HR Seminar - Rethinking Human Resources Strategies
26 Mar 2010, (Friday)

To Improve and Re-invent: An Evolution of Human Resources Strategies

The economy is recovering, but the oncoming changes brought by globalization, compliance and regulatory requirements are huge. Talent engagement during a time of generational shift presents greater challenges, let alone the workload involved in better preparing organisations for the migration into a knowledge-based economy. The function of the HR profession is without question undergoing an evolution and a pro-active approach should be in place to improve and re-invent. To keep HR and business leaders updated with the issues affecting the HR climate, A-Performers.com organized a seminar – "Rethinking Human Resources Strategies" on 26 March to help HR professionals optimize their efforts and enhance business performance.

The Art of Creating Value from Intangible Assets

Professor Eric Tsui from PolyU talked about the adoption of Knowledge Management in Hong Kong from the perspective of the HR profession

Professor Eric Tsui, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of Hong Kong Polytechnic University talked about the adoption of Knowledge Management in Hong Kong from the perspective of the HR profession. As the Associate Director of HK PolyU Knowledge Management Research Centre and Vice President of Hong Kong Knowledge Management Society, Professor Tsui has been consulted by many government departments and private organisations on Knowledge Management strategies and technologies throughout Asia Pacific.

While many of us would associate knowledge management (KM) with computer-based processes, Professor Tsui pointed out that Knowledge management is in fact a business solution, even though technology is important. That means to create an environment for knowledge sharing is a program of business change requiring both clarity of objectives and appropriate infrastructure. Quoting a line from one of the 'founding fathers' of Knowledge Management - Karl-Erik Sveiby, Professor Tsui said, "Knowledge Management is the art of creating commercial value from intangible assets, and to limit the process to document imaging and archiving is an outdated concept." He further explained on the relevance of KM to the HR industry, "In that sense, to successfully implement KM systems in any organisation, an open environment and culture needs to be created. Competency, intellectual capital as well as human capital development and reporting is also crucial." Hong Kong is apparently going towards a Knowledge-based Economy. And HR professionals attended the seminar are certainly excited to learn that their efforts are indispensable to the success of promoting KM within their organisations.

Talent DNA Ensures Business Continuity

Mr. Bird Yip of Oracle Asia Pacific shared his ideas on developing an Integrated Talent Management Approach

Employee engagement is known to be one of the most talked about topic among HR professionals. It is no surprise participants showed so much anticipation when our next speaker, Mr. Bird Yip, shared his ideas on how to attract, develop, retain, and engage your workforce with an Integrated Talent Management Approach. Mr. Yip is the Director of Human Capital Management Solutions in Oracle Asia Pacific and he stated that the challenges brought by the three demographics - Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Gen Yers is common to HR managers in most organisations.

Yip said, "When the baby boomers begin to retire, a generational shift will take place and organisational operation will unavoidably be affected. That is why it is imperative to develop a succession plan to ensure business continuity." He further introduced the concept of “Talent DNA”, which records every talent’s peculiarities. Talent DNA is different from ordinary staff profiles in that the knowledge, skill sets, work experience, aspiration and talents’ biggest value are also recorded to enable organisations to execute talent selection more accurately.

"In fact," Yip added, "organisations need a complete and integrated talent management approach regardless of their staff demographic composition. Most employees seek for a job change when there is a lack of effective communication and understanding between leaders and subordinates." According to Yip, well-developed communication channels, an effective performance appraisal system, flexible compensation arrangement and a clear career advancement path, are inter-related yet crucial elements to engage the workforce.

Maximize Value, Minimize Waste

Dr. Rita Wan, the Director of AC&A Consultancy & Training explained on the keys to Lean leadership

Dr. Rita Wan, the Director of AC&A Consultancy & Training Co. Ltd., illustrated the core idea of Lean, which is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste, through a series of examples. Dr. Wan’s speech is especially interesting when she mentioned the recent Toyota case. Participants became aroused and interactiveness took place as Dr. Wan asked all the HR professionals to respond to a hypothetical situation. Again, the concept of added-value and waste is elaborated and re-defined after a round of interesting discussions.

Dr. Wan highlighted that there are three keys to Lean leadership:
1) Go See – leaders should involve themselves in business processes and examine things in detail;
2) Ask Why – when they see things done in a certain way, they should find out the reasons behind;
3) Show Respect – show your staff that you care, and you would like to guide them to your objective.

"Six Sigma is the methodology to help you identify and find information needed to understand your customers, thus to achieve, sustain and maximize business success." Dr. Wan continued, "You have to identify the key customer first and then focus on their real needs, before you can manage, improve and re-invent business processes."

Evolution of Employee Benefits

Ms Sally Lee of Lockton Benefits Consulting spoke on the Evolution of Group Benefit

Mr. Aimr Ghaffar of Chartis Insurance stated that employee benefits can be a very effective tool to motivate Employees

Ms Sally Lee, the Greater China Director of Lockton Benefits Consulting and Mr. Aimr Ghaffar, Assistant Vice President of Accident & Health of Employee Benefit & Special Risk Division, Chartis Insurance Hong Kong Ltd. spoke on the Evolution of Group Benefit.

Sally Lee said, "The business world is changing and the insurance world needs to change with it. While employees are valuable assets, it is surely a big challenge for the HR practitioners to recruit and retain talented employees."

Ghaffar then explained how those challenges could be overcome by offering comprehensive and well-planned employee benefits, including good compensation and attractive career path. Ghaffar reiterated that employee benefits can be a very effective tool to motivate Employees and maintain loyalty. Ghaffar stated, "With careful planning, voluntary benefits can be used to increase the value of your reward offering to staff. What is equally important is that all these should go with a carefully devised communication plan. Easily accessible online information and a single employee helpdesk should also be available to facilitate easy administration of the process."