of organisations believing that their leadership development programmes are very effective. She explained that sustaining leadership is becoming more challenging due to various factors including the tide of retirement and difficult recruitment, the post-recession period with limited investment in the past and the diversity of a multi-generational workforce. She described a new trend in which firms are putting more emphasis on development of middle management, surprising?

Shum shared that reasons ranged from the desire by firms to develop leaders for the future rather than middle managers for

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the present, accelerated progression due to retirement and expansion with limited preparation or support.

She shared on the wider move towards Transparent Talent Mobility (TTM) which encourages dynamic internal processes for moving talent from role to role and makes for more fluid movement of talent. The shift towards TTM from traditional forms of succession and mobility is multi-faceted: instead of focusing on key senior positions TTM is pool-based to cover key clusters of roles, lateral and diagonal career moves are possible rather than simply vertical moves, it is owned by the CEO and the business and not just driven by HR, there is a shared talent-pool at the enterprise level in place of a business unit-based system and there is the inclusion of HiPers, as well as HiPos.

Grace Wong shared the challenges she faced along with her team during a recent search for senior finance leadership talent in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. A stakeholder review in early 2013 showed that expectations of behaviour, key responsibilities and even the necessity of certain roles were mismatched. In other words, leaders were being driven out as they struggled to work under opposing viewpoints.

Wong also found herself up against other challenges: a scarcity of skilled talent, budget issues—due in part to unrealistic benchmarking estimations—low brand visibility, negative industry perception, remote location, time pressure and the perception of limited career development.

The search itself was aided by external providers. Wong advised that when employing search partners you must do your

homework—it is essential to find a firm that recognises and respects the needs of your search, and has the capability to seek and identify the competencies you are looking for. She acknowledged that outsourcing the recruitment process helped HAVI as it enabled them to get their name to the masses as the public can be unfamiliar with the brand in spite of them working with a host of household names. HAVI entrusted their search partner with the task of getting their name 'out there', generating interest and communicating the opportunities available.

Due to Wong, the regional CEO’s support and the good relationship built with the search partner, within two quarters they were able to place individuals in whom they have supreme confidence. She advised, “There’s no magic wand.

Stay on course and do not compromise. Do not hire for today but for the future. Our success took hard work and persistence, not luck.”

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HR COMMUNITY

HR COMMUNITY

Leveraging new strategies to source talent in talent scarce markets & building stronger capabilities as part of Manulife’s HR transformation journey

What’s important to top talent in Asia?

VICTORIA EVANS

Managing Executive Property & Construction, Argyll Scott

SUZIE CUSTERSON

Head of Talent Acquisition, Asia, Regional Human Resources, Manulife

MANI RAKHRA

Managing Executive HR & Accounting, Argyll Scott

With 85% of employees ready to leave their company tomorrow for a better opportunity, Evans and Rakhra shared some ideas on how to attract the talent you want.

Findings from a survey of over 200,000 jobseekers worldwide have revealed that the top four factors influencing how individuals choose companies are all related to the culture of the business: appreciation for your work, relationships with colleagues, work-life balance and relationship with superior. Also, according to Glassdoor, the top ten ranked places to work in Hong Kong have all received positive feedback in terms of company culture.

Rakhra gave some tips on how to become an employer of choice: •

•

• Evans and Rakhra went on to explain what some of their successful clients are doing to attract top candidates in some key areas including culture, work-life balance and training & development.

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Agility—can you be flexible enough, if necessary, to recruit top talent from other sectors for development in yours?

With potentially five generations in the workplace, can you motivate all of these types of people in the appropriate way?

Advertise—Make sure that your strengths are known about. Do your employees know that the company won an award for excellence in customer service?

Do they know your company has the most robust management training in the sector?

Do they tell their friends and associates?

Adopt—Make sure you have your brand ambassadors, be they recruitment partners, managers, HR, employees, service providers or clients. Anyone who has a connection to your business should know what you do well.

On its HR tranformation, Manulife is culturally changing the organisation, in order to give leaders more focus and to get them engaged with the people they’re leading. According to Custerson, a business that wants to grow needs to look at how and where it sources its talent. She warned that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach—every market needs its own strategies and careful consideration.

Custerson identified the need to make bold ‘statement hires’, especially outside of the organisation, create a digital footprint and investigate how to improve customer satisfaction. When it comes to sourcing talent, her company has identified four main categories—social media, mass market appeal sourcing (job boards etc.), research capability and relationship channels.

She said, “You have to invest in all of those areas, but you have to be realistic about markets that you’re sourcing from, because not all of those channels need to be heavily invested in in each and every single market.”

Additionally, it is important to realise that not every role can be upgraded, so HR has to be careful and selective in upgrading talent only where it makes sense to do so.

That’s not to say that remaining in the status quo is necessarily the answer—there definitely exists a need to mobilise people internally. Custerson stated, “You have to move your people around internally at least every two years, if not more. There is no other way to retain your people if you don’t offer those career opportunities. Also, it will help develop and well-round people in order to fill some of the gaps that your organisation may see.”

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HR COMMUNITY

HR COMMUNITY

She said, “I invited the whole team to come over to my house. What this did was get people in a different environment—there were people in the team who didn’t even know if others were married etc.”

The idea here is to get the team members to work on events that are fun, socially responsible and healthy. She shared, “The energy in the team has grown dramatically, and people spend more time with each other—and that transfers to more help for management.”

HR: like trying to herd cats 2014 AmCham Human Capital Conference The AmCham Human Capital Conference (HCC) has made quite a name for itself in the last few years, and its 23rd instalment proved its reputation was well-deserved. The 2014 conference revolved around teams, and how to effectively manage them. More specifically, 'The Power of Many: how to use teams to drive superior performance’.

Bad apples This year’s HCC Chair was Clare Allum, Tax Talent Leader—Asia Pacific, EY, who kicked off the event with a simple, but astute observation, “It only takes one mean person to spoil a team.”

