In this final piece of the series on human-centred leadership, we will look into the actions and decision-making process of a human-centred leader, especially in times of crisis.

“So, what do you want to work on?” It was the first meeting with my coach. This wasn't my direct supervisor, but a senior figure in the field who offered to coach me.

HR has great potential to drive business strategy through people, but to do so, HR professionals need to have business acumen, be tech-driven, and human-centred. 6 Tips to cultivate business acumen.

In Asia, women continue to find it difficult to make meaningful career progressions in a corporate world that is entrenched by male dominance. But, on the bright side, we are making progress, and we want to celebrate that. In commemoration of International Women's Day, HQ Asia interviewed 4 women leaders about their vision for women in the workplace and what they #ChooseToChallenge this year. 

Have you heard of Alibaba or Amazon? The answer is likely a raised eyebrow, because who hasn’t heard of them?  Their secret to success? Ecosystems. In Part 1 of this article, we will explain why an ecosystem strategy matters to you and your organisation and give you 6 steps for kickstarting your very own ecosystem.

At the end of the day, how would you want to be remembered? As one CEO put it, “When I leave, nobody will remember the numbers I achieved.”

In an April 2020 essay for The Atlantic, Ashley Fetters criticized the use of “how are you” as a conversation-starter in times of pandemic: “To ask “How are you?” is either to make the conversation very gloomy, very fast or to force someone to lie straight to your face and say they’re fine.” 

As the pandemic continues to unfold, business leaders and employees need to adopt a shared responsibility to address mental health and wellbeing, ensuring their workforce stays flexible, adaptable and capable of weathering this second half of the pandemic and beyond.

In this article, we will look at how companies can grow their trust advantage in the digital decade. Organisations need to focus on creating human-centred practices within that builds trust and sets the stage for flourishing human-tech partnerships.

Economic justice is not a deep, philosophical concept. Economic justice needs doing, and can be done, more so now than ever as our economies slide into recession. How can we begin to do economic justice? With a face.

Is gentleness an underestimated power in defusing workplace conflict? An unexpected encounter points to three insights to be applied when we next meet with a conflict.

The global pandemic has caused a wave of disruption to our lives, our organisations and the future, with many reports forecasting an economic contraction in Asia-Pacific countries.

The Bridges Transition Model gives insight as to why some people defy advice and orders to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak. It also suggests what we can do to help people move towards desired outcomes during a change – be it the coronavirus pandemic, organisational restructuring or a failed relationship, etc.

In May 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially recognised burnout as a chronic medical condition, naming it an ‘occupational phenomenon’—to reflect that it is a work-based syndrome caused by chronic stress.  

In this article, we will look at how companies can grow their trust advantage in the digital decade. As highlighter in IBM’s Global C-Suite Study, organisations will need to work on three things: Data Privacy, Brand Perception, and lastly, Personalisation. 

In the face of constant disruption, how do we build organisations that can continuously adapt to change? Louise Beck writes that it starts with transformational leaders who create a culture where employees are not afraid to fail and are free to innovate.

Here's a look at the steps that HR leaders can take in order to make sure that technology adoption takes place in their respective organizations.

With “improving the employee experience” a top priority for many HR leaders [1], Dr. Tan Kim Lim makes the case for developing psychological capital to enhance employee engagement in the workplace.

Given that leaders bolster organisational effectiveness and performance, there is long-standing interest in the personality traits of successful leaders. Archana Das Goveravaram, explores what makes ambivert leaders successful, and what strategies extroverts and introverts can employ to become more ambivert and thrive in the workplace.

The paradigm of managing employees has been shifting. We have seen the shift from personnel administration to human resources to human capital. However, the current paradigm - whether a “resource” or a “capital asset” - is still based on “business as usual” views. We are advocating a paradigm of “Making Human Capital, Human”.

Digital innovations are permeating businesses and even governments across our region, making the development of a digital workforce a core priority. As a result, robotic process automation (RPA) has been on the rise.

Being authentic is a pre-requisite for successful and effective human capital practitioners. That said, our synthesis shows that even authentic leaders can fall into the trap of having inauthentic practices.

The fourth reality of human capital leadership concerns the dissonance brought by the changing nature of work, workforce, and workplace. While many factors contribute to these changes, the dynamism of them can be captured primarily by looking at how digital disruption, shifting diversity and business-related discontinuation manifest themselves in the workplace.

