Live: Training & Development Asia 2017, Singapore

Welcome to Training & Development Asia 2017, Singapore - Asia’s only dedicated learning & development conference for HR leaders and L&D specialists! Back for its fourth year in Singapore, today’s conference will see speakers from Tesla, NTUC, Siements, and more unveiling the secrets to developing best practice corporate learning strategies.

On this page, you can catch live updates from the conference, brought to you straight from Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore – from all the tweets on #TDA2017 to the top advice dished out by our speakers, and photos throughout the day. Live feed here.

That brings us to the end of Training & Development Asia 2017, Singapore. We hope all of you had a great time and will bring home a few key takeaways from today. Thank you once again to all our speakers, delegates and sponsors, and we do hope to see you again at our future events.

Gold Sponsors

• ACCI – Asia-Pacific Corporate Coach institute
• KNOLSKAPE
• Right Management

Silver Sponsors

• Company of Good
• Impact

Exhibitors

• British Council
• London School of Business and Finance
• Marketing Institute of Singapore
• Montigo Resorts
• Rutgers Business School Asia Pacific

Before we call it a day, Koh Joo Khim, director, Office of Human Resources, Nanyang Technological University will speak about Nanyang Technological University’s learning & development initiative that helped them secure an award at the prestigious HR Excellence awards.

Now we have a a series of fun and quick case studies, about 15 minutes each. First up, Angelo Pinto who is the regional head of learning and development and has been the head of the APAC campus for BNP Paribas is responsible for establishing the bank’s learning strategy in the region and delivering high-impact programmes at the APAC campus.

At BNP Paribas, their vision includes "employee value proposition, alignment to business strategy, needs of employees and emerging L&D trends."

Following the quick coffee break, the next speaker present a case study on future-focused learning. Hailing all the way from the UK, the speaker joined Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in July 2012 as head of CIPD training and was appointed in September 2013 to head up the newly formed directorate of knowledge and capability.

Exploring “future-focused learning” and some changes a learning practitioner may wish to make for themselves, their function and their organisation; let's welcome Gill White, commercial and capability director, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

She said: "The science behind learning design is the brain and AGES (Attention, Generation, Emotion, and Spacing)."

Next up, we have a panel discussion on one of the hottest topics - women in leadership. Joining the moderator Beth Davies, director, learning and development, Tesla are panellists: Indrajati Nugroho, director, human resources, South Asia, Abbvie; Susan Cheong, managing director and head of POSB, DBS Bank; Aye Wee Yap, SVP, head of learning and development, OCBC Bank; and Grace Wong, vice-president and head of human resources, SEA and Oceania, Samsung.

When it comes to women being given top opportunities in Singapore, Cheong remarked: “Female leaders are taking up business development positions, and not just traditional roles. This is in contrast to what how it was when I first joined, where these roles are male-dominated.”

After a hearty lunch break, delegates will now participate in a round-table discussion on developing your workforce without a learning and developing budget. After this 40-minute session, a summarisation will be represented from each table.

With over 10 years of experience as an in-house organisation development specialist, and 10 years in management consulting, our next speaker has designed highly customised interventions such as WarGames! Strategy, Leaders@Vantage and Teams@Vantage programs.

Sharing how to identify and develop agile leaders, here is Marako Marcus, managing consultant, Right Management.

He shared: "Some of the attributed of a strategic leader include being futuristic, having an external focus, a big picture orientation, accompanied with a priority on networking and collaboration."

Additionally, Marcus also shared that "market leadership comes from being superb at one, and good enough at the other two - operational efficiency (best total cost), product leadership (best total product), and customer intimacy (best total solution)."

The next speaker has held numerous roles, including head of quality and service management, head of customer assurance, head of the regional contact centre, and data protection officer.

Joining OCBC Bank in 2008 she took over as head of learning and development in 2015 to oversee the strategic partnership to businesses and the development of high-impact learning interventions to drive people performance.

Here to address making overall learning budgets more cost-effective by developing flexible, mobile and convenient training methods, let's welcome Yap Aye Wee, SVP, head of learning and development at OCBC Bank.

She said: "We don't have infinite resources, but we do know about learning. And the learning experience should be relevant, simple, accessible, and engaging."

The next speaker leads leadership and business skills, learning analytics and coaching globally. In addition, her team also provides consultation for geographical and category talent teams for customised solutions.

Let's welcome Betty Lau, global learning director, leadership and business skills, Unilever. Today, she is here to share with us her view on using design thinking to drive learning transformation.

She said: "We have to be empathic. We need to empthatise with the learner - on their objectives, interests, and experience."

Kicking off day two is the global head of learning, Shell Business Operations, Shell. He leads a team of learning managers and advisors to drive the capability building agenda for about 14,000 employees at Shell Business Operations globally.

Today, Eric Yim, global head of learning, Shell business operations, Shell will be sharing his case study on integrating change management and leadership development for front line leaders.

He said: "Different organisations have different personalities - different DNA that they're known for. That leads you to your (company's) competency."

