Fred Kohler, director of human resources, Autodesk Asia
Fred Kohler, previously based in Europe, is the newly appointed director of human resources for Autodesk Asia. Since joining Autodesk in 1997, Kohler has served as senior manager of human resources in Switzerland and the US. In his new role, he will provide counsel and support in all aspects of human resources including training, development, recruitment, performance management, benefits and redundancy. Kohler says, "with globalisation, HR is no longer just a localised function. Practitioners must view HR from a global perspective and embrace collaboration technologies to seamlessly manage skills and information flow across work teams. This has allowed technology-savvy countries like Singapore and Hong Kong to become regional HR hubs."
Paula Frits, director of human resources, Barclays Capital Global Services
As the new human resources director of Barclays Capital Global Services, Paula Frits brings with her a wealth of experience from working in countries such as New York, Hong Kong and England. An industry veteran of 18 years, Frits' duties at Barclays include generalist responsibilities for its non-Japan front office businesses, credit, rates, distribution and research. On a regional level, she covers leadership, employee relations and learning and development.
Ravi Bhogaraju, human resource programme manager, Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants
Although Ravi Bhogaraju has joined Jones Lang LaSalle Property as their human resources manager for only a month, it already appears to him as a good place to work, filled with professional, eager and warm people. He is responsible for the business process standardisation, implementation and management of HR information systems, HR websites and other HR applications across Asia Pacific. Other duties also include designing and developing HR applications that automate and streamline HR processes and promote self-service. Bhogaraju was previously working as a regional HR systems manager at Veritas Software, now known as Symantec.
Kay Sanchez, human resources manager, Tele-centre services
Kay Sanchez is the newly appointed human resource manager at Tele-centre services which won the Singapore Call Centre of the Year and Regional Call Centre of the Year in 2004. Sanchez will be recruiting people with medical, IT, banking, insurance and telecommunications background or those of different nationalities for language requirements such as Thai and Japanese. She is also responsible for payroll, general staff welfare and part of the quality management team. "Being the HR manager in a third party call centre is unique and challenging, but rising from the ranks made it easier for me to recruit the right people as I know what are the challenges faced by the operations side," says Sanchez, who used to work as a customer service executive and team leader.
