Gerard KOH

Biographical note
Gerard Koh is the Chief Corporate Officer of SMRT Corporation Limited, a leading multi-modal transport operator in Singapore with 10,000 employees. He oversees the Group’s Human Resources, Training & Development, Procurement & Supply, Infocomms & Organization Excellence, and Corporate Planning functions.

He is responsible for the efficient delivery of day to day corporate services, and oversees the transformation of SMRT’s human capital development, organization structure and culture. He also oversees the exploitation of infocomm technologies to drive organizational excellence, productivity, and promote a culture of innovation. In procurement, Gerard is building capabilities in strategic sourcing capabilities, efficient and cost effective supplier and contract management and warehousing activities.

Prior to his current role as CCO, Gerard was Vice President HR, SMRT for 3 1/2 years where he transformed the HR practices into a progressive, industry leading,  and award winning force of change.

Presentation: Building a Culture of Excellence ad Pride – moving beyond Processes and Rules
To engender a culture of Service Excellence, we have a create a sense of pride in our staff to serve our commuters. We need to move beyond rules and procedures that encumber the staff to take the initiative to do the extra mile. But the paradox, is that we do still need to review these rules and procedures to empower the staff to act appropriately in difficult situations. The culture is underpinned by a strong sense of purpose, strong leadership by example, cohesion in the work force, and very competent staff. Recognition and a continual engagement effort is also key.