Human Resources August 2013

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The smart HR professional’s blueprint for workforce strategy humanresourcesonline.net

August 2013

Opinions Crafting a career

Tips on designing the perfect career plan

Hand-in-handGet the best out of your training provider

Bankingon benefi tsAre C&B structures for the fi nance sector back to pre-crisis levels? Page 18

Dell’s Angela Fox and Tiffany Seeon why gender diversity is the key to business success Page 14

» Human Resources » April 20131

EDITOR’S NOTE

MANAGEMENT SERVICES: Find your suppliers quickly and easily on page 42

August 2013 « CONTENTS

39

Any suggestions or tip-offs for Human Resources?Email [email protected]

3 Ed’s note4 In the news6 Hot topic8 Suite talk9 Spacial Awareness10 HR by numbers

11 Snapshot11 Widernet12 White paper46 Up the ranks47 Shelf life

Regulars

34 Learning & DevelopmentDavid Sicari, head of learning and development at ANZ, explains how HR can get the most out of training vendors.

37 Unconventional WisdomDiversifying your portfolio and stepping out of your comfort zone may be a good idea, says Peter Tan, director of human resources at DKSH Singapore.

39 People IssuesHave you really thought about the future of your career? Kenneth J. Kominski, group director of human resources at COMO Hotels and Resorts, has the questions you need to ask yourself.

40 Upwardly MobileGaurav Sharma, HR director for Singapore and Malaysia at Coca-Cola Beverages, reminds us why it’s important to cultivate a “we” mentality in the offi ce.

48 Last WordSometimes it’s not you, it’s them. Rebecca Lewis says it’s what candidates ask in interviews that really demonstrates their worth to your company.

Opinion

Features18 The future of banking bonusesThe banking sector took a rough hit during the GFC, but will compensation structures ever return to pre-crisis levels? Sabrina Zolkifi fi nds out.

26 Laying the building blocksAmos Seah reports on how changes in relationships and structures in the workplace have impacted the role of team-building.

COVER STORY14 Q&AAngela Fox and Tiffany See, of Dell, discuss how they’re paving the way for women in a male-dominated industry.

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» Human Resources » August 20122

EDITOR’S NOTE EDITOR’S NOTE

August 2013 « Human Resources « 3

Human Resources is published 12 times per year by Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd. Printed in Singapore on CTP process by Sun Rise Printing & Supplies Pte Ltd, 10 Admiralty Street, #06-20 North Link Building, Singapore 757695. Tel: (65) 6383 5290. MICA (P) 178/08/2010. Subscription rates are available on request, contact the Circulation Manager by telephone: (65) 6423 0329 or by email to: [email protected]

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HumanResources

Rebecca Lewiseditor

A question of cultureAt a recent job interview with a Japanese company in Singapore, a friend of mine, who is European, was asked whether she would mind “working with a bunch of Asians”.

Taken aback at such a direct question, she stumbled over her words as she tried to say something polite in response.

As she was thinking (read: panicking) the panel of interviewers then gave her the opportunity to ask them some questions.

Thinking this was a good time to brush past the awkwardness of the previous question, she asked one of the women on the panel what she liked most about working at the company.

The woman paused for fi ve seconds, before looking my friend square in the eyes and saying, “I’m just not sure you’ll fi t in here”.

Culture-fi t is an odd phenomenon, but one that has become increasingly important, particularly in countries such as Singapore. Indeed, more hiring managers and bosses are looking for people who can slot into the offi ce culture seamlessly – basically, people who are a lot like them.

Perhaps it’s about whether they have the same sense of humour as the team they’ll be working with, or maybe it’s down to whether the interviewer can imagine having a beer with that candidate (I know one managing director who interviews all his candidates over a pint at a nearby pub for exactly this reason).

At the end of the day, a co-operative working environment can help companies curb problems before they begin, as well as make the offi ce a generally nicer place to work in.

Although my friend’s experience wasn’t a good one, she can understand where the company’s HR team was coming from with its direct questioning, because she understands the importance of cultural fi t (although, somewhat ironically, the company is looking for someone to help it better connect with European clients).

In my experience, it seems like companies in Singapore are doing more of these two things: Beginning to place more importance on cultural fi t over qualifi cations gained, and asking questions which sound more like the type of things you’d hear on a fi rst date.

According to professor Lauren Rivera, in the American Sociological Review, more companies

are making hiring decisions “in a manner more closely resembling the choice of friends or romantic partners”. These include questions such as: “Who would you want to play you in a movie?” and “If you could pick anywhere in the world to go, where would it be and why?”

Additionally, companies such as Glassdoor, which has collected thousands of examples of interview questions, has also found an unquestionable rise in questions about cultural fi t.

It may seem trivial, but these kinds of personal indicators or leisurely pursuits are becoming increasingly crucial. And in an environment where job-hopping has become the norm, cultural fi t is believed to be a strong predictor of employee retention.

Of course, as Rivera argues in her research, focusing too much on cultural fi t often means the best person isn’t always hired for the job. But as more and more candidates cite company culture as their biggest priority over or on par with salary, what are companies to do?

These trends are no doubt being driven by millennials, who care more about culture than any preceding generation. They want companies with perks, who care about social responsibilities and who can be fl exible and less hierarchical.

This is all well and good, but if you go back to my friend’s situation with the Japanese company, these cultural-fi t needs present a modern predicament: How can organisations properly value cultural fi t (and therefore diversity) if hiring managers are so often inclined towards hiring people who are just like them?

Enjoy the issue.

SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE!

editor Rebecca Lewis

deputy editor Sabrina Zolkifi

journalist Amos Seah

intern Cheryl Teo

contributors Kenneth J. Kominski

Gaurav Sharma

David Sicari

Peter Tan

Stuart Jenner

regional art director Shahrom Kamarulzaman

senior designer Fauzie Rasid

regional marketing executive June Tan

senior event producer Ang Yoke Han

event producer Scarlett Hao

head of event services Yeo Wei Qi

executive - event services Renee Phua

senior account manager Karen Boh

account manager Ben DeRegt

audience manager Manuel Almira

brand director Mike Parsons

regional fi nance director Evelyn Wong

publisher and editorial director Tony Kelly

group managing director Justin Randles

» Human Resources » August 20134 August 2013 « Human Resources « 5

hrbulletin News from humanresourcesonline.net

GOOGLE SAYS ITS INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ARE USELESSGlobal – Google is famous for its brainteaser interview questions, but the company’s HR head has admitted they are “a complete waste of time”.

In an interview with The New York Times, Laszlo Bock, senior vice-president of people operations, said: “How many golf balls can you fi t into an aeroplane? How many gas stations in Manhattan? A complete waste of time. They don’t predict anything.”

He went on to say those questions “serve primarily to make the interviewer feel smart”, and he would rather the company’s recruiters focus on conducting

“structured behavioural interviews, where you have a consistent rubric for how you assess people, rather than having each interviewer just make stuff up”.

Bock also said behavioural interviews were another tactic Google employed, which involved the interviewer asking something like, “Give me

an example of a time when you solved an analytically diffi cult problem” to gain a

better understanding of the candidate. Looks like it’s time to ditch those

mind-bending interview questions!

NO STOP-WORK ORDER DURING SINGAPORE HAZESingapore – As the city was shrouded in haze in June, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said there was “no hard line where we say everything comes to a stop”.

“I don’t think there is a single point where we turn action on or action off on stop-work

because it will depend on what people are doing, what their exposure is, what our assessment of the situation is in the past 24 hours, and the outlook,” he said.

On 21 June, Singapore’s PSI level hit an all-time high of 400, crossing into the “very

hazardous” range.While hundreds of companies grounded

operations or took measures to keep staff safe, the government decided not to issue

a stop-work order. The Ministry of Manpower said during times

of haze, employers had a responsibility to protect employees’ health and safety at work, and were expected to carry out risk assessments to determine the impact of the haze on their staff.

WHY MORE BOSSES SHOULD BE DEMOTEDAustralia – If a person has been promoted to a management position, but fails to deliver, why are they so often not demoted? Organisational psychologists say an alarming number of inadequate managers are left in roles they’re not good at simply because people are in denial about their actual abilities.

Organisational psychologist Peter Doyle told news.com.au people’s competence in technical skills often do not match their competence in managing people, and once they’ve moved up the chain it is hard to move them down.

“Their identity is inappropriately attached to the job title and status and so there’s a false fear … that stops people acknowledging they could step down from their position,” he said.

Peter Cotton, also an organisational psychologist, said poor managers were often left in their roles because the boss who promoted them was unwilling to admit they had made a mistake. When dealing with an inadequate manager, he said senior managers had to give them a chance to improve, but if nothing changed, they might need to step down.

THE MOST UNPRODUCTIVE TIME OF THE DAYGlobal – New research has pinpointed the exact time of day employees are the least and most productive at work.

According to a study by London Offi ces, workers are least productive at 2.55pm. Apparently, this is the time of day when staff are most likely to jump onto social media sites or start planning their evening. The report also found 10.22am to be when people are at their most productive.

Michael Davies, the London Offi ces’ spokesperson, told the Daily Mail it was important employees “maintain a steady work level rather than swing between extremes”.

The report also found 4.16pm to be the most stressful, likely because of the fact people were rushing to complete their work before the end of the day.

However, that surge in productivity doesn’t last long because employees were reported to mentally clock off work 18 minutes before they offi cially ended their day.

WAGE ALERT: SALARIES TO DROPSingapore – Projected salary increases and variable bonuses for the rest of of the year are projected to drop, but the good news is they will rise sharply in 2014.

According to the 2013 Singapore HR Trends report by Towers Watson, the projected salary increase for the rest of the year will drop to 4.6% from 4.7% in Q1 2013. When excluding promotion, the average salary increase will dip to 3.8% between April and December this year from 4.1% in Q1 2013, while variable bonuses will drop to 2.1 months (Q2 to Q4) from 2.4 months in Q1 this year.

Despite the decline, salary increment and variable bonuses in 2014 are expected to rise higher than the fi gures of 2013.

The report predicted salary increments (including promotion) in 2014 to be 4.9%, and 4.3% without promotion, and variable bonuses to be at 2.5 months.

AUG

11 TYPES OF SINGAPOREAN COLLEAGUESSingapore – Are you an “ask-hole” or a “ball carrier”? RecruitPlus Consulting put together a list of the 11 types of Singaporean employees, including these two – describing someone who asks for favours all the time or who kisses up to the boss too much, respectively.

The “I-want-to-resign queen” has been expressing their desire to quit since 1998, while “the journalist gossiper” insists on sharing everything they

know about their colleagues. “The vacationer” is always on urgent leave for something; “the serial stabber” loves

to point the fi nger at co-workers and “the taiji master” is always dodging their work load.

Lastly “the foreign bimbo” and “the bimbotic intern” both use their annoying traits

to get what they want and “the smart alec” claims to know everything.

The most familiar one – “the workhorse” – is simply about to collapse at any moment from the

stress of it all.

LOOKS REALLY DO MATTER Singapore – Image has a role in not just your ability to gain employment, but in your responsibilities, promotion and pay rises once you’re hired.

According to the National Survey on Impact of Image by the Association of Image Consultants International (AICI) Singapore Chapter, almost 100% of 311 local respondents agree image affects a company’s decision to hire. It forms two thirds of a man and woman’s positive image, but grooming takes slightly more precedence than clothes.

Across all management levels, image affects promotions to managerial positions (90%) and salary increments (81%). While only three in 10 in lower management said image affected their decision to promote, 47% of senior management agreed.

Looking unkempt, dressing inappropriately and having visible body piercings or tattoos are the top three mistakes people make at work.

COMPANIES TAKE PRECAUTIONS AGAINST HAZESingapore – After the PSI levels in Singapore hit a record high, hundreds of companies went to serious measures to protect their staff from the smog.

“We are keeping a close watch on the haze situation and on the health and safety of our staff. This is especially so when most are deployed outdoors at the stations, depots and interchanges for duties,” said Gerard Koh, vice-president of HR at SMRT, adding it also suspended any maintenance works and issued all staff with an N95 mask.

