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6th October, 2023

2023 Myanmar HR Series - Crafting a Compelling Employer Brand Strategy from Vision to Reality

On 5th October 2023, JobNet hosted their second Myanmar 2023 HR Series event for the year with over 200 HR professionals in attendance. 

The 2-panel discussion welcomed experts and leaders from well-known local and international companies in Myanmar, spanning multiple industries including banking, insurance, FMCG, oil and gas, property development and more.

The event opened with a presentation from Justin Sway, CEO of JobNet Group, sharing the findings from the job seeker survey during the latest JobNATION Career Fair held in September. Through the survey data, Justin Sway stated that 95% of job seekers research a company and its brand before applying for jobs. This suggested that a company’s employer brand and reputation plays a vital role in the job search journey, and why it is crucial for companies to invest time and effort into it. He further shared JobNet’s current features on JobNet that can help improve your employer brand, as well as upcoming events.

The 1st Panel - Building a Foundation for Employer Branding, moderated by Matt De Luca, Managing Director of JobNet, was joined by:

  • Jackie Chan, Head of Human Resources Department and Senior Vice President, MAB Bank

  • Martin Appel, Head of Leaders Development, Yoma Strategic Holdings

  • Shaun Ee, Cluster Head of People of Singapore & Myanmar, HEINEKEN Myanmar

The speakers shared their previous experiences working at companies with exceptional employer branding such as Huawei headquarters and IBM, and how they used those experiences as a foundation to build up the employer brand in their current organizations in Myanmar. The speakers emphasized the importance of not directly copying the employer branding styles from other companies, but instead to use the learnings and tailor them to fit your company culture and your people to create your own success stories. The speakers also touched on the importance of choosing candidates with the right attitude to ensure a culture and value fit, so they can live up to the mission and vision of the company, as the employees are all ambassadors of their company brand. This way, the company brand is not just a statement or vision, but has been implemented properly as it is exercised through its people. 

The 2nd Panel - Communicating Your Employer Brand, moderated by moderated by Goldie Shwe Yee Win Lei, was joined by:

  • Ei Ei Mon, HRBP Department, HR DIVISION, HR Business Partner, CB Bank

  • Khaing Su Wai, Chief HR Officer, AIA Myanmar Life Insurance

  • Pau Sim Thang (Sim), Human Resources Manager, Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar

The speakers shared their challenges within their organizations during recent years, and how they worked together with their people to overcome them. They acknowledge the correlation between employee engagement and employer brand, and how employer branding starts from within; a happy and motivated workforce will have more trust and loyalty towards the company and therefore, promote and advocate for the company’s employer brand even after the employee has left the organization.  They shared specific examples of proven strategies and best practices to nurture a positive work culture. 

During the Q&A session of the both panel discussions, the audience enquired further details on how HR can fulfil its role of finding the right people, and more importantly, how to keep them from leaving. The speakers acknowledged that while there is no one-way to determine whether a person is the right-fit for the business, it is best for leaders to lead by example and exhibit the employer branding and company culture so that their teams can follow by example. A good leader is not just someone who knows the company’s mission and vision, but is someone who represents them. Therefore, it is more important to find candidates with the right attitude than those with the right skills, as skills can be taught but attitude is harder to shape.

The event also consisted of a networking opportunity, which brought the HR community together to share knowledge and insights through discussions from industry thought leaders. 

We would like to extend our special thanks to our Main Sponsor, AIA Myanmar Life Insurance for supporting the HR community in Myanmar. Thank you to Ma Sanda Lynn Shein, Head of Training, for her presentation.

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