The paradigm shift to human development in ASEAN

With the traditional paradigm of managing people as a resource or as economic capital in ASEAN is no longer adequate, human development (HD) is increasingly becoming a priority for many organisations. 

Speaking with HRM Asia, Dr Bob Aubrey, Founder and Chair of the Advisory Board, ASEAN Human Development Organisation (AHDO), said, “With the pandemic, people had to become the priority and HR managers in every country did a great job of ensuring health and safety first, then adapting to remote working and dealing with the human issues of working from home.” 

To find out how organisations can continue to take strides towards successful HD, Dr Aubrey invites attendees to join him at the ASEAN Human Development Summit, which is taking place on May 11 as part of HR Tech Festival Asia 2023. 

Themed The Paradigm Shift to Human Development, the second edition of the ASEAN Human Development Summit has a clear objective of improving HD at work and will bring together various stakeholders, including ASEAN’s national HR associations, senior human development professionals, thought leaders, and the ASEAN professional community.  

Through collaboration and dialogue, the summit seeks to establish a balance between economic and human development in the region. It will also take a deep dive into how technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) is having on organisations and jobs.  

Dr Aubrey elaborated, “For organisations, digital transformation and use of AI tools is necessary for competitiveness. For jobs, AI is replacing some jobs and creating new ones, with many jobs requiring a redesign to integrate the power of AI.”

Besides Dr Aubrey’s Measuring Human Development at Work session, Gaston Carrion, Strategy & Consulting, Managing Director T&O/Human Potential APAC Lead & Global Employee Experience Lead, Accenture, will deliver the morning keynote titled The Shift to Human Development by Companies, Investors and Workers (ESG, Employee Experience, Net Better Off); while Fong Tuan Chen, Senior Executive Vice President of Group Human Capital at Maybank, will share his experience and perspectives in his How Human Development Changed My HR Career and Why It Will Change Yours session. 

The AHDO Human Development Summit will include a number of thought-provoking panel discussions, including the Is HR Ready to Redefine the Profession? session. Moderated by Shree Mogan, Council Member, AHDO, the panel includes Alvin Goh, Executive Director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute; Yeni Pereira, Human Resources Director of CARE International in Timor-Leste; and Ihsanuddin Usman, Human Resources & General Affairs Director of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero); who will explore the reasons for HR’s shift to HD in ASEAN. 

To offer more insights into the shift from HR to HD, particularly from a leadership perspective, Farid Basir, CPO, MBSB Bank, will be moderating a panel discussion titled Leadership Shift: Are Business Leaders Ready?. He will be joined by Elisa Mallis, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Centre for Creative Leadership; Federico Donato, President, Eurocham Singapore; and Welyne Jeffery Jehom, Researcher/Senior Lecturer, Department of Anthropology & Sociology, Universiti Malaya.  

To better understand the career opportunities offered by HR, be sure to join the panel discussion, HR Career Opportunities: Winners and Losers, which will be moderated by Yulius Bulo, Vice Chairperson, AHDO Indonesia. Joining him to discuss the growth areas in HD are Philippa “Pip” Penfold, Managing Director, Integrating Intelligence; Renée Tan, Director, Research Division, Institute for Adult Learning Singapore, Singapore University of Social Sciences; and Nadiah Tan Adbullah, Regional Chair of AHDO for 2023 and CHRO, S P Setia. 

Also speaking at the AHDO Human Development Summit are Nissi Taruli Felicia Naibaho, Co-Founder, FeminisThemis, who will address the challenges deaf people in ASEAN face in accessing education and careers; and Thomas Bertels, Founder and President, Purpose Works Consulting, who will describe the shift in the HR paradigm from an American perspective.  

Click here to register for HR Tech Festival Asia 2023, which is taking place from May 10-11, and be part of the discussion on how Asia’s HR community can successfully navigate the new paradigm of people and work in 2023!