McDonald’s Singapore posted a statement on its offi cial Facebook page: “Dear customers, due to the current state of the haze, and to ensure the safety of our McDelivery riders, we will be halting all McDelivery orders until further notice. We regret any inconvenience caused and thank you for your kind understanding.”

The Singapore Armed Forces also stopped all outfi eld training.

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Contact Singapore to recruit local talent studying overseas. The main challenge we face is the stiff competition for the limited pool of local job seekers. With the rising expectations of the workforce, we need to ensure our commensuration and benefi ts are competitive to attract them.

To retain local talent, we pay special attention to engaging our multi-generational staff through a slew of comprehensive employee engagement platforms.

Additionally, good performers are recognised for their contributions through monetary and non-monetary rewards.

Our staff retention strategies have been effective and our resignation rate was less than

foreigners and NEA places a strong focus on grooming our young local talent who have a passion for the environment.

We collaborate with tertiary institutions to attract local talent and offer promising candidates the National Environment and Water (NEW) Scholarship. This is an initiative that aims to nurture young talent for the environment and water sectors.

Additionally, NEA proactively partners the community development councils, and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) where a majority of participants at their recruitment events are Singaporeans.

NEA also takes part in overseas recruitment trips organised by the Public Service Division and

WORK LIFE » Hot topic Hot topic WORK LIFE»

■ Gloria ChinHR directorNational Environment Agency

The National Environment Agency (NEA) plays a pivotal role in providing a clean,

liveable and sustainable environment for all Singaporeans. Thus, having a strong local workforce enables NEA to better engage and serve the needs of our key stakeholders.

Creating and sustaining a committed local workforce is also a sensible long-term HR strategy. Currently, less than 1% of our workforce are

There have been several calls by companies and employees for a more local workforce. Amos Seah and Cheryl Teo fi nd out what organisations are doing to keep Singaporeans at the core of their talent pool.

Localising the workforce

defi ned job analysis is comprehensively put together to ensure effi cient candidate assessments. This also helps create objectivity in the hiring decisions and reduces any potential bias.

To complement the process, we’ve also designed and developed the RBC interview reference guide as well as the RBC capabilities framework to further equip hiring managers and HR professionals with the relevant skills and knowledge to conduct effective interviews, and thereby good hiring decisions, within a guided framework.

However, one of the biggest challenges in recruiting and retaining locals is that increasingly, candidates and employees are looking at not just the monetary rewards, but also what the fi rm can offer them in non-monetary aspects.

To address this challenge, we have since implemented a six-month global orientation programme for all our new hires to ensure we proactively engage with them right from day one.

Just to name a few of our programmes, the RBC performance programme was designed to recognise outstanding performances in a formal and tangible way, while RBC recognition celebrates career milestones with our valued employees.

■ Pamela DuaGroup human resources directorPico Art International

Employing Singaporeans is benefi cial in the long run because they are cost-

effective, and trained local talent are loyal to the company, especially when they are given many opportunities to grow within the company.

When a position requires continuity, Singaporeans will be preferred because their

families are here and thus there is less inclination for them to resign when they face a diffi cult situation.

In addition, employing Singaporeans is valuable simply for cultural reasons and harmony.

Singapore is a small country and the government encourages companies to expand overseas. A Singapore-born talent will appreciate this opportunity and have the correct knowledge and skills to start-up the overseas operations effectively.

We also feel employing workers through referrals is the most effective way. At an executive level, Pico hires fresh graduates through career fairs and internships. At a managerial level, hiring is done through word-of-mouth, an internal referral programme or job postings, which go up on various recruitment portals.

In terms of retaining locals, we need to understand employees go through different stages and it is important to understand employees’ needs at each stage to successfully retain them.

However, one of the biggest challenges we face in retaining locals is employees resigning because of their young children. We lost a very experienced manager once who left because she wanted to be with her children when they were growing up. Then, there are others who resign because they do not want to entrust their children’s lives to their helpers.

Another signifi cant challenge of retaining locals is the possibility of them burning out, which I believe happens in most companies, but there are a few strategies we can put in place to overcome the challenges of retaining locals.

Young employees, who I believe want freedom, can apply for one to two months of leave (paid and some unpaid depending on their situation), depending on their length of service in the company. This is because these young people like to travel, and we have had a few such cases every year.

Those married with children are not left out either; they are allowed to work from home up to 20 days a year and also when they have children taking major examinations.

In addition, they are allowed fl exibility to work from home from time-to-time with the approval of their immediate managers. This is possible because some of them may have worked during the weekends because of an event or exhibition.

It is very important for employees of all ages to have adequate rest to ensure they do not get burned out. We also need to remind employees to take vacations. We do this quite conscientiously through their managers, who make an effort to plan the work of their team members to ensure rest.

I would advise HR professionals who are trying to build a strong local workforce to acknowledge the importance of understanding employees’ needs.

There is no one-size-fi ts-all solution. You need to listen with your heart to understand their needs. You need to plan the solutions with the staff and their managers for a work-life balance.

4% in 2012. Besides competitive compensation and benefi ts, it is important to provide a collegial and conducive work environment coupled with challenging and meaningful work to attract locals.

To boost employee retention, it is also essential to understand the needs and wants of the different generations within the workforce to cater to their aspirations accordingly.

■ Daniel TamHR director of wealth managementRoyal Bank of Canada

At Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of the pledges under our corporate social

responsibility commitment is that we will support the local communities in which we live and work.

This is not only a long-standing core value of RBC, but also an important component of our brand, driving our reputation and enhancing both client and employee loyalty. As a testament to this commitment, currently more than 90% of our employees are locals, and they bring with them invaluable knowledge and expertise of the Singapore market, as well as the wider Asia region.

This is highly valued by our clients when they seek out fi nancial advice from us because they can be sure they are dealing with the right subject-matter experts who have a deep and rich knowledge of the various local markets.

To ensure continued success in hiring the right people for the business, we’ve built a robust recruiting process through continued partnership with the business on how to make objective and holistic hiring decisions.

In collaboration with the business, we’ve embedded a process where a detailed and well-


WORK LIFE People »

Philippe Collin DelavaudCEOSingapore Sports Hub

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE?It is very project and achievement targeted, and very hands on. I need to start from zero and achieve something. I also like to really entice and lead employees to see the achievements of the project as a personal goal. I build trust within the team and make sure each employee can trust one another.

HOW IMPORTANT IS HR TO ANY PROJECT?HR, for most projects, is key. Sure, you need fi nancing, you need equipment and land to develop the project, but what truly makes a good project is human resources.

YOU WERE CEO OF CONSORTIUM STADE DE FRANCE. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE HR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FRANCE AND SINGAPORE?There is low unemployment in Singapore, and from time to time a real lack of resources. Employees and managers know they can easily get a job at any company, but at the same time they are very dedicated to their job and

suitetalk Get into the boss’s headare willing to participate and support the company. In France, you have a lot to deal with because of the unions, the labour law and the mistrust you can often have between management and staff. All this is slowing the pace of development and increasing the cost, so Singapore is more effi ciently organised.

WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST HR CHALLENGES WITH THIS PROJECT?We need to focus our energy on opening the sports hub on time, so I try to spend my time making sure each person is not taking the side road. I also have to check if people are creating synergy within the project. We’ve mobilised more than 10 companies for this project, so it’s important the key people are working together.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE FOR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT?The best way is not to be part of the confl ict, but to remind those involved there is only one objective, and we have to decide the best suitable way, and agree upon it.

WHAT DOES SOMEONE IN HR HAVE TO DO TO BE A CEO?I know a few cases of very good HR managers being very good CEOs. It’s really a question of will, and you need to want to move into the role. It’s a personal choice, and HR leaders have to select the type of industry or CEO position they can best benefi t with their expertise.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A CANDIDATE?We look for motivation. Why are you applying for the job? Is it because you want a better salary or are you really interested? That’s what I check for.


People WORK LIFE

»

At Splash Productions, the offi ce aims to be an expression of its staff.“The more we express ourselves freely, the more cohesive the team is,”

says Terry Lee, managing director of Splash.While the offi ce has caught the eye of many because of its unconventional

interior, Lee says they simply tried to be themselves when designing the space.“All we believe in is to be ourselves. We are happy with the label and we fi nd

that being so unconventional has helped us to do better.“It makes our people feel comfortable and at ease in the environment. We

decorated the place ourselves. It’s an environment which our people collectively built.”

All the meeting rooms, bar one, are not enclosed, promoting collaboration and interaction among staff. Lee adds the open environment keeps employees at ease. “Our people feel free to engage anyone and everyone. Same goes with our visitors and clients. Things get done swiftly. It is natural to feel empowered and responsible in this environment.”

One of the unique features of the offi ce is the “green spot”, a mini forest the size of an average room, where plants have been picked by staff to create Splash’s very own forest.

“It’s a space in which they fi nd is expressive of their own taste. This ease helps them express themselves freely; they are at home here. They’re not conscious they’re in a working environment – it’s an environment that works.”

When asked how this layout helps in attracting and retaining employees, Lee says the design simply grabs people’s attention.

“It helps us attract talent, makes them feel at ease and be themselves, so that they may be more inclined to stay longer and fi nd out how well they fi t in here.”

A SPLASH OF PERSONALITY

SpacialAwareness


WORK LIFE » HR by numbers

Singapore – Job prospects are bright for young workers aged 25 and under, with only 44% believing it is hard for young people to fi nd work.

However, despite a low unemployment rate and stable economy, mature-age workers (55 and above) do not enjoy the same good career prospects.

Although 75% of respondents believe it is good for businesses to recruit mature-age employees, almost nine in 10 people believe it is hard for mature-age workers to fi nd a suitable job, according to the Randstad Workmonitor Report for Q2 2013.

80% believe older workers often accept jobs below their education level.

43% think young people do not accept jobs below their education level.

38% feel temporary work is for young people.

Good to be young

Source: Randstad Workmonitor Report for Q2 2013.

68% believe it is benefi cial for their company to actively recruit young people.


People WORK LIFE

»

Get a grip: A fast-growing organisation needs all hands on deck when dealing with cultural sensitivities.

through Outlook. This practice is necessary even if it requires only a few minutes of their time.

Because of the background differences, we need to be more sensitive culturally when rolling

out initiatives. Reception towards global initiatives also varies from reservation to great excitement among countries in Asia Pacifi c. When we rolled out the Employer Value Proposition (EVP), our Japanese and Korean colleagues had to understand the “what” and “why” before they embraced it.

We incorporate feedback to assure we are successful locally. It is more challenging when we are working with people from these cultures who prefer to observe and listen. When it concerns our corporate values, such as learning, passion and integrity and culture, we are more “top-down” because it is the core of who we are.

It is a combination of the growth our company faces, and the many cultures which I am working with that makes my role so exciting. I am learning every day.

Quek Poh MengRegional HR director, APAC, Mölnlycke Health Care

Frieder RummelDirector of HR – Asia, Europe, Middle East and AfricaThe Hershey Company

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST HR JOB, AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PROFESSION?My fi rst HR job was the country HR manager job for Procter & Gamble in Austria. I moved into that from information technology, where I had done a lot of

recruiting and training and I thought people have an even bigger impact on the success of an organisation than technology. HOW WILL THE HR FUNCTION EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?HR leaders will strengthen their role as consultants to business leaders, and help drive change faster and more effectively. BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT DO YOU THINK CAN BE DONE BETTER WITHIN HR?Leaders have to understand HR work is not an end in itself, but it is required to support the business. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK?The wonderful team spirit that we have in our very diverse team at Hershey

snapshot 15 minutes with ...

Singapore, and that everybody always puts the team’s interests above her or his own.

WHICH HR FUNCTION DO YOU LIKE BEST AND WHY?Talent management because it is such a positive and rewarding subject; the business needs it and employees love it.