We all work and play in teams; they are an inevitable part of everyday life. Allum argued that they should reflect diversity in culture, gender, generation and different behavioural styles, but that we also have to be aware of bad apples that could potentially ruin a good collaboration.

She elaborated, “Being part of a team, especially a winning team, you want to feel that your opinion is valued and that you are helping drive initiatives. As we all know, different corporations have a variety of ways to run a team effectively, but challenges remain even so.”

There is no ‘I' in team Contrary to the popular saying, there has to be an ‘I’ in team, but finding the perfect amount of I, or self, to put into a team effort is a little tricky. Allum asserted that we have to be aware of how much we let ourselves

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shine through and learn to identify when it is better to bite our tongues.

She stated, “Sometimes, if the team is not moving forward, you need to move things forward —then the ‘I’ has to come out. But sometimes if the ‘I’ comes out too much, you might get fragmentation and cliques developing, in which case you need to redefine roles and mitigate in order to better facilitate the team’s future. We’ve found small teams have worked much better because members feel they are participating more.”

He pointed out the importance of a strong leader to cope with diverse teams, adding, “All those prima donnas need a good conductor to try and surpass the individual ego and make everyone play together as a whole team. If you are intent on hiring the best people for the job, then there’s no need to have a curtain.”

Making leadership teams work The CEO panel shared valuable insights from the frontlines, with senior executives from some of the region’s biggest companies sharing their experience about how leadership can influence the effectiveness of a good team.

Cecelia Zhang, Managing Partner, Greater China Advisory, EY, commented on her organisation’s diversity policy, “We have our own DNA, so you need to respect the diversity within the organisation, but you have to invite the new blood in the organisation as well, so that they can help make the existing DNA stronger by adding in their own ideas. This is something that happens over a period of time, so you have to be very patient during this process.”

Michael MacLeod, CEO, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, spoke about his experience managing some of the most notoriously unmanageable people: opera singers and musicians. “What’s the difference between a prima donna and a terrorist?” he asked the audience. “You can negotiate with a terrorist.”

How do you get teams excited and determined to win?

Sometimes, an unconventional approach can turn out to be far more effective than traditional management tactics, such as the idea put forth by Maaike Steinebach, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Branch, Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

MacLeod agreed that spending time outside of work is a good thing, and pointed to the importance of touring overseas in helping teams perform better, “Going on tour, when you have to share planes, trains, buses, bars—it has a very beneficial impact.

Also if you are playing in one of the great halls in the business, you know you are being compared to other internationally recognised orchestras, which helps raise the bar for team members.”

Zhang mentioned the importance of excitement in a group, especially from the leader, “If you cannot excite yourself, then you won’t be able to excite the team members. So self-motivation is critical to exciting other team members. You need to be a visionary and ‘preach’ this to the rest of the team.”

Measuring teams Facilitated by Stephen Kao, Managing Director, Progress U, ‘Measuring teams’ revolved around the importance, and challenges of measuring a team’s output and effectiveness.

going to measure a HiPo team, you need to measure performance. So we look at what drives the team—the enabler’s ACT model. Alignment within the team: how they collaborate, Clarity: sharing info and common understanding, and Trust: creating a zone of psychological safety.”

Trey Davis, Director, Executive Compensation, Towers Watson referred to companies’ tendency to use money as both a measurement tool and reward system. He pointed out, “Organisations most frequently want to measure output in terms of profits. You pay on the results you measure. You can use results to inform the team what they’re doing well and what they can improve on to help improve on total shareholder return and total corporate performance. The purpose of pay for performance is not only to help drive performance, but also to help managers focus on areas of future enhancement.”

Rather than laying emphasis on what to measure, it can be said that what’s done with the data is far more important. Mary Keighton, Vice-President, Human Resources, PVH explained, “What a leader actually does with data obtained matters much more than what you actually measure. How do you work with a leader who doesn’t have that mindset of how to use KPIs to help get them to that level?”

She added that the importance of leadership should not be overlooked, “It should be a leader-driven—not a HR-driven—process. The leaders should be telling HR which direction they should be going in.”

Like trying to herd cats Managing diversity in teams is something that most of us will have encountered as one of the major challenges in modern HR. Getting individuals from very different backgrounds and lifestyles into one room or company can be incredibly rewarding, but it definitely comes with a set of challenges.

Elisabeth George, Professor of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, is very familiar with these issues. She observed, “It’s like herding cats.

We need to turn the reward scheme on its head. We could be using diversity in a better way —we should try to turn this into an advantage.”

And much like training cats, managing diverse individuals can feel like an impossible task. Instead of focusing on bridging the gap between backgrounds, she argued, we should be looking to get as much as we can from different inputs, and how to stimulate new ideas from all directions.

Moreover, she identified three key aspects of being a good team member: ability, motivation, and coordination.

At the end of the day, after the speakers had had their say and all was said and done, the 23rd AmCham HCC turned out to be an enlightening experience for all involved.

Old notions were shattered, and new ideas presented in talks that were often funny, interesting and most importantly, great advice for any HR professional.

He said, “You cannot improve upon something that you cannot measure. But what are the key KPIs that you would measure as enablers to achieve HiPo teams and how do you measure the performance of a team?”

The challenge is more about managing teams than individuals, according to Mitya New, Managing Director, Leading Organisations. She argued that teams are not simply a collection of all the individuals that make up the team, yet we still use individual performance systems and appraisal. She commented, “Many feel uncomfortable measuring team performance, because some may work hard and others may be freeloading. But if you’re

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HR COMMUNITY

COL opens up new frontier of HR role HR Pro wins Excellent HR Information System Provider Award The web-based employee self-service portal and mobile app also encourage collaboration among different levels of staff. They provide an interactive platform to carry out leave applications, pay slip distribution, claims, performance reviews and training management, as well as to build up a community where information is shared.

