Options to useful retirement ....

Some ways to useful retirement and not just work alone but to be useful again to the society :

With some ideas and suggestions for re-employing and redeploying silver talent, culled from the experience of companies :

1 Avoid the retirement mindset

It is the societal and company culture that often puts off older workers from staying on or applying for jobs. Job advertisements asking for applicants with 'energy' and 'fresh thinking' for a workplace that is 'fast-paced' implicitly tell older candidates that they are not welcome.

2 Reinvent and Rehire in different positions

At a property giant here, 'senior silver hairs' are placed in positions where they are not responsible for profit and loss. This means they are not in charge of balance sheets and their performance is not based on the bottom line. This allows them to avoid the pressures of the corporate world while remaining as experienced advisers.

3 Offer better re-employment contracts

Re-employment contracts often slash pay and health benefits, which older employees find humiliating. Although a pay cut is inevitable especially if the employee's work load is lighter, salary should be determined on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the employee.

Re-employment contracts are usually offered on a yearly basis, subject to renewal. This takes away an employee's sense of security, which could be detrimental to morale. A three-year contract is a better compromise.

4 Rethink and redesign work habit arrangements

Older workers often want to continue working, but in a less intense and time-consuming environment. Being flexible with work arrangements or job-sharing would achieve this.

One company in America, business process outsourcer, allowed some 100 call-centre employees to work off-site. To fill the positions, it recruited older workers who proved excellent matches for its mature customers. When younger workers fill the roles, it found that they tend to quit after a while.

5 Offer and Provide flexi-retirement working time

Silver talent can be persuaded to remain in the company if they are given ample time to enjoy some amount of 'retirement'. Working six months a year or three days a week could provide this, as will taking a specified break in service (six months to a year) and then returning on contract.

6 Get retirees on retainer basis

Some companies also retain a pool of retirees who become management's first port of call when a sudden manpower injection is needed, whether in the case of cyclical spikes, job-sharing, or as a stop-gap measure in case of unplanned or long leave. As these employees already know how the company works, their deployment will avoid too much disruption.

7 Continue to Let the passion flow

Allow your silver talent the opportunity to take on passion projects of their own, whether running an innovation camp for employees, or getting involved with the company's corporate charity work.

Silver talent are no longer in the phase of life where work is the be-all and end-all. If they are convinced that they can use the company's resources to pursue the other interests they are passionate about, they are more likely to stay engaged at work.

8 Pass on the experiences learnt

The older executives or senior managers would have already gained a lot experiences from their years of working and it is surely useful for them to impart their experiences to the younger generation.

The Kolb Model and Subject Disciplines :

Kolb has undertaken extensive empirical work using the Learning Styles Inventory to relate different subject disciplines to the quadrants of the learning cycle and hence to different forms of knowledge: partly for reasons of space and partly for copyright reasons, you are referred to the text for the results.
Broadly speaking, he suggests that practitioners of creative disciplines, such as the arts, are found in the Divergent quadrant.
Pure scientists and mathematicians are in the Assimilative quadrant
Applied scientists and lawyers are in the Convergent quadrant

Professionals who have to operate more intuitively, such as teachers, are in the Accommodative quadrant
There are also differences in the location of specialists within the more general disciplines

This would suggest that different subject areas call for different learning styles, and raises the usual chicken and egg question as to whether the discipline promotes a particular learning style, or whether preferred learning style leads to adoption of a discipline, or of course, both. (All of the above assumes that there is some validity in this conceptualisation of "learning styles")

If "Executive" MBA programmes are no different, why more expensive than normal MBA?

If "Executive" MBA programmes are not much different from the normal MBA counterparts, why do business schools charge higher or twice the price?

Not surprisingly, there is no shortage of business-school types eager to defend the price differential. According to Jenny George, dean of Melbourne Business School in Australia, one of the key reasons is the profile of the students. Executive MBA participants tend to be ten or twenty years older than their counterparts on conventional programmes and have significantly more experience. Their expectations are correspondingly higher in everything from accommodation and catering to class size and style of teaching. Meeting those expectations costs money ! !

Indeed one of the biggest challenges facing executive-MBA providers is finding faculty that can hold the attention of such a demanding audience. Most EMBA participants have already learned the basic lessons of business and are on their chosen programme because they want better insight into the way they are operating within their present company, rather than for personal development or a career change. Such lessons are both difficult and expensive to teach.

