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Do what you love

YOUR ULTIMATE CAREER& TALENT RESOURCE

TAGORE’S THOUGHTSNuggets of wisdom for worklife from the legendary poet

Pg 16

BONDS OF SUCCESSNurturing professional relationships: an imperative

Pg 15

OUR UNIVERSEBuilding diverse and collaborative networks: what CEOs should know

Pg 11

A little sparkWhat triggers one to be a great leader

Pg 03

BEST EMPLOYERSBRINGING OUT THE BEST IN THEIR PEOPLE

PAGES 4-10, 12-14

SATURdAY 21 MARcH 2015

mystarjob.com, saturday 21 March 20152

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QUotES

playiNg at WorkBy TARA [email protected]

IT comes as no surprise that the theme for this week’s pullout is on best employers. In December 2014, Google was named the best place to work in the United Kingdom. Employees sang praises of the internet giant for having a “cool culture” and “leaders who under-stand the challenges facing the organi-sation”, besides free food and good pay.

Apart from that, Google is well known for implementing “20% time” to improve their employees’ develop-ment in terms of their career and other interests.

Twenty per cent of an employee’s time is dedicated to any side project they are working on that does not necessarily have to be related to the individual’s full-time job. At Google, employees get a day per week to them-selves to do this.

People always say that it’s important to have interests and hobbies outside of work. But why is it that we do not immediately think of combining work with play? And in what ways can it help foster creativity at work?

ConneCting the DotsAs the legendary Steve Jobs once said,

“Creativity is just connecting things.” When we are given opportunities to

venture out of our usual work routine, we are more likely to take a step back and see how things are related to each other on a larger scale.

This can give us a sense of clarity and thus, more freedom to “switch things up” and make innovative contributions to our organisation.

Problem solvingLike it or not, almost every line of work

requires some amount of creativity in order to overcome certain obstacles that can hinder progress.

Once we are able to see connections between seemingly unrelated factors, our problem solving skills can also benefit as a result.

Not only can combining work and play bring an element of fun to the workplace, it can also help us form new approaches to seemingly unsolvable problems.

Instead of constantly looking at a work-related problem through work-tinted lens-es, providing time to take off those lenses and work on something fun and different for a while can help us see the problem in a brand new light.

In short, these extra activities can lead us to our very own “eureka” moments, as they can stimulate us in ways that our day jobs can’t.

FlexibilityFlexibility is a key attribute needed

when it comes to nurturing creativity.Allotting time for our own activities at

work can also help us be more flexible, making us more creative in the ways we organise our time in efforts to strike a bal-ance between work and extra activities of our interest.

ConClusionThese important factors are what incor-

porating play into work can do for our growth, in terms of our career and crea-tivity. Employees can acquire the clarity needed to see relationships between any-thing, which can improve their problem-solving abilities and also flexibility in the working environment.

“Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive.” – Elbert Hubbard

“Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves.” – E. Joseph Cossman

“When you’re following your energy and doing what you want all the time, the distinction between work and play dissolves.” – Shakti Gawain

“Persistence. Perfection. Patience. Power. Prioritise your passion. It keeps you sane.” – Criss Jami

“If you are losing your leisure, look out! – It may be you are losing your soul.” – Virginia Woolf

SlaM DUNk!

IN recent years, I have started watching loads of basketball and foot-ball games. It’s remarkable how personalities reveal themselves so vividly during team sports.

In the young players, I can see how their coaches have played a role in molding them – whether they “play nice” allowing others to bask in the glory if it means the team as a whole wins, or perpetually stealing the limelight even when other players are better positioned to score.

On building future leaders, Roshan Thiran stresses the importance of the three triggers of leadership: moral character, performance character and vision.

When things don’t go well, athletes also reveal their dark sides – playing the blame game, or being somewhat delusional of their own abilities (Roshan’s article on self-evaluation highlights perfect exam-ples of these!).

Sometimes, I feel that the word ‘sportsmanship’ has dropped out of the lexicon of some “athletes”.

On a related note, Morag Barrett shares with us the value of nurturing professional relationships. More on relationship-building, Joseph Tan addresses senior leaders, providing great insights on how to go about mapping and mobilising our stakeholder universe.

For teammates who still love the game and strive to improve their performance, eventually they realise the toxic environment would do them no good. And they move on.

In the workplace, this is akin to starting with talent that begins 100% engaged, but being exposed to less-than-ideal situations, become disenfranchised, disillusioned and then, well, they disappear.

In our respective organisations, during good times and bad, how do we work together? As leaders, how do we communicate with our people? Do we take the time to first develop a working environment that can quickly assess and respond to situations, empower our peo-ple to speak up and step up to own a problem and collectively work on the solution? Do we envision this, but not dismantle old processes and structures that stand in the way?

At Leaderonomics, I definitely see an evolved organisation that seeks to improve every day. Our leaders have the humility for self-awareness at an organisational level (here I go anthropomorphising again!) – recognising that when things are not right, action must be, and is taken.

While we strive to find jobs we are passionate about, the organisa-tions we work for can play a big role in that journey – by investing time and effort to discover the strengths of its people, building on them and even pointing their people to different positions within the organisation that are a better match to their strengths. The people win. The organisation wins. Ultimately, the customers will also win.

So take the time to talk to the people in your organisation – it could be your workplace, the charity you volunteer at, your own fam-ily unit. Discovering how you can be the best you can be as a team is an exhilarating challenge that chalks up wins for all.

Have a fantastic weekend!

KAREN NEOHEditorleaderonomics.com

What DoES it rEally MEaN

to WiN?

eDitor’s noteDue to an editing error on page 5 of the March 14, 2015 issue, Cheryl Yeoh’s name was misstated as Cheryl Teh and should be Cheryl Yeoh.

mystarjob.com, saturday 21 March 2015 3

a Spark IS aLL IT TakeS TrIggerS ThaT enabLe you To become a greaT Leader

By ROSHAN THIRAN [email protected]

IN 2008, I frequently visited the for-mer home of our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj at Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur. The prop-erty was owned by the Star Media

Group then, and many interesting discus-sions took place there.

I specifically remember the morning of Dec 6, 2008, as I walked through the estate, and was reminded that it was exactly 18 years since Tunku passed on.

I remember thinking about other great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and even business leaders like Jack Welch and Howard Schultz and started wondering when and what trig-gered their leadership success.

Where Does LeaDership Begin?

Almost every leader I have met and researched started their leadership journey early in their lives. Sir Richard Branson’s mother kickstarted his journey at the age of five by leaving him a few kilometres away from home and instruct-ing him to find his own way back.

Welch’s mother played a huge role in his early leadership development. Even Tunku had his first leadership lessons sowed in his childhood.

A 2005 DDI study by a human resource research company found that 90% of chief executives and board-level directors had at least two leadership roles such as head student, prefect or sports captain in their school years.

An Institute of Leadership Management (ILM) study concluded that many future leaders marked themselves out from an early age through early lead-ership practice.

Kim Parish, chief executive officer of ILM, explains that “this study shows that people learn leadership at a very early age. Activities, such as Scouts, Guides or playing on a school team actually furnish young people with skills like team ethos, ambition, goal setting and other qualities we associate with good leadership.”

The poll concluded that holding a position of responsibility at school was the most important indicator of a good future leader – and that academic qualifi-cation was overrated.

We can all agree that leadership les-sons learnt during childhood help sow the first seeds of leadership ambition in every leader. Yet, what are the triggers of leadership?

Triggers of LeaDershipThere is still a lot to learn and

explore on early childhood leadership development, but researchers like Angela Duckworth, David Levin and Dominic Randolph have started to postulate that a lot of successful leaders are where they are today because of how they developed their “character”.

Most of us will agree that developing a person’s leadership character, which includes their values, is critical. Yet, that cannot be the only reason for success.

We all know of many young adults with impeccable character traits, yet are unlikely to scale the heights of leadership greatness.

These researchers explain there are two types of character – moral character and “performance” character. Most of us are well-versed with moral character and ethical values such as love, generosity, humility and integrity.

Performance character is different from moral character. Those that ulti-

mately became great leaders, were those who developed moral character together with this “performance” character.

performance characTer

So, what is performance character? Performance character is based on values too but involve values such as curiosity, tenacity, perseverance, and diligence.

In fact, an insightful book entitled How Children Succeed by Paul Tough prescribes seven “performance” character values that are essential for success.

They are:l Gritl Self-controll Zestl Social intelligencel Gratitudel Optimisml Curiosity

According to Tough, the two most important reasons why children succeed is because of the ability to develop grit and curiosity early on in their lives.

As we explore many business leaders, we do find that almost all of them devel-oped a deep sense of curiosity early on in their childhood.

Branson loved to explore and experi-

ment. Ben Franklin loved to ask ques-tions.

Most great leaders also developed a deep sense of perseverance early on in life. They were able to withstand pain to obtain their goals. In fact, in many cases, in spite of having no rewards, their con-scientiousness shone.

Clearly, these performance character traits, when coupled with moral charac-ter, provide a powerful early trigger in the development of leadership.

Yet, there is one other element I believe that completes the trinity of early leadership triggers. This is an area that is a critical part of leadership – vision.

The Trigger ThaT creaTes The spark

Vision. Every great leader has a clear vision of change – being able to take their followers to a new place.

Many books have been written about how to develop vision but in most cases, the vision which they paint that ener-gises their followers is something that does not come overnight to a leader but is something that is developed over a period of time.

Gandhi’s experiences in South Africa of being treated horribly set the tone for his vision for a free India. Schultz’s experience watching his father being

mistreated by his employer enabled him to develop the vision for Starbucks.

You will find the same story for almost every entrepreneur and leader.

Their early experiences, especially the unpleasant ones, helped them develop a vision of change.

Once this vision is formalised and com-municated, it provides the spark that gets the fire going. An energising vision is always going to be the spark that gets a movement going.

so, hoW Do We Learn To DeveLop a vision?

Most leaders start their vision process when they endure specific “crucible” moments in their lives which leave them frustrated and searching for “answers” to their questions.

As they go around searching for answers, they usually spend some time alone or in solitude. During this time of solitude, their “vision” for their organisa-tion is realised.

Steve Jobs spent a few years in India prior to starting Apple.

Likewise, leaders like Gandhi (and even “bad” leaders such as Adolf Hitler) spent time in solitude as they formed their vision.

moraL characTer is key Too

Performance character alone with vision is very dangerous. Many young children who have had their performance character developed without moral char-acter could end up like Hilter.