Reshaping the future of HR

Ruby Ng, Head of Sales Operations, Professional Services of COL (left) and Edmond Tang, Head of Service Operation, Professional Services of COL (right) received the acclaimed ‘Excellent HR Information System Provider Award’ on stage at the HR Excellence Awards presentation ceremony.

The landscape for the HR profession is rapidly evolving, requiring practitioners to demonstrate their contribution to high-level corporate goals, not just operational output.

While HR is becoming more aligned to the key strategic drivers of business performance, COL Limited (COL), the IT services subsidiary of Wharf T&T Limited, has been carrying out several reforms in talent management to cope with the challenges.

COL received the ‘Excellent HR Information System Provider Award’ at the HR Excellence Awards 2014, organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management.

COL embarked on the winning project with the successful implementation of COL’s flagship HR Information System (HRIS), HR Pro, at 11 subsidiaries of Shun Hing Group with 1,800 staff, illustrating the outstanding performance of the team at COL in project execution, business achievement and innovation.

New HR paradigm achieved with improved productivity & collaboration The results were impressive: formerly different HR policies across the subsidiaries were standardised in just eight months, allowing management to stay informed and make intelligent, fair judgments at group level. Ruby Ng,

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Head of Sales Operations in Professional Services commented, “With our HRIS, the HR team is released from routine work and can devote more time to strategic talent management planning. By aligning different HR processes among the 11 operating companies in various businesses on one single system, HR Pro standardises HR practices and provides management with abundant, integrated data to make better and more accurate decisions.”

All-inclusive design frees HR to strategise HR Pro is a full-featured HRIS with scalable infrastructure, encompassing strong functionality such as talent administration management, employee self-service portal via website browser and mobile app, advanced workforce planning and managerial strategic analysis.

Ng continued, “We designed the system with real HR practitioners in mind. From the uncluttered and self-explanatory user interface, to the various functions that talk to the real needs of our clients, everything is designed to make a real impact on our clients’ work and business. The role of HR has changed from merely handling paperwork to being a strategic adviser to the CEO of a company. They are expected to be able to inform the management of the overall staff profile, and formulate a HR strategy in line with the company’s business goals.”

For years, HR managers have tried to play a more strategic role in corporate operations but have been occupied with administrative and compliance work. With HR Pro streamlining much of the tedious processes, the HR team is now free to focus on issues of strategic importance to the company. COL takes pride in being the first to receive the ‘Excellent HR Information System Provider Award’ and will continue to open up new frontiers of the HR role to meet business challenges ahead.

The award is a testament of how COL is developed as a longtrusted partner with the ever-advancing HR System, growing hand in hand with your organisation to achieve company goals Ruby Ng, Head of Sales Operations, Professional Services, COL Limited

HR BOOK REVIEW

HR BOOK REVIEW

Women on Board­

The Naked CEO

By Nancy Calderon and Susan Stautberg

By Alex Malley

Many women executives who are seeking to get onto a public or private company board are going about it in the wrong way, according to authors Nancy Calderon and Susan Stautberg. “Pursuing a board position is not the same as looking for a job. Interviewing for a job requires you to demonstrate your leadership skills, while interviewing for a director’s position requires you to demonstrate how well you’d fit into the board’s culture.”

The Naked CEO is Alex Malley’s take on how to build a successful life and career. In a genre that generally suffers from a classic case of not being able to see the forest for the trees, The Naked CEO is a breath of fresh air. Unlike its peers, Malley’s take on a life well lived is far from purely theoretical. The Naked CEO is practical, often funny and constantly useful for those who are starting out in a new career.

Calderon and Stautberg carried out a global fact-finding mission, interviewing dozens of chairmen, CEOs, search executives, succession experts and other directors to find the unwritten rules about how things get done. Stautberg, CEO and co-founder of WomenCorporateDirectors, commented, “We’re opening the ‘black box’ of the director selection process and also revealing what it takes to be a high-performance director today—a job that is tougher than ever before,”

Reading about Malley’s journey from a suspended schoolboy to one of Australia’s top CEOs and influencers is inspiring. His incredible array of positions and careers shows us what can truly be accomplished with the right mindset. Malley hit the nail on the head when he said, “I wrote The Naked CEO because I believe by sharing my own real-life stories, the good and the bad, young people will understand that we all make mistakes, so what's most important is finding the courage to try again and never give up.”

Insider secrets to getting on a board and succeeding as a director

The truth you need to build a big life

“There are many unspoken rules about how a board really gets things done,” says Calderon, a Global Lead Partner at KPMG LLP and board member of KPMG’s Global Delivery Center Ltd in India. “But we are also seeing women helping to drive change in the boardroom and adding extraordinary value with their candid and open discussion about the strategic direction of their companies.”

Women on Board tackles today’s most pressing questions for women pursuing board seats and how to be effective in the role of director. Topics include do’s and don’ts for the board nominating committee interview, building a ‘board-able’ résumé and taking the right jobs to position oneself in the best way, ‘rules’ for getting things done on a board both inside and outside meetings, special tips for serving on the board of a family business, developing one’s CQ—‘cultural quotient’—as an essential skill for board service around the world and how advisory boards can bridge key skills gaps on a board.

Hold on HR: engaging & retaining key talents The Best Place To Work

16 April 2015 | 8.30am-4.40pm | Cliftons, Hutchison House, Central, HK

The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace

By Ron Friedman Over the past few decades, advances in behavioural science have produced eye-opening insights into the conditions that help us work more effectively. In The Best Place To Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace, award-winning social psychologist Ron Friedman, PhD, offers a captivating journey through the latest science of workplace excellence, turning thousands of academic studies into practical tips that anyone can use to elevate their performance and transform their workplace.

Register today: hrmagazine.com.hk or call us on (852) 2736 6339

Combining powerful stories with cutting-edge findings, Friedman shows leaders at every level how they can apply scientifically-proven techniques to promote smarter thinking, greater innovation, and stronger performance. He outlines what we can learn from video game design, casinos and even a symphony orchestra, providing readers with applicable scenarios, everyday examples and a plethora of scientific study to help drive performance, effectiveness and motivation. The Best Place To Work brings together decades of research and presents a smart, provocative, and practical guide for elevating your workplace—no matter what you do.

