Photos and roundup: Recruitment Asia 2016, Singapore

Two jam-packed days of learning, case studies and networking – here’s your guide to all the action from the annual recruitment conference, reported by Jerene Ang.

Keynote presentations with perspectives on recruitment from the top HR minds and MDs, as well as case studies of various aspects of talent acquisition - from employer branding, to candidate sourcing, selection, and onboarding - were the highlights of Recruitment Asia 2016, Singapore, the region’s biggest recruitment and talent acquisition strategy conference.

Organised by Human Resources and held at Shangri-La Singapore on 01-02 November, 2016, this is the fourth year this conference has been produced - this year by Evon Yew. And, it's the first time we bring the event to you in new two-day format that ensures all your queries are addressed sufficiently, as opposed to just one day.

Kicking start day one of the conference was a conversation on local versus international talent – and the key considerations in recruitment of either one, moderated by Brandon Lew, vice-president, human resources, T-Systems.

Joining him were the panellists, Freddie Chow (chief talent officer, APAC, Sanofi); Adele Png (head of talent acquisition, ASEAN, Philips Electronics); Rachel Fitton (head of talent acquisition, APAC, HP); and Jenny Chong (head of talent acquisition, HP).

Chow from Sanofi summed up the issue facing employers: “From the government’s perspective, there is a need to create opportunities for local talent. That is why they set up policies that limit the number of foreigners to a quota, as well as also raise the salary bar.”

However, from the company’s point of view, he pointed out employers need to expose their HQ talent to Asia to learn about emerging markets, especially for senior management to understand the opportunities in emerging market. “So the question is how we as a company can balance our needs and yet meet the market expectations of the government.”

Wrapping up day two of the conference was Jon-paul Pritchard, head of executive talent acquisition, APAC, Cisco Systems who delved into his vast experience to bring forth a case study on optimising your internal recruitment strategy.

Pritchard referred to the adage that you don’t get promoted unless you do the job you are going to be promoted to, explaining, "We have a marketplace where employees can find stretch assignments that are related to the roles that they want to apply for, to grow and stretch their skills."

See all the photos from the conference here. 

Human Resources would like to thank all sponsors and partners that contributed to the success of Recruitment Asia 2016, Singapore:

• Gold sponsor: Work Group
• Exhibitors: ServiceDott | Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) | Sonru | Verity Intelligence
• Event partner: TMP Worldwide