Report from the ATD Asia Pacific Conference 2024, Asia's largest human resource development conference (It was great again this year!)
This year, I once again participated in the ATD Asia Pacific Conference (ATD-APC), the largest HR conference in Asia (held from October 29th to November 1st).
Barring the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a conference that I have attended every year since 2014, and this year marks exactly 10 years since my first attendance. It is a conference that I personally have a deep attachment to, as participating in it has really helped me grow as an HR professional. This time, as a director of the ATD Member Network Japan, I was in charge of coordinating the participants (delegation team) from Japan.
ATD is famous for its original US conference (commonly known as ICE), but while the scale of the conference is obviously very different from ICE, the quality of the speakers is in no way inferior to ICE. On the other hand, the comfortable distance between the speakers and participants that can only be felt at this scale, combined with the fact that Taiwan is a place that is familiar to us Japanese, makes this a fascinating conference that far surpasses the difference in scale. (This is my personal opinion.)
As a conference, the main thing is learning from each session, but in fact, other things are also a feature of the ATD conference.
This time, I will introduce the charm of ATD-APC from the following three perspectives.
1.Learning from the sessions
Input from the latest trends and a wide variety of perspectives from speakers from all over the world
2.Learning from networking
Learning through networking with participants and new encounters
3.Learning through reflection
Deepening learning through discussions and dialogues with participants and sharing new perspectives
Learnings from the sessions
This time, I attended a total of 15 sessions, including the keynote, over the three days. Whether AI was included in the session title or not, it was truly an AI festival overall.
This trend has been a major theme for the past few years, but this year, the outline of its use and impact seems to have become clearer and clearer. To categorize it a little more,
1.AI impact
The impact and influence of AI on society, the current state of the AI world, the use/limitations of AI,the impact on L&D, etc.
2.How to deal with changes in the working environment
In addition to environmental changes centered on the rapid development of AI, diversity in working styles and generations is also increasing, how are people, companies, organizations, workplaces, leadership, and learning changing and how should they be?
3.Changing roles of HR
Not only the various impacts of AI, but also what should HR be like in the future?
Themes such as these were discussed from various perspectives. This time, I will introduce sessions that were impressive from these three perspectives.
The Impact of AI
During the keynote on the second day, business psychology expert Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic spoke on the topic of "Harnessing AI for a Future-Ready Workforce."
I'm sure you've all heard about the impact and influence of AI on society, and how we should use AI, but here are the main points he spoke about. (Please note that some of the context has been omitted, making it difficult to understand.)
Has AI improved productivity? Technology increases productivity by reducing input.
Smartphones reduce productivity during work. (Actually, there are companies that want to increase productivity and companies that want to decrease it.)
People spend 6 years and 8 months of their lives using smartphones.
AI is not prejudiced. It is just that human bias is reflected in AI.
Knowledge is becoming more and more commoditized.
AI also has its limits. (Let's know about it)
Peter Capelli also emphasized the limits of AI, especially bias, at this ATD-APC last year.
He then touched on five trends that will likely occur in the future/things to be aware of. (2 and 3 are responses to changes due to the commoditization of knowledge)
Utilize AI skills
From qualifications to possibilities
Develop deep expertise
Bring humanity back to work
AI is not perfect
In addition, Dr. Eddie Lin, a data scientist at Meta (Facebook), gave a clear explanation of the key points of using AI in L&D under the theme of "L&D 2.0 with AI: A New Paradigm Shift beyond Technologies."
What was impressive was the point about not focusing too much on technology alone, but identifying the problem and then using AI. This may seem like a given, but it felt like he had firmly put our awareness, which tends to be new technology and solution-driven, back in the right direction.
Other suggestions included using AI as learning support from reactive to proactive, a sense of direction for learning to become more personalized, and an integrated use/practice rather than the previous individual modularization.
In other sessions, the COO of Microsoft Taiwan and the head of talent development at Tata Consultancy Services introduced examples of AI use in their companies' L&D. It seems that the world's mega companies have already accumulated a considerable amount of practical knowledge on the use of AI.
How to deal with changes in the working environment
This was the keynote speaker on the first day, Dutch organizational theorist/cross-cultural management consultant Fons Trompenaars, who spoke on the theme of "Leadership as a Catalyst."
The literal translation is leadership as a catalyst, but as diversity in countries and organizations progresses, leaders around the world face various dilemmas, and how to solve them as a catalyst is the topic. Furthermore, there are various dilemmas, starting with the international environment of a polarized world, centralization and decentralization, as well as perspectives, sensibilities, principles/assertions, and national culture, and the role of a leader in such an environment is to solve dilemmas.
As examples of ways of looking at things, he quoted the Japanese words "objective" and "subjective" (it was a bit of a joke that he wrote "objective" as "Kayakkanteki"), and gave examples of various dilemmas (differences in perspective or way of thinking), such as how Apple has achieved innovation by combining functionality and aesthetics with the iPhone.He introduced the process of identifying a dilemma and finding a solution by combining the right aspects, rather than choosing one or the other.
Also interesting was the session "Meeting the upskilling and training needs of a multi-generational workforce" by Liying Lim, Head of Sales APAC at Go1, a learning solutions company.
For the first time in modern history, four generations are working together.
As ways of learning are becoming increasingly diverse, EX needs to be improved.
Specifically, learning that influences engagement, intrinsic motivation and growth, learning culture, skill sets, personalized learning environments, etc.
Initiatives to utilize the multi-generational workforce: promoting collaboration, mentor programs, and utilizing gamification. Mutual respect and utilizing the experience of seniors.
It was a very practical and insightful session that included not only the perspective of the often-discussed Gen Z and the value gap with young people, but also the perspective of the active participation of seniors (age diversity), which is an urgent issue in Japan.
