Global Speakers

Amrita heads Strategy and Business Development for GLINT in APAC, based in Singapore. Amrita has spent over 15 leading in-house and consulting teams in areas of Talent Management, Employee Experience/ Engagement, Leadership and Managerial Development. Prior to Glint, Amrita led Willis Towers Watson’s South and South East Asia Employee Engagement consulting practice. During her 11 years at Willis Towers Watson, Amrita consulted to various Boards and Senior Executives in Singapore and across the region. She has worked across a wide variety of industries such as Government, Financial Services, Pharma, Manufacturing, Food and Beverage and Real Estate across APAC. Prior to Willis Towers Watson, Amrita led employee feedback programmes at IBM APAC.

She is widely recognised to be a thought leader and speaker on the topic of Employee Engagement, to have strong C-suite relationships and a trust advisor to clients.

Topic: How HR Can Create Happier & More Successful Workplaces By Driving Effective Change In A New Covid19 World

Interactive Roundtable Discussion: Resetting Employee Engagement For The New Normal

Panel Discussion: Effective Strategies To Get Your Leadership Team To Champion Your EX Agenda

Phaik Ai draws on more than 15 years of corporate leadership experience across the technology, arts, culture, tourism and media industries. As the former GM (APAC and Middle East) for a leading UK-based cultural tourism business, Phaik Ai built and led a commercially successful regional team that saw revenue grow 5X during her tenure. It was during this time that she developed her passion for organisational and human capital development and became a champion of inclusive and compassionate leadership. Other organisations she has worked at include Discovery Inc., National Arts Council of Singapore and the Greater London Authority.

Her love for languages has led her to work as an interpreter and translator in London and Singapore. Today, as a bilingual consultant and trainer, Phaik Ai advises and trains clients on their diversity and inclusion agenda, helping them to create a psychologically safe workplace where everyone thrives.

After living in the UK, Spain and Malaysia, Phaik Ai now calls Singapore home. She holds an MA in Media and Communications Management from Middlesex University, London.

Summit Chairperson – Day 2

Ries Deijkers is a digital innovator with a great passion for technology. Having started in the field of digital technology over two decades ago, in 1999, he is now being regarded as one of the forerunners when it comes to process innovation through technology. With an eye for technological innovation, his main focus is currently on digital conversational platforms, popularly known as chatbots. However, it is not just the chatbots that he focuses on, he also strives to create a phenomenal experience for customers when interacting with companies. In 2017, Ries founded Chatbots.expert, a company specialized in conversational customer journeys. As of 2020, Chatbots.expert has grown out to be one of the largest full- service conversational agencies in Europe. Through this company, Ries has helped many European companies to bring their customer experiences to the next level. One of the most promising projects he is currently undertaking is the Antonic.ai platform. He started the development of this platform in 2018 and launched it in 2019. This conversational platform is one of the most hybrid and flexible ones currently out on the market.

Masterclass 2: Improving Employee Experience And Digital Recruitment With HR Chatbots

Penny is a specialist in reputation management, culture change, strategy and performance. As a Managing Director at Citigroup and then General Electric, Penny led regional and global teams through culture change, public affairs strategy, issues management, social innovation and brand marketing for 20 years. Prior to this, she consulted for the world’s largest communications agencies with public sector, national and multinational clients in the UK and Asia.

Penny is Vice President of AWARE and a dynamic and engaging trainer who brings her love of engaging with people to Catalyse Consulting. She has in depth knowledge of Singapore and global markets, international leadership and talent development.

She holds a Master’s degree in Public Management from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, and a Master’s degree in Public Relations from the University of Stirling, UK.

Topic: What 2020 Tells Us About Inclusion, Engagement And Belonging

Peter has more than 30 years’ experience in helping organisations to achieve their purpose and strategic objectives through people. He has served as principal in human capital and talent management at two of the largest HR consultancies, Mercer and Willis Towers Watson, as well as holding the role of Asia-Pacific head of OD and talent management at Merck/MSD and MetLife insurance.

Originally from the UK, Peter has been based in Asia since 1996. He has also lived and worked in Australia, Africa and France. He is an associate fellow and chartered psychologist of the British Psychological Society, holds a master’s degree in I/O psychology and an MBA from the London Business School.

Topic: From Candidate To Career: Realising The Potential Of AI And The Digital Experience

Panel Discussion: Effective Strategies To Get Your Leadership Team To Champion Your EX Agenda

After starting out his career in various recruitment firms, Lutfi has developed his expertise in identifying and recruiting talents that can make a difference in an organization. These exposures have allowed him the privilege of understanding niche volatile markets across the region and how to address the talent crunch in each of them.

He now sits in Kuehne + Nagel, one of the world’s leading logistics companies, as their HR Director for the Singapore & Malaysia cluster.