Hilter learnt grit, self-control and curi-osity. More importantly, he spent time in solitude (prison) and developed a clear vision for his nation.

Yet, the fact that he had no moral compass to guide him due to his lack of development of moral character resulted with Hitler being the example of bad leadership at its worst.

finaL ThoughTsJust as it takes a village to raise

a child, it takes a community to build a leader. Leadership begins at an early age.

Parents and teachers play a critical role in helping to instil not just moral char-acter, but also reinforcing and enabling performance character to be developed early in life.

Where does that leave us if we are now in our 20s, 30s, or even older? Is there no hope for us?

A great fact to remember is that 95% of who we are today is learnt. This means that regardless of age, who we are now can be changed.

We know for a fact that we can still keep growing with regards to our brain and leadership. This means that if we focus on developing our moral and per-formance character, we stand a shot at accumulating our experiences to develop vision.

Our vision for a better tomorrow will be the spark that triggers your leadership into action.

So, whether you are a parent, teacher or a corporate leader, you need to be involved in either the process of trigger-ing sparks of change or enabling a young person to learn leadership.

Tiger Woods, Welch and Branson were sown the seeds of greatness by their parents. Helen Keller benefited from her teachers who helped develop her leader-ship.

This weekend, take time to “be a lead-er” or help others to fulfil their potential to be the leader they were meant to be.

n Roshan Thiran is CEO of Leaderonomics, a social enterprise that works hard to develop all leaders, including from the NGO sector. Roshan believes there is hope for a better Malaysia with better leadership. To dialogue with Roshan daily, go to www.facebook.com/roshanthiran.leaderonomics or connect with him on LinkedIn.

wheTher you are a parenT, Teacher or a corporaTe Leader, you need To be InvoLved In eITher The proceSS of TrIggerIng SparkS of change or enabLIng a young perSon To Learn LeaderShIp


THE JUDGING PANEL

JOHAN MAHMOOD MERICAN was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp) since its establishment on Jan 1, 2011. TalentCorp focuses on building part-nerships, particularly between leading employers and relevant public agen-cies to address the talent needs of Malaysia’s economic transformation.

Johan was previously the principal private secretary to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and he has 20 years of experience in policy development, corporate finance and accountancy in both the public and private sectors in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.

He holds a first class honours degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

ROSHAN THIRAN is CEO of Leaderonomics – as social enterprise dedicated to democratising leadership develop-ment for the masses. Prior to this role, he was the director of global talent management with Johnson & Johnson overseeing global talent pro-grammes.

He was also with the General Electric Co for more than 13 years, working in a number of roles in vari-ous cities in the United States, Europe and more recently across Asia. He started his career with Exxon-Mobil in the United States.

He writes various business columns on leadership and hosts a number of leadership TV and radio shows.

He engages with the public via Facebook at www.facebook.com/roshanthiran.leaderonomics and via LinkedIn.

JENNY OOI is the head of human resource for USG Boral. She champions its people as USG Boral’s competitive advantage to impact and improve the way the world lives.

She brings with her over 20 years of diverse working experience in the field of finance, supply chain, business development and human resources (HR). Under her leadership in her past role as the senior HR director of Agilent Malaysia, the organisation has garnered accolades as an employer of choice, including as a Aon Hewitt Best Employer 2013.

Ooi has also been recognised by various organisations for her role as a HR leader and HR professional.

Ooi is a graduate of the Royal Chartere d Institute of Management Accountants (UK).

SAJITH SIVANANDAN is managing director of Google Malaysia, where he oversees sales, partnerships and business develop-ment operations in the country.

Previously he was the head of travel vertical sales for Google South-East Asia, where he looked after the growth of online advertising in the travel sector for the region.

He has also held key sales and management positions at Affle UK Ltd (a mobile media startup), the Gallup Organisation and Star TV.

Sajith holds a Master’s degree in Business Management with Distinction (majoring in Finance) from the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, an MBA (majoring in Marketing) from the Fore School of Management in New Delhi, and a Bachelor’s degree (majoring in History) from Delhi University.

A. WAHAB BAKAR has more than 35 years of corporate experience in the airline, oil and gas, mining, financial institution and food and beverage industries.

He is currently vice-president of Malaysian Employers Federation, and serves as a board member of a few companies, such as HRDF of MoHR and GEMS Sdn Bhd, a sub-sidiary of TalentCorp. He represents the International Organisation of Employers, a Geneva-based organi-sation for Asia-Pacific on the Policy Forum for European Development Corporation.

He is a graduate in Economics (Applied Economics) from Universiti Malaya, alumni of International Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland and London Business School.

Wahab is also the co-author of the book Your Dream Job published in 2009.

BEsT of THE BEsT

GoING BEHIND THE scENEs

AON Hewitt Best Employers – Malaysia is back again! In the 2015 Malaysia study, Aon Hewitt recently recog-nised 10 companies as best

employers.The Best Employers in Asia-Pacific

study started in 2001 with a three-fold aim:l to provide insights into how to

create real competitive advantage through people.

l to explore what makes a workplace of choice.

l to identify the best employers in the region.

Research from the study has shown some interesting common traits between organisations that are deemed best employers.

Comparatively with other organisa-tions, they:l achieved double the growth in

profit.l achieved over 20 percentage points

higher employee engagement lev-els.

l observed lower employee turnover levels.

l observed higher percentage of employees being internally pro-moted, particularly managers.

The ‘hows’The 2015 study offers a profes-

sional, data-driven approach to recog-nising the best employers through the

use of three data sources, an external judging panel and larger coverage in Asia-Pacific.

Aon Hewitt identifies four measur-able factors as vital in contributing to a best employer recognition (See Figure 1).

special recogniTion awards

The study also featured three spe-cial recognition awards to acknowl-edge organisations with best practices in these areas:

l Engaging Gen-Y The millennials is increasingly in

search of careers that are able to cater to higher needs: opportunity for development, purpose, alignment of personal and company values, and work-life balance.

l Engaging women in the workforceWith diversity and inclusion prac-

tices being key on many organisations’ agenda, it was important that the study highlighted what organisations are doing to attract, engage and retain women in the workforce.

l Commitment to engagementConsistent engagement and cred-

ible people initiatives are key features on the journey to be a best employer, as employee engagement becomes a continuous process not to be taken for granted in the long-term.

l Data comes from three sources:n Employee opinion survey (EOS) –

gather employee perceptionn People practices inventory (PPI) –

gathers information about policies and practices

n CEO survey/questionnaire – captures CEO’s approach to managing people and business

l Five panel judges assembled from various industries

l Panel judges deliberate on data collected without company names revealed (masked data)

l Panel judges also provided with:n Talent management effectiveness

datan Business performance and HR

effectiveness data

l Aon Hewitt Employers – Malaysia 2015 announcedFigure 1

l Employees speak highly about their organisation

l Employees intend to stay with the organisationl Employees feel motivated to make extra

effort to meet business goals

l Organisations are well known and have good reputation in the market

l Organisations ensure people joining the company experience what they’d imagined

l Organisations deliver on the promises made to employees

l Organisations have employees who are proud of being part of, and can clearly explain what makes their organisation different

l Leaders who provide a clear vision for the organisation

l Employees who believe that leaders make good business decisions

l Employees who are treated as a valued asset and think that communications from their leaders are open and honest

l Employees are aware of their goals and how they contribute to the organisation’s overall performance

l Employees share in the overall success of the organisation

l Excellent career and employee learning opportunities

HIGH EmPLoyEE ENGAGEmENT

comPELLING EmPLoyEr BrAND

EffEcTIvE LEADErsHIP

HIGH PErformANcE cULTUrE

Group photo for Aon Hewitt Best Employers Malaysia 2015

1. DATA coLLEcTIoN

2. JUDGING

3. ANNoUNcEmENT

MeThodologyThe best employer study process is rigorous, conducted over a nine-month period.


And the Best employers AwArd goes to…

holIdAy Inn KUAlA lUmpUr glenmArIe

HOLIDAY INN KUALA LUMPUR Glenmarie, a 260-room hotel is man-aged by InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the world’s leading hotel companies with 710,295 rooms in over 4,800 hotels in nearly 100 countries around the world. The hotel is owned by DRB-Hicom Bhd, one of Malaysia’s leading corporations.

Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Glenmarie provides the services for business and leisure travellers, while also offering a comfortable atmosphere where people can relax and enjoy amenities such as restaurants, room service, swimming pool, and fitness centre.

With the casual atmosphere and amenities such as meeting and on-site business facilities, Kids Eat and Stay Free programme, the hotel truly dem-onstrates the long-standing commit-ment of the Holiday Inn brand.

Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Glenmarie is also a two-time recipi-ent of the Aon Hewitt’s Best Employer Malaysia Award in 2011 and 2013.

stArBUCKs CoFFee mAlAysIASINCE opening its first store on

December 1998, Starbucks has celebrated its 16th anniversary here and currently operates 195 stores throughout Malaysia.

Through distinctive training, Starbucks partners (employees) in Malaysia are committed to offering the world’s finest coffee while enriching Malaysians’ lives one cup, one customer at a time.

Managing the business through the “lens of humanity”, Starbucks Malaysia motivates its partners by providing the Starbucks Experience which includes extrinsic elements like rewards, ben-efits, and opportunities for career devel-opment.

Aligning with the Starbucks mission – To inspire and nurture the human spirit, Starbucks Malaysia strives to engage, inspire and develop its partners to achieve their personal best.

AmerICAn eXpress (m) sdn Bhd

THROUGHOUT the company’s 165-year history, service has been one of the hallmarks of the American Express as a premium global brand and its greatest competitive advantage. American Express employees embody the proud heritage of this global brand.

American Express is an employer of choice in Malaysia because of its focus on selection of premium talent, employee development and retention. It enables the career journeys of employees through an environment that allows them the opportunity to unleash their maxi-mum potential.

American Express offers richly diverse experiences with global exposure through an abundance of development opportunities includ-ing leadership training, employee interest networks, continuing education assistance and access to mentoring by a diverse leadership team.

dhl eXpress mAlAysIADHL EXPRESS is the global market

leader in the international express business. They specialise in the door-to-door delivery of documents and parcels worldwide, and they have been perfecting their service for more than 40 years. Key to their success is the strength of their global network.

