Designing and delivering an L&D programme that not only engages and captivates employees but develops them to become the very best they can be is a tall order for HR—even more so when faced with the additional challenge of managing globally mobile workforces. How can organisations create training programmes that capture the interest of participants, develop leaders, provide effective coaching and mentoring and lead to enhancing workforce effectiveness and long-term employee engagement? And what tools can they use to demonstrate the ROI of the programme once these objectives have been reached?
HR Magazine decided to put these questions to the floor at its latest conference, which saw more than 250 HR practitioners gather to share ideas, advice and success stories of how to tackle the task at hand in organisations across Hong Kong.
Selina Ko: Head of HR, PvB & WMPS, HK Standard Charter Bank
Topic: A case study in employee development: from private banker to good team leader
Selina Ko opened the conference with an informal poll via show of hands to gauge how involved the audience was in the banking and private banking sector. Unsurprisingly, most members of the audience have some measure of involvement in the finance and banking industry, even if just as a customer or client. Moving from casual to new-age tech with poll taking, Ko then garnered audience participation through a virtual poll where participants could vote via their smartphones and see the results in real time, responding to a test of the audience’s knowledge of private banking practices.
With the room now riveted, Ko continued her presentation to discuss the diversity involved in the HR considerations of private banking clients and employees, and the ways in which HR can guide strong employees to pursue career development paths to become team leaders within the industry. Ko identified the key mindsets which HR should seek when looking for potential high-performing team leaders, including supervision compliance and governance, business and team development, and people management. Being aware of the crucial skills and mindsets relevant to the position or future career path is essential for HR, Ko urged. Ko stated simply, “We really need to pick the right people for the right role.” She encouraged proactive career management on the part of HR, working in tandem with each employee to address their concerns and guide them towards the right path both for themselves as individuals, and for the company as a whole. In doing this, she added, HR managers should focus on employee strengths rather than weaknesses to bolster employee involvement and company loyalty.
Dr. Roland Smith: Vice President and MD, APAC, CCL
Topic: Take charge of talent conversations now…before it’s too late
Don’t underestimate the power of conversation. This was the underlying message of Smith’s presentation, which highlighted the importance of communication in keeping top talent engaged and committed. He explained that the three pillars of transformation and sustainable growth for any business are strategy, culture and talent and this is where HR should focus its energy in order to keep talent. ‘Your talent is watching you’, Smith warned, and unless they feel valued and invested in, they will look elsewhere for a role that will fulfill it. Smith explained that employees keep track of how they are treated by their employer and that most high performers look beyond bonuses and rewards and focus more on treatment. ‘As long as you take care of them, they will stay’, he summarised.
Smith also stressed that talent management is a shared responsibility among all levels of employees, from business leaders and executives to HR leaders, which he calls ‘talent accelerators’ and the Board of directors, or rather the ‘talent overseers’. A recent survey conducted by CCL revealed CEOs considered best practice spend 40% of their time with talent, 82% are involved with identifying talent at the recruitment stage, 71% review the progress of hiPos and 50% are a coach or mentor to hiPos. These CEOs do not embrace the title of ‘coach’, but rather consider themselves a ‘conductor’ who learns to orchestrate talent within their organisations.
Interestingly, there is a mismatch between the level of feedback employees feel they receive and what managers believe they provide; while 89% of managers feel they provide sufficient feedback or advise to employees on areas in which they need improvement, only 57% employees claim they receive this. According to Smith, this discrepancy comes down to a lack of communication or misdirected conversations. He pointed out that the talent conversation is a mutual engagement and that in order to achieve the desired result, it must entail more than a 20 minutes chat over the keyboard between talent and the manager. It must be a carefully though out discussion which is tailored to the situation, whether that is a performance or coaching-based conversation, for example, with either an under performer, potential performer or solid performer. Relationships are critical to talent development and sustainability, Smith concluded, and this is something that HR often overlooks. ‘You will keep talent longer if you work on building relationships’, he added, as he advised HR to create a talent dashboard which covers the areas of connecting to strategy, future focus and knowing the individual. He ended by advocating that businesses can raise the spirit of their people by having conversations and that knowing how to adopt the right approach to these conversations is a crucial factor to consider.
Mr Kannan Chettiar: Regional Director, First Advantage
Topic: How HR can help businesses manage people risk through robust background screening
With the acceleration of global recruitment in recent years, fraud has become a much greater issue for HR departments. Every new employee hired means the business is exposed to a new risk. Chettiar detailed some of those risks as well as highlighting steps HR can take to be prudent in detecting fraud.
