How does Angeline Oh successfully convert the people she hires into a true-blue IBMers? Lisa Cheong finds out.

In 2002, DBS was looking to farm out its 300 IT people. When IBM tendered for the contract, it viewed it as a prize catch. If the company won the bid, not only would it mean a 10 year-long, multi-million dollar boost to the business, but it would also herald the beginning of a shift in IBM’s core service offering.

For Angeline Oh, HR director for IBM Asean, it was the first time HR was front and centre at the boardroom table viewed as a partner and as a contributing factor in helping IBM win the contract.

“When a company wants to outsource to IBM, it isn’t about technical solutions and how big IBM is. It is about how the company is going to treat its people. Hence, HR is now at the forefront of the negotiations. And this is very different compared to the past where HR only printed offer letters and gave compensation and benefits,” Oh, who was then HR director for Singapore, says.

She says HR’s function was also asked  to “stand on stage and sell” the company’s value proposition for its employees, and what the employees would be able to expect if IBM won the bid.

Negotiations aside, the contract was also a test of logistical efficiency for the HR department. Because the company was going to add an additional 300 people to its head count, the HR department had to figure out the most efficient way of doing, en masse, the normally straight forward task of producing contract letters for the new staff.

“The night before, the HR team was in a row like a production line, where we would each perform a task, whether it be printing out confirmation letters, or checking the identity numbers of people. It was quite meaningful because you can see IBM at work; the people gelling at work, where people wanted to perform a task so well that they would stay up until 3 am in the morning just working.”

So how did HR land itself a seat at the boardroom table?

Oh says in order to win a contract of this nature, IBM had to differentiate itself from its competition. “We felt that at that time HR was our competitive advantage because we had a solid value proposition,” she says.

The company felt that by having an IT services department join an IT company, the people would benefit by becoming more specialist in their fields. “So we felt that HR was a competitive advantage and we sold to our client on that,” Oh explains.

While Oh would not say that HR could take credit for winning the contract, she believes HR was definitely “a vote that was counted” when it came down to the wire.

Buying into it
Painting people blue is something Oh is quite used to doing - having being involved in over “50 to 60” acquisitions within the last five years. Even with this many M&As under her belt, she still views mergers and acquisitions as a challenge.

For instance one of the challenges that comes with acquisitions is how to get employees to fall in love with IBM, and how to ‘turn people blue’, says Oh.

“It is difficult because they do not know IBM, and may have not chosen to join IBM. So we have to coax them – explain to them how to survive, get comfortable and then later grow to love IBM. But I do know of many people who say that IBM grows on them, and slowly it does grow on them,” she says.

Another hurdle Oh faced in one of her acquisitions in 2002, between the consultancy arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers with IBM’s Global Business Services, was merging the cultures of an acquired company with IBM’s.

One of the reasons the acquisition proved to be a challenge was the cultures between the former PwC Consultancy and IBM were so vastly different. Due to the nature of the consulting business, the partners were given a say and were quite vocal on how the business was run. In IBM, however, the style of management just could not segue with its new parent, as there were other business units to consider, as well as a process to ensure equity among the different business units.

Additionally, partners in the consultancy business were not exactly known for shifting much in their job – much to the contrast of IBM’s policy of moving having staff move between departments. The PwC-ers instead were known for becoming experts in their fields.  Many of them initially could not understand it when they received emails from the HR department on career opportunities in the various departments.

Solving this issue involved in-depth conversations amongst both parties, with Oh emphasizing that there was no other shortcut.

“The leaders have to talk to each other and negotiate. There are no shortcuts other than deep meaningful conversations with the owners of the resource and the employees as well. HR has to explain to employees why while other IBMers might get to be transferred, you may want to stay and be an expert in the area. And the employee must see the value proposition for themselves as well,” She says.

Since then, IBM and the consultancy arm have reached a compromise. “Now we’ve come to a conclusion that we need both kinds of people. A company needs generalists and expertise in delivering value to its clients.”

Not development for development’s sakes
Oh herself is a product of IBM’s flexibility in letting people do just that. In her 18 years at IBM, she has moved through the areas of marketing, sales and now human resources.

