Speech at Asian Human Capital Award 2013 Presentation Ceremony

Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, Compass Ballroom, Resorts World Sentosa

1. A very good morning to one and all. It is good to be back here to join all of you at this event. Yesterday, we shared with you findings from a research on talent management in Asia commissioned by the Ministry of Manpower. To be future ready, companies must invest in good people practices to drive key business metrics. However, the study has found that companies around the region still have some way to go in implementing key people practices that are most impactful to business growth and development. It is thus fitting that Day 2 of this year’s Singapore Human Capital Summit opens with the Asian Human Capital Award presentation ceremony. Today, we celebrate innovative and exemplary people practices tailored by companies around the region to address human capital challenges faced.
   
   Asian Human Capital Award
2. The Asian Human Capital Award was created in 2009 to spur companies across Asia to focus on their human capital development to drive business excellence.
3. Since its inception five years ago, the Award has grown from strength to strength. The number of applications submitted has doubled. This year, we received 89 applications from 58 organisations located in 11 countries across Asia – the highest number since we started the Award.
4. I am indeed heartened that companies are doing more to nurture and develop their people. While all of them hail from different industries, ranging from consumer goods to engineering, manufacturing as well as retail, all these companies stand out for their efforts in prioritising best practices for human capital management. Allow me to briefly highlight the achievements of some of these companies.
   
   Talent and Organisational Readiness
5. In the face of a business decline in 2006, other companies may have crumbled, and indeed many did, but Unilever Thailand embarked on the unconventional route to improve its business results by reducing its environmental footprint and increasing positive social impact. To excel in a highly-competitive market, the company developed a Talent and Organisation Readiness Project focusing on four key areas – Talent, Skills, Organisation and Culture. Aimed at re-energising its employees, the multi-functional project mobilises all employees, from the most senior leader to factory workers, to work toward sustainability and future readiness of the organisation.
6. A local slogan, “Row Tam Dai”, which translates to “Yes, We Can” in English, was coined to encourage employees to be proud of the work that they do. To match the organisation’s growth ambitions, a talent pipeline was developed through reviewed salaries, reward roadmaps and career planning models. Employee engagement was intensified through initiatives such as the “My Unilever Legacy” programme which cultivates employees’ entrepreneurial streak by encouraging them to pursue their interests. To foster a culture of sustainability among employees, a “Zero Fat” programme was introduced, where excessive wastage of resources is frowned upon.
7. The Talent and Organisation Readiness Project reaped rich dividends for the company. In 2010, the organisation achieved double-digit growth, which was sustained the year after. The management attrition rate was halved and employee engagement scores leapt by 21 points, from 52% in 2009 to 73% in 2010.
8. The company’s success story does not end here. In 2011, the employees themselves banded together and launched the “Unilever Take U Home”, which is a community project to help families located across Thailand who have unfortunately been displaced by floods. The project saw employees working hand in hand with Thai soldiers and 15,000 volunteers to help these families rebuild their homes and their lives. The company also provided essential products amounting to a total value of THB100 million to the affected families. This act of goodwill by Unilever Thailand not only helped thousands of families get back on their feet, but also cemented their reputation and popularity within the community.
   
   Developing the True Source of Power – People
9. Another company, Manila Electric Company or MERALCO for short, applied “sustainability” as a key driver behind its business decisions. MERALCO recognised that its people were the company’s true source of power. An integrated approach was thus adopted to facilitate sustainable engagement and develop a culture of innovation among its employees. Themed “One MERALCO: People Powering Up for a Brighter Philippines”, the integrated approach featured a five-point agenda: strategic employee communication, key talent management, high performance management systems, employee relations, and employee volunteerism. To strike a chord with their employees, Filipino values of malasakit (utmost concern for others and the company over oneself) and makabayan (love for country and countrymen) were cited to manifest proper behaviour, values and work ethics that support the organisation’s business objectives.
10. Employee engagement levels soared, with many pledging allegiance to the organisation for helping them upgrade their skills and extending assistance to them and their families in times of need. Despite challenges posed by customer demands, regulatory requirements and the business environment, MERALCO, supported by their cohesive team of employees, went on to achieve sterling performances in all aspects of operations such as energy sales, consolidated net income, system loss, and customer satisfaction for the past three years.
    
    People Excellence Initiatives
11. Finally, investing in a comprehensive and integrated framework in attracting, training, developing and empowering employees can fuel business growth. Siemens China knows this well. Not spared of the talent crunch in China, the company made a conscious effort to accord human capital the same importance and rigour as that of capital asset investment.
12. Multi-pronged initiatives were rolled out in six key HR areas – talent acquisition, talent development, compensation and benefits, competence improvement, mindset change, and operational excellence and communication. To gain a stronghold in the war for talent, Siemens China maintains good relationships with key universities offering internships and running contests on-campus to identify the best and brightest talent. The company also actively seeks out talent via its “researcher pool”, where experts comb through online channels for promising hires.
13. To build the skills of their locals, there was a strong infusion of foreign talent, who would mentor and transfer their knowledge and skills to younger employees. In turn, the younger employees would mentor the next generation of talent.
14. Another company, Reliance Retail, a supermarket retail chain in India, faced the key challenge of retaining talent when the company was looking to expand its operations. Employee attrition rate at their stores was more than 100% at its peak, with many employees leaving within a short span of employment.
15. To solve this, Reliance Retail conducted interviews with store managers across various cities, and found that the most common reason cited for employees leaving the organisation was a lack of effective training. WorkSmart, an integrated business-aligned training and development intervention, was thus developed by the company. WorkSmart boasts close to 300 training modules mapped to over 100 unique job roles across 17 business functions, each with its own easy-to-follow daily routine and accompanying checklists. A simple and interactive online learning tool and multilingual training modules were developed to ensure deeper understanding and usability by employees across India.
16. Training their employees to work smarter has boosted productivity levels. The customer shopping experience at a Reliance Retail store has also been greatly enhanced. Most importantly, the company’s attrition rate has come down from its peak by more than 30%.
    
    Conclusion
17. What I have just shared were some examples of good human capital development strategies. Throughout these years, the Award has unearthed different people strategies, policies and initiatives employed by local as well as regional organisations spanning various industries.
18. I hope that you can adopt and adapt some of these practices in your organisations, so that you remain at, or move to the forefront of human capital development.
19. Finally, please join me in extending our heartiest congratulations to our Award Winners and Special Commendation Prize Recipients for their exemplary people practices. I wish all of you a most fruitful conference as well as continued success in the years ahead.
20. Thank you.