The Latest News, Tips, and Trends of the HRD Communities Published by HRD Gateway  for the e-ASEAN Endorsed ATN Project www.hrdgateway.org/hub5 news@hrdgateway.org

CONTENTS

Editorial
Feature Article One: "Removing the Barriers to Performance"
Feature Article Two: "Practice Makes Progress" 
Feature Article Three: "When Coaching Can Be a Sheer Waste of Time"
Humor Resource
Book Review: "Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works"
Attitude Vitamins
Links of Interest
Organization News

Editorial

Welcome to the December 2003 issue of HRD Gateway Newsletter!

The end-of-Ramadan festivities are just over. We look forward to Christmas and New Year celebrations.  After that, the Chinese New Year festival is coming up in January.  For HRD practitioners, the year 2003 was a year of change -- a year of learning, unlearning and relearning, a year of "Oops, that doesn't work!", a  year of repeatedly going back to the exciting drawing board.  We look forward to 2004 and to more changes.

Now, let's see what we got for the newsletter....

How many times in your career have you felt low? How often have you noticed it in your peers, the people you manage, or the people that have managed you? This lack of motivation will in almost every case have a negative effect on the person’s ability to perform to their full potential with the result that performance is not what it should be and results will suffer. As results suffer then the ill-informed and un-skilled manager will potentially increase the pressure and the level of motivation will continue in a downwards spiral. This could potentially be disastrous for both the individual concerned but also for the manager and for the organization. Allan Mackintosh, in his article "Removing the Barriers to Performance," outlines one strategy to help managers deal positively with subordinates who don't perform to expectations.

Our next article talks about practising -- as in "practice makes for perfection." You may say, "Hey, as if I don't know that."  Yes, you know that already, but author Jarrett D. Ragan Jr. asks "It seems so obvious that practice is important, doesn’t it?  So why don’t we practice more?"  He provides the answer to that question.  Go read the article!

Our third article deals with times and situations when coaching is a waste of time. Dr Michael Heah, in "When Coaching Can Be A Sheer Waste Of Time," discusses the various situations when the coachee is not in a receptive mood.

As usual, our other departments give you lots of great ideas on how to enhance your career/profession as a HRD/HRM executive/manager/director.

Enjoy this issue! (And do tell us what you think of it!).

G. K Lim
Editor
HRD Gateway Newsletter  

Feature Article One: Removing the Barriers to Performance

by Allan Mackintosh

How many times in your career have you felt low? How often have you noticed it in your peers, the people you manage, or the people that have managed you? This lack of motivation will in almost every case have a negative effect on the person’s ability to perform to their full potential with the result that performance is not what it should be and results will suffer. As results suffer then the ill-informed and un-skilled manager will potentially increase the pressure and the level of motivation will continue in a downwards spiral. This could potentially be disastrous for both the individual concerned but also for the manager and for the organization. Serious health issues could occur and occasionally these can result in the individual not only being ill but citing the company and the manager as the cause of their ill health.

There are numerous reasons as to why a person may not be performing to their potential but what does not help is the inability of management to properly identify what the "root cause" of the lack of performance is. Too many managers make quick and ill-informed judgments; in other words they "jump to conclusions" and as a result make hasty decisions about what the corrective course of action is. Judgments such as "just lazy", "not got it", "troublemaker", "not up to the job", "can’t take the pressure" and "can’t cope with the new environment" are just a few comments that I heard over the years. I have heard some others as well that have absolutely appalled me, given the management positions these people were in!

Why do managers make such hasty judgments? One reason is that they do not know their people well enough. They do not spend enough time with them to fully understand their personality style, their motivators and de-motivators, their strengths and weaknesses and how they are actually progressing with their work objectives. Their judgments are based on a lack of knowledge, understanding and skill.

One area of skill that lacks in a lot of managers is the ability to actually identify what is the real cause of the lack of performance. Simply asking the question "What do you think is causing your lack of performance?" is better than immediately jumping to an ill-informed conclusion but this may only illicit a superficial response in the form of an "excuse". Examples of these are; "marketplace is bad just now", "I don’t have the right materials", "The customers cannot be seen anymore", "Our prices are too high" or the classic "It’s only a phase, I will get through it". Some of the "excuses" may have some validity but more often than not there is a different, more valid, reason as to their lack of motivation and performance.

