T H E A R T O F
C O N S C I O U S L E A D E R S H I P
I N H U M A N R E S O U R C E S

FOREWORD
The global talent landscape is changing and so is the relationship between companies and employees. According to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends
Report, millennials make up more than half of today’s workforce and they expect much more in terms of career development and progression. At the same time,
the ubiquitous spread of digital technology is disrupting and redefining workplace dynamics everywhere.
For organisations, there is a growing challenge to attract and retain quality hires, with talent engagement becoming an increasingly important part of the process.
From surveying employee concerns to developing platforms for conversation and programmes for action, business leaders and key decision makers in Asia are
consciously driving greater engagement efforts across all levels as part of establishing a more open and transparent organisational culture.
In a series of rare contributions, a number of LinkedIn Conscious Business Leadership Award 2016 finalists share insights and examples of how they are bringing
a higher level of consciousness to talent engagement and recruitment across their respective organisations, and the positive changes that have resulted. These
are stories of Human Resource Leaders who are making a positive difference to talent attraction, engagement, loyalty and organisational culture through their
strategy and approach.
1

It’s not about business
models, processes and
policies – it’s about
making a difference,
and being authentic.
Anuradha Purbey
Human Resources Director
AVIVA
SINGAPORE
2

BRINGING CORE LEADERSHIP
PRINCIPLES TO LIFE
Anu believes that organisations that are built on trust, honest
conversations and empowerment will thrive in good times and
when faced with challenges, they will have the resilience to turn
them into opportunities. Together with strong leadership
capabilities, these are the pillars that will enable them to reinvent
themselves quickly and transform to stay ahead of the game.
Last year, Aviva announced that it was concluding its partnership
with a key distributor. As People Director, Anu knew the organisation
was at a crossroads and that it was critical to engage employees and
bring them on board the new business strategy to deliver results.
That was the best opportunity to bring the Aviva leadership
principles to life. It was about being courageous in choosing a
different direction for the company for long-term benefit; being
present as the CEO, together with Anu, made floor visits to speak to
employees and ensure every member of the team understood the
direction and rationale for the change; being authentic by
presenting the facts and not just giving a positive spin; and, being
vulnerable by admitting the leadership team did not have all the
answers at that point.
Even amidst the change, Aviva’s employee engagement score hit
a five-year high while attrition fell to a five-year low in that year.
3

Ewan Clarkson
Partner, Human Capital
PWC
CHINA/HONG KONG
Conscious Leadership is
being mindful and aware
of what it takes to lead in
today’s fast-changing
business environment,
especially during crises
or difficult situations.
4

When talent retention was a challenge for PwC China/ Hong Kong
in 2010, Ewan launched the "PwC Experience - Breakthrough
Programme" together with the organisation's senior leadership.
Aimed at driving cultural and behavioural transformation, the
programme was designed to change and improve employee
interaction, communication and engagement.
A “Breakthrough Blog” was created to drive authenticity,
transparency and action within the firm. The online platform has
enabled PwC professionals at all levels to exchange ideas,
confidently raise pertinent questions and discuss issues with the
management on a regular basis. These include questions and hot
topics related to the firm’s culture, ways of working and business.
Business unit leaders across China and Hong Kong have
responded publicly with follow-up actions, which has helped drive
an open, dynamic and engaged environment within PwC. The
blog is now being transformed into a mobile application called
Inspire.
“Breakthrough Ideas” have also been introduced to encourage a
new culture of innovative thinking and co-created ideas among
PwC employees, who are encouraged to provide proposals and
solutions to some of the most persistent challenges. The most
innovative and practical solutions were implemented during the
busy seasons, and the feedback was positive. The engagement
score increased from 44% to 76% over recent years.
Ewan believes that strong employee engagement today is closely
linked with purpose and meaningful work. It starts with building a
clear understanding of purpose and its importance, inspiring
professionals to embrace it and, most importantly, empowering
them to drive the purpose with actions on a daily basis.
LEADING A BREAKTHROUGH
TRANSFORMATION
5

Mariawaty Santoso
Head of Human Resources
PT AIA FINANCIAL
INDONESIA
Treat the business as
though it is your own -
make decisions with
accountability and
responsibility.
6

