From studying multimedia game development, to contributing to the employee experience and organisational performance

Kitty: Tell me a bit more about your career journey. How did you end up in People and culture? And looking back, was it what you expected?

Divina: When I reflect on my professional path,  entering HR was not what I initially anticipated. I pursued a qualification in IT (majoring in Multimedia) with the intention to be a professional game programmer. But there weren’t many opportunities for women in a male-dominated field back then so I did not start my first job as a programmer right after graduation.

I was clueless about where to start so I took up OD jobs trying to figure out where my life was headed. Luckily, I was fortunate to work in a company that emphasised the importance of HR practices and wellbeing of employees. So I found myself genuinely fascinated by HR’s potential to impact both individuals and organisations. 

Over the years I’ve welcomed every opportunity to expand my HR knowledge and skills and as my career progressed, I developed a deep passion for the people aspects. Creating a positive workplace culture and fostering employee growth and satisfaction are critical to both individual and organisation success. 

I specialised in People and Culture so I could focus on enhancing the employee experience, promoting diversity and inclusion and driving organisational transformation. I've had the privilege of working with talented individuals and teams over the years, witnessing the positive impact HR initiatives can have on an organisation's performance and the lives of employees.

I specialised in People and Culture so I could focus on enhancing the employee experience, promoting diversity and inclusion and driving organisational transformation. I've had the privilege of working with talented individuals and teams over the years, witnessing the positive impact HR initiatives can have on an organisation's performance and the lives of employees. This has been a rewarding and fulfilling journey.

Although my career ambition may have not been a predetermined path, I’m grateful for the opportunities that have led me to the field of People and Culture. I’m here because of various leaders and people I've met along the journey and proud to have been able to contribute meaningfully to the success and wellbeing of both employees and organisations that I've worked with. That's a bit of my journey where I started and where I am today.

4 sources of support for HR at startups: change management training, better internal communications, networking events and external experts

Kitty: Regarding the Southeast Asia context for a startup environment, you've had quite diverse experience in different types of organisations. Now that you're at Bolttech, where do you see the differences in support or resourcing for a startup vs a more mature organisation?

Divina: The support mechanism for Southeast Asia actually varies. I can give some general suggestions or resources which can be helpful in this kind of situation.

Firstly, with change management training and tools, HR practitioners can benefit from training programs or resources focused specifically on change management. These resources can help us understand the rationale of the change, develop strategies to mitigate resistance and support the transition journey. 

How we communicate or circulate information about a restructuring is vital because you or I will perceive the information differently. HR needs to provide regular updates and have proper communication tools.

The second part is communication. How we communicate or circulate information about a restructuring is vital because you or I will perceive the information differently. HR needs to provide regular updates and have proper communication tools. Some examples might be the company intranet or platforms that enable timely and transparent communications. Then you need to clarify expectations and address concerns from the ground. So that’s the communication part. 

Another part is networking. I’m part of some HR alumni groups in Malaysia (not in Southeast Asia yet). For HR professionals in Southeast Asia startups, these platforms encourage ideas on experiments, experiences, best practices you may have done in your previous roles. Now that it’s the digital era, you have platforms like online forums, social media groups, professional associations which are dedicated to HR startups. These can be valuable for sharing insights. So that is point number three. 

The next one worth investing in for startups is external consultants or experts. Perhaps not on a big scale, but some external consultants who specialise in change management or structuring who can actually provide comprehensive guidance through the entire process. They can also provide additional resources or tools to manage these changes.

Using an organisational restructure to upgrade a startup’s talent strategy, identify high performers and implement more robust performance management for succession planning

Kitty: When it comes to a restructuring, if there's a big change, people will be moved around and they might be doing jobs that they didn't do before and they might need new competencies. How can a HR professional use the restructuring as an opportunity to rethink the way they're doing talent development?

Divina: You can start off with an internal assessment, to get a sense of talent needs right after restructuring. With this assessment, you can identify competencies, skills, capabilities required to support the new organisation structure, vision, and mission. After this assessment, HR needs to come up with a comprehensive talent strategy which aligns with the company's post-restructuring goals. HR practitioners can support this through programs like succession planning, skill enhancements, leadership development, performance management and system management, among many others. 

HR needs to come up with a comprehensive talent strategy which aligns with the company's post-restructuring goals. HR practitioners can support this through programs like succession planning, skill enhancements, leadership development, performance management and system management, among many others. 

Also, identifying HIPOs (High Performing employees). Building this internal talent pipeline opens opportunities for key roles. Then with these HIPOs, give them customised development opportunities so they can take on future leadership roles.

In terms of performance management, implement a robust system. You can align employees’ performance along with the organisation's strategic goals by establishing KPIs and creating clear sets of expectations out of the role. A proper performance system gives you the opportunity to provide regular feedback and coaching, mentoring, assignments of work buddies if required. 

These are things I'm currently doing in my company. I'm also coaching my juniors so they can take on my role eventually.

Kitty: On succession planning, do you think it's a particular challenge in a startup because things are changing all the time? 