Managers need to probe further and they must take time to do this if they are to get their employee back on track. I have developed a framework that managers can use to structure their time with the employee. The framework is called CARERS™, and all a manager needs to do is to outline to the employee that he or she will take them through a series of questions covering certain areas of their work with a view to supporting them to identify what areas they can work on together in order to get the individual re-motivated and performing to the level that they have worked to or aspire to.

There are some pre-requisites to CARERS™ being effective, though. Firstly, if the manager is the actual "root cause" in that their behaviors are causing the issues, then there will be little trust between the two and as such there will be little honesty in the answers given by the employee. Secondly, if the manager is not a listener and is prone to do a lot of "advice giving" then again the chances of getting a good result will be low. Thirdly, the manager must go in with an open mind and not have any judgments about what may or may not be the problem. Finally, the manager must know when to "refer" onwards. E.g. If in the identification process it transpires that the "root cause" is a personal family problem or a psychological problem then it is not coaching that is needed, but it may be counseling or even therapy. The manager must know when to refer to the appropriate professional.

In my experience of dealing with people in these performance situations, I have only come across two situations in twenty years where the person needed referring on to another professional.

How does a manager use the CARERS™ model?

Firstly if there is a performance issue then time must be put aside to sit down with the person concerned. At least 1 -- 2 hours. This person must be made to feel that the manager is there to support them and not to discipline them. The process is about reversing the lack of performance by mutual discussion and positive action. Discipline procedures only come after agreed objectives have not been met within an agreed time frame and performance has stayed low or even declined.

The manager simply explains that, informally, they are going to explore some key organizational areas that are vital in motivation and productivity with a view to seeing what may be causing the lack of performance and then agreeing a plan of action that will help the person to improve their performance. It should be stated that this plan will be supported and also be monitored to help them along.

Then it is simply a case of taking the person through the various steps in an informal and supportive way, suspending judgments and attempting to understand fully what is happening with the individual. The manager should take a coaching approach, always ensuring that the person answers questions and formulates their own way forward. The manager may in some cases have their own actions as a result because it may be that some of the factors that cause demotivation lie with them and the organization. You will also find that in some cases the cause may be a "given" (e.g. organizational policy – car policy!) and that the employee will just have to live with it. The manager needs to understand the issue here but not agree with the employee. If it is a "given", then a way forward should be worked out that works around this "given".

You will find some useful questions below that you can ask when using the CARERS™ model. Give the model a try.

The CARERS™ Performance Management Model

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Allan Mackintosh is a Professional Management Coach committed to enabling and supporting managers to develop themselves and their teams more effectively. He is the author of "The Successful Coaching Manager" and the creator of the OUTCOMES™ and CARERS™ coaching models.  He can be contacted on 00 44 1292 318152 or e-mail allan@pmcscotland.com   Web: www.pmcscotland.com  

Feature Article Two: Practice Makes Progress

by Jarrett D. Ragan Jr.

Practice! Practice! Practice! We have all heard our mother and father, piano teacher or coach say these words.  We all know that practice is important for learning especially psychical things like the piano, tennis or golf. It is also very important for learning how to write an effective business report or give a dynamic presentation. All the “best” athletics, writers and speakers say that they practice a lot.  However, most people do not like to practice and will often avoid practice when they can especially if it is something they think they are not good at.  Why is practice so important?  Why do we avoid it?  Why do the “best” almost always practice more than the rest?

Practice is important because it is required for the brain to learn.  The brain contains 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) that can have up to 50,000 connections each.  It is these connections that are made when we learn something new.  When we first learn a new way of writing a report or presenting information the neural connection is weak. So, if we do not review or practice what we have learned, then often the connection is broken. We then have to relearn it in the future. If we practice, then, the connection is made stronger.  So, the more we practice the stronger the connection becomes and soon we “know” the new thing.  So how does this happen?