While there is space for people to move between functions, the inverse is also available as an option for employees. “The most critical aspect is that a meaningful discussion takes place between HR and the employee. For instance, it is fine if a person wants to be in payroll for the length of their careers as long as they continue to be productive workers.”

Oh also stresses that IBM is not a school of development for development’s sake. At the end of the day, IBM drives to put the best talent in front of its clients to provide the best solutions for them. To do so, IBM considers the competencies that a job requires and works to develop an employee’s skills in those particular areas.

In addition to its regular programmes for the various job competencies, a programme titled Global Citizen's Portfolio was recently announced earlier in July by IBM’s headquarters.

One of the training schemes that is expected to roll out in the Global Citizen’s Portfolio was US$60 million set aside towards upgrading the skills of IBM staffers. By matching dollar-for-dollar contributions for those with at least five years of service, the programme differs from regular training programmes as employees are not required to take courses that are related to their work and career.

“The whole idea is to help you learn and innovate. In this global enterprise, a big part of surviving is about adapting and innovative. We want to help them stay adaptable with their skills,” Oh says.

Another tool announced in the Global Citizen’s Portfolio is the Corporate Service Corps, which Oh described as a “meaningful and innovative way of training people” where IBM will loan employees out to non-profit organisations anywhere between six to 12 weeks to contribute and help solve global issues. “The objective is to give a different experience outside IBM and make these people broaden their minds. So when you come back to IBM, you can contribute to the company and the client in a different way,” Oh says.

While it is difficult to calculate the dollar and cents value of training employees, Oh says, “Today, we invest a lot in our people, and when they bring these skills in front of our client’s and garner business for the company, that in itself is a form of returns.”

Bend it like IBM
Whether it is the ability to choose to come in to work early or work away from the office, the culture of flexibility is one that Oh is proud of, declaring that IBM does not subscribe to just one model of flexible working.

Naturally, as with all other flexible working spaces, questions emerge over employee engagement and worker productivity. Oh said many people have asked her the perennial question, “How do you know what employees are doing?” But, Oh says IBM’s employees are intelligent people who seek meaning and challenge in their work, and giving them flexibility enables them to work better and be more productive.

However maximising IBM’s proportion of real estate was one of the initial factors that made the company consider flexi-work, since it meant that more than one employee could utilize a table - thus increasing the workforce without having to increase the real estate of the company.

However, workplace flexibility eventually evolved into a retention tool for IBM. Oh cited the example of an employee who left IBM to join a bank and asked to come back within just 30 days of taking up his new posting. When asked why the employee wanted to return, Oh said that he has missed the flexibility the company provided.

Working away from the office is not something that Oh would recommend for every employee though. Citing attributes such as trust, personal responsibility and a strong understanding that “work should be driven by innovation”, as all being important considerations.

IBM’s Catch-22
At the end of the day, IBM’s value proposition of constantly training and developing its workers to become highly skilled workers means that it would lead to its employees being eyed by other companies in the market.

“It is the paradox of HR. Our value proposition is to make our employees highly-skilled. So when you make your people experts, you make them attractive to people outside of IBM as well.”

With regards to retention of its staff, Oh says IBM has a four-pronged approach to creating staff who will be loyal to the company.

“First of which is that our values-based climate of treating employees as trust-worthy people. We trust that you would do the best for the company, and therefore we give you the best. When we have a climate that believes in trust, innovation and bringing value to the client, we attract people of the same sort,” she says.

Workplace flexibility, performance-based opportunities and leadership development were also cited as retention strategies for Big Blue.

Employee retention is not an issue that can be solved on a one-off basis, as Oh says that it is an ongoing and continuous challenge for IBM. Oh states, “The question we face is then how do we bond and engage our employees, and make them want to stay in IBM.”

Biographical data
Qualifications

1988
Graduated from National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

1988 
Joined IBM as Marketing Support, Customer Fulfillment Manager and Sales Representative, of IBM Singapore

1996
Promoted to Sales and Incentive Plan Manager of IBM ASEAN/South Asia and IBM Asia Pacific

2001
Promoted to position of HR Director, IBM Singapore

2004
Promoted to HR Partner, IBM Global Services, IBM ASEAN/South Asia.

Oct 2006
Promoted to the position of HR Director, IBM ASEAN