Every year, Great Place to Work invites C-suite and human resources leaders to share and discuss best work practices and the current challenges in the market. Great Place to Work invited speakers from Hulu, Mastercard, SC Johnson, The Orangeblowfish, Starmaker, and Ladies Who Tech to discuss the challenges and share insights on their personal experiences as well as future trends of roles and duties in respect to workplace equality.
The event was held on 5th December 2019 at Hyatt On the Bund, Shanghai, a city changing as rapidly as today’s workforce. The attendees included HR leaders and CEOs from MNCs and approximately 200 high-profile thought-leaders and industry peers, all of whom attended keynote presentations, interactive sessions and panel discussions on a variety of trending topics under the theme of workplace equality.
The conference started with a presentation by Dr. Yue Zhuge, VP and General Manager, Hulu Beijing R&D. She shared on a very interesting and thoughtful topic, “The WHY and HOW of Leadership”. Being a busy mum does not stop her from continuing to achieve and progress in her career. She shared her thought process and guiding principles for achieving one’s personal goals and living one’s best life. She provided some very interesting examples from both her work and personal lives and how she can make time for both.
The first keynote speech was followed by an interesting interactive session, conducted by Mr. Siu Tang, Founder of The Orangeblowfish. This session introduced some simple yet fun and creative work space designs. Innovative work space design has become an important communication channel in the modern workplace. It helps to convey corporate values via workplace design instead of company emails or policy handbooks. Mr. Siu Tang engaged the audience to create a Shanghai-inspired office wall design using common workplace values that were identified by the audience. He explained the importance of engaging and exciting the employees in the workplace and how the physical space that we work in every day can be redesigned to help inspire the employees.
After some refreshments, various leaders from different industries participated in a panel discussion. Ms. Charlene Liu, Co-Founder of Ladies Who Tech, Mr. Stephen Lau, VP&GM Greater China from SC Johnson, Mr. Samuel Bobertz, StarMaker and Mr. Jose Bezanilla, CEO of Great Place To Work, Greater China joined together and discussed the importance of helping both genders at work and ensuring that everyone is given a fair chance to pursue leadership roles regardless of gender.
The last keynote speech was delivered by Ms. Jennifer Cao, Vice President HRBP, China Division, Mastercard. She explained how the unique culture of Mastercard has enabled many employees to pursue their careers at work. Mastercard’s workforce comprises approximately 51% female, and the company actively encourages and promotes gender balance at work. Ms. Cao also explained that a great workplace is driven and motivated by work satisfaction and not by salary.
Later that evening, the Best Workplaces Awards Ceremony was held at the same location.
The Best Workplaces list in Greater China was evaluated using the Trust Index and Culture Audit scores from the participating companies. Great Place to Work provides the expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. This year, 44 companies made it to the list. Additionally, Great Place to Work also introduced and delivered the Best Workplaces for women for the first time, recognising many great companies and great female leaders.
Mr. Jose Carlos Bezanilla, CEO of Greater China from Great Place to Work Institute, said: “I am very pleased to have more companies certified as Best Workplaces in Greater China and am also excited to announce and recognise the Best Workplaces for Women in Greater China for the first time. Many companies have been continuously striving to improve and sustain their respective workplace cultures, and it is surely not an easy thing to build and maintain a great place to work.” In addition, Ms. Alicia Tung, COO of Great Place To Work Greater China, presented data pertaining to Gender Equality at work within Greater China. And Mr. Shane Mcdonnell, Business Development Manager of Great Place To Work, Greater China gave a speech of Best Workplaces for Women.
The Best Companies to Work For® in Hong Kong 2020