BUILDING A NEW CULTURE
FROM GROUND UP
Maria joined AIA in 2010, shortly before AIA became a publicly
listed company in Hong Kong. She was recruited to create a new
culture of empowerment, transparency and performance, all of
which did not exist in the past.
Before her tenure, HR was only an administrative function with no
systems in place for benefits, hiring, performance measurement
and development. She successfully rejuvenated HR from a purely
administrative function into becoming a strategic business partner
for the operating units.
Maria with her team transformed the organisation from one that
was fully entrenched in working in silos to one that is aligned with
HQ culture of empowerment, transparency and performance
oriented.
Maria believes in growing talent in the business with an organic
strategy of developing leaders. Her leadership principles revolve
around making decisions with accountability. She recognised that
there were weak leadership capabilities; hence she led the set up
of a leadership coaching program where she personally mentors
the leaders through regular conversations to build the culture of
empowerment.
She instilled the culture of transparency by keeping employee
engagement at the centre. “REACH”, a digital channel for
employees was introduced to send their feedback via WhatsApp
to an HR-managed account, which has helped them gather rich
feedback, and is very well-received among employees.
Maria led her team to streamline 26 rankings to 14 rankings,
rewrote the KPIs for all levels of employees, and explained the
details to all employees to give people clear performance goals
to achieve.
All the above efforts in engaging employees had a tangible
impact, which is evident from Gallup Employee Engagement
Survey results - the score increased from 3.59 in 2011 to 4.27 in
2015. AIA’s new business ranking in the industry improved from #9
in 2010 to #2 in 2015.
7

Prashant Sharma
President, Global Human
Resources & Corporate
Communications
ZYDUS CADILA
INDIA
Being true to oneself
and one's convictions
in alignment with
objectives of the
organisation and society
as a whole is the key to
conscious business
leadership.
8

REDEFINING THE FRAMEWORK
FOR TALENT ACQUISITION
Prashant's mandate was to ensure that HR had a strong business
immersion. In addition, he had to ensure that HR supported the
organisation’s global expansion strategy, which would have a
wide impact on recruitment, performance measurement and
training and development for a culturally-diverse workforce.
To recruit across different countries and cultures, there was a
need for a global definition on three fundamental elements: (a)
The selection criteria for functional and leadership
competencies; (b) Effective tools and techniques to measure
these competencies and (c) Programmes to ensure leaders are
trained in these tools and kept up to date in their knowledge.
Prashant thus worked with Hay group to develop the
Competency Framework which defines employees’
behavioural competencies at various levels.
The framework was co-created with hundreds of employees
through rigorous interviews and focus group discussions to
identify the behaviours and measurement systems that are
relevant across roles globally. Current behaviours and behaviours
which would serve future organisational needs and design, were
taken into account.
With the help of Development Dimensions International,
workshops were conducted where over 1,000 managers globally
were trained on how to apply the framework. The team also
partnered with third parties and became the first non-IT company
to recruit entirely through full-fledged Assessment Centres.
Leaders who have been trained in Behavioural Event Interviews
would assess and select the talent according to the framework.
Since then, the quality of new hires has improved significantly
and there has been an increase in performance within the first
six months while infancy attrition has dropped by 50%.
9

Ramzi N. Jabara
Head of Human Resources,
Administration & Personnel
CONSOLIDATED
CONTRACTORS
COMPANY
AUSTRALIA
The essence of
Conscious Leadership
lies in putting people
first in decision making.
10

