'The HR head must be able to stand on stage, be vocal and visible. You must be willing to step up,' says CHRO
The HR strategy at Certis Group, a tech-focused security and smart operations company, has seen significant transformation since the arrival of Jaclyn Lee.
Since joining Certis as CHRO, Lee has developed a whole new road map and proved she’s set for the fast lane, having recently been named one of the top 50 HR leaders to watch in 2024 by Visier.
Setting a course to align 27,000 employees globally with a common purpose and values was going to be challenging, says Lee, but one of her mantras is to never be thrown by the road-bumps and to keep sight of the view ahead, namely the longer-term plan.
“We’ve been shoring up our own talent strategy, people strategy and we’ve had some small wins already,” says Lee, who’s based in Singapore. “In our technology business, we have been able to bring in good talents in areas such as software engineering and business analysis, and we are starting to build good pipelines in those areas.”
Improving the employee experience
It’s an approach that’s served her and the Certis Group well in unlocking potential. Working together with her team across the world, Lee says the new road map is in place and slowly bringing gains to the organisation. This is critical in a labour-intensive business, especially during periods of labour shortages, says Lee, who spent nearly 14 years heading up the HR department of one of Singapore’s newest higher learning institutions – Singapore University of Technology and Design – prior to taking on her current role.
Before that, she was senior VP in the group HR role at Certis, so her latest move is a return to the fold.
“In the talent brand space, we are already developing the whole EX journey at Certis Group and should be able to implement interesting programmes to start to improve employee experience,” she says.
Listening, building relationships
When Lee rejoined Certis, she set her sights on developing the best road map possible, so spent a good deal of time listening and talking to colleagues to hear their views.
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“I met every one of my team members to understand their career aspirations, and what was not going right and needed changing.
“I did quite a bit of talking with other colleagues too, including members of the senior leadership team, to learn about what was lacking in HR and how HR could add value to their business. I also attended many business meetings to understand what direction the organisation was going in so that HR could drive team strategies for the group.”
From there, Lee began to build relationships with business leaders, she says, “although of course it helps that I was at Certis before and quite a lot of people are still here after 14 years.”
Key pillars for HR strategy
After listening, Lee came up with the strategic road map. The new structure has three key people outcomes:
- to create a joyful and caring place to work
- to be an employer of talent
- to build a future-ready workforce.
To steer this drive, she earmarked five key pillars. These include: strategic rewards and recognition, people development and talent marketplace, group talent brand and employee experience, and HR business partnering and solutioning.
The fifth pillar is HR technology and analytics, which also covers developing tools to upskill and train people in data science, says Lee.
“I’m quite a data-driven person and have done a lot of work in the analytics space. We’re now developing tools and upskilling people as the whole HR team is moving towards being more data driven.”
One of the biggest challenges was recalibrating the HR team.
“From listening to what people had said, I realised the HR team had gaps,” she says. “You can’t deliver without a strong team.”
After convincing them about the new direction, Lee brought in external capabilities and developed internal capabilities through training and cross-functional initiatives.
One person who was immediately onboard with the new direction was the CEO, she says.
“I happen to have a very supportive CEO who has a heart for people and strongly believes in talent brand. People are the driving force behind the organisation and we have a CEO that believes HR plays a very strategic role.”
Obstacles inevitable with transformative journey
To spread the word, Lee travelled widely to attend meetings, present and run workshops and facilitate fireside chats.
“I managed to get quite good support from our leadership team,” she says. “The HR leader must be able to stand on stage, be vocal and visible. You must be willing to step up.”
Being clear about the long-term goal is critical in what could seem a daunting transition, says Lee.
“When you embark on something transformative, there will always be challenges. Of course, along the way, there will be obstacles or problems, but once you have a longer-term vision, you won't be troubled by short-term disruption.”
There’s a lot of work to be done in the next five years, but they’re starting to see small wins, she says, acknowledging that success in a commercial company would ultimately mean increased revenue and profitability.
“I think the most important thing is to have happy employees. At the end of the day, it's really about whether we’re able to retain talent, whether we have a high Employee Satisfaction Index, and have a place where people are happy to come to work.”