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From turning spreadsheet insights into practical people solutions to shaping rewards across Southeast Asia, she shares why understanding what motivates employees is just as important as market data and compensation benchmarks.
For Jaime Liew (pictured above), Total Rewards (TR) is where data meets the realities of human behaviour.
A psychology graduate who began her HR career as a management trainee, Jaime did not initially set out to specialise in TR. However, early guidance from mentors introduced her to the field’s unique ability to bring together analytics, business priorities, and an understanding of what people value at work.
Today, as Regional Total Rewards Lead at Leader Energy, Liew leads compensation design, policy development, market benchmarking, and rewards initiatives across the Group’s Southeast Asian operations. Her remit includes balancing regional consistency with the different needs of employees and markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
For her, the value of TR extends well beyond pay. The task is to translate data into strategies and stories employees can understand — and to create an environment in which people feel valued, supported, and connected to the organisation’s wider purpose of powering Asia’s energy transition.
Ahead of #TotalRewardsMY, Liew speaks to Mary Ann Bundukin about the relationship between psychology and rewards, why there is no copy-paste playbook, and what it takes to design people strategies that genuinely resonate.
Q What first drew you to HR, and what keeps you passionate about it today?
Honestly, I didn't plan to end up in Total Rewards. As a psychology graduate, HR was the natural landing spot: I liked people, so here I am. I started as an HR Management Trainee and got lucky early on with some really good Total Rewards mentors who showed me the fascinating intersection of data and human psychology. Translating data from spreadsheets into solutions and stories that people can understand and act on never gets old.
At Leader Energy, that is especially meaningful because the work we do isn't just about numbers or policies — it's about creating an environment where people can thrive while contributing to a larger purpose of powering Asia's energy transition.
Q Can you share the core belief that guides your approach to designing rewards strategies that truly support employees?
Knowing the audience before you design anything. What works in one company can completely flop in another, even within the same industry. There's no copy-paste playbook.
That's one of the things I appreciate about Leader Energy. We operate across different markets and cultures, so there is a genuine appreciation that people strategies must be thoughtful, adaptable, and aligned with both business goals and employee needs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach when you're building a future-ready workforce across Asia.
"So, the first thing I always try to get right is clarity from leadership on what we're trying to achieve, and from the data on who we're actually designing for."
Once those two are aligned, the rest becomes much clearer.
Q What is one common misconception about Total Rewards that you'd like to challenge?
That TR is basically just pay. Pay matters, obviously; nobody's pretending otherwise. But I've seen companies paying well above market and still losing people, and I've seen companies where salary isn't the headline, yet people genuinely don't want to leave.
What keeps people isn't just the number. It's whether they feel valued, supported, and connected to a meaningful purpose. At Leader Energy, where we're helping to advance Asia's energy transition, people want to know that their work contributes to something bigger than themselves — and Total Rewards should reinforce that sense of purpose, not just compensate for it. It's about the whole employee experience.
Q Please tell us a fun fact about yourself that people may not know.
I'm basically a walking food and café directory. When I travel, I skip the usual tourist lists and go straight to Google Maps around wherever I'm visiting, hunting for the best local spots nearby. Friends have started texting me before their trips for recommendations, which I take very seriously. Truth be told, my itinerary is usually built around where I'm eating.
Q As a speaker at #TotalRewardsMY, what do you hope attendees will take away from your session?
I hope they leave with at least one thing they can reframe — not just a new tool or benchmark to bring back, but a different way of looking at a problem they've already been sitting with.
TR practitioners in Southeast Asia are doing genuinely complex, multi-market work with constraints that most global frameworks weren't designed for. That's a reality I experience every day at Leader Energy. Operating across multiple Asian markets means balancing local needs with regional consistency, while ensuring our people feel valued and supported wherever they are.
I hope attendees leave with fresh perspectives, but also with the confidence that there is no perfect formula — only the willingness to keep learning, adapting, and putting people at the centre of our decisions. I want the conversation to reflect that reality, and I want people to walk away feeling that their experience in the room was worth more than the slide deck.
I want to attend the conference: If you're keen to attend this closed-door conference, kindly register your interest here. For speaking opportunities, please write in to Mary Ann Bundukin. We look forward to welcoming you!
I want to sponsor: Engage in meaningful dialogue through dedicated speaking slots, roundtable discussions, and at your booths! If your organisation provides any talent solutions and products that you'd like to showcase, you’ll fit right into this event. To learn how you can sponsor, please reach out to a member of our team now!
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