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR Classifieds Index Business Process Outsourcing Education / Corporate Training Employee Wellbeing / Insurance HR Consulting HR Technology Solutions Leadership Development Legal / Employment Law / Tax

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HKU SPACE is a leading local provider in the field of lifelong education.

The School has provided a wide range of executive programmes to meet the growing lifelong learning demands for managers and business executives.

The School also provides tailored in-house corporate training programmes in finance or business related disciplines for global corporations.

Tel: (852) 2867 8467 edseries@hkuspace.hku.hk www.hkuspace.hku.hk

Management Consulting | 61 MICE Venues / Event Organisers | 61 – 62 Pest Control / Environmental Services | 62 Recruitment / Executive Search | 62 Relocation / Logistics | 63 Service Apartments / Hotels | 63 - 64 Staff Benefits | 64 Talent Management | 64

The Vocational Language Programme Office aims at offering quality vocational English, Chinese and Putonghua training for working adults to meet their language needs at work. We have run various courses for public organisations and private corporations before, such as HKSAR Water Supplies Department, Hospital Authority and Pizza Hut Hong Kong Management Limited.

With the support from the Language Fund, the QF-recognised Vocational English Enhancement Programme is on offer for enhancing the practical English skills of the Hong Kong workforce. Individual corporations can enjoy great flexibility by having the VEEP courses operated at their training venues and preferred schedule. On completion of the course, learners can receive 60% of the course fee reimbursement and obtain certificates issued by the Vocational Training Council and LCCI.

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING Established in 1968, Boardroom has been listed on the Main Board of The Singapore Exchange since 2000. We are one of the leading business solution providers in Asia, specialising in Accounting & Finance, Corporate Secretarial, Payroll Administration, Share Registry and Tax Services.

We currently have direct office presence in 13 cities across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Australia, serving a portfolio of over 5,500 publicly listed and privately owned companies across Asia Pacific and beyond. Our clients span a wide range of industries, including listed companies, Fortune 500 companies and major multinational corporations.

KCS, a leading independent corporate services company, has joined TMF Group - one of the world’s leading providers of high-value business services to organisations operating and investing globally.

KCS clients now have access to a network of over 5,000 qualified professionals in more than 120 offices spanning EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas offering them the opportunity to significantly extend their global footprint.

Like KCS, TMF Group specialises in corporate accounting, corporate secretarial, payroll solutions, trust and wealth advisory services – as well as other specialised financial and administrative services that assist clients to optimally and efficiently operate their business in different geographical locations.

Tricor is a member of The Bank of East Asia Group. Tricor Business Services offers efficient, effective and professional advisory and outsourced support services to our clients. We deliver seamless solutions to address issues Business Advisory; Accounting & Financial Reporting; Treasury & Payment Administration; Human Resources & Payroll Administration; Tax Services; Trade Services; Trust Assets Administration; Fund Administration; and Information Technology Solutions to ensure the adoption of best practices in your business.

31/F, 148 Electric Road, North Point, Hong Kong

Tailor-made business training, testing and benchmarking solutions throughout Hong Kong, Macau and China. Corporate and individual programmes.

Excel’s renowned courses are tailored to the job nature, level and needs of the students. Our targeted, interactive approach in facilitation has allowed us to build an unrivalled reputation in the corporate training field. Clients include: the Airport Authority, American Express, Bausch and Lomb, Credit Agricole, KCRC, the Hong Kong Government, Swire Travel and United Airlines.

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Tel: (852) 2595 8119 vlpo-veep@vtc.edu.hk www.vtc.edu.hk/vlpo

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING / INSURANCE

Tel: (852) 2598 5234 Fax: (852) 2598 7500 marketing.hk@boardroomlimited.com www.boardroomlimited.com KCS Hong Kong Limited 8th Floor, Gloucester Tower, The Landmark, 15 Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3589 8899 Fax: (852) 3589 8555 info.apac@tmf-group.com www.tmf-group.com

Tricor Services Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2980 1888 Fax: (852) 2861 0285 info@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

TOTAL LOYALTY COMPANY

Pacific Prime Insurance Brokers is a leading international health insurance brokerage specialising in providing comprehensive coverage options to individuals, families, and companies throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Working with over 120,000 clients in 150 countries, Pacific Prime can deliver advice in more than 15 major languages. With offices strategically located in Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong, Pacific Prime is able to provide immediate advice and assistance to policyholders located around the world. Pacific Prime works with over 60 of the world’s leading health insurance providers, giving customers unprecedented access to the best medical insurance products currently on the market.

Pacific Prime Insurance Brokers Ltd. Unit 1 - 11, 35/F, One Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong

With a mission of providing and promoting primary and preventive eyecare to the public, PolyVision offers a pioneering eye healthcare plan fitting different staff benefit schemes, and provides eye care seminars and packages to help monitor and maintain the eye health of staff through companies.

PolyVision Eyecare Centres Room 4406 - 4410, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queens Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Their eye examination is one of the most comprehensive in Hong Kong. It covers: Case History, Vision & Refractive Status, Binocular Vision, Color Vision Screening, Intra-ocular Pressure, Ocular Health, Fundus Photography, Diagnosis & Treatment.

Tel: (852) 3589 0531 Fax: (852) 2861 0123 info@polyvision.com.hk www.polyvision.com.hk

Total Loyalty Company is a leading provider of staff engagement and corporate wellbeing programs. We help clients develop year round solutions for their staff based on our specially designed solutions including staff events, staff discounts, lifestyle services, onsite marketplace and online shopping; all delivered through a customised web portal and mobile app. We are a one-stop shop to help companies have highly useful staff engagement solutions without wasting valuable internal resources to run these programs, all for a simple low monthly management fee.