DRIVING POSITIVE CHANGE
THROUGH A PEOPLE-FIRST APPROACH
As the Head of Human Resources, Administration and Personnel
at Consolidated Contractors Company, Ramzi led the
recruitment campaign and process for the largest liquefied
natural gas pipeline project in Australia.
Besides the recruitment of 1,300 personnel of various skills
based on a steep histogram, Ramzi was also tasked with creating
and implementing a plan to engage traditional owners of the
land to become part of their own indigenous economic strategy
- a sustainable resource project which delivered both social and
economic benefits.
Throughout the project, he stayed true to the company’s vision
and values while maintaining a strong commitment to the
community, working closely with indigenous groups to
empower them through employment. With a sustainable source
of income, individuals could then provide clothing, food,
schooling, and healthcare to children and extended family
members. The initiative also offered fully provisioned camp
facilities, great wages and, most importantly, the chance to
undergo nationally recognised training. This ultimately
contributed to improving the skills of local communities and
boosting the local economy.
In addition, Ramzi and his team have developed a new
employee development programme to induct new employees
into the company’s culture and minimise accidents and injuries
by inculcating them with the organisation’s safety standards. In
order to promote a culture of openness and honest
communication, he regularly visits the construction site to gather
first-hand feedback on people’s vision for the future.
A believer of creating opportunities for people, most of his time
and efforts are centred round designing and promoting
innovative approaches to train and develop employees, and
creating succession plans for people’s careers. Examples include
leadership programmes, industrial relations workshops,
induction programmes, and cross-functional training.
11

Peter Ling
Director Human Resources
OD MAH SING
GROUP BERHAD
MALAYSIA
What differentiates a
great leader from a good
one is the heart to
consciously lead others
without dictating them,
to influence without
commanding and to
achieve effectiveness
without arrogance.
12

THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATIONAL
LEADERSHIP AND ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT
When Peter first joined OD Mah Sing Group Berhad, the company
was grappling with issues like a fragmented Group Human
Resource (GHR) department, a leadership gap in HR and customer
service challenges.
Unfazed, he proceeded to restructure the GHR department into
one coherent unit. Consciously applying the company’s mission
and values, Peter played a major role in developing POWER, a set
of values which stands for Performance, Ownership, Well-being,
Empowerment and Resourcefulness within the company.
Peter facilitated the drive to transform the culture of the
organisation from one that was “traditional” to one that is open,
progressive and empowering. GHR town hall meetings, which
were initially deemed unproductive, are now taking place more
frequently, during which people have become more open to
giving and receiving feedback.
A mentoring programme was also set up to ensure that the older
employees and younger employees are well integrated, and to
reinforce the change in culture across the organisation.
He was instrumental in implementing the Leadership Excellence
Advancement and Development (LEAD) Project to identify,
develop and retain good talent. Under the programme, fresh
graduates with well-rounded capabilities are recruited and trained
for three months. Over the past two years, 50 students have been
recruited and 75% of them are still with the company today and
are doing well. The initiative has been extended to existing
employees and it grows in popularity, with each training
programme attracting full attendance.
13

Sudhir Dhar
Head of Human Resources
MOTILAL OSWAL
FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD
INDIA
Conscious Business
Leadership is about
influencing people to get
the right things done.
14

STRENGTHENING COHESION
THROUGH OPEN COMMUNICATION
Leveraging technology and using continuous engagement with
employees to build a future-ready organisation that will stand
the test of time has been Sudhir’s motto in his ten years plus at
Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Sudhir launched the internal HR app “MyzOne”, which enables
all employees to conduct transactional activities with the HR
department on the move and removed the hassle of daily
attendance logging by capturing the GPS location of the
employees when in the vicinity of the office premises and thus
automatically marking attendance.
In the last one year, Sudhir, in line with the business needs,
added close to more than 50% of the then workforce aided by
changes in the ATS and processes in more than 150 locations
across India, while maintaining the same size of the recruitment
team.
He is renowned for getting the best out of his employees by
continuously engaging them with initiatives like “Dil Se”
(meaning ‘open to discuss with me’) and the “Coffee with the
Chairman” forum where employees can discuss any issue with
Human Resources and the company’s Chairman.
He also launched an internal radio station “Radiomasti”, which
hosts a daily, hour-long program where employees can keep
abreast about the latest developments in the organisation and
are frequently invited to share their views on areas concerning
the organisation and themselves. It can also be downloaded on
the internal HRMS portal.
Coming from a ‘Training and Development’ background, Sudhir
takes an active interest and part in coaching initiatives like “IDP
or Individual Development Plans” for the senior management
and leaders. He introduced the “Internal Career Development”
option for both developing and maintaining high potential and
high performing employees in the junior to mid management.
It is a testimony of the success of his initiatives that more than
89% of the employees love working in the organisation as
indicated by external engagement surveys and cultural audits
like Gallup.
15

