Communication is an important part of an HR professional’s job, especially when resolving conflicts or providing counsel to employees.

What are your areas of coaching and why did you choose this specialty? Executive education became a real passion while working for Visa International and ABN Amro Bank. I work with senior and C-suite executives from a range of industries around the globe in areas such as behavioural change, executive presence, women’s leadership, coaching skills, cultural on-boarding and change management.

How can HR add further value to your business? HR has always played an important role in supporting overall business operations. However, our HR department has taken a front-row position to make improvements to – and, indeed, revamp – the company’s internal processes; for example, in processing employee engagement

What was your first HR job? My first HR job was with NTUC Comfort. I was there for six years. I started as a personnel executive, and moved up to the role of an assistant personnel manager. This was before they were bought out by Comfort Delgro.

Moving from the corporate HR function to a whole new job requires a bit of faith, luck and a little preparation, say former HR practitioners. Finds out what life is like beyond the office cubicles.

As the new manager of human resource policy and management for Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Jamie Leong’s role is identifying and attracting dynamic team players to be part of the company.

How are HR leaders ensuring that their team members become more strategic in focus in the new year?

The biggest HR challenge that we faced during the downturn] is the retention and the development of our talent. Budgets are tight, but we are still investing significantly in learning and development.

I am a firm believer of using different strokes for different folks. I do perceive participative and flexible leadership, or situational leadership, to be very important. For me, understanding what drives an employee an individual basis is very important in order to engage employees and provide employment experience that employees are looking out for.

What was your first HR job ever? My first HR job was in people development for AXA in 2003.