HR Magazine | Winter 2020 + HR Magazine Awards Special Supplement

22 Amazing Workspaces SAP embrace D&I, foster collegiality with Flex-work and upbeat workspaces

28 L&D Darwinism Facilitating rapid adaptation of talent teams to survive and thrive in the new now

45 HR Magazine Awards 2020 33 brilliant HR initiatives, HR Award winners, HR Vendor winners

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Publisher's Note Editorial Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

We are rapidly moving into a very different and exciting

sustainable organisational culture. We tour SAP’s

Paul Arkwright

2021, especially for HR, who have been doing workplace

ultra-swish, teched-out workspace and examine how

yoga both physically and strategically to ensure they

their Flex-work culture has given a breath of fresh

Sub-Editor

have the organisational agility required to continue to

air to help attract and retain the world’s best talent

Elena Vateris

thrive. The HR Magazine Awards 2020 celebrates HR

(page 22). Check out SAP’s and other award-winning

success amid all these challenges. In our special Awards

workspaces in our special Awards Supplement

Staff Writers

Supplement, we share the very best of this year’s HR

(pages 45 – 81).

Grace Mak, Harrison Wou

initiatives and announce the winners. The only HR

Art & Graft Head of Design

Awards in Hong Kong that get voted for by you—our

New primal world of L&D

readers. Check out the 33 HR initiatives and all the

Vicki Knight gives an update on the good, the new, and

winners (page 45).

the scary of L&D now and in the future. We explore how learning needs are evolving to keep up with change, as

Russell Balad

Futureproofing workforces has been an essential

the average half-life of employee skills is now down to

Designer

part of this journey for HR, and our Cover Story

five years (page 26).

Heidi Chan

shares insights and tips to help you futureproof your

Images

organisation, along with insights on how the best of the

HR Clarity

best are excelling at it right now (page 16).

We share much-needed HR clarity from our Livestream’s stellar speaker line-up. Potted HR

Russell Balad, Dinesh Sivakumar,

What’s new?

advice on the best way forward in managing

In the news, Hong Kong looks set for an uptick in

disparate teams, providing virtual support and

hiring, with cautious optimism and micro salary

developing talent at all levels amid the fog of digital

Paul Arkwright

increases (page 4), the great work blender—as physical

and all other disruption (page 34).

Tel: (852) 2736 6318

and virtual work are blended (page 6), why China is

paul@excelmediagroup.org

leading the way in LGBT (page 6) and why biased job

Freepik, Pexels, Unsplash

Editorial Enquiries

Advertising & Sponsorship

Enjoy…

descriptions still blight Fortune 500s (page 9).

Aamir Khan

Workplace of tomorrow, already here

Tel: (852) 2736 6339

Take a deep-dive into new initiatives and projects

aamir@excelmediagroup.org

that have surfaced due to COVID-19 centred around

Love & hugs

supporting employees to build an engaged and

From Paul & the team at HR Magazine

Dinesh Sivakumar Tel: (852) 2736 6339 dinesh@excelmediagroup.org

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1

CONTENTS 2020 Winter HR Community

HR News

34

HR Books

04

Hong Kong News

06

APAC News

HR Clarity— Predictive leadership through

Century Perspective

08

International News

the fog of digital (& all other!) disruption

Flexible Working: How to implement flexibility

10

HR Events

Accelerating global payroll transformations

in the workplace to improve employee and

12

HR Moves

14

HR in Numbers

38

HR Magazine Live

44

business performance

HR Health

Cover Story

41

HR Magazine Awards 2020

Changing the face of employee benefits 45

16

Future-proofing

42

HR Features

Getting HR ready for 2021

HR Magazine Awards 2020 Special Supplement

HR Legal

The new "just in case"

HR Classifieds 87

22

The Gentle Art of Tao Leadership: A 21st

HR Classifieds

Amazing workspace, amazing work teams Embracing diversity & fostering collegiality via SAP’s new Flex-work culture

26

L&D Darwinism

30

Winning on workplace wellness

32

CSR support during COVID-19

42

30

2 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

34

22

45 3

HR NEWS HONG KONG NEWS

Hong Kong News Hong Kong recruitment—brighter future

backgrounds so as to create a more diversified

Better lifescapes

A new three-year large-scale recruitment programme

organisation. For management trainees, there are

For many people, the ongoing COVID-19 situation

by China Resources Group aims, by the end of 2021

positions available in the company’s financial, real

has had an impact on their mental health and

to recruit 1,000 new employees from Hong Kong, and

estate, pharmaceuticals, legal, design and other

psychological well-being. According to a survey

reach their target of 2,000 new Hong Kong employees

sectors, of which local talents are known to excel

by Mind Hong Kong, over 40% reported that

by 2022. The Group is hoping to recruit and invest

in. Some of the other positions are to support

their mental health had worsened during the

more in outstanding Hong Kong talent via this

the company’s future business needs, such as life

pandemic, and half of the respondents reported

recruitment plan.

sciences, semiconductors, innovation technologies

feeling lonely. This further raises HR concerns for

and materials science.

employee welfare.

Group, "The Greater Bay Area provides Hong Kong

Wang added, "China Resources has been deeply

Mental

with a broader platform for development. The newly

rooted in Hong Kong for more than 80 years. Hong

organisations have included organising a series

announced Shenzhen reform measures have opened up

Kong has experienced many challenges in the past,

of initiatives to promote healthy living and

a new area of cooperation between the two cities. Hong

but we overcame them and emerged even stronger.

psychological well-being. Sino Group implemented

Kong should utilise its unique advantages to support

China Resources has confidence in Hong Kong’s

initiatives such as aromatherapy workshops,

growth and create a win-win situation with the larger

growth prospects. We are launching this three-year

‘laughter yoga’ webinars that share tips on relieving

Greater Bay Area. Specifically, there is an opportunity

large-scale recruitment programme, Join Us And

stress and photo sharing sessions for focusing

to work closely with Shenzhen in creating a "dual city

Strive For A Brighter Future, to meet the group’s

on any happy moments during the pandemic to

economy", both cities acting as a double engine to drive

strategies and the needs of the core business units’

encourage the return of long-lost smiles.

the development of the Greater Bay Area."

development, as well as to reserve and nurture more

Wang Xiang-ming, Chairman, China Resources health

projects

implemented

by

outstanding talents for the future. This programme

Committed to creating better lifescapes, the Group

Applicants to this recruitment programme are

also helps to relieve unemployment and fulfil our

structures their services in a way that respects six

expected to come from a wide variety of

corporate social responsibilities." n

areas of focus: Green, Wellness, Design, Innovation, Heritage and Culture, and Community. Subcommittees have been established around the six focus areas and among which, the sub-committee of ‘wellness’ is taking the lead to ensure a healthy working and living environment for colleagues and customers. An integrated green project called ‘Farm Together’, which exemplifies the Green focus area, allows colleagues to enjoy the healing power of farming at six urban farms. Sustainability is integral to business and operations.

Ms Elaine Liu, Associate Director & CHR Officer, Sino Group said, “Employees’ well-being and health are our top priority. Happy staff, means happy customers. If we take good care of our staff, they will be able to take good care of our customers with outstanding service. We hope to drive awareness of mental health and psychological well-being and offer support to our colleagues.’n

4 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

HONG KONG NEWS HR NEWS

0.6% salary increase forecast for Hong Kong

Additionally, real salary increases, which reflect

Workers in Hong Kong experienced a reduction in

increases in employee incomes after inflation is

salary growth in 2020 as an unfavourable economic

taken into consideration, will be relatively low in

situation adversely impacted businesses due to both

Hong Kong in 2021, at 0.6% after taking forecast

the city’s socio-political tensions and the impact of

inflation of 2.4% for 2021 into consideration. Quane

the COVID-19 pandemic. The average rate of salary

added, “Real salaries for Hong Kong residents,

growth for workers in Hong Kong was 2.1% in 2020

forecast to be 0.6% next year, will be amongst the

pulled down by two in five employees getting no rise

lowest in the region. This may hinder the extent to

at all, almost half the 4% rate of increase provided in

which the Hong Kong economy may recover from

2019. However, businesses are hopeful of an economic

the current recession.”

recovery in 2021 and expect salaries to increase by 3.0% on average in 2021 though one in four employees

There is expected to be a major drop in the

will get no salary increase. These figures and research

number

findings were provided by The Annual Salary Trends

implementing salary freezes in 2021. Close to

Report by ECA International.

half of the Hong Kong organisations applied

of

Hong

Kong-based

companies

salary freezes in 2020 amid the pandemic and Lee Quane, Regional Director, ECA International,

the devastating effect it had on the economy.

Asia said, “The expected rebound to 3% in 2021 shows

However, in the face of a possible vaccine being

that employers are cautiously optimistic about the

rolled out, only one-quarter of companies expect

prospects for recovery in 2021. However, the fact that

these freezes to last in 2021—giving hope of

2020 rates remain lower than 2019 reveals that any

better times to businesses and employees based

recovery is likely to be gradual.”

in Hong Kong. n

5

HR NEWS HONG KONG NEWS

APAC News Work blender—virtual meets physical

The report also highlights that businesses that have

China template for LGBT

The ongoing global pandemic has put employee

a digital workplace strategy are consistently more

Asia is the new global battleground for lesbian,

welfare under the microscope, as many businesses

likely to see greater ROI than those that don’t.

gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

have had to embrace remote working in order to

For instance, over half saw increased productivity

The recent study, Pride and Prejudice: The

continue business as usual. Companies had to create

versus only 40% of those without such a strategy.

next chapter of progress, by EIU, captures the

new digital workplaces where remote employees have

In order to achieve these results, businesses need

opinions of 359 full-time employees across seven

the right tools to communicate and collaborate, while

to go beyond a mere work-at-home policy to

economies—China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,

also feeling supported which maintains productivity.

define the purpose and goals of the program, the

Japan, Singapore and Taiwan—via a survey. It

approach the organisation will take, and how they

reveals advances for LGBT inclusion in Asia’s

The new report from Verizon Business, Recreating

will measure success. The use of technology is a key

business community, despite the widespread

Work as a Blend of Virtual and Physical Experiences,

differentiator in this strategy.

conservative groupthink (herd) mentality. Even with progress, 40% of Asian executives continue

examines the impact of the recent rise in remote working and discusses key areas business leaders

The report focuses on three key focus areas for

to report that being openly LGBT would hinder

should focus on as they help their organisation adapt

maximizing digital work strategies in the future:

their careers.

•

to new ways of working moving forward.

Working

smarter:

forced

While companies in the West have played a

Over 80% of the companies surveyed see the digital

widespread use of video and web conferencing.

COVID-19

vocal role in advancing LGBT rights over the

workplace co-existing with the physical workspace

Smart organisations are increasing efficiency

past several years, companies in Asia stand at a

in the future, although 80% are also expecting an

by integrating these with collaboration tools

crossroads. Where just over 60% of respondents

increase in the amount of remote work conducted.

to let employees collaborate remotely in real-

in India believe there has been substantial

This increase means organisations will be able to

time, spend less time in meetings, and turn

or major progress in diversity and inclusion

pick and choose which types of work and which

discussions into assignments.

for LGBT people in their firms, half of the respondents from Indonesia, Hong Kong, and

people will require a physical presence, and where Prioritising simplicity and integration: To

Japan believe little to no progress has been

with virtual work. More than half of business leaders

ensure a cohesive, productive digital work

made. These disparities call for a brighter

reported that the quality of remote work was on par

environment, tools should be easy to use and

spotlight on how Asian companies can foster

with the work conducted in the physical workplace.

integrate seamlessly with other workplace

LGBT acceptance, given the rising concerns

The benefits of remote working are numerous with

productivity and collaboration tools.

around disclosing one’s sexual orientation/

the company can gain efficiency and productivity

•

gender identity in the workplace.

over half of respondents experiencing improved collaboration, seeing a boost in business agility and an increase in productivity.

6 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

•

Keep security top of mind: Potential security gaps exist on employee PCs, devices,

Asia’s two dominant powers, India and China,

home networks, and apps, representing a

have positioned themselves as regional leaders

growing threat with the shift to remote work.

on LGBT acceptance in several areas of the

Enterprise-grade security enables businesses

study. As their geopolitical influence grows,

to identify and protect against fraud, and

their corporate views are becoming more aligned

ensure that private calls and meetings remain

with that of their employees, a young, dynamic

private. Companies should also consider

cohort for whom promoting LGBT rights is

implementing end-user security awareness

a greater priority than for older generation

training, acceptable use policies that mitigate

workers. As China and India move towards

user exposure to threats, and new security

embracing LGBT diversity and inclusion, they

policies for remote working such as two-

begin to shape a trend to be followed by the rest

factor authentication. n

of Asia. n

HONG KONG NEWS HR NEWS

Human capital acrobatics

Companies need to go beyond simply identifying

Workforce agility is key says 84% of companies

the roles that can or cannot work remotely, but

in Singapore according to a survey by Aon. The

many are still unsure of exactly how their working

changing market demands due to COVID-19 are

models need to change. Enhancing remote work

driving organisations to evaluate reskilling their

arrangements will create new types of productivity

workforce. The firm has released the results of a

measurements, especially around collaboration

new global pulse survey focused on how companies

metrics, that are more suited to the agile workforce

are rethinking their human capital strategies in

of the future. This was echoed by 84% of survey

response to the humanitarian and economic impacts

respondents who said that assessing employees for

of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has

adaptability, collaboration and communications

forced companies to evaluate employees beyond their

skills is extremely important in the current

current roles and look closely at employee potential,

business climate.

Office—the grand reopening

capability, and most importantly, adaptability to

Why proper cups of coffee, quality IT, and mask-to-mask

change. Building an agile workforce has emerged as

meetings still matter when it comes to office life.

a top priority for HR and business leaders.

As home working arrangements are becoming

Over 400 HR leaders and professionals in

normalised

less

Singapore were surveyed from 17 August to 25

commuting, with not having to dress to impress

August 2020, the survey was called “Accelerating

and getting to spend more time with their families;

Workforce Agility and Resilience.” 84% of

there are also irreplaceable benefits of working in

respondents said that an agile workforce, defined

an office such as proper coffee in a proper coffee

as quickly assigning new roles to employees to

cup, chatting to colleagues and collaborating on

support changing business needs, is now more

projects, IT that works, comfortable ergonomic

important to the success of their business than

furniture, admin support, and a highly-productive

ever before. However, only 38% currently view

environment that boosts concentration and

their workforces as agile.

and

people

are

enjoying

When work is no longer a place you go, talent

minimises distractions.

Alexander Krasavin, Partner and Regional Commercial

searches must become more inclusive. When

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to businesses and

Head, Human Capital, APAC & MEA, Aon said,

remote work is no longer a benefit but a norm, the

employees re-evaluating what the workplace means

“Creating agile workforces across industries will

talent acquisition process is opening up to a global

to them. A flexible workspace provider across Asia

include data analysis, segmentation of the workforce,

pool of candidates, making the correlation between

Pacific and the Middle East, The Executive Centre

and a sustained period of experimentation, until

remote workforces and diversity clear to HR

(TEC), launches the "Welcome Back to The Office"

the right mix of technology and human capital can

leaders. Attracting and retaining diverse employees

video campaign, where characters find ways to

be achieved…Remote working has highlighted the

ranked third among the top 10 factors needed to

adapt to the new working environment.

massive shift in working models, bringing into sharper

build and maintain an agile workforce, according to

focus the issue of agility. Various sectors are thinking

the survey. In addition, 87% of respondents felt that

The campaign is a take on the work-from-home

about these things differently—some are using data

an inclusive work culture was important, ahead of

phenomenon, and while the characters in the videos

and questioning how to make remote work better.

factors such as identifying employees with digital

are fictional, their triumphs and struggles are drawn

Others, such as technology companies, have taken a

skills, introducing new career paths, or developing

from real experiences of TEC's 1000+ global team.

more bottom-up approach.”

flexible compensation programmes.

Paul Salnikow, Founder and CEO, TEC said,

Efforts to create an inclusive workplace, among

"After an extended period of time working from

many others, are believed to improve workforce

home, we are inspired to explore how the typical

resilience. Chong observed, “The COVID-19

workday has changed and is continuing to

pandemic has raised important questions, such

change… the future of the workplace hinges on

as should businesses widen the scope of social

its relationship with the people who truly make

responsibility by partnering more with the

it work. As the pandemic has accelerated the

government to pay for some of the externalities?

shift to flexible workspaces, we are certain that

Is resilience more important than efficiency?”.

the office, rather than becoming obsolete, will

Addressing these questions will create the right

become an increasingly valuable asset, facilitating

kind of resilient and agile workforce—one that

collaboration and driving business growth." n

makes the future of HR a ‘new better’. n

7

HR NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS

International News Global HR check-up

While stress and “always-on” working levels remain

Demand up in Singapore for inexperienced talent

Checking-in is crucial for supporting people’s well-

consistent throughout the pandemic, the report also

As companies pivot and transform their business

being. According to the latest edition of Cigna’s

shows that family and friends are cited as the strongest

models amid the pandemic, the skills gap has

COVID-19 Global Impact Study, which is tracking

drivers of resilience by more than half of respondents.

widened. In order to secure the right competencies

people’s health and well-being around the world

The initiative aims to encourage employees to

required to drive transformation, two in three

throughout the pandemic, global stress levels remain

continue prioritising emotional health and well-being

employers say they are willing to hire individuals

high with 83% saying that they are stressed. “Always-

by actively reaching out to people they care about.

with micro-credentials or industry certifications

on” working rates have also remained elevated with

to close skills gaps. In addition, majority of

close to eight in 10 checking emails and being constantly

Jason Sadler, President, Cigna International Markets,

them are 'open' or 'very open' and 'somewhat

available after office hours or over the weekends.

said, “This company-wide initiative has demonstrated

open' to hiring candidates with no prior relevant

the importance of the connections we have with our

experience but have undergone industry function

International Markets announced that it reached a

families, friends and colleagues. As we continue to

or industry-related skills training. These are some

milestone of over 3,800 employee check-ins as part

gather data that looks at people’s attitudes towards

of the key findings from NTUC LearningHub's

of a global initiative to bolster mental well-being amid

COVID-19 throughout the year, we must also apply

recently launched survey in The New Normal of

the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

the insights that we have gleaned. This means looking

Sector Skills report.

In tandem with an annual event, a company-wide

at new approaches on how we can better support our

Checking-In initiative was launched to encourage

employees by identifying and mitigating pressures

The Survey, which was conducted with 367

employees to check-in with their colleagues and

that they experience during this period. With friends

business leaders (senior managers or directors

loved ones via video conferencing or in-person.

and family being the pillar of strength for many, we

and above) and 567 full-time employees working

must encourage team members to spend quality

in Singapore, aimed to uncover the latest

Overall, a total of 3,836 people have checked in with

time with their loved ones. As an organisation, we

employment trends and skill sets in-demand as

their colleagues or loved ones with more than eight

have the shared responsibility to equip employees

the workforce settles into the New Normal.

in 10 reaching out to two or more people they care

with means that can minimise their stress levels and

about. Across all markets, 92% felt more connected to

promote their mental well-being. That way, we can all

In general, when asked if their companies had

their colleagues and loved ones following this exercise.

emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient.” n

sufficient talent to meet their business goals, less than half agreed or strongly agreed, while close to three in four employers find it challenging to fill the roles due to shortage of talent with the required skill sets.

Eugene Wong, Chairman, NTUC LHUB, said, "Many industries that were once flourishing have been hit hard by the black swan event that is COVID-19, and many jobs are changing faster before. Some of the most in-demand skills that we see today did not exist a decade ago, and the same pattern will occur—the core skill sets that are essential in the future may not be possessed by employees today. It is crucial to continually scan the horizon to swiftly determine emerging trends, upskill and reskill to gain a firstmover advantage that will provide more opportunities in the future of work.” n

8 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

INTERNATIONAL NEWS HR NEWS

Biased job descriptions in Fortune 500s

worldwide, Nike’s global sports brand ranked as

Diversity and inclusion is a topic within the

the second-worst for its diversity and inclusion

business world that is continuously being

within its job descriptions.

addressed and worked upon. As many studies show, there is little equality within boardrooms,

As of the current situation, at least 14 companies

equal pay and opportunities for minority

within the Fortune 500 are not attracting

communities. New research from job discovery

females for their graduate roles meaning we

platform DirectlyApply has revealed which

are unlikely to see an increase in the number

companies within the Fortune 500 have the

of female CEOs in the future as women are not

most gender-inclusive job descriptions.

receiving an equal opportunity to get their foot on the first rung of the corporate ladder.

Out of all the top 100 Fortune 500 companies, Cigna ranked as having the most gender-

Will Capper, Co-founder, DirectlyApply, said,

inclusive language within its job adverts. The

“There is a clear lack of gender diversity within

company showed

a high level of balance in

CEOs for the top 100 Fortune 500 companies.

unconscious bias that are consistently seen at

its language to attract both female and male

Eight of the 100 CEOs are female, showing

the job description level, it is highly unlikely

candidates looking to apply for jobs. The

a clear need towards a further push for equal

that they will begin to redress the imbalances

American Airlines Group was in second place.

opportunity…It is vital that companies take a

we currently see in the workplace…If we are to

hard look at their job descriptions if they are to

see any change in the number of female CEOs

With an overall score of -6.2, Best Buy ranks

build a more inclusive workforce. We often hear

in the future, we must address the language and

as the worst company for its job descriptions

employers complain about skills shortages and

tone used within job descriptions now to allow

regarding diversity and inclusion. Despite its

a lack of diversity in various roles and positions.

for a maximum opportunity for females to apply

continuous approach to improving equality

However, by not addressing the imbalances and

for entry-level roles across all industries.” n

9

HR NEWS HR EVENTS

HR Events JANUARY

FEBRUARY

12 – 14

10

Employee Experience Masterclass

HR Magazine Awards 2020—Presentation Ceremony

organised by Equip Global

organised by HR Magazine

Venue

Time

2.00pm - 3.00pm (GMT +8)

Website

https://hrmagazine.com.hk/event/hr-magazine-awards-2020/

Tel

HK (852) 2736 6339

Online

Website

https://www.equip-global.com/employee-

Email

enquiry@equip-global.com

experience-masterclass-live-online-2021

26 – 28

Venue

Online

Email

aamir@excelmediagroup.org

15 – 17

Contingent Staffing Virtual Summit & Expo organised by Worldwide Business Research

World HRD Congress—29th Edition organised by World HRD Congress

Time

12.00pm - 04.00pm (GMT -5)

Website

https://contingentstaffing.wbresearch.com/

Tel

SG (65) 6722 9455

Tel

CA 1 (866) 691.7771

Venue

Online

Email

enquiry@equip-global.com

Tel

US 1 (888) 482.6012

Venue

Band Stand, BJ Road, Mount Mary, Bandra West,

Website

https://www.eventbee.com/v/office-expo-asia-

Email

secretariat@worldhrdcongress.com

Tel

28

Taj Lands End, Mumbai

Address

Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050, India oea-2020/event?eid=152287542#/rsvp IN (91) 22 68277770

25

CHRO Exchange: Future of Work organised by HR Exchange Network

Future Workforce Asia Live 2021 organised by HR Exchange Network

Time

12.00pm - 04.00pm (GMT -5)

Website

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/events-chro-

Email

spexchange@iqpc.com

Venue

Tel

Online exchange/ US 1 (813) 658.2545

10 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

Time

10.00am - 1.10pm (UTC+8)

Website

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/events-future-

Email

enquiry@iqpc.com.sg

Venue

Tel

Online workforce-asia-summit/ SG (65) 6722 9388

HR EVENTS HR NEWS

MARCH

APRIL

12

22

HR Magazine Live

2nd HR & Digital Asia Summit Hong Kong

HR Heartbreakers—Avoiding HR heartbreak

Bringing the fragmented workforce together

organised by HR Magazine

organised by CDO Trends

Time

11.00am – 12.30pm (GMT +8)

Time

09:00am - 12:55pm (GMT+8)

Email

aamir@excelmediagroup.org

Website

https://www.cdotrends.com/event/hr-digital-asia-

Email

aamir@excelmediagroup.org

Venue

Online

Tel

HK (852) 2736 6339

Venue

Online summit/2021/hongkong/ HK (852) 2736 6339

23 – 24 HR and Future of Work APAC

27

organised by HR Exchange Network People Analystics & HR Tech Summit | Jakarta April 2021 Venue

Online

Website

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/events-hr-and-

Email

contact@hrexchangenetwork.com

Tel

the-future-of-work-apac/ US 1 (813) 658.2545

30

organised by Cognitive Links Venue

Online

Website

https://www.cognitive-links.com/people-analytics-hr-

Email

info@cognitive-links.asia

tech-jakarta-21

28

HRD National HR Directors Summit organised by Key Media

HRD National HR Summit Philippines organised by Key Media

Venue

Online

Email

maria.miglierina@keymedia.com

Website

https://www.hrdirectorssummit.com/

Tel

PH (61) 2 8437 4717

Time

09:00am - 03:15pm (GMT+8)

Website

https://hrsummit.com.ph/

Tel

PH (61) 2 8437 4717

Venue

Online

Email

maria.miglierina@keymedia.com

11

HR NEWS HR MOVES

HR Moves Wendy Nice Barnes

Alioune Ciss

Amelie Dionne-Charest

CPO

CEO

Chair of CanChamHK

Gitlab

Webb Fontaine

Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

Wendy Nice Barnes was appointed Chief People

Alioune Ciss brings to the role extensive

Amelie Dionne-Charest was recently appointed as

Officer (CPO) the addition will bring extensive

experience from the United Nations Conference

the Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce

experience to the company and will help GitLab

on Trade and Development where he had been

here in HK. Dionne-Charest is also the Co-founder

further its position as a leading DevOps platform.

for the last 10 years. Ciss has held the position

and Managing Director of AD MediLink, a health

of Executive Director of Sales and has been

insurance brokerage firm founded here in Hong

Sid Sijbrandij, co-founder and CEO, GitLab,

instrumental in the company's growth strategy

Kong and a lawyer by training and an entrepreneur

said “Wendy has an impressive history of

and management of world leading Customs

by accident, Charest started her career at the law

mentoring colleagues and growing leaders from

reform digitalisation projects across the globe

firm of Heenan Blaikie practicing with the medical

within organizations.”

with key Governmental partners

litigation group. She then focused on the need for

Barnes joins GitLab with over 20 years of Talent

Ciss said, "I am humbled and excited to be Webb

leadership experience in pre-IPO and Fortune 500

Fontaine's next Chief Executive Officer, working

companies. She served as Chief Human Resources

with some of the best minds in the industry. When

Dionne-Charest said, “While the pandemic and

Officer at Palo Alto Networks, Vice President of

Governments are facing significant challenges

economic crisis have made our work even more

Human Resources at eHealth, and held senior HR

in a time of disruption, we see opportunity in

challenging, there has never been a better time

leadership roles at Netflix and E*TRADE.

global Trade - assisted by our products offering

than today to redefine who we are and what we

real transformation through artificial intelligence.

do as an organisation and reimagine how to be

Barnes said “I am looking forward to joining

Webb Fontaine has made significant investments

relevant and effective. Dionne-Charest will be

such a transparent group of people, leading with

in all technologies and we are ready to unleash

key in building new revenue streams and utilising

the members of the executive team and working

new value for all; Perfectly positioning us to

content strategically for CanCham members.

closely with its DIB (Diversity, Inclusion and

partner with Governments across the world to

Belonging) and remote leaders to further the great

modernise their processes and systems."

people to be better informed in regards to medical

foundation set forth.”

