'Breaking the usual way of work will accelerate in near future'

Chen Fong Tuan, HR & General Affairs Director, Samsung Malaysia, explains how organisations will have to change their structure to be prepared for uncertainty

In what way is the nature of Human Resources going to change in the next five years and how can companies prepare for it?
The Covid-19 global pandemic has propelled HR to the forefront with organisations looking to HR as the leader and steer to navigate the uncertainty and volatile environment. Breaking the usual way of working and moving towards fluid operations will accelerate in the near future. People Analytics will be more prevalent in making real-time people decisions and not merely used to describe situations as it is now. Diversity and inclusion is often labelled as fluffy and not concrete. HR needs to start driving this agenda with quantitative narratives and not just qualitative descriptors.
As futurists, commentators, experts in artificial intelligence and happiness at work, give us your insight into the future of work and what we can expect in the next five to 10 years?

Augmentation of technology with human experience from talent acquisition to workplace culture, seamlessly integrating organic human interaction with curated data, information and insights about our talents, resulting in more robust engagement and decision making.
What are the top three things that leaders can do to create a good remote culture?

- Empower teams by communicating clear guidelines around accountability but not micromanaging.
- Equip teams with the right remote working infrastructure that offer flexibility and accessibility with the highest levels of security built in.
- Deliberately design collaboration and socialisation platform and opportunities to ensure remote teams remain connected and engaged.
What are some of the noticeable achievements of your company when it comes to building or scaling remote or distributed teams?

Samsung's internal remote working infrastructure based on our proprietary mobile technology enables 100 per cent of our workforce to work remotely anywhere in the world.
Our internal cloud network is accessible 24/7 from any locations equipped with the most advanced security measures.
All our people services are mobile enabled so all critical HR processes are self-service.
100 per cent of our operations was done remotely with no loss of productivity during the recent Covid-19 lockdown.
What can delegates expect from your session at the Remote Workforce Summit?

Sharing of experience being a leader in a global technology organisation in terms of managing teams effectively in an increasingly decentralised and distributed environment. How do leaders lead a multi-generational workforce located in different time zones, different geographies and different locations? What are the challenges and mitigation interventions to maximise effectiveness in the face of this disparity? How to build a coherent organisational culture that is aligned across all levels in remote teams?
What is the best business advice you've received?

We are leaders not because we know the right answer, it's because we know how to help ourselves and others find it.
Lastly, have you got a favorite quote or a quote that you live by?

Take risk - either you win or you learn.
 

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