2. www.hrdmag.com.sg 21
WELCOME TO HRD’s inaugural Rising Stars list. We
asked you, our readers, to nominate HR professionals
who you believe are doing outstanding work. You
responded with enthusiasm – the HRD team received
over 40 nominees. The final list of 20 professionals
profiled over the following pages is a stellar collection of
upcoming superstars – all of whom have less than
12 years of experience in the industry. From tackling
complicated IR/ER challenges to advocating ground-
breaking D&I initiatives and being the go-to experts for
their respective CEOs and other senior executives, these
professionals are adding value to their workplaces and
the industry as a whole. They are all demonstrating clear
career progression and are enviously high achievers.
Rest assured, if this list is any guide, the future of the HR
profession is in capable hands.
COMPANY PAGE NAME
AmericanExpress 27 AnjaliLobo
ArvatoDigitalServices 26 MomokoIida
BarclaysSingapore 25 ChristopherGoh
BigBoxSingapore 22 ZenTan
ChangiAirportGroup 29 SamNeo
CitiIndonesia 22 AlvinHadiono
Gallup 26 SauravAtri
HaysHongKong 28 ZoeTang
HPInc. 28 PoojaJhaveri
KantarPhilippines 25
FranzJosef
Magallanes
INDEX BY COMPANY
COMPANY PAGE NAME
QuotientTravelPlanner 26 JadeChen
RandstadSingapore 25 ClaireSmart
RevelSystems 26 AlexPusenjak
SandboxAdvisors 28 AmitPuri
SingaporeInstituteofManagement
University
28 CharissaTan
StarbucksCoffeeSingapore 24 LaviniaChen
Simplot 25 AnchanaSmith
TalentPlus 23 PriscilliaTan
TheRitz-Carlton,
MilleniaSingapore
22 VivianWong
20-29_RisingStars_SUBBED.indd 21 17/11/2016 11:41:32 AM
3. COVER STORY
22 www.hrdmag.com.sg
RISING STARS
Alvin Hadiono’s work at Citi has been
“exceptional” (as his performance was
officially rated), particularly over the last
two years. One major project he
implemented was Citi’s Leadership
Culture Transformation, which involved
training more than 700 senior managers
and leaders on leadership standards,
values chartering and cascading, respect
at work and career ownership; this
initiative significantly improved manager
effectiveness scores. Hadiono also
launched other development programs
that have helped increase productivity to
the extent that potentially more than
70 working hours have been saved by
the top-performing project teams. His
efforts have contributed to Citi Indonesia
winning various industry awards, such
as the Best Companies in Developing
Leaders from Within and Best Corporate
University awards. On top of his
responsibilities as L&D head, Hadiono
also serves as HR business partner for
seven global functions in Citi Indonesia,
and is currently working on a regional
alignment initiative of professional skills
training portfolio for all Citi offices
across Asia-Pacific.
Country learning and development head,
Citi Indonesia
ALVIN
HADIONO
For the past few years, Zen Tan has
been occupied with spearheading
recruitment for the opening of the largest
warehouse retailers in Singapore, which
has involved hiring approximately 200
staff and arranging their compensation
packages and incentives. The project also
led to the evaluation and fine-tuning of
various internal HR policies – including
employee leave provisions and other
benefits for existing staff – and the
alignment of these with the benefits for
new staff. As an acknowledgement of his
efforts, Tan was promoted to his current
position in July 2016. His other recent
efforts include assisting business units in
gauging manpower needs by reviewing
work patterns and adjusting schedules to
reduce overlapping hours and increase
productivity, as well as conducting exit
interviews to generate quality feedback
and implementing changes from that
feedback in order to reduce turnover rate.
Senior HR executive,
Big Box Singapore
ZEN
TANVivian Wong started her career in HR
within the hospitality sector in 2008, first
as a training executive. A subsequent
promotion to assistant training manager
occurred within a year. Shortly after, she
became part of the pre-opening team
for one of three Forbes five-star hotels
in Singapore, working on recruitment.
Wong joined The Ritz-Carlton in 2013,
and was promoted to assistant director
for human resources in 2014. Following
this appointment, she immediately
embarked on a project to equip the HR
team for cross-functional purposes and
to cover a wider spectrum of duties for
hotel employees. This initiative resulted
in improved efficiency of the HR team
in providing bespoke solutions, which
led to a significant increase in employee
engagement. This year, the company
scored a whopping 96% in Aon Hewitt’s
Employee Engagement Survey, and
received the ‘Best of the Best’ employers
award. Wong and her team were also
included in HRD Magazine’s list of top
HR teams for the year.
Assistant director of HR,
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
VIVIAN
WONG
ENTER GEN Z
By 2020, Generation Z – those born between 1990 and 1999 – will make
up 20% of the workforce. It’s time for employers to start considering this
cohort of workers now, as they finish up their studies and enter the workforce.
Their workplace reality will be different to any previous generation’s. One report,
The 2015 Future Leaders Index by Co-op in partnership with BDO, notes that these workers
will operate in a truly global job market. They will enter a job market that is continuously
being shaped by global working practices. Flexible working arrangements, contract-based
assignments and global outsourcing will be the norm for this age cohort.
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