12 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

insurance and healthcare pathways.

HR MOVES HR NEWS

David Guazzarotto

Christian Kaschner

Carolyn Moore

MD

Managing Director

Senior Vice President of People

Leapgen APAC

IntercityHotel GmbH

Auth0

Guazzarotto brings more than 20 years

A change at the helm of IntercityHotel GmbH

Carolyn Moore was made Senior Vice President

of expertise as a thought leader in people

after more than three decades, founding

(SVP) of People at Auth0, with more than three

management, technology and worker experience,

Managing Director Joachim Marusczyk hands

decades of global experience in HR, Moore will be

having worked in both the Australian and global

over the role to Christian Kaschner who will take

integral in furthering rapid growth.

HR Technology markets. He set out his mission by

over the management of IntercityHotel GmbH on

saying, “The rapid acceleration to digital requires a

14 September 2020. Since 2017, Mr. Kaschner has

As SVP of People, Moore will implement a holistic

shift in mindset, and Leapgen’s reimagined advisory

been the Commercial Director and member of the

strategy for global recruiting,HR operations, HR

and coaching approach will bring incredible value to

Management Board of NH Hotel Group Central,

business partnerships, employee experience,

our prospective clients in the region.”

Northern & Eastern Europe, UK & Africa.

culture, and internal communications, to facilitate

Jason Averbook, CEO and Co-Founder, Leapgen

Thomas Willms,CEO,Deutsche Hospitality said,

people and HR-related leadership roles at Fortune

said, “David brings deep relationships and

“Christian Kaschner is an exceptional leadership

500 organisations, including Mercedes-Benz,

expertise along with a long track record of

personality, and we are delighted to have acquired

Apple, and Samsung.

designing an agile model for Human Resources

his services as the new Managing Director of

that helps advance and supports the digital

IntercityHotel GmbH.”

global growth. Previously, Moore held senior

workplace and the Now of Work.”

Eugenio Pace, CEO and co-founder of Auth0 said, “As a company passionately dedicated to our talented people and culture, Carolyn will play a key role in supporting our people and processes as we continue to increase the size of our team and recruit from all corners of the globe … With unmatched knowledge and expertise in talent acquisition and people leadership, Carolyn is an invaluable addition to Auth0."

13

HR NEWS HR IN NUMBERS

HR in Numbers

34% APAC respondents cited concern about

contracting COVID-19, due to lack of tech

or PPE provided by employers, resulting in increased stress levels

Microsoft's Work Trend Index report 2020

78% survey respondents expect the amount of remote work to increase post-pandemic from its pre-pandemic levels

Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Survey, May 2020

14 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

HR IN NUMBERS HR NEWS

85%

66%

4 in 10

organisations in Hong Kong believe

Singaporean adults are learning online

Asian executives continue to report

of the future workplace design

securing a job in a new field

hinder their careers

employee needs will be at the heart

to reskill and boost their chances of

that being openly LGBTQ would

NTT’s Intelligent Workplace Report:

NTUC LearningHub’s How Singaporeans

Pride and Prejudice: The next chapter of

Shaping Employee Experiences for a

Learn Survey report, Oct 2020

progress, EIU

World Transformed

73%

3%

7 in 10

surveyed in Asia said meditation

increase in salaries expected by

respondents in APAC are planning to

could help decrease their workrelated stress

Microsoft's Work Trend Index report 2020

businesses in 2021

Annual Salary Trends Report by ECA International

change how they use ESG with their

executive incentive plans over the next three years

2020 ESG Survey of Board Members and Senior Executives

15

COVER STORY

16 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

COVER STORY

T

his issue celebrates HR success, in the form of 33 HR initiatives that have not only helped organisations weather the HR

storms that precipitated throughout 2020, but that have also helped futureproof organisations to thrive moving into 2021. Check out all the initiatives in our special Awards Supplement on page 45. But first, our cover story examines what futureproofing is really about, how to make it happen and how to leverage it to ensure continued HR success amid the current sea of change. Change in the way people work, change in the way talent thinks, and change in how HR attracts and retains talent in the 'new now'.

COVER STORY

Building robust pipelines: upskilling & reskilling L&D for talent has become an area of significant exploration and innovation. This process is not just about making online delivery and LMS more interactive and engaging, but also about rolling out an effective longer-term strategy to build robust talent pipelines. Organisations globally are scrambling to decode the new complexities, and a few bonuses, that COVID-19 has brought to the workforce and determine what future skills their talent of today and tomorrow will need.

There has been a resurgence in skills adjustments including, renovated soft skills, and the advent of new skills to best equip the future workforce for the day after tomorrow. Vicky Knight, Associate Dean, International Programmes, BPP Education Group noted, "HR is increasingly looking at developing T-shaped skillsets for talent, that aside from the traditional linear building on existing skill sets, also affords them much greater agility to move laterally into new roles, some of which may not yet even exist, in their organisation."

Hiring new talent has not become any easier, and this coupled with tightened payroll budgets has increased the attractiveness of reskilling and up-skilling incumbent talent. Upskilling enhances already existing capabilities, and reskilling helps shift and realign skillsets with current needs and allows HR to prioritise L&D efforts on entirely new skills when required. Much of these efforts have leveraged technology in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine

HR Power Bars

Learning (ML) in systems integrated via the Cloud.

Crucial has been the development of what was once termed soft skills, but in the face of change are increasingly being termed 'essential skills' and 'power skills'. These skills form an HR Power Bar that can give a much-needed boost to talent in times of challenge. Such skills, highest on the talent L&D priority list, include, agility, communication, resiliency and adaptability.

Change is happening in L&D, and it is happening fast. Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek, CMO, Skillsoft noted in The Lean into Learning report, the massive shift in L&D since COVID-19. She highlighted, "As the workforce transitioned to operating remotely, widespread training was needed to help workers build the skills and learn the technologies needed to go virtual. Learning how to collaborate remotely, improve communication and interpersonal skills, and manage stress became paramount, as demonstrated by massive spikes in course completions on these topics which provide insight into organisational needs." The Report highlighted significant growth in: •

developing emotional intelligence (287x)

•

communication via MS Teams (189x)

•

exploring virtual collaboration (62x)

•

encouraging team communication and collaboration (5.5x)

Whether it is acquiring new tech skills or new power skills, neither can be accomplished without creating a productive learning atmosphere to address organisational skills gaps. An on-going process for HR is monitoring change so that L&D can keep pace with each wave of skills requirements as they come up and ensuring talent has sufficient time to acclimate.

18 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

COVER STORY

Agile tech Changing times means changing technology. Not only has HR benefited from improved technology, but also new tech has helped facilitate work under COVID-19 limitations and new security measures to cope with new threats.

The health sector has launched innovative apps to help better manage employees' physical and mental health. Technology has had to become just as flexible as organisations, with a lot of progress in adapting technology for WFH and blended-remote working scenarios. Over 80% of the business leaders surveyed in Harvard Business Review (HBR) 's, Recreating Work as a Blend of Virtual and Physical Experiences, see the digital workplace co-existing with the physical workspace in the future, and that the amount of remote work conducted will increase. Besides, 61% said that the quality of remote work is just as good as the work done in the physical workplace.

WiFi is still the preferred option for most employees to digitally access their workspace, with 63% in the HBR Report stating it as their go-to option (26% using a mix of WiFi and mobile networks). As 5G networks are rolled out, this is likely to swing in favour of mobile connections, 41% of those surveyed expect 5G to become a reality for their organisation within two years, opening the door to applications that employ higher-quality/lower-latency video and AR/VR to help better facilitate in-person synchronous experiences.

Many new administrative tools have also emerged, making organising and time management easier while increasing productivity. Remote training and learning tools have come into their own to help maintain momentum in upskilling talent, even in the absence of on-ground interactions.

Data security has become an even bigger headache for HR, with many employees having to access sensitive information on their personal devices in remote working situations. To protect data and avoid potential litigation and loss of reputation, organisations should deploy enterprise-grade security to protect against fraud and ensure that private calls and meetings remain as such. HR can also help by implementing end-user security awareness training—keeping talent aware of acceptable-use and security policies specific to remote working such as two-factor authentication to mitigate user and organisation-wide exposure to threats.

19

COVER STORY

Evolution of well-being Employee well-being has become the linchpin to organisational success, and this has evolved beyond palliative measures, to much more preventative, and creating a culture of openness, support,

flexibility

and

inclusiveness

that

nurtures sustainable employee well-being.

There has been a significant shift in how employees intend to manage their health; the recent Cigna COVID19 Global Impact Study revealed

that

appetite

for

virtual

health

has proliferated in Hong Kong, with 61% of respondents likely to use virtual health as an option for consultation or diagnosis, compared to 45% in 2019. The second most popular usage is for well-being improvements such as lifestyle coaching, with 49% of respondents said they planned to use this in the future and mental health support (39%). With almost a third of respondents indicating that they have recently changed their approach to managing mental health, organisations are rising to meet this demand in taking greater care of their employees.

Initiatives

range

aromatherapy,

from

meditation

laughter and

yoga, outdoor

activities to creating more productive and inspiring workspaces.

20 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

COVER STORY

Award-winning HR initiatives

Capability+

L&D

With these changes and challenges, maintaining a positive outlook

from

to

and reflecting on goals won is more important than ever. HR Magazine

learning experiences that are

shares success stories where HR has championed award-winning

not

initiatives enhance the agility, wellness and sustainability of their

engaging, but most-importantly

teams amid a period of tremendous change:

future-focussed.

BPP only

programmes help

tailored,

ensure relevant,

Good Office policy at GoodNotes in their new office that features a full Chinese kitchen with three in-house chefs preparing lunch for everyone and uses huge aquariums to separate their different work and

play

spaces—maintaining

an open style, minimising noise between areas and the pets bring relaxation too.

Cooking up a storm, Keep moving, Virtual mindfulness and Pay it Forward are a few of KAS Group's wellness programme that brings a mix of initiatives to help stimulate employees' bodies and minds with a good dose of fun sprinkled throughout too.

Flexible work environment at Hasbro that fosters collaboration, innovation, creativity, productivity and success. The work-play-life policy eliminates the constraints of employees' physical location, time-zone differences, family status and all other challenges that crop up in daily life.

platform

Health and wellness months, bonding activities, work-life coaching, flex days,

increases

staggered hours and staff engagement committees are among a myriad

efficiency, and facilitates better

of flexible-work strategies and extra-curricular activities launched by

candidate experiences, reduces

Société Générale to promote the health and well-being of its employees.

Digital at

Recruitment

Carrefour

that

unconscious bias and improves hiring diversity.

Read more about these and all 33 award-winning HR initiatives in our special Supplement on page 45 of this issue. n

21

HR FEATURES

Amazing workspace, amazing work teams Embracing diversity & fostering collegiality via SAP’s new Flex-work culture SAP is certainly no stranger to helping HR and organisations leverage tech in the workplace, and internally they are indeed walking the talk. One of the Group’s key goals is to nurture further opportunities for innovation and growth among its own talent. Margaret Chen, VP HR, SAP Greater China shares their ground-breaking workspace upgrade in Hong Kong and how this is lifting talent collegiality, creativity and innovation to new heights—cultivating a much more ‘human’ experience for the team.

Leveraging workspace to nurture innovation & creativity HR is, more than ever, all about the people and Chen explained, “Our top priority was the kind of experience we would like to bring to our employees and to ensure the new office fostered a sense of community.” She added, “The agility we’ve built into the multiple zones of the workplace now means that talent can come together to collaborate, brainstorm, talk about projects, have one-on-ones, small and large group meetings, and private time too, all ondemand. This is key to nurturing creativity and innovation across the organisation; the variety of workspaces provide what staff need to be creative and innovative, which is reflected across the entire organisation.” Chen added, “There’s a palpable difference in the office atmosphere now, the new workspace has definitely given everyone more energy, people have more space to walk around and different zones to enjoy.”

There’s a palpable difference in the office atmosphere now, the new workspace has definitely given everyone more energy.

Inclusive work zones accommodate diverse talent A quick tour of the SAP office reveals the wide variety of spaces on offer, a far cry from traditional work desks, the agile work zones have also been themed with a nod towards traditional Hong Kong culture. Giant floor-to-ceiling murals depicting Hong Kong scenes welcome staff and visitors alike as they enter the multiple meeting rooms—named after famous Hong Kong streets.

The largest meeting room, Hennessy, features a colossal cinema-style LED wall—great for being able to see everyone at Town Halls both at the venue and online. And it’s not all work, work, work; the centre of the office features The Bar decorated in Star-Ferry green, where staff can enjoy a tea or coffee—while the char chan teng style floor tiles add the flavour of being in a local tea shop.

Those looking for a medium group gathering can sit in The Bay, which comprises a multi-tiered mini amphitheatre, with scatter cushions for a relaxed chat. For more intimate meetings, talent can sit in one of the restaurant-style 'kaa wai' booths.

22 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

HR FEATURES

23

HR FEATURES

Hennessy / The Courtyard—Town Hall meetings, with state-of-the-art video screen wall

The Lounge—for relaxed tête-à-têtes

High Tables with a view—for those who prefer to stand and work

The Bar—talent can grab a brew, char chan teng style

With such a diversity of talent at SAP, Chen highlighted the need for inclusivity when designing workspaces. She explained, “We have created extremely diverse styles of workspaces, to meet the diverse needs of our team and so staff can choose where they want to work throughout the day. Whether they prefer a high table overlooking stunning vistas of the Happy Valley Racecourse or a private meeting in a cosy booth—we’ve got it covered.

The different zones create intimate work areas for private groups and personal work, as well as open areas more conducive to casual group conversations.” She added, “We have also designed a ‘Wellness Room’ that is entirely private that can be used by nursing mums, for meditation, or simply to allow staff to press the The Bay—a chilled out zone for small-group meetings

24 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

pause button and enjoy a little privacy.”

HR FEATURES

Maximising agility & flexibility

Not only have we reinvented our workspace,

Chen explained, “Flexibility and agility were key when it came to the design, and not only have we reinvented

we’ve also reinvented our entire work and

our workspace, we’ve also reinvented our entire work and talent strategy—centred around flexibility.” This

talent strategy—centred around flexibility.

‘Flex-work’ strategy comprises three core elements; time, location and space: 1.

2.

Flex-time—looks to provide talent flexibility

come into the office. This trend might be a function

may work from home or remotely from anywhere

with their work hours, especially during the

of talent missing face-to-face interaction with each

is also easily facilitated because we have all our

pandemic situation, to allow them to better

other, and also the fact that in Hong Kong, most of

programmes and solutions in the Cloud. This has

social distance and not have to all be in the same

us are not living in huge apartments—so it’s easier

enabled us to continue to work seamlessly, even

space at the same time.

to concentrate on work in the office than at home.”

during the pandemic.” She added, “With everything

Flex-location—allows talent to work at home,

in the Cloud everyone can complete their daily

come into the office, or a hybrid of the two.

Leveraging technology

work as well as larger-scale annual exercises and

Flex-workspace—provides flexibility as to

The new workspace has been designed around

‘SAP talks’—our performance conversations with

how talent use and interact with the different

technology, rather than merely adding it in as an

each staff member. With fewer client visits and

workspaces and engage with all the new

afterthought, making it easy for staff to come and go

travel, during the pandemic, this has provided

elements SAP has integrated into these spaces.

as they please and effortlessly transition between

more opportunities for learning and development.

different work areas. All the meeting rooms are tech-

We have actively encouraged our employees to

This flexibility has brought numerous benefits

ready and can be booked remotely, after which the

make use of our learning platforms via the Cloud

to both staff and the organisation. Chen noted,

respective room sign glows red to indicate it is booked,

to upskill themselves, no matter where they are

“People tend to have different work patterns.

amber for tentatively booked—but still up for grabs,

working from.”

One very positive change has been that now

and green for available. Then when staff sit down for

staff no longer need to rush to get to the office

their meeting, they do not require a laptop, because

By leveraging technology, Cloud-based access-

a specific time. Gone are the days of ‘I must be

each room has a tablet that knows who booked that

anywhere solutions, providing a diversity of

in by 9.00 am’. And the removal of this rush-to-

room and automatically brings up online meetings for

workspaces and its Flex-work strategy, SAP seems

work mentality has benefitted the team, giving

the respective teams on the giant on-wall screens.

to have hit the nail on the head in raising the

3.

benchmark for talent collegiality, creativity and

them a lot of flexibility.”

Chen explained, “This seamless integration of

innovation. An amazing workspace, coupled with

In terms of preference for work location, Chen

technology has been key in ensuring the success of

an innovative and flexible work culture, has helped

added, “Generally, people still prefer to physically

our Flex-work programme. The fact that the team

foster a truly amazing team. n

25

HR FEATURES

L&D Darwinism

Talent for tomorrow’s jobs HR

has

long

been

talking

about

digital

transformation, and the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2020 Report codified this in highlighting that the plethora of tech innovation

The pandemic business world has exacerbated the survival of the fittest, and HR is having to facilitate the rapid adaptation of talent teams to ensure their organisations not only survive but thrive. We speak with Vicky Knight, Associate Dean, International Programmes, BPP Education Group, Singapore, who explains why L&D programmes that facilitate T-shaped skills are a critical component of any futureproof HR strategy.

defining the current era can, and needs to be, leveraged to fully unleash human potential in organisations. There is no doubt that HR has the means to reskill and upskill individuals in unprecedented numbers; deploy ‘precision safety nets’ to help cushion reappropriated talent, and help guide displaced workers towards alternative jobs of tomorrow where they will be able to thrive.

However, the efforts to support those affected by the current crisis are lagging the speed of disruption.

Vicky Knight, Associate Dean, International Programmes, BPP Education Group, Singapore noted, “ The dynamic interaction between technical and human capabilities is continuing, especially in areas like analytical thinking, innovation, complex problem solving, creativity and originality. This has created an organic need for more technically savvy people in the workforce. So, there’s going to be a drive for both ‘technical’ and ‘human’ skills.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has turbocharged this trend amid the rapid necessitated shift to working online. Knight added, “Several years of digitalisation have been condensed into a matter of months, and HR teams have been star performers throughout the crisis in rapidly accommodating and managing these accelerated work transitions. In many cases, HR has—within an extremely short period— transitioned employees to safely working from home, stepped up well-being initiatives, supported leaders, and frequently checked in with teams to ensure they have the tools and resources needed.”

New tools for the next normal Within, what Knight terms, the ‘next normal’, HR has rolled out new L&D adaptive strategies including content creation that is far more mobile compatible, bite-sized and available ondemand. Knight highlighted, “When it comes to L&D, convenience matters much more now than it used to. The social aspect of L&D also matters too—despite social distancing brought on by the pandemic—people still want, and need, to interact.

So whether your L&D materials are delivered via digital components in an LMS or online livestreams,

Vicky Knight

L&D curators need to create opportunities for people to engage with one another both en masse as

Associate Dean, International Programmes

a learning community, and individual interactions

BPP Education Group, Singapore

where they can engage with their colleagues.”

WINTER 2020 26 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

HR FEATURES

Learning isn’t simply a one-off destination; it’s an ongoing process and cannot just be driven by HR To maximise the effectiveness of L&D programmes,

be handled with care, as they require not only

“Now is a great time for HR to deliver an L&D

Knight encouraged HR to leverage as wide a

knowledge sharing but also successfully garnering

offering that is more iterative, potentially digital,

range of tools as possible when designing L&D

the support of employees, as they implement that

and certainly using a wider available toolkit to

programmes. She noted, “There are so many

new learning. Knight explained how HR could

enrich the learning journey.”

ways to create texture in your learning, and this is

best leverage this, “It is when HR helps their

more important than ever. People will not just sit

talent implement new skills gained, directly in the

The reality for in-house L&D programme designers

and stare at videos all day; you might layer a face-

workplace that action learning occurs—via which

is that outside work talent are used to a flexible,

to-face style induction, one-to-one coaching, an

deep learning takes place.”

adaptive and intuitive digital environment. Knight said, “Today’s in-house training is now expected

online programme, live interactive webinars, and

HR leadership

to be just as engaging, intuitive and personalised

HR leaders are being called upon by their Boards

as external experiences are. In other words, HR

With the distribution of a vaccine on the horizon,

to step-up again and drive their organisations

needs to throw away the traditional notion of

Knight expressed hope about reaching the endgame

forward; Knight explained, “L&D is going to be a

‘knowledge acquisition’ and instead provide bite-

of the pandemic and the ‘next normal’, which would

significant part of the future HR leadership remit,

sized, at-any-time, relevant learning experiences,

hopefully herald a return to the upskilling and

in strategically planning for change and ensuring

which can be delivered in the flow of work.”

reskilling initiatives to future-proof the workforce

the organisation is fit for the ‘next normal’. This

were blown off course during the pandemic. She

novel leadership will require rethinking the

Knight observed, “The half-life of a new skill is

explained, “There is a need for HR to recognise the

strategic L&D approach in terms of what elements

now just five years, so there is also a need to create

key implications of the pandemic, and to leverage

are vital, what skills gaps need to be filled, and

workforces who do not just expect to be spoon-

the advances in L&D during the crisis to help chart

which new approaches to adopt to upskill across

fed by their HR teams. Rather talent needs to be

new paths forward.”

the entire organisation.”

made aware of and given sufficient opportunities

L&D meets marketing

In terms of future HR leadership, Knight noted, “It

journeys. This is the process via which HR can

In terms of L&D challenges, HR is currently

can no longer just be the lone voice of HR telling

create a learning culture across the organisation.

facing; Knight stated, “Nowadays, HR needs

talent that ‘we need to be on this journey now’,

Learning isn’t simply a one-off destination; it’s

to accommodate more of a focus on internal

instead it needs to be embraced by the entire

an ongoing process and cannot just be driven by

marketing, which has become a vital component

organisation. Convincing everyone that there is

HR—it needs understanding and support from

of successful L&D programmes. Now the ‘why’

a need for change must be step one. Employees

their teams in why these changes need to be made.

of L&D has become critical. We are facing the

recognise that things won’t be the same and are

So, HR needs to ensure that talent is constantly

antithesis of traditional learning—different people

appreciative of investment in change, and perhaps

learning and constantly upskilling; and deliver

are learning at different times, in different ways

more willing than ever to grasp such opportunities

learning that is engaging, future focused relevant,

and covering different topics. Talent needs support

to move in a new strategic direction.” She added,

and can be immediately applied in the workplace.”

then a specially-designed work-based activity.”

to drive their own learning and development

both logistically in accessing materials but, even more importantly, they need to understand why they must engage with those materials.” She added, “You cannot just hire a traditional ‘let me teach you about this’ trainer anymore, as they no longer fit today’s corporate L&D challenges. Today’s L&D is much more about training for specific job skills, or mindset changes, or behaviour changes.”

The plethora of challenges in the context of COVID-19 has led to HR leaders thinking differently about how they design, develop and operationalise L&D programmes within their organisation and transition talent teams accordingly. All of these transitions need to

27

HR FEATURES

Whenever there is organisational change and transitions in business processes, talent with T-shaped skills are instrumental in engineering successful business processes to help guide organisations through transformations—big and small.”

It is also important for HR to look at how talent view themselves and their role in any transformation process. Knight highlighted, “It’s important that HR listens to their people and understands how they think they fit into any transformation space, and what skills how they can add value in that sort of space—not surprisingly, resiliency, stress tolerance and flexibility are all currently top of the list of skills required. HR is doing much work in this space to help keep their talent

T-shaped skills are instrumental in engineering successful business processes to help guide organisations through transformations

on the cutting edge in this rapidly changing world.”

Much of what is going on in terms of business transformation

is

silo-busting,

and

ensuring

information and learning is freely shared. Knight advised, “Lateral upskilling is not aimed at training up others to take over particular roles, but rather to get talent to a level of a broader understanding

Survival of the fittest and fastest

get the investment you need. Unfortunately, often

of where their role fits into the overall business

The world of HR is not quite dog-eat-dog, although it

it’s training budgets that get cut during economic

so that they can have well-informed meaningful

might feel that way sometimes, but in the pandemic

downturns. Ironically, at these moments—perhaps

conversations to enhance synchronicities between

business world, it has become a case of survival of the

more than any other—L&D should be ramped up—to

various roles.” She added, “There is no point in

fittest. Subsequently, HR is having to facilitate the rapid

help engage and reskills talent.”

sending employees on a course to acquire new skills if they’re not going to use it in their job in the next

adaptation of its talent teams to give their organisations the best chances of surviving and thriving. And to

Learning needs to be an ongoing process of upskilling

three to six months. Designing a training programme

achieve this future-proofing L&D programmes has

and strategy revision. Knight cautioned, “It’s a cutthroat

has to be about how can talent apply what they learn

become a necessity. Knight explained, “It is critical

world, and just recognising the need for L&D and

in the actual jobs to maximise ROI for the business

to start with a strategic view of your organisation’s

starting the process isn’t enough these days. To survive,

and create stickiness in the learning.”

future-skills needs and that HR understands what the

organisations need to have the very best learning

job roles in the organisation need to look like in five to

programmes in place, nurture and retain highly-skilled

Biggest transformations in a generation

ten years. HR must then build on that understanding to

talent, and rollout innovative success strategies.”

To ensure future business success, HR must prioritise

help set a strategic vision. HR must also ensure that its

L&D strategies to now, Knight explained, “It is not

people strategy is closely linked to the overall business

Silo-busting T-shaped skills

just that people are more important than ever, but

strategy.” She added, “It’s not just about skills and

Recognition in L&D does not necessarily have to

now the right people are more important than ever.”

knowledge anymore, it’s also about capabilities, and

be linked to a particular job function. Knight noted,

McKinsey & Company in their paper, The essential

about changing mindsets and behaviours.”