For logical/mathematical learning, the kind most used in business, the first place these connections are made is in the hippocampus (a small area deep in the brain that processes language and semantic memories).  This area depends mostly on review or practice to know if something is important to remember or not.  If something such as a business concept or an accounting procedure is repeatedly sent to the hippocampus then it knows that this business concept or accounting procedure is important and will send it on to the other parts of the brain to be stored and later recalled.  The connections will have been made.

It seems so obvious that practice is important, doesn’t it? So why don’t we practice more?

We all have very “busy” lives.  We have to and want to do many different things.  All of these things take time but we only have 24 hours in a day.  So far no one has been able to get more hours in a day.  Practice or review takes time too.  So often we choose to do those things that are “easier” or more “fun” and avoid those things that are “troublesome” or more “difficult” such as learning that new computer program or taking that new post that requires speaking in public.  We say we don’t have the time or there is too much important work to be done or similar excuses.  Maybe these things are not the problem.  Maybe we just do not believe that practice is important or that developing our skills is not that important.

The “best” managers or employees are the ones that decide that improving their skills is the most important thing that they have to do at this time.  For them it is often “fun” and “easy” to practice because they believe it is important for their future.  Sure they are just like you and me.  They too like to play and relax but they “know” they must write business reports and proposals, take that presentation course, attend that management training in order to upgrade their skills.  So they just do it.   They do it first and then often times they have more time for the “fun” things in life like family, parties, golf or tennis.

Tiger Woods has become the “best” golfer in the world today and some say ever, by constant practice.  Being the “best” golfer he can be is important to him. So, he practices daily.  He works on the basic golf skills over and over.  He develops his physical and mental skills so that he can play his best.  Does he always win? Of course not, but he wins often and he always pushes himself and all those who play with him to their limits and beyond.  He does this through practice, daily practice.  This makes those neural connections stronger and stronger each and everyday.  The “best” managers and employees do the same.  You can too. Practice! Practice! Practice! Practice makes progress.

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Jarrett D. Ragan Jr. is from Miami, Florida and was raised in Georgia, Singapore and Malaysia. Mr. Ragan attended Miami-Dade Community College and Florida International University receiving bachelors degrees in History and English and a Master's Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Currently he is working at the Akita International University Preparation Office of the Department of Planning and Development of Akita Prefectural Government in Japan. He may be contacted at ragan@mail2.pref.akita.jp.

Feature Article Three: When Coaching Can Be a Sheer Waste of Time

by Dr Michael Heah

Not all people will easily subscribe to coaching.  Coaches have lots of groundwork to do before their coaching mission becomes a success.

WHAT IS PROSPECTING IN COACHING?

In the sales profession, the role of ‘prospecting’ is all too important for the professional sales person to overlook in his goal for sales success. Prospecting is simply doing your groundwork first before you move into the other stages of sales presentation, closing the sales and taking the sales order.   Prospecting connotes a few important things: thinking, planning, strategizing -- and it includes making the painful decision of ‘eliminating’ some prospects if he can conclude that further pursuit to get the sale order is a waste of time and effort.

In coaching, a similar type of ‘prospecting’ has to be thoroughly undertaken at the initial stage to remove any coaching barriers.  It is very essential to ensure that the coaching relationship is a relationship of commitment between the two parties.  Without one, the person being coached will put forth a half-hearted effort, not only affecting the morale of the person to be coached, but the coach as well.  In the end no one gains from it.

WHAT ARE THE COACHING MENTAL BLOCKS?

The starting point in the prospecting for the coachee involves evaluating whether the person is willing and wants to be coached in the first place.  The coach has to use highly skilled listening, questioning and observation methods to establish whether any mental blocks exist, and how best they can be removed.

There are reasons for people to have mental blocks.  Top on the list is when the coachee is not the one who desires the coaching relationship. Instead it is ‘given’ to the coachee by a third party.  A common example is a superior like the Managing Director of a firm who gets a coach for his General Manager to help him improve his interpersonal skills.   While there are subordinates who may welcome this help given, there are however some, where this assistance is not well received. ‘It’s an insult!’, ‘What is wrong with me?’  ‘It is a way to get rid of me!’  Such negative feelings of anger, embarrassment and suspicion are tough mental blocks, which unless they are quickly removed, will make it very difficult to continue with the coaching relationship.

