The document discusses the importance of executive education and continuous skills development for HR professionals. It provides perspectives from industry experts on the skills needed for HR professionals to remain relevant, such as emotional intelligence, coaching skills, and the ability to align HR strategies with business goals. Examples of executive education programs that can help equip HR professionals with these skills, such as coaching certifications and courses on performance management, are also highlighted.

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Back toExecutive education does
not only refer to fabled MBA
programmes. Rather, niche
courses and programmes
are geared towards specific
professions, including the HR
profession. But how should HR
practitioners equip themselves
to be work-ready and relevant?
HRM finds out
for HR
Sham Majid
sham@hrmasia.com.sg
Ong cites says human beings are
“complex creatures” who require
sensitivity, attention and a listening ear.
“Therefore, any training that enables
an HR professional to increase their
understanding of others, such as
enabling them to read between the
lines of what people say and getting
them attuned to the nuances of social
interactions between people from
school
Theresa Ong, Coach Division
Manager of Executive Coach
International, firmly believes that the HR
role is “more complex and challenging
than just working on Excel spreadsheets
or PowerPoint presentations”.
“HR is probably one of the most
challenging functions within any
organisation as we spend most of our
time dealing with people,” she says.

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However, she says it should be as
practical as possible, and not just
theoretical.
“As directors will also need to deal with
other staff members, their leadership
development should be completed by an
emphasis on growing their emotional
intelligence (EQ) as well,” elaborates Ong.
“Numerous studies conducted by entities
such as the Harvard Business School and
Stanford University have shown that the
difference between a successful leader
and one that is struggling is how much
they have developed their EQ.”
Ong further explains HR professionals
can gain a better understanding of what
really motivates their colleagues and how
to handle conflicts in a more effective
way by not being drawn in by other
people’s emotions.
“More likely than not, it will also bring
them more clarity about how to prioritise
tasks as they will have better control over
their own emotions and a cooler head when
it comes to making decisions,” she says.
“Last but not least, by attending such
programmes, they will be dealing with
people they might not usually meet at
work, thereby expanding the range of their
expertise when it comes to managing HR.”
Vincent Yeo, Director of Operations
and Service Support at SIM Professional
Development says the core skills
and competencies required by every
professional are “personal mastery”,
people management, business alignment
and organisational alignment.
“It is very important for HR to align
their strategies with the business
and organisation needs because HR
professionals are key drivers of staff’s
capability development in most
organisations,” he explains.
“They have to be competent at
managing culture and nurturing strong
values that enable teams to work towards
common goals – especially so as the teams
are more diverse in composition today.”
Yeo says talent management is another
key area, with today’s workforce being
increasingly mobile.
“Relevant areas include employee
retention, talent development, developing
Plugging the HR skill gaps
Ong says while there are many common
programmes that can help both HR
professionals and directors, the needs of
HR professionals may be different.
“An HR professional is also often
expected to effectively pass on their
knowledge and experience to their
juniors. For all these reasons, an
ambitious HR professional needs to hone
their coaching skills: by doing so, they
will have a better understanding of what
people really want and how to handle or
avoid potential disputes. They will also
have a clearer vision of what motivates
their colleagues,” she explains.
“Finding a good coach training
programme is not easy and I recommend
choosing one that is internationally
recognised, where the backgrounds of
the participants are diverse and where
the trainers are certified and easily
approachable.”
“The more challenging the programme
is, the more you will benefit from it at
work,” she says.
When it comes to directors, Ong is
“convinced” that leadership development
can further benefit their careers.
Along with a national push to enhance
the skillsets of HR professionals in
Singapore, executive education is also
increasingly becoming another avenue
for learning and development.
At the HR Manpower Seminar organised by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and
held at the Lifelong Learning Institute on May 26, three key recommendations were proposed
to enhance the skill sets of HR professionals in Singapore.
These include:
• To develop interventions to champion the interests of the HR profession in Singapore
• To strengthen the education and training infrastructure to build a sustainable skills pipeline
throughout the lifecycle of the HR professional
• To create and enhance shared industry infrastructure to facilitate access to HR services and
expertise
The recommendations arose from a study titled HR Manpower Study: Strengthening the HR
Profession in Singapore.
