Chief of Staff Asia continued the discussion with Janice Siu, Landor & Fitch’s managing director for Asia-Pacific growth. Now, she talked about HR trends in 2023.
COS Asia: What HR trends in 2023 will impact your company the most?
Siu: The first trend would be leadership development. We are in a Creative Industry. People are our key asset. We must develop a people-centric culture by preparing our leaders for the future. It has to be from (the) top down, a non-negotiable. We mapped out a new work strategy in the first quarter of 2022.
The next trend will be the future of work. Our modular approach centres on three main principles:
- Purposeful connection – We want different teams to encourage each other to come to the office three days a week and meet purposefully.
- Focused independent work – Everyone needs a quiet space and focused time for work. The employees decide on work location (at home or office).
- Culture connectivity – We encourage people to travel to other offices and meet each other again after three years of a pandemic.
The third trend is on building a mentorship culture, which is critical in our talent development strategy. Last year, we launched the mentorship scheme to mesh our global management board members with our high-potential staff. We’ll identify 80 members from the board and have one mentee each. We’re in the first phase.
Building a belonging culture would be the last trend. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is the cornerstone of our culture. Our employees from different walks of life work together as a global team. They are invaluable as a global Creative agency. Clients are looking for brands that resonate with global and pop cultures.
For us, percentage points and statistics do not gauge DEI. It is 100% or nothing. The moment a person feels discriminated against means we have failed. We have work to do. We have quite a high standard.
COS Asia: Can you share some of your best DEI practices?
Siu: We’re proud of the DEI initiatives that we even brand them.
Building to Belong is one of my favourites, a platform for the speakers to share insights to engage people passionate about diversity. It’s an employee-led group with over 100 global members spanning different regions, functions, levels, and backgrounds.
It’s not just a networking club for social events. We want to push this agenda forward. Last year, our focus was on gender equality. This year, we will move to more DEI topics. We want to build an inclusive culture for everyone to grow, thrive, and belong to, fostering open and safe communication in a work environment that furthers gender equality.
Another branded DEI initiative is Good Squad, a global think tank for sustainability and innovation. It has 300 people actively contributing to sustainable brand transformation projects and creating a network that shares best practices and learning.
The Cambodian Children’s Fund is a giving project where we teach our employees to help the needy. We train the participating students in design and creative skills.
This feature was extracted from Chief of Staff Asia’s exclusive interview with Janice Siu, Managing Director for Asia Pacific Growth at Landor & Fitch. For further coverage please see the below link:
