The HR Futurist Podcast

On this week’s episode of the HR Futurist Podcast, I talked with Abhilasha Krishnan, the HR Director South East Asia for Diaego. Diageo is a global beverage company with iconic brands such as Guinness, Bailey’s, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker to name a few.... Abhilasha has also had a wide ranging HR career with market leading companies such as Nokia, JTI, and Ecolab.  We discussed her journey and what she’d learnt so far which surprisingly started with a microbiology degree! In a wide ranging conversation we talked about how HR had evolved, how the current pandemic has made well-being and emotional management non-negotiable; how Diageo successfully rolled out quarterly goal targets using Agile methodologies; and how they are D&I leaders in driving a gender-equal eco-system. I encourage you to listen, Abhilasha was really engaging and open to talk and it’s clear she is passionate about HR and Learning, coaching and driving progressive people-agendas forward to maximize business value. I hope you enjoy! Let me know in the comments what you think and please like, subscribe, and share with a friend who might find it useful.  You can also get in touch with Abhilasha directly here: linkedin.com/in/abhilashakrishnan

On this week’s episode of the HR Futurist Podcast, it was great to welcome Sharad Goyal to the show. Sharad is the Executive Director of Human Resources Asia-Pacific at R/GA. R/GA a global digital advertising agency with Headquarters in New York and some 2,000 employees around the world. This was the longest episode yet and with good reason, there was so much to dissect and discuss about Sharad’s successful HR career to date. We discussed Sharad’s career from the very beginning and how he knew early on in his life that he wanted to be in the people function. His wide ranging HR career has taken him through most types of organisation from manufacturing to retail, and tech to advertising. We talk about his career at Google and how many interviews he went through to get the job as well the impact it’s had on his career. We discuss the challenges of hiring and selecting the right talent, and what the future of assessment looks like. Sharad shared with me his thoughts on digital transformation, what the future of HR looks like, and could a CHRO really be the future CEO? I really enjoyed this one, I hope you do too! Let me know in the comments what you think and please like or share with a friend who might find it useful.  You can get in touch with Sharad directly here: linkedin.com/in/goyal-sharad

On this episode of the HR Futurist podcast I was joined by K. Vanee Bijayendrayodhin, an experienced HR leader in Thailand who up until very recently was the Chief People Officer of Ananda Development, a publicly listed Thai Real Estate company. K. Vanee is a life-long learner and believes in sharing knowledge, so we had a nice open talk and she shared insights into her career journey, her experiences working at a large fmcg company, advice on what aspiring HR leaders should learn, how COVID19 has accelerated digital transformation, tactics to drive organisational change, and what it takes to be a successful, modern HR leader. I hope you enjoy, I'd love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment or rating if you have a moment at the end. You can get in touch with K. Vanee directly here: http://linkedin.com/in/vanee-bijayendrayodhin-3b3995b *Please note this episode was recorded prior to K. Vanee leaving Ananda.

On the first of a new series of The HR Futurist Podcast, it was great to welcome Johnathon Ng to the show. Jonathan is the Vice President of Human Resources Asia-Pacific Asia at Brenntag. Brenntag is a German chemical distribution company founded in 1874 in Berlin and has operations in more than 77 countries worldwide. It’s great to be back talking about HR with some amazing people in the region and Johnathon was a great guest to kick things off. It was clear from the beginning that he is someone who deeply cares about HR and someone who is championing HR’s case to make more impact.  We discussed how Johnathon was an ‘accidental HR’ leader; how HR can make an impact through a culture of success and the perennial question of how HR gets a seat at the table. He shared how HR must be business focussed; how his HR team has visited customers in the past to help win tenders; How to implement change; and whilst the future of HR is scary, with flawless execution it’s exciting times ahead.  I hope you enjoy, I'd love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment or rating if you have a moment at the end. You can get in touch with Johnathon here:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnathon-ng-professional-coach-82612713/

On this week’s episode of The HR Futurist Podcast, it was great to welcome Ajay Godbole to the show. Ajay is the Vice President of Asia Operations at Hanesbrands Inc and has been with them since 2005, but made the move to Bangkok slightly later, in 2008. Hanesbrands Inc are an American clothing company with over 65,000 staff globally and over 17,000 staff in Asia amongst the number of plants and strategic sourcing partners they own. It’s clear that the retail sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, so it was really interesting to get Ajay’s insight into how the supply chain has been affected, how they pivoted the use of their plants, how retail can bounce back and what the future looks like for the industry as a whole, particularly from a HR perspective as we delve into how talent acquisition is likely to change as the markets try to kick back into gear. Ajay references some great personal and organisational learnings from this period, and I certainly gained a lot of insight by having him on the show, hopefully you will too. I'd love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment or rating if you have a moment at the end. You can get in touch with Ajay here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajay-godbole-6128104/

