HRM Asia Weekly News (December 4, 2024)

Uncovering future leaders: A fresh framework for high-potential talent

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business landscape, identifying and developing high-potential (HiPo) talent is crucial to ensuring organisational success. But what makes someone a HiPo? And how can organisations build frameworks to recognise and nurture these future leaders, especially in regions like Asia-Pacific where cultural nuances and business dynamics vary significantly?

To gain deeper insight into these questions, HRM Asia spoke with Nicole Dickie , Senior Consultant, International Distributors, for Hogan Assessments , who emphasised the importance of personality in shaping leadership potential. As Dr Robert Hogan, Founder of Hogan Assessments, famously puts it, “who you are is how you lead.”

The Hogan model: Three key characteristics that define HiPos

HiPo employees are often viewed as the future leaders of an organisation, but defining what exactly makes someone a HiPo can be challenging. Many organisations fall into the trap of solely focusing on an employee’s current performance or visibility within the organisation. Hogan’s approach, however, goes deeper, assessing potential through the lens of personality. | READ MORE

Facing 2025: Share your HR insights in What's Keeping HR Up at Night? survey

As AI continues to redefine workplaces and transform business strategies globally, the role of HR executives has never been more critical—or more complex. From navigating workforce disruptions to addressing evolving employee needs, HR leaders are at the forefront of change.

To identify the most pressing challenges shaping HR strategies for 2025, HR Executive invites you to participate in this year’s edition of the What’s Keeping HR Up at Night? survey.

This quick 5–10-minute survey is your opportunity to highlight the challenges, priorities, and opportunities you and your peers face. Your insights will help shape a comprehensive understanding of HR’s evolving landscape. In return, you will receive an early copy of the results, along with expert analysis, to inform your strategies for the year ahead.

The insights gathered from this annual survey serve as a vital resource for HR leaders navigating a rapidly changing business environment. | READ MORE

How leaders can foster year-round mental health conversations

As organisations strive to create workplaces that are not only productive but also supportive, fostering year-round mental health conversations has become a critical priority. Mental wellbeing is central to both employee engagement and organisational resilience, and proactive leaders play a key role in making mental health a foundational element of workplace culture.

There are a few key strategies that leaders can implement to normalise mental health conversations and build a supportive environment for their teams.

1. Cultivate a safe, open environment

Creating a safe space for mental health conversations starts with an environment of trust. Leaders should actively work to build a culture where employees feel comfortable discussing personal challenges, without fear of stigma or judgement. Research shows that psychological safety – where individuals feel secure enough to take interpersonal risks – is essential for open communication, and leaders can take several steps to foster it. | READ MORE

Ninja Van streamlines financial planning with Workday Adaptive Planning

Ninja Van, a leading tech-enabled express logistics organisation, has adopted Workday Adaptive Planning to centralise its finance and operations data while accelerating its budgeting processes. This move aligns with the former’s expansion in South-East Asia and the launch of new services, including B2B restocking and cold chain delivery.

Founded in 2014 with just one delivery van, Ninja Van has grown to become a regional powerhouse, operating in six South-East Asian markets and delivering around two million packages daily. The organisation now employs over 50,000 individuals, including delivery personnel. However, as the business scaled, managing financial planning manually using spreadsheets became increasingly unsustainable, presenting challenges related to time consumption, errors, and fragmented data.

According to Justina Sim, Country Head for Ninja Van Singapore, the manual approach to financial data aggregation and reporting was limiting the finance team’s ability to perform in-depth analysis. “The lack of standardised data formats made regional consolidation even more challenging,” Sim said. “Now, with Workday ’s integrated approach, we have a single source of truth for financial data. This empowers our teams to make informed, data-driven decisions that directly support our strategic growth initiatives.” | READ MORE

Is J.A.R.V.I.S. closer than we think? A look at Agentic AI

We live in a world that demands instant gratification. In this digital age, a sluggish device can feel like a brick wall blocking our progress. Whether they generate irrelevant results or take ages to comprehend simple requests, it is clear that we are looking for innovations that can fulfil our every request without the need for additional layers of prompting.

We may not realise that this technology is actually within reach.

AI Agents: The dawn of a new era

We have all envisioned a future where technology seamlessly integrates into our lives, much like the promise of Tony Stark’s J.A.R.V.I.S. or the ever-present virtual assistants on our smartphones. As we stand on the cusp of a new technological era, AI is poised to make these futuristic visions a reality. No longer a distant concept, AI is a tangible force reshaping industries and redefining the future of work.

At the forefront of AI innovation sits Agentic AI, the latest autonomous system capable of understanding, learning, and executing tasks on behalf of humans. These intelligent entities are poised to revolutionise the way businesses operate, from automating routine processes to driving strategic decision-making.

But what makes them different from your usual chatbot? | READ MORE

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