They have more than 100,000 employees operating in over 220 countries and territories, focused on delivering high levels of service.

What really sets them apart is the international shipping expertise of their people. Their knowledge, cou-pled with their passion and “can-do” attitude, delivers a truly world-class service and ensures that shipments get to their destination securely and as quickly as possible.

eCo world deVelopment groUp BerhAd

ECO WORLD DEVELOPMENT GROUP BHD (formerly known as Focal Aims Holdings Bhd) is a public-listed com-pany involved mainly in property development. Since the end of the previous financial year, EcoWorld has entered into several major acquisi-tions, which would increase the Group’s landbank from 991 acres to 4,926 acres and grow its gross devel-opment value (GDV) to RM47bil.

Through these acquisitions, EcoWorld is set to gain an immediate enlarged and active presence in the Klang Valley, Iskandar Malaysia and Penang with 12 ongoing projects in total and an expanded product range comprising affordable, upgrader and luxury homes, integrated high-rise developments and green business parks.

EcoWorld’s rapid rise in the property development industry has been recog-nised when the Group took home the

“Best Performing Stock” award at The Edge Billion Ringgit Club Awards 2014 and the Notable Achievement Award 2014 at The Edge Property Excellence Awards 2014. Given the vast experi-ence of its management team, the Group is aggressively expanding its reach to include projects in Sydney, Australia and London, Britain.

FedeX eXpressFEDEX EXPRESS, a subsidiary of

FedEx Corp, is the world’s largest express transportation company and connects every major location in Asia to a global network reaching more than 220 countries and territories.

FedEx Express has been providing time-definite and reliable delivery ser-vices to customers in Asia with its global air-and-ground network for 30 years.

In Asia-Pacific, FedEx Express serves more than 30 countries and territo-ries and has approximately 18,000 employees. FedEx Express has been consistently recognised as a world-class company, a technology innovator and an employer of choice.

mArrIott InternAtIonAl, mAlAysIA

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL INC has seven hotels in Malaysia which comprises of Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Renaissance Johor Baru Hotel, Renaissance Kota Baru Hotel, JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur, The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur, Miri Marriott Resort & Spa and Marriott Putrajaya. These properties are also part of the Malaysia Business Council which was formed in 1999.

Marriott has been known for a cul-ture that puts people first. “Take care of associates and they will take care of the customers” has always been their motto. “Our people first” culture has consistently earned them awards and recognition around the globe. Giving associates opportunities to grow and succeed is part of the company’s DNA.

Marriott’s core values make them who they are. As they evolve and grow, the beliefs that are most impor-tant to them stay the same – Putting People First, Pursuing Excellence, Embracing Change, Acting with Integrity and Serving Our World. Being part of Marriott International means being part of a proud history and a thriving culture.

sIme dArBy property BhdSIME DARBY PROPERTY is an

established property group focused on becoming the leading developer of sustainable communities. Its core businesses are property develop-ment, property investment and asset management. It has operations in five countries, namely Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Vietnam and Australia. Sime Darby Property is a multiple award-winning prop-erty group with numerous local and international accolades. It is the first Malaysian property developer to be awarded the International FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Awards twice for its Subang Jaya and UEP Subang Jaya

townships. The company has consist-ently been ranked Top 3 in The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Awards since 2009.

s p setIA BhdS P Setia is a household name in

the property development industry and recognised as one of Malaysia’s leading listed real estate players with a portfolio that encompasses eco-townships, luxury enclaves, high-rise residences, commercial and retail developments.

S P Setia is the only developer that was ranked No. 1 in The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Awards for eight times, the only Malaysian devel-oper to have received six FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Awards and eight FIABCI Malaysia Property Awards.

The Group is well-established in the four key economic centres of Malaysia. Its international reach includes Vietnam, Australia, Singapore, China and the United Kingdom.

mCdonAld’s mAlAysIAMCDONALD’S is a leading “Quick

Service Restaurant” chain serving quality, great-tasting food, with a warm and friendly service, in a clean and welcoming environment, all at great value.

In Malaysia, McDonald’s has 12,000 mostly local employees in nearly 270 restaurants nationwide. Its people philosophy is fittingly expressed by founder, Ray Kroc: “We are not a burg-er business serving people, but we are a people business serving burgers”.

speCIAl reCognItIon AwArdsENGAGEMENT: Marriott International, Malaysia

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (GEN-Y): American Express (M) Sdn Bhd

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (WOMEN): McDonald’s Malaysia

Stephen Chew, managing director.

Datuk C.J. Khor, acting president and chief executive officer.

Ramesh Kumar Singam, managing director of Malaysia and Brunei.

Sydney Quays, managing director of Starbucks Coffee Malaysia and Brunei.

Rahul Singh, general manager, Kuala Lumpur Global Service Centre. Oppenheimer Pinto, general manager.

Robert Frager, chairman, Marriott and Renaissance Hotels Malaysia Business Council.

Christopher Ong, managing director of Malaysia and Brunei.

Datuk Chang Khim Wah, chief executive officer.

Datuk Seri Abd Wahab Maskan, managing director.

Best oF the

Best


Creating tomorrow and BeyondW

ALKING into the offices of EcoWorld Development Group Berhad, one is greeted by clear signs that the

vision of the organisation “Creating Tomorrow and Beyond” has been trans-lated into action.

From developing a world class talent

pool to building a culture of excellence, the entire team worked in unison to contribute towards EcoWorld earning the accolade of Best Employer Malaysia 2015 by Aon Hewitt.

“Being recognised as one of the Aon Hewitt Best Employers Malaysia 2015 represents a significant milestone in EcoWorld’s quest in building a highly

engaged talent pool who will go beyond the extra mile in delivering results.

“I want to thank every member of Team EcoWorld for their contributions which enabled EcoWorld to earn this accolade. It is the best testament to great teamwork in action!” said Datuk Chang Khim Wah, the president and chief executive officer of EcoWorld.

EcoWorld strongly believes in creat-ing well-rounded and caring individuals who impact both the company and communities they serve. The wealth of experience of the respected industry players leading EcoWorld combined with the youthful energy and enthusi-asm of its people powers EcoWorld to scale ever greater heights.

“Strong leadership. I trust the leaders of EcoWorld and look forward to facing new challenges together.” – Datuk S. Rajoo, chief operating officer

Team EcoWorld is like an award-winning lion

dance troupe performing together. From the brave young lions dancing on stilts to the drummers and percussionists providing a strong and steady beat to the coaches giving encouragement to the whole team from the ground - every member is important and we have to rely and trust all our teammates to do their very best. This is the only way we can scale ever greater heights and become a company of significance, capable of creating a positive impact in the lives of our people, our community and our nation.”

– Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, Chairman

Chang and his mentor

Liew, through the years

All smiles as EcoWorld CEO Datuk Chang receives the award in their first year of participation

EcoWorld recognises every sin-gle employee as talent – and this acknowledgement brings a sense of pride throughout the organisation. Talent is nurtured and groomed to progress in their career path towards becoming empowered leaders in whatever position they hold.

The people development strategy at EcoWorld is owned and executed not just by the talent management team, but wholly supported by the senior leadership team, who also embrace the role of talent development through mentorships.

“One of the great things about our company is that everyone is engaged in talent development and building leaders of tomorrow,” says Chang.

During his development phase, Chang was privileged to be personally mentored by EcoWorld’s chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin. Liew identified the

potential in the young man and gave him the many opportunities which have enabled him to take on the role of CEO today.

Today, Chang and his management team supports the people agenda at EcoWorld that not only builds future leaders, but prepares today’s leaders to gradually grow out of their existing portfolio of responsibilities so that they too can progressively assume more senior leadership roles.

And through this agenda, EcoWorld endeavours to build a pipeline of future leaders and create a legacy that will live on and continue to be elevat-ed to set new industry benchmarks.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

SETTING HIGH STANDARDSIn a complex network of interde-

pendent teams, EcoWorld maintains its high standards due, in no small part, to having talent in sufficient numbers and with the right skill sets.

“We look for individuals whose personal values are in alignment with EcoWorld’s values, which centre on Teamwork, Integrity and Commitment to Excellence.

“We believe when values are aligned and the attitude is right, there is definitely a better chance for these individuals to build a long-term career with the company,” says Angelin Low, divisional general manager of group talent management.

EcoWorld firmly believes in “home-grown” management, and as such, has committed to investing into building its talent pipeline.

PRIORITISING ENGAGEMENT

With the business in full gear to expand and grow, EcoWorld is heavily dependent on a highly-engaged workforce to embrace the vision, mission and values of the company.

The vision, mission and values were created by the team to reflect the manner in which the team wanted to achieve the company’s objectives. Buy-in began at the very inception when the company was started.

Many organisations recognise the importance of an engaged workforce, however not all have found the right formula to achieve or sustain it. EcoWorld has an enviable engagement score that can be attributed to several factors.

On top of training and sharpening work skills, the personal wellbeing of the team is also prioritised. The lifesize posters reminding everyone that “looking good on the inside (clear lungs and a clean bill of health) is as important as looking good on the outside” is a health promotion effort with the interest of all employees at heart.

IMPACT OF AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE

One key element of engagement at EcoWorld revolves around the encour-agement of new ideas by any talent. This requires individuals to firstly be

“no matter what, we must deliver on promises made without Compromising on quality.” – datuk Chang khim wah, Ceo

the talent management team really makes the effort to understand our Business needs and is always looking two steps ahead to ensure we have the right talent in plaCe to aChieve our aggressive Business goals” – datuk voon tin yow, exeCutive direCtor

We asked some talent what were the deciding factors in joining and growing with EcoWorld:

“Since I joined two years ago, I have been given opportunities I never imagined possi-ble. My leaders believe in me and entrust me with the management of important assign-ments and projects.” – Liew Tian Xiong, group corporate marketing

“From day one till today, the talent man-agement team and my direct supervisor have invested time and energy to identify my strengths and develop my skills.” – Azrain Azlan, group business development


engaged, and ultimately also fuels better employee engagement.

At EcoWorld, talent are empow-ered to develop and propose ideas and innovations that help improve operations, systems, structures and processes. And these are not limited to only big breakthrough ideas, but any workable idea no matter how small, and even for other departments or divisions.

