CORPORATE BRANDING, attracting talent and challenges of modern-day workplacesA panel of prominent HR experts got together

recently at Hotel Icon’s Human Resource Forum

to discuss the latest trends and challenges for

the HR industry. The panel was chaired by Paul

Arkwright, Editor-in-Chief, HR Magazine and

the panel participants included an impressive

line-up—Niale McLoughlin, Executive Director

Learning and Advancement, Wynn Macau;

Ooi Lay Peng, Group Vice President of Human

Resources Development, Rosewood Hotel Group;

and Ivy Leung, Head of Human Resources and

Administration, Octopus Holdings.

Employer and corporate brandsAn important area for HR is looking at the

relationship between corporate and employer

brands. Leung elaborated that at Octopus this

was under ‘one umbrella’, and that by making

a cashless society the vision, the mission and

the core values were very simple.

She said, “During the interview or after the

orientation, people remember the core values

because they are so easy to apply. There’s a

need to make core values easy to apply and to

put ourselves in others’ shoes. When we deal

with people the same logic applies. Having a

good Human Resources team means that you

attract people with similar thoughts and this

is really powerful.”

Peng explained that for Rosewood, the brand

is really about a sense of place and having

a friendly perspective. She elaborated, “We

have in our employer branding ‘imagine,

discover and explore’. It is the same journey

that a guest would go through—so they would

experience an everyday living canvas. We

allow individuals to imagine and discover just

as a guest would.”

By making the employee experience quite

similar to the guest experience, McLoughlin

said that the Wynn’s first value is to care

about everyone and everything. She

explained, “When people show up on day one

for our two-day orientation programme, my

job is to get them to relax.”

EVP in the modern workplaceThe more transient nature of employees

attracted to the hospitality sector is a challenge

to the hotel industry. To deal with this,

organisations are finding that they need to

adjust their EVP. According to Peng, when

the EVP is more aligned to the business

proposition, your employees become aligned

too. She explained, “What you offer as the

front of the house also reflects the heart of the

house. In the hotel industry now, there are

expectations that the experience at the heart of

the house is equally important.”

Peng also stressed that with the globalisation

of the workplace, there are also more

expectations, especially among the younger

generation. She went on to explain, “There

is a global mindset but local execution.

Employees want more global exposure, so by

incorporating that into the EVP, you would

definitely have an attractive proposition.”

McLoughlin disclosed that it is actually

getting easier and that Wynn has not

changed their value proposition. She noted,

“Two years ago, employee turnover was 11%,

and in 2015, it was 8%—so we keep refining

what we’re doing. The core of who we are

doesn’t change, but it’s increasingly easy

for us to attract people because people work

with us and they spread the word.”

Leung said that for Octopus, it is about addressing

the hierarchy of needs—starting from safety and

going up to assertiveness. She added, “The world

has changed and we have to address the hierarchy

of needs from the top. What we have done for all

applicants—whether they are successful or not—

is give them Octopus cards as a gift. This is not

only a gesture of appreciation but a journey from

knowing the product, reading the advertisement

and taking the phone call to seeing the applicant

—this is where the journey starts.”

What you offer as the front of the house also reflects the heart of the house. In the hotel industry now, there are expectations that the experience at the heart of the house is equally as important.

— Ooi Lay Peng, Group Vice President of Human Resources

Development Rosewood Hotel Group

“”

We have a way of getting people to tell stories about each other—telling stories about their colleagues living the values for real inside and outside the organisation, and we share these stories. These stories leak into the world and they attract people to us.

— Niale McLoughlin, Executive Director Learning and Advancement, Wynn Macau

“”Attracting talent

Having a successful policy to attract talent

is high on HR’s agenda and the panel was

able to offer their insight and experience

in this area. McLoughlin said that it was

easy and shared her experience with Wynn

stories. She described, “We have a way of

having people tell stories about each other—

telling stories about their colleagues living

the values for real inside and outside the

organisation, and we share these stories.

These stories leak into the world and they

attract people to us. It’s a channel for people

to recognise each other, appreciate each

other and honour each other.”

At Rosewood, a different approach is taken

because they are a growing company. Peng

elaborated, “What attracts employees is the

possibility of growing with the company. You

have the probability of going out and being

somebody in a new property—so that is very

good for retention and attracting talent.”

Cheaper initiativesNot every company has a big budget to attract

and retain talent. The panel offered some

alternatives for those organisations which may

have a tighter budget. McLoughlin said that

HR realised that Wynn stories are a big thing

but not everybody has got a story —so they

prepared for this by getting creative.

She explained, “We created a gratitude zone

and we have cards that come through my

team. Let’s say someone has been appreciated

by somebody, we can send them an SMS.

It’s very cheap and simple but it’s effective.

Gratitude is not all about being nice to

people, it has a practical purpose. I get to see

where the conversation is coming from and I

measure it whether it is from gaming, hotel,

food and beverage or other. I get to see what’s

happening, so it’s a beautiful finger on the

pulse on what’s going on in the organisation.”

Peng highlighted that different people want

appreciation differently, and knowing that

and training the leadership on that is easy

to do. Peng said that another way that really

helps is the ‘one-on-one’—basically involving

having that meeting where the person tells

you what he or she is up to. She added, “It’s

an opportunity for you to clearly spend the

quality time to know more about what’s going

on, what that person’s thinking and also what

that person needs. So you can use that time to

listen and pay attention to that person alone.

That person grows from your questions and

your feedback, and also the person gets your

time too. I think that doesn’t cost money.”

For Leung at Octopus, being truthful is what is

more important. She explained, “To be honest is

very important. For example during the interview,

we explain to the applicants that we are a very

small company and we don’t inflate titles. We

must be prompt in getting back to people and not

let them wait—keep them in the loop.”