Coaching mental blocks also exist when the person being coached either expects miraculous results to happen overnight, or he expects his coach to ‘cure’ all his behavioral ills all at the same time.  Unless the coach starts off well, doing his due diligence thoroughly and getting agreement on each other’s expectations, frustrations can set in to spoil the relationship.

Another reason for the failure of coaching is when the coachee is not fully honest and open to the coach.  When genuine thoughts and feelings on strengths, weaknesses, fears, concerns and goals in life are hidden, the coach will be misguided and will soon hit snags preventing the relationship from progressing any further.  This will happen because lack of openness like this will prevent insights and will lessen the coach’s full understanding of the person.   A coach must have powerful people’s skill to break down the person’s ‘self defense’ system to allow for useful information to flow in and out.

Like a marriage where both husband and wife have to work hard on it, a coaching relationship fails when it becomes a one-sided affair with the coachee playing an inactive role to make things happen.  There are many reasons for it; either the coachee does not understand the importance of playing an active role, or he is resentful to the relationship, or feel insulted for being coached.  All these do little to help make coaching a success.

This goes back to the same important point on why coaches must do his prospecting well.  In this case, the coach has to know the real goals of the coachee (if any), agreeing on areas for improvement and expectations on each other, right from the beginning.  This is not all, for the coachee needs to be ‘pulled up’ again and again whenever he falters and gets into a passive mode during the journey.  At the end of the day it must be realized that the coachee owes more to himself than anybody for any change to happen.

Coaching can be a scary experience for many.  Usually it is the ego state of the coachee which gets into the way.  ‘Why should I open myself up to a stranger?’  Having such feelings make him deceives not only the coach but himself as well.

Sometimes it is also the fear of the coachee to improve in an area of concern, which makes them fake the real area needed for improvement.  For instance, a person who lacks assertiveness when dealing with other people may play safe by faking his problem and divert it to something else like ‘time management’ instead of the real issue of assertiveness.  The reason why he is faking it, is his fear that he will from now onwards have to say ‘no’ to people more often.  Being afraid to lose his ‘nice guy’ image he rather diverts his problem away.  While this may help him to improve his effectiveness a little, it will not totally solve his long-term problem as this is not the root cause as to why he is falling behind performance and results.  The importance of rapport building cannot be overlooked as it can help the coachee to be truly comfortable, dare to own up and also open himself up for the coach to help him build his assertiveness without fearing too much of the consequences.

Finally, one other mental block that can happen is when one-on-one coaching involves getting other people to help the person under coaching.  The coach does this by making the change process easy and faster for him by getting the people to provide feedback on his progress.  However, involving other people gives rise to potential danger.  Can he be open and accept the presence of others in the coaching relationship?  Or will he harbor negative feelings of embarrassment, degradation, and insult?  If he cannot overcome these feelings, he will then keep the others in the dark about his progress.  Say in the case of an individual wanting to improve his assertiveness skills, may require help from others.  These people who play the support role can help the coachee by altering their own behavior when interacting with him, making it easy for the coachee to express his views, or encouraging him to say the unpleasant ‘no’ to them.   He will also be asked regularly on his feedbacks on how he is progressing in this area of improvement.  But if these advantages are not explained or when mistrustful and vindictive people are selected as the focus group, then the coachee will openly or quietly resent their involvement.   Consequently, the individual will be in an isolated environment, which will often affect the rate and magnitude of this improvement.

Pitfalls in coaching must be avoided right from the start as well as throughout the coaching relationship.  The fundamentals are the same, good coaches always bring along with them not only the fine skills of coaching but their personalities as well, which must be built on trust, openness, honesty and a genuine desire to help others. While all these qualities may not guarantee smooth sailing for the coaches, it will certainly help to reduce the rate of coaching failures for themselves otherwise coaching can be a sheer waste of time.

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Dr Michael Heah is a professional coach and President of the International Coach Federation Malaysia Chapter.  He holds a Doctorate and Masters Degree as well as a Postgraduate University Diploma in Organizational Psychology and Labor Management from UK. He can be contacted at 6-03-77267316, 6-019-2317618.

