PageUp People to share insights on talent management in Southeast Asia in April 30 webinar

The critical business issues for multinationals in Southeast Asia, the key talent management implications and how the region's organisations are overcoming talent challenges are to be discussed in a webinar on April 30.

Insights around these questions as documented in the book Talented Southeast Asia will be shared in an interactive webinar hosted by PageUp People in partnership with DHL Express and MasterCard.

The first and only publication solely focused on talent management in Southeast Asia, Talented Southeast Asia addresses key challenges and the future outlook for employers. The book features rare insights and best practices from over 100 business and human resources leaders managing, motivating and growing talent in this highly diverse and competitive region. Speakers include:

·         Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith,  PageUp People's SVP Global Research and Talented Southeast Asia co-author 

·         Mateen A, Vice President of Human Resources, Singapore/Southeast Asia, DHL Express 

·         Aditi Madhok-Naarden, Business Leader - Talent Management, MasterCard (Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa)

Date: Wednesday, 30th April 2014

Time: 11am - 12pm (GMT +8)

To register please visit: www.talentedsoutheastasia.com

*All webinar attendees will be entered for a chance to win a signed copy of Talented Southeast Asia.

The art and science of talent acquisition

New approaches to attracting talent are getting some companies the best candidates possible.

The human resources department must consider hiring from a business standpoint, says Mei-lynn Chan, Head, Organizational Development, Group Human Capital, Maybank. "Transform HR activities into real numbers. You have to quantify them in a business sense," she said during talent management solutions provider PageUp People's launch of Talented Southeast Asia, a publication focused on talent management in Southeast Asia. 

Traditionally, a hiring budget could prevent HR from hiring certain people. The new outlook means that HR would be able to hire a person with the right skillset "as long as the business can carry that cost until the hire begins to pay back on the investment," she said. "It is thinking from business standpoint than from a HR standpoint."

Ramon Segismundo, SVP and Head, Human Resources & Corporate Services, Meralco, the largest electrical distributor in the Philippines, said that talent acquisition is a two-way process with HR as a marketer. "It is important to project the CEO or President as a poster boy," he noted. 

What makes the candidate 'cross the line' should be a unique differentiator, he added. Meralco has found a powerful differentiator in corporate social responsibility (CSR), for example. "The first thing we tell candidates is that we're not offering you a job, we're offering you a higher sense of purpose," he said. "When employees are going home because of a typhoon, Meralco people are going to work (on disaster preparedness)."

Talented Southeast Asia unique in focusing on talent management in Southeast Asia

PageUp People, a multinational talent management solutions provider, has launched Talented Southeast Asia, the only publication solely focused on talent management in Southeast Asia. The book addresses key challenges and the future outlook for employers, consolidated from over 100 interviews conducted over a 12 month period with business and human resource (HR) leaders. 

“Southeast Asia is a unique region with distinct characteristics, and each market is different in the way these multinationals manage, motivate and engage their talent. It has been a remarkable journey over the last 12 months, and we are thankful to our contributors for sharing their rich experience so openly and unreservedly with us,” says Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith, PageUp People’s Senior Vice President of Global Research and co-author of the book. 

“By 2050, Asia will house 52% of the global workforce. The core purpose of Talented Southeast Asia is to provide ideas to large organisations that will further accelerate their goal of achieving business success through talent management excellence.”

Talented Southeast Asia is a thought leadership initiative of PageUp People Global Research and explores the experiences and lessons of 50 top multinationals with existing operations in the region. Through in-depth interviews with contributors, Talented Southeast Asia identifies the top ten priorities in talent management. 

Vorhauser-Smith, left. and Carriss, right.

The need to attract, develop and retain organisational talent accounts for 75% of these top priorities for business and HR leaders in Southeast Asia. Other priorities include leadership, succession planning and business transformation. In addition, the five regional themes that emerged are:

1. Balancing global consistency with regional autonomy – 63% of contributors felt having regional autonomy for talent management decisions and processes was critical 

2. Embracing the complexities of the region – HR executives need to understand the unique labour market nuances of each country, adding to the complexity of their roles 

3. Respecting eastern values and cultures – 89% felt the ability to understand and work within the local culture was key 

4. Leaders need ‘agile heads, hearts and hands’ – the complexities of Southeast Asia demand business leaders with a distinct set of leadership capabilities 

5. Changing mindsets change the workforce – the mindset of the Southeast Asian digital natives are already evolving away from traditional ways of working 

In order to address this young and highly connected workforce, Talented Southeast Asia also reveals the changing practices being adopted in talent attraction, engagement and retention. "Fresh Practices" outlined in the book include the increased use of innovative models such as learning management systems powered by social networks, gamified learning, mobile interfaces for task management, and real-time performance evaluation and feedback. 

“Southeast Asia has a youthful population, ranging on average, between 23 and 35 years. This is the new generation of always-on employees and HR executives are transforming their systems to keep up with this trend. Technology innovation plays a critical role in this transformation and billions of dollars are being invested to this end globally,” said Karen Cariss, co-author of the book and CEO of PageUp People. 

Over 50 companies including Bosch, BHP Billiton, Deloitte, Dentsu Aegis Networks, DHL, Mastercard, Hilton Worldwide, Pandora, and Sony participated in the interview process, across six countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Participating firms are global corporations with a significant presence in two or more of these ASEAN 6 countries.  

The authors will be available for meet-and-greets at:

HR Technology Conference & Exposition 
October 7 - 10, 2014 
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, USA 

To order the book, click the "buy now" button here or visit the Amazon page here.  

*Images from PageUp People.