WHAT IS THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU HAVE RECEIVED?Understand your talents and your passion, and then make sure your job addresses both well. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU FEEL HR CAN DO BETTER TO PLAY A BIGGER ROLE IN ORGANISATIONS?HR needs to fi nd more effective ways to measure its performance and then act accordingly.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE A REGULAR WORKDAY AT YOUR COMPANY?24/7 and often “on the road”, and a lot of fl exibility for life balance, for example, leave the offi ce in the afternoon, go running and have family dinner before evening phone conferences.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING HR CAN DO FOR ITS EMPLOYEES?Provide talent systems and a development culture which allows employees to pursue their personal visions and to live their dreams.

I CAN’T WORK WITHOUT ... having fun!

widernetWorking with diverse cultural attitudes

Perspective on regional HR

Mölnlycke Health Care is one of the fastest growing healthcare companies in APAC, providing wound care and surgical products and services. It is both interesting and exciting to be in a regional role because all countries carry unique cultures and practices.

Some countries, such as China and India, cannot even be viewed as “one” country, as far as culture, workforce behaviour and experience are concerned. In China, for example, people from Beijing are more bureaucratic and regimental, while those from Shanghai are commercially savvy and more adaptive to changes.

I have to be acutely conscious of the different work habits when travelling to these various countries. As a multinational company, being culturally aware is one of our main strengths. In China, I can easily pop by someone’s offi ce and ask if the person can spare a few minutes to discuss an issue. The casual request will usually be acceded if the colleague can spare some time at that moment. This, however, is not acceptable in Japan.

My Japanese colleague will very politely turn down the request, and ask for an appointment to be made by sending them a meeting request

WHITE PAPER » Leadership Leadership « WHITE PAPER


Singapore – A “best employer” is one who scores highly in employee engagement, employer branding, leadership and performance culture.

Based on Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers 2.0 report, companies who have been able to achieve higher levels of engagement, create a compelling employer brand, provide more effective leadership and deliver a high-performance culture are more effective than the average organisation.

The report described employee engagement as the state of emotional and intellectual commitment to a company which motivates employees to do their best. Therefore, a highly engaged workforce will reduce staff turnover and improve customer satisfaction.

According to the survey, employees who have spent two to 10 years in their organisation are 20% less engaged than those who have been with the company for less than six months (78% compared with 58%, respectively).

Only just over half of employees intend to stay with their organisation compared with an average

SECRETS OF BEST EMPLOYERS REVEALED

of 85% of employees who are employed with the best employers.

Aon Hewitt also described an employer’s brand as one that articulates the unique employee experience one has with a company. Organisations in Singapore identifi ed pride in products, service and brand, careers and learning as the top employer brand themes.

Two-thirds of employees also said they were likely to recommend their organisation to a friend seeking employment, while three in fi ve employees felt their company made good on its promises to its employees.

Another top driver highlighted in the report for improving engagement across the different groups (Gen Y, middle management and contributor-level employees) was leadership.

While only about three in fi ve employees felt their leaders treated them as valued assets, nearly 80% of senior leaders felt they did so.

Additionally, 81% of senior leaders would appropriately share in the success of their organisation compared with only 66% of employees.

Performance culture was found to have an impact in creating a high-performance organisation, and those which had succeeded had clear accountability about their strategic goals, which were understood by their employees.

However, the report found employees generally did not feel their organisations recognised their contributions enough, with less than half feeling recognised fairly in terms of pay for performance and career opportunities.

Source: Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers 2.0, 2013

Global – Security breaches can take a very long time to be discovered, and when they are, the damage is often already done.

The 2013 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon shows breaches are a multi-faceted problem, and any one-dimensional attempt to counter them is insuffi cient because this will fail to adequately capture their complexity.

Unfortunately, the bad news is everyone is a target. Victims of espionage campaigns range from large multi-nationals all the way down to those with no IT staff at all.

Security breaches may appear in the form of malware (40%), hacking (52%), phishing (29%), misuse by employees (13%), physical threats that involve proximity (35%) and even human error (2%).

Because of the numerous ways security can be breached and their intricate nature, it is important to understand your enemy and the type of business you run.

Organisations must also keep in mind not tailoring measures to counter security breaches can result in the company being inadequately protected in some aspects, while overspending on defending against simpler opportunistic attacks.

In the past year, phishing, which is prevalent for small and large organisations, jumped bribery

Contributor-level employees Middle managers Top leaders

Level of engagement 63% 68% 84%

HOW PROTECTED IS YOUR IP?and pre-texting to become the most widely used social tactic.

The report also found about 70% of breaches were discovered by external parties.

However, malicious insiders can be identifi ed through some common behavioural characteristics, which they are most likely to exhibit before engaging in any criminal acts. One of these characteristics is bragging about the damage they can do to the company if they so desired.

Companies may also want to be wary of people who have recently been passed over for a promotion.

These toxic employees may also attempt to gain other employees’ passwords or obtain access through trickery or exploitation of a trusted relationship (often called “social engineering”).

In more than 70% of IP theft cases, insiders steal the information within 30 days of announcing

their resignation. Changes in the pattern or quantity of information retrievals in that time-frame are potential indicators.

In addition, more than half of insiders committing IT sabotage were former employees who regained access via back door or corporate accounts that were never disabled, making it extremely easy for them to breach the company’s security.

Source: Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, 2013

Commonalities found among security breaches Percentage of breaches

Initial intrusions rated as low diffi culty 78%

Driven by fi nancial motives 75%

Opportunistic attacks 75%

User devices targeted 71%


PROFILE » Angela Fox & Tiffany See Angela Fox & Tiffany See « PROFILE


By SABRINA ZOLKIFI

inclusion councils and the formality around that is more recent. We’re always looking at how we’re supporting the promotion of individuals through the ranks, how we’re looking to support the promotion of Indian professionals to lead India, or any country for that matter.

Q Why do you think conversations about gender equality are still necessary?S: I got that question two weeks ago!F: The way (women’s rights advocate) Beth Brooke positioned it, which really resonated for me, is by calling women the third billion. She said the economic view, the impact and infl uence women will have over the next 10 years is massive – over a billion women will be coming into the workforce, making decisions and having infl uence. So she views women as an emerging market. What business leader would not have China and India as top priorities from a business perspective? So why then is it businesses don’t have women as a top priority when they represent as much buying power and as much economic impact in the next decade as India and China?

Q Is this a perception you share?S: I had a big “aha!” moment about this back in 2007 when we were building our consumer business. Before that, we looked at diversity as a metric, but as the company geared more towards the consumer we realised we needed to look like the customers we were selling to. The consumer leader at that time was very passionate about making sure we

Q When it comes to diversity, what is one important thing HR has to keep in mind?F: There needs to be an overarching strategy framework that will support diversity and inclusion. To me, it’s not something that’s wholly owned by HR; that’s the mistake some companies make. It needs to be owned by the whole company.S: If you don’t do that, you’re not going to see any progress. Within our HR function, there is a diversity and inclusion team that sits on the global HR leadership team, and they have representation here in Asia. The way we’ve got it structured is each one of Michael Dell’s (founder and CEO) direct reports is an executive sponsor for an employee resource group. We’re fortunate in that we haven’t had to infl uence senior leadership as to why it’s important; it’s just been accepted it makes business sense.

Q How has Dell’s diversity practice evolved?S: Our structures have defi nitely gotten better over time. When I started 12 years ago, there was one person who was in diversity and inclusion and that was pretty much it. Can we do more? Yes. We need to do better now in gender representation, and get that balance, but I think we’re on the right track.

Q Speaking of gender, what are some of Dell’s best practices?F: We have always looked at succession planning and looked at female representation, but the diversity and

VITAL STATSAngela Fox (left) is the VP of infrastructure and cloud computing for Dell Asia Pacifi c and Japan (APJ) and the co-chair for its diversity and inclusion council. Tiffany See is Dell’s APJ executive director for human resources. Fox was a foundation member of the APJ diversity council, and was involved in launching the Australia and New Zealand diversity council. See has been with Dell since 2001, and has championed Dell’s global Women in Leadership programme.

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PROFILE » Angela Fox & Tiffany See Angela Fox & Tiffany See « PROFILE


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had representation from a culture and gender perspective in his sales team so we refl ected the markets we were selling to. When he said that to me, it just made sense. It’s no longer a metric conversation – it’s something that makes business sense.

Q So, what do you think is holding women back from being recognised as an asset?F: The irony is, sometimes as women, we’re our own worst enemy. Women don’t acknowledge there’s a problem or they don’t want to buy into it because of, perhaps, social pressures. It’s not just resistance by males; there’s an inherent resistance in women who are signing up to fi ght the fi ght because they feel it’s too confrontational.S: Over the past two years I’ve seen a change in this, and not necessarily for the better. I’m now seeing so many more opportunities in the market and women have a lot more choices. That makes it a lot more diffi cult for us from a recruitment perspective because it’s not just about competition from other companies, but rather there’s been a shift in lifestyle so there are women who feel they don’t have to work.

Q Is that what’s holding local women back?S: It goes back to the fact that women have so many more choices in terms of work and lifestyle here in Singapore.

Q Do you think imposing quotas is the way to go?F: The debate on the quota is not going to go away. Some people believe very strongly in it, but others would say it degrades what we’re trying to do.S: I’m in that camp. As a woman, I wouldn’t want to be given a job to meet a quota. I want to make sure I earn it on merit.

Q It’s a very fi ne line separating quotas and metrics though.S: We have aspirational targets, but we don’t have any percentage requirements on women. We don’t have targets within the company when it comes to this. It’s just a matter of making sure there is diversity across the groups.

Q What’s an aspirational target?F: The difference between aspirational

targets and quotas is that quotas are generally operational.S: Quotas make it so it becomes something like, “This job has to be fi lled by a woman”.F: Some companies may choose to do that, but we don’t.

Q How does Dell make sure it has diversity without relying on quotas?S: We don’t have targets, and I’m a fi rm believer of staying away from it. We defi nitely do not have quotas because those go against meritocracy. What’s more important is making sure you’ve got people in the pipeline, so when it comes, the opportunity is there for the best person for the job.F: We have to set people up to succeed, and that’s not going to happen if you’re not picked for the right reasons. We need to support people, make sure they’re in the pipeline and make sure they’re supported in terms of mentoring and coaching.

Q What happens if those processes are not in place?F: If you have people in roles they are not capable of doing, then the reality is they’re

not going to succeed, and that in turn will impact the brand.

Q Do you think it’s a cultural thing that women are hesitant to step forward?F: I think it’s a gender thing.S: There’s been a lot of research that came out about this. There are differences and, as a woman, you need to be aware of those so you can counteract them. Self-promotion in women is not exactly acceptable.F: Think about the reactions you get when you see a woman doing what the male does. You might think she’s pushy, and part of that is your own conditioning. We need a mindset shift.

Q How does having employee resource groups for women help?S: Women are much more aware these days and the good thing about that is their managers, who are generally men, are more aware of it too. That helps managers realise they might have to manage differently to get the best out of their team.F: It sounds like a simple thing, but we need to make sure the guys are also having an “aha!” moment, and understanding why my colleague or wife

or the people I manage might react to me in that way. It’s an emotional bank; as awareness grows, you get consciousness and that will then drive change.

Q What are some of the programmes you have tailored for women at Dell?F: One of those enterprise resource groups is called WISE or Women in Search of Excellence. That is a team whose interests align to women’s interests. It’s not exclusive to women, but it is predominantly women. Those WISE chapters exist around the world, and for us in the region, we’ve got it in 12 countries, including Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Q What does WISE advocate?F: It’s about women coming together to share common challenges they have, to network, to focus in their particular culture and/or country on some of the initiatives they feel passionate about. We don’t take a prescriptive approach and say this is what it should be – those women and people come together and they determine the priorities of the chapter in their particular country.

Q What were some of the priorities of the Singaporean chapter of WISE?S: We’ve got a lot of focus about how we can continue to attract women so our female population is representative of society. We want to make sure we’re encouraging and supporting them to move through the ranks and aspire to those senior leadership roles.

Q What is the female representation at Dell?S: In Singapore, 13% of our executives in Singapore are women. Angela is the only one in a business role; the other three include myself and two in legal. The rest are in support roles, so that’s where our focus is going to be. We want to move more women into the more business executive roles.