EMBA students expect to be taught by people who not only have the theory but who also have demonstrable real-life experience. Sean Kilbride, a professor at HEC School of Management, Paris, says that this means flying in top professors from all over the world and recruiting business veterans with credibility, including former CEOs.

Some question whether it is even valid to make a direct comparison between an executive and a standard MBA. Paul Healy of the Vlerick Leuven school in Belgium points out that a full-time MBA takes students out of the workplace for at least a year with a consequent loss of salary. EMBA students, on the other hand, remain in employment and study part time. Looked at this way the difference in the cost to the student quickly shrinks—although this does little to explain why the school itself should charge more.

Nevertheless, having MBAs who remain in their jobs can produce benefit both for the students and the employer. Simon Learmount, director of the EMBA at Cambridge’s Judge school, cites examples from his own class who applied classroom lessons as soon as they returned to the office, including one who concluded a lucrative deal with a Latin American client on the back of a cultural awareness class.

Perhaps the best answer to the question about price differential lies not in the quality of teaching or faculty or even in the standard of accommodation, food and wine. Instead, the premium comes down to the doors that an EMBA opens. More honest graduates admit that the most valuable thing they got from their business school was not any classroom lesson or insight, but membership of an exclusive club. And while a full-time MBA might give you access to the junior branch an EMBA gives you a lifetime pass to the senior common room itself.

It was always thought those MBA programs were some mighty clever marketing, but not knowing about the huge disparity in tuition. The theory, apparently, is that the shorter the program, the better the education, and the higher the justifiable tuition. Why not keep shrinking the programs, hiring more expensive teachers, and raising the tuition, thereby making the quality of the education better yet? Why not keep doing so until they can offer an "ultimate MBA" (UMBA) program that requires zero classroom hours, hires the most expensive captains of industry as teachers but does not have them waste their valuable time actually teaching, charges millions of dollars for tuition, and therefore turns out superlative masters of business administration with absolutely no studying or time away from work or leisure at all?

Perhaps the other question we should be asking is "What good does any MBA program really do?" As someone who went the traditional college route, where a master's degree represents a year of coursework and a thesis, on top of a 4-year bachelor's degree, the idea of getting a "master's" degree in anything via night-school is laughable. Where is the "bachelor's in business administration" degree? The fact is that an MBA (short or long version) is much more like business school certificate than it is like a real university degree.  Nonetheless,  we should ask whether an MBA is really a good investment for the student, and whether an employee with an MBA will really do better work, on the average, for their employer than one without it. The only thing that is clear is that there's a lot of money being made by the schools selling the MBAs.

It was observed how much time and money people are spending for education these days and definitely see how much time and resources people are wasting for an education.

- People would have spent the money for investment instead of pitching money on a betting table. No education can guanrantee return of investments, there aren't precise and trustable data regarding % of return. Showing some successful and rich graduates are just like media picking out the big ones on their cover stories. It could end up an empty promise by the over promoted programs.

- Is education these days valued equally before?

- There is a joke, instead of spending all these money for a children's education, the $ should be saved, until the day that they are 20s, they would have their own cars and houses already. Why bother making a living, if it's just about making a living? And making a living seems hard these days... ...

- Our medical science does not support us to live much longer, like 150 years, why would one want to spend 30 years in a classroom?

- If it's just a club, why don't we go directly to pay for a membership fee for a banker's club/ director's club/ yacht club, etc?

- If more people are spending their time on studying, less people are actually working. Where are the actual results?

People nowadays are generally mentally more developed, but less and less actual experiences. We do not count the "actual experience" offered by a course as "actual", it is a protected environment and it is virtual and not real. In the real world, impression could be just once, there aren't any role plays. When you are in the situation, you are already given a role and you've got to play it well.

However, working for organizing and marketing MBA programs seems fun...it seems interesting to lure people keep on studying, it's like a series of top up models or top end cars that youngsters like to chase nowadays.


Recently an article in Business Times
Published August 31, 2010

SME INC
ADVANCING MANAGEMENT
Back to school for SME leaders

When the economy is down, leaders take the opportunity to upgrade themselves, report EILEEN TAY and JASLENE PANG
Tong Shuh Lan, director of business leadership of Spring Singapore, says that the recession was the impetus for many SME leaders to enrol in courses. The period of 2008-2009 saw a more than threefold increase in number of applicants and enrolment as SME leaders took the opportunity of the downturn to upgrade themselves in preparation for growth.