Ideas as well as WOW stories are shared dur-ing the weekly Good Morning EcoWorld (GMEW) sessions. To encourage others to emu-late them, WOW stories include stories by talent who have raised the bar in their work like going the extra mile for custom-ers and com-

munity around them.Common goals is another way of

fostering teamwork and continuously engaging the workforce. These goals – not necessarily business goals, include reaching peaks like Mount Kinabalu and running the annual KL Rat Race – bring the workforce closer as it involves training and enduring tough

times together and achieving the goals together as well.

CREATING THE TALENT TO CREATE TOMORROW

As talent development tops the list of its people agenda, EcoWorld invests in learning and development initia-tives to build future leaders towards realising its vision of “Creating Tomorrow and Beyond”.

With 60% of the workforce being Gen-Y, the talent management team

has intentionally carved out formal and informal learning opportunities through various touchpoints with senior leaders including the chairman and CEO.

EcoWorld customises its learning and development programmes to groom high potential Gen-Y talents into its next-generation leaders.

HARD WORK & TAKING INITIATIVE PAyS OFF!

Encouraging younger employ-ees to volunteer to manage company events and activities, is

a means of spotting talents and engaging those who have dem-

onstrated their leadership

potential and resilience in taking chal-lenges beyond their core role in the company. Due recognition is given to those who excel by fast tracking their career progression.

Talent spotting also extends to sup-port teams at EcoWorld, which are given equal opportunity for leadership development. In her own team, Low has also identified several high poten-tials for leadership development.

DIVERSITy – BUILDING ON OUR STRENGTHS AND COMMON GOALS

Engaging with such diverse groups requires insights into each generation’s needs, aspirations and expectations to have total buy-in.

As EcoWorld expands rapidly both domestically and internationally, the Group will continue to explore more innovative means and ways in embracing “Diversity at Work” in a

more holistic manner.

“Engaging talent is a complex subject matter as it deals with matters of the mind and heart of people. While it sounds like a

myth, embracing diversity and treating people with respect

and humility are definitely big steps forward in demystifying it,” says Liew.

walking a day in the life of eCoworld talentsLet’s take a closer look

Prakash PrasannanTECHNICAL

Kenny ChinGROUP TALENT MANAGEMENT

Anne-MarieGROUP CORPORATE GOvERNANCE

Foo Yuk MengINTERNATIONAL BUsINEss

Azril Rashid INvEsTOR RELATIONs

Attended Good Morning EcoWorld. Site visit

Eco Majestic, Semenyih. A grammarian at EcoWorld Toastmaster’s luncheon marathon.

Wonderful outing with family.

Roadshow and meeting with fund managers and shareholders.

Quality time with family – movies and shopping at the mall.

Workout in the gym.

Badminton with family & friends.

Early morning jog.

sUN MON TUE WED THU FRI sAT

Attended Good Morning EcoWorld and presented project updates.

Client – consultant meeting.

Facilitated Good Morning EcoWorld session.

Conducted “WelcomeBriefing” for newinterns.

Submitted report to supervisor.

Financial Data Analysis andreport writing.

Conference call with partners in London.

Site inspection.

Meeting with service provider.

Brainstormed with the“NEWS” editorial team onupcoming issue.

Team planningmeeting for newassignment.

Started running again with teammates. Savoured the moments of KL Rat Race 2014!

Project team meeting.

Completed 5thAssignment at EcoWorldToastmaster’s LuncheonMarathon.

Departmental meetingassignments and projects.

Meetings with superior and external parties.

Technical design review meeting with architects.

Had a blast engaging visitors at our booth during the two day University Career Fair.

Training on GSTimplementation.

Attended Property Showcase events.

Conducted in-house training on “Good & Bad Practices in Construction”.

Video-conferencing withEco South colleagues.

Golf with my buddies.

Afternoon tea with friends and colleagues.

Spent a lovely day out with friends.

Football practice with colleagues.

2014, thepresence of women insenior management

grew to approximately 50%

60%

5%

35%

l 60% Gen-Y l 35% Gen-Xl 5% Baby Boomers

mystarjob.com, saturday 21 March 2015 9mystarjob.com, saturday 21 March 20158

A coffeehouse full of opportunitiesBeing more thAn just An employee

STARBUCKS is a widely loved food and beverage brand that delivers excellent coffee and a total customer experience. Starbucks Malaysia has emerged as Best of the Best Employer in Aon Hewitt Best

Employers Malaysia 2015. Celebrating its rich coffee tradition, Starbucks

is bent on fulfilling its mission to inspire and nur-ture the human spirit, starting with one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.

In a culture of endearment and camaraderie, every employee at Starbucks is known as a “part-ner”, not “employee” nor “staff”.

“Partner” means a person who takes part in an undertaking with others. In essence, this narrows the gap often felt in employer-employee relation-ships, thereby creating a sense of belonging at Starbucks as a team and family.

Sydney Quays, Starbucks Malaysia and Brunei managing director, only knows too well that Starbucks partners are their assets, taking pride in taking care of them and making them an inte-gral part of the organisation.

Quays says, “Starbucks groom talented part-ners with our outstanding and structured train-ing and development programmes. Most of our store partners are food service professionals and college students, and what they all have in com-mon is their passion for great coffee and friendly customer service, which ultimately helps them to bond as a family and build satisfying careers at Starbucks.”

“The commitment of our partners is a major reason why Starbucks is recognised as the lead-ing specialty coffee company and the industry benchmark in Malaysia.”

WhAt stArBucks pArtners hAve to sAy

mArking And mAking A differenceIN 2013, Starbucks Malaysia launched Connecting Communities Project in Malaysia, a scalable community pro-ject that contributes to small villages that consist of local farming.

This project will not only encour-ages ethical sourcing but also opens a gateway opportunity to make an impact to the farmers’ family and their entire community.

Among the first rural communi-ties to benefit from this project is Kampung Lubuk Jaya, a rural village allocated in the outskirts of Kuala Selangor.

Starbucks purchased raw bananas from the village and these bananas will be used to develop banana-based food products that are retailed at all Starbucks stores nationwide.

Fifteen per cent of the proceeds will then be channeled to building a Community Computer Centre for the children of the village.

In April 2014, Starbucks launched the Community Computer Centre in Kampung Lubuk Jaya after rais-ing RM118,000 and connecting the children of the village to a lifetime of learning.

As an organisation that provides ample oppor-tunities by encouraging its partners to be one’s best self, have an impact, connect with something bigger, make meaningful daily connections and be a lifelong partner, Starbucks strives to position itself to be a great employer.

On talent management, June Beh, Starbucks Malaysia and Brunei partner resources and com-pliance director acknowledges, “Retention starts from hiring the right talent; hence, we train our hiring managers to recruit candidates that have the desired attitude.

“We also highly invest in the training of every employee including part-timers, empowering them with the necessary skills and knowledge.

“We have formal and informal, planned and spontaneous, tangible and intangible recognition; focusing on acknowledging our partners’ desired behaviours, efforts and achievements.”

set ApArt As the Best ABove the rest

Starbucks’s four key focus areas as its best practices guidelines include (see Figure 1):

1 EmployEr brandingObjective: To strengthen retail and full-time

workforce

Starbucks Employee Value Proposition is aimed at retaining, engaging and motivating partners in exchange for their productivity and performance.

Known as the “Starbucks Experience”, this includes extrinsic (rewards and benefits, oppor-tunities for career development) and intrinsic elements (management style, work environment and culture).

Through its Talent Attraction Channel, the organisation plans, attracts, selects, hires and provides great compensation and benefits.

2 partnEr dEvElopmEntObjective: To build leadership-bench readi-

ness

After setting expectations, partners at Starbucks are empowered to chart their own career path and success. Learning and develop-ment programmes are readily provided to sup-port them in their career growth.

Starbucks strives to engage and inspire part-

ners to achieve their personal best by engineer-ing internal promotion opportunities. Such opportunities directly support their key business objective of store growth in Malaysia.

The sustainability and continuity of Starbucks lie in the speed of knowledge distribution through their best practices sharing. This is fur-ther enabled by being actively connected with both their local and overseas Starbucks networks.

With majority Gen-Y in the workforce, the recognition and reward system has evolved to become more personal and situational. This has proven to be the top motivator of employees’ performance.

Starbucks also organises fun, relevant and engaging activities for partners all year round which include local and overseas leadership con-ferences in Asia-Pacific countries.

3 CoffEE and CulturE Objective: To ensure delivery of quality

products and services through structured learn-ing and development

In cultivating a coffee culture at Starbucks, cof-fee knowledge is shared among all partners to empower them to become brand ambassadors. After all, the more they know about the product, the more confident they are in their roles and the

1. Employer brandingl Talent attraction channel to

plan, attract, select and hirel Great compensation and

benefitsl Employee engagement

4. Humanity and lovel CUP (Caring United

Partners) Fundl Partner engagement through com-

munication, activities and delivering Starbuck Experience

l Corporate social responsibilities (CSR)

2. Partner’s developmentl Structured career pathwayl Internal promotionl Sharing of best practicesl Recognition and award

3. Coffee and culturel Coffee tasting culturel Coffee expertise programmel Coffee farm visitsl Coffee education and seminarl Moments of connection

Winning heArts And minds of

pArtners

Highly regarded as a truly responsible organisation, Starbucks embodies a noble belief that businesses should leave a posi-tive impact on the communities they serve and on the planet we live on.

As such, Starbucks is dedicated to walk-ing the talk by focusing on two main areas: community and the environment.

Initiatives and agendas include:

For communityl Community grantsl Global Month of Servicel MY Communityl Connecting Communities

For environmentl Recyclingl Energyl Waterl Green buildingl Climate change

Starbucks is also committed to ensuring ethical sourcing of its coffee, tea and cocoa to help create a better future for farmers who toil in the land to produce high qual-ity yields.

n If you are interested to start an exciting coffee journey with Starbucks Malaysia, check out www.starbucks.com.my. To know more about their CSR initiatives, visit www.starbucks.com.my/responsibility

195 stores throughout Malaysia

Starbucks has over 3,500 partners

350 assistant store managers and store managers promoted in 2014

100% of operations leaders are internally promoted

72,000 training hours through structured learning & development

Total community service hours contributed: 43,000 hours

Figure 1

June Beh Partner resources and compliance director

Building And restoring ‘Bridges’

Sydney Quays Managing director

s The launch of the Community Computer Centre in Kampung Lubuk Jaya.

s Starbucks partners helping out in beach clean up activity at Tanjung Lipat, Sabah.

s Starbucks partners involved in a recycling project with Penang Municipal council.

