COVER STORY
2017 HOT LIST MIKE MCCARTHY
KEN HOSKIN
Group head of HR, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa
AIRBNB
MASTERCARD
Mike McCarthy joined MasterCard in 2012, and for the past four years he has been working on the frontline, following the company’s declaration of “war on cash” and its shift towards electronic payment methods. A major component of this is managing recruitment to draw in talent with experience in the tech and telecoms industries. McCarthy and his team have also helped cultivate a culture of innovation within MasterCard through initiatives such as live forums and express learning sessions, as well as encouraging staff-submitted patents. In its advocacy for diversity and inclusion, MasterCard Singapore has partnered with Women 2.0, an organisation that draws young women into the workforce in the STEM fields. McCarthy and his team are continuously working to empower female employees and help them develop meaningful careers. In 2016, McCarthy was listed as one of LinkedIn’s top power profiles in Singapore.
In 2012, Airbnb set up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore and opened a spanking new office in May 2016. But more so than the fancy office, what Ken Hoskin considers the most significant achievement for Airbnb Asia-Pacific in the past 12 months is being the first region to launch an internal coaching program. The program includes mentoring training for C-suite executives, which aims to help them develop high-level coaching techniques so they can conduct meaningful and fruitful coaching sessions with younger employees. Hoskin and his team are looking forward to the full launch of a new learning platform, Degreed, in 2017, which will deliver personalised content based on each employee’s interests. Hoskin believes that, alongside L&D, trust and empowerment is key to employees’ adaptability and flexibility in a fast-changing environment. “We spend a lot of time discussing about ‘the why’ and encouraging the involvement of teams in decision-making,” he says. “This ensures they have a stake when teams are restructured to best support the Airbnb community.”
JOCELYN MACEDO
KEVIN ZHANG
Vice president of HR, Asia Pacific and Japan
HAVAS ASIA-PACIFIC
DELL TECHNOLOGIES
The biggest challenge Jocelyn Macedo faced in 2016 was helping to manage one of the largest technology mergers in history – that of Dell and EMC. One of Macedo’s top priorities has been defining the corporate culture – the company’s values, leadership principles and work ethic – based on the feedback and insights of over 75,000 former Dell and EMC team members. Impressively, in the same year, the company was recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Asia. Macedo explains the impetus for and effectiveness of their talent strategy: “Being a Great Place To Work is an important part of our talent strategy, which is geared toward creating an inclusive work environment where all team members have the opportunity to contribute to the company’s success and realise their full potential. It is our strong culture that sets us apart and enables us to attract, retain and engage talented team members across the Asia region.”
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Regional talent lead, APAC
Director of HR & talent
With over 15 years of HR experience in the advertising, media and marketing industry, Kevin Zhang and his team primarily look after talent attraction and retention through the development of L&D programs, and by promoting D&I through various initiatives and activities. As an experienced HR leader, Zhang recognises the need for HR to keep pace with how the business evolves, yet they must choose to adapt new models only after having properly assessed the organisation’s size and culture. Professionals in this space must also have mastered the basic HR functions to ensure that a strong foundation is built and maintained. Before joining Havas, Zhang spent 10 years in New York as director, corporate HR, at IPG, before moving to R/GA Singapore and heading its APAC HR operations. He is also chairman and founding director of the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (NY Chapter).
www.hrdmag.com.sg
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