Navigating Career Transitions and Future-Ready Workplaces: Vanessa Teo

[: 00:00:00

You don't put it all into a fixed deposit or into certain stocks and bonds. No, you actually have a balanced basket, so that you are also managing your risks. With careers, I encourage people to think of careers in that way too.

Today, the world is going to only become more and more volatile and more and more dynamic. Having employees who understand that, have the skills, the agility, and the mental capacity to be able to stretch is incredibly important and we have to build that in our organizational ecosystem to build that muscle so that our employees will have the ability to grow in their careers beyond the linear.

[: 00:00:55

Today, I'm excited to have Vanessa Teo with us. Vanessa is the senior VP of global HR at ST Engineering. Besides her day job at ST Engineering, she's also a co-host of her own podcast, called Career Transitions. She's also a mentor at various programs at NUS, National University of Singapore, as well as an advocate for inclusion.

here. So you have had a very [: 00:02:00

[: 00:02:15

So I joined a large US retailer right out of college and I absolutely enjoyed the whole merchandising space. So I ended up starting my career with Target. And over the course of time, made a number of international moves with Target. So while I enjoy the merchandising space, I also had a sense of adventure when it came to my career.

ually opened up in China. So [: 00:03:00

At first I was thinking, okay I have no idea how HR works, but I have always been a consumer of HR services, so I'll give it a shot. And I thought, you know what let's do this for maybe two years and I'll make another cross functional move back to the business. But what became a two year experience actually ended up expanding over time.

ross functional roles within [: 00:04:00

So, yeah, it's been an incredible journey, just seeing different parts of the world and also seeing different parts of HR.

[: 00:04:07

[: 00:04:15

So a couple of years ago I had the opportunity, in fact, to move back into the business. And I did a role that was the head of strategy and it was a chief of staff role in the last organization I was at. It was a pharmaceutical organization and I had the opportunity actually to move back into a business role as the chief of staff to our commercial head for Asia Pacific.

nding where the business was [: 00:05:00

And it was super energizing, but it was also one of the biggest stretches of my career because moving after so many years in HR back into the business required me to learn that business side again. I had to understand how I leveraged on all of my different stakeholders who had known me by that point as an HR professional, but I had to restart some of those other relationships to really get back into the space of being a commercial leader again.

[: 00:05:34

at you had that you felt was [: 00:06:00

[: 00:06:02

me to always think about how [: 00:07:00

So when I did those cross functional moves, it also taught me that I will not always get it right. I will make a mistake, but helping to mitigate some of those risks, I surround myself with people who might be better subject matter experts than I am, and I leverage on their experiences. I leverage on their networks to help me to make better decisions and help me to be more successful.

[: 00:07:45

How do they build this network? And how do they make use of? Because sometimes it's not only about finding that individual who is willing to mentor you, but also making the best of both the mentor's time and your own time. So what are your thoughts around that?

[: 00:08:17

part of and establish those [: 00:09:00

I think mentors are incredibly helpful to you. They challenge your way of thinking because they have probably walked through that path as well. They understand where some of those pitfalls might be. And I think that they bring a level of wisdom to helping you to make better decisions. One of my best mentors came when I made that cross functional move, when I first moved from the commercial space into HR, and that individual was the managing director at that time of the office.

it will be tough, but I will [: 00:10:00

He helped point me in directions that would lead to better decisions and more successful outcomes. And he also pointed out where pitfalls and landmines might be. And that was incredibly helpful because he came with the understanding, with the wisdom, and was very willing to point me in the right direction.

[: 00:10:30

made career switches in your [: 00:11:00

[: 00:11:05

The first is about how you go about seeing your career as you would a financial portfolio. The second is the importance of your network. And we think of it as your network being your net worth. And the third, I would say is really having a deep sense of curiosity and that continuous learning. So let me talk about each one.

So the first one on seeing your career as a financial portfolio what we see in successful individuals who make career transitions are individuals who recognize that when you manage your career, it's like managing a financial portfolio. When you manage a financial portfolio, you don't put all your eggs in one basket.

all into a fixed deposit or [: 00:12:00

So diversity of skills and experience are collected over time. You think of your experiences, whether it's a cross functional experience. Or whether it's a global experience, these all form parts of your portfolio. It could also be pursuing of experiments like you would with a challenging project. Or you collect an experience, perhaps when you pursue a passion project, all of these form a portfolio of skills, which I think is super important in your career.

nd in successful individuals [: 00:13:00

It could be former bosses. It could be your industry peers. All of these individuals form that network. How diverse is that network? Are you able to call on your network when in times of need? Networks take time to develop. They need to be harnessed and cultivated over time. And you need to recognize where each one of your networks play in your life.

hird one I would say is that [: 00:14:00

What do I need to learn to change the way I'm thinking about things? How do I look at relearning a skill? How do I look at reinventing the way I might think about a problem? And individuals who are successful tend to think of this process less of a daunting experience of trying to learn something new, but they always look at how they can learn it better.

How can they reframe a problem to turn it into a learning opportunity? And I think that those are the three things that we see in, throughout our podcast about how people make successful career transitions and ultimately what helps to build successful careers.

[: 00:14:52

[: 00:15:11

Who are these people who you feel you admire in some way? It doesn't have to be everything that they do, but it could be some aspect of their work that is a real standout for you. I would say, reach out to those individuals. Could you have coffee with them? Could you have a meal with them? I always think that when you sit down outside of the office and you have a cup of coffee with someone, or when you have lunch with someone, it builds a very different level of connection.

to step out of your comfort [: 00:16:00

Could it be their family situation? Maybe they have kids around my same age. I always start with that because it forms a connection with the individual. It could be a love for a hobby that we share together. And I would start with those things to help build some of that connections. So that's one, starting with an easy, easier of building the network.