Also interesting was the case study of human resource investment at a hospital in the Philippines (St. Luke's Medical Center) entitled "Investing in Talents of the Future Today."
It is difficult to secure talent in the healthcare industry in the Philippines, and nurses in particular tend to leave the country because they can speak English.
As a result, long-term retention measures are necessary, and the speaker introduced a truly comprehensive talent development system, including skills development, leadership development, a learning culture, investment in people, and D&I initiatives.
This time, three directors from ATD Member Network Japan participated as speakers from Japan. Among them, Director Tom Mayes (working at Shiseido) and Mrs.Imaizumi introduced a case study from Shiseido called "Developing Futurists - Leadership in Shiseido." Although it was an initiative that had only just been launched, the name "Futurists" for the leaders was wonderful, and the content was very easy to understand and informative, outlining the concepts, roles, and capabilities. (There were many attendees, and it seemed to attract a lot of attention.)
About the role of HR
This is a session by Professor Dave Ulrich, who is a proponent of the idea of strategic HR and familiar to HR professionals.
As the keynote speech on the final day, it was the final event of the conference. I was personally looking forward to seeing Professor Ulrich in person as the main event of the conference, but unfortunately, a typhoon hit Taiwan during this period! Therefore, all sessions on this day were changed to online. (Only the lunch with Professor Ulrich was held in person.)
It was a bit disappointing, but I was able to listen to the session itself clearly, and the content was as expected, so I was very satisfied.
The title of the session was "Delivering Impact: How HR Creates Stakeholder Value in a Rapidly Changing Workplace."
There was a lot to share, but I understood the most important message to be "HR should create stakeholder value through human capabilities." There are many important themes for HR, such as psychological safety and employee growth, but these are only one factor for an organization to succeed in the market.
The original text expressed it like this:
Now is the time to reinvent HR:AI for HR
HR is not about HR, but creating value for others
HR contributes value through human capability
HR needs to upgrade HR department and people
Recently, I have been working on ISO30414 certification and other tasks that require a wide range of stakeholders, so this was a timely opportunity for me to think deeply about and reexamine the meaning and value of HR work. This last slide was also great.
Learning from networking
This time, I also participated in the Gala Dinner for the first time in a while.
Dr. Eddie Lin, a data scientist from META, who I introduced in the session, was seated next to me at the dinner and we had a lot of conversations. It's rare to have an opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with someone like this, but the fact that we have such a valuable opportunity is what's great about ATD.
After the conference, he also posted the following on his LinkedIn. (I apologize for the excessive comment.)
Learning through reflection
At the end of the day, at this year's conference, a wrap-up session was held by participants from Japan as an effort to deepen the learning of the day. This time, in addition to the directors of the ATD Member Network Japan (some of whom also served as speakers), several people from HR-related service consulting companies and HR from general companies like me participated, totaling more than 10 people from Japan.
At the reflection session, we exchanged opinions on the day's impressions and memorable sessions, and by putting our thoughts into words and inputting other people's perspectives and ways of thinking, our learning and realizations often took input to the next level, making it a very meaningful and rich time.
It seems that many participants felt a sense of crisis about Japan, Japanese HR, and their own work by being exposed to information that they would not normally come across and an environment that was different from their usual one.
Company Tour (TSMC)
The conference sessions introduced so far were quite fulfilling, but this year, as in the previous year, there was an opportunity to visit Taiwanese companies as an optional conference plan.
Last year, it was BENQ, one of the world's leading LCD display manufacturers, but this year, I was able to choose from TSMC, FOXCONN, and Delta Electronics, a global company based in Taiwan, so I visited TSMC.
It was a rare opportunity to visit the headquarters of the world's leading semiconductor foundry, as you all know, and since it is an R&D center where the world's best minds gather, devices such as smartphones are not allowed to be brought in, and photography is also prohibited. When entering the gate, there was also baggage inspection and body check just like at the airport. (The attendant laughed and said it was stricter than the airport.)
As you can see in the photo above, this building, which was completed last summer, has nearly 20 floors of office space on both sides, and an atrium in the middle (where we were), giving the impression of a large shopping mall.
Before being shown around the various areas of the building, we were given a presentation on TSMC's human resources strategy and leadership development program. As mentioned above, smartphones are not allowed, so I was frantically taking notes, but fortunately, some of the content of the talk was published in the company's sustainability report, so I was able to review it by checking that.
The company's core values and T&D strategy were also wonderfully worded in an easy-to-understand and relatable way, and I thought it was impressive that they also incorporated the latest initiatives such as onboarding measures using AI chatbots. They also use frameworks familiar to those involved in human resource development, such as the "70:20:10 Lominger model" and the "Kirkpatrick Model," to design learning programs, manage KPIs, and verify effectiveness.
During this visit, I was of course overwhelmed by the state-of-the-art facilities, but it was also a wonderful opportunity to once again realize that such strategic HR initiatives are the source of strength of the world's leading company.
The conference was run wonderfully by the ATD Taiwan team.
I'm really grateful to everyone at ATD Taiwan for giving me this wonderful opportunity again this year. As an organizer of the delegation team from Japan, I also had the opportunity to speak on stage, and there were many wonderful learning opportunities, such as the quality of the entire conference and optional planning.
This year, DAY3 session was changed to online due to a typhoon, and the event was already packed with management, but I was really impressed by the agility and flexibility of the event to smoothly switch to online. (Apparently, preparations were made until the early hours of the morning on the day of the event.)
I would like to support this wonderful event again next year, however small my contributions may be, so that as many people as possible can participate in it.
<Finally>
This year, we had a delicious dinner with my favorite friensd in Taiwan again. We are always so grateful for the warm welcome we receive. See you again next year!