Additional findings
According to the HR Manpower Study, 23% of the 831 organisations polled signalled their
intentions to expand or establish their HR function. To complement the expansion plans, they
planned for an average of three additional recruits each over the next three years.
Of the firms that signalled they had ambitions to expand their HR departments, the
functions which were most in need of new resources included:
• Performance, Remuneration and Benefits (65%)
• Learning and Development (64%)
• Recruitment and Resourcing (62%)
The study also deduced the present and future priorities for HR. The present priorities include:
• Recruiting to fill vacant positions
• Ensuring timely execution of payroll
• Managing employee relations and engagement
• Retaining crucial skills and experience within the business
• Enabling the business to improve productivity
The future initiatives include:
• Collaborating with senior management on people strategy
• Ensuring that succession planning is in place for key positions
• Managing employee relations and engagement
• Retaining crucial skills and experience within the business
• Enabling the business to improve productivity
In addition, the survey highlighted that more than 80% of the firms indicated that HR training
and HR experience were preferred when hiring for HR managerial and strategic level job
positions.
The future skills and character traits required for HR professionals include:
• Strategic partner to the business
• Change agent to facilitate the development of human capital
• Mediator to balance the interests of employers and employees.
• Effective administrator to ensure operational success.
The WDA in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower, International Enterprise Singapore
and SPRING Singapore commissioned KPMG to conduct the study between June and
December last year.
HR’s pledge to the SkillsFuture movement
On May 20 this year, a group of 50 companies highlighted their support for the national
SkillsFuture movement. They participated in the SkillsFuture employers’ pledge ceremony
organised by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and supported by the Singapore
Workforce Development Agency (WDA).
According to the WDA, the 50 organisations, made up of SMEs and multinationals, pledged their
commitment to:
• Adopt progressive HR practices that recognise skills-based career progression
• Provide employment opportunities and structured training pathways for all Singaporeans
• Support lifelong learning for existing workers
• Foster a culture of lifelong learning within their organisations
The event also featured a Memorandum of Understanding between SNEF and WDA to unveil a new series
of masterclasses that will boost employers’ capabilities to adopt progressive, forward-looking HR practices.
These masterclasses will help SMEs and multinationals through the following ways:
• Learning and development programmes for acquiring and developing talent
• Processes and strategies for nurturing the next generation of company leaders
• Methods for evaluating individual performance against organisational goals
The inaugural masterclass, titled “Winning the War for Talent”, was conducted in July.
Another five masterclasses, benefitting 300 employers, will be rolled out over the next two years.
different cultures or generations will
definitely help,” she says.
Ong’s assertion that HR professionals
will benefit from training has also been
echoed by Singapore Labour chief Chan
Chun Sing.
During the inaugural HR Leadership
Summit in June, Chan noted that it was
imperative to upskill the competency
levels of HR practitioners so they can
assume leadership roles in organisations
based in Singapore or overseas.
“On the whole, we hope that working
with the Singapore HR Institute (SHRI)
and Association of Small and Medium
Enterprises (ASME), we will have a
roadmap, a progressive skills ladder for
HR professionals, ranging from how
they manage a small enterprise with 10
employees to a multinational corporation
with thousands of employees,” Chan told
ChannelNewsAsia.
He also revealed that the National
Trades Union Congress (NTUC) will
partner with bodies such as the ASME
and SHRI to advance skill sets. This will
enable HR practitioners to, for example,
better comprehend matters such as the
Industrial Relations Act.
“It is very important for HR
to align their strategies with
the business and organisation
needs because HR professionals
are key drivers of staff’s
capability development in most
organisations”
Vincent Yeo, Director of Operations and Service Support, SIM Professional Development
THREE KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

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learning interventions, performance
management and helping individuals
find alignment between their personal
career aspirations and career paths in the
organisation,” he adds.
Show me the courses
For those who are interested in
developing their coaching skills, Ong
says Executive Coach International
has formulated the Professional
Coach Training Programme that is
internationally accredited by the
International Coach Federation.
