Date Published: 12 Jun 2006
Human Resource Manpower Skills and Training Council sets key work areas for HR WSQ development
More than 50 industry members, many of them veterans in the human resource (HR) field, will be brought together to be part of a WDA initiative to develop a Workforce Skills Qualifications framework for the HR profession.
2. A Manpower Skills and Training Council (MSTC) comprising HR professionals has been newly formed to raise the level of HR practice in Singapore. The council is co-chaired by two of Singapore’s prominent HR practitioners, Mdm Ho Geok Choo, EVP of Corporate Services & China/India Operations, Hyflux as well as President of Singapore Human Resource Institute and Mr John Chan, Director and General Manager HR Singapore, Shell Eastern Petroleum. The co-chairs have 28 years and 23 years of HR experience respectively. They will be joined by 18 other council members who are experts from well-known private sector companies, government agencies, industry associations and training providers.
3. The vision of the HR MSTC is to professionalise HR careers, to uplift the image of the HR industry and to better train and certify HR professionals. The HR MSTC will drive the development and implementation of a Human Resource Workforce Skills Qualifications framework (HR WSQ). It will also conduct a HR Manpower Study this year, which will provide the latest information on the state of the HR profession in Singapore and identify manpower development needs and skills gaps.
4. Speaking of the importance of the HR WSQ, Mr Ong Ye Kung, Chief Executive of WDA said, “HR is moving from the backroom to the boardroom. This collective effort of the HR MSTC, led by industry, is critical as it will help better manage talent and improve productivity and competitiveness across the economy, driving Singapore’s economic growth."
5. The HR MSTC will be calling upon the services of some 30 additional HR practitioners, tapping into their expertise through three work groups chaired by HR MSTC members. These work groups will look into key areas such as: Strategic HR - Includes succession planning, international and global HR (headed by both Dr Elizabeth Martin-Chua Executive Director, Country Manager and VP (HR) Philips Electronics and Mr Koh Ban Heng CEO, Singapore Petroleum Company); HR Management - Includes manpower resources and planning, retention, outsourcing/insourcing, compensation and rewards management, industrial relations, e-HRM (headed by both Mrs Josephine Teo Li-Min HR Director, National Trades Union Congress and Mrs Lynn Loh Head HR & Administration, Singapore Power); and finally HR Development - includes organisational development, performance management, talent management as well as learning and human capital development (headed by both the co-chair of the MSTC Mr John Chan, Director and General Manager HR Singapore, Shell Eastern Petroleum and Mr Yeo Meng Hin Executive VP HR & Corporate Services, SMRT Corporation)
6. The joint contributions and feedback of the 50 industry members will pave the way to define a national qualification system called the HR WSQ. They will clearly set out work performance standards, qualification levels and career progression paths aimed at raising the quality of HR professionals in Singapore. Training and certification will be done through a rigorous quality assured accreditation system of training providers. By providing curriculum and assessment guides, WDA enables training providers to align their training courses and assessments to the HR WSQ.
7. Speaking after the inaugural HR MSTC meeting, MSTC co-chair Mdm Ho Geok Choo said, “People are the most important resource that drive businesses today - HR professionals have a strategic role to play in developing this key resource, in order to give businesses their competitive advantage. The HR WSQ will give HR professionals the tools and capabilities to better perform their roles."
8. Adding to her remarks, MSTC co-chair John Chan said, “The HR WSQ will act like a guide for HR professionals, a pathway of the skills needed to help them grow in their career. Being developed by industry itself based on the skills the industry needs, the HR WSQ certification will be a signal to employers and the hallmark of professionalism."
9. The HR WSQ, first announced by PM Lee Hsien Loong at the opening of the 11th World HR Congress, is expected to be ready for roll out by mid 2007. The HR industry will be the latest sector to benefit from the WSQ framework launched in September 2005 which provides nationally-recognised qualifications for various industries. To date, WSQs have been rolled out in the Retail, Tourism, Finance and Training sectors.
About the Singapore Workforce Development Agency
10. The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) seeks to enhance the competitiveness and employability of employees and jobseekers, thereby building a workforce that meets the changing needs of Singapore’s economy. Working with industry, unions, employers, economic agencies, professional associations and training organisations, the agency’s efforts are targeted at supporting industry growth by building a pipeline of workers through training and skills upgrading, and raising industry standards through enhancing manpower capabilities. Critical in its efforts is the development of the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System that sets national competency standards for the workforce of each high-growth industry. Through the system, companies and workers can go beyond incremental skills upgrade to achieve a quantum leap in manpower capabilities and raise industry standards.