In this week's podcast I was joined by a good friend of mine, Neil van Heerden. Neil and I met at the Iron Guides club in Bangkok and he's competed in a number of Iron Man events; however, when he's not testing his physical and mental boundaries he continues to build an impressive career. Neil is Head of Commercial (International) for Ascend Money, CEO of TrueMoney Cambodia and President of TrueMoney Philippines. Having spent more than ten years in global corporate roles at American Express he has also been a senior executive for a number of tech-start-ups. Neil's a very positive guy and we have a good conversation that covers the unexpected benefits - and learnings - from being stuck at home; what good leadership in a crisis looks like, particularly when confronted with the challenges of running regional teams in the current market; as well as why he's optimistic and what the future of work looks like. Don't forget to share the podcast with your network and leave a rating/comment.  If you'd like to get in touch with Neil, you can do so here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilvanheerden/

Episode 10 of The HR Futurist Podcast was a fun one, as I had a conversation with Arnaud Bialecki - Thailand Country President of Sodexo and South East Asia Lead - who has long been an acquaintance of mine (you'll hear us reminisce at the start of the podcast about a certain German beer-house in Bangkok). Arnaud has been in Thailand since 1998 and was International MD at PCS before his entrepreneurial spirit led him to found Foodhouse Catering Services, which he ran for 4 years before joining Sodexo. With his wealth of experience, not just in senior leadership roles, but also in facilities management, Arnaud was able to give some great insight into how his sector has been affected over the past couple of months and the key role that businesses like Sodexo have to play in making sure that working environments are safe to go back to when people start to return to the office. This was a really timely conversation, particularly as restrictions are being eased, so I'm sure it'll offer some great value. If you'd like to get in touch with Arnaud, you can reach him here: www.linkedin.com/in/arnaud-bialecki-0b795028/

For Episode 9 of The HR Futurist Podcast, I welcomed Kaustav Chakravarthy - Executive Director of Global HR at Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning - to the show. KC is the Global Head of HR - with the exception of Japan - so he’s leading employees around the world and has a team of over 100 HR professionals. Based in Singapore, he’s been in this role since 2018 and prior to this in a number of senior regional HR roles for companies like Lenovo, Accenture and EY. This episode ended up being a little longer than usual, but for good reason. KC is an expert in his field and was able to provide some unique and honest insight into how JCI have dealt with the crisis, how he has dealt with it personally and with his team, and his philosophy on how this experience, though challenging, will be a boon in the experience of those HR leaders who will have battled through the crisis. Keeping up human interaction is important; learning from global patterns and being decisive has been hugely influential; and HR leaders have had to juggle communication, leadership, engagement, stress and strain, prioritisation and goal setting, but above it all, a positive mindset has been and will be essential. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed recording. If so, don’t forget to leave a comment and rating, as well as share it with anyone in your network who might get value from it. If you’d like to reach out KC you can message him directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaustavchakravarthy/.

My guest on Episode 8 of The HR Futurist Podcast was the CEO of Suntory PepsiCo Beverage Thailand - Omer Malik. Omer has been in this role in Thailand since 2017, having been with PepsiCo since 2007. Before PepsiCo he started his career at British American Tobacco and was there for 8-and-a-half years, before moving to Shell for 4 years. His career has taken him across India, Pakistan, Oman, Indonesia, Afghanistan and now Thailand. Omer was a fantastic guest and a really relaxed personality. PepsiCo Thailand have been massively impacted with the shutdown of restaurants and bars - something Omer was very open about - but they’ve also been decisive in continuing to support the sales team, whilst still taking the proper precautions. Omer talks about he and his crisis management team have dealt during the disruption, the perfect storm that will make this a particularly tough period for Thailand, the types of businesses that will thrive, as well as the sense of responsibility the business feels towards the community. One not to miss! After you’ve listened, go ahead and leave a comment, or rating and share it with anyone in your network who would benefit from Omer’s insight. If you’d like to get in touch with Omer directly you can reach him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omermalik/

My second guests of the week on The HR Futurist Podcast are Gerry Margolis (MD Thailand & Indochina) and Najaya Jotikasthira (HR Director) from Philip Morris International.    Gerry’s been with the group for many years in senior leadership roles around the US, UK and Europe before stepping into his current role in 2017 and Najaya has been with the business since 2002 in various leadership roles such as IT and business planning, before her current role as HR Director.    A slightly different podcast this time around, but one I thoroughly enjoyed and got a lot out of. Both Gerry and Najaya are fantastic leaders in their field and we covered a lot of ground, such as the impact Covid-19 has had on the global Philip Morris operations, the great work of those that work in supply chain who are some of the busiest people in the world, sticking to two core principles throughout this period, as well as the brilliant way that the staff have been taken care of - as highlighted in the success results of an employee satisfaction survey - and in turn, how well they’ve adapted to the current situation.    You can reach out to Gerry (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerald-margolis-3a93375/) and Najaya (https://www.linkedin.com/in/najaya-jotikasthira-79a1a714/) on LinkedIn.    Once you’ve had a listen, feel free to leave a comment/rating, or even get in touch with your thoughts. 

