COVER STORY
RISING STARS THE TRAINING DEFICIT Gen Z, like their predecessors Gen Y, are keen to learn more on-the-job skills during their studies in order to be more desirable candidates for potential employers, as well as adequately prepared with relevant and practical workplace skills.
84% believe there needs to be much more workplace training for students today
82% believe businesses need to take a much more active role in training students to be ready for the workforce
ALEX PUSENJAK HR manager – APAC, Revel Systems
“Ambitious” and “incredibly talented” – these are words befitting Alex Pusenjak, who has worked his way up from an entry-level internal recruiter to a regional HR manager role in a span of five years. As a standalone HR business partner prior to this at SIRCA, Pusenjak contributed to a seamless company transition to a new entity, RoZetta Technology. During this time, he helped develop a strong corporate culture and other initiatives for the new entity, which resulted in the company receiving finalist nods at the 2015 Australian HR Awards for its remuneration and benefits and health and wellbeing offerings. His current (and again) standalone role as HR manager for Asia-Pacific at Revel Systems requires extensive coordination with the company’s global HR team to create and implement effective HR strategies and processes.
MOMOKO IIDA
HR business partner, Arvato Digital Services
64% believe universities are not sufficiently equipping students with practical skills to help fulfil workplace needs Source: 2015 Future Leaders Index by Co-op in partnership with BDO
SAURAV ATRI Director of talent sourcing, Gallup
As director of talent sourcing at Gallup, a talent and performance management consulting company, Saurav Atri’s work is crucial to demonstrating the effectiveness of the very practices and strategies the company promotes. Atri has received internal All Star Awards every year from 2013 to 2016 for excellent work in recruitment as well as in L&D. In terms of the latter, Atri consults with organisations on matters such as the design of engaging workplaces, effective measurement of individual contributions, and alignment of roles and individuals. He also serves as an executive strengths coach to CEOs and senior leaders of multinational corporations, advising them on best practices in employee engagement and productivity as well as talent retention.
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Momoko Iida joined Arvato Digital Services at a time when it was facing high turnover. She was immediately tasked with recruitment work but after a transitional period began to shift the focus towards programs for enhancing engagement and improving retention, recognising that these initiatives might lead to longer-term solutions. Her efforts have led to her becoming the first point of contact for staff on all issues, and she ensures there is follow-through by communicating the feedback to respective managers and providing advice as needed. Iida streamlined parts of the recruitment process that involved agencies by presenting business needs clearly, establishing rapport and standardising the terms and conditions of engagement, all of which greatly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the hiring process. She also introduced a staff referral program, which not only reduced hiring costs but has also resulted in longer tenure of staff.
JADE CHEN Director, HR and operations, Quotient TravelPlanner
After being appointed as group HR and administrative manager of a growing company in 2012, Jade Chen began streamlining the HR processes and for the next three years worked on honing the talent retention strategy, structuring bonus schemes, and building a strong HR team. Since joining travel agency Quotient TravelPlanner in April 2016, Chen has been working alongside senior management in refining the organisational structure, formulating a holistic HR strategy in line with the business objectives, and overseeing everything from manpower planning to training and development programs. Following the company’s plan to begin operations in Myanmar and Taiwan, Chen has also taken it upon herself to study HR practices in these countries as part of the preparatory work.
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