… on pArtner development

AS a young father, I tend to work harder to bench-mark my capacity – and with a reliable and trusted brand like Starbucks, it gives me a sense of relief that my son’s future is secured.

We never stop learning. I started off my career in operations. Starbucks then gave me the opportunity to join the Construction and Facilities team. I believe there are many more new opportunities with Starbucks.

– MoHindran MunuSaMy, 12-year partner, project manager, Starbucks Malaysia and Brunei

THIS April marks my 15 years at Starbucks and despite being 54, I am proud to be a Starbucks partner and will continue to provide “the third place” and great coffee for my customers! Aside from being a store manager, I am also a manager coach mentor to my partners.

I strive to help them develop the necessary skills and knowledge to further advance in their career. There are always opportunity for career growth and development in Starbucks and I am happy to share my experience and train partners.

– MargarEt LoH, 15-year partner, Starbucks store manager

… on coffee And culture

MY journey started in July 2004 as a full-time barista. I worked my way up till I became a store manager in mid-June 2008. Throughout my years till my tenth year, Starbucks has grown, not only in store volume, but also in internal career opportunities.

Starbucks’s mission has been personally embedded in every partner to be a better person. It also fuels our passion towards coffee, and helps us appreciate coffee farmers and the environment.

– ayESHa daHLan, 10-year partner, Starbucks store manager

AT Starbucks, we are all about sharing and creat-ing moments of connection over coffee. I am a certified coffee master and have conducted many coffee tasting sessions and seminars throughout my journey at Starbucks.

I am always excited to share my passion and knowledge towards coffee with my customers and

partners. The experience is very rewarding for me especially when they appreciate and bond over coffee.

– adi FiSFaiSaL, nine-year partner, Starbucks learning specialist

I was a full-time barista when I first started working at Starbucks six years ago. As I needed to further my studies, I had to change my position to a part-time barista. I was involved in many corporate social re-sponsibility projects throughout the years and have been given the opportunity to meet various people and partners.

I enjoy bonding with the local community and making a difference to our environment. I realised how serious Starbucks is in preserving their community, and it greatly inspired me and other Starbucks partners.

– Low KaH yan, six-year partner, Starbucks barista

… on humAnity And loveI first participated in GMoS (Global Month of Service) in 2013. I was amazed by the number of participants we gathered to serve our community. The experience definitely inspired me to be a more responsible neigh-bour and active contributor to the community.

I was given the opportunity last year to lead an entire district to create a lasting connection with the community. The initiative allowed me to be involved in community programmes and in return, to share our amazing stories with custom-ers. With love, we serve.

– dESMond Soon, two-year partner, Starbucks store manager

more pride they have for the organisation.Starbucks provides the following two plat-

forms to elevate partners’ coffee passion: Coffee Master Programme and Latte Art Programme.

In ensuring partners appreciate the origins of their coffee, Starbucks has a unique programme called “The Origin Experience”, an immersive cof-fee education trip that allows their partners to experience firsthand coffee-growing origins from different parts of the world.

Starbucks partners are empowered to own their actions and create “moments of connec-tion” with customers to leave them greatly satis-fied with their Starbucks encounters.

4 Humanity and lovEObjective: To connect partners and help

them in times of need

The Starbucks Malaysia CUP Fund (CUP for Caring United Partners) was inspired and created on Jun 22, 2007.

This programme empowers partners to help each other when experiencing significant hard-ship due to catastrophic circumstances, including natural disasters.

All partners are eligible to apply for assistance. It is funded solely by partners’ monthly contribu-tions and fundraising initiatives.

S P Setia, Malaysia’s leading property developer, is a familiar name in the prop-erty industry. Its vision of excellence and commitment

to product and service quality is the cornerstone of its success, with many remarkable achievements attributed to its dedicated Team Setia.

Currently at 1,800 employees and counting, S P Setia aspires to sustain its leadership positions, while inspir-ing passion and continuous team spirit in its people.

With strong belief in its human capital as the pillar of the company, S P Setia has, over the years, embarked on various talent develop-ment and recognition initiatives.

S P Setia was named Best Employers in Malaysia by Aon Hewitt for six times in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013 and most recently in 2015. It was also the two-time recipi-ent of the prestigious Best of the Best Employer Award Malaysia in 2011 and 2013 respectively on top of being the only Malaysian property developer to be listed as one of the Best Employers in Asia in 2011.

This recognition creates a sense of pride among employees and further strengthens the level of employee engagement within the company.

“S P Setia participates in Aon Hewitt Best Employers in Malaysia programme over the years because the award serves as a credible indus-try benchmark, among others, for the human resource (HR) initiatives which we have implemented.

“The recognition has helped to strengthen S P Setia’s brand position-ing in the market as an organisation that lives, learns, works and plays well with its communities, especially through our employees, known as Team Setia. People know that we work hard but at the same time, we learn and grow together as a team and we also make time to play,” said Datuk Khor Chap Jen, acting presi-dent and chief executive officer (CEO) of S P Setia.

InspIrIng a Culture of exCellenCe

To be a part of Team Setia, which employees of S P Setia are fondly known, every staff member in the company is inducted into the cul-ture of excellence from the very first day at the company.

This is in line with the com-pany’s vision “to be the BEST

in all we do”. A big part of the com-pany’s positive brand image is built on the foundation of a united Team Setia, which is made up of motivated people with high team spirit, and who are willing to go the extra mile for their colleagues and the com-pany’s stakeholders.

S P Setia also administers the People Pulse survey on a yearly basis, which provides valuable insights into its people issues and

engagement level. Information from the survey helps the company inno-vate initiatives which target the core of people issues within the organisa-tion.

Team Setia starts out every work-ing day with a Good Morning Setia or GMS session, where employees

within their respec-tive divisions gather to express their concerns, place suggestions for work improvement and share industry updates among col-leagues.

This not only improves employ-ees’ knowledge of

the industry, but also creates healthy engagement between colleagues and the organisation.

Another good practice within S P Setia is its bi-annual CEO’s dialogue session where discussions about the company’s current performance, plans for the year, planned changes and face-to-face consultation with employees on issues they might be facing take place.

talent retentIonIn its quest to drive a high perfor-

mance work culture, S P Setia sets transparent and merit-based reward systems to drive engagement. One such reward system is the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP), which aims at rewarding S P Setia employees with company shares in addition to yearly performance bonus and increments.

The LTIP was designed to ensure that employees’ contribution and performance towards the develop-ment, growth and success of the company would be recognised and rewarded accordingly.

It is also highly-rewarding to be a part of Team Setia, as over the past few years, the company has spread its wings to countries such as Vietnam, China, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom.

As the company goes global, it is intent on embracing the diversity of its workforce. Although costly, the company often ensures that employ-ees are given international assign-ments in order to get cross-border exposure.

The importance of growing inter-nationally savvy talents, especially in future leaders of the company, is aligned with the company’s people initiatives – which is to produce com-petencies such as being visionary, passionate, inspiring, as well as the ability to think strategically.

Team Setia is encouraged to attend training sessions, which are included in their Key Performance

Index (KPI). A comprehensive yearly training calendar focusing on various competencies such as strategic plan-ning, property insights and business communications is made available to all employees at the beginning of every year.

lIvelearnWorkplay phIlosophy

True to S P Setia’s philosophy of “LiveLearnWorkPlay”, the company encourages Team Setia to include “Play” in their lives.

Festive gatherings, family days as well as sports and team building activities are organised year round. S P Setia’s annual dinner is regarded as the highlight of the year.

During this special event, employ-ees from its offices in Penang, Johor, Sabah, and Klang Valley, as well as the international team from Vietnam, China, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom gather for a fun-packed evening with perfor-mances by Team Setia from various business divisions.

It is a good platform for all employ-ees to put faces to names they might only have come across via email.

In 2013, the company organised its first expedition with over 80 mem-bers of Team Setia to conquer Mount Kinabalu. The objective of this initia-tive was to enhance confidence, drive the power of execution and promote teamwork amongst team members.

Led by key senior management of the company, members of Team Setia has been conquering the mountain on a yearly basis ever since.

With a strong team in place and culture of excellence, S P Setia is poised to grow from strength to strength. Employees can look forward to continuously enhanced initiatives and improvement with-in the organisation for a sustainable career growth.


With its philosophy of LiveLearnWorkPlay, S P Setia prides itself on being a nurturing organisation, providing career development as well as compelling benefits for staff.

There is no Team like Team seTia!

Percentage of Gen-Y employ-ees: 69%

Longest-serving employee has worked: 39 years

Total training hours invested: 53,000 hours (in 2014)

Total women employees: 739

On-going projects: 33 (25 locally, 8 overseas)

Presence in 6 countries

DiD YoU

knoW?

s P seTia, GroWinG The ComPanY From WiThin

By JOSEPH [email protected]

ABOUT a decade ago, the only mantra that an organisation needed was “Put Customers First”, then everything else would be aligned and profits

would come pouring in. Not so in today’s universe of corporate variables. The field now contains many more players; and even customers themselves may not always be right.

If you are a leader, the realisation is this – your pool of followers and associ-ates have just gotten more diverse, more difficult to manage, more difficult to please. And on top of that, the customer still wants to be right.

Marcus Buckingham states: “Above all else, a leader must be clear.” No mapping of your universe is possible if you don’t even know how that universe looks like.

Hence, before you identify your stake-holders, define the scope and extent of your organisation’s universe.

From an organisational consulting per-spective, we would label your universe as “company vision” – that overused word which gets a bad rap because it is usually the rallying point for high executive fer-vour but is poorly executed. Yet, without vision, an organisation will perish.

Have a Clear visionThe challenge is not the validity of a

leader’s vision. Rather, it is in his ability to operationalise that vision into key results which will excite and align the entire organisation. Gallup reports that only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged – the reason for this lacklustre finding is not the absence of vision, rath-er it is in the lack of clarity.

How can the leader translate the vision with such precision so that every frontline employee carries the passion to achieve the result rather than just doing a job?

An example from Partners in Leadership was a random visit to one of their clients (a restaurant chain) revealed an employee who was busy clearing the tables.

When asked what his job was, he responded, “My job is to achieve a 5.5% profit margin, and here’s how I do it: The faster I clean and set a table, the more people we seat per hour. The more people we seat, the greater our contribution. The greater our contribution, the better our margin. That’s what I do.”