“Today’s HR is less about job descriptions and much

components of a successful L&D strategy, point out that

more focused on skills and capabilities—and how

organisations focusing on transforming culture and

Identifying capabilities that can best drive the

to best leverage them. Many in HR are now looking

building capabilities during a transformation are two

business forward is essential, so HR can then ‘heat

at helping talent to develop T-shaped skills. The

and a half times more likely to succeed. However, in

map’ critical talent skills for enhancement via L&D to

concept revolves around upskilling talent in both

some cases, the line between acquiring technology

realise the future business model. Knight pointed out,

business and soft skills that are adjoining (lateral

and acquiring skills becomes blurred. Knight noted,

“Starting quickly is key, as businesses can no longer

to) the things in their usual scope of work.” This

“Organisations cannot just buy technology and

afford to wait for prolonged cycles of learning. As with

is where HR can make an impact by helping talent

assume that it’s going to make a dramatic difference.

all parts of businesses today, speed and agility are

develop a broader range of skills, which may cover a

The focus should, instead, be on engaging people, and

paramount.” She added, “HR should launch tailored

wide range of other job roles, as well as developing

developing their EQ and digital quotient (DQ) to help

learning journeys as soon as they can, to help close

deeper skills in their subject area of expertise.

effectively move forward.”

should be several iterations of key points and tests to

In this way, organisational talent becomes much more

There is little doubt that the world is changing, and

ensure that the learning achieves its goals.”

agile over time and can be more easily transitioned

right now, it is a less than comfortable space for

to alternative and/or new roles as the business and

many in HR. However, HR leaders who bring the

Another vital element, when steering future L&D

external factors dictate. Knight added, “Talent develops

talent capability agenda to the forefront will gain

paths to help ensure future business success is being

their core job functions and area of expertise in the

tremendous leverage and the opportunity to deliver

able to make the business case—a core strategic role

upward bar of the T, but by far the most valuable thing

potentially the most significant and most successful

for HR. Knight explained, “You need to be able to

for the organisation is what talent learns sideways.

workforce transformations in a generation. n

critical capability gaps. Along the L&D journey, there

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HR FEATURES

Winning on workplace wellness Bupa provides timely assistance to enhance employee well-being

employee mental well-being. HR continues to utilise innovative solutions and palliatives for seemingly here-to-stay workplace COVID-19 stressors. It is more important than ever for HR to regularly check in with their talent teams to ensure they are OK, and if not, what help they

A workplace sandwich class is emerging in

intensified the level of stress they experience,

Hong Kong, with middle management facing

compared to other employees. Key areas

increasing stress both at work and at home.

investigated both in the workplace and at

Andrew Merrilees, General Manager, Bupa Hong

home included:

Kong said, "Our Hong Kong employee mental

This according to research as part of the 'Feel

might need.

health survey serves as a good reminder for all of

Better' Mental Health Campaign 2020, released

•

by Bupa Hong Kong. The survey conducted in

• pressure from senior management

that mental well-being must be prioritised both at

Q4 2020 covers over 1,200 workers, aged 18-54,

•

failing to fulfil client expectations due to lack

the workplace and at home ... The responsibility

of workforce

now lies with employers to help improve health

children's academic results being affected by

and well-being by supporting their employees'

online classes

mental health needs."

across the SAR and provides insights into the evolving mental health needs and expectations

•

in today's workplaces.

Stressed at work and at home

colleagues or subordinates losing momentum

•

longer working hours cutting into family time

•

caring for children while working from home

Amid growing demand for mental health

us, whether the public or corporate management,

Supporting Healthier Minds Programme In

response,

Bupa

has

launched

the

support, the research revealed that the multiple

Middle management is bearing heavier burdens

'Supporting Healthier Minds Programme'

roles played by middle management—as team

than general employees, which has led to a

to help HR provide the necessary aid to

leads, client-facing managers, supervisors

call for employers to further enhance the

employees. A wide selection of workshops

and

resources and support provided to care for

and activities such as yoga, meditation and

parent-breadwinners

at

30 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

home—have

Key findings

The responsibility now lies with employers to help improve health and well-being by supporting their employees' mental health needs.

Half of Hong Kong talent has experienced

Andrew Merrilees

symptoms of anxiety or depression amid

General Manager, Bupa Hong Kong

COVID-19.

art jamming is available to assist general

of Hong Kong, to empower people to take

staff, in addition to courses set up specially

better care of their mental health. They are

73% of middle management expect action

to help middle managers and supervisors

also empowering local companies to help play

from employers, but only just over half say their

deal more effectively with employees' sub-

their part in this transformational journey via

companies provide any mental health support.

optimal emotions amid the pandemic. Bupa

the MindCare Company Recognition Scheme,

has also introduced mental health first

which will recognise companies that go the

Despite 90% of middle management

aid training and certification, which helps

extra mile in prioritising their employees'

acknowledging that stress was impacting

management identify employees' stress

mental well-being.

their mental health, only 10% have sought

levels. This also helps point employees

professional counselling.

in the right direction if they might have

Promoting wellness with Bupa4Life

more serious mental health issues. Similar

Employees are also increasingly having to

workshops

organised

work longer hours each day, often f lopping

for those in executive roles, including

down exhausted on the sofa in front of the

emotional management, stress management

box late into the night—lacking sufficient

and work-life balance training.

physical exercise. Combined with work-

have

also

been

from-home arrangements, the need for

Individual support & company recognition

homeschooling

To better support their employees, HR

'Zoomed out', this phenomenon is further

teams can take a proactive approach to

heightening the challenges of successfully

mental health management. Bupa has

balancing work and life.

and

generally

getting

introduced an extension of their mental health coverage to both group policies

To help HR and employees with these

and individual plans. This approach helps

challenges,

ensure employees peace of mind when

Bupa4Life wellness app which allows its

seeking professional counselling and access

members to complete an online health

to support via an extensive mental health

assessment, create and track wellness

Middle management is 10% more likely to

clinical

working

goals, read expert health information and

experience anxiety or depression symptoms

from home, employees can also leverage

more. Members will also earn rewards for

than general employees.

technology with virtual health application

their progress, including special offers

solutions that help them identify health

and discounts. This, coupled with EAPs,

risks, achieve health goals, access a 24-

interactive

hour professional counselling hotline and

and mental health first aid training to

access

help employees reduce stress and create a

network.

interactive

With

many

wellness

workshops

to help reduce stress. All these measures

Bupa

has

employee

launched

wellness

the

courses

healthier working environment.

combine to help create a healthier working 80% of respondents state that symptoms of

environment by combating the root causes

HR can leverage these initiatives as part of

of severe workplace stress.

their holistic efforts to help employees at

depression have caused difficulties in their daily life.

all levels enhance their mental well-being, To help address such problems in the local

show they care and raise morale. In doing

Hong Kong community, Bupa has also initiated

so, they will be better able to enhance

20% of middle management executives

partnerships

admitted to having had suicidal thoughts.

including the Mental Health Association

retention and boost productivity across the organisation to boot . n

with

local

organisations

HR FEATURES

CSR support during COVID-19 W

ith the pandemic continuing to impact Hong Kong, local charities including HandsOn Hong Kong have

seen an outpouring of support from the larger community in response to local relief efforts at ‘Serve-a-thon’. During the event, a large number of businesses stepped forward to look at how they could empower their teams to help the city’s most vulnerable groups impacted by the crisis while supporting their own employees’ well-being at the same time.

Sue Toomey, Executive Director, HandsOn, Hong Kong said, “As we all know, the emotional impact of this crisis will be long-lasting both for Hong Kong’s most disadvantaged and for each of us. A recent survey by the University of Hong Kong found three-quarters of our citizens are currently showing moderate to high levels of depressive symptoms.”

83% of volunteers reported that serving has a positive impact on their mental health and overall well-being Volunteering is a key aspect of wider efforts to ensure employee health and safety during the COVID-19 crisis.

Companies recognise both the increasing demand to help those in need and the power of volunteering to counteract the effects of stress and anxiety among staff.

Toomey added, “We ran this year’s Serve-a-thon with the belief that being part of it would support the emotional wellbeing and connectedness of everyone involved. A recent study showed that 83% of volunteers reported that serving has a positive impact on their mental health and overall wellbeing. This is a critical time for the larger community to experience these kinds of benefits.”

32 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

HR FEATURES

It is only through the strength and well-being of our employees, that the company can move forward in these turbulent times.

Eric Hui Chief Executive Officer Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong)

Serve-a-thon’s Community Champion sponsors for 2020, Zurich Insurance Hong Kong, Marriott Bonvoy and Johnson & Johnson all say engaging their teams in meaningful volunteering initiatives is one of the key ways they promote employee wellness.

•

Volunteering is an important aspect of Zurich’s wider efforts to ensure employees’ health and safety during the COVID-19 crisis, with others being: access to psychological help, better work from home arrangements, enhanced hygiene measures and extended medical benefits. Zurich promoted volunteering during Serve-athon through two service programs for staff—a Kindness Walk in support of the homeless and a tree care program to protect Hong Kong ecosystem. Eric Hui, Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong) said, “It is only through the strength and well-being of our employees, that the company can move forward in these turbulent times.”

•

Marriott Bonvoy focused on the psychological effects of COVID-19 on employees. In addition to engaging their team in a tree maintenance programme in the hills of Lantau the company also participated in service programmes throughout the year. In response to the pandemic, Marriott has also partnered with meQuilibrium, a proven stress management platform, to support the mental wellbeing of its associates globally. Regan Taikitsadaporn, Chief Human Resources Officer, Marriott International Asia Pacific, said, “Our core value of putting people first transcends all that we do. Marriott is continually invested in the well-being of all our associates—being part of Serve-a-thon and introducing stress management platforms are one of many ways we engage with our associates to improve their lives and the lives of those around them.”

•

Johnson & Johnson wanted to provide both in-person and virtual volunteer options for their staff—so all team members could comfortably take part. Some volunteered from the home or office, filling ‘inspiration jars’ with messages of support and encouragement for the elderly. Other team members delivered relief care packages to the households of vulnerable elderly—this formed part of a larger global initiative to give back to communities during the crisis. The

In these unprecedented times, giving employees a sense of purpose

company also focuses on holistic employee physical and mental

through volunteering—while also increasing their levels of happiness and

health by providing access to counsellors who understand pandemic-

decreasing stress—is one valuable way to support community well-being.

related stress. Daniel Kwan, Chair of Johnson and Johnson, HK

Companies and HR teams across Hong Kong have been heartened to see

Community Impact Team, said, “As a leading healthcare company,

how these efforts have helped support different sectors of the community

we care about having an impact on health and beyond. Guided by

and bolster corporate-wellness initiatives. n

our credo, we are responsible to the communities in which we live and work. We are passionate about giving back to the community, to

Serve-a-thon 2021 will be taking place from May 8th to 16th, 2021

serve those in need and improve the well-being of others.”

www.serveathon.org.hk

33

HR COMMUNITY

Pain of rapid digital transitions Digitalisation, a process mooted for years, was suddenly accelerated at warp speed as COVID

HR Clarity

forced it upon organisations out of necessity.

Predictive leadership through the fog

start on digitalisation, and this groundwork

of digital (& all other!) disruption

and the way of working and the processes of

HR Magazine's HR Clarity Livestream examined predictive leadership amid the current fog of digital disruption and the plethora of other disruptions impacting organisations right now around us. The stellar panel line-up included HR figureheads spanning multiple industries: Nandita Debur, VP Global HR and Talent Management, Kuoni Tumlare (travel sector); Steve Lawrence, MD, HeadFirst Group (executive and team coach); Andrew Simmons, MD, Talent Tree (recruitment); Hilary Stevenson, Lead Development Consultant, Atrium HR Consulting (agile working & wellness); and Winnie Tsien, Head of HR, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, JLL (real estate). Vicky Knight, Associate

Organisations have had to transition to online formats in a matter of days, weeks or at most months. Winnie Tsien, Head of HR, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, JLL shared, "JLL had a head afforded us a softer transformation around two or three years ago but still, in terms of the mindset digitalisation, many organisations still have much scope to further leverage technology."

COVID has catalysed a digital education in organisations and provided a steep, but useful, learning curve in digital skills. Tsien noted, "In terms of a key pain point, changing existing mindsets is a big hurdle for HR. Sometimes the culture of digital work may not yet be fully developed, and yet organisations still need to jump ahead, so agility is key."

SMEs are also facing challenges in their early stages of digitalisation, and often even when they bring onboard tech—it might not pan out to be all it was cracked up to be. Andrew Simmons, MD, Talent Tree shared advice on getting started on the journey, "Make sure you hire the right people and plan enough time to complete the transformation, as these projects frequently run over the expected transition time by more than 50% and over budget.

This overruns can then impact end-users, in terms of them not getting enough time to be properly trained up before rollout."

Dean—International Programmes, BPP and Michael Vaz, VP

In terms of a key pain point, changing

L&D, Accor Asia Pacific also gave insightful keynotes during the

existing mindsets is a big hurdle for

Livestream. Check out the juicy bits in our roundup…

HR. Sometimes the culture of digital work may not yet be fully developed,

Missed it? Scan the QR code to watch the livestream on demand over at HR Magazine's YouTube channel. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe!

34 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020 2020

and yet organisations still need to jump ahead, so agility is key.

Winnie Tsien Head of HR, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, JLL

HR HRCOMMUNITY COMMUNITY

35

HR COMMUNITY

Who's driving transitions?

new world. So, the wind is behind the sail in L&D right

In terms of who should be responsible for project

now—before COVID senior executives, of course, would

managing digital transformations, Simmons noted,

support L&D, but now they are also championing it."

"This depends on the size and scale of the organisation, and where it is headquartered. But it's important to

He added, "So although face-to-face instructor-led

have someone proficient in project management to help

training is down, virtual training is up with online

implement it on time and within budget. However, when

training up on every single metric. If you're an L&D lead

this role sits in the headquarters of an MNC and is project

right now, now's your time to be a force for good and

Nandita Debur

managing a process in APAC, they may not necessarily

force for change amid this momentum."

VP Global HR and

understand the complexity of all the countries in that

Talent Management

region. So often, it then gets pushed to somebody locally

On the coaching side, Lawrence noted, "Coaching

Kuoni Tumlare

in HR or in the C-suite, who does it as a side project—but

today is going beyond one-on-one executive coaching

then they're not experts in that IT area." He added, "So

and is becoming democratised. As such, it's being

for international organisations, it's a good idea to start

extended down to middle managers, frontline leaders

rollouts in the Headquarter country first, especially if

through virtual on-demand coaching." He added,

that's where the programme manager or the relevant

"There are also some great tools and resources that

consultants sit. Then you can closely monitor the impact

use AI, and gamification to help with self-coaching.

of the transition on end-users and tweak things before

Moreover, all of a sudden talent now has access

rolling out in other countries globally."

to coaches from all around the world, anytime, anywhere—so there's a lot more choice. COVID has

Secrets to successful change management

been a game-changer for the coaching industry, both

Nandita Debur, VP Global HR and Talent Management,

for organisations and external coaches."

Vicky Knight

Kuoni Tumlare, noted "One of the important elements

Associate Dean

of a successful tech rollout is having an effective

Debur added, "Talent also has more time to invest in

International Programmes

change management plan and maintaining great

themselves at the moment, because, in the travel sector,

BPP Professional Education

communication. We've been through numerous

business has been very low, and people have really focused

mergers, and one business might use an in-house HRIS,

on their own development. Our talent management team

while another is using Workday, and transitioning

quickly performed a needs analysis and came back with a

something like that requires a fundamental change

series of webinars to help support everyone through the

in how talent behaviour and processes. To make it

change they are going through. We've also taken coaching

successful and make it stick, it's not so much about

to all levels in the organisation and on-demand to be

which region goes first, but about really coming together

accessed from anywhere and anytime with as many hours

as a multifunctional team, across multiple regions, and

as people want. So, we've reacted very swiftly and pretty

getting things accomplished with excellent change

much put control in the hands of our employees, and it's

management initiatives, as well as communication.

worked out very well."

Ensure people know why things are happening."

Knowing how much your butt can handle

Steve Lawrence Founder & MD (former Head of

Steve Lawrence, MD, HeadFirst Group, added, "Project

With the massive uptick in online delivery, HR has to

L&D, Cathay Pacific Airways)

management with multinationals tends to focus a lot on

do more to reduce virtual fatigue among talent teams.

Headfirst Group Limited

the technology first—in terms of feasibility and viability,

Lawrence said, "All good training starts with good

and also on the business case and its feasibility. But what's often forgotten about is the user, whether the organisation knows who the user is and whether HR truly understands their real needs. So, I would ensure that HR invest the extra effort upfront in understanding what end-users need, before having any conversations

Giving people' warm-up' pre-activities to do before they come to an online learning

about tech and business feasibility and viability."

space is a big help so that they're already in

With social unrest in late 2019 and COVID in 2020, a

the right mindset before jumping in.

Andrew Simmonds

lot of L&D plans have been postponed and/or moved

Managing Director

online. This has had two key levels of impact from both

Talent Tree

a coaching perspective and in the L&D functional space.

Hilary Stevenson

Lawrence explained, "Many organisations are looking

Lead Development Consultant

to L&D to help them guide the change and adapt to this

Atrium HR Consulting

36 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020 2020

HR HRCOMMUNITY COMMUNITY

contracting, about what you will and will not do. And you

texture, so there are lots of different things happening

can only take as much as your butt can handle in terms of

other than just watching recordings online. Learning

the learning space. So, you've got to do good contracting

needs to be relevant to the roles that talent performs

with your learners with your course designers. At the same

daily and focused on the challenges they're having."

time, you need to examine how you can make learning more experiential via online collaboration software."

Space, the final frontier

He added, "Try to get off the main virtual platforms and

Globally there are considerable differences between the

get into virtual rooms where there's real meaningful

amount of space talent has when working from home.

discussion, and the more meaningful and interactive you

Simmons noted, "In both the UK and Hong Kong there

Hilary Stevenson

can make it, the faster the time flies by."

are many people who don't have sufficient space or WiFi,

Lead Development Consultant

or they have kids off school being educated at home,

Atrium HR Consulting

Hilary Stevenson, Lead Development Consultant,

spouses are working from home or pets making too

Atrium HR Consulting said, "We're doing a huge amount

much noise. Senior executives tend to have more space

of online delivery. Facilitators also need to watch out for

at home, so it's important for HR and the C-suite to bear

their own tech fatigue in this space. The use of breakout

in mind these very different 'workspaces' when managing

rooms helps facilitate more meaningful discussions and

and setting expectations."

make the whole experience far more experiential." She added, "Giving people' warm-up' pre-activities to do

Recreating water cooler conversations

before they come to an online learning space is a big

With so much online, it is more important than ever to

help so that they're already in the right mindset before

keep work meetings informal. There are several things

jumping in. This means not only will talent have already

HR can do to recreate water cooler conversations.

taken the first few steps towards thinking about their

Lawrence

objectives and what they want to achieve through that

appreciated and connected, celebrate the small wins

Winnie Tsien

learning, but also they will have started some of the

and take away the pain points—like long meetings.

Head of Human Resources,

practical learning processes as well."

You can organise virtual tours, planking challenges,

Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan

even taking a selfie of your workstation to help create

Jones Lang LaSalle

The timing of training interventions is another critical

advised,

"To

make

employees

feel

authentic moments."

consideration for HR. Stevenson advised, "The length of time spent in online training is also crucial because

Debur added, "At Kuoni Tumlare we do quite a bit of fun

this format is so much more focused than traditional

stuff like virtual dance lessons, which can be rolled out

interventions, what might have taken half a day in a face-

across different countries, fitness challenges also work

to-face activity, can now be condensed into a couple of

well with everybody stuck at home. We also encouraged

hours." She added, "This highly-focused approach brings

the sharing of photographs to encourage everyone to share

organisations significant cost benefits, and it's important

what they were doing."

for HR to let trainees know what's expected of them and find out what they're expecting to get out of that

Stevenson noted cake culture also worked well to lift

learning space in that short period. We certainly wouldn't

jaded employee spirits, "Friday afternoons, were all about

Michael Vaz

recommend doing any intervention for more than two

people baking a massive trolley full of cupcakes, which

Vice President L&D

hours at a time, to keep people engaged."

would do the rounds of the office, and this transitioned

Accor Asia Pacific

to people sharing their baking successes online. Another Vicky

Dean—International

great success was a virtual wine tasting—with everybody

Programmes, BPP added, "A blended approach to L&D

Knight,

Associate

getting sample bottles of wine delivered before an online

is essential, creating learning journeys that have a lot of

wine tasting class." n

Featured Sponsors

Supported by Raindy Yu Founder Holistic Wellness Hong Kong

37

HR COMMUNITY

Powered by

Accelerating global payroll transformations With multiple incumbent payroll platforms

Panelists

and protocols spanning internal and external stakeholders, legacy HR systems often present inherent complexity in successfully transitioning

David Hogg Business Support Director PizzaExpress Hong Kong

to new technology. Fortunately, however, things are changing. Recent HR tech advancements have made integration with existing platforms much easier and brought artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to HR.

Bree Campbell Head of HR Operations, APAC GroupM

Streamlining and expediting payroll functions saves HR significant time and money while freeing up HR to focus on more strategic tasks.

HR Magazine brought together three global HR stakeholders in a recent webinar to share advice on avoiding pain points of existing payroll systems, and on leveraging AI and ML to make life a lot easier in the world of C&B. 38 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

Chalapathy Head, Payroll Implementations Ramco

HR COMMUNITY

Payroll change management—key drivers

market, modern cloud-based systems provide HR with much greater

Payroll transformation is an opportunity to improve efficiency, quality, and

scope and control around the kind of changes you make.

output, which gravitates around the critical factors of integration, control, migration, compliance and cost. The question is no longer whether HR

Changes can now also be made much more easily across multiple

should transform payroll or not, but instead, how best to do it.

markets—reducing compliance issues across markets. This is a crucial factor with increasingly frequent regulatory changes that heighten the

Integration

risk of non-compliance due to COVID. HR must have a payroll system

To be most effective integration has to happen across the entire ecosystem

that can quickly adapt to any regulatory changes.”

of various HR, payroll, IT applications and finance products used by an organisation—ensuring that they all talk to each other. David Hogg,

On audits, Hogg added, “It’s important to know what the auditors

Business Support Director, Pizza Express, Hong Kong, noted, “The key to

are going to find before they turn up—especially when you have

integration lies in picking a ‘suitable ecosystem’.”

disparate systems, and you don’t have complete control over what’s going through those systems.” He added, “You should also ensure

R.H. Chalapathy, Head, Payroll Implementations, Ramco Systems, added,

that the solution you’re choosing works best for your business.

“The cloud provides much greater flexibility in integrating service offerings.

Whether you’re a capital-based business or a cash flow-based business

This service offering flexibility, in turn, depends on an organisation’s

should be considered when implementing significant IT solutions.”

geographical spread, headcount and their current IT landscape.”

Chalapathy said, “HR no longer needs to worry about server maintenance,

Control

as this can now be automatically maintained through the cloud

To facilitate integration, HR must carefully monitor ‘control’ of the process

environment’s regulatory changes. Regulatory bodies are increasingly

with suitable hosting, leveraging the cloud, allowing accessibility and

allowing for online submissions, paving the way for paperless HR—

provision for business continuity planning (BCP). Hogg explained, “Cloud-

supported by the cloud.”

based systems are stable and built to integrate. Sustaining a true cloudbased system isn’t difficult, as long as it’s not a server-based system that

Campbell emphasised, “Compliance is about wanting to do the right

has simply been ‘pushed out’ into the cloud.” Chalapathy noted, “This is

thing by the people in GroupM, for the overall business, and in terms of

the essence of zero-maintenance HR and is an essential part of native cloud

the country we are based in. All of which is more important and prevalent

applications.”

during this pandemic, which has really been driving the new ways of working that we all must adapt to.” She added, “When payroll is handled

Migration

inhouse this affords flexibility around last-minute changes; however, it

After deciding what to integrate, the next step for HR is deciding how to

also requires additional rigour around your payroll and processes. So,

integrate it best. Bree Campbell, Head of HR, GroupM, APAC, advised,

we are moving towards an outsourced model to help with compliance

“When beginning any digital transformation, it’s best to run parallel

challenges. Moreover, outsourcing affords more control, greater visibility,

systems until you know that you can entirely rely on the new system.

and with cloud-based technology also significantly reduces compliance risk.”

GroupM ensures that offices cycle at least two parallel runs before going live with any new payroll system. This is crucial to producing accurate payroll and allows HR to ‘safely’ retire their old system, whilst bringing in the new system and ironing out any teething issues.”

Chalapathy echoed this advice and noted, “Having two parallel runs: a historical run and a live parallel run is the best dress rehearsal

Technology has improved so much that there is an opportunity for them to do much more with less than in the past.

for switching over to any new system. The next factor for HR to consider is control, and technology has improved so much that there is an opportunity for them to do much more with less than in the past.”

R.H. Chalapathy Head, Payroll Implementations

To enhance change management, Campbell added, “HR teams have to

Ramco Systems

do a significant amount of reporting for their finance and IT teams, which often requires a lot of manual intervention. At GroupM, the switch to AI and demonstrating those time savers for all our teams have helped with change management.”

Compliance The digitalisation of payroll via AI and ML has helped HR stay on top of regulatory changes, particularly across multiple jurisdictions. Hogg noted, “Previous payroll systems often couldn’t handle more than one

39

HR COMMUNITY

Cost: outsource vs in-house When considering whether an in-house or outsourced option is best for your organisation, Hogg advised, “Think about the process, the time and the cost—from an outsourcing perspective you have to have a competent provider who can handle anything.

A good multi-country market strategy is about geography and deciding where your single source of truth lies.

Outsourcing also tends to be more attractive for organisations with predominantly full-time workers, and even then can still prove challenging when it comes to exceptions. This is an important

David Hogg

caveat to bear in mind when deciding to outsource, as HR tends to

Business Support Director

be built on exceptions.”

Pizza Express, Hong Kong

Campbell highlighted the importance of budget, “Cost is becoming such a major driving factor in payroll overall. It’s not just about the cost

Hogg added, “A good multi-country market strategy is about geography

of the actual systems themselves but having systems that enable us to

and deciding where your single source of truth lies. HR should enable

pull the easily digestible information needed to determine the costs of

and nurture a system that fully captures all global payroll data sources

other systems.”

to provide comprehensive and accurate multi-country global payroll data at any given time.”

Multi-country strategy, single source of truth With a multi-country strategy, there are two key HR considerations.

Campbell agreed that the centralised HR approach with a single source

Firstly, if a single vendor is trying to cater to different markets, this

of truth was the way to go. She added, “Decision-making at GroupM is

can create challenges. Chalapathy noted, “This is why Ramco has a

done centrally when it comes to payroll as this brings standardisation

local office in every geography, as every country has its own set of

and harmonisation benefits to the process. We still consult with the

regulations and compliance issues—so it’s important as a vendor that

local markets and ensure they are part of this decision-making process

we are close to this.” Secondly, the importance of having software

to build trust.”

that can cater to these local requirements. On this note, Chalapathy cautioned, “It’s often tempting for HR to go for a single vendor, and

Enhancing the employee experience

then integrate with an external system, but that involves handling

A well-run payroll should also enhance the employee experience and

three different complex systems simultaneously. So, having both

having the right outsourcing provider can mean new opportunities in

of the aforementioned is crucial for optimum efficacy.” He added,

this area. To help sustain a quality employee experience, especially

“HR should also try to involve users early in the game, especially

among regional teams, Campbell advised, “HR must consult with all

with multi-country payroll outsourcing. This is vital, as there is

the teams regularly and let them know what’s coming up. It’s about

frequently a degree of inertia and resistance to outsourcing. HR

bringing them along for the journey, rather than pushing something

should push out a formal communication plan and invest a lot of

onto them—they need to feel involved with the process.” She added,

time on training.”

“It’s good to mark key milestones, so everyone can see the changes and improvements that happen as the organisation progresses along

Transforming payroll also creates the ideal opportunity to harmonise

the journey.”

and standardise payroll operations globally. Chalapathy advised, “Ensure that there’s a drive from regional leadership and central

Hogg echoed these sentiments and shared, “Having everyone involved

leadership in the organisation. Local regulations with the unions

and having a clear path forward are crucial, so that HR can work on

are the only area that might demand deference to local leadership,

the big things early on. It’s about improving work, redistributing work

otherwise have a unified view of payroll and the quality of data; clean

and working together as a team.”

it up and get it in good shape.”

The future of payroll

Outsourcing affords more control, greater visibility, and with cloud-based technology also significantly reduces compliance risk.

Payroll transformations have moved away from being CFO-centric, and increasingly it is HR who have ownership and are the key decision-makers. Moreover, as payroll is now so tech-intensive, there is a need for a robust IT arm in the decision-making process.