My first guest on the podcast this week is Xiulin Loo, Practice Leader for Retirement & Investment at Aon. Xiulin hails from Malaysia, but as well as Malaysia, she’s spent her career working in various different countries such as Singapore and the USA. Now she’s in Thailand, where she has been since 2014. Xiulin brings a lot of fun and energy onto the podcast - even popping up on screen with a virtual background which is a first. We talk about the creative way in which her teams are keeping engaged (virtual Happy Hours could take off after people listen to this), the importance of factoring in financial well-being when talking about employee well-being, navigating expectations around productivity, and her philosophy on learning, unlearning and then relearning to keep up with the ever shifting business landscape. I’m sure you’ll find her insight and advice useful, so don’t forget to share the podcast and leave a comment/rating. You can reach out to Xiulin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xiulinloo/

As uncertainty in the market persists, there are no shortage of excellent guests for me to talk to on the podcast and Ep.5 is no different. It was great to have Tom Browne - Talent Acquisition Dir for Asia Pacific & Japan at VMware - onto the show. Tom is currently based in Singapore. He has over 17 years of global talent acquisition experience under his belt leading in-house and agency teams across Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. We talk about a lot during the podcast and one of things I love about our discussion is the data driven trends Tom is able to bring to the table about how talent acquisition has been affected since Covid-19 hit, the surprising patterns of behaviour he's seeing among candidates and hirers, as well as some of the successful virtual hiring he's seen across VMware.  If you'd like to reach out to Tom, you can get in touch with him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tombrowneasia/

Ep.4 of The HR Futurist Podcast is out now and I was delighted to welcome Chutchapol Youngwiriyakul - Practice Leader at Kincentric - to the show. Chutchapol is an industry veteran - he's been in HR for many years with the likes of P&G, BASF and Aon. He's also a guest lecturer at a couple of famous universities in Thailand, as well as a regular keynote speaker. Chutchapol has so much experience and expertise in HR and HR leadership, so it was great to hear him go into the detail of how he's adjusted to a new way of doing business, his philosophy of leading through a crisis and the importance of maintaining mental wellness, as well as a lot more. Certainly not one to be missed, so plug in and enjoy!

Ep.3 of the HR Futurist Podcast is out now and it was a pleasure to invite Andre Young - VP of HR for Asia at Essilor Group - to the show. Andre's career to date has taken him across south east Asia via global organisations such as Hewlett Packard and Schneider Electric, before joining Essilor and experiencing a real baptism of fire! He talks me through heading straight into the Covid-19 crisis as soon as he finished his onboarding - something he describes as a valuable learning experience - and during the process finding out about the people-first culture that Essilor live by, as well as the successful navigation and learnings from their China operation and how they were able to use those learnings across the different regions.  The learning opportunities don't stop there as Andre's experience - as well as his advice - is something all HR leaders can benefit from. If you'd like to reach out to Andre directly, you can get in touch with him here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreyoung/

I was delighted to welcome Amanda Oldridge as a guest on the second episode of The HR Futurist Podcast.  Amanda is Regional HR Director at Linfox International Group and her career to-date has been an impressive one, peppered with academic excellence and senior HR roles at the likes of Novartis. She grew up in Australia and her studies and work-life have take her to Hong Kong, the UK, Singapore and now Thailand where she is integral to Linfox's strategy for managing the impact of Covid-19 on the business. We cover a lot of ground in this podcast, such as the importance of routine and family contact (particularly for expats), her gratitude for frontline drivers, and how the future of HR and work is already forming before us with new ways of working, new operational efficiencies and in turn, a new way of leadership. This was a great chat and I'm looking forward to having Mandy back on the podcast in different market conditions. You can get in touch with amanda via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-oldridge-928b98/

For the first episode of The HR Futurist Podcast I was joined by Vishal Sharma, SVP & Head of HR for Overseas at Aditya Birla Chemicals. Aditya has had a distinguished career to date, having been in key HR roles across global organisations. My conversation with Vishal was a great way to kick off the podcast, as he offered some real insight into how a business like Aditya Birla Chemicals reacted to the current crisis, Vishal's role in what they are doing now and working towards for the future, as well as key advice that he offers for all HR leaders who have really seen their importance come to light over the last few weeks. I certainly left it re-energised and I'm sure you will too! If you'd like to get in touch with Vishal, you can connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal2/