THis is ClariTy of vision The mapping of your company’s uni-

verse is incomplete if every frontline employee cannot articulate your desired key result.

In one of my consulting sessions, a senior manager remarked, “The test of an organisation’s vision is this: The results to be achieved must be so clear that even the tea lady can articulate it with ease

and confidence.” He is right.Assuming that there is clarity of vision,

here are three broad groups of stakehold-ers that you as the organisational leader need to embrace into your “eco-vision” (a group of interrelated players which rein-force a common direction):

eCo-Player no. 1: THose wiTH ConviCTion

In the pursuit of profitability and growth, it is easy for the organisation to be so caught up in its many roles that it forgets about its soul.

Without conviction, the operation of the company becomes dry, clinical and routine – yes, the numbers are coming in but the hearts and minds of employees are nowhere to be found.

That is the reason why certain com-panies keep framed photos of their founder(s) at the reception area – their image represents the passion and pur-pose by which the organisation was founded in the first place.

Profits – real, sustainable ones – are an outcome of the leader’s conviction. Being busy without a sense of conviction and mission would lead a company down the slippery road of performance without engagement.

The task then is to stay in touch with those who represent the spirit and reason why the organisation was established. Get them to come and connect with employees during town hall meetings, share life experiences and give testimo-nies.

Who are those with conviction? They could possibly be:l The founder(s).l Family members and relatives of

the founder(s).l Previous CEOs. l Long serving employees.l Loyal clients.l And of course, the current CEO.

eCo-Player no. 2: THose wHo CollaboraTe

Besides vision, the other overused word is teamwork. We all know the importance of teamwork and the need

for everyone to get along, to be rowing in the same direction.

However, teamwork presupposes that there are answers to the following questions:l Is there alignment between

personal and professional goals? Translated “Is what you want also what I want?”

l Is there recognition in a way that is meaningful? Translated “Are you paying attention to what I am doing?”

l Is there support for me to achieve the key results? Translated “Why are you so stingy?”

In mapping out your stakeholders’ uni-verse, do not view supporting partners as merely “dots on the organisation map”. They are not dots. Rather, they are con-necting neurons from which the culture of your organisation originates.

The reason why teamwork has become a cliché is because it has been reduced to a series of techniques to be applied rather than a culture to be created. The key focus in effective stakeholder mapping is this – include collaborators to be a part of your organisation culture.

Most organisations would have employee awards but how about sup-plier and vendor recognition? Our view of engagement should extend to our col-laborators as well so that they not only follow the specifications but they are also an embodiment of our company’s spirit as well.

Collaborators can be both internal and external:l Vendors, suppliers.l Family members of employees

(yes, they need appreciation as well).

l Other company divisions or subsidiaries.

l Retired employees (they are a great source of insight and wisdom, furthermore most of them still share the company’s soul).

eCo-Player no. 3: THose wHo ComPensaTe

Finally, we get to the part where we consider – who pays the bills? Gallup’s def-inition of entrepreneurship is an interest-ing one – turning an idea into a customer.

When we look at business from this perspective, the size of our stakeholders’ universe suddenly expands to embrace not only those who are willing to com-pensate us for our products and services now but rather those we can embrace so that they can be a potential stakeholder in our future product development and creation.

If the future is where we will be, wouldn’t it be logical to start looking for those who could potentially compensate us in the future as well?

Beyond leveraging your current base of clients, constantly ask yourself this ques-tion – “How can I create a base of stake-holders who will be willing to compen-sate me for showing them the future?”

Who are those whom you should consider as your compensators?l Current customers.l Consider your customers’

customers/suppliers/partners.l Investors, venture capitalists.l Complementary partners.

ConClusion: THe Call To lead Clearly

At the end of the day, it is not what you sell but what you stand for. As you lead your organisation through a maze and network of eco-relationships, your stakeholders are looking for a beacon of clarity – a true north by which they can align their time, talent and resources.

When the number of relationships increase, resist the temptation of trying to be everything to everyone – this pleas-es the crowd but dilutes the vision.

Your role as the organisational leader is to provide the rallying point that aligns the network together and to ensure that the vision stays clear, consistent and sharp.

Leading a company is not what it used to be because the vision is not as clear as what it ought to be.


MAPPING OUR STAKEHOLDERS’ UNIVERSE

n Joseph Tan is the CEO of Leaderonomics Centre of engagement Excellence is a passionate about ensuring all Malaysian employees are fully engaged in their work and with their organisation. If you would like to enhance the engagement levels at your organisation, email [email protected] for more details.

LEADING A cOMPANy IS NOT wHAT IT USED TO bE


SIME DARBY PROPERTY, RISING TO THE CHALLENGETHE BEST EMPLOYERS BELIEvE IN HELPING EMPLOYEES REACH THEIR fuLL POTENTIAL

ORGANISATIONS with a strong sense of purpose and identity can achieve remark-able things. They

also attract and keep great tal-ent, by having a strongly shared sense of culture that drives extraordinary levels of employee motivation, loyalty and perfor-mance.

The Sime Darby Group is unde-niably such an organisation. This diversified multinational was recently catapulted into the lime-light when it became the first Malaysian company to receive the 2014 Global Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders award.

The recognition was apt and timely; Sime Darby has long been known for its best-in-class talent management practices around the world, having consistently

produced strong leaders from within its ranks.

In addition to the global award, the group cemented its position within the region when it beat 180 blue chip companies to clinch a second award, the South East Asia 2014 Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders.

Championing the talent agenda

These triumphs have set the benchmark for all five divisions under the group’s umbrella to further strengthen their human resource (HR) practices and capa-bilities. By cascading initiatives from the group, Sime Darby has not only improved its position as an employer of choice, but continues to pioneer good lead-ership practices and expectations across the board.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that Sime Darby Property Bhd, one of the divisions within the group, has continued to ride on this wave of success when it received a prestigious nod as one of Aon Hewitt Best Employers 2015 in Malaysia.

The company’s managing director, Datuk Seri Abd Wahab Maskan, reveals that having 100% commitment to employee development, trust and open-ness is really at the heart of their operations.

Abd Wahab adds, “You can judge a company by the people that it keeps. The Best Employer 2015 award is not only a recog-nition of what we have accom-plished, but it is an affirmation that we are on the right track in our HR transformation journey which we started five years ago.”

ATTRACTING and developing talents are central to an organisation’s success and for this Sime Darby Property has put in place various policies covering recruitment, training and develop-ment, labour practices, human rights and workplace health and safety.

In 2010, in accordance with the group’s strategic growth plans, Sime Darby Property went one step further. The company identified a clear HR roadmap and embarked on a trans-formation journey with these primary objectives:

l To foster strong individual and organisational performance.

l To focus on talent and leadership development.

l To effectively identify, attract and retain needed talent.

“We needed to be very clear about the kind of talent we were looking for. Our people are our greatest asset and key to maintaining our competitive advantage,” he declares, adding that the top management, HR fraternity and line managers have been the

main force and backbone of champi-oning the talent agenda.

Life at Sime Darby Property has become even more interesting since it was a conscious decision by the group to benchmark themselves against top competitors in terms of being employ-ers of choice for each of the markets/businesses that they operated in.

One of the most critical moves was to make all leaders carry an engage-ment KPI in their scorecards. This unusual but effective tactic promoted an effective feedback loop and main-

tained the momentum of driving employer engagement.

At the other end of the spectrum, employees are asked to voice their concerns through regular engage-ment surveys. According to Ammar Ghazali, head of human resources and administration, “We had about 1,200 employees taking the survey in 2014, which is an increase in the survey engagement score from the previous year. We believe that employees pro-vide valuable insights which allow our leaders to develop action plans.”

In order to retain professionals of a high calibre, employees are given the opportunity to learn new skill sets.

“We help them grow and move forward in their careers by providing holistic talent development interventions that include action learning programmes, training, coaching, talent rotations and talent exchange/attachment programmes. By developing people, we create an engaging workforce which allows us to compete effectively,” declares Ammar.

Abd Wahab: ‘You can judge a company by the people that it keeps.’


a sustainable futureBy embracing an inclusive culture

that supports diverse talent, Sime Darby Property has become an employer of choice in Malaysia. Its positive brand rep-utation comes from the way employees are encouraged to learn and grow.

According to Zulkifli Zainal, execu-tive vice-president of Group human resources, “In Sime Darby, we celebrate value creation and nurture continuous improvement. What this means is that we derive great satisfaction when we develop and discover potential leaders just as much as when we find new land in Africa or win a large development project in the UK.

“We have made a lot of progress developing leaders who deliver supe-rior business performances while stay-ing grounded to our values of respect, integrity, enterprise and excellence. Sime Darby will continue to prepare the next generation of leaders to meet the Group’s strategic goals, evolve and stay relevant with the constantly changing global business landscape.”

These sustainable best practices are further defined in the Group’s human capital strategies:

1 leadership development

Sime Darby places a strong emphasis in developing talent across all levels from senior

management to junior employees. High performers and high poten-

tials are identified and provided with developmental opportunities that span beyond classroom trainings e.g. coach-ing, job rotation and project exposure and overseas assignments to large pro-jects such as Battersea in London.

2 training and development

Sustainability orientation is one of the seven leadership competencies that form part of the leadership train-ing module.

Three years ago, Sime Darby rolled out a mandatory group-wide Core Executive Programme for all employees from exec-utive-level to senior vice presidents.

Sustainability has been embedded as one of the curriculums in the leader-ship programmes, with the employees embarking on sustainable or corporate social responsibility projects, which are currently scaled to the overseas offices in Indonesia, China, Hong Kong and Thailand.

3 suCCession management

A rigorous succession management process has been put in place at both at the division-level and at the higher group-level.

A robust and transparent process is in place to in identify and assess

talent to ensure that the right leader is deployed to the right position at the right time. This helps to minimise disruption to the business and ensure business continuity into the future.

4 reward and reCognition

Sime Darby has repositioned its rewards philosophy where the total rewards/remuneration is at the 75th per-centile or near the top end of the market.

Therefore, employees are provided with balanced and competitive rewards designed to drive results and encourage

behaviours of high performance.

5 performanCe management

Sime Darby has put in place a performance management frame-work titled Ensuring Performance Sustainability (EPS) throughout the entire organisation.