Gan Boon Poh, from rice and oil distributor Gan Hup Lee Pte Ltd, says: 'I joined the SMU-Spring Strategic Planning for Growth (Food Industry) 2010 with the aim to learn up-to-date business practices that will enable me to strategise and manage our business better.

'Moreover, it is always good to lead by example to go back to school.'

In Ms Tong's opinion, as more SMEs expand overseas, there is a need for them to build up their management capacity at a much faster rate to manage the increased complexity of their operations. Otherwise, their ability to enter new markets, develop new products and seize new opportunities will be hindered.

'SME leaders will need to invest in upgrading themselves as well as their management team, both current and future,' she said.
Tertiary institutions, recognising the need and want of SME leaders to upgrade themselves, have responded by coming up with a range of classes.

Glenn Sykes, associate dean of Chicago Booth, says that this year's Chicago Executive MBA programme is offering students the option to take a concentration - marketing, finance or strategy - which allows them to develop additional framework that can help enhance or complement their experiences.

Besides the wide spectrum of courses available, many leaders have also found Spring's funding of up to 70 per cent for the course fees to be 'very helpful'.

Victor Khaw, who participated in SIM Professional Development's 'The Job of the Chief Executive' programme this year, was one of those who received funding support from Spring.
Mr Khaw, general manager of fabrication and construction solutions provider Allalloy Dynaweld Pte Ltd, says: 'With our budget, we can only train a limited number of staff per given time. However, with Spring's funding, we can accelerate this process to ensure that we will have enough qualified leaders to propel our growth.'
WHILE most companies scurried around for solutions to ensure their survival during the economic tsunami two years ago, a handful of small and medium enterprise (SME) leaders decided instead to ride on the wave of opportunity to go back to school.

Companies progress with talent searching, retention and grooming

It is important that an organisation hire the right staff and identify the talented ones to retain and not let those hi-potential leave the company after working for years and decided to bid farewell either due to salary, welfare, unfair treatment, dissatisfaction, etc.....

Retention of talent: There is a greater focus on managing attrition and retaining talent. With the employment market improving, retaining and nurturing existing talent will be a top priority for organisations, especially those in industries with a talent shortfall (engineering and finance for example, especially so for our kind of offshore engineering design now ) or in highly competitive industries such as the telecommunications sector. Retaining high performers and growing talent internally is also the focus for many of the companies, especially in this highly competitive market.

Flexibility in resourcing capability: Although there are signs that the global economic crisis is abating, organisations that are cautious, look at flexible hiring solutions that allow for a more structured approach to strengthening a workforce, RPO itself has never been as important or as relevant as it has been in this regard. More and more MNCs in Asia Pacific are starting to seek RPO solutions to meet their short and long-term expansion plans.

Globalisation: We are no longer a series of local or national economies with relative independence, and resourcing/talent strategies will go the same way. Increased mobility on a global basis is being driven by cultural and technical shifts. Many are looking for a holistic global resourcing solution that incorporates local and sector expertise to allow for flexibility for local implementation.

Recruitment Outsourcing for SMEs: We've seen the significant development in SME businesses who seized the opportunity to outsource their recruitment in the last year, and the benefit of allowing staff to do what they do best, removing the myriad of specialist areas that can take up vast amounts of time will be a business necessity as the economy picks up.

Brand Competition: Renewed employee confidence and mobility will result in increased investment in employer branding, as companies look to edge out competition for talent and rebuild reputations in the financial sector for example. Companies have started to recognise the importance of building a good, attractive employer brand which helps them to attract good quality talent in the short term as well as long term.

Measurement and analysis: Companies are looking to evaluate and benchmark the return on their human capital investment through the development of sophisticated and comprehensive recruitment metrics and business intelligence capabilities. These will help organisations evaluate the performance of the resourcing function by performance of employees and their contribution to the business as well as using the more common recruitment metrics such as 'cost per hire' and 'time to hire'.

Contingent workforce management: In those economies where the use of contingent labour or 'contractors' is a common part of a resourcing strategy, the management of that workforce becomes increasingly sophisticated; being managed and measured with the same robustness applied to permanent staffing solutions. In other markets where contingent labour is less common, we have seen greater adoption of a contingent workforce as a solution for flexibility purposes. We expect to see this trend continue.

Social media: Social media is becoming increasingly important as a recruitment communications channel. The growth of LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, for example cannot be ignored. This is changing the dynamic in employer branding; for example companies can control less of the way they are perceived and referenced in the market as the 'employer brand' becomes more of an 'employee brand'. Living up to the employer brand 'promise' is therefore critical.

