Better late than never they say! The U Human Resource Leaders Forum 2016 was organised by the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and I was lucky to be part of it. I did not know what to expect from this event but through the networking session I came to realise that the target audience were mostly union leaders from different sector, Human Resource leaders and SME owners.
There were a lot of people, possibly because the Secretary General of NTUC, Chan Chun Sing was going to make an appearance.
Key Takeaways from the Event
1) The union leaders are an extremely friendly bunch of people. They are extremely passionate about human capital and highly encourage employees to unionise. They feel that the employees have more say if they are able to have one collective voice. I learnt that I am a “Maverick” in the HR World, meaning that I am someone that comes from the outside and tries to disrupt the traditional ways of HR.
2) With respect to future jobs, there are many things unknown. A lot of jobs are morphing or even not here yet. Skills that were unheard of will generally become staple in the next few years. Generally, everyone has to be ready for the future jobs through up-skilling themselves.
3) HR Leaders have to be ready to integrate multiple generations under one roof and provide ways so that each generation still can thrive.
4) HR has to take the front seat right now! No longer are you just the admin/payroll person but you are the organisational development guru, the Human Capital partner for the business and you must learn how to use data to really make business decisions for your human capital.
5) HR has to value add to the organisation by understanding how the future marketplace and future customers are going to be like. Understanding the talent movements and talent gaps are important in ensuring that you have enough talent pipelines to manage your organisation in the future.
6) To be in a top HR position, it is highly encouraged that HR personnel work overseas and understand data. HR leaders genuinely want to be treated with respect within their organisation. They have a lot to juggle from the management, employees and business point of view. However I do feel that HR has to take it upon them to be the sounding board of the organisation by truly upgrading themselves, being open to new solutions in the market, thinking out of the box and many more. Truly, then can they make a difference.
Overall the forum was quite relevant to today’s market and context. The Secretary General left a parting note to everyone and reminded the participants “to be that HR Leader that inspire next generation of HR leaders, be a value addition to the organisation and lastly be an extension of the union.”
Author credit: Durrah Hamdan, Workforce Analytics Consultant, Drake International (Singapore) Ltd.
