How people data can drive better business and employee outcomes
Digital HR Leaders Podcast hosted by David Green EP46: Chin Yin Ong, Head of People at Grab

How people data can drive better business and employee outcomes

David Green 🇺🇦 David Green 🇺🇦

David Green 🇺🇦

Co-Author of Excellence in People Analytics | People Analytics leader | Director, Insight222 & myHRfuture.com | Conference speaker | Host, Digital HR Leaders Podcast

Published Nov 10, 2020
+ Follow
The value of People Analytics is where it intersects with financial analysis to drive better business outcomes

When I was in Singapore a couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Grab, Southeast Asia’s largest mobile technology company, and spending time with Head of People Operations, Chin Yin Ong and some of her talented team.

With a background in sales and marketing, a psychology degree and a passion for using technology and analytics to drive better outcomes for the business and its workforce, Chin Yin is the epitome of the Chief People Officer as a catalyst for growth.

Chin Yin combines her role as Head of People with running the Technology Solutions team, which as you’ll hear capitalises on the technology Grab has developed for its customers to enhance the work experience for Grabbers – Grab’s name for its employees ("Both of these teams together, try to build a productive, positive and personalised experience for everybody at Grab to thrive"). I know you will enjoy listening to some of the innovations that Chin Yin and her team are driving at the tech firm.

To have the data is one thing, to draw insights to make the right decisions is another.

You can listen by clicking on the image below or by visiting the podcast website here.

No alt text provided for this image

In our conversation, Chin Yin and I discuss:

  • How since the start of the crisis, Grab's People Operations team has become the core function and cross functional lead to coordinate across country heads, the security team, IT, the facility team, "to ensure that Grabbers and partners were as safe and as supported as possible."
  • How to keep employees engaged and connected during the crisis, including the steps Grab is taking to ensure that "the social capital we have is not eroded too quickly, and how it personalised wellbeing tips to employees working virtually across its 14 markets.
  • How people data is driving better business and employee outcomes at Grab including examples in workforce planning, gender equity, recruitment and culture ("We analyse our performance management and promotion results, for example, and to see if we are truly gender neutral and to uncover any biases.")
  • How a current project to adapt technology that analyses customer feedback will enable Grab to listen, analyse and act on the "millions of commentaries that our people are sharing" so that "we aggregate it and try to understand it in a meaningful and fast manner."
  • How to infuse HR professionals with the skills required to be more data-driven – and achieve the optimum combination of head, heart and gut ("It takes the head, the heart and the guts to be able to run a successful People Operations team that actually brings lots of value to that business.")
  • The rise of micro-learning and generalists and the importance of skills focused on customer centricity, empathy and ethics ("When we come to learning we found that we should 'micro' everything.")
  • Why Grab's HR Technology strategy is focused on simplicity and user experience: ("Technology strategy is how can we make work simpler whilst increasing productivity for every individual by putting the user at the centre"), and why you need to find people who are good bridges between tech and business, tech and people. ("Bring them into the team so that they become effective translators of the needs from the tech side and the business side or the people side.")
  • Why the 2020s are set to be a golden age for HR

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested or involved in employee experience, people analytics, HR technology and business-outcome driven HR, so that’s business leaders, CHROs and anyone in a People Analytics, Workforce Planning, Recruiting or HR Business Partner role.

Data is in our DNA. Our leaders deal with data every single day. The most effective way to influence leaders is by giving them data, information and insights.


LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

To listen to the Podcast and read the transcript of my discussion with Chin Yin, head over to myHRfuture by clicking on this link: How People Data Can Drive Better Business and Employee Outcomes


WATCH THE VIDEOS

As well as the podcast, there will be a couple of videos available on the myHRfuture YouTube channel highlighting two of the topics Chin Yin and I covered in our conversation. In the video below, Chin Yin gives her thoughts on how companies can support HR professionals to be more data driven:


No alt text provided for this image

GET INVOLVED

If you enjoyed listening to this week's podcast episode, I'd be grateful if you could take the following steps:

  1. Please subscribe to the Digital HR Leaders podcast and weekly newsletter to make sure you don’t miss an episode.
  2. Please take the time to rate the show on iTunes. We rely on your feedback and support to make the podcast, so this is very helpful!
  3. Who would you like to see me interview in future episodes? Let me know in the comments below.
  4. Lastly, don’t forget to share on social media with your friends and colleagues, your support is always greatly appreciated!


