HRM Asia Watch List 2018 – That’s a wrap!

Our final list is a diverse showcase of HR leaders who are on clear upward trajectories towards increasingly strategic and far-reaching roles.

By: Yamini Chinnuswamy | October 22, 2018

The HRM Asia Watch List 2018 (#hrmwatchlist), brought to you by Armstrong Craven, showcases the brightest next-generation HR leadership talent from across Southeast Asia.

Our inaugural Watch List reveal has now come to an end. It’s been exciting for the team here to unveil this project over these last few weeks, and we hope you have found our list-makers as promising as we have.

There was an idea, to bring together a group of remarkable people – oops, no, that would be Marvel’s Avengers.

But seriously, this project began a few months ago, with the hope of creating a ‘spotlight’ list of Southeast Asia’s rising HR talent.

Even as the HR and business community grapples with what the future of work means for everyone, we had a strong conviction that it would be worth highlighting the next generation of talent that’s right there in the trenches, shaping the strategies and approaches of Industry 4.0.

We looked far and wide across the region, conducting our own research, calling for nominees from readers, and seeking out recommendations from HRM Asia’s advisory committee.

Hours of conversations followed, along with weeks of brain-storming and discussion, before we created our final shortlist.

I’m happy to say that what we ended up with is diverse showcase of HR leaders, who are all on clear upward trajectories towards increasingly strategic and far-reaching roles.

HRM Asia Watch List 2018 – Gender Breakdown

HRM Asia Watch List 2018 – Country Breakdown

If there is one thing that our 16 list-makers have in common, it’s the knowledge and understanding that HR must be at the forefront of transformation – reinventing itself to become more strategic, and less transactional.

As Monica Oudang – Chief People Officer of Go-Jek and one of our Indonesian entrants – explains: “My team has to have that in-depth understanding of what is actually going on in the organisation – to understand the financials, the business context, the data – and to be able to strategically partner with leadership to create solutions. Rather than just ‘copying-and-pasting’ from what worked before.”

But another word came up several times during my conversations with our Watch List members: potential.

HR plays such a vital role in helping talent bring out their inner potential, and even as the fourth industrial revolution completely changes the way we work, it is vital that we do not forget the ‘human’ in human resources.

Fortunately, if our 16 HR leaders here are any indication, I don’t think that will be a problem at all.

As Chen Fong Tuan – Chief People Officer, Mah Sing Group Berhad and one of our Malaysian entrants – notes, “The opportunity to influence people and help change their lives is gratifying. Work is such a big part of our lives.”

Thank you again for following along with us, and please do keep an eye out for the October-November issue of HRM Magazine Asia to learn who made it into our First Class for Watch List 2018.