Welcome back to day two of Training & Development Asia 2017, Singapore. Richard Wentworth-Ping, owner and CEO of Wentworth People takes the stage to welcome all delegates, sponsors and speakers.

Next up, we have a round table discussion where all participants will be engaging in a 40-minute discussion followed by a summarisation by one representative from each table. Today, this session will hear some of the best practices for bridging training initiatives and bottom-line benefits. Enjoy the sharing!

After that short coffee break, we're glad to welcome you back with a session on best practices for connecting learning and performance for accelerated development. Having recently relocated to Singapore and joining KNOLSKAPE, the next speaker has had the opportunity to work closely with many prestigious companies across industry and geography, often with a focus on organisational culture and climate.

Sharing her thoughts on how to develop your skills using design thinking in combination with experience design, here's Marieke van Raaij, Director, Solution Consulting APAC, KNOLSKAPE.

In fact, sharing that 48% of women and 39% men feeling disengaged at work, she said: "We need new age platforms and approach to engage today’s workforce."

Set to take the stage next is the head of BASF learning campus, Asia Pacific at BASF. In addition to being responsible for learning and development of BASF’s future leaders and talent in Asia Pacific, her team at the learning campus also co-creates customised offerings on innovation, leadership and organisational development. She is also responsible for managing the BASF Learning Campus, a unique black-and-white heritage venue renovated and opened in 2014.

Sharing her case study on how to align the goals of your programme in line with your employees’ job progression, Ida Huang, head of BASF learning campus, Asia Pacific at BASF now steps on stage.

When asked about the boundaries between having an internal coach versus a manager coaching staff, she said: "As an internal coach, we make sure there’s no conflict of interest. The coaching relationship is confidential to the internal coach; and it is important that we don’t divulge."

Welcoming back our delegates with a panel discussion, we're jumping in on creating an environment of high performance to lay the foundation for company success. Moderated by Makarand Tare, chief talent officer, Asia Pacific, McCann Worldgroup; the panellists include Theresa Goh, managing director of 360 dynamics and board member, NVPC, National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre; Dylan Choong, regional human resources director, Southeast Asia, Sephora; Brandon Lew, vice-president, human resources, T-Systems Singapore; and NC Prakash, regional human resources head (Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa), Rohde & Schwarz.

When it comes to building a high-performance team, Choong highlighted to delegates that "putting a team of high-potentials together does not necessarily make a high-performance team."

However, when it comes to motivating your HiPos, Leow remarked: "Nothing demotivates a staff more than seeing their colleagues cruise the day and still get their bonus."

Next up we have a panel discussion on creating a high impact learning and development culture. Moderated by Richard Wentworth-Ping, owner and CEO, Wentworth People; the panellists include David Jackson, APAC regional head of talent development, corporate and investment bank, Deutsche Bank; Tim Raw, head of client services, Impact; Karina Cuello, learning and development director, APAC, JLL; and Michael Haberzettl, head of human resources, ASEAN, Siemens.

Our next speaker believes the life of a manager, at any level, doesn’t have to be the stressful, overwhelming and out-of-balance experience so many suffer. He has designed a simple, yet sophisticated, approach to leadership which reduces stress and improves time efficiency.

Today, he solves a question many of us have frequently voiced out - how to adapt to the evolution of the workforce, the organisation and appraisals. Please give a round of applause to Tony Latimer, MCC BCC, master executive coach, Asia-Pacific Corporate Coach Institute.

Let's welcome Tony Latimer MCC BCC, master executive coach at Asia-Pacific Corporate Coach Institute on stage.

Our next speaker is a well-known face in Singapore’s labour circles, and he is truly passionate about the cause of employers and employees working more closely together.

Currently the director of the NTUC Legal Services Department, as well as the future jobs, skills and training department, he is here to address the outlook of future jobs, skills and training in Singapore and the training and development landscape.

Here is Patrick Tay, assistant secretary-general, of NTUC on stage with his motto on being "ready, relevant, resilient" and packed with "agility, ability, adaptability" when it comes to staying ahead of the learning curve.

Welcoming the first speaker, she comes with 25 years of experience and has delivered cutting-edge learning solutions as an employee of Tesla, Microsoft, Apple, and Gap, and as a consultant for clients such as Visa, Oracle, Breakthrough Group, Coaching Right Now, and Tommy Hilfiger.

As the director, learning and development at Tesla, her presentation today will share with us on embracing the modern learner and she touches on what motivates them, as well as designing L&D for maximum impact.

Welcoming Beth Davies, director, learning and development, Tesla, she commented: "What we need to do is help our people match the learning abilities map to the stages of their career."

"Be honest about things like company culture, value placed on L&D, availability of matter experts location of target learners, and other demands facing target learners," she added. 

To inaugurate Training & Development Asia 2017, Singapore, Richard Wentworth-Ping, owner and CEO of Wentworth People takes the stage to welcome all delegates, sponsors and speakers.

He says: "One of the highlights this year is that the on-stage case studies and keynote presentation will be supplemented by round-table discussions led by our audience, covering topics such as learning technologies and innovation, high potential development, building a learner centered approach, and more."