AIl it took was a book. Adeline Sim's calling to help others was indirectly formed by her father, Peter Sim, founder of mainboardlisted recruitment agency HRnetGroup, when he gifted her The Trials of David Marshall at the age of nine.
"The book really stuck in my head," says Adeline. "The idea that you can stand up for people who cannot help themselves." She would eventually practise law but cut her career short after becoming a mother.
Joining the family business soon after, in 2009, was more a matter of good timing than a planned move. When she was asked for hiring leads by HRnetGroup's HR director, a family friend, they both realised that an obvious candidate was Adeline herself.
Her father asked her into his office for a "talk" a week after she stepped through the door as group legal counsel. Adeline recounts with a laugh, "He said, "Hello! You're here to facilitate the business, not kill it!" She had brought her policing frame of mind from her previous career, telling people what they were doing wrong. "He said, 'You have to find solutions. Don't just tell people, 'No'." Now, 16 years into HRnetGroup, which has about 1,000 consultants and a presence in 13 cities across the Asia Pacific, she brings a next-generation perspective that aligns with the times and the company's younger workforce. "I'm more authoritative and consultative than authoritarian," say Adeline, on her leadership style.
"I am more aware of having to integrate work with life for my people, because whether it's millennials or Gen Z's, they want the experience of parenting their kids.
This story is from the March 2025 edition of Prestige Singapore.
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This story is from the March 2025 edition of Prestige Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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