Changes to the employment landscape and an uptick in the local economy mean that 2018 is set to become an even more challenging year for businesses vying for the best talent. Compensation and benefits will have an increasingly large role to play in this, and will be the focus of today’s Classified Post HR Conference.
Taking place at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui, the conference will host professionals from across the HR and wider business spheres, who have come to hear experts in the field deliver their talks on the theme “Compensation & Benefits: 2018 Outlook”.
The opening remarks will be provided by Dr Law Chi-kwong, the government’s secretary for Labour and Welfare, followed by Jeffrey Tang, managing director, Hong Kong at Willis Towers Watson, who will give his insights on the future of work, posing the question: is HR ready?
Tang says disruption is inevitable and HR must grapple with the question as to whether it wants to be at the heart of the change by influencing and shaping the journey, or remain on the fringe of this conversation by responding through the “execution” of just HR elements.
This will require a greater dynamism and flexibility than the HR function has hitherto exercised. “‘One size fits all’ has been the mantra for many Asian organisations given our paternalistic outlook and our shareholders’ characteristics,” Tang says. “HR needs to ask whether the current approach fits the purpose and direction the organisation is heading to. Customisation is no longer a luxury but a necessity to cater for organisations with a diverse nature of work, employment relationships, demographics or geographic spread.
Sara Kelly, vice-president, Partner Resources, Starbucks Asia Pacific, will then outline the culture of benefits the multinational coffee company has nurtured among its workforce. It is one driven by the changing needs and demands of a new generation of employees and adapting the company’s global values to local market relevancy.
“The younger generation entering the workforce wants to contribute to something more meaningful than just a job,” Kelly says. “They seek purpose from their employer. Starbucks is a people business serving coffee, and at the heart of our business are the moments of connection created between our baristas and our customers. Partners (employees) work for us because we are a company driven by that human connection, and we have always aspired to create a culture that our employees are proud to belong to.”
Saying that there is no more important investment a company can make than in its people, Kelly emphasises the importance of diversity. She mentions the Returning Mothers Barista Hiring Programme at Starbucks Korea, which helps women resume their careers after giving birth, and another initiative in Malaysia where there is a Starbucks store dedicated to providing employment opportunities for deaf people.
In a second case study presentation, Maria Hui, director, human resources at Microsoft Hong Kong, will share with attendees details of the company’s benefits and perks package, which aims at empowering employees. She says that digital disruption is bringing wholesale changes to business, making talent strategies increasingly important in attracting and retaining the best staff, and that a rethinking of benefits is vital for companies to succeed.
“We have to look at benefits differently and should not limit ourselves to the traditional way of thinking towards what benefits includes,” Hui says. “We should consider looking at the entire employee life cycle and understand what the key factors are, which affect employees’ decision to join or to quit.”
There will then be a panel discussion hosted by Razlan Manjaji, international markets lead, strategy and special projects at South China Morning Post Publishers. Tang and Hui will be joined by Jonathan Lo, partner, HR transformation, people and change advisory, Hong Kong at KPMG. The discussion will focus on the key challenges in engaging and rewarding talent in 2018.
A pre-lunch networking session will then allow attendees to exchange their own ideas before the afternoon session begins with the luncheon conference. Thomas Lee, chief corporate solutions officer for AIA Hong Kong & Macau, will talk about digital strategy in employee benefits, and the importance of harnessing new technologies to streamline benefits packages to suit the needs of all staff.
Stephen Fung, CEO of AIA MPF, will also speak on how to recruit and retain better with the right MPF provider. Fung says that MPF can be a powerful tool for staff retention and he encourages HR to “think outside the box” when considering it.
“According to AIA MPF’s Desired Retirement Tracker survey,” he says, “over 50 per cent of employee respondents perceive voluntary contributions by employers as a pay rise, and 70 per cent believe their sense of belonging would increase if their employer made voluntary contributions for them.”
AIA MPF, he says, hopes to create not just a double-win for employers and employees but a “triple-win” that helps businesses attract, recruit and retain their valued talents.
There will be a chance for attendees to limber up after their meal with a 10-minute energising yoga break, offered by AIA Vitality and Pure Yoga, before the last two presentations of the day, which will focus on a pair of particularly topical HR issues.
Jonathan Lo of KPMG will return to the stage to talk about HR digital transformation, in which he advises companies to either drive change or be changed. “Digital is already upon us and presents a great opportunity to transform and future-proof the HR function,” Lo says. “It is paramount for HR leaders to map the course of the HR transformation journey, moving from more traditional models to an agile ‘boundary-less function’, and maintain nimbleness to make adaptations along the way given the pace of change.”
As part of a comprehensive strategy to meet these challenges, Lo says firms should adopt a continuous learning posture, and establish a digital centre of excellence to integrate the transition to digital seamlessly into the business.
There will then follow an interactive game presented by Galaxy Macau, a refreshment break and a brief showcase of cpjobs.com’s recently revamped recruitment website. Then Dr Christina Sue-Chan, associate head and associate professor from the department of management at City University of Hong Kong, will deliver the final talk of the day, on engaging talent: coaching and social intrapreneurship as rewards. Citing a recent Robert Walters Salary Survey, Sue-Chan says that salaries alone are not enough to attract talent and drive loyalty and that “employees increasingly prefer working for companies with strong employer branding, a positive company culture and an open, collaborative work environment”.
Millennials are often viewed as the employee demographic that bear this out the most but even older generations, Sue-Chan says, are swayed more by fulfilment once their basic salary needs are met. One way of delivering such fulfilment is what she calls “social intrapreneurship”, which strengthens bonds between colleagues and gives one’s work an extra dimension. Among its qualities are “the opportunities to coach others and be coached by others and to deliver a social good or service. These opportunities are rewarding because they enable people to achieve their higher-order needs for belongingness, self-esteem, self-actualisation, and self-transcendence.”
If you couldn’t make it today, there will be another chance to partake of the best in HR advice in March 2018.
Conference Rundown
Opening Remarks
Dr LAW CHI-KWONG, GBS, JP
Secretary for Labour and Welfare,
HKSAR Government
Future of Work: Is HR Ready?
JEFFREY TANG
Managing Director, Hong Kong, Willis Towers Watson
How Starbucks Brews Its Unique
Culture of Benefits
SARA KELLY
Vice-President, Starbucks Partner (Human) Resources,
Starbucks Asia Pacific
Benefits and Perks – the Total Package – Employee Empowerment
MARIA HUI
Director, Human Resources,
Microsoft Hong Kong
Panel Discussion: What’s the Key Challenge to Engage and Reward Talents in 2018?
JEFFREY TANG, MARIA HUI, JONATHAN LO
Moderator: RAZLAN MANJAJI, International Markets Lead, Strategy and Special Projects, South China Morning Post Publishers
AIA Digital Strategy in Employee Benefits
THOMAS LEE
Chief Corporate Solutions Officer,
AIA Hong Kong & Macau
Recruit and Retain with the Right MPF Provider
STEPHEN FUNG
Chief Executive Officer, AIA MPF
HR Digital Transformation: Drive Change or Be Changed
JONATHAN LO
Partner, HR Transformation, KPMG
Engaging Talent: Coaching and Social Intrapreneurship as Rewards
Dr CHRISTINA SUE-CHAN
Associate Head and Associate Professor, Department of Management, City University
