Sharing Hard-Earned Lessons on Career Growth | Editor of Genesis 2 | Follow for Weekly Insights to Help You Navigate Transitions with Confidence and Purpose

I reckon most charities run on two things. A whole lot of passion, and some scramble behind the scenes.

As a not-for-profit COO, I build the operational backbone that turns that scramble into coordinated action so vision comes to life without burning people out.

In practice, that looks like:

🟢 Turning ambitious plans into clear, weekly execution

🟢 Making it obvious who does what, when, and how

🟢 Simplifying systems so the day-to-day actually feels manageable

🟢 Tightening how things are run and reported so everyone supporting the mission can trust the numbers and the decisions

🟢 Protecting the human side of the work - pace, workload, and wellbeing.

When those pieces line up, you get something rare in this sector: a team that can do more with less and stay human while they do it.

I share thoughts here on the practical side of making a difference:

Leadership, remote teams “doing the work” with limited budget, and the messy reality behind strategy decks.

The thoughts and reflections I share here are my own, drawn from my experience working across the sector.

If you’re working to make a difference and want to compare notes or sanity-check an idea, you’re welcome to connect.

Paul Chen

Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd

Lead COEs & 5 HRBPs across 3 Business Pillars in Southeast Asia (SEA) namely Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei to drive business goals through HR initiatives, activities and know-how.

Also oversee Industrial Relations (IR), Compensation & Benefits (C&B), Talent, Learning & Development (TLD), People and Culture (P&C) and HRIS in supporting the overarching HR strategy & HRBPs function.

Head, HRBP

Talreso Consultancy and Advisory

HR Manager for Talreso - a professional Human Resource Consultancy and Advisory partner that strives to provide a high standard of services for both our clients and candidates.

- Manager the overall HR functions of the company
- Recruit talent for the company and clients
- Facilitate trainings, run workshops and employee engagement
- HR Consulting
- HR Project Management
- Business development and Public Relations

Human Resources Manager

Affin Bank Group

• Support Group People Office to achieve strategic objectives in the HR Business plan and become key liaison to the C-Level
• HR lead for projects and responsibilities for divisions assigned

Business pillars:-

-Enterprise Banking
-Group Compliance
-Group Internal Audit
-Legal & Secretarial

HR Business Partner (Vice President)

Sunway Property

• Design, develop, implement approaches and interventions covering talent lifecycle from acquisition, onboarding, identification, assessment, development and offboarding

Manager, Talent & Organization Development

DKSH

Plan and execute DKSH’s talent, organization & learning development strategies, plans, frameworks, policies, approaches, metrics and budgets. Monitor progress, measure effectiveness of these activities including talent panel review and discussions, talent-learning development programs, succession planning, successor acceleration programs, graduate trainee programs, etc.

Manager, Talent Development

Business Unit Healthcare - Manage the implementation of HR strategic and tactical initiatives and align Group HR strategies with country-level operations in order to achieve the overall business objectives and the results desired.

Manager, HR Business Partnering

U Mobile

Act as a HR cum Business Partner who championed the company's Vision, Mission and Core values.

• Provided full HR services to the assigned divisions and act as primary point of contact in strategic HR matters. Keeping informed in terms of business, legal and regulatory trends

- Information Services Division (ISD)
- Finance Division
- CEO Office (Legal, Regulatory, Internal Audit, Communications)

Assistant Manager, HRBP

SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad

Hook-Up & Commissioning (HUC Division) - SapuraKencana Pinewell Sdn Bhd

Our core business activities are Offshore & Onshore Construction Support Services, Hook-up & Commissioning, Topside Major Maintenance, Topside Modification, Topside Structures Maintenance, Project Management, Painting and Blasting Work, Minor Fabrication, De-commissioning services, Marine Spread, Logistic Support and Vessels Operations.

• Led change management post-merger of Sapura Crest Petroleum and Kencana Petroleum in becoming SapuraKencana Petroleum

Senior HR Executive

Kelly Services

Provided workforce solutions such as recruitment services and consultancy to clients and candidates across industries and functions.

Senior Staffing Consultant

Independently managed the full spectrum of HR for the whole of Kelly Malaysia which included recruitment, payroll, benefits administration, performance management, etc.

HR Executive / Talent Acquisition Executive

Darren is a Human Resources (HR) leader with 16 years of experience across diverse industries such as 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹, 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗢𝗶𝗹 & 𝗚𝗮𝘀, as well as 𝗛𝗥 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 & 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 for both local and multinational companies listed in the 𝗦𝗜𝗫 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, 𝗡𝗔𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗤 and 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗮.

As 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱, 𝗛𝗥 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 (𝗛𝗕𝗕𝗣), Darren provides advice to the senior leaders and drives 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 to help businesses thrive. With a gift for figuring out how people with different workstyles and personalities can work together productively, today he leads 𝟱 𝗛𝗥𝗕𝗣𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝟯 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 (𝗦𝗘𝗔) 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗮, 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲 & 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗶.

Other HR functions Darren oversees are:
• 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (𝗜𝗥),
• 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 (𝗖&𝗕),
• 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗧𝗟𝗗),
• 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 (𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦)

Graduated with a 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 (𝗛𝗼𝗻𝘀) 𝗗𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗥 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, a member of 
𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗠𝗜𝗛𝗥𝗠) & 
𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝗠𝗔𝗣𝗦)
Darren is often invited to speak at various HR conferences and universities besides being known for facilitating HR and soft skills related trainings in the companies he worked for.

Darren is also passionate for Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) related initiatives and a champion of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEBI) to create the future of work.

Connect or follow Darren Lo for more HR insights.

Thank you

• 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮. 𝘼𝙣𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮. •

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