Total Loyalty Company Suite 2202, 22/F, The L.Plaza 367-375 Queens Road Central Hong Kong

We help make your staff happier, healthier and more content with their workplace, bringing improved productivity for your company.

All Voice Talent is Asia’s premier voice coaching and voiceover organization supplying voice coaches to Bloomberg, Standard Chartered, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Weber Shandwick, amongst others.

Vocational Language Programme Office, Vocational Training Council Room 437, 4/F, Academic Block, 30 Shing Tai Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong

Boardroom Corporate Services (HK) Limited

EDUCATION / CORPORATE TRAINING

Are you confident with your voice in the workplace? Do you know how others actually hear you? Your voice defines you professionally. It is critical to all business communications and the foundation of executive presence. Our executive voice coaching modules and clinics coach key talent in practical techniques to harness the power of their voice. Using recording studio technology to reinforce learning, our programmes give executives vital tools to speak with confidence and authority.

HKU SPACE College of Business and Finance 34/F United Centre, 95 Queensway, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2586 0731 Fax: (852) 2915 7770 info@pacificprime.com marketing@pacificprime.com www.pacificprime.com

Contact person: Sam Lau Tel: (852) 5131 6338 Sam@totalloyalty.hk www.totalloyalty.hk

All Voice Talent 18/F, Wheelock House, 20 Pedder Street Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2517 0866 Fax: (852) 2911 4732 info@allvoicetalent.com www.allvoicetalent.com

Excel Education Limited Unit 101, Fourseas Building, 208 - 212 Nathan Road, Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2736 6339 Fax: (852) 2736 6369 info@excelhk.com www.excelhk.com

HR CONSULTING

Based in Hong Kong and with overseas partners, we operate internationally.

HRA provide human resource consultancy & recruitment support to construction, engineering, manufacturing and the oil & gas sectors.

Our human resource consultancy services encompass the full range of HR functions including training, HR audits and outsourced HR support.

HRA Associates (HK) Limited 701, 7/F, Tower 2, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2735 9961 Fax: (852) 2735 9967 group@hrahk.com www.hrahk.com

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

LEGAL / EMPLOYMENT LAW / TAX

COL, an IT services subsidiary of Wharf T&T, is a leading IT services company in Hong Kong with over 40 years of experiences. COL offers a full range of IT infrastructure, application development and implementation services including Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

COL Limited Unit 825 - 876, 8/F, KITEC, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong

With domain expertise in business applications, we deliver the best practice Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions ranging from full-featured HRMS, web-based employee self-service portal to outsourcing services for MNCs, enterprises and SMEs. ‘Doc:brary’ Document Management System is another key application in our HCM product portfolio to securely manage HR related documents including employees P-file, appraisal records, training materials, etc.

Tel: (852) 2118 3999 Fax: (852) 2112 0121 colmarketing@col.com.hk www.col.com.hk

COL is a Cisco Gold partner, an EMC Velocity Partner, a Juniper Networks Elite Partner, a Microsoft Certified Partner, an Oracle Gold Partner, a VMware Partner and CMMI Level 3 assessed.

FlexSystem is a recognised leader in enterprise management software industry in the Greater China region. Over the past 27 years, FlexSystem has been delivering high quality application software and services to maximise the client’s operational efficiency in the accounting, order processing, payroll and human resources, manufacturing, workflow and business management.

FlexSystem Limited Block A, 4/F., Eastern Sea Industrial Building, 29-39 Kwai Cheong Road, Kwai Chung, N.T, H.K

With its strong global network of regional offices and partners, FlexSystem serves thousands of customers in more than 36 countries, half of them are listed on 30 global stock exchanges, and 1 in 10 with presence on the Forbes 2000 list. Now and future, FlexSystem continues to keen on technology development and create a complete platform of new generation enterprise resources management solutions.

Tel: (852) 3529 4123 Fax: (852) 3007 1424 infodl@flexsystem.com www.flex.hk

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) is a top-ranked, global provider of executive education that unlocks individual and organisational potential through its exclusive focus on leadership development and research. Ranked among the world’s top providers of executive education by BusinessWeek and No. 3 in the 2010 Financial Times executive education survey, CCL serves corporate, government and non-governmental clients through an array of programmes, products and other services. CCL-APAC’s headquarters are based in Singapore.

Other global locations include Brussels, Moscow and three campuses in the United States.

CCL® 89 Science Park Drive #03-07/08, The Rutherford Lobby B, Singapore 118261

With 98 years of experience, Dale Carnegie® Training is a world leader in performance-based training. With offices over 80 countries worldwide and courses in 27 languages, we produce measurable business result by improving the performance of employees with emphasis on:

Dale Carnegie® Training Suite 1701, 17/F East Exchange Tower, 38 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

• Team member engagement • Sales effectiveness • Process improvement • Leadership development • Presentation effectiveness • Customer services

Tel: (852) 2845 0218 Fax: (852) 2583 9629 info@dale-carnegie.com.hk www.dale-carnegie.com.hk

Calling all HR managers & directors: • Are you looking for structured programmes to develop your staff?

• Sponsor or part sponsor your staff to achieve MBA, Masters, Bachelor, Diploma or Certificate courses • The spend is value for money • The return is measurable & tangible • Choose from 31 courses from nine UK Universities (Bradford, Sunderland, Wales, Birmingham etc.)

• 16 years in HK *All courses are registered

Excel Global Company Information Level 8, Two Exchange Square, 2 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong

WTS is a tax and business consulting firm providing assistance in the strategic planning and management process of intercompany assignments’ cost and compliance.

wts consulting (Hong Kong) Limited Unit 1004, 10/F, Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong

Our Global Expatriate Service specialists advise on expatriate issues relating to corporate tax, personal tax, social security matters and process consulting across Asia. Our expertise therefore enables us to identify assignment related risks at an early stage and optimise tax and social security payments for companies and their employees while keeping the administrative burden to a minimum.