Q Dell has the luxury of already having senior buy-in when it comes to diversity programmes.S: Michael chairs our global diversity and inclusion council, so this is on the agenda at the senior level, and they are regularly meeting about diversity and inclusion.

F: It’s about setting the tone and letting people know their perspective is valued. By focusing on it, you start building an underlying framework that helps get people comfortable coming forward and putting forth their perspectives.

Q How have the employee resource groups impacted the HR strategy?S: I would say it’s the other way around. The strategy has shaped those groups, rather than the groups shaping the strategy. It’s all embedded in the people strategy.

Q What do you think is the biggest advantage of having employee resource groups?F: There has been a lot of research that companies perform better when they are drawing on the total population. There is more innovation, there is more satisfaction, and you can track companies that drive these initiatives through business success, because it’s a known fact that when you draw upon the insights and differences in perspectives from broad audiences, you get a far better outcome, be it with women or otherwise.

Compensation & Benefi ts « FEATURE


catch – they had to be in the top 31% of

the organisation.

“You started being really selective and

acquired better assessment criteria to really

make sure your top performers are being

remunerated well during the downturn, but

obviously, that came as a cost to the ones who

were performing at a mediocre level,” says

Roland Muller, regional head of HR for private

banking in Asia, and Singapore’s country head

of HR at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

Khaw says companies trying to fi nd the

sweet spot between managing costs and

providing competitive remuneration to

employees need to focus on their compensation

and benefi ts budget to ensure it refl ects their

long-term business strategies and is focused on

pay for performance.

“Manage the internal employee environment

in regards to this,” she says.

“Link the external environment to

your employees so they understand the

business challenges, and provide the ‘why’ to

management decisions.”

She adds while pay and benefi ts are a given

component and need to be comparable, HR still

needs to balance that with business sustainability

and aff ordability in the long-term.

Muller says another thing banks have to

keep in mind is the crisis has caused “a lot more

regulatory pressure”.

The dollar directiveIn July 2011, the European Commission proposed

the Banking Standards’ Capital Requirements

Directive (CRD IV), which is expected to come

into eff ect on 1 January 2014.

Under this framework, the basic fi xed pay to

variable ratio will be capped at 1:1, meaning the

maximum bonuses one can receive will be equal

to their fi xed salary.

However, this ratio can be raised to a

maximum of 2:1 if there is majority approval

from shareholders.

Currently without the CRD IV in place, Muller

said it is widely accepted in the industry that

bankers who deliver on their performance targets

may be entitled to bonuses multiple times their

salary.

“Th e CRD IV will really curtail the payouts

you can give to people.”

According to the recent Mercer Global

Financial Services Executive Pay Survey report,

two thirds (63%) of organisations surveyed said

hroughout the global fi nancial crisis

(GFC) and the years that followed it, there

was no doubt banks and its employees

were some of the hardest hit.

Even years after the 2008-2009 GFC, banking

and fi nance employees remained collateral

damage; banks continued to haemorrhage

headcounts as they struggled to keep the fi rms

afl oat. At the end of 2011, global banks reported

more than 200,000 job cuts, more so than the

174,000 jobs slashed in 2009.

Deutsche Bank AG’s co-CEO Anshu

Jain perfectly summarised the severity of

the banking sector when he said at the

Wirtschaftsrat Deutschland Economic

Conference in 2012: “Th e contract between

banks and society was broken during the crisis.

Banks are now viewed with suspicion.”

Within Asia, banks that were streamlining

their headcount towards the end of 2011

included Credit Suisse, which saw 3,500 jobs

lost, and Nomura Holdings, which axed 1,000

employees.

Unfortunately, banks continued to shed

numbers even in 2013, when HSBC announced

it was cutting 14,000 jobs by 2016, bringing the

bank’s total global redundancies to more

than 56,000.

Employees within the banking and fi nancial

sector who managed to hold onto their jobs,

however, had to contend with lower base salaries

and bonuses – if they were lucky enough to even

be on the receiving end of one.

But as we progress into the second half of

2013, are banks in the region fi nally seeing the

light at the end of the tunnel? Or has the face of

banking compensation changed for good?

“Overall, banking bonuses have changed

dramatically since the GFC due to increased

public awareness, regulators, and in terms of

quantum and how we pay out,” says Li-Ki Khaw,

head of HR at the Australian and New Zealand

Banking Group (ANZ).

“Th e reality is the banking industry faces

increasing competition and regulation, which

makes bonus payouts hover at cautious levels.”

But it is also because of that, the industry’s HR

has to further align itself and its structures to focus

on rewarding performance.

Banks play bonus rouletteAccording to a survey by eFinancialCareers,

local fi nance professionals received bigger

bonuses last year, though there was a

The compensation landscape at fi nancial institutions has undergone dramatic changes

post-GFC. Sabrina Zolkifi investigates whether rewards structures will ever be the same again.


FEATURE » Compensation & Benefi ts

FEATURE » Compensation & Benefi ts


the framework would reduce their ability to pay

for performance.

Although 53% said they would maintain

total compensation levels regardless of the cap,

three quarters of companies also said they were

looking at creative compensation alternatives to

better manage costs.

Th e report suggested that while there had yet

to be any direct impact on banks in the region,

“there may be ripple eff ects of compensation

structure changes at the corporate level of

the global banks operating in Singapore and

elsewhere in ASEAN”.

Muller agrees, adding it may create “some

imbalance from a competitive perspective”.

“Obviously we’re not just competing

with European banks here in Asia; we’re also

competing with local and American banks.”

Riding the waveLeaders have always recognised communication

as a key asset during times of crisis, and it was

no diff erent when it came to allaying the fears of

employees during and post-GFC.

During his tenure at Credit Suisse, where he

was the head of strategic recruiting for private

banking in APAC, he saw “diff erent degrees of

nervousness”, which was more pronounced

among those in support functions.

While it is admittedly a challenge to maintain

engagement levels during times of a crisis, Muller

says sometimes the biggest investment you can

make in your staff is non-monetary.

“When was the last time you had a town hall,

or had an offi ce gathering? Th ere are multiple

things that won’t cost you anything, but would go

a long way.”

Khaw adds it’s also critical to use the right

channels when it comes to communication

strategies, particularly during more turbulent

times.

“Th ere must be the right mix of written and

face-to-face communications,” she says.

“Senior leadership sets the tone with the facts

and rationale for decisions through bank-wide

communications.

“For the message to be ‘brought in’ at

an employee-level, line managers must be

engaged with the same facts and rationale, and

communicate consistently to the individual

employees where necessary.”

Taking a page from the banksWhile the economic situation now may not be as

severe as during and directly after the GFC, both

Muller and Khaw have advice for companies who

might fi nd themselves in a similar situation.

Khaw says leaders should focus on the

broader benefi ts within the compensation and

benefi ts suite, and think about the employee

value proposition more broadly.

“Over the years, ANZ has built up a very

strong culture and appreciation for work-life

balance, which is institutionalised through our

HR policies, practices and tools,” she says.

Muller adds it is important for leaders to be

constantly in conversation with the staff in times

of crisis.

“I know I repeat myself, but you have to stay

close to your staff ,” he says.

“Don’t let them just wait around, anxious,

because clearly there are no longer folks where

there used to be, and the employees are going to

be thinking, day in and day out, if they’re going

to be OK.

“Stay close, communicate, and from a payout

perspective, diff erentiate between your top,

middle and bottom performers.”

“Compensation and benefi ts is a very emotional subject and it is

critical leaders at diff erent levels play a key role in cascading and

connecting the dots on the external environment, and how it impacts

internal decisions.”

Li-Ki Khaw – head of HR at ANZ Group

“Compensation and benefi ts is a very

emotional subject and it is critical leaders at

diff erent levels play a key role in cascading

and connecting the dots on the external

environment, and how it impacts internal

decisions,” Khaw says.

Muller shares the same sentiments, adding

that during times such as the GFC it is “really,

really, really important” for leaders to stay close

to the ground and keep employees engaged.

Muller was previously with Credit Suisse

from 2007 to 2010, and then with HSBC for a year

before joining ABN AMRO in late 2011.

THERE IS A SLIVER OF A GAP

between employees’ expectations and what employers

are rolling out when it comes to salary in Singapore.

Just under half of employees in Singapore (44.4%)

surveyed for Ambition’s Market Trends & Salary Report

2H 2013 believed their salary levels were not in line

with the market rate.

On the other hand, 51.1% of employers said their

company’s salaries were in line, although 16.7% were

not sure. Of those who said the salaries were in line,

44.9% were of director-level or higher, while 70.6%

of employees who believed otherwise were junior

management or below.

The survey, which polled 1,400 respondents, also

found 63.2% of employees were disappointed with

their bonus payouts this year.

received bonuses of 40% and above

EMPLOYER BONUS PAYOUTS FOR 2013

WILL EUROPE’S REGULATIONS AFFECT ASIA?Next year will be a nervous time for banking and fi nancial services fi rms across the world – particularly so in Europe, as new regulatory frameworks are expected to be implemented in January.

According to Mercer’s Global Financial Services Executive Pay Survey, executive salary regulations in Asia have predominantly been principles-based, with more guidelines than instructions.

“It is notable that in 2013, few expect to do much more than raise base salaries,” the report said.

Use of different structures for executive compensationdiffer Emerging markets2013

Emerging markets2014

Not impactedot imp 75% 63%

Raising base salary for impacted employeesRaisi 25% 25%

Raising allowances and non-core compensation for Rimpacted employees

0% 13%

Increasing the vesting period for deferred compensationto fi ve years

0% 13%

Introducing new long-term incentive programmes (fi ve years +)

0% 13%

Source: Mercer


received bonuses below 5%10.7%

36.7%

25.8%

10.5%

received bonuses of 6%-20%

received bonuses of 20%-40%

HAVE YOU SWITCHED JOBS AFTER RECEIVING YOUR BONUS PAYOUT IN 2013?

In the process of 15.7%

No 74.1%

Yes 10.2%

Source: Ambition

With Singapore’s infl ation expected to increase 1% this year to 4.5%, what do employees and companies think of compensation and benefi ts in 2013? Sabrina Zolkifi reports.

FEATURE » Compensation & Benefi ts Compensation & Benefi ts « FEATURE


CASE STUDY: DENTSU NETWORK ASIA

Ujjwal Sarao may be new to Dentsu Network Asia, but she’s brought decades of experience with her to begin the restructuring of the company’s compensation and benefi ts package. Sabrina Zolkifi reports.

“Compensation and benefi ts have come a long way from

what it used to be in the past to how it’s treated nowadays,”

says Ujjwal Sarao, regional head of talent for Dentsu Asia.

Having been in the HR industry for two decades, Sarao

says one of the biggest diff erences she’s seen in terms of

compensation and benefi ts is the relationship it has

with managers.

“Earlier, managers were given a lot of rules with

compensation and benefi ts, and they were needed to work

within those rules. Th e change I’ve seen is managers are

now provided with a set of tools, instead of rules.”

She likens compensation and benefi ts experts to

carpenters. She says these “carpenters” have to design a

toolbox fi lled with tools that managers will need to help

them adapt compensation and benefi ts structures to

specifi c situations or employees.

“Of course, you’ll need to have guidelines which have

to be set by the compensation and benefi t expert, and

they will have to guide their managers on how to use these

tools,” she says.

“But what this means is they’re no longer restricted to

only incentives and bonuses because employees are no

longer looking for just fi xed pay and benefi ts.”

If an organisation’s total rewards strategy was to be

broken up into four equal components, it would include

salary, benefi ts, L&D and talent management, and work

environment.

“Employees are not only looking for compensation in

the terms of hard cash, they are also looking for intrinsic

compensation,” Sarao says, adding employees are

starting to be more aware of their role and value within

the organisation.

Th is is why Sarao believes a pay-for-performance

structure is gaining traction.

After her transition into Dentsu in May, Sarao has begun

implementing a pay-for-performance structure which is tied

strongly to the business goals. However, this is currently only

being off ered to the region’s senior leadership team because

they are in the best roles to understand the importance of

linking pay with performance.

