Breaking Barriers, Building Bonds

AILEEN TAN, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, Singtel calls herself a perfectionist for whom failure is a difficult option. In this interview with People Matters, Aileen shares her own journey of becoming an HR leader, the philosophy that guides Singtel’s talent approaches, technology, taking risks and more

Aileen Tan is the Group Chief Human Resources Officer at Singtel. She is responsible for the development of human resources across the Singtel Group and also leads its corporate sustainability function. Aileen joined Singtel in 2008 as Group Director, Human Resources. Prior to that, she was Group General Manager, Human Resources at WBL Corporation Limited and Vice President, Centers of Excellence with Abacus International Pte Ltd.

Aileen was also the Chairperson of Workforce Singapore’s National HR Professional Certification Task force and co-chairs the Ministry of Manpower’s HR Sectoral Tripartite Committee. She is a member of the Media Literacy Council and also a member of the Institute for Human Resource Professionals Board and the Home Nursing Foundation Board. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Singapore and holds a Master of Science in Organizational Behavior from the California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, US.

You hold a Master’s degree in organizational behavior and have also studied social sciences and statistics. What made you pick HR as a career path? And what made you stay in this domain?