In conjuction with our international network, we can assist you in almost 100 locations worldwide.

Tel: (65) 6854 6000 Fax: (65) 6854 6001 cclasia@ccl.org www.ccl.org/apac

RDI Management Learning Ltd. 7th Floor, South China Building, 1 - 3 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2992 0133 Fax: (852) 2992 0918 info@rdihongkong.com www.rdihongkong.com

Tel: (852) 2846 1888 Fax: (852) 2297 2289 info@excelglobal.com www.excelglobal.com

Tel: (852) 2528 1229 Fax: (852) 2541 1411 claus.schuermann@wts.com.hk www.wts.com.hk

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING atrain is a premium consultancy in leadership assessment, talent management and organisation development. Headquartered in Germany, we have offices in Europe, United States, South America and Asia.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Over 425 corporations of Fortune 500 continue choosing us to be their partner.

Excel Global Consulting is a leading business consultancy specialising in the enhancement of business performance through a unique approach to people management. Our goal is to deliver you the knowledge and resources to improve business productivity by creating better employee engagement within your organisation using customised human capital management solutions. With our support you’ll gain a committed, more innovative and highly motivated workforce primed to lead your business towards greater efficiency and productivity. With Excel Global your employees will gain greater job satisfaction in a solution-oriented work environment where engagement is productive, innovative and geared to better business performance.

90% of our consultants are business psychologists; we bring together the best of business strategies and the psychological approach to develop solutions tailor-made to your requirements. We explore and research on innovative concepts, and help you to cultivate the company culture you envisage.

atrain Limited Unit 1201-3, 135 Bonham Strand Trade Centre, 135 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan Tel: (852) 2522 9018 info@atrain-apac.com www.atrain-apac.com

Our international presence and culturally diverse teams enable partnerships with multi-national corporate clients for their business growth and success.

Put us to the challenge—you will not be disappointed.

The Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA) was established in 1960. The HKMA is a non-profit making organization which aims at advancing management excellence in Hong Kong and the Region . With a commitment to nurturing human capital through management education and training at all levels, the HKMA offers over 2,000 training and education programmes covering a wide range of management disciplines for more than 50,000 executives every year.

Hong Kong Management Association 14th Floor, Fairmont House, 8 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, Hong Kong

Tricor Consulting Ltd. is a member of Tricor Group & BEA Group. Our services include human resources advisory on policies, practices, reward, PMS and human capital (maximise talent investment through assessments, development centres, training and development); Strategic Management (perform strategic analysis, formulate strategies and execution management); Organisation Structuring (design structure to align with business directions); Change Management (build commitment and overcome resistance for organisation change); IT Consulting and HRIS (maximise IT investment to create business value); Business Process (reengineer and manage business processes to achieve business results) and Business Turnaround (reduce costs and enhance revenues through an integrated approach).

Tricor Consulting Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2526 6516 / 2774 8500 Fax: (852) 2365 1000 hkma@hkma.org.hk www.hkma.org.hk

Tel: (852) 2980 1308 Fax: (852) 2262 7896 john.kf.ng@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

MICE VENUES / EVENT ORGANISERS alphaeight specialises in behavioural-science research and people development.

We utilise research to create individual and team development solutions— focused on business objectives—for leaders, managers and frontline workers.

It’s all about research and evidence: solutions, built upon scientifically proven research on how the human mind works, are practical and easy to adopt and utilise exclusive tools and techniques developed by our research institute. It’s all about you: solutions tailored to your people’s specific needs and your business objectives—give you the results you want. It’s all about impact: measure changes before, during and after development.

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the alphaeight institute 1906, 19/F, Miramar Tower, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong Mrs Stephanie Herd Tel: (852) 2302 0283 Fax: (852) 2302 0006 stephanie.herd@alphaeight.com www.alphaeight.com

AsiaWorld-Expo is Hong Kong’s leading exhibitions, conventions, concerts and events venue, yet it is also an ideal venue for annual dinners, world-class conferences, cocktail receptions, media luncheons and sumptuous banquets.

With Hong Kong’s largest indoor convention and hospitality hall, AsiaWorldSummit which seats up to 5,000 persons, together with a full range of meeting and conference facilities, award-winning chefs and attentive hospitality staff, AsiaWorld-Expo is definitely your choice for an unforgettable event.

AsiaWorld-Expo Management Limited AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, Hong Kong, China Tel: (852) 3606 8888 Fax: (852) 3606 8889 fnb@asiaworld-expo.com www.asiaworld-expo.com

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR CLASSIFIEDS Cliftons provides premium, purpose-built, training and event facilities and solutions, ensuring our clients’ programmes are delivered seamlessly and successfully around the globe. Over the past 14 years, Cliftons has grown to provide clients with the largest network of dedicated computer and seminar training facilities across the Asia-Pacific region. Encompassing over 150 state-ofthe-art training and meeting rooms within 10 CBD locations in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, this footprint of proprietary venues is supplemented by a global affiliates network that allows clients to manage all of their training needs around the world with a single point of contact.

Cliftons Training Facility Level 5, Hutchison House, 10 Harcourt Road, Central, HK Tel: (852) 2159 9999 enquiries@cliftons.com www.cliftons.com

PEST AND CONTROL / ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES BioCycle is the first pest management company in Hong Kong to have acquired both the ISO 14001 and the ISO 9001 System Certifications. BioCycle was set up in 1991 to provide safe and environmentally friendly Pest Control, Termite Consulting, Sentricon Colony Elimination System for termite colony and Sanitation Services, and operates under European management.

BioCycle (Hong Kong) Limited Unit A G/F & 11/F, Lok Kui Industrial Building, 6-8 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

We are the exclusive user of our group’s insecticide, BioKill, which has been approved by the AFCD of HK Government not to carry the poison label.

