🎧 Listen now:
• From HR to the Frontlines: Embedding in the Business [00:04:00] Pauline explains why HR leaders must get out of the office—whether it’s climbing vessels, visiting plants, or joining sales meetings—to understand operations firsthand and earn trust as true business partners.
• Driving 10-Year Revenue Renewal Through People Insight [00:08:00]
In a powerful example, Pauline recounts how her presence in a client meeting as HR VP led to a major contract renewal—proving HR can directly influence commercial outcomes.
• Building Trust with Business Leaders Through Action [00:09:00]
Trust is built not just through relationships, but through consistent delivery and involvement. Pauline discusses how she embeds herself early in sales processes and decision-making to become indispensable.
• The 3 Pillars of Strategic Change: Communication, Activation & Behavioral Change [00:13:00]
Pauline unveils Griffith Foods’ change management framework, built on three core pillars: Communication to address the head, Activation to inspire the heart, and Behavioral Change to guide the hands. This model creates clarity, engagement, and lasting impact during large-scale transformation.
• Bottom-Up Engagement: Change Huddles and Activation Networks [00:16:00]
To support transformation across a diverse workforce, Pauline introduces “change huddles” and local change champions—creating space for feedback and ownership at every level of the organization.
Understanding the Framework
Pauline emphasizes the importance of an intentional approach to change management, addressing the "head, heart, and hands" of employees. "With every leading change effort, you have to be very intentional," she explains. This strategy begins with communication to address the head, or intellectual understanding. Pauline highlights, "You have to help them understand what this change is about."
Engaging the Heart
The next step involves the heart, requiring employees to connect emotionally with the company's aspirations. Employee engagement initiatives are crucial here, where activities are designed to "bring our aspirations to life," making the journey memorable and meaningful.
Activating the Hands
Finally, the hands are about behavior change, where employees shift their day-to-day activities to align with new objectives. "To activate the change means having to drive behavior change," says Pauline. This comprehensive approach ensures that employees not only understand and feel connected to the change but are also actively participating in it.
“With every leading change effort, you have to be very intentional. You've got to be able to address the head, the heart and the hands."
In-the-Business Approach
Pauline’s journey reveals that HR professionals must deeply integrate with the business to remain relevant and impactful. She shares, "You cannot be in the business if you're sitting in the office all the time." Engaging directly with different departments and attending business meetings can bridge the gap between HR and broader organizational goals.
Enhancing Business Outcomes
Her proactive approach led to tangible business results, such as renewing a significant client contract for an additional ten years. This success was partly attributed to Pauline's involvement in understanding and resolving the client's pain points. "I went to see the customer and really tried to understand what their pain points are," she reflects, demonstrating how HR’s involvement in business can directly influence outcomes.
“You cannot be in the business if you're sitting in the office all the time."
Creative Engagement Initiatives
One of Pauline's strategies in aligning employees with company objectives is through creative and relatable engagement activities. She describes activities such as the nutrition dice game designed to promote healthier lifestyle choices aligned with company values. "We have organized activities, [...] synchronized across the region," she notes, emphasizing the global reach and inclusivity of these initiatives.
The Role of Change Agents
Deploying change agents within the organization is another tactic used to ensure a successful transformation. These change agents act as liaisons between management and employees, providing feedback and facilitating communication. Pauline underscores the importance of selecting the right individuals, stating, "Are they positive role model[s] for them to be the change ambassadors?"
"You have to be very intentional about how you want to make change. We've got to have a game plan and then be very consistent to follow that through." — Pauline Tay
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Pauline Tay
Pauline Tay is currently the VP Human Resources – Asia Pacific at Griffith Foods Limited, where she leads HR across the Asia Pacific region to serve the company’s purpose of blending care and creativity to nourish the world. A seasoned and forward-thinking HR professional, Pauline brings with her over 30 years of HR experience across diverse industries including Industrial, Consumer Goods, and Hospitality, and extensive regional and global experience.
Pauline has lived and worked in the US and led regional teams across the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas with core expertise in change management and transformation, organizational design and development, leadership assimilation and development, and transition and integration. Her other expertise also includes success planning, coaching and mentoring, process improvement, and optimization.
Pauline holds an MBA, International Business from the University of South Australia and is a Certified Behavioral Coach with credentials from the Behavioral Coaching Institute.
Dorothy Yiu is the CEO & Co-Founder of EngageRocket, one of Asia’s top EX & people analytics platforms. She brings over a decade of experience in human resources, technology, and business strategy. Before co-founding EngageRocket, Dorothy was the Regional Head of Operations for Gallup, where she oversaw more than 100 large-scale consulting projects globally.
Recognised for her leadership in HR and technology, Dorothy was awarded Leader of the Year at the HR Vendors of the Year Awards 2024 by Human Resources Online. She was also named one of the Top 50 Asian Women Tech Leaders 2025. Dorothy holds two degrees from Singapore Management University under the Lee Kong Chian Scholarship and was named an SG Digital Leader by IMDA in 2024. She was also NTT’s Women of the Future nominee in 2022.