Appreciative Inquiry needs no introduction. It is a well-established field and has been used in many areas of organisational development and change. However, the use of Appreciative Inquiry by those in the HR profession has been relatively limited, because the entire HR ecosystem focuses on gaps and problem-solving.

In the previous article in this series, we examined the human bias and fixation with “best” practices and why they are “not good enough”. Now, in response to the three data biases that contribute to the development of “not good enough” practices, we discuss three shifts needed when thinking about human capital leadership. 

Organisations implement all kinds of best practices. Have they worked for you? Are they sustainable?

The basic premise for organisations is to be efficient with resources and for most organisations, staffing is the highest operational cost. Hence, the expectations people have of HR have always been about the efficiency of human resources.

In the previous article, we questioned why our human capital practices should be proceeding “as usual”. One of the reasons why human capital practices maintain the status-quo is because they are often treated as a supporting function separate from the business and they are not seen as part of business evolution. 

The business environment we are in is anything but “usual”. If we are not in a “BAU” period, why should our Human Capital practices be proceeding “as usual”?

Just as a prism can refract and change the way we view the light that comes through it, our synthesis suggests that human capital professionals should be able to act and react similarly, reshaping, redirecting and colouring human capital dilemmas.

In the previous article in this series, we examined the human bias and fixation with “best” practices and why they are “not good enough”. Now, in response to the three data biases that contribute to the development of “not good enough” practices, we discuss three shifts needed when thinking about human capital leadership. 

Organisations need to contend with a multiplicity of human capital realities.

There is no debate as to whether Asia should play a greater role in the world economy: Asia obviously should. 

We know that we can’t be our best-selves at work or home without taking care of ourselves, so why do we persist on investing in time over energy?

In the competitive and challenging talent economy of today, how does one maximise employee engagement and manage organisational growth with a new and evolving workforce?

Having conversations about diversity and inclusion takes courage, but leaders can make these more powerful and impactful by paying attention to how they're leaving people out.

Adoption of HR analytics is better in countries like India, Singapore, Hong Kong while the usage of analytics is limited in countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and China.

With AI making inroads into more HR processes, human recruiters no longer monopolize the function of recruitment. What are the perks, pitfalls and potential implications of AI in recruitment?

The challenging nature of the logistics industry has left it fighting a manpower crunch.

The Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) recently spent time with executives from Mastercard, Singtel and Unilever, three organisations that have forged a reputation for their commitment to building sustainable and enduring organisations that both ‘do well and do good.’

LinkedIn has released its inaugural Opportunity Index that seeks to understand perceptions of opportunity in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in 2018. The research surveyed over 11,000 respondents in nine markets, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

More organisations than ever, are investing in health and well-being initiatives, but are they having an impact?

As Singapore gears up towards Smart Nation, and a digital-first reality, the digital capabilities of the local workforce have become a priority.

HQ Asia spoke with Professional of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School, Dan Cable, about how to help employees find purpose at work. He shares findings from his latest book, Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do.

Singapore’s retail and F&B industries are notorious for their challenges in attracting and retaining employees. How does Singapore-headquartered TWG Tea, positioned as the finest luxury tea brand in the world and celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, tackle its manpower challenges? What lessons can other companies learn from TWG Tea’s experience and practices? Maranda Barnes, Co-Founder and Director of Business Development & Corporate Communications shares.

What must be on HR's essential to-do list today? What must HR be mindful of? Alison Sibree, Senior VP of HR for Oracle's Asia Pacific & Japan region shares seven key insights. 

Is your organisation not communicating and linking up between its different parts? Consider its social network.

What is the difference between Human Resources and Human Capital? Sara Moulton suggests two key ones and how the HR profession can make the shift.

HQ Asia spoke with Phillia Wibowo, Partner at McKinsey & Company, who is based in Indonesia, about what companies can learn from the management consultancy structure as well as how to assess organisational health.

Accenture India shares how they motivate their workforce to adopt a mind-set of continuous improvement.

Think of a romanesco broccoli, which is fractal and is composed of elements looking exactly like itself. Likewise, Dominique Sciamma, Director & Dean of the Strate School of Design calls for humanity to be a network of co-owners, sharing the same intentions to tackle the world's complexity. It is time to turn from a separation approach to one that is synergic and design-based. It is a Romanesco time.

Business leaders face unprecedented challenges. They need to manage and adapt their organisations to prosper in an environment of flux and upheaval. In this era of change that is both fast and unpredictable, what are their main concerns?