Tel: (852) 3575 2575 Fax: (852) 3575 2570 info@biocycle.com.hk www.biocycle.com.hk

Only the professional carpet cleaning and pest-control services of Truly Care, Hong Kong’s specialists in occupational, industrial, environmental and domestic hygiene can give you a clean, safe and bug-free office and home. Don’t put your staff’s health at risk! For a free, no-obligation, inspection and quotation, please call us now on 2458 8378

Truly Care (HK) Ltd. Room 1522, Nan Fung Centre, 264 - 298 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, N.T., Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2458 8378 Fax: (852) 2458 8487 info@trulycare.com.hk www.trulycare.com.hk

Adecco, in possession of a team of experts conversant with various industry sectors and well-equipped with the know-how on matching talents with general and skilled workforces in relevant industry sectors, has been one of the leading forces bringing about the necessary changes in Hong Kong for over 28 years. You may rest assured that you will be provided with flexible and tailor-made solutions in contract, temporary and outsourcing assignments in our efficient and responsive recruitment process. We have built trusting and lasting relationships with talents through successful and fruitful placements, e-learning and career development, who in turn can fully meet our clients’ expectation.

Adecco Personnel Limited 12/F, Fortis Tower, 77-79 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Argyll Scott delivers first-class recruitment results for our clients, our candidates and our people by being true specialists and building exclusive relationships. From offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Dubai, we source the very best talent for management positions across key business functions and sectors including; Accountancy & Finance, Business Transformation, Construction & Property, Financial Services, Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Strategy and Information Technology.

Argyll Scott 8th Floor, HK Diamond Exchange Building, 8-10 Duddell Street, Central, Hong Kong

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Tel: (852) 2895 2616 Fax: 2895 3571 hongkong@adecco.com http://adecco.com.hk/

Tel: (852) 3695 5180 hk@argyllscott.com www.argyllscott.hk

Established in 1996, Frazer Jones is a Human Resources Recruitment Consultancy. Contact us to find out how we can assist you in your next Human Resources hire or if you are looking for a change in your HR career in 2015.

As part of The SR Group, Frazer Jones has wholly owned offices in Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Dubai, London, Düsseldorf and Munich and have access to the best HR talent around the world.

Frazer Jones 1918 Hutchison House, 10 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong

Tricor Executive Resources, the former search and selection practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, has over the last 25 years built an unrivalled reputation for integrity and professionalism. Through focused research and intense sourcing, we recruit management and top-level executives for positions in Hong Kong, mainland China and the region.

Tricor Executive Resources Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong

We also offer related HR services such as Human Resources Consulting; Soft Skills Training and Development; Customised Compensation and Benefits Benchmarking; HR Policy and Employee Handbook Development; Organisation Design and Manpower Planning; Employee Engagement Survey; Performance Management Systems.

Asian Tigers, has provided international relocation and moving service to the Hong Kong market for more than 40 years. We move people internationally, regionally, and even within Hong Kong itself. Our experienced, multilingual staff enables Asian Tigers to deliver low-stress relocation services. Perhaps you are responsible for coordinating your office move and would like to know more about ‘low down-time’ office relocations. Whatever your needs, wherever you are headed, Asian Tigers can help facilitate and streamline your relocation. Give us a call and find out how we can assist you.

Asian Tigers Mobility 17/F, 3 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Crown Relocations, a worldwide leader of global mobility, domestic and international transportation of household goods, and departure and destination services, has over 180 offices in more than 50 countries. From preview trip and immigration assistance to home and school searches, orientation tours, intercultural training, partner career programme, and ongoing assignment support, Crown offers the best relocation solutions to corporate clients and transferees across the world.

Crown Relocations 9 - 11Yuen On Street, Siu Lek Yuen, Sha Tin, New Territories

Thinking Relocation? Think Santa Fe. Santa Fe is a leading Relocation Services Company, providing a comprehensive range of the highest quality services to individual and corporate clients, including: immigration/visa, home/school search, language/cultural training, tenancy management/expense management and local, office, domestic and International moving services. Established in Hong Kong in 1980, Santa Fe has continuously expanded operations throughout the world. Today, Santa Fe Relocation Services is part of the Santa Fe Group and offers a single-source solution for organisations looking to transfer their employees globally. The Santa Fe Group currently operates in 52 countries with 122 offices worldwide.

Santa Fe Relocation Services 18/F, CC Wu Building, 302 - 08 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2528 1384 Fax: (852) 2529 7443 info@asiantigers-hongkong.com www.asiantigers-mobility.com

Tel: (852) 2636 8388 hongkong@crownrelo.com www.crownrelo.com

Tel: (852) 2574 6204 Fax: (852) 25751907 sales@santaferelo.com www.santaferelo.com.hk

SERVICED APARTMENTS / HOTELS

RECRUITMENT / EXECUTIVE SEARCH

More than 90% of our clients choose to work with us again. Why? Because they trust us. They know we will deliver the results they need, time after time.

RELOCATION / LOGISTICS

Tel: (852) 2973 6737 shookliu@frazerjones.com frazerjones.com

Tel: (852) 2980 1166 Fax: (852) 2869 4410 fiona.yung@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

Four Seasons Place, the epitome of luxury and elegance, Four Seasons Place creates a relaxed and homely living environment amidst the surrounding opulence. With 519 serviced suites designed by internationally renowned designers, guests can choose from a range of stylish accommodations from studios and 1/2/3-bedroom suites to penthouses that open up to spectacular views of Victoria Harbour. It also features a rooftop heated pool & jacuzzi, sky lounge, gymnasium, sauna and multi-purpose function room to meet business and recreational needs. Heralding a comfortable, hassle-free living experience, all guests are pampered with personalised hotel services from VIP airport pickup to 24-hour multi-lingual concierge services.

Four Seasons Place 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

GARDENEast is prestigiously located at the heart of Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, boasting 216 luxurious units in 28 storeys.