Dentsu’s senior leadership team, which currently has

about 25 people, is spread across the region, and Sarao says

the response to the new pay-for-performance structure has

been very positive.

Th e previous compensation plan available at Dentsu

was more subjective, and the company wanted to have

more measurable deliverables tied to variable pay.

“Th e current business strategy for the next three years

will have various components which complement the

variable pay strategy,” she says. Employees were already

expecting changes within the organisation because of a

leadership reshuffl e before Sarao’s appointment, which

she says helped cushion the blow of a compensation

restructure.

“People are now sending in their KPIs which are in line

with the new pay-for-performance plan. Th at’s still going

on, so by the time we look at our performance evaluation in

December, it should be in fairly good shape,” she says.

“Th ere will be teething issues in the fi rst year, but I think

2014 will be a good year for us.”

Sarao says there were many questions from employees

when the plan was fi rst introduced. “People were very clear

on the business strategy, and they wanted to be clear on

what they had to deliver on.”

Additionally, because it was the senior leadership

team that was involved in the pay restructure, Sarao says

they were also aware of how to deliver the results needed

according to their teams, and understood the gains

would be something they would be able to share with the

organisation.

She says it also helped the senior leadership team was

an engaged one, which worked to its advantage when

rolling out a new structure.

“You need to walk the talk and be role models when you

are starting a new system, and because the senior leaders

are part of defi ning the business strategy, it was easier to

align them to it.

“And once they’re on board, it will be easier for them

to explain the structure to their teams once (the whole

organisation) is on the pay-for-performance plan.”

Th e new system for the senior leadership team will be

fully launched by the end of the year, and Sarao expects the

rest of the company will be pulled into the programme in

2014.

However, she is not ignorant to the fact any new

structural change within an organisation may result

in resistance.

“Th ere is scepticism because employees may feel some

things (with regards to performance) are not measurable.

People will wonder how we will identify performance and

what is measurable – some of those factors are beyond their

control,” she says.

HR needs to be aware of this potential friction, and be

“committed to the plan”.

“Th ere needs to be a commitment from the top to the

plan, and for any plan to succeed, you fi rst need to take

small enough steps to ensure the plan can move forward.”

But at the same time, leaders implementing the changes

need to have long-term visibility and goals, as well as

making sure the plan continues to receive funding and

remains sustainable.

On top of that, clear objectives need to be set and

delivered, Sarao says, again reiterating changes such as

these have to be from the ground up.

“You really need to understand and listen to the staff

and see what it is that will make them happy. In the past,

you will be spending that money in areas that may not have

an impact on the employees.

“You need to get that information and apply the same

money more wisely. Money is an important factor, but

the employees working in organisations today look at the

emotional rewards,” she says.

“People are looking for learning and development, and

they’re looking for recognition. Show employees they have

a future, and that they will grow with the organisation.

“Th ese are non-monetary rewards, but it goes a long

way when you have to implement a pay freeze, or are in a

position where you are not able to give a base salary as high

as another company.”

But by understanding what diff erent employees

want, that also results in the challenge of ensuring the

compensation strategy has the same benefi cial eff ect in

every part of the organisation.

Th is is where a fl exible benefi ts plan comes in, referring

once again to the tool box Sarao mentioned earlier.

“It had a lot of components, be it those to do with leave,

child care subsidy or medical benefi ts,” she says.

Th is tailored structure leaves more of an impression on

employees than bringing home hard cash.

“Rather than giving them a lump sum, we made

sure that fl exible benefi ts we did off er them were quite

comprehensive. And despite doing that, the impact on our

bottom-line remained the same.”

Aside from implementing pay-for-performance at

Dentsu, Sarao is also looking forward to working on

the company’s long-term retention, which ties back to

compensation.

“Your fi xed salary should be comparable to your

previous company’s – that’s really important.

“However, your variable salary should be tied to your

current company and individual performance, including

your KPIs.”

Sarao says for pay-for-performance structures to really

succeed, performance has to be defi ned clearly.

“Judging performance has to be very clearly defi ned and

understood; they need to be absolutely aligned to the goals.

Th is one needs to be driven from the top, and it has to be a

part of the KPIs,” she says.

Sarao expects compensation and benefi ts structures

to keep evolving to keep up with the changing employee

mindsets, particularly around retirements.

“We used to only look at things that were legally

required, but as an organisation, this is now getting more

and more important, so we see a lot more people asking

about retirement benefi ts – even the younger employees.”

She adds talent management will also continue to shape

compensation and benefi ts structures.

“I’ve always felt that if you keep your workforce

energised and engaged, that can make up for them not

getting some of the benefi ts your competitors may

be off ering.”

“Th ere is scepticism because employees may feel some things are not measurable. People will wonder how we will identify performance … some of those factors are beyond their control.”

rolling out a new structure.

FEATURE » Compensation & Benefi ts Compensation & Benefi ts « FEATURE


CASE STUDY: INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP SINGAPORE

Frances Chee, of InterContinental Hotels, talks about the art of handling C&B, and why it’s not always as easy as expected.

Managing compensation and benefi ts “is an art, not a

science”. Th at is the belief of Frances Chee, director of

compensation and benefi ts, at InterContinental Hotels

Group of Singapore.

“Th ere is no right formula for everything,” she says. “It

is more than just reading spreadsheets; it’s about putting

meaning into the numbers, and identifying anything that

sticks out like a sore thumb.”

Th e success of compensation and benefi ts structures

depends on HR’s ability to translate the cold hard numbers

into relevant visuals so they can be easily understood.

“Th ere’s more to it if you know how to appreciate how

these numbers come about, and understand how they will

impact the business at the end of the day.”

By understanding the numbers, the hotel has been

able to tailor its C&B off erings. Th is is why Chee says the

hotel provides three basic

packages: healthcare, life

insurance and pension

funding. She highlights the

healthcare coverage provides

more than 10 times that of

other companies, but to

manage costs, sacrifi ces have

to be made. For example, she

says some organisations can “do away with” the company

dinner and dance.

“It is a matter of measuring what is core to your business

and what you need to do to survive as a business.”

Competitive international compensation and benefi ts

packages are also created to target the signifi cant pool of

foreign talent, despite the hefty cost incurred.

As one of the basic perks, pension schemes are off ered in

the hope of gaining a “life-long relationship” with employees.

Because most foreigners are not entitled to CPF, this

serves as an attractive perk. Th e scheme also remains

consistent and transferable to wherever they are stationed,

and can be adopted for diff erent job functions.

“We don’t wish to lose talent to external competitors.

To us, pension is something providing assurance that I look

after you as an employee on a life-long basis.”

Even then, these perks aren’t attractive to all,

particularly younger generations who aren’t concerned

about pensions.

Chee describes her job as a thankless one due to

everyone’s entitled mindset. “No one will ever tell me,

‘Th ank you Frances, for paying me well,’ but as an employee

myself, why would I thank my boss for paying my salary?”

she asks, humorously. Plus, employees don’t only look at

salary, but also the other benefi ts provided.

“Will increasing your salary make you a happier

employee?” Chee asks, adding monetary perks are not

viewed as attractive by everyone.

“Some may be looking at courses, career development,

or maybe pursuing a Master’s and asks us for sponsorship.”

At the end of the day, there will still be a “bottomless

pit” of challenges where anything can “pop-up”.

It is common for employees to demand more, and Chee

says she encourages them to speak up because it keeps her

on her toes. “If there is anything they are unhappy about, I

am more than happy to engage in a meaningful discussion

with them.”

However, because younger generations are more

informed about what they

are entitled to, they speak up

about it, but the problem is

they are not always exposed

to the right information. Th is

is when communication

comes in.

Chee says an employee’s

level of happiness can be

measured in many diff erent ways, and it is the entire

employee experience that aff ects this. Chee jokes she is

still looking for the “golden manual” to successfully pacify

everyone’s constant demands.

For now, she has biannual surveys to fall back on, which

are conducted to measure how staff feel about their C&B

packages. “I will never get good scores for that,” she says,

comparing the results with other areas in the survey scoring

an 80% to 90% in staff satisfaction. However, according to

survey provider TNS, its employee satisfaction score of 70%

is much higher than the market average of 40% to 50%.

Chee says she always has to be prepared for change and

is also looking to become more creative in her approach.

“We want to be creative, while not incurring more costs,

and yet still meet the business and employee needs.”

But because employees’ needs can change over time,

she says it is the “constant feedback” which helps her.

Learning from past mistakes, Chee says she should have

been more “proactive”, rather than “reactive” to change.

She says there should also be more avenues for sharing

of best-practices, not only within the organisation, but also

among other businesses across the industry.

“It is more than just reading spreadsheets; it’s about putting

meaning into the numbers, and identifying anything that sticks out like a sore thumb.”


HOW TORECRUITSPONSORED ADVICE

THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ACCUMBENS NETWORK

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When the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was fi rst coined in the late 1960s, it was understood as a form of corporate self-regulation to ensure the positive impact of business activities on employees, environment and other public stakeholders. It encompassed everything from employee engagement programmes to energy savings and volunteer work with social welfare organisations.

Over the decades, companies have become more innovative in their approach to CSR, recognising the potential for large businesses to give back in a big way.

GE is among the great pioneers of this, with its GE Citizenship programme that focuses on volunteerism, education and health. Corporations like Diageo and Starbucks have differentiated their brands by sharing their social responsibility stories with consumers and, in so doing, gaining their loyalty and favorable sentiments.

PR agencies have proliferated CSR practice areas to engage clients in activating strategic CSR programmes, emphasising a research-based approach to identifying social causes and aligning these to their client’s corporate mission and vision.

Rather than just planting a tree, a pharmaceutical company might look at ways to advocate anti-forfeit drug policies and support partner distributors in emerging markets where they are operating, for example.

Today, two recent trends are forcing companies to look at CSR efforts in yet a new light. The fi rst is growing public scrutiny of businesses, as evidenced by Occupy Wall Street and scepticism towards the fi nancial sector thereafter.

What’s more, if companies are to tell stories of acting socially responsible, part of the story should be that their employees are incentivised by opportunities and rewarded for volunteering their time and skills.

By fostering a culture of social responsibility, corporates would serve the dual purpose of engaging employees in a meaningful way and imbibing a human approach to its corporate values.

CSR: NICE KNOWING YOU, NOW IT’S TIME FOR SOMETHING NEW

Accumbens Networks is an integrated consumer engagement agency, which designs and deploys consumer engagement campaigns for various leading brands. Accumbens Networks marries the art

and science of consumer branding, based on behavioral insights and innovative technology for data analytics.

Discover the art and science of building a social innovation strategy to engage employees and customers. Register for our high tea cum networking session @

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This article is contributed by

Solonia Teodros, CSR Engagement,

at Accumbens Networks

“As a first step, I propose dropping the term ‘CSR’ completely. Corporate social responsibility inherently suggests a top-down approach led by the decision makers of the company and trickled down to operations staff.”

The second is the rise of current-day terms like ‘social impact’, ‘social enterprise’ and ‘triple bottom lines’ – opening the door to deeper dialogue and more meaningful partnerships across sectors to catalyse social change. These trends are challenging companies to establish a new rationale for their CSR efforts – one that prompts a more human approach to understanding what is socially responsible.

As a fi rst step, I propose dropping the term ‘CSR’ completely. Corporate social responsibility inherently suggests a top-down approach led by the decision makers of the company and trickled down to operations staff.

In fact, the impact of the same efforts would be far greater and resources lent more effi ciently if employees at every level were asked what they cared about, inspired to think about a solution and empowered to take action. Indeed, companies are best positioned to drive these efforts by leveraging its pool of talent, leaders, organisational management and capital resources.

The challenge is thus one of authenticity. If employees are to take ownership of corporate acts of social responsibility, then empathy must be the basis of their actions.

25_BrandedContent_AUG13.indd 25 30/7/2013 5:35:44 PM

Team-building « FEATURE


ccording to the Greek philosopher

Aristotle, “the whole is greater than the

sum of its parts”.

Th is quote applies directly to how

important teamwork is in an organisation, as it

is the sum of individuals of the diff erent teams

within it.