Harshvendra Soin
Senior Vice President
and Country Head
(Enterprise) - Canada
TECH MAHINDRA
INDIA
Leadership is about pushing
your limits, challenging the
status quo and driving
positive change.
*Won the award as Head Global Leadership Acquisition & Development 16

INVESTING IN LEADERSHIP TALENT
A big believer in driving positive change across the
organisation, Harsh designed the 1000 Leaders
programme – a self-nominated programme for
employees who desire to grow as leaders, one which
aimed to grow the talent pool and encourage people to
believe in themselves. Employees are chosen according to
rigorous selection criteria, based on competencies and
performance (including 360-degree feedback and
psychometric tests).
Over a period of three years, the programme has
identified over 800 leaders. To support these leaders,
avenues have been created for them to provide feedback.
These include a mentoring programme where each leader
is mentored by a senior manager and a website where top
management staff can view new job opportunities within
the organisation globally. These leaders are encouraged
to take on critical roles within the organisation.
As a testimony of the programme’s success over the past
few years, the attrition rate for leaders has been reduced
to almost half of the company average.
As part of this initiative, 150 leaders across the world have
also been identified to be brand ambassadors responsible
for evangelising new practices amongst other employees
through formal and informal channels such as the
company blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and WhatsApp.
The 1000 Leaders programme has gained significant
recognition internally and externally. In particular, it has
earned accolades from the National Human Resources
Development Network and is now used as a benchmark in
the industry.
17

Wendy Tan
Human Resources
Director, Asia
UNITY TECHNOLOGIES
SINGAPORE
Be open, empathetic and
always strive to do better.
18

POWERING UP FOR SUCCESS
As Human Resources Director, Wendy is proof that Unity
Technologies takes talent development and employee
welfare very seriously despite being a young company
with a flat hierarchy.
In 2016, Wendy initiated leadership training targeted at
senior level employees, who have played a key role in
growing the business since the first Asian office was set up
five years earlier, empowering them with critical skills to
strengthen their role as leaders.
Wendy’s team also developed a training manual coined
‘The Learning Menu’, which now serves as a key resource
listing the training opportunities available to all
employees. Designed to make learning and
self-improvement a simple task for staff, the team analysed
the training needs of each office before identifying a set of
relevant programmes to be conducted by vendors
selected by local teams.
A performance review process was also implemented,
where managers check in with their employees every
quarter regarding their goals alignment and career
progress. As part of a learning journey coined “Power Up”
– in conjunction with the company’s gaming business,
training programmes are also selected through a process
of consultation and consensus.
Deftly coming up with solutions to address existing gaps,
Wendy’s role is important. For new hires, she created a
buddy system to better assimilate them into the company.
In addition, knowing that Japanese employees value
family time although they tend to overwork, she
introduced a five-day floating leave entitlement that
enabled them to take extended time off during public
holidays to visit their hometowns.
19

About the Awards:
We are in the second year of the Conscious Business Leadership Awards. A unique platform that LinkedIn instituted in 2015, to
recognize HR leaders of organisations in the Asia-Pacific region who demonstrate that being a true leader involves being mindful
of building and managing an environment of trust, integrity and openness – thereby encouraging employees and colleagues to be
well-rounded, grounded individuals.
Today's business leaders need to be 'Conscious Leaders' - those who are successful not because of their experience or academic
qualifications, but those who are passionate about their work and exemplify their values to everyone in the organisation.
This thinking elevates an organisation and transforms it into a place where trust and integrity are at the heart of the business,
driving a collective goal to be better employees, colleagues and overall human beings.
The LinkedIn Conscious Business Leadership Awards are inspired by the seminal work of Fred Kofman, who has published a
critically acclaimed book in business management by the same name. "Conscious Business- How to Build Value Through Values"
The awards aim to celebrate HR Leaders across these four categories:
• Management Maestro
• Talent Magnet
• Culture Champion
• Loyalty Advocate
View the winners and finalists of the 2016 Conscious Business Leadership Award:
https://business.linkedin.com/en-sg/talent-solutions/s/16/2/o/conscious-biz-awards
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About LinkedIn Talent Solutions
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and engage the best talent.
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.
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