Humor Resource

Managed by Dr James Y Lin

Management theory:
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost.  She reduced altitude and spotted a man below. She descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The man below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

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A Microsoft classic:
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology, like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon".

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason.  You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive -- but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

Source: R. Bailey

Book Review: "Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works"

Reviewed by Thomas Wong

Make Their Day! is a new book by Cindy Ventrice, a management consultant and workshop leader in California with 20 years of experience. It provides a practical means for making the manager's job easier by showing how effective recognition creates a more motivated workforce. It goes beyond the superficial to investigate what employees really want in recognition. The process starts by making employee recognition the header of your to-do list and not an item on the list. Cindy explains that recognition is not something you can do and then check off your list. It's a continuous process that must be built into everyday's interaction. It's to be incorporated into a project as well as a routine task.

Recognition that works is both memorable and meaningful. You know it works when the employee can feel it and says "You made my day." The book argues that recognition is not about perks, bonuses, and incentives. The managers must include four key elements to make it work: praise, thanks, opportunity, and respect. Everyday, employees look for proof that they are valued by the company. They want their managers to show that their work is important and that their contribution counts. Perks, bonuses, and incentives are means to be used in recognition but without the four elements, they would not work well.

Ask 100 employees about their favorite form of recognition and you will get many different responses. However, the majority of them would want to receive recognition from their manager or supervisor. So it's important that the manager or supervisor is the one responsible for doing it. It doesn't mean that all recognition needs to come from the manager or supervisor. The book provides examples of recognition done by peers and even employees themselves. The key to make any recognition program work is to provide appropriate leadership and support so that the program can take root in a company. The program can be set up using a three-step process: (1) Determine the current state of recognition, (2) Plan your recognition strategy, and (3) Commit to a continually evolving implementation.

I find this book easy to read and filled with practical guidelines. You can order it from Amazon.com with an excellent discount offer. For those interested in working with Cindy, please contact her directly at Potential Unlimited.

Attitude Vitamins  

Compiled by G. K Lim

Winners never quit and quitters never win, unless they quit failing. -- Doug Firebaugh

Forget past mistakes.  Forget failures.  Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. -- William Durant

Be selective about your external influences. Your multi-dimensional brain is influenced by everything you see, hear, read, smell, touch, feel or say. -- Brian Tracy

Ideas are information taking shape. -- Jim Rohn

No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come. -- Victor Hugo

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves. -- Eric Hoffer

We tend to get what we expect. -- Norman Vincent Peale

Hatred is the most destructive force on earth.  It does the most damage to those who harbor it. -- Nido Qubein

The most glorious moments in your life are not the so-called days of success, but rather those days when out of dejection and despair you feel rise in you a challenge to life, and the promise of future accomplishments. -- Gustave Flaubert

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. -- Eleanor Roosevelt 

Links of Interest

Problem Solving 

Granted, this site promotes the services of the authors, but it contains tons of really useful info on problems solving.  

Says Jerry L. Talley, one of the authors, "The site summarizes the work of myself, Dan Madison, and Geoff Ball over the last few years.  After reviewing our experience with hundreds of client engagements, we believe there are only 8 types of problems, and picking which type dominates in any given situation is the key to more effective and more efficient problem solving. Although the focus of the web site is on organizational problem solving, I have numerous therapists friends who find it useful as well."

http://www.ProblemSolving2.com

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Golden Rules For Training Purchasers.

 The title says it all.

http://www.imagescript.com/training/golden_rules_for_purchasers.htm

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A ten-lesson online course on instructional design.

http://www.itma.vt.edu/modules/spring03/instrdes/assignments.htm

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Lots of useful info on human resource management

"Human Resources Management includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually new business owners have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have."

http://www.mapnp.org/library/hr_mgmnt/hr_mgmnt.htm

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Big Dog's Leadership Page

"This leadership guide is for new supervisors, managers, leads, and anyone wishing to move up through the ranks as a leader. The first chapter, Concepts of Leadership, provides a basic background on leadership. The following chapters provide the skills and knowledge needed to implement effective leadership"

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leader.html

Organization News  

1.  New Secretariat Office & Bylaws

To serve members better, we have created an international Secretariat Office at Unit B-23-2, Level 23, Sri Intan One, 5th Mile Jalan Ipoh, 51200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Tel: 03-23811060,019-2268987; fax: 03-23811018, 019-2328312).  The Secretariat Office is managed by GK Lim, co-founder and Secretariat Director of HRD Gateway. We have also revised our Bylaws to reflect the glowing needs. A copy of the Bylaws is posted here.

