Future of work, gender bias, transformation and the changing role of HR were some of the many themes that gained attention in 2019. These topics were also the discussion points and focus areas for most of the talent leaders across the globe. 

To gain more understanding about the various talent priorities of leaders and learn about their diverse thoughts and opinions on different themes, we interacted with many HR and business leaders from across the globe. 

While the year 2019 was filled with several insightful conversations with talent leaders, we bring to you some of the most read out of them.

Charoen Pokphand Group's CEO on transforming to lead

“We live in an era that is driven by a new generation of people, talent, and corporations who are stressing on the importance of sustainability. And any organization seeking profit but without clear sustainability goals is set for failure,” said Suphachai Chearavanont is the Chief Executive Officer of Charoen Pokphand Group. 

At the very beginning of the year, he set the tone with his thought provoking perspectives that he shared in this interview. 

He shared that when it comes to continued development, sustainability has to be the foundation for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders and to maintain balance amongst the economy, society and environment. In this interview, Chearavanont also reflected on his leadership journey. 

In addition to Chearavanont, this interview also includes excerpts from an interaction with Kulshaan Singh, Co-Chief People Officer (Co-CPO) of the Charoen Pokphand Group Co. Ltd. who shared his perspectives on how HR at CP Group is devising structured approaches for digital transformation and how the Group is differentiating itself from the rest when it comes to its people practices.

Read the full interview here: In conversation with Suphachai Chearavanont is the Chief Executive Officer of Charoen Pokphand Group and Kulshaan Singh, Co-Chief People Officer (Co-CPO)

Experimentation is crucial for growth: OCBC Bank's Jason Ho

Jason Ho, Head of Group Human Resources, OCBC Bank said, “If you don’t experiment, take calculated risks, expand your horizons, or push your buttons, you can never take yourself to the next level and achieve your full potential.”

Ho believes that no ideas are crazy!

In this interaction he shared his insights into his career path, digital transformation initiatives in HR, and also threw light on the three pillars that support the bank’s employer brand. 

Speaking on the relevance of the role of HR he said, “HR has the leverage of having various points of interactions or touch-points that in turn enable it to influence employees, create an innovative learning culture in an organization, and make a holistic impact on the organization.”

Read his thoughts and learn more about OCBC’s best talent practices here: In conversation with Jason Ho, Head of Group Human Resources, OCBC Bank

We must change the perception of what an engineer looks like: Karen Horting

“Biases can impact our everyday decisions in the workplace but left unrecognized and unacknowledged, they can affect how we interact with others and influence our hiring, promotion, and compensation decisions. They can impact an organization’s culture and make it challenging to develop an inclusive workplace,” said Karen Horting, CEO & Executive Director at SWE. 

She shared insights from SWE’s study, ‘Walking the Tightrope’, which points toward gender biases that women and men face in India in the engineering workplace. Horting also discussed some of the ways through which engineering organizations can address these biases. 

“Simple training on gender bias isn’t enough, though,” hinted Horting. 

Evidence shows that one-time diversity trainings often do not work. For change to occur, systemic bias at each level of a business organization must be addressed. This will allow leaders to take a full look at how they can make sure things like salary increases, promotions, and assignments are designated in a way that doesn’t negatively impact women.

Read the full interview here: In conversation with Karen Horting, CEO & Executive Director at SWE

IBM's Sr VP-HR on leading with Design Thinking

Speaking on the future of work, IBM's Senior VP, Human Resources, Diane Gherson said, “Based on what I’m experiencing, the future of work is agile, iterative, collaborative and performed by self-directed, empowered teams. When we work this way, it allows us to assemble and dis-assemble quickly to respond much more quickly.”

In the interaction Gherson also shared how IBM fosters a culture of innovation and she also talked about digital transformation. 

“It starts with nurturing a culture of experimentation and encouraging our HR employees to get out of their comfort zones and learn new digital skills and apply them to their work. IBM has adopted agile and design thinking at scale throughout the company, with HR leading the way,” she said. 

Read the full interview here: In conversation with Diane Gherson, IBM's Senior VP, Human Resources

If you’ve got a strategy, the only way you’ll get it done is through your people: President & CEO, SHRM

For Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), when he started the venture, the rule was simple: people strategy first, and then business strategy. 

“Conventional wisdom is that you design your business strategy first and then you go to your people strategy second. I flipped it on its head. I said, “We’re going to start with people first,” he said. 

Further, for SHRM’s President & CEO ’curiosity is  key’. His best advice for HR leaders to get ready from a skilling or reskilling perspective of their teams is to remain curious. 

“People who aren’t curious need to leave the profession,” he exclaimed. 

Besides taking the readers through his journey from a lawyer to the CEO of world's largest HR professional society, he also talked about the future of work and the changing role of HR. 

Read the full here: In conversation with Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, The President and Chief Executive Officer of the SHRM