Lutfi lives and breathe by Dan Pink’s motivational framework of Autonomy Mastery & Purpose. This framework is guiding him on how he envisions the future of work in Kuehne Nagel.

Panel Discussion: Effective Strategies To Get Your Leadership Team To Champion Your EX Agenda

Lauren is Head of Organisational Development at MYOB and a registered Psychologist with over 15 years’ experience in HR and transformation advisory roles. Her current role at MYOB involves leading the development of a new approach to the Future of Work and designing exceptional employee experiences that differentiate MYOB in the market. Prior to this she was Head of Enterprise Culture and Head of HR, for the Technology team, at Australia Post and has over 8 years’ experience in Management Consulting at PwC.

Panel Discussion: Effective Strategies To Get Your Leadership Team To Champion Your EX Agenda

Vikas is group head for Strategic HR at United Overseas Bank headquartered in Singapore. In his role, he leads a diverse team to design and implement several HR Transformation programs with the vision to futureproof its people and organization. Prior to UOB, Vikas has over two decades of experience across industries in areas like HR Strategy, HR Technology, Employee experience, Strategic Workforce planning, Talent Management etc.

Topic: Rethinking HR Programs From An Employee Experience Perspective

Victoria Bethlehem is the global Chief People Officer and General Manager for the Singapore operations of AAQUA, a digital tech start-up. AAQUA’s purpose is to develop, activate and operate a global services platform around Passion Communities where we jointly curate original and engaging content, combined with member inspired online-to-offline initiatives.

For over 25 years Victoria has held executive management roles within the human resources field. These positions span a 20+ year career in the recruitment industry, where she was employed with the Adecco Group and Randstad, the #1 and #2 global leaders in this sector.

An international citizen, she has lived and worked in the USA, South Africa, Switzerland, Australia and now Singapore, relocating 3 years ago with her last employer. Her extensive HR knowledge and experience has seen Victoria lead global change management programs, recruit and onboard critical C-suite level appointments, and manage regional and global implementation of multiple HR technology platforms and HR processes including emerging technology companies developed in Singapore.

She is an avid keynote speaker, having spoken at the International Forum on Talent, China 2019; French Chamber of Commerce, Singapore 2019; American Chamber of Commerce, Singapore 2018; Women’s International Conference, Germany 2017 and Czech Republic 2016 – to highlight a few.

She has completed a range of executive leadership development programs at INSEAD, France; IMD, Singapore: IESE, Barcelona.

Topic: Attracting & Getting Employees To Join A Start-Up: The Aaqua Case Study

Lisa has spent over 15 years researching and strategizing around the lived experience of teams and the impact of the built environment on the employee and client experience. Her particular passion is workplace wellbeing, which she sees a foundation for other strategic imperatives such as productivity or the embrace of collaboration. With a range of roles across health, safety, sustainability and workplace she understands that organizational transformation is all about engaging people positively in the change process and understanding their personal experience. Currently, working as a Workplace Strategist for Amicus, she gets to see every day how great workplace design can not only inspire and delight but drive performance and engagement.

Interactive Roundtable Discussion: How Physical Workspace Design Can Influence Employee Experience

Kirsten has been working as a HR practitioner for 25 years in education, utility, consulting, research and currently in the construction industry, specifically in commercial office interior fit-outs with Amicus where Kirsten is Head of Central Services. She is responsible for leading the Employee Experience, Finance & Marketing teams. Amicus creates spaces for organisations that want to translate their business, brand and cultural objectives into their environment, and the experiences it delivers. Amicus’s clients are organisations who are ready for change and have an appetite to rethink how their space inspires people. Kirsten was invited to join Amicus is 2016 with the specific goal of transforming Amicus’s HR function from an administrative function to a strategic and holistic Employee Experience function that demonstrates all Employee Experience best-practices. Kirsten was also tasked with leading Amicus to become an officially recognised best place to work. Both have since been achieved by Kirsten implementing a range of strategic initiatives, most disrupting traditional HR practices.

Kirsten’s extensive experience within the HR realm, EX-centric approach, passion for meaningful workplace change, ability to deliver programs that have practical and lasting impacts; and MBA and BA qualifications have seen Kirsten significantly boost employee experience outcomes at Amicus and Kirsten is delighted to share the bold path Amicus chose to take to transform Employee Experience.

Topic: Courageous Changes: The Bold Path Amicus Chose To Take To Transform Employee Experience

Dr. Jaclyn Lee has been conferred the IHRP Master Professional Certification in April 2018 (read about it here) and is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Dr. Jaclyn Lee handles the full spectrum of HR for the university and is one of the pioneer team members charged with starting up the new university from scratch. She has worked with the senior management team in developing the mission, vision, and values of the new university when it was incepted. As Chief Human Resources Officer, Dr Jaclyn Lee is responsible for HR Strategy, Talent and Capability Development, Workforce planning and optimisation for SUTD. In addition, she supports the President in driving international employer branding, and Organisation Development initiatives for SUTD.