Resumes and interviews form the bedrock of a successful hire, but many companies supplement the standard question-and-answer format with creative techniques that allow potential star employees to shine. Here's how some major conglomerates have reinvented the interview process as well as getting their workers to think further or out-of-the-box and maybe our Keppel should start to re-think its current process and modify to fit the new trend in identifying those "hidden" talents with reinforcement its present human resource  pool and enhancing the management's thinking in the overall business environment to better compete with the global offshore players.

Google: 
At its offices all over the world, Google holds events designed to help the company connect with local talent. One, targeted at math and computer specialists, is called a Code Jam. They invite a bunch of people to participate in a three- to four-hour coding competition. They sit in a big room together, so you can see how people approach questions. The top 100 finishers are invited back to apply for a job. In India, Google sponsored an essay contest that attracted applicants from around the country. In addition to connections with creative thinkers, the gesture generated plenty of positive publicity. They try to come up with interesting environments where people can be their best, not the old outdated job fair where it seems to be wearing off with ideas.

Starbucks Coffee: 
At Starbucks Coffee's headquarters in Seattle, candidates don't have to worry about being sufficiently caffeinated, but it helps to have a coffee palate. They often conduct brief coffee tastings for global strategic sourcing. It allows candidates to experience a bit of Starbucks culture, emphasizes our core product, and provides a break for candidates between interviews.  Of course not every company sells coffee, but the point is to put the candidate in direct contact with the brand or product to gauge their levels of familiarity and comfort.


Southwest Airlines: 

If you're flying Southwest Airlines to interview at the company's Dallas headquarters, be sure to turn on the charm as soon as you enter the airport. Although it's not official company policy, flight attendants and other Southwest employees often submit comments about job candidates to those in charge of making the hire. A unique mix of southern hospitality and northern wisecracking is the hallmark of Southwest's corporate culture, particularly among those who serve the public. If you don't have it, other Southwest workers are likely notice.  If one of their employees is impressed, or not so impressed, after talking with a candidate on a flight, they let their management know, they give feedback proactively and it is management's job to ensure these feedback are taking in seriously.

Microsoft: 
Microsoft sometimes invites candidates to ponder the future as a way to look for people who understand the strategic challenges the company faces.  One of their online media businesses asked candidates what they thought the future of online music looked like, and how teens would be using the Net ten years from now. Other questions include asking candidates to name companies that they consider best at customer experience, and what Microsoft could learn from them. This kind of initiatives are important in getting its staff to think further and start to look at what next to do. Status-quo is not in their dictionary and improving the thinking process is the day-to-day event. Every company or organization should get their staff to do that just like IQC process.

What some of chiefs say in running today's business with human talent and foresight in enhancing human resources as part of important agenda in the company day-to-day operation :

Michael Zink,
Country Head & Citi Country Officer,
Singapore

Globalisation, accelerated growth and rising aspirations have changed the face of the business world, and along with it, increased the reliance and focus on talent as a key resource. Furthermore, with unprecedented challenges such as the recent financial crisis, managing and developing human capital and in particular, leadership development, have become even more critical as companies continuously seek talented individuals capable of leading organisations in increasingly complex, borderless and fast-paced digital world.
The ability to attract, retain and develop top talent today will determine the future growth and progress of any organisation. As the world recovers from the economic downturn, there is a crucial need for an organisation to not only have nimble, highly adaptable talent, but also the right leadership development and talent management programmes to continuously engage them.

At Citi, our people are our most important resource and our key competitive advantage. We believe that hiring the right talent goes beyond looking at current capabilities, experiences and skills sets; it is even more important to have the right attitudes, aptitudes and passion. We focus on the potential of a person, bringing out the best in them by providing a stimulating and empowering environment that encourages the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, and challenges them to reach even higher goals. Our philosophy of nurturing leaders from within our talent pools is complemented by our mandate of helping our people build a career of a lifetime with Citi.


Seah Kian Peng
CEO Singapore
NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd
The evolution of the digital age will continue to shape consumer behaviour and communication. Leaders have no choice - they must embrace these new technology and open their minds to stay ahead. The ability to innovate and seize opportunities in new technology will be key to driving productivity, especially in the retail sector. Success is never achieved by oneself so leaders need to harness and maximise the potential of their talents at all levels. For long term sustainability, companies will also need to evolve with their stakeholders while ensuring ethics remain at the core in their business decisions.