New products means we have to invest more and we must make a promise to our stakeholders about managing the growth of the cost according to the expansion. HR needs to know the KPIs of other departments and how it’s calculated. Without knowing this, how can you manage the cost?

— Ivy Leung, Head of Human Resources and Administration at

Octopus Holdings

“”

| 2524 | HR MAGAZINE

HR FEATURES HR FEATURES

Operating expenses vs. revenueOperating expenses are growing faster than

revenue—and this is an area where HR can

help focus their talents. Leung explained that

it depended on the product lifecycle, “New

products means we have to invest more and

we must make a promise to our stakeholders

about managing the growth of the cost

according to the expansion. HR needs to

know the KPIs of other departments and how

it’s calculated. Without knowing this, how

can you manage the cost?”

At the Wynn, McLoughlin stressed that they

do not mess with the brand and continue to do

everything they were doing in terms of giving

attention to team members. She elaborated,

“We don’t cut training and development and

we don’t buy any training—it’s all homemade.”

Peng said that the HR role is to provide a

system where people can have a discussion

before a meeting to manage the business

according to revenue. She commented, “We

would provide them with a system and then

they would take a look at the forecast for the

business. Labour costs are the most expensive

and these costs are escalating, as well as

related costs. HR learns to help management

to manage the costs—you learn to schedule

people off if they have outstanding annual

leave for example. So you are actually creating

a system and training for people to consciously

take a look at scheduling and get into the

mindset of managing costs.”

HR competencies in future hiresFor these three organisations, there are various

HR competencies that they look for in their

future hires. In Peng’s words, it’s simple, “The

number one element is communication as you

have to be communicating at all levels—that’s

one competency. The other competency is

how they relate to other people in terms of

relationships. Also business acumen is the other

aspect of that—how aware are they in terms of

the industry and also in terms of what’s going

on around them, and the application to HR?”

For Wynn, it is all about branding.

McLoughlin highlighted that the question

HR asks is whether they—future hires—

are aligned with the Wynn brand. She

explained, “Do they genuinely care about

everyone and everything? Are they striving

to be better? Are they taking personal

responsibility? We ask them tell us a story

about a time when they cared for someone

and if they can’t tell us any stories—we

aren’t interested.”

Leung said that Octopus is looking for

people who are able to learn well. She noted,

“Sometimes people are very articulate

but their critical reasoning is sometimes a

little bit weak. So I think the person who is

responsible for recruitment in the company

must be very clear about hiring people who

are agile learners.”

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HR FEATURES HR FEATURES

INTRODUCTIONThe Award for Excellence in Training and Development has been organized by the Human Resources Development Management Commi ee of The Hong Kong Management Associa on since 1990. It is the only award of its kind in Hong Kong that gives public recogni on of achievements in training and development to individuals as well as organiza ons, whether large or small and whatever the nature of their businesses or services.

WHAT IS THE SEMINAR ABOUT?Finalists of Skills Training Category and Development Category of the Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2016 will present at the Final Judging which will be held at the Seminar on “Benchmark Your Training and Development Prac ces with Some of the Excellent Organiza ons”. They will share with you the secret of success of their training and development programmes. Par cipants of the seminar will vote for the Best Presenta on Award.

MEDIA SPONSORS

SPONSORS

MAIN SPONSORSLEAD SPONSOR

FINALISTS

DATETuesday, 14 June 2016

VENUERoom N101 (Keynote Speech and Seminar)Bauhinia Room (Lunch)Hong Kong Conven on and Exhibi on Centre 1 Expo Drive (New Wing) Wanchai HONG KONG

ENQUIRYMs Ellis Yeung Tel: 2826 0532Ms Elsie Chan Tel: 2826 0535

WEBSITEwww.hkma.org.hk/trainingaward

FEEWhole-day Seminar with lunchHKMA Members: HK$2,900 / personNon-members: HK$3,200 / personwithout lunchHKMA Members: HK$2,500 / personNon-members: HK$2,800 / person

Half-day Seminar (AM or PM Session Only) with lunchHKMA Members: HK$1,900 / personNon-members: HK$2,200 / personwithout lunchHKMA Members: HK$1,500 / personNon-members: HK$1,800 / person

Skills Training Category“Building a New Business with the Line”Cordis, Hong Kong“i-PRO Development Programme”Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) Limited“V Care Programme 2015”The Great Eagle Proper es Management Company Limited - Langham Place“Y-Power Talent Development Scheme”Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited“From Medals to Business - Life Skills Training Programme for Re red Athletes”MTR Corpora on Limited & Sports Federa on & Olympic Commi ee of Hong Kong, China“Func onal Skilled Knowledge Training Programme”TAL Apparel

Development Category“Opera onal Excellence Academy”Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited“You Can Code”Esquel Group“Leadership as a Profession”Manulife (Interna onal) Limited“Run to MDRT 2015”Pruden al Hong Kong Limited“Wallem Academy - Management Founda on Programme”Wallem Group“Zurich Oxygen”Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong)

TIME8:30 am (Registra on) Morning Session 9:00 am - 1:00 pm (Keynote Speech and Skills Training Category Final Judging)Lunch 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (Lunch)A ernoon Session 2:00 pm - 5:45 pm (Development Category Final Judging)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERMr Paul PoonManaging DirectorCLP Power Hong Kong Limited

2016EXCELLENCE IN

TRAINING ANDAWARD FOR

DEVELOPMENTThe Most Pres gious & Authorita ve Training and Development Award

SEMINAR ON “BENCHMARK YOUR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES WITH SOME OF THE EXCELLENT ORGANIZATIONS”

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