Issue 2 2021

8 Acquisition International - Issue 2 2021 The Advancement of the ‘People Agenda’ eople Mentality Inc was founded on the principle of helping organisations become an Employer of Choice. Starting in 2017, it has held true to this in all its operations, now working with MNCs and SMEs across Asia to create a people-first mentality in its clients. This ambitious start-up believes that HR has more potential in all corporate sectors than it is currently used for, and founder Sam Neo has built People Mentality Inc to build a profession out of that potential. Included in its area of expertise is employer brand consultation, HR transformational consultation, personal branding, leadership and communications training and coaching for both employees and employers, and content creation for companies to deliver appropriate messages both internally and externally. However, People Mentality Inc do not believe in using models and templates. Instead, they believe that contextualizing solutions is key, whilst not forgetting to deliver the “Heartware” which connects with people. This unique approach enables People Mentality Inc to stand out in the industry, alongside delivering keynotes speeches at global HR conferences. Included in its vast roster of ever-growing clientele are mostly the HR teams of various organisations – that being said, People Mentality Inc has also worked closely with its client’s corporate communications teams. This is because alongside its focus on developing a people- focused environment within its clients’ businesses, it also focuses on the importance of internal communication and developing an effective brand. This branding work extends to both the internal and external culture of its clients. Overall, such clients are progressive organisations that seek to ‘grow the people agenda’ within their own internal culture. People Mentality Inc finds itself approached by clients that appreciate experimentation as a key part of HR and brand development. To this end, it employs its unique combination of focuses to combine HR and branding into a single focus: storytelling. This fresh approach to its business model sees it working with its clients to construct and deliver a compelling narrative during a HR campaign. Furthermore, People Mentality Inc values prioritising these fresh ideas and client collaboration over the culture of seniority so often valued in consulting work, avoiding getting too stuck on sales figures. Due to this and the trust it builds up with its clients over the course of the consultancy, it often gains clients from word of mouth and positive reviews. The staff of People Mentality Inc form a lean yet incredibly dedicated team that is adept at all areas of problemsolving. Instead of a hierarchy, it operates with a ‘flat’ structure and a high trust culture, enabling true collaboration to deliver the best service possible. Internally, it believes in developing the talents of its staff and stakeholders just as much as believes in developing the business of a client. P On the road to success, People Mentality Inc has also had to manage many challenges. Over the past year, Covid-19 has accelerated the need for HR as an industry to get better at communications both internal and external. This has been happening alongside the reality of HR teams facing stringent budget cuts as companies find themselves needing to funnel money into other departments to adapt. In tandem with this, in previous years, HR leaders reported a struggle to ensure that their employees had the actionable training they needed to work in a digitized workplace. When the pandemic took this challenge from a gradually increasing one to a problem that demanded immediate solutions due to a newly remote workforce, HR teams found themselves in need of new innovative solutions – and fast. In response, People Mentality Inc played to its strengths to showcase the value of excellent branding and people-first structures. In doing this, it found it could offer its struggling industry its support and prioritised reviewing its own practices to offer increasingly relevant problem solving. Since then, although for the most part the ‘new normal’ has been widely accepted, the potential of further change is an ongoing variable that demands to be considered. People Mentality Inc itself intends to expand its geographical footprint across Asia to support more businesses as they attempt to rise to the challenge. Company: People Mentality Inc Contact: Sam Neo Website: www.peoplementalityinc.com Sam Neo, founder of People Mentality Inc, has garnered attention in the global HR industry – especially after his win of the APAC Top 10 HR & Employer Branding Consultant award. Today, we find out the driving forces behind People Mentality’s success. Dec20525