Besides the above, Dr. Jaclyn Lee is also responsible for developing the Total Compensation Structure, Performance Management System, spearheading new HR policies and processes, recruiting key leaders, senior academics and faculty. For the past nine years, she has worked closely with the President and senior leaders in managing the culture development of the university.

Dr. Jaclyn Lee was previously Senior Vice President, Group Human Resources, responsible for managing the full spectrum of human resources for Certis CISCO Security Pte Ltd, a security services company comprising of about 8,000 employees in Singapore and 25,000 in the region. Her role there included strategic HR planning for Singapore and the region, compensation and benefits, performance management and scorecard measurement, employee engagement, human capital development, employer branding, resourcing and other special projects. One of her key achievements in Certis was successfully managing a very difficult wage re-structuring project that involved thousands of workers.

She has over 20 years of HR experience, and has also managed Strategic Planning, organizational development, and regional HR in one of her previous roles as Regional HR Director for NEC Solutions Asia Pacific. In that capacity as Regional HR Director, she developed the talent and career development framework for Engineers and high potentials in the South Asia Region. She was also the Balance Scorecard leader for the region.

Dr. Jaclyn Lee participates actively in conferences as a speaker, both locally and internationally and has spoken at close to 40 local and international conferences. She is the recipient of the Leading HR Leader Award at the annual SHRI Awards for 2008. She is also a Volunteer HR Director in SPRING Singapore’s initiative to drive good HR practices in SMEs. In addition, she sits in several other volunteer committees for driving best HR practices.

Dr. Jaclyn Lee has a PhD in Business Information Systems from University of Twente in the Netherlands, a Masters in HRM from Rutgers University, a Masters in Management from Singapore Management University, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Brandon University.

Masterclass 1: Measure Every Employee Lifecycle Touchpoint: How Data And Analytics Helps To Uncover New Insights In EX

Shailaja is a senior Human Resources leader with over 20 years experience and expertise in the areas of leadership, change, transformation, talent and learning. She is currently the Chief People Officer for RSPO globally.

Having lived in 5 countries in Asia and worked across FMCG, Pharmaceuticals, IT and FinTech sectors; Shailaja brings a truly diverse mindset and a wealth of knowledge that helps in defining what makes organizations and people successful.

As a certified Coach, Shailaja uses Gestalt, Archetype theory and Neuroscience approaches and has coached more than 400 leaders.

Identity & Inclusion is a passionate subject for Shailaja, both on a personal and professional level. She has authored an award-winning thesis on the topic of Gender Stereotype Threat in Organizations and its Impact on Women’s Performance from INSEAD in 2018.

Shailaja is an active DEI Champion, both within companies and in society; creating and formulating an ecosystem of like-minded individuals and organizations to propel the DEI agenda forward.

Topic: Designing A Meaningful Employee Experience For Multi-Generational & Diverse Workforce

Zora Hoare has over 15 years of experience working for global organisations in Consulting and Financial Services, including E&Y and American Express. She reallocated from UK to Australia 8 years ago where she has led global business transformation programs for hyper-growth FinTech companies WEX and most recently eNett International focused on improving customer and employee experience whilst driving commercial goals. Zora was awarded as a finalist ‘CX Leader of the Year’ in 2020 by an international MyCustomer.com forum.

Topic: Applying Design Thinking And CX Principles To Employee Experience

Sulal is a seasoned business Professional working as Head of Corporate Services with Danila Dilba Health Services (DDHS), Darwin, Australia. Prior to DDHS, Sulal was the Head of Human Resources at KPMG Eastern Caribbean where he led the People, Performance and Culture team in Eastern Caribbean countries. He has broad range of experience working in Professional services, Information Technology, Education, Not for Profit and Healthcare sectors. He was instrumental in Danila Dilba winning the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) Stan Grant Indigenous Employment Award in 2018 and he was a finalist for AHRI Dave Ulrich HR Practitioner Award in 2019.

Sulal is also the Director of ACET Group spearheading services in Migration, International Education and Technology with offices in Australia, Canada and India. He is a founding member and Chair of Ignite Potential Inc, a not for profit organisation working for migrants in Australia. He is a Member of the Minister’s Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs (MACMA), Northern Territory Government.

Topic: Real-Time Feedback: From Feedback To Action, Danila Dilba Employee Experience Story

Tanzil is a passionate HR practitioner specialising in Learning and Organisational Development. Currently working for Godfreys, a retail chain in Australia and New Zealand, he is to design and implement people, culture and process development initiatives. Previously Tanzil had experience working in construction, pharmaceutical and education sector in similar roles. He has a Bachelor in IT, an MBA and currently completing his PhD. His research area is behavioural psychology, learning theories and leadership development.