Chalapathy summarised, “As we move forward, we are going to see a union of HR and IT in making key payroll decisions. Moreover, we are likely to see a blended approach with the centralisation of strategic payroll policy coupled with local support in each jurisdiction to

Bree Campbell

ensure regulatory compliance and alignment with any significant

Head of HR Operations, APAC

local union arrangements. This is where we see the future of HR

GroupM

payroll models.” n

40 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

HR HEALTH

Changing the face of employee benefits

Persuading the CFO Moving forward, companies will have to think about more creative EB solutions than only buying traditional medical insurance. But while better medical benefits are good news for HR and employees, their procurement continues to get more and more expensive, and organisations must be prepared to increase their EB budget or look at new ways of how they distribute it. Persuading the CFO to do this is no mean feat, and Smith advised, "To help demonstrate the ROI on increasing EB budget to the CFO, it's a good idea for

During our recent Livestream HR on the Money, HR Magazine spoke with Dan Smith, Director, Alliance Group, to get his take on today's employee benefit trends and into tomorrow's HR.

HR to look at how this reduces attrition rates—which will easily offset the investment, by reducing the cost of training up new hires (which is typically seven times over retaining an existing staff member). It's a basic 'pay now, save later' concept." He added, "Also having good-quality medical insurance, means staff members who are sick, should in theory also be able to get back to work much more quickly—with access to the best possible medical treatment.

And we really do see this in practice, in staff being able to skip public hospital waitlist by accessing expedient private healthcare."

Moral C&B packages These moral employer considerations are becoming critical in attracting good quality talent. Smith noted, "We are seeing a massive shift by employers towards alternative benefit strategies, which the insurance environment has been

Change not just down to COVID

pushing for a while, including income-based benefits and income replacement

The effects COVID is having on C&B, and working arrangements are

insurance—to help better cover talent, even if they have to be later let go."

not new. For a long time, employees have been asking for increased flexibility, including work-from-home (WFH) arrangements along with more flexible or reduced working hours. Dan Smith, Director, Alliance Group, noted, "As we emerge from COVID, Employee Benefits (EB), is potentially going to look significantly different moving forward. Because of the nature EB these days, when people get laid off they don't just lose their jobs, they may also lose their accommodation, their children may lose their schooling, the family may lose their healthcare and a whole range of other knock-on ramifications. Companies and employees are going to have to view EB through a different lens, and it's no longer about buying something to make the EVP look nice and shiny."

WFH considerations Unlike most offices, not all homes are the same, and it is essential for

Smith added, "Employees are increasingly becoming aware that their

employers to bear in mind the variety of challenges that WFH employees

benefits are generally tied to their employment. So, where employees

could face. Smith cited a couple of examples, "Some people may have young

find themselves unemployed, which is happened to many around the

children at home, making it very difficult for them to home work effectively.

world right now, many of their benefits end immediately. This has

We've also found lots of people live in buildings where the internet connection

multiple impacts on employees, as benefits increasingly do not just

is poor, and therefore the quality of the connections for online meetings is not

comprise medical and life insurance, but also include school bursaries,

very good. So, benefits packages must take account of such factors and help

accommodation and other benefits. It has also placed a moral obligation

facilitate remote working. As such, we are seeing an increasing number of

on employers to look at exactly what benefits mean to employees, and

companies paying for internet connections for their WFH talent."

the impact this would have if they had to be laid off."

Employee wellness in benefits

It's no longer about buying something to make the EVP look nice and shiny.

Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) are becoming an increasingly important part of any C&B package. Smith explained, "In our experience, the one benefit that all employees want is salary. However, also key, from a mental well-being perspective, is having readily available access to good-quality professionals who can help people in these difficult times. This applied not just

Dan Smith

to the employees themselves, but also to their spouses, children, parents and

Director, Alliance Group

even pets. This is critical to get the best out of talent, not just in terms of their contribution to the company, but also because a happy person is far more likely to say thank you to their peers and promote a positive peer-review culture." n

41

HR LEGAL

Getting HR ready for 2021

HR Magazine spoke with Adam Hugill, Partner, Hugill & Ip for advice on what HR should be aware of legally in terms of the new requirements for paid statutory maternity leave, and handling leave during WFH, quarantine and in times of limited businesses.

2020 was a year full of shift (yes you read that right) and we look at what HR needs to do to ensure they’re all set for 2021

With effect from 11 December 2020, the Hong Kong SAR Government has increased paid statutory maternity leave from 10 to 14 weeks—what are the key HR considerations around this change?

The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 increased the paid statutory maternity leave period from 10 weeks to 14 weeks for a child born, or expected to be born, on or after 11 December 2020. Employees will continue to be paid four-fifths of their average daily wages for the first ten weeks of maternity leave.

Employees will also be paid four-fifths of their average daily wages during the additional four weeks, but this will be capped at HK$80,000 per employee.

The Hong Kong SAR Government will reimburse employers for the payment relating to the extended period of maternity leave, subject to a cap of HK$80,000 per employee.

The prohibition against termination of employment of an employee on maternity leave will be extended to cover the additional four weeks’ maternity leave.

The right to paid maternity leave only applies to employees that are employed under a continuous contract of employment for no less than 40 weeks.

A continuous contract of employment is a contract for 18 hours or more per week for four or more continuous weeks. Employees who are not employed on continuous contracts of employment still have no right to any paid maternity leave.

Maternity leave does not apply to adoption. Hong Kong does not have in place any statutory requirements or

Adam Hugill Partner, Hugill & Ip

formal government guidance relating to adoption leave, and there is no expectation that Hong Kong will implement laws relating to adoption leave at any time in the near future.

42 HR MAGAZINE WINTER 2020

HR LEGAL

Can HR mandate that staff take annual leave due to prevailing business circumstances?

The Employment Ordinance actually envisages that it is the employer rather than the employee that dictates when annual leave is to be taken, and the onus is on the employer to ensure that each employee takes specific minimum periods of annual leave each year. Therefore, while most workplaces operate on the basis that an employee will apply for annual leave on their chosen days, which will then usually be approved by the employer, the employer can dictate when annual leave is taken subject to certain criteria being fulfilled.

Statutory annual leave accrues in one year to be taken in the next. Therefore, an employer cannot require an employee to take statutory annual leave in the same years as it accrues. This is most relevant for employees that have worked for less than one year (or one leave year).

Employers are also required to ‘consult’ with employees and provide at least 14 days’ notice before requiring employees to take annual leave. Consultation does not, however, require the employees to consent (or even be happy with the arrangement).

In terms of leave, what should HR be aware of when

ultimately unsustainable. It is a duty of all employers

Unpaid leave cannot be imposed unilaterally and must

drawing up new staff contracts, and how is this leave

to provide a safe and healthy place of work—this

be agreed in advance with the employee. This being

affected when staff are WFH/quarantined?

includes promoting and protecting employees’

said, throughout 2020, we have often seen situations

mental health.

where employees are presented with the option of taking a period of unpaid leave or face having their

Infamously, Hong Kong has a reputation for its

employment terminated.

employees working more unpaid overtime than

The mental health issues arising from WHF

anywhere else in the world. Working outside of

and lockdowns more generally have been widely

contracted hours and during weekends, holidays,

documented and discussed during 2020, and studies

Employers should be reminded that during unpaid

or annual leave is relatively normal. Even when an

will undoubtedly continue well into 2021 and beyond.

leave, employees are still entitled to be paid for

employer does not necessarily expect employees

HR must be as equally keen to ensure that WFH

statutory holidays (i.e., Christmas, New Year’s Day,

to work outside of office hours, they nevertheless

employees are ‘logged-off’ as they are to ensure that

Chinese New Year etc.) and will still accrue and be

ask employees to periodically ‘check-in’, i.e., read

they are ‘logged-on’. It should also not be forgotten

able to take annual leave and paid sickness absence. n

and reply to urgent messages and emails, outside of

that the laws relating to statutory rest days, statutory

office hours.

holidays and annual leave continue to apply whether employees are working in the office or WFH.

WFH tends to blur the boundary between office and home life. While employers were initially concerned

HR must ensure that employees are not asked to

that employees would not work diligently outside of

work on rest days or statutory holidays or—if they

the office, studies have shown that WFH has created

are required to work—that appropriate substituted

a culture of ‘E-Presenteeism’ with employees feeling

or alternative days’ leave are granted in the same

compelled to be almost permanently logged on 24/7.

way as they would be if the employee were called into the office on a rest day or statutory holiday. HR

Out of sight means out of mind so that employers

should also make it clear that if an employee is on a

cannot observe the stress their employees are

rest day, statutory holiday or annual leave they are

under who WFH. Continuously working 24/7, or

not expected to be logged-on, indeed it would be

even just having the feeling of being permanently

advisable for HR to actively discourage employees

on call without any downtime, is not healthy and is

from logging on during such leave days.

43

HR BOOKS

HR Books

The Gentle Art of Tao Leadership: A 21st Century Perspective

By Lim Meng Sing

Flexible Working: How to implement flexibility in the workplace to improve employee and business performance

By Gemma Dale

Lim Meng Sing’s sixth book is on ethics in business and ethical leadership, a subject of immense importance as capitalism is at a critical moral

Flexible working is now a key concern for many employees. It spans genders,

crossroads from failing to live up to ethical expectations. The book

ages and family circumstances, with 37% of millennials declining a job offer

complements Western literature on the subject and is the only book of its

if flexibility at work isn't an option and 78% of employees over 50 wanting

kind combining classical Chinese literature, academics, and the corporate

more flexible hours.

world. It paraphrases 44 verses from the 81 in the immortal classic Tao Te-Ching: The Way & of Virtue, 600 BCE by Lao-Tzu. Due to the paucity of

Flexible Working is a practical guide for HR practitioners showing how to

such literature, especially in the West, this book is likely to attract a great

develop an effective, flexible working strategy to meet the needs of employees

amount of interest—it is truly an inspiring and insightful book that will

and the business's needs. This book explains how to develop effective

change the way we behave.

flexibility policies and processes and how to communicate and train line managers on these practices. It also includes advice on overcoming barriers to

The Gentle Art of Tao Leadership explores living harmoniously with

flexible working, dispels common myths and offers guidance on the different

others and self. Leadership is all about people and ethics and, in a world

forms of flexible working available to organizations.

often led by fear and greed, ethical leaders can be challenging to find. We are all leaders in some form or another. Whether in business, sport, home,

Flexible Working shows that working practices outside the standard 9-5,

or simply with ourselves, the decisions we make influence others. In the

five-days-a-week in the office can benefit a company. It drives employee

gentle way of Tao, to act ethically is to act for the good of all.

engagement and performance, reduces costs and workplace stress and improves talent acquisition from a more diverse talent pool. It also explains

“Ultimate goodness, like water, benefits all things and harms nothing…

how a proactive, flexible working strategy can have sustainability benefits

It has depth at its heart; it shows beneficence in dealing with others; it is

and reduce a company's carbon footprint. Including case studies from

sincere in speech; it keeps order in governing; it thrives inability and acts in

organizations such as Zurich Insurance, and supported by rigorous analysis

timeliness” (Lao-Tzu, Tao Te-Ching: The Way & of Virtue, 600 BCE).

of flexible working data, this is essential reading for all HR professionals.

44 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

Foreword 2020 was a year that challenged most organisations. The pandemic became a catalyst for change, Foreword

which necessitated incredible flexibility and innovation across HR functions. The HR Magazine Awards 2020 celebrate HR success stories and the teams leveraging organisational agility to thrive in the new now.

Two ways to read your HR Magazine Awards Supplement: 1.

Celebrate HR success stories (see featured organisations index)

2.

Source winning HR initiatives that your teams can leverage (see HR initiatives index)

Featured organisations (alphabetical)

HR Magazine Awards

Pages

Atrium HR Consulting

G

79

BIPO Service Ltd.

G

74 – 75

BPP Education Group

G+G

48, 82

Carrefour Global Sourcing

G

55

Chorev Consulting International

S

84 - 85

Elabram

B

71

EY

G

62

First Advantage

S

72

GoodNotes

S+B

64, 68

Hasbro

G

69

HKBN Group

B+B+S+S

49, 56, 58, 70

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.

S

57

IHS Markit

B

51

Paul Arkwright

JobsDB Hong Kong Ltd.

G

73

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

KAS Group Asia

S+S

50, 52 – 53

HR Magazine

Mattel

B+B

59, 65

PERSOLKELLY Consulting Greater China

B

86

Ramco

G

78

SAP

G+S

66 – 67, 76 – 77

Societe Generale

G+G+S

54, 60, 63

State of Mind.ai

B

80

The Clorox Company

B

61

Total Loyalty Company

S

81

The HR Magazine Awards 2020 celebrate HR success stories and the teams leveraging organisational agility to thrive in the new now.

G = Gold Award, S = Silver Award, B = Bronze Award

HR Initiatives

Pages

BPO

78

COVID-19

48 – 50

D&I

61 – 63

Employee wellness

51 – 54, 79 – 81

HRIS

74 – 77

L&D

58 – 60, 82 – 86

Recruitment

55 – 57, 71 – 73

Work-life integration

68 – 70

Workspace

64 – 67

47

Gold Award Best COVID-19 HR initiative HR Award Categories

Best Covid-19 HR initiative

And delivered a range of activities across the following subjects:

BPP Education Group

•

Stronger Together Campaign

•

Physical Health: Online yoga classes, podcast on health and safety and the 10,000 Step Challenge.

Mental Health: Live webinars on how to manage mental wellbeing, self-compassion and mindfulness. Podcasts on how to manage sleep, stress and emotions and mental health during Mental Health Awareness Week

Originally, BPP wanted to place its employees at the heart of the organisation and recognise the invaluable role they play in driving

•

Employee Development: Live webinar on how to get the most out

and maintaining ambitious growth targets. As such in late 2019,

of Microsoft Teams. There was also new online content added to

BPP’s HR team created an enhanced wellbeing strategy, based on

the employee development portal which covered a range of subjects

seven principles of wellbeing: Physical Health, Mental Health,

such as time management, dealing with change, communication and resilience.

Working Environment, Diversity, Employee Voice, Employee Development and Financial Wellbeing. This was due to be launched

•

increased wellbeing throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Employee Voice: Live panel events on Work/Life Balance and Working Families were scheduled

in early 2020 however, was accelerated due to the identified need of •

Line Manager Content: As line managers play a key part in supporting the wellbeing of their staff, the campaign also provided

Within a two-week period, where BPP closed its offices and

targeted interventions such as regular webinars with HR and other

transitioned to remote work, the HR team quickly identified the

learning such as Embodied Resilience and adapting leadership

need to revise the support strategy of employee wellbeing. The

styles during a crisis.

objective of the initiative shifted to create an effective and agile wellbeing programme that would demonstrate that BPP values its

The benefits of this campaign show an increase in employee engagement.

workforce and empowers employees to take ownership for their

Statistics demonstrate that:

own wellbeing.

•

Over 50% of the workforce have attended a live webinar

The initiative launched on the 24th March and was branded as the

•

Over 3,000 views of vlogs from members of the Executive Team

Stronger Together Campaign. The aim of it was simple – BPP wanted

•

Over 2,000 views of online articles and guides created for the campaign

to keep everyone connected, motivated and informed during this

•

Over 1,000 combined listeners to the podcasts

uncertain time.

•

A total of 300 employees signed up to the 10,000 Step Challenge

The Stronger Together Campaign was created as a collaborative project by the HR and Marketing teams and approved by the Director of Legal and HR. It was important at a time of crisis for employees to receive regular communications from the Executive Team, to reinforce BPP’s commitment to staff wellbeing.

The project team ensured there were a variety of different subjects, which linked directly to the seven principles of wellbeing.

Communication was also vital to ensure BPP employees felt connected. In summary, from 23 March – 02 November we have collectively issued:

4848

This initiative has really brought our BPP Values to life and enabled us to support a wide variety of employee needs throughout the very challenging Covid-19 pandemic. Our values were new to the organisation in 2019 but they now feel very real and BPP feels like a family.

•

28 all employee comms (culture, pension, HR updates)

•

18 Covid-19 business wide updates ( this includes pulse checks)

•

16 People Manager updates

Mandy Lagan

•

27 Stronger Together emails (wellbeing)

Group HR Director, BPP

•

12 vlogs from a member of the exec

Best Covid-19 HR initiative

HKBN Group

their current salaries paid by the company. Similarly, in line with HKBN's Core Purpose of 'Make our Home a Better Place to Live' wherever they operate, the company has also given similar business subsidies received from the governments in Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China and the Macau SAR as a one-time financial subsidy

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, HKBN offered its Talents much

to all eligible Talents in those locations.

2020, when the pandemic first began, they exercised vigilance by

Since

encouraging office and back-end support Talents in Hong Kong to

responsibilities to society and customers—introducing various

February

2020,

the

company

also

embraced

its

work flexibly from home. They also prioritised all frontline and core

#ToughTimesTogether initiatives. These initiatives have included

operational Talents' safety with the supply of protective necessities

a one-month service fee waiver to residential fixed-line and

like face masks and hand sanitisers.

enterprise solutions customers, free remote office solutions for enterprise customers, free two-year broadband service for 10,000 disadvantaged families, free data smartphones for care home

during COVID, the company also provided free Remote Office

residents, and three-month employment with on-the-job training

Solutions to help enterprise customers and their HR teams better

and mentorship for 100 university graduates.

adjust employees to the "new normal". Helping minimise business HKBN says, "Despite COVID, HKBN has not only continued to

solutions included the use of Business Continuity Service (BCS)

grow, but we have taken on much greater responsibility to support

centres as an office backup facility, mobile conferencing service and

our Talents, our customers and our communities. We are in an

secure remote access service. Altogether, HKBN's free Remote Office

exceptional position whereby we can do good and do well."

Solutions played a critical role, at a crucial period during the pandemic (February 2020), in enabling their enterprise customers—and their employees—to maintain productivity by working from anywhere and access their company's data and systems with end-to-end services that included free use of laptops, software licences and installation, system configuration and deployment, as well as mobile connectivity.

Due to COVID's unprecedented economic fallout, many HKBN's Talents have seen their overall family incomes adversely affected.

Despite COVID, HKBN has not only continued

Bronze Award

disruption and safeguard employees against infection, HKBN's free

Best COVID-19 HR initiative

Besides initiating numerous measures to look out for HKBN Talents

HR Award Categories

greater flexibility for work and personal life. As far back as January

to grow, but we have taken on much greater responsibility to support our Talents, our customers and our communities.

The organisation embraced a financial relief initiative by passing on Talent-related pay-out funds received from the Hong Kong SAR Government to all eligible Talents in Hong Kong, without reducing

49

Silver Award

We are a team of highly experienced retail sourcing professionals who thrive to bring globally compelling low cost, on-trend products to our customers in Australia and New Zealand. We follow the highest standards to source ethically, adhering to fair practices and measuring up to global industry standards. With a clear focus on sustainability, we ensure that none of our operations are detrimental to the welfare of our planet and our people.

HR Award Categories

Best COVID-19 HR initiative

Amazing Products at Unbeatable Value

About KAS Group Asia and The Kmart Group KAS Group Asia (KGA) is the exclusive direct sourcing arm of the Kmart Group Australia that operates the iconic retail brands Kmart Australia, Target Australia and Catch.

KGA’s operations span the largest sourcing markets across Asia including China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Connect with us

Best Covid-19 HR initiative

KAS Group Asia

flexible work schedule to ensure team avoid

A crisis management team (CMT) was

crowds to facilitate social distancing. This

constituted for each location with representatives

was very challenging at the start, especially

from all functions to continue monitoring

during CNY when team members were on

the situation providing on-time local advice.

holiday during the outbreak, immediate health At the beginning of February 2020, the world

declaration forms were needed to be in place to

The Result

was starting to experience the impacts of

find out about team members' whereabouts and

KAS Group Asia People & the Capability

COVID-19 on their lives and workplace.

health situation within a tight turnaround time,

Team was shortlisted as one of the four

KAS Group Asia (KGA) adapted very quickly

with constant follow up on a safe return to the

finalists among thousands of nominations

to evaluate the situation, designed and

workplace and what assistance was required.

across The Kmart Group, our parent company headquartered in Australia. The team was

implemented a robust risk mitigation plan to ensure their team members are safe and

Site Management

nominated for the "Take Care" Award, in

empowered to expedite their duties in a stress-

A "Return to Office Deck" was put together

recognition of all the initiatives put in place,

free and comfortable work environment.

showing detailed sanitisation and disinfection

which were widely appreciated.

introduced in the office to help ensure a riskHealth and Safety

free workplace and educate team members

A COVID-19 engagement pulse check survey

Ensuring team members' health and safety

about all new office entry protocols, a COVID-19

was conducted, and KAS Group Asia received

has always been a top priority for KGA

notice board was set up to reassure all staff that

a score of 94% for "Company confidence"

People & Capability (P&C) team. For such

workplace hygiene is kept at the highest standard.

and 96% for "My company is supporting employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic".

an unprecedented situation, bringing a level

5050

of safety awareness to all team members has

Covid SOP was drawn up to direct each site for

A true testament of their relentless efforts

become critical as the 'potential health impact'

when a team member has a fever with covid

and undiluted focus to employee wellbeing.

is rapidly changing on a daily basis. The risk

symptoms and what needs to be done. To

mitigation plan included travel restriction,

mitigate any risk, KGA trace down close office

A video was initiated by the Shanghai business

COVID-19 FAQs, information on globally

contact list, ask team members to work from

to showcase the great office preparations put in

recognised health practices, newly introduced

home and ensure deep cleaning is done for the

place when Shanghai was the first office to open

work policies including work from home,

office immediately.

back in March 2020, after the initial breakout.

Best employee wellness programme

IHS Markit

own words. With 2020 being such a challenging year for everyone, IHS Markit felt it was the right time to double-down on this sort of recognition. It is noteworthy that the company focused 100% on pure recognition—the stories themselves and what they say about the company culture—and that the programme was launched

IHS Markit is the leading source of information and insight in critical

without any financial component.

in business, finance and government make decisions with wide-

This programme was launched with the following goals in mind:

ranging implications. These leaders need to see the interconnected factors that impact their organisations. This knowledge allows

1.

them to make the best choices and achieve their business goals. IHS

Increase employees' general awareness of their six company values and show real-life stories of how they look in action.

Markit calls this the ‘New Intelligence’.

2.

Enable a culture of recognition where employees of all levels

take a systemic and forward-looking view of employee recognition within their firm. It makes perfect sense that they would seek to empower their 15,000+ employees across the globe to participate

3.

Streamline the data collection process for shortlisting stories/ nominations for existing awards programmes

first-hand in the process and that they would look to leverage this network to drive new connections and unlock value.

Since launching just three months ago, IHS Markit has had over 5,000 individual stories submitted by employees from all over the globe. They have also been able to pull valuable insights from the

programme in October 2020, with the project design and

data, which tell not only of engagement with the new platform but

management led out of Hong Kong, with in-house technical

also provide novel insights into collaboration. The company, for

development by their teams in the US, UK and India. The

example, can track the number of times an employee recognises a

foundation of this programme is something very simple: authentic

colleague from a different region or business division rather than

stories submitted by colleagues in their own words. Each story is

from their own, revealing insights into overall organisational health

an example of organic peer-to-peer recognition, highlighting one

and agility.

Bronze Award

IHS Markit launched their new global employee recognition

Best employee wellness programme

and locations feel included and visible.

Against this backdrop, it makes perfect sense that IHS Markit would

HR Award Categories

areas that shape today's business landscape. Every day, people

of their six company values. Each of these stories is immediately made visible to all employees on a public online wall, with

This has been a wildly successful initiative and has already been very

automatic notifications to the employee and their manager. To

well received in the first few months since its launch. During the

make the experience as streamlined and transparent as possible,

current pandemic, when employee wellness is critical, as is maintaining

no approval process was required—and what employees see on the

employee connection across the firm, IHS Markit felt that investing in

public wall is all authentic and from the heart, in their colleagues'

this type of non-monetary recognition platform was a no-brainer.

This new recognition programme is completely owned by our 15,000+ employees worldwide—the stories are in their own words. It's meant to help everyone feel included, visible and connected to our firm and values.

Cassady Winston Executive Director, Human Resources APAC, IHS Markit

51

Best employee wellness programme

KAS Group Asia

HR Award Categories

Best employee wellness programme

Silver Award

KAS Group Asia (KGA) is one of the increasing number of organisations that places employee health and well-being at the core of their business strategy. Recognising that a healthy, happy and committed workforce is vital to business success. As an organisation with offices located across Asia, the pandemic posed a tough challenge—keeping the morale and wellness quotient high for team members working across geographies. Government-imposed travel restrictions and lockdown measures implemented in most countries meant that team members were working in isolation with little or no in-person engagement. The risk of mental and physical burn out looked real.

The People & Capability team at KGA was quick to respond to these challenges and converted the usual in-office wellness week into a six-week wellness programme which was launched across the region and to help ensure the mental and physical wellness of all the team members.

The challenges: •

Connect team members across 10 offices spread across Asia.

•

Engage team members in a non-work fun environment.

•

Ensure there is work-life balance while team members are working from home.

•

Remind team members that their personal well-being is important.

•

Remind team members that involving their family in-office fun activities is natural.

•

Remind team members to ensure they have ‘me time’ and ‘sharing time’.

The wellness programme comprised a mix of initiatives aimed at stimulating the body and the mind with lots of fun sprinkled all through the week.

•

Monday | COOK A STORM—team members shared photos of dishes they have cooked over the weekend. There were over 200 photos and videos shared

•

Tuesday | VIRTUAL FITNESS KEEP MOVING—every week, at a dedicated time, team members were invited to virtually join an exercise session—with everyone following a fitness video live-streamed online

•

Wednesday | VIRTUAL MINDFULNESS—team members took a few minutes to be mindful of their mind, well-being and surroundings. It is all about taking some quiet time

•

Thursday | 10,000 STEPS CHALLENGE—team members proudly showed off the number of steps they achieved during three consecutive days. With the steps achieved collectively over six weeks, one could probably walk from Bengaluru (Bangalore) to Delhi!

•

Friday | PAY IT FORWARD—team members passed a virtual flag around. On any day, the one with the virtual flag would do a good deed for their community, family, friends and eventhemselves.Weekafterweek,heart-warmingstoriesemergedfromteammembers.

A COVID-19 engagement pulse check survey was conducted, and KAS Group Asia received a score of 94% for ‘Company confidence’ and 96% for ‘My company is supporting employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic’. A true testament of their relentless efforts and undiluted focus to employee well-being.

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The wellness program sent out a strong reminder to the team that nurturing a strong physical and mental health is vital at all times and it is important to continue to eat well and keep fit for a healthy lifestyle.

Lavina Mehta Head of People & Capability and Facility Management KAS Group Asia

About KGA and The Kmart Group KAS Group Asia (KGA) is the exclusive direct sourcing arm of the Kmart Group Australia. The Kmart Group, comprising Kmart and Target, operates 520 stores across Australia and New Zealand and employs more than 46,000 team members with $8.7 Bn in revenues. The Kmart Group is one of Australia’s largest and fastest growing retailers who provide great value and on-trend products across apparel and general merchandise. In 2019, the group acquired Catch, one of Australia’s largest online retailers with close to 400 staff, over 45 thousand square metres of warehouse space shipping over 10,000 orders per day.