John Ng
CEO
PowerSeraya

I believe that 'learning' leaders can facilitate an organisation's growth path. With the right mindset of being open to embracing change and learning new things, a 'learning' leader will not only set himself as a good role model, but will also be better equipped to further coach his staff and motivate higher performance standards to build a culture of excellence in the organisation.

The ability of a leader to engage people's minds and touch their hearts in work that is excellent, socially responsible and meaningful also builds a common identity and pride that can aid in the company's wider business objectives. Hence, I trust that investing in people is critical and which is why at PowerSeraya, we provide staff with opportunities to enhance their leadership and personal competencies. It is only by having people who have the capacity to continuously learn will the company do well, be it in good or challenging times.


Simon Newman
CEO,
Aviva Ltd
With the last economic downturn, consumers have become increasingly cautious when it comes to financial planning. The financial services sector needs leaders who are nimble and able to steer the organisation to respond quickly to the changing needs of the market place. There is also a need to continue building credibility to deliver the brand promise and regain trust so customers keep coming back, as well as demonstrate investment foresight to ensure financial soundness of the organisation. Internally, leaders need to ensure crystal clear direction and continue to nurture and develop the talent in their business.


Jonathan Asherson
Regional Director
Rolls-Royce Singapore

As an organisation with over a 100 years of history, Rolls-Royce has successfully navigated through many economic cycles to emerge today as a global power systems company with a strong order book, robust performance, and a resilient portfolio is expected to double our revenues in the next decade. All this has been made possible, despite the uneven economic recovery, through a global team of people who have the strategic agility to manage the cycle and anticipate trends, and who are energised by challenges.

In today's economic landscape, change is the only constant and it is therefore critical that businesses have talent that is comfortable with uncertainty, is versatile and adaptable and armed with a keen sense of judgement to undertake quick, sound decisions with a competent calibration of risk. In the face of economic uncertainties, companies will also need leaders with the foresight to envision and create competitive breakthrough strategies and plans, and communicate a compelling and inspiring vision to both internal and external stakeholders.


Tham Sai Choy,
Managing Partner designate,
KPMG in Singapore
Getting ready for the recovery starts during the downturn. You are a natural leader if you understand the fears that people have about the future. People see your decisions as the one thing that makes the difference between their hopes being kept safe and their plans being dashed. A good leader points the way to a brighter future, lifts the mood and gets everyone preparing for the recovery.
Having open communications, building and reinforcing trust, and making enlightened decisions are all important. This is how the strongest teams are built, with people who are ready to ride together through thick and thin. It is no different from the marriage vow, to stay through thick and thin. The sacrifices that staff make, and the trust that they place in their leaders, must of course be repaid when better times come round.



Deborah Ho
Chief Executive Officer
DBS Asset Management Ltd

Leading a business in the current Asian recovery provides an opportunity to put into practice 'lessons learned' from previous cycles:

1. Do the right thing always no matter how lucrative 'shades of grey' may be. Professionalism, or a code of conduct must be ingrained at all levels.
2. Collaboration is key. Alliances and partnerships enable capabilities and access to new markets quickly. Singapore, a global marketplace attracts some of the world's best minds. Actively seek talent.
3. Be responsive to change. Risks and opportunities can come from anywhere.

The right strategy is only part of the equation. Timely execution is critical.


Jeffrey Seah
CEO, Southeast Asia, Chairperson Asia Digital Leadership Team
Starcom MediaVest Group

In this Facebook economy, one way or another, leaders have to be a 'Jack of all trades, Master of 10'. We have to continuously regenerate ourselves to be future-proof, by building on our current strengths and tapping on new and existing opportunities in both dimensions of work and personal lives. Critically, this includes constantly updating held assumptions and beliefs that may have worked for us in the past but may not do so for us now and in the future. We can achieve this by being sensitive and respectful to others' views and cultures, and impart this mindset to the people and organisations we lead.