EPS consists of several components; the alignment or linking of KPIs & com-petencies to strategic business goals, performance calibration to discuss and distribute employees’ performance which is benchmarked against a fixed

performance curve, and award dif-ferentiated total rewards for top

performers. The purpose of this frame-

work is to improve business result with sustainable per-formance.

moving forward

togetherAs an employer of choice, Sime

Darby Property is leading the way with its series of people initiatives designed to drive change and improve perfor-mance.

These include a new performance management framework and com-petency model, talent and succession management programmes, a new rewards philosophy, as well as learning and development programmes that address competency gaps and is aligned with the group’s business direction.

Even after receiving accolades for having good people initiatives, Sime Darby Property is not resting on its laurels.

“We have made commendable progress but our work is far from over. This recognition will no doubt inspire us to work even harder and reinforce our mission to continue developing a high performing workforce,” declares Abd Wahab Maskan.

EMPLOYEES AT SIME DARBY PROPERTY SAY…

Sime Darby Property is a well-established company with good track record and brand reputation. The stability of the company, good working environment and great employee stories were the attractions for me to come and work for the company.

I feel that the company supports my career aspirations and therefore, looks after my future.

I am encouraged to grow within the ranks, as there are clear and structured succession and talent management programmes available to keep me motivated and help me grow towards the next level.

Sime Darby Property is such a big part of my life. The working culture is among the best. From when I joined as a fresh graduate until today, with my status as a married man, Sime Darby Property has always been there for me.

l Founded in 1910l Presence in over 20 countriesl Global workforce: over 120,000

employeesl 53% of new hires in 2014

were from Gen-Yl No. of hours spent to train employees

in Malaysia operations: 37,032 hoursl Employee Value Proposition:

Growth, Recognition and Sustainable Future

l The first Malaysian company to win the Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders 2014 global award

sime darby group at a glanCe

KANESAN vELuSAMY, DEvELOPMENT MANAGER

Sime Darby Property is one of the top-notch and repu-table entities in the property sector, with a proven track record in HR. I work in this organisation because it offers a better environment for work life balance, with ample opportunities for learning and career advance-ment.

The company rewards innovation – this blends nicely with my proactive style. I like the fact that I am also given the opportu-nity to constantly challenge myself.

Sime Darby Property pro-vides me room for growth in order to help me achieve my career goals. I had obtained my MBA and PMP in the last 10 years while working for

the company. The working culture in

this company gives me great enthusiasm and makes me look forward to going to work every day. I whole-heartedly share the compa-ny’s core values. We work as a great team and I am proud to be an employee here.

I admire greatly the company’s products, man-agement philosophy and values. I see a lot of effort put into giving value-added services to employees. For example, the company has a “Talent Management Policy” which is a stepping stone for career advancement and grooms employees for their next role. The company has rewarded me professionally, personally and financially.

TIMOTHY WONG WAI CHuEN, SALES MANAGER

I have always wanted to be a part of something ambi-tious. Sime Darby Property fits the bill. This company is the largest property devel-oper in Malaysia and is still growing.

More importantly, I admire the company’s drive and success which stems from having a positive work culture and a caring attitude. At Sime Darby Property, employees are well taken care of. We are provided with a good bal-ance of work and play!

One of the best things that happens at Sime Darby Property is that sup-port begins the moment one seeks it. The company offers equal employment

opportunity, clear perfor-mance indicators, plenty of resources and countless training programmes for employees to continuously learn and improve their skills.

Such platforms are cru-cial for anyone hoping to pursue a successful career. Sime Darby Property is where endless opportuni-ties await.

In addition, being a part of this company is more than just being in a group of talented people, it also means being able to challenge each other positively while growing together to develop and improve the quality of life for the rakyat.

MOHD HELMI MARzuKI, ExECuTIvE

AMEERA NuR DIANA MuNAWAR,

DEvELOPMENT ExECuTIvE

I have a background in engineer-ing, and it made perfect sense for me to work at Sime Darby Property. When I joined, I knew that a career with Sime Darby Property would open up limitless possibilities, opportunities and exposure.

I am always learning. The diverse work culture in Sime Darby Property enables me to get an inside look into the overall development supply chain, from developing oil palm land right up to the final delivery of products to the end users. In addition, being a part of the company’s business processes allows me to have clear insights on the property develop-ment industry in Malaysia.

Sime Darby is an internation-ally renowned name. It’s also an industry leader in various indus-tries, predominantly in property and plantation. Being a part of Sime Darby Property not only means that I get to be a part of the crème de la crème of the industry, but it also means that I belong to a much larger second family.

I feel that the company does not only focus on its core busi-ness. It also places a strong emphasis in creating a warm and sustainable work ambience. I enjoy working here. It always feels good to go to work in the morning.

By JI-HAO [email protected]

AS Malaysia moves towards becoming an economically developed, high-income nation, many organisations including multinational

companies, public and private enter-prises, government-linked companies, and even small and medium-sized enterprises are becoming more aware of the significance and impact of driv-ing high levels of employee engage-ment and having strong people prac-tices at the workplace.

This then brings them to the question: What constitutes a “best employer”?

Throughout my consulting career, I have had the opportunity to work with a mix of diverse organisations from various industries looking to achieve the same agenda.

I have learnt along the way that there is no perfect formula to achiev-ing this goal. Every organisation will have its own distinct challenges, opportunities and successes depend-ing on each organisation’s people ini-tiatives, management support, effort and appetite to drive a culture of strong employee engagement.

Becoming the best employer is a journey, and every organisation is at different stages of this journey.

To evaluate exactly where an organ-isation lies in this journey, it is neces-sary to measure and continuously take action on the drivers of engagement.

Here are some of the steps that successful organisations take when charting the pathway to become an employer of choice.

Step 1: Capture the employeeS’ VoiCeS

An increasing number of organisa-tions today are investing in the effort to measure employee engagement and satisfaction. While some do it internally and others turn to external providers, it is important that employ-ees truly understand the intent of such initiatives and provide open and honest feedback to the management.

In the recently concluded Aon Hewitt Best Employers Malaysia 2015 programme, 89% of participat-ing organisations currently measure engagement and use this external study as an additional measuring tool, while 11% leverage it as the main measure of employee engagement.

Either way, it is undeniable that measuring engagement is an impor-tant option today.

Rollout tip: Never ask for individual identifiers when conducting internal surveys. Anonymity is crucial in ensuring accurate, sincere and open feedback from employees.

Step 2: Generate inSiGhtSAny survey conducted should lead

to data analysis. Not doing so would be counter-productive as employees’ expectations of outcomes and actions would have increased through partici-pation in the survey.

By fully leveraging data, organisa-tions should be able to generate actionable insights based on various employee demographics and engage-ment drivers.

In identifying actionable insights, what exactly would be useful in creat-ing an impact on engagement? (See Figure 1.)

Best employers fare way above the market average across all four pillars, and there are plenty of leading prac-tices to learn from them. Where does your organisation stand in this chart?

This chart clearly shows that while measuring engagement is a must, equal importance should also be placed on having a compelling employer brand, with a well-defined employee value proposition; develop-ing effective leaders, through robust leadership assessment and develop-ment programmes; as well as driving a high performance culture where performance is clearly measured and rewarded through strong pay-for-per-formance rewards interventions.

Rollout tip: As in most internal surveys, overall engagement is just a single number that represents the whole organisation. Demographic cuts and further engagement driver analysis breakdowns will help identify specific areas for action.

Step 3: take aCtionThe human resources (HR) function

usually takes the lead in conducting the survey, and developing action plans. However, it is important that management buy-in and involvement is in place from the start so that action plans do not remain on Excel spread-sheets.

Leveraging on the insights generat-ed from the survey, full management teams should consult together and verify the issues, before deciding on the areas that should be prioritised.

During implementation of action plans, 89% of best employers hold people managers accountable for driving action, compared to 77% of market average.

While it is important to place responsibility and accountability on managers, it is equally important to ensure they are fully equipped and enabled to execute. Sixty-seven per cent of best employers provide action planning training for their people managers while only 36% do at market average.

Focus and direct involvement of managers in taking action create a positive impact on employees, as they are the ones who have a direct impact on the employees’ daily work life.

Rollout tip: HR may sometimes be very ambitious in developing action plans, but do not always get management support in implementation.

Be pragmatic in developing action plans, get management buy-in early, and build a culture where engagement is the responsibility of every manager, not just HR.

Step 4: CommuniCateEmployees need to be clearly

informed of the steps taken by the organisation that addresses their con-cerns in improving their overall work-ing environment.

While not every concern can be resolved, employees need to know the status and outcomes of their feedback. A regular communication plan roll-out using various channels for reminders and communication ses-

sions will close the feedback loop and maintain the momentum of driving employee engagement.

Rollout tip: An organisation-wide theme, including logo and tagline are always very effective in driving the engagement culture amongst employees. Employees will relate to this theme easily, therefore improving communication through various channels.

Tips for employees: If your organi-sation has been conducting periodic employee surveys, is the feedback loop closed through all the actions above? If it isn’t, it is time to raise it in the next employee townhall meeting!

truSt in aCtionOnce an organisation has gathered

employee voice, generated action-able insights, developed action plans and communicated them, how do we know and measure its effectiveness at creating an impact on employees?

Recent Aon Hewitt research shows that employees who trust their organ-isation to act on their feedback, have a higher level of engagement.

So when organisations conduct an engagement survey, it is critical that they act on the results. When leaders promise changes, they must follow through. We call this Trust in Action.

Best Employers have highly engaged employees, a strong and compelling employer brand, effective leadership and high performance

cultures. Trust in Action scores have a direct and significant correlation with these four themes. This shows that high levels of trust in organisations contribute to whether those organisa-tions are Best Employers.(See Figure 2.)

Trust is at the heart of employee engagement. Employees will become more trusting, if they see their leaders taking action based on the feedback provided. Leaders should respond quickly after an engagement survey, present a realistic action plan, involve employees in the solutions, hold managers accountable and monitor progress closely.

Of course, leaders themselves need to be engaged in order to engage and build trust in their teams.

By taking these basic steps in measuring and improving employee engagement, with focus on effective people programmes and coupled with significant effort in building the trust of employees, organisations will put themselves on the right path on the journey to becoming a best employer.

Some organisations may take long-er than others on this journey, but the key is to measure regularly and keep the momentum; with continuous improvements along the way.