About KAS Group Asia and The Kmart Group KAS Group Asia (KGA) is the exclusive direct sourcing arm of the Kmart Group Australia that operates the iconic retail brands Kmart Australia, Target Australia and Catch. KGA’s operations span the largest sourcing markets across Asia including China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Sourcing from the best for unbeatable value We are a team of highly experienced retail sourcing professionals who thrive to bring globally compelling low cost, on-trend products to our customers in Australia and New Zealand. We follow the highest standards to source ethically, adhering to fair practices and measuring up to global industry standards.

With a clear focus on sustainability, we ensure that none of our operations are detrimental to the welfare of our planet and our people.

Connect with us

Gold Award Best employee wellness programme HR Award Categories

Best employee wellness programme

it, upgrading systems and tools to support

For example, in 2020, to better support

flexible working, the introduction of flex

staff in working from home, the Bank

days, staggered working hours, forming a

subsidised staff in purchasing a larger

staff engagement committee to take care of

screen for their workstations at home. In

extra-curricular activities aimed at health and

terms of supporting parental transitions,

Societe Generale believes that employees'

well-being of employees, organising health

on top of the 20-week maternity leave and

quality of life in the workplace, together with

and wellness months, bonding activities,

15-day paternity & partner leave, the Bank

health and well-being of its employees, are

and providing work-life coaching through an

also provides individual coaching and

the key factors for efficiency, effectiveness,

external provider.

awareness sessions for parents-to-be and

Societe Generale

line managers to help support parental

and sustainable performance. To achieve the ambition, they believe employees are

In addition to attracting and retaining the best

transitions with the staff, the managers

the Group's most significant assets—and if

talent, the Bank has designed a holistic benefits

and the teams. During COVID situations,

they were not motivated and energised, the

plan to support them at different stages of

the Bank has also strengthened its delivery

Group would not be able to achieve its goals.

their lives, whether with health and wellness,

of mental health support to staff through

The leadership model is based on the above

medical benefits, family-friendly leave, or their

a professional vendor. Employees facing

ambition and is directly linked to the values

general well-being at work.

questions or concerns in these areas, as well as their family members, can receive free

of the Group—Team Spirit, Commitment, Innovation and Responsibility all aiming to

The Health & Wellness Event has the key

advice and support from experienced and

work towards empowering employees, to

objectives of fostering a community spirit

professionally trained counsellors.

create a relationship-focused bank and achieve

within the Bank and promoting Health and

Societe Generale's objectives with a "win-win"

Wellbeing as part of the Bank's People Value

mindset for employees and the Bank.

Proposition. Health Topics help ensure the Bank can better assess employees' health risks

In 2015, Societe Generale launched the Life at

and provide sufficient information to raise

Work programme to continue and share the

awareness on this topic. Wellness Topics aim

initiatives undertaken throughout the Group,

to demonstrate the Bank's CARE philosophy in

while fostering the creation of new initiatives. In

that Societe Generale cares for its employees.

Hong Kong, along with the global direction, the

The above topics have also been successfully

Group has embraced many initiatives to enhance

integrated into the "Life at work Programme".

"workplace well-being" for all employees. The

and professional lives is the key factor for the sustainable performance of our Bank.

programme is fully supported by the senior

The Life at Work programme focuses on

Mukta Arya

management of the Bank who review it regularly

several pillars:

Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific

with HR, to ensure proper business alignment.

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Well-being in our staff's personal

Societe Generale •

Work from home and new ways of working

To achieve the above goals, Societe Generale

•

Working environment

has worked consistently towards enhancing

•

Key life events and benefits

the regular HR benefits like different kinds of

•

Health and safety

leave, introducing "work from home" policy

•

Individual and collective efficiency

for departments that can accommodate

•

Management

Best recruitment campaign

efficiency and afford a better candidate

Carrefour Global Sourcing

experience in their interview process. The organisation has found that the platform saves around 70 days per year (20% of work time) solely by eliminating the arrangement and conduct of pre-screening interviews.

HR Award Categories

The digital recruitment platform helps: 1. speed up pre-screening process—where candidates answer a pre-set of interview questions via recorded video interview, text writing, or multiple-choice questions;

its customers' daily lives across its network

2. assess

hard

and

soft

skills

Best recruitment campaign

Carrefour Global Sourcing continues to enhance

with

assessment tests;

comprising over 11,900 stores in countries worldwide, including France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Brazil and Argentina. With 500 collaborators

3. candidate-scoring

using

Artificial

Intelligence (AI); and

from 20 different nationalities operating from 4. automate time-consuming tasks (e.g.,

Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, Dhaka, Delhi,

arranging interviews and sending emails

Istanbul, Massy/Paris and Sao Paulo; recruiting is

to invite or decline candidates).

a crucial part of their daily HR activities.

Picture (top): Scoring by hiring team according to Now, hiring managers can view candidates'

various competencies aligned with the questions set

The Carrefour Global Sourcing HR team spends a

videos and review the pre-recorded interviews

in the pre-screening interview.

lot of time arranging and conducting first-round

anytime, anywhere by laptop or phone APP.

interview screenings. Some of the common

Hiring managers can also view the quality of

Picture (bottom): Courtesy of Easyrecue: Example

challenges faced include:

candidates out there in the market versus their

of AI scoring of candidates.

Gold Award

9 office locations globally: Shanghai, Hong

expectations and budget availability.

• Conflicting work schedules and global time zone differences to interview with

Better candidate experience—reduce candidate

candidates.

biases, increase employer branding!

The digital recruitment platform also allows

• Limitations in arranging only a small number

the organisation to reduce unconscious

of interviews due to resource constraints.

biases and improve hiring diversity. In Carrefour Global Sourcing, hiring for the right

• Asking the same repetitive questions during

personality and potential is more important

first-round interview screenings which is

than experience—to avoid missing out on any

very time-consuming.

great potential candidates.

As an employer branding initiative, candidates

first-round interview but later discovered

can also first read the company profile, which

that their profiles and personalities differ

is available in the platform, to understand

from their CVs/ resumes. The time spent

Carrefour Global Sourcing better. After this,

in these interviews can be put to better

candidates can complete the pre-recorded

use instead.

interviews

their

convenience.

with AI technology will be the future of recruitment, as more people now work from home.

Using AI and big data can also

• Sometimes, candidates were invited for a

at

Digital pre-screening interviews

Upon

help us to be more efficient and better evaluate candidates in our recruitment processes.

completion, they will be scored by both the • Candidates do not understand the company

hiring team (manually) and the Artificial

them

Intelligence (AI) system (automated) which

Kristy LAM

misunderstood Carrefour Global Sourcing as

assesses candidates' non-verbal language and

Regional HR Manager

the Carrefour hypermarket retail store, but

verbal content for each question.

Carrefour Global Sourcing

profile

and

business.

Most

of

these are 2 different entities.

An objective assessment will thus be sent via Better work efficiency—work more with less!

email to hiring managers to view and select

Tholmas SIM

Carrefour Global Sourcing decided to engage

their preferred candidates for the second-

China HR & Global Talent Manager

a digital recruitment platform to increase

round interviews.

Carrefour Global Sourcing

55

Bronze Award Best recruitment campaign HR Award Categories

Best recruitment campaign

HKBN Group

recruit new Talents for the company. After programme completion, HKBN offered full-time employment to 25 participants—double their regular annual intake. And for those who did not remain with HKBN, the three-month practical work experience in a specialised function area was still extremely useful and would likely increase

HKBN recognised that, under the COVID threat and a prolonged

their chances of landing a job in the future.

economic downturn, new graduates face unprecedented challenges in job hunting. In doing their part to offer much-needed support,

HKBN says, “The true meaning behind our #ToughTimesTogether

the company launched their “#ToughTimesTogether—Career

campaign is that we hope to inspire more companies to step

Kickstarter for Graduates” programme and hired around 100

forward and extend a helping hand by being flexible or by doing

university graduates for three months.

more. Collective action makes all the difference.”

Focused on steering young professionals for a future of success, the jam-packed Kickstarter programme delivered heaps of practical work experience along with inspiring mentorships. Participants could choose the area of focus they wish to gain broader exposure in. To help kickstart their careers, HKBN matched each placement with three months of on-the-job training and mentorship from their top 1% executives. Even under normal circumstances, the gap between university and the practical working world is vast, and the pandemic has only widened this gap further. In the three months, HKBN provided participants with a place to learn and fail, build a two-way mentoring relationship with their top executives and be inspired by their professional achievements.

This programme was conceived as a stepping stone for aspiring young people to develop and grow even in tough times, rather than

The true meaning behind our #ToughTimesTogether campaign is that we hope to inspire more companies to step forward and extend a helping hand by being flexible or by doing more. Collective action makes all the difference.

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Best recruitment campaign

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited

reporting, system support, sustainability programmes, community outreach, and communications and administration.

Paul Choi, Group Head of HR (Acting), noted, “We know that today’s young people are looking for more than just a job. What’s important to them is different from what was important to previous generations. Our dedicated GO BEYOND website pages and social media campaign on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Weibo aim to inspire potential talent with a clear sense of who we are as a company,

The world of work beyond COVID-19 is going to be very different. New

our culture and what makes us unique. We are proud to be nurturing

working practices have become a reality, industries are being radically

the talent of tomorrow and to building Hong Kong’s future.”

reshaped, and businesses are seizing fresh opportunities. Everyone is just beginning to understand the possibilities that lie beyond.

Graduates will be assigned to work on projects that are interesting young people with the chance to gain valuable work experience,

challenging, and at HKEX, the team knows that it is especially

develop their skills and to work for one of Hong Kong’s most vibrant

hard when young people are just starting out. In its GO BEYOND

companies in the beating heart of Asian financial markets.

with HKEX graduate internship programme, up to fifty graduates will receive an insight into life at work at HKEX, the global markets leader in the Asian time zone, while gaining practical career within the financial services industry or not—the posting provides graduates with rich experiences, new connections and

We know that today’s young people are looking for more than just a job. What’s important to them is different from

fascinating insights.

what was important to previous generations. Our dedicated

Calvin Tai, Interim Chief Executive, HKEX, said, “Through GO

GO BEYOND website pages and social media campaigns …

BEYOND, we are focused on contributing not only to the development of our own talent pool but to Hong Kong’s continuing role as a leading global international financial centre, helping to support the prosperity of all.”

The new six-month internship programme kicks-off in March 2021 and

Silver Award

on-the-job experience. Whether they are considering a long-term

Best recruitment campaign

and relevant to their skills and interest. The scheme will provide Looking ahead after a period of unprecedented change can be

HR Award Categories

GO BEYOND with HKEX—new six-month graduate internship programme

aim to inspire potential talent with a clear sense of who we are as a company, our culture and what makes us unique.

continues through to August 2021. HKEX is committed to offering job

Paul Choi

opportunities in policy research, financial data and statistical analysis,

Group Head of HR (Acting)

information management, data input and programming, drafting,

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited

57

Best L&D programme

HKBN Group

HR Award Categories

Best L&D programme

Silver Award

HKBN firmly believes in growth through learning and supports this by routinely organising talks, webinars and workshops which inspire their Talents to discover something new, shift their viewpoints or even explore new possibilities. Whenever learning opportunities arise, each HKBN Talent is expected to serve as the "eyes and ears" for all 6,000 HKBNers. After each learning opportunity, it is common practice that Talents share reflections and come up with resolutions—through these collective actions learning and growing as a company.

"HKBN Inspires" was recently launched—a one-stop learning calendar platform which gives Talents and external guests easy access to all kinds of knowledge sharing and learning sessions by fellow Talents and guest speakers. The platform improves Talents' learning by enabling them to revisit past events and plan their learning schedule with greater flexibility.

HKBN Inspires has not only benefitted Talents' development, but it also empowers Talents to deepen their engagement with business partners/customers through sharing access to HKBN's learning resources and has thus helped bolster and take HKBN's long term win-win relationships to new heights.

To meet the learning and development needs from their expanded operations in the Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China and the Macau SAR, HKBN has also established a brand-new digital platform, WisCafé, bringing together knowledge, inspiration, best practices and experience sharing via one easy-to-access resource that enables its Talents to learn and develop remotely in the post-COVID "new normal".

In 2020, different virtual sessions were held, delivering over 2,500 total hours of learning for Talents across APAC. Through hosting various virtual WisCafé events, HKBN has also summarised the many lessons and experiences learned in the transition from in-person to virtual L&D in a best-practice guide (via WisCafe sharing sessions) to help NGOs, local charities and their business partners better adapt and navigate through their own digitalisation journeys.

Both HKBN Inspires and WisCafé have reduced information silos across different departments and regions, increasing transparency and access for knowledge sharing and retention: Talents from different regions are encouraged to host their own training sessions and share insightful knowledge with

learning opportunities and evolve our L&D practices to benefit our Talents' career growth and crowd-share

fellow Talents and external guests.

knowledge with our community to Make our Home a

HKBN says, "Beyond the near-term actions, we will continue to

Better Place to Live.

deliver learning opportunities and evolve our L&D practices to benefit our Talents' career growth and crowd-share knowledge with our community to Make our Home a Better Place to Live."

5858

Beyond the near-term actions, we will continue to deliver

Best L&D programme

•

Learning through play: to fill skills gaps, the talent team also provided learning

Mattel

opportunities for employees. Learning through play has been proven to be an effective way to reinforce learning

"How We Lead" Campaign

goals while creating a fun environment and innovation. This being the case,

to transform from a toy brand into an IP-

the talent team introduce a unique

driven franchise business. The goal of their

game-based learning platform from

"How We Lead" campaign is to unlock our

Spain,

people's curiosity towards Mattel's new

conventional

business model and enhance their capabilities

games. Participants were able to

to innovate and collaborate.

develop their leadership skills by

Gamelearn,

that

training

HR Award Categories

steeped in exploration, collaboration Mattel is undergoing a multi-year turnaround

converts

into

video

Best L&D programme

joining a survival adventure that challenged them to escape with a

run between business units and Human

team from a desert island using their

Resources, who have worked together to

ability to manage and motivate them.

define, prioritise and design a series of sharing

Employees were also able to develop

sessions, stimulation activities and employee

time management skills by playing a

engagement events. These activities are

history professor's role with a mission

designed to engage talent and build resourceful

to unveil the greatest secret, The

mindsets while inspiring and motivating them

Order of Wisdom, before time ran out.

to be part of "ONE Team" with shared values

Some photos from the "#Franchisearoundus" •

and common goals.

Bronze Award

This campaign is a co-ownership programme

Collaborative competition: finally,

to

photo contest

strengthen learning and engagement, the •

Live Chats with leaders: to ensure the

talent team hosted a"#Franchisearoundus"

campaign is aligned with its overall

photo contest, where people across the

strategic goals, Mattel first engaged

company could compete in teams or as

the senior management team to

individuals to showcase their creativity

firmly embed the right behaviours and

with our franchise products. This allowed

mindsets through a series of live "Coffee

employees to collaborate on as many

Chats"

technology

ideas as possible in a fun and casual way.

to connect its people with leaders

The photo contest received over 3,000

across APAC. To ensure engaging

views and 400 likes in just five days on

conversations, these casual and fun

Mattel's internal social platform.

sessions,

using

sessions were designed to create an employees

Hundreds of employees across the region

to listen to company leadership and

participated in the myriad of programme

encourage them to ask questions and

activities yielding a 95% response rate in the

share perspectives. Over 100 employees

2020 engagement survey. An average 5-point

participated in each session—25% of

score increased compared to 2019. This

"Coffee Chats" sessions with Mattel's senior

Mattel's entire Hong Kong population.

campaign received an 80% recommendation

management team

open

environment

for

rating, which bears testament to the benefit •

Peer-to-Peer learning betwork: building

it brought employees—with 90% of staff

upon the valuable insights garnered

saying the programme was practical and

from senior management; the talent

applicable. The high participation rates and

team created a "Peer-to-Peer Learning

positive feedback confirming the popularity

Network" by inviting talented employees

of an inclusive, innovative, collaborative

as the facilitator of bite-sized lessons with

learning and development campaign. This all

interactive activities to share knowledge

helped instil a deep sense of internal pride

and best practices across regions. These

among the team through active participation

first-hand, practical and relevant lessons

in the company's transformation process

have helped foster a learning culture that

based around unlocking curiosity, cultivating

Joyce Fong

encourages entrepreneurship, curiosity

collaboration, building creativity and having

Talent Development Manager

and knowledge sharing.

everyone #KeepPlaying.

APAC, Mattel

Unlock Curiosity, cultivate collaboration, build creativity and #KeepPlaying.

59

Gold Award Best L&D programme HR Award Categories

Best L&D programme

Societe Generale

Understanding that there is no "One size fits all" learning offering that could cater to every department/team/staff needs. It was emphasised that department/team-specific needs can always be discussed, designed and rolled out during the year. Employees can also consider external public courses if they are not currently

In a world of unprecedented changes and continuous transformation,

available internally.

learning and development are also changing shape. Keeping the above context in mind and the fact that Societe Generale staff all

COVID-19 has impacted working arrangements in the Bank to

have different learning styles in how they absorb and consume

different extents in office locations across APAC. Inevitably, some

information, different levels of access to information, different

training plans were interrupted, e.g., classroom training was put

motivations to learn, the Bank's learning offerings 2020 for APAC

on hold as part of the Bank's social distancing measures.

have been designed to address these diverse needs and styles.

Yet, with the diversity and agility of the 2020 learning offerings, Learning is not only "training". The Bank has also provided other

the Bank has maintained momentum in its learning activities—

development tools and programmes that enhance learning and

with broader geographical coverage and most importantly, at

development goals. With learning methods like MOOCs, live

lower costs. Even before the COVID-19 situation arose, the

webinars, mobile learning, self-paced workshops, on-demand

Bank had already reduced its reliance on classroom training and

workshops, internal and external coaches, experiential workshops,

attempted to focus on digital learning and other digital means.

professional certification, lunch and learns and bite-sized learning

This preparedness meant that the Bank's L&D programmes were

modules, the aim is to continue the Bank's journey to be an advanced

less "interrupted" by COVID-19 and the Bank was, in fact, able to

"learning organisation".

leverage the situation to further promote digital learning to all staff.

Keeping Societe Generale's visions and the insights from their training

In 2020, Societe Generale recorded an increase of 4.2% in their

needs analysis in mind, the Bank launched a diversified portfolio of

non-mandatory training activities per staff. More significantly,

learning offerings at the beginning of 2020. In terms of classroom

it managed to keep and even increase the volume of training

training, the Bank offers 105 internal classroom training courses in

activities—with lower training costs. Compared to 2019, 2020

eight categories, and 49% of them are new this year. All these offerings

has seen the Bank able to reduce training costs by half. These cost

are designed to help our staff keep abreast of market trends, thereby

savings have not only justified the Bank's investment in digital

upskilling them for the ongoing transformation within the Bank and

learning but also created more resources to sharpen learning

the banking industry.

offerings further.

On top of classroom training, the Bank has also made extensive investment and brought 14 external digital learning platforms onboard to its portfolios. For example, introducing "Coursera", a worldwide online learning platform specialising in massive open online courses (MOOC).

Variety in learning is our key to cater for diversity in our staff's needs and the constraints that arose in 2020.

Under the Bank's sponsorship, staff could take as many courses as they wanted from the HR-curated catalogue within their license period.

6060

These learning platforms have collectively covered the full spectrum

Mukta Arya

of skills, ranging from banking & financial knowledge, communication

Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific

skills, digital and technology skills to leadership and managerial skills.

Societe Generale

Best D&I initiative

These groups:

The Clorox Company

1.

Development team to create an Inclusive Leadership programme.

create a more consistent I&D experience Managers received regular emails with tips and

provide clarity of functional and enterprise

videos to help them fine-tune their inclusive

Clorox's purpose is to champion people to be well

I&D roles and responsibilities through a

leadership behaviours. These skills are reinforced

and thrive every single day. The company focuses

standard framework; and

in weekly manager emails, a Learn & Lead year-

create and highlight best practices &

long manager training programme and manager

opportunities for cross-collaboration.

guides that support key people processes.

on creating an inclusive place where each employee can be their best selves, develop their professional

3.

and leadership skills, encourage others and make Global Mentoring Programme

Clorox has zero tolerance for racism or

Clorox's Global Mentoring Programme is

whose values and practices reflect their own.

discrimination of any kind, reflected in its

designed to help participants reach their full

Code of Conduct and mirrored in its Business

potential across levels, functions, and locations.

Today's global marketplace requires inclusive

Partner Code of Conduct. These codes outline

Throughout the organisation, functions and

thinking and diverse, everyday leadership. At

our expectation that all employees, board

ERGs have also established different mentoring

Clorox, this means creating a culture where

directors and business partners live by Clorox

programmes to cater to their populations'

every employee feels a sense of belonging. This

values and follow ethical and legal standards in

specific needs.

means building a workplace where every person

their behaviours and business practices.

Pay Equity

feels respected and valued for their unique world view, experiences and thought processes.

Unconscious Bias Training

Clorox is committed to ensuring equitable

It means fostering inclusive leaders that lead

Clorox started unconscious bias training in

pay for the workforce by conducting annual

by example, at every level within the company

2018. This programme was designed to help

equity analyses, improving people processes

and encouraging each other to share ideas for

the organisation drive culture change and

and helping to address the systemic societal

winning in a multicultural environment. It means

mitigate biases to improve outcomes for both

inequality that continues to impact people of

actively building a diverse workforce that mirrors

employees and the business.

colour and women.

As Clorox continues this journey, in 2021,

Measurement Metrics

they will launch Breaking Bias: Courageous

Each

are

Conversations. This aims to equip employees

representation numbers for women and

designed to help drive inclusion and diversity

with practical tools to use daily to have

minorities working in the US in its integrated

within the organisation. With more than 3,000

difficult conversations and manage conflict

annual report for employees and external

members and allies, ERGs aim to foster a

while building trust and putting people at the

stakeholders. These numbers are regularly

greater understanding of different perspectives

centre of everything the organisation does.

shared with the board of directors, who review

Bronze Award

Racial Equity Efforts

makes it a point to work with business partners

Best D&I initiative

the world a better place. The organisation also

HR Award Categories

for all Clorox employees; 2.

our communities around the world.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) Clorox's

employee

resource

groups

year,

the

organisation

publishes

progress throughout the year.

and backgrounds through cultural events and panel discussions. The groups are an important

Inclusive Leadership Manager Training

forum for career mentorship and development

Clorox wants every person to feel respected

Clorox also has a systematic process internally to

and support local communities through regular

and valued and achieves this by fostering

review progress—not just at a company level, but

volunteer activities.

inclusive

The

within functions. Each enterprise team has goals

organisation also recognises the importance

that require progress on inclusion and diversity,

The organisation's ERGs also help drive the

of having inclusive, empathetic leaders who

which are held accountable for results through

business by serving as vital internal focus groups,

value differences and mitigate personal

the annual performance evaluation process and

inspiring product innovations, accelerating

biases. I&D partnered with the Learning &

annual compensation awards.

leadership

behaviours.

product placement plans and deepening the understanding of multicultural consumers.

Most ERGs began more than a decade ago, but

Change starts with us. That's why we continue to build an inclusive

new groups have formed over the years based on employee and business demand.

and diverse team who will best represent our millions of consumers …

Enterprise I&D Taskforces and International I&D

and it's a journey, not an arrival—we're better able to live our purpose,

Committees Clorox's Enterprise I&D Taskforces and

which is to champion people to be well and thrive every single day.

International I&D Committees amplify and supplement I&D efforts at targeted levels throughout the organisation, i.e., functional,

Germaine Hunter

geographic and business.

Vice President of Inclusion & Diversity, Clorox

61

Best D&I initiative

EY

Best D&I initiative Gold Award

services networks, has a presence in over

HR Award Categories

EY, one of the ‘Big 4’ global professional

Alex Lai share some of their D&I initiatives.

700 cities across more than 150 countries.

It comes as no surprise that their workforce is highly diversified, especially in major global financial hubs like Hong Kong. Cochairs of the newly established EY Hong Kong & Macau Cultural Diversity Network (CDN), Jovy Wong and Sangeeth Aiyappa, and EY Hong Kong & Macau D&I Leader, we are as people on the inside—our traditions,

Fostering community engagement

our experiences and our beliefs. We all have

EY is the first among the Big 4 to sign the Equal

Building a culturally diverse workforce

our personal stories and come from different

Opportunity Commission’s Racial Diversity

Jovy Wong, Asia-Pacific Talent Development

backgrounds, but our common ground is

& Inclusion Charter, and they are working

Leader, EY shared, “I believe diversity makes

our human connection that underpins that.

closely with the EOC on specific initiatives and

our place a more interesting one to work

Through that common ground, we hope that

activities. Since 2019, EY has collaborated with

in and live in. We hope to build a culture

we can bring our people closer together—

the Zubin Foundation, a think tank and charity

that embraces and empowers the ethnically

to work towards a culture that prioritises

that works to improve the lives of Hong Kong’s

diversified workforce; our people can respect

collaboration and one that appreciates and

marginalised ethnic minorities, on creating

the different ‘ways of being’ that might not

actively

opportunities for the younger generation of

incorporates

cultural

diversity.”

ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. They are also

necessarily resemble our own, valuing what other cultures offer, and celebrating instead

D&I brings many benefits to businesses and

in discussions with a local secondary school—

of tolerating the differences so that everyone

Aiyappa noted, “By leveraging the combined

with more than 50% of its students being

can achieve their best self.” ‘Exceptional and

skillsets and diverse perspectives of each

from ethnic minorities—to roll out a career

diverse people’ is one of the four major strategic

teammate, we can minimise blind spots and

development and mentorship programme.

pillars of EY’s NextWave Strategy. Wong and

encourage truly innovative thinking.”

her teammates in the CDN are working to

runs organisation-wide cultural events to

Lai said, “We hope that we could give the

increase the diversity of their talent pipeline,

bring the awareness of cultural difference

students a sense of how the business world is

creating equal opportunities for lateral and

to their staff, and they are building multi-

running and inspire their thinking when choosing

upward movement of their ethnic minority

faith rooms for ethnic minority employees in

their future career. If any of them are interested

workforce as well as serving as the sounding

their new office in Quarry Bay, opening this

in the accounting and consulting industry, we

board for EY Hong Kong on critical race,

May 2021, which represents a considerable

may also offer opportunities to let them try their

cultural and ethnic minority inclusion matters.

investment in their workforce given the

hand at it. We believe that this is a win-win-win

price tag of office space in Hong Kong.

for the students, for EY and society as a whole.”

EY

Empower and Embrace cultural diversity Sangeeth Aiyappa, Director, International Tax and Transaction Services, Ernst and Young Tax Services Limited said, “Our network is aimed at recognising, respecting and taking conscious steps towards valuing diversity—particularly in the context of cultural backgrounds. Culture is about who

Diversity makes our place a more interesting one to work in and live in.

We hope to build a culture that embraces and empowers the ethnically diversified workforce; our people can respect the different ‘ways of being’ that might not necessarily resemble our own, valuing what other cultures offer, and celebrating instead of tolerating the differences so that everyone can achieve their best self.

Jovy Wong Asia-Pacific Talent Development Leader, EY

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HR Award Categories

Societe Generale

lockdowns have forced the organisation to look at how they have traditionally done things. This process has allowed talent and the Group to realise that they can achieve so much, just in different ways!