Annie Koh
Associate Professor of Finance
Dean, Office of Executive & Professional Education
Academic Director, International Trading Institute@SMU

SMU has been the strategic partner to the SHCS the last two years and continues to be a partner for 2010 with the formation of the HCLI ( Human capital and leadership institute) at SMU.
Every business, whether B to C or B to B, is a people business - so having the right people strategies are critical for any business, in challenging or in good times.
As we ride the wave of recovery or growth - the most important characteristic for any leader is to have the courage to make important strategic decisions and the creativity to reinvent an outmoded model, business or service.
This recovery is going to be accompanied by huge swings in uncertainty and visibility. The leader will be presented with different opportunities and cannot do it all. It becomes even more important to make the "right people decisions" and to know how to find the right people to implement the strategy and vision for sustainable growth.
Knowing how to empower and entrust the people you have picked is a critical skill in this climate and the diversity in human capital is required to drive depth in certain areas and breadth in others. This recovery is going to be sporadic and patchy and so you need entrepreneurial talent as you as a leader pace and run with the team in this journey of growing the business in interesting times.

I can't see a better time and urgency than now for Singapore Human Capital Summit to discuss some great people strategies to grow managerial talent and leadership bench strength.



Tan Mui Huat
Regional Managing Director for Asia and President for China
International SOS

International SOS firmly believes that growth is closely tied to globalisation and creating a caring, borderless and values-driven work environment would help fuel growth and productivity.

Leadership qualities that will herald the new wave of growth is 'thinking out of the box' - which is not just about a solid idea but about the passion to go the extra mile to make things happen. It's about the drive to give the vision a shape - through innovative ideas, putting-together a like-minded, values-driven team that is prepared to communicate and engage across borders and embrace new ideas and practices
Further, leaders should seek to protect their most valuable assets - their employees. They cannot afford to take the personal safety of their employees and the integrity of their business operations for granted. Thus, not only should there be incentives for growth and training, but organisations should also look out for their human capital and focus on their duty of care for their employees too, i.e., the health, safety, and security, as an ever increasing number of employees face potential risks as they travel for either international assignments or business travel.


David Ross
Regional Vice President
FedEd Express South Pacific

Great companies take advantage of difficult times to improve their performance and come out stronger on the other side. At FedEx, we improved our performance and strengthened our foundation through a combination of cost savings, innovation and a continued focus on customer satisfaction. We could not have achieved this without the commitment and dedication of our 280,000 employees and contractors in Singapore and globally. Thus, we strongly believe that a focus on human capital will be crucial to ride this next wave of growth. Companies can do this by instilling a culture of integrity and inspiration. Integrity comes from leaders consistently 'walking the talk' in real, tangible ways to assure employees that the company is a team in every sense. Inspiration is the ability to deliver results by empowering others and in doing so unleashing their potential. That is where the real value of teamwork lies, and it is FedEx's single most powerful asset as a company.



Wendy Koh
Vice President for ASEAN
Juniper Networks.
The ability to influence to lead others successfully is a skill and is developed, not discovered. People don't want to be managed, they want to be led. A successful leader requires a considerable degree of self-knowledge and self acceptance. The greater our awareness, the greater our possibilities for choice and freedom.

Authenticity and fearlessness of making bold decisions are also qualities of a successful leader. A successful leader is someone who is confident, passionate and committed towards growth strategies; deliberately communicating growth strategies to employees; influencing and inspiring employees throughout the organisation to focus on business goals and together, delivering positive results.

Leadership also demands that we are motivated by a genuine interest in ourselves and others. Such a perception entails a belief that reason can triumph over fear, and that people are resourceful, competent, capable of self-direction and able to live fulfilling and productive lives. A leader who is motivated and inspired by these beliefs can guide and support individuals to develop their capabilities and stimulate, constructive, lasting change.



Lee Hong-Meng,
Managing Director,
Reliance Globalcom Singapore
As organisations around the world regain their balance after the recent downturn, a new challenge is emerging in finding the ability to successfully sustain an upward momentum both internally and externally. To help drive this, organisations should capitalise on appropriately implemented collaborative technologies which can help create a business where geographical and cultural borders can be removed, thus improving business efficiency. Company leaders and management should embrace and actively endorse these initiatives, whether it is to support greater virtual project team cooperation, social media customer service interaction or increased flexibility for individuals to manage a work life balance. It is important that processes which can produce positive results are established first, followed by identification of the technology to enable it, rather than the other way around.



Eva Au
Managing Director
IDC Asia/Pacific

1. The ability to take risks: we face the future with cautious optimism. the business climate today is very different from the recessionary period and is also different from the pre recessionary period. to succeed, one cannot wait too long to see how the dust will settle; instead one must decide how to adapt the business models and be prepared to make tough decisions.