Explaining the dangers of not conducting thorough background screening, Chettiar emphasised the importance for HR to actively leverage global background checks. According his intelligence, more than one in ten CVs contains some form of discrepancy, therefore undertaking a simple in-depth background check will save HR unnecessary problems down the line. Chettiar noted that Hong Kong has the highest educational-background fraud in APAC. Consequently, local employees are advised to verify credentials from the source and be vigilant in asking detailed questions at the initial stage of recruitment. Employing someone with false credentials not only means the business has employed the wrong person but, more seriously, can have a detrimental impact on the businesses’ reputation which often leads to permanent damage. Other dangers include unnecessary costs associated with negligent hiring decisions, litigation, theft of company or customer information and high staff turnover levels. Chettiar revealed countless incidents of fugitives moving countries to land high paid jobs using counterfeit credentials.
As a professional in the field, Chettiar advises HR to adhere to compliance, determine the number and type of checks to conduct and have a one-world view. He concluded explaining that employer branding starts before employees join. Treat employees well from the start by offering them the best screening background. In addition to doing this, HR will find that the business is tactfully placed to attract a better caliber candidate along with a lower risk of employing a fraudster.
Ringi Luk: Assistant Manager, Talent Management at Pernod Ricard Asia
Topic: Pernod Ricard Leadership Development Journey-developing programmes to develop leaders
Cross fertilization is at the heart of Pernod Ricard’s learning and development journey, which encourages employees to share ideas and concepts from a diversity of backgrounds. From providing corporate training at the Pernod Ricard University with colleagues from all over the world at the historical Château de La Voisine near Paris, to offering customised local training based on local needs, the company’s comprehensive learning & development programmes are designed to equip staff with a variety of skills required for their individual roles, covering all aspects from marketing and finance through to HR, communication and speaking in front of audiences.
The journey begins with a regional management trainee programme, which entails an 18-month programme that rotates staff through different departments, to enable them to learn about other departments in order to enhance their own individual function. During leadership week, trainees are set the task of team building exercises, developing different competencies of the company’s leadership competency model and writing about their personal development plan for review with their supervisor.
A variety of leadership development programmes, apply named Mixers, Shakers and Blenders, aim to develop future leaders in line with the company’s leadership competency model, offering them the opportunity to learn from various skills-focused and industry-related topics and training, whilst motivating them to embody the company’s core values.
The overriding purpose being to develop leaders, manage teams and nurture innovation whilst creating value in an uncertain world through living the values and striving for results. Closing her presentation, Luk shared insight into how the company offers a unique cocktail of vital ingredients, of which its employees make the perfect blend. She stressed that in order to create engaging and effective leadership development programmes, organisations must provide employees with the opportunity to engage with corporate values and understand how important their individual contribution is to the mix or rather, how they can further enrich it.
Monika Michalak: Director of HR Overseas, iDreamsky Technology
Topic: L&D and mobile workforces in the technology sector
Fresh off a plane from Beijing, Michalak shared what she had learnt during her challenge of hiring globally mobile talents from around the world for the Beijing-based startup iDreamsky. Having previously worked in Poland, Michalak ventured east on a mission to recruit engineers to work on bringing western video games, such as Fruit Ninja, Temple Run and Angry Birds, to an Asian market. She explained that the growing popularity of digital games has lead to video games overtaking dolls in the market and with 70% of the world’s toy being manufactured in China, the industry has become the fastest growing in the world and now accounts for $23.6bn—bigger than the music and movie industries—and is predicted to exceed $25bn by the end of 2015.
With such high demand, and the best talent being global, Michalak was not only faced with the task of identifying good people, but also persuading them to up their lives and relocate to China. She explained, “You can assume that most good people are already employed and are not actively looking for a job, therefore recruitment is about searching for the best talent and making the right selection. China has many PR challenges and negative bias of foreign media, combined with misunderstanding around law and regulations means there is an added challenge in securing the best people for the job.” She explained drawbacks of life in Beijing, such as high air pollution, language barriers and culture shock, which have proven to be an obstacle to bringing foreign talent—primarily in the 20 to 30 age bracket—onboard. This has not, however, been insurmountable and Michalak has gone above and beyond to manage the expectations of new recruits as well as their partners, whilst initiating them into the new culture during the onboarding process. She even takes them hiking along the Great Wall and sets them up with online dating to make them feel special, valued and welcome in their new environment.