All the Networks continue to work hard to maintain awareness while is one where all employees feel comfortable and happy, regardless of

valuable propositions they provide to their clients, shareholders

their diverse backgrounds.

and staff. The Asia Pacific Diversity & Inclusion Charter is aligned to the Group's mission to be a diverse workforce in an inclusive

One of the new initiatives launched in 2020/2021, is targeted towards

workplace, with opportunities for all talents to create value, deliver

Gender as well as Culture Diversity. In terms of sponsorship, this

an outstanding client experience and develop innovative solutions.

programme is being made available to female talent and local talent.

In line with their core values, Societe Generale strives to ensure that

The four goals of this year-long programme are to accelerate the

employees—regardless of their background and situation—work and

development of sponsored high-potential employees, increase

develop themselves within the organisation with equal opportunities.

the number of women and locals in Managing Director positions,

Silver Award

keeping employees engaged and continue striving to ensure the firm Societe Generale firmly believes that diversity is one of the most

Best D&I initiative

Best D&I initiative

increase the level of leadership effectiveness of both sponsor and The Group's Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Council and respective

sponsored employees and increase executive visibility to these

Networks were formed in 2015, focusing on four pillars: Culture,

sponsored employees.

Differently Abled, Gender and LGBT+. The D&I Steerco is made up of senior leadership executives, and they are also the Sponsors for each of

The programme is designed to support the interactions between

the streams. With this constitution, employees immediately recognise

senior people with authority and power (Management Executive

this is a cause that the leaders believe in and are committed to.

Committee) and high potential employees, females and/or local.

The senior people using their personal influence to advocate and

Employees themselves run all Diversity Networks. Each Network is

place more junior persons in key roles. The various degrees of

sponsored by an Executive Committee (Exco) member and chaired

support include:

by a Regional Chairperson (nominated by the Networks themselves).

There are then champions and volunteers at country level. HR oversees

•

Sharing inside information about advancing in their careers

all the Networks to ensure their yearly objectives align with the firm's

•

Making introductions to influential people

strategy and that budgets are under control. The Networks decide on

•

Providing high-visibility opportunities

the action plan as well as all activities and carry these out themselves

•

Publicly advocating for promotions

accordingly. At the base of the overall D&I strategy lies the Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks (GDIB) Model, which helps organisations determine strategy and measure progress in managing diversity and fostering inclusion. Societe Generale looks to this from the point where they were conceptualising, through to the current action phase—to help them see where they want to be, where they are at all points in time, and effectively identify where the gaps are.

Everyone is a valuable member to Societe Generale, and an inclusive workplace empowers all to contribute their full potential.

Over the last few years, Societe Generale has successfully increased awareness of their D&I streams and initiatives that the Networks are involved in. While they continue to raise awareness, they also enter

Mukta Arya

the action phase. This year has been challenging for all firms, not

Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific

just Societe Generale. Things such as cost, travel restrictions and

Societe Generale

63

Best workspace

GoodNotes

HR Award Categories

Best workspace

Silver Award

GoodNotes first rolled out their 'GoodOffice' policy in December 2019, with several goals in mind to: •

Foster team bonding over lunch in the office.

•

Create a comfortable, spacious and productive workspace.

•

Make the office space more social for employees—encouraging, even more, sharing between them and encouraging them to invite close family and friends to pay a visit.

The ROI from the policy has been seen on many levels. Thanks to grade-A office equipment, including ergonomic chairs, electric height-adjustable desks and the latest Apple computers, employees feel a lot more productive and comfortable in the office. This has manifest in less than one sick leave per employee annually.

GoodNotes also created a commercial-grade kitchen in the office and hired three chefs who had freshly graduates from the Culinary Academy to prepare daily lunches and occasional snacks for the team. The menu changes twice a week and always offers three choices, including at least one vegetarian option. As a result, 90% of employees stay in-house for the company's daily lunch and sit with their colleagues from other teams.

The 'Weekly Wednesday' event in the office, was arranged by the employees themselves and allows them the chance to enjoy a free dinner, board games and movies along with their significant others in the office.

A music stage, with various instruments, has been set up for weekly jamming sessions on Tuesday nights, as well as occasional impromptu lunchtime jams.

A barista space has been set up with professional-grade coffee equipment.

This not only saves money for staff but also encourages them to stay in the office for a great coffee, rather than having to go down and queue at the local coffee shop.

Rather than clusters, the new office has purposefully separated the different work and play spaces with large aquariums to maintain an open style and minimise noise between areas. Plus, pets are always relaxing.

6464

Best workspace

Organising variety of staff activities to demonstrate appreciation to colleagues, despite

Mattel

pandemic

Mattel People Strategy—the Best Place to PLAY!

•

Pride in Mattel: a series of activities are organised regularly for employees to back to the community through NGOs

develop and engage its employees. The aim is

like the Children’s Heart Association,

to provide a thriving environment and work-

Hong Chi and the Special Olympics.

life balance to all Mattel Family members—

These allow employees to engage in

making it the best place to work and PLAY.

volunteer opportunities. Activities have

The company facilitates a fruitful employment

included toy and safety kit distribution,

experience for their committed workforce

blood donation, virtual letter writing

through comprehensive staff benefits, diverse

to

learning opportunities, development activities

environmental activities in Green Month.

underprivileged

children,

and Fostering work-life balance environment for

and staff engagement events.

•

Employee wellness activities: employees

everyone

are provided with free subscriptions

•

•

Office and employee safety: throughout

Assistance Programme, quarterly staff

the pandemic, Mattel placed employee

purchase special offers, hobby workshops

safety as their top priority—healthy kits,

and sponsorship of staff sports clubs.

including hand sanitisers and face masks

Fun events, including Halloween fancy

were put together and distributed to

dress parties and Mid-Autumn Festival

colleagues. The organisation also has an

celebrations, are also organised for

EHS Committee in place to ensure office

colleagues to enjoy together.

and employee safety.

Christmas and year-end surprises: to

•

Improved workplace flexibility: employees

Value and support employee growth via different

celebrate Mattel’s 75th Anniversary

were offered flexible work arrangement

development programmes

in 2020, they gave out gifts to show

during pandemic periods and regular

appreciation to colleagues.

flexible working schedules, including

•

Bronze Award

to Headspace, access to an Employee

Best L&D programme

participate in so they can give something

create a great and engaging workplace to attract,

HR Award Categories

A key goal of the Mattel People Strategy is to

Employee Communication: regular global

daily flexi-working hours and half-days

and regional townhall meetings are

off every month.

organised to ensure employees receive updates on company performance and

With their People Strategy, Mattel has

goals, and provide opportunities to

achieved high employee engagement and

interact with business leaders.

internal pride—reflected in their annual engagement survey score and the high

•

Reviews

participation rates of the employee activities.

Programme—a global online recognition

The scores increased by an average of 3 – 5

point-award system is available to make

points in all areas from 2019, during this

employee recognition quick and easy for

challenging period in which colleagues

both managers and peers to promote the

have valued Mattel’s caring policies. The

culture of appreciation and to celebrate

organisation has also witnessed low single-

service anniversary throughout Mattel.

digit turnover rates—particularly with top

Employee Recognition: Rave

talents. As they say at Mattel, “We collaborate, •

Learning & Development Programmes: to

we innovate, and we execute to make Mattel

promote continuous learning, Mattel

the best place of PLAY!”

provides a guest speaker series on various topics including leadership, problem-

We Collaborate, We Innovate & We Execute to

solving and communication skills for all

make Mattel the best place of PLAY!

employees. Furthermore, the organisation also leverages projects and technology

Claudia Chor

such as GameLearn and Mattel University

Talent Acquisition Manager,

to further enhance employee learning.

APAC, Mattel

65

Best workspace

SAP

In addition, having supported Hong Kong companies for more than a quarter of a century, the new SAP Hong Kong was designed to reflect their roots in, and commitment to, their city. Thus, it features all that is uniquely Hong Kong, including accents of the Star Ferry-green on

HR Award Categories

Best workspace

Gold Award

panelling and traditional floor tiling in the pantries and common SAP Hong Kong launched a 10-month project to upgrade its Times

areas; five art wall pieces depicting the Hong Kong skyline, old Hong

Square workplace to enhance employee experience through a more

Kong street scenes and a pair of koi fish—to represent ambition,

agile, activity-based workplace and enable employees to work towards

perseverance and success; and Hong Kong-themed meeting rooms

greater customer success. The project achieved three key workplace

named after local streets.

goals: flexibility in work settings, employee well-being and sustainability.

Margaret Chen, Vice President, Human Resources, SAP Greater China, This workspace revamp facilitated employees to work at the best through:

summarised, "Building a great employee experience is our top priority at our new workplace. It gives us an agility that facilitates employees

1.

Collaboration—improving areas to brainstorm, co-create, and

working at their best for our customers."

problem solve, e.g., team-designated neighbourhood zones and open meeting spaces.

2.

3.

Communication—creating areas for employees to share, present

Building a great employee experience is our top priority

and inform.

at our new workplace. It gives us an agility that facilitates

Concentration—ensuring employees have access to quiet work

employees working at their best for our customers.

areas for uninterrupted solo work, with privacy booths (phone booths), wellness room, ergonomic sit-stand desks and individual fixed/unassigned desks.

Margaret Chen Vice President, Human Resources

4.

Community—facilitating social hubs for everyone to come together, build a sense of community and areas with buzz.

6666

SAP Greater China

86% 2,046 1

OF EMPLOYEES WANT TO LEARN NEW SKILLS TAILORED LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

CIO WANTS AN ANALYTICS SOLUTION THAT MEETS EVERYONE’S NEEDS

SAP® SuccessFactors® HXM Suite helps your business deliver what employees need to grow, stay engaged, and be productive. Now, and always.

TOGETHER

WE GOT THIS © 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

sap.com/hk

Best work-life integration

GoodNotes

HR Award Categories

Best work-life integration

Bronze Award

GoodNotes launched the ‘Work Smarter, Not Harder’ initiative in August 2018. The key goals of the initiative were to: •

Encourage the team to work smart and get things done— instead of only working harder and longer hours.

•

Ensure that the team can maintain an excellent worklife balance

•

Hokkaido annual trip with GoodNotes families

Create greater workforce sustainability with an excellent work-life balance

•

Create a family-friendly work environment

•

Encouraged employees to pursue their own side projects

In terms of ROI, the initiative has brought numerous tangible benefits to GoodNotes employees, their families and the organisation as a whole, including: •

Reasonable working hours—with a 35-hour workweek and the focus on productivity.

•

Allowing the team to shift hours, if they need, to take care of personal and family issues.

•

The option of working from home on Thursdays and Fridays.

•

A budget of HKD30,000 for work-from-home, renewed every two years to ensure all employees’ homes are comfortable, safe and conducive to productive work.

•

Wednesday social night—a family-friendly initiative that encourages social gatherings including children and significant others at the office.

•

Children and significant others have been included in the fully-funded annual company offsite trip.

•

Employees showcase some of their side-projects

Provision for one month to be worked remotely from any country in the world—with sufficient time zone overlap.

•

A monthly HKD300 learning budget helps employees learn things that are work or non-work related— encouraging the team to explore new hobbies.

•

Tuesday jam sessions after lunch—allow the team to relax a bit and try out a range of instruments from bass guitar to piano.

•

The company has numerous board games so that families and friends can come over to play outside of work hours (and social distancing periods).

•

Monday yoga helps ensure the team stays healthy.

•

A monthly HKD1,000 gym subsidy is provided to all staff.

These initiatives resulted in: •

100% offer acceptance rate for 2020

•

High employee retention rate with only 3% turnover in 2020

•

Lower sick leave usage with an average of less than one sick leave per person annually

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Weekly yoga session helps employees keeping a better posture

Best work-life integration

Hasbro

Without location constraints, the company has been able to onboard new joiners as scheduled regardless of their current physical location or travel ban by any countries. Hasbro has also revamped their induction program to be virtual whilst maintaining a social and interactive component of this important employee milestone. This virtual experience also allows the new employee an enhanced onboarding experience as they have

that fosters collaboration, innovation, creativity, accountability

better control and planning on their first 90 days in the company.

and inclusion. Flexible work arrangements provide employees with the ability to manage their time and workplace that meets

To support the launch of flexible work arrangement, HR has collaborated

their individual needs whilst delivering their job responsibilities.

closely with the IT and Legal departments. The IT team has done a great

This policy eliminates the constraints on employees' physical

job on equipment and software enhancement to support the potentially

location and allows them to work in a way which balances their job

large number of remote working employees. They are also extremely

requirements and other commitments.

responsive to tackle any technical issues under remote working launched successfully without the Legal team's support, who play an

professional and personal life. This is not a work-from-home

essential role in risk assessment on potential people issues in labour law,

policy. Employees had previously benefited from a Friday WFH

insurance and taxation.

arrangement but Hasbro has now rolled out the most significant extension to date regarding flexibility on working time and place.

The challenge of rolling out this policy is the expectation management of both managers and employees. Often a challenge for the team to balance the work-life flexibility, work efficiency and team morale, Hasbro

working time and place, Hasbro believes they are more effective

provides guidelines for employees on how they can plan work hours as

in managing their individual needs, e.g., family, study, exams,

required and set up their workplace and advice for managers on how

celebrations etc and are enhancing the overall employee

they can best manage their team remotely. They have also instigated

experience. From a recent in-house survey, with close to 600

a number of virtual wellness activities including health talks and yoga

responses, employees believed they are more effective by working

sessions to both increase emloyees knowledge and also have a sense of

remotely while coming back to the office 1-2 times a week.

team as they join these events.

This initiative is not a result of the COVID-19 outbreak but in

Hasbro foresees that the next opportunity will be whether the company

fact, is one of the key HR objectives in 2020. With the impact

should accept completely flexible work locations, which means

of COVID-19, Hasbro has genuinely experienced this policy's

employees could be hired for work typically carried out in Hong Kong yet

positive use over the traditional way of WFH arrangement. No

stationed outside Hong Kong on a full-time basis.

Gold Award

By allowing employees to align with their managers on their

Best work-life integration

conditions. The flexible work arrangements also could not have been Hasbro provides a policy that allows employees to balance their

HR Award Categories

Hasbro recognizes the need to create a flexible work environment

longer passively reliant on the pandemic situation to determine the best time to work from home, the organisation understands the impact on each individual and family is different. Likewise, "home" may not always be the best workplace for some employees because of their own job nature (client-facing), family situation, availability of tools and internet connections—the Hasbro office is always open for them.

Our team is committed to make Hasbro the best place you have ever worked.

69

Best work-life integration

HKBN Group

HR Award Categories

Best work-life integration

Silver Award

With Talents playing a decisive role in its overall success— HKBN strives to ensure everyone in the team can work and enjoy happy, fulfilled lives. Advocating a “LIFE-work Priority” instead of work-life balance, as a principle, HKBN maintains that personal wellbeing and family should always come first.

When Talents can spend quality time with friends and family, HKBN believes they come to work better motivated to perform.

For these practical reasons, Talents are offered a broad array of leave benefits that include: a five-day workweek, shortened 9 – 5 working hours, 17-day public holiday entitlement, flexible working hours, half-day off on Friday once-a-month, halfday leave during important festive occasions, examination leave—not only for Talents’ development but also to help Talents’ children study, volunteer leave, family care leave, birthday leave, anniversary leave, bonus leave, adoption leave, upgraded maternity leave, paternity leave, grandparenthood leave, adoption leave and much more. Overall, the company’s entitlement policies provide the equivalent of about 39 additional days off annually for each Talent.

To encourage Talents to live healthier, active and more rewarding lifestyles, HKBN continues to organise an expansive range of year-round wellness activities, events and talks. From seminars about healthy eating to character-building sports challenges and workshops to enhance Talents’ financial/investment knowledge, the focus has been in four core areas: physical health, mental health, financial health and social health.

By embracing LIFE-work Priority, the HKBN team works smart, rather than long hours, and judge themselves based on a longterm sustainable pursuit of “purpose + profit” rather than on the number of hours worked. All HKBN Talents are encouraged to embrace LIFE-work Priority, and enjoy LIFE with their families because they “work to LIVE, not live to work”.

HKBN says, “At HKBN, ‘we work to LIVE, rather the live to work’ and it’s the reason we embrace LIFE-work Priority so passionately.”

At HKBN, ‘we work to LIVE, rather the live to work’ and it’s the reason we embrace LIFEwork Priority so passionately.

7070

There are opportunities during this crisis, and we want to serve people in winning back their hopes and careers.

Group Managing Director, Elabram

source the best talent and ensure that their skill sets match the JD, to ensure the right talent is matched with the right opportunities.

Elabram

Ensuring this perfect fit also facilitates continued business growth.

HR Outsourcing is a comprehensive service to meet HR and

resources and telecommunication consultancy, Elabram Group has

employee needs, including finding potential candidates, recruiting,

successfully placed more than 83,000 talents and served over 118 clients

managing employee contracts and payroll. Elabram's service offers

worldwide. In its four business divisions, the Group is continually

HR support to analyse the best methodology for execution to meet

expanding its capability and innovation to align to customer needs.

mission-critical KPIs.

As one of the Group's core business divisions, Elabram HR Solution

Payroll Services

focuses on human resources solutions. The company covers multiple HR

The Group handles all payroll related activities to help reduce operating

needs including workforce/temporary staff and payroll services via its HR

costs and save time processing related payroll transactions.

ROP Ad

Bronze Award

HR Outsourcing With a more than 20-year heritage and core competencies in human

Best HR vendor (recruitment)

Best HR vendor (recruitment)

HR Award Categories

Mikel Yaw

Outsourcing Solution; provision of permanent staff, expatriate providers, executive search; and digital human resources administration systems via

Expatriate Services

its Workforce Management System (WMS).

To improve productivity and cost-effectiveness, Elabram offers expatriate services by assigning expatriate staff to lead the development of new

Mikel Yaw, Group Managing Director, Elabram Group said, "It is an honour

overseas capacities and opportunities. The Group manages recruiting,

for us to be nominated for this award because we are looking forward to

working visa application processing, flight reservations, accommodation,

creating brand awareness in the region. Winning this award would mean a

transportation, contracts, payroll, insurance and taxes—ensuring

lot, not just for the company but also for all our people. It belongs to all our

compliance with relevant local country policies.

resources—our staff, our consultants, our partners, our clients who believe in us, trust us, and have used our services in the long term. Without them,

HR Consulting

we would not have the opportunity to be nominated for this award, and we

The Group also provides consultative support and high-level input to help

would not be where we are today." He added, "With this nomination, we

with strategic HR planning. General administrative support can also be

also hope to gain more trust and opportunities to reach out to more clients

provided, if required, including drawing up reimbursement and benefit

and hopefully we can continue to expand into new markets in 2021."

plans. The Group also provides input to help transform how the workplace works—ensuring engaged employees and improved productivity.

Executive Search More widely known as 'head-hunter services', this function helps HR

HR Restructuring

pursue appropriate candidates to fill their business roles. Experts help

Elabram provides HR restructuring management services to support HR

prospective employers identify middle and top-class or expert applicants

with immediate and long-term employee management needs.

across various industries and non-profit organisations leveraging an extensive network and decades of know-how.

Workforce Management System The WMS is a system created explicitly by Elabram to simplify HR

Recruitment

processes and support an organisation's productivity. The WMS comes

Recruitment services help clients find and hire the best-qualified

in the form of a mobile app that is simple to install and easily accessible

candidates for permanent or contract staff. The Group's recruiters

anytime and anywhere.

71

Silver Award Best HR vendor (recruitment) HR Award Vendor Categories

Best HR vendor (recruitment)

First Advantage

With access to criminal record searches, education, employment, professional license verifications, global sanction searches, credit checks and more, First Advantage currently supports over 35,000 clients worldwide. With 26 offices throughout North America, Europe, India and Asia, the company conducts over 71 million international background

Today's workplace is becoming more competitive with the increasing

screens annually, spanning more than 200 countries and territories.

globalisation and growing mobility of workforces. Employers are challenged with identifying qualified applicants, and applicants are

The First Advantage Customer Promise delivers the following:

seeking to differentiate themselves.

1.

Enabling fastest time to hire

Comprehensive background checks are imperative for HR to identify and

2.

Best applicant experience

secure the best talent for their organisations, and ensure the safety of their

3.

Largest global screening capabilities

workplaces and business globally. Securing the services of a reputable

4.

Leading technology and analytics

screening provider is the first step in achieving this and in undertaking the due diligence required to implement an effective hiring process.

First Advantage is uniquely qualified to support the global background screening requirements of hiring companies. Unlike other background

Background screening helps guard against financial loss and

screening organisations that may purport to be global, First Advantage

reputational damage from wrong hires. When HR teams include

has a physical global infrastructure—including a data centre in

background screening to their onboarding process, they can avoid

Amsterdam—and does not outsource this business-critical function to

the potential costs of a bad hire, including recruitment and training

third-party vendors. The company also integrates with industry-leading

investments, revenue losses, and the potential loss of loyalty and trust

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to provide clients and candidates

of their customers and employees.

with a seamless user experience. The company delivers comprehensive background check solutions and insights that enable employers to

The First Advantage 2020 Trends Report revealed the top five reasons why

make confident choices, reduce risk and maintain compliance. Whether

employers are screening now—which focus more heavily than ever on

your business is large, small, local, global, a few months old or has been

protecting the company brand, employees and patrons:

operating for decades, First Advantage can create a plan to fit specific client needs—both today and as the organisation grows.

1.

Minimising the risk of future criminal activity

2.

Fulfilling regulatory compliance

Scott Staples, CEO, First Advantage summarised the company's

3.

Protecting the brand and reputation

aspirations in their Vision Statement, "Delivering innovative solutions

4.

Ensuring candidates have the right qualifications

and insights that help our clients manage risk and hire the best talent."

5.

Protecting children involved with the business

With 20 years' experience, First Advantage is the world's most trusted background check provider—producing easy-to-understand background check results. Offering an advanced global technology

Delivering innovative solutions and insights that help our clients manage risk and hire the best talent.

platform, superior customer service and compliance expertise delivered by local staff who understand local markets, First Advantage

7272

helps clients worldwide build fully scalable, configurable screening

Scott Staples

programmes that meet their unique needs.

CEO, First Advantage

Best HR vendor (recruitment)

•

Video Interview tool—JobsDB strives to help employers recruit suitable talents efficiently and make recruitment progress

Jobs DB Hong Kong Limited

even under COVID-19 social distancing. To realise this goal, they introduced their ‘Video Interview’ tool which helps streamline the interview process for both hirers and candidates—enabling them to conduct job interviews anytime,

part of SEEK Group's global family, JobsDB further leverages

anywhere, using any device (computer, tablet or mobile

resources to enrich its portfolio of products and services to

phone). Practical features such as sharing and collaborative

maintain the recruitment market momentum. According to the

shortlisting also help hiring managers to enhance efficiency

latest surveys conducted in 2020 by the external agency, Research

throughout the recruitment process. By replacing 30-minute

Ink, JobsDB is the most used and effective recruitment platform

phone interviews with a one-way 6 – 7 minute video

in Hong Kong which:

interview—reducing typical candidate screening times by up to 70%. This innovative tool has been extremely well received among hirers across different industries and company sizes.

Accesses over 2.1 million talents across industries and job functions citywide

•

Is the first choice among hirers and jobseekers

•

Has the highest job placement rate among market players

•

Market insights—keeping both hirers and candidates updated with the latest information and advice on job market-related research amidst COVID-19, such as the Salary Survey, Hiring, Compensation and Benefits Survey, as well as COVID-19

well known for effective hirer-candidate matching and is constantly

job market trends. While these data inform hirers of the

striving to enhance its solutions to address hirers’ needs. This

recruitment landscape dynamics and recruitment insights,

year, JobsDB established a series of initiatives to further support

another series of coronavirus articles was also produced to

employment during COVID-19:

help employees better manage the new challenges triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, such as work-from-home tips,

•

Recruitment Support campaign in challenging times—to

job hunting during the pandemic, how to overcome financial

stabilise the workforce supply, JobsDB offered complimentary

challenges, and dealing with labour law issues.

Gold Award

Dedicated to “improving lives through better careers”, JobsDB is

Best HR vendor (recruitment)

•

HR Award Categories

Having grown from a popular job portal in Hong Kong to being

job postings for selected sectors.

Over the years, JobsDB has accomplished thousands of successful •

Candidates Support/Assistant during the COVID’s mass layoff—

job matching cases in Hong Kong, empowering talents from fresh

provided jobseekers with flexible solutions to look for part-

graduates at the starting point of their careers to senior management

time or temporary job opportunities as supplementary income

seeking career progression. In the future, they are on a mission to

sources, helping the community through the challenges.

continue to develop HR services and products in response to the

Besides, we have a set of comprehensive steps to provide to

new era.

support the unemployed to navigate an uncertain and highly disrupted labor market, including lining up hirers to extend

Isaac Shao, CEO, JobsDB HK, summarised, “We don’t just help people

openings to candidates from affected industries, dedicated

climb the career ladder, we improve lives and businesses through

support hotline and career advices sections.

better careers.”

We don’t just help people climb the career ladder, we improve lives and businesses through better careers.

Isaac Shao CEO, JobsDB HK

73

Gold Award Best HR vendor (HRIS) HR Award Categories

Best HR vendor (HRIS)

BIPO Service Limited

the need for updated information about the continually evolving COVID-19 situation. BIPO quickly addressed this by releasing a series of COVID-19 articles from Business Continuity Plans to guidelines on the resumption of work activities. These information updates also included a series of webinars touching on HR issues for Hong Kong,

BIPO's all-in-one cloud and mobile-based HRMS platform help

e.g., 713 calculation and updates on Macau's labour law.

businesses transform the employee experience, from hire to retire through digital HR solutions. The solutions improve workplace

To facilitate better workforce planning, especially in essential services

productivity, streamline HR processes, minimise manual tasks and

like F&B and logistics—and eventually, sectors heavily reliant on

ensure compliance with relevant labour regulations.

labour like retail and hospitality—BIPO enhanced its Roster function, enabling clients to simply input the start and end times of the shift

BIPO's uniqueness lies in the ability to provide the HR community

directly onto the roster screen. This has been extremely beneficial to

with the following tools to solve HR pain points on a single, secure

the F&B, Logistics and Retail industries that manage multiple roster

platform that can perform multiple tasks:

patterns, especially so due to the changing COVID-19 situation. This useful feature was very well-received in the Hong Kong market and is

•

An integrated, one-stop solution allows users to manage core

available across all 15 countries/regions that BIPO operates in.

HR functions (payroll, time attendance, leave management) across multiple countries all on a single, secure platform,

BIPO’s agile cloud solutions enables HR teams working from home

compliant with multi-statutory regulations. A built-in payroll

to process payroll efficiently on a secure platform from just about

calculation engine reduces manual tasks and errors, enabling

anywhere. Daily attendance and pre-onboarding are easily supported

HR teams to focus on strategic functions.

using BIPO’s mobile app, improving the employee experience while significantly reducing down-time.

•

BIPO mobile app available on iOS and Android is handy for managers leading large teams. It allows tasks and approvals

The need to free up HR to take on a more strategic role is vital to any

to be completed while "on the go"—the perfect solution WFH

organisation, especially during COVID-19. Developments in some of

situations, enabling employees to focus on critical tasks.

its existing core modules and functions are just some of the on-going enhancements BIPO has made to further support the HR community.

