MBA meeting with Ms Kerry Rooks

Ms Kerry Rooks, Chief Human Resources Officer of The Prudential Assurance Co. Limited was invited to meet with our MBA students for the MBA course FB6706 - Executive Discovery & Network on 17th January. Ms Rooks shared her thoughts on the challenges that Human Resource professionals were facing and the importance of organisational culture when determining the success of a company.

Ms Rooks is an experienced practitioner in the HR field. She worked as an Organisational Development Specialist and Senior Manager in Organisational Development in AIG and New York Life International prior to joining The Prudential Assurance Co. Limited.

During Ms Rooks’ sharing session, she mentioned that HR needs to focus on talent search and development for its company. Finding the right personnel who are competent, committed and contributive to their company’s success and developing leaders are key challenges that HR is facing today.

Acting as an “architect” alongside with the management team, HR department plays a key role in building the company culture and developing leaders at different levels. Over the span of Ms Rooks’ HR career, she has held several senior HR positions within the insurance sector and managed countless significant projects. From her experience, a staff-oriented culture which nurtures and respects everyone’s ideas would definitely help a company move forward in achieving success.

“Be inquisitive, don’t judgeby impression. Understand your business core values and appreciate the contributions that your employees made to the company; these are qualities of what a HR Professional should have.” Ms Rooks commented. A key advice that Ms Rooks gave to students who are looking for employment opportunities is to “understand the business and do the research.”

MBA students were actively involved in a Q&A session where they received much tips in job hunting and employers’ preferences.

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