2. Be a "people person": the business environment is changing, but not everyone is adapting at the same pace or in the same direction. if one wants to lead the organisation to the new future, one must know how to read the minds of the stakeholders, proactively address their fears and objections and give them courage to move to the uncertain path. Showing charts and graphs can only go so far. As more of the Gen Y populate the organisation, the more one has to engage with its people.



David Hope
GM & Regional Managing Director
Lawson Software, Asia Pacific & Japan
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Asia has become central to the growth of the global economy. This has led to both opportunities and challenges, i.e., opportunity in terms of us being in the middle of the global growth engine and challenges in terms of the emerging and oft changing leadership requirements in the Asian landscape. Within Lawson, our focus over the last two years has moved towards identifying, developing and nurturing future leaders within the organisation. We are placing higher emphasis on leadership achievements of the individuals, recognising their individual talents and we strive to push for a higher differentiation of talent within our organisation. This means we are able to identify the potential leadership talent early and nurture them for the future. One of the key learnings for all of us has been that, as people managers we all need to be great leaders of leadership talent if we are to face the future with success.


Roy Magee
Regional Vice-President
AchieveGlobal
To ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the recent past, leaders need to devote sufficient time to reflect on how they contribute to the decisions that are made within their organisations. AchieveGlobal's most recent research has pin-pointed six 'zones' in which global leaders can develop their performance: Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business. While each of these six zones contains practices critical to our success, many of our current problems stem from an excessive (though understandable) recent focus on the Business zone, perhaps to the detriment of the other zones. The reality is that effective leaders can only succeed in the Business zone over the longer term by giving due attention to the other five zones. Perhaps most critical of these is Reflection, where leaders honestly assess their motives, beliefs, attitudes, and actions - to ask themselves 'How can I make sure my limitations don't lead me to make poor decisions?'. Reflection allows us to treat failure as a chance to learn and grow.

US economy seems unsettled !

The US economy appears mired in a troubling limbo, not weak enough to signal an imminent downturn and not sufficiently sturdy to give businesses confidence to begin hiring again.

The latest economic data highlights the shifting fortunes on either side of the Atlantic, with a robust Germany propelling the eurozone as the US outlook looks bleaker.

A sharp widening in the US trade deficit has forced economists to revise down estimates for second-quarter growth, indicating the slowdown has come even more quickly than pessimists expected.

'It's somewhat ironic but significant that the US slowdown appears to have been triggered by debt concerns in Europe and in the end European growth is showing a pick-up,' said Jim O'Sullivan, chief economist at MF Global in New York. 'The question we're left with now is, 'Did this turmoil just set back or really short-circuit the recovery?'

Answers were not forthcoming, but data over the coming week should help steer forecasters in the right direction. Among key releases are industrial production for July and, even more timely, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's survey of regional manufacturing activity. Both are expected to show further firming, with output for US industry projected to have climbed about 0.5 per cent.

Ground-breaking on new homes, which after a four-year slump is now at under a quarter of its boom-time peak, likely stabilised at around a 560,000 unit annual rate after some see-sawing related to the expiration of housing tax credits.

Steadfast weakness in housing, along with a stubbornly high unemployment rate of 9.5 per cent, were some of the factors that last week led the US Federal Reserve to try to offer even more monetary stimulus to the economy.

The Federal Reserve said it will funnel cash from maturing mortgage-backed securities it acquired during the financial crisis into further purchases of Treasury bonds in an effort to keep long-term rates low and spur more lending.

The US central bank's policy has inadvertently created headaches for the Japanese government, which is trying to figure out what to do about an ever strengthening yen that threatens to derail the country's already-meek recovery.

Even Europe's improving fate is not without its caveats. The countries at the centre of the debt worries that generated global market turbulence in the spring, such as Greece, Ireland and Spain, all fared pretty dismally in the second quarter. This puts even more pressure on Germany to maintain a growth rate strong enough to pull other eurozone members along.

Today, investors will get a look at the ZEW economic sentiment survey, which took a steep dive as the European crisis heated up. It is expected to hold just about steady at a respectable reading of 21.

But Germany is simply not large enough to go it alone. Without a healthy US expansion, say analysts, Europe's prospects would likely sour as well.

In the United States, few indicators are as important as jobs. Unfortunately, weekly applications for unemployment benefits spiked again last week to 484,000, the highest level in nearly six months.

Be prepared for another market turmoil 2011

Creating wealth could be easier if you have invested your time, energy and money in the right places for the right purposes and of course with some "smart logical thinking" and following up with the world news around you. The day we cross from the stage of dependency to the stage of independence, no longer under our parents' charge, we automatically assume responsibility of our own time-line. This requires a sense of duty and care to plan and be responsible for our own futures as well as ensuring our self-discipline is always up on our head and levelled.

