Faces of HR: Canva Philippines' Alvanson So on the strategic advantage HR has at the workplace

It's one that HR should always bring to the table at every chance presented, Alvanson So, Regional People Lead - Philippines, Canva, says.

"Every problem is an opportunity in disguise. There is always a solution, and the key to finding it is to collaborate and communicate with stakeholders, customers, and our employees." This, according to Alvanson So, Regional People Lead - Philippines, Canva, is a strategic advantage HR has in the workplace — a learning from his early days in HR that continues to stick with him today.

With over a decade of experience, Alvanson's journey reflects a deep commitment to enhancing the employee experience, investing in talent development, and shaping company cultures for the better. An accomplished people leader, he brings to his current role a proven track record of driving scalable organisational growth and building engaged workforces and high-performance cultures.

In the lead-up to his session at HRO's inaugural ⁠Transform Talent Philippines 2024, Alvanson chats with Mary Ann Bundukin about the steps he believes are important in transforming our talent of today into who the business needs, trends that he foresees having the most impact on HR in the near future, and more.

Q Thinking back to your first day in HR, what is the most important learning that sticks with you until today?

Every problem is an opportunity in disguise. There is always a solution, and the key to finding it is to collaborate and communicate with stakeholders, customers, and our employees. This is HR's strategic advantage in the workplace, an advantage that we should always bring to the table every chance we get.

Q What steps do you believe are necessary to transform today's talent into the talents that the business needs?

We have to first articulate what the future needs of the business are before we set expectations for our employees. If future needs are unclear, we may set our employees up for failure as they will be enabled with short-lived skill sets that will not match the evolving demands of their organisation or industry.

Q Could you share emerging trends that you believe will have the most significant impact on HR in the next few years?

It wouldn't be wise to ignore the power of AI in shaping and influencing how we work. HR teams that can quickly embrace technology and adopt AI into their workstream don't only set them ahead of their competition, but they can also do more with less allowing them to reallocate finite resources to more impactful work and achieve more meaningful goals for their organisation.

Q What are you most looking forward to in your session at #TransformTalentPH?

I am very interested to see what different organisations do to help prepare their workplace for an AI-powered future, whilst striking that delicate balance between boosting automation with elevating inclusivity and the people experience.

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Lead image / Human Resources Online