She ended by stressing the importance of constant and clear communication as well as patience when recruiting mobile workforces and pointed out that when it comes to securing and retaining top talent, and reducing the unknowns for new hires, it is the little things that make a big difference, from proving SIM cards and stocking up their fridge ready for their arrival, to trekking across one of the Eight Wonders of the World.
Ms Travis Barton: Principal & Talent Business Leader, Mercer Hong Kong
Topic: Virtual assessment & development for mobile workforces
Barton set the scene with an illustration of a mobile employee in the business, creating the framework for effective virtual assessments and development. She explained that when dealing with mobile employees, assessments are most effective when they are simulation based. The days where HR can afford the time to take an employee out of the business on a three-day workshop are long gone. HR, therefore, needs to find methods to cater for these situations, especially when developing a mobile workforce. Utilising simulation based training means employees can work remotely and at their own pace. Barton explained that breaking the training down into bite sized pieces—2 hours rather than 2 days—means employees are given the time to practice and are more inclined to benefit from it.
Simulation-based training should directly reflect current working challenges and goals. When conducting virtual assessments, Barton advises HR to give feedback, make sure it is meaningful and realistic and create opportunities to practice. Employees want an example of someone else who did it. Therefore, using interactive software, with real-life examples, creates a solid foundation for developing a mobile workforce. Bring the training to life, Barton explained, tell a story of someone else who has faced an issue the employee can relate to. If a concept is taught and an employee is relied upon to practice outside of the training, the last thing expected of the employee is to fail. Simulation subverts this approach giving employees the room to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. She suggests that assessments be spread over a period of time, focusing on areas the employee wants to develop in. Fit these goals around the current working schedule which creates a more meaningful and flexible development programme.
Barton recommends a weekly phone conversation to discuss with the employee what was done well and what areas need improving. This method means that no risk is involved in trying out new approaches and the employee is at liberty to experiment with different behaviours. Barton concluded by highlighting that the feedback from using this method has been very successful, 100% of participants say they have seen an improvement in at least one leadership area selected.
Dr Kelvin Wan: Global Master Trainer (Project Management), HSBC
Topic: How to prepare and conduct successful live training for today's workforce
Engaging the audience is the biggest challenge faced by trainers today, according to Kelvin Wan, Global Master Trainer at HSBC. He commented, “We not only have to catch them physically, we must also catch them mentally.” As trainer, if your enthusiasm lapses, the attention of your course attendees is as good as gone. In order to design and deliver a programme for maximum efficacy, Wan shared a few key fundamentals to keep in mind.
1. Impact management
Wan advocates a vertical and horizontal approach to programme design. For the vertical aspect, senior management input should be sought—not only for the initial stages but also later during implementation and delivery. During the initial stages, when looking for approval, he suggested giving senior management a range of options—relevant to the company’s structure, culture and needs and wants—rather than just one. In this way, the decision makers can better understand the core aims and feel that all avenues have been considered.
He also advised that designs be horizontal; that the delivery be ‘colourful’—entertaining and activity-packed—in order to hook the smartphone generation’s interest. While he said that a great programme is 10% content and 90% delivery, Wan stressed that these concepts of vertical and horizontal planning must still be balanced and complete to please both participants and senior management.
2. Interaction
With a world of information and contacts available at the click of a smartphone button, keeping participants’ attention is no mean feat. Wan stated, “As a deliverer you are a performer. Be energetic. Be passionate. If you’re not engaged—how can you expect your audience to be?” Use eye contact wisely—aim for over one second and no more than two. Wan recommends that PowerPoint slides should be kept as simple as possible and use few phrases as the bulk of the information will be delivered by making the participants use their speaking and listening skills—not their reading skills. Pose questions for discussion and then ask participants to report back with their conclusions—Wan shared that the threat of having to speak out and explain their understanding can encourage individuals to pay more attention during tasks and presentations.
3. Value
“As trainer, you must know the Earth.” By this, Wan means that the trainer must become an expert in their chosen field, amassing information about their company and also finding out about other companies in the industry, following global trends and keeping abreast of recent developments. Whilst this takes up a lot of extra time, it is necessary in order to assure participants and senior management of the trainer’s expertise. A challenge for today’s learning deliverers is battling against a formidable adversary—Google. To counter this, trainers must be aware of the two factors which set them apart from the search engine giant: they can solve immediate problems and offer great efficiency of knowledge acquisition.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