The island city-state of Singapore is often held up as a paradigm of a successful multicultural society. Its population of 5.7 million is made up of roughly 74% Chinese, 13% Malays and 9% Indians. The remainder, Eurasians and other foreigners, represent almost all religious faiths – Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. All this ethnic mix is crammed into an area of a little over 700 sq. km, making Singapore stand out as one of the most multicultural, diverse and densely populated cities in the world.

Maxis believes in creating culture from the inside-out. Read on for how the team is motivated, how the strategy evolves, and how Maxis contextualises best practices from the broader HR community.

Do board evaluations matter? According to Randall Peterson, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School, it is important for companies to adopt a thorough board evaluation process. Some of the essential ingredients are open and honest communication as well as diversity inclusion.

What contributes to a company's success? Anuradha Purbey, People Director of Aviva Southeast Asia, shares insights into a successful people strategy and how encouragement begets engagement.

During a merger, HR's role is to identify and curate a healthy organisational culture. Here is what I have learned through this process.

Last year, SAP piloted a programme for women returning to the workforce in Japan and Korea. Here's why and how they are minimising unconscious bias at SAP.

Our workforce is afraid and disengaged, and traditional training is not working. How do we build a truly smart workforce?

An inside look into the culture at Hong Kong Broadband Network.

How does the workspace impact employees? Two Prudential leaders share the inspiration for their new office, Workplayce, and how it impacts employees.

What are the three technology trends that can impact HR in 2018?

How does a large hotel group like Marriott recruit and retain talent? Andrew P. Newmark explains this and shares more about the company's culture.

How do you define a leader? Words and descriptions that come to my mind are vision, inspiring others, transparency, execution. Maybe you think of phrases like sets the tone, pushes for what they believe in, and balances company and employees' interests.

How will technology impact and improve HR? An artificial intelligence (AI) and big data company's co-founder shares how data improves decision-making: for employers who are hiring, and for professionals to know what skills are in-demand.

What is the benefit of encouraging employees to be entrepreneurial and to follow their interests? Tata Communications' Chief Human Resources Officer shares the programmes and benefits that have been borne out of this mind-set.

CXA-- a company that is in startup mode-- has defined their competitive edge: focus on upskilling and reskilling employees. CXA's Chief People Officer shares how they are preparing employees for the future of work, and explains how CXA ensures its workforce remains relevant.

Chatbots may solve a recruiter's biggest headache: asking the same introductory question to dozens of candidates. While chatbots may eventually be used for senior-level hires, here is how they can be used to initially screen entry-level hires.

Though there are challenges for SMEs that are expanding into the region and expatriating talent, preparation is the key to success.

The IKEA brand is well known for its customer experience: walk through their warehouse-like stores, maybe eat an order of Swedish meatballs at the cafe, and then go home to build your newly purchased furniture. But what makes it a fun place to work? The culture.

How does an average team become a high-performing one? Jamil Qureshi, a performance coach and psychologist, has coached business leaders, English Premier football clubs, Formula 1 racecar drivers, and many top golfers. He shares five indicators teams can use to assess their performance.

"When people go to work, they shouldn't have to leave their hearts at home." - Betty Bender. This may seem like an obvious premise for developing an employee value proposition (EVP), but it is not always that easy. With the resurgence of the global economy, companies - especially in Asia-Pacific - are looking not just to hire but to retain their talent.

HQ Asia speaks with Junjie Zhou of Shopee about talent development for both emerging and mid- to senior-level talent. Zhou also shares how they have scaled from 10 employees to over 2,000 in less than three years.

Recent research claims that short personal conversations stimulate creative exchange during the workplace.

In this article, HQ Asia discusses the final two roles that HR executives need to play to effectively develop global Asian leaders.

Through this interview with UOB's Managing Director of Business Banking Mr Mervyn Koh, we gain insight into how this bank is readying its people for the future.

Gabrielle Dolan, an expert on authentic leadership and storytelling and author of Stories for Work, sat down with Sara Moulton, Editor of HQ Asia, for a discussion on how established and emerging leaders can create impact with stories.

We had an interview with Yazad Dalal, Head of Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud Applications at Oracle (Asia Pacific), who shared how Oracle utilises Cloud and analytics in human capital management to develop a versatile, future ready workforce.

How are the 2017 global trends - growth by design, a shift in what we value, a workplace for me and the quest for insight -- affecting the workplace and employees?

Most companies focus their hiring strategies on strengths or what candidates can do. They assess the qualities and skills that are supposed to enhance job performance, and subsequently test whether candidates are likely to display those qualities once on the job. But why are companies focused on hiring based on weaknesses?

