By Cat Gonzales
POWERinU Training and Coaching Philippines has once again partnered with Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia (PASIA) to make the 2nd HR Summit possible. This year’s summit had the theme: “HR as a Business Partner for Supply Chain, Procurement and Logistics: Human Resource Development for the New Decade of the Supply Chain”, and POWERinU Director Jun Marfori was the Event Chairperson of the summit as well as the host for the Day 1 program. The summit was held last February 27-28, 2020 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Manila, Philippines.
There were a lot of participants who attended the HR Summit for the first time, and they were treated to an array of top caliber and knowledgeable speakers who made the summit relevant and engaging.
On Day 1, Mr. Charlie Villasenor, the Chairman and CEO of Procurements and Supply Institute of Asia (PASIA) and the CEO of TransProcure Corporation, welcomed the participants with his opening remarks that centered on Human Resource Development for the New Decade of the Supply Chain. He emphasized the need for Human Resource to have a stronger foothold on decisions and actions that can contribute, boost or enhance those in the supply chain fields.
The first session was given by Ms. Thelma Meneses, Senior Executive HR who was formerly with Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak, BMS/MeadJohnson Nutritionals, Unilever, AstraZeneca and more, and she gave the talk on “HR’s Role in a Highly Disruptive Innovation Game Changers in Supply Chain”.
After a short networking break, Mr. Cliff Eala, Founder and CEO of Synerbyte, spoke about “Human Intelligence in the Age of the Artificial Intelligence”, followed by Dr. Ramon Segismundo, DBA, the Founder and CEO of 1-HR.X. Pte. Ltd, who then talked about “Aligning HR with the Business: People first for Supply Chain, Procurement & Logistics Success”. The last session before the lunch break was given by Ms. Anna Kotskaya, Former P&G Purchases Manager and Current Transformational Leadership Coach, and she spoke about “Evolution of HR-Supply Chain relationships in big multinationals: from co-existence to strategic partnership”.
The lunch break provided the attendees a great opportunity to meet old and new colleagues in the HR and Supply Chain field. Connections were made that hopefully will spur future collaborations or opportunities.
After the break, Ms. Elaine Cercado, Managing Director of POWERinU Training and Coaching LLP (Singapore) spoke about “The Importance of Human Resources and Business Partnerships in Achieving Goals and Sustaining Success”. She spoke as a former regional business leader and as a HR/OD consultant, and shared how the changing business landscape due to technology and multi-generational workforce among others, have impacted the partnership between the Business and HR in achieving goals and sustaining success.
Meanwhile, Mr. Conrad Reyes, Founder and President of CX and Sales Services Corporation, talked about “Achieving Customer Experience Excellence through Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management Partnerships”.
The last plenary session on “Acknowledging and Reducing Stress with Mindfulness” given by Mr. Patrice Pierre Ordacji, Founder and Facilitator Mindfulness at Play, proved to be the perfect closing to end the plenary sessions as the attendees were able to relax as they did several stress-reducing exercises.
After another short break, three simultaneous focused learning sessions were held. They were:
- “People Proofing the Supply Chain Organization through Effective Talent Management: BUILD, BUY, BORROW” by Ms. Thelma Meneses
- “Biggest ‘Pain Points’ for Human Capital in Supply Chain, Procurement and Logistics” by Ms. Anna Kotskaya
- “Three Hacks for Digital Innovation” by Mr. Cliff Eala
Jun Marfori invited the facilitators of the focused learning sessions to give a quick overview of what was discussed per group and how the discussion went, to wrap up Day 1 of the HR Summit.
Day 2 proved to be as exciting as Day 1 as Motivational Speaker, Success, Coach, Author and POWERinU Director Ms. Penny Bongato gave the Masterclass on Change Management. The attendees were eager and enthusiastic to join in the discussions and exercises. There was no boring moment as each minute highly engaged the participants, to the point that, most participants said that they would have wanted an opportunity to attend a longer and more detailed program.
The second half of the day was for the Masterclass on Negotiation for Human Resources and Supply Chain Executives given by Mr. Walter Buczynski, Senior Trainer of PASIA. The attendees were again afforded a great session as they learned the concepts and gained from the experiences of Walter. Needless to say, the day was another learning-filled day for everyone.
All in all, the organizers, the presenters, the participants and the sponsors all contributed to another successful summit. We also extend our thanks once again to PASIA for collaborating with us on this summit and we wish all the attendees the best as they bring and share what they learned to their respective organizations and teams. Kudos everyone and ‘til the next one!