Team-building activities are important

when it comes to engaging workers, while also

improving team performance in an organisation.

Some of these activities include exercises or

group-dynamic games that train employees to

work towards achieving a goal together.

Eff ective team-building can be defi ned by

four stages, according to a group development

model fi rst proposed by Bruce Tuckman in

1965. Th ese four stages are “forming, storming,

norming and performing“.

While being geared towards training staff to

demonstrate better teamwork, team-building

activities ultimately aim to create a more

productive workforce.

“Collaboration” is a word often used at

ANZ, says David Sicari, head of learning and

development at the bank.

“It is about connecting and working as one

for our customers and shareholders … to get

teamwork we need to think about team-building,”

he says.

It is about “bridging mindsets of people across

diff erent geographies and ideologies, and bringing

them together to build a stronger team”, says Lee

Jin Hwui, deputy director of human resources

development at LTA.

Team-building creates a more trusting and

cohesive working relationship among team

members to jointly achieve organisational goals.

It’s also the informal setting of a team-building

activity that gets people to “understand each

other’s perspectives better”.

According to Michael Yeong, senior vice-

president of group human resources at Cerebos,

team-building happens when there is an

emotional attachment to the organisation.

Th is happens when everyone supports one

another to work towards a common goal.

Th is is comparable with how marketers

would say their consumers have to establish an

emotional attachment to their brands, Yeong

says.

Additionally, in light of the tight labour

market, more employers are looking at diff erent

ways to engage their workers and reduce

manpower attrition.

FEATURE » Team-building


Lee considers team-building as one of the

various engagement strategies used to ensure an

engaged and productive workforce. It’s not just

monetary gains that keep employees happy,

he says.

“Team-building provides a more conducive

work environment; one which employees look out

for as well.”

Sicari explains the feeling of belonging is what

brings about engagement and eventually happier

workers who are more productive.

“A great side eff ect to team-building is it

supports people to feel as if the discretionary eff ort

means something to someone,” he says.

Where and what?Outdoor activities are the fi rst to come to mind

when talking about team-building.

Such activities can include outdoor games or

even “adventure quests”, providing what HR terms

as “experiential learning”.

“Because these activities are experiential in

nature, we will derive a lot of learning from them,”

Lee says.

According to Yeong, participants learn the

most from sharing their experiences after

such activities.

“You go through this activity, you

experience it, and most importantly, attend the

feedback sessions. Th at’s the point where the

instructors talk about trust and communication,”

he says.

Outdoor team-building can also come in the

form of sporting events such as marathons.

Employees at Cerebos have taken part in

marathons as part of fundraising events, also

serving as a character and team-building

function.

But not all team-building eff orts have to take

place outdoors and they can be just as eff ective

indoors.

“Team-building does not always mean going

out on a camping trip or raft building, it can also

be about solving common challenges and working

together to gain critical experiences and deliver

results,” Sicari says.

Apart from games, indoor activities can also

include planning activities for a charitable cause,

or even simple dialogue sessions.

Even though team-building activities benefi t

from the integration of staff from diff erent

departments in the company, they are not

necessarily held at inter-company or divisional

levels.

As the demand for engagement and productivity in the workforce increases, Amos Seah fi nds out how team-building still serves its function today.

FEATURE » Team-building


A company can choose to organise a team-

building activity exclusive to certain groups of

employees, based on seniority, job function,

experience and even geography.

A more homogeneous group of participants

will be able to relate to each other better and,

says Lee, “be more willing to share the challenges

they face”.

An example given by Lee was an annual

corporate retreat which only managerial staff of

deputy director-level and above took part in.

indicators can also be used to measure

productivity of workers.

“Th e greatest challenge for HR professionals

is how we can move away from team-building

being just another activity where people have

fun,” Lee says.

On the basis of having fun, team-building

activities should involve discussions on key

workplace challenges, and have employees

work with each other and understand each

other better.

Employees have to understand that through

these activities, despite the challenges and

confl icting perspectives, they are “all moving

towards the same direction together”.

While most business leaders tend to jump

into team-building, it is important for them to

fi rst think through how exactly they want these

teams to be built.

“A key challenge is not so much fi nding the

right activity or event, but catering to all the

individual needs,” Sicari says.

He says planning “four to fi ve steps ahead”

helps to equate individual learning to a team

outcome for such team-building events.

Building for the future“I believe that teamwork and the need for team-

building will become a growing aspect to the

engagement of employees and a competitive

advantage for organisations,” Sicari says.

With about 40% of the Singaporean workforce

consisting of Gen-Ys, leaders need to ensure they

are up to date in their engagement strategies.

Lee identifi es altruism as a trait which

appeals to the new generation, suggesting

corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities

will be eff ective as team-building activities in

the future.

“It’s not just about making money, but also

about how they can make a diff erence to society

through their work,” Lee says.

“It’s really about that feel-good factor … that

they have collaborated to create something better,

beyond that of their own personal gratifi cation

that really helps to bond people together.”

Ultimately, team-building is a constant

process, and not just a one or two-day activity.

Lee foresees team-building in the future as

“a norm integrated within daily activities of

work teams”.

In fact, bonding within an organisation can

“be derived from the daily activities we do, rather

than through a special day set aside”.

“Th e greatest challenge for HR professionals is how we can move away from team-building being just another

activity where people have fun.”

Lee Jin Hwui, deputy director of human resources development at LTA

During the retreat, managers came together to

discuss key challenges and plan the way forward

for the future.

In comparison with company level activities,

in this case, participants in this retreat would have

had more productive discussions with their fellow

colleagues on leadership topics.

Reaping the benefi tsWhile team-building activities can be fun to take

part in, the key challenge lies in ensuring they pay

off . What makes a raft-building exercise more than

another memory to recall during dinner at the

next event?

According to Sicari, it is the everyday

application in team-building which is often

overlooked.

Essentially, most companies will have a

system to measure the eff ectiveness of their

team-building activities.

Th is can be measured via surveys such as

the biannual engagement surveys conducted by

LTA, for example. Individual key performance

FEATURE » Team-building Team-building « FEATURE


CASE STUDY: CEREBOS

Team-building is much more than just outdoor fun according to Michael Yeong, senior vice-president of group human resources, at Cerebos Pacifi c Limited. By Amos Seah.

Team-building is a topic close to the heart of Michael

Yeong. In fact, he was part of the pioneer batch of trainers

for one of the fi rst outdoor team-building activities ever

introduced to Singapore.

Cerebos is known for its initiatives to promote health

and wellbeing, and has had its employees actively taking

part in the Singapore Marathon to raise money for charity

for years.

In the late 1980s, Yeong was part of Project Miracle, an

outdoor programme used “to let employees experience

what team-building is all about”.

“It was a great thing,” he says. However, he felt

something was missing and questioned the eff ectiveness

of such activities used for team-building.

He says it is a huge challenge to transfer what you learn

during an outdoor team-building activity to the offi ce.

“What you learn is eff ective during the team-building

event, but to make it happen [in the offi ce] the culture

must change fi rst.”

The spider web problemYeong highlights that employees may learn lessons from

team-building activities such as Project Miracle during

the programme itself. However, problems arise once work

starts in the offi ce, or at most, the fi rst few days after the

team-building activity.

To give an example, he mentioned a game which

participants at Project Miracle took part in called “the

spider web”.

For that particular challenge, participants had to move

from one point to another without making any contact

with a “web” obstacle in between.

Anyone who touched the web would have to go back

to the starting point to begin again. Th erefore, the game

became rigorous because it could drag on for hours.

While it might have been easy to get away with an

accidental touch when a trainer was not looking, the game

ultimately boiled down to a question of honesty.

When everyone got back together after the game,

Yeong asked if anyone touched the “web” without being

caught.

Linking the idea back to work, he equates this to: “If

you were in the production line doing this, would you

admit to the mistake that you have made?

“Because there will be a safety fl aw as it goes out to the

production line to the consumers.”

Your employees may admit to their mistakes or learn

their lesson about honesty out in the “fi eld”, but they’re

likely to behave diff erently in a workplace setting where

performance and productivity is measured.

“Th e problem comes when you are back in the offi ce

and you have admitted to your mistake. Your supervisor

will go ‘again?’ and look at the number of rejects you have

had.”

He explains the key performance indicator and result-

orientated culture at the workplace is the diff erentiating

factor separating the spider web game from work in

reality.

Changing from within“Th ese team-building events which I drove 20-30 years

ago won’t work if the culture of the company can’t

change,” says Yeong, adding Cerebos adopts a diff erent

focus for its team-building today.

“When someone proposes a team-building activity, I

ask them, ‘what is the culture you want to create?’“

In 2012, Cerebos participated in the Singapore

Marathon, raising a record amount of $275,261.60 for Th e

Straits Times’ School Pocket Money Fund.

“For every kilometre they run, we donate $100,” he says,

adding this has equated to millions raised over the years.

What is important to realise is team-building has

to start from building the

character of individual

employees within the

company.

And, in addition

to the marathons

being “good for the

society”, they also

bring about character

building.

Employees will

naturally feel better

about

themselves because they are given the chance to “help out

these school children, thus building character”.

“Th rough our activities and marathons, we believe in

promoting resilience and commitment.”

He also mentions taking walks with his staff to create

team bonding and adds staff gained additional respect

for their CFO after watching him cook at the winning hut,

post-marathon.

“Working relationships improve when the staff and

boss know each other better.”

However, he’s quick to point out a company shouldn’t

expect any miracles from one single team-building event.

“It’s an ongoing thing to create something that will

continue to sustain the bonding relationships between

each other.”

Leadership is importantWhile a company can try to build the character of its staff ,

it isn’t as easy to train up a leader.

“Anybody can be a generic leader, but only one can be

a good one,” Yeong says.

Nevertheless, the secret lies within fi nding the

right one, rather than training one up. A good leader

is important when it comes to team-building because

they are the ones who “inspire the company about the

direction in which they are going”.

For a product development company such as Cerebos,

employees from various departments have to work

together to perfect a single product, and getting these

departments to work together is the leader’s task.

Yeong says leaders should “harness diversity and get

them to be open and candid with each other; train them

to understand their role and responsibility”.

“Acquiring good leadership is something Cerebos is

working towards.”

Yeong mentions team-building events can also

include coaching programmes where all the managers

sit together to share their vision and have a discussion

about it.

“With many other companies holding outdoor sports

team-building activities, it is also important for a leader

to be visible, and for staff to be able to question and be

willing to speak to him.”

In conjunction to the marathons, Cerebos holds

dialogues, where employees are able to communicate and

connect with management.

Th e company organises sessions where employees are

given the opportunity to engage in discussion with both

HR and the CEO of the company.

“It’s basically about pushing the senior management

out to be visible,” he says.

e

ove

k

me

g

he

n

What is important to realise is team-building has

to start from building the

character of individual

employees within the

company.

And, in addition

to the marathons

being “good for the

society”, they also

bring about character

building.

Employees will

naturally feel better

about

“What you learn is eff ective during the team-building event, but to make it happen [in the offi ce] the culture must change fi rst.”

Trainings. Teambuildings. Conferences.

Conferences, and more

Contact us: [email protected]

Singapore, KL +65 6438 8949

[email protected] w w.drumcafe.sg

w w w.drumcafe.sg

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“This teambuilding is the best

FEATURE » Team-building Team-building « FEATURE


CASE STUDY: LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

Lee Jin Hwui explains how HR can effectively implement team-building activities by involving different functions within the organisation. By Amos Seah.

When it comes to off ering unique opportunities for staff

team-building, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) makes it

a priority to off er a wide range of activities every year.

Lee Jin Hwui, deputy director of human resource

development, says the fi rst example of this which comes to

mind was an activity held last year inspired by the reality

game show Th e Amazing Race.

In the game called “Th e Incredible Race”, participants

were tasked to search for clues within the Singapore Zoo.

Teams were required to strategise and plan their route to

complete the race in the shortest time.

Clues in the game were also themed after lessons

related to team-building.

