Suite Talk: Interviews with 10 CEOs on HR issues in 2016

As we look to start a successful year together, we at Human Resources present to you a curated selection of our top CEO interviews from 2016.

HR’s representation on the strategy table is no more disputed – but there are certainly ways to add more value to demonstrate continuous impact of HR initiatives on business issues.

In this special edition of our HR Bulletin, we’ve put together 10 of the most popular C-suite interviews our team conducted in the past year, to make for some easy reading during the festive season – just to give you some food for thought.

You can click through on the newsletter for the interviews, or you can directly go through this listing of all interviews:

1. Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS GroupAn exclusive interview with one of the region’s seniormost leaders reveals his vision of a digitised workforce, and his expectations from CHROs.

2. Saulo Spaolanse, president and CEO of Schneider Electric in SingaporeNot only does he love discovering new cultures, but he has committed to ensuring 30% of women in leadership positions, a firm believer in diversity.

3. Tristan Torres, general manager, Deliveroo SingaporeHe reveals the secret to engaging employees for business success and dwells on the real role of the CEO in firms.

4. Barathan Pasupathi, chief executive officer of Jetstar AsiaAs the winner of the Leading CEO Award, he shares how leaders can take an informal, visible and “walkabout’’ soccer coach approach to engage staff as well as how HR can develop people.

5. Douglas Foo, founder and executive chairman of Sakae HoldingsAlso the co-chairperson of TAFEP, he uncovers the HR learning in growing from a start-up to an established brand.

6. Kevin Kirkpatrick, executive director, aftermarket operations, Asia, Pratt & WhitneyHe shares about his passion in developing people, his long term goal of developing three people to become part of the executive council, as well as how leaders can empower their employees.

7. Jake Abdullah, CEO, Astro RadioHaving joined the firm as an announcer and music executive, he has come up a long way. He reveals the philosophy on customisable learning and the significance of the human capital team.

8. Michelle Ho, managing director, UPS SingaporeShe shares her views on HR, leadership and how senior leaders can support community safety programmes by ‘walking the talk’.

9. Sajith Sivanandan, MD of Google Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and emerging marketsSticking to tried and true practices does not work anymore. That’s why Google has done away with traditional performance systems.

10. Sang Beng Ng, CEO and executive director, Aemulus CorporationWith creativity confined in a nine-to-five job, he talks about ensuring red tape and office politics does not pervade his organisation, and why sustaining this culture is HR's greatest task.

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Wish you a happy and successful New Year!

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