In this leadership video, Catherine, Group Business Leader of HRNetOne for Singapore and Thailand, outlines how the COVID‑19 pandemic has created an unprecedented economic crisis that has halted travel, tourism, retail, logistics and driven commodity and stock markets to historic lows. She argues that organisations must respond by optimising talent structures, redesigning roles, and making more deliberate hiring decisions to identify resilient employees. The pandemic has also expanded the pool of high‑quality candidates who now value employers that are both stable and agile. Catherine stresses the importance of partnering with a specialist HR consultancy—HRNetOne—to understand industry‑specific challenges, manage talent pipelines, and support clients through the crisis, positioning them for growth when the market rebounds.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Catherine, the Group Business Leader of HRNetOne in Singapore and Thailand. The impact of COVID-19 on the global economy is severe. With more and more countries coming to a lockdown situation, movement of people, goods, and services are restricted. Many industries including travel, tourism, retail, logistics, and many more have come to a standstill. Oil, gold, Commodities and stock market have plunged to a level that we have never seen for a long time. This is definitely a crisis that is unprecedented. It is understandable that people have fear and organizations are being challenged on its business continuity. Let me share some of my thoughts about creating certainties in uncertain times. First thing is about talent optimization, which is basically taking a closer look at how your organization operates. It also involves designing, crafting solutions that address gaps in the current structure. Following that is about hiring in uncertain times. People are put in situations that challenge them. It becomes an opportunity for us to discern those who can from those who can't. This makes your hiring decision far more important now than it has ever been before. A crisis situation exposes the organisation's capability to handle it. However, as with all crises, this too shall pass. What is important now is that that organisation is prepared with the right talent structure to ride through this crisis together so that you are ready for when the tide turns. Because of the current situation, we are seeing a larger pool of solid candidates available in the market, and what these candidates value are organisations that are stable and yet nimble enough to navigate through a constantly evolving climate. The roles of yesterday have very quickly evolved to become a very different version of itself simply because of how fast our world is changing. Hence, working with the right partner is crucial because they must have the capability to truly understand your needs and work with you to manage your talent pipelines for your organization's future growth. My team and I recognize that now, more than ever before, we need to be by our clients' side and walk this path with them. With every consultant being deeply specialized and accurately aware of what is happening in the industry we service, we are able to be part of our clients' growth journey, even at a time when the situation situation doesn't immediately feel like that. If you'd like to find out more about what the HRNetOne team can do for you, get in touch with me. I'm Catherine. I look forward to talking to you soon.