GARDENEast Serviced Apartments 222, Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Each of our luxurious units is subtly unique. The four room types: studio, studio deluxe, deluxe 1-bedroom, and executive suite, with their sizes ranging from 395 to 672 square feet, are comfortably-appointed with an all-encompassing range of fittings and furnishings. The landscaped gardens offer a relaxing lifestyle, peace and tranquility of green living and a diverse choice of dining and entertainment is right on your doorstep.

Tel: (852) 3196 8228 Fax: (852) 3196 8628 enquiries@fsphk.com www.fsphk.com

Tel: (852) 3973 3388 Fax: (852) 2861 3020 enquiry@gardeneast.com.hk www.gardeneast.com.hk

Conveniently nestled in the East of Hong Kong, Kornhill Apartments is one of the biggest apartment blocks in town, featuring a total of 450 units with a variety of unit configurations designed to suit every need imaginable.

Kornhill Apartments 2 Kornhill Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

Notable for cozy and contemporary décor, as well as superior amenities and services, the complex is located next door to Kornhill Plaza where you can relish a wide array of shops and entertainment choices.

Tel: (852) 2137 8101 Fax: (852) 2568 6256 kornhillapts@hanglung.com www.kornhillapartments.com

The apartments are an excellent choice for corporate clients who cater for visits by expatriate colleagues. Units include studio, one to two-bedroom suites and deluxe three-bedroom suites.

Ovolo, is a Hong Kong hospitality company that provides guests with modern city accommodation with award-winning interiors, focused customer care and all-inclusive service packages. Founded in 2002, the company now own and operate four hotels and two serviced apartment properties in Hong Kong and an international hotel in Melbourne, Australia.

Ovolo Group Limited 3 Artbuthnot Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2165 1000 Fax: (852) 2790 5490 info@ovologroup.com www.ovologroup.com

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

at the ICC megalopolis

The HarbourView Place is part of the Kowloon Station development, located at a key harbour crossing point. Located atop the MTR and Airport Express Link at Kowloon Station. The junction of major rail lines, three minutes to Central, 20 minutes to the Airport, a mere 30 minutes to Shenzhen and 60 minutes to Guangzhou. It is a place for the best view of Hong Kong and Kowloon and is an icon property at Harbour Gateway. Located next to International Commerce Centre, the fourth tallest building in the world, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong and W Hong Kong, guests can enjoy a premium luxury living with the large shopping mall Elements and Hong Kong’s highest indoor observation deck Sky100.

The HarbourView Place 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Computershare Plan Managers is the globe’s leading provider in provision of Employee Share Incentive Plan management services. Our tailored approach ideally places us to meet the demands of administering your employee share plans. As a leader in equity compensation services for more than 35 years, we service over 3,000 plans with nearly 3.5 million employee participants worldwide. We have successfully built a leading position in the Employee Share Plan Management Industry in Hong Kong and China, with a solid local presence and unrivalled investment in technology. Our integrated Share Plan Management offering includes: Employee Communication/Education, Data Management, HK Trustee Services, Regulatory Reporting and a full suite of Brokerage Services.

Computershare Hong Kong Investor Services Limited Hopewell Centre, 46/F, 183 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

As the most comprehensive and strategically focused employee benefits specialist, Mybenefits provides international companies with a one-stop solution to achieving employee benefit objectives and has quickly become the preferred partner of Human Resource professionals in Asia.

Mybenefits 14/F, Grand Millennium Plaza, 181 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong

100% proven track record at helping companies: reduce employee benefit costs, reduce HR workload, increase employee satisfaction.

Contact person: Pauline Williams Tel: (852) 2891 8915 info@welcometoalliance.com www.welcometoalliance.com

Nespresso, the worldwide pioneer and market leader in highest-quality premium portioned coffee, introduces consumers to the world’s finest Grand Cru coffees to be enjoyed in the comfort of their own homes and savoured outside the home, in locations such as gourmet restaurants, upscale hotels, luxury outlets and offices. Nespresso is driven by core competencies that enable it to create highest quality Grand Cru coffees, long lasting consumer relationships, and sustainable business success. Nespresso focuses on its unique trilogy, the unmatched combination of exceptional coffee, smart and stylish coffee machines and personalised customer service. Together, these three elements deliver moments of pure indulgence—the Nespresso Ultimate Coffee Experiences.

Nespresso Division of Nestle Hong Kong Ltd. 7/F, Manhattan Place, 23 Wang Tai Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong

Lumesse provides Talent Solutions to more than 2,300 organisations in over 70 countries enabling them to engage and nurture the best talent in an everchanging and demanding global environment. With our unique and highly adaptable Talent Solutions our customers are well prepared to capitalise on the fast evolution of new technologies and disruptive business conditions, while meeting all business needs locally and globally.

Lumesse Suite 705, 625 King’s Road, North Point, Hong Kong

At Korn Ferry, we design, build, attract and ignite talent. Since our inception, clients have trusted us to help recruit world-class leadership. Today, we are a single source for leadership and talent consulting services to empower businesses and leaders to reach their goals.

Korn Ferry International (H.K.) Limited

Tel: (852) 3718 8000 Fax: (852) 3718 8008 enquiries@harbourviewplace.com www.harbourviewplace.com

STAFF BENEFITS

Tel: (852) 3757 3542 planmanagers@computershare.com.hk www.computershare.com

Tel: 800 905 486 Fax: 800 968 822 club.asia@nespresso.com www.nespresso-pro.com

TALENT MANAGEMENT

Through our vision, research and tools across 80 offices and 3,400 employees, we convert potential into greatness. Our solutions range from executive recruitment and leadership development programs, to enterprise learning, succession planning, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).

Organizations around the world trust Korn Ferry to manage their talent – a responsibility we meet every day with passion, expertise, integrity and results.

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Tel: (852) 2815 3456 Fax: (852) 2890 0399 apac@lumesse.com www.lumesse.com

15/F, St. George’s Building, 2 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2971 2700 Fax: (852) 2810 1632 General inquiry: kornferry.hongkong@kornferry.com Leadership and Talent Consulting: ltc.hongkong@kornferry.com www.kornferry.com