Topic: Employee Engagement & Employee Morale

Olivier is an innovator at heart, passionate about products concepts, who sees opportunities in changing everything around us.

In his previous roles he has created mobile phones, built technical proof of concepts, and defined innovation strategies for companies of all sizes.

Now leading the Employee Experience practice at Standard Chartered, he brings innovation and design methodology to the creation of internal products for employees.

Topic: How To Create A Compelling Employee Experience By Harnessing The Power Of Journeys

Annie has over 25 years of experience in the areas of Talent Management & Acquisition, Career Transition & Leadership Development, HR transformation, Change Management and International Recruitment.

Annie graduated from The George Washington University (USA) with a Master’s in Human Resource Development (HRD) and a Degree in Business Marketing from the Monash University (Australia). She is also an alumni member of the IMD Leadership program (Lausanne). Annie enjoys being mentor-coach to senior leaders and in-house trainer-the-trainer for best talent management and recruitment practices. Being a global citizen, Annie has managed large teams and high volume recruitment and talent management across over 20 APAC countries and two stints as expat in China (based in Shanghai) and short stint in Australia. Annie speaks and writes fluent English and Chinese amongst other Asian dialects.

Her accomplishments include driving the new joint venture and integration strategies for Fortune 500 – Adecco Group with the Chinese-State-Owned (SOE), reshaping Talent Management CoE for Danahar/Pall Life Sciences and as well as setting up Talent Acquisition & Talent Development & D&I CoE best practice center for Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. Her past experiences include set-up the training academy, RPO recruitment center, executive search and staffing divisions within the organizations to embed internal capabilities. She is part of the global team to building Young Talent Program and driving Women Catalyst and Diversity and Inclusion in the region. Her inclination to technology has led to deployment and implementation of TA & TM tools including Success Factors, Taleo and Workday.

Annie has made a tremendous transition into technology. At Citrix, her role as APJ Head of Talent Acquisition & Diversity Outreach is to catalyse and power up talent engagement and embed D&I into human capital strategy to enhance employer building. She is part of the Global HR team to shape talent acquisition and workforce strategies to advance digital innovation and impacting business growth. On a personal note, Annie is a strong believer of giving back to the communities. She is a mentor volunteer at higher institutions, an active HR industry panellist and avid grass root leader.

Topic: Power Up Employee Engagement! Investing In Employees To Achieve Greatest Impact On Employee Experience

Panel Discussion: Effective Strategies To Get Your Leadership Team To Champion Your EX Agenda (Moderator)

A passionate HR leader and a champion of employee wellbeing, Cheeman Mendonca currently partners with business leaders across a dynamic geography spanning APAC, EMEA & LATAM to help them drive market-leading growth in a complex and fast-paced environment at Molnlycke Health Care, a world-leading medical solutions company with the purpose of advancing healthcare performance across the world.

Prior to Molnlycke, Cheeman has worked with pharmaceutical giants like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis. During the joint venture between GSK and Novartis consumer health, he led several workstreams across Asia and Middle East including the employee relations workstream and the country coordination workstream which oversaw employee transfers. Cheeman has also facilitated High Performance Team (HPT) workshops for leadership teams across the emerging growth markets and has a keen interest in understanding how regional nuances and cultures have an impact on leadership performance.

His expertise lies in talent management, leadership development, capability building, driving a high-performance culture and organizational transformation.

Summit Chairperson – Day 1

Topic: Leveraging The Key Influencers Of Employee Experience To Drive Competitive Advantage

Sarah understands it’s people that do business. That’s why she’s passionate about creating the right culture for high performance.

Sarah is currently HR Business Lead, Strategy & Transformation at Schneider Electric, the global leader in energy management and automation. She is part of the Pacific HR Council, partnering with the Strategy and Marketing teams leads the regional HR Business Partner team and takes a lead role on Digital Capability for the zone. She is part of a team of leaders that brought strengths-based leadership to life in an organisation of 2500 employees across the Pacific.

With 15+ years’ experience in people and culture roles across a variety of industries including Transport & Logistics, Legal and Fashion Retail before joining Schneider Electric. Sarah is proud of the fact at Schneider Electric we are purposeful in attracting, engaging, and retaining Talent through initiatives like our Growth Hack, Graduate Program, and Mobility.

With a self-confessed love of learning, Sarah completed a Diploma in Positive Psychology & Wellbeing from the Langley Group. Sarah believes magic happens when commercial reality and positive psychology come together—understanding the organisation’s purpose and strategic direction, having the right leadership, and building a values-led culture that’s inclusive and innovative where people can be and do their best.

Topic: How Analytics Is Used To Ensure Its Employees Are The Happiest And Engaged The Highest?