If the organisation today might be different in two months' time, how can HR practitioners do succession planning alongside the speed of change of the business?

Divina: Succession planning is not an overnight outcome. It takes months and probably a year to build. It’s having a very good comprehensive plan of how you're going to execute the succession. 

For example, in a recent exercise I did last year, we put employees into a nine grid box. This captures different aspects of their strengths and areas you can develop for them. By having this nine box grid, you can plan how to groom them, for instance, on their communication skills. Some may be good people leaders, but when it comes to communication, that's their area of improvement. I find this tool very effective and have been using it for the last 3-4 years in my current roles. 

Kitty: We're familiar with the nine box method as well.

Divina: There's so many methodologies out there, but I stick to the very simple traditional ones which I understand and have tried and tested!

Two areas of learning to upskill startup employees after a big change: training in agile mindsets, fostering design thinking and creativity

Kitty: Since we're talking about competencies and skill gaps, the next question is about learning. Every organisation wants to build a learning culture. We've noticed startups feel very confident that they can learn because that's the nature of a startup. Build, test, iterate, the whole product process is a learning loop. 

When it comes to structured learning, how can startups be more intentional or planned in how they are cultivating that learning culture?

Divina: Learning plays a critical role in helping startups navigate constant change and disruption. I’ll share some ways where learning can actually support startups in this regard. 

First and foremost, it’s about mindset and adaptability: You hear a lot about the ‘agile mindset’ these days as it enables employees to respond to change and disruption. Startups can implement regular learning sessions or workshops on the agile methodology (even in HR, I use Scrum and Kanban). This also helps employees understand the principles of agility and develop much-needed skills. 

Startups can implement regular learning sessions or workshops on the agile methodology (even in HR, I use Scrum and Kanban). This also helps employees understand the principles of agility and develop much-needed skills. 

Secondly, nurturing creativity and innovation fosters a culture of continuous learning and experiments, which are essential for driving innovation (especially in a startup environment). Another term you hear these days is Design Thinking. There are alot of workshops for growing and enhancing employees’ problem-solving and creative thinking abilities.

Upskilling, reskilling and continuous learning allows startups to develop a versatile and multi-skilled workforce, which enables you to take up new responsibilities and roles eventually.

Upskilling, reskilling and continuous learning allows startups to develop a versatile and multi-skilled workforce, which enables you to take up new responsibilities and roles eventually.

Kitty: Do you have any tips or insight on how startups can allocate their learning budget? Is there a framework they can use to prioritise?

Divina: When you do your yearly budgets, you need to understand the budget allocated for your learning and development. This is something we’re also looking into, based on employee surveys and feedback. The number one feedback we always get is about the need for learning opportunities, employees want to know, “what is there for me next?”. 

Based on the feedback we received, we opened up a HR pillar focusing more on learning & development for employees. You don't necessarily need a system that’s super robust, you can just create a library where employees go to do some self-learning, which ties into their KPIs. That is something that you can focus on as well.

Kitty: I love that, tying learning behaviour with business KPIs to encourage a certain culture to form.

In an ever-evolving HR landscape, HR leaders should always be growing whilst taking care of their own wellbeing

Kitty: Speaking of learning, what about you personally? What's in store for the next half of the year ahead? How are you growing professionally and personally?

Divina: Let's tackle the professional part, then I'll go into the personal part. 

I'm quite ambitious so I’d like to continue the journey of professional development. For instance, attending workshops, seminars, conferences to network with people. I just completed my Masters so in the next year, work-life balance and prioritising self-care are number one in my life.

For the personal side, I'm quite ambitious so I’d like to continue the journey of professional development. For instance, attending workshops, seminars, conferences to network with people. I just completed my Masters so in the next year, work-life balance and prioritising self-care are number one in my life. I want to start doing that by managing my stress, finding hobbies outside of work. Something I've been procrastinating on for a long time is getting closer to God. I've always been finding excuses like, “Oh, I've got no time to go to temple and pray or light up the altar”, but I'm going to stop making excuses and allocate time for this. 

Lastly, I want to start giving back to the community. With my vast years of HR experience, I can contribute to the younger HR generation coming into the workforce and overcome my personal fear of speaking in public. I’d like to get opportunities to write articles that actually impact the HR community by being real, not sugar-coating stuff. 

Kitty: I'm glad we crossed paths because that sounds like this will be the first or one of the first. I love that every HR leader that we speak to is so different, but at the same time, everyone has had a lot of shared experiences. One thing we've noticed is HR is always taking care of other people.

Divina: This was actually something running through my mind for the past two months. We are so busy taking care of employees’ wellbeing and every stakeholder in the company. I’d say the biggest burnout is within the HR department. You're busy being everyone's go-to person. But people tend to forget that we are also human.

We are so busy taking care of employees’ wellbeing and every stakeholder in the company. I’d say the biggest burnout is within the HR department. You're busy being everyone's go-to person. But people tend to forget that we are also human.

I'm trying to do some brainstorming and probably take up some ideas with our team and see where it goes from there on.