The Indonesian employment act was indeed a success pilot run, and there were request from Regional HR Managers to invite Indonesian Labour Law expert Mr. Hendri Gemilang as a guest speaker for the 29th HR Sharing. Hendri was no stranger to many of the participants as the workshop in January had an encouraging turnout. To Hendri, saying ‘no’ was not an option as he is enthusiastic about being a consultant, serving Singapore based companies that operate branch offices in Indonesia.
Hendri shared numerous case studies about how Unions operate in Indonesia and what influence their decisions to stage strikes or why do they resort to “work to rule methods’’.
A substantial number of participants found Hendri to be knowledgeable in his approach of handling Unions in Indonesia. His suggestions clearly demonstrated that Hendri boast of enormous experience in the field of industrial relations. One participant even commented “With Hendri to fall back on whenever I have problems in Jakarta, it is indeed a feeling of great comfort”
The second speaker, Terence Lim boasted a substantial number of years in the HR profession. Terence spoke about the pros and cons of a performance appraisal and highlighted the many pitfalls made by HR as well as non HR personnel. An example he gave was the recency effect. This is when the appraiser only remembers what recently happened and thus the evaluation is only based on what he can remember. Employees know this flaw and will only step up performance when nearing the appraisal period, which are only once a year as practiced by most companies. HRmatters21 consultants have always encouraged companies to have their appraisal at least twice a year to minimize the recency effect.
Terence also touched on the halo and horn effect, which is generally about the lasting effect of first impression. It was another good HR sharing with members exchanging business cards at the end of the session. HRmatters21 would also like to invite, anyone who wants to come forward and share a HR topic, even non-managers are welcome to share. We certainly look forward to the 30th HR Sharing as we bring to the stage 2 more speakers with 2 more topics at hand. Cheers!!
By Michelle Yeo
