Youths Impress HR Leaders with Innovative Ideas for Hiring Challenges
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The team mentored by DecodeHR took first place in the HR Hackathon 2022! All teams had great ideas. We showcase the Top 3.
Champions of SHRI HR Hackathon 2022 - Summer Adapters from Singapore Polytechnic with their mentor, Jesper Seah, and DecodeHR mentor, Annie Kok
[Finally!] After two years of virtual events, motivated youths presented their solutions to current business challenges in person at the 5th Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI) HR Hackathon at NTU One-North on 22 October 2022. Fifteen teams from six different institutions participated in this event.
And a bustling event it was! The atmosphere was vibrant, and the teams eagerly presented their innovative ideas.
The annual hackathon aims to bring together established HR leaders and young HR leaders of tomorrow to develop creative solutions for current business problems.
This year's theme was "Future of HR – Adaptation to Transformation". In collaboration with businesses – DecodeHR, Under Armour, Sciente, and Far East Organization – the youths worked in teams to develop solutions for specific theme-related case statements.
A glimpse of the HR Hackathon 2022
This year, DecodeHR mentored three teams:
- ACE from ITE College East
- Summer Adapters from Singapore Polytechnic
- The Enablers from Nanyang Polytechnic
The Enablers designed an impressive, detailed brochure focused on DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) strategy.
Brochure outlining a DEI strategy created by The Enablers
ACE focused on DEI issues in recruitment and pointed out how recruiters may judge disadvantaged candidates unfairly, failing to see the value they can bring.
ACE team doing their skit on DEI
The Summer Adapters team mentored by DecodeHR scored the top prize!
The DecodeHR team was delighted to be part of this event for the second consecutive year.
Charlene Yong, our Engagement Director, shared,
“I care deeply about how companies express interest in implementing DE&I in the workplace. And how the new generation of HR professionals would make this part of their talent acquisition strategy. I was delighted to mentor passionate participants who studied this topic in depth. Congratulations to all teams and keep up the good work. I am sure they will continue to be successful in their quest to become 21st century HR leaders.”
Our Head of Technology, Annie Kok, one of the judges at the event, said,
“I really enjoyed being a part of SHRI hackathon 2022 - from the mentoring and interactions to meeting fellow judges. Delighted by the creative thinking, well-researched ideas, positive energy and enduring perseverance of all the 15 student teams. I am proud of our DecodeHR teams - ACE, The Enablers & Summer Adapters - kudos for your great attitude and hard work!”
Teams in a mentoring session with DecodeHR
Below, we present the top three Hacks of the 5th SHRI HR Hackathon.
Video excerpt of Summer Adapters’ ideas
1st place – Summer Adapters (Singapore Polytechnic)
Company – DecodeHR (HR consultancy)
Case statement – "It is now a known fact that diversity breeds innovation, increases profitability and provides a competitive advantage. How can DecodeHR help our clients embrace DEI as part of an agile talent acquisition strategy?"
This team pointed out that colleagues and organisational culture are important factors in a candidate’s decision to join a company. For that, companies need to have a collective commitment to DEI. So they prototyped an app containing various information, guides, and tools to help DecodeHR clients boost their DEI and Talent Acquisition (TA) efforts.
Summer Adapters’ app prototype on talent acquisition & DEI
Summer Adapters named their prototype co<DE.I> – All In One DEI & Talent Acquisition Solution.
The app contains three components:
Leadership engagement - since success starts with committed leaders
Recruitment sprint - which uses agile methods to maximise efficiency and improve adaptability
TA analytics - which uses data to optimise the recruitment process.
They also proposed a change plan to help companies and employees transition to this new way of working in their DEI and talent acquisition journey.
Teen Titans’ use of gamification
2nd place – Teen Titans (Singapore Polytechnic)
Company – Under Armour
Case statement – "With Generation Z currently accounting for a quarter of the global population, how could Under Armour recruit Generation Z talents for Corporate roles?"
The Teen Titans team focused on sustainability to attract Gen-Z talents, who tend to believe that sustainability programmes are essential in companies.
They developed a game prototype, UA Topia, to strengthen Under Armour's sustainability image. Prospective candidates can create an avatar, explore Under Armour's environment, and find information about interesting topics.
Under Armour workers can meet at the game's virtual office and use the game's spaces for internal events and onboarding.
Favoured Moments’ dashboard
3rd place – Favoured Moments (National University of Singapore)
Company – Far East Organization
Case statement – "How can we measure DEI in a workplace that offers more diverse, equitable, and inclusive opportunities for people in need such as older workers, overcomers, individuals with special needs or come from disadvantaged backgrounds? How do we get our entire community – our employees, leadership, customers, beneficiaries – on board this mission?"
This team created an app, Favoured Moments, with three features:
Moments with New Friends - this encourages people from various backgrounds and departments to meet up in groups of 4 to 6. This helps foster relationships, which strengthen feelings of belongingness and create a social support network.
Mentorship Moments - this allows employees to select the skills they need help with and to indicate possible dates and venues for mentorship.
Opportunity Moments - this enables external organisations to hire people with various backgrounds for internship positions while keeping diversity and inclusion in mind. It includes co-paid internships.
They proposed using gamification, notifications, and chatbots to nudge people to create new moments, thereby increasing the strength and longevity of their connections.
To get the community on board, they stressed the importance of tackling the misconceptions of disadvantaged workers and focusing instead on the value they bring.
Check out our other articles on related topics:
Youths in HR Hackathon Score with Tech Ideas
