As the HR sector in Singapore faces new challenges with an evolving workforce of more professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) across industries and a multi-generational workforce, coupled with the transformation of workplaces as technology advances, HR professionals now have to move beyond their traditional competencies.
HR practitioners need to be future ready so that they can help their staff be future ready as well. In order for them to be effective moving forward, HR practitioners need to be able to identify and adapt new trends and technologies, and to seize new opportunities by understanding and planning for current and future skills required by the employers.
Identifying HR practitioners as important partners of the Labour Movement in shaping our future-ready workforce, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) would want to strengthen the bipartite relationship at the workplace between HR practitioners and our unions on the ground to foster a culture of lifelong learning and development so that we can have better workers and better workplaces.
Human Resource Leadership Summit 2015
To foster bonding between the Labour Movement and the HR community, NTUC U Associate and Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) jointly organised the inaugural Human Resource (HR) Leadership Summit 2015. Held on Tuesday, 2 June 2015, the summit attracted over 400 participants comprising of HR professionals, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs, as well as union leaders who gathered to discuss current issues such as productivity crunch faced by companies, ideas on facilitating innovation at workplaces, and tips on how to create a future-ready HR culture.
Keynote speakers at the summit included Ms Aileen Tan, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, SingTel; Mr Francis Tan, Director of Human Resources, Sheraton Towers Singapore Hotel; and Mr Wee Leong How, Human Resource Consultant, who previously worked at NTUC Fairprice as well as Singapore Press Holdings Group.
There was also a closed-door dialogue session on “Building Successful Human Resource Management of Future” with Mr Chan Chun Sing, Secretary-General, NTUC; Mr Ong Yen Her, Senior Director, Ministry of Manpower; Mr Erman Tan, President, Singapore Human Resources Institute; Ms Aileen Tan, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, SingTel; and Mr Vivek Kumar, Director, NTUC U Associate and Future Leaders Programme, during the summit for participants to share their views and engage with the panelists. The event was held in the NTUC Centre Auditorium at One Marina Boulevard.
HR Leadership Workshops
Moving forward, NTUC will continue to work closely with SHRI and our other U Associates towards strengthening bipartism and developing programmes to grow our HR professionals. Besides organising large-scale events such as the HR Leadership Summit that reach out to the HR industry in Singapore, NTUC U Associate and SHRI are also working together to develop cutomised programmes to support the professional development and leadership cultivation of our HR practitioners. The next signature programme arising from the partnership is the HR Leadership Workshops.
“The Labour Movement is committed to support the professional development of HR practitioners in Singapore. With our 12 U Associates now forming an expanding professional ecosystem across expertise areas such as financial planning, human resource, leadership, project management, information technology, management development, workplace safety and health, we are prepared to collaborate with HR professionals and create practitioner-led leadership programmes to develop future-ready HR leaders,” said Mr Vivek Kumar, Director of NTUC U Associate and Future Leaders Programme.
The HR Leadership Workshop on Talent Recruitment and Retention, targeted at people managing the HR functions at SMEs, is slated to be rolled out in the third quarter this year. It aims to provide attendees with foundational knowledge in recruiting talents for SMEs by understanding their operating environment. The workshop will also focus on good HR practices to enhance employees’ motivation and add value to the business needs of the SMEs, as called for by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME).
Commenting on the collaboration, Mr Erman Tan, President of SHRI said: "Both SHRI and NTUC U Associate have a common aim to elevate the HR standards in Singapore, particularly for SMEs, and establish Singapore as a human capital hub in the global market. As such, strengthening the bipartite relationship between HR professionals and the Labour Movement is a critical step to reaching this goal."
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