HR job moves from L'Oréal, Hmlet, Sembcorp Industries, and more

-With inputs from Aditi Sharma Kalra

Here are the major promotions and job moves in the world of HR.

If you've been promoted or if you’ve moved to a new company, send us your profile and photo and we will announce your news here – just email priyas@humanresourcesonline.net.

HR practitioner appointments

Energy, marine and urban development group, Sembcorp Industries, has brought Sheldon Toh on board as Assistant Vice President. In this role, his core responsibilities include executive search, talent acquisition strategy; revamping TA policies and processes, employer branding, and EVP.

His role is primarily focused on Singapore for now, but subsequently will be a global outlook. Based in Singapore, he reports to Andy Yeo, SVP Group HR & OD. He told Human Resources Online on his big priority for the next year: "Put in place a uniform practice across all aspects of talent acquisition, all the way from campus recruitment, to experienced hires and to executive hires."

The role is different from his most recent assignment, where he was Associate Director at HR search and recruitment firm, Frazer Jones, which focused mainly on HR executive search, driving sales and filling positions.

Given his current focus is on longer-term planning and keeping an active succession pipeline both internally and externally, he says the number one talent concern in APAC for now is to tackle the lack of local talent who possess highly specialised skillsets.

L'Oréal promotes Yenita Oktora to Head of Talent ManagementFrench beauty brand L'Oréal has promoted Yenita Oktora to Head of Talent Management, effective August 2019. She is currently based in Indonesia.

Having started out at L'Oréal in Indonesia as Recruitment & Integration Manager, Oktora has risen through the ranks and worked in different cities including Shanghai City, Hong Kong, and Singapore, throughout her nine-and-a-half years of career with the brand. She was most recently HRD Consumer Division Asia Pacific, based in Singapore.

Prior to joining L'Oréal, Oktora spent over four years at Hutchison 3 Indonesia as HR Business Partner Manager, and has previously held roles at Charoen Pokphand Indonesia, and Consult Group.

Hmlet appoints Kate Williams as Head of Talent & HRCo-living brand Hmlet has brought on Kate Williams as Head of Talent & HR, effective August 2019. She will lead a team of recruitment and HR professionals in screening, selecting, securing and retaining a diverse and high-performing talent base across all functions in all markets.

Williams brings with her over 11 years of experience in HR across APAC; Her specialities include talent acquisition, technology, recruitment, consulting, leadership training, and more. Prior to joining Hmlet, she has worked with Robert Walters and Talent International, and was most recently Talent Director at Accela.

Speaking to Human Resources Online on her priorities, Williams shares: "As we rapidly grow across APAC, our immediate priority is to build a strong foundation to support the business both during, and after our rapid growth - HR and Recruitment systems and processes that are scalable and sustainable, and where appropriate technology driven.

"It's a really exciting time for Hmlet, and I am thrilled to join the family!"

Bank of Queensland welcomes Josie Rothwell in lead roleBased in Australia and effective September 2019, Josie Rothwell has joined Bank of Queensland as Head of Performance & Reward. Rothwell comes with years of experience in financial services and consulting, with expertise in executive compensation, global compensation plans, building and maintaining strategic rewards programmes, and more.

Prior to joining the regional banking firm, Rothwell worked in roles across retail banking, wealth management, institutional banking, manufacturing and technology start-ups. She was most recently based in Chicago as Managing Principal at Sheffield Barry.

Commenting on her new priorities, Rothwell told Human Resources Online: "I will be helping Bank of Queensland navigate changes in the regulatory environment to ensure our remuneration arrangements are appropriate from a shareholder, customer and regulator perspective."

Meiyea Neo joins Zendesk as HR Director for APAC

Effective May 2019, Zendesk has welcomed Meiyea Neo as its HR Director for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, bringing with her over 15 years of experience in technology and consulting. Most recently, she was the Head of HR ASEAN for Orange Business Services.

Neo is tasked with evolving the employee experience at Zendesk’s eight offices across the rapidly growing region, located in Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Manila, Bangkok, Bangalore, Seoul, and Tokyo. Her work will impact over 650 people employed across product and engineering, sales and marketing, as well as finance and operations.

At Zendesk, which provides support ticketing system and customer service software, her main priorities are to establish regional policies and practices that align with the global business goals to enable the company to continue its rapid growth across Asia Pacific.

When asked her thoughts on talent in the region, Neo spoke exclusively to Human Resources Online: “This is a dynamic market with a high mobility of talent, which makes it an exciting place to be. It’s also really important for us as HR professionals to define and create a unique experience that gives meaning and purpose to current and potential employees." [Read more]

HR solution providers appointments

Multi-cloud data control company, Rubrik, has appointed Kamal Brar as Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan, responsible for driving Rubrik’s Asia operations. Based in Singapore, he will report to Chief Revenue Officer Brett Shirk.

"Kamal has successfully led some of the most disruptive technology companies across Asia Pacific and we’re excited to have him join Rubrik," said Shirk. "His passion for software and building high-performance teams will drive short and long term success as he scales our business in the region."

Brar joins Rubrik from Hortonworks, where he led its business in APAC and the Middle East. Prior to that, he served as SVP of APAC at Talend where he launched its APAC operations.

Siew Yin Koh takes on new markets at Korn FerryPreviously Marketing Manager, Malaysia at Korn Ferry, Siew Yin Koh now handles wider market responsibilities, as Regional Marketing Manager, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Effective September 2019, Koh’s portfolio includes leading, driving, and managing marketing and PR initiatives to support the organisational consulting firm’s business growth and revenue goals in these markets.

She told Human Resources Online that the new role entails working with the leadership teams and colleagues across the designated countries to ensure that all of the clients and potential buyers know Korn Ferry for what it stands for. "We will continue to build awareness in the market about the breadth and depth of Korn Ferry’s offerings, leveraging on the strength of our brand and the power of our people and IP."

Before joining Korn Ferry in 2017, Koh took on several roles, including managerial positions at Willis Towers Watsons and Motorola. She is based in Malaysia.

If you’ve been promoted or if you’ve moved to a new company, send us your profile and photo, and we will announce your news here – just email priyas@humanresourcesonline.net.

Photos / provided (From L-R: Kamal Brar, Meiyea Neo, Sheldon Toh)