“This programme equips people with
superior coaching and mentoring skills.
We have trained hundreds of people
since our company was founded more
than a decade ago,” she states.
“We have also developed a brand
new programme that adds leadership
development to coach training, which is
currently going through the process of
being internationally accredited by the
International Coach Federation.”
Ong says this programme aims to help
people in leadership positions who often
have to make quick decisions in complex
situations.
Both programmes are guaranteed to
stretch their participants’ knowledge
and skills, which will prepare them well
for the most challenging situations they
might face at work in the future, she adds.
Meanwhile, Yeo says SIM Professional
Development’s HR programmes
are divided into two categories: HR
Development and HR Management.
HR Development programmes like
the SIM Competent Trainer Programme
and Training the Trainer help companies
and organisations to develop and grow
internal training capability.
Among the HR Management
programmes are “Aligning HR with
Business Strategy, HR Best Practices and
Policies, Interviewing Skills to Managing
Compensation, and Performance
Appraisal – Engaging and Harnessing
the Best from your Staff.” “These
programmes will equip HR professionals
with the essential knowledge and
skillsets needed to oversee all aspects
of workforce development and
management,” explains Yeo.
Making a case for HR executive education
From Ong’s perspective, if HR
professionals do not acquire new skills
or knowledge, they face the risk of
becoming obsolete, sooner or later.
“This is not limited to the HR sphere
but the whole working world: everything
goes faster and faster at work, HR
professionals are asked to make quick
decisions with limited information and
deal with all kinds of people in their
jobs,” she highlights.
“This can be quite stressful and
definitely requires some skills that are
not usually taught at university. When
it comes to dealing with people, coach
training has the highest return on
investment. That is why CEOs such as
Larry Page, Jeff Bezos and even Steve
Jobs have used coaching to get better at
what they do.”
Ong says HR professionals are the ones
spending the most time dealing with
people and therefore need to be fully
equipped with all the relevant skills to
handle such complex interactions in the
most effective way.
In addition, with globalisation
affecting all professional organisations,
Ong highlights that teams are bound to
become more multicultural.
“As a HR professional, being able to
deal with colleagues whose ages might
range from 25 to 65 is a huge challenge
– something that you cannot just study
in traditional education courses,” she
explains.
“The more complex the workplace
becomes, the more clarity HR
professionals need to be able to
perform and meet their organisations’
expectations. Furthermore, any
training needs to have a high return
on investment (ROI) and also a lasting
effect. As multinationals such as IBM
discovered some time ago, coach
training is highly relevant to the HR
professionals, immediately applicable
and offers an unmatched ROI.”
Yeo also acknowledges the role and
function of HR have evolved significantly
over the years.
“No longer are they taking on the
traditional functions of staffing,
recruitment and payroll administration,”
he says.
“Instead, today’s HR play a significant
and strategic role in helping the
organisation achieve its mission, vision,
strategy, and goals. This involves
recognising that the link between
helping an individual employee, and
helping their team, their department,
and their company to perform better.”
Furthermore, Yeo stresses that HR
professionals must ensure there is a
direct connection between the policies,
procedures, programmes and services
they offer and the organisation’s larger
purposes.
“As such, HR professionals must
keep pace with new human capital
development knowledge by attending
relevant programmes so that they can
help the organisation to leverage on the
employees’ full potential. At the end
of the day, HR must play the strategic
partner role to the CEO – helping the
senior management team in harnessing
human potential and channelling it in
the right direction,” he adds.
HR set for
certification
The HR sector in Singapore will be guided by
a new framework to further groom talent and
foster more career and professional development
opportunities for professionals within the field.
The framework was unveiled by Manpower
Minister Lim Swee Say on July 10 during the
Singapore HR Institute’s 50th anniversary dinner.
Lim said the new blueprint was being
formulated by a taskforce with representatives
from the government, employers and unions.
The scheme falls under the Sectoral
Manpower Plan for HR, which will be
established by a tripartite committee featuring
representatives from the government,
employers and unions.
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