2. Annual Appreciation

HRD Gateway would like to thank the following members for contributing to the development and growth of the organization in 2003. This list is by no means complete. We apologize for leaving out any names.

3. Interviews with Outgoing President Thomas Wong and Incoming President Raghav Rao

Thomas was interviewed in the December issue of HR Udaya. Some members wanted to hear from Raghav as well. So we have both of them interviewed here. Thomas is TW, while Raghav is RR.

I. How do you plan to jointly work with HRinIndia and other National HR Groups?

TW:	Over the past year, we have discussed a number of ways to cooperate and collaborate on an international level. I believe our strength is on that level. Just like many other international organizations, we will work to enable member exchange and other activities to take place.
RR:	All of us at HRD Gateway have a mission to make it one of the best and most popular international professional organizations in the world.

II. What are the activites planned for HRD Gateway?

TW:

We have set five strategic goals for HRD Gateway in 2004: (1) Member Recruiting and Fees Collection (2) e-Learning and Publishing (3) Seminars and Workshops (e.g. HRD Masters Series) (4) Community Development (e.g. Kaynet Project) (5) Employment for HR and People with Disabilities Some of the projects associated with these goals are on going, which mean that we have been working on them since 2001. We will also continue to work on building strategic alliances and partners with other nonprofit organizations and businesses. More information about these goals will be posted at HRD Gateway Web site: www.hrdgateway.org.

RR:

To further add to Thomas we have 2 immediate tasks of: (1) identifying newer groups for becoming part of HRDG; and (2) strengthening existing groups and helping them to develop and grow.

IV. Future plans for HRD Gateway.

TW:

We will continue to bring our Mission and Vision into reality: Mission HRD Gateway serves to establish a global network to bridge the digital divide, to support economy development, to enable lifelong learning, and to raise the work and life styles of ASEAN and the global communities. We do this by organizing, supporting, and directly operating education, training, information dissemination, and research programs for local businesses, corporations, government agencies, organizations, and individuals. We also partner strategically with all those whose activities match our program goals. In support of our mission, we use an innovative approach to motivate people with talents and hearts to be part of the organization. We work to develop local expertise with ultimate professionalism and quality services. Vision To enrich ASEAN and the global communities with human resources and to transform HRD Gateway into a role model of collaboration and cooperation. You may wonder about the emphasis of ASEAN in our Mission and Vision. The reason is that HRD Gateway was formed as a result of an e-ASEAN endorsed project. ASEAN is similar to the EU, and it represents 10 countries in Southeast Asia. ASEAN governments are actively working with China, India, Japan, and Korea on several ASEAN+4 regional initiatives. Of course, US, EU, Africa, etc. are already in the process.

RR:

Moving forward, our thrust will be to integrate and collaborate with other professional bodies. Our goal is to become a preferred network for all human resource development professionals, whether they are corporate, education, government, or nonprofit.

VI. Some personal details about you - family, profession, career growth, future aspirations, etc.

TW:	I'm married with no children yet. My professional bio and interests can be found at www.hrdgateway.org/info/thomaswong.
RR:	My family consists of 6 Members. Two sisters with their families are settled in Hyderabad and Brother settled in New Delhi. Both my parents, wife one son stay with me in Bangalore, India. More info is posted here: www.hrdgateway.org/info/raghav22.

Thomas and Raghav invite you to sign up for our free membership and network with 15,000+ human resource development and business professionals. Please click here to join HRD Gateway today!

Readers, please email comments, news items, and article contributions to the editor, G. K Lim. HRD Gateway reserves the right to use your contribution.

Copyright © 2003 HRD Gateway and Contributors. Email This Page.