•

Easy-to-use HR dashboards allow access to BI tools, real-time data

These enhanced features and functions enable HR to play a more

for accurate workforce and resource planning.

significant role in business continuity planning, by ensuring HR processes are kept simple, accessible to all employees via an easy-to-

•

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ISO-27001 certified, ensuring data integrity across BIPO's platform.

use interface for greater employee self-service.

At the onset of COVID-19 BIPO actively engaged the Hong Kong

Using BIPO’s HRMS platform, users can easily manage the HR and payroll

business community to identify HR challenges, one of which was

functions across 15 countries and regions on a single, secure platform.

These are fully compliant with local statutory regulations, e.g., MPF (Hong Kong), Social Security (Mainland China), EPF and LHDN approved vendor (Malaysia), CPF and IR As Auto-Inclusion Scheme (Singapore). This means that users can perform multiple country payroll and HR functions with ease and convenience. Key features include: 1.

Salary Computation—built-in standard calculations that support multiple salary types. Salary calculation formula can be easily configured/amended.

2.

Provident Fund & Taxes—multi-country compliance that supports provident fund contributions and income tax computations in accordance with local labour regulations.

3.

Online Salary Review and Approval—salary reviews completed through an online process. Approvals based on review of data to complement payroll functions.

4.

Retrospective Salary Calculations—based on the needs of individual organisations, e.g., attendance records, provident fund contributions. More complex computations are also automatically and accurately calculated by the system.

Based on a recent Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted by BIPO, one of the most significant impact its solutions has on businesses is the 15% increase in productivity. This directly correlates to cost savings and improved operational processes within businesses and is a strong indication from the market that BIPO's HRMS platform has a proven, positive effect on business efficiency.

Ensuring that the Hong Kong HR community's needs are aligned with Industry 4.0, BIPO's HRMS platform includes BI (Business Intelligence) tools with an easy-to-use HR Dashboard and is easily accessible on multi-devices with the convenience of a mobile app that ensures 24/7 access even when working from home.

These translate to minimal, and in most cases, virtually no disruption to HR services, even when users work remotely from home, ensuring no "down time" to business processes.

Digital transformation is a key driver for businesses today, especially in a post-COVID environment. Cloud-based solutions that are made for mobility help organisations stay agile, enabling them to respond swiftly to changes in the new digital economy.

Florence Mok Managing Director, North Asia, BIPO

Silver Award Best HR vendor (HRIS) HR Award Categories

Best HR vendor (HRIS)

SAP

organisation, and how fast it takes to get to full productivity for new hires—and why those things are happening.

SAP SuccessFactors has a robust partner ecosystem that allows companies to augment their existing capabilities and easily tap into

As a world-leading human experience suite (proven with 120+ million

the latest innovations through partners. These apps include AI-

users across 200+ countries, processing 1 billion + transactions daily),

powered recruitment coordination and interview scheduling; peer-to-

SAP SuccessFactors enables organizations to focus on engagement

peer employee recognition and rewards options; and financial well-

and experience. SuccessFactors supports organisations to go beyond

being solutions to reduce employee stress and increase engagement.

facilitating transactions to creating meaningful, individualised end-toend experiences—for candidates, new hires, employees, managers or

HR operations and workflows are usually bottlenecked by a short-

HR leaders.

sighted strategy. SAP SuccessFactors enables companies to address and solve short-term pain points such as payroll and talent management,

SAP SuccessFactors is developed on the foundation of intelligent

while the embedded intelligent technologies give companies business

technologies that can help organizations create personalised

intelligence on how to nurture and retain the workforce. It alerts

experiences with guidance and “nudges,” so employees discover

companies of upcoming HR issues before those get out of control.

new opportunities to learn and grow. Employees can complete tasks

SAP SuccessFactors can be integrated with other SAP or non-SAP

quickly, using conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to resolve

enterprise resource planning systems so that companies’ entire

questions with chatbots and robotic process automation to remove

workforce can access one single truth of the operations.

non-value tasks. It includes powerful experience management

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capabilities that combine rich “people data” and transactional HR

Fabian Padilla Crisol, Managing Director, SAP Hong Kong summarised,

data (O-data) with valuable experience data (X-data). Companies

“As business transformation accelerates, SAP SuccessFactors supports

can learn what is happening with the workforce—such as how many

companies with innovation and agility to modernise HR operations

candidates accept or reject offers, which employees are leaving the

that put employees at the centre of work.”

86% 2,046 1

OF EMPLOYEES WANT TO LEARN NEW SKILLS TAILORED LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

CIO WANTS AN ANALYTICS SOLUTION THAT MEETS EVERYONE’S NEEDS

SAP® SuccessFactors® HXM Suite helps your business deliver what employees need to grow, stay engaged, and be productive. Now, and always.

TOGETHER

WE GOT THIS © 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

sap.com/hk

Best HR vendor (BPO)

Ramco

Key benefits include: •

Payroll compliance—systematically updated to incorporate the latest tax and regulatory changes, unlike an aggregator model that depends on multiple in-country providers.

HR Vendor Award Categories

Best HR vendor (BPO)

Gold Award

Ramco Systems, part of the USD 1 billion Ramco Group, offers

•

Payroll automation—error-free and accurate payroll processing with

next-gen payroll solutions and services to over 500 significant

AI-enabled, automated payroll solution aids data validation, anomaly

enterprises and Fortune 500 companies. The organisation has

detection and a reasoning engine that shares reasons for variation.

successfully managed payroll for its clients throughout 2020 amid multiple lockdowns.

•

Frictionless employee experience & helpdesk—AI-enabled technology platforms including chatbot, mobile App and mail IT to answer up

As a part of their forward-thinking strategy to create a cognitive,

to 70% of all payroll queries freeing up HR teams from transactional

touchless experience for clients, Ramco anticipated the need for

tasks to focus on more strategically essential aspects.

truly digitising the payroll processes to handle it remotely. Earlier business contingency plans (BCP) were centre-specific; however,

•

GET-SET-GO—perennial problem in payroll outsourcing is providing

this unique BCP plan of remote working was identified as cost-

data in vendor format. Ramco users can GET their own formats, SET

effective with no loss of knowledge, control or data confidentiality.

the mapping, and GO on with the data upload. A flexible framework for a smooth transition and ongoing ad hoc data uploads.

Ramco empowered several teams to operate on virtual desktops infrastructure (VDI) using thin clients. With all its solutions hosted

•

Scalability & flexibility—with a unified payroll product, available in

on the cloud and all necessary client approvals, Ramco was 2020

Chinese, English, Japanese, Vietnamese, Bahasa Indonesia, French,

ready. Ramco has pioneered this initiative of offering a completely

Spanish and Arabic, the similarity of processes across countries

secure remote payroll processing. And amid multiple lockdowns

ensures that clients based in multiple jurisdictions can act as a

around the world, Ramco’s Digital Managed Payroll Services did

backup—ensuring business continuity and timely processing.

not miss out on a single payslip despite the disruption. It was a smooth transition within 24 hours, and the team did a stellar job

•

Analytics & reporting—a single multi-country platform allows a real-

in processing 0.43 million payslips for 64 managed services clients,

time consolidated global view for payroll managers and enables

covering over 220 entities, across 46 countries accurately and on

powerful insights from employee data.

time in March 2020.

As a socially responsible organisation, Ramco’s Pandemic Control Ramco’s organically grown HR & payroll system, with coverage

System (PCS) also bears testament to its innovation speed and its focus

of over 50 countries, bears testimony to its investment towards

on employee-centric services. Quickly responding to the pandemic, the

building a robust digital system enabled by AI and Machine Learning

Ramco Innovation Lab unveiled PCS, including a facial recognition-

as the backbone for its services.

based attendance system combined with a thermal imaging device for temperature measurement and other associated software to help

Ramco’s Global delivery model with more than 24 on-ground

ensure employee screening, safe social distancing and facilitate contact

offices, remote work teams, automated chatbots, anomaly engine

tracing. This system has helped ensure a safe return to work amid

and reasoning engine helps organisations reap benefits of shared

the current pandemic. Ramco hopes to redefine the HR and Payroll

services solutions and improve efficiencies, letting them focus on

industry with intelligent features, and a customer-focused managed

their core business objectives.

service model, keeping employee as the pivot to success.

Ramco Chia—the digital extension to the Ramco team providing 24-7 support to global clients in their local language.

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HR Vendor Award Categories Best HR vendor (wellness) Gold Award

Best HR vendor (wellness)

Atrium HR Consulting Atrium has helped put up multiple wellness 'safety fences' to help prevent employees from going over the edge, in addition to the support 'ambulances' traditionally provided at the bottom of the 'cliff'.

With only 24% of companies in Hong Kong currently having an EAP in place, Atrium has had its work cut out to help organisations enhance and protect their employee well-being. But this has only been half the battle as there is growing evidence that other wellness services are also required to enhance existing EAP programmes. With EAP as a foundation, Atrium helps HR do more to prevent their employees from going over the edge. This assistance has taken the form of 'global wellness', which provides HR professionals with a battle plan and tips on fostering better employee well-being and promoting a wellness culture for talents across their organisations. A few of the wellness support programmes provided include Mental Health Awareness Training, Wellness Coaching, Tele-Physiotherapy, Nutrition and Fitness Services.

79

Best HR vendor (wellness)

State of Mind.ai

Best HR vendor (wellness) Bronze Award

of working that companies are adopting will

HR Vendor Award Categories

Though COVID-19 is temporary, the new ways

and HR to get the needed visibility of employees'

stay permanently. Remote and hybrid working environments require organisations to continuously listen to employees' voices to understand their emotional and functional needs—a must-have insight for action-planning to build and manage a motivated, engaged, and productive workforce.

State of Mind is an AI-powered continuous listening HRTech that captures employee sentiments at hundreds of different moments across the employee journey, producing analytics that equip managers evolving needs and design day-to-day experiences that truly matter.

With a conversational platform, an organisation can: •

better capture experiences at critical milestones of employee experience (EX) journey from hireto-retire.

•

Empower employees to initiate a feedback conversation anytime, anywhere.

•

Listen continuously to employees about their work experiences and wellbeing effortlessly.

•

Help leaders better engage employees in an effective conversation during all company meetings.

•

Generate EX analytics for managers, HR, and leadership teams; and equip each employee with self-insights to better manage their wellbeing.

We live in an experience economy where we return to those

The ROI can be seen through key business and HR

brands and companies that focus on building relationships based

metrics such as: •

the ability to meet sales targets faster;

•

reduced talent wellness and attrition cost, reduced

•

workforce brings the same expectation to the workplace—

workplace conflict; and

memorable experiences at all interactions in a personalised and

increased employee productivity by integrating

continuous manner and wants to help the organisation co-create

new joiners faster.

StateofMind.ai is here to help organisations continuously listen to employees and go big on the EX journey in an effortless and informed manner to build a thriving organisation in an uncertain and changing world.

8080

on deeply personalised experiences. The new generation hybrid

these experiences by sharing feedback.

Best HR vendor (wellness)

Total Loyalty Company

wellness programmes, even with extremely

hard-to-source items like hand sanitisers and

limited resources, localising global wellness

face masks; to developing fortnightly virtual

plans to develop and implement them locally,

wellness activities to keep employees up to

enabling relevancy.

date on all things wellness. A highlight is their “virtual annual dinner” which involved

quick fix achieved using one event. So, TLC uses

gamification and virtual lucky draws—all

they act as an HR partner with their corporate

a combination of quarterly themes, wellbeing

empowering clients to still have happy year-

clients to design and implement year-round

campaigns with key outcomes, wellness

end celebrations despite all the stress and

wellness programmes. Working with many

marketplaces, seminars and workshops to help

challenges of the year.

MNCs in Hong Kong, especially investment

organisations raise awareness and engagement

banks and law firms, their goal is to help their

within their employees. TLC’s strength is their

TLC sets the benchmark for what an effective

clients’ develop a strong commitment to a

ability to bring together the top experts and

corporate wellness programme is all about. This

happy and healthy workplace culture.

innovators in corporate wellness to provide

is evidenced in the range of blue-chip customers

stand out programmes for their clients, which

that have continued to use their services over

are far from “just another yoga class”.

the last 10 years in Hong Kong.

to create and curate year-round wellness

Whilst 2020 was a challenging year for many

To be truly a year round HR wellness partner for

programs, especially compared to some of their

suppliers, TLC again showed their agility to

our clients is our key to success, enabling us to

international counterparts in the US and UK. To

successfully pivot to virtual wellness activities

deliver meaningful solutions to raise the bar on

meet this demand, TLC delivers a solution using

for their clients in 2020 and help them come

corporate wellness culture

their broad base of experts to bring industry best

up with innovative wellness solutions. These

practices and ideas to each client. This enables

ranged from sourcing and delivering care

Sam Lau

companies to create consistent, year round

packs at the start of the pandemic—including

CEO, Total Loyalty Company

TLC recognises that many HR teams in Hong Kong do not typically have the capacity

Silver Award

the latest online technology for innovative

wellness vendor in Hong Kong, unique in that

Best HR vendor (wellness)

Wellness is more than just physical and is not a

HR Vendor Award Categories

Total Loyalty Company (TLC) is a leading total

CORPORATE WELLNESS Discover how we can be your one-stop partner to create, design and implement wellness programs that are sustainable and fun.

Contact Sam Lau at TLC at sam@totalloyalty.hk or (852) 2545 2190 for more information.

www.totalloyalty.asia

81

Gold Award Best HR vendor (L&D) HR Vendor Award Categories

Best HR vendor (L&D)

Typical business challenges BPP supports include:

BPP Education Group

•

Identification and priority agenda for a future skills framework

•

Tailored programmes to address identified skills gaps

•

End to end capability analysis

BPP Asia Pacific brings BPP Education Group Award Winning Learning & Development programmes to the Asia Pacific region.

BPP's client success stories are not limited to industry or job

With offices in Hong Kong, Malaysia and now also in Singapore,

function. From insurance, to accountancy, education and law,

BPP’s L&D programmes are underpinned by their Capability+

the consultancy BPP provides gives clients a wealth of skills data

consultancy to ensure learning that is tailored, relevant and future

on their people, arming L&D professionals with the business case

focussed. BPP combines thought-leadership and research with

needed to accelerate the adoption of new programmes, as well as

organisational capability analysis to deliver upskilling roadmaps

mechanisms to attribute ROI for the training they deploy.

that have proven to deliver significant return on investment. BPP’s unique approach, along with their professional education heritage makes them an outstanding L&D partner among leading global firms across the region.

As a trusted partner and advisor to their clients, BPP provides client-centric consultation services to assist in the development

BPP creates innovative learning programmes through consultancy-led partnerships to help organisations close skills gaps and reimagine their workforce for the future.

and delivery of their future people and talent strategy, while offering a portfolio of customised programmes to help address

8282

skills gaps. BPP does this by working in partnership with

Vicky Knight

their clients to truly understand their objectives and future

Associate Dean, International Programmes

workforce needs.

BPP Education Group, Singapore

Annual Annual membership membership packages packages Annual Annualmembership membershippackages packages Choose membership membership package package ticktick oneone Step Step 1. 1.Choose one Step Choosemembership membershippackage package ticktick one Step1.1. Choose

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Best HR vendor (L&D)

into a 1.5-hour Zoom call. Moreover, experiential learning and roleplays are also quite challenging to conduct via Zoom. Yet, even if you

Chorev Consulting International

switch to traditional self-paced e-learning platforms, motivation for participants to complete modules is relatively low." HR departments

HR Award Vendor Categories

Best HR vendor (L&D)

Silver Award

have invested in off-the-shelf L&D solutions only to find they are met Chorev might just have 'cracked the code' in terms of the mixology

with relatively low uptake. Ma compared, "Many LMSs end up like

required when it comes to today's L&D in combining face-to-face

Netflix, where users click on stuff, have a look at it for one or two

workshops, real-time virtual workshops, self-pace microlearning,

minutes, then ditch it and click on the next thing that catches their

project-based learning and all-group coaching. This cost-effective,

eye. They end up never sticking with one option, and so never really

high impact, blended approach is creating next-gen talent

realising the full learning potential of any model." He added, "Even

development programmes that help talent adapt to VUCA and adapt

the 18 minutes originally allowed for TedTalks is now considered

to each other.

too long. So, there's a move to microlearning, in many cases nano learning—keeping content short, sweet and relevant to the users."

February 2020, and the onset of COVID-19 all but shut down coaching and training for organisations across Hong Kong, while they hit the

Looking to ease these three key HR pain points, Chorev has designed

pause button and figured out the best way forward. Dr. Andrew Ma,

a blended 'Lego’ approach to L&D. To make this a reality, the team

Founder, Chorev Consulting, noted, "Our entire team was already

have turned their conference room into a mini studio, and they

facilitating design thinking programmes, so, it was a natural

focus materials on real-life cases that they encounter to ensure

next step to put this into practice in our own organisation." The

content is relevant to Hong Kong. Training is broken down into bite-

organisation surveyed HR Directors and L&D Managers across Hong

sized chunks, with participants acquiring skills to handle everyday

Kong to find their main training and development pain points amid

challenges in just ten minutes per day. Ma noted, “This nano-size

the pandemic. The results revealed three vital L&D requirements:

e-learning makes the programmes much more attractive to users.

We’ve gone one step further to increase interaction and relevance

1.

Greater flexibility—requiring a rapid switch to online learning

to users in promoting the use of ‘Forum Boards’ in the office pantry.

models such as Zoom, microlearning and small-group

Here we encourage participants to share constructive feedback on

coaching for the VUCA world.

what they learn from the class and messages of appreciation for colleagues on Post-it® notes, which has been surprisingly successful

2.

Cost-effectiveness—with training budgets dramatically affected

in helping remove barriers and enhance collegiality.”

by the economic downturn, necessitating the need for supremely cost-effective programmes, that can demonstrate ROI. 3.

Contextualised to Hong Kong—many heavily

in

e-learning

platforms,

but

in

HR

Learning knowledge and models can be conveyed invested

materials

were

not localised into Cantonese, and the examples and context were not immediately relevant to APAC and Hong Kong, and so had limited uptake or impact.

through Zoom, but wisdom only comes with learning together, practising together and having real-life interactions

When organisations moved away from the traditional workshop model, many jumped into Zoom and similar online platforms.

8484

However, participants quickly began to suffer from "Zoom fatigue".

Dr. Andrew Ma

Ma explained, "You can't simply cram everything from a workshop

Founder, Chorev Consulting

Virtual learning Face-to-face learning Self-paced learning

Real-time learning

L&D Lego evolution

Ma noted, “People are now pretty much "toilet-trained" on using Zoom,

Chorev’s ‘flipped’ L&D approach uses a blend of learning techniques

but people are often a bit lazy when it comes to learning how to use a

including micro-learning, face-to-face workshops and off-line small-group

new tool. So online learning is now widely available and has a lot more

learning exercise—all of which are Lego®-ised into manageable blocks.

uptake. However, until VR interactions allow you to smell people’s sweat, reach out and give colleagues high-fives—which is still a few years

Today’s most popular training programmes

down the road yet—face-to-face interactions remain irreplaceable.”

Change management—changing talent mindsets and skillsets to help

Ma concluded, “Learning knowledge and models can be conveyed

them do more with less.

through Zoom, but wisdom only comes with learning together, practising

•

Growth mindset— as part of leadership training.

together and having real-life interactions. The flipped learning approach

•

Adaptive leadership—not just about being the best leader, but about

allows building wisdom through in-depth facilitation, role plays and

being adaptive in terms of skills, mindset, and collaboration, to best

practise together, while information and knowledge transfer can be

leverage senior management team skills. Allowing talent to adapt to

conducted via zoom and online learning.”

•

external environments and adapt to each other.

Bronze Award Best HR vendor (L&D) HR Vendor Award Categories

Best HR vendor (L&D)

PERSOLKELLY Consulting Greater China When COVID-19 hit, PERSOLKELLY Consulting were quick to support HR teams across Hong Kong during these unprecedented times. The outbreak meant that HR strategies developed in 2019—including learning plans—were no longer suitable or came under pressure from

PERSOLKELLY Consulting also started offering free Career Transformation sessions to support staff who had been laid off or experienced significant changes to their work. The programme offers help through three phases: emotional fitness, career design and planning, and career search.

Lastly, a social community platform, YOU Hub, was launched to facilitate the transformation of young professionals at the start of their career into 'intrapreneurs'. Intrapreneurs are purposeful individuals who never stop seeking opportunities to exercise their creativity, to sharpen their company's competitive edge.

reduced budgets. With this in mind, the Group rapidly developed its world-class learning and development solution in 2020.

Despite the undoubtedly challenging economic climate, PERSOLKELLY Consulting believes that learning and development should continue as companies look to boost staff engagement during these tough times.

They developed various initiatives under its Creating Shared Value initiative (CSVi) to support this aim.

The Learn-from-Home (LFH) programme was launched in April 2020, to help HR support their staff to deal with the new norm and adjust to working from home. This included bite-size interactive courses on highly relevant topics such as problem-solving during market

PERSOLKELLY Consulting remains proud to have been a driving force behind the transformation of learning behaviour in Hong Kong. Their L&D initiatives underline the Group's commitment to establishing a culture of learning and the use of technology in learning, which is set to stay.

turbulence and remote performance management.

With companies adjusting to the new norm in learning and development, PERSOLKELLY Consulting then launched their Digital Learning Course in June. This took a similar bite-sized approach as LFH and was offered at a competitive cost. This meant that HR was saving costs, yet still able to reskill and upskill their staff.

8686

86 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

Transformation will only happen when you pursue learning as part of your lifelong growth and journey.

HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR Classifieds Index Business Process Outsourcing 87 Co-working Spaces 88 Consumer Goods 88 Education / Corporate Training 88 - 89 Employee Well-being / Insurance 90 Financial Services 90 Gender Equity 90 HR Consulting 91 HR Technology Solutions 92 Leadership Development 92

Legal / Employment Law / Tax MICE Venues / Event Organisers Photography / Videography Recruitment / Executive Search / Staffing / Outsourcing Retail

Relocation / Logistics Serviced Apartments / Hotel Staff Benefits

93 93 94 94 95 95 95 - 96 96

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING BangMang Group established in 2007 and provides Full-service HR solution.

As of 02.2019, 163 branches have been deployed and covered over 300 cities in China. In the past 10 years, over 10,000 companies and 300,000 employees choose BangMang as their strategic HR partner. BangMang is dedicated to power business success with extraordinary HR.

Hong Kong BangMang Outsourcing Company Limited Unit 02, 11/F, Sunbeam Commerical Building, 469-471 Nathan Road, Hong Kong

Hong Kong BangMang Outsourcing Co., LTD established in 2015 and provides outsourcing services includes Full-service HR solutions, Recruitment, Employee Leasing, and Employment Training. Our business partners covered Hong Kong, Mainland China, USA, and overseas regions. We dedicate to provide the best HR services for your business goals.

Tel: (852) 2116 1600 Mr Law: (852) 6904 3721 adminhk@50bm.com 50bm.hk

TMF Group helps global companies expand and invest seamlessly across international borders. Its expert accountants and legal, HR and payroll professionals are located around the world, helping clients to operate their corporate structures, finance vehicles and investment funds in different geographic locations. With operations in more than 80 countries providing managed compliance services, TMF Group is the global expert that understands local needs.

TMF Hong Kong Limited 31/F, Tower Two Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Tricor Business Services draws on our diverse professional expertise, backed up by the latest technologies and systems, to provide a comprehensive range of services, including but not limited to: Business Advisory; Accounting & Financial Reporting; Treasury & Payment Administration; Human Resource & Payroll Administration; Tax Services; Trade Services; Trust Assets Administration; Fund Administration; Governance, Risk & Compliance; and Information Technology Solutions.

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

Our work processes and controls in the rendering of accounting and payroll services are externally audited by Ernst & Young Hong Kong and accredited each year in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3402.

Tel: (852) 3188 8333 Fax: (852) 3188 8222 info.apac@tmf-group.com www.tmf-group.com

Tel: (852) 2980 1888 Fax: (852) 2861 0285 info@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

87

HR CLASSIFIEDS

CO-WORKING SPACES Commons Workshop is an event space located in core CBD, on 353 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai. Enjoying panoramic sea view of Victoria Harbour on high floor (28/F), it is a grade A & decent event space with designing industrial-style and decorating green plants to provide comfortable environment. With well-equipped and one stop related event service and arrangement, it specially tailor-makes for different types of events, whether you’re hosting corporate trainings, seminars, product launch, press conference, networking events, business meetings, photo shooting, advertisement filming, etc.

Commons Workshop 28/F Sunshine Plaza 353 Lockhart Road Wan Chai Hong Kong

Compass Offices is a leading flexible office space provider in Asia Pacific.

Founded in 2009, Compass Offices has grown to 9 cities, serving over 20,000 satisfied clients. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, growing start-ups, entrepreneurs, independent professionals and enterprise teams.

Compass Offices Level 12, 20, 29, 38, Infinitus Plaza, 199 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 3911 0600 Fax: (852) 3911 0601 Email: sales@commons.hk https://commons.hk/

Email: hksales@compassoffices.com https://www.compassoffices.com/

cozy event space is your ideal venue for corporate and private events, ranging from training sessions, team building, seminars, meetings, conferences, workshops, parties… the possibilities are endless.

Our versatile multi-purpose space may accommodate up to 50 seats in a seminar setting, and the layout may be freely configured according to your requirements.

We are located in a brand new premium office building in Sheung Wan, and is the only tenant of the floor, which are attributes well appreciated by corporate clients that prefers a prestigious, modern and private venue.

cozy event space 17/F Skyway Centre 23 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan,Hong Kong Phone No.: +852 5741 6863 E-mail: cozy@werkspace.com.hk

To meet the flexibility required by many businesses, the space may also be rented in weeks or months for temporary office use for up to 20 staff members, with two rooms that may be used as meeting rooms or managers’ rooms.

Contact today to schedule a site visit or to obtain a quotation!

CONSUMER GOODS Clorox is a global company with leading brands that have become household names: our namesake bleach and cleaning products; Ayudín® and Poett® home care products; Pine-Sol® dilutable cleaner; Fresh Step® cat litter; Kingsford® charcoal; Hidden Valley® and K C Masterpiece® dressings and sauces; Brita® water filtration products; Glad® bags, wraps and containers; and Burt's Bees® natural personal care products. We manufacture products in more than two dozen countries and market them in more than 100 countries. Clorox trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CLX.

Clorox 21/F Greenwich Centre, 260 King’s Road, North Point, Hong Kong SAR

ACT is a corporate L&D consulting and training company based in Hong Kong & Singapore with over 15 years’ experience in people training and development that partners with forward-thinking organizations and leaders who understand the importance of their greatest asset - their people.

Asia Corporate Training Ltd. 13B, Shun Pont Commercial Building, 5-11 Thomson Road, Wanchai, HONG KONG

The acronym for the company name, ACT, simply and powerfully represents the philosophy of taking ACTion: to understand how one’s belief will lead to specific behaviours which will result in specific outcomes. ACT believes that selfawareness of how we think and act is critical for personal growth, to translate into leadership effectiveness, contributing to greater corporate success as a result.

Tel: (852) 25756470 contact@act-asia.com.hk www.act-asia.com.hk

As a trusted international organisation and a global leader in English training, the British Council has over 70 years’ experience in English assessment. We develop and deliver English language programmes for businesses in Hong Kong.