THANK YOU

A huge thank you to Chin Yin for sharing her time, expertise and powerful examples of her team's work at Grab with listeners of the podcast. You can connect with Chin Yin on Lin kedIn, and read an article where she provides three tips for implementing HR tech solutions.

Thanks also to Panalyt for sponsoring Series 10 of the podcast, and also Ian Bailie, Manpreet Randhawa, Caroline Styr and the myHRfuture team for creating the Digital HR Leaders podcast and video series.


CATCH UP ON THE DIGITAL HR LEADERS PODCAST

If you haven't listened to all of the episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast, you can catch up now by clicking on the links below.

__________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David is a globally respected writer, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As an Executive Director at Insight222, he helps global organisations create more cultural and economic value through the wise and ethical use of people data and analytics. Prior to joining Insight222 and taking up a board advisor role at TrustSphere, David was the Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM Watson Talent. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations embark upon and accelerate their people analytics journeys. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast on myHRfuture.

SEE ME SPEAK AT THESE EVENTS

I’ll be chairing and/or speaking about how to drive business value and employee experience through people analytics as well as the Nine Dimensions for Excellence in People Analytics model at the following upcoming events:

Douglas Brown

Employee Retention Specialist: Training and support tools/processes to help managers improve retention | Focus on the core "Heart of Retention": The Manager-Employee relationship | Attractive Benefits/ROI's

10mo

Thanks David Green 🇺🇦. I would add that people data related to disconnects and employee concerns once identified and understood can be used to build customized and effectrive employee retention strategies and solutions.

Like
Reply
Sara Tiew

Head of Workforce Transformation and Analytics | World Economic Forum Fellow | Future of Work Strategist

4y

Great podcast, in-depth insights. Thanks, David Green and Chin Yin. Claudia Ukonu - you will appreciate Chin Yin's views on communication!

Like
Reply
3 Reactions
Dickson Tang

👉 On a mission to help leaders stimulate profitable growth through ideation || Keynote Speaker || Author || Growth Partner For Team Leaders

4y

Great episode David Green & Chin Yin Ong - especially like the part on "data to drive decisions / possibilities".

Like
Reply
2 Reactions
David Green 🇺🇦

Co-Author of Excellence in People Analytics | People Analytics leader | Director, Insight222 & myHRfuture.com | Conference speaker | Host, Digital HR Leaders Podcast

4y

In the first episode of Series 10 of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast, Chin Yin Ong, Head of People at Grab and I discuss the role of HR in the crisis, the rise of micro-learning and how people data can drive better outcomes for the business and the workforce. Tagging some of my network in Singapore who may like this: Lewis, Peta, Philippa, Timothy, Dilip, Zahina, Laura, Alison, Priya, Priya, Arun, Samrin, Jaclyn, Bala, Aileen, Nutan, Bartek, Hunter, Iris, Angie, Ambica, Himanshu, Grace, D N Prasad, Ester, Aditi, Tina, Jayesh, Alexis, Sara, Candice, CheeTung, Alan, Ridwan, Prithvi, Dipti, Ricardo, Stephanie, Graham, YC Lau, Megha, Daniel, Yusuf, Dickson and Dheeraj.

Like
Reply
14 Reactions
Artur Rodrigues

HR Tech | Sustainability | Product Management

4y

Loved the episode! From the micro-learning approach to the future Animal Crossing workspaces 😄

Like
Reply
2 Reactions
See more comments

To view or add a comment, sign in

More articles by David Green 🇺🇦

See all articles

Insights from the community

Others also viewed

Explore topics