Nonetheless, there are many who simply live day-to-day, without much thought and preparation for the future. Unless you are contended with what you are presently doing and no worry or concern about your future and heck care, then simple life would do you better with no stress at all and probably you live life up to a century.

Some steps to taking charge of your future include having a plan, identifying your present resource position and allocating your resources to the right places. You should also establish a series of capital preservation programmes to enhance your savings as you move towards the retiree stage, and institute a proper distribution and succession plan for your loved ones.

In many instances, when reality finally catches up, people are caught off-guard and suffer the painful consequences of their careless attitude and you may find it too late to turn your steering around to miss the deadly corner.

One of the keys to achieving lifetime success financially is to engage in any higher level of education. Example, Financial education, which is more than just acquiring information and knowledge. Financial education is more than just knowing the facts if you want to make sure your financial portfolio continues to grow ( look at remisier king, Peter Lim, his wealth management is certainly up to mark with his piggy bank non stop growing ).

The real process of financial education should entail:

• Acquiring financial knowledge

• Being connected to the financial community

• Being engaged in financial development

• Being mentored by financial experts

• Being courageous to explore financial options

• Being clear about your own financial destiny

Financial planning creates a well-planned and well-organised time line that can withstand three major shocks:

Time-line shock

A proper risk management portfolio (RMP) must be established for your time line to manage all your risk exposure efficiently and efficiently. A RMP is the combination and coordination of a portfolio of risk management programmes to manage the different aspects, levels and degree of impact of the risks that you are exposed to everyday.

You may have purchased insurance policies without much consideration and coordination as to the scope of coverage, level of coverage and cost of coverage. As a result, you may be implicated in one of the following:

• Coverage that is not comprehensive enough - risks that you should have been covered for, but are not.

• Too low coverage amount - risks that you are currently covered for, but at too low a level.

• Too high in overall premiums paid - paying a larger premium than necessary.

These inefficiencies can be avoided by insisting that you are given a thorough financial health check before any insurance plan is recommended or purchased.

You should also insist that you are given a comprehensive selection of the insurance plans from different companies to compare and choose from so that you can have the best option in terms of coverage and premium costing, and insist too on being given a complete report on how your overall risk management portfolio can withstand the three shocks described here.

Self-funding shock :

One of the most overlooked aspects in risk management is the risk of 'self-funding shock'.

A classic example can be found in the way most people manage their medical risks. The cost of medical insurance plan increases every three to five years, depending on the medical plan.

If you are struck with a critical illness like cancer or heart attack, most probably you will be out of work for some time, and maybe even a long time. This could create a great challenge - who is going to pay the premiums for the medical insurance plan which is rising every three to five years?

The premiums can reach an unaffordable level after a few rounds of adjustment, so unless a funding mechanism is structured within the overall Risk Management Portfolio, your savings or cash reserves will be wiped out rather quickly.

Therefore, it is important to ensure that your overall risk management portfolio is able to withstand the self-funding shock and at the same time, provide you and your family with lifetime financial security.

Market shock :

A risk management portfolio without any element of protecting you against market shock can only be as good as temporary protection. We have seen so many cases in which the risk management portfolio was wiped out completely due to the inability to keep the program going in the midst of an economic or market crisis.

Market shock can only be managed through proper strategic planning. Understanding how the various impacts that inflation, economic data, interest rate and liquidity have on the market is vital to the successful management of your money in the capital market, be it fixed income, collective investments or direct investments.

Depending on your risk profile, your funds can be invested into tactical growth, balanced and income funds. The percentage of allocation into each of these investment categories will depend on your risk appetite, investment objectives, time horizon, capital desired to be accumulated and the portfolio returns needed to achieve your investment objectives.

Your objective here is to construct an investment portfolio that can withstand market shocks and also give you a decent rate of return of between 8 per cent to 12 per cent annually.  Do note that profit earnings do not come free of risk and the higher returns (ROI) you expect, the higher risk you would be facing when you plough your liquid assest into some investment.  Make sure your portion of buffer is sufficient in your reserves with part of your dollar thrown into risk investment.  The risk here we are not referring to the recent risk that a businessman has taken at the Resort World casino making a loss of over $26mil, that kind of irrational gamble deserve no pity at all.