Aptis, British Council’s English testing tool, is a robust four skills test used by corporate businesses, government organisations and educational institutions.

British Council 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong

Ivy Li Tel: (852) 2919 1166 Email: ivy.li@clorox.com https://www.cloroxhongkong.com/ https://www.thecloroxcompany.com/

EDUCATION / CORPORATE TRAINING

It provides an accurate and affordable way to benchmark language levels of employees for recruitment or career advancement purposes. With results available in as little as 24 hours, Aptis assesses ability in the areas that HR want to focus on – in individual skills or combinations of speaking, writing, listing or reading.

88 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

Tel: (852) 2913 5100 aptis@britishcouncil.org.hk www.britishcouncil.hk/en/ exam/aptis

HR CLASSIFIEDS

BPP is a global leader in professional education and training, working with the world’s leading global organisations to reach new levels of productivity, value, and growth. We work with you to create educational programmes to upskill and cross skill your employees and build your workforce set for the future.

BPP Education Group 80 Robinson Road #02-00, Singapore, 068898

•

Chorev Consulting International Unit B, 3/F, Kin On Commercial Building, 49-51 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

• • •

Offer leadership development programs and consulting services in the area of High EQ leadership, Change Management, Growth Mindset and Advanced communication with diverse stakeholders Programs based on the latest scientific research & Asian organization context to inspire behaviorial change Provides services in the area of customized 360 rollout, LEA 360, MBTI, EQi-2.0 and Strategic Management Clients including John Lewis, Hang Lung Properties, Hong Kong Government, Jardine Matheson, Amadeus, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI), Citic Telecom CPC, Value Partners, YMCA, HKUST, Chinese University and City University of Hong Kong

Tel: (65) 9338 7331 http://www.bpp.com/asia-pacific

Tel: (852) 3568 2747 Fax: (852) 3544 3300 http://www.chorevconsulting.com/

Dew-Point International Ltd. is a leading provider of training and management consulting services throughout Asia. We assess the specific needs of our clients and respond with customised, practical training programs and consulting services. Established in 1973, we combine in-depth knowledge with genuine enthusiasm and highly dynamic training techniques to create productive and effective learning experiences. DewPoint enhances organisational and individual effectiveness by building the capacity within organisations without the need of continued outside help. Through assessment, skills training, team facilitation and executive coaching, we have ensured the long-term success of countless clients.

Dew-Point International Ltd. 21/F., Ritz Plaza,122 Austin Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

The PTI Group is a consulting, training, and publishing group. In conjunction with the internationally-renowned professional association, International Professional Managers Association (IPMA) of UK, we offer online pure distance learning courses (PDLCs). IPMA’s website: http://www.ipma.co.uk/conferences.

The PTI Group 20/F. Wellable Commercial Building, 513 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Our “Financing & Capital Raising Professional™ (FCRP™)” and “Environmental, Social & Governance Expert™ (ESGE™)” programmes seek to enhance candidates’ practical & international knowledge in raising funding for companies (bank financing, IPO, private equity etc.) and ESG respectively. Upon qualification, candidates can use respective professional designation, awarded by IPMA.

Tel: (852) 3511 9288 info@the-pti.com www.the-pti.com

Tel: (852) 2730 1151 Fax: (852) 2730 0164 info@dew-point.com.hk www.dew-point.com.hk

Raise your colleagues’ ability to add value through practical & international knowledge by enrolling in our PDLCs.

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.

H.R. Solutions specialises in training in leadership, performance management, sales and general skills development including negotiating, project management, presentation skills and communication skills. We are official partners of Think on your Feet® and engage-universe, and accredited DISC and MBTI® facilitators.

Based in Hong Kong, we work regionally with local languages delivery as required.

Our workshops incorporate simple frameworks and processes to provide effective, structured learning, supported with tailored experiential exercises, cases and role-plays. Our long-term development programs combine classroom training with on-the-job learning, ongoing coaching and on-line resources as appropriate. We aim to ensure participants can apply the skills immediately in the workplace for better team performance and superior business results.

Vocational Language Programme Office Vocational Training Council Room 437, 4/F, Academic Block, 30 Shing Tai Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2595 8119 vlpo-veep@vtc.edu.hk www.vtc.edu.hk/vlpo

H.R. Solutions (Int’l) Ltd. Room 2802, Tower Two, Lippo Centre, 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2573 0501 abrophy@hrsolutions.com.hk www.hrsolutions.com.hk

89

HR CLASSIFIEDS

EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING / INSURANCE Holistic Wellness Hong Kong (HWHK) regularly organises different types of events, lectures and workshops, all of which have been carefully and scientifically designed to help participants manage their emotions, cope with stress and improve interpersonal relationships and work performance.

Holistic Wellness Hong Kong Unit C, 8/F, Hung To Center 94-96 How Ming Street Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

HWHK is committed to promoting the practice of Holistic Wellness to the general Hong Kong public in their daily life and work. They offer different kinds of personal and corporate training services.

Tel: (852) 9794 1363 (Raindy) Tel: (852) 9454 5687 (Vincent) contact@hwhk.org www.holisticwellnesshongkong.com

Hong Kong Adventist Hospital—Stubbs Road is one of the leaders in medical services, providing organisations with comprehensive health assessment packages to choose from. The hospital works closely with HR and Benefits specialists to design tailor-made programmes to satisfy your staff’s unique requirements. The checkups not only assess staff’s health status and identify the risk factors, it also provide preventive programmes to help clients fine-tune their lifestyles for healthy living. All the services are supported by experienced professional staff using advanced equipment in modern facilities.

Hong Kong Adventist Hospital­— Stubbs Road 40 Stubbs Road, Hong Kong

Major Compare is a leading international employee benefits consultancy, risk management advisory and business insurance brokerage firm. They work with companies of all sizes both in Hong Kong and around the world to advise and implement customised employee benefit plans with the goal of retaining and attracting employees. Through industry specific due diligence Major Compare also help reduce HR overheads with policy management and by ensuring your company is fully and properly insured with the guarantee of the lowest premium(s). All services provided by Major Compare are completely free to their clients.

Major Compare 1/A, 128 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3018 1353 www.majorcompare.com.hk

Pacific Prime Insurance Brokers is a leading international health insurance brokerage specialising in providing comprehensive coverage options to individuals, families, and companies throughout the AsiaPacific 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 Tel: (852) 2586 0731 Fax: (852) 2915 7770 info@pacificprime.com marketing@pacificprime.com www.pacificprime.com

Societe Generale is one of the leading European financial services groups.

Based on a diversified and integrated banking model, the Group combines financial strength and proven expertise in innovation with a strategy of sustainable growth, aiming to be the trusted partner for its clients, committed to the positive transformations of society and the economy.

Societe Generale Level 34, Three Pacific Place 1 Queen’s Road East Hong Kong (regional Head Office)

FLEXImums stands for mums & women who want to work! FLEXImums was established with the vision to empower and connect working mothers and mothers returning to work with full-time and part-time jobs. FLEXImums’ portfolio of clients extends across all sectors, from public to private and SMEs to large multinationals.

FLEXImums info@fleximums.com (852) 6540 0526 www.fleximums.com www.genderequityconference. com

Tel: (852) 3651-8835 Fax: (852) 3651-8840 www.hkah.org.hk

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Tel: (852) 2166 5388 https://www.societegenerale.asia

GENDER EQUITY

90 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR 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.

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.

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

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

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

Atrium HR Consulting is a joint venture between Alliance Group International and RamsaySmith, bringing together extensive experience and a wealth of specialist knowledge. Atrium’s aim is to help businesses achieve the highest possible level of performance by maximising efficiency, cost savings and results.

Atrium’s services are used and trusted by more than 25% of the Fortune Global 500. Building upon their current client base, resources and an established global infrastructure they work to deliver a professional customer-focused service around the world.

Atrium HR Consulting.

22/F OVEST, 77 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Contact person: Pauline Williams Tel: 852 2891 8915 info@atriumhr.com www.atriumhr.com

Today Atrium supports clients across 180 countries with their recruitment, training, employee benefits and wellness programmes.

Flex Human Resources strives to provide small and medium-sized Hong Kong businesses with comprehensive, reliable and cost-effective HR outsourcing and consulting services.

Our services include recruitment and selection, headhunting, payroll processing, benefit administrations, performance management, training and development, employee surveys, HR analytics and projects, etc.

With strong talent databases, we also provide staff leasing and outsourcing for companies in Hong Kong, China and overseas.

FLEX Human Resources Unit 705, 7/F, Tamson Plaza, 161 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3466 5279 info@hroutsourcing.hk www.HRoutsourcing.hk

The Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA) was established in 1960. The HKMA is a non-profit making organisation 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 approximately 48,000 participants every year.

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

Korn Ferry is the pre-eminent global people and organizational advisory firm.

We help leaders, organizations and societies succeed by releasing the full power and potential of people. Our nearly 7,000 colleagues deliver services through Korn Ferry and our Hay Group and Futurestep divisions. 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 15/F, St. George’s Building, 2 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2971 2700 Fax: (852) 2810 1632

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).

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

Tricor Consulting Limited is a member of Tricor Group dedicated to creating value for clients and strengthening their organization capabilities through: Strategic Management—Shaping your future and making it happen Organization Structuring—Aligning organization structure with strategies HR Consulting—Maximizing performance and return on investment of human assets Talent Management—Cultivating talents to create competitive advantage Director Remuneration and Board Evaluation—Ensuring appropriate remuneration of senior executives and building an effective board Training Resources Consulting—Maximizing business impact of training with ondemand scalable resources. Change Management—Partnering with clients to drive and enable organization transformation

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

General inquiry: kornferry.hongkong@kornferry.com Leadership and Talent Consulting: ltc. hongkong@kornferry.com www.kornferry.com

Tricor Consulting Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2980 1027 Fax: (852) 2262 7596 john.kf.ng@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

91

HR CLASSIFIEDS

HR TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS At BIPO, we help businesses transform and digitalise, enabling them to thrive and realise their growth ambitions. Around the world, we support over 1,600 clients across 87 countries and regions with a new generation of HR solutions. Our comprehensive suite of service products from our award-winning cloud and mobile-based HR Management System (HRMS), multi-country payroll calculation, overseas landing services, Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) to attendance automation provide clients with a multi-regional, integrated and seamless user experience.

BIPO C1, 22F TML Tower, No. 3 Hoi Shing Road, Tsuen Wan, New Territories, Hong Kong

COL, based in Hong Kong with over 40 years of experience, is a leading IT services subsidiary of WTT. COL is the vanguard of HRMS providers, crowned Excellent HR Information System Provider of HR Excellence Awards 2014 by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM). COL offers a comprehensive IT services portfolio, including application development and implementation, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), IT infrastructure, etc.

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 award-winning HRMS, web-based employee self-service portal to outsourcing services for MNCs, enterprises and SMEs. “Doc:brary” Document Management System is another flagship application in our HCM product portfolio that securely manages HR related documents including employees P-file, appraisal records, training materials, etc.

Florence Mok: Tel: (852) 3643 0295 Email: florence.mok@biposervice.com https://www.biposervice.com/

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

COL is an Avaya partner, a Cisco Gold partner, an EMC Velocity Partner, a Juniper Networks Elite Partner, an Oracle Gold and ISV Partner, a TmaxSoft ISV Partner and a VMware Partner. COL was CMMI Level 3 assessed in May 2005

With strategic offices in Hong Kong, China, UK and US, DaXtra is a world leading specialist in high-accuracy multilingual CV parsing, semantic search, matching and process automation technologies. Our solutions are compatible with most leading recruitment ATS and CRM systems and are designed to bring efficiency and automation, while dramatically reducing the overall ‘cost of hire’. Over 1000 organisations globally use DaXtra products every day – from boutique recruitment firms to the World’s largest staffing companies, from corporate recruitment departments to job boards and software vendors.

Daxtra Technologies (Asia) Ltd. Unit 401, OfficePlus 93-103 Wing Lok Street Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Ramco Systems is a next-gen Enterprise software player disrupting the market with its multi-tenant cloud and mobile-based enterprise software in HR and Global Payroll. Part of the USD 1 billion Ramco Group, Ramco’s employees are spread across 24 offices globally and focus on Innovation and Employee Experience to differentiate itself in the marketplace. Infused with Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and with next-gen features such as Chatbots, Voice, and Facial recognition-based workforce management, Ramco Payroll (offered as platform & as managed services) manages 50+ country payroll covering Greater China, APAC, Middle-East & Africa on one single platform.

Ramco Systems #761, 7/F, 181 Queen’s Road Central, Hong KOng

SuccessFactors, an SAP company, is the leading provider of cloud-based Business Execution Software, which drives business alignment, optimises workforce performance, and accelerates business results. SuccessFactors customers include organisations of all sizes across more than 60 industries.

With approximately 15 million subscription seats globally, we strive to delight our customers by delivering innovative solutions, content and analytics, process expertise, and best practices insights. Today, we have more than 3,500 customers in more than 168 countries using our application suite in 35 languages.

SuccessFactors 35/F, Tower Two, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, HK

For over 20 years MDS has been the market leader in talent development, leadership training, sales effectiveness and executive coaching, producing great results for global companies in the Greater China and APAC regions.

Management Development Services Limited Room 1701–3, Kai Tak Commercial Building, 317–319 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 3695 5133 asia@daxtra.com www.daxtra.com

Rohan Raghunath Tel: +852 95166231 Email: rohan.raghuanth@ramco.com https://www.ramco.com/

Tel: (852) 2539 1800 Fax: (852) 2539 1818 info.hongkong@sap.com www.successfactors.com

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

MDS is the certification centre and distributor of leading personality and leadership assessments for talent development programmes including the MBTI® and FIRO® , Leadership Effectiveness Analysis (LEA360™) and GMI® , Strong Interest Inventory ® for career planning, Sales Performance Assessment™ (SPA™) for sales development, and TKI® for negotiation skills.

From MDS offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei we manage an outstanding team of international trainers and executive coaches delivering a vast collection of leadership and sales programmes including the Miller Heiman products.

In 2016, MDS launched the Smith-MDS partnership with University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. The partnership draws on a world-class faculty, facilitators and executive coaches to deliver leading edge executive development solutions.

92 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

Tel: (852) 2817 6807 Fax: (852) 2817 9159 mds@mdshongkong.com www.mdshongkong.com

HR CLASSIFIEDS

LEGAL / EMPLOYMENT LAW / TAX DLA Piper has been doing business in Hong Kong for 20 years. It has close links with our other offices in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US. Together, we provide clients with a seamless global capability to meet their business needs. Staffing the Hong Kong office is a vibrant team of over 130 locally and internationally-trained partners, lawyers, consultants and legal executives. Our lawyers regularly assist clients with their multi-jurisdictional cross-border activities throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Reflecting the international diversity of our clients, our people in Hong Kong all speak English, with individuals speaking Putonghua (Mandarin), and a wide range of Asian languages and dialects including Cantonese, Korean, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese as well as French, German, Italian, Punjabi and Spanish.

DLA Piper 25/F, Exchange Square Block 3, 8 Connaught Pl, Central Tel: (852) 2103 0808 http://www.dlapiper.com

At EY, our purpose is building a better working world. The insights and quality services we provide help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY 22/F CITIC Tower, 1 Time Mei Avenue, Central, Hong Kong

Hugill & Ip is a young independent law firm, but with decades of experience providing bespoke legal advice and exceptional client service to individuals, families, entrepreneurs and businesses, in Hong Kong and internationally. The firm’s core team comprises partners who are recognised as leaders in the areas of Dispute Resolution, Corporate & Commercial, Family, Probate & Trust and Employment.

Hugill & Ip Solicitors 2308, Two Lippo Centre 89 Queensway Hong Kong

Hugill & Ip’s Employment practice is constantly developing to keep pace with the law and has gained a respected position with employers, employees and among our peers as being at the forefront of providing practical and straightforward advice in a complex and fast-moving area of law.

Tel: 2846 9888 Tel: 2868 4432 https://www.ey.com/

Tel: (852) 2861 1511 e​n quiry​@ hugillandip.com www.hugillandip.com

Whether advising individuals or companies, the firm provides advice that is results-driven. With extensive knowledge and experience of employment law in Hong Kong, Hugill & Ip is able to advise on all options but will also “come offthe-fence” and offer advice that achieves a practical solution

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

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

WTS consulting (Hong Kong) Limited Unit 1004, 10/F, Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2528 1229 Fax: (852) 2541 1411 claus.schuermann@wts.com.hk www.wts.com.hk

MICE VENUES / EVENT ORGANISERS AsiaWorld-Expo is Hong Kong’s leading exhibitions, conventions, concerts and events venue, yet it is also an ideal venue for annual dinners, worldclass conferences, cocktail receptions, media luncheons and sumptuous banquets. With Hong Kong’s largest indoor convention and hospitality hall, AsiaWorld-Summit 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

Rockbird Media is an events management expert who aims to organize best-quality events that will bring impact to its clients’ business growth. We aim to spread this principle in Asia and the Pacific, and even globally. We don’t just organize events. We create the kind of experience that people talk about, the ones they cannot get enough of. It’s who we are.

Rockbird Media https://rockbirdmedia.com/

Tel: (852) 3606 8888 Fax: (852) 3606 8889 fnb@asiaworld-expo.com www.asiaworld-expo.com

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

PHOTOGRAPHY / VIDEOGRAPHY I’m an independent videographer based in Hong Kong, specialising in event videos, interviews, brand videos and many more. My love of watching films and tv shows intrigued me to discover all the intricacies within film making.

I believe a good video requires a great team and careful attention to detail which leads to an effective video.

Paul Fukushima Tel: 6356-1700 Email: fukushimapaul@gmail.com https://fukushimapaul.wixsite. com/home

RECRUITMENT / EXECUTIVE SEARCH / STAFFING OUTSOURCING Headquartered in Switzerland, Adecco is a Fortune Global 500 company with around 5,000 offices in over 60 countries and territories around the world.

We possess the skills and global intelligence to develop human resource strategy for the highest levels, yet remain close to clients, local markets and needs. Adecco Hong Kong has over 30 years of experience in the region, with a comprehensive service offering that includes permanent placement, temporary & contract staffing, recruitment process outsourcing, HR consulting & assessment services, employment contract services, recruiting projects & overseas search, payroll outsourcing & administration services, and training.

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

Elabram Group is responsible for the global business of Elabram HR Solution, Elabram Telco, XRemo, and WMS, with a more than 20 years history and core competencies in human resources and telecommunication consultancy.

Elabram Group Level 23 Nu Tower 2, KL Sentral, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kuala Lumpur 50470, Malaysia.

The company has successfully placed more than 83.000 talents and served more than 118 clients worldwide. In its four business divisions, Elabram Group is continually expanding its capability and innovation to align customer needs.

Mikel Yaw Tel: +60338317888 Email: enquiries@elabram.com https://elabram.com/

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

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

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Randstad is a Fortune Global 500 Company and the second largest recruitment & HR services provider globally, with operations spanning across 39 countries with over 29,700 corporate staff that help talented people develop their career potential and provide companies with the best people to reach their business goals. Founded in 1960 by Frits Goldschmeding, our Asia Pacific operations reaches across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. Randstad Hong Kong was established in 2009 and specialises in permanent and contract recruitment across specialized areas including Accounting & Finance, Banking & Financial Services, Construction, Property & Engineering, Information Technology & Telecommunications, Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain & Logistics.

Randstad 5/F, Agricultural Bank of China, 50 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong

Tricor Executive Resources has for the past 28 years built an unrivalled reputation for integrity and professionalism in the executive search business.

Our team of specialist consultants and researchers provide a range of practical and innovative solutions to help you search for the right talent to meet your business needs. We utilize in-depth research, intense resourcing and a highly focused approach in the identification of qualified candidates in the appropriate industry sector. Our clients consists of multinationals, publicly listed and private companies as well as family-owned and start-up companies.

Tricor Executive Resources Limited Level 54, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2980 1166 Fax: (852) 2869 4410

We also provide advice on HR best practices to enhance your human capital. Our HR Solutions can help drive your business performance through the effective use of talent. These include Compensation and Benefits Benchmarking; Soft Skills and Management Development Training; Performance Management Systems; Talent Assessment Centre; Human Resource Outsourcing; Career Counselling and Talent Transition Management and Employee Engagement Surveys.

94 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

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

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

Tel: (852) 2232 3408 www.randstad.com.hk

fiona.yung@hk.tricorglobal.com www.hk.tricorglobal.com

HR CLASSIFIEDS

RETAIL KAS Group Asia (KGA) is the exclusive direct sourcing arm of Kmart Group that operates the iconic retail brands Kmart Australia, Target Australia and Catch.

KGA’s operations span the largest sourcing markets across Asia including China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam, supporting an annual sourcing capability of US $ 2.5 billion.

KAS Group Asia (KGA) 10/F, Trade Square, 681 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

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

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 pick-up 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

Lavina Mehta Tel: (852) 2732 3402 Fax: (852) 2730 1051 Email: lavina.mehta@tgasourcing.com http://www.kmart.com.au/ http://www.target.com.au

RELOCATION / LOGISTICS

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

SERVICED APARTMENTS / HOTELS

Each of our luxurious units is subtly unique. Spacious studio, studio deluxe, deluxe 1-bedroom, executive suite and twin-beds in selected rooms, 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 tranquillity of green living and a diverse choice of dining and entertainment is right on your doorstep.

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.

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

The HarbourView Place 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3718 8000 Fax: (852) 3718 8008 enquiries@harbourviewplace.com www.harbourviewplace.com

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HR CLASSIFIEDS

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.

Regal Hotels International is one of the largest hotel operators in Hong Kong, currently owns and manages twenty-three hotels. Committed to exceeding the needs of each and every guest, all Regal Hotels provide first-class international guestrooms and facilities including state-of-the-art meeting and banquet rooms.

Regal Hotels International 11/F, 68 Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, CN

Vega Suites, is the stylish suite hotel in Kowloon East. Located atop the MTR Tseung Kwan O Station, Island East and Kowloon East are only 3 MTR stops away. The integrated complex becomes a new landmark creating a comfortable, relaxing and home like living space for guests. The all-encompassing landmark development comprises two international hotels & luxury residence The Wings.

Situated directly above the trendy PopCorn mall, connected to one million square feet of shopping, dining, leisure and entertainment. There is a lustrous selection of units – ranging from Studio, 1-Bedroom, 2-Bedroom to 3-Bedroom with flexible staying terms.

Vega Suites Atop Tseung Kwan O Station 3 Tong Tak Street Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong

V is a collection of award-winning hotels, serviced apartments and private residences in Hong Kong.

V Hotels and Serviced Apartments Unit 5702, Cheung Kong Centre, 2 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3602 2388 Fax: (852) 2891 1418 reservations@thev.hk www.thev.hk

Bringing our philosophy of eat, shop, live easy, each V is nestled in a plethora of restaurants, amidst excellent shopping hubs and surrounded by an extensive transportation network. V Wanchai and V Wanchai2 are minutes walk from HKCEC, whilst the Lodge connects to 5 railway systems.

Each V is urban, contemporary, but calm and quiet. Our two Causeway Bay properties host penthouse and terraced apartments for families and elegance entertaining, whilst V Happy Valley features an outdoor water garden.

https://www.regalhotel.com/

Tel: (852) 3963 7888 Fax: (852) 39637889 enquiries@vegasuites.com www.vegasuites.com.hk

Each V carries a different design motif, yet shares one critical ingredient – we deliver a high standard of comfort and good honest service.

STAFF BENEFITS Nespresso provides a range of machines dedicated to professional use that meet the different needs and expectations of our customers. Zenius is the one of the latest innovation in the professional machine range by Nespresso and comes at an affordable price. It is intuitive to use, reliable and integrates the latest technological advances by Nespresso. Zenius is the ideal machine for small and big companies looking for quality and simplicity. At Nespresso we want to make it possible for you to make the same full-bodied espresso offered by skilled baristas. Your business can benefit from years of Nespresso expertise in premium Grands Crus coffees, innovative machines and excellent customer support.

Nespresso, Division of Nestlé Hong Kong Ltd. Unit 505, Manhattan Place, 23 Wang Tai Road, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong

Philip Morris Asia Limited is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. PMI's smoke-free IQOS product portfolio includes heated tobacco and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of March 31, 2020, PMI estimates that approximately 10.6 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI’s heated tobacco product, which is currently available for sale in 53 markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand.

Philip Morris Asia Limited Suites 2402-2411 24/F Devon House, Taikoo Place 979 King’s Road Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

For more information, see our PMI (https://www.pmi.com/) and PMIScience (https://www.pmiscience.com/) websites.

96 HR MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2020

Tel: 800 905 486 Fax: 800 968 822 CRC.HK@nespresso.com www.nespresso-pro.com

Tel: 28251600 https://www.pmi.com/

Bupa HERO VHIS Plan

VHIS Certification Number: F00040

Festive enrolment offer

53%

Get a welcome discount up to for family enrolment

off*

・ Full cover 1 in Asia 2 up to HK$30 million annually ・ First VHIS plan to prioritise mental health

・ Full cover 1 for inpatient psychiatric treatments and cancer treatments ・ Flexible deductible options to lower your premiums

・ No lifetime benefit limit and coverage will be automatically renewed each year ・ Up to 15% lifetime family discount

3

Promotion runs until

31 March 2021 Enquiry hotline

2517 5969

・ Eligible for tax deduction on up to HK$8,000 in premiums annually 4

Scan the QR code for details:

Remarks: * For 2 family members who enrol together, they can firstly enjoy 10% family discount, and an extra 40% discount will be subsequently applied to the discounted premium; For 3 or more family members who enrol together, they can firstly enjoy 15% family discount, and an extra 45% discount will be subsequently applied to the discounted premium. For details, please refer to the terms and conditions.

1 Full cover is only applicable to covered expenses and subject to the annual benefit limit.

2 Asia includes Australia and New Zealand.

3 Family discount will be applied to the standard premium and premium loading of the certified plan only, but not any other optional benefits under the Bupa Hero VHIS Plan. The discount will be valid as long as the eligible family members are all covered under a Bupa Hero VHIS Plan at the same time.

4 Any Hong Kong taxpayer who has purchased an eligible health insurance plan (certified by the Food and Health Bureau as VHIS) can claim a tax deduction on qualifying premiums up to HK$8,000 per insured person each year. These persons must be included in the list of “specified relatives” in Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) (which may change from time to time). You can claim the deduction in the same tax year when the premium was paid. The deduction is available for certified plans, but not any other optional benefits, with policy effective date of 1 April 2019 or later. There is no limit on the number of insured persons and/or policies claimed by each taxpayer. Policies purchased for a domestic partner, grandchild(ren) or domestic partner’s parents/children are not eligible for tax deduction. For details about tax deduction, please visit www.bupa.com.hk/taxfaq.

The product information in this leaflet is for reference only. It is not, and does not form part of, a policy of insurance and is designed to provide an overview of the key features of this product. Please visit Bupa's website at www.bupa.com.hk/hero, or refer to the product brochure, Summary of Benefits and policy for details.

EC Workspace Energy Connect Workspace

SMART OFFICE SOLUTION

Optimise your office, maximise space efficiency, reduce operating costs, improve employee’s productivity and wellbeing

Know more

www.clpsec.com

+852 2596 4208

enquiry@clpsec.com