I would also challenge people to sometimes be a bit bolder. Individuals are on social network and one of them that we are always on: LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great marketplace where you make connections and there are some that will be deeper than others, but on LinkedIn, you sometimes see individuals who you do admire for various things, perhaps some things that they've done in career.

o look out for these people. [: 00:17:00

It was through making some of these connections that got us really interested about human beings. And we reached out with a deep sense of curiosity to what those people are doing. It has helped us to build that network. And the network doesn't just happen with one meeting. It needs to be cultivated over time.

And there are individuals that you will find having a deeper connection than others. And I would keep up with those connections, call them out for coffee, lunch, or sometimes just a text.

[: 00:17:49

[: 00:17:49

[: 00:17:50

[: 00:18:01

[: 00:18:02

[: 00:18:17

[: 00:18:17

[: 00:18:19

[: 00:18:20

[: 00:18:23

[: 00:18:26

[: 00:18:33

e choice that they make with [: 00:19:00

And so what this means is helping to elevate the employee experience, whether it means building a sense, a greater sense of inclusion and belonging and diversity, or whether it means helping individuals to find that this is the place where they can build careers. I think all of these things are super important as we think about how we make our organization a great place to work.

The second piece I think is really important for our organization, and I would say for most organizations, it's how do you prepare your workforce for the future of work. So much is happening in the space of technology and AI, and so much of that would change the way that we think about work and how people are ready or not ready for that will define the future of organizations.

nt skills for our employees, [: 00:20:00

All of these will not go away, but they will need to be elevated over time. So these are the things that we're working on now.

[: 00:20:21

You're also a mother of two neurodivergent children and I have a child with special needs, so I think we both connected also on our passion on this topic. At the workplace, some people think of DEI as more fluffy but some actually sees very tangible business impact.

[: 00:20:50

[: 00:20:51

[: 00:20:53

So I'll share a little bit. My two kids are dyslexic and so they think differently. Dyslexics in general have challenges when it comes to reading and writing, so they are able to perform everything else in, in a very neurotypical way. But when it comes to reading and writing, they do tend to have challenges.

In schools they are provided with various accommodations, be it with assessments or be it in the classroom, they do receive some form of accommodations and the teachers are aware and are able to provide different levels of support. Now in the workplace, I see this as being increasingly important.

In the workplace, [: 00:22:00

So being able to help them to overcome and provide the necessary accommodations with reading and writing will help them to then focus on what they're really great at, which is coming to the table with innovative, with creative thoughts. They're very strong when it comes to connecting the dots and coming up with solutions that they're sometimes might be unexpected.

em. Generative AI has been a [: 00:23:00

And I think it's incredible what we're able to do. I think at workplaces, what organizations can do even better at is, really understanding how we go about bringing out the strengths in individuals, rather than focusing only on what they're not great at, if we can reframe some of these thinking, and perhaps offer up roles, projects or even assignments that play to those individual strengths. I think you'll see incredible advantages that come through for organizations.

[: 00:23:37

[: 00:23:44

They feel the sense that their managers are listening to them. These are indicators that also tell you how engaged your workforce is, how much do they believe in your organization. And when people feel that way, productivity increases. People feel that they are able to contribute more and they are able to bring their strengths into work.

So I also would measure how leaders are perceived. How do our teams perceive our leadership team? What are things that our leaders do well? When we have great managers who support individuals on their teams who listen to them, who understand deeply their strengths and their development needs, who spend time with their employees.

You see those teams with a much greater level of engagement and ultimately in deliverables.

[: 00:24:59

So let's try to understand how the different segments within your organization, what their unique needs are, and then empower the managers who are so much closer to the employees that HR is, right? So that they can actually action and create impact on the ground. Okay. So now I'm going to switch gears a little bit to the future of work.

And I'm curious to know, Vanessa, what, in your point of view, does the ideal workplace of the future look like?

[: 00:25:52

ce. We're only going to have [: 00:27:00

c in the way that they pivot [: 00:28:00

Today, the world is going to only become more and more volatile and more and more dynamic. Having employees who understand that, have the skills, the agility, and the mental capacity to be able to stretch is incredibly important and we have to build that in our organizational ecosystem to build that muscle so that our employees will have the ability to grow in their careers beyond the linear.

[: 00:28:29

[: 00:28:48

I think about two aspects. One is learning of the hard skills that are going to help us in HR continue to be successful. So whether it is the latest technologies, as it relates with artificial intelligence, or whether it's relating to the newest technologies in HR. We have to be aware of what's out there.

We've got to be able to have that curiosity to learn the new skills if we don't already possess them. But to also seek out opportunities in HR to get ourselves into those projects or those experiences so that it really builds that agility muscle in our brains.

[: 00:29:47

to understand more about HR? [: 00:30:00

[: 00:30:01

[: 00:30:25

[: 00:30:33

king those small incremental [: 00:31:00

[: 00:31:22

[: 00:31:24

[: 00:31:25

[: 00:31:33

My philosophy is to give those people the space, the autonomy to build on those strengths and ultimately they bring their best game to the table.

[: 00:32:11

[: 00:32:18

So that's keeping me up at night and I know that will be something that will continue to make a really positive impact for our people and to the organization.

[: 00:32:57

[: 00:33:07

[: 00:33:07

So these data on how then we can pull or help our employees to ride with us on a journey so they don't fall behind it's also what keeps me up at night.

[: 00:33:36

[: 00:33:40

[: 00:33:45

[: 00:33:46

[: 00:33:49

[: 00:33:52

You can also learn more about the show and subscribe to our community at engagerocket. co slash HR impact. I'll see you in the next episode.