Describing himself as having “stumbled into HR”, K. Thivenathan, or ‘Thivi’, as he prefers, now has three decades of HR experience under his belt. Through circumstance and chance, he found himself intrigued by the process of engaging employees in order to drive business success, and continued steadily on that path.
Since his first job at Epson, he has found long-term roles across Malaysia and Singapore, including at Honeywell, X-FAB, Coca-Cola, and UTAC. He has also sat as an Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) Council Member for the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
He says that a heavy focus of his has been “culture change in support of changing business models”. He says he enjoys working with a team “to help employees experience work in a trusting environment while being rewarded handsomely when the business performs well”.
An economist’s culmination of best HR practices
Thivi is a multi-awarded HR leader, having won the 2006 Malaysia HR Leader Award and more recently HRM Asia’s Best HR Team for Change Management in 2017, together with his team at UTAC. Throughout his career, he has maintained a humble outlook and recognises that there are numerous HR practitioners out there “doing fantastic work… too busy to venture out to share their success stories, or grossly under-recognised”.
He remains focused on sharing his experiences and insights with others in the profession, and this year published his book, Applied HR: Sense & Simplicity, with Partridge Publishing Singapore, which contains 205 principles and ideas on people management.
The book’s synopsis states that, as an economist, Thivi had been in constant search for formulaic strategies to address workplace challenges. Thus, early in his career he took it upon himself to begin writing down those hard-learned lessons he picked up in the workplace pertaining to performance management, leadership, and even the nuances of culture and human behaviour.
Below are some words of wisdom from the book:
“Inclusion is just rhetoric if the participants are not treated as equals.”
“Most employees are self-motivated. Educate managers on how not to demotivate them.”
“Capitalise on the technology to maximise the socialisation.”
“It is a culmination of my learnings over the years,” he says of his book, adding that it is “a good read for anyone interested in exploring common principles and the subtleties in managing people.”
Win-win satisfaction
Asked what his greatest passion is in HR, Thivi says that it is the process of simplifying practices and ensuring that the department fulfils the role of enabling people.
“My focus in recognising ‘pain-areas’ of business and addressing them with simple yet business-friendly people practices has been very rewarding,” he says. He adds that his ultimate satisfaction is seeing a company perform better than its competitors, while at the same time its employees are engaged and rewarded beyond industry standards.
In the past, he has spoken on how HR must complement technology to maximise the employee experience, including behavioural skills such as problem-solving, internal marketing, and influencing others. Optimistic about modern technological advancements such as digitalisation and AI, Thivi considers them tools for improving HR’s effectiveness.
Communication is another pillar of his leadership. In an previous interview, he said, “You can’t run away from not communicating. … HR needs to create the right environment for leaders to communicate.”
As an HR advisor for several organisations, he delights in opportunities to hear and learn from like-minded professionals.
“Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn,” he says.
HR Stars Awards
Thivi brings an evidence-based perspective to the judging panel for Chief of Staff Asia’s HR Stars Awards.
“I look for nominees who demonstrate a strong understanding of business and are able to develop or modify and implement people practices that have become a business culture, not merely an HR process,” he says, adding that the ability to reflect on past learnings and adjust business models will distinguish the winners.
In addition, Thivi says that a good HR professional should aim to create a trusting work environment for employees and leaders alike, where they are “able to relate their work to company performance, have the opportunity to build relevant capabilities, and be rewarded competitively”.