The Aon Hewitt Best Employers Malaysia programme, in partnership with TalentCorp Malaysia and myStar-job.com provides a platform to identify engagement levels, leadership effec-tiveness, employer brand and culture to drive high performance.

Best practices in talent manage-ment are shared with participating organisations and results are bench-marked against other aspiring or recognised Best Employers in Malaysia and Asia.

The registration for the 2016 pro-gramme is now open. More informa-tion about this programme is available at www.bestemployersasia.com.

n Ji-Hao is a senior consultant with Aon Hewitt’s Talent & Engagement Practice in Malaysia and also the country project manager for the Best Employers Malaysia 2015 programme.


Best employers lead the Way in malaysia

hoW championing the talent agenda heightens an employer’s Brand reputation

At an overall level, significant focus should be placed on the four pillars below:

Best Employers Malaysia 2015

83%

88%

82%

83%

Best Employers Themes

High Employee Engagement

Compelling Employer Brand

Effective Leadership

High Performance Culture

Malaysia Market Average 2015

60%

64%

56%

58%

Correlation with Trust in Action Index

89%

87%

85%

84%

Best Employers Theme

High Performance Culture

Employee Engagement

Employer Brand

Effective Leadership

Figure 1

Figure 2


Nurture ProfessioNal relatioNshiPsBy MORAG [email protected]

NONE of us achieve success alone. The world of work is probably the biggest team sport any of us will ever take part in.

Yet, at times, it can feel like our co-workers are on the opposing team rather than playing on the same side and for the same company. Relationships matter.

MisManaged relationships

When mistakes happen, goals are missed, and when careers derail, it’s not usually about a lack of competence or expertise. It’s usually because of misman-aged relationships.

The quality and health of our profes-sional relationships have a direct impact on the output of our work, our morale and motivation, and in some cases, our reputation.

This is especially apparent in times of transition – when you are moving from one role to another, promoted to a new leader-ship level, or joining a new organisation.

While effective leaders and manag-ers are at the heart of every successful organisation, many companies still oper-ate a “sink or swim” approach to develop-ment and don’t provide support during critical transitions.

This becomes even more apparent as we move through our careers. With expe-rience and seniority comes the (false) assumption that “you’ve been doing this long enough, you’ll work it out”.

I’m sure you will, but at what cost?

seaMless transition?When it comes to success in a new

role, the statistics are not pretty. Research and articles consistently report that the ramp up time for leaders moving into a

new role averages six months.Think about your last promotion, how

did you prepare yourself for your new responsibilities? What support did your company provide?

It is apparent that every leader will make mistakes along the way. With a lit-tle care and attention, and investment in your development, you can help transi-tion into your new role more quickly, pre-venting not just a potential financial loss, but also damage to your reputation.

I spent 15 successful years in the com-mercial finance industry, where the focus was entirely on business strategy, the bottom-line.

Numbers ruled the day. The mantra was “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”

However, what I quickly observed was that the successful companies, teams and leaders, those that not only achieved but exceeded expectations, were the ones that focused not on the numbers alone, but also on their people strategy, on culti-vating winning relationships.

Winning relationshipsCultivating winning teams, employ-

ees who are engaged and pulling in one direction is not just a nice thing to have.

It’s a business imperative. It’s a per-sonal imperative.

We’ve all worked with people that we dislike or find irritating and frustrating to be with.

The person whose ego is so large the

office has to install double doors to get their head through, the colleague who just can’t stop talking about anything but work, or someone who seems to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders and seeks to share their complaints with everyone.

On the other hand, I am sure you have experienced professional relationships that embodied the partnership approach.

A colleague who went out of their way to help you to succeed, who collaborated and shared information to ensure indi-vidual and business goals were achieved.

A winning workplace relationship doesn’t just “happen” by chance – and neither does an ineffective one.

Successful leaders nurture their rela-tionships.

n Morag Barrett is the best-selling author of Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships and CEO of SkyeTeam (www.skyeteam.com), an international HR consulting and leadership development company. Morag’s experience ranges from senior executive coaching to developing leaders and teams across Europe, America and Asia. For more articles on leadership and personal development, visit www.leaderonomics.com. Send us your feedback at [email protected]

TAKE a minute to write down the three critical goals you must achieve in the next few months.

Next to each goal, write down the names of your co-workers who can directly impact and help your success, or potentially undermine it.

l As you consider each person, how would you describe the health of that working relationship today?

l Is it healthy and focused on mutual success, or is it better characterised as one that is tense and more adversarial?

If you realise that you are part of a relationship that isn’t as productive as you need, don’t panic. You can turn this around.

Whatever the reason for why you find yourself where you are, you owe it to yourself to make the first move to effect change.

Here are four steps that will help you to cultivate winning relationships across your organisation:

1 developMake sure to focus on develop-

ing relationships across the organisa-tion, the horizontal relationships with

your peers, and not just the vertical relationships up and down through the company.

Seek out opportunities to get to know the people around you as people, not just at the transactional level of “can you do this for me?”.

You may be surprised at just how con-nected you may be when you take the time to ask a few questions and listen to their response.

2 adjustAs you transition to new

leadership levels, the advice and input you need from others will likely change. Moving to a new role or leadership level is the opportunity to re-evaluate your network.

Take the time to identify where you may need to supplement your network with advisors who can provide a different perspective. You may need to recalibrate other relationships.

For example, if you are now manag-ing people who were your peers, don’t assume that everyone perceives the need for change in the same way as you do. Make the implicit explicit.

3 WorkAsk for help and input from your

colleagues as you may just receive a sug-gestion you hadn’t considered! By ask-ing questions, your co-workers become vested in your success.

Understand what you can do to help ensure your success, and share what you need and expect from others to support the goals of you and your team.

4 shareIn my book, I talk about the con-

cepts of generosity and abundance, one of the four elements of an ally.

The most successful people are the ones who share their network and exper-tise. They give more than they take.

Make introductions, share your wis-dom and build a reputation for being the go-to person.

parting WordsFinally, stay in the game, and if neces-

sary, change your game. There is so much at stake – for you and your team.

To be a successful leader, remember that business is personal and relation-ships do matter.

Do you NeeD to Nurture your ProfessioNal relatioNshiPs?

hoW to aVoiD MissiNG Goals aND Career DerailMeNt


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Expand your horizon without traveling

Also next week

Diversity at the workplace

Lessons from The Life of Pi

Preparing for worklife

By TARA [email protected]

IN conjunction with World Poetry Day, we pay homage to one of Asia’s greatest poets, writers, and artists – Rabindranath Tagore.

Not only was he the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, he was also the only person in the world to have writ-ten national anthems for two coun-tries, India and Bangladesh.

Tagore won the coveted Nobel Prize for Gitanjali or Song Offerings, which is a collection of poems that continue to inspire millions of individuals regard-less of race, nationality, age, religion, and gender.

One particularly inspiring poem from Gitanjali is known as Song 36.

“This is my prayer to thee, my lord – strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength to never disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to sur-render my strength to thy will with love.”

Rabindranath TagoreGitanjali/Song Offerings

Steer AwAy From Corruption

In the first line, Tagore prays that he will one day be rid of the corruption inherent within his heart. As human beings, all of us are bound to have imperfections and are vulnerable to varying degrees of temptation and corruption.

This poem appears to suggest that seeking solace in spirituality can guide us away from the bad things in this world, thus striking at the root of penury inherent in all our hearts.

In our careers, we are bound to encounter situ-ations that could lead us to committing corrupted

acts such as bribery, or perhaps even adulterating products without loyal consumers knowing.

This is why Tagore stresses the importance of spirituality and a strong set of morals that can help us steer us in the right direction when faced with situations that test our integrity.

ServiCe to otherSYes, we all have our own lives, but

we need to remember that all our lives are intertwined with those of others, which is what Tagore mentions in the third line.

This is why it is important to remem-ber that we are all in this together and that we should help each other along the way by giving our service to others when they need it.

We have to show others that we

care about them and that they are not alone in their hardships.

Showing your support for others can make a world of a difference in how they handle difficult situations.

As leaders in the work-place, we should do our best to engage with our team-mates by motivating them to

do their best in their work. In order to build that drive they need

to get on with work, we need to ensure that they are happy with where they are by creating a supportive environ-ment in which they can provide their honest opinions and ideas.

preServe your DignityThe main message the fourth line

of the poem brings is to carry our-selves with dignity.

Having the strength to never dis-own the poor means that you show everyone respect regardless of who they are. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

It is also important to not grovel at the feet of others just because of their stature or title. We should not bow down to someone just because they ask us to.

In addition, we should not overlook the mistakes of others just because they hold a higher authority over us.

By exercising our right to speak our minds and call out those who have clearly done wrong, we keep each other in check and prevent the abuse of power.

Likewise, in our careers, it is important that we should put our foot down when we see people abusing their

power in the workplace. Not only can it help instill the value

of personal growth among employees, but it will also prevent the workplace from becoming a toxic environment.

Stop Living in A BuBBLeIn the fifth line, Tagore asks for the

strength to realise that there are big-ger problems that are more important than our own daily activities.

Instead of only focusing on our own day-to-day lives, we should have the clarity to be aware of more important issues that could be resolved with our help.

By contributing to society and not only focusing on our own lives, we can help to build a more progres-sive nation, where everyone helps each other.

With a new gen-eration of young individuals entering the workforce,

many are also aware of press-ing world issues, making them want to contribute more to the world rather than just focusing on their daily work.

Nowadays, many companies are tak-ing their corporate social responsibility initiatives to higher, more meaningful levels that contribute significantly to society, rather than just fulfilling the minimum requirements.

Therefore, many employees work-ing for companies like this can develop their careers while at the same time, give back to the community.

ConCLuDing thoughtSSong 36 is without a doubt, a clas-

sic from Tagore’s collection of his best works. It would do us all

well to remember this simply worded, yet powerful poem as it rings true for all of humanity.

It is surely some-thing that will last

through generations to come as it also tran-

scends the boundaries of time.

n Tara is a lover of literature and envies those who can

beautifully string words togeth-er. She hopes that she can one

day be at least half as good as a writer that Rabindranath

Tagore was. To get in touch with Tara, email

[email protected]

Lessons from

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T: F - Leaderonomics.com · Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj at Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur. The prop-erty was owned by the Star Media Group then, and many interesting discus-