HQ Asia speaks with Jan Anne Schelling, Vice President for HR, Asia Pacific about how DSM is developing female leaders, barriers that women need to overcome to get to global roles and how DSM supports the advancement of female leaders.

These are interesting times in the world and it makes sense for HR professionals to take a pause. Take stock of what is happening and to be able to articulate the emergent themes and patterns in their organisation. Soumitra Gupta, Head of Global Organization Effectiveness Consulting & HR APAC and MEA Human Resources for Franklin Templeton Investments, reflects on how - at both an individual and organisational level - communication styles have changed. He also shares insights into how companies can encourage employees to reconnect.

HQ Asia speaks with Medtronic HR about its innovative human capital practices and how HR can think strategically and add value to business.

Stop. Take a breath. Just observe the natural flow of your breath, letting go of anything that's on your mind for a few minutes. Now, read on to hear more about the long-term benefits of mindfulness from Professor Jochen Reb, associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources and Director of the Mindfulness Initiative at Singapore Management University.

While design thinking and human-centered thinking stem from the same ideology, HQ Asia Editor, Sara Moulton, takes the view that being human-centered is employee-focused while design thinking is user or client-focused. Read on for how companies can apply both to their businesses.

Peter Drucker once said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast". Given the importance of company culture, what can organisations do to enhance it? One pertinent step is to develop an inspiring leadership communication strategy. In this article, Jovina Ang shares three tactics for developing an effective and inspiring leadership communication strategy. These include demonstrating "caring leadership", creating a "big hairy audacious goal (BHAG)" and utilising the "power of human connection".

Human resources is one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated functions in any organisation. Some of your friends and colleagues may even think of HR as just posting job openings online. So how can HR move from an image of job posters to brand builders? Joe Escobedo shares.

Technology will continue to have a great impact on the job market. Michael Gryseels, director in McKinsey & Company and leader of the McKinsey Digital Campus, and Susan Lund, partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, summarise new findings from McKinsey Global Institute on how the digital space is impacting the job sphere and how companies can capitalise.

Stephanie Nash sat down for a discussion with HQ Asia on her leadership journey, developing talent and how the Western work environment differs from Asia. Currently, she is the Chief People Officer of RedMart and before that, she held HR leadership positions at Allergan, Microsoft and BHP Billiton. Stephanie has worked in Singapore, the US, Australia and Chile.

Lemon Tree Hotels won the Asian Human Capital Award (ACHA) for its innovative human capital practices. Lemon Tree Hotels has approximately 800 employees who are physically or mentally disabled, or opportunity deprived. Read on for a discussion with Patu Keswani, Chairman and Managing Director, for future plans, how roles are tailored for employees with disabilities and what other companies can learn from Lemon Tree Hotels.

Executives who make organisational blunders may be guilty of turning a blind eye to obvious organisational problems and wilfully ignoring facts when making decisions. HQ Asia sat down for a discussion with author Margaret Heffernan, a former CEO of several multimedia companies, for an examination of the root causes and symptoms of this potentially devastating concept. Heffernan proposes five steps that executives can take to mitigate ‘wilful blindness’.

Dr Mahzarin Banaji is the co-author of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. In a conversation with HQ Asia, she talks about ‘mindbugs’ and unconscious biases, and how organisations can deal with these issues.

This article looks at the lost art of questioning in leadership. How should and can leaders re-build their “questioning” faculty, rather than resorting to their comfort zone impulse of “telling”, and more so in the emerging Asian context is examined.

Talent Analytics is a field where various myths prevent HR leaders from unlocking the potential of data. Dr Andreas Raharso debunk the myths, and through examples, shows how companies can use talent analytics to improve their bottom line.

Dr Bob Aubrey proposes using key development indicators (KDIs) to balance key performance indicators (KPIs) when developing people beyond short-term performance, a concept that is more fully explored in his newest book, Measure of Man.

As regional HR teams ramp up talent practices in Asia to match global standards, business heads are increasingly expecting HR to create leadership talent that can both lead in Asia and represent the region in the global arena. In part 1 of this 2-part article, HQ Asia highlights initiatives regional HR teams are undertaking in order to create global Asian leaders, and identifies the roles HR will need to play along the way.

Professor Richard Boyatzis, a Distinguished Professor of Organisational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University distills his top 8 insights on leadership.

Donald Low, Associate Dean (Research and Executive Education) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy explains how behavioural economics can help organisations make better decisions.