Digitisation, Millennials and What’s in Store for HR: ChapmanCG at Otis South Asia Pacific Conference

ChapmanCG was delighted to be invited by Zann Teh, Senior Manager Human Resources and Sandra Lee, Director Human Resources at Otis Elevator Company to present their South Asia Pacific HR Conference in Singapore. Vargin Yeke, Katherine Qu and Matthew Boardman discussed HR Trends and the Digitisation of HR with an engaging group of Country HR leaders from around the region. Everyone was in agreement about the impact of digital. It’s changing just about every aspect of our lives as well as how HR operates. The group agreed the importance of having “fluid workforce” that can meet today’s ever-changing demands. With the arrival of digital, HR teams can now support the business much more effectively than ever before with data-driven decision-making capabilities. With the replacement of dated HR technologies, Talent Management and Performance Management will reinvent itself. We see a lot of major global brands replacing reviews with continuous feedback using technology such performance management apps that can be accessed on mobile devices. A key challenge in this new digital era is How to Provide a Consumer-Grade Employee Experience. The workplace is an experience rather than a soulless office space, especially for trendy technology and e-commerce companies. The role of the CHRO is transforming into ‘Chief Employee Experience Officer’, partnering with functions such as marketing, internal communications and IT and partnering with external real estate and interior design vendors to create a seamless and engaging employee experience that mirrors the consumer experience. We also see some of HR and Talent Departments running more like a Marketing function and employees are becoming internal brand advocates. Workplace Flexibility, Gamification of HR and Learning on the Go have all become possible with the digitisation of HR. There is a big shift from retrospective HR focused on reporting and telling stories of what has already happened to playing the role of a clairvoyant by utilising AI, predictive analytics and data. Advanced AI & Robotics is still a ways off for some companies, so we discussed with the group how can a company like Otis take a step in the right direction when it comes to effective use of technology in HR. We discussed which leveraging technologies were playing the biggest part in global HR trends and the group discussed how to attract and engage the millennial workforce as this continues to be an a challenge for Otis (like many other companies globally). A few recommended that management (and HR) should try to utilise their strengths, such as technology and social media skills, to help the company stay current as opposed to trying to force them to adapt to their environment. With the older cohort of the millennials getting more mature, an interesting angle is to look how they have changed over the years and what has been the implications for organizations in all areas of their business. HR professionals who are flexible, adaptable, mobile and possess international experience are in high demand, globally. The ability to understand and build relationships with the business is critical. HR professionals who can develop strategies using data and analytics are sought after especially by technology and e-commerce companies We would like to take this opportunity to thank Zann Teh and Sandra Lee for inviting us to their South Asia Pacific HR Conference in Singapore. It was a very enjoyable session of sharing ideas and trends with the Otis South Asia Pacific Team.