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HR must continue to connect disparate disciplines and roles, says McCann Worldgroup's Gayatheri Silvakumer

HR must continue to connect disparate disciplines and roles, says McCann Worldgroup's Gayatheri Silvakumer

One of HR's key responsibilities is engaging people in new ways and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging within the company and among the workforce.

Meet Gayatheri Silvakumer, Chief Talent Officer, APAC McCann Worldgroup, a creative business partner who infuses modern tools and emerging technologies to optimise HR processes, frameworks, and service delivery, as well as talent management best practices to drive sustainable growth.

She is passionate about leveraging influential leadership to exceed performance targets in high-demand, complex structures, and rapidly changing cultures.

At HRO's Accelerate HR 2023 conference, taking place on 21-22 March 2023, you can look forward to hearing Gayatheri speak on the topic 'Elevating workplace experience: Building a forward-thinking dynamic, desirable, destination workplace'.

Ahead of the conference, HRO's Lara Samson catches up with her to find out the biggest change that needs to take place in HR in 2023.


Q With most organisations looking to recover and rebound, where are you finding the headcount your team needs, and how are you coping with the talent shortage?

Today, the rebound has gone further than we had imagined! The talent landscape is rapidly shifting, talent expectations are diverse and ever-evolving, and segregation based on the needs of a certain age is no longer relevant; it's beyond that!

Our people strategy is formulated by smartly adapting an innovative talent acquisition strategy to attract talent and give an effective applicant experience. Our people are our best brand ambassadors as we have a sustainable and inclusive talent life cycle and an EVP that correctly represents our culture and delivers the benefits and experiences that drive our internal talent growth and engagement.

As a creative agency, we prepare our future-ready talent and next-generation leaders through various programmes and an environment centered around finding inspiration to keep the creative spark alive and innovate new ideas and strategies aligned with our brand's purpose, agency, and client needs. For example, we find opportunities for them to represent our agency for judging opportunities or be an inspirational speaker on creativity, branding, marketing, and women in leadership.

A strong lens on conscious inclusion across everything we do, operate, and lead keeps us ahead of the curve in ensuring we have the right talent at the right time and place!

Q Brain drain is a real concern in Asia at the moment. In this time of manpower shortage, how are you and the team preparing to manage these talent-related challenges?

The talent shortage has long been a problem in Asia, where many industries and sectors are experiencing rapid expansion and rising demand for skilled professionals. Finding diverse talent in a specialised profession where demand is high and talent is scarce is one of our agency's most challenging problems. Therefore, we continue exploring different strategies to overcome barriers to attract the best potential talent proactively.

We strongly leverage the dashboard to analyse and monitor various aspects of the talent lifecycle and our overall priorities.

Our talent analytics is a critical business priority because they effectively identify and assess the gaps in effectiveness and what may be causing a significant gap in talent retention and early churn.

The barriers to attracting top talent to join our agency are how we prepare our leaders to deal with talent-related challenges, improve diversity initiatives and gain the insights needed to make the right decision.

And as our leaders embrace new ways of working, leading, and managing their talent, we continue to be a great ally to them.

Q In 2023, what's the biggest change that you believe needs to take place in HR?

It is undeniable that HR leaders now come from a diverse range of disciplines, including marketing, operations, finance, and business, and HR professionals are developing into experts in artificial intelligence (AI), data analysis, programme design, and so on. However, one aspect of our profession strongly distinguishes us: we connect disparate disciplines and roles, delivering collaborative value, and this must be reinforced more than before.

While we want to take a methodical approach to automate, modernise, and integrate systems to reinvent work in this new era of disruption, one of our key responsibilities is engaging people in new ways and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging within the company and among the workforce.

So, establishing a balanced approach is critical to ensure social connection, integration, inclusivity, cultural diversity, structure, and accountability are not compromised in the chaos of automation and desegregation.


Back, bigger and better – Accelerate HR brought to you by Human Resources Online is a prominent HR event you can’t miss. Over 30 deep-dive sessions by leading workplace trailblazers and HR innovators via informative keynotes and case study-driven breakout sessions, interactive panels and debates, fireside chats, and high-value discussions with over 250 people leaders in the region. Contact us for group discounts or download the event brochure for more details.

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