March/April 2014 International HR Update

Welcome to ChapmanCG’s 32nd International HR Update.

We have noticed recently that our counsel is being increasingly called upon at the Global CHRO level regarding how to structure HR teams across the world. I recently had a very stimulating discussion about this topic with a Global CHRO in Singapore who had recently lost her Regional HR Head. The APAC HR Leader in question was seemingly happy, and the company had tried hard to always keep her both satisfied and challenged. So the CHRO was questioning whether there was anything that she and the company could have done to avoid losing her. One of the potential issues that arose from this discussion was around the structure of the HR team and the positioning of the role itself. This interaction inspired the focus of one of our articles in this edition (see here), and we hope this sparks some thought and debate about how well companies are practicing these HR retention strategies.

We have an exciting two months ahead. Our Europe based global HR leader networking groups are about to take place in London (25 March), Paris (27 March), Zurich (28 March), Milan (1 April), Copenhagen (3 April) and Frankfurt (4 Apr). And our U.S. based global HR leader groups convene in New York from 28 April to 2 May. Discussion in these groups, mostly attended by our key global HR leaders either sitting in or travelling to these locations, will focus on “Managing HR in emerging markets in the era of Big Data.” Following on from these meetings, we will soon be sending invitations to our APAC HR Leader series of meetings, which will take place from 22 April — 6 June. We will be convening small groups of HR leaders in many principal locations around the region, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Seoul.

We also welcome Andrew Bailey who has joined ChapmanCG based out of Turkey and will be helping with senior HR appointments. He is also running our sister non HR business, BeathChapman, for Turkey/Middle East Africa. In other news, our portal for the Global HR and Talent community, www.chapmancg.com, will soon be entering an exciting new phase with the launch of MyChapmanCG. This functionality will allow HR Leaders to effectively use the site as a one-stop HR information and career management portal, allowing users to sign in via LinkedIn, Twitter, Google or email credentials. You will then be able to save preferences to allow for a more customised experience in viewing articles and job positions across multiple geographies, industries and HR specialisations. MyChapmanCG will be leveraging cutting-edge technology and reflects our commitment to achieving our mission of becoming the world’s most admired and innovative search firm. More on this soon.

Finally, we dedicate this edition of our Global HR Update to Tommy Lim, one of our most talented ChapmanCG team members in Singapore, who passed away suddenly on 28 February 2014. Born with muscular dystrophy and confined to a wheelchair, Tommy overcame significant personal hardship through his 34 year life to have a successful search career within our company. Tommy was an incredibly talented, dedicated, humble and proactive team member who was involved in all aspects of the HR search process including market scanning, phone screening, relationship support to many HR leaders, and market intelligence gathering. He was also involved in many key projects to support the fast-growing development of the group. We will all miss Tommy greatly.

We wish you a positive and productive close to Quarter 1, 2014.

All the best for the month ahead,

Matt and the team at ChapmanCG

To see the full International HR Update, click here: March/April