Another outdoor activity conducted by the company

included “Th e Rafting Challenge”, where employees had to

work in teams to design and build a raft in the shortest time.

To make things more challenging, participants had to

work under environmental constraints and with limited

resources. Lee also cites a sand castle challenge where team

members had to work together to construct a model using

sand and water.

Th e challenge aimed to foster interaction between team

members, relating back to “real-work” situations where

diff erent divisions had to work together to complete a task.

Th e company also conducts indoor team-building

activities which can prove to be just as challenging.

In “Th e Trebuchet Challenge”, teams were tasked to

design a trebuchet according to given specifi cations.

“Each team had to source for opportunities to earn

more investments and more raw materials in order to build

their trebuchet,” Lee says.

Cooking challenges can also foster team-building with

employees working together to whip up a three-course

meal within an allocated time.

Value-added activitiesAs well as trying to think outside of the box, LTA involves

itself in corporate social responsibility activities as part of

its team-building eff orts.

Currently the organisation has two adopted charities –

Th e Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD), and

Metta School.

As part of the LTA Care-Givers Programme, monthly

outings are organised with the two charity organisations.

In fact, LTA was the fi rst statutory board the Comcare

Connection programme when it was fi rst introduced to

Metta School in 2007.

Th e Comcare Connection programme, which was

organised by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre

(NVPC), aims to match voluntary organisations, with

statutory boards which can be of assistance.

“We sent groups to Metta School to plan activities for

the students there.

Th e entire process from planning to execution is part of

team-building.”

Th rough monthly fi eld trips organised by LTA, volunteer

staff would assist students with independent living skills,

such as grocery shopping and taking public transport.

At the end of the day, the organising team will come

together to discuss and plan activities for the upcoming

fi nancial year.

Lee mentions LTA expanded the programme to include

SPD in 2009 because of the increase in staff volunteers.

He says team-building is one of the company’s

platforms used to inculcate the core values.

Th ese seven core competencies include drive for

results; think strategically; innovate and make continual

improvement; focus on customers and stakeholders; build

organisational teamwork; develop yourself and others and

communicate eff ectively.

LTA strongly believes every leader should adhere to

these competencies.

Measuring effectivenessEvery HR leader has to ensure each team-building activity

is eff ective and worth the investment.

For Lee, it is the assurance “that team-building goes

beyond just having fun, but also having very tangible

outcomes for the organisation”.

Th e organisation uses employee engagement surveys

as a measurement to how eff ective team-building eff orts

are, and Lee is proud to say the results have

been promising.

Th e 2013 survey revealed a record-breaking 80% score

in engagement, a 7% improvement from its 73% in 2010.

Because of LTA’s huge manpower strength, the surveys

are held every two years instead of annually.

Nevertheless, Lee believes in the reliability of the

surveys because they are kept strictly confi dential, where

workers feel secure to express their honest views.

“Team-building is an important driver helping us to

move forward as an organisation … our people have been

very engaged as a result.”

Collaboration and diversity Th e secret to LTA’s team-building success could very well be

attributed to the company’s willingness to collaborate.

“At LTA, we are moving beyond the traditional concept

whereby team-building is planned with HR only,” says Lee,

adding team-building activities are organised by diff erent

departments at a cross-functional level.

Lee shares LTA also leverages on team-building as

a platform to bring diff erent functional areas together.

He refers to them as cross-functional or inter-division

team-building.

He says such activities bring the diff erent employees

together and they have fun while working together in the

various team-building activities.

Additionally, diff erent perspectives or challenges faced

by the diff erent functions or divisions will be discussed,

allowing them to gain useful lessons which they can apply

at work.

HR facilitated the pairing of the diff erent divisions for

such activities based on the survey, which uncovered any

division preferences among each employee.

Th e organisation also gets help from an approved list of

vendors to decide on the types of activities to be organised.

However, Lee is well aware he shouldn’t be

complacent. In fact, the key challenge he faces is ensuring

the next activity is just as good, or even better, than the

previous one.

“It’s really about how we can meet the rising

expectations,” he says.

He highlights it’s all about ensuring employees remain

interested and enjoy something new each time.

“Last year was interesting, but we want to make the next

year better … we want to make every year’s team-building a

unique experience,” he says.

Lee always returns to the idea of collaboration when

asked about how he can ensure the most eff ective team-

building activities each year.

“We (HR) are defi nitely not the only ones with all

the answers, which is why we involve our learning

and development team and representatives of the

various groups.”

Such collaborations also create more positive results

because of the mix of ideas generated by individuals of each

diff erent specialities and sectors.

“Cross-functional team-building programmes build

greater bonds among members across the diff erent teams,

and can also develop a better understanding with the

variety of perspectives across functions.”

Preparing for the futureFor one to improve, one must learn from past mistakes. If

given the ability to travel back in time, Lee mentions he

would have started the idea of cross-functional team-

building events earlier.

Th e idea of cross-functional activities was only a recent

idea and would have been benefi cial if they had been

introduced earlier.

If they were implemented earlier, LTA “would have

reaped the rewards a lot faster”.

“LTA as a whole, being so diverse, would be more

cohesive, with everyone understanding each other’s

perspectives better … things would run a lot faster and

better,” he says.

Lee has also learnt it is essential to always listen to

his customers or staff and the various members of groups

at LTA.

“Never assume what they want,” he advises, adding that

striving for co-ownership is important.

As a result of mixed perspectives from HR and

employees of diff erent functions and levels, a “win-win”

situation is formed.

work under environmental constraints and with limited

Unconventional wisdom OPINION

August 2013 « Human Resources « 37»

PETER TANDirector of human resourcesDKSH Singapore Pte Ltd

Be frank and open: When meeting with a new potential employer of a different industry, always be frank about what you understand and know of the industry. Reading about the industry online, on published documents or via recommendations from people you know are good sources. You need to openly inform any new employer of how much you know or don’t know.

Be proactive: Initiate conversations with search companies about your interests. There could be certain roles that may interest you, or employers who might be keen to speak with you. Keep an open mind, attend interviews and speak to the hiring manager. Every interview or chat you have gives you a better insight into the industry.

Be realistic: Salary differs across varying industries, so when moving to a new industry, don’t expect or ask for a huge pay rise. Some hiring managers may view your current experience as irrelevant and may not be willing to give you the salary you expect. Take that fi rst step into a new Industry, gain new experiences and the pay rise will come.

Be a risk-taker: People naturally fear the unknown and venturing into a new industry means taking some risks – the potential to fail to adapt easily, or the new industry not suiting you. Risk is unavoidable, but the ability to overcome these risky challenges is of paramount importance.

Do your homework: If you are keen to move into a particular industry, you will need to do some homework about it. Don’t decide to shift before doing your research, then regret the decision later.

Adapt mentally and emotionally: Get yourself prepared when moving into another industry. New colleagues, a new environment and new things to learn can be diffi cult to adjust to. Adapting is critical to your success.

Be positive: Nothing is easy. Ensure you remain positive, even when others around you may give you negative vibes. If this is what you want in your career, then go for it.

Don’t give up: Once in a new industry, don’t give up when it gets tough. Rome wasn’t built in a day and perseverance is key.

Don’t return to your comfort zone: Ex-colleagues will contact you and try to convince you to return to your previous job. You may be tempted to head back to familiar waters, but weigh up how far you have come. Taking a backwards step is easy, but is that what you want when you’ve done so much to get into this new industry?

Some HR practitioners like to try getting into different industries to practise their HR technical skills. Some of us, like myself, have been lucky to have had this opportunity, but others may have struggled to move out of their current industry.

We are aware employers prefer to engage those within the same industry because it makes it easier for the new person to quickly and steadily take up the reins without much adjustment. However, HR practitioners can move from industry to industry without any fear or apprehension and get on with the job by following these rules.

Being open-minded: Have an open mind when there is a job opportunity in another industry. Yes, in some cases, there will be a small pay cut while also losing your seniority. Evaluate your current role, and business environment of your industry. Will you witness the “sunset” of your industry in the near future? Can your current role be easily replaced by another less expensive person? How is your role going to evolve in the next two years?

Networking: Do not confi ne yourself to HR or non-HR networks within your industry. Casting a bigger net will not only give you job opportunities, but also enable you to learn HR or business practices which you will not hear or experience in your current industry.

Internal review: Before taking on challenges in a new industry, always take account of your personal situation. Are you capable of taking on the challenge of a new learning curve? Are you capable of being branded as “less senior”? Most importantly, do you have the family support to take up the job? With this, you’ll fi nd it much easier to assimilate and function well in the new industry.

Are you confi ning yourself to a single industry? Peter Tan explains how HR practitioners can diversify their portfolio.

How to make change happen

Break out of the box: Don’t confi ne yourself to one role for the rest of your life.

People issues OPINION

August 2013 « Human Resources « 39»

KENNETH J. KOMINSKIGroup director ofhuman resourcesCOMO Hotels and Resorts

time to visualise and focus on your career? Are you designing a future that is promising, will challenge you professionally and prove satisfying? If your answers to these questions are no, then it is never too late to begin changing.

My advice is to take the time to write down where you are and where you wish to be in fi ve years. Focus on your career: do you have the skills, competencies and knowledge necessary for your current role, and the role you aspire to fi ll? What will it take for you to reach the next level? Most importantly, what are you prepared to do to develop your professional toolkit?

Only by identifying these objectives will you move out of that “dead zone” occupied by the manager I cited at the beginning of this piece.

Refl ecting on my career, I think back to when I started in hospitality as a steward (dishwasher) before I became more interested in the things around me. It was then I had a vision to become the owner of my own restaurant.

As I grew older, all of my efforts were focused on learning as much as I could about restaurant ownership and management.

However, I hadn’t addressed the most important questions such as, “what do I want my career to have, include or be?” or “what don’t I want my career to have, include or be?”

As human resources professionals, I encourage you to fi rst do this for yourselves. Only then can you convince future employers or employees.

By putting time and effort into designing a career and life plan, you won’t be asking “what if?” when you come to retire.

As the group director of human resources at COMO Hotels and Resorts in Singapore, I’ve had more than 20 years of experience working with prestigious international hotel brands across the globe, focusing on human resource leadership. This has included development strategies, learning and development and talent management.

During a recent round of yearly career conversations, I had a chat with one of our managers. As I always do, I asked him about his thoughts on life and his career, and what his future might hold.

“I’ve never thought about it to be honest,” he said. It was a response that made me sit back in my chair. I was puzzled that someone could simply never think about what they want from life, whether it’s having kids or becoming the leader of a nation.

All too often in our busy schedules, we don’t take time to project our thoughts into the future, to create a vision of the life and career we dream to have. Recently, I happened to see a keynote introduction video for the 2013 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. In it I heard a phrase that has remained with me: “Designing something requires focus.”

If each of us were to spend time envisioning our futures and bringing to mind our aspirations, maybe we could design something great. What is it in life we want? What do we best know? What kind of impact do we want to make? What do we need to bring happiness to us – a partner, children or to be an inspiration to others?

Have you asked yourself these questions? Are you taking

Have you hit a dead end?Having a clear vision of your future may be more important to your career than you think. Here are some questions you should start asking yourself.

Finding a new direction: Having an idea about your future means you won’t be asking “what if?” when you come to retire.

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OPINION » Upwardly mobile

GAURAV SHARMAHR director, Singapore and Malaysia Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages

Networks and connections play an important role in this globalised business world, but how should one foster a “we” mentality in an organisation?

It’s not always about you!

Picture this. You are attending a corporate function and know nobody in the room because you are the only representative from your company. Sound familiar?

In this situation two distinct possibilities arise: either you resign to a quiet corner to respond to your BlackBerry messages, or you engage other people by striking a conversation about the weather, cost of living or children’s enrichment classes.

Depending on which option you favour, it tells us something about you. In the world of human resources, we often refer to this as the “people versus logic” scale. These behaviours can also be discussed in the context of the “me” versus “we” approach.

So what is a “me” approach compared with a “we” approach? Again, imagine a work scenario where you are meeting a new team member for the fi rst time. How would you start the conversation? Do you start by sharing the school, polytechnic or university you are both alumnus of, or do you start by talking about common hobbies or activities you enjoy doing? Perhaps you talk about the latest movie you both saw.

Either way, when striking this fi rst conversation, you try to ascertain different ways you may be connected to them. This is the fi rst step in assessing how both of you will invest further to build rapport. This network between team members, created by individuals of the team by fi nding common connections and building rapport with each other, is what the “we” zone is all about.

If you are unable to fi nd a common connection with the new team member, then it’s likely you will have to try harder to develop a rapport. If there is no relatedness, then often each of you will remain in your own individual space until the connection is created. This individual space, where the team members remain isolated of a connected network, is what we call the “me” zone.

The “we” zone is all about collaboration and teamwork, whereas the “me” zone is about independence and individualism.

We know organisations are made up of teams working together to achieve a common vision and mission. So which zone do you think would be more favourable for an organisation to achieve its common vision?

Which zone will ensure an inclusive culture where teams work collaboratively and not independently? More importantly, what kind of an organisation would you as an employee want to be part of – a “me” organisation or a “we” organisation?

If you answered “we” to the previous questions, then read on to understand how we can support and foster this in the continually evolving multicultural workplace.

Every organisation comprises stakeholders, both internal and external. Stakeholders are rarely a homogenous group and often display signifi cant diversity in terms of experience, education, gender, age and nationality.

To create a “we” organisation, we need to build a network of common connections with these diverse stakeholders. Our ability to connect with them depends on our fl exibility, our ability to draw from our past experiences, our knowledge pool and our capacity for understanding different viewpoints.

Similarly, individuals who have worked across multiple geographies or functions, and have experienced different cultures and ways of working, will be at an advantage in creating a “we” organisation.

Take some time to consider these approaches within the context of your own organisation. Do you want to create a collaborative, team-oriented work culture capable of achieving your organisational vision?

How strong is your talent development practices in terms of providing opportunities for moving laterally across functions and across geographies? Does your company culture encourage employees to build common connections with stakeholders?

Most importantly, how big is your “we”?

Get it together: Move into the “we” zone by building a rapport with your co-workers.

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CAREERS » Personal development


uptheranksTracking HR’s industry moves

personalgrowthWho: Veronica Tan From: Jones the Grocer International To: Hill + Knowlton Strategies Asia

� Veronica Tan joins Hill + Knowlton as its regional director for HR in Asia. Tan was previously the general manager of HR at Jones the Grocer International, and

has 20 years of experience in the fi eld. In her new role, Tan will support H+K’s global talent initiatives and processes and oversee the effective implementation of performance management and staff development programmes across the region.

“I am looking forward to my active function here at H+K to help our teams connect with the brightest minds and pave the way for our consultants to grow together with the business,” she says. Tan is based in Singapore and reports to John Morgan, president and CEO of H+K Strategies Asia.

Who: Mark LimFrom: C-MAR GroupTo: KS Drilling

� Mark Lim joins KS Drilling as corporate HR manager. Previously from C-MAR Group, Lim has nearly fi ve years of experience in the drilling industry. His current role

focuses on the HR aspects of drilling operations. As the company undergoes tremendous changes, such as relocation and the acquisition of new facilities, his biggest challenge is the alignment of compensation packages and the implementation of policies to ensure compliance.

Unlike most drilling contractors, which have a single drilling operation such as either offshore or onshore, KS Drilling has a combination of both.

As such, another challenge for Lim is to align the compensation for employees of both operations to minimise changes to their current compensation, while still keeping their compensation packages competitive.

Lim’s key responsibility is to build a strong HR team to support the two segments of the drilling operations.

Who: Billy LeeFrom: PPL ShipyardTo: Hyfl ux

� Billy Lee fi rst joined Hyfl ux in June 2010 as its HR executive and was promoted to senior HR manager in May 2013. Previously a senior HR assistant with PPL Shipyard,

Lee’s current key responsibility is being the HR business partner for the major business units at Hyfl ux.

Lee is tackling HR challenges and formulating strategies for the construction of its second seawater reverse osmosis desalination in Singapore. He believes developing successful and long-term strategic relationships between HR and the business units will allow him to understand the business well enough to hire suitable talent. He also believes in job rotation and staff redeployment within the various business units to ensure job scopes are redesigned to fi t the career path of each employee.

Lee feels the biggest challenge for HR is adding real business value to the company. He believes human capital is an asset in every organisation, and every company needs to take steps to retain its workforce. He says this can be achieved through an increased emphasis on training, engagement, job rotation and investment in areas that will optimise productivity and effi ciency.

Although it is the responsibility of an employer to orientate new hires properly, as an intern you become aware there are things you can do yourself to help facilitate the process. Here is what I learnt:

1. Create a new comfort zoneLike a fi sh out of water, I was struggling to understand the HR industry. It didn’t help that I had no journalism experience and had to get used to tweaking my writing style.Lesson learnt: Do your homework. Read up more and research about the new industry you have just ventured into. Get out of your comfort zone and create a new one for yourself.

2. Your voice is your greatest assetAfter sitting at my desk and wondering for the umpteenth time about a particular problem I was facing, I fi nally decided to just open my mouth and ask. I had my answer in fi ve seconds and felt silly for waiting so long to ask.Lesson learnt: Asking is not a sign of weakness. As long as the questions are appropriate, it will help you become more effi cient and shows your employer you care about the work you’re doing. In addition, lunch is a great opportunity to fi nd out more about the company’s culture. Talk to your colleagues and ask about their experiences to help you get a better idea of your working environment.

3. PersevereStarting a new job is defi nitely daunting and you are bound to make mistakes. It doesn’t help I have a perfectionist streak and I often start telling myself the 101 reasons why my articles suck, fi ve minutes before deadline.Lesson learnt: Keeping your head up and telling yourself you can do it may be clichéd advice, but it works. Just remember – you are stronger than you think.

4. Set goals for yourselfOne important thing I’ve taken away from this internship is it’s nearly impossible to come into work feeling motivated and engaged every single day. There are bound to be days you just don’t feel so good, or personal problems may crop up, and so on.Lesson learnt: By setting goals for yourself, you create landmarks of your working life which spur you on and gives you that boost to get through another day at work. Setting goals also allows you to chart your own development to then know when you have to put in more hard work, or when you can pat yourself on the back for something well done.

LESSONS FROMAN INTERNCheryl Teo shares what she took away from her stint as an editorial intern for Human Resources magazine.


Strategic SpeedJocelyn R. Davis, Henry M. Frechette, Jr. and Edwin H. BoswellHarvard Business PressS$50.81

Organisations have a need for strategic speed when it comes to leaders being able to achieve better results faster.

In this book, the authors explain how leaders must focus on specifi c people factors and apply critical leadership practices to drive this strategic speed.

Explaining how strategic speed can be achieved by focusing on people, the book acknowledges processes and technologies may appear more “manageable” than people – being they’re somewhat easier to arrange and adjust – but explains which tools an

Good reads to improve your business life shelflife

excellence to build the business and assist

leaders in fulfi lling these important roles.

The book explains how HR can guide leaders to accelerate the bridging of cultural differences among workers with different values, as well as emphasising the importance of executing changes.

All change requires everyone in the company to be involved, and Weiss shows how HR can guide leaders to do this.

For example, Weiss explains how different platforms of communication can be used to infl uence people to accept change, instead of simply through verbal communication which may not be effective.

With step-by-step explanations and information broken down into clear sections, this book is easy to digest.

Bookmark this!HR is experiencing an exciting time of dramatic change that will affect public and private sector businesses, customers, citizens and the HR profession. HR needs to look forward to the new reality and shape its own future so it can deliver value for the business – page 259.

organisation can use to mobilise people, equipping them to think and behave in speed-promoting

ways.For example, it explains why it

is essential for an organisation to be aware of both the weaknesses of the employees and of the business unit.

Additionally, the book brings to light the fact people have different perceptions of speed, and leaders will need to use these differences to their advantage to achieve true strategic

speed within increasingly global organisations.

Bookmark this!We believe cultivating experience is something different: a practice based less on articulating one’s own point of view and more on making others’ points of view visible, keen and valuable – page 134-5.

From smart to wisePrasad Kaipa and Navi RadjouJossey-Bass, S$38.47

Leadership-driven HRDavid S. WeissJossey-BassS$65.22

This book emphasises the need for HR to transform to become leadership-driven, with author David S. Weiss explaining how this builds the foundation needed to achieve goals such as better customer satisfaction.

It also details the importance of HR having the mentality of “building leadership capacity”, so it becomes the centre of

There is a fi ne line separating being smart and wise – have you identifi ed it?

While being smart can take you places, Prasad Kaipa and Navi Radjou argue you need to also be wise to cultivate “a broader perspective” and respond to external events with “discernment, fl exibility and authenticity”.

This book also explains how to use this new-found wisdom to your advantage.

Among other leadership topics such as shifting perspectives and honing one’s logical decision-making skills, it touches on gaining role clarity, or the ability to “perform a chosen role convincingly and with enthusiasm, without losing sense of who you are behind your role”.

A leader with role clarity is someone who is clear-headed in making decisions and not basing their responses on emotional or personal judgments. A leader who is able to do this understands their job is a role, and realises they can step out of it whenever they need to.

“You will put your ego aside and begin to pay less attention to your own title and perks and more attention to the needs of others in the organisation,” the authors write.

This and other insights will help leaders shift from being merely smart to wise, and ultimately able to make decisions benefi tting them and the organisation. The book uses several case studies to drive home learning points or different perspectives to a problem.

Bookmark this!Whatever role they choose to perform, they project their authentic self – the true essence of their being – through that role and show genuine enthusiasm and determination to get the best job done. In artistic terms, wise leaders bring credibility to their professional role by projecting personal charisma and energy – page 97.

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LAST WORD


At the end of an interview when you ask, “Do you have any questions for us?” how often do you actually get candidates responding with thoughtful, serious questions?

Not often? I thought so. See, here’s the problem: I don’t think candidates generally care about what your responses are.

All they care about is coming up with at least one question (and usually, not a very good one) so they look like they’ve at least thought of something.

Good candidates will come up with one or two queries, but great candidates will ask a handful of questions which proves they’re evaluating you as much as you’re evaluating them.

This is an important part of allowing you to do your job in making sure you’ve found the right candidate.

Maybe it’s been too long since anyone has asked you a decent question, or maybe you work in an industry where the only question you get asked is, “How much do you pay?” but just in case you’ve forgotten what a good candidate question looks like, here’s my two cents.

“What do you expect of me in my fi rst three months on the job?”If they’re a truly great candidate, they will ask a question like this. While other newbies may be happy to settle with “getting to know the company” for a couple of weeks, the best people want to start working – right now.

“What can I do to help drive your results?”This not only shows a candidate is interested in helping you and the company succeed, but that they care about the specifi cs.

This is a good thing – this is what you’ll be paying them for.

Make sure to give them as much detail as possible about what you are really hiring them for

and how they can help you achieve the organisation’s overall goals and targets.

“Can you tell me the qualities of some of your best-performing employees?” New employees want to know how they can impress you, sure, but they also want to know they’re going to fi t in with the company culture – and its best employees.

Every company is different, so a great candidate will be keen to know whether they have the attributes of your top performers already, or whether they’re capable of striving towards them.

“Is this a new position? Or if someone left this position, why did they leave and where did they go?”On the surface it may seem like they’re prying, but great candidates are interested in their own development and career growth and have every right to ask why the job they’re applying for is available, and where it can take them.

Tell the truth. There’s nothing worse than getting a great candidate on board only for them to leave three months later when they fi nd out the company wasn’t up front about the more challenging aspects of the role.

“How is the company dealing with …”This is a candidate’s opportunity to prove they have done their research.

Perhaps your organisation has recently merged with another, or a competing company has launched a new product that may be a threat to you. Whatever the case may be, a great candidate should be up to play with any big news about your organisation – and they should be asking you how you’re dealing with the situation.

Hopefully with the candidate asking you the right questions to prove they have done their homework on your company,

says Rebecca